BRENDAN CASS, ‘THE HUDSON RIVER’, 2008, acrylic on canvas. 89 x 166 in.
PHOTO COURTESY: STELLAN HOLM GALLERY
and, if you are in NEW YORK !!
BRENDAN CASS, ‘NEW NATURE’ – OPENS TO-NITE !! SAT JAN 31 / 6-8 PM !!
the show runs: JAN 31 – MARCH 4, 2009
STELLAN HOLM GALLERY – 524 WEST 24th ST – CHELSEA
BRENDAN CASS, photographed in his studio, just before the show went up !!
JANUARY 14, 2009. BROOKLYN, NYC.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
PHOTOS FROM THE OPENING . . .
BRENDAN CASS, ‘The Hudson River’, 2008. acrylic on canvas, 89 x 166 in.
The show was beautiful, airy and light. full of light. radiant, and TRANSFORMATIVE.
A yin to the yang of the harshness of troubled times . . . a kind of otherly cosmos.
you stepped in, and you stepped into another world.
Jackson Pollock, if Jackson Pollock threw the I Ching.
a peek into a private office.
BRENDAN CASS – the man – of the evening, opens his first solo show at STELLAN HOLM GALLERY – entitled: ‘New Nature’. The show opened on Saturday, Jan 31st and runs thru Wed March 4, 2009.
dedicated art scene follower EL, and on the right, also strongly interested in the NYC art scene, AIRON ARMSTRONG. AIRON ARMSTRONG is a dedicated and skilled martial artist, who began training when he was 5. He is a four time National CHI SAO champion, and has trained in Wing Chun for the past 14 years, “becoming one of the next generation of New York based Wing Chung Sifus”. He has appeared in several feature films as a stunt man/martial artist.
BOBBY G made the opening.
BRENDAN CASS, ‘Murano’, 2008. acrylic on canvas, 30 x 48 in.
caught up in – ‘Capri’ !!
BOBBY G loved the show. He said the paintings reminded him of that old Hindu story about the gods – who went to a mountain searching for magic herbs, but – when they couldn’t find them …
they just brought back the mountain !!
detail, BRENDAN CASS, ‘Capri’.
DONALD BAECHLER and KEVIN BAKER.
KEVIN BAKER shows us one of his own paintings.
in the front gallery . . .
BRENDAN CASS, ‘Akureyri’, 2008. acrylic on canvas, 73 x 120 in.
Stellan Holm Gallery associate, CHRISTINE SPANGLER.
artist CHIE FUEKI !!
Chie Fueki introduces us to JOHN WILLIAMS and AIKO HACHISUKA, who are visiting from L.A., that’s Chie on the right.
JOHN WILLIAMS’ work is currently featured in ‘Insurance Is Not Always Enough’ a group show curated by JONATHAN DURHAM at the ABRONS ART CENTER, HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT, here in NYC, and he will have a one person show at SISTER GALLERY in L.A., opening FEB 21, 2009 and running thru MARCH 28, 2009.
see: SISTER/NEWS & EXHIBITIONS
Brendan introduces us to SYLVAN LIONNI, on the left.
Sylvan Lionni shows at FREIGHT+VOLUME. In fact, he had a wonderful assemblage/wall piece in the CHANGECASE SHOW, that was presented, almost this time, last year by STEVEN STEWART and YASHA WALLIN. (JAN 21 – FEB 10, 2008)
see: CHANGECASE & scroll down to the 5th image !!
BRENDAN CASS, ‘Tuscany’, 2009. acrylic on canvas, 72 x 132 in.
Brendan greets two of his mentors: KATHERINE BRADFORD, of SUNY PURCHASE, and STEPHEN WESTFALL of SVA and BARD. Mr. Westfall shows at LENNON, WEINBERG.
KATHARINE BRADFORD shows with EDWARD THORP.
also at the BRENDAN CASS ‘New Nature’ opening: BILL SAYLOR, AIDAS BAREIKIS and ELIZABETH (LIZZIE) BALOUGH. Bill Saylor has a show coming up this Spring 2009 at LEO KOENIG.
Aidas Barekis presented 2 dynamite installations at LEO KOENIG, almost this same time last year: ‘Easy Times’, FEB 21 – MARCH 21, 2008 and ‘Fancy Meeting’, JAN 10 – FEB 8, 2008.
see: AIDAS BAREIKIS/EASY TIMES & FANCY MEETING
Lizzie is the long time Director of LEO KOENIG GALLERY.
BILL SAYLOR, JULIAN DERSIN, and AIDAS BAREIKIS.
actually, as a matter of factual newsworthiness !! – AIDAS BAREIKIS, and his work – is most probably seen in the JOSH HARRIS DOCUMENTARY – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – helmed by ONDI TIMONER – that just won the 2009 Grand Jury/Documentary Prize at Sundance !! Aidas and AARON BREWER are notorious for having concocted the TOXIC ROOM – at QUIET – the big PSEUDO MILLENNIUM PARTY featured in WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – and what was so astounding about it, besides the futuristic hard-edged audacity of the installation itself – was – and Josh loved this, it was constructed r-i-g-h-t next to the pod hotel living quarters for the 90+ resident artists !! think Josh did that on purpose – YES !! In fact this over-the-top and indeed toxic installation – was one of the reasons – the NYC FIRE DEPT shut the party, down !!
ANKE WEYER and AIDAS BAREIKIS, two very hard-core and very talented !! – NYC artists !!
BRENDAN CASS, ‘Greenland’, 2009. acrylic on canvas, 60 x 79 in.
detail, a home in the realm, BRENDAN CASS, ‘Greenland’.
or is it? looks pretty animate to me. maybe it’s a home-head, ever hear of those ?!!
ask KELIE BOWMAN !! ‘New Nature’ – ? – right on.
detail, a splash, or is it a ghost !! in the realm !! BRENDAN CASS, ‘Greenland’.
some kind of other-worldliness going on !! BRENDAN CASS, ‘Greenland’.
one look back at ‘Murano’ !!
yep, there’s a ghost in this realm, too.
see him ? BRENDAN CASS, ‘Murano’.
BRENDAN CASS, ‘Tuscany’. one last look !!
yep, a house, or is it !!
worldly landscape. imaginary landscape. inner landscape ? visionary landscape ? future landscape ?
peopled, or ghosted !! not exactly your grandma’s HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL !!
reverence for nature meets JOESEPH BEUYS ? NOT !!
more like HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL … meets ZEN MASTER !! on mushrooms.
detail, BRENDAN CASS, ‘Tuscany’.
landscape speak !! landscape spark !!
just get me – outta h-e-r-e !! and, thru the looking glass.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
UP-DATE – TUES FEB 3, 2009/6:38 PM:
it is turning into a huge snowy puffy white blizzard in New York City, & beyond, to-night.
everything, cars, tree boughs, buildings, roofs, traffic poles – hang heavy with thick puffy white snow. at times snow winds rush by swirling their tiny snowflakes about. intermittent power outages are occurring and the blanket of snow has silenced, in a profound way – what we call – the North East Corridor . . . I can’t see any mountains from my vantage point – but, somehow in this snowy vortex – I now feel Brendan’s paintings to be just as r-e-a-l, as surreal !! Landscapes seen with the puffiness of heavy fallen snows, but, with the shifting layers of the snow-laden winds – colored – painted, tinted – as if seen thru a prism !! – the white light of the snow – split up into the many colors of the rainbow. I guess you could say – I pretty much dig the work – what can I say. makes me travel in my mind’s eye – to realms – within and without. ‘New Nature’ is a trip.
~BRENDAN CASS/NEW NATURE/OPENS TO-NITE !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2009, 2:12pm
. . . talking about MELISSA BROWN !!
MELISSA BROWN + MATT BRINKMAN – CURATED BY DAN NADEL !!
OPENS TO-NITE !! SAT JAN 31, 2009 / 7-9 PM – in LA, if you are out there – don’t miss it !!
the show runs: JAN 31 – MARCH 7, 2009
M+B – 612 NORTH ALMONT DRIVE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA !!
this show is presented in conjunction with PICTUREBOX.
see: PICTUREBOX !!
see: M+B
see: M+B GALLERY/MELISSA BROWN + MATT BRINKMAN !!
and definite, check out: MELISSA BROWN’S website !!
from the M+B website:
MELISSA BROWN, ‘MONEY, JEWELS, SET FOR LIFE’, 2009.
$1,132 in used scratch off tickets. 28 x 28 in.
MELISSA BROWN, ‘GRANDMA’S DREAM’, 2009.
$2,485 in used scratch off tickets. 28 x 28 in.
MATT BRINKMAN, ‘EATING SHIT’, 2009
ink on paper. 18 x 24 in.
MATT BRINKMAN, ‘2 HEADS WHAT TO DO’, 2009
ink on paper. 9 x 11-3/4 in.
~MELISSA BROWN + MATT BRINKMAN/LA |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2009, 1:35pm
. . . here’s the artlovers pictorial yin yang for: 2009.
and, according to MELISSA SCHERRER, the art world’s #1 tarot card reader – it’s also the year of JUSTICE !!
make that: BLOOD-RED !! JUSTICE – up-against-the-wall, and in-your-face !! LOOK OUT !!
painting by KALLE RUNESON – the VIKINGS once ruled the world, too. remember ?
and, yep, it’s just that much of a bloodbath – out there.
in NORDIC GIANTS – ‘FUCK THE LITTLE MAN’ – curated by LARS MONRAD VAAGE & GEORGE BARBER.
NATIONALMUSEUM, BERLIN. DEC 12, 2008
PHOTO: COURTESY NATIONALMUSEUM.
see: NATIONALMUSEUM/NORDIC GIANTS
watercolor by JENNY LADEN – there’s ALWAYS a way thru the looking glass !!
in ‘JENNY LADEN, New Paintings and works on paper’, Jan 8-FEB 14, 2009
HESKIN CONTEMPORARY, 443 WEST 37th ST., CHELSEA
PHOTO: COURTESY HESKIN CONTEMPORARY
see: HESKIN CONTEMPORARY/JENNY LADEN
both these images were recently featured on the artlovers’ home page.
see: ‘HOW TO PREDICT THE FUTURE’/MELISSA SCHERRER, MELISSA BROWN & LUKE MURPHY !!
~YEAR:2009 RED JUSTICE/YIN YANG |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2009, 12:57pm
. . . best new – ‘found’ critic – of 2009 – and from the motherland, no less !!
found: NICOLAS MAVRIKAKIS, art critic for the LE VOIR, aka VOIR MONTREAL – based in MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA !!
out for a stroll in Chelsea, 23rd St. NYC. JAN 8, 2009.
he was checking out the PAUL P. show at DANIEL REICH, and then was about to saunter over to the PETER SUTHERLAND show at ATM !!
WELCOME TO THE BIG APPLE !! FROM ‘GUIDO BABY’ !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
see: VOIR MONTREAL
see: ARTS VISUELS/VOIR MONTREAL !!
see: NICOLAS MAVRIKAKIS/VOIR MONTREAL/ARCHIVES !!
NANCY SMITH. ca 1977, MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.
aka ‘GUIDO BABY !!’ way back in the day …
I had just sold some drawings to the permanent collection of The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts/Le Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal.
I studied with GUIDO MOLINARI at CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY, Montreal, QUEBEC – both in the Graduate and the Undergraduate Fine Arts programs.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOS: COURTESY NANCY SMITH/artloversnewyork.com
~NICOLAS MAVRIKAKIS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2009, 11:44am
well, lookey here – what we found, free and unattached !! for the – sharp-eyed – taking !!
INFINITY !!
on 10TH Ave at somewhere like 21st St – in CHELSEA !!
found: APRIL 26, 2008
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~INFINITY/BEST FOUND STREET ART 2008 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2009, 11:32am
the best ‘found’ poster of 2008 !!
RED WIRE BLACK WIRE/RECORD RELEASE SHOW/THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20th at 9pm
LIT LOUNGE/with DELETED SCENES & ARMCHAIRS/$6
where found, in December 2008: half hanging off a building wall – that it had been scotch-taped to – in Williamsburg, BROOKLYN !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
see: LIT LOUNGE !!
check out: RED WIRE BLACK WIRE !!
~LIT LOUNGE/BEST FOUND POSTER 2008 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2009, 10:41am
. . . the first sense of the new wave – in the form of THE STATION/MIAMI, ELEANOR CAYRE’S huge 40+ artist fly-in, blow-out, fly-out hard partyin’ & rockin’ contemporary art, very cutting edge installation – came when we ran into NATE LOWMAN and JOE BRADLEY at the RICHARD PRINCE OPENING, SATURDAY, NOV 8, 2008 at GAGOSIAN WEST 24TH ST. CHELSEA. I think it was Joe who told us Nate was going to curate a blow-out show in Miami, for the ART FAIR weekend, and that he, Joe was going to be included. right away we surfed the web and found a website – for THE STATION – with nothing on it – but a P.R. contact – which we contacted, and thus manged to score & POST !! the first early advance pix !! we knew as soon as we saw the pix – the show was going to be a blast !!
see: RICHARD PRINCE OPENING !!
see: THE STATION/MIAMI/first post/artlovers !!
Although, we knew of the co-curators, SHAMIM M. MOMIN and NATE LOWMAN – we had no clue as to who – the earliest PRESS RELEASE from THE STATION – referred to as: “THE PROJECT DIRECTOR” – ELEANOR CAYRE, was… except that she had provided the most striking quotes about the show’s mission – already quoted several times over on this site; and somehow we got an inkling, maybe from our own party-running days for JOSH HARRIS – that the quote unquote Director – was the real heat source behind the show ??
LITTLE DID WE KNOW !!! we thought Eleanor Cayre was maybe behind the whole show – but pegged her to be a professional Miami Institutional – Museum or Private Collection – curator/top administrator. turns out Ms. Cayre is a NYC home girl !! young, the real 30 is 29 !! – ambitious and super smart, as well as way cool and one-half part – determined & steeley – that’s a good thing !! – ELEANOR CAYRE is single-handedly – the new wave of art advisors and collectors, (aren’t we all collectors – who love art – and know when & how to get our hands on that art – whenever, and however – you can !!) She also seems to be an art activist – as witness: her first venture ever – THE STATION/MIAMI – now called an “ELEANOR CAYRE PROJECT” on the website – which, she did in fact – conceive, direct, produce and, more importantly pulled off !! in a super raw, authentic, and dynamo fashion – and yo, although the show she brought down to Miami had a cold hard-edge – it was really a fantastic focus – think NICK CAVE and the BAD SEEDS meets PANDA BEAR !! !! it was super NYC !! if she’s any indication of the new wave of art movers and shakers – to arise from the burnt-out no-holds bared ground – we’re in for a fun, and finally, s-m-a-r-t new ride !!
we meet up with ELEANOR CAYRE on her return to New York.
SUNDAY JAN 4, 2009
ELEANOR CAYRE. BAR PITTI, NYC. JAN 4, 2009
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
Eleanor shows us the THE STATION/MIAMI ‘goodie bag’ limited edition ‘pouch’ – Nate Lowman designed for the show. fun, or what !!
IMAGE COURTESY/THE STATION.
~ELEANOR CAYRE |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 19th, 2009, 1:10pm
TAYLOR LIVINGSTON, who happens to be JONAH FREEMAN’S GF, (girlfriend!!), he of the ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ fame – was so sweet to just send us, some of her candid behind-the-scenes shots at THE STATION/MIAMI !!
All of these folks were part of the ‘in-house’ crew that lived in the ‘luxury’ condos attached to the exhibit’s ‘found’ & still under construction !! – retail/commercial/residential space, and helped bring the huge, almost week-long exhibit – to life !! In a huge fun & games – but definitely serious – artist-like way !!
MARIE ELY, and JUSTIN LOWE.
MARIE ELY, and JUSTIN LOWE.
sitting, RY ROCKLEN, and JUSTIN BEAL.
JON DE SIMON and MIGUEL RANGEL.
hanging out in Justin and Jonah’s ‘condo’ quarters.
TAYLOR LIVINGSTON and MARIE ELY. in the ‘Meth Lab’.
MAXWELL WILLIAMS and JONAH FREEMAN.
the crew !!JONAH FREEMAN, TAYLOR LIVINGSTON, JUSTIN LOWE, MARIE ELY, SHAMIM MOMIN and MAXWELL WILLIAMS.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF & BY: TAYLOR LIVINGSTON.
~THE STATION/INSIDER PIX !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 19th, 2009, 12:12pm
THE STATION/MIAMI – ELEANOR CAYRE’S debut project – was huge, ambitious and insightful !! Curated by SHAMIN M. MOMIN and NATE LOWMAN – a winning combo, if I ever did see one !! – it was the only show in the Miami Art Fair Weekend – that caught, not only the NEW WAVE !!, but the hard-edged vibe of the new times !!
was it: the best group show blow-out exhibition art extravaganza of 2008 ? you bet it was !!
hands down.
a large contemporary overview, with a personal take or point-of-view – that’s a good thing !! – THE STATION was truly c-o-n-t-e-m-p-or-a-r-y, (as opposed to Auction House/Museum blue-chip fake-modern-speak contemporary !!). Not only that – it had a sharp edge to it, in the work, and in the glorious rawness of the huge cavernous space itself. An alternative project – it blew away all of the museum surveys – of this past year, including the 2008 Whitney Biennial !! but, esp. those lame museum collector shows trumpeted as cutting edge in L.A. !!
put together in just a couple of months – it was not only museum quality – but THE STATION had a great fly-by-night feel. a difficult combo to pull off. Like a cold North Eastern wind – it swept in across the sunny beaches – and threw down the real hard-edged stake – the Miami art scene has recently been missing. its not all about mall-mentality art commerce, suntans and partying, anymore. give me hard-core art over decadence – anyday !! but, esp. today !! gimme me that NYC edge !!
THE STATION/MIAMI – a PROJECT DIRECTED & PRODUCED by ELEANOR CAYRE.
CO-CURATED by SHAMIM M. MOMIN and NATE LOWMAN.
with help from STACEY GOERGEN, the CURATORIAL DIRECTOR,
and MAXWELL WILLIAMS – who was also a part of THE STATION team, organizing the performances and instrumental in the nitty gritty part of the big show’s actual installing.
DECEMBER 2 thru DECEMBER 7, 2008
MIDBLOCK EAST, 3250 NE 1st Avenue/Midtown Boulevard at 32nd St, Miami, FLORIDA
a ‘found’ space – of 12,000 square feet, in an as yet, uncompleted, bare bones urban real estate development.
Spread out over 3 separate levels, the exhibition opened in a soaring ground-floor retail space, from where it then flowed to a second floor office space, and then onto a duplex residential apartment. THE STATION was open to the public from 12pm – 9pm. and featured truly cutting edge & more often than not, large & very large works, as well as site specific installations by an equally large (over 40 participants), and diverse group of artists, such as: RITA ACKERMANN, DIANA AL-HADID, LISA ANNE AUERBACH, LUTZ BACHER, JUSTIN BEAL, DIKE BLAIR, LIZZIE BOUGATSOS, JOE BRADLEY, OLAF BREUNING, TOM BURR, PETER COFFIN, GARDAR EIDE EINARSSON, MATIAS FALDBAKKEN, SYLVIE FLEURY, JONAH FREEMAN, MARTHA FRIEDMAN, TERENCE KOH, HANNA LIDEN, JUSTIN LOWE, IRENE MAMIYE, RYAN McGINLEY, BJARNE MELGAARD, MARTIN OPPEL, ROB PRUITT, RY ROCKLEN, TORBJORN RODLAND, STERLING RUBY, TOM SCICLUNA, HAIM STEINBACH, and more.
more than anything else, the one thing that draws us back to THE STATION – is how the exhibit comes across as so alive and dynamic – so raw and ‘with it’ – such a hard thing to carry off in such a big undertaking. As the photos below get across – THE STATION/MIAMI – really did mirror the ambitions and insight of its originator, ELEANOR CAYRE, who said in her mission statement that the show was about “the commitment and admiration I have for working artists. I felt it was important to produce an event that retains a sense of intimacy and urgency. THE STATION isn’t about yesterday or tomorrow – it’s about right now.”
it was hard-edged, raw & real – and, it looks like it was a lot of fun, too !!
opening night at THE STATION, MIAMI. DEC 2, 2008
STACEY GOERGEN, JEFFREY DEITCH, and ELEANOR CAYRE.
ELEANOR CAYRE, THE STATION’S originator/director/producer; SHAMIM M. MOMIN, the co-curator; and STACEY GOERGEN, the project’s curatorial director.
THE STATION/MIAMI co-curators: NATE LOWMAN and SHAMIM M. MOMIN.
SHAMIM M. MOMIN is an associate curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
ELEANOR CAYRE, MELISSA FELDMAN, IDA EKBLAD, MATIAS FALDBAKKEN, and SHAMIM M. MOMIN.
Melissa Feldman was the event planner for the STATION/MIAMI’S opening night.
MUNGO THOMSON, PETER COFFIN, MICHELE O’MARAH, and ELEANOR CAYRE.
Peter Coffin and Michele O’Marah had work in the show.
TAYLOR LIVINGSTON, JONAH FREEMAN, ELEANOR CAYRE, MIGUEL RANGEL, and a guest.
DANA SHUTZ and ROB PRUITT.
LA-based JUSTIN BEAL.
JUSTIN LOWE, JONAH FREEMAN, and a guest.
Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman are the guys who brought you: Hello Meth Lab with a view !!
TOM BURR and JUSTIN BEAL.
RY ROCKLEN.
Ry Rocklen is an LA artist who had 2 very different pieces in the show. He did the pennies on the 2nd floor, which was basically 2,000 pennies thrown all over the floor – “it looked pretty rad and many people asked about it.”
He also did a work on the 1st floor which he called ‘health medallion’ – the medallion – a small colorful circle, hanging, high on the wall – was suspended from a thick rope that went on to surround – encircle – the entire first floor – an ambitious site specific installation that took almost an entire day to complete.
MARTHA FRIEDMAN, next to her installation, ‘Banded’ !!
MARTHA FRIEDMAN – ‘Banded’.
installation by ROB FISCHER.
MARTIN OPPEL’S carpet made of sand !! known as the “sand .. wich” was meant to walked on !!
needless to say it completely disappeared by the end of the opening !!
another view of MARTIN OPPEL’S carpet. BAJRNE MELGRAAD’S couch, GARY SIMMONS red painting and a JENNIFER WEST video at right.
(g-r-e-a-t !!) couch by BJARNE MELGRAAD. ROB PRUITT’S ‘ANNA NICOLE SMITH’ – it up – tombstone, at far right.
at left work by LUTZ BACHER, and at right, HAIM STEINBACH.
LISA ANNE AUERBACH !!
video by JENNIFER WEST.
COSIMA VON BONIN.
a site specific work, built right then and there. by brothers, OSCAR TUAZON and ELI HANSON.
check out this little article: OSCAR TUAZON wins prize !!
this piece by DIANA AL-HADID generated a lot of attention.
chain – site specific piece by TOM SCICLUNA.
HANNA LIDEN.
(very striking !!) photographs mounted on aluminum by IRENE MAMIYE !!
another piece by HAIM STEINBACH.
crate by DIKE BLAIR. DAN COLLEN tricked out the inside. NATE LOWMAN and JOE BRADLEY did the other 2 sides.
NATE’S CRATE / DIKE BLAIR !!
ROB PRUITT’S i-Photos.
YOSHUA OKON’S video in the stairwell !!
STERLING RUBY’S huge piece generated buzz, that traveled all the way back here, in NYC !!
. . . looking through STERLING RUBY’S huge installation/sculpture
the stairway leading down to: Hello Meth Lab with a view !!
detail. JUSTIN LOWE, JONAH FREEMAN – Hello Meth Lab with a view !!
JUSTIN LOWE in his, and JONAH FREEMAN’S – Hello Meth Lab with a view.
the exterior – THE STATION/MIAMI !!
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY/THE STATION
ALL PHOTOS BY: CLINT SPAULDING & NICK HUNT/PatrickMcMullan.com
see: artlovers first – THE STATION MIAMI/POST !!
as well, STACEY GOERGEN, Curatorial Director of THE STATION/MIAMI was kind enough to contribute some background:
The Station Miami
The Station was made possible by a small group of extraordinarily committed art professionals who were determined to bring a free, museum quality exhibition to the public during the 2008 Miami Basel fair. An organic process, the show was organized in under three months, and was installed by curators, art handlers and interns working for reduced rates or for free. Installed in a large, new development in mid-town Miami, the show encompassed approximately 14,000 square feet of unoccupied space, including a soaring first floor commercial area with dirt floors, an unfinished second floor office space, and a duplex apartment.
The concept, originating with Eleanor Cayre, was to utilize these raw, incomplete construction spaces, and offer artists the opportunity to either create new site specific work, or lend objects to the show. Shamim M. Momin and Nate Lowman co-curated the show, either suggesting to artists certain bodies of work in which they were interested, or asking for proposals. The artists were selected in part because their practices investigate architecture and urban landscape, intersections between public and private, notions of design as constructed lifestyle, and, above all, the sense of “in-betweeness†so fleetingly embodied by these exhibition spaces. To give artists a sense of the space, they were sent extensive site images, or in certain cases were invited to visit, so that they could react to the specific architecture, light and feel.
Response to the concept was overwhelmingly enthusiastic– The Station eventually included 48 artists, with 77 works and 3 performances. Almost 60% of the artists made new pieces for the exhibition, reacting to various underlying currents inherent in the exhibition architecture. The availability of this vacant, cavernous space, in a newly built complex reflects the current difficulties in the Miami real estate business, but it also points to the overbuilding of area over the past decade. Diana Al-Hadid’s Untitled (2008), a toppled tower, delicately composed of colored honeycombs has the sense of a fallen nation, where buildings have fallen into decay. Miami based artist Martin Oppel’s Untitled (Strata Fiction F) (2008) consists of precariously stacked Styrofoam cinderblocks, painted on one side in bright florescent colors, perhaps referring to the fragility of building in his hometown. Midtown Miami’s constructed living environment, and the various manners in which people decide to live and furnish their homes, was also explored by artists. Eli Hanson and Oscar Tuazon’s Beer Bottle Test Column (2008) questioned the changing context materials and environment through an empty beer bottle tower, attached with cement and wood to a structural column in the building. In Hello Meth Lab with a View (2008), Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe transformed a shiny, white duplex apartment into a labyrinth of rooms, in which occupants have been producing crystal meth. The grimy interior includes a laboratory, a burnt out kitchen, and the detritus and accumulation of a world falling into itself. The transitory sense of the space was reflected in Martha Friedman’s Banded (2008), a work consisting of 90 oversized rubber bands. The bands were tied in threes, and then installed in a 15 by 15 grid, anchored from floor to ceiling. Encouraging the viewer to walk between the bands, they fluctuated with movement, as the knots found their equilibrium.
The project was also unusual because the entire team stayed on site in apartments above the installation space. This not only included The Station team, but also many of the artists who installed for the show– leading more than one person to compare it to “art campâ€. Given that we were all there, everyone helped in many aspects of the installation and opening, and we all got to know each other very well. We are currently working on a publication which will not only include installation shots, but also outline the curatorial process leading up to the show, as well as the installation and opening.
For more information on the The Station, please visit our website TheStationMiami.org.
Stacey Goergen
Curatorial Director
~THE STATION/MIAMI !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 16th, 2009, 12:54pm
JUSTIN LOWE & JONAH FREEMAN’S huge, detailed, allegorical ? and extremely fabulous installation for THE STATION – ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – scored lots of press & attention, even amidst the crush of the Miami Fair weekend, even scoring a “Best of Miami Art Fair” rating, with a big installation photo, in the New York Times/review of the Miami Art Fair 2008 weekend.
see: the NEW YORK TIMES COVERAGE of THE STATION/’Hello Meth Lab with a view’/ THE STATION/and scroll down to the UP-DATE !!
‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – scored so much momentum – it is going to be re-constructed at DEITCH PROJECTS, NYC – this June 2009 !! – so us New Yorkers can get to see – what the big commotion was all about, first hand !!
This highly detailed (traveling/adaptable) site specific installation took up over 1,300 sq.ft. of The Station/Miami’s huge exhibition space. ELEANOR CAYRE, THE STATION’S originator/director/producer wrote to tell us that it took JUSTIN LOWE and JONAH FREEMAN, and a couple of friends, about 3 weeks to install ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – and that they are even now engrossed in the detailed process of ‘de-installing’ it – so it can be re-incarnated at Deitch Projects this summer. The project is supposedly going to re-surface with a new twist in the name. Word on the street is DEITCH is giving the boys a nice budget to work with, and 5,000 sq. ft. to go wild in – so the next ‘Meth Lab’, in NYC – should be a big blow-out as well.
The first ‘Meth Lab’ was called ‘Hello Meth Lab in the sun’ and was exhibited at BALLROOM MARFA, in Texas. ALEXANDRE SINGH was part of that project, but he has since dropped out, to pursue his own projects.
see: HELLO METH LAB IN THE SUN/BALLROOM MARFA/APRIL 5 – AUGUST 3, 2008 !!
luckily for us, JONAH FREEMAN, just sent us a whole bunch of his personal, WONDERFUL pix, of THE STATION/MIAMI 2008 – ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – !!
the approach. it was a narrative of a hidden Meth lab – located behind a seemingly conservative gallery exhibit. lots of metaphors, there !!
JUSTIN LOWE, JONAH FREEMAN, ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’, THE STATION/MIAMI,
DEC 2 – 7, 2008.
ALL PHOTOS BY JONAH FREEMAN.
~THE STATION/HELLO Meth Lab with a view !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 16th, 2009, 12:03pm
