~ARCHIVAL/JOHN HODANY & BRIAN BELOTT/TAYLOR McKIMENS/JOE BRADLEY/MICHAEL WILLIAMS/ MISAKI/ & even ANDREW GUENTHER !!

. . . a few more pix from back in the day !!
the downtown crew assembled for a one night event, summer of 2003.

early # 9
from left: BRIAN BELOTT and JOHN HODANY, CAPITALE, NYC. JULY 24, 2003

early # 10
the guy with the microphone ?
yep, that’s MALIBU VON aka JOE BRADLEY, fronting his band CHEESEBURGER !!
CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003

early # 11
JOE BRADLEY, CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003

early # 12
JOE BRADLEY, CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003

early # 13
hard to believe, but yeah !! that’s JOE BRADLEY on the left, with his band – CHEESEBURGER !!
CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003

early # 14
TAYLOR McKIMENS was there too, behind him – one of his all-dressed ‘cheeseburger’ paintings !!

early # 15
when TAYLOR McKIMENS left these (somewhat) DONALD BAECHLOR-influenced minimalist pop images behind, and got back in touch with his rural South Western desert roots, with ‘THE DRIPS’ – his career & painting really began to take off . . .

early # 16
MISAKI KAWAI and TAYLOR McKIMENS, an item back in the day . . .

. . . guess we should show you a couple of more pix we found, buried deep in the archival shoeboxes !!
how about the gang at a seminal show – ‘MAJORITY WHIP’ !! – organized by KATHY GRAYSON and LAURA TEPPER, at WHITEBOX, MAY 1 – MAY 29, 2004.
In the, as yet, unwritten annals of NYC painting, this show is going to be famous for being the first outing of TAYLOR McKIMENS’ – ‘THE DRIPS’ – and I do mean, literally!!

early # 17
BRIAN BELOTT at the opening of ‘MAJORITY WHIP’ – an artist ‘get out and vote’ effort. MAY 1, 2004
(at least he has new schmatta on his head !!)

early # 19
we forgot how charming, MICHAEL WILLIAMS, was !! back in the day.
‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004

early 19 drips
the first outing of TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘The Drips’ !! well, first there was this really strange but actually a-m-a-z-i-n-g, what-the-hell-is-that , literal ‘tableau’ of (paper) water ‘drips’ heading into pails and cups of some fake some real – water !! you really didn’t know what to think, but it was cool. and then there was a real ‘DRIPS’ family member in the back, in the oval frame on the yellow wall. that weirdo buttnaked chubby guy riding on tractor, with a blue lampshade over his head !!
You know the Simpsons ? MEET THE DRIPS !!

I remember well, going back another day. and this really dumbass collector, ok I’ll even name names !!
LEO (LIO) MALKA – was there, and he told me he had bought several of Taylor’s ‘hamburger’ paintings from ‘those girls’ over at CLEMENTINE – but he couldn’t make head over heels – what this new stuff was about, and he looked as if he had just seen his hard won dough (right !!) flushed down the toilet, that’s what I mean, dumbass. I think it even turned him off from buying contemporary ’emerging’ art altogether from that day forward. he has tons of HARINGS & BASQUIATS, so what !!

early # 20
the large soft sponge-blob man, is by MISAKI KAWAI.

early # 21
our most fave piece by BRIAN BELOTT, e-v-e-r !!
no, its not a stick of butter, its a box of proverbial kleenex tissue !!
at the top it says; “Here Have a Tissue” – at the bottom, its easier to read:
“sorry about fuckin yur country” – its addressed to the people who took down the WORLD TRADE CENTER !! these collage posters were distributed freely, in a limited quantity at the opening, and if you were sharp you scored one, did we ? OF COURSE !! NO BRAINER !!
I mean its kind of a hard logic to follow in an anti-BUSH rally – but there you go – if you lived in NYC when the towers came down, you got it !!

early # 22
silkscreen collage poster collaboration – MELISSA BROWN and BRIAN BELOTT.

early # 24
another MELISSA BROWN/BRIAN BELOTT silkscreen collage poster collaboration.

early # 25
lookey here, who else was in the show – ANDREW GUENTHER !!
‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004

early # 28
the ‘hanging cross man’ by ANDREW GUENTHER.

early # 29
if !! only !!
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004

early # 31
an early outing by MATT LEINES. ‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 8, 2004

early # 32
last but not, least – ‘Clergy Dagger’ – we miss seeing more of MICHAEL MAGNAN’S biting take around town.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH