above: KENNY KOMER & BORIS RASIN - ‘ECONOMICS 101′ - !!
pretty much the way it is - THE SUMMER OF 2009 - !!
. . . you put your dollar in - you get - 3 quarters back !!

‘ECONOMICS 101′ . . . was recently featured on the artlovers homepage - the piece surfaced in GAVIN BROWN’S SUMMER SHOW, ‘THE LIVING AND THE DEAD’ - which just came down last week (Aug 7, 2009).
see: GAVIN BROWN’S enterprise

INSTALLATION PHOTO: NANCY SMITH

. . . hard to believe this weekend - is - the 40th ANNIVERSARY of WOODSTOCK !! what a difference 40 years - make !!

not only was artlovers music critic & art commentator at large - SIMON CERIGO - at WOODSTOCK - he was 17 !!
and, some people - would say - he never came back, never mind remember anything, except the huge amount of recreational drugs (hash being the potion of choice) he ingested - “along with whatever else they were doing there ” . . . but he does remember all the groups he saw, incl yes !! JANIS JOPLIN & JIMI HENDRIX !! he says he “only missed THE WHO, because he passed out (right in front of the stage during their performance !!) from sheer exhaustion - 3 days of non-stop hard core partying - had taken their toll !!

. . . but - small world - circles and karma and all - SIMON knows all 3 of the young stars of this summer’s NYC art scene - KENNY KOMER, BORIS RASIN & even JERRY BLACKMAN - from back in the day - when they were students at COOPER UNION, and Simon was a part time director/consultant/curator at the now defunct CAPSULE GALLERY !! in CHELSEA. circa 2003/04.
KENNY and BORIS were encouraged to do their first ever gallery-produced site-specific piece - under the sidewalk - and Jerry was the gallery intern !! those were the days !! KATE (CERIGO) - Simon’s daughter was just a kid, when she came to the CAPSULE openings - an art student at LaGuardia High School, which in fact - Boris and Kenny, and I think even, Jerry had also attended. it was kind of a shock to them, this summer - esp Boris - for some reason - when KATE showed up at their multiple openings - to find yes !! time flies, Kate is all grown up - and graduated from SVA, GRAPHIC DESIGN - last SPRING 2008 !! now they know how - the old timers feel. and what, they are all of 27 ? 28 ?
LOL !! its great to watch the local talent grow up and R-U-L-E !! all 3 most definite - caught, …. make that DEFINED !! - - - - the SUMMER WAVE of 2009.

KENNY KOMER & BORIS RASIN - with their collaborations - and, individual pieces in an inspired & sharply edited - independent show in BROOKLYN, called ‘THE SUM AND ALL PARTS’, (JUNE 18 - JULY 26, 2009), which was curated by JENNY BORLAND & BEAU RUTLAND; as well as with works in the afore-mentioned GBE SUMMER FEST: ‘THE LIVING AND THE DEAD’.
JERRY BLACKMAN had a piece in that GBE show as well, the big free-standing floor piece - the interlocking lips - that looked they were made of wood but were really some kind of plastic resin or acrylic (?) painstakingly treated to look like wood - !!
and, he actually has an even more amazin’ piece, an ANCHOR !! still on view at DAM STUHLTRAGER in BROOKLYN (JULY 11 - AUGUST 30, 2009). more amazin’ - because:
1) I liked the idea of an ‘anchor’ over the ‘interlocked lips’ - which I thought was kind of a played-out image - unless he was being really, and I mean capital R - REALLY !! - iconic ? …. I really liked the anchor’s, free spirit, newness of oldness image, its very shape and dimensions, and the low-fi way it just sits against the wall. even though its so big.
plus, being semi-autustic - or is that - high-functioning autistic - ?? - I just really love plastic. retro, new & sci-fi.
I have to say - I haven’t loved a piece so much since catching GEORGIA GRAY & JORY RABINOVITCH’S one day wonder - outdoor - low-fi sculpture - show - of the just past Spring 2009 - (and, they are both also COOPER UNION students !! coincidence - I don’t think so !!) - ‘I MS. GRAND PA’ - pix of which are going to post this FALL 2009 - as the SEASON’S teaser - “I told you so !! that great !!” - post - !!
I think in truth - I’ve been hoarding them !!
and that brings me to recall - last year’s 2008 - SUMMER SLEEPER - PATRICK GRIFFIN’S - ‘COUNT THY BUTTONS’ at THE JOURNAL (BROOKLYN) !! also with great ‘resin’ pieces - over-size wall ‘buttons’ - that caught the ‘teen’ spirit of that day - !!
but, wait, I daydream in color - back to the here & now - !!

2) what I also liked about this ANCHOR piece of Jerry’s - was that unlike the GBE lips - he has left segments ‘undone’ - that contrast - the transparent resin or plastic - to the other parts - that are hand-worked and carefully detailed - to look like, and simulate wood.
so - its as great as watching - A BOBBY FLAY THROW-DOWN - except without the motion !! and the food !!
see: JERRY BLACKMAN/SUMMER SESSION/DAM STUHLTRAGER !!

P.S. - SIMON CERIGO - definitely feels:

1. the financial sector - !! - has been much more ‘creative’ - than the art world - in the past year.

and, 2. if you wanna see a walking talking cautionary tale - up close & personal - of what happens to guys who party too hard, courtesy of hanging out with too many trust fund babies, I believe his term of choice - is - “blood-sucking no-talent vampires” - you couldn’t beat Simon. Not only will they bleed you dry for info, and build huge (art) collections around your smarts - and, leave you penniless - but, they’ll steal your groupies, too !!