~VENUS OVER MANHATTAN lands in NEW YORK


PHOTO OF DASH SNOW – ARTIST CREDIT TO BE POSTED
IMAGE: VENUS OVER MANHATTAN – INAUGURAL CATALOG, MAY 2012
note: . . . and yes those are his REAL day of the dead tattoos, T-SHIRT, NOT !!


JEFF KOONS, ‘Violet Ice (Kama Sutra)’, 1991
IMAGE: VENUS OVER MANHATTAN – INAUGURAL CATALOG, MAY 2012

ART MAVEN SIMON CERIGO was at the inaugural opening of New York City’s latest addition to the art world’s big money stratosphere – and reports:

ADAM LINDEMANN’S NEW EXHIBITION SPACE TO OPEN WITH ‘A REBOURS’ on MAY 10, 2012.

the gallery, titled VENUS OVER MANHATTAN, ‘V over M’ for short – is located at 980 MADISON AVE, between East 76th and 77th Streets on the 3rd floor – and is open to the public Tuesday thru Saturday from 10AM to 6PM. the inaugural show, ‘A REBOURS’ runs thru JUNE 30, 2012.

SIMON RELATES:

to catch the hi-end auction crowd from the SOTHEBY’S CONTEMPORARY SALE, and to be in-your-face, the opening started at 10 PM to rivers of champagne, absinthe, tiny gourmet chocolate, and beautiful women. With this enterprise, ADAM LINDEMANN, that very vocal collector who pens a column on the art world for the OBSERVER – is out to make a ‘hopefully’ compelling aesthetic statement.

Besides the work, the tone of the presentation was very downtown, not uptown. The interior of the approx. 6,000 sq. ft. space was left raw, and the lighting was as dark as a nightclub, except for spotlights trained on the work. The ‘faux antique’ catalogs were also haphazardly stacked on the floor at the right of the entrance, just like you might find in Brooklyn !!

Leaving behind all the other art world baggage Mr. Lindemann brings to the already over-wrought New York art scene, VENUS OVER MANHATTAN is the latest example of a new trend, “collector turns into dealer”, joining the MUGRABIS and PETER BRANT. With this show, Mr. Lindemann is staking out a position – as an “arbiter of taste”.

Like his writings, this ‘romantic’ show which features work from the 19th century to the present, and from primitive, a ‘Royal Hawaiian feather cloak’, c. 1750, to Mr. Jeff Koons, aspires to achieve a ‘shock’, in that all the work presented expresses an extreme emotional state. There is a lot of poetry here, enough to sustain the opening night, but whether it’s enough to make a whole program – is what everybody is talking about.

An opinionated blue chip player, who looks and acts like a young Marlon Brando in a leather biker jacket, in a sea of suits, he is out to rattle the establishment. he’s on record for writing that the ethics of the art world – are worse than those on Wall Street. But, he also creates his own controversy. A recent example would be that he was famously called out for slamming MIAMI BASEL, as being played out, but then shows up. (!!)

One thing’s for sure – the spirit of downtown, was definitely uptown – at this inaugural party. Lindemann’s wife, the well-known art dealer AMALIA DAYAN, was a stand-out at the opening in her skin-tight one piece couture jump suit. by the time I noticed her, I was already a little drunk, so I can’t quite remember if it had fishes, or were those trees ? printed all over it. Fashionistas, sorry to let you down on the details, but stunning – is the final word.

see: VENUS OVER MANHATTAN