~PERROTIN .. CATTELAN / FIRMAN / TAKE TWO !! (REVISION).

as in MAURIZIO CATTELAN vs DANIEL FIRMAN !!

looks like I really kicked a hornets nest .. on that one.

so: ‘BITCH STOLE MY LOOK’ – TAKE TWO.

that show-stopping, super seductive life-size hyper realist chick .. about to disrobe in Perrotin’s new lower level, is NOT by CATTELAN. it’s by DANIEL FIRMAN.

I guess I jumped to conclusions since Cattelan’s work is widely known here in NYC, while Firman’s is not. I guess it all just comes down to sculpture – realist sculpture – as old as the Greeks.

with it’s newest ‘take’/ hi-tech plastic technology .. probably harking back to DUANE HANSON.

though it’s an interesting topic. competitive branding / signature ‘look’. once the hi-tech technology becomes more accessible – the new ‘marble’ .. then it’s the ‘concept’ .. that really counts ?
I’m sure I accidentally .. touched on something.

I mean, just backing off of these guys, for a moment. doesn’t anybody else trace a line from JEFF KOONS’ steel balloon bunnies . . to KAWS’ recent MOONMAN, that also looked totally ‘blown up’ at the seams. just saying.
it’s an interesting dialog. and it’s NOT NEW.

it goes back through art history .. groups of very individual, super competitive artists .. riffing and dialoging on the same theme, in the same material. the American Abstract Expressionists, for example. I guess it’s what they used to call: ‘schools’ in the ole days. also popping up in thought: the recent Impressionist show at the MET, which showcased very identical on the surface, but absolutely different ‘garden’ scenes between MONET, MANET, RENOIR, etc.

see: IMPRESSIONISM, Fashion, and Modernity. FEB 26 – MAY 27, 2013 at the MET

and, yeah.
on second glance, it’s obvious. Cattelan is more ‘political’ in the curve-balls he throws. from what I saw of Firman’s work online – he is more poetic, more philosophical. I see more of Duane Hanson’s influence, the ‘accidental’ tourist in his realism. whereas Cattelan’s work never fades into, or merges into ambience or poetry, unless you want to call the poetry of political rebellion .. ambience ?
in Firman’s work there is a mystery. in Cattelan’s there is a call .. to action.
takes 2 to tango.

so, that being said:

here’s a re-file: ‘BITCH STOLE MY LOOK’ – APOLOGIES, JOAN RIVERS !!

and apologies: CATTELAN & FIRMAN.


MAURIZIO CATTELAN, bad boy of the art world .. at the RUSSIAN TEA ROOM AFTER-PARTY, PERROTIN DEBUT BASH, NYC, SEPT 17, 2013.

CATTELAN, also represented by Perrotin .. put on that great GUGGENHEIM retrospective, a year or so back.

let’s hope Cattelan the Prankster .. can take a joke. he plays plenty, himself.
I mean, wasn’t he supposed to be .. retiring ?!!!

of course, the biggest joke was the 99% en bulk of the so-called art critics in this town !! who played themselves to be fools, too kind a word – when they collectively trashed ‘ALL’ .. Cattelan’s awesome awesome ‘hanging’ retrospective at the Guggenheim, en masse. one of the best shows this town has seen in decades .. with lines that went around the block – to get in. the day I went, MARC JACOBS was seen .. just rolling with delight !!

I may make my mistakes, but they pale .. in comparison to that mass misstep.

see: CATTELAN, ‘ALL’ – GUGGENHEIM, NOV 4, 2011 – JAN 22, 2012.


PERROTIN had a few works by his gallery artists scattered in the lower level exhibition space.
this one was the BEST.
and it fooled a lot of people !! including myself, apparently.


I had thought it to be by Cattelan,
but it was by DANIEL FIRMAN, and it was SEAMLESS.
and I mean, s-e-a-m-l-e-s-s. perfect. in concept & production. absolutely life-like. mysterious, caught you off-guard, just around a little bend in the most tucked away part of the gallery. I watched as several people backed away in embarrassment .. for having thought they had accidentally intruded .. into a private space.
a private moment.

I wonder if the setting, was the real ‘office’ kichenette, or purely a fictional prop, made-up. I’m thinking, yes – it is the actual office/kitchen annex ?

the best part was: I just happened to be in the right spot, at the right time, to overhear JEFFEREY DEITCH, remark to someone who had just led him to the ‘forbidden’ site of undress .. state in very good humor, something like .. “haha, I’ve seen that before.” !!

he was of course referring to his BARRY McGEE exhibit, of 2005.
hence, the ‘BITCH STOLE MY STYLE’ .. gibe.

all in all, JEFFREY seemed in the best spirits – I have ever seen him in. he was always a little uptight and, well – cranky, at his own openings. does absence make the heart grow fonder ? I’m thinking: yeah.
and, is that sentiment .. a 2 way street ?
ditto. yes, apparently !!


BARRY McGEE, ‘Untitled (Bathroom installation)’, 2005. mixed media, dimensions variable
PHOTO COURTESY: DEITCH PROJECTS/BARRY McGEE – ‘ONE MORE THING’, MAY 7-AUG 13, 2013,
DEITCH PROJECTS – 18 WOOSTER, NYC.

see: more pix – BARRY McGEE, ‘ONE MORE THING’, DEITCH PROJECTS


JEFFREY DEITCH -THE ‘GOOD HUMOR’ GUY – !!
the prodigal son returns ?
what, blew your wad .. in LA.
bet you got a golden .. parachute, or something. you don’t look too worried. bet you still got some tricks up your sleeves.

well one thing’s for sure, JEFFREY will have a hard time beating PERROTIN at the party game !!
JEFFREY was always a little tight .. on the par-tay !!
but friggin’ pretty good .. on the cutting edge art. it’s kinda been a wasteland without him.

see: DEITCH PROJECTS

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. NYC, SEPT 17, 2013, unless otherwise noted.