‘HOME EDITION’ . . ESSEX FLOWERS / OPENING PIX – PART II / DANCIN’ IN THE DARK

ESSEX FLOWERS . . ‘HOME EDITION’
OPENED FRI FEB 23, 2018
the group show runs thru . . MARCH 11, 2018
it’s wild !!
don’t miss it.
ESSEX FLOWERS, 19 MONROE ST., CHINATOWN
HRS: SAT & SUN / 12-6 PM & by appointment


PHILIP HINGE of CATBOX CONTEMPORARY, with EMILY JANOWICK.
Emily Janowick was the co-curator of the recent ‘THE BIG SHORT’, up at Hunter.
CATBOX CONTEMPORARY has an off-gallery . . ‘CATELLITE’ installation – in the ESSEX FLOWERS ‘HOME EDITION’ show, too !!


MICHAEL MAHALCHICK & LIZZIE WRIGHT.
Lizzie made those eerie, neon-colored LED lamps . . that had sent the magic dial way up, in the darkened front room, at the nighttime opening !!


one of Lizzie’s lamps to the right.
MAHALCHICK had an ‘inter-dimensional’ installation, that was right under my repaired, early 20th C. crib quilt !! the auditory part of it was a mint condition / vintage Mickey Mouse portable vinyl record player !! just what every kid had in their basement, back in the day, maybe from the 50s ?
and . . it worked.

so it was a little bit of ‘home’ ‘decor’ history . . in dialog.
even at that, maybe a 30 year difference in age, between the log cabin patchwork quilt and the factory-made record player, it was such a big leap in . . family culture, and kid ‘dynamics’. visuals / graphics. fabrication. spirit. though both were very . . lively, when you broke it down into basics / and ‘kid’ joyful.

I totally loved how it said . . “hi kids!” !!!!!
under my re-paired quilt / since it was so long in the making, for anybody to take my re-claimed / preservation-minded, creative-stitched / quilt projects seriously.
finally . . a home, even if temporary. a ‘rental’, lol.
a baby footstep into the art world conversation.
thank you, co-curator JEFFREY TRANCHELL & . . ESSEX FLOWERS !!


the Mahalchick record player sat on a curious, but very useful, moveable, fluid, segmented wooden table, ‘Squat’ by SARA MURPHY. the table was very adaptable, and was also more ‘illustrative’ / of like, a Greek goddess ? from a proper angle.
it was actually split into two parts / with another part, just around the corner.
Sara had a foot, in both rooms.

in the background, on the right, is a glimpse of a very animated, wall divider: a ‘Privacy Screen’ by RUFUS TUREEN. silkscreen, acrylic, hollow doors, canvas.
all these elements – wove together.


detail, RUFUS TUREEN . . ‘Privacy Screen’.


Mahalchick had these strange, talk-about-dark-magic !! vintage, vinyl albums . . re-purposed, into 3-d artwork, & oh oh . . BABY !!
a little wild child baby, under the once raggedy, now happy . . baby crib quilt.
‘Home is where the heart is !!” ~MELISSA BROWN.

you can see the naked ‘butt’ of the Sara Murphy ‘goddess’ table, now . . !!
FERTILITY !! oh la la. & a big issue re: HOME.

that is a rough & wild, DIY hand-woven rag rug by MICHAEL WELSH, on the floor. one of the other few items – that managed to hold a place – in both rooms / day or night, every chic home . . needs a nice, cushy rug !!
also very traditional, btw – in the form & in the making.


MICHAEL MAHALCHICK, ‘standard’ LPS, anything, but.
he encased them in some kind of weird pigment, rubber combo. very durable as artworks, btw. at $500 a pop, a very good deal. a sculpture, really.


re: pigment.
that swirl of ‘tie-dye’, was a ‘Flag’, by ANDREA McGINTY.
a kind of even more . . DIY venture, made from old sweatpants, it kept that dark room: honest & hardcore . . to the very last drop.
something a teenager would do, down in the basement.


above it all, declaring ancient Romans . . abound.
RYAN FALKOWITZ, ‘New Flag’, 2017.
digital print on polyester.
my re-worked quilt to the right.
you can see the Log Cabin, ‘Straight Furrows’, pattern – better in this light.


nighty-night time . . at the hardcore, Museum of Home Furnishings !!
WALK ON IN. THE SPELLS, THE GODS. THE . . FINE SKILLS / THE BRUTE !!
WE GOT IT – ALL. FAST FORWARD, & LOOKING BACKWARD, too.

MICHAEL WELSH, ‘Untitled’, 2018 – soda bottle Terrarium.
BEN DOWELL, ‘Cheerios’, 2015. 12 x 8 x 3 in. Zinc-cast cereal box.
detail, off to the right / ‘Roy 3.0’ by WILLIE WAYNE SMITH, a painted ‘white’ plaster head.


more subversive . . home ‘decor’ in the window.
WILLIE WAYNE SMITH, crazy painted ‘white’, NOT !! / plaster head.
LIZZIE WRIGHT . . new age LED light.
PATRICK ARNOLD, ‘GOD IS DEAD’/ ‘Untitled (Pillow)’, 2018.
embroidery, canvas, pillow form. edition #1/10. 18 x 18 in.


RYAN FALKOWITZ, ‘New Flag’, 2017.
digital print on polyester.
39.5 x 58 in.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH – unless otherwise noted.