~15 WARREN ST . . NEW ORDER

catchin’ the scene / checkin’ out the vibe.

diggin’ the new art ‘rays’ . . . .

literally. note the diversity, of the light sources . . duh.

15 WARREN ST, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow. one more post !!

GIVE ME . . LIGHT !!

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN ST . . NEW ORDER | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2014, 3:47pm



~15 WARREN ST . . NEW ART

NEW GENERATION . . ARTISTS.


ADAM ZHU.
this was a first time / debut exhibition . . for this young artist.


a sienna grey monotone, a site specific collage . . that looked to be pasted directly onto the raw wall.
it was both graphic, eroding, full of history, and . . political.
if you didn’t know Chinese, you didn’t know what the vertical banners said.

but even so, and perhaps, because of . . . this piece spoke to a lot of people.
I saw it pop-up in the online dialog that immediately sprung up, following the opening night . .

the other thing that struck me, from my vantage point of observing the cutting edge scene, the so-called ‘underground’ in NYC since the early 80s . . was how consistently some people just land like . . cats.
they land . . right on the thin fine line, the vibrating edge – in the heart of a huge scene within a huge ‘art’ focused city. the power of the individual voice vs the mass momentum.

for sure, that’s one of the things that makes covering the ‘frontier’ in New York so interesting, this consistent dynamic of landing so perfectly, in such a vast environment. and, making your ‘singularity’ mark.
New York is very very magical that way.


the piece worked just as perfectly, within the raw confines of the show – it was a ‘perfect’ storm.
from the the eroding wall, the old copper pipes overhead, to the reflections of new media, and light (!!) from the sides.

cut and paste.


the collage spoke of lost civilizations, eroding empires, history. the rites of time. entropy.
virtual time travel via the diverse cultural pathways of past artistic visions, & . . glories.
but: the American flag ?
upside-down. and in color. blood .. red.
and dying, seriously.


the piece seemed to be dominated by a heroic ‘sadness’.
a kind-of overall Greek tragedy blow-out. human civilization .. flawed. the Lotus eaters.
even ancient civilizations that were capable of such heights of artistic wonder, fall prey to political destruction.
and even on a personal destiny: we are born . . to fail. or at least, surely to struggle.
it made me think of Simon.
it made me think of JOE BRADLEY, and his abstract story, of last year. but still the same story: the Lotus Beaters.


and, the . . ferocious ancestors, they all knew:
walking on the face of the earth, is not such a gentle . . gambol, after all.


all the ancients knew this. Greek, Hindu, Mayan . . Minoan. whatever.


when people say . . a work of art is: authentic, this is what they mean.
it resonates . . without needing an accompanying verbal narrative.
it connects to an untapped, or unspoken knowing-ness, and willingness . . within the intuitive, collective unconscious of each individual viewer, who can walk away with his own . . message, and ‘meaning’.

the powerful magic of the piece . . seemed to find a ‘echo’, or a ‘sign’ . . in the eroding wall.
for sure, that was some ancient god’s all-seeing ‘eye’ . . hovering, a-b-o-v-e.

APOPHENIA
PAREIDOLIA
ALGORITHM
TO PROCESS . . . KNOWLEDGE.

15 WARREN ST, 10007
MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN ST . . NEW ART | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 30th, 2014, 9:27am



~15 WARREN ST . . GENTLE ART

GIRL ART ?


these pretty little paintings were found among an array of old electrical ‘findings’ . .


they couldn’t be more than 4 x 4 in. ea, maybe 4 x 6 inches at most, site specific tour de force !!
I’m thinking they speak to a female’s gentle hand . . .
and peaceful i-m-a-g-i-n-a-t-i-o-n !!
as well as to: childhood . . . esp children’s book illustrations, ca. 1980s.

the sunnier side of . . growing up.


they were there . . on the left, halfway down a staircase.

15 WARREN ST, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN ST . . GENTLE ART | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 28th, 2014, 9:33am



~15 WARREN ST . . HARSH ART

BOY ART ?

15 WARREN STREET, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN ST . . HARSH ART | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 27th, 2014, 11:06am



~15 WARREN ST . . VIEWING STATIONS


in another sub-basement alcove was a cozy . . ‘screening’ station.


it was actually quite dark, and the real life experience, was more like this.


another screening station, among the basement pipes.
all the screening stations were ‘retro’ based.
there were no cold hard flat screens sticking out from walls.

15 WARREN STREET, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN ST . . VIEWING STATIONS | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 26th, 2014, 6:01pm



~15 WARREN . .


small watercolor on paper, by under-recognized 80s downtown artist . . . MICHAEL McCLARD.


watercolor by MICHAEL McCLARD in the recent, blink and you’ll miss it – cutting edge group exhibit,
. . 15 WARREN STREET.

SEAN VEGEZZI told me that this was one of his . . “most favorite pieces in the show”.

I’m thinking that what most attracted him to this piece, was the way the watercolor . . broke apart the otherwise flat conventional paper plane,
the inherent surface plane . . into multi-colored rays, of rainbow . . ‘light’.

it has an ‘immediacy’ that was echoed in the exhibit – as a whole.

the portrait was certainly ‘magical’.
as opposed to hyper-realist, or abstract expressionist, just saying.

also prob the ‘overlooked’ & ‘outcast’ status of the artist . . was bound to appeal to a ‘rebel’ crew.


part of the magic of the piece was most def, it’s presence – and presentation – in this utterly raw and mysterious, old bricked alcove, in the old store’s sub-basement.
MICHAEL McCLARD had most definitely been given . . a ‘place of honor.’

SEAN asked me – if I knew of . . MICHAEL McCLARD ?

of course, I did.

in fact SIMON, the recently departed SIMON CERIGO . . my so-called hubby, fellow art maven buddy, and learned music reviewer – was one of the first people, to support and show Michael McClard’s work, at the tail end of the Lower East Side glory days – in the early 80s. at his short-lived . . SIMON CERIGO GALLERY on AVE A, near 12th St.

we all, all of us un-recognized artists, hope we might pop up .. big, eventually (!!) on the art world grid.

that we will be saved by the newest generation to burst down the conventional forces that be. and just really weren’t that good at calling the art – are / were they ?
we all hope: to have lost the battle, but not the war ?!!

but, speaking of SIMON !!

ha ha – he would be rolling with laughter in his grave, now.
though actually what metaphor do you use, for someone whose ashes got scattered in a Vermont stream ?

oh, well, he’s still choking . . with side-splitting laughter, no matter.

RICHARD JOHNSON of PAGE SIX, has just informed the world, that MARK KOSTABI is taking up with CICCIOLINA !!
ha ha.
a true opportunist never leaves a ‘porn star’, unturned !!
or what / !!

hey, you never know: do we have buck-naked, hyper-realist Russian-type paintings of KOSTABI entwined with the 60+ CICCIOLINA . . to look forward to ?
can what worked huge for . . JEFF KOONS, work its magic again ?

talk about: S-L-O-P-P-Y SECONDS !!

read: KOSTABI PLANS BIO PIC . . for new SWEETIE: PORN-STAR POL CICCIOLINA !! – NEW YORK POST

XXX (!!!)

15 WARREN STREET, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 25th, 2014, 12:57pm



~15 WARREN . .


SEAN VEGEZZI, the 3rd curator of 15 WARREN STREET, along with . . his Tribeca childhood pals: ABELINE COHEN, and ANDREW KASS.


if you don’t think a . . VOID, could be the heart of the matter, think again.

it almost looked . . blood-like, from a distance.
a detached, cut-out, human organ – blown up, hyper scale.
kept alive, on mechanical life-support.
in the basement.

sci-fi does come to mind,
like-wise, human ‘squishy’ ness, our fragile bio state vs the eternal beating heart, king of all earthly metaphors.


this is SEAN VEGEZZI’s site specific piece for the show.
how so much excitement could lie in . . such ‘silence’ . . . is also the heart of the matter.

so much laid bare.
history. rawness. spatial definitions . . undone.

so much open-fisted, plastic/composition field . . ‘questioning’, and a twisting of perception, a twisting of imagination, a veritable, beating . . ‘heart’ in the center of the show.

it speaks to: unbound.
a state of reaching, of reaching beyond the usual visual ‘arts’ parameters . . by, ironically going to the very bottom.


the subterranean, on fire.
take away whatever metaphors you wish, they are aplenty, and they are yours . . for the asking.

actual ‘light’ – was a big factor at play, in the show as a whole.

this coppery color on fire, was even more interesting if you actually knew Mr. Vegezzi’s earlier, main body of work . . photographs taken in the deep forbidden underground infrastructure, the subterranean tunnels of the NYC / MTA – the subway system . . those photographs had a very eerie sour candy-like translucent / lime green light . . to them.

from green comes copper.
from copper comes green, exposed to the elements.
in your imagination, move from the subterranean . . to the old church spires, all around you, in a big city like this,
the core and the spires . . are very inter-related. the hidden basement cores, and the crowning roof spires, and they move with us, stationary and inter-related, just like time does: past, present, future. though one is as man-made, as the other is physics . . on the path of our planetary orbit.

the deep basements and slightly wobbling towers – the man-made structures that mark cities, and stay rooted in place, as the planet turns, and spins.

unless they are ‘downed’. of course.

the artificial light glowing up like embers, from the excavation . . revealing the site-specific history, but also, art-wise: breaking down the usual white box walls, destroying most flat non-engaging surfaces, and challenging the usual art history ‘perceptions’ !!

you walked through this show, you didn’t just . . view it.

you walked around Mr. Vegezzi’s ‘pit’, and you saw a continuum though space, vis a vie the construction bags lined up against the wall.

this was a break-down and break-away show, no doubt about it, the best of the best of the underground – literally popping up, and taking on all comers. esp the institutionalized . . ones.
NYC has a great history, of this. of art. of new generations popping up, and breaking down barriers.

this was a ‘take-down’.

it took as its stated target . . the current glut of no-where art, with very little meaning or plastic ‘freshness’, that dominates the scene, and its many no-where commentators, profusely citing paragraphs of art history, as if that meant . . anything really, about the work at hand.

as if nothing has changed in a million years.

not even a little thing like . . the digital revolution.

not even a thing like growing up in the shadow of destruction, while the world as a whole, scientifically and culturally . . is on the cusp of ‘discovery’ and ‘communication’ . . so beyond, our ancestors’ broadest imaginations.

15 WARREN STREET, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 23rd, 2014, 10:18am



~15 WARREN . .


ANDREW KASS.
there were 3 curators of the one week-long group show that blew open the New Year, and reminded everybody that NYC – was still king. ABELINE COHEN was one.
ANDREW KASS was another.


I think it’s safe to say . . that when a young man who is hosting an event like this, holds forth a open coffin, lit by florescent tubing, and faces any and all . . on-comers thus, it’s going to be a blast.


it was more, like . . through the magic portal, through the passageway, of art.
it was nothing to do with . . skanky, smelly death.
nothing to do with fear, remorse or human frailty.
it was . . Peter Pan.
it was . . Alice in Wonderland.
f the towers.

it was walking, it was friggin teetering . . right on the ‘edge’.

it was the ‘obit’ notice – for the rest of ya pretentious ‘contemporary’ art world wannabes.

it was the young Tribeca-born and bred cowboys’, and cowgirls’ – way to put the nail . . in your coffin.

oh god, please take that sorry sad-ass Whitney Biennial, and friggin abort it.
along with 3/4 of Chelsea, and almost all of the Lower East Side, Brooklyn is a wobblin’. .
throw blood on the floor, and set it on fire.
now, that would be . . exciting.

and let a-n-y-b-o-d-y from 15 Warren, light . . the match.

15 WARREN STREET, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

ASIDE:

no. the irony hasn’t escaped me, publishing these photos on the very first anniversary of Simon’s death, Jan 20, 2013.
though ‘skanky’ does come more to mind, than Peter Pan.
the worms that seeped out of the woodwork . . after he died !!
no, if you fed him drugs, and in measure way beyond moderation or recreation . . you were not part of his life – you were part of his DEATH.

if you cheated him, out of his rightful livelihood . . for the tips he gave you that you made good $$ on, you were a part of his DEATH.

I guess vampires, blood-sucking art world vampires .. . does come to mind.
coffins, and all.
oh. yeah. they’re for real.
Simon was a Greek, in heritage.in DNA. and they didn’t write the ODYSSEY, OEDIPUS REX, for naught.

besides,
artlovers is just my stage name – branded on me forever by that once-upon-a-time artnet editor: WALTER ROBINSON.

CHARLIE FINCH, his incomparable artnet essayist, who used Simon as his very own ‘seeing eye dog’ bye the way, au contraire . . got my number down, with his characteristic, and absolutely piercing flair: CRACKULA . . was what he called me, CRACK for short.
always deadly in aim, always cruising to kill. always, cracking jokes. all the while . . sucking the blood out of the pretenders, losers, ho’s, and wannabes, not to forget, ingrates !! . . that litter the scene.
you know the people blocking the way to . . the real holy grail: live wire talent.

how could CRACKULA not l-o-v-e, a good open coffin.

see: SIMON SAYS . . REPRESENT !!

see: SIMON CERIGO, ART DEALER . . GALLERIST
note: sometimes I actually, by absolute chance . . take the ‘last’ photo.
though I am probably more known for . . posting the first.
on a handful of fingers I can actually count having done both, with one artist.
just saying.

see: SIMON CERIGO, NY ART GALLERY FIXTURE .. ARTINFO
at the bottom of this post, is a great b+w photo of our young family outside the very raw Lower East Side Storefront, 5 Rivington St . . that became our defacto ‘home’ – after we got gentrified out of Tribeca.
there were running, nightly gun/drug battles on the rooftops, nasty hookers in black fishnets on the corner, casual acquaintances OD-ing on the doorstep, Bowery bums who would set fires just to see the firemen . . and JEAN MICHEL lived just around the corner.

there’s a big SHEPARD FAIREY tag on the block now. I like to think, it’s – in unspoken honor of the down and dirty glory days that ruled that short block . . in the true grit 80s.

final thought:

I’m wondering if WALTER cursed me.
‘CRACK’ like ‘VICE’ . . is so much more of an appealing, hipster byline . . for an underground ‘rag’ to be referred to, in the mainstream press ?
but then again, what’s in a . . name.
when push comes to shove, hardcore bows to no one.

though CHARLIE also said: what, the world revolves around Nancy ?
does everything come back to .. the Crack ?
apparently . . so.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 20th, 2014, 10:25am



~15 WARREN . .


ABELINE COHEN, one of the 3 curators of 15 WARREN, with her own work – which was displayed against a stairwell wall.
journal-like scribbles and mementos . . from her childhood.

there’s some kind of real ‘crusty’ code, that says: exhibition curators . . shouldn’t display their own work ?
every great group show I’ve ever been to, has trashed this stupid ‘rule’, and everybody else should spit on it, too.
so that the idea just finally dies. of course, the best shows are going to be the artist-run shows.
you can’t get any more ‘insider’ than that.

for all the big media hurrah bout the new class of professional, read university-trained . . curators coming on the scene, I hate to break it to ya, but I don’t see what they throw-up . . ‘sticking’, and no one else does .. either.

it’s a crazy game out there.

the established art world ?
it’s like watching an animal . . in its final stage: death throe.


though initially – I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Abeline’s work.
what’s up with . . a selection of early childhood scribbles & stuff, esp in the context of a mighty hardball, big history, and complex art world.


ABELINE WANTS . . .

in a huge, dynamic show full of newly created, raw, ambitious, and cutting edge / often super dynamic statements, really fresh off the tree:
what was . . this ?


IN OUR CREW . . . love this, or what ?!!

talk about ‘pure’ information graphics . . !!

Abeline’s offering ?
this was also: expression . . from the first person.
growing up, TRIBECA.
looking out, at the world – from home base.
this was . . bio.
this was: the real deal . . as I see it, and where my thinking comes from.

when the LENA DUNHAM re-touched photos ‘revolt’ hit the fan, this past week . . Abeline’s work went straight to the top – POP !!
this show was about growing up, NEW YORK. girl side !!

you know: tween girl struggles with her body image, her circle of pals, her social status, her self-image.
her self-esteem, her self-worth. the works.
in a very ‘play ball’ hard-striving city . . full of way tough, out-size grown-ups.
and one downed Twin Tower right smack in the middle of it.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE meet . . MILLENNIALS OF MANHATTAN !!


this show was a lot about growing up – specifically in Lower Manhattan. the TWIN TOWERS being crashed down, violently – just when these kids started to hit self-awareness, apparently impacted the territorial & self-defining instincts of a lot of this young crew – esp the boy Peter Pans. but it didn’t define them, or strip away their ‘magic’.

Abeline’s contribution was the Little Pink Pony, GIRL side of things, of growing up . . New York City.

in a format one can simply put as: the real ‘archives’.


growing up in New York City, has its very own magic spell, initiation rites, and cultural colorings . . and thus begat: 15 WARREN.

ABELINE was a big part of this accomplishment. as a curator, and as a participating artist.

she nailed the ‘real deal’ . . just as surely as her friends did.
she provided . . the childhood ‘notebook’.
the ‘rules’ of ‘engagement.
the childhood . . touchstones.

15 WARREN. it all broke down, and it all . . added up.
broke down into individual statements, and added up to one huge art party.

BYE THE WAY:
this is what the WHITNEY BIENNIAL . . . is supposed to be, but isn’t anymore.

perhaps that’s because the WHITNEY BIENNIAL sprang from a pre-digital era, and the powers that ‘think’ they be . . ??, haven’t caught up to the reality.
which is . . the accelerated real time speed – in which we all live, and communicate through – now.

things not only happen much faster now, and closer to the ‘bone’, but there’s absolutely no formal ‘status quo’ per se, anymore. credibility resides in the ‘street’.
‘street cred’ . . has never had more profound meaning, than it does . . today.

if you don’t have a social media ‘voice ‘ – you don’t have anything.

moving from established ‘museums’, to established art ‘critics’, read New York Times, ART IN AMERICA, yes, even INTERVIEW . . can not, no longer define the winners . .
they can’t even ‘keep up’ !!
to the real juice / the real art energy . . as it: pops.

with the speed of internet/web ‘publishing’ & its vibrant partner, the passionate voices that rise from the openness of ‘social media’ . .
the once mighty art world and its beholden ‘print’ establishment, can no longer define . . and even more importantly, can no longer ‘hamper’ . . the real ‘word’ on the street, from getting out.

if this show wasn’t about the revolt of the street vs the established powers that thought they be, then write that damn NYC art . . ‘obit’, already !!

because most of the established art media, galleries, and museums, in this town, are way .. over.
they are just sad ‘dinosaur’ relics of a long ago time.
whether they know it, or not. they lost the ‘beat’. they dropped the ball.
I mean, seriously.

one great pop-up . . can obliterate decades worth of ‘careful’ gallery-groomed artist ‘stables’ & museum-curated output.

as for the ‘stogy’ critics who support them, RIP.

someone just recently asked . .
when the WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2014 BUZZ would begin.
begin ?
it’s already over. this was the BIENNIAL, the crucible of what’s supposed . . to be the ‘New York City cutting edge’, and the way things travel, at the digital/speed of light – these days, guess what ?
if you blinked, you missed it.

turns out, buzz is a . . 4 letter word, too.

15 WARREN STREET, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 19th, 2014, 11:56am



~15 WARREN . .

OMG !!

here’s the link to the ORIGINAL, UN-TOUCHED !!

LENA DUNHAM – VOGUE PIX !!

somebody friggin’ leaked them !!

see: JEZEBEL . . . UN-TOUCHED LENA DUNHAM / VOGUE PIX !!

‘WHAT CAN WE … RUIN ?’ – drawing by ABELINE COHEN . . in 15 WARREN ST.

ABELINE . . . NAILED IT !!!!!!!

15 WARREN STREET, 10007

MORE PIX, to follow.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

~15 WARREN . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 17th, 2014, 1:08pm


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