here’s your free ticket !!!
The Virtual Dream Center 1.0 . . . has launched !!
on behalf of the team behind its creation, I’m very pleased to announce the public launch of . . THE VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER
THE VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER . . is a digital exhibition platform that uses the navigation & interactivity of video games to present new methods of making and showing.
V.D.C 1.0 features pavilions by:
Nicholas Steindorf
Jonathan Meese
Jenan-Baptiste Lenglet & Jessica Boubetra
Benoit Le Phat Tan
& a group show by Antone Konst – with Matthew Bushell, Austin Lee, Jon Merrit, and Maayan Strauss.
WE HOPE YOU WILL DOWNLOAD IT – to check out what we’ve been working on, everything you need to know – is on the website:
http://virtualdreamcenter.xyz/en/
thank you,
Nicholas Steindorf
Jean-Baptiste Lenglet (Director) and the Virtual Dream Center team.
~NICHOLAS STEINDORF: VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER has launched !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 27th, 2016, 11:24am
ONE LAST GOOD-BYE . . .
to the CASUAL ART FAIR, HESTER STREET FAIR, LOWER EAST, NYC. OCT 2, 2016
NICHOLAS STEINDORF greets . . PHOEBE BERGLUND.
Nicholas’ big collaborative / international digital project participation, has . . finally launched !!
see: VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER
& def, check out: NICHOLAS STEINDORF – portfolio website
Phoebe showed work with ORGY PARK recently / and . . .
check out: PHOEBE BERGLUND – PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
KATHERINE AUNGIER . . . artist – and member of the REGINA REX gallery collective.
most def, see: K.AUNGIER PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
see: REGINA REX – ARTIST COLLECTIVE GALLERY
ASHLEY GARRETT . . . artist and member of the UNDERDONK GALLERY COLLECTIVE.
check out: ASHLEY GARRETT / PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
check out: UNDERDONK
NINA BOVASSO was playing pool with Simon in the East Village, when she was just 16 & has an Artforum cover under her belt.
see: NINA BOVASSO
and last, but not least !!
MARTA CARO . . . artist / marbler / fashion maven & Graphic Designer at THE LINE, NYC.
of course, check out: MARTA CARO !!!
it was . . a beau, beau & very tres beautiful, DAY !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~CASUAL ART FAIR: one last good-bye . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 25th, 2016, 2:30pm
on the left, ELISE McMAHON . . artist/designer/founder of LMO/Like Minded Objects . . .
is the Manager and Producer of the HESTER STREET FAIR, and Manager of the CASUAL ART FAIR.
with her, Sandy.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, at the CASUAL ART FAIR / HESTER STREET FAIR, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC. Oct 2, 2016.
see: for this year’s Casual Art Fair / Recap – from the HESTER STREET FAIR blog
which included a great photo of my / NANCY SMITH ‘101 Dalmation Crib Quilt’ repair project & . . RACHEL DOMM’s ceramic ‘snacks’ – at the ESSEX FLOWERS table !!
curated by JEFFREY TRANCHELL.
thanks to all . . !!
photo courtesy: CASUAL ART FAIR RECAP/HESTER STREET FAIR BLOG
~CASUAL ART FAIR: ELISE McMAHON & RE-CAP . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 25th, 2016, 1:21pm
ANARCHY: AN ARMY – OF LIKE-MINDED, REBEL FRIENDS.
ORGY PARK: is as good a ‘metaphor’ as any . . for the current times.
as a riotous, determined crowd of new underground players: indie artists & the new crop of start-up indie galleries that show them . . struggle to ‘break’ into – the art scene proper headlights.
yeah, crash that crusty – ole party.
otherwise, it’s pretty much a closed-circuit scene.
it’s very very hard to break in, the only way is to gather your friends, and start your own . . damn scene.
and all of a sudden, pop-ups included, there’s so many of them – it’s like friggin jumping beans, out there.
while in the meantime, last gen’s Chelsea – is completely dead.
in Brooklyn – it’s Bushwick that’s rockin hard right now. I guess one of the newest, rawest examples of a single artist/person . . going extreme indie ‘ballastic’ / i.e. getting so pissed off by the lack of opportunity for themselves & their friends . . that they put a fly-by-night gallery right smack in the middle of their living room, of a very small ground floor apt . .
would be . . MICHAEL FLEMING and his MOUNTAIN GALLERY / @mountain.bushwick.
another ‘solo’ indie gallerist, ‘hoping to bust-out’ . . would be STEVE MYKIETN, of ORGY PARK / @orgypark.
who I had just met at the Casual Art Fair, and who told me, proudly, in true indie rebel outlaw fashion, that, his gallery was . . “in the basement of my apt building in Bushwick.” !!
game . . on.
take back the – streets.
ESSEX FLOWERS in the Lower East Side. . .
is indicative of a even more growing number of alternative spaces . . composed like-minded friends / plural, who band together to organize & chip in re: finances . . the more free-fall, and diverse . . ‘group-run’ indie spaces that seem to be everywhere. freed from the pressure of a sales-driven agenda – because the group is large enough to carry the overhead, the resultant curatorial projects are diverse enough to keep things . . all ‘shook up’.
in the 90s, everybody wanted to be the new MARY BOONE. that status quo is so, so … over.
finally.
now, the new gritty / ditty is totally alternative indie, and . . it goes like this:
UNDERGROUND ART WORLD / NYC 2016 – ‘INDIE ORGY’
hey you, soldier-boy solo / gallerist,
who will be . . . the new BILL BRADY / breakin’ the ATM ?
hey you, band of friends,
if orange is the new black, who gonna be . . . the new CANADA ?
ORGY PARK – business card.
ORGY PARK – 237 JEFFERSON ST, BROOKLYN – STEVE MYKIETYN.
orgypark.com
STEVE MYKIETYN . . owner, founder/director of ORGY PARK, in Bushwick.
ORGY PARK . . at this year’s CASUAL ART FAIR, Oct 2, 2016, under the umbrella of the HESTER STREET FAIR, was a low-fi, kind of ‘geo-desic’ / ‘de-constructed’ big, free-wheeling, encircling . . wind, of raw energy.
it was pretty crazy: a swirling of metal fence mesh, circular motion, roughly hanging art, a stack of white painted tires – as a ‘display’ case ?
I will attempt a 2 word definition . . ‘deconstruction: serious’.
a swing.
yeah, merry pranksters, for sure.
DIY . . new world, KACHINA dolls – by DYLAN LANGUELL.
DYLAN LANGUELL, ‘Kachina dolls’ made of shiny re-cycled food, snack & candy wrappers, wrapped around a mold & fused together in a microwave, something like that.
they were priced at $800. or was it $900. / each.
from the small diy kachina, to the large . . diy child-size monster – ‘reading’ a book . .
was it a . . gender/bender kind of conversation – thing ?
reading monster by . . SIEBREN VERSTEEG.
no. it was more of an OGRE type . . thing.
though it looked really .. ‘knitted’. definite a ‘hand-made’.
on the right, CRAIG MONTEITH co-curated this ORGY PARK offering.
with him, his friend . . Carla.
CRAIG MONTEITH is also a member of the REGINA REX Gallery collective.
loved how the ORGY PARK card – matched his knitted sweater.
new take on the ole ‘Nurse painting’ – by NANCY DREW CAREY GALLERY
Richard Prince, and WALTER ROBINSON . . roll over.
walking that thin line – between art & craft – a bonafide merry prankster does . . stained glass – wind chimes ?
glass and lead art work by IREN HANDSCHUH.
rebel, rebel. ALFRED E. NEUMAN ? by NANCY DREW CAREY GALLERY,
JOE BRADLEY – watch out !!
SEER ?
WREN ?
NEVR ?
STATIC ?
I think, so !!!!!!!!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~CASUAL ART FAIR: ORGY PARK . . an anarchy of like-minded friends |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 21st, 2016, 1:57pm
MERRY PRANKSTER ? – YES, YES, YES . . !!
insider – outsider ?
to the . . . MAX !!!!!!!
NANCY SMITH . . . ‘101 DALMATIANS CRIB QUILT’, 2013-2015. 42 x 56 in.
hand-stitched . . repair, embroidery & embellishment on found vintage thrift quilt, vintage Disney 101 Dalmatians sheet ca. 1960-70s.
incls: vintage sequined Andy Warhol patch, vintage sequined Daffy Duck patch.
at the ESSEX FLOWERS booth, curated by JEFFREY TRANCHELL – The Casual Art Fair, Hester Street fair, Lower East Side. NYC, Oct 2, 2016.
on the table: ceramic ‘snacks’ by RACHEL DOMM.
NANCY SMITH, ‘BULLDOG CRIB QUILT’, 2014-2016. 36 x 56 in.
hand-stitched . . repair of a very very raggedy, worn-out & very old (early 1900s, maybe even earlier ??) boy’s crib quilt – found upstate New York, in the Catskills, a few summers back.
(paid all of $7 – that’s how worn-out !!)
all the holes are patched with cotton cut-outs that I hand-cut from a pair of old 1990s ‘holiday’ men’s Old Navy pajamas, they were Simon’s . . French bulldogs in Santa hats !!
and other patches, including a vintage sequined Andy Warhol patch & a Boy Scout Statue of Liberty badge – were used on the reverse side.
and yes !! #puppylove
speak of the dog !!! that is my pup, ZORA, with her tongue hanging out – she’s now 9 months old, over 75 pounds and counting, very very sweet and smart.
and strong.
there she is with my son, Theo. she’s a long coat American Akita. I never had a dog before, ever.
turns out – she’s a perfect match for a stubborn insider outsider . . . !!
I only realized it – seeing these quilts on display – that omg – I have had puppies on the brain – for 3 years now.
no wonder – I finally end up with one – in real life.
that’s how life works sometimes . . . in the deepest reaches of the outsiders’ art . . world.
amen. magic . . & follow the breadcrumbs.
connect the unconscious . . . dots !!
stitch up a – storm / get a real puppy . . as a reward ?
yeah, that’s MY world.
NANCY SMITH, ‘Bulldog Crib Quilt’ – from the back.
detail, the multi-colored hand-stitching . . follows the outlines of the original textile, aiming to make it . . pop !!
image via Instagram
yeah, I can’t help thinking about howfunny it is to be called an ‘outsider’ – when I’ve been in the center of things, art world-wise, forever. I’ve been in NYC, living on the Lower East Side in the thick of things from when Keith Haring & Basquiat lived around the corner. early 1980s. collecting art, selling art, writing about / photographing art, making art – even having a gallery, SIMON CERIGO GALLERY on Ave A – for a few years.
I also think it’s supremely FUNNY, and you might too, if you follow me – that my ole artnet boss (2002-2004) WALTER ROBINSON – is showing his stuff at JEFFREY DEITCH this month, and I’m showing mine at ESSEX FLOWERS !!
right on !!
cut it to the bone – Nancy.
UNDER THE VOLCANO – of the LOWER EAST SIDE: watch out !!
only took over 30 years – for someone to show my quilts !! take that !! mainstream NYC art world.
so far behind – it’s not even funny.
don’t get me wrong.
being an ‘outsider – does have it’s ‘magic’ moments.
someone brought me to visit this old guy in the West Village in the 90s – to tell him about his vintage quilts, and he laid all these ANDY WARHOL sequin patches, he had made in the 60s, on me – as a thank you.
turns out – he used to make custom costumes for the Rolling Stones, among others . .
image via Instagram – I’m working on it. very labor intensive. but I love it. all aspects of it, including the history. and re: the stitching, I’m self-taught. wait, does that make me an outsider /
we didn’t have quilts up North in Canada, in Montreal – they used fur robes. heavy blankets. so the whole American quilt culture & evolution, the folklore, too – completely . . blew me away.
it was Fun gallery openings at night, Houston thrift shops by day. and . . Broadway. Broadway between Houston & Grand was still chockfull of ancient textile, button & vintage ribbon shops, with very very old men clerks, mostly old school Yiddish. they were creaking, and the ancient wood floors were creaking, and they had stock that went back to . . Little House on the Prairie – and I’m not joking, colonial times. pearl buttons, woven ribbons, embroidered gauze. the lot.
this is a studio shot of the ‘Bulldog Crib Quilt’ – as I was working on it. every patch covers a hole.
there’s a method – to this JACKSON POLLOCK – overlay !!
drip, drip, drop. stitch, stitch, patch.
the quilt pattern (of the original) is a pretty straight-forward, and utilitarian, ‘four patch’ – but rocking on the diagonal. it’s a utilitarian quilt, as in . . made quickly, and from scraps for ‘use’ . . as opposed to special occasions or for heirloom purposes. probably a farm quilt, as opposed to a fancy work quilt – it’s coloring suggests it was made for a boy. it’s stitched through the quilting layers, in, again, a straight-forward and fast-to-make . .’postage stamp’ quilt pattern, one inch square.
it’s seen a lot of life, and now it can . . dance – again !!
detail, I used a ‘Tibetan’ color palette, for the embroidery thread.
JEFFREY TRANCHELL, got it right about my work too: “NANCY SMITH .. will exhibit 2 works, both of which employ contemporary painting practices of process and appropriation within the vocabulary of the more marginalized practice of quilt making.”
merry prankster ?
yes !!
hey, when ya got skills – you can make . . jokes.
just, don’t get me started on what I really think about . . the mainstream art world.
yo, just goes to show: every dag . . gets his day.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~CASUAL ART FAIR: ESSEX FLOWERS . . NANCY SMITH |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 19th, 2016, 12:56pm
MORE, MERRY PRANKSTERS . . at the fair !!
RACHEL DOMM, exhibits her whimsical clay ‘treats’ on the ESSEX FLOWERS table, Casual Art Fair,
Hester Street Fair venue – on the Lower East Side, NYC. Oct 2, 2016.
with her is JEFFREY TRANCHELL, founding member of ESSEX FLOWERS – who curated the Essex Flowers’ fair offering.
behind them . . are my 2 repaired vintage crib quilt projects – more on those, next post !!
ps: #puppylove – that’s Winnie . . on Jeffrey’s lap.
Rachel Domm’s clay pieces were fun, even joyful.
hurray for joyful . . in an often dark, harsh & brooding world. including the art world.
including the millions of years old Great Barrier Reef – dying.
small, interesting shapes – very lovely to behold, and actually to ‘lift up’ & hold, handle / they twisted the very ‘informed’ thin lines . . . between insider / outsider art . .
fine art vs. street smart / artisan workmanship, which in this case I would say definitely came down hard on: the fine art side of . . hand-made. there’s a intellectual ‘joker’ . . behind the craft.
and, even though definitely tweaking more to art than craft – their individual, one-of-a-kind hand-wrought hand-crafted nature: equals . . skills.
though I would never classify them as simply: craft. no way !!
especially within the variety of the surfaces, overall glossy vs . . those speckled ones, hurray !!
interestingly – they were also very on the ‘low-down’, unlike most of the ceramic work I’ve seen recently, which also joyfully criss-crossed the many lines between high and low art, serious concept, basic functionality, & social commentary, (Salon 94: ‘Satan Ceramics’ is a good example) – Rachel’s whimsical works were made of the more basic, low-fire clay medium, rather than the higher end / higher fire . . porcelain. but even so, as you can see, her conceptual starting point, and the finished shapes, and especially their multi-colored shiny, eccentric glazed surfaces – were quite . . delightful.
the advance pr, said her ceramic works were based on ‘snack’ shapes, so I was expecting much smaller pieces, so much for the ambiguous dimensions of digital photography – because the pieces were at least 4 times the size of their reference points, and therefore quite pretty to gaze upon, but especially . . to hold, and set down & gaze upon. so Shakespearean, medieval fair, or what ?!!
I think – this is a riff on a Ritz cracker ?
the relative ‘thick & thinness’ of the pieces – was a big plus, very sensory. sensual. very pleasing. tactile.
like holding a ‘game’ in your hand. or even a metaphoric . . ‘no words’ – book.
JEFFREY TRANCHELL, got it exactly right, when he wrote of Rachel Domm: . . “her ceramics are based on uncommon ‘snack’ shapes (crackers, pretzels, chips), and through this tonque-in-cheek vernacular, Domm finds forms that are immediately both abstract and literal.”
the Jackson Pollock of . . crackers ?
the reverse side was so interesting too, for laying the clay – bare.
yin & yang . . comes to mind.
the ‘holes’ are also a big . . visual ‘hit’.
they were really quite wonderful, and ‘wondering’ . . and ‘wandering’, if you can follow . . your imagination.
I mean, come on – it was like holding the primordial world – in your hand from the back, and cutting edge NYC flipped – over . . . raw vs glazed / primitive vs production.
all the while kinda – cracking an art world . . joke.
they were also priced between $20 – $85.
so . . no brainer.
yes, I would say that is quite a treat-ful . . handful !!
just downright . . smart, and . . lovely.
and, curious.
read about & see more of her work: RACHEL DOMM portfolio website
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~CASUAL ART FAIR: ESSEX FLOWERS . . RACHEL DOMM |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 17th, 2016, 12:03pm
MERRY PRANKSTER / ARTISANS . . . !!
something happening . . one of kind designs.
CYNTHIA CHANG of . . Something Happening.
check out: Something Happening
anybody else see: ‘happy’ . . in happening ?!!
loosely constructed one-of-a-kind sweater by . . MIRA PUTNAM of BOY WORLD
did you check out the: MIRA PUTNAM BOY WORLD link ?
great homepage – graphics !!
CYNTHIA CHANG’S . . Something Happening, one-of-a-kind clothes rack, very deconstructed !!
hand-stitched, etc.
loving it. for sure.
CYNTHIA CHANG . . pants suit.
CYNTHIA CHANG – pants suit.
the top is $180 & the bottom is $180.
now, if we could only get HILLARY (CLINTON) into one of these . . she might actually have a shot – at giving Bernie . . a run for the ‘money’.
CYNTHIA CHANG . . love the details, and the deconstructed – construction.
CYNTHIA CHANG – fringe denim jacket.
not your average . . ‘biker’ jacket.
CYNTHIA CHANG jacket. this one is really cool, too.
yes, that is someone changing, or trying on clothes, rather – in the background.
it was def that kind of . . open air / fair !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~CASUAL ART FAIR: CYNTHIA CHANG, MIRA PUTNAM / something happening |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 13th, 2016, 11:58am
in fact . . quite ELIZABETHAN !!
as in . . SHAKESPEAREAN.
the tents were very . . Elizabethan, open & airy. like a town square in a park, on the Lower East Side on a sunny day.
the pitch was very low key. I liked that.
I also liked that there was some hard edges – to the lightly fluttering tents.
and I definitely likes this . . red.
JAY RIGGIO and BARRY LOHAN.
JAY RIGGIO was exhibiting his collages – they looked like vinyl album covers, ‘poetic’ ones.
JAY RIGGIO.
yep.
JAY RIGGIO.
my sentiments – exactly.
BARRY LOHAN: now, his work was almost the exact opposite, a man of few words !!
but pretty much the same message: beware. be strong. stay focused, and make a line in the sand.
BARRY LOHAN, great signage, dude.
my much under-rated, friend Simon always used to say, being an artist . . esp an ‘unrecognized’ aka ‘outsider’ one – is like being a Samurai warrior.
many Samurai warriors were walking among these tents.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~CASUAL ART FAIR: MORE GOTH . . than hippie |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 7th, 2016, 2:19pm
CYRIL MAZARD . . . brings on the GHOST ARMY !!
what is the LOWER EAST SIDE – without the ghost of MARK ENGER, RIP ?!!!
one of my first encounters . . upon arriving was CYRIL MAZARD.
we both have a dear, dear departed friend in common – the late, great artist & screen print maestro / redneck genius . . MARK ENGER.
CYRIL was exhibiting & selling some indie zine / books of his own making – including this soft cover, full color catalog, titled: ‘Cyril Mazard – 50 Paintings 1996-2012’, which featured this quite good portrait of . . MARK ENGER – towards the back.
titled: ‘MARK BY CYRIL’, 2011 . . I guess it was painted after Mark’s untimely death, Jan 7, 2011.
this sweet & so so talented authentic civil war / cowboy . . lost the battle with throat cancer. yeah, he smoked, he drank coca-cola like it was water, actually . . instead of water, and he lived and worked in his silkscreen studio amidst all the fumes . . so there ya go, another lonely cowboy rides off into the sunset.
I’m only cracking jokes, because otherwise I’d be crying, and that’s why it took me so long to start – these Casual Art Fair posts.
talk about . . ‘outsiders’ !!
I mean, if you can call WALTER ROBINSON, an ‘outsider’ with decades, decades !! of writing about the art world – under his belt, a recent & very successful, traveling museum retrospective, & . . a big big show – now up at JEFFREY DEITCH – an ‘outsider’ . .
then what do you call . . MARK ENGER ???
Redneck ?
Lower East Side cowboy . . legend – that you never heard of ?
so, when I get so down on WALTER, and all those other status quo ‘critics’ – mouthing off their bs & highly predictable garbage – in the mainstream cesspool of the NYC artworld – it’s because of the really great AMERICAN MASTERS – like MARK ENGER aka EXPLODING SKY WORLDWIDE, who never had a chance in hell – though I did my best to scream his name . . out loud, and to Walter, too.
who could have helped bring his work to the front page, but totally dropped the ball.
CYRIL MAZARD, ‘GOING HOME’, 2011
amen, RIP . . MARK.
RIP, MARK ENGER. born 1963, Fort Still, OKLAHOMA, died 2011 Newark, New Jersey.
that made him 44 yrs at death. sad, sad beyond the beyond.
ARCHIVAL PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, NYC NOV 10, 2006.
someone told me last week, that it’s not just really . . ALL about what you did in your lifetime that matters – but who remains, to tell your story !!
I’m – hoping that’s true.
see: MARK ENGER’S MEMORIAL – art lovers archive
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~CASUAL ART FAIR: CYRIL MAZARD & MARK ENGER, GHOST |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 6th, 2016, 9:41am
ESSEX FLOWERS: RACHEL DOMM and NANCY SMITH today at the CASUAL ART FAIR . .
IMAGE & TEXT via Instgram @essexfloweers – PHOTO BY JEFFREY TRANCHELL
I knew the CASUAL ART FAIR – was going to be super FUN . . when I caught this SUPER great photo . . of my ‘101 DALMATIONS CRIB QUILT’ with RACHEL DOMM’s ceramic ‘snacks’ !!
what can I say: ABSOLUTELY VIBRANT !! FRESH !! SKILLS !! KILLING IT !!
a picture is worth a thousand words !!
what a great photo, JEFFREY TRANCHELL !!!!!!!
~THE CASUAL ART FAIR: NANCY SMITH & RACHEL DOMM at ESSEX FLOWERS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 6th, 2016, 9:28am
