PIX FROM THE HELLBENT HOOKERS – FUNDRAISER, BROOKLYN
JONATHAN SCHIPPER STUDIO BACKYARD, BROOKLYN
SAT MAY 9, 2015
DUKE RILEY . . plays mom to his new pet baby squirrel
TBone and the band . . .
HELLBENT HOOKER
HELLBENT HOOKER
HELLBENT HOOKER
some members of the BLACK LABEL TALL BIKE CLUB showed their ‘colors’ . . .
though I didn’t see any of their hand-crafted tall bikes anywhere ?
the rough-hewn character in the blue denim BLACK LABEL jacket . . . lit up the space.
his patch, said it all.
JOCELYN SHIPLEY used to show with CANADA in the early days, and she was !! one of their best artists, but I guess a hard sell, because ?? what happened.
she was notorious at one point for sweeping up the youngest, barely in his teens, baby brother member of DEARRAINDROP – into the folds of her ample bosom, and ROB PRUITT should be notorious for ripping off her upside-down legs sculptures, concrete-stuffed real blue denim jeans.
see: JOCELYN SHIPLEY, The Secret Life of Sculpture. CANADA, Summer 2008.
JONATHAN SCHIPPER
KITTY JOE SAINT-MARIE shows us her new Duke Riley tattoo.
DUKE RILEY TATTOO, close-up.
KITTY was also wearing a great cut-out ‘quilt’ pieced dress, that looked a bit like a KELIE BOWMAN silk screen, cut-out & re-patterned stitched painting. though the dress was subtle it was wild, it had sheer panels, in all the right places. she looked like she was born into it, it fit her so well. it was knock-out gorgeous, if you really stopped to look – kind of thing.
an earlier Duke Riley tattoo, on the under-side of that fair Irish arm !!
it says, metaphorically: watch out, Duke Riley and crew coming to dice and slice – that Big Apple !!
DAVID HAUSEN of SURREEL FILMS, New York, Paris, Los Angeles.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~DUKE RILEY . . . HAPPY HELLBENT MOTHER’S DAY !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 10th, 2015, 10:14am
ROAST THAT . . . PIG !!
BURNING MAN – NEW YORK CITY . . . STYLE !!
FREIZE, not !!
damn, if DUSTIN YELLIN was going to have himself a big down-home pig roast A-list fund raiser, sure as hell, DUKE RILEY – was going to have one . . his way !!
a hardcore, bad-ass throw-down, full of the underbelly grit that defines the rough and tumble underground, and Duke Riley – who will always be subversive, no matter how successful he gets.
yeah, let’s get in your face . . CUBA !!
yeah, underground, maybe $10 to get it, just the way we like it.
you know . . . under the volcano !!
no diss on Dustin, it’s just how you land, from a socio-economic point of view, and in his own sweet chaotic way, Dustin is a pretty free-form hardcore creative.
‘Tree-Tech’ industries at Spring Break . . . nailed his street cred, forever.
it’s called putting your money – where your mouth is.
I mean . .
you could make a meme, and I would if I had the computer skills, lordy !!
and, put Dustin’s grinning, red-speckled blue-eyed with wildly tousled head, on Peter Dinklage’s ‘Throne of Games’ bad boy scruffy hard-body mini-body, and come out – with something really really . . voila !! to crash the social media universe.
. . . for real !!
just close your eyes and . . imagine !!
so, if Dustin was looking to raise $800,000 for his Pioneer Works agenda, and diffuse it out into the greater Red Hook community, Duke is looking to raise $8,000 to send him, and some fellow hardcore bad-ass wild band-mates . . . to CUBA !
now, that’s w-i-l-d.
so the way I see it, this is no longer just a ‘GIRLS’ night out – in Brooklyn moment – !!
this is: ‘GAME of THRONES’ meets . .’MAD MAX’ !!
and yeah, it is YOUR PASSPORT . . “FUCKING BEAUTIFUL” – !!
YEAH, DUKE’S PIG ROAST, for sure is bound to be the closest you’re gonna get, yah dumb-loser-on-the-make, or twenty-something-on-the-go, to . . BURNING MAN, in this damn city. ha.
for a gripping, and ripping your heart out time, and don’t forget those over-size torn black net stockings, in over-drive diva size, for sure.
SO, BURN THAT – PIG !!
and stuff an apple in it’s mouth, as it turns and drips.
so, yeah . .
let’s send DUKE and his friggin hardcore pals – to CUBA, and like they say – good luck with that.
or as DUKE PUTS IT:
“If you are a friend of mine or TBone’s, a Hellbent Hooker fan or just a generally bad person, and want to bring more problems to Cuba that it’s already dealing with, SHOW UP! Donate. Eat Pork. Drink Booze.
See you there.”
DUKE RILEY’S HELLBENT HOOKER BENEFIT PIG ROAST
SAT MAY 9, / 3-9 PM
260 RICHARDSON ST at KINGSLAND AVE – on the ‘border’ of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, BROOKLYN
L train to Graham Ave or G to Nassau Ave.
note: don’t think the L is actually running these weekends, maintenance.
ya gotta do that G trip, anyway – you can.
DOORS OPEN at 3 PM – BANDS PLAY AT 4 PM & yes !! HELLBENT HOOKER will be playing, of course.
SOMETHING LIKE $10 – TO GET IN, AT THE DOOR. (TO COVER THE 500 lbs of SMOKING’ PIG MEAT !!)
THERE WILL BE “SOME SORT OF AUCTION as well as band paraphernalia like t-shirts for sale”.
as, the DUKE SAYS, so sweetly:
THIS IS LAST MINUTE SO SHOW YOUR ASS UP!
ps:
if you live out of town, literally or metaphoric-wise, you can special order limited edition black event t-shirts with that passport image on the front.
$25 paypal to duke@eastrivertattoo.com
ps: the venue, 260 Richardson Ave, is JONATHAN SCHIPPER’S STUDIO – !!
talking larger than life, and hardcore industrial gritty: big gears, radical eco-awareness,
and, voila: voodoo – heavy metal !!
in other words, steel, motion, and i.e. science – mashes up with new age ritual . . magic !!
to view the video, see: JONATHAN SCHIPPER – ART WORK
see: JONATHAN SCHIPPER / google search images
see: HELLBENT HOOKER’S FB – PAGE
HELLBENT HOOKER, and damn, if there isn’t a hardcore chick – in the mix !!
and finally, formore ‘academic’ background on DUKE’S . . BIG CUBA – PLANS,
see: BRIAN BOUCHER’S/THURS MAY 7, 2015 POST – ON ARTNET
actually,
CUBA has played into the Duke’s love of the sea, folk art tradition, and just plain-ole game of . . trouble-making, before.
anybody else remember, his last gallery showing, when he sent that ‘illegal’ band of pigeons, from Florida to Cuba, to smuggle back hand-rolled cigars !! in mini-bird backpacks – with mini-cams on their bodies . . catching the whole thing – mid-flight, over the waters !!
dude if you saw it, you well remember – !!
then scandal of scandals, after reportedly selling their home-made pigeon coop, for big bucks, we are talking like $$,$$$ to some smart ass European collector, he actually ABANDONED his fleet of feisty flyers – and dumped them, on who else. 5 guesses !!
yep, PAT. aka the Bushwick pigeonner.
PATRICK McCARTHY – he of the recent ceramic ‘SLAB’ show at AGNES B.
between . . the likes of DUKE RILEY, KING PIN DUSTIN YELLIN, and HIGH LORD TOM SACHS, and with new-up-and-comer, elder royal son, or is that scheming bastard ? falconer, I mean pigeoner !!! PAT McCARTHY.
not to forget young downtown prince SEAN VEGEZZI, the undisputed master of urban sleight-of-hand, despite his tender years, or maybe – because of them ?
joining the fray, it really is an epic GAME OF THRONES battle for domination, here in – NEW YORK CITY.
famous last words:
LA ?
who wants to live in a drought-scarred desert, when you can be jostling for power among such urban heroes.
on an islandsurrounded by . . water.
LA is a realtors’ . . shell game.
or is that . . shill game ?
no diff.
no matter.
the northeast kingdom – sure feels a whole lot lighter, swifter, slicker, and faster on its feet – with all those lame wannabe transplants – gone.
throw ’em overboard, I say – !!
throw the deadweight – off the ship.
long live NEW YORK !!
let the battles – begin.
ok ok I know, ED RUSCHA, and RETNA !!
ok, so in Ruscha’s case, just make him an honorary New Yorker, and he’s already more than half-way here on our side, as is.
as for RETNA ?
somebody has to kidnap him, and throw him into the boat, all tied-up no doubt, and screamin’ bloody murder, to save him from himself and all those gross $$$ whore groupies they have down there.
and, watch out for the not-all-that-glitters-is-not – gold . . stars overhead in the cosmic firmament, like ?
VENUS, and MAMA, baby !!
way funny last word:
and, east vs west coast art warriors, definite remember the sad, cautionary tale of JEFFREY DEITCH.
they really really don’t like Northern intruders down there, upsetting the locals, and ruining their dinner parties. they sure gave him the boot, in no time.
and, ok he has no social skills, but he – can put on a good show, when he wants to.
just if only he wasn’t so sleazy, and such a rip-off to his . . local sources.
you knew the writing was on the wall, early in the game, when they made him take down that awesome wall mural of soldiers’ coffins.
coffins – ha, let that be . . the last word !!
~DUKE RILEY . . BIG – PIG ROAST TODAY !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 9th, 2015, 8:48am
the end of this week – sees a full ‘FEMME’ . . sweep.
mysterious. trouble. in-your-face trouble, troubl-ed, and troubl-ing.
are rising waters – a threat ?
did somebody say something about . . .
“rising for social justice” . . ?!!
how about . . just, the powers that lie ‘under the volcano’ – !!
beat in the heart of a woman – this week.
in Brooklyn, of course.
‘RISE’ – KELIE BOWMAN
OPENS SAT MAY 9, 2015 / 7-10 PM
the show runs MAY 9 – JUNE 21, 2015
GALLERY HRS: THURS-TUES / 12-5 PM
BOOKLYN – 37 GREENPOINT AVE, BROOKLYN
“BOOKLYN is pleased to present a solo show of new work by KELIE BOWMAN. Drawing from her experiences living and working on a sailboat . . she has crafted a body of work inspired by watching light reflect on the ocean.”
more info: including, that “rising for social justice” quote !!
IMAGE: KELIE BOWMAN / ‘RISE’ – INVITE CARD
I think that’s two tiny figures, male and female ? at the lower left hand side.
big, big seascape.
anybody else remember ‘BOATEL’, it was MAY 2012 and KELIE had a boat / really a floating ‘hotel’ room – to decorate. her boat was called . . SHE-WOLF. you just don’t miss with SHE-WOLF.
she will eat you up, and spit – you out.
and you won’t know if you are dead, or . . alive.
see: BOATEL LAUNCH PARTY – MAY 2012
MARINA 59, ROCKAWAY. just 3 summers ago.
yet, seems so . . far-away.
here’s a few ‘don’t look back’ – pix:
KELIE’S boat – the SHE-WOLF. Kelie was really getting into triangles by then, and . . the reflections of light, and water.
STO and KELIE, inside the bluest of the blue . . on the blue, blue waters.
ah, life. let’s not even go there. but beautiful things. like Cinders . . can ‘a-rise’ from the craziest of situations. it’s called, taking a leap of faith, jumping right smack into that Big Apple art game, into the ‘underground’.
or: ‘under the volcano’ – as we like to call it.
CINDERS is back in town, up and running as CINDERS HAUSCLUB, in the CA/CA – CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CONTEMPORARY ART BLDGING, 700 LORIMER ST, 2nd floor.
appointment only – except for the openings.
Kelie’s – small triangle / bio-design drawing – in the forward hatch of the boat.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~KELIE BOWMAN . . ‘RISE’ / OPENING SAT |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 7th, 2015, 11:05pm
‘DINA GADIA – NON MINT COPY’
OPENS FRI MAY 8, 2015 / 6-8 PM
the show runs MAY 8 – JUNE 13, 2015
HRS: MON-SAT 10am-5pm / SUN by appointment
OWEN JAMES GALLERY, 61 GREENPOINT AVE, BROOKLYN
more info:DINA GADIA EXHIBIT
I first wrote up this young Philippine artist, when the Owen James Gallery participated in JUSTMAD6 – at the Madrid, SPAIN Contemporary Art Fair, just a scant couple of months ago, Feb 24-March 1, 2015. I had some fun knocking her work up against . . some new paintings by TAYLOR McKIMENS, and you know what ?
she held her – own !!
I like the title of her show . . ‘NON MINT COPY’ – !!
so fun, to consider vs. MAMIKO OTSUBO’S (CE!) – ‘COPY EXACTLY!’
which opened 2 weekends ago at CLEOPATRA’S.
see: MAMIKO OTSUBO – (CE!)
both artists are looking at the pop culture here, in the USA.
both are referencing . . ‘geography’, both are doing photo-based collage.
and both have: a totally – different . . game plan !!
I would even venture to go out on a limb, and say that . . Mamiko has a kinder eye upon us, but maybe not so much – on the future.
life, sure is one hard nut to crack. and there are many, many, many different stories.
it’s also interesting to connect with Dina Gadia’s work, after just coming off of . . LALA LAND – the incredible-in-your-face, LALA ALBERT – !!
someone else can write the essay – I’m just laying it down pictorially.
it’s a very visceral, visual juxtaposition of ‘worlds’, different artist’s ‘points of view’ – and, life experiences. including socio-economic. global, etc.
but it’s all girl . . all ‘femme’- any way you break it down, and, don’t you ever forget that.
there’s power in them, that . . question & provoke, and they both do – just that.
though of course one is free-hand drawing (LALA) and one is composing collage (Dina) – both are: ‘talking’.
telling stories and questioning the ways – things are.
DINA GADIA, ‘Antiquated Ideals’, 2015.
collage, 10-1/2 x 8-1/8 in.
DINA GADIA, ‘Witching Hour’, 2015.
collage, 8-3/8 x 7-1/8 in.
~DINA GADIA . . ‘NON MINT COPY’ – OPENING FRI |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 7th, 2015, 10:45pm
just so, y’all – are prepared.
because it’s definite happening, soon. if it hasn’t happened already . .
and many times – before that.
check out: LALA ALBERT – ALIEN INVASION VOL. 2
LALA ALBERT – ALIEN INVASION VOL 2.
now, that’s what I call c-o-o-k-i-n-g.
NEW WHITNEY, with your shabby call on ‘shocking pink’ contemporary art, wake up !!
~LALA ALBERT . . ALIEN INVASION VOL 2 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 6th, 2015, 9:49am
PLEASE, PLEASE ME, LALA – !!
LALA ALBERT, whose surreal, and erotic, truth be told – line drawing/illustration . . is found in Anthony Alvardao’s ‘D.I.Y MAGIC’ – is a young Brooklyn-based artist & textile designer.
which is not even the TIP of the ICEBERG, cuz she’s also a way far-out cartoonist, to put it m-i-l-d-l-y !!
oh l-o-r-d-y.
& a zine maven – !!
this is from her tumblr – page
more importantly, here’s: her basic web page – that should take care of this dreary rainy day – !!
talk about the true meaning of . . . grit !!
I’ll leave it for you to discover . . her raw raw comic draftsmanship & narrative ‘line’, tour-de-force / in-your-face humor – for yourself, to be found there, under comics & zines – !!
ok, here’s a really kind word to all the complacent, maybe jaded even, smart-ass losers who read this site:
if you really want to get knocked off your chair . . make sure to check out brain buzz/new, under comics & zines on that homepage link, where ‘MADE FOR WEIRD5’, ink, 2014 pops up !!
LALA ALBERT, a page from . . brainbuzz/new – ‘Made for Weird5’ . . under comics & zines
oh god, are y’all gonna call me . . a ‘lounge’ critic – now ?
and then, of course you can continue onto ‘some people I like’ , sweetly stored under her links, at the left-hand top of PLSLALA , where a whole bunch of super talented & mostly still unheard of, under-the-radar ‘people’, we call ’em ‘creatives’, pop up and come alive through the power of the digital age and a generous Lala / and then you begin to see just how friggin kicking & huge NYC really is, fuck LA. (Los Angeles.)
give me more LALA – !!
talk about . . ‘under the volcano’ – !!
~LALA ALBERT . . PLS GIVE ME SOME MORE !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 6th, 2015, 8:41am
want more MAGIC . . . to go with all that Science ?
want to rev up . . . your inner voodoo radar ?
then, this is your BOOK – !!
ANTHONY ALVARADO – ‘D.I.Y. MAGIC’ . . . A STRANGE & WHIMSICAL GUIDE to CREATIVITY
“SUPERSTITION is rooted in a much deeper and more sensitive layer of the psyche than skepticism.”
~JOHANN WOLFGANG von GOETHE
“This is a book of magic.
This is a book of mind hacks.
This is a cookbook for creativity”
with illustrations by 30 of today’s best contemporary artists,including: AIDAN KOCH, KEVIN HOOYMAN, RON REGE JR, EDIE FAKE & LUKE RAMSEY.
San Francisco’s NEEDLES & PENS had a book launch for ‘D.I.Y. MAGIC’ last Fri. May 1st . . where they wrote:
“D.I.Y. MAGIC is not so much a how-to magic book in the traditional pulling rabbits out of a hat sense, but more a guide to exploring and pushing the boundaries of ones internal/external perception of reality. The book teaches techniques on lucid dreaming, building tarot decks, going on vision quests, creating memory palaces, and getting lost in a familiar city. ANTHONY ALVARADO provides readers with a collection of techniques for accessing deeper levels of creative though – for hacking into their subconscious. From SALVADOR DALI’s spoon technique and ornithomancy / divination by crows, to bibliomancy and using (legal) stimulants, the exercises in this book will help anyone chasing the muse – from artists and musicians, to writers and more – as they tug at the strings of everyday reality and tap into the magic of their own minds ….”
find out more: about the author – ANTHONY ALVARADO, who lives in Portland, Oregon, and says, he likes to daydream, when he isn’t writing – welcome to the club !!
‘D.I.Y. MAGIC’ is published by PERIGEE BOOKS, a division of Penquin Random House.
more info: D.I.Y. MAGIC – AUTHOR’S WEBSITE
visit: the KINDLE PREVIEW – PERIGREE BOOKS (2015)
where you can find . . . after the Intro, etc:
CHAPTER 1 – DROPPING THE SPOON
TECHNIQUE: use common household dishes to peek through a window into altered consciousness.
and, which includes this beautiful surrealistic line drawing . .
illustration by Brooklyn-based . . LALA ALBERT.
HEADS UP – NEW YORK CITY !!
ANTHONY ALVARADO will be reading from his book, ‘D.I.Y. MAGIC’ at SPOONBILL in BROOKLYN
THIS THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015 / 7 PM
SPOONBILL BOOKS – 218 BEDFORD AVE, BROOKLYN
more info: on the Spoonbill reading
~ANTHONY ALVARADO . . D.I.Y. MAGIC / BOOK LAUNCH |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 5th, 2015, 7:27am
want more . . baby deer ?
mushrooms, and green green woodsy moss !!
with that . . ART and SCIENCE ?
then, check out: ERIC & JEFFREY LEISER’S . . ALBINO FAWN PRODUCTIONS
~ERIC LEISER . . ALBINO FAWN PRODUCTIONS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 4th, 2015, 12:51pm
want more SCIENCE . . with that ART ?
ERIC LEISER . . .
has his new series of RUBY PULSE LASER TRANSMISSION HOLOGRAMS . . . up for these next 2 weeks at FLUX FACTORY.
Eric says that these holograms “capture a moving image at 26th billion of a second on AGFA FILM MASTERS illuminated by laser light”. they were made at his recent artist-in-residency at OSU/OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Physics Department Holography Lab, and are a “rare form of Film Holography – not to be missed’ – !!
The Center for the Holographic Arts Presents:
‘HOLONOMIC’ – an exhibition by ERIC LEISER
MAY 1 – 10, 2015
FLUX FACTORY – 39-31 29th Street, Long Island City, QUEENS. NYC.
see: more info on the artist & the exhibit / FLUX FACTORY
see: HOLOCENTER.ORG/Holonomic
from the press release:
“HOLONOMIC . . is Leiser’s new series of luminous holographic images that visually contemplate a scholars rock using falling snow, water and light.
Created during residency at the Holocenter Pulse Laser Studio these works engage the viewer and open up a conversation about holonomic brain theory.
The holographic image evokes with its multidimensional existence, eludes with its transparent volume and draws with perceptual phenomena the viewer into a philosophical paradox. The dynamic flux of perception understood through intuition is the idea of the intertwining of perceiver and perceived linked by light. The holographic image is not only spatial and color perception, a pure product of light, but this light coded information is always in the process of self-construction with our eyes, according to our movements and the point of view adopted. The Holonomic model model of human cognition developed by Neuroscientist Dr. KARL PRIBRAM (1919-2015) (RIP) describes the brain as a holographic storage network. With this series I investigate perception as a medium, pointing out (or exploring) how human cognition is intrinsically involved with co-creating our perceived world.”
~ERIC LEISER, 2015
‘HOLONOMIC BRANCHING SPECTRUM’ – BY ERIC LEISER
IMAGE COURTESY: ERIC LEISER
~ERIC LEISER . . ‘HOLONOMIC’ |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 4th, 2015, 12:06pm
damn, if that KATE CERIGO doesn’t have . . VOODOO RADAR, or what !!
I wonder – where she gets it from ?
when she came up with the title, ‘Under the Volcano’ – for her and Theo’s up-coming one night pop-up exhibit of art works by Simon Cerigo, Dan Asher and myself, Nancy Smith – last week, she said she was inspired by a scribble that had caught her eye . . something that Simon, her dad, RIP – had jotted down – in an 1984 Artforum !!
it was only this week – that the awesome power of nature kicked in, and blew up that metaphor – big time. the huge huge CALBUCO VOLCANO erupting over most of southern Chile – !!
awesome fire power, causing evacuation, destruction, change, and more change, trumping the usual tabloid headlines.
but . . close call, or what.
reality vs radar . . ?
radar wins – when reality checks in – !!
science and divination – hand-in-hand.
truth is stranger than fiction, etc etc etc.
in fact, I think the 1984 cult movie of the same name, ‘Under the Volcano’ had just come out, and for sure a movie like that, esp being as it was – based in tragic literature, would have caught Simon’s brain, and held on to it, for quite a while. themes of self-destruction, troubled talent, and star-crossed love, hot tropic setting – you know, the usual suspects !! magnet bait – for the Greek-born dreamer, Simon was born on an small island in Greece – he came here with his family, well first to Montreal – when he was 9.
yep, Greek tragedy was in his DNA. no doubt about it.
yep, check out: . . ‘Under the Volcano’, a 1984 film, directed by JOHN HUSTON, starring ALBERT FINNEY, and based on the 1947 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, by MALCOLM LOWRY.
since 1984 was literally before Kate’s time, she was born in 86, she didn’t clue in to the movie connection, but instantly seized on the scribble – as a great metaphor for her and Theo’s growing up on the Lower East Side, in a raw ‘pioneering’ dirt cheap storefront – at the corner of Rivington and the Bowery. 5 Rivington St, East Storefront. Jean Michel lived around the corner. Dan lived on 10th St. across from the Russian Baths. all the galleries that were really happening, were within walking distance. and history was in the making.
for real. it was a huge huge time. NYC had gone down for the count in the 70s, but art was bring her back. well walking through Alphabet City, you had to have a very pure soul, or a guardian angel, a real grit spine – to make your way through the tent city that was Tompkins Sq Park, on your way to grab a slice (pizza).
Kate and Theo, “you mean, not everybody grows up in a storefront ?”, ran around like wild banshees at all the openings, Basquiat and Keith Haring among them, when they were not checking out the very first SUPREME skate shop on Lafayette, and tossing down the sushi like it was MacDonalds – with ‘uncle’ Dan.
Theo once most infamously took it upon himself to ask, the self-styled silver pompadour’d JIM JARMUSCH . . “if he was a nerd ?” . . to our our profound shock and horror.
one of their first survival, street-wise lessons was: at all costs do NOT make any eye contact with . . . RICHARD HAMBLETON aka The Shadow, and for good reason !!
each one of us, me, Dan and Simon got eclipsed, career/critics/$$success-wise . . for any number reasons, one being how big Jean Michel came on, but mostly just for being the hard-ass beautiful losers !! – that we were, whatever. we couldn’t do the bs dance, fuck the right bs people. that was the way it was. maybe it still is, who knows.
but we never stopped making art, and we never walked away, at least not quietly – !!
we always were there, throwing ourselves hardcore double-dutch timing – into the scene. making our $$ dough on the fringes – its NYC, where you can always parlay a street skill or two – to a lesser IQ. ha.
ha, now you know why – I never made it.
Dan, he was more of a ‘European’ visiting artist / make money gig kind of a guy, a break-your-arm salesman of his own work. Simon was a merry gad-about/collector/consultant – who made the wheels turn, for basically a dinner and a fete !! he gave it away, but he called the scene – he made every single opening, for decades. no one wrong call.
as for me ? well it took 20 tears, I mean YEARS !! but I got my first art world photo published in artnet in 2002. I had caught the only & last photo . . of Colin DeLAND of AMERICAN FINE ARTS, before he escaped this earthly world. and yes, he was wearing – an industrial trucker cap !! they (Walter !!) didn’t use the photo – but I got my own column, ‘ART LOVERS NEW YORK – PHOTOS BY NANCY SMITH’, right then and there, from nowhere to the top, and right back down again, just like that. don’t ask me go figure.
friggin, hard-hearted NYC, and that’s why we love her !!
collectively, we strived to rule, and we did . . rule . . the underground. people knew it, but they weren’t gonna lose their own jobs, or pay checks over it. we also made some great art, that pretty much went under the radar, don’t get me started on who was writing the art reviews at the time – !! Dan’s work was more out there, exhibited more . . but it was all pretty much under the radar, and maybe the fact that it was – was under the radar, but with all that pent-up power, you know, volcano !! and unrecognized – was what made destined to blow up, one day.
we all knew that. Simon and Dan died, knowing that.
my army of ghosts.
yep, we were right in there, like dirty shirts – 3 intense, powerfully smart, about art (and not much else, like making $$$ !!) driven, complex, consumed by art, compelled by art, propelled through life – by art, bio-humans mutated to the times – watching the art scene go by, and . . making it, just not so much, selling it.
we were, each in our own way, compelled to expression, and we each had huge, huge art ambitions, but first JEAN MICHEL blew up big, and then the next guy, and so on. and somehow – it was never our slot. we were like the consummate insider – outsiders. basically we just flew over everybody’s heads.
there were too many greedy, dumb, or just plain jealous idiots – what can I say ?
we were kept, by forces we couldn’t quite figure out, under the shadow. a natural born threesome, collective creative force – back in the day when the gallery system was locked in, tight. and indie, newly re-born thru born of social media, was not born yet. we were, a big intellectual artistic force bottle-necked under the ‘volcano’ of the mainstream grid-lock. we were the outsider powerhouse just under the radar, under the volcano, what we called: downtown, the downtown scene art of 80s NYC – the hardcore underground. just waiting to explode, even if it took a lifetime, which it . . did !!
or future tense, might – !!
Theo and Kate will throw down the first samurai blade, the deciding coin – this June 6th !!
all it takes is – one night, NYC 2015 !!
ours names might not be known to the Eli Broads, and Peter Brants of the world, let alone the Rubells, oh lordy !!
but we ruled the underground. we rocked the scene, and we called . . the shots.
between the 3 of us, we made the buzz . . and delivered the street cred.
and, on point. hardcore.
we were – the gritty of the grits.
for KATE and THEO, growing up on Rivington St in the 80s, ‘under the volcano’ . . was for real – !!
“ASH AND AWE” – After more than 42 years, the Calbuco volcano first erupted last Wednesday, April 22, 2015 – and it has just kept on going, erupting yesterday, Thursday April 30 – for the third time in 8 days . . “spewing clouds of ash and sparking evacuations.”
magic numbers:
we all were in our 20s, about 40 years ago – setting out to make our mark on the art scene, and hopefully to burn a hole right through it.
we are 3 , Simon, Dan, and me.
yep, I was the ‘chick’ in the sandwich, manwich, oh lordy. yep, we kicked that NYC art scene ball hard, and then even harder. we didn’t care – we were thick as thieves, til we fell out.
so, bring on the sushi – best friends forever.
we’d always knew we’d have the last laugh. it’s just how we felt – when we did our art, some inner voice told us, we were under the volcano, for sure. we felt it. you know it.
like being under the influence – you know it.
Kate got our number, and . . Theo scored the storefront.
it’s 2015 NYC, what more do you need ?
KATE & THEO CERIGO, with their dad . . artist, classic ‘flaneur’. art maven, indie music maven, gossip-monger, collector, consultant – and party crasher – suprem-o !!
in the east storefront studio/apt, 5 Rivington St, LES, NYC. ca. 1994
ARCHIVAL PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER & NANCY SMITH’
THE ART WORK of SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER & NANCY SMITH
ONE DAY / ONE NIGHT – ONLY !!
SAT JUNE 6, 2015 / 2-10 PM / OPENING RECEPTION 6-10 PM
169 BOWERY at BROOME ST, CHINATOWN/LES, NYC
CURATED BY KATE & THEO CERIGO
don’t blink.
for more info, images – contact: underthevolcano.les@gmail.com
~UNDER THE VOLCANO, for real . . !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 1st, 2015, 1:47pm
