RED LIGHT / GREEN LIGHT . .
LET . . DIANNA XU come over !!!!!!!
2019 . . is the ‘CHINESE YEAR of THE PIG’ & once again, GRUMPY BERT . . .
presents this wildly popular group show, showcasing a wide and diverse range of illustrators – at their creative & imaginative . . BEST !!!!
working on traditional ‘lucky’ red Chinese New Year coin envelopes, these glorious pieces can usually be yours – for the taking, starting at $50 each / all of which are one-of-a-kind.
GRUMPY BERT, ‘RED ENVELOPE SHOW’ – OPENING RECEPTION SAT JAN 5, 2019 / 5 – 7 PM
show runs thru . . . JAN 27, 2019
FLUSHING TOWN HALL, 137-35 Northern Blvd, Flushing, N.Y. 11354
more info: ‘RED ENVELOPE SHOW’ – GRUMPY BERT / FB
see: “PIGS have a beautiful personality and are blessed with good fortune in life” . . . . (!!) / 2019 EARTH / YEAR of the PIG
so, 2019 could be . . . SWEET & MEATY ?!!!!
I’m in.
DIANNA XU – PORK BELLY for YEAR of the PIG
image via Instagram @diannaxu
~RED ENVELOPE: DIANNA XU . . GRUMPY BERT, FLUSHING TOWN HALL / OPENING RECEPTION SAT JAN 5 |
Posted in If I had $200, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 5th, 2019, 9:32am
shiny, saturated neon green . . such a strange color to kick off a new year.
2019 . . what up ?!!!
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Green Birds’, 2018. oil on canvas. 16 x 12 in.
& to be found, in his current show at SOFT OPENING, BROOKLYN
image via Instagram @andrewguenther_art
I did jump, when this image came down my Instagram pipeline 2 days ago.
it made everything that was going on in my head – stop.
it was just so dark, and brood-y, so unexpected from all the previous images, that had been posted for this small ‘plant’ shop show. so unique. so emotional. such a call for . . love ?
it made everything I was thinking about, stop. except, for one thing.
my contempt, or really boredom, capital B !! for all the so-called art collectors. you know, the big ones who post great holiday travelogue pix, or divorce drama. oh, so what.
you have Hirsts, Koons, Basquiats, Harings and Warhols.
same old, same old. so predictable, to the point where its meaningless. that is so stuck in the 80s. it’s so un-impressive, really.
break out a JACK GOLDSTEIN. a DAN ASHER. a TAYLOR McKIMENS.
an ANDREW GUENTHER. this is the art scene, not a French patisserie doing all the same classic holiday faves – year after year.
SARAH HOOVER & TOM SACHS on holiday in Hawaii.
image via Instagram @sarahhoov
then I really did . . JUMP !!
the very next image – on my IG thread was this !!!!
2 REAL ‘LOVE – BIRDS !! – all encased in that same, shimmery but gooey honey dark, glowing shiny green glow.
TOM is such a contrary bird, such a bad boy. sincerely, it’s nice to see he has found someone who can handle him, give him a much needed (leaning humorous) pr make-over, and apparently, make him happy / no small thing.
and, she’s quite the Instagram raconteur / quite the ‘bird’ herself !!
I mean, dig that fab fab mini dress, is it Chanel ? never mind. it could be, or not. it’s HOT.
I mean, this is also just after they were in St. Moritz for Tom’s solo show with Vito / so skiing, (where her skis got stolen), and, then (trying hard) to surf the waves, 1/2 way around the world / in one week – classic/fantastic.
we should all only trip – so lightly.
plus she’s so good at laying it down. nothing off-putting, ever. or you know, I’d be mouthing off.
plus I mean, you know . . I’m already a huge fan for anything he slaps that crazy NASA sticker / logo onto.
plus I used to run into early Tom, back in the golden artnet days (2002-2004) and what amazed me (I now realize), was – he was the first ‘distressed’ fashionista, everybody (successful) was so proper, or maybe Schnabel schlumpy, but he was truly distressed / wearing a beat-up black or was it blue (?), puffer jacket – held together with duct tape.
& apparently he’s still pretty much the same, or maybe it’s a ‘performance’-worthy, nerdy ‘tech’ jacket, or a hi-end (I guess) pair of print all-over pjs / and, she’s holding up the other end, encased in classic black velvet Chanel sheath, with a string of pearls as shoulder straps.
in a 5 star bistro. yep, that’s quite the gal – for Tom.
and apparently right on the mark, color-wise, just like magic. dancing on the perfect line between where the underground meets the mainstream big stakes.
image via Instagram story @andycahill
and, then speaking of green lit – love birds !!
wouldn’t you know, I check out maybe just one, or 2 of the scrolling video clip stories – at the top of the very same IG page, & one of the young turks of the underground, ANDY CAHILL has a story which looks to be, from the swinging haircut, to be him dancing with his girl / painter GRETTA JOHNSON.
and, it’s weird because . . .
image via Instagram @artloversnewyork
all I could think of, meaning: was compelled (!!) to post on Christmas Day, for no real good reason, except maybe I’m high functioning / outsider / borderline . . with strange non-linear, more often than not, ‘presentient’ radar . . . & always attracted to shiny foil surfaces, but esp to this shiny, reflective, fade-to-dark saturated / Bugs Bunny new ‘old stock’ Xmas retro stickers, which I had just unearthed in an old school, (Jersey City) Heights thrift shop, catch-em while you can, the whole area is going mad crazy with gentrification.
NASA and LOONEY tunes . . is that a rhyme ?
strange call, or what.
oh, the (shamanistic) patterns we all use – to navigate reality.
I mean, in one way, or another.
name one. other than myself ?
how about:
MELISSA BROWN / fortune-teller, games theorist, and magic-realist painter – extra-ordinaire.
~GREEN LIGHT: ANDREW GUENTHER, SARAH HOOVER & TOM SACHS, ANDY CAHILL . . & BUGS BUNNY !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 3rd, 2019, 4:43pm
RAINY DAY – PARADE !!!!!!!
ANDREW GUENTHER WELCOMES . . . ‘SOFT OPENING’.
NEW LOCAL BROOKLYN / GREENPOINT SPOT for all things . . HAND-MADE & ORGANIC, incl . . ART !!
ANDREW GUENTHER – ‘NEW PAINTINGS’
OPENS TO-NITE FRI DEC 28 / 7 – 10 PM
SOFT OPENING, 570 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn NY 11222
see: SOFT OPENING PLANT STORE & GALLERY SHOP – PLANTS, CERAMICS, BOTANICALS/ HOME GOODS & ART / FACEBOOK
IG: @softopeningbk
@andrewguenther_art: “Pick up some real plants when you get my fake ones.”
image via Instagram @andrewguenther_art
@andrewgueenther_art:”Okay, okay. I’ve added a few photographs . . This one was taken in
Berlin several years ago.”
image via Instagram @andrewguenther_art
def, checkout: ANDREW GUENTHER – ARTIST PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
when he’s not doing ‘art’, Andrew is making jewelry, where his line is known as . . ‘EAT THE LEAF’.
def, checkout: EAT THE LEAF – by ANDREW GUENTHER
ps: if you ever wondered where I got that shiny, hand-made / golden “ALREADY DEAD” (!!!!) pendant that hangs around my neck, now – you know !!
and . . FOR REAL / THAT’S HOW I FEEL – in 2 words !!
plus obviously I got a GHOST ARMY – many dear, now departed friends . . in that big ole / DEAD ARTIST CLUB – UP IN THE SKY.
FLASHBACK . . . !!!!!
since, it’s a super rainy day, after a false alarm “Alien Invasion over Manhattan” night . . . it was a utility sub-station explosion, or so they – say.
(I’m personally waiting for the big headline . . “ALIENS – HAVE LANDED” !!!!)
here’s something to divert ya, a little digital trip !!!
ANDREW & ME – go far back. he was the intern at the now defunct Daniel Silverstein Gallery, on 21st St. in Chelsea, when I was showing there, in late 1990s.
I have a ton of pix of him, and his WORK !! over the decades.
he’s such a colorful and super talented figure, who wavers like a flame, about to spark – on the fringes of the ever-changing underground.
I hope one day, before I am REALLY DEAD / that some gallery will finally wake up – and show them ?!!
here’s one:
ANDREW GUENTHER . . . with his paintings, in his home studio.
GREENPOINT OPEN STUDIO WEEEKEND, OCT 5, 2014.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
I picked that one, because, well !!!!!!! no words needed !!!!!
but also because, it’s in a nice run of artlovers articles, covering topics & with photos of:
1. a great, early – “FADE” piece . . by ROB PRUITT.
2. PAUL McCARTHY – offends PARIS !!
3. MATT LEINES painting . . in an early, big GREENPOINT TERMINAL GALLERY – group show.
4. WALTER ROBINSON – his big RETROSPECTIVE – was just setting out – to conquer the art scene.
5. archival pix of SIMON CERIGO, R.I.P. & his work . . . truly already dead & representing the splendor of the DEAD ARTIST CLUB / still, just short of taking over big time / ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO’, and, most def . . a ring leader of my own personal . . GHOST ARMY.
SIMON a was the director of the DANIEL SILVERSTEIN Gallery in the late 90s, and as such, was the one to give a young Andrew Guenther, fresh out of some university art school, his first job in NYC.
5. and finishes up with . .
an extensively documented STUDIO VISIT, with ANDREW GUENTHER, including that photo above / GREEN POINT OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND. OCT 5, 2014.
SURPRISE BONUS . . ?
NICHOLAS STEINDORF . . . new wave ‘ringleader’, in his own right / shows up !!!
most def: SCROLL DOWN / ARTLOVERSNEWYORK – 2014 !!!!
SIMON CERIGO, ca. early 1990s.
toy model with custom paint job. if this image doens’t ‘encapsulate’ Simon,
I don’t know what – would.
a huge lover of art, and it’s . . ‘fanciful, yet meaningful’ flight.
it’s best, is most often . . it’s most elusive – in a broad-based, dumbed-down mass market.
talk about . . . ‘soft’ openings (!!!)
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
WALTER ROBINSON, ‘REVENGE’, 1982.
acrylic on canvas.
SIMON was a big, and very early fan . . of both Andrew Gunther, and Walter Robinson.
we owned a stack of early Andrew Guenther 1990s drawings, and ‘Revenge’, was among our first early Walter Robinson purchases.
PHOTO: HELENE CERIGO LUPATKIN
~ANDREW GUENTHER . . ‘NEW PAINTINGS’ / SOFT OPENING, BROOKLYN / OPENS FRI DEC 28 |
Posted in If I had $200, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 28th, 2018, 9:24am
another regret, not making it into the recent, LITTLE NORA BROWN performance . .
at the American Folk Art Museum, NYC.
you can catch her tonight, if you’re near Nashville !!
while visiting her grandparents, in the area – she’ll be playing an early set.
THE LOCAL, 110 28th Ave N., Nashville, TN / Tenneesee
image via Instagram @little.nb.
LITTLE NORA BROWN – WINTER 2018
image via Youtube
def, check out: LITTLE NORA BROWN – ‘Morphine’, Pewter Sessions / Youtube
Beehive Productions – Published March 2, 2018
Filmed live at THE HOOT! – WINTER 2018
note: traditional Appalachian folk song
note: as of today, Dec 27, 2018 . . there are 4,751 views for this clip,
I can only imagine it’s going to be much much larger, by this time – next year.
and, yep.
she’s got a GHOST ARMY !!
“most of the songs I like are by people that are dead.”
‘The Key Changers: Little Nora’ / A Short Film Presented by Tribeca Studios
Published May 17, 2018.
IMAGE via Youtube
yes, meet: NORA BROWN, 12 years old, out of BROOKLYN !! – ‘THE KEY CHANGERS’
here’s . . . to the dead,
and, the young . . future.
image via FACEBOOK
follow: Nora Brown Banjo / FACEBOOK
~LITTLE NORA BROWN . . THE LOCAL, NASHVILLE / THURS DEC 27 6 – 7 PM |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 27th, 2018, 8:48am
the other reason to swing by MUDDGUTS – TODAY !!
A WILD !! ASSORTMENT !! of PAINTED, PAPER / ONE-OF-A-KIND, ORNAMENTS BY . . TAYLOR McKIMENS !!!!!!
$150 – $200 a pop.
image via INSTAGRAM STORY @taylormckimens
image via Instagram @muddguts
image via Instagram @muddguts
image via Instagram @muddguts
image via Instagram @muddguts
~TAYLOR McKIMENS . . PAPER HOLI-DAZE !! ORNAMENTS !! at MUDDGUTS . . |
Posted in If I had $200, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 22nd, 2018, 12:24pm
1. what I like best about Instagram . .
is that you can follow the art world in a much more efficient and all-encompassing way, with a kind of drone-like, micro-precison, which can be tuned to your own likes and wants . . but, which also comes armed with a potential . . for random and mind-widening opportunity, and ‘play’.
2. what I like best about artlovers, besides being able to spill the contents of my mind, so they don’t overflow and implode, and which also enables me to encourage, engage & promote singular, often underground, talent / with an eye towards the cultural and world moment . . is seeing those Instagram pictures blow-up, big on a larger screen.
CARAMEL BOBBY / CALI THORNHILL DEWIIT, ‘CHAOS’, 2018
mixed media & paint on canvas, 3 ft. x 3 ft.
image via Instagram @caramelbobby
see: CALI THORNHILL DEWITT – ‘GLOBAL WARNING’ on MUDDGUTS
up thru FEB 2019 – MUDDGUTS, BROOKLYN.
~CARAMEL BOBBY . . ‘CHAOS’ / ‘GLOBAL WARNING’ / MUDDGUTS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 22nd, 2018, 12:03pm
BIGGEST REGRET of the YEAR ?
that I didn’t make this opening.
def, def def !! gonna try to go by & see the work.
CARAMEL BOBBY / CALI THORNHILL DEWITT – ‘GLOBAL WARNING’ at MUDDGUTS
UP THRU . . FEB 2019.
CALI THORNHILL DEWITT, ‘FLAMES’, 2018
3 ft. x 3 ft. / mixed media, paint on canvas. unique.
image via Instagram @caramelbobby
what’s . . .
growing on me about the work, through the posted images – is how it’s so insanely bold, and in-your-face, and yet very subtle as an art form – to process. it’s like the ‘graphics’ button has been pushed – to high alert, and so you get the message, the images are very clear, and assume it’s simple & sort of ‘spiritually’ . . walk away. nice job.
of course, that’s a big, big mistake.
there’s quite a lot of resonance here, both in context & message, & visual punch.
but more, as an artist myself . . it slowly dawned on me, that the surface of this work really doesn’t lie in the clear narrative, ‘collaged’ photographic images, nor even – in the big red “X” . . !!
the surface here . . is in the moment of walking through the wall of fire / an artist, at their height, deep into their work, and so it comes across very blindingly bright for the rest of us, but once that ‘brightness’ of perfection/achievement / serial creative stepping forward, slows down a little, with a little more viewing, the dynamics of the gesture, the organization, the ‘running’ of a finely honed thought / craft & vision . . becomes something that’s hard to put into words, a 4th dimenson – an aura, takes over.
and that’s even more interesting to me, as it rises from such graphic straightforward imagery. & organization.
and yes, I most def, want to jump into . . that – in PERSON !!!!
install shot.
image via Instagram @caramelbobby
1. definite quilt overtones.
on many levels, grid organization, story-telling.
communal & community context.
some carry warnings. some carry ‘protection’.
amulets.
my fav is . . ‘FILTH’ / ‘REAL FILTH’.
2. I feel there might be a great conversation here with . . VIRGIL ABLOH !!!!!
3. those black walls, beckon !!
4. def, like the ‘tag’ effect of the ‘cut-out’ images & how they just got ‘placed’ / seemingly by chance / random. they are so askance / yet, the big red “X” is so – centered, and measured.
you def get the feeling, this artist . . .
no matter what the ‘legend’, the ‘history’ / he paid his dues. he’s so superbly on point, and immersed.
and, we all get invited – to the DANCE.
5. the color hues – are . . . off the chart.
~CARAMEL BOBBY aka CALI THORNHILL DEWITT . . ‘ GLOBAL WARNING’ / MUDDGUTS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 20th, 2018, 4:26pm
CARAMEL BOOBY – aka CALI THORNHILL DEWITT !!!!
the roadie who KURT COBAIN & COURTNEY LOVE . . let baby-sit little Frances Bean
& has gone on to become a . . . major CALI DESIGN ICON !!
CARAMEL BOBBY – SOLO SHOW !!
‘GLOBAL WARNING’
OPENS SAT DEC 15 / 6 – 8 PM
MUDDGUTS, 427 GRAHAM AVE, BROOKLYN
HRS: WED-FRI: 4-8PM / SAT-SUN: 12-8 PM
def, CHECK OUT: CALI THORNHILL DEWIITT – MUDDGUTS
~CARAMEL BOBBY . . ‘GLOBAL WARNING’ / MUDDGUTS / BROOKLYN / OPENS SAT DEC 15 6-8 PM |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 15th, 2018, 10:31am
‘I’LL BE HOME FOR KRAMPUS’- POP-UP HOLIDAY MARKET & ART SHOW
SAT DEC 15, 2018 / 12-9 PM – FREE !!!!!!
THE LIVING GALLERY OUTPOST, 246 E.4th St, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC 10009
with:
A LUCKY RABBIT, ANNABELLE POPA, CARYN CAST, HISxx, IMAMAKER, JCORP, LOVE & ANTENNAS, LUNGEBOX, MIGLET1, MIISHAB, ROY WADE, SARAH MYERS, TRASHY DREAMS, TURTLECAPS, ZERA
LUNGEBOX . . matchbooks, acrylic paint & paint pens on wood.
approx 1 ft. x 1 ft.
($40) ea. (!!!!!!!!) / NOT AN EDITION !!!!! & on WOOD !!!!!
image via Instagram @lungebox
artwork by .. ROY WADE
image via Instagram @roywade
@IMAMAKER . . “I have my eye on Krampus !!!! #eyes #ornaments #krampus #puffpaint
image via Instagram @imamaker
~’I’LL BE HOME FOR KRAMPUS’ . . incl. LUNGEBOX, ROY WADE & IMAMAKER / POP-UP HOLIDAY MARKET / THE LIVING GALLERY OUTPOST, L.E.S. / SAT DEC 15 12pm-9pm |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 15th, 2018, 9:46am
‘LOOKING INTO SPOTLESS RAIN’ – CURATED BY YULIA TOPCHIY
DACHAL CHOI, EMILY WANG, CICI WU
OPENED . . FRI NOV 30
the show runs thru . . JAN 19, 2019
ASSEMBLY ROOM, 191 HENRY ST., LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC 10002
HRS: WED-SUN 12 – 6 PM
ASSEMBLY ROOM . . .
is a new indie / curator-run storefront gallery / project space on Henry St. in the L.E.S.
aiming to be . . “a platform for independent women curators” – the space invites Both diversity and community / as well as offering “open calls” . . for ideas & programming.
The space opened this past SEPT 2018 & this is only their 3rd show – I was quite engaged by the 3 young artists at their opening.
read more about: the 3 co-founders – PAOLA GALLIO, NATASHA BECKER, YULIA TOPCHIY
DACHAL CHOI . . at the opening.
born in Seoul, KOREA, her work questions . . “instability and uncertainty within individuals and the societies of which they are members . . .”
~ASSEMBLY ROOM
DACHAL CHOI . .
‘Untitled (After Eutheria)’, 2018.
mouse trap, engraved metal, silicone, resin, hair & RFID chips.
dimensions variable.
I found it intriguing that this was a ‘grouping’, and yet so stone cold.
and yet . . so dark and curious. the small scale, as well as the fact that most of the sculptural grouping, lay on the floor . . led to audience / interactive impulses. so imaginative, so ‘narrative’, & yet exceptionally . . industrial at heart / but, with a cachet of magic & ancestral fables (the long black pony tail) at heart. dark heart ? playful, IDK.
I also half- expected the metal boxes – to get up, and skitter away . . on nano-robotic feet !!
so, I later read that the cold steel / metal boxes were actual mouse traps – which only intensified the context / and amplified logic of the floor setting.
a friend of the artist, told me at the opening . . that the resin ‘mini-sculptures’ were “3-D” print-outs of Brancusi sculptures.
again, the implied poetry and, the industrial level . . both – raised up a BIG, couple of notches.
though, vs Brancusi (‘The Kiss’), overall, I did feel overall, there was a deep, sad heart at play here.
I guess you should go walk amongst this . . mini-sculpture park for yourself, get lost in reverie, sensuousness. and technical abandon / & come to your own . . conclusions.
EMILY WANG, in front of her large watercolor.
both an artist and a musician, Ms. Wang performs under her solo project Lima Rei, and with the band Dies Smely.
EMILY WANG, ‘At the edge of time’, 2018.
watercolor, pencil, charcoal, oil on paper.
46 x 34 in.
again, this is really something you need to get up close and personal with / to experience at the fullest. secrets & emotions . . run subtle, deep and powerful in this show.
“spotless rain” . . . ???
detail, EMILY WANG, ‘At the edge of time’.
there was also a very ‘technical’ side to this piece as well, all was not . . poetry.
the subtle / powerful yin yang / give & take . . technique of watercolor painting, vs the effect of ‘colored’ oil paint on paper, the effect of water, equated the presence of passing time.
passing thoughts: brush in hand / in free-fall.
CICI WU, a large and seemingly . . fragile hanging.
Cici Wu was born in Beijing, and raised in Hong Kong.
Her work has been exhibited at 47 Canal, as well as other venues, both here and abroad.
She has been the co-organizer of an artist-run residency & exhibition space, PRACTICE, since 2015.
one gets the sense of fragile, yet ready-made / strong and sturdy despite the willow-i-ness. plastic is indestructible, and though (organic) flowers do come and go, flowers hopefully, will always . . bloom.
a happy thought to depart on. & a sense one gets about all 3 of these young women.
a cosmic diagram in a basket ?
the power of the life force / the universe, the creative impulse ?
the tantric road map. the signs that a pencil can make.
let’s hope so !! or maybe, then again . . . not.
grounded !! humbled.
the kite / the ribbon. the thought ‘balloon’ . . is tethered to the floor.
what does this say, about our humanity & shared experiences.., limitations and also genetic ‘common sense’ / despite our diversity and very different origins.
PAOLA GALLIO, NATASHA BECKER & YULIA TOPCHIY – the 3 co-founders of ASSEMBLY ROOM.
Yulia Topchiy . . curated ‘Looking into Spotless Rain’ / their 3rd show.
‘Looking into Spotless Rain’ . . is up thru JAN 19, 2019.
~DACHAL CHOI, EMILY WANG & CICI WU . . ‘LOOKING INTO SPOTLESS RAIN’ / ASSEMBLY ROOM |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 13th, 2018, 10:46am
