. . . the first sense of the new wave – in the form of THE STATION/MIAMI, ELEANOR CAYRE’S huge 40+ artist fly-in, blow-out, fly-out hard partyin’ & rockin’ contemporary art, very cutting edge installation – came when we ran into NATE LOWMAN and JOE BRADLEY at the RICHARD PRINCE OPENING, SATURDAY, NOV 8, 2008 at GAGOSIAN WEST 24TH ST. CHELSEA. I think it was Joe who told us Nate was going to curate a blow-out show in Miami, for the ART FAIR weekend, and that he, Joe was going to be included. right away we surfed the web and found a website – for THE STATION – with nothing on it – but a P.R. contact – which we contacted, and thus manged to score & POST !! the first early advance pix !! we knew as soon as we saw the pix – the show was going to be a blast !!
see: RICHARD PRINCE OPENING !!
see: THE STATION/MIAMI/first post/artlovers !!
Although, we knew of the co-curators, SHAMIM M. MOMIN and NATE LOWMAN – we had no clue as to who – the earliest PRESS RELEASE from THE STATION – referred to as: “THE PROJECT DIRECTOR” – ELEANOR CAYRE, was… except that she had provided the most striking quotes about the show’s mission – already quoted several times over on this site; and somehow we got an inkling, maybe from our own party-running days for JOSH HARRIS – that the quote unquote Director – was the real heat source behind the show ??
LITTLE DID WE KNOW !!! we thought Eleanor Cayre was maybe behind the whole show – but pegged her to be a professional Miami Institutional – Museum or Private Collection – curator/top administrator. turns out Ms. Cayre is a NYC home girl !! young, the real 30 is 29 !! – ambitious and super smart, as well as way cool and one-half part – determined & steeley – that’s a good thing !! – ELEANOR CAYRE is single-handedly – the new wave of art advisors and collectors, (aren’t we all collectors – who love art – and know when & how to get our hands on that art – whenever, and however – you can !!) She also seems to be an art activist – as witness: her first venture ever – THE STATION/MIAMI – now called an “ELEANOR CAYRE PROJECT” on the website – which, she did in fact – conceive, direct, produce and, more importantly pulled off !! in a super raw, authentic, and dynamo fashion – and yo, although the show she brought down to Miami had a cold hard-edge – it was really a fantastic focus – think NICK CAVE and the BAD SEEDS meets PANDA BEAR !! !! it was super NYC !! if she’s any indication of the new wave of art movers and shakers – to arise from the burnt-out no-holds bared ground – we’re in for a fun, and finally, s-m-a-r-t new ride !!
we meet up with ELEANOR CAYRE on her return to New York.
SUNDAY JAN 4, 2009
ELEANOR CAYRE. BAR PITTI, NYC. JAN 4, 2009
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
Eleanor shows us the THE STATION/MIAMI ‘goodie bag’ limited edition ‘pouch’ – Nate Lowman designed for the show. fun, or what !!
IMAGE COURTESY/THE STATION.
~ELEANOR CAYRE |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 19th, 2009, 1:10pm
TAYLOR LIVINGSTON, who happens to be JONAH FREEMAN’S GF, (girlfriend!!), he of the ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ fame – was so sweet to just send us, some of her candid behind-the-scenes shots at THE STATION/MIAMI !!
All of these folks were part of the ‘in-house’ crew that lived in the ‘luxury’ condos attached to the exhibit’s ‘found’ & still under construction !! – retail/commercial/residential space, and helped bring the huge, almost week-long exhibit – to life !! In a huge fun & games – but definitely serious – artist-like way !!
MARIE ELY, and JUSTIN LOWE.
MARIE ELY, and JUSTIN LOWE.
sitting, RY ROCKLEN, and JUSTIN BEAL.
JON DE SIMON and MIGUEL RANGEL.
hanging out in Justin and Jonah’s ‘condo’ quarters.
TAYLOR LIVINGSTON and MARIE ELY. in the ‘Meth Lab’.
MAXWELL WILLIAMS and JONAH FREEMAN.
the crew !!JONAH FREEMAN, TAYLOR LIVINGSTON, JUSTIN LOWE, MARIE ELY, SHAMIM MOMIN and MAXWELL WILLIAMS.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF & BY: TAYLOR LIVINGSTON.
~THE STATION/INSIDER PIX !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 19th, 2009, 12:12pm
THE STATION/MIAMI – ELEANOR CAYRE’S debut project – was huge, ambitious and insightful !! Curated by SHAMIN M. MOMIN and NATE LOWMAN – a winning combo, if I ever did see one !! – it was the only show in the Miami Art Fair Weekend – that caught, not only the NEW WAVE !!, but the hard-edged vibe of the new times !!
was it: the best group show blow-out exhibition art extravaganza of 2008 ? you bet it was !!
hands down.
a large contemporary overview, with a personal take or point-of-view – that’s a good thing !! – THE STATION was truly c-o-n-t-e-m-p-or-a-r-y, (as opposed to Auction House/Museum blue-chip fake-modern-speak contemporary !!). Not only that – it had a sharp edge to it, in the work, and in the glorious rawness of the huge cavernous space itself. An alternative project – it blew away all of the museum surveys – of this past year, including the 2008 Whitney Biennial !! but, esp. those lame museum collector shows trumpeted as cutting edge in L.A. !!
put together in just a couple of months – it was not only museum quality – but THE STATION had a great fly-by-night feel. a difficult combo to pull off. Like a cold North Eastern wind – it swept in across the sunny beaches – and threw down the real hard-edged stake – the Miami art scene has recently been missing. its not all about mall-mentality art commerce, suntans and partying, anymore. give me hard-core art over decadence – anyday !! but, esp. today !! gimme me that NYC edge !!
THE STATION/MIAMI – a PROJECT DIRECTED & PRODUCED by ELEANOR CAYRE.
CO-CURATED by SHAMIM M. MOMIN and NATE LOWMAN.
with help from STACEY GOERGEN, the CURATORIAL DIRECTOR,
and MAXWELL WILLIAMS – who was also a part of THE STATION team, organizing the performances and instrumental in the nitty gritty part of the big show’s actual installing.
DECEMBER 2 thru DECEMBER 7, 2008
MIDBLOCK EAST, 3250 NE 1st Avenue/Midtown Boulevard at 32nd St, Miami, FLORIDA
a ‘found’ space – of 12,000 square feet, in an as yet, uncompleted, bare bones urban real estate development.
Spread out over 3 separate levels, the exhibition opened in a soaring ground-floor retail space, from where it then flowed to a second floor office space, and then onto a duplex residential apartment. THE STATION was open to the public from 12pm – 9pm. and featured truly cutting edge & more often than not, large & very large works, as well as site specific installations by an equally large (over 40 participants), and diverse group of artists, such as: RITA ACKERMANN, DIANA AL-HADID, LISA ANNE AUERBACH, LUTZ BACHER, JUSTIN BEAL, DIKE BLAIR, LIZZIE BOUGATSOS, JOE BRADLEY, OLAF BREUNING, TOM BURR, PETER COFFIN, GARDAR EIDE EINARSSON, MATIAS FALDBAKKEN, SYLVIE FLEURY, JONAH FREEMAN, MARTHA FRIEDMAN, TERENCE KOH, HANNA LIDEN, JUSTIN LOWE, IRENE MAMIYE, RYAN McGINLEY, BJARNE MELGAARD, MARTIN OPPEL, ROB PRUITT, RY ROCKLEN, TORBJORN RODLAND, STERLING RUBY, TOM SCICLUNA, HAIM STEINBACH, and more.
more than anything else, the one thing that draws us back to THE STATION – is how the exhibit comes across as so alive and dynamic – so raw and ‘with it’ – such a hard thing to carry off in such a big undertaking. As the photos below get across – THE STATION/MIAMI – really did mirror the ambitions and insight of its originator, ELEANOR CAYRE, who said in her mission statement that the show was about “the commitment and admiration I have for working artists. I felt it was important to produce an event that retains a sense of intimacy and urgency. THE STATION isn’t about yesterday or tomorrow – it’s about right now.”
it was hard-edged, raw & real – and, it looks like it was a lot of fun, too !!
opening night at THE STATION, MIAMI. DEC 2, 2008
STACEY GOERGEN, JEFFREY DEITCH, and ELEANOR CAYRE.
ELEANOR CAYRE, THE STATION’S originator/director/producer; SHAMIM M. MOMIN, the co-curator; and STACEY GOERGEN, the project’s curatorial director.
THE STATION/MIAMI co-curators: NATE LOWMAN and SHAMIM M. MOMIN.
SHAMIM M. MOMIN is an associate curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
ELEANOR CAYRE, MELISSA FELDMAN, IDA EKBLAD, MATIAS FALDBAKKEN, and SHAMIM M. MOMIN.
Melissa Feldman was the event planner for the STATION/MIAMI’S opening night.
MUNGO THOMSON, PETER COFFIN, MICHELE O’MARAH, and ELEANOR CAYRE.
Peter Coffin and Michele O’Marah had work in the show.
TAYLOR LIVINGSTON, JONAH FREEMAN, ELEANOR CAYRE, MIGUEL RANGEL, and a guest.
DANA SHUTZ and ROB PRUITT.
LA-based JUSTIN BEAL.
JUSTIN LOWE, JONAH FREEMAN, and a guest.
Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman are the guys who brought you: Hello Meth Lab with a view !!
TOM BURR and JUSTIN BEAL.
RY ROCKLEN.
Ry Rocklen is an LA artist who had 2 very different pieces in the show. He did the pennies on the 2nd floor, which was basically 2,000 pennies thrown all over the floor – “it looked pretty rad and many people asked about it.”
He also did a work on the 1st floor which he called ‘health medallion’ – the medallion – a small colorful circle, hanging, high on the wall – was suspended from a thick rope that went on to surround – encircle – the entire first floor – an ambitious site specific installation that took almost an entire day to complete.
MARTHA FRIEDMAN, next to her installation, ‘Banded’ !!
MARTHA FRIEDMAN – ‘Banded’.
installation by ROB FISCHER.
MARTIN OPPEL’S carpet made of sand !! known as the “sand .. wich” was meant to walked on !!
needless to say it completely disappeared by the end of the opening !!
another view of MARTIN OPPEL’S carpet. BAJRNE MELGRAAD’S couch, GARY SIMMONS red painting and a JENNIFER WEST video at right.
(g-r-e-a-t !!) couch by BJARNE MELGRAAD. ROB PRUITT’S ‘ANNA NICOLE SMITH’ – it up – tombstone, at far right.
at left work by LUTZ BACHER, and at right, HAIM STEINBACH.
LISA ANNE AUERBACH !!
video by JENNIFER WEST.
COSIMA VON BONIN.
a site specific work, built right then and there. by brothers, OSCAR TUAZON and ELI HANSON.
check out this little article: OSCAR TUAZON wins prize !!
this piece by DIANA AL-HADID generated a lot of attention.
chain – site specific piece by TOM SCICLUNA.
HANNA LIDEN.
(very striking !!) photographs mounted on aluminum by IRENE MAMIYE !!
another piece by HAIM STEINBACH.
crate by DIKE BLAIR. DAN COLLEN tricked out the inside. NATE LOWMAN and JOE BRADLEY did the other 2 sides.
NATE’S CRATE / DIKE BLAIR !!
ROB PRUITT’S i-Photos.
YOSHUA OKON’S video in the stairwell !!
STERLING RUBY’S huge piece generated buzz, that traveled all the way back here, in NYC !!
. . . looking through STERLING RUBY’S huge installation/sculpture
the stairway leading down to: Hello Meth Lab with a view !!
detail. JUSTIN LOWE, JONAH FREEMAN – Hello Meth Lab with a view !!
JUSTIN LOWE in his, and JONAH FREEMAN’S – Hello Meth Lab with a view.
the exterior – THE STATION/MIAMI !!
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY/THE STATION
ALL PHOTOS BY: CLINT SPAULDING & NICK HUNT/PatrickMcMullan.com
see: artlovers first – THE STATION MIAMI/POST !!
as well, STACEY GOERGEN, Curatorial Director of THE STATION/MIAMI was kind enough to contribute some background:
The Station Miami
The Station was made possible by a small group of extraordinarily committed art professionals who were determined to bring a free, museum quality exhibition to the public during the 2008 Miami Basel fair. An organic process, the show was organized in under three months, and was installed by curators, art handlers and interns working for reduced rates or for free. Installed in a large, new development in mid-town Miami, the show encompassed approximately 14,000 square feet of unoccupied space, including a soaring first floor commercial area with dirt floors, an unfinished second floor office space, and a duplex apartment.
The concept, originating with Eleanor Cayre, was to utilize these raw, incomplete construction spaces, and offer artists the opportunity to either create new site specific work, or lend objects to the show. Shamim M. Momin and Nate Lowman co-curated the show, either suggesting to artists certain bodies of work in which they were interested, or asking for proposals. The artists were selected in part because their practices investigate architecture and urban landscape, intersections between public and private, notions of design as constructed lifestyle, and, above all, the sense of “in-betweeness†so fleetingly embodied by these exhibition spaces. To give artists a sense of the space, they were sent extensive site images, or in certain cases were invited to visit, so that they could react to the specific architecture, light and feel.
Response to the concept was overwhelmingly enthusiastic– The Station eventually included 48 artists, with 77 works and 3 performances. Almost 60% of the artists made new pieces for the exhibition, reacting to various underlying currents inherent in the exhibition architecture. The availability of this vacant, cavernous space, in a newly built complex reflects the current difficulties in the Miami real estate business, but it also points to the overbuilding of area over the past decade. Diana Al-Hadid’s Untitled (2008), a toppled tower, delicately composed of colored honeycombs has the sense of a fallen nation, where buildings have fallen into decay. Miami based artist Martin Oppel’s Untitled (Strata Fiction F) (2008) consists of precariously stacked Styrofoam cinderblocks, painted on one side in bright florescent colors, perhaps referring to the fragility of building in his hometown. Midtown Miami’s constructed living environment, and the various manners in which people decide to live and furnish their homes, was also explored by artists. Eli Hanson and Oscar Tuazon’s Beer Bottle Test Column (2008) questioned the changing context materials and environment through an empty beer bottle tower, attached with cement and wood to a structural column in the building. In Hello Meth Lab with a View (2008), Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe transformed a shiny, white duplex apartment into a labyrinth of rooms, in which occupants have been producing crystal meth. The grimy interior includes a laboratory, a burnt out kitchen, and the detritus and accumulation of a world falling into itself. The transitory sense of the space was reflected in Martha Friedman’s Banded (2008), a work consisting of 90 oversized rubber bands. The bands were tied in threes, and then installed in a 15 by 15 grid, anchored from floor to ceiling. Encouraging the viewer to walk between the bands, they fluctuated with movement, as the knots found their equilibrium.
The project was also unusual because the entire team stayed on site in apartments above the installation space. This not only included The Station team, but also many of the artists who installed for the show– leading more than one person to compare it to “art campâ€. Given that we were all there, everyone helped in many aspects of the installation and opening, and we all got to know each other very well. We are currently working on a publication which will not only include installation shots, but also outline the curatorial process leading up to the show, as well as the installation and opening.
For more information on the The Station, please visit our website TheStationMiami.org.
Stacey Goergen
Curatorial Director
~THE STATION/MIAMI !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 16th, 2009, 12:54pm
JUSTIN LOWE & JONAH FREEMAN’S huge, detailed, allegorical ? and extremely fabulous installation for THE STATION – ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – scored lots of press & attention, even amidst the crush of the Miami Fair weekend, even scoring a “Best of Miami Art Fair” rating, with a big installation photo, in the New York Times/review of the Miami Art Fair 2008 weekend.
see: the NEW YORK TIMES COVERAGE of THE STATION/’Hello Meth Lab with a view’/ THE STATION/and scroll down to the UP-DATE !!
‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – scored so much momentum – it is going to be re-constructed at DEITCH PROJECTS, NYC – this June 2009 !! – so us New Yorkers can get to see – what the big commotion was all about, first hand !!
This highly detailed (traveling/adaptable) site specific installation took up over 1,300 sq.ft. of The Station/Miami’s huge exhibition space. ELEANOR CAYRE, THE STATION’S originator/director/producer wrote to tell us that it took JUSTIN LOWE and JONAH FREEMAN, and a couple of friends, about 3 weeks to install ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – and that they are even now engrossed in the detailed process of ‘de-installing’ it – so it can be re-incarnated at Deitch Projects this summer. The project is supposedly going to re-surface with a new twist in the name. Word on the street is DEITCH is giving the boys a nice budget to work with, and 5,000 sq. ft. to go wild in – so the next ‘Meth Lab’, in NYC – should be a big blow-out as well.
The first ‘Meth Lab’ was called ‘Hello Meth Lab in the sun’ and was exhibited at BALLROOM MARFA, in Texas. ALEXANDRE SINGH was part of that project, but he has since dropped out, to pursue his own projects.
see: HELLO METH LAB IN THE SUN/BALLROOM MARFA/APRIL 5 – AUGUST 3, 2008 !!
luckily for us, JONAH FREEMAN, just sent us a whole bunch of his personal, WONDERFUL pix, of THE STATION/MIAMI 2008 – ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’ – !!
the approach. it was a narrative of a hidden Meth lab – located behind a seemingly conservative gallery exhibit. lots of metaphors, there !!
JUSTIN LOWE, JONAH FREEMAN, ‘Hello Meth Lab with a view’, THE STATION/MIAMI,
DEC 2 – 7, 2008.
ALL PHOTOS BY JONAH FREEMAN.
~THE STATION/HELLO Meth Lab with a view !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 16th, 2009, 12:03pm
NEW HUMANS & LANSING-DREIDEN performed at THE STATION, in MIAMI – DEC 4, 2008 !!
the NEW HUMANS !!
check out: NEW HUMANS !!
HOWIE CHEN of the NEW HUMANS.
MIKA TAJIMA/NEW HUMANS.
ERIC TSAI/NEW HUMANS
HOWIE CHEN, ERIC TSAI/NEW HUMANS
MIKA TAJIMA/NEW HUMANS
JAY ISRAELSON, DMITRY SAMOCHINE, DIEGO DUENAS of LANSING DREIDEN !!
check out their music, esp TRI !!: LANSING-DREIDEN !!
LANSING-DREIDEN
DMITRY SAMOCHINE/LANSING-DREIDEN
KRIS KING/LANSING-DREIDEN
JAY ISRAELSON/LANSING-DREIDEN
JUSTIN BERACER/LANSING-DREIDEN
KRIS KING, JUSTIN BERACER, JAY ISRAELSON, and DMITRY SAMOCHINE.
LANSING-DREIDEN at the STATION/MIAMI. DEC 4, 2008
at the musical performances: FRANK BENSON, PASCAL SPENGEMAN
STATION/MIAMI CURATORIAL DIRECTOR STACEY GOERGEN, and BERT RODRIGUEZ.
LUIS GISPERT, DIANA AL-HADID.
MIGUEL RANGEL, ELIZABETH LOVERO, and STATION DIRECTOR ELEANOR CAYRE.
DIEGO DUENAS of LANSING-DREIDEN, and THE STATION’S ELEANOR CAYRE.
the 2nd floor, this gives you a good idea of how big the project was. The 2nd floor alone was approx. 6,000 sq. ft. An L-shaped room, the bands played around the corner.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: THE STATION
ALL PHOTOS BY NICK HUNT/PatrickMcMullan.com
~THE STATION/THE MUSIC !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 16th, 2009, 11:52am
PHOTO (of ARTFORUM AD): NANCY SMITH
when, we first saw this ad in the NOVEMBER 2008 ARTFORUM – for the CINDY SHERMAN SHOW at METRO PICTURES, NOVEMBER 15-DECEMBER 20, 2008 – we knew this was gonna be her first great show in a long long time, the work had gotten tired, stale and stupid – witness the CLOWN SHOW, also at METRO PICTURES, of MAY 2004. Maybe she had to get rid of PAUL H-O !! sometimes being happy – well, at least initially, can do that to ya !!
. . . HAPPIER DAYS, long gone, now. – CINDY SHERMAN and PAUL H-O (HASEWGAWA-OVERACKER) at the 2004 opening of Cindy’s new Clown photographs, METRO PICTURES, MAY 7, 2004
CINDY SHERMAN, CLOWN photograph, METRO PICTURES, MAY 7, 2004
CINDY SHERMAN, at the TONY OURSLER dinner, NATIONAL ARTS CLUB, Feb 25, 2006 – by this time Cindy and Paul were over. Cindy now dates rock icon DAVID BYRNE of the TALKING HEADS, or – has been.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
see: original post FEB 2006 – THE NEW ESTABLISHMENT !!
. . . anyways, like they say – BACK TO THE FUTURE !!
this was the card for the show.
CINDY SHERMAN, NOVEMBER 15 – DECEMBER 20, 2008. METRO PICTURES – 519 WEST 24 ST, CHELSEA, NYC.
you could see right away – the work was tight, serious, and deadly !!
CINDY SHERMAN, ‘Untitled’, 2008. Color photograph. 90.75 x 60 in (image). 96.25 x 65.25 (frame)
Edition of 6.
the piece as it looked in the gallery. The works were quite large. The price range was in the $250,000 ea.
ballpark – and yes, if you bought one, if you could reach that far into your pocket !! you made money.
the face, the expression, and the background, were great, even priceless. Cindy does all her own make-up and props. This was also her first set of photos in which the backgrounds were digitally added/altered or even abstractly manipulated.
of course, the best touch – was the sagging boobs. You got the impression that all these women were specific, that is that the re-imaging was based on real individuals, doyennes of a rich elite, that Cindy had touched base with, but there was no name dropping !! you definite got the feeling, she might have crossed the line – as in …. bitten the hand that feeds ???
apart from the postures, with the implied sense of the individual undergarments, or exercise routine !! – skin tone, make-up and bling – a lot of detailed attention was lavished on the (aging) skin of the hands, and the state of the subject’s nails.
one of the younger subjects – this one really got to me. it felt among the realest !!
along with a good approximation of this matron’s boobs, was a great kind of just losing the battle of the midriff bulge. and the pudgy arms, just this side of going flabby – with a somewhat overall slouchy posture, opposing the hard core ‘status’ attitude – love it !!
this was one of the portraits that made us ask ourselves, (and in fact we overheard 2 women in the gallery, asking each other the very same question !!) did she let go of her diet and fitness routine for the sake of her art !! Cindy in real life would never be caught dead, looking like that !! in real life she aspires to be forever 21 !! and she does a good job. youth and appearance are almighty factors in the cruellest of business worlds – the art world, just every bit as image-conscious, as the enterainment biz !! and, in truth, she’s no spring chicken, she must be fast approaching 60, herself. yep. just looked it up. Cindy Sherman born January 19, 1954 !! happy Birthday – Miss 55 going on 30 !!
Housewives of Orange County look out !!
another of the portraits that seemed very real. some did seem a little too stagey for realism – but had great dramatic effect. whatever. room for both.
yeow !! but, look at her treatment of the neck, here, this must be make-up .. meow !!
when do you the face-lift … you gotta watch the neck !!
not one of my personal faves, a lot of people in the gallery really admired this mother-daughter tour-de-force. I guess for the virtuosity of playing both parts !!
look at the neck treatment, here.
flawless detail, or what !!
an example of one of the more theatrical pieces, if you can say such a thing, of such a slight crossing of the realism line, they were some, especially upstairs in the 2nd floor gallery, that were even more exaggerated). n but still, obviously quite super.
actually it works fairly well from further back.
a little heavy-handed close-up.
not as striking as the last piece – but very interesting, personification-wise !!
again – the big question – can those flabby arms be make-up? or did Cindy let herself go – for the sake of art !!
looks pretty real to me ?
this is more like the real (toned) Cindy !! maybe she took this photo, first ?
like we said, Housewives of Orange County – look out. our art world Cindy is hard-bodied and ageless.maybe you can add fake ‘flab’ – but you can’t fake – good muscle tone.
the photo that most resembles Cindy herself.
well all-in-all – a most amazing ride !!
this one was upstairs – where the more exaggerated ones were. well no matter, maybe they were even more real. truth being stranger than fiction. I got the chills up and down my spine – I’m sure I’ve someone just like this !! at some art opening uptown !!
here’s a close-up – anybody know this (sad) person ?
another intense portrait, upstairs.
back down stairs, who’s this ? yo !! JAN ALBERT – artlovers’ very own movie critic – who just happens to be a great CINDY SHERMAN fan, and who wrote that amazing essay on the 2008 Indie release – PAUL H-O’s documentary – on his relationship with Cindy – called appropriately enough, ‘GUEST OF CINDY SHERMAN’ !!
check it out: GUEST OF CINDY SHERMAN !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
p.s. if you want to see some pix of Cindy, night of the big 2008 opening – and – more importantly read ’bout her fabulous over-the-top party, party like its 1999 !! where you definite get the feeling she is printing money, not limited edition art photos !! yo, maybe in this case – what’s the diff !!
you gotta go to: where else ? ARTFORUM !!
the last hurrah. well give me those days any day. who needs an economic bloodbath, 2009 – is no fun !! give me an over-the-top party any ole day – with people that look 55 is the new 30 !! I’ll take that any day !!
I mean, even I was making $10,000 a week, o.k. – so not every !! week – way back in 1999 – working art parties for JOSH HARRIS. the art skills don’t decline. the art bubble hasn’t really burst – the art talent is still cookin’ – its just everybody else’s liquidity that’s broke – that’s what you get for not buying (good) art and listening to those coked-up crooked-out money mangers – those guys, the financial services ‘artistes’ – ruined it for all of us – and, looks like for a long time to come. the only thing that’s gonna save your skin – is street smarts and real skills. so hopefully artists have a foot up !! if you bought (good) art last year – you were about the only one on your block – making 5 to 10 times your initial investment.. name one: TAYLOR McKIMENS. name some: CINDY SHERMAN, EUNICE KIM, TOMOO GOKITO, PETER SUTHERLAND, STEVE POWERS, BEN JONES, JOE BRADLEY, STERLING RUBY, NATE LOWMAN, WES LANG. ANDREW GUENTHER. ROB PRUITT. a big guy like URS FISCHER, is a no-brainer !! anything cheap at CINDERS or AD HOC, FACTORY FRESH, whatever. its out there, and low-ball, too. doesn’t necessarily take a big pile to get into the art game. just smarts !!
guess that’s a valuable commodity, but at least, it ain’t only on paper !!
so yeah, you a wanna hire me as your art consultant – instead of weasling the info for free off the site – the contact is on the home page. top left hand corner. serious inquiries only. dumb-ass !! I’ve been making 10 x my initial investment, at least, off my art trades and purchases from day one !!
~CINDY SHERMAN/BEST BLUE CHIP of 2008 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 15th, 2009, 3:26pm
EUNICE KIM – ‘MOON THE MAGIC LOSER’
Sept 19 – Oct 19, 2008
CANADA
the BEST ‘JUST’ BELOW-THE-RADAR – DEBUT SOLO SHOW OF 2008 !!
perhaps best known (to some) as the longtime better half of JOE BRADLEY – Eunice surpassed expectations and rocked the scene with her first all-EUNICE ONLY !! outing !! word that 500 homemade funny-tasting magic brownies
were in easy reach to all takers – was just the icing on the cake !! Eunice literally covered the walls with open-ended & completely off-the-wall art !! – and bounced the gallery goers into a total alternative 360 degrees blow-out visual/spatial experience.
EUNICE KIM – photographed at the RITA ACKERMANN/ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY OPENING, ‘Don’t Give Me Salad (Nurses)’. a few weeks before her own opening. SEPT 12, 2008
the card for: EUNICE KIM – ‘Moon the Magic Loser’, Sept 19-Oct 19, 2008. CANADA.
ok. we missed the opening !!
first of all – I dunno the card – didn’t kinda rock us. it looked a little too hokey, homey & crafty. mistake.
two. we had a paying gig – somewhere else, just as good in Brooklyn. what can I say unless someone clones us, or pays us enough – to jump in a cab to make it all the way back to Canada in Chinatown – good luck, artlovers !!
EUNICE KIM/’Moon The Magic Loser’ installation shot – COURTESY/CANADA
there are a few good installation & opening pix on the: CANADA website !!
but, we did know enough of seeing Eunice’s work in small group shows, and really liking her in person, to know we should get down to see the show, at a better time !!
first thing – we noticed on the gallery communal table – a selection of hardcover one-of-a-kind books by BRIAN BELOTT.
then we noticed this strange little new age drawing hanging on a rough piece of cardboard, forlornly from the ceiling !!
then we noticed the whole gallery was basically, literally, covered from wall to ceiling with paper, where objects ‘found’ and man-made, moved in and out of space and perception. feelings, and concepts, and graspings of Eunice’s longing to re-define art, galleries, plastic space, objects. art product, non-product, consumerism, non-consumerism, our times, and the world !! took shape, took over – and we just gave into the rich, often startling, kind of crazy tipsy transparent, wavering & contrary 3-D experience.
individual pieces within the wavering almost camo (flage) shallow plasticity – became signaled as ‘product’ with names and prices – just the way your eye starts to pick out shapes as it adjustments to the dark in a new nighttime setting. the broom within the horizontal freestanding metal circle thus, is: ‘Old Friend’, 2008, mixed media, 61 x 36 x 36 in. ($4,000).
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
(love the show’s name, by the way.)
at left, foreground: ‘Holy Powers in Wait#2′, 2008, mixed media. 88 x 35 x 27 in. ($5,000).
at right, foreground: “Stumped’, 2008, mixed media, 38 x 24 x 23 in. ($4,000)
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
the transition forom one part of the gallery to another.
EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
EUNICE KIM. there were a lot of homemade, man-made one-of-a-kind light fixture/designer sculptures shown last year, including, notably ANDY COOLQUIT at LISA COOLEY. Eunice had some, too. several in fact.
not quite a lamp fixture, but luminous all the same. EUNICE KIM, ‘Sigmund’s Request’, 2008, mixed media, 32 x 23 x 21 in. ($3,000) – yo !! a steal – hope some dumbass was smart enough to jump for that !!
our very favorite !! a real insider’s piece !! Eunice is every bit as bright, droll, and tongue-in-cheek cheeky, as Joe is !!
EUNICE KIM, ‘Joe’s Peeve’, 2008, mixed media, 23 x 25.5 in. ($2,000).
EUNICE KIM, ‘Welcome Home’, 2008. mixed media. 25 x 17 x 15 ins. ($3,000).
EUNICE KIM – another fav piece that made us miss – Little Cakes, Evah Fan, and WALL-E !!
a last look – a sad, plaintive little human-faced piece of saved-from-extinction !! cardboard, waving in the creative mad-within-a-purpose thrown-up against the wall – EUNICE KIM installation – ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~EUNICE KIM/MOON THE MAGIC LOSER/BEST NEW ARTIST 2008 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 14th, 2009, 12:45pm
POSTER PHOTO BY: GEORGE BARBER
‘FUCK THE LITTLE MAN’ – also fondly known as the ‘TALL GIANT SHOW’ !!! – was the last NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN curatorial project of 2008. It opened on Friday Dec 12, 2008, and ran for one week, as per NATIONALMUSEUM policy.
The show was curated by LARS MONRAD VAAGE and GEORGE BARBER. You had to be at least 6 feet tall – to get into the show !! that was the only curatorial condition !! (love it !!) they are so in-your-face, irreverent & fun !! these guys !! just what we need.
Lars writes that he couldn’t make it into the show because at 181 cm. or 5 ft. 11 in. – he was too small !! He just missed the cut-off by one inch !! But, the other curator, GEORGE BARBER, at 200 cm. or 6 ft. 7 in. made it – and showed one of his 3-D paintings, as well as creating the poster (above). The average height of the artists in the show was 195 cm. or 6 ft. 5 in. !! FIVE of them were over 200 cm. or 6 ft. 7 in.
see: conversion table
YIKES !! these guys used to rule the world, once, too !! – remember ? the Vikings !!
turns out the art was pretty good too, and so was the party !!
but first a little extra info, re: NATIONALMUSEUM – an artist ‘co-op’ !!
LARS writes: “NATIONALMUSEUM is a group of friends, and is an artist co-op that will change its members in an intuitive way, if somebody feels they don’t have time they take a break, and if we meet somebody with lots of energy and warmth they are in. We all help each other with every show, but so far every show was curated by one or two persons only. WE started out being: GEORGE BARBER, RAAF VAN DER SMAN, JOHN HODANY, MICHAEL KIRKHAM and me, LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
In the GRAND OPENING we all invited a bunch of friends.
PRECURSE was curated by JOHN HODANY.
THEY TOLD THE FURURE BACKWARDS was curated by me (LARS MONRAD VAAGE).
FESTLICHE ABENDMUSIK was created by RAAF VAN DER SMAN.
WER FICKEN WILL MUSS FREUNLICH SIN was curated by MICHAEL KIRKHAM.
THE TALL ARTIST SHOW/FUCK THE LITTLE MAN was curated by GEORGE BARBER and I (LARS MONRAD VAAGE).”
The shows, so far – always open on a FRIDAY and entail an all-out all-nite PAR-TAY !! The shows are put on in a guerrilla/rove/rebel fashion, finding & utilizing raw unused urban spaces in Berlin.
. . . of course the other really funny thing about these guys is their name – NATIONALMUSEUM – which is a play on the STAATLICHE MUSEUM ZU BERLIN, or the NATIONAL MUSEUMS in BERLIN, and, until they got their own alternative website up and running, when you googled these guys, NATIONALMUSEUM – you got the official German gallery website !!
STAATLICHE MUSEUM ZU BERLIN – The national museums in Berlin represent the result of centuries of collecting.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the holdings increased enormously through generous donations, through archaeological fieldwork and through ethnological expeditions undertaken.
Today the national museums in Berlin consist of 16 museums, each with its own specail area of competence. Despite the losses suffered between 1933 and 1945, most collections rank high among the world’s major museums.
so, back to: the OPENING PIX !! – ‘THE TALL ARTIST SHOW’ aka ‘FUCK THE LITTLE MAN’ !! NATIONALMUSEUM, BERLIN. CURATED BY LARS MONRAD VAAGE & GEORGE BARBER. DECEMBER 12, 2008.
LUTZ BRAUN and PHILIP TOPOLOVAC with TOPOLOVAC’S ‘SKELETOR’.
on the wall at left, work by JOACHIM COSSAIS; ‘SKELETOR’ by PHILIP TOPOLOVAC; and at right, some kind of wonderful installation wall tent/painting !! by STEN ARE SANDBECK.
LOOK OUT !! life-size ‘SKELETOR’ by PHILIP TOPOLOVAC
.
love this photo !! and the piece, a tent installation by STEN ARE SANDBECK. JOE BRADLEY, watch your back !!
tall artist KALLE RUNESON – peeking from within the STEN ARE SANDBECK tent.
wall sculpture by GEORGE BARBER.
painting by FABIAN FOBBES.
painting by KALLE RUNESON
painting by LUTZ BRAUN.
the “tall corner” !!
installation shot, ‘FUCK THE LITTLE MAN’, NATIONALMUSEUM, Berlin.
one of the show’s curators, ‘BIG BOI BARBER’ aka GEORGE BARBER !!
wow – these guys drink from s-e-r-i-o-u-s beer bottles !!
JOACHIM COSSAIS
PHILIP TOPOLOVAC.
. . . stealing a swig !!
UROS DJUROVIC
large painting by UROS DJUROVIC !!
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: NATIONALMUSEUM. SPECIAL THABNKD To LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
ALL PHOTOS: VAAGE & SMAN
~NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN/NORDIC GIANTS !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 12th, 2009, 11:37am
. . . talking ’bout JOHN HODANY !! he is now in BERLIN, and he seems to have become the center of the best & wildest & most creative & definite the most coolest artist/curator collective this side of Philly’s BOBO !! (who actually came out on the NYC scene – the year before !! 2007 !!). Calling themselves the NATIONALMUSEUM BERLIN, so, in-your-face GERMANY !! – their weekly roving free-for-all parties and great wide open art events were dynamic enough – that they splashed out over the big pond – and, onto this shore’s underground radar – to our great delight & so, we are very happy to name NATIONALMUSEUM BERLIN – the best new artist/curatorial collective of 2008 !!! hands down !!
see: JOHN HODANY & FRIENDS/PLAYING IN BERLIN/NOV 14, 2008
see: FUCK THE LITTLE MAN !!
see: NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN
. . . one spark-plug live-wire of the group, turns out to be the artist LARS MONRAD VAAGE, (originally from NORWAY !!) who had work in John’s Hodany’s earliest NATIONALMUSEUM outings. He then seems to have picked up the curatorial reins and put on his own NATIONALMUSEUM show, (interestingly enough) titled: ‘They told the future backwards’ – and, we’re gonna document that next !! hold onto your hats !! its not that it’s a shocking ride – hey, but maybe in its own way it is !! – in that, it is so visual !! and yet, you get the feeling, layered with centuries of storytelling. Its most definite one of the the most super cool, and overtly original, shows, to snake out of Europe in a long long time – and one, that puts that old-heritage creative playground – back in play, for the first time in a long long time, too !!
I mean remember the show’s poster ? super cool, totally striking, and cutting edge, or what !!
The show opened on FRIDAY, NOV 21, 2008 and ran for one week.
(bye the way, LARS MONRAD VAAGE designed the poster. It is an image from a painting of his.
He tells us, the motif comes from his name, Monrad, “that means Moonweel, which means ‘The miller that beat the Turks’, from some battle in the 10th Century, when my ancestor had to leave his mill to become some kind of war hero. So its a Viking-ship that is sailing home after victory, and using the Turkish flag as a sail… Viking ships look so beautiful, as well as the Turkish flag.” !!
we were lucky enough to have LARS MONRAD VAAGE – write us himself, directly – about the show !!
“The artists in the show are a mix of very old friends from Norway (where I’m from), and new friends from Berlin. What I wanted was to mix things that in some way is eccentric and inward, and made of people I find warm, and to consider style as less important than storytelling and quirkiness.
Some of the artists have very special personal backgrounds, as well.
ANDREAS ERIKSSON (SWEDEN) is allergic to electricity, and lives in a farm in Sweden, that is especially designed to minimize radiation.
THORBJORN MORSTAD (NORWAY) paints in a very peculiar style, and has chosen to show his works outside the conventional art-world. In 1999 he was the first artist to show in the casino in Monte Carlo !! His great grandfather was Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, the likeness is actually striking. (see photo below).”
“EXPLANATION OF THE TITLE: ‘They told the future backwards’.
On the other side of a huge forest, maybe in a cave, there are a group of wise men with long white beards. If you find the way to them, you can ask questions about the future. When they give you answers they speak backwards, so you have to remember to bring one of those casette-players, record what they say, and then play it backwards to get what they say about the future.”
“The title and the meaning (with the bearded wise men) came from me misreading a crazy new-age book. Some guy found all theses messages by reading the Bible in patterns, like squares or in zigzag. In the end of the book all the messages were lined up (without the patterns), like: “A great storm will come in 3085”, then he finds some calendar that syas 3085 is 1968 in some folks calendar, and so on.
Anyway, this sentence said: “they told the future (backwards)”, the backwards was there to indicate he found it by reading the bile backwards. I didn’t get that til later, I immediately saw these old men sitting in a cave, speaking backwards about the future.” !! !! !!
wow – see what I mean, feel like I’ve already left my body – and am definitely no longer in a NYC gritty hedge fund subprime credit disaster frame of mind – at least, for the momento !!
. . . and DIY (do-it-yourself) curating in roaming shows – put it up and take it down, artist-curated mind & eye feasts, not mention flat-out all-nite parties !! – definitely one way to beat these grim times !!
wow – beautiful and mysterious !! LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
installation shot, ‘They told the future backwards’, curated by LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
on the walls, paintings by: LARS MONRAD VAAGE, EVA GROTTUM, THORBJORN MORSTAD, and STEPHAN MORSCH.
the floor assemblage/sculpture is by TJORG DOUGLAS BEER.
NATIONALMUSEUM, BERLIN. NOV 21 – 28, 2008
from left: 2 paintings by SEBASTIAN DACEY, a glimpse of the MALTE URBSCHAT piece, and, what looks to be a gorgeous piece, a collage/painting by JOHN HODANY, himself – extreme right.
detail, collage/painting by JOHn HODANY.
installation by MALTE URBSCHAT.
paintings by OLAV CHRISTOPHR JENSSEN, mounted on sculpture by VORSCHUB.
THORBJORN MORSTAD.
beautiful painting, or what !!
STEPHAN MORSCH !!
from left: painting by SEBASTIAN ZARIUS, 2 paintings by RAAF VAN DER SMAN, and at right, ANDREAS ERIKSSON.
love how that ERIKSSON piece looks on the distressed wall !!
JOHN HODANY pushing buttons !! VORSCHUB (aka AXEL ROSSLING) sculpture.
detail, floor installation by TJORG DOUGLAS BEER.
OLAV CHRISTOPHER JENSSEN with entourage – in piece by VORSCHUB.
must have been some kind of walk-in box or maze !!
. . . magic colors !!
George & Rick, behind them JOHN HODANY piece.
from left: KONRAD KINNARD, at center, LARS MONRAD VAAGE, and, right, JOHN HODANY.
(it’s cool, isn’t it – to see the man behind the show, the poster and the first painting (above) – LARS MONRAD VAAGE, who curated the show & wrote that really interesting explanation – re: the title.)
THORBJORN MORSTAD aka “KAISER WILHELM III of GERMANY” !! to his pals. Kaiser Wilhelm II was his grandfather.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF NATIONALMUSEUM. WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO: LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
PHOTOS BY: LARS MONRAD VAAGE & RAAF VAN DER SMAN.
p.s. LARS also sent a really interesting note about ANDREAS ERIKSSON, who made that super visually striking piece on the distressed wall !! and who is allergic to electricity !!
“There are 5,000 electro-allergic people in Sweden, I heard the highest density in Europe. They have a union, and their own magazine. They are not recognized as sick by the government, and cannot be brought to the hospital for testing, because of all the electric stuff there. (!!!) They also often have a hard time when they protest against new cell=phone antennas and so on, people make fun of them as crazy, and they have to listen to the same old jokes over and over. They also often look strange, some make hats of aluminum foil or copper-nets for when they have to go shopping. Some of them also turn into entrepreneurs, one guy is making phones where the speaker and microphone is placed inside the machine, and there are 3m long airtubes going from there to the thing you hold to your head. It works ok, but it can be a bit hard to understand hat they say. Its acomplocated illness, I can only vouch for my friend Andreas, I believe him.”
also,
check out: JOHN HODANY !!
check out: LARS MONRAD VAAGE !!
check out : TJORG DOUGLAS BEER !!
~JOHN HODANY & LARS MONRAD VAAGE/NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 8th, 2009, 9:59pm
. . . a few more pix from back in the day !!
the downtown crew assembled for a one night event, summer of 2003.
from left: BRIAN BELOTT and JOHN HODANY, CAPITALE, NYC. JULY 24, 2003
the guy with the microphone ?
yep, that’s MALIBU VON aka JOE BRADLEY, fronting his band CHEESEBURGER !!
CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
JOE BRADLEY, CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
JOE BRADLEY, CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
hard to believe, but yeah !! that’s JOE BRADLEY on the left, with his band – CHEESEBURGER !!
CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
TAYLOR McKIMENS was there too, behind him – one of his all-dressed ‘cheeseburger’ paintings !!
when TAYLOR McKIMENS left these (somewhat) DONALD BAECHLOR-influenced minimalist pop images behind, and got back in touch with his rural South Western desert roots, with ‘THE DRIPS’ – his career & painting really began to take off . . .
MISAKI KAWAI and TAYLOR McKIMENS, an item back in the day . . .
. . . guess we should show you a couple of more pix we found, buried deep in the archival shoeboxes !!
how about the gang at a seminal show – ‘MAJORITY WHIP’ !! – organized by KATHY GRAYSON and LAURA TEPPER, at WHITEBOX, MAY 1 – MAY 29, 2004.
In the, as yet, unwritten annals of NYC painting, this show is going to be famous for being the first outing of TAYLOR McKIMENS’ – ‘THE DRIPS’ – and I do mean, literally!!
BRIAN BELOTT at the opening of ‘MAJORITY WHIP’ – an artist ‘get out and vote’ effort. MAY 1, 2004
(at least he has new schmatta on his head !!)
we forgot how charming, MICHAEL WILLIAMS, was !! back in the day.
‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004
the first outing of TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘The Drips’ !! well, first there was this really strange but actually a-m-a-z-i-n-g, what-the-hell-is-that , literal ‘tableau’ of (paper) water ‘drips’ heading into pails and cups of some fake some real – water !! you really didn’t know what to think, but it was cool. and then there was a real ‘DRIPS’ family member in the back, in the oval frame on the yellow wall. that weirdo buttnaked chubby guy riding on tractor, with a blue lampshade over his head !!
You know the Simpsons ? MEET THE DRIPS !!
I remember well, going back another day. and this really dumbass collector, ok I’ll even name names !!
LEO (LIO) MALKA – was there, and he told me he had bought several of Taylor’s ‘hamburger’ paintings from ‘those girls’ over at CLEMENTINE – but he couldn’t make head over heels – what this new stuff was about, and he looked as if he had just seen his hard won dough (right !!) flushed down the toilet, that’s what I mean, dumbass. I think it even turned him off from buying contemporary ’emerging’ art altogether from that day forward. he has tons of HARINGS & BASQUIATS, so what !!
the large soft sponge-blob man, is by MISAKI KAWAI.
our most fave piece by BRIAN BELOTT, e-v-e-r !!
no, its not a stick of butter, its a box of proverbial kleenex tissue !!
at the top it says; “Here Have a Tissue” – at the bottom, its easier to read:
“sorry about fuckin yur country” – its addressed to the people who took down the WORLD TRADE CENTER !! these collage posters were distributed freely, in a limited quantity at the opening, and if you were sharp you scored one, did we ? OF COURSE !! NO BRAINER !!
I mean its kind of a hard logic to follow in an anti-BUSH rally – but there you go – if you lived in NYC when the towers came down, you got it !!
silkscreen collage poster collaboration – MELISSA BROWN and BRIAN BELOTT.
another MELISSA BROWN/BRIAN BELOTT silkscreen collage poster collaboration.
lookey here, who else was in the show – ANDREW GUENTHER !!
‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004
the ‘hanging cross man’ by ANDREW GUENTHER.
if !! only !!
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004
an early outing by MATT LEINES. ‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 8, 2004
last but not, least – ‘Clergy Dagger’ – we miss seeing more of MICHAEL MAGNAN’S biting take around town.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~ARCHIVAL/JOHN HODANY & BRIAN BELOTT/TAYLOR McKIMENS/JOE BRADLEY/MICHAEL WILLIAMS/ MISAKI/ & even ANDREW GUENTHER !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 8th, 2009, 9:51am
