ok, maybe just exaggerate, a little bit. tell a little white lie here and there, go to jail for art forgery, you know the regular stuff !!
JOCKO WEYLAND – who has also been following Alfredo’s colorful exploits forever – wrote in to say that ALFREDO was really only in Chinese jail for about 3 weeks, tops.
ok. Alfredo and Josh did tell me 3 months – but knowing Alfie – I’ll take Jocko’s timeframe – under serious consideration – as the bonafide version.
BUT the main point is: he was TRULY in SECRET CHINESE DETENTION, he was terrified to the point of being scared for his life – and he did get deported, sent home on a one way plane ticket, only after the intervention of JOSH HARRIS and BYRON HAYES, and his legs are truly purple, from the knees down – on his first day back.
Photos DON’T lie.
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, happy to be back in the USA !!
he has just landed in Williamsburg – after being unceremoniously sent back home on a one-way ticket by CHINA.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. AUG 19, 2010.
JOCKO WEYLAND actually went to China – while Alfredo was there and wrote up the experience for VICE !!
hey, it’s a rainy day – what else do you have to do: ‘RAW CHINA – A Day With ALFREDO MARTINEZ at the Military Museum’ – by JOCKO WEYLAND – in VICE, “published 3 years ago” – that would be ca. 2009 !!
just btw: we were all amazed that ALFREDO even got to go to China in the first place.
esp after he had done gone and got busted . . . and sent away to the big house for about 2 years (2002 -2004) for his notorious BASQUIAT caper – he tried to pass one off on a convicted drug dealer !! turned art dealer !!
that’ll do it to ya – every time.
and SO: he was a convicted felon, was he not ??!!!!
do felons get visas to China ? even as resident guest artists, like they say . . . just asking.
~ALFREDO MARTINEZ: what me, embellish . . . ? |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 20th, 2012, 9:29am
FILE UNDER: “KILL THE CHICKEN TO SCARE THE MONKEY”.
p.s. remember the MONKEY in the recent DUKE RILEY CHINESE ZODIAC RIVER RACE: historically the monkey cheated & he won !!
apparently he also traumatized a whole nation. and not without reason, dude.
apparently the Chinese never got over that – and NEITHER SHOULD you !! there’s wisdom in dem old tales, for sure !!
but still – tossing a young (GERMAN !!) art handler in jail, and throwing away the keys, it’s making major global ripples, here’s the story.
see: CHINA ARRESTS UNNERVE ART WORLD – NEW YORK TIMES, TUES, JULY 17, 2012
so, TELL ME, MY CREW – !! ISN’T ALWAYS ahead of the curve !!
(DAN ASHER, included.)
JOSH HARRIS of ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ fame – and ALFREDO MARTINEZ !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN. AUGUST 19, 2010.
American Brooklyn-born artist ALFREDO MARTINEZ had just been released from months of SECRET DETENTION in CHINA – on behalf of Josh’s INTENSE efforts – in conjunction with the most important help from the well-connected, Brit blue-blood diplo family scion: art collector & art writer – BYRON HAWES !!
look at Alfredo’s legs. they are purple from the ankle up. that’s what about 3 months of detention in China will do to ya. esp if you weren’t too well from the get-go.
I’m told it’s a form of a diabetes and it’s taken a bad turn recently – with Alfredo having to be hospitalized in Connecticut where his family can look out for him. next step, if he is not careful: they amputate the legs, from the knee down – so it’s no friggin joke.
detention in China is no joke – esp because they often tend to throw away the keys.
read that article in the TIMES again . . . !!
and you don’t have to read between the lines, either. it’s all there – in black & white.
and then, read: the background story on ALFREDO’S CHINESE DETENTION/artlovers . . . ALFREDO: LOST & FOUND !!
okay, don’t tell the big guy: but the inside circle of winners’ joke ?
does ALFREDO still need shoes ?
sorry – but I can’t pass on .. on passing that on.
blame it on NORA !! just don’t tell Alfie !! or I’m dead. as usual.
ELI BROAD, ALFIE MARTINEZ – no diff. if you don’t see me at the next big opening – call the cops.
and if you were really lucky !!
you were in the JOSH HARRIS address book – and received a few months back, an email draft of Josh’s proposal to tell Alfredo’s Chinese detention story – on the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TV series: ‘Locked Up Abroad’.
I kid you not, as NORA EPHRON would say, you can’t make this stuff up.
Josh’s working title, for the project: “TORTURED ARTIST” – !!
apparently brilliant title, and colorful character aside – the project didn’t make it past the first round.
too bad – !!
what’s wrong with Nat Geo !!
come on, red rover, red rover – let someone else come aboard – and help ALFREDO get over !!
you guys in the mainstream artworld, are not only SO slow – but friggin lame, as well.
you only, ONLY back the guys like JEFF KOONS and CINDY SHERMAN, that you can safely bring home, back to dinner with the wife and kids, and ain’t that the truth. the artist as business-head pros.
and you know it.
but you know – it’s always the outlaws and the overlooked – who sneak up from behind, and win – the race !!
JEAN MICHEL, anybody ?
now, remind me.
how did DISASTER get to rhyme with artist, anyway ? oh yeah, JEFFREY DEITCH !!
LA MOCA – what do you know – ahead of the curve, FINALLY. disco balls and all.
~CHINA: breaking news – a major disaster, what else ? |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 18th, 2012, 11:51am
ok, moving on from one disaster to the next, you know: annoying emails, LA MOCA, and DEAD authors !!
with so much DRAMA, CHAOS and ENTROPY !! at hand – I think it’s fitting to look back at the art show that jumpstarted, ‘called it’, ok . . . caught the trend/wave – of it all, and that would be:
‘THOMAS DEMAND’ – which ran MAY 5, 2012 – JUNE 23, 2012 at MATTHEW MARKS GALLERY in CHELSEA, NYC.
or as artlovers called it at the time: “FREIZE NOT, DEMAND HOT !!!”
from COMMES DES GARCONS . . . to THOMAS DEMAND – without skipping a heartbeat !!
oh, what our ‘bags’ tell – all about us !!
THOMAS DEMAND, ‘Kontrollraum / Control Room’, 2011.
C-print mounted on plexiglas, 78-3/4 x 118-1/8 in.
(I bet Matthew Marks made out like a bandit – on this one !! – the prices & edition numbers – were not posted, btw.)
it’s not just the loneliness of the installation, very sparse in a big white room, or the loneliness of the photos, huge and empty of humans, in human situations – NOR the actual historical disasters they speak to – but that the scenarios are meticulously, well broadly meticulously !! re-created from PAPER. and paint.
and I think – in real life scale. look again !!
p.s. I’m just guessing the paper was painted, or otherwise custom-colored in some places. there are NO visual brush strokes – a very important visual factor – contributing to the over-all modernity and coolness of the piece. hyper psychedelic collage party – NOT !!
I mean, do they have such a great range of ready-to-use construction paper in Germany. who knows, maybe ?
I’ll have to ask him, Thomas Demand, that is – the next time I see him.
plus it’s great that the paper paint job is NOT shaded !! it totally adds to the ‘irony’ & sweet ‘desire’ of the overall work. great color tonality, too.
so, disaster is re-constructed – and you can think on that – for YOURSELF !!
YES. this is the scenario for the that big tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown, hello Kitty – in Japan.
you can google the situation & the THOMAS DEMAND recreation situation, and find out all about both – by YOURSELF, too.
tons of words – were written on the background stories, of the actual event & the art – duh.
in the back room – was a big looped ‘recreation’ animated video/film and sound installation. very striking for the visuals, the eerie soundtrack, and of course – the screening being ENDLESSLY looped – all alone in that big otherwise empty, and super professional – exhibition room.
THOMAS DEMAND, ‘Pacific Sun’, 2012. Film and Sound Installation. 147-1/2 x 197 in.
again, the scale, color tonality and paper folding (!!) – was super: sweet and moving. a tragedy in motion – now put into stripped-down replay – forever !!
note: the computer was the first to go – !!
the gallery press release was the most generous with the details, history & behind-the-scenes production – on this piece:
“Based on a video of a cruise ship caught in a storm between the Republic of VANUATU and AUCKLAND, New Zealand which the artist found on Youtube (!!), ‘Pacific Sun’ follows the full narrative arc (!!) . . . . (love how that echoes the ‘arc’ of the wooden serving bar in – the ship’s cafe, above !!) . . . . of the ship’s violent encounter (!!) in the Tasman Sea. Seen from the point of view of a security camera in the boat’s cafe, the film begins with the subtle movement of small items and escalates to full emergency.
‘Pacific Sun’ was filmed over 15 months, and is the most ambitious undertaking of the artist’s career. The film was made on a full scale set and, like Demand’s models for his photographs, was completely constructed of paper and then destroyed. It comprises a total of 2,400 frames, filmed one at a time, as animators meticulously retraces the movements of each item in the room, shifting the paper models of plates, lemons, pendant lamps, chairs, an upright piano, and a refrigerator by several millimeters at a time.”
again, composition-wise & sculpture-wise: dig that wooden ‘bar’ arc !!
what a nice sweep of ‘rich’ – non-color !! and paper construction !!
BIG QUESTION: so, where were the human passengers ?
were they already rounded up in an emergency holding area ?
so, obviously the BIG PUNCH – to the whole gig – is the very COOLNESS with which the narrative of disaster – was re-created, and filmed.
everybody was talking about the show when it opened – and not just because it was NOT a $40 shlep to Randalls’ Island !!
everybody got, that this coolly x 1,000 transitioned piece – was ALL about the living . . . la vie loca !! – of the fast sinking world as we knew it – that we live in – that runs a new anxiety vibe under everybody’s life force – in human year 2012.
not to mention: FAMINE ? SEVERE DROUGHT – widespread across the (former) bread basket of the USA this summer.
case in point. global warming. item: this summer – hot enough for ya ?
yep, I’m telling ya – DAN ASHER gonna be bigger than JEFF KOONS. mark my words.
it’s gross footprint vs. tiny fingerprint. aka – the BIO / ECO WARS !!
even 5 yr old Hushpuppy is having nightmares about the crashing, melting icebergs ala ALEXANDER McQUEEN, in that g-r-e-a-t Louisiana bathtub ode – ‘BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD’ – did you see it, yet ?
AGAIN: take two.
that’s what’s so nice about film & looping – in general. you can start to pick up the details.
so, note: the computer – was among the first – to go !!
just think on the IMMENSITY of that – in a digital age. iCloud and extra hard drive storage, be damned !!
it isn’t just the stop of commerce, and the silence of the digital cash registers that this speaks to – BUT, all our knowledge will evaporate, too. it’s all digital. I got NO hard copies of this site, that’s for sure.
and the hoarders, of all people – the obsessive collectors of all things crusty & real time, old newspapers, vinyl (!!) etc – – – will become the new STARS !!
yep, picture that.
of course the other project in the room – was the re-creation of WHITNEY HOUSTON’S – last meal.
all I want to say, is how GORGEOUS that deep olive green of the (re-created) hotel tablecloth is – the metaphors you can work for yourself !!
THOMAS DEMAND, ‘Junior Suite’, 2012. C-print mounted on plexiglas. 55 x 45-1/4 in.
LAST THOUGHTS: of course you know, right ? that GERMANY has a long and very illustrious folk art tradition of paper cutting. like the Japanese have origami, the art of paper folding – the old time Germans had paper cutting. it was sometimes very fussy and ornate – but always full of symbols . . . as in METAPHORS (!!) check !! – lots of hearts and flowers.
so you can trace the origins of the work of THOMAS DEMAND back to a folk craft !!
the old European paper cutting arts – also came down to us – in the form of the pioneering Pennsylvania DUTCH, i.e. German – hex signs, etc. or in other words:
I PUT A SPELL ON YOU !!
and so too – did: German-born artist THOMAS DEMAND.
yep, NEW YORK CIY – SPRING 2012.
FREIZE, not so.
but, THOMAS DEMAND was – hot !!
re: FREIZE.
show me ONE single image of NEW work that came out of that fair / show and blew NYC away – besides the actual aerial photos – of the fair tent – itself !! you cannot.
NOT !!
period. end of story.
and, don’t send me any annoying emails, either. as NORA EPHRON would surely say, the proof is in the pudding.
and she liked hers, with LOTS of raisins !!
PHOTOS OF THE THOMAS DEMAND INSTALLATION: NANCY SMITH, NYC. MAY 9, 2012.
~THOMAS DEMAND: a look back at his DISASTER SCENARIOS . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 18th, 2012, 7:42am
NORA EPHRON was 71, and had to die . . . for me to take her seriously.
ya gotta believe in ghosts.
forget WHEN HARRY MET SALLY – WHEN NORA MEET NANCY – was long overdue. and the sparks. there are no words.
I’m reading every book of hers, I can get my hands on.
and that’s no mean accomplishment – the city’s stock of NORA EPHRON pretty sold out within 24 hrs of her death.
no joke.
speaking about OLD PEOPLE having fun: NORA EPHRON’s book of short essays – ‘I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK and other thoughts on being a woman’ – was a WONDERFUL READ !! super NEW YORK, super fun, and super ahead of the curve.
plus you could learn a few things, too.
like: always tell lies, because you don’t want to be the friend that is NEVER FORGIVEN !!
as she says: “I have never forgiven one of my friends for telling me not to buy a perfectly good apartment on East Seventy-fifth Street in 1976.” (!!)
I know what she’s talking about – because I have never forgiven a friend who told me not to sleep with so and so in year . . . well, you get the picture. just don’t be that idiot.
“Everything is copy” – as in life stories, but also – as in CONTENT. which turns out to be THE most important ‘issue’ on the brave new world of the internet WEB – so there !!
“I can’t believe how real life NEVER lets you down.” that’s NORA.
“On the other hand, perhaps you CAN make this stuff up.” and that’s NORA, too.
anything she says, and everything that she says – that even touches on JOURNALISM – is a lightbulb going off . . . inside my head !! and that’s NORA, too.
all I can say is: lucky for NORA her FM radio wasn’t playing . . . bogus ‘vocals’ on the biggest rock classics, back in her day, like it is now. for sure she’d have something to say – about that.
you know: some two bit singer singing ‘UNCHAINED MELODY’ – along to the stripped-down authentic musical background tracks, ala karaoke I guess, getting passed off as the real deal. and NO, it’s not !! NO !! that is NOT the RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS !! and if they do that to JIM MORRISON and the DOORS – I will freak – and I’m pretty sure, so would Nora.
how the hell, will the young kids coming up – ever know the diff. how will they ever respect our roots, our revolution, if not ourselves – if they don’t hear the original vocals ?
how will they ever know the power of the real music that fueled us. how do radio stations get away with this. doesn’t everybody just turn the dial ? they should.
no wonder VINYL rules !! it’s the real deal. that’s what’s so scary about the the digital world – it can be photo-shopped.
so, yeah. her writing, just like her mind – was all over the place.
kinda just like mine, or so I like to think (!!) – a singular logic that has no beginning, and lucky for us, no end.
NORA’S autobiographical novel ‘HEARTBURN’ was slightly less compelling, but hey, I read it in 2 days I could not put it down, so maybe revise that. it was really really interesting as social commentary, and the issues are probably timeless, esp re: marriage – but the book is also interesting to read as an academic tool/companion to the 1986 same-named movie, which was kind of a flop. they should re-make it. the movie.
but the book – it had heart, and the best line ever:
“Show me a woman who cries when the trees lose their leaves in autumn and I’ll show you a real asshole.” – love it.
plus, how’s this for – a cheesecake recipe !!
“Here’s Amelia’s cheesecake recipe; she always said she got it from the back of the Philadelphia cream cheese package. Make a nice graham cracker crust and pack it into a 9-inch pie pan. Then mix 12 ounces cream cheese with 4 well-beaten eggs, 1 cup sugar and a teaspoon vanilla. Pour into the pie shell and bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and cool 15 minutes.Then spread gently with 2 cups sour cream (!!) mixed with 1/2 cup sugar and bake 10 minutes more. Cool and refrigerate several hours before serving.” – NORA EPHRON, ‘HEARTBURN’.
and oh yeah, NORA had to self-publish her food recipes. can you believe that.
she had to slip them into – her novels and essays.
and . . . I ?
I have to self-publish my own photos. so I guess that makes us: soul sisters ?
except that I, I have to self-publish my essays, and art criticisms, as well. oh well, she one up on me.
plus my husband didn’t screw the Ambassador to Britain’s wife. he kinda went the other route. down and dirty. ha.
ok, enough about me !!
hey, forget when HARRY MEET SALLY – when NORA MEET NANCY – sparks flew, and it’s always amazing to find something new, even if it’s old, or maybe esp so – that can rock your world.
that’s the thing about NEW YORK.
there’s ALWAYS something NEW around the corner – and it’s still – all about the art.
and then there is LA. LA was gonna beat NYC at bat ?
dream on. I don’t think so. not in this lifetime, anyways.
NORA EPHRON, ‘HEARTBURN’, VINTAGE BOOKS, A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE INC. 1996.
ORIGINAL COPYRIGHT: 1983. I scored this secondhand copy for $6 the day after she died. in a tiny obscure secondhand book store. otherwise it’s sold out.
it’s way funny – cause it has food stains on the cover !! NORA would love that.
CARL BERNSTEIN and NORA EPHRON, FEB 22, 1978. FILE PHOTO: AP PHOTO BY RICHARD DREW – c/o ABIGAIL POGREBIN/LITCHFIELD COUNTRY NEWS.
‘HEARTBURN’ was a thinly disguised account of their failed marriage. I just had to post this photo again – because omg – this is what a ‘lady killer’ looked like in the late 70’s. that’s so funny, I’m sorry. but NOT !!
the great thing is supposedly she did move on to find love – and a happy ever after ending with NICHOLAS PILEGGI.
and she was said to be both: GENEROUS and HAPPY as well as smart, funny and witty.
I know some old people, and some young ones who – could take a clue.
that’s the other nice thing about dead people. they can’t bully you, in their desperate quest to stay on top, or at least alive !! if they are old . . . never mind outright rip you off, ever hear the one about the charms stripped off the 18 K gold band for starters. hey Nora, do I have a story for you. and you thought your jewelry story was funny. talk about the old folk. ha. heh. heh. hey, everything is COPY. everything is fair game, in love and war.
and they can’t send you annoying emails !! – if they are young.
that go: hey we just want you to come to our opening on a hot and stifling night, with no pay. to drink some beer and party – we don’t want you to come and work, take pix and take notes and then spend a couple of days to write it up.
dudes. seriously you gonna miss me – when I’m gone.
yeah someone just called me “unethical” to-nite – because I wanted to get paid. I wanted $50 ea. per artist in an 11 person group show ?!! hint. hint. 3 of whom I have posted about for over 4 years, and 2 of those 3 I have followed for more than 10 years, no charge. ever. starting from when they were just Copper Union students.
and I don’t see anybody else writing them up – either. btw.
but somehow ARTFORUM, which you have pay just to reproduce your own god damn ad – is not ?
obviously the ELI BROAD genes skipped me – when I landed.
talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.
no wonder all I wanna do – is read NORA EPHRON.
and eat cheesecake. with sour cream.
~NORA EPHRON . . . yeah, I FEEL BAD & does my HEART BURN !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 13th, 2012, 8:05pm
‘GOOD TIME’
opening FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 / 6-9 PM
the show runs till JULY 27, 2012 (BY APPOINTMENT – so yo !! – make the opening !!)
Mr. Fine Art (dig that name, or what !!)
105 BOWERY, 3rd FLOOR – LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
featuring works by:
BAS JAN ADER, SAM ANDERSON, JERRY BLACKMAN, CHRISTINE, BRIAN FAUCETTE, KENNY KOMER, DANIEL LANDRY, TESS RAFAEL, BORIS RASIN, LAUREN SEIDEN & RYAN SOBOTKA.
p.s. speaking about OLD PEOPLE having fun, see the illustration above, ha !! and, no, not the show’s artists – which look to be ALL new generation, and only old if you are like 15 !!
. . . you’ve got to wonder if OLD PEOPLE terrorizing an entire art scene . . . are having fun ?
or do they still got to beat you with that big stick – to feel like they are alive and kicking ?
I mean it’s pretty sad when it happens in your own family, that throwback power tripper. but to a whole scene. it’s so “unreasonable”. it’s so old school. it’s so unsustainable and it’s so NOT the way of the new world. or art.
one hopes.
whatever happened to graciousness, generosity with a big G, and that ultimate point setter: style.
LA MOCA – what a joke. the news – only worse and getting worser.
well, maybe that’s the way – the new wave comes crashing in – so red rover red rover let the new people come over.
the art world did not begin, or end with the 80s. ELI BROAD COLLECTION aside. it’s really not that remarkable to call the big ones, it’s calling the overlooked ones !! that really counts.
okay I’m gonna lay it on the line.
ok he has twenty something CINDY SHERMANS and twenty something JEFF KOONS – but does he have even one DAN ASHER, no he does not.
that’s it, end of argument.
still don’t get it ?
anybody talking about the latest show up at LA MOCA ? anybody even know the last show to make waves at LA MOCA. there ya go. you got your answer. NO.
the first street art show, LA MOCA circa JEFFREY DEITCH – – was a blast, but since then ?
when you read in the fashion style sections that even a fashion designer like ALBER ELBAZ is quoted as saying: “it’s all about the curators now – not the art”. you know it’s time to re-think the equation.
but in NEW YORK CITY, it’s still all about – the art.
the massing army in Brooklyn, the dead author round the corner.
LA gonna beat NYC – not in this lifetime.
~it’s a GOOD TIME in NYC . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 13th, 2012, 1:22pm
it might be SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE and DEMENTED IN LA (!!) – BUT IT’S STREET FOOD CARTS and huge happy festive summer crowds – all the way !!
in NEW YORK CITY !!
in the baking big apple – its still – all about the art.
last night’s openings in Chelsea were no exception. in fact the crowd outside the 100+ artist group show at NANCY MARGOLIS GALLERY on W25th St – was so packed, the whole street overflowed and there was absolutely no getting in. just some of that huge local NEW YORK CITY talent – bursting at the seams, ready to take over . . . go NEW YORK CITY.
‘PERMANENT COLLECTION’ – curated by EDWARD del ROSARIO and JORDIN ISIP
NANCY MARGOLIS GALLERY – 523 W.25 – CHELSEA, NYC.
JULY 12 – AUGUST 14, 2012
over 100 artists creating work inspired by the MoMA/MUSUEM OF MODERN ART PERMANENT COLLECTION – all on a scale of 9 x 12 ins.
here’s 2 of our favs – from the gallery website.
artwork by GREGORY BENTON / ‘PERMANENT COLLECTION’ – NANCY MARGOLIS
artwork by POLLY BECKER / ‘PERMANENT COLLECTION’ – NANCY MARGOLIS
~food carts and street throngs . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 13th, 2012, 1:04pm
or: ok. so, if you really go back in time, you can blame the whole MOCA mess – on JEFF !!
JEFF KOONS.
(just joking, dudes, calm down !!)
omg, don’t get it ? JEFFREY DEITCH + JEFF KOONS = ELI BROAD.
priceless.
JEFF KOONS with the legendary ILEANA SONNABEND, at one of his many shows at her gallery. NYC, NOVEMBER 9, 2002
PHOTO & COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
JEFF KOONS opens ‘POPEYE’ – at SONNABEND, NYC. NOVEMBER 8, 2003.
PHOTO & COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
~JEFF KOONS – a look back . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 9th, 2012, 8:19am
BREAKING NEWS: the buzz about LA MOCA is so bad, the keyword most used to describe it is: “cratering”.
FILE UNDER: the unspoken truth behind the LA MOCA MESS, and it’s not just JEFFREY DEITCH.
what everybody else down there is afraid to say (out loud !!) – but surely knows, is that the man whose last big project was an ‘accelerated’ self-penned book about himself, entitled: “THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE” – a title that would be funny coming from him in his prime – he was notoriously tough in his leveraging skills – is now throwing the scene into even greater chaos – in his swan song. (hey, it happens to us all).
how do you say it nicely: you don’t, and that’s why nobody is saying it. out of sheer respect – which the guy deserves a thousand-fold over – and I guess down in LA, money ties might make it a . . . delicate subject.
a kingpin falling is a sight to see – but it’s a big problem when the whole city has all of its cultural eggs – in his ONE basket.
ELI BROAD at his MAY 6, 2012 booksigning for the launch of ‘THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE’ at 92Y – this past Spring in New York City.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
HOW DO I KNOW ?
I didn’t state it outright – the first time I covered the event – BUT then, I hadn’t read much NORA EPHRON !!
so blame it on NORA’s recent DEATH – but this story is MINE. cruel as it might be – I hope Nora’s smiling down and if you don’t see me at the next opening – call the cops.
I mean he already had the art word by its throat, and everybody knows it, “lending one person museums”, ha. and he was proud of it. so when the person whose holding the 6 million in matching funds, falters, it’s obviously a big big wipe-out.
as NORA says:
“I can’t get over this aspect of journalism. I can’t believe how real life never lets you down. I can’t understand why anyone would write fiction when what happens is so amazing.”
so, here’s the story that I, as Nora would say: own.
I covered that booksigning. I went in awe – when everybody else was at that PETER BRANT party in the country including Jeffrey Deitch. I drunk in every word Mr. Broad said, and never took my eyes off the guy. he was my BILL (CLINTON). I got a great photo of his beautiful wife EDYE with the close associate who sat beside her – and who posed with her – almost as if she was a daughter, an insider for sure. and that would be the well-known curator, NORA HALPERN.
NORA NORA NORA !!
only thing is when NORA stood in line to get the 5 or 6 ‘Unreasonable’ books she had tucked under her arm to be signed, Mr. Broad did not recognize her – out of context.
and when she said, very embarrassed, yet kindly . . “it’s me, NORA” – he said: how do you spell that ?
oh to be a fly on a wall, if not just – a pesky ‘see all – say nothing’ paparazzi.
and then Nora cut her losses and went back to join Edye on the couch, and Eli re-joined the gang and life rolls on, but things must be crazy Shakespearean – down in good ole LA.
the BREAKING NEWS ?:
with thanks to JOSH HARRIS, who took a brief time-out from his 24-7 VEGAS poker game to send this over-nite link – to CULTUREGRRL. Josh titled his heads-up of how bad things really were: “wow, this lady really works him over !!” – meaning DEITCH !!
YEP, hit this: ‘HEAR US NOW: CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, ROBERT STORR & ME’ . . . CULTUREGRRL aka LEE ROSENBAUM: on the LA MOCA ‘MESS’ – a local radio interview with LA TIMES CRITIC CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, ROBERT STORR, former MOMA chief curator and current Dean of Yale University’s School of Art and Ms. ROSENBAUM herself – posted JULY 5, 2012.
and she’s still at it: CULTUREGRRL – HOME PAGE/JULY 7, 2012
also, see: the original artlovers post – ELI BROAD BOOKSIGNING at 92Y – MAY 6, 2012.
CURATOR NORA HALPERN, left, with EDYE BROAD, Mr. BROAD’S wife – at the ELI BROAD ‘THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE’ BOOKSIGNING, 92Y, NYC. MAY 6, 2012.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS, MONDAY MORNING – JULY 9, 2012:
well I was feeling guilty all weekend about being so mean to someone who blew so much of their mind and money on the art world – and who is still 100 times smarter than most of us, even if he is coming undone, organically.
a couple of marbles rolling away, here and there.
but everyone I spoke to, o.k. Simon (!!), told me the guy was a real . . . how does one say this, ballbreaker – so, it was okay funny justice to have a small, but sharp – blog arrow – slung at him from such a lowly art site as this !!
hey, if you don’t like heat – stay outta the art kitchen. art 101.
case in point:
The big upcoming Whitney-generated JEFF KOONS retrospective – a huge festive blow-out gala to mark the end of the WHITNEY tenure in their historic uptown location – will OPEN (!!) get this: “in JANUARY 2014 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, (MOCA LA), then in June (6 months later !!) it will go to the Whitney before traveling to the Pompidou Center in Paris.” – CAROL VOGEL, NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 10, 2012.
it don’t take too much reading between the lines – to see what they all mean by what a cocksucker of a bargainer ELI BROAD is. dependent on him most likely for KOONS work loans, and huge exhibition support aka dough ($$) – the big New City shoe, I mean SHOW !! – gets major pre-empted, it’s like being . . . friggin’ cut at the knees – by having the opening !! and the first 6 months !! of the show – debut at MOCA.
if that’s not a Broad touch, I don’t know what else it could be . . . but I bet it’s a mighty, mighty bitter pill to have to swallow – down here in NYC.
there you go . . . . ‘THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE’ – in a nutshell.
yes – see !! and pay attention to the bit about huge exhibition fabrication expenses: JEFF KOONS RETROSPECTIVE at WHITNEY – CAROL VOGEL, NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 10, 2012
makes feel glad – I don’t have to suck up to anybody for content . . . or dough.
I couldn’t handle that kind of ‘swallow it and sing a little song’ beat-down. I guess maybe that’s why, I’m still – just a fly on the wall. cause that’s probably what it takes to be a major player.
SO, FILE UNDER: SUCKING IT UP. oops, I mean . . . . HOOVERING !! IT UP !!
and don’t get me wrong – I love Jeff’s work. hanging two ton train engines aside.
the retrospective’s sure to be dyn-o-mite – it’s just re: collections. come on, guys. red rover red rover, let someone else come over !!
‘HOOVER CELEBRITY III’ – a 1988 (!!) vacuum cleaner assemblage by JEFF KOONS.
PHOTO: JEFF KOONS c/o NEW YORK TIMES
and p.s. the big connect btwn ELI BROAD and JEFFREY DEITCH ???
JEFF KOONS.
it’s street legend that Jeffrey Deitch’s big claim to fame, early on in the 80’s – was discovering and advocating for JEFF KOONS, when Koons first began showing at the small trend-setting INTERNATIONAL WITH MONUMENT. the assumption is, it was DEITCH who was able to find, and then front the big money that enabled Koons to fabricate his larger pieces.
through the late 80s and early 90s – it was JEFFREY DEITCH, in co-operation with SONNABEND – who sold and placed Jeff’s work – in key collections.
case in point: the MICHAEL JACKSON with the CHIMP limited edition (of 3 ?) – at the time the most expensive piece of art by a young living contemporary artist, going for something like . . . half a million dollars.
when JEFFREY meet JEFF – it was art history in the making, at its best.
20, 30 !! years later – it’s funnie to see, how things – play out !! LA – OLA !!
~ELI BROAD is losing his marbles – and MOCA . . . is tripping |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 6th, 2012, 7:26am
GOWANUS BALLROOM presents: To The Stars on the Wings of an Eel / JUNE 29 – JULY 7, 2012
see: GOWANUS BALLROOM for directions & hours
this BIG BLAST HOT FURNANCE . . . . week-long show and nights of band parties is curated by:
SERBAN IONESCU, ETHAN SPIGLAND, GEORGE SFERRA and JOSH YOUNG.
JOSH YOUNG is the owner of SERETT METAL WORKS & the host of the week-long alternative event.
the long list of featured artists is on the website, but watch out for: SWOON, DUKE RILEY, RAY SMITH, JONAH EMERSON-BELL & RAINGER PINNEY, as well as the work of the curators, some of whom are also exhibiting.
“JOIN US AS war machines are deployed against a staid art world, subjective submarines plumb the murky depths of urban history, eels are charmed by the Siren of Gowanus, and Sleeping Beauty is finally awakened by the sound of a thousand falling pianos.”
there is a big bash coming up this FRI – JULY 6, 2012 / 7 PM – 3 AM / $10 after 9 PM
and again on SAT JULY 7, 2012 / 3 PM – 3 AM / $10 after 9 PM – which looks to be the BIG (!!) closing par-tay !!
check the site for the list of bands / performances.
PAR-TAY ON !! BROOKLYN !! TEAR DOWN THOSE OLE WHITE BOX C-ELLINGS, I MEAN, CEILINGS !!
and ROCK THIS CITY, GOOD.
~GOWANUS, also rises . . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 4th, 2012, 8:46am
STO is THROWING an old-timey hardcore POTLUCK BBQ – TO-NITE !!
TUES JULY 3, 2012 at SECRET PROJECT ROBOT – 389 MELROSE – WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN.
the BACKYARD GRILL goes aflame at 7 PM – SO – BRING SOME FOOD TO SHARE !!
IT’LL be a HOT TIME, TO-NITE. ALL WELCOME.
the MUSIC starts at about 8:30 – 9 PM – ish.
BIG BUGS and JEEPNEYS – are on TOUR from CALIFORNIA – so come out & support real live band – music !!
PERFORMANCES BY:
RAFT
Pat Noecker’s (ex These Are Powers) lush looping sound floatation device
check: RAFT is PAT NOECKER
TETRYL RED
Sto n heidi bring the soul cart noise with special guest Mike Colin on drums n Noah Murphy on turntables
check: TETRYL RED on soundcloud
JEEPNEYS – on tour from CALIFORNIA
Exxxtraterrestrial dance jams for the Animal Quenndom
check: jeepneysjeepneys
BIG BUGS – on tour from LA
Stripped down tropical electronix-like a futuristic beachy shaggs armed with drum machines and synths
check: big bugs at bandcamp
~STO’S HARDCORE BKLYN BBQ – TO-NITE !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 3rd, 2012, 12:03pm
