on the brighter side of things, uh . . maybe.
after all it’s a weird dark world, out there in comic book land.
here’s a little more f-e-s-t-i-v-e reading for all ye unbound, starved for original content . . thinkers & seekers !!
ART WORK & STORY BY – DREW MILLER
FROM: ‘POOR THING’, NUMBER ONE
an original comic book by DREW MILLER, printed on recycled paper with vegetable based inks by NEOGLYPHIC MEDIA.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: CULLEN (FUTUREMAN) BECKHORN
PRINTED IN CASCADIA BROWN PRINTING, PORTLAND OREGON.
DREW MILLER WAS BORN IN 1989.
HE CURRENTLY LIVES IN WASHINGTON.
so: KEENAN REID . . . of WHAT’S UP! posted a great Q+A with DREW MILLER.
I OFFER IT UP, as a great respite from life as usual, and all the other general merry-making going on, this time of year.
yep, READ: ‘POOR THING .. ALL IN BALLPOINT !!’ – WHAT’S UP
note: we first meet up with DREW MILLER at YALE ?!!!
from our archives: JAMES MILLER . . DREW MILLER / AUG 31, 2013
WE WILL RESUME OUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING . . SHORTLY.
~MERRY XMAS . . DREW MILLER |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 25th, 2013, 11:33am
MERRY XMAS TO y’ALL. but esp all ya . . HAVE NOTS !!
and you damn well KNOW !! . . who you are !!
damn, I sure as hell know . . I’m one.
I post a piece on DUKE RILEY’S . . ‘TO HAVE NOT’. and, I get wiped out ?!!
what can I say . . NOT BAD.
in the poetry department (?)
so, MERRY XMAS and here’s a little festive reading, for all your unbound brains starving for some real intel, hot off the mainstream presses of the world:
KANYE WEST is getting sued big time for ripping off . . BOUND 2.
ha ha !!
bow down before the copyright gods of the 21st century . . !!
all ye fakes, frauds, posers, and no-brains.
I mean, we get that you won’t pay for original content.
but, that doesn’t mean you can just steal .. it.
it’s great holiday reading: “KANYE WEST sued by former child soul singer, RICKY SPICER . .” / MAIL ONLINE
it’s an amazing production, RICKY SPICER was all of 12 at the time. it was way back, deep back . . in the 70’s.
the summer of love and all . . AL GREEN, anybody ?
and it’s a . . beaut.
simulated waterfalls, and all.
plus dig that concept, 2 sets of twins !! and a lead singer. damn.
definite, hit: ‘BOUND’ by THE PONDEROSA TWINS PLUS ONE
oh yeah. bound . . to fall in love.
if writing “to have Not’ gets me wiped out, hey .. you never know !!
~MERRY XMAS . . RICKY SPICER |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 25th, 2013, 11:00am
MON DEC 23, 2013: OK !!
the REV LUKE MURPHY . . has got the site back up and running !!
coverage continues, later to-nite.
thanks for your patience, all.
and for sure, lots of new pix – to post thru the holidays !!
FRI DEC 13, 2013: sorry, the site just went through a server upgrade & is experiencing technical difficulty. is saying it politely. damn, crashed … is more like it.
hope to be back up & running soon.
haha that’s rich. NOT !!
I just post ‘TO HAVE NOT’, and the site .. crashes / ?!!!
what ? can my server .. read !! for god’s sake ?
what’s . . this world coming to.
I feel like a living, breathing . . comic book.
ps: note, FRI the 13th !!
MORE PIX . . FROM THE OPENING – PENDING.
DUKE RILEY – ‘See You At The Finish Line’
opened NOV 1, 2013
the show runs thru JAN 11, 2014
MAGNAN METZ GALLERY – 521 West 26th St, Chelsea, NYC
more info: DUKE RILEY EXHIBIT
DUKE RILEY, ‘TO HAVE NOT’, 2013. found seashells and wood, 96 x 96 in.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
~DUKE RILEY . . TO HAVE NOT |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 13th, 2013, 1:13am
DUKE RILEY – ‘See You At The Finish Line’
opened NOV 1, 2013
the show runs thru JAN 11, 2014
MAGNAN METZ GALLERY – 521 West 26th St, CHELSEA, NYC.
a picturesque MARY GO ROUND played the accordion and sang sad sea-worthy ditties, whilst, DUKE RILEY, walked through the opening crowd . . anonymous.
DUKE RILEY, in full face ‘mask. I mean, it was the night after Halloween !!
but strangely, even though he was the only one in ‘costume’, and perhaps the only one in full dress shirt and bright blue tie (!!) – that only seemed to make him blend more, into . . the crowd.
the opening was so crowded, it was hard to see the art, in full. but no worries, it resonated throughout. there were large scale wall pieces, smaller drawings, ‘bird-eye’ view videos, artifact display tables, two charts of tiny pigeon ‘backpacks’, large scale fantasy Chinese zodiac animal masks, and more . . .
DUKE RILEY, look closely !!
it’s . . . ‘shell’ art. DUKE has exhibited large scale mosaic murals before, which were made with small ceramic tiles, but these gorgeous things, were composed entirely . . of seashells. and they were very mandala-like.
as opposed to ‘narrative’.
though come to think of it, they all did bear messages, as in, ‘letters’ / ‘words’.
oh, yeah. give me NEW YORK CITY over MIAMI, any day.
gritty over sandy, is my motto.
gritty vs sandy ?
gritty wins.
MORE OPENING PIX – TO FOLLOW.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~DUKE RILEY . . OPENING PIX |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 7th, 2013, 8:26am
DUKE RILEY – ‘See You At The Finish Line’
opened Nov 1, 2013
the show runs thru JAN 11, 2014
MAGNAN METZ GALLERY – 521 West 26th St, Chelsea, NYC
the scene on the street – outside the Nov 1, 2013 opening of . . DUKE RILEY, ‘See You at the Finish Line’.
nice hat trick . .
from paste art . . to WINDOW ART !!
close-up . . banner drawing for: DUKE RILEY, ‘See You at the Finish Line’.
Duke has the most graceful line drawing around, yet it also rings true . . to its nautical roots.
definite more folk art, than comic art . . that’s for sure, stylistically speaking.
and, that’s so, even with the very apparent sense of humor, and narrative storyline, that is imbedded in the work.
and, thus makes for a very intriguing, and . . interesting, dynamic.
I would also venture, it’s absolutely correct to say, that DUKE RILEY is truly the only working tattoo artist, in the world . . who can claim a bonafide role in the contemporary art world.
he’s the consummate insider/outsider.
MORE PIX FROM THE OPENING . . TOMORROW.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~DUKE RILEY . . WINDOW ART |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 6th, 2013, 8:00am
hold on to that . . DUKE RILEY, PATRIOT thought for a moment.
BREAKING NEWS: NORMAN ROCKWELL PAINTING BREAKS ALL RECORDS & SELLS FOR $46 MILLION at AUCTION.
NORMAN ROCKWELL, ‘SAYING GRACE’ / IMAGE: SOTHEBY’S
Did we see that coming, or what ? for sure !!!!!
NORMAN ROCKWELL’S . . ‘SAYING GRACE’, sold at auction, yesterday, Dec 4, 2013, at SOTHEBY’S . . here in NYC, for $46 million dollars, setting a record for the artist & an auction record for the category ‘American Art’, as a whole.
the category is roughly defined as . . American art between 1850 and 1950.
the painting, some call it an “illustration”, appeared on the cover of the SATURDAY EVENING POST in 1951. it was sold by the family of KENNETH J. STUART Sr, Rockwell’s friend and art editor at the Post.
POST, post, and more . . post !!
according to the Daily News: Rockwell was paid $3,500 for ‘Saving Grace’ which appeared on the 1951 Thanksgiving issue, and . . the idea for the painting came from a “reader who saw a Mennonite family praying in a restaurant.”
apparently the bidding was quite fierce and fantastic, as the painting “blew” past the $20 million top estimate that the auction house had put on it.
the final price more than doubled the previous Rockwell high of $15.4 million paid for another post cover, ‘Breaking Home Ties’, which was set at Sotheby’s in 2006.
read more & see another great Rockwell, ‘THE GOSSIPS’: Norman Rockwell Painting .. Daily News
~NORMAN ROCKWELL . . ROCKETS $$ |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 5th, 2013, 9:02am
well, there’s being ripped off (!!), and then, there’s no . . . ripping off.
it’s interesting to contemplate the differences between ‘digital’ art, i.e. photos posted on the web vs paste art, drawings on paper that are pasted to the wall.
quelle funnie, how ‘paste’ and ‘post’ . . ‘rhyme’ !!
and then of course, when you get your mind around that a bit, you can contemplate:
roller, as in roof and pole art vs. paste and paper . . at street level.
somebody wanted this DUKE RILEY PASTE ART, but there was no way, it was gonna happen.
DUKE RILEY PASTE ART
24th St. below 10th Ave, Chelsea, NYC
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, NOV 21, 2013
the low-fi ‘poster’ invites you to his current show,
DUKE RILEY, ‘See You At The Finish Line’
Magnan Metz – 521 West 26th St, Chelsea, NYC
the show opened Nov 1, 2013 and runs thru JAN 11, 2014.
yes !!
but of course I was at the opening. the lovely and sea-worthy MARY GO-ROUND sang nautical ditties, whilst accompanying herself with a soulful accordion, and DUKE was serving drinks at the bar in the back, in full ‘mask’. (it was the night after Halloween.)
photos coming up . . next.
in the meantime, check out: DUKE’S online portfolio.
and remember, paws off other people’s work !!
or, as this piece is aply titled: BE GOOD, or BE GONE !!
DUKE RILEY, ‘Be Good or Be Gone’, 2008 / IMAGE: DUKE RILEY FLAT FILE / ARTIST+PATRIOT
~DUKE RILEY . . PASTE ART |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | December 3rd, 2013, 8:07am
TAKE NOTE: NORTHSIDE MEDIA, L MAGAZINE & PADDY JOHNSON, & .. ALL OTHER PHOTO THIEVES !!
the biggest & BEST NEWS to happen in the art world this year, happened last week . . when a Manhattan judge upheld copyright laws and came down strong, on the side of original content . . including that which is posted to the web.
amen.
it’s been a long time coming.
and the ‘disrespected’ photographer won big time: $1.22 million.
after a 4 year fight.
READ: ‘Haitian Photographer wins Major copyright suit’ … New York Times
YES, L Magazine of all places . . lifted my photo of art world celebrity JEFFREY DEITCH, right off artnet where it was posted & clearly credited under my byline . . and brazenly re-posted it to their magazine, as if it were a ‘staff’ photo of their own creation.
as if !!
most notably, it was re-published without ANY PHOTO CREDIT, whatsoever.
never mind a link to the original source. let alone with permission.
and forget standard use fees. what fees ?
and contrary to Ms. Paddy Johnson’s gung-ho platform of supposedly spouting on the side of political correctness & standing up for artist rights,
it’s another, big . . . as if !!
further, she really missed the point when as Art Editor of L Magazine she replied something to the tune of: she . . didn’t know my photos required ‘fees’ ???!!
what about the common courtesy of, at the very least . . a photo credit ? dimwit.
and that’s a kind choice of words. hypocrite, unprofessional, and, outright criminal, as in copyright theft .. do come to mind.
yes, I’m saying: PADDY JOHNSON, not exactly the most ethical, or sharpest knife in the art studio drawer . . are ya ?
WHAT’S also of very monumental consequence in this major, major landmark court ruling . .
not just for artists, but for everybody who posts photos online, duh !! in this internet/ digital era . . was the added twist that, Haitian photographer DANIEL MOREL’s photos had been re-tweeted by an unauthorized second party.
and, guess what.
the court said: so what !!
damn straight.
this court ruling made made it absolutely clear, that the onus is on the publisher to seek out & confirm the original source.
and p.s. it only takes a couple of pertinent questions, esp when it comes to documentary/journalistic photos.
in fact most of the time, it’s very elementary.
it’s one very simple question: were you there ?
the court also made it absolutely clear that re-publishing any photo without first asking for permission and determining lawful copyright . . is a big, big, NO NO.
and it can result in . . . BIG, BIG FINES.
so, keep your paws off the pix.
as in, dear L Magazine . .
was anybody on your staff, including contributing writer BENJAMIN SUTTON . . actually there at the DEITCH PROJECTS / DEARRAINDROP OPENING of 2004 ????
yes, BENJAMIN SUTTON, who currently also writes for artinfo, might be shocked to know that DANIEL STEDMAN, owner/publisher of NORTHSIDE MEDIA, and thus of . . the ‘inglorious’ L Magazine, clearly laid the theft, the blame at Ben’s feet !!
writing that, our “young” writer . . “didn’t know any better” ?
as for the Art Editor of L . . the self-trumpeting artists’ issues ‘crusader’ PADDY JOHNSON, whose job it is to oversee such situations, never mind set the professional tone for an up-from-the-grass-roots ‘arts’ publication which presumes to speak for the cutting edge ‘creative’ contingent in this town . . she wrote that wasn’t “her” or the writer’s fault, that the Editorial staff of L MAG at large . . provides the photos.
??!!!
well, low-life trash parading as the definitive & presumably original . . ‘take’ on the art world
. . is low-life trash.
trash is trash is trash.
is there any other better way / to put it.
and kindly take note:
this is the SECOND TIME !! Ms. PADDY JOHNSON, art editor and art blogger . . spouting on CNN and the like, as a ‘rep’ of the NYC art scene – has been associated with the theft of one my published photos.
so spout on Ms. Johnson, we got your n-u-m-b-e-r.
and bogus, is . . . a kind word.
not only did L MAG lift, as in . . steal the photo, they changed the URL.
nasty.
nasty. nasty. and more nasty . . esp coming from an arts magazine.
out of BROOKLYN, no less !!
following, is a screen grab of . . the original L MAG post:
and screen grabs, don’t . . lie.
nasty, nasty,
nasty.
blatant & nasty . . copyright theft.
YES, I am saying that:
in a post by BENJAMIN SUTTON, dated . . JAN 22, 2010.
L MAG published this PHOTO of a major art world celeb . . and ran it for 3 years !!
WITHOUT A PHOTO CREDIT. PERIOD.
LET ALONE being accompanied by a bonafide link to the original source, never mind authorization, and .. fees ?
what fees ?
JEFFREY DEITCH photographed at the DEARRAINDROP OPENING of 2004.
PHOTO BY NANCY SMITH.
PUBLISHED in ARTNET, SPRING 2004.
see: JEFFREY DEITCH on ARTNET – the large format
see: JEFFREY DEITCH on Art Lovers New York – PHOTOS BY NANCY SMITH, ARTNET. SPRING 2004.
KEEP YOUR PAWS, OFF THE PIX.
BUT, ESP . . . ALL YE ART WORLD CRUSADERS, POSERS & FAKES.
~L MAG & PADDY JOHNSON: KEEP YOUR PAWS, OFF THE PIX !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 29th, 2013, 8:34am
DAMIAN STAMER . . ‘SUNDAYS’
OPENED NOV 21, 2013
the show runs thru JAN 4, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24th ST, CHELSEA, NYC
artists, from left: CHRIS MUSINA, originally from Toronto, meet Damian at grad school in North Carolina, UNC. he is now Brooklyn-based.
center: DAMIAN STAMER, the man of the night, works out of studios in both North Carolina and Brooklyn, and, at the right: PETER ALLEN HOFFMANN.
yes, check out: CHRIS MUSINA
SARAH CHRISTMAN and PETER ALLEN HOFFMANN.
Ms. Christman is a filmmaker, and you can see her work: here, SARAH CHRISTMAN.
Mr. Hoffmann, whose work is inspired by American quilts is Brooklyn-based, and also shows with the FREIGHT+VOLUME Gallery.
you can see Mr. Hoffmann’s work on the F+V website: PETER ALLEN HOFFMANN.
gallery assistant, HANNAH McHALE next to . .
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘South Lowell 6’, 2013. oil on panel, 18 x 24 in.
($4,500)
the subject of the work, broken down to the ultimate bottomline, was . . the ‘work’, or ‘mark’ of time on old southern architecture, expressed thru the ‘work’ or ‘mark’ of the artist . . ranging thru the extreme ends of the drawing spectrum, that is, from realist . . to far-out flung wide, decomposed expressionism.
all composed in monotone, and yet very very dynamic.
very very romantic.
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Sharon Church Rd. 3’, 2012. oil on panel, 18 x 24 in.
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Sharon Church Rd. 2’, 2013. oil on panel, 18 x 24 in.
($4,500 ea.)
in the 3rd room were a set of 3 smaller pieces that expressed that range, from the totally graphic to the . . ‘washed-out’. these were the first two.
detail, DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Sharon Church Rd. 3’.
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘New Sharon Church Rd.’, 2012. oil on panel, 18 x 24 in.
the last of the set.
talk about a gorgeous . . ‘wipe-out’ !!
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Patrick’, 2013. oil on panel, 36 x 48 in.
($7,500)
at the opening, ERIC WHITE.
yes, check out his work: ERIC WHITE / EWHITE.COM
LAUREN JO and NICK LAWRENCE in front of large painting by DAMIAN STAMER, ‘New Sharon Church Rd. 5’.
Ms. Jo, originally from Hawaii, will be showing some sculptures with Nick .. in the future.
on the street outside the gallery, skateboarders . . rule.
as ERIK DEN BREEJEN . . heads off, into the night.
yes, for sure check out: ERIK DEN BREEJEN
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~DAMIAN STAMER . . A FEW MORE PIX |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 26th, 2013, 7:46am
DAMIAN STAMER . . ‘SUNDAYS’
opened last nite, NOV 21, 2013
the show runs thru JAN 4, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24 ST, CHELSEA. NYC.
DAMIAN STAMER, on the way to his show.
DAMIAN STAMER, left . . with his twin bro, DYLAN.
Dylan Stamer is in finance, so that’s a nice . . split !!
DAMIAN ‘splits’ his time between North Carolina, and a studio here in Brooklyn, on the edge of McCarren Park.
ALI IVES, with DAMIAN STAMER.
they are friends from North Carolina, UNC/University of North Carolina . . where they both studied.
his painting, ‘Patrick Rd.’, 2013. is behind them.
DAMIAN recently graduated from the M.F.A. program at Chapel Hill, UNC, and has received numerous prestigious awards, among them, a Fulbright Grant and a Jacob Javits Fellowship. He exhibits his work extensively in the U.S. and abroad, and notably has a solo show upcoming at Galerie Michael Schultz in Berlin, this March 2014.
ALI, has recently moved to New York . . where she is a writer on global and local NYC fashion for REFINERY 29, she has already filed over 160 posts.
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Patrick Rd.’ 2013. oil on panel, 48 x 72 in.
ghostly and yet oddly assertive .. it was Damian’s work, that had everybody mesmerized.
detail, DAMAN STAMER, ‘Patrick Rd.’
his work is full of contradiction. the compositional ‘chaos’ and ‘expressionism’ is held in check by an eerie yet architecturally correct, and historical record. all the work is monotone, yet speaks to reality and landscape. some of the work is very ghostly, just traces merging with the background, while others are very graphic, with higher tonal contrasts.
it’s new and old. it speaks to old dreams and the relentlessness of time passing. perhaps most strange is to experience the ‘depth’ of the pictorial narrative .. which possesses his subjects, the degrading yet forever sweet and charming old Southern structures which is contrastingly rendered . . physically, on a very very shallow surface.
esp for oil paint !!
he uses some kind of thinning medium, that renders his paint very very thin, in fact a kind of ‘wash’. this thinly applied technique ‘sweeps’ in turn across a masonite panel, which is in turn framed, and held firm by wood supports, in the back.
a few of the paintings also have very audacious, yet somehow very ‘merged’ . . formal divisions.
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘New Sharon Church Rd.4’, 2013. oil on panel. 48 x 72 in. (diptych).
($14,000)
detail, DAMIAN STAMER, ‘New Sharon Church Rd. 4’.
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Toler’, 2013. oil on panel. 48 x 72 in.
($14,000)
big sky. small landscape. ‘expressionistic’ . . all over.
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘New Sharon Church Rd., 5’, 2013. oil on panel. 72 x 96 in.
($24,000)
cloud masses . . and linear divisions, contrast. and, yet . . it works.
in the back room, or 3rd room . .
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Patrick Rd. 5’, 2012. oil on panel. 36 x 48 in.
($7,500)
one of my favorites.
I think it was the high bridge (?) running along the top, that caught my attention over and over again.
it was beautifully rendered, just exactly between here, and .. NOT.
it also had a nice Japanese woodblock feel.
detail, DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Patrick Rd. 5’.
a really dense play of the abstract and the graphic .. all merging on a very shallow ‘stage’.
NICK LAWRENCE, catches the ‘rays’ aka . . the ‘ambiance’ of the work.
behind him:
DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Patrick Rd. 4’, 2013. oil on panel, 48 x 72 in.
this photo catches the soft interplay of ‘light’ and a kind of fragile dark at work in these monotone renderings.
a ‘romantic’, gentle rendering of chaos and detail, erosion and .. yet, ‘still’ standing.
talking about, ‘rays’, this is a man who knows how to party !!
FREIGHT+VOLUME will be exhibiting work by gallery artists . . in 4 different venues at the upcoming MIAMI BASEL WEEKEND.
check the F+V website, or gallery for details.
speaking about . .
the BROOKLYN COMICS & GRAPHICS FESTIVAL, VICTOR KERLOW . . outside on the street, at the FREIGHT+VOLUME DAMIAN STAMER opening, had a wonderful table . . at the 2011 BC&GF.
MOST DEFINITE, check out: VICTOR KERLOW . . ‘SOMETHING BIG’.
he was with his pal, JASON POLAN, who has a show coming up next month, at Collette . . in PARIS.
MORE PIX FROM THE OPENING – TO POST EARLY NEXT WEEK.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~DAMIAN STAMER . . SUNDAYS / OPENING PIX |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 22nd, 2013, 10:44am
