I’m completely done . . !!
with American Idol after they bounced – this guy.
what a bunch of losers – they completely missed the music, & the zeitgeist.
watch: high school student, ALEX MILLER croon Merle Haggard’s . . ‘Silver Wings’.
he reminds me of a baby-faced / young John Mayer, he’ll lose the pudginess & become a killer performer /
mark my words.
yeps. Iam definitely aging . . . backwards !!!!
such a great song / infinite in inspo & so, wise-funny / the song music, lyrics, voices, layers.
mood, visuals. love. all good.
just that tight cut / puts it above the rest.
#1 song in the world / that’s such a great global synch-up.
but, I know a lot of people in the art world, bubbled-up in their own studios, and ambition-driven mind-sets /
outsiders roiled by emotion & doubt / insiders licking their wounds or tracking the next big break /
& esp the academics, have their head in the sand most times . . . so:
“I get my peaches out in Georgia / I get my weed from California . .”
come on . . !!
watch: ‘PEACHES’, Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon / written & produced by HARV . . !!
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see: @harv / Instgram
hey – great color palette, btw !!!!!
nice car !! / great night scenes.
great acrobatic cruising.
great neon !! off-color / transparent, translucent big acrylic letters.
great typeface. size. tunnel effect. the entire mood.
just rolls / like a butter knife . . thru the grey-ness.
if people can create as much as well & even better / as others do make war & set about global / bio troubles,
maybe that’s all good.
maybe . . inspo can prevail.
I think that’s called . . religion.
line drawings, especially leaning to the biographical fantastic / are trending.
that’s great.
‘JOE W. SPEIER – YOU LIKEY’
MARCH 26 – APRIL 24, 2021
KING’S LEAP, 368 BROADWAY, 506 & 302 / DOWNTOWN, TRIBECA NYC 10013
HRS: THURS – SUN / 12 – 6 PM
DIAL 506 to enter & in elevator
JOE W. SPEIER, ‘Landscape Portrait’, 2021
ballpoint pen, acrylic medium, glitter, and metal microbeads
60 x 48 in.
image via IG @KING’S_LEAP
JOE W. SPEIER / via Instgram Story @hows_nick aka Nick Sullivan
see: JOE W. SPEIER – ARTIST PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
yes, yes, YES !!
check out that website – that should get you through the . . . weekend !!
great flyer – drawing & exhibition title / Bravo !! Dan !!
‘DANIEL GRAHAM LOXTON: PILLOW FOR DURER’
MARCH 25 – MARCH 31, 2021
OPENING HRS:
14:00 – 18:00 THU March 25th
14:00 – 18:00 FRI March 26th
12:00 – 16:00 SAT March 27th
12:00 – 16:00 WED March 31st
JIR SANDEL
Sankt Hans Gade 14
2200 Copenhagen N
Call upon arrival: (+45) 91 45 86 97
solo exhibition in DENMARK !! – for this up-state, Cold Spring NY artist.
see: ‘DAN IN REAL LIFE’ – artloversnewyork / MARCH 14, 2020
see: ‘DAN CAUGHT THE VIRUS ZEITGEIST’ – artloversnewyork / MARCH 31, 2020
see: DANIEL GRAHAM LOXTON – artist website
INDUSTRIAL . . NOW !!!
THE MANNER of WORKING EVENTS / of WORKING . . . THINGS — IS, A GOOD WAY TO PUT IT !!!!!!!
‘THE MANNER OF WORKING EVENTS’
GREGORY KALLICHE & KRISTEN WALSH
OPENS SAT MARCH 20, 2021 / 11am-7pm
HELENA ANRATHER GALLERY
28 ELIZABETH ST., FLOOR 3, NY NY 10013
HRS: TUES – SAT / 11 AM – 6 PM
Industrial, back then . . 1990s
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, assembling DIY guns from various found & commercial parts.
EXIT ART, NYC / MARCH 25, 1999
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
someone said, I said ‘Guns’ about 100 times, ok maybe 30 . . during my Precog interview. Lord.
20 years ago – was such a different time.
Alfredo traveling around to his various exhibits, with a small metal suitcase assembling his guns from a mix of found,
& commercial gun parts was as close to skills, craft, DIY & industrial – as it got / back then.
for me personally, being a quilter, who did mostly hand-stitched textile / fabric repair with both new & vintage material . . it was totally fascinating to see someone, and especially someone who came from a very different background than my own – piece together gun hardware from various parts. a resourceful / creative scavenger – basically just like me. except with very opposite materials, with very very opposite functions.
but, still about . . guarding the homefront, esp way way back then / all the way to colonial / Revolutionary times.
a DIY craft / skills person just like me, when craft & skills were words to be looked down upon – in the art wold.
and Industrial art – what was that ?
ps: ALFREDO . . will be curating / presenting a big huge hardcore group show, ‘FOLO’ next month / April 15 . . on 23rd St. between 10th & 11th Avenues.
I will be exhibiting a big, brand new . . paper quilt, a ‘tribute’ quilt to Alfredo,
on the occasion of his most Aires Birthday !!
comprised of archival photographs, & some of his old / archival exhibition card invites.
see you – there !!
the zoom interviews . . archive on the Precog website / under: “Don’t Miss This” . . !!
mine is: episode 29 / but, it’s not up yet . . stay tuned.
it was weird after, but so much fun . . during.
weird, because I got so engaged & wired . . and than it’s over, and you are alone again.
well, actually kind of just like a night of openings.
but, also because unlike writing – real live conversation is hard to keep on track / and stay focused.
there was a time limit, and no chance to go back and clarifiy. it was very much in the moment.
with the pros and cons of that kind of spatially limited – con
but it was . . fun !!
Aires wild child that I am – coming into my peak Zodiac phase, I felt like that eternal Aires April spring kid,
turning cartwheels in a garden full of new blooms. sometimes I feel I’m way too naive, too just-born, cut-grass fresh to the world’s energy. hardy ever jaded / which, downside: can make me feel like a nerdy dork in NYC, home of the hard driven – gritty.
sometimes it’s just plain raining outside, and sometimes, it’s just plain jealous / non-aires people raining on my parade.
but, not here.
so, yes !! fun.
mostly, because I felt so comfortable & welcomed by my Precog hosts:
GABY COLLINS-FERNANDEZ, KELLIE KONAPELSKY & FLORENCIA ESCUDERO.
FLO . . in particular,
has been my Precog point person from the very beginning / perhaps because she also hand-stitches, and uses fabric in her studio work, Idk. but, there’s something, a vibe we share. a trust. a warmth.
is it the hand-stitching ?
because for sure, while hand-stitching seems so laborious & time consuming to the uninitiated, it’s totally soothing & compelling. my favorite thing to do – in the entire world.
hand-stitching becomes . . a trance beyond labor / and I wanted to say that, since we barely talked about ‘repair’ and my quilts, not enough time / so I’m mentioning it now.
plus ‘repairing quilts’ . . is just so sustainable, not to say . . history ‘walking’ / in real time.
as well: ‘repair’, and that kind of creative meditation, leads to ‘good’, so-called ’empty’ mind-set space . .
allowing room for opening up . . to other people’s work ?
which . . pretty much sums up Precog in general.
but, it was a real delight for me to see Florencia hand-stitching during the zoom talk, working on some kind of big black / shape, pillow-like but also finite surfaced object. still her expression was always so kind, and listening.
I felt so free to revel, reveal, and . . dance in my own life / my own art.
it’s taken me a lifetime – to get that, here – in NYC.
hence my Precog word: ‘Autobiography’.
and, I guess: also a riff on my many decades – on the scene.
L. the family . . in front of our bunkered-up, storefront at 5 Rivington St. – 1 block east of The Bowery, ca. 1988/89.
yes, that is an ‘ESPRIT’ t-shirt, I’m wearing / no irony !!
R. me & Kate . . in front of our JACK GOLDSTEIN ‘Lightning’ painting, lent to a big group exhibit, ‘The New Romantic Landscape’,
Whitney Museum of American Art, Fairfield County, Connecticut branch, 1987.
it is now in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto / on it’s label / under Provenance, you can find my late husband’s name: Simon Cerigo. it is still the largest canvas, Jack ever painted.
see: SIMON CERIGO / OBITUARY, THE OBSERVER
parenting . . ?
I hardly knew where to begin, or what to say. so the convo quickly moved on . . .
in a nutshell: my kids had hard times, but also good times / just like all kids.
though they wonder how, me and Simon ever had kids, with not one pay check between us.
what on earth – were we thinking ?
no pay check, no paperwork, no nothing, just born that way – me & Simon, I guess.
just big-time ‘art’ smarts, and we knew it . . !!
and like all immigrants / big dreams. so, we survived.
born & educated in Montreal, in the tail-end intellectual glow of the Leonard Cohen era . .
the minute we stepped into the non-stop flow of the city,
we went from Canadians, to New Yorkers – in the blink of an eye.
but I got to talk about how we flipped paintings to stay alive,
and, that JACK GOLDSTEIN . . was one of our star moves, for sure.
NANCY SMITH, watercolor, 18 x 24 in. / 5 Rivington St., Loeer East Side NYC, ca. 1987-88.
light as a cloud, in the midst of that crazy whirling storefront.
I also kind-of clammed-up when it came to talking about my art, though it obviously was completely off the grid / re: the Lower East Side, 1980s !!
my watercolors, so private & outsider. seemed always to reflect on my family, and reach inward.
even I ran around to openings constantly, and knew exactly . . which way was up / I was having no compromise in my own vision.
NANCY SMITH, NYC watercolors, ca. 1990s.
me in my studio, acrylic paint on canvas. MFA studies, 1970s . . with Guido Molinari, in Montreal.
how’s that . . for before & after / Montreal vs. New York
before & after . . kids.
before & after things, got hard.
Montreal was a piece of cake. NYC was hard.
I couldn’t talk about my own art, the cat got my tongue and held on tight.
it’s hard to confess, that although I started off so academically, completely immersed in the contemporary art swirling around me: I was so inward. stubborn. mystical & magical. sensuous & driven.
so I just dropped the ball there, though I think I managed to give a shout out to Agnes Martin, Tibetan art & the big ‘Quilt Survey’ show at the Whitney when it was uptown, in 1966.
NANCY SMITH, NYC, 1985. charcoal Tarot card drawing, 38 x 50 in.
pregnant with Kate, my first born.
yes . . I was always deep into reflection, as to how / all this was going to work out.
we got to talk a bit about my time working for . . WALTER ROBINSON when i he was the big honcho editor, at artnet (2002-04) / it was Walter in fact, who branded me ‘artloversnewyork, though I forgot to tell them that. but I did get to tell them how, I finally got my art scene photos published after 20 years !! on artnet, thanks to Walter.
and, that he fired me, after 2 years – even though my report was a huge huge success / for “bringing in too many photos of musicians” (!!!). yeah, the Precog team were shocked that I got fired, but more so, that I never . . got paid.
not a penny. I think I got one . . $100 honorarium.
yeah, so New York:
I got fired from a non-paying job, and it was a lot of work, and very good work, too.
fun fact: I was the only only !! photographer at the “Gee’s Bend Quilt” show / opening at the Whitney, in 2002.
quilts – were my life, by then. everyone else was clueless.
I am of course / eternally thankful to Walter for posting some of the pix on my artnet report.
if you want the definition of classic frenemies, that would be: Walter & me.
L: me & THEO in our pod at the 99+ artist resident pod hotel at ‘QUIET’ . . the Josh Harris Millennial New Year’s Eve 2000 art party / social experiment that was later fashioned into a Sundance 2009 winning documentary, ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’.
I was part of the crew, Josh’s right hand person toward the end, & art world liasion.
R: I was supposed to install a ‘quilting bee’ performance . . but I was too busy running around the entire time, as a crew member / so I used to make these DIY paper lanterns, from scraps I picked up here & there / it was a huge old multi-floor warehouse downtown on Broadway near Loenard St, that I would randomly hang up, and sure enough, the next day as if by magic – they had professional lighting trained on them,
that was how magical . . my experience there was.
it seemed like we mostly talked about ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, and all the stuff going on – behind the scenes.
one of the Precog crew, mentioned they had actually seen the doc in art school, but didn’t know too much about.
I was super happy to oblige. the most exhilarating experience of my life. and the worst.
luckily !! they didn’t know that it was me – who had gotten kicked out at the end, or why !!
so it was all . . fun to talk about. it went quickly from utopian, to sheer hell.
they were no rules / except you could not leave. if you left, you could not get back in.
I was trying to explain: 99+ of the wildest, crazy, most expressive / competitive artists in the world, all living together, with plenty of food & open bars !! but no windows. no sunlight. no calls home. no routine that was normal, too much sex, drugs & rock n roll, etc etc. you name it. yeah. damn straight it went to hell.
it actually got shut down by the NYPD, the FDNY & FEMA / all 3.
and then next year, was the World Trade Center / melt down.
it was like a prophecy, for sure.
JAMES ULMER, NICK PAYNE & CAROLINE WELLS CHANDLER . . Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Oct 23, 2015.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
so. yeah, it was real nice, when CHANDLER WELLS, popped up on the zoom screen at the end, to say hello.
and, thanked me for posting coverage of a show that happened back in 2015.
apparently a real milestone – on his journey.
see: ‘SURPPRISE, …’
MILAH LUBIN, ’15 WARREN ST – New Year’s Eve 2014′ !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
as well,
another very nice, soft-spoken artist . . I didn’t catch her name, but that photo is a good stand-in /
also thanked me for posting about a group show she had been in, the downtown / underground New Year’s Eve blast of Jan 2014, called: ’15 Warren St’.
see: ’15 Warren St. …’
that show was such a blast / a real underground triumph.
just scroll down the left-hand navigator / on this home page to JAN 2014.
you will see a good handful of posts. all incredible. it just stopped web traffic for the month, period.
it was so nice to be thanked . .
and, to hear how my little artlovers, is so beloved, so trusted as an archive & has helped so many young artists get their start & or just passion – for the artworld, and NYC.
it was also quite ironic to end with ’15 Warren St’ … !!
’15 Warren St’ . . was like the low budget stepchild of ‘QUIET: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ . . . !!
like the exact opposite.
it had zero funding, and we had Josh’s literally millions of $$$$ / but it was still wild, and crazy great !!
in 4 years things had changed that much / the dot.com bubble that had funded Josh was bust.
and, so was Josh. he went from $81 million / to even owning me – $2K.
sadly, the downtown NYC firemen & police officers who had shut down the ‘Quiet’ party / most of them died, racing up the Twin Towers as they came – pancaking down. they shut down the ‘party’ & then got crushed, by a real ‘threat.
’15 Warren St’ . .
these were the young kids who had grown up, as young teens, more like . . pre-teens, in downtown Tribeca / in the dark shadow & grim afer-math of the World Trade Center / 9-11 attack. they had a lot to say, and the show curated by a very young SEAN VEGEZZI, and a few pals took off saying it.
just as ‘QUIET’ did, but . . ’15 Warren St’ not being a self-contained 24/7 party for 2 weeks, it never imploded.
though trust me – the potential was there.
in a way it was the . . un-Quiet !! / and Sean Vegezzi . . was the un-JOSH !!
a nice little circle of art & NYC art history / no matter how you cut it.
I so love circles . . of information.
bringing back . . the magic / even in the heart of the super bustling, boiling over / gritty great City of New York.
ZOOM # 99932077241
PRECOG MAG . . interviews me !!
WED MARCH 17 at 7 PM / EST !!
be there, or be . . square.
apparently, they want to talk about . . .
“repair, art-ing while parenting, and THE Greatest City on Earth (you know the one).”
repair ?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!!!!! / interesting !!!!!!!!!!
parenting ?
I don’t know about that. my kids told me to keep my mouth shut, and stay .. positive. lol.
it was – fun !! for them to run around at Keith Haring & Basquiat openings.
and, it wasn’t until they got to high school, that they realized not everybody grew up in a raw storefront, in the heart of the hardcore Lower East Side 80s – surrounded by art.
BUT, paying the bills, and not having much lunch money, was . . a whole other thing.
then again, there was . . . Sushi night !! with Uncle Dan (Asher).
if, you are a betting man – this might just be your show.
NICK SULLIVAN . . is kicking off the chain reaction !!
opening today / FRI MARCH 12 / 12 – 8 PM
‘DOMINO’ is an ‘evolving’ group show, that is “based on a chain effect of artists inviting other artists to add artworks to the show”.
the show doesn’t have a exhibition ‘end’ date / so who knows how long this will . . domino ?!!
and, who is up . . next !!
the show is presented at Shoot The Lobster by . . DANIEL BOCATTO,
who also made the super striking – graphic flyer / below:
‘DOMINO’ – an evolving / surprise group show.
opens Fri March 12, 2021, and continues thru ????
SHOOT THE LOBSTER, NY
41 Elizabeth St, Unit 700, L.E. S.
see: ‘DOMINO’ – SHOOT THE LOBSTER
first up: NICK SULLIVAN . . .
who was nice enough to shoot me – a couple of advance images.
at first glance, I was like . . what ?
are we making miniature dollhouse furniture out of paper / craft / skills, now ?
but, no: it’s a bonafide sculpture, atop a pedestal box – 2-1/2 ft. high.
with a crazy, beautiful patina for sure.
gather round, and be comfy warm at home folks . . during covid.
this deceptively simple sculpture, looks so to be as fascinating to stare at – as a well . . real fireplace wood fire,
shooting flames, and all.
NICK SULLIVAN, ‘Stove’ 2021.
newspaper, pastel, charcoal.
30 x 17 x 12 in.
another view.
whoever is smart enough to take that home, is a bonfide winner, no doubt about it.
note: 2 images / courtesy: Nick Sullivan, thank you.
talking about . . LA /
our friend, LUKE MURPHY . . whose LED / ‘RESIST..EMPATHY NOW..DE-BUBBLE’ / digital, animated ‘Deli’ banner runs across the top of this page /
is in a timely & yet very ‘far-out’ show at the very au-currant . . & large space / Night Gallery.
timely in terms of content / far-out in terms of ultimate societal vision.
it’s the last week to catch the show in person / it’s up thru SAT MARCH 13,
but you can always, esp if you are a Luke Murphy fan in NYC, catch the work online, in the gallery’s well-lit (!!)
and well-photographed / digital . . Viewing Room.
‘LUKE MURPHY, CHRISTINE WANG . . SCREEN TIME’
JAN 30, 2020 – MARCH 13, 2021
NIGHT GALLERY
2276 E 16th St, LOS ANGELES, CA 90021
OPEN: TUES-SAT / 11am-6pm / contact gallery for appointment
PS: Luke Murphy lives & works in NY / while Christine Wang lives & works in San Francisco.
I’m thinking: lively conceptual / different media . . . match-up !!!!
game-on.
see: ‘SCREEN TIME’ – NIGHT GALLERY VIEWING ROOM
from the gallery website:
“NIGHT GALLERY is pleased to present ‘SCREEN TIME’, an exhibition of new work by LUKE MURPHY & CHRISTINE WANG. Both artists address the screen as a digital intermediary for experience. Though it’s trajectory began long ago, the screen’s total encroachment upon daily life reached new heights in 2020 becoming the primary tool of community engagement, creative exploration, and consumer activity in response to long-term shelter-in-place restrictions ..” (Covid)
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Lord Kelvin Column with 5 sides and 9 lights’, 2020.
steel studs, aluminum wire, wood, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code
82 x 10 x 10 in.
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Ladder Exchange’, 2020.
ladder, steel studs, aluminum wire, wood, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code
96 x 30 x 40in.
note: the last time Luke exhibited this kind of neon / digital speeding traffic roadway / it ran along the floor. as if, it was waiting for a model train set, that never came !! seeing it vertical . . is a real shake-up / both in terms of visual effect & context / it seems in this show Luke is adding more ‘props’, and to . . much greater effect.
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Field Sign’, 2020.
discarded Xmas tree, steel studs, aluminum wire, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code
91 x 35 x 9 in.
CHRISTINE WANG, ‘Volcano’, 2021.
oil on linen / 48 x 48 in.
well …. YES !!!!!!!!!
all photos above: courtesy NIGHT GALLERY
ARTLOVERS FLASHBACK: & not too long ago.
LUKE MURPHY . . .
arrives for the opening of ‘CUBED’ / a group show at THE HOLE, NYC, in which he had a most wonderful LED ‘cube’.
SEPT 10, 2020.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH