{"id":773,"date":"2009-01-06T11:33:39","date_gmt":"2009-01-06T16:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/the-bomb\/2009\/01\/06\/hester-diamondjim-walrod\/"},"modified":"2009-01-07T02:55:31","modified_gmt":"2009-01-07T07:55:31","slug":"hester-diamondjim-walrod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/the-bomb\/2009\/01\/06\/hester-diamondjim-walrod\/","title":{"rendered":"~HESTER DIAMOND\/JIM WALROD\/TOM SACHS !!"},"content":{"rendered":"

ok. this is about the BEST MAGAZINE ARTICLE, artworld or otherwise of: 2008 !!<\/p>\n

here’s a little pre-post scoop: it’s about HESTER DIAMOND, now 79, a legendary NYC collector, with an amazing, well, brilliant – truly one-of-a-kind artistic vision, who just happens to be MIKE D’s mom.
\n . . . JIM WALROD is like the biggest secret unsung rock hero-like guru of cutting edge design, for the super coolest people … in this town. NYC !! rock on. <\/p>\n

looking for JIM WALROD’S photo in my archives – way back !!! when Walter Robinson at artnet wouldn’t publish it, because, “who is that guy ? who cares ?” – cut.<\/p>\n

in the meantime, check out :<\/p>\n

see: BEASTIEMANIA !!<\/a><\/p>\n

see: JIM WALROD\/WIKIPEDIA !!<\/a><\/p>\n

unbelievable, great or what !!! ? that’s just the beginning !!<\/p>\n

the BEST MAGAZINE ARTICLE, art world or not – hands down, no doubt, of 2008 !!! is: <\/p>\n

‘POP GOES THE VERONESE’ – ‘A MODERN MEDICI WORSHIPS AT THE ALTAR OF 21ST-CENTURY DESIGN \/ MAURA EGAN VISITS HESTER DIAMOND’S UPTOWN PALAZZO’.
\nTEXT BY MAURA EGAN. PHOTOS BY JASON SCHMIDT – THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE – WOMEN’S FALL FASHION 2008.<\/p>\n

here’s the opening line: ” ‘What do you do when your 79-year-old mom is coller than you, and you happen to be a Beastie Boy?’ asks the interior designer Jim Walrod …”<\/p>\n

it was really fun to come across it, real time – when it came out hard copy – with its beautiful photos, tucked into what is usually a nice enough casual read with lunch – but surprise, way in the back – a very startling, informative read. The photos are drop-dead gorgeous right off the bat. But that’s also because the HESTER DIAMOND home is drop-dead gorgeous, way way beyond cutting edge, & the art is past defining – esp in the context of the ultra modern furnishings. Ms. Diamond has done the exact reverse route of most upscale collectors. Instead of a house full of antique furniture and modern art – she has the inverse – !!! – the most edgiest contemporary furniture paired with Renaissance paintings, make that Renaissance gems. Museum quality. The custom paint job on the walls takes the habitat to a whole other level. <\/p>\n

the other interesting part of the story, was the collecting angle. from the article:
\n“Diamond and her husband, Harold, started collecting art in the ’50s when she was a social worker and he was a public school teacher …. ‘Back then you could put stuff on layaway for $25. We had payments all over town,’ Diamond says. She and her husband amassed a staggering collection of Legers, Picassos and Kandinskys; he once traded a Pontiac two-door for several paintings from his friend Willem de Kooning. ‘Harold had to become a dealer to support our habit.’ While Harold did consulting work for titans like Joesph Hirshhorn, Hester tried her hand at decorating, eventually building up a roster of blue-chip clients …” Both became outstandingly successful in their fields.
\nMs. Diamond made millions when she traded in some<\/em> of her modern art masterpieces at Sotheby’s in 2004, so she could pursue her new Renaissance paintings.
\nartlovers is gonna live out the New Year in the spirit of this quote of her’s – after her some of her early collected works realized that big pay-out at auction. “I’m a great believer in following your luck.”, and how about: “I used to have neo-Classical furniture with my Renaissance paintings, but they were saying nothing to each other ..” if only !! but, we know what she means. that’s how we separate our books on bookshelves, they have to talk to each other !! (you either get it, or you don’t. what can I say. I always thought everybody could hear – those kind of voices.) and, on second thought – my TAYLOR McKIMENS, PETE PEZZIMENTI, JUSTIN SAMSON, not to mention my newly acquired SARAH BRAMAN and CHRIS STAIN pieces – do<\/em> just sing in glorious chorus with my totally ‘found’ trappings. not to mention my ANDREW GUENTHER clock – which can cozy up to any room, plain white walls, and all – being battery-run and total portable !! <\/p>\n

read the article for yourself: it’s online !! \/ NYT-POP GOES VERONESE\/HESTER DIAMOND !!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"hester
\nHESTER DIAMOND, in front of MOROTTO DA BRESCIA’S ‘VESTAL VIRGIN TUCCIA AS AN ALLEGORY OF CHASTITY’\/PHOTO BY JASON SCHMIDT\/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES<\/a><\/p>\n

\"hester
\nin HESTER DIAMOND’S HOME, MARCEL WANDERS’ MOROSA print sofas & a coffeee table by NICK DINE, sit beneath VERONESE’S ‘VENUS AND CUPID’\/PHOTO BY JASON SCHMIDT\/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES<\/a><\/p>\n

\"hester
\nURQUIOL’S B&B ITALIA CHAIRS and GHIBERTI and STUDIO’S ‘VIRGIN AND CHILD’ in the DIAMOND DINING ROOM\/PHOTO BY JASON SCHMIDT\/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES<\/a><\/p>\n

back to looking for JIM WALROD !!! stay tuned !!<\/p>\n

2:14 PM – OMG !! found the photos !! looking through shoeboxes of old 35 mm photos, is so<\/em> fun. saw some really<\/em> early pix of TAYLOR McKIMENS & even, JOE BRADLEY performing with CHEESEBURGER way back in 2002 – even a shot of JOHN HODANY and BRIAN BELOTT. should I put them up, . . . maybe !!<\/p>\n

. . . but, back to the present !! <\/p>\n

caught JIM WALROD, PETER COFFIN and CYNTHIA ROWLEY; as well as DAVID BYRNE, KEANU REEVES & TOM SACHS himself, at ‘NUTSY’S – the TOM SACHS mini-racing car installation at the BOHEN FOUNDATION, NOV 14, 2002-FEB 14, 2003. This Tom Sachs show was the inaugural exhibit for the foundation’s new home on 14th St., in the quote unquote “meatpacking district”, below 10th Ave, in what artworld denizens more commonly refer to as: Chelsea.<\/p>\n

only, KEANU REEVES, DAVID BYRNE, and of course TOM SACHS, made the artnet cut !!
\nsee: artnet FALL 2002<\/a><\/p>\n

so, from the ARTLOVERS ARCHIVAL SHOEBOXES, some previously unseen photos:<\/p>\n

\"NUTSYS
\nread more about: TOM SACHS\/NUTSY’S<\/a><\/p>\n

\"nutsys
\nTOM SACHS racing a remote-controlled car. The race track dominated the exhibit and there were actual formal contests, but anybody who visited could get their hands on a car & a hand held controller. <\/p>\n

\"Jim\"
\nJIM WALROD, at TOM SACHS\/NUTSY’S, BOHEN FOUNDATION, NYC. JAN 21, 2003
\nPHOTO: NANCY SMITH<\/p>\n

\"nutsys
\nCYNTHIA ROWLEY<\/p>\n

\"nutsys
\nHERVE DESCOTTES, with his wife NATHALIE. at the time M. DESCOTTES was a lighting designer for FRANK GEHRY. maybe he still is, don’t know.<\/p>\n

\"nutsy
\nPETER COFFIN. TOM SACHS\/NUTSY’S, BOHEN FOUNDATION, NYC. JAN 21, 2003
\nPHOTO: NANCY SMITH<\/p>\n

\"NUTSYS
\nTOM SACHS\/INSTALLATION SHOT\/NUTSY’S, BOHEN FOUNDATION, NYC.<\/p>\n

\"NUTSy"s
\nTOM SACHS\/INSTALLATION SHOT\/NUTSY’S <\/p>\n

\"nutsys
\nsee the camera. there was also the sub-text of 24 hr. surveillance.
\non the low-down: a lot of the nitty gritty downtown artists felt SACHS ripped off the JOSH HARRIS PSEUDO sponsored parties, esp QUIET, which he hung around a lot.. Rumor was he wanted to be in it, but Josh wouldn’t let !! of course, ALFREDO MARTINEZ, who was an assistant both to TOM SACHS and and JOSH, was the source for that, so its anybody’s guess as to the real truth – but, you know what they say, … no smoke without fire. definitely the performance part, (they had remote-controlled car races), the open to the public participation, on-site DJs. (no free running booze, though !!) the cameras, the rough and ready, raw ‘half-undoneness’ of the site – was undeniable influenced by Josh & QUIET.. as well, like with Josh, one could say of TOM SACHS, only<\/em> as brilliant as their most current super-talented no-bucks no-name on-the-street artist hanger-ons and\/or assistants !!<\/p>\n

\"nutsy
\nan in-house NUTSY camera crew member. paralleled on a very very small scale – the in-house artist & camera crew scene at QUIET.<\/p>\n

\"nutsy
\nthe NUTSY in-house crew wore ‘homemade’ work uniforms, just like at QUIET. <\/p>\n

\"Nutsy
\na lot of cash was flashed, esp. by the go-fers, except here it was $5 dollar bills, at QUIET we were running around with $100’s !! if not $1,000’s.<\/p>\n

\"Nutsy
\nthe races !! were the best part. well, come on !! the small scale models of the city were the best !! they were<\/em> great !! and, NOT influenced by JOSH HARRIS !! <\/p>\n

\"nutsys
\none of the remote-controlled cars. reality scale ratio 1:25<\/p>\n

\"#
\nthe racers were not rigged, if you were good you had a chance. if you won, you got a hand-made TOM SACHS trophy, which looking back, if you didn’t toss it in disgust – might be worth more now, than the accompanying bag of cash, which looks impressive, but was only full of one’s. yeah, I checked. not more than $20 altogether !!
\nno big deal to a QUIET ex-patriot !!<\/p>\n

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH – UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED !!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ok. this is about the BEST MAGAZINE ARTICLE, artworld or otherwise of: 2008 !! here’s a little pre-post scoop: it’s about HESTER DIAMOND, now 79, a legendary NYC collector, with an amazing, well, brilliant – truly one-of-a-kind artistic vision, who just happens to be MIKE D’s mom. . . . JIM WALROD is like the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}