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November 28, 2009
Urban Pop Profile: Darrel Ellis
Darrel Ellis was a young and gifted New York artist of color who worked in photography, painting and sculptural forms- his life was cut short at the age of 33 by AIDS. He first received major public exposure in 1992 with his inclusion in New Photography 8 at The Museum of Modern Art, curated by Peter Galassi, which occurred one year after his first solo show at the gallery Baron/Boisante on 57th St. The MoMA show took place several months after Ellis' death in 1992. A major retrospective of Ellis' work was mounted in 1997 at Art in General, curated by the artist Allan Frame, Ellis's friend and later executor of his estate. The show was circulated to five American art museums.
Ellis had a complicated family history which he thematically and physically took as the subject of his work after his mother introduced him to the family pictures in 1983. His father Thomas Ellis, a postal worker, died a month before Darrel's birth in a violent, accidental conflict with the Harlem police, leaving behind a trove of family photographs that he had made during a career which included work as a professional photographer. These photographs depict a world and a family history which Ellis could only reconstruct through his imagination. They represent a carefree 1950s middle-class world of life in Harlem and the Bronx- primarily portraits of Ellis's mother and sisters, family parties, street scenes, etc. Ellis used these photographs as the basis for paintings, drawings and photographs that manipulate the imagery through projections on to plaster sculptural reliefs which are then rephotographed and often translated into representational paintings.
Having grown up as a talented, gay, fatherless black man in the struggling urban environment of Harlem and the Bronx, Ellis used his family history as both a life raft and experimental arena. The results are often gritty and emotional, beautiful and raw.
The MoMA show elicited a major response from the press- The New Yorker review states "it's wonderful to see the imagery of Darrel Ellis getting its due Ellis clearly was a photographer who had plenty to tell us about his life as a young-African-American." The New York Times review is illustrated with Ellis's work and Chuck Hagen wrote "Darrel Ellis' photographs are a real discovery.These pictures offer deeply moving metaphors for the distorting processes of memory, as well as for the emotional strains and deformations suffered by many black families."
The Art in General exhibition in 1996/97 gained immediate attention in the New York press. Four years after the MoMA group show which included only photographs, this survey of seventy works - paintings, photographs and drawing- introduced a new generation to Ellis. David Ebony said in his New York "Top Ten": "In his work, Ellis has turned tragedy into triumph and today, in certain circles, he is nothing short of a super hero. His art reveals a struggle that is deeply personal, but also reflects the struggle of the entire African American community."
Check out Brownbird Rudy Relic singing his heart out at the 14th Street station on the F line here in the NYC subway. He calls his music holler blues and you'll see what after you check out this clip and his subway performance art. I loved it, what do you think?
Art Meets Fashion as Alicia Keys launches new jewelry line at Collette Blanchard Gallery in NYC
(Collette Blanchard and Alicia Keys)
I spent a good chunk of the morning yesterday hanging with Collette Blanchard and Alicia Keys during the launch of Keys new jewelry line with designer Gisele Theriault called "The Barber's Daughters." The gallery is usually quite a "scene" during the opening of a new exhibit. This time the cause for a "scene" was the two day pop up store set up to preview the new line. The pieces range in price from $85 to $2,500. After the two day pop store front sale at Collette Blanchard Gallery the line goes on sale in 2010.
The energy in the gallery was intense and amazing as media, staff, and the multiple Grammy Award winning artist herself wandered the gallery looking at the collection AND the current exhibit of exciting and beautiful new artwork from artist SunTek Chung. Chung's current show is on display at the gallery through January 20, 2010.
SADE returns! The new CD SOLDIER OF LOVE, drops worldwide on February 8, 2010. It's hard to believe that SOLDIER OF LOVE is Sade's first release since Lovers Rock was released in 2000. I wish some of these artists would take breaks too.
February seems like light years from now. Here's a lil sumthin to hold you over, two versions of my favorite Sade song. What's your favorite?
1,3,8 Characters: Works by Eunjung Hwang at NY Studio Gallery
1,3,8 Characters
works by Eunjung Hwang
November 12 – December 12, 2009
NY Studio Gallery is pleased to present 1,3,8 Charaters: animation, sculpture and drawings by Eunjung Hwang. These works are inspired by the concept of animism, where all objects even those regarded by science as 'inanimate' possess a soul and unique personal character.
Hwang's characters represent unique combinations of digital and physical form. Her projects start by creating a variety of characters derived from personal dreams and subconscious imagery. Fantasy narratives unfold as the characters act out their roles within a structure interwoven by dream logic. This method attempts to formalize a larger and more intangible narrative. The works are meant to be enjoyed like rhythmic structure of music rather than as a readable story.
Recipient of the Reality Gallery American Slide-All 2009: Solo Exhibition at NY Studio Gallery
About Eunjung Hwang
Born in Seoul, Korea and currently working and living in New York, Eunjung Hwang received her MFA in Computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York. Selected solo and two person exhibitions include: “Eunjung Hwang” LA Center for Digital Arts (2008) and “Creature Feature” Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea (2007). "The Third Part of Ghosts", Allgirls International Berlin, Germany (2009) "Siebren Versteeg and Eunjung Hwang", Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Reno (2008). Grants and Residencies include Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York (2004) Moving Image Division Artist Residency, EYEBEAM, New York (2003), Soelyst Artist Center, Denmark (2009) New York State Council on Arts Grant, New York (2006) Akademie Schloss Solitude Fellowship, Stuttgart, Germany (2008-09)
About NY Studio Gallery
NY Studio Gallery combines exhibition and workspace to create an atmosphere of interaction, collaboration and integration of media, styles and artistic genres for US and international artists.
NY Studio Gallery
154 Stanton Street @ Suffolk, New York, NY 10002
info@nystudiogallery.com l 212.627.3276l www.nystudiogallery.com
Tracey Snelling’s installation Woman on the Run at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn
Smack Mellon is pleased to present Tracey Snelling’s installation Woman on the Run and Michael Paul Britto’s new video works in Society’s Children. The two artists incorporate elements of pop culture, cinema, and reality to very different ends. Snelling uses architectural elements and multimedia effects to create fictional character and scenarios full of intrigue, while Britto uses personal observation and surveillance footage to emphasize the injustices of actual occurrences. In the tradition of a film noir femme fatale, Snelling constructs a three-dimensional narrative around an ambiguous female persona wanted for questioning in relation to a crime. The visitor becomes a player in the story, searching for the enigmatic woman. Boundaries blur between victim and violator, fact and fiction, feminism and outdated views. Britto’s harsh characters are more straightforward and urgent in both presentation and purpose, exposing pressing concerns in contemporary urban African-American culture. His video Verbal Assault shows the same actor portraying a father and son in a heated argument marked by mutual disrespect, while his video Daughters shows footage of a police officer brutally restraining a girl whose only crime is staying out past curfew.
Tracey Snelling, Woman on the Run
“Woman on The Run is an installation that intricately mixes architecture, scale modeling, video, photography and 3-D story telling with a heady dose of Hollywood glamour and Hitchcock-like built-in suspense. A multimedia project, Woman on the Run explores a fragmented narrative about a fated woman. The main character, a combination of heroines and femme fatales from 1950’s and 1960’s film noir is trying to escape her fate. A crime has taken place, and she is wanted for questioning. Throughout the installation, different clues are given about what might have happened and who the woman is. Is she the victim, or the perpetrator? A study in feminism or an example of outdated ideas?
An alternate world of shrunken buildings, neon signs, and a life size motel offer a selection of clues that conspire to initially draw the viewer to the action and then help them thread together the disconnected story that just happened. The viewer quickly becomes a witness and to some extent an actor within the story, often assuming the role of a detective. Video plays in windows and conversations can be overheard. Reality becomes based more in perception than in absolutes. The blacks and whites of life shift to grey, and the truth becomes shrouded in mystery.
I have been interested in the idea of reality being something that continually changes, due to perception and according to an individual’s ideals and own subjectivity. I explore this viewpoint through shifting scale and presenting a particular subject in a myriad of ways. A large building can inspire a small sculpture of that building, which in turns becomes a photograph and eventually gets incorporated into another piece of art. Video is often placed in the sculptures – usually of people, sometimes doing mundane activities, repeated continually. Other times the characters might remain the same but the actions that are repeated change slightly and contradict each other. Influences in my work are heavily anchored in Americana and fed by post-war US popular culture from literature to cinema, while my work consistently and simultaneously celebrates, demystifies and re-interprets those cultural clichés with the view to making them both timeless and fresh.”
Tracey Snelling is an internationally exhibiting artist living and working in Oakland, California. She graduated with a BFA in Art Studio from The University of New Mexico in 1996. She explores reality and scale through sculpture, photography, and video. Her works are featured in numerous collections, including the Baltimore Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, de Saisset Museum, and The West Collection, Pennsylvania. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including Gemeentemuseum Helmond in the Netherlands, Selfridges in London, solo exhibitions in Brussels, Amsterdam, London, and Miami, and at Art Basel. She recently returned from a 4 month art residency and solo exhibition in Beijing.
Smack Mellon
92 Plymouth Street @ Washington
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Gallery hours are Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6pm
Smack Mellon is easily accessible by either the F or the A/C subways.
F Train to York. Exit to the right and walk downhill on Jay Street, towards the water.
Make a left at the next block, Front Street. Make a right on Washington Street.
92 Plymouth is 2 blocks down, on the corner.
AC Train to High Street. Use Fulton Street Exit.
Cross the street (Cadman Plaza West), enter park and follow curved pathway to
Washington Street. Make a slight left to exit park and walk down Washington towards river, 3 blocks to Plymouth Street.
B61 Bus to York and Gold Streets.
Walk down York. Take right on Washington Street and walk to end at park to
Plymouth. 92 Plymouth is at the corner.
On Foot: Enjoy the beautiful walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The first set of stairs you reach in Brooklyn will drop you off on Washington Street. Take a left out of the stairwell and walk down the hill for three blocks. 92 Plymouth Street is the last building on the right side of the street, right before the park.
By Car:
via Brooklyn Bridge: Take the Brooklyn Bridge across the East River and get off at the first exit on the right, Cadman Plaza. The exit will drop you off on Cadman Plaza - follow this street through the first two lights toward the East River. Take a right on Front Street (just after the off-ramp from the BQE), a left on Main Street, drive two blocks and take a right on Plymouth Street. 92 Plymouth is one block, at the corner of Washington.
via BQE: If heading South on the BQE, exit at the Cadman Plaza exit. At the stoplight, make a hard right on Front Street, almost making a u-turn. Take a left on Main Street. Drive two blocks and take a right on Plymouth Street. 92 Plymouth is one block, at the corner of Washington.
via Manhattan Bridge: Take the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and make a right on Tillary Street. Follow Tillary through three lights (you will pass the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge) and take a right on Cadman Plaza East. A park will be on the left. Follow this street underneath the BQE and through the first light. Take a left on York Street at the stop sign. This street will curve to the right and eventually deadend. Take a right on Front Street and then an immediate left on Main Street, drive two blocks and take a right on Plymouth Street. 92 Plymouth is one block, at the corner of Washington
For more info on me visit my official website www.rickyday.net
A couple of weeks ago while headed to Collette Blanchard Gallery on the lower east side I stumbled into a great new menswear boutique. New Men David New. The proprietor greeted me with a smile, offered me a drink and showed me around the warm and stylish space. The space was adorned with beautifully stylish furniture, a well stocked bar and great artwork. The rear of the store feels alot more like a hip lounge or swanky living room than a retail space complete with flat screen television and a well stocked bar.
New Men David New is the brainchild of its namesake David New. David has been in fashion for over 20 years and this is his first venture into retail. The store opened on September 10, 2009 during Fashion's Night Out. The store is located at 301 East Houston Street in the lower east side of New York City. Guest enjoyed live entertainment, food and drinks, and a red carpet extravaganza with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
According to the press release and David's own words, New Men David New is a collection conceived with the idea that men want to look great and feel comfortable in their clothes. His inspiration for men’s clothing came from the belief that fashion in stores didn’t dress a specific kind of man.
The New Men David New label is for the man who wants to feel comfortable, look great and at the same time be stylish. “To put it simply, it’s what I call Casual Sharp, stated David New. Today, fashion has made casual, blue jeans and a t-shirt or a business suit without the tie. That’s not style, that’s not what dressing casual looks like. Dressing casual with style is a wardrobe. It’s New Men David New.” Not only do you look impeccable with the New Men David New line, his garments are made with flawless workmanship and impeccable design.
David New stated “I am now pursuing my lifelong passion. Creating a label that bears my name.” David New is a talented fashion designer and graduate of the famed Fashion Institute Technology. The welcome mat is out, which invites you to relax, get cozy and fashionable in a spacious store. New Men David New, the New name in Men’s fashion, come shop and stay awhile.
Those who know me know that I value customer service and the shopping experience nearly as much as I do quality, value and the design of the garment. David is a warm personality who is clearly passionate about his designs and his desire to return me to a sense of style in their casual attire.
The store features one of kind pieces produced with just one item in each size including small, medium, large and extra large. The line includes his signature fitted shirts with french cuff made in a cotton pique, all cotton and microsuede ($180), motorcycle influenced jackets in several fabrics ($210) and wool khaki inspired pants ($165). New Men David New is a boutique with a lounge feel and david offers his customers complimentary drinks during their shopping experience.
For more information call 917-NEW-3227 (917-639-3227).
SunTek Chung: Kingdom Come 18 November - 10 January, 20, 2010 at Collette Blanchard Gallery
Last week I attended the opening of SunTek Chung's new solo show at Collette Blanchard. The work is thought provoking and beautiful and the event was a blast as usual. Below I have posted a few photos from the event as well as the official press blurb on the show. Check out the images and exhibit release and then make some time to get down and check out the show for yourself. Collette operates a wonderful space and one of the few African-American owned contemporary art galleries in the country and it's first class!
SunTek Chung
Kingdom Come
18 November - 10 January, 20, 2010
Collette Blanchard Gallery is pleased to present its first gallery exhibition with SunTek Chung, entitled "Kindom Come," on view from November 18, through January 20, 2010.
Neon light sculpture and staged photographs appear with bronze sculptures, all of which, in the specificity of their presentation, are informed and re-contextualized by circumstances dictated by the artist. Leveraging verbal language and mixed mediums, Chung presents narrative works that linger between exhaustive detail and minimalist form. At any juncture within this spectrum, his work presents alternatives to preconceived notions that are never completely lucid, thus requiring incessant interrogation. Adept in his use of color, neon-light and form, Chung seduces the viewer into the essence of his work at once with a combination of references to current happenings and in response, conceptualized fictions. The work of SunTek Chung requires the viewer to abandon the pedantic discourse of cultural affinity and identity in its reconsideration of the misconstrued.
Mr. Chung graduated with an MFA from Yale University in 2002 and participated in Skowhegan School of Painting and Drawing. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in locations such as New York, Los Angeles, Canada, Berlin, and Tokyo. Chung's work has been reviewed in ArtForum, the New York Times, Beautiful Decay (cover) and many other prominent publications.
For more information,
Collette Blanchard Gallery
26 Clinton Street
New York, New York 10002
917.639.3912
I was super busy last week and this past weekend. As a result I missed an opportunity to tell you guys about an open studio for photographer Ray Llanos. I also regret not being able to attend the event myself. Ceck Ray out online at www.rayllanos.com
Michael Paul Britto: Society's Children at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn
Michael Paul Britto, Society's Children
Smack Mellon is pleased to present Tracey Snelling’s installation Woman on the Run and Michael Paul Britto’s new video works in Society’s Children. The two artists incorporate elements of pop culture, cinema, and reality to very different ends. Snelling uses architectural elements and multimedia effects to create fictional character and scenarios full of intrigue, while Britto uses personal observation and surveillance footage to emphasize the injustices of actual occurrences. In the tradition of a film noir femme fatale, Snelling constructs a three-dimensional narrative around an ambiguous female persona wanted for questioning in relation to a crime. The visitor becomes a player in the story, searching for the enigmatic woman. Boundaries blur between victim and violator, fact and fiction, feminism and outdated views. Britto’s harsh characters are more straightforward and urgent in both presentation and purpose, exposing pressing concerns in contemporary urban African-American culture. His video Verbal Assault shows the same actor portraying a father and son in a heated argument marked by mutual disrespect, while his video Daughters shows footage of a police officer brutally restraining a girl whose only crime is staying out past curfew.
Exhibition dates: November 21, 2009 - January 3, 2010
Michael Paul Britto, Society's Children
“Much of my work is about being a person of color in America and the misconceptions and assumptions that go along with that. My art allows me to use the customary as metaphor to raise political and cultural awareness. By manipulating images taken from popular culture I aim to illicit feelings of rage, happiness, sadness and empathy to make viewers rethink mass medias’ depictions of people of color, and what is deemed as acceptable behavior by society.”
Verbal aggression has been determined to be more damaging than physical aggression. There are many sources to blame for verbal aggression including human nature, ethics, victimization, abnormal psychology, and the mass media. In the video Verbal Assault, the role of father and son are juxtaposed to show the son’s aggression as a mirror image of his father’s. While the father cares for his son, his abusive approach contradicts his intention to help his son. Frustration is sensed from both characters as the overlapping dialogue focuses on their fears and mutual desires for acceptance and achievement.
In the video Daughters, a dashboard video-camera recording of a white police officer’s assault on a 15 year old African-American girl, is paired with John Mayer’s song “Daughters” giving a timely and important alternative meaning to the lyrics of this pop song, posing the question “will this girl love like she’s been loved?”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Michael Paul Britto received his BA from the City College of New York. His work ranges from video to digital photography, sculpture, and performance. Britto has had residencies at the New Museum, Smack Mellon and The Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation (NYC). His work has been featured in shows at El Museo del Barrio, The Studio Museum of Harlem, The Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw and the Victoria and Albert Museum in England. Britto has been written about in The New York Times, Art In America and the Brooklyn Rail.
Smack Mellon
92 Plymouth Street @ Washington
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Gallery hours are Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6pm
Smack Mellon is easily accessible by either the F or the A/C subways.
F Train to York. Exit to the right and walk downhill on Jay Street, towards the water.
Make a left at the next block, Front Street. Make a right on Washington Street.
92 Plymouth is 2 blocks down, on the corner.
AC Train to High Street. Use Fulton Street Exit.
Cross the street (Cadman Plaza West), enter park and follow curved pathway to
Washington Street. Make a slight left to exit park and walk down Washington towards river, 3 blocks to Plymouth Street.
B61 Bus to York and Gold Streets.
Walk down York. Take right on Washington Street and walk to end at park to
Plymouth. 92 Plymouth is at the corner.
On Foot: Enjoy the beautiful walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The first set of stairs you reach in Brooklyn will drop you off on Washington Street. Take a left out of the stairwell and walk down the hill for three blocks. 92 Plymouth Street is the last building on the right side of the street, right before the park.
By Car:
via Brooklyn Bridge: Take the Brooklyn Bridge across the East River and get off at the first exit on the right, Cadman Plaza. The exit will drop you off on Cadman Plaza - follow this street through the first two lights toward the East River. Take a right on Front Street (just after the off-ramp from the BQE), a left on Main Street, drive two blocks and take a right on Plymouth Street. 92 Plymouth is one block, at the corner of Washington.
via BQE: If heading South on the BQE, exit at the Cadman Plaza exit. At the stoplight, make a hard right on Front Street, almost making a u-turn. Take a left on Main Street. Drive two blocks and take a right on Plymouth Street. 92 Plymouth is one block, at the corner of Washington.
via Manhattan Bridge: Take the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and make a right on Tillary Street. Follow Tillary through three lights (you will pass the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge) and take a right on Cadman Plaza East. A park will be on the left. Follow this street underneath the BQE and through the first light. Take a left on York Street at the stop sign. This street will curve to the right and eventually deadend. Take a right on Front Street and then an immediate left on Main Street, drive two blocks and take a right on Plymouth Street. 92 Plymouth is one block, at the corner of Washington
Joseph Santore: Recent Work at Lohin Geduld Gallery NYC
Joseph Santore
Recent Work
November 18 - December 24, 2009
Lohin Geduld Gallery, 531 West 25th Street, New York, NY, is proud to present our first exhibition of paintings and drawings by Joseph Santore.
Time is a critical element in the art of Joseph Santore. He studies his subjects for months, searching collections of objects, figures, and interiors for intriguing relationships. The longer he looks the more that is revealed. This unmasking of reality unfolds slowly over the course of many painting sessions. As time passes and his experience grows, Santore plumbs the depths of what it means to see without preconception.
Santore believes the mechanics of perception and understanding go hand in hand. Reality is not a fixed viewpoint, but a series of shifting focal points that capture spatial relationships, light, and color. The meaning of Santore’s work is not derived solely from his selection of subject matter, but also from the accumulative experience of “looking” over an extended period of time. The nature of Santore’s vision is the real subject, and through the intensity of his gaze we partake of a world that normally hides in plain sight.
For all of his attention to detail, Santore composes like an abstractionist, packing his paintings with information. Pushing, pulling, and squeezing shapes together, forming associations of gesture, edge, weight, and counterpoint. Combined with a masterful technique capable of conjuring up the palpable sensations of flesh, flowers, metal, or cloth, Santore’s paintings present us with actual experience. They hum in their devotion to the real, and make us want to look at everything anew.
Joseph Santore received an MFA from Yale University and a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art. He has had solo exhibitions at Edward Thorp Gallery, NY; Phoenix Art Museum, AZ; The Philadelphia Art Alliance, PA; The New York Studio School, NY; and Yale University. His work has been appeared in numerous group exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; The Tucson Museum of Art, AZ; The American Academy & Institute of Arts & Letters, NY; The National Academy of Design, NY; The Butler Institute of American Art, OH; The Aspen Art Museum, CO; and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA.
Santore’s work has been reviewed in Art in America, ArtForum, The New York Times, ArtNews, and Art & Antiques. His work is in the public collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; The Denver Art Museum, CO; The Cincinnati Museum of Art, OH; Phoenix Art Museum, AZ; The National Academy of Design, NY; Yale University, CT; among others.
Recently, MoMA affiliated P.S.1 in Long Island City opened their fall exhibitions which include Chitra Ganesh's large-scale wall drawing The Silhouette Returns (2009), commissioned by Klaus Biesenbach as part of the On-Site program. It will be on display through April 5, 2010. For more information please view P.S.1's website.
The November issue of Art in America addresses in its cover feature the recent flurry of exhibitions on contemporary Iranian art, including Looped and Layered, held at this gallery from May 14 through July 10. In the Heat of the Moment was written by New York Times' Benjamin Genocchio.
Thomas Erben Gallery
526 West 26th Street, floor 4
New York, NY 10001
212.645-8701
www.thomaserben.com
info@thomaserben.com
It's no wonder A&M Records is spending a truck load of money promoting Janet Jackson's 'Number Ones,' her two-CD set of greatest hits music that was released on Nov. 17.
According to the New York Daily News, the youngest of the Jackson siblings has inked a new recording contract with A&M Records, which is the very label where she began her music career in 1982.
"A&M wants this CD to remind people how great Janet is," a source told the daily paper. "They're hoping it'll whet the public's appetite for Janet and pave the way for her new music."
Jackson had two of her biggest selling releases on A&M Records. Her 1986 CD 'Control' sold more than five million units in the US and her 1989 release 'Rhythm Nation 1814' moved a staggering 8.5 million copies.
Apparently A&M/Interscope executive Jimmy Iovine has tapped Rodney Jerkins (Beyonce/Michael Jackson) to oversee the album, which has a projected second quarter 2010 release date planned.
After her 'Rock Witchu Tour' last year, it was expected that Jackson would sign a recording contract with Live Nation, the mega-touring company that promoted her tour and has a record company division where Jay-Z, Madonna and U2 are now signed as artists.
Gallerists Tonya Jordan and Jarvis DuBois opened their new show group show SIGHTscene at Spoonbread Atelier this past Saturday, I'm one of the participating artists in the show. Check out these shots from the opening reception.
The show is on display through the new year. Gallery hours are Fridays 2-5pm and Saturdays 1pm-6pm and by appointment.
smART Gallery Hop Party
Saturday, November 21st
1pm - 6pm
You want to see some great art? Of course you do! That's why you should head over to Williamsburg on November 21st and jump on the art bus! smART is a chance to enjoy a tour of all the Williamsburg galleries without walking, thanks to the free shuttles that will be prowling the area. Visit the smART website for more details!
Of course, we want you to see it all. From 1-6, Like the Spice Gallery will be featuring wine, cheese, loads of fun, and artists Jenny Morgan and David Mramor in person! It's a great chance for you to talk to them about their current show, Civil Union. Read about the opening here and then get ready to party, party, party, all Saturday long!
Jenny Morgan and David Mramor: Civil Union at Like the Spice in Brooklyn
Like the Spice is pleased to present Civil Union, featuring the individual and collaborative works by Jenny Morgan and David Mramor. To someone encountering their individual works, Morgan's meticulously psychological portraits and Mramor's intuition driven photo/paintings would not appear so perfectly complimentary. And yet, once combined, they fit so precisely, each artist making the other stronger.
Morgan's portraits are tightly controlled photorealistic renderings of people known very well to the artist. She often scrapes away areas of the figures, revealing both the layers of technique and the metaphorical flesh of her subjects. Morgan's works are at the very pinnacle of planning, discipline, and control in the service of emotional clarity, tied quite specifically to the individuals she depicts.
Mramor's hybrid paintings are alchemical combinations of photography and painting. Reacting to digitally manipulated imagery printed onto canvas, Mramor "corrects" the images by adding layers of intuitive marks in many media, recently even including collage. The marks have a wild quality, seeming almost random at first encounter, but there is a deep formal intelligence and perverse beauty to Mramor's works; they are absolutely fearless.
Worked by each artist in several turns, the collaborative works are built in layers of intervention and invention. The Apollonian Morgan and Dionysian Mramor inform each other's input while respectfully resisting each other's positions. The artists talk of these collaborations as an exercise in trust, giving up personal ego and control, as well as a way to use each other as a tool, performing a partially-outsourced creative act.
Jenny and David met in graduate school at the School of Visual Arts in New York during the fall of 2006. Having studios next to each other, they found comfort in each other's artistic process, Morgan in the looseness of Mramors innate strokes and line, and David in Jenny's flat symbolic masterful portraits. After grad school they merged studios and while both working on their own paintings sporadically produced multiple collaborative works. "Both of our work has totally transformed as a result of that first collaborative piece we did, and continue to change with each piece we make together".
Jenny Morgan was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1982. She had her first solo show in New York at Like the Spice Gallery in January of 2009, and has exhibited nationwide in solo shows at the Plus Gallery and the Pirate Gallery in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Morgan has participated in group shows at Columbia University, The LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Smithsonian Institute's National Portrait Gallery, and multiple galleries in Colorado, Florida and New York City.
David Mramor was born and raised in Cleveland Ohio in 1984. Mramor has exhibited nation wide in group and solo exhibitions in such galleries as Massimo Audiello in New York City, Plus Gallery in Colorodo, and Texas Fire House in Queens NY. Both Jenny Morgan and David Mramor work at Marilyn Minter Studio and currently live and work in Brooklyn, NY.
{224 Roebling Street. Brooklyn, NY 11211} {718-388-5388} {info@likethespice.com} {Wed - Sun 12-7, Mon by appt. only}
Koko Dozo will be releasing their first EP for the Red Star Label this March! They'll be serving up the funkiest nastiest music they've ever done!!!!!!
Koko Dozo will be working with the amazing Marty Thau, who has an inspiration to them. Without him, you'd have never witnessed the New York Dolls, Suicide and many many other legendary artists who are the very fibers of Downtown NY music. This music shaped the trajectory Koko Dozo, and are a huge influence on Koko Dozo. It is a veritable dream come true to be able to work with the impresario and genius responsible for giving that music to the world. Needless to say, they will be serving up the very best funky post-disco madness that they can possibly offer!!!
You would have been able to say or do something to make this long year better.
But then you did say something to make this year and this day better already.
I just had to pull it out of storage and use it to generate a smile.
I miss you.
When I think about being less than amazing, I remember my last moments with you.
You had a look on your face that said you had completed a very difficult task, but that you were happy with the outcome. You said with a very proud smile on your face "You're a wonderful, wonderful person. I'm proud of you and I love you." I knew that would be the last time I saw you and I knew that the person you saw when you looked at me is the man I have to always strive to be.
So when the world and these (insert an adjective and noun combination of your choosing here for people you don't like) try to bring out the worst in me, after an introspective moment of being human I revert back to the best in me to honor you and the work you did to make sure I'd grow into something...MORE.
I love you.
I miss you.
I wish you were here, but then again you always will be.
so I
being of sound mind
sexy body
and joyful spirit
don't often
feel as though this planet
is the proper home
for a spirit as loving as mine
earth doesn't
feel like a good fit
for someone as loving
and as giving as I
I'm not feeling sorry
for myself
I'm just dealing with the reality
of this existence
as I don't find it
particularly joyful
especially on overcast days
like the one we have today
yes there are many things
to be grateful for
and in which one can find joy
flowers and cool breezes come to mind
nieces, nephews and a Mother I love dearly
friends and associates
with whom I've shared
great memories and good times
but so often
it seems
like there is really
no point
to any of it
romantic love
long lasting and true
is particularly
elusive
and actually
seems quite impossible
to obtain
i love to paint pictures
shoot photos
and make the world a better place
by sharing my love
my art
and my soul
but i grow weary
of striving
to experience
a love
as great
as the love
i have
to share
so I
being of sound mind
sexy body
and joyful spirit
don't often
feel as though this planet
is the proper home
for a spirit as loving as mine
where is my spaceship?
where are my keys?
where did I put my fucking keys?
This weekend I am exhibiting photography for the first time in Washington D.C.
Gallerists Tonya Jordan and Jarvis DuBois present SIGHTscene at Spoonbread Atelier this Saturday, November 14, 4-7p. The gallery is at 4303 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722. This event is part of Fotoweek DC. I will be showing abstract and streetscape works from my Beautiful Decay series.
Hope all my D.C. friends and collectors stop by Spoonbread Atelier this Saturday to check out the work and have a great time.
KLOMPCHING GALLERY cordially invites you to the opening reception of Foreign Body, the first solo exhibition in the United States of Antony Crossfield.
The artist describes his work as closely related to the manual labor of painting. His artworks comprise of several points of view, of multiple images that are compressed into a single frame of meticulous construction. The illusion of wholeness masks an uncertain and fractured reality, that defies the Cartesian idea of a stable viewpoint. The resulting photographs of the male form are at once unsettling, yet weirdly beautiful. They elicit an intellectual response, but also one that is visceral and even physical.
Antony Crossfield has previously exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery (London), Institute of Contemporary Art (London) and Fulham Palace (London). In 2008, he was the winner of The Independent Photographer's Terry O'Neill Award. He has been published in Eyemazing and Creative Review, amongst others, with an upcoming feature in Hotshoe.
EXHIBITION CONTINUES THROUGH DECEMBER 19, 2009
KLOMPCHING GALLERY
www.klompching.com | info@klompching.com | +1 212 796 2070
111 Front Street, Suite 206 | Brooklyn NY 11201
Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat, 11am-6pm and by appointment.
Extended Hours: 1st Thursdays DUMBO Gallery Walk, 11am—8:30pm
From November 5, 2009 - January 9, 2010, the gallery will present an exhibition of photographs by Robert Bergman. The exhibition coincides with the artist's debut solo exhibitions at The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. http://www.nga.gov/press/exh/3106/index.shtm October 11, 2009 - January 10, 2010 ) and at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York http://ps1.org/exhibitions/view/301 October 25, 2009 - January 4, 2010).
Mr. Bergman's book, A Kind of Rapture, was published in 1998 by Pantheon and contains essays by Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize recipient Toni Morrison and renowned art historian Meyer Schapiro.
For more information, please visit the gallery's website: http://www.yossimilo.com/exhibitions/2009_11-robe_berg/
