~UNDER THE VOLCANO . . OPENING PIX
‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH’
A 2 DAY POP-UP SHOW PAINTING SHOW – LOWER EAST SIDE 80s ART SCENE
CURATED BY KATE & THEO CERIGO. PRODUCED BY THEO CERIGO.
169 BOWERY, AT DELANCEY. LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC.
OPENING RECEPTION, SAT JUNE 6, 2015 / 6 – 10 PM
AND ALSO OPEN, SUN JUNE 7, 2015 / 11 AM – 10 pm
PIX – FROM THE OPENING . . .
the entry – Flowers by KANA TOGASHI of SAFFRON, BROOKLYN.
DAN ASHER drawing in black ink or paint, on paper, early 80s. approx 2 x 3 ft. – on the left.
NANCY SMITH, acrylic paint on stretched canvas, early 80s. 4 ft. 10 in. x 5 ft. 3 in. – on the right.
PHOTO: NICHOLAS STEINDORF
UNDER THE VOLCANO . . I did that.
I was always a street artist at heart.
behind them is one of Simon’s paintings . . . ‘LEMONHEADS’. 6 ft. 6 in. x 7 ft. 8 in.
SIMON CERIGO, ‘LEMONHEADS’. NANCY SMITH, ‘THE WRITING ON THE WALL’.
DAN ASHER . . ‘UNTITLED’, BLACK FURY OF AN ANCIENT FACE ON A SCROLL OF PAPER.
SIMON CERIGO, detail, ‘LEMONHEADS.
this is one of my faves of Simon’s – it’s very minimalist, Simon at his best. just pencil on raw canvas, and some white acrylic paint, and an indie band t-shirt glued on. in this case the LEMONHEADS. Simon was an obsessed audiophile, and the top pencil drawing is some piece of equipment, he either just scored, or wanted.
SIMON CERIGO, detail, ‘LEMONHEADS’.
SIMON CERIGO, detail, ‘LEMONHEADS’. collaged t-shirt.
I think he was the first person to glue band t-shirts, or t-shirts in general, onto paintings ?
but Simon could go to town, too.
‘Culture against US / LOWER EAST (SIDE) in SOLIDARITY’.
SIMON CERIGO, mixed media ‘mural’ on found curtain, that’s a found oil paint-by-number horse, on the lower left. he was crazy for those. he’d hunt them down in thrift shops.
SIMON CERIGO, ‘KEITH HARING by ANDY WARHOL’, t-shirt, pencil and acrylic paint on stretched canvas.
4 ft. x 4 ft. 9 in.
later at the opening, I overheard someone say, “the t-shirt is probably worth more than the painting” – !!
this is the painting, that WALTER ROBINSON – instagrammed out at the world – at the opening.
DAN ASHER, oil stick on stretched canvas, 5 ft. 3 in x 6 ft. 3 in.
DAN ASHER, detail.
Dan went to town, on his works, too. esp the oil sticks.
but he could also do the most delicate, finely etched, almost invisible, ‘nano’ finger print, tiny trace line drawings, as well. some in pencil, some in ink/pen. we have some, but a story for another day.
all the works in the show belong to our own collection.
DAN ASHER, oil stick, 2 ft. 4 in. x 3 ft. 8 in.
this one feels like a tarot card – to me.
I’m thinking: this is our art, this is our hustle.
how do we survive ? how do we prevail – in this game of ‘thrones’.
aka the cutthroat art world.
DAN ASHER, detail.
when Dan exhibited his work, he usually gave his pieces really long, really elaborate, mythical story-telling titles. but he only did that when he had some secretary to write it all down. a man with all imagination, but absolute zero, no patience – he never notated any ideas on the works themselves, not even on the backs, so that part is pretty much lost. except for in the archives of his early gallery outings.
looking at Simon’s work . . .
SIMON CERIGO, newspaper piece, oil stick, collage, photograph, toy airplanes.
17 in. x 24 in. framed.
SIMON CERIGO, detail newspaper piece.
SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH, 1982 – NYC.
art buddies vs the world, full of dreams, when dreams were possible.
SIMON CERIGO, ‘Samurai’. pencil, acrylic paint and t-shirt. 7 ft x 6 ft.
SIMON CERIGO, detail, ‘Samurai’
THEO . . calls us, “the three samurai” – for how obsessed we were for our art, how we lived our art, how we fought to make that art & also . . live. survive, under the volcano.
meaning, survive under the intensity of our artistic vision within, and the intensity of the scene that was swirling around us, and therefore, around him, growing up among us, and in the heart of the hardcore underground that was the Lower East Side of the 80s.
he saw up close, it was a fierce battle, no holds barred.
NANCY SMITH, watercolor, 18 x 24 in.
and then there was me, as contrarian as can be, with radar like a sieve.
soaking up the info, and always wondering, what was to . . be.
NANCY SMITH, detail, watercolor.
what’s out there, and I mean . . really. what’s out there.
NANCY SMITH, detail, watercolor.
what’s out there, from under the . . volcano, and into the vase.
I was really into .. MOEBIUS. Simon turned me onto him.
well, that’s what you get – when you marry someone, for their record collection.
NANCY SMITH, charcoal drawing in paper, 38 x 50 in.
from a tarot card series I made up, inspired by an old medieval Italian deck.
I think these young artists today can understand my work, because of things like, ‘Game of Thrones’ ?
medieval, uncertain. stark. swift. also the ‘hand-made’ quality, the free line. artisanal. you have to shut your eyes, and understand when I was making these, the ELI BROADS of the world were buying, and only buying (!!) CINDY SHERMAN. the hyper-realist pictures generation. which isn’t to say I don’t like her work, because I do, I just say: I was a duck . . out of water.
but maybe, that’s just the – point !!
NANCY SMITH, detail.
a lot of people were asking me if this was a . . king ?
but clearly . . it’s a QUEEN. a very androgynous one, but nonetheless.
a Queen . . with a SAMO crown.
and while I’m around, unlike my 2 old dead & grizzled king friends here, Dan and Simon, I may as well set the record straight – while I can.
NANCY SMITH, charcoal drawing, Tarot card series. 38 x 50 in.
NANCY SMITH, detail, charcoal drawing.
back at ya – dudes. I hadn’t lived through enough hard times yet, for Crackula to be born, yet. hadn’t meet the king of ‘clubs’. the love hate maven – burn in the fire, but still I see you, Charlie Finch yet.
but if Crackula had a ‘seed’ – this was it.
NANCY SMITH, Flower study, charcoal on paper, 38 x 50 in.
but even in the flower drawings, the ‘cracks’ – were beginning to show.
KATE & THEO CERIGO CURATED ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH’.
Kate gave the show it’s most magical title, and Theo found the space, and produced the event.
they are standing in front of a large t-shirt painting by their dad, SIMON CERIGO . . . and mostly they just wanted . . to set the record straight.
Simon, Dan and Nancy, 3 samurai artists – under the volcano.
Kate is wearing a MARK ENGER, EXPLODING SKY ‘skull’ t-shirt.
R.I.P., MARK. DAN. & . . . SIMON.
want more info .. write: underthevolcano.les@gmail.com
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, unless otherwise noted