~ARTLOVERSNEWYORK . . OUR BOOTH !!
at . . . THE CASUAL ART FAIR.
SEWARD PARK, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC. OCT 1, 2017
our booth . . .
came together . . . much easier & way better than we had anticipated !!
the random tent assignment, which gave us . . . nature and trees for a backdrop !!
was an incredible . . lucky BONUS !!
not only did the grid of the little urban ‘pocket’ park fencing that ran behind us – solve the technical issue of how to hang the works / but it looked so great to have a moving, alive & breathing !! backdrop behind the displayed art.
and esp. behind NICHOLAS STEINDORF’S ‘leafy’ nature / ‘color separation’ pieces at the center.
our intended spirit of hanging everything casual / Casual Art Fair !!, & wild, as in ad hoc & improvised / as opposed to formal, framed & white box/ . . super benefited from this real time, real world . . lit !! & sunny dialogue.
it was just the best background ‘window’/ a virtual video of ‘nature’ running behind – could not have said it better. it gave a fluid, infinite space to the cutting edge art & in a very real sense, combined the diverse nature of our effort . . bringing in the prevalent & shared humanity !! loud & clear !!
that’s our curator THEO CERIGO, with artlovers’ ‘mascot’ & real life pooch . . Zora / a crowd pleaser – if there ever was one.
ps: that’s my newest, & very subdued . . quilt project, hanging down on the right.
we originally intended to screen . . a loop of the VDC / VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER . . inter-active, archival digital animated re-creation of ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH’ – ‘A Pop-Up Painting Show: Lower East Side 80’s Art Scene’, June 2015 . . . on the right hand side of our main table . . . ??
which would have been . . . SO GREAT !!
but alas it was not to be, screening video is a touchy prospect it turns out.
have to admit – we were very disappointed by the fail !!
fair goers would have been so enchanted !!
you can catch a glimpse of the beginning of the re-creation here . . the empty storefront in New York’s gritty Chinatown, where the pop-up took place / June 6-8, 2015.
right on The Bowery.
which is pretty close to by, to where we actually we had our studio & where most of the art included in the pop-up show was made / a raw storefront, at 5 Rivington St, just 2 doors up from the Bowery, where we, me and Simon .. lived & worked & Dan was just around the corner / 1987-1996.
we have to thank NICHOLAS STEINDORF . .
who actually produced the digital re-creation from photographs / and of course !!
a GIANT BIG thank you to . . Paris-based JEAN-BAPTISTE LENGLET for including ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO’ – on his futuristic online artist gallery space / VDC – VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER !!
yes, CHECK OUT: VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER / it’s an online, ongoing . . interactive platform that you CAN DOWNLOAD – FOR FREE !!
DIRECT link to: ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH’ – on VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER ARCHIVE !!
well, BACK TO REALITY, um, maybe . . . !!!
we did have some catalogs explaining the Paris-based online project:
VDC / VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER, founded & curated by JEAN-BAPTISTE LENGLET, that fair-goers could leaf through.
and some of JEAN-BAPTISTE’S own artwork !!
sketchbooks he made while on an art residency in . . TIBET.
he used everyday children’s notebooks – as the forum, but hello !!
of course, the line drawings inside are quite – XXXXX rated !!
lol, FAUX – DISNEY !!
the “Real Fake” . . . WALT DISNEY / with hand-drawn PORN inside – to boot !!
& . . check out that blowing-up / friggin trippy MUSHROOM !!
& that Looney Tunes ‘tweety’ bird !!
what kind of message are these guys – giving their schoolchildren . . anyway ?
it’s very Americanized – to say the least.
it’s very .. counter-culture ?
it’s also very counterfeit ? is that the Asian . . component ?
it’s the new . . global ‘mix’ !! and such a ‘happy’ place too, lord.
esp in Tibet.
that this is such a taken-for-granted / made for kids / new wave global ‘branding’ statement . . . astounds me.
I mean Hello Kitty . . was one thing.
I mean . . TIBET ? sacred Tibet / or what’s left of it.
on the left:
a fine & lively papier-mache ‘Orchid’ by TAYLOR McKIMENS . .
Collection: THEO CERIGO
and . . 2 small ‘tablet’ (aqua-resin) pieces by the ‘2 sides’ of yin / yang ANTONE KONST !!
and so . . damn erotic.
that’s a “real Fake” . . ALFREDO MARTINEZ faux Basquiat, coming in on the right.
there was just some inherent ‘narrative’ – that run through all of these pieces / a kind of slightly twisted / slightly sad, slightly lush/tainted erotic, slightly alarming ?
. . take on ‘reality’ ??!!!
esp with the complexity . . of Taylor’s flat, yet 3-d space.
obviously so “FAUX” yet . . real / as in well-observed.
the orchid flower petals really popped against the black cloth, of the tent next door.
at once so painterly, and so . . cartoon / lush vs. ironic is all I can say.
‘faux’ vs real is a very real – issue here. it’s a very deliberate . . game.
TAYLOR McKIMENS: the “Real Faux” / the “Real Fake” . . . flower painter ?
which is always what intrigues me so much about Taylor’s work . . that crazy balancing act he has going on – between . . narrative & philosophy / realist & cartoon-inflected.
sincere & tongue-in-cheek.
of course, sadly later . .
that night was that terrifying & deranged Los Vegas country music concert massacre / a kill box, some called it. like killing fish, and young ones at that . . . in a bucket I would say.
the horrific stats made the bad news / killer clown nuclear international threats fade away.
the brilliant planning . . so god damned American at it’s very best / & worst.
so efficient. and great, now everybody got the ‘master plan’.
after that, the next morning, when I looked again at the photos, I saw more clearly the jaded, sad narrative, the esp sad American cowboy narrative . . that Taylor distills, & which . . inform his ‘cartoon’-based works especially.
I saw a mad, angry face in the pink ‘water’ spill, spreading like a a huge blood stain against the ‘table’.
I saw ugly consumerism in the tiny, shabby peel-off orange price tag; and I saw the death of the soul – in the green drooping cash / money.
and of . . course, tears, tears, and more tears !! in the drippy drips.
a McKimens trademark from day one.
damn: it’s a drippy world, out there.
damn: it’s a drippy world amongst the beauty.
MORE PIX – ON OUR BOOTH – TOMORROW !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH