`ESSEX FLOWERS – HOME EDITION’ . . NADA / NYC 2018
come hang out, on the stoop.
so,
‘ESSEX FLOWERS – HOME EDITION’ . . has a secondary, pop-up home !!
at this weekend’s . . NADA ART FAIR.
it’s a bit of a moveable feast, being cash & carry & also offerings shift around / make sure to ask: what’s up with DETROIT !!
the gallery’s 1st ‘HOME EDITION’ exhibit, running thru this Sun March 11, 2018 btw & which is a pretty major & very innovative multi-layered group show / located in their storefront, 19 Monroe St. deep in Chinatown / has bubbled up, in mini-format, & transformed into a . . ‘typical’ NYC brownstone stoop sale.
with . . some pretty special ‘home goods’ on display / y’all.
bubbled up, on the other side of lower downtown, at the Skylight Clarkson North, ground floor / warehouse-like . . 550 Washington St. in West Soho.
in the NADA 2018 Projects Space – Booth 4.23
JEFFREY TRANCHELL, of the ESSEX FLOWERS Gallery collective, curated the show, and built-up the ‘stoop’.
strictly speaking, it’s not quite a stairway to heaven, because it’s concentrated focus is on home ‘objects’ – that ‘function’, but that being said, everything is hand-made, one-of-a-kind, often fanciful, and often very wild !!
I mean: ‘little pink houses’ . . or what / ?!!
case in point, the KATIE STOUT – papier-mache, 3-legged chair Jeffrey is sitting on.
equal parts: home ‘decor’ & home ‘function’ / 100% . . wild.
DENISE KUPFERSCHMIDT, cute kitchen kitty (?) retro wall ‘kitsch’, was looking like clay . . but was actually FAUX. paint on cardboard and hardware.
the one painting, by . . MAX MASLANSKY, likewise appears to be both very decorative and functional, framed & sturdy, with a ‘pegboard’ motif, but . . gaze upon it just one moment longer, & watch it jump totally off the grid. what is, put so poker-faced before you, is quite the wild side, e-r-o-t-i-c.
‘ESSEX FLOWERS – HOME EDITION’ – NADA.
is quite the . . contrary corner.
an ‘ornamental’ gate by MICHAEL WETZEL, is seemingly totally functional, and yet dreamy / minimalist.
yet also, British arts & crafts Romantic, meets American light-hearted . . gothic ?
yet that also might be illusion, turns out. because,it’s more mural, than metal gate / being crafted of pink foam & aqua resin !!
the colored ‘glass’ inserts are plastic.
still, a pretty picture – and could be a real nice room divider, for real !!
it also veers the vibe, from what could have been heavily ‘wacky’, towards almost . . chapel-like. reverent.
a very reflective, architectural melody . . amidst a huge chaotic art fair, which has all but fallen away.
but, the main focus of the ‘stoop sale’ . . is its array of ceramics.
except of course, for that weirdo, rolled-up . .
slightly craft-beaded,’Tweety-Bird’ blanket – more on that, later.
when I first turned the corner, and came upon this 3-D build-out, and, I guess also because of the stained glass chapel-like ‘gate’ above, all my first impression was: candleholders & shiny glazed vessels, . .
I thought, wow: how fun. this booth looks just like a gift shop in the Jewish Museum, or the Met / thinking that was totally . . cool.
but, apparently, the Essex Flowers crew ain’t nothing, if not . . contextually, conceptually, many-layered !!
I mean, somethings were candle holders, and somethings were . . not.
and now, I don’t even think there were any candle holders, at all.
I mean, nothing was . . candlesticks !!
these were long-necked vases !! but maybe, they could . . hold candles ?
many of the ceramic art works Jeffrey was showing were a real treat, not just for their forms, & glazes, but because they are not local, but artisan-artists from the burgeoning new Detroit art scene. a fluid ceramics collective who go by the name of their small ‘rural’ town, which Detroit has grown to encircle – HAMTRAMCK, HAMTRAMCK CERAMCK .. !!
def, see: HAMTRAMCK CERAMCK/about
this was a faux cactus, growing in a pot – by JESSE HAMERMAN.
this was a pretty nice bowl, to eat your morning porridge in.
it was fashioned by . . BB / BRADEN BAER, of the HAMTRAMCK collective.
sometimes their pottery is just branded, ‘Hamtramck’ & sometimes it is signed by the individual artist.
this was actually, a working ‘Statue of Liberty’ lamp – by JORY RABINOVITZ !!
and this was an ‘ET’ . . fill-in-the-blank-yourself !! by . . MAGGIE SULLIVAN !!
whether it works or not, is prob best left – up to your own imagination.
‘DRAKE’ mug, by BENNY SAGINAW, one of the HAMTRAMCK founders.
as in, the Real, Fake . . ‘McCoy’ !!
a popular American . . commercial pottery, from the past.
could this gorgeous thing, be a candle holder ?
actually I think it’s a vase for some very lucky, long stemmed flowers.
it was made by PATRICK QUINN, of HAMTRAMCK !!
this piece was made by AMBER LOCKE, also of HAMTRAMCK CERAMCK.
it’s a . . toothbrush holder.
reverse magic / AMBER LOCKE, ‘toothbrush holder’. HAMTRAMCK CERAMCK.
also hanging on the faux brick wall, a small clay mosaic by JONATHAN HARTSHORN.
there are several, ask Jeffrey to show you them.
coming back down to the earthy, earth earth – a few offerings by TD / THEODORE SIDEL.
oh yeah, that . . . “TWEETY-BIRD” !!
that’s . . mine !!
“LOOKIN GOOD, PAL!”
NANCY SMITH, ‘SpongeBob . . meet TWEETY-BIRD’, 2018.
44 x 30 in.
Reclaimed & hand-stitched repair . . of a thrift shop / vintage ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ children’s fleece.
using:
vintage sequin patches: ‘Tweety Bird’ & ‘Warhol’s Marilyn’ (!!) / the damage is hidden by the Marilyn patch,
assorted vintage plastic craft beads, vintage plastic buttons, & vintage baby trinkets.
cotton embroidery thread.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH