~DU DU DUALITY/BANKSY VS SHADOWMAN !!
BANKSY/WHERE’S HOLLYWOOD/IMAGE COURTESY/GRAFITTERS
well . . . that about says it all. no more words, necessary, except maybe – amen.
and, going nowhere fast – unless of course – you count in Charlie Sheen . . .
BANKSY/DUALITY/IMAGE COURTESY: GRAFITTERS
one of the most interesting aspects of Banksy’s work is his: duality !!
visually: its found most simply in his ability to marry realist stencil work – with free form gestures . . .
street-wise: its his ability to marry social commentary – on property not belonging to him – and come up smelling roses. as opposed to thug. or vandal.
movie-wise: of course the stroke of brilliance regarding his film – ‘EXIT FROM THE GIFT SHOP’ – was how he turned around a documentary on himself – to one that featured the original doc – archival cameraman/would be filmmaker/documentarian – THIERRY GUETTA – aka MR BRAINWASH – as the artist. and the turn around – wasn’t that hard to follow, either. in fact – it was huge fun. everybody got the joke !!
BANKSY RAT/IMAGE COURTESY: BookFreeq
BANKSY RAT/IMAGE COURTESY:GRAFFITERS/ORIGINAL SOURCE APPEARS TO BE: UNURTH
RICHARD HAMBLETON, NOVEMBER 2009, NYC. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH/artloversnewyork.com
now, I don’t have a photo of BANKSY, but I do have some (recent) pix of RICHARD HAMBLETON aka the SHADOWMAN . . .
as yes, some people do call him: THE RAT !!
he surfaced at VLADIMIR’S art event of last year – on the LOWER EAST SIDE.
RICHARD HAMBLETON. NOV 2009. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
he surfaced like some latter day MARAT – out of the sewers – of drug use and extreme hardcore lifestyle – to put it mildly – just like a rat !!
the proverbial inner city rat. some people might call that: crackhead in short – streetwise parlance.
you couldn’t really say Richard has the same depth of intellectual range or talent as Banksy – but if Banksy paints the inner city rat – Richard Hambleton – is the rat – and that’s enough duality for me !!
and hey, read on – I’m not hating on him !!
I’m starting to see that as a big YES !! YES on the street cred & authenticity . . yes – on the dark side of the moon.
off and running – back into the shadows of the night.
RICHARD HAMBELTON, NOV 2009. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
now don’t get me wrong.
I never really got into Hambleton’s work – until I witnessed the OSCARS of 2011. when a light when on.
briefly put:
when things are really bad – and even Banksy statements – no matter how succinct – seem like a happy pill – maybe, just maybe – you really do need a real inner city cartpetbagger – a true night time stalker !! to take the world down – !!
RICHARD HAMBELTON, NOV 2009. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
THE SHADOWMAN returns to the – dark side. the dark anonymity of the night time city streets. the mean streets . . . the dark side of the street. where the evil – truly lurks.
ARTWORK BY RICHARD HAMBELTON aka THE SHADOWMAN/IMAGE COURTESY: MIX206
of course his work, through pretty much one dimensional visually, and all pretty much the same – does have its own half-witted duality.
his dancing in-the-flames gypsy-like cowboys and hardcore street denizens – are dancing. in the flames.
get it ?
5 RIVINGTON ST, EAST STOREFRONT just off the BOWERY, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC – PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, NOV 2009.
5 RIVINGTON ST – EAST STOREFRONT: now home to THIERRY GOLDBERG GALLERY – this used to be a hardcore artists’ storefront – first RICHARD HAMBELTON’S – when he was as the peak of being – THE SHADOWMAN – and, of course FORREST GUMP of the artworld, that I am – don’t ask, just go figure – – you know just like that woman who knit all the way through the FRENCH REVOLUTION while MARAIS took hot baths – as Paris burned – – it was I who lived there next, with SIMON CERIGO and our 2 small children – Kate and Theo . . .
5 RIVINGTON – THE DOOR TO THE 5 STORY MULTIPLE DWELLING. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, NOV 2009.
RICHARD HAMBELTON sublet it to us – in 1987 – and we promptly put a concrete wall up -in place of the plate glass storefront window.
it was a rough and wild frontier at the time. drug wars on the roof !! battle-scared and sleazy disease-ridden 2 dollar hookers on the corners. idiots OD-ing outside – on the sidewalk night and day. (but we had a beautiful garden, goldfish pond and all – in the backyard !!)
and Jean Michel lived just around the corner.
so the story is: RICHARD took our money for the rent – something like $400/mo. !! – but never gave it to the landlord.
what else do you expect from a true prince of the night.
5 RIVINGTON – TODAY, WITH THE GATE – DOWN. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
and it put us at serious jeopardy. the landlord threw eviction notices at us – and we ended up in landlord tenant court.
because of course Richard was nowhere to be found – to set things right. and I guess he didn’t have the dough, anymore either.
but funny thing is:
one: NYC courts don’t take kindly to families, even artist families – (never mind without ‘documentation’ – a story for another day) – with small children being evicted for such nefarious goings-on . . .
two: turns out long story short – the storefront didn’t have the proper C. of O. (certificate of occupancy) to rent out as residential – and we were in landlord tenant court for 8 years – all the while living there rent-free – til the landlord paid us $50,000 to get out.
the ‘5’ at the top of the -notorious – door. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
so I’m thinking, all in all – hey, maybe Richard wasn’t such a bad guy after all . . . ??!!
5 RIVINGTON ST – BUZZER. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
on the left you can see the original buzzer – it hasn’t changed in all the these years – over 20, almost 24 yrs. !!
5 RIVINGTON ST. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
its frozen in time – a veritable cultural artifact !!
and probably broken just like it was, even back then.
I say – artifact – because . . .
5 RIVINGTON ST/BUZZER UP-CLOSE. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
R. HAMBELTON – is still – !! – listed as the occupant of APT # 1 !!
THE NEW AGE – !! – IMMIGRANT – LOWER EAST SIDE – ‘ARTIST’ FAMILY of the EAST STOREFRONT – 5 RIVINGTON ST.
LOWER EAST SIDE. NYC /1990. PHOTO BY NANCY SCOT ROBINSON.
SIMON CERIGO and NANCY SMITH – the scribbler of these pages – with KATE & THEO . . . ca. 1990.
and yeah, pretty much if you are gonna resurrect RICHARD HAMBELTON, I guess eventually, you’re gonna have to resurrect SIMON – the first T-SHIRT & HARDCORE POSTER COLLAGE ARTIST !! – and his pal, the incredibly talented artist & photographer – DAN ASHER & I guess, when finality finally does come push – to shove – ME !!
SO FILE UNDER: what goes around comes around – or – HA. what’s mightier ?
he holds the gallery lease – or he who has the poetic voice ?
the du du duality of NYC – 2011. in a nutshell.