~JOE BRADLEY/CANADA/to-nite !!
JOE BRADLEY – ‘Shmagoo Paintings’ – OPENS To-NITE – SAT OCT 25, 6-9 PM !!
the show runs: OCT 25 – DEC 3, 2008
CANADA – 55 CHRYSTIE ST – btwn HESTER & CANAL – CHINATOWN/L.E.S – NYC
this Joe’s second solo show at Canada – is that all – !! – so much has happened to this guy since then – he has shot up like a flame !!
this show comprises: work “drawn with grease pencil on white canvas – the boldness of the ‘one shot’ method is undermined by the absurdity of the subject matter: scrawls and doodles that move in and out figuration . . . They are a waste of time to try to understand and a pleasure to pursue. . . .
“For the past two and a half years, Mr. Bradley (!!!! love that, Mr. Bradley !!) has reconstituted monochromatic painting into a kind of composite building block. By combining stacks of brightly colored panels, Mr. Bradley made paintings that were simultaneously abstract and figurative.”
“I came across the word ‘Schmagoo’ in a book about New York City drug culture in the 1960’s, it was (is?) used as a slang for Heroin. This struck me as kind of funny, that a narcotic as deep and dark as Smack could end up with such a goofy nick name. Sounds like a Jewish super hero or something. The word stuck with me, and i began to think of ‘Schmagoo’ as short for hand for some sort of Cosmic Substance … Primordial Muck. The stuff that gave birth to everything. Base matter. The Bardo. in approaching this body of work, I have been thinking of Painting as a metaphor for the original creative act. The word made Flesh. The transmutation of Schmagoo into Alchemical Gold” – Joe Bradley
– press release.
see: artlovers’ coverage of Joe’s first show at CANADA/KURGAN WAVES/Jan 2007
UP-DATE: TUES – NOV 4, 2008 – PHOTOS FROM THE OPENING !!
JOE BRADLEY arrives and greets Sarah Braman’s youngest son, JODY.
Joe is show and telling him, something – delightful !!
next to be meet and greeted . . . JOE BRADLEY and DASH SNOW !!
JOE BRADLEY and DASH SNOW – 2 talented characters – if I ever did see one.
charmingly attired in formal wear – DAN COLEN makes a rare appearance.
MIKE PARE – came by. he has one of his big Navajo Blanket Drawings in the new ATM Galley space show – ‘East Moves West’ . . .
see: ATM GALLERY/EAST MOVES WEST
likewise – GORDON TERRY – also has some beautiful small pieces in the new ATM show.
see: ATM GALLERY/EAST MOVES WEST
JUSTIN SAMSON and PETE PEZZIMENTI.
PETE will have four new small paintings in the next MONYA ROWE group show – which will inaugurate her new space.
She is relocating to 504 W 22nd St – 2nd FL.
the opening is this Sat, Nov 8, 2008 – 6-8pm; and the show runs thru Dec 20, 2008
see: MONYA ROWE
Pete brought along a friend, SCOTT KIERNAN, just in from the West Coast – San Francisco.
at left, FRANKIE MARTIN, at right, PETE PEZZIMENTI.
PETE PEZZIMENTI and A-Ron, cross paths for the first time at the Joe Bradley opening.
another meeting of kinetic minds !! from left: JUSTIN SAMSON; PAUL H-O, co-director of ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ fame; NICK PAYNE of BOBO; and PHIL COTE also of Philly’s notorious dynamo art goup/band – BOBO
BRENDAN CASS.
JASON FOX. word on the street is Jason Fox just left FEATURE and will show with PETER BLUM,
in Soho, in January 2009.
JOE BRADLEY just included a wonderful drawing by Mr. FOX . . ‘Negrodomus’, 2006 – in his recent curatorial stint of SALON XXIV – in the newest THE JOURNAL, ENTRY NO. 24 !!
see: LEIGH JOHNSON & JOE BRADLEY/THE JOURNAL – there is a photo of Mr. Fox’s drawing !!
JULIA DIPPELHOFER and MICHAEL NEVINS of THE JOURNAL MAGAZINE and GALLERY.
see: THE JOURNAL !!
but onto the art !! – the overwhelming consensus was – JOE BRADLEY outdid even himself – with this newest rendition of his cerebral magic – and right-on-the-edge mark – signature – Joe Bradley – in-your-face and yet human !! show of work, nobody – but, Joe coulda woulda thought up !!
JOE BRADLEY, ‘On The Cross’, grease pencil on canvas, 2008.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Superman’, grease pencil on canvas, 2008
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Neil’, grease pencil on canvas, 2008
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Neil’, grease pencil on canvas.
the girl in the coat ? PAIGE PERRIN, who happens to be a production assistant at MARC JACOBS, and yes, that gorgeous coat is a MARC JACOBS.
what a great design/art combo – JOE BRADLEY -& – MARC JACOBS !!
see, the abstract painting really does take on a human persona !! look its alive and smiling.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Neil’, grease pencil on canvas, 2008.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Manmade Dirigible’, grease pencil on canvas, 2008
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Number 23’, grease pencil on canvas, 2008
NOAM RAPPAPORT, also with work, in the ATM – ‘EAST MOVES WEST” inaugural show.
. . . and, in the back room 2 pieces from the last show at CANADA, a wonderful little huge show by EUNICE KIM, Joe Bradley’s GF/BFF & soul sista !! since forever, called ‘Moon the Magic Loser’ (Sept 19-Oct 19, 2008).
for wonderful installation shots, see:EUNICE KIM/MOON THE MAGIC LOSER/gallery website
EUNICE KIM.
EUNICE KIM, ‘Stumped’, 2008
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH