~SEAN VEGEZZI/last call
yo !! yo !! yo !! l-a-s-t d-a-y to catch:
THE STANTON CHAPTER PRESENTS:
‘BEFORE I DIE’ – an exhibit of photographs by SEAN VEGEZZI – curated by MINT 7 SERF
STANTON CHAPTER – 176 STANTON – LOWER EAST SIDE – NYC
SAT – FEB 28, 2009 / 12 noon- 6PM
. . . the sweetest toughest show on the face of the earth.
SEAN VEGEZZI – 18 yr. old TRIBECA HOMEBOY – hit NYC with his first solo show this month c/o of his good friends and mentors – at the STANTON CHAPTER aka THE CANAL CHAPTER aka 1134 NYC – MINT & SERF.
* & YES !! the undercover graffiti cops (aka the ‘vandal’ squad) did come and close down the opening, supposedly for underage drinking (?) but, not the show. well the opening was ending anyway, and they didn’t haul anyone off in handcuffs. and, just how undercover could these cops be, they were a good 30+, these kids were all in their teens and young 20s !! the cops looked ridiculous storming in. (there was a male cop and female cop. the female looked the harder of the two !!). who puts these guys up to this sh*t, anyways ? They didn’t even look like they knew why they were there. It’s a losing battle. the tag world is outta control – yo, its big business – the cops on one side – the huge corporate sponsors on the other – what a crazy world !! and luckily – NYC is caught in the middle !! *
we were able to catch up with SEAN at the show this past week, for one last long look. we asked him if he had ever been hassled by the cops. he said that a few years ago, (by the way he is still in high school, graduating this Spring, and waiting on admission to either MICA or SVA) after a show or party – somewhere, he was grabbed by a group of cops and handled very roughly. He was thrown to the ground, and the cops threatened to come after him – if he didn’t give up the names of the kids in his photos – which were at that time posted on his website – NYCEXPOSED – which he did not. but the cops got his high school ID and with it his address – so he had to take down the website. He said they also threw all his stuff from his pockets into the street, and they looked like they meant business.
LOL – of course if you look for NYCEXPOSED.COM now, you’ll find that great domain name – has been hijacked by some lame bogus porn/tourist site !!
SEAN VEGEZZI also sent us – some hi-rez jegs of his work – to post for his many fans on the site, many in the international art & street art community unable to make the show in person.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Highline Nap’, Digital C Print. 11 x 14 ins. Edition of 4. ($150)
this photo is one of the earliest included in the show. It was taken in 2006, when Sean was 15 yrs old. That’s his pal, who later got sent back to a strict Japanese boarding school – for ‘acting out’ and to save him from the bad influences of NYC !! it’s not really that scary, as trains haven’t traveled those obsolete Chelsea highline tracks in decades. Sean told us, scrambling up the highline metalwork was his first foray into the city’s ‘secret’ infrastructures – before he was bold enough to traverse the forbidden underground tunnels.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Greenpoint is Burning’, Digital C Print, 11 x 14 in. Ediiton of 4. ($175).
this is another of his pals. and, he says YES !! his friend was scared. he was 7 stories high and that’s why he is lying face down on the scaffolding, literally, holding on – for dear life.
two more photos in the show: ALL PHOTOS BY & COPYRIGHT OF: SEAN VEGEZZI
see: the first post/SEAN VEGEZZI at STANTON CHAPTER !!
NOTE: something to look forward to !!
SEAN VEGEZZI is going to collaborate with artlovers this summer, 2009 – in posting a series of his hi-rez pix – along with the background stories, and, with more narrative details !!
as well as, some answers to some of his mostly frequently asked questions: like how do you get down there, unseen. check back in JUNE !!