a look back to the 2000s /
a look back – the . . . FUTURE !!!!!!!
a super quick – DIY . . . LOOK BACK !!
to their ‘collective’ influence – on the art scene of today /
esp re DYI, re-thinking of standard gallery exhibition concepts,
and, of course their own take on: art-infused . . utilitarian,
common – everyday objects. and, not to minimize – the shock of their cheerful breaking of the rules of what defined ‘serious’ art.
most notably:
ROB PRUITT, in 2008:
shook everybody up with his on-site, DIY WATERFALL !!!
except Roberta Smith, who called it “sophomoric” in her NYT review.
I think mostly because, it had supposedly “1,000 crushed Viagra capsules in the raging water that ran down the gallery steps”, and, of course !!
Rob called the piece, ‘VIAGRA FALLS’ . . !!!
I guess these guys, also broke the rule of – you can’t be funny ?
everybody else was blown-away – to see the mad rushing cascade of water, roaring down the upscale gallery entryway, Viagra pills or not / as DIY as you could ever hope to be, and had never ever seen anything as – audacious before.
the water flowing through . . extreme DIY plastic bags, and then re-cycled back up – by a hidden pump.
ROB PRUITT, ‘Viagra Falls’, in the exhibit:
‘Whose Afraid of Jasper Johns’, conceived by Urs Fischer & Gavin Brown,
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, NYC.
May 9 – July 12, 2008
all Photos: NANCY SMITH
see: the original 2008 artloversnewyork report
then . . .
there was the time, Rob Pruitt nonchalantly parked . . . a glorious / DIY waterfall !!!!
that danced about the back-end, of a standard 4 x 4 pickup truck, how Americana /
how DIY – can you get ?!!!
on the street, outside his opening for ‘Multiple Personalities’, GBE /
Gavin Brown’s enterprise, when it was downtown / 620 Greenwich St. on the West Side, NYC.
Sept 13, 2014.
Photo: NANCY SMITH
then,
there was the time . . . in 2005 !!!!
when DIY legend-to-be, URS FISCHER . . . built a life-size house,
constructed from bread (alone) !! – in Gavin’s now legendary, downtown gallery, on Greenwich Street. which was in itself, a most glorious exhibition site, with great spatial volume, and natural light that emanated from the huge glass walls / & sited on the most ideal corner lot, ever.
URS FISCHER, ‘BREADHOUSE’, GBE / Gavin Brown’s enterprise, Downtown, West Side NYC
FEB 18, 2005
Photo: NANCY SMITH
URS FISHER at the opening of:
‘Fig, Nut and Pear’, still one of my most fav – exhibition titles,
a knock-out show, in which the crusty, ‘Breadhouse’ was also first presented /
Urs is standing in front of his large painting, ‘A Novel and a Novelist’, and you
just knew – he was destined for super stardom.
Feb 18, 2005
Photo: NANCY SMITH
and, don’t even get me started,
on that time URS FISCHER dug a hole, into the floor of Gavin’s gorgeous gallery.
URS FISCHER, ‘You’, 2007 – a seriously excavated hole / in the gallery.
pictured in ‘the hole’, on opening night, from left:
Tony Shafrazi, Peter Brant, and Gavin Brown.
GBE / Gavin Brown’s enterprise, 620 Greenwich St, West Side, Downtown NYC
Nov 24, 2007
Photo: NANCY SMITH
~ROB PRUITT & URS FISCHER . . a look back to the 2000s |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 20th, 2022, 1:55pm
ROB PRUITT x URS FISCHER / ‘SWAP MEET’ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SUNDAY OCT 16 / 12 – 5 PM / PDT . . . FREE TO ATTEND !!!!!
MARCIANO ART FOUNDATION, LOS ANGELES
4357 WILSHIRE BLVD, LA, CA
IF, you be on the West Coast ?!!!!
RUN, RUN, RUN / BOTH ARTISTS – WILL BE THERE . . . !!!!
‘SWAP MEET’ DRAWING by ROB PRUITT / via Gagosian IG @gagosian
~ROB PRUITT & URS FISCHER . . SWAP MEET / L.A. / SUN OCT 16 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 16th, 2022, 11:18am
installation shot /
ORLANDO ESTRADA, ‘THE MODERN WORLD’, JEFF’S DETROIT, DETROIT
NOW . . OPEN by appointment
IMAGE via Instagram @_orlando_estrada_
JEFF’S DETROIT . .
is a very, very Indie gallery space – run by artist-curator, JEFFREY TRANCHELL,
a current renovation project of his, the previously residential building, is located in the North-end Detroit neighborhood of Highland Park.
the place was really, really – in a shambles, so it’s really really looking – good !!
in fact, it’s looking . . . gorgeous !!
the gallery is on the ground floor, while Jeff lives above it – for now !!
~ORLANDO ESTRADA . . ‘THE MODERN WORLD’ / JEFF’S DETROIT / INSTALLATION SHOT |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 12th, 2022, 10:30am
btw: on a FULL MOON – heavenly . . . !!!!!!
ORLANDO ESTRADA, ‘THE MODERN WORLD’,
OPENS SUN OCT 9, 2022 – A FULL MOON / 4-6 PM
JEFF’S GALLERY, 333 WOODLAND ST., DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48202
HRS: by appointment only / after the opening
more info: @jeffsgallerydetroit / Instagram
ORLANDO ESTRADA, ‘Miasma #1 (This Body is a Prison)’, 2022.
Sumi ink, lithographic crayon, graphite, acrylc, wax on canvas.64 x 58 in.
image via Instagram @_orlando_estrada_
ORLANDO ESTRADA, ‘The Expulsion (After Masacchio)’, 2022.
Sumi ink, lithographic crayon, graphite, wax, acrylic on canvas.65 x 61 in.
image via Instagram @_orlando_estrada_
~ORLANDO ESTRADA . . ‘THE MODERN WORLD’ / JEFF’S GALLERY, DETROIT / OPENS SUN OCT 9 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 9th, 2022, 12:00pm
ONLY FOR . . . .
ART & SCIENCE FANS . .
WHO LIKE THEIR EXPERIMENTAL CUTTING EDGE PHYSICS – WITH A DASH of CUTTING EDGE / CONTEMPORARY ART !!!
& WHO LIKEWISE, ENJOY THE RANDOM BOUNTY of “THINKING ASSOCIATIVELY in PICTURES” / QUOTE: TEMPLE GRANDIN . . . !!!!
without further ado,
I GIVE YOU . . . the future of QUANTUM PHYSICS – visualized – care of:
‘BLISS’, BABA YAGA GALLERY, HUDSON N.Y. v ‘QIAN SHI’, BAIDU INC., CHINA !!!
though I can’t resist, noting one other ‘random’ beauty . . of an association:
‘QIAN SHI’, the name of Baidu’s experimental Quantum computer . . .
translates as: “heaven is the origin of everything” . . . !!!!!!
to be heavenly – is . . . to have bliss, no ?
though it’s ironic, that if you delete that ‘ly’ from heavenly, bringing us to ‘heaven’ !!
that’s a bit more . . problematic in context / heaven – can be stormy !!
if not outright stormy weather, the Greek gods could be fighting, planets could be colliding, moons could be eclipsing, and meteors shooting / etc etc. etc etc.
‘BLISS’ / GROUP SHOW POSTER / BABA YAGA GALLERY, HUDSON, NY. OCT 2022
‘QIAN SHI’, BAIDU INC, CHINA – EXPERIMENTAL, ULTRA HIGH SPEED / QUANTUM COMPUTER
image via WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCT, 7, 2022
‘CHINA LEAPS into QUANTUM COMPUTING RACE’, by KAREN HAO, WALL STREET JOURNAL,OCT 7, 2022.
a few quick notes from: from the WSJ article:
~”BAIDU INC. . . . a Chinese internet pioneer known for its Google-like search engine, said (in late August 2022),
that it had built its own version of a quantum computer an experimental device that exploits the quirks of quantum physics to perform calculations at speeds far beyond those of conventional computers.”
~”BAIDU said its new computer – an assemblage of metal plates and wires that looks a bit like an oversize chandelier – is accessible free of charge via a website & mobile app to researchers, engineers and even schoolchildren.” (!!!!)
~artlovers: so, here’s to the next Baby Einstein, maybe grade 2 ? – making the next big computing / physics break-though / way to go . . BAIDU !!!
~artlovers: BUT, watch out – what you wish for: “fully realized quantum computers would be able to solve in seconds – certain problems that would take even (today’s) fastest supercomputers .. thousands or millions of years.”
and you thought, online enhanced cheating in Chess – was a problem, yikes.
~’BLISS’ . . BABA YAGA GALLERY, HUDSON VALLEY NY v. ‘QIAN SHI’ . . QUANTUM COMPUTER , BAIDU INC., CHINA |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 9th, 2022, 11:16am
so, tell me . .
is ‘BLISS’ open to . . . interpretation ?
‘BLISS’ – curated by MARIE SEGOLENE
featuring works by: CLEO SJOLANDER, JULIEN PARANT-MARQUIS, ELI DEL, and
ALEX PATRICK DYKE
OPENS SAT OCT 8, 2022 / 3 – 9 PM
BABA YAGA, 5821 State Route NY-9G, COLUMBIA COUNTY, NY 12534
~’BLISS’ . . BABA YAGA GALLERY / HUDSON, NY / OPENS SAT OCT 8 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 7th, 2022, 8:19am
meanwhile, over in PHILLY . . .
EMMY THELANDER, MIRA PUTNAM: ‘BUMPERS’
a 2 person show of painting & sculpture
curated by Fjord member: LINDSAY DEIFIK
up thru . . . OCT 30, 2022
FJORD GALLERY, 1750 N. 5th St., Philadelphia, Penn 19122
HRS: Sat / 2-4 PM
‘BUMPERS’ . . . “are devices that hold us in place: schedules, budgets, physical
limitations, the finitude of human life.”
~FJORD
about the gallery: FJORD . . “is an artist-run collective that elevates the visibility of both
emerging & established artists within Philadelphia & beyond by facilitating exhibitions, curatorial
projects, collaborations & public programming that highlight diverse media & artistic concerns.”
~FJORD
more info: on the artists & the exhibit – Fjord home page
EMMY THELANDER, ”Seeing art, Seeking truth, Sexuality, Being Liked’, 2021..
Cast resin, & yarn on knit fabric on wood.
38 x 38 in.
image courtesy of the artist / Emmy Thelander
MIRA PUTNAM, ‘Cathedral Mound 4 (Hilde)’, 2022.
Stoneware, watercolor, gouache, fabric, cyanotype, pencil, perlite, copper.
38 x 20 x 20 in.
image via Instagram @.P3APOD / Mira Putnam
~EMMY THELANDER & MIRA PUTNAM . . ‘BUMPERS’ / FJORD / PHILLY |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 5th, 2022, 9:43am
LUKE MURPHY . . ‘INDUSTRIAL INCANDESCENT’
up thru . . . SAT OCT 22, 2022
CANADA, 60 LISPENARD ST, NYC 10013
PIX FROM THE OPENING SEPT 8, 2022 – PHOTOS BY NANCY SMITH
LUKE MURPHY at the opening of ‘Industrial Incandescent’, SEPT 8, 2022.
“Like a painter with a palette covered with oil paint, Murphy uses computer code to deepen a blue or lighten a red. The ambition in Murphy’s project is to recreate the qualities of abstract painting and sculpture with the completely miraculous yet banal materials of coffee carts & 99 cent store advertising. Murphy gently moves us towards human warmth through plastic advertising panels, binary computer code, and his respect for labor and craft.”
~CANADA GALLERY, Instagram @canada.nyc
LUKE MURPHY,’Widening Gyre’, 2022
Steel studs, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, softwae, power supplies, PC, code.
103 x 48 x 48 in.
this is Luke’s 5th solo show at CANADA, “Murphy’s dazzling light sculptures are comprised of LED panels, found objects & constructed armatures . . (he) uses the panels to display abstract effects utilizing nearly endless color & tempo variations, foregrounding the furtive beauty hidden in mass-produced display.”
~CANADA GALLERY, Instagram @canada.nyc
detail, ‘Widening Gyre’.
for a moment of intense shock, over my shoulder . . .
I thought . . an old wooden ladder – was ablaze !!
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Line Through Ladder (Fire Exchange)’, 2021.
Ladder (20th c.), barn sills (19th c.), steel studs, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC code.
the hardware is a repurposed video conference computer.
68 x 38 x 37 in.
on the wall, ‘Open Circuit’ . . absolutely stunning: the minimalism, the height, the curious elongated shape, the other-worldliness in a simple skinny, skinny arc. an animated gesture, a kind of primal right-angled, steep roofed . . brushstroke – which shifts gently between the pink / blue colors of our American sunset.
note: the brightly colored reflective light – thrown upon the gallery floor.
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Open Circuit’, 2022.
Steel armature, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code.
120 x 20 x 4 in.
also minimalist, yet emotive . . to the full.
also pulsing between pink & blue, a shimmer of orange.
sparkles burst, and origami paper patterns twirl.
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Tower Pattern’, 2022.
LED matrix panels, metal studs, armature, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code.
75-1/2 x 7-1/2 x 7-1/2 in.
a ‘moving’ pattern – on a wall, beckons.
patterns: the origin of all understanding / even before there were words, there were: seasons. constellations, sunrises . . and sunsets.
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Corner Beans’, 2022.
LED matrix panels, metal studs, armature, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code.
96 x 54 x 48 in.
LUKE MURPHY: ‘These new works try to get at the thingness of light images.I am trying to get at that emotional or psychological response that painting, and sculpture can produce – that kind of urgent beauty or aching that has no locale & inexorably compels more looking and thinking , which doogotal images sometimes fail to achieve.”
~ CANADA GALLERY INSTAGRAM @canadanewyork
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Corner Beams’.
LUKE MURPHY, ‘Corner Beams’.
gallery-wise: PHIL GRAUER of CANADA, and LUKE confer, on the left.
fashion-wise: 2 great skirts . . flutter.
speaking about . . flutter /
here’s a flashback – from the artlovers archive . . . !!
PHIL GRAUER, co-founder of CANADA at an early opening, when the gallery was located in Chinatown. MARCH 6, 2004.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH / artloversnewyork
first published on artnet, in the Magazine, People section / SPRING 2004.
see: the original report
ALL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~LUKE MURPHY . . ‘INDUSTRIAL INCANDESCENT’ / PIX FROM THE OPENING . . with a side of ARCHIVAL PHIL |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 30th, 2022, 9:25am
nice show title !!!!!!
LUKE MURPHY . . . . ‘INDUSTRIAL INCANDESCENT’
OPENS THURS SEPT 8 / 6 – 8 PM
& runs thru . . . OCT 12, 2022
CANADA GALLERY, 60 Lispenard St, Tribeca, NY 10013
“MURPHY’S dazzling light sculptures are comprised of LED panels, found objects and constructed armatures. Murphy uses the panels to display abstract effects utilizing nearly endless color and tempo variations, foregrounding the furtive beauty hidden in mass-produced displays.”
“Industrial Incandescent’ pulses with color and movement. Each piece can bee seen individually or as part of a forest of flickering light and color. The endless variations recall a walk in a city, commerce tugs continuously on our sleeves, beckoning attention. We can listen to the come-ons or simply enjoy the spectacle of the chorus of voices speaking all at once.”
~CANADA GALLERY
artlovers note:
that is Luke’s digital / animated ‘LED-Deli’ banner that runs . . ‘RESIST’, ‘FOCUS ANGER’, ‘DE-BUBBLE’ /
like some kind of futuristic, looping, embroidery sampler – at the top of this webpage.
LUKE MURPHY . . .
‘Homesick’ / ‘Industrial Incandescent’ ‘Bird in Space’, ‘Widening Gyre’
image via Instagram @lukemurphy49
~LUKE MURPHY . . ‘INDUSTRIAL INCANDESCENT’ / CANADA / OPENS THURS SEPT 8 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 7th, 2022, 1:39pm
JOSH (LUVVY) HARRIS & HIS LOVE of BOXING / ALFREDO MARTINEZ & HIS LOVE of FAKING BASQUIATS
and I say: to each, and all / grab your own weapon of creative – desire !!
and run with it – it’s the only way.
so, to continue with the previous riff on Josh’s write-up re ‘OATHING ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST’ on WHITEHOT,
including his own great quote of Anthony boxing in Josh’s ‘PSEUDO FIGHT CLUB” (!!!!!), and yeah . .
Josh most definite had a huge steam room in the loft on Broadway at Prince, where many a naked
New Yorker participated in the steamy & seamy goings-on.
I still have a mint condition LUVVY BOXING GOWN /
fabricated, silk screened, & designed by MARK ENGER, of EXPLODING SKY WORLDWIDE.
it’s probably a commercial dressing gown, with a faux Versace take – that was easily available,
around Broadway & Canal St. at the time, ca. 2000, 2001.
MARK ENGER, also designed the LUVVY the CLOWN logo.
LUVVY was Josh’s alter ego / this came in handy for things like going after corporate funding, or even art world credibility /
he could play the straight man, and blame – the (seriously) bad boy Josh behavior – on his alter ego: Luvvy the Clown.
the ‘LUVVYPLEX’, where the boxing ring & early matches took place – was on the site of the original ‘We Live In Public’ / ‘QUIET’ millennial party – after it had been shut down by the NYPD, FDNY & FEMA (!!!)
Josh re-imagined it as multi-layered, hence: ‘plex’, invite-only, site specific artist ‘theater’., where different artists,
of his choosing – got to make installations.
His own contribution was the boxing ring. I was already kicked out by then, so I can’t really tell you much more than that. except Mark Enger gifted me the dressing gown, knowing I’d keep it, and add it to my archive of his work.
here’s a sleeve . .
funny how many things are ‘faux’ today / but ‘faux Versace’ was definite ahead of the curve – back then.
the EXPLODING SKY WORLDWIDE – LOGO.
in case you’re wondering, that’s one of my hand-stitched, creatively repaired quilts in the background /
in my gritty Jersey backyard. what can I say, hardcore original content – still doesn’t pay. much.
but, still – life is good.
heard of ART LOT BROOKLYN ?
well this is: ART LOT NANCY.
JOSH HARRIS – sure loves his boxing.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Aug 19, 2010.
ok, ok .. I’ll show you who else – was in the photo.
surprise, surprise, not.
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, aka the Notorious Basquiat Forger !!
Josh had just rescued Alfredo from secret . . torture & detention in China.
I kid you not, long story. note, he’s pretty shell-shocked, and he’s still got his one-way plane ticket, around his neck.
and, yes of course the famous photo of Andy Warhol & Jean Michel . . boxing – was the inspo.
well, Josh seems to be doing pretty pretty good.
writing for Noah Becker & Whitehot Mag, and, still taking great (staged) photos, of himself.
but, Alfredo is doing pretty good too. he’s pretty much become a household . . name.
you don’t think so ?
just ask anybody you come into contact with today, your Uber driver, the co-worker, the vet, your kids !!
if they have ever heard of Anna Delvey the Fake Heiress, and they will say: yes.
then, ask them if they have ever heard of Alfredo Martinez, aka the Notorious Basquiat Forger who promoted her art, all the way up to DR. PHIL – and, they will say: YES !! TOO !!
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, fake Basquiat.
the thing is now he is quite open about it, and signs them – with his own name.
he seems to be currently painting on scaled-down, Home Depot-type wooden picket fences,
well come on, it’s summer !!
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, fake Basquiat.
the thing about Alfredo’s fake Basquiats – is that they are not really fakes, at all,
in the sense that they are like Shaker Spirit drawings, in that they seem to come down directly from Basquiat himself,
kind of like – speaking in tongues.
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, Fake Basquiat
of course, and esp with that recently discredited, fiasco / of a Basquiat Exhibit museum action !!
at the Orlando Museum of Art, Fake Basquiats are seriously trending !!
not to mention many numerous to other storeis of fake Basquait activity. google it.
and we all know who the grandfather of that is – right down to the real / or is fake – Certificate of Authenticity.
all in all, I’d say my long-time crew, (I’ve known them, Josh, Alfredo and Mark since the late 1990s),
is doing pretty, pretty darn good.
what about – your’s ?
PHOTOS: ALL photos by NANCY SMITH, except for the 3 ALFREDO MARTINEZ – ‘Fake Basquiat Paintings on Wooden Picket Fencing’ . .
images – which are via Alfredo’s Instagram: @alfredomartinezartist.
~JOSH HARRIS & BOXING / ALFREDO MARTINEZ & FAKING . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | August 31st, 2022, 8:55am
