NATURE MORTE . . a ‘still life’ painting depicting objects, esp dead flowers, that might still be in bloom – but, NOT FOR LONG !!!!!
TAYLOR McKIMENS . . has a big painting – in this 60 artist show !!
‘NATURE MORTE’
OPENS THURS APRIL 8 / 6 – 8 PM
and runs thru . . . MAY 9, 2021
THE HOLE / on THE BOWERY
312 Bowery, N.Y, N.Y. 10012
HRS: WED – SUN / 12 – 7 PM
see: mission statement / THE HOLE / ‘NATURE MORTE’
TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘SEE THE U.S.A.’, 2021
acrylic, metal leaf & glitter on canvas
75 x 120 in. / that’s approx 6-1/4 ft. x 10 ft. !!!!!
($30,000.)
image: courtesy The Hole
check out: TAYLOR McKIMENS on INSTAGRAM / @taylormckimens
ARTLOVERS FLASHBACK:
not . . one of my earliest photos of Taylor, my photos of him & his work started posting on artnet – in 2003 !!
but, def one of my . . . FAV !!!!
TAYLOR McKIMENS . . . in front of his painting,
at the opening of . . . ‘TAYLOR McKIMENS COMMISSIONS by BRIGHT LYONS 2008-2015’, a pop-up show in Chelsea /
produced by PAUL BRIGHT, winter 2015.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, Feb 3, 2015.
~TAYLOR McKIMENS . . in ‘NATURE MORTE’ / THE HOLE, THE BOWERY / OPENING TO-NITE / THURS APRIL 8 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 8th, 2021, 7:44am
if, you want to know the difference, between a line drawing vs. a painterly surface /
a work of straight imagination vs. a poetic re-creation . . .
then, this exhibit – is your joyful mission /
last week’s post was all about the (freestyle) line drawing / this week we’re all about . . the (studied) painterly / composition.
NOTE: this week is the last week, so don’t blink !!
TIM WILSON, ‘Between Either and Or’
March 2 – SAT APRIL 10, 2021
NATHALIE KARG GALLERY, 291 Grand St., NY, NY 10002
HRS: TUES – SAT / 10 AM – 6 PM
see: great installation shots & background info – NATHALIE KARG GALLERY
TIM WILSON, ‘Stairway III’, 2021
oil on paper mounted on linen stretched panel / 18 x 12 in.
note: that most lovely left hand wall & the light reflection.
TIM WILSON: works his painterly ‘retro’ magic . . .
“portraying domestic interiors gleaned from television and film.”
~gallery website
TIM WILSON, ‘Nightable’, 2020
oil on paper mounted on linen stretched panel / 16 x 12 in.
it’s obviously, the lamp / especially the base, that rocks this ‘retro dreamscape’.
Photos: courtesy Nathalie Karg Gallery
see: TIM WILSON – ARTIST PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
~TIM WILSON, ‘Between Either and Or’ / NATHALIE KARG / last week !! up thru SAT APRIL 10 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 6th, 2021, 1:22pm
‘HEAVEN’S TAB’ – TOM FORKIN, RAUL de NIEVES & COLETTE
this weekend / is the last day: SAT APRIL 3, 2021
A.D.NYC GALLERY
19 MONROE ST, TWO BRIDGES / CHINATOWN, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
check out: great images & background text / ‘Heaven’s Tab’ – on the gallery website
this 3 person show .. !!
it was kind of bewildering, at first.
been thinking about it – for a while. how to define ?
what about: . . . a return to industrial / fantasy ?
the fresh, neon pastel color palette – in the Justin Beiber ‘Peaches’ video /
is what finally broke down the walls, on this exhibit – for me.
I had already cracked the Tom Forkin code:
wryly funny, but still New Age . . . Industrial /
subtext: clay, skills, functional / yet . . in a fictional ‘narrative’.
also, only after I had my mind-blown by the Beiber video, did I lock onto the saturated, but vibe-y color !!
of the RAUL de NIEVES work. very ‘fast-forward’ color Industrial, plus the ‘micro-bead’ fabrication. check, check.
though, there’s definitely a very dark edge, that I personally would not want to interface with, too casually.
no, no & no.
and, Colette ?
well, she’s just someone I always wrote off, as just. . another old school East Village local.
colorful, but always way too predictable. though in truth – I really only knew her for the outlandish, though not very varied costums, big hats, big platform shoes.
kind of like a Christo, but on a smaller scale.
wrapping her body, and not buildings.
but then, my longtime friend . . fearsome curator / gun artist / and fake BASQUIAT forger / ALFREDO MARTINEZ, told me he’s planning to present . . a big ‘WOMEN’S GROUP ART SHOW’, and COLETTE will be included !!
so that piqued my interest / with regard to this current A.D.NYC show.
and, it was: check, check, check. all good.
who knew.
at any rate:
‘HEAVEN’S TAB’ / is a really great, and very apt . . title.
people are really into titles – these days, have you noticed ?
TOM FORKIN, ‘Untitled’, 2021
Travel bar, epoxy clay & acrylic paint / 17.25 x 8.5 x 15.75 in.
looks to be some metal hardware, too.
damn, that’s good.
note: all 3 photos via Instagram @ad.nyc
‘Heaven’s Tab’ installation shot, with TOM FORKIN (foreground) & RAUL de NIEVES (background)
Photo: courtesy A.D.
RAUL de NIEVES, ‘Rhythmic Red’, 2019.
plastic beads & plaster on wood panel / 24 x 24 x 6 in.
one word: scary intense. ritualistic, too. industrial re: assembly of parts.
let’s, hope not: functional.
Photo: courtesy A.D.
‘Heaven’s Tab’ / installation shot with TOM FORKIN / foreground, surrounded by COLETTE.
Photo: courtesy A.D.
COLETTE, ‘Justine joins La Rocka (Modelling Agency)’, 1981.
Photograph, polyurethane, fabric & glitter / 19.5 x 26 in.
which just goes to show:
nothing is written in stone – in the art world / long live the 1980s NYC art scene.
Brava, Colette !! the young kids – dig ya !!
Photo: courtesy A.D.
~TOM FORKIN, RAUL de NIEVES & COLETTE / ‘HEAVEN’S TAB’ / A.D. NYC . . SAT APRIL 3 / last day / don’t blink !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2021, 3:21pm
I’m completely done . . !!
with American Idol after they bounced – this guy.
what a bunch of losers – they completely missed the music, & the zeitgeist.
watch: high school student, ALEX MILLER croon Merle Haggard’s . . ‘Silver Wings’.
he reminds me of a baby-faced / young John Mayer, he’ll lose the pudginess & become a killer performer /
mark my words.
~ ALEX MILLER . . ‘SILVER WINGS’ – MERLE HAGGARD / American Idol |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2021, 2:59pm
yeps. Iam definitely aging . . . backwards !!!!
such a great song / infinite in inspo & so, wise-funny / the song music, lyrics, voices, layers.
mood, visuals. love. all good.
just that tight cut / puts it above the rest.
#1 song in the world / that’s such a great global synch-up.
but, I know a lot of people in the art world, bubbled-up in their own studios, and ambition-driven mind-sets /
outsiders roiled by emotion & doubt / insiders licking their wounds or tracking the next big break /
& esp the academics, have their head in the sand most times . . . so:
“I get my peaches out in Georgia / I get my weed from California . .”
come on . . !!
watch: ‘PEACHES’, Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon / written & produced by HARV . . !!
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see: @harv / Instgram
hey – great color palette, btw !!!!!
nice car !! / great night scenes.
great acrobatic cruising.
great neon !! off-color / transparent, translucent big acrylic letters.
great typeface. size. tunnel effect. the entire mood.
just rolls / like a butter knife . . thru the grey-ness.
if people can create as much as well & even better / as others do make war & set about global / bio troubles,
maybe that’s all good.
maybe . . inspo can prevail.
I think that’s called . . religion.
~’PEACHES’ . . JUSTIN BIEBER ft. DANIEL CAESAR & GIVEON / CO-WRITTEN + PRODUCED BY HARV |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2021, 2:25pm
line drawings, especially leaning to the biographical fantastic / are trending.
that’s great.
‘JOE W. SPEIER – YOU LIKEY’
MARCH 26 – APRIL 24, 2021
KING’S LEAP, 368 BROADWAY, 506 & 302 / DOWNTOWN, TRIBECA NYC 10013
HRS: THURS – SUN / 12 – 6 PM
DIAL 506 to enter & in elevator
see: KING’S LEAP / PROJECTS
JOE W. SPEIER, ‘Landscape Portrait’, 2021
ballpoint pen, acrylic medium, glitter, and metal microbeads
60 x 48 in.
image via IG @KING’S_LEAP
JOE W. SPEIER / via Instgram Story @hows_nick aka Nick Sullivan
see: JOE W. SPEIER – ARTIST PORTFOLIO WEBSITE
yes, yes, YES !!
check out that website – that should get you through the . . . weekend !!
~JOE W. SPEIER . . ‘YOU LIKEY’ / KING’S LEAP / TRIBECA, DOWNTOWN NYC |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 27th, 2021, 8:46am
great flyer – drawing & exhibition title / Bravo !! Dan !!
‘DANIEL GRAHAM LOXTON: PILLOW FOR DURER’
MARCH 25 – MARCH 31, 2021
OPENING HRS:
14:00 – 18:00 THU March 25th
14:00 – 18:00 FRI March 26th
12:00 – 16:00 SAT March 27th
12:00 – 16:00 WED March 31st
JIR SANDEL
Sankt Hans Gade 14
2200 Copenhagen N
Call upon arrival: (+45) 91 45 86 97
solo exhibition in DENMARK !! – for this up-state, Cold Spring NY artist.
see: ‘DAN IN REAL LIFE’ – artloversnewyork / MARCH 14, 2020
see: ‘DAN CAUGHT THE VIRUS ZEITGEIST’ – artloversnewyork / MARCH 31, 2020
see: DANIEL GRAHAM LOXTON – artist website
~DAN LOXTON . . ‘Pillow for Durer’ / JIR SANDEL, COPENHAGEN / OPENS THURS MARCH 25 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 25th, 2021, 8:12am
INDUSTRIAL . . NOW !!!
THE MANNER of WORKING EVENTS / of WORKING . . . THINGS — IS, A GOOD WAY TO PUT IT !!!!!!!
‘THE MANNER OF WORKING EVENTS’
GREGORY KALLICHE & KRISTEN WALSH
OPENS SAT MARCH 20, 2021 / 11am-7pm
HELENA ANRATHER GALLERY
28 ELIZABETH ST., FLOOR 3, NY NY 10013
HRS: TUES – SAT / 11 AM – 6 PM
~GREGORY KALLICHE & KRISTEN WALSH . . ‘THE MANNER OF WORKING EVENTS’ / HELENA ANRATHER / OPENING SAT MARCH 20 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 20th, 2021, 8:19am
Industrial, back then . . 1990s
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, assembling DIY guns from various found & commercial parts.
EXIT ART, NYC / MARCH 25, 1999
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
someone said, I said ‘Guns’ about 100 times, ok maybe 30 . . during my Precog interview. Lord.
20 years ago – was such a different time.
Alfredo traveling around to his various exhibits, with a small metal suitcase assembling his guns from a mix of found,
& commercial gun parts was as close to skills, craft, DIY & industrial – as it got / back then.
for me personally, being a quilter, who did mostly hand-stitched textile / fabric repair with both new & vintage material . . it was totally fascinating to see someone, and especially someone who came from a very different background than my own – piece together gun hardware from various parts. a resourceful / creative scavenger – basically just like me. except with very opposite materials, with very very opposite functions.
but, still about . . guarding the homefront, esp way way back then / all the way to colonial / Revolutionary times.
a DIY craft / skills person just like me, when craft & skills were words to be looked down upon – in the art wold.
and Industrial art – what was that ?
ps: ALFREDO . . will be curating / presenting a big huge hardcore group show, ‘FOLO’ next month / April 15 . . on 23rd St. between 10th & 11th Avenues.
I will be exhibiting a big, brand new . . paper quilt, a ‘tribute’ quilt to Alfredo,
on the occasion of his most Aires Birthday !!
comprised of archival photographs, & some of his old / archival exhibition card invites.
see you – there !!
~NANCY SMITH / PRECOG THOUGHTS / ALFREDO MARTINEZ . . GUNS, GUNS, GUNS / INDUSTRIAL 1990s |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 20th, 2021, 8:04am
the zoom interviews . . archive on the Precog website / under: “Don’t Miss This” . . !!
mine is: episode 29 / but, it’s not up yet . . stay tuned.
it was weird after, but so much fun . . during.
weird, because I got so engaged & wired . . and than it’s over, and you are alone again.
well, actually kind of just like a night of openings.
but, also because unlike writing – real live conversation is hard to keep on track / and stay focused.
there was a time limit, and no chance to go back and clarifiy. it was very much in the moment.
with the pros and cons of that kind of spatially limited – con
but it was . . fun !!
Aires wild child that I am – coming into my peak Zodiac phase, I felt like that eternal Aires April spring kid,
turning cartwheels in a garden full of new blooms. sometimes I feel I’m way too naive, too just-born, cut-grass fresh to the world’s energy. hardy ever jaded / which, downside: can make me feel like a nerdy dork in NYC, home of the hard driven – gritty.
sometimes it’s just plain raining outside, and sometimes, it’s just plain jealous / non-aires people raining on my parade.
but, not here.
so, yes !! fun.
mostly, because I felt so comfortable & welcomed by my Precog hosts:
GABY COLLINS-FERNANDEZ, KELLIE KONAPELSKY & FLORENCIA ESCUDERO.
FLO . . in particular,
has been my Precog point person from the very beginning / perhaps because she also hand-stitches, and uses fabric in her studio work, Idk. but, there’s something, a vibe we share. a trust. a warmth.
is it the hand-stitching ?
because for sure, while hand-stitching seems so laborious & time consuming to the uninitiated, it’s totally soothing & compelling. my favorite thing to do – in the entire world.
hand-stitching becomes . . a trance beyond labor / and I wanted to say that, since we barely talked about ‘repair’ and my quilts, not enough time / so I’m mentioning it now.
plus ‘repairing quilts’ . . is just so sustainable, not to say . . history ‘walking’ / in real time.
as well: ‘repair’, and that kind of creative meditation, leads to ‘good’, so-called ’empty’ mind-set space . .
allowing room for opening up . . to other people’s work ?
which . . pretty much sums up Precog in general.
but, it was a real delight for me to see Florencia hand-stitching during the zoom talk, working on some kind of big black / shape, pillow-like but also finite surfaced object. still her expression was always so kind, and listening.
I felt so free to revel, reveal, and . . dance in my own life / my own art.
it’s taken me a lifetime – to get that, here – in NYC.
hence my Precog word: ‘Autobiography’.
and, I guess: also a riff on my many decades – on the scene.
L. the family . . in front of our bunkered-up, storefront at 5 Rivington St. – 1 block east of The Bowery, ca. 1988/89.
yes, that is an ‘ESPRIT’ t-shirt, I’m wearing / no irony !!
R. me & Kate . . in front of our JACK GOLDSTEIN ‘Lightning’ painting, lent to a big group exhibit, ‘The New Romantic Landscape’,
Whitney Museum of American Art, Fairfield County, Connecticut branch, 1987.
it is now in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto / on it’s label / under Provenance, you can find my late husband’s name: Simon Cerigo. it is still the largest canvas, Jack ever painted.
see: SIMON CERIGO / OBITUARY, THE OBSERVER
parenting . . ?
I hardly knew where to begin, or what to say. so the convo quickly moved on . . .
in a nutshell: my kids had hard times, but also good times / just like all kids.
though they wonder how, me and Simon ever had kids, with not one pay check between us.
what on earth – were we thinking ?
no pay check, no paperwork, no nothing, just born that way – me & Simon, I guess.
just big-time ‘art’ smarts, and we knew it . . !!
and like all immigrants / big dreams. so, we survived.
born & educated in Montreal, in the tail-end intellectual glow of the Leonard Cohen era . .
the minute we stepped into the non-stop flow of the city,
we went from Canadians, to New Yorkers – in the blink of an eye.
but I got to talk about how we flipped paintings to stay alive,
and, that JACK GOLDSTEIN . . was one of our star moves, for sure.
NANCY SMITH, watercolor, 18 x 24 in. / 5 Rivington St., Loeer East Side NYC, ca. 1987-88.
light as a cloud, in the midst of that crazy whirling storefront.
I also kind-of clammed-up when it came to talking about my art, though it obviously was completely off the grid / re: the Lower East Side, 1980s !!
my watercolors, so private & outsider. seemed always to reflect on my family, and reach inward.
even I ran around to openings constantly, and knew exactly . . which way was up / I was having no compromise in my own vision.
NANCY SMITH, NYC watercolors, ca. 1990s.
me in my studio, acrylic paint on canvas. MFA studies, 1970s . . with Guido Molinari, in Montreal.
how’s that . . for before & after / Montreal vs. New York
before & after . . kids.
before & after things, got hard.
Montreal was a piece of cake. NYC was hard.
I couldn’t talk about my own art, the cat got my tongue and held on tight.
it’s hard to confess, that although I started off so academically, completely immersed in the contemporary art swirling around me: I was so inward. stubborn. mystical & magical. sensuous & driven.
so I just dropped the ball there, though I think I managed to give a shout out to Agnes Martin, Tibetan art & the big ‘Quilt Survey’ show at the Whitney when it was uptown, in 1966.
NANCY SMITH, NYC, 1985. charcoal Tarot card drawing, 38 x 50 in.
pregnant with Kate, my first born.
yes . . I was always deep into reflection, as to how / all this was going to work out.
we got to talk a bit about my time working for . . WALTER ROBINSON when i he was the big honcho editor, at artnet (2002-04) / it was Walter in fact, who branded me ‘artloversnewyork, though I forgot to tell them that. but I did get to tell them how, I finally got my art scene photos published after 20 years !! on artnet, thanks to Walter.
and, that he fired me, after 2 years – even though my report was a huge huge success / for “bringing in too many photos of musicians” (!!!). yeah, the Precog team were shocked that I got fired, but more so, that I never . . got paid.
not a penny. I think I got one . . $100 honorarium.
yeah, so New York:
I got fired from a non-paying job, and it was a lot of work, and very good work, too.
fun fact: I was the only only !! photographer at the “Gee’s Bend Quilt” show / opening at the Whitney, in 2002.
quilts – were my life, by then. everyone else was clueless.
I am of course / eternally thankful to Walter for posting some of the pix on my artnet report.
if you want the definition of classic frenemies, that would be: Walter & me.
L: me & THEO in our pod at the 99+ artist resident pod hotel at ‘QUIET’ . . the Josh Harris Millennial New Year’s Eve 2000 art party / social experiment that was later fashioned into a Sundance 2009 winning documentary, ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’.
I was part of the crew, Josh’s right hand person toward the end, & art world liasion.
R: I was supposed to install a ‘quilting bee’ performance . . but I was too busy running around the entire time, as a crew member / so I used to make these DIY paper lanterns, from scraps I picked up here & there / it was a huge old multi-floor warehouse downtown on Broadway near Loenard St, that I would randomly hang up, and sure enough, the next day as if by magic – they had professional lighting trained on them,
that was how magical . . my experience there was.
it seemed like we mostly talked about ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, and all the stuff going on – behind the scenes.
one of the Precog crew, mentioned they had actually seen the doc in art school, but didn’t know too much about.
I was super happy to oblige. the most exhilarating experience of my life. and the worst.
luckily !! they didn’t know that it was me – who had gotten kicked out at the end, or why !!
so it was all . . fun to talk about. it went quickly from utopian, to sheer hell.
they were no rules / except you could not leave. if you left, you could not get back in.
I was trying to explain: 99+ of the wildest, crazy, most expressive / competitive artists in the world, all living together, with plenty of food & open bars !! but no windows. no sunlight. no calls home. no routine that was normal, too much sex, drugs & rock n roll, etc etc. you name it. yeah. damn straight it went to hell.
it actually got shut down by the NYPD, the FDNY & FEMA / all 3.
and then next year, was the World Trade Center / melt down.
it was like a prophecy, for sure.
JAMES ULMER, NICK PAYNE & CAROLINE WELLS CHANDLER . . Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Oct 23, 2015.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
so. yeah, it was real nice, when CHANDLER WELLS, popped up on the zoom screen at the end, to say hello.
and, thanked me for posting coverage of a show that happened back in 2015.
apparently a real milestone – on his journey.
see: ‘SURPPRISE, …’
MILAH LUBIN, ’15 WARREN ST – New Year’s Eve 2014′ !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
as well,
another very nice, soft-spoken artist . . I didn’t catch her name, but that photo is a good stand-in /
also thanked me for posting about a group show she had been in, the downtown / underground New Year’s Eve blast of Jan 2014, called: ’15 Warren St’.
see: ’15 Warren St. …’
that show was such a blast / a real underground triumph.
just scroll down the left-hand navigator / on this home page to JAN 2014.
you will see a good handful of posts. all incredible. it just stopped web traffic for the month, period.
it was so nice to be thanked . .
and, to hear how my little artlovers, is so beloved, so trusted as an archive & has helped so many young artists get their start & or just passion – for the artworld, and NYC.
it was also quite ironic to end with ’15 Warren St’ … !!
’15 Warren St’ . . was like the low budget stepchild of ‘QUIET: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ . . . !!
like the exact opposite.
it had zero funding, and we had Josh’s literally millions of $$$$ / but it was still wild, and crazy great !!
in 4 years things had changed that much / the dot.com bubble that had funded Josh was bust.
and, so was Josh. he went from $81 million / to even owning me – $2K.
sadly, the downtown NYC firemen & police officers who had shut down the ‘Quiet’ party / most of them died, racing up the Twin Towers as they came – pancaking down. they shut down the ‘party’ & then got crushed, by a real ‘threat.
’15 Warren St’ . .
these were the young kids who had grown up, as young teens, more like . . pre-teens, in downtown Tribeca / in the dark shadow & grim afer-math of the World Trade Center / 9-11 attack. they had a lot to say, and the show curated by a very young SEAN VEGEZZI, and a few pals took off saying it.
just as ‘QUIET’ did, but . . ’15 Warren St’ not being a self-contained 24/7 party for 2 weeks, it never imploded.
though trust me – the potential was there.
in a way it was the . . un-Quiet !! / and Sean Vegezzi . . was the un-JOSH !!
a nice little circle of art & NYC art history / no matter how you cut it.
I so love circles . . of information.
bringing back . . the magic / even in the heart of the super bustling, boiling over / gritty great City of New York.
~NANCY SMITH / PRECOG ZOOM EPISODE 29 / AFTER-THOUGHTS . . !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 19th, 2021, 8:25am
