~NANCY SMITH / PRECOG ZOOM EPISODE 29 / AFTER-THOUGHTS . . !!


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 LIVE INTERVIEW / WED MARCH 17, 7 PM EST

ZOOM # 99932077241

PRECOG MAG . . interviews me !!
WED MARCH 17 at 7 PM / EST !!
be there, or be . . square.

apparently, they want to talk about . . .
“repair, art-ing while parenting, and THE Greatest City on Earth (you know the one).”

repair ?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!!!!! / interesting !!!!!!!!!!

parenting ?
I don’t know about that. my kids told me to keep my mouth shut, and stay .. positive. lol.
it was – fun !! for them to run around at Keith Haring & Basquiat openings.
and, it wasn’t until they got to high school, that they realized not everybody grew up in a raw storefront, in the heart of the hardcore Lower East Side 80s – surrounded by art.
BUT, paying the bills, and not having much lunch money, was . . a whole other thing.
then again, there was . . . Sushi night !! with Uncle Dan (Asher).




~NICK SULLIVAN . . ‘DOMINO’ / SHOOT THE LOBSTER, NY / OPENS FRI MARCH 12

if, you are a betting man – this might just be your show.

NICK SULLIVAN . . is kicking off the chain reaction !!
opening today / FRI MARCH 12 / 12 – 8 PM

‘DOMINO’ is an ‘evolving’ group show, that is “based on a chain effect of artists inviting other artists to add artworks to the show”.
the show doesn’t have a exhibition ‘end’ date / so who knows how long this will . . domino ?!!
and, who is up . . next !!
the show is presented at Shoot The Lobster by . . DANIEL BOCATTO,
who also made the super striking – graphic flyer / below:

‘DOMINO’ – an evolving / surprise group show.
opens Fri March 12, 2021, and continues thru ????
SHOOT THE LOBSTER, NY
41 Elizabeth St, Unit 700, L.E. S.

see: ‘DOMINO’ – SHOOT THE LOBSTER

first up: NICK SULLIVAN . . .
who was nice enough to shoot me – a couple of advance images.
at first glance, I was like . . what ?
are we making miniature dollhouse furniture out of paper / craft / skills, now ?
but, no: it’s a bonafide sculpture, atop a pedestal box – 2-1/2 ft. high.
with a crazy, beautiful patina for sure.
gather round, and be comfy warm at home folks . . during covid.

this deceptively simple sculpture, looks so to be as fascinating to stare at – as a well . . real fireplace wood fire,
shooting flames, and all.


NICK SULLIVAN, ‘Stove’ 2021.
newspaper, pastel, charcoal.
30 x 17 x 12 in.


another view.
whoever is smart enough to take that home, is a bonfide winner, no doubt about it.

note: 2 images / courtesy: Nick Sullivan, thank you.




~LUKE MURPHY, CHRISTINE WANG . . ‘SCREEN TIME’ / NIGHT GALLERY, LA

talking about . . LA /
our friend, LUKE MURPHY . . whose LED / ‘RESIST..EMPATHY NOW..DE-BUBBLE’ / digital, animated ‘Deli’ banner runs across the top of this page /
is in a timely & yet very ‘far-out’ show at the very au-currant . . & large space / Night Gallery.
timely in terms of content / far-out in terms of ultimate societal vision.

it’s the last week to catch the show in person / it’s up thru SAT MARCH 13,
but you can always, esp if you are a Luke Murphy fan in NYC, catch the work online, in the gallery’s well-lit (!!)
and well-photographed / digital . . Viewing Room.

‘LUKE MURPHY, CHRISTINE WANG . . SCREEN TIME’
JAN 30, 2020 – MARCH 13, 2021
NIGHT GALLERY
2276 E 16th St, LOS ANGELES, CA 90021
OPEN: TUES-SAT / 11am-6pm / contact gallery for appointment

PS: Luke Murphy lives & works in NY / while Christine Wang lives & works in San Francisco.
I’m thinking: lively conceptual / different media . . . match-up !!!!
game-on.

see: ‘SCREEN TIME’ – NIGHT GALLERY VIEWING ROOM

from the gallery website:
“NIGHT GALLERY is pleased to present ‘SCREEN TIME’, an exhibition of new work by LUKE MURPHY & CHRISTINE WANG. Both artists address the screen as a digital intermediary for experience. Though it’s trajectory began long ago, the screen’s total encroachment upon daily life reached new heights in 2020 becoming the primary tool of community engagement, creative exploration, and consumer activity in response to long-term shelter-in-place restrictions ..” (Covid)


LUKE MURPHY, ‘Lord Kelvin Column with 5 sides and 9 lights’, 2020.
steel studs, aluminum wire, wood, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code
82 x 10 x 10 in.


LUKE MURPHY, ‘Ladder Exchange’, 2020.
ladder, steel studs, aluminum wire, wood, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code
96 x 30 x 40in.

note: the last time Luke exhibited this kind of neon / digital speeding traffic roadway / it ran along the floor. as if, it was waiting for a model train set, that never came !! seeing it vertical . . is a real shake-up / both in terms of visual effect & context / it seems in this show Luke is adding more ‘props’, and to . . much greater effect.


LUKE MURPHY, ‘Field Sign’, 2020.
discarded Xmas tree, steel studs, aluminum wire, LED matrix panels, video driver hardware, software, power supplies, PC, code
91 x 35 x 9 in.


CHRISTINE WANG, ‘Volcano’, 2021.
oil on linen / 48 x 48 in.
well …. YES !!!!!!!!!

all photos above: courtesy NIGHT GALLERY

ARTLOVERS FLASHBACK: & not too long ago.


LUKE MURPHY . . .
arrives for the opening of ‘CUBED’ / a group show at THE HOLE, NYC, in which he had a most wonderful LED ‘cube’.
SEPT 10, 2020.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH




~TAILI WU . . ‘YEAR of the METAL OX’ / CURATED by GRUMPY BERT / CHINESE AMERICAN MUSEUM, LA

The Chinese American Museum LA / Los Angeles, California . . . camla.org
welcomes the ‘YEAR of the METAL OX’ – with an online exhibition featuring 14 Asian American
artists from throughout the USA.
the show ‘runs’ . . MARCH 6 – JUNE 6, 2021
and is is guest curated by . . ALBERT CHAU aka GRUMPY BERT !!!!
see: ‘YEAR of the OX’ – Chinese American Museum / LA
some of the work is also for sale /
see: GRUMPY BERT – YEAR of the OX / Chinese American Museum LA

note: ‘The Metal OX’ – is an ancient Chinese Lunar Zodiac animal symbolically known for:
STRENGTH & RESILIENCE . . . !!!!

TAILI WU . . is included in this LA show & is showing a quite very wonderful stop animation . . !!
it is titled: ‘OVERTURN / flipping away bad things & bringing good luck :)’
note: the soundtrack, ‘Fun’ is by LEZET & his nephew VANJA.

YES !!!!

you . . . . can watch it on her Instagram …… !!

see: TAILI WU – Instagram / ‘OVERTURN / flipping away bad things & bringing good luck :)’

above 2 images: still photos of TAILI WU’s stop animation, ‘OVERTURN / flipping away bad things & bringing good luck :)’

images via Instagram @tailiwu




~TAILI WU, ‘Cow Girl’ & ‘Rain or Shine’ . . GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021 / Year of the OX

radical / fresh !!


TAILI WU, ‘Cow Girl’, 2021
gouache, watercolor paper / 3-1/2 x 7-7/8 in.
($55)
see: TAILI WU, ‘Cow Girl’ – GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021


TAILI WU, ‘Rain or Shine’, 2021
gouache, watercolor paper / 3-1/2 x 7-7/8 in.
($55)
see: TAILI WU, ‘Rain or Shine’ – GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021

note: TAII WU . . is a stop-motion artist, illustrator, and animal detective based in NY – aka ‘Monster Shaper’ – for her love of making creatures & puppets.

see:
Taili Wu / Monster Shaper . . !!
Taili Wu – artist portfolio
Taili WU – Instagram




~AMANDA CASTILLO, ‘Cowkid’ & ‘Milkgirl’ . . GRUMPY BET RED ENELOPE SHOW 2021 / Year of the OX

HAPPY . . . CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR !!
ALL YE . . NEO-APPALACHIA, NEW WAVE RADICAL OUTSIDERS / NEW AGE CRAFTERS & FOLKIES / PLUS ALL THE BACK-TO-THE-EARTH EARTHLINGS !!
COME ON !! LET’S TAKE BACK – THE WORLD !!!


AMANDA CASTILLO, ‘Cowkid’, 2021
Black & White Ink / 3-1/2 x 7-7/8 in.
($88)
see: AMANDA CASTILLO, ‘Cowkid’ – GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021


AMANDA CASTILLO, ‘Milkgirl’, 2021
Black & White Ink / 3-1/2 x 7-7/8 in.
($88)
see: AMANDA CASTILLO, ‘Milkgirl’ – GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021

note: AMANDA COSTILLO . . is an illustrator, cartoonist, & storyteller based in the Bay Area of California – currently working with Random House Graphic as the artist and co-author of an upcoming graphic novel series, ‘MAPMAKERS’ – set to start publishing in 2021.


see: AMANDA COSTILLO – PORTFOLIO WEBSITE




~DIANA VUONG , ‘Celebrating OX 2’ . . GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021 / Year of the OX

IF !!!
only life could be so simple HAPPY – again.


DIANA VUONG, ‘Celebrating OX 2’, 2021
Digital on iPad, printed vinyl and cut & colored pencils and marker.
3-1/2 x 7-7/8 in.
($50)

see: DIANA VUONG / GRUMPY BERT – RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021




~TRACY LEUNG, ‘AFTER FLOWER MARKET’ . . GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021 / Year of the OX

2021 – YEAR OF THE OX !!
so, who’s the real winner – the Rat, or the OX ?

GRUMPY BERT’S ANNUAL RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2021 – IS ONLINE !!
see: ALL PRODUCTS GRUMPY BERT – RED ENVELOPE 2021

TRACY LEUNG, ‘AFTER FLOWER MARKET’, 2021
ink pens / 7 x 7-7/8 in.
($98) / SOLD

see: TRACY LEUNG, ‘AFTER FLOWER MARKET’ – GRUMPY BERT

note: TRACY LEUNG . . is a Hong Kong-born designer & illustrator now based in NY. Her clints include MOMA & The Met.


see: TRACY LEUNG on Instagram @tlsyltd




~DANIEL RAMIREZ, ‘The Bow’ . . GRUMPY BERT RED ENVELOPE SHOW 2012 / Year of the OX

GRUMPY BERT’S ANNUAL RED ENVELOPE SHOW – IS ONLINE !!
see: ALL PRODUCTS GRUMPY BERT – RED ENVELOPE 2021

stay Grumpy !! Bert !!
forced to retreat to an online / only show this year . . YEAR of the COVID !!
& with all things China . . are about as popular as Corona Beer /
except !! this invite-only show is always !! always !! a delight,
from hyper-cute to Star Wars futuristic, deeply traditional to . . darkly gruesome goth.
yes, illustrators with heart – come out in force – even for . . . ‘Year of the OX’.

so,
you might think the OX would be mundane, and you . . would be WRONG.
besides, these Red Envelopes wish you . . good luck, health, wealth, happiness, and prosperity.

besides which, the wise man – in these global & trying times – needs all his can absorb from all cultures / especially re: origin tales, fables & really the oft-hidden secrets of human nature, esp as influenced by the celestial stars and in this case, the moon / all the better to you maneuver your way through a multi-national life – just that much better, and surely – smarter.
and maybe, even more . . blessed.
whether it be Native American, Viking or Ancient China.
‘Fiddler on the Roof’, or . . Lin Miranda’s ‘Hamilton’.
we can all relate to universal truths, humanity, and the wish for happiness.
we all live on the same earth / under the same sky.


DANIEL RAMIRIZ, ‘The Bow’, 2021.
3-1/2 x 7-7/8 in. on a traditional red envelope
Prisma Color pencils, Markers & Gel-pen
($65)

see: Daniel Ramairiz – ‘The Bow’ on GRUMPY BERT

Daniel Ramiriz was born & raised in Brooklyn /
see: @onlythestare / Instagram