~THE DARK FAIR / AFTER-GLO
ORIGINAL POST: SAT MARCH 29, 2008 – HOME PAGE
. . yep, the DARK FAIR delivered, lines to get in – snaked around the block & the buzz increased all nite long – as word of the excitement, fun and really dark space, so dark as to be electric, from random bursts of day-glow paint, black lights, glow stix & sparse candle flickers!! – not to mention the mostly cutting edge art & definitely the – coolest out-of-town visitors & galleries – quickly circulated. it was easy to forget that this was a FAIR, not a show !! even the “booths” are set-up to be like booths in a dark, black, black, black & exotic dive-y Thai restaurant. but, buyer be advised – there was !! some real good art to be bought, and at entry level prices!! some examples ? . . super deals on limited edition glow-in-the-dark prints by the likes of ARA PETERSON & MELISSA BROWN at PICTUREBOX . . . and, JACK HANLEY finally kicked in – with some great black & white drawings by OLIVER HALSMAN ROSENBERG – with OLIVER himself, manning the booth – and, giving free home-made TAROT CARD READINGS !! SPENCER SWEENEY, also manning his booth – has some great candles, who was the model ? – just behind him, at the GAVIN BROWN booth. of the visitors, INOVA had the most intense booth, with an interactive sensory ‘machine’ by CLARA JO & HARRELL FLETCHER. …
brand new, totally cool entry-level priced art was offered up at both the GENERAL STORE & the GREEN GALLERY booths…(duh!!), and, the folks at the OTHER GALLERY out of WINNIPEG & at ANGSTROM out of L.A. & DALLAS – were also very interesting… the DARK FAIR only runs one more day – too short!! – today, (SAT) until 9PM… so, if you are into really contemporary art – that should be your number one destination. then hit the armory. the big opening to-nite (SAT) of course is ‘SUBSTRACTION’ at DEITCH PROJECTS (WOOSTER ST.) with: KRISTEN BAKER, DAN COLEN, ROSSON CROW, ELIZABETH NEEL, STERLING RUBY & AARON YOUNG (6-9PM).
ORIGINAL POST: TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2008 – HOME PAGE
THE DARK FAIR AFTER-GLO !!
. . . THE FOLKS BEHIND THE DARK FAIR – THE RAWEST & BEST TIME – ART WISE – THIS CITY HAS SEEN IN A LONG LONG TIME – ARE: ELYSIA BOROWY-REEDER, TYSON REEDER, SCOTT REEDER, JOHN (‘LENNON LIVES AGAIN’) RIEPENHOFF & NICK FRANK – aka – collectively – MILWAUKEE INTERNATIONAL
. . . credit for bringing this blast to NYC also has to be given to GIANNI JETZER, the Director of the SWISS INSTITUTE.
see: SWISS INSTITUTE CONTEMPORARY ART NEW YORK
the background story – briefly stated – goes something like this: MATTHEW HIGGS, of WHITE COLUMNS, who might know the MILWAUKEE boys from shared GBE/passerby relationships (?) turned GIANNI JETZER onto the first ever MILWAUKEE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR, that took place OCT 20-21, 2006 in beer hall – MILWAUKEE . . . GIANNI had such a great time – he invited the crew to do something at the SWISS INSTITUTE & voila!! – THE DARK FAIR – the underground alternative – to the increasingly crass commercialism & trade fair vibe of the AMORY – !!
see: FIRST MILWAUKEE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR
. . . it’s interesting to note that ‘booths’ in the first fair (in Milwaukee) cost the grand total of $150 !! the booths at the DARK FAIR jumped in price to $800 per booth – with over 20 booths participating, that’s a total haul of at least $16,000 (still peanuts compared to ARMORY costs – where just the in-put ‘hook-up’ for the each booth’s lap top computer cost $250/per individual access I.D. !!) with most of that paying the costs of the visiting MILWAUKEE crew’s stay in NYC & the considerable costs of paying overtime 24/7 labor crews – to set up the fair – including painting the whole place – BLACK – 100% – and buying the plywood, etc, & constructing the ‘restaurant’ style indiviual gallery booths – & – then of course, dismantling it, and restoring the white walls of the SWISS INSTITUTE exhibition space.
(word was circulating that, inspired by this installation – the MILWAUKEE CREW wants to do an . . . ‘ICE FAIR’ – !! what the hell was that, you said – and you were answered . . you know – like go to . . WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, in CANADA and build each gallery little individual ice fishing huts on a frozen river … yikes.)
. . . back to the DARK FAIR:
we’re even going to let them into the artlovers (un)official NYC HALL OF ART SHOW FAME – because – even though they didn’t !! get shut down by the FIRE DEPT – the only requisite for Hall of Fame show acclaim – the FDNY – did show !! a crew of about 6-8 firefighters with looks of complete disbelief across their wary faces !! showed up at about 11 pm, and even though the show didn’t get shut down – it was a close & tense call for a while. so ok. this show is legend.
(up there with QUIET & RAGNORAK !!)
and yeah – MADONNA !! – you sure look and sound stupid. “nothing going on in the art world in NYC” – did you read her sound bite in the New York Times this past weekend – has-been chick – go back to London – its really rockin’ there. Young Brits, right !! . .
TAYLOR McKIMENS, not to mention JOE GRILLO – was spotted walking around the DARK FAIR, Friday nite !! as well, as a reported CINDY SHERMAN/DAVID BYRNE sighting . .
oh, yeah TAYLOR McKIMENS & BRIAN BELOTT had these great collaboration glow-in-the-dark monster black light ‘posters’ at the PICTUREBOX booth. (approx. $800 a piece – a steal !!) and … you had to have seen PORTS BISHOP taking large format tripod photo portraits, on – 100% glow stix juice !!!
see: VERNISSAGE TV CLIP/DARK FAIR OPENING
see: PIX FROM THE DARK FAIR OPENING !!
. . . JIM DRAIN and ARA PETERSON were spotted at the DEITCH ‘SUBSTRACTION’ opening. supposedly ROSSON CROW was all dolled up L.A. style !! and, just in – SIMON CERIGO says he saw CHARLIE WATTS of the ROLLING STONES – at the WHITE COLUMNS opening last Saturday, as well.
. . . if you missed the DARK FAIR – loser !! – there is still a chance to see these guys – up close and personal – SCOTT REEDER & TYSON REEDER OPEN A SHOW OF THEIR OWN WORK at DANIEL REICH GALLERY, on WED APRIL 2, 2008 (6-8 pm). called simply – ‘SCOTT REEDER / TYSON REEDER’ – the show runs APRIL 2 – MAY 17, 2008.
see: DANIEL REICH
JOHN RIEPENHOFF should be on hand at the opening as well – he usually is – at their openings.
