~SEAN VEGEZZI/STANTON CHAPTER
THE STANTON CHAPTER PRESENTS:
‘BEFORE I DIE’ – an exhibit of photographs by SEAN VEGEZZI – curated by MINT & SERF.
the show opened FRIDAY, FEB 6, 2009
and runs FEB 6 – MARCH 1, 2009
STANTON CHAPTER – 176 STANTON – LOWER EAST SIDE – NYC
HRS: TUES-FRI 12-6PM
. . . the sweetest toughest show on the face of the earth.
This is the last exhibit of the STANTON CHAPTER, formerly known as the CANAL CHAPTER !!
‘Before I Die’ opened last Friday, Feb 6th – it was a pretty big, and intense opening, for a kid’s first solo show, esp. a kid who is barely 18. yep, the undercover (graffiti ?) cops came and shut down the opening, but it was already at its end. for what reason they appeared, is anyone’s guess. there wasn’t a straight answer, or one that made any sense. you can’t serve beer at openings, duh ? didn’t they try that last summer in the Hamptons – but, since when in NYC ? They stormed in like it was the end of the world. making the title of the show, not all that unlikely. at least they arrived like gangbangers, what else could they do, at 30+something, they were too old to really get away as undercover in that crowd – as opposed, to arriving in stealth and eavesdropping on conversations to make their mark. don’t think they really knew what they were doing there themselves, esp when literally every kid in the room, took out their cells and got right back in their faces, taking pix !! undercover, NOT ANYMORE!! The cops looked ridiculous. so-called GRAFFITI and the city – it’s really always gonna be – the neverending story. why ?
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Before I Die’ – case in point: the sweetest, toughest show on the face of the earth, and NYC in particular – breeding ground to wave after wave of local talent, that has nowhere else to blossom, except from naturally rambling about its forbidden, but native soil – the inner city streets, but esp. the underbelly of its decaying infrastructure.
ironically, sometimes getting down, is also the only way – up and out.
it’s interesting to note, in the press release quoted below – the referencing of the 9/11 terror attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers – so stunningly, one sunny morning, not so long ago – when all these kids – were just kids, real young kids – what 11, 12 – and, just starting to look out at the city from inside childhood. and, you want to question why they want to make their mark on society, so determinedly. society made its mark on them. yo, listen up, sometimes the street culture might devolve into a scrawling blight, depends on whose looking – but these bombs are urban graphics & gylphs yearning to be art, and to be set free – the beat, the juice of life, the communicator – not, you know – suicide bombs to take you and 2,000 of your friends, out. when push comes to shove, it’s really a good thing. and right now, face it. street art is juicing up the culture, when the culture really needs juice. corporate America ain’t sponsoring these kids, for naught.
OBEY GIANT ain’t ruling the propaganda waves, for naught. the best of them have the drive, and the set skills to rule – in times that are quickly a-changin. it’s just you don’t want to encourage a bunch of loser copy cats. that’s the only downside. and let’s face it, its not just about street art. its about juice.
there is no such thing as street art or straight art. its only about juice. talent. skills. singular vision.
case in point: LANDSCAPE.
ain’t no diff between SEAN VEGEZZI or BRENDAN CASS – except their mediums, one’s a photographer, one’s a painter. both got juice. and their own special brand.
. . . like they say on their website:
“Thank you all for coming to the opening of our last exhibit at the Stanton Chapter. It was epic as always with underage teenagers, undercover cops, angry neighbors, wine, red bull, wine with red bull, graffiti writers, artsy folks, American flag jackets, Dane Vegezzi, and many more.”
and, so, the CANAL CHAPTER, aka the STANTON CHAPTER flames out !!
here’s a little straightforward background on SEAN: take great pictures.com/SEAN VEGEZZI & THE VANTAGE TEAM.
and, from the STANTON CHAPTER press release:
“The Stanton Chapter is proud to present the first solo show by .. photographer SEAN VEGEZZI. . an 18 yr-old New York City native, whose … subterranean lens documents Gotham’s rarely seen underbelly.
Pursuing solo missions into unexplored, remote, and abandoned city architecture or tagging along with myriads of graffiti writers (he) fearlessly captures privacy, isolation, and quiet in the face of relentless city life ….
“The artist’s work is a product of the trauma he suffered from the September 11th Attacks. Then aged 12, Vegezzi lived in subsidized Tribeca housing, just 4 blocks from Ground Zero. The destruction that unfolded before his eyes and the media hysteria that followed pushed him to find something positive in the face of unprecedented negativity. First exploring his immediate neighborhood, then braving ground zero with a video camera – escorted by several sympathetic construction workers – Vegezzi decided he could free himself by documenting the world as he see it through his lens.
“It is appropriate that Sean’s first show will also be the Stanton Chapter’s last. Sean started coming to the Canal Chapter when we first opened in 2005, a precocious kid with a chip on his shoulder. Four years later, after helping us pull off hundreds of exhibitions and projects, talks and performances, Sean is still around working harder than ever … ”
2 photos of SEAN VEGEZZI, from the artlovers archive:
SEAN VEGEZZI, native born son of TRIBECA, NYC, clocking in at 15 yrs. of age – got the “best kid artist” award – on artlovers – way back in JUNE 2006 !! the first and only – and he is still holding the record !!
his website, NYCexposed – had his photos on it and links to some truly great and off-the-beaten track tag sites. (sadly, it is no longer operating.) here, he is in front of a painting by DAZE, in the CANAL CHAPTER exhibit, ‘BANNED FROM TELEVISION’, which ran MAY 31 – JUNE 23, 2006.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH. JUNE 3, 2006
see: the original post
then, 15 yr. old photographer, SEAN VEGEZZI, in front of his favorite painting in the CANAL CHAPTER show, ‘BANNED FROM TELEVISION’ – ‘TRIALS OF JULIA’ by CYCLE.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH, JUNE 3, 2006
see: the original post/BANNED FROM TELEVISION !! – ART LOVERS PHOTO REPORT.
PIX FROM THE OPENING – SEAN VEGEZZI – ‘BEFORE I DIE’ – THE STANTON CHAPTER/FEB 6, 2009
first person we see, outside on the street – SEAN VEGEZZI.
DAN SAFDIE.
STANTON CHAPTER’S – JASON WALL.
RON BEACH.
the scene outside the Lower East Side storefront.
MIKHAIL SOKOVIKOV – of the STANTON CHAPTER.
the work – starts – to work it’s magic !!
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Spencer and Mercer’, scanned 35mm Digital C Print. 30 x 40 in.
Edition of 2. $500.
(yo, all you dumb-ass collectors – and young wanna-bes, if you can’t – connect dots, what are you doing following the site. do everybody a big favor – jump off.) you can’t get it any better than this.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘The Virgin Tunnel’, Digital C Print. 16 x 20 in.
Edition of 4. $250.
SANDEEP BHULLER, artist & scholar.
beside her, the SEAN VEGEZZI photograph that accompanied the press release.
JAMAL ‘INK’ ROBINSON, Fashion Editor of BOMBIN’
yo, take a little cruise & bend your mind around this site !!
check out: BOMBIN MAGAZINE
don’t miss: the BOMBIN’ BLOG !!
note:if you’re the kind of reader, this stuff scares, let me ask you ONE QUESTION.
if there was another emergency in this city, on the scale of 9/11 – and you needed to escape – who do you think could get you out safer – these kids, or the cop, below ?
MORGAN C.
DANNY V.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘JOY RIDE’, Digital C Print, 11 x 14 in.
Edition of 4. ($150)
SEAN VEGEZZI, on the right, with MORGAN C.
a fan of Sean’s work.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Jedi Five, Spring to Canal’, Digital C Print, 11 x 14 in.
Edition of 4, ($150).
the crowd was just as state-of-the-art, as the work !!
STEPHEN K. SCHUSTER.
GREG PASS.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Cecske’, Digital c print, 11 x 14 in.
Edition of 4, ($150.)
down at the bottom you can just make out CECSKE aka the CECSTER, and JEDI FIVE.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Sp.One’s …’, Digital C Print, 11 x 14 in.
Edition of 4, ($125)
note: Sp.one aka GREG LAMARCHE.
VICTORIA KOREN, in the hat, and Heather, in pink. Spencer.
MERCER.
SPENCER.
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Spencer and Mercer’ – another take !!
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Highline Nap’, Digital C Print, 11 x 14 in.
Edition of 4, ($150).
SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Xavier Hides’, Digital C Print, 11 x 14 in
edition of 4, ($150).
detail, SEAN VEGEZZI, ‘Xavier Hides’.
you can just make him out, at center of the right hand side.
the undercover cops arrive.
just time a get a few last shots, this is BUDDHA GOLD.
it was ending, anyways.
the last show. founding partners: MIKHAIL SOKOVOKOV, and JASON WALL – of the STANTON CHAPTER, the CANAL CHAPTER, and 1134 NYC. aka mint and serf – and, collectively known as mirf,
flame out, but, just for n-o-w, with a great little show, and, probably one of the best shows you’ll ever see, fresh pea right outta the pod. ‘Before I Die’ an exhibition of Photographs by SEAN VEGEZZI. on the wall – Sean Vegezzi’s ‘Spencer and Mercer’.
a last good-bye. JASON RODRIGUEZ and DANE VEGEZZI. Dane is Sean’s older bro.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
note: The STANTON CHAPTER is/was a continuation of the CANAL CHAPTER, relocated. The CANAL CHAPTER, which was located on Canal St, just west of West Broadway, was formed by Mint and Serf of 1134NYC in 2005, with the support of Red Bull. It was inspired by the old school alternative spaces that brought life to the downtown New York art scene, decades before.
see: artlovers first meets MINT & SERF aka 1134NYC c/o ALFREDO MARTINEZ !!
and, yep !! sure enough – there’s that wild, life-size artillery piece that Alfredo set down on Canal St, being looked over by the cops, and making the POST, pre-POSTER BOY, pre-OBAMA POSTER BOY, even pre-DUKE RILEY submersible !!
funny how things go around in circles.