EUNICE KIM – ‘MOON THE MAGIC LOSER’
Sept 19 – Oct 19, 2008
CANADA
the BEST ‘JUST’ BELOW-THE-RADAR – DEBUT SOLO SHOW OF 2008 !!
perhaps best known (to some) as the longtime better half of JOE BRADLEY – Eunice surpassed expectations and rocked the scene with her first all-EUNICE ONLY !! outing !! word that 500 homemade funny-tasting magic brownies
were in easy reach to all takers – was just the icing on the cake !! Eunice literally covered the walls with open-ended & completely off-the-wall art !! – and bounced the gallery goers into a total alternative 360 degrees blow-out visual/spatial experience.
EUNICE KIM – photographed at the RITA ACKERMANN/ANDREA ROSEN GALLERY OPENING, ‘Don’t Give Me Salad (Nurses)’. a few weeks before her own opening. SEPT 12, 2008
the card for: EUNICE KIM – ‘Moon the Magic Loser’, Sept 19-Oct 19, 2008. CANADA.
ok. we missed the opening !!
first of all – I dunno the card – didn’t kinda rock us. it looked a little too hokey, homey & crafty. mistake.
two. we had a paying gig – somewhere else, just as good in Brooklyn. what can I say unless someone clones us, or pays us enough – to jump in a cab to make it all the way back to Canada in Chinatown – good luck, artlovers !!
EUNICE KIM/’Moon The Magic Loser’ installation shot – COURTESY/CANADA
there are a few good installation & opening pix on the: CANADA website !!
but, we did know enough of seeing Eunice’s work in small group shows, and really liking her in person, to know we should get down to see the show, at a better time !!
first thing – we noticed on the gallery communal table – a selection of hardcover one-of-a-kind books by BRIAN BELOTT.
then we noticed this strange little new age drawing hanging on a rough piece of cardboard, forlornly from the ceiling !!
then we noticed the whole gallery was basically, literally, covered from wall to ceiling with paper, where objects ‘found’ and man-made, moved in and out of space and perception. feelings, and concepts, and graspings of Eunice’s longing to re-define art, galleries, plastic space, objects. art product, non-product, consumerism, non-consumerism, our times, and the world !! took shape, took over – and we just gave into the rich, often startling, kind of crazy tipsy transparent, wavering & contrary 3-D experience.
individual pieces within the wavering almost camo (flage) shallow plasticity – became signaled as ‘product’ with names and prices – just the way your eye starts to pick out shapes as it adjustments to the dark in a new nighttime setting. the broom within the horizontal freestanding metal circle thus, is: ‘Old Friend’, 2008, mixed media, 61 x 36 x 36 in. ($4,000).
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
(love the show’s name, by the way.)
at left, foreground: ‘Holy Powers in Wait#2′, 2008, mixed media. 88 x 35 x 27 in. ($5,000).
at right, foreground: “Stumped’, 2008, mixed media, 38 x 24 x 23 in. ($4,000)
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
installation view. EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
the transition forom one part of the gallery to another.
EUNICE KIM, ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
EUNICE KIM. there were a lot of homemade, man-made one-of-a-kind light fixture/designer sculptures shown last year, including, notably ANDY COOLQUIT at LISA COOLEY. Eunice had some, too. several in fact.
not quite a lamp fixture, but luminous all the same. EUNICE KIM, ‘Sigmund’s Request’, 2008, mixed media, 32 x 23 x 21 in. ($3,000) – yo !! a steal – hope some dumbass was smart enough to jump for that !!
our very favorite !! a real insider’s piece !! Eunice is every bit as bright, droll, and tongue-in-cheek cheeky, as Joe is !!
EUNICE KIM, ‘Joe’s Peeve’, 2008, mixed media, 23 x 25.5 in. ($2,000).
EUNICE KIM, ‘Welcome Home’, 2008. mixed media. 25 x 17 x 15 ins. ($3,000).
EUNICE KIM – another fav piece that made us miss – Little Cakes, Evah Fan, and WALL-E !!
a last look – a sad, plaintive little human-faced piece of saved-from-extinction !! cardboard, waving in the creative mad-within-a-purpose thrown-up against the wall – EUNICE KIM installation – ‘Moon the Magic Loser’.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~EUNICE KIM/MOON THE MAGIC LOSER/BEST NEW ARTIST 2008 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 14th, 2009, 12:45pm
POSTER PHOTO BY: GEORGE BARBER
‘FUCK THE LITTLE MAN’ – also fondly known as the ‘TALL GIANT SHOW’ !!! – was the last NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN curatorial project of 2008. It opened on Friday Dec 12, 2008, and ran for one week, as per NATIONALMUSEUM policy.
The show was curated by LARS MONRAD VAAGE and GEORGE BARBER. You had to be at least 6 feet tall – to get into the show !! that was the only curatorial condition !! (love it !!) they are so in-your-face, irreverent & fun !! these guys !! just what we need.
Lars writes that he couldn’t make it into the show because at 181 cm. or 5 ft. 11 in. – he was too small !! He just missed the cut-off by one inch !! But, the other curator, GEORGE BARBER, at 200 cm. or 6 ft. 7 in. made it – and showed one of his 3-D paintings, as well as creating the poster (above). The average height of the artists in the show was 195 cm. or 6 ft. 5 in. !! FIVE of them were over 200 cm. or 6 ft. 7 in.
see: conversion table
YIKES !! these guys used to rule the world, once, too !! – remember ? the Vikings !!
turns out the art was pretty good too, and so was the party !!
but first a little extra info, re: NATIONALMUSEUM – an artist ‘co-op’ !!
LARS writes: “NATIONALMUSEUM is a group of friends, and is an artist co-op that will change its members in an intuitive way, if somebody feels they don’t have time they take a break, and if we meet somebody with lots of energy and warmth they are in. We all help each other with every show, but so far every show was curated by one or two persons only. WE started out being: GEORGE BARBER, RAAF VAN DER SMAN, JOHN HODANY, MICHAEL KIRKHAM and me, LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
In the GRAND OPENING we all invited a bunch of friends.
PRECURSE was curated by JOHN HODANY.
THEY TOLD THE FURURE BACKWARDS was curated by me (LARS MONRAD VAAGE).
FESTLICHE ABENDMUSIK was created by RAAF VAN DER SMAN.
WER FICKEN WILL MUSS FREUNLICH SIN was curated by MICHAEL KIRKHAM.
THE TALL ARTIST SHOW/FUCK THE LITTLE MAN was curated by GEORGE BARBER and I (LARS MONRAD VAAGE).”
The shows, so far – always open on a FRIDAY and entail an all-out all-nite PAR-TAY !! The shows are put on in a guerrilla/rove/rebel fashion, finding & utilizing raw unused urban spaces in Berlin.
. . . of course the other really funny thing about these guys is their name – NATIONALMUSEUM – which is a play on the STAATLICHE MUSEUM ZU BERLIN, or the NATIONAL MUSEUMS in BERLIN, and, until they got their own alternative website up and running, when you googled these guys, NATIONALMUSEUM – you got the official German gallery website !!
STAATLICHE MUSEUM ZU BERLIN – The national museums in Berlin represent the result of centuries of collecting.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the holdings increased enormously through generous donations, through archaeological fieldwork and through ethnological expeditions undertaken.
Today the national museums in Berlin consist of 16 museums, each with its own specail area of competence. Despite the losses suffered between 1933 and 1945, most collections rank high among the world’s major museums.
so, back to: the OPENING PIX !! – ‘THE TALL ARTIST SHOW’ aka ‘FUCK THE LITTLE MAN’ !! NATIONALMUSEUM, BERLIN. CURATED BY LARS MONRAD VAAGE & GEORGE BARBER. DECEMBER 12, 2008.
LUTZ BRAUN and PHILIP TOPOLOVAC with TOPOLOVAC’S ‘SKELETOR’.
on the wall at left, work by JOACHIM COSSAIS; ‘SKELETOR’ by PHILIP TOPOLOVAC; and at right, some kind of wonderful installation wall tent/painting !! by STEN ARE SANDBECK.
LOOK OUT !! life-size ‘SKELETOR’ by PHILIP TOPOLOVAC
.
love this photo !! and the piece, a tent installation by STEN ARE SANDBECK. JOE BRADLEY, watch your back !!
tall artist KALLE RUNESON – peeking from within the STEN ARE SANDBECK tent.
wall sculpture by GEORGE BARBER.
painting by FABIAN FOBBES.
painting by KALLE RUNESON
painting by LUTZ BRAUN.
the “tall corner” !!
installation shot, ‘FUCK THE LITTLE MAN’, NATIONALMUSEUM, Berlin.
one of the show’s curators, ‘BIG BOI BARBER’ aka GEORGE BARBER !!
wow – these guys drink from s-e-r-i-o-u-s beer bottles !!
JOACHIM COSSAIS
PHILIP TOPOLOVAC.
. . . stealing a swig !!
UROS DJUROVIC
large painting by UROS DJUROVIC !!
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: NATIONALMUSEUM. SPECIAL THABNKD To LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
ALL PHOTOS: VAAGE & SMAN
~NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN/NORDIC GIANTS !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 12th, 2009, 11:37am
. . . talking ’bout JOHN HODANY !! he is now in BERLIN, and he seems to have become the center of the best & wildest & most creative & definite the most coolest artist/curator collective this side of Philly’s BOBO !! (who actually came out on the NYC scene – the year before !! 2007 !!). Calling themselves the NATIONALMUSEUM BERLIN, so, in-your-face GERMANY !! – their weekly roving free-for-all parties and great wide open art events were dynamic enough – that they splashed out over the big pond – and, onto this shore’s underground radar – to our great delight & so, we are very happy to name NATIONALMUSEUM BERLIN – the best new artist/curatorial collective of 2008 !!! hands down !!
see: JOHN HODANY & FRIENDS/PLAYING IN BERLIN/NOV 14, 2008
see: FUCK THE LITTLE MAN !!
see: NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN
. . . one spark-plug live-wire of the group, turns out to be the artist LARS MONRAD VAAGE, (originally from NORWAY !!) who had work in John’s Hodany’s earliest NATIONALMUSEUM outings. He then seems to have picked up the curatorial reins and put on his own NATIONALMUSEUM show, (interestingly enough) titled: ‘They told the future backwards’ – and, we’re gonna document that next !! hold onto your hats !! its not that it’s a shocking ride – hey, but maybe in its own way it is !! – in that, it is so visual !! and yet, you get the feeling, layered with centuries of storytelling. Its most definite one of the the most super cool, and overtly original, shows, to snake out of Europe in a long long time – and one, that puts that old-heritage creative playground – back in play, for the first time in a long long time, too !!
I mean remember the show’s poster ? super cool, totally striking, and cutting edge, or what !!
The show opened on FRIDAY, NOV 21, 2008 and ran for one week.
(bye the way, LARS MONRAD VAAGE designed the poster. It is an image from a painting of his.
He tells us, the motif comes from his name, Monrad, “that means Moonweel, which means ‘The miller that beat the Turks’, from some battle in the 10th Century, when my ancestor had to leave his mill to become some kind of war hero. So its a Viking-ship that is sailing home after victory, and using the Turkish flag as a sail… Viking ships look so beautiful, as well as the Turkish flag.” !!
we were lucky enough to have LARS MONRAD VAAGE – write us himself, directly – about the show !!
“The artists in the show are a mix of very old friends from Norway (where I’m from), and new friends from Berlin. What I wanted was to mix things that in some way is eccentric and inward, and made of people I find warm, and to consider style as less important than storytelling and quirkiness.
Some of the artists have very special personal backgrounds, as well.
ANDREAS ERIKSSON (SWEDEN) is allergic to electricity, and lives in a farm in Sweden, that is especially designed to minimize radiation.
THORBJORN MORSTAD (NORWAY) paints in a very peculiar style, and has chosen to show his works outside the conventional art-world. In 1999 he was the first artist to show in the casino in Monte Carlo !! His great grandfather was Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, the likeness is actually striking. (see photo below).”
“EXPLANATION OF THE TITLE: ‘They told the future backwards’.
On the other side of a huge forest, maybe in a cave, there are a group of wise men with long white beards. If you find the way to them, you can ask questions about the future. When they give you answers they speak backwards, so you have to remember to bring one of those casette-players, record what they say, and then play it backwards to get what they say about the future.”
“The title and the meaning (with the bearded wise men) came from me misreading a crazy new-age book. Some guy found all theses messages by reading the Bible in patterns, like squares or in zigzag. In the end of the book all the messages were lined up (without the patterns), like: “A great storm will come in 3085”, then he finds some calendar that syas 3085 is 1968 in some folks calendar, and so on.
Anyway, this sentence said: “they told the future (backwards)”, the backwards was there to indicate he found it by reading the bile backwards. I didn’t get that til later, I immediately saw these old men sitting in a cave, speaking backwards about the future.” !! !! !!
wow – see what I mean, feel like I’ve already left my body – and am definitely no longer in a NYC gritty hedge fund subprime credit disaster frame of mind – at least, for the momento !!
. . . and DIY (do-it-yourself) curating in roaming shows – put it up and take it down, artist-curated mind & eye feasts, not mention flat-out all-nite parties !! – definitely one way to beat these grim times !!
wow – beautiful and mysterious !! LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
installation shot, ‘They told the future backwards’, curated by LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
on the walls, paintings by: LARS MONRAD VAAGE, EVA GROTTUM, THORBJORN MORSTAD, and STEPHAN MORSCH.
the floor assemblage/sculpture is by TJORG DOUGLAS BEER.
NATIONALMUSEUM, BERLIN. NOV 21 – 28, 2008
from left: 2 paintings by SEBASTIAN DACEY, a glimpse of the MALTE URBSCHAT piece, and, what looks to be a gorgeous piece, a collage/painting by JOHN HODANY, himself – extreme right.
detail, collage/painting by JOHn HODANY.
installation by MALTE URBSCHAT.
paintings by OLAV CHRISTOPHR JENSSEN, mounted on sculpture by VORSCHUB.
THORBJORN MORSTAD.
beautiful painting, or what !!
STEPHAN MORSCH !!
from left: painting by SEBASTIAN ZARIUS, 2 paintings by RAAF VAN DER SMAN, and at right, ANDREAS ERIKSSON.
love how that ERIKSSON piece looks on the distressed wall !!
JOHN HODANY pushing buttons !! VORSCHUB (aka AXEL ROSSLING) sculpture.
detail, floor installation by TJORG DOUGLAS BEER.
OLAV CHRISTOPHER JENSSEN with entourage – in piece by VORSCHUB.
must have been some kind of walk-in box or maze !!
. . . magic colors !!
George & Rick, behind them JOHN HODANY piece.
from left: KONRAD KINNARD, at center, LARS MONRAD VAAGE, and, right, JOHN HODANY.
(it’s cool, isn’t it – to see the man behind the show, the poster and the first painting (above) – LARS MONRAD VAAGE, who curated the show & wrote that really interesting explanation – re: the title.)
THORBJORN MORSTAD aka “KAISER WILHELM III of GERMANY” !! to his pals. Kaiser Wilhelm II was his grandfather.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF NATIONALMUSEUM. WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO: LARS MONRAD VAAGE.
PHOTOS BY: LARS MONRAD VAAGE & RAAF VAN DER SMAN.
p.s. LARS also sent a really interesting note about ANDREAS ERIKSSON, who made that super visually striking piece on the distressed wall !! and who is allergic to electricity !!
“There are 5,000 electro-allergic people in Sweden, I heard the highest density in Europe. They have a union, and their own magazine. They are not recognized as sick by the government, and cannot be brought to the hospital for testing, because of all the electric stuff there. (!!!) They also often have a hard time when they protest against new cell=phone antennas and so on, people make fun of them as crazy, and they have to listen to the same old jokes over and over. They also often look strange, some make hats of aluminum foil or copper-nets for when they have to go shopping. Some of them also turn into entrepreneurs, one guy is making phones where the speaker and microphone is placed inside the machine, and there are 3m long airtubes going from there to the thing you hold to your head. It works ok, but it can be a bit hard to understand hat they say. Its acomplocated illness, I can only vouch for my friend Andreas, I believe him.”
also,
check out: JOHN HODANY !!
check out: LARS MONRAD VAAGE !!
check out : TJORG DOUGLAS BEER !!
~JOHN HODANY & LARS MONRAD VAAGE/NATIONALMUSEUM/BERLIN |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 8th, 2009, 9:59pm
. . . a few more pix from back in the day !!
the downtown crew assembled for a one night event, summer of 2003.
from left: BRIAN BELOTT and JOHN HODANY, CAPITALE, NYC. JULY 24, 2003
the guy with the microphone ?
yep, that’s MALIBU VON aka JOE BRADLEY, fronting his band CHEESEBURGER !!
CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
JOE BRADLEY, CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
JOE BRADLEY, CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
hard to believe, but yeah !! that’s JOE BRADLEY on the left, with his band – CHEESEBURGER !!
CAPITALE, JULY 24, 2003
TAYLOR McKIMENS was there too, behind him – one of his all-dressed ‘cheeseburger’ paintings !!
when TAYLOR McKIMENS left these (somewhat) DONALD BAECHLOR-influenced minimalist pop images behind, and got back in touch with his rural South Western desert roots, with ‘THE DRIPS’ – his career & painting really began to take off . . .
MISAKI KAWAI and TAYLOR McKIMENS, an item back in the day . . .
. . . guess we should show you a couple of more pix we found, buried deep in the archival shoeboxes !!
how about the gang at a seminal show – ‘MAJORITY WHIP’ !! – organized by KATHY GRAYSON and LAURA TEPPER, at WHITEBOX, MAY 1 – MAY 29, 2004.
In the, as yet, unwritten annals of NYC painting, this show is going to be famous for being the first outing of TAYLOR McKIMENS’ – ‘THE DRIPS’ – and I do mean, literally!!
BRIAN BELOTT at the opening of ‘MAJORITY WHIP’ – an artist ‘get out and vote’ effort. MAY 1, 2004
(at least he has new schmatta on his head !!)
we forgot how charming, MICHAEL WILLIAMS, was !! back in the day.
‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004
the first outing of TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘The Drips’ !! well, first there was this really strange but actually a-m-a-z-i-n-g, what-the-hell-is-that , literal ‘tableau’ of (paper) water ‘drips’ heading into pails and cups of some fake some real – water !! you really didn’t know what to think, but it was cool. and then there was a real ‘DRIPS’ family member in the back, in the oval frame on the yellow wall. that weirdo buttnaked chubby guy riding on tractor, with a blue lampshade over his head !!
You know the Simpsons ? MEET THE DRIPS !!
I remember well, going back another day. and this really dumbass collector, ok I’ll even name names !!
LEO (LIO) MALKA – was there, and he told me he had bought several of Taylor’s ‘hamburger’ paintings from ‘those girls’ over at CLEMENTINE – but he couldn’t make head over heels – what this new stuff was about, and he looked as if he had just seen his hard won dough (right !!) flushed down the toilet, that’s what I mean, dumbass. I think it even turned him off from buying contemporary ’emerging’ art altogether from that day forward. he has tons of HARINGS & BASQUIATS, so what !!
the large soft sponge-blob man, is by MISAKI KAWAI.
our most fave piece by BRIAN BELOTT, e-v-e-r !!
no, its not a stick of butter, its a box of proverbial kleenex tissue !!
at the top it says; “Here Have a Tissue” – at the bottom, its easier to read:
“sorry about fuckin yur country” – its addressed to the people who took down the WORLD TRADE CENTER !! these collage posters were distributed freely, in a limited quantity at the opening, and if you were sharp you scored one, did we ? OF COURSE !! NO BRAINER !!
I mean its kind of a hard logic to follow in an anti-BUSH rally – but there you go – if you lived in NYC when the towers came down, you got it !!
silkscreen collage poster collaboration – MELISSA BROWN and BRIAN BELOTT.
another MELISSA BROWN/BRIAN BELOTT silkscreen collage poster collaboration.
lookey here, who else was in the show – ANDREW GUENTHER !!
‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004
the ‘hanging cross man’ by ANDREW GUENTHER.
if !! only !!
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 1, 2004
an early outing by MATT LEINES. ‘MAJORITY WHIP’, MAY 8, 2004
last but not, least – ‘Clergy Dagger’ – we miss seeing more of MICHAEL MAGNAN’S biting take around town.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~ARCHIVAL/JOHN HODANY & BRIAN BELOTT/TAYLOR McKIMENS/JOE BRADLEY/MICHAEL WILLIAMS/ MISAKI/ & even ANDREW GUENTHER !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 8th, 2009, 9:51am
BILL BRADY, of ATM GALLERY – when it was back on AVE B !! FEB 2, 2003
that’s ERIKA SOMOYGI’S work on the wall.
BIL BRADY, ATM, NYC. FEB 2, 2003
yes, there really was an ATM machine outside !! FEB 2, 2003
a young ANDREW GUENTHER had work in the show. ATM, FEB 2, 2003
ANDREW GUENTHER’S paper cut-out & owl inspired piece. ATM, FEB 2, 2003
. . . and, we found even earlier pix of ANDREW, from 2002 !!
ANDREW GUENTHER, back in the day, when he was working at DANIEL SILVERSTEIN GALLERY,
520 West 21st St. in Chelsea, NYC. DEC 5, 2002
ANDREW GUENTHER, DANIEL SILVERSTEIN GALLERY, CHELSEA, NYC. DEC 5, 2002
TRACY NAKAYAMA’S work behind him.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~ARCHIVAL/BILL BRADY & ANDREW GUENTHER |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 7th, 2009, 10:35am
HOPE ATHERTON, at SPERONE WESTWATER, NYC . JAN 30, 2003
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
~ARCHIVAL/HOPE ATHERTON |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 7th, 2009, 10:32am
ok. this is about the BEST MAGAZINE ARTICLE, artworld or otherwise of: 2008 !!
here’s a little pre-post scoop: it’s about HESTER DIAMOND, now 79, a legendary NYC collector, with an amazing, well, brilliant – truly one-of-a-kind artistic vision, who just happens to be MIKE D’s mom.
. . . JIM WALROD is like the biggest secret unsung rock hero-like guru of cutting edge design, for the super coolest people … in this town. NYC !! rock on.
looking for JIM WALROD’S photo in my archives – way back !!! when Walter Robinson at artnet wouldn’t publish it, because, “who is that guy ? who cares ?” – cut.
in the meantime, check out :
see: BEASTIEMANIA !!
see: JIM WALROD/WIKIPEDIA !!
unbelievable, great or what !!! ? that’s just the beginning !!
the BEST MAGAZINE ARTICLE, art world or not – hands down, no doubt, of 2008 !!! is:
‘POP GOES THE VERONESE’ – ‘A MODERN MEDICI WORSHIPS AT THE ALTAR OF 21ST-CENTURY DESIGN / MAURA EGAN VISITS HESTER DIAMOND’S UPTOWN PALAZZO’.
TEXT BY MAURA EGAN. PHOTOS BY JASON SCHMIDT – THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE – WOMEN’S FALL FASHION 2008.
here’s the opening line: ” ‘What do you do when your 79-year-old mom is coller than you, and you happen to be a Beastie Boy?’ asks the interior designer Jim Walrod …”
it was really fun to come across it, real time – when it came out hard copy – with its beautiful photos, tucked into what is usually a nice enough casual read with lunch – but surprise, way in the back – a very startling, informative read. The photos are drop-dead gorgeous right off the bat. But that’s also because the HESTER DIAMOND home is drop-dead gorgeous, way way beyond cutting edge, & the art is past defining – esp in the context of the ultra modern furnishings. Ms. Diamond has done the exact reverse route of most upscale collectors. Instead of a house full of antique furniture and modern art – she has the inverse – !!! – the most edgiest contemporary furniture paired with Renaissance paintings, make that Renaissance gems. Museum quality. The custom paint job on the walls takes the habitat to a whole other level.
the other interesting part of the story, was the collecting angle. from the article:
“Diamond and her husband, Harold, started collecting art in the ’50s when she was a social worker and he was a public school teacher …. ‘Back then you could put stuff on layaway for $25. We had payments all over town,’ Diamond says. She and her husband amassed a staggering collection of Legers, Picassos and Kandinskys; he once traded a Pontiac two-door for several paintings from his friend Willem de Kooning. ‘Harold had to become a dealer to support our habit.’ While Harold did consulting work for titans like Joesph Hirshhorn, Hester tried her hand at decorating, eventually building up a roster of blue-chip clients …” Both became outstandingly successful in their fields.
Ms. Diamond made millions when she traded in some of her modern art masterpieces at Sotheby’s in 2004, so she could pursue her new Renaissance paintings.
artlovers is gonna live out the New Year in the spirit of this quote of her’s – after her some of her early collected works realized that big pay-out at auction. “I’m a great believer in following your luck.”, and how about: “I used to have neo-Classical furniture with my Renaissance paintings, but they were saying nothing to each other ..” if only !! but, we know what she means. that’s how we separate our books on bookshelves, they have to talk to each other !! (you either get it, or you don’t. what can I say. I always thought everybody could hear – those kind of voices.) and, on second thought – my TAYLOR McKIMENS, PETE PEZZIMENTI, JUSTIN SAMSON, not to mention my newly acquired SARAH BRAMAN and CHRIS STAIN pieces – do just sing in glorious chorus with my totally ‘found’ trappings. not to mention my ANDREW GUENTHER clock – which can cozy up to any room, plain white walls, and all – being battery-run and total portable !!
read the article for yourself: it’s online !! / NYT-POP GOES VERONESE/HESTER DIAMOND !!
HESTER DIAMOND, in front of MOROTTO DA BRESCIA’S ‘VESTAL VIRGIN TUCCIA AS AN ALLEGORY OF CHASTITY’/PHOTO BY JASON SCHMIDT/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES
in HESTER DIAMOND’S HOME, MARCEL WANDERS’ MOROSA print sofas & a coffeee table by NICK DINE, sit beneath VERONESE’S ‘VENUS AND CUPID’/PHOTO BY JASON SCHMIDT/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES
URQUIOL’S B&B ITALIA CHAIRS and GHIBERTI and STUDIO’S ‘VIRGIN AND CHILD’ in the DIAMOND DINING ROOM/PHOTO BY JASON SCHMIDT/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES
back to looking for JIM WALROD !!! stay tuned !!
2:14 PM – OMG !! found the photos !! looking through shoeboxes of old 35 mm photos, is so fun. saw some really early pix of TAYLOR McKIMENS & even, JOE BRADLEY performing with CHEESEBURGER way back in 2002 – even a shot of JOHN HODANY and BRIAN BELOTT. should I put them up, . . . maybe !!
. . . but, back to the present !!
caught JIM WALROD, PETER COFFIN and CYNTHIA ROWLEY; as well as DAVID BYRNE, KEANU REEVES & TOM SACHS himself, at ‘NUTSY’S – the TOM SACHS mini-racing car installation at the BOHEN FOUNDATION, NOV 14, 2002-FEB 14, 2003. This Tom Sachs show was the inaugural exhibit for the foundation’s new home on 14th St., in the quote unquote “meatpacking district”, below 10th Ave, in what artworld denizens more commonly refer to as: Chelsea.
only, KEANU REEVES, DAVID BYRNE, and of course TOM SACHS, made the artnet cut !!
see: artnet FALL 2002
so, from the ARTLOVERS ARCHIVAL SHOEBOXES, some previously unseen photos:
read more about: TOM SACHS/NUTSY’S
TOM SACHS racing a remote-controlled car. The race track dominated the exhibit and there were actual formal contests, but anybody who visited could get their hands on a car & a hand held controller.
JIM WALROD, at TOM SACHS/NUTSY’S, BOHEN FOUNDATION, NYC. JAN 21, 2003
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
CYNTHIA ROWLEY
HERVE DESCOTTES, with his wife NATHALIE. at the time M. DESCOTTES was a lighting designer for FRANK GEHRY. maybe he still is, don’t know.
PETER COFFIN. TOM SACHS/NUTSY’S, BOHEN FOUNDATION, NYC. JAN 21, 2003
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
TOM SACHS/INSTALLATION SHOT/NUTSY’S, BOHEN FOUNDATION, NYC.
TOM SACHS/INSTALLATION SHOT/NUTSY’S
see the camera. there was also the sub-text of 24 hr. surveillance.
on the low-down: a lot of the nitty gritty downtown artists felt SACHS ripped off the JOSH HARRIS PSEUDO sponsored parties, esp QUIET, which he hung around a lot.. Rumor was he wanted to be in it, but Josh wouldn’t let !! of course, ALFREDO MARTINEZ, who was an assistant both to TOM SACHS and and JOSH, was the source for that, so its anybody’s guess as to the real truth – but, you know what they say, … no smoke without fire. definitely the performance part, (they had remote-controlled car races), the open to the public participation, on-site DJs. (no free running booze, though !!) the cameras, the rough and ready, raw ‘half-undoneness’ of the site – was undeniable influenced by Josh & QUIET.. as well, like with Josh, one could say of TOM SACHS, only as brilliant as their most current super-talented no-bucks no-name on-the-street artist hanger-ons and/or assistants !!
an in-house NUTSY camera crew member. paralleled on a very very small scale – the in-house artist & camera crew scene at QUIET.
the NUTSY in-house crew wore ‘homemade’ work uniforms, just like at QUIET.
a lot of cash was flashed, esp. by the go-fers, except here it was $5 dollar bills, at QUIET we were running around with $100’s !! if not $1,000’s.
the races !! were the best part. well, come on !! the small scale models of the city were the best !! they were great !! and, NOT influenced by JOSH HARRIS !!
one of the remote-controlled cars. reality scale ratio 1:25
the racers were not rigged, if you were good you had a chance. if you won, you got a hand-made TOM SACHS trophy, which looking back, if you didn’t toss it in disgust – might be worth more now, than the accompanying bag of cash, which looks impressive, but was only full of one’s. yeah, I checked. not more than $20 altogether !!
no big deal to a QUIET ex-patriot !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH – UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED !!
~HESTER DIAMOND/JIM WALROD/TOM SACHS !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 6th, 2009, 11:33am
PHOTO: STANLEY LUMAX, ATM GALLERY, NYC. NOV 21, 2008.
MIKE D, of the BEASTIE BOYS, at right, with artist, photographer, filmmaker, poet, book publisher, man-of-the-moment, and soccer player & snowboarder – PETER SUTHERLAND at the opening of PETER SUTHERLAND’S debut solo show, ‘BLAME IT ON THE DOG’, ATM GALLERY, (Nov 21, 2008 – Jan 10, 2009) – still up thru this Sat Jan 10, 2009 !!!
This wonderful wide angle photo was snapped by lensman/photographer STANLEY LUMAX, who happens to be a friend of Peter Sutherland’s, and luckily !! took some pix – at the opening !!
you can see Mr. Lumax’s wonderful photo portfolio on his website: STONEFACE PHOTOGRAPHY !!
STANLEY LUMAX at the PETER SUTHERLAND OPENING, ‘BLAME IT ON THE DOG’, ATM GALLERY,
NOV 21, 2008
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
NATALIE BERTAUX of ANOMALY COMMUNICATIONS and STANLEY LUMAX, STONEFACE PHOTOGRAPHY, at the PETER SUTHERLAND OPENING. ATM GALLERY, NYC, NOV 21, 2008
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
on a personal note: Peter’s opening was awesome, esp. in terms of all the talent, in the form of his wide circle of friends and professional acquaintances who dropped by, to wish him well. Peter, himself is a great great guy – kind of a big friendly and super talented, sensitive bear. A real live-wire talent-wise, he is a pretty quiet and very low-key kind of guy in person. BUT, for me the opening was a little nerve racking, so many young and already professionally, esp commercially – accomplished photographers and graphic designers in the room – !! – it was a little intimidating to break the ice – but more, they all asked to see the photo of themselves I had just snapped – which has got to be the highest form of critical pressure – the one from your peers !! – enough, to make any steel-nerved person with a camera pointed in someone’s face shiver !! but all his guests, were just as cool, as Peter himself: In fact, it was super cool – when they all said, individually, – “nice photo”. It sort of made the art world paparazzi job worthwhile – at least, for the momento !!
p.s. PETER SUTHERLAND contacted us recently, via his “mobile hand held device” – his blackberry – he said, he is away – snowboarding UTAH !!
~MIKE D/PETER SUTHERLAND |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 6th, 2009, 10:37am
last week to catch !!
PETER SUTHERLAND – ‘BLAME IT ON THE DOG’ !!
NOV 21, 2008 thru SATURDAY, JAN 10, 2009
ATM – 621 W. 27 ST – CHELSEA – NEW YORK CITY
note: the gallery will be open FRIDAY & SATURDAY/JAN 2 & 3, 2009
PIX FROM THE OPENING – NOV 21, 2008
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘BLAME IT ON THE DOG’ – OPENING NIGHT – ATM GALLERY.
DONALD EUBANK greets PETER SUTHERLAND.
Donald Eubank is a staff writer for THE JAPAN TIMES/ONLINE – with a focus a on contemporary art.
EVE LYONS and RAPHAEL RIOS with Peter Sutherland.
ANDREW RUNKLE shows us a copy of the limited edition book, (100 copies), also titled ‘Blame It On The Dog’ – that Seems Books published for Peter Sutherland – on the occasion of the ATM exhibit.
Andrew Runkle is a producer for MOTHERLAND.US – an animation and motion graphics firm.
see: MOTHERLAND.US
of note: ANDREW RUNKLE was the producer on the animated MOTHERLAND.US project – ‘Smallville: Justice and Doom’ Episodes. see: SMALLVILLE/MOTHERLAND.US
ATM artist – ERIC SAL drops by.
editorial photographer BEN COLLIER, who exhibited his BEJING photos, this past summer at ATM.
Behind him, PETER SUTHERLAND photos – ‘BLAME IT ON THE DOG’.
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Diamond Patch’, C-Print, 20 x 24 in., 2008. edition of 5. ($1,400).
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Metal Memorial’, 2008. C-Print, 20 x 24 in.
detail, PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Metal Memorial’.
STANLEY LUMAX in front of ‘Rugged #1’ – one of 2 custom designed rugs produced by PETER SUTHERLAND, specifically for this show. Each is is 4 x 6 ft. and each is unique. ($3,200).
NATALIE BERTAUX of ANOMALY COMMUNICATIONS, and photographer STANLEY LUMAX.
see: STANLEY LUMAX PHOTOGRAPHY/STONEFACE PHOTOGRAPHY
PETER SUTHERLAND with his other Rug – in the show !!
‘Rugged 2’, 2008. Rug. 4 x 6 ft., custom design. unique. ($3,200)
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Rugged 2’ – !!
detail, PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Rugged 2’.
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Witness the World’s Biggest Campfire’, 2008. C-Print.
ANDREW SUTHERLAND, Peter’s brother.
ANDREW SUTHERLAND, BLAIN HOWARD, and JASON MITCHELL.
BLAIN HOWARD works with BENDER/HELPER IMPACT – PUBLIC RELATIONS, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS.
see: BENDER/HELPER IMPACT
independent curator TAKA KAWACHI, JESSE MILLER and PETER SUTHERLAND.
JESSE MILLER is the bassist for the band: LOTUS.
see: JESSE MILLER/CINCY GROOVE INTERVIEW
check out & sample music: LOTUS/official website
PETER SUTHERLAND greets photographer NICHOLAS HAGGARD
see: NICHOLAS HAGGARD PORTFOLIO
detail, PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Crusty Homies’, 2008. C-Print
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Crusty Homies’, 2008. C-Print. 16 x 20 in. edition of 6. ($1,000)
center, in red shirt, JUSTIN FINES.
NYC-based art director and designer JUSTIN FINES runs: DEMO DESIGN CO.
definite, check out: JUSTIN FINES/DEMO !!
g-r-e-a-t animated logo !!
NYC-based graphic designer and art director: NATHAN NEDOROSTEK.
Mr. Nedorostek is the co-author, (with Anthony Pappalardo) of ‘RADIO SILENCE: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music’.
see: NATHAN NEDOROSTEK
SUE LEE of EBELING GROUP and NATHAN NEDOROSTEK.
JOSH PORTER of NIKE MARKETING
PETER SUTHERLAND, MEMORY CARD, C-Print with text. 2008. 16 x 24.5 in. unique. ($1,500)
lucky for ATM gallery-goers, there were a small series of ‘Memory Cards’ in the back room.
Striking photos paired with scrawled almost illegible handscript – these pieces rewarded viewers’ patience – with insight into this artist’s formative – soul – truthfully – that’s the best word. Like the best documentary photographers, and I guess, art photographers – PETER SUTHERLAND’S work springs from a deep well of sensitive observation, since early childhood – to the world unfolding around him.
Often with dark resonances. It’s this combination of narrative and darkly lyrical insight – that makes his work so singular, and so compelling.
detail, PETER SUTHERLAND ‘MEMORY CARD’. 2008, 16 x 24.5 in. unique. ($2,000)
this narrative was about growing up. it would seem ideal to have grown up in a close-knit artistic family that had a tree-house in the rural yard …
but this memory is of a family cat that meet with an accident that made green slim ooze out of his ear and gave its young author – nightmares – and informed a dark side – that seems to have been in place since early childhood …
likewise, another MEMORY CARD, a little further on in his life – is about a bad mushroom trip while trying to impress a high school hottie named Cinnamon, who had a nose-ring, and almost dying – in a blizzard. a classic snowboard loser.
It was really interesting to go back through the photo exhibit – after immersion in these tense biographical foragings.
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘I Took This Photo, Then Let It Fly Away.’ 2008. C-Print.
detail, PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘I Took This Photo, Then Let It Fly Away.’
ATM’S BILL BRADY in the 2nd exhibit of his new space.
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘BLAME IT ON THE DOG’, NOV 21 2008 – Jan 10, 2009.
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Dog Says: “Take a Vacation'”. 2008. C-Print.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
also, see: PETER SUTHERLAND/ATM/MIAMI DEC 2008 !!
see: PETER SUTHERLAND’S WEBSITE !!
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘Snuggle Brothers’, 2008, C-Print, 16 x 20 in./IMAGE COURTESY: PETER SUTHERLAND WEBSITE
also in the ATM exhibit. edition of 6 ($1,000)
UP-DATE: SAT JAN 3, 2009
PETER SUTHERLAND’S show also received a nice up-beat review by ROBERTA SMITH in the NEW YORK TIMES, yesterday, FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2009. ART IN REVIEW SECTION.
It is mostly a descriptive review, and ends with this assessment:
“Mr. Sutherland is something of a multitasker. In addition to writing rather well (in the show’s small catalog), he is also a filmmaker. Whatever he does seems to celebrate the potential for inspiration in even the most pedestrian and barren facts of American life. Every instant is a possible image; every image a likely story.”
~PETER SUTHERLAND/OPENING PIX |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 1st, 2009, 10:52am
