~Bro Bro Bromirski . . .
pix from the one night pop-up show of: MARTIN BROMIRSKI – & – I MEET HIS BEST BUDDIES – or –
FILE UNDER: Crack meets the BROS OF BRO BRO BROMIRSKI !!
fellow art blogger and artist, therefore Bro – MARTIN BROMIRSKI – put up a one-night stand show of his small paintings at a friend’s loft in Buswick, this past Fri Oct 1, 2010 . . . .
Martin Bromirski is know for posting – anaba/social sculpture – and is even more infamous for posting a site whose name cannot be mentioned – though even his friends agree – it’s the worst kept secret in the art world !!
the evening took place at his friend JAMISON BROSSEAU’S loft – a nice big empty room with spare walls. in Bushwick. on a strangely serenely stylized gentrifying street, with obviously forward thinking aims – to incorporate & glorify the rust . . . as opposed the more plastic and juvenile development – that took hold in Williamsburg. in a raw studio floor that was once clearly – an old hardcore warehouse – in the midst of the newer storefronts, including a way forward – hostel and even, an upscale gym across the street.
the paintings were small, I’d say scale was an issue – and today it is. unless you have a huge gallery like GoGo – (Gagosian) fronting you major dough. but the sharp rectangular shape – helped them take on a life beyond the canvas, and the dimensions. instead of being surrounded by the abstract expression – it was like you were looking through a narrow mail-slot slit – out of reality – and into the fantasy world of Mr. Bromirski’s making. you know, almost like the dialog between box-size TV’s and the newer letter-format wafer thin screens.
looking at the paintings – it was funny to contemplate that Mr. Bromirski paints, blogs, photographs and apparently is 24/7 hungry for anything art world – and, works a day job – on a farm upstate.
the crowd he drew – was pretty entertaining, full of vim, vigor & wit.
MICHAEL SMITH, a long time friend of Bromirski’s, from his Virginia Community University (sculpture dept ?) days – regaled me with tales of when he first moved to NYC – and worked for an artist handler trucking firm and among his very first runs – he found himself face-to-face with Julian Schnabel – in both his West Village abode and in Montauk., ca. 2002. He was apparently pretty spooked and that in turn spooked Julian – who preferred the casual unknowingness – of the Mexican workers !! who he bonded with over pizza. while his assistant told Michael – “you gotta relax man, you’re making Julian nervous”.
also friends of the Bro – since the Virginia days – sculptors SAM HAYES, left, and the playful, maybe . . . KAI VIERSTRA on the right. it’s at KAI VIERSTRA and MERIDITH PINGREE’S place that Martin crashes, when he hits the island.
artist MERIDITH PINGREE.
p.s. thanks to Meridith for pointing out that artlovers doesn’t know left from, right !!
and, most def: check out Meridith’s work – here !!
also on hand, independent curator JON LUTZ who ‘writes’ the Daily Operation . . .
the evening’s host – painter JAMISON BROSSEAU – who opens up his large empty living room – as a one-night exhibition space to selected friends and guests – on a regular Friday night basis.
down a narrow hallway – is the door to Mr. Jamison’s own studio – his ‘carved-out’ 3D painted shapes on the door – signifying something serious, is afoot with the evening’s host – too . . .
yikes, I love it. all.
the small rectangular canvas at the top – is Martin’s.
graphic spiders – that look just like the only-from-a-sky-high orbiting digital camera – in the mountain tops of South America – that fascinate me and History channel – to no end.
and squarish ‘cubist’ paintings – arrayed in quilt format – no less – that speak to code and pictograms, and early creative impulse. eerie color palette. count me – in !! . . .
and amidst this creative jungle of sophisticated primitive telling – an intensely animated cabal – that looked to be – at first guess – writers . . or poets.
and yes. right on. apparently they are the core group of another one night-stand loft space, also in Bushwick – but, dedicated to the people of the letters. and the word. a place, event ? called the Writer’s Workshop – was as far as I got this night. but most def want to follow-up . . .
if my way too brief conversation with BEN GOCKER, left, and CODY PETTERSON, right – is an indication – this is most def – not !! – your seedy NYC Bowery poetry group !!
they were way smart . . .
and way funny – I would even venture to say Cody Petterson – from the first impression – is way wicked sharp right-on cutting edge funny smart – he immediately sized-up this very blogger quilt lover – asso going against the grain of her Ashkenazi roots – he cracked me up !! and then, when the two of them, Ben Gocker, extremely charming and quick, too – and Cody Petterson told me – they represented the IOWA contingent of the Martin Bromirski – brotherhood of serious art world lovin’ bros – and started to regal me with tales – of the huge ole farmstead auctions they had grown-up around – with their never-ending store of secondhand quilts – I just couldn’t take it anymore – my mind short-circuited – oh to get there to Iowa, and 10 years ago at least – and I had to say good bye – with a promise staked in my heart – to look them up – again !!
all around, nice night, bro Bromirski !!
PHOTOS COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH