~ALFREDO MARTINEZ GIVES ‘ARTIST’ TALK/TO-NITE !!
‘ALFREDO MARTINEZ: NEW WORK AFTER CHINA’ / FEB 24 – APRIL 9, 2011
CURATED BY – SAMUEL W. KHO
OPENING RECEPTION: 7-9 PM, THURSDAY, FEB 24, 2011
ALLTHINGSPROJECT @ NCGV/NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCH OF GREENWICH VILLAGE
269 BLEEKER ST – bet 6th & 7th AVE – NEW YORK CITY, NY
note: PLEASE CALL FOR GALLERY HOURS – or – TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
1-626-757-5600 / 1-212-691-1770
ALFREDO MARTINEZ will be giving an ‘artist’ talk – at the opening reception to-nite – FEB 24, 2011 – scheduled to begin at 8 PM !!
with LIVE MUSIC by – HELIOTROPES at 8:30 PM – SUGGESTED ADMISSION: $5.
‘ALFREDO MARTINEZ: NEW WORK AFTER CHINA’ – is “the first exhibition of Allthingsproject in 2011, the third year of exhibitions organized by curator SAMUEL KHO. The curatorial appointment is made possible by a generous grant from the Mustard Seed Foundation, matched by individual gifts. Allthingsproject and its gallery are part of the Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village (NCGV), a house of worship that unabashedly supports cutting-edge visual practices, thoughtful lectures, as well as music and spoken word performances.”
more info at: allthingsproject.wordpress.com and ncgv.net
“He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares . . . Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Book of Isaiah 2:4)
“Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.'” (Book of Joel 3:10)
Allthingsproject is “pleased to present a solo exhibition with ALFREDO MARTINEZ, the first after his three-year experience in China. Martinez was missing the ol’ “True Grit” of New York City, and so he went to work overseas.He brought back homey tales, such as of donkeys carrying coal in Beijing streets, but he also barley escaped, after three weeks of harrowing detainment by their secret police. His friends include those in the highest levels of China’s cultural elite; but true to form, his recent travails supersede his previous, news-making incarceration for forging Basquaits.”
tell me about !!
ALFREDO MARTINEZ just barely escapes with his life – from secret detention in CHINA – and arrives safely back home – to the sanctuary of the new JOSH HARRIS headquarters – in WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN – where he savors the comfort & laughs of his first NEW YORK POST – in a long long time !!
ALFREDO MARTINEZ – or – THE BIG BEAR – as some of his friends like to call him – looking like a puppy – glad to be home – after months in secret detention in China.
he has JOSH HARRIS (L) to thank for – for tracking him down, and getting him out – with the help of the well-connected Canadian arts writer BYRON HAWES – who is stationed in CHINA . . .
these photos were taken at Josh’s loft in Williamsburg – less than 24 hrs after Alfredo was unceremoniously deported – and sent home on a one-way QATAR AIRWAYS flight.
you’ll note: Alfredo is still wearing his QATAR flight pouch !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. JOSH HARRIS LOFT/WILLIAMSURG, NY. AUGUST 15, 2010
read more: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS ALFREDO ?/artloversnewyork
read more: ALFREDO/LOST & FOUND !!/artloversnewyork
so, people are asking me – why did ALFREDO GET IMPRISIONED In CHINA ?
well the first thought – that comes to mind – is: how did a convicted felon ever get to China in the first place. never mind the gun skills. (and the authority issues !! ha.) Alfredo served 2 years for FELONY FRAUD regarding that BASQUIAT CAPER, which, yes is all too real – and, as one wag expressed at the trial – “he makes some preety damn good Basquiates !!”. . .
(he also claims to have some ‘KEITH HARINGS’, floating about – out there in the secondary art market . . .)
second: he was no longer living with the NYC artist collective that had sponsored him but was haunting a Beijing Internet cafe – much like he does now – when he is in NYC – and “squatting at a friend’s countryside hut that he calls ‘my little TED KACZYNSKI (aka the unabomber !!) setup” . . . as reported in no less than a NEW YORK TIMES article by DAN LEVIN on ex-pat artists in China !! (published & posted the net – JAN 8, 2010.)
does that help ?
if not, how about this classic little Alfredo chestnut – from the same article: “One Afternoon in August 2007 the Beijing police burst into Alfredo Martinez’s hotel room, which was filled with drawings of guns and bombs, and demanded to know if he was a terrorist. The maid had found the sketches, which looked very much like blueprints, and the hotel alerted the authorities.
Mr. Martinez, a 6-foot-2-inch, 300 pound Brooklyn native, stood his ground. “You idiots,” he said, “I’m an arrtists. Either arrest me or get out”. The men in uniform left (that time !!) , but Mr. Martinez, 43. did not.”
see: FOR EXPATRIATES IN CHINA, CREATIVE LIVES of PLENTY- by DAN LEVIN. NEW YORK TIMES/JAN 8, 2010 !!
the article was accompanied by a couple of pix:
ALFREDO MARTINEZ – DRAWING in CHINA.
PHOTO BY: MIKE MATTILA/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES
PHOTO BY: MARC HUNGERBUHLER/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES
this one was accompanied by the following succinct caption – a quote by Mr. Martinez:
“In China there’s a certain kind of lawlessness,” he said, fingering the barrel of a mock assaultrifle he built from parts bought at Beijing feal markets.” “The whole countrys on the hustle. It’s like New York in the 70’s. I fit in here.”
yep – and no wonder you almost didn’t make it – alive – to tell the tale !!
and, if you still haven’t got the picture – here’s a few pix – of ALFREDO in CHINA – & – the guns he was building . . . and drawing !!
PHOTO COURTESY: ALFREDO MARTINEZ
PHOTO COURTESY: ALFREDO MARTINEZ
yep, ALFREDO is giving an ‘artist’ talk -to-nite !! – don’t know nobody who can talk the talk – and walk the walk – better than he !!
amen.