~DAN ASHER !! . . . sez GLENN O’BRIEN
and the GHOSTS OF NEW YORK CITY – PAST.
from left: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER and NANCY SMITH. in NYC, circa 1984.
PHOTO BY: SHELDON MOSKOVICI
of course the other required beach read this summer – was the GLENN O’BRIEN interview – posted June 22, 2011 – on artinfo !!
in it he refers twice to DAN ASHER – a recent member of the DEAD ARTISTS CLUB . . . and a dear friend of mine and Simon’s . . . in which he, GLENN O’BRIEN that is, says: “I think humor in fine art is increasingly important, as the world is increasingly absurd. The jokes are more cosmic. . . Funny is the new serious.”
to which I say: right on, dude.
to the question, ‘What’s the weirdest thing you ever saw happen in a museum or gallery ?’ – he responds:
“I saw Dan Asher threatening to rip a work off the wall at Leo Castelli.” (!!)
to the question, ‘What under-appreciated artist, gallery or work do you think people should know about?’ – the answer is:
“The late Dan Asher. Non-Chinese artists.” (!!)
amen.
see: 26 Questions for Writer Glenn O’Brien/artinfo
watch: DAN ASHER sings KAREN DALTON’S every time I think of freedom !!
watch: DAN ASHER: NEAR LIFE EXPERIENCE – THE OPENING SEQUENCE to STEPHANIE SCHWAM’S DOCUMENTARY on DAN ASHER . . .
it’s interesting to note that this youTube offering – was posted by Dan, himself – on MARCH 11, 2010 !!
included in the footage – are wonderful shots of his diverse body of work, including his amazing and most pre-sentient iceberg photographs, his intense scribbly drawings, and of course – the way wild oil stick paintings !!
you also get to see a relaxed ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST riff on Dan . . . including a priceless voice-over, in a heavy female European accent – that sounds like ANNINA NOSEI saying: ” . . . if it weren’t for the presence of BASQUIAT and his own personality (!!) – DAN ASHER would have been the artist of the 80s !!”. . .
. . and yes indeedy, Anthony Haden-Guest says: “sad to say, but of course the minute he dies – he’s gonna become a great artist.” !!
hey man, famous last words, or what ??!!
that’s JEAN MICHEL (BASQUIAT) aka SAMO on the left, being interviewed by a super cute (and unintentionally funny) young GLENN O’BRIEN – on the right !!
watch: JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (SAMO) on TV PARTY – with GLENN O’BRIEN in 1979 !!
GHOSTING – PRICELESS !! – oh, yeah.
so, I hear Glenn holds a steamin’ mad grudge against me ?
I don’t know why – since it was me who showed this clip a few years back – and let a whole new generation know what a cool – smart – and cute !! – dude he was. unless it was when I reported his fall from grace at INTERVIEW. hey man, just the messenger, not the shooter. you’re way better off now anyways. and its not my fault – if I’m too damn smart and on cue – for your old boys club !! but, you the man.
bye the way, Simon and I were always jealous to know that Glenn scored some early big Jean Michel canvases, back in the day. but guess what, Simon has over 30 Dan Ashers !! – and some of them are canvas sized. so there.
eat your heart out, losers. the only art selling in this town – is dead men.
SIMON CERIGO – COLLAGE ON NEWSPAPER, 1984. mixed media with little toy airplanes. including the archival photo of himself, Dan Asher, and me, Nancy Smith.
hello, Ray Johnson.
better off dead, than alive – what the hell ? – the NYC art world – Summer of 2011.