‘GOOD TIME’
opening FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 / 6-9 PM
the show runs till JULY 27, 2012 (BY APPOINTMENT – so yo !! – make the opening !!)
Mr. Fine Art (dig that name, or what !!)
105 BOWERY, 3rd FLOOR – LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
featuring works by:
BAS JAN ADER, SAM ANDERSON, JERRY BLACKMAN, CHRISTINE, BRIAN FAUCETTE, KENNY KOMER, DANIEL LANDRY, TESS RAFAEL, BORIS RASIN, LAUREN SEIDEN & RYAN SOBOTKA.
p.s. speaking about OLD PEOPLE having fun, see the illustration above, ha !! and, no, not the show’s artists – which look to be ALL new generation, and only old if you are like 15 !!
. . . you’ve got to wonder if OLD PEOPLE terrorizing an entire art scene . . . are having fun ?
or do they still got to beat you with that big stick – to feel like they are alive and kicking ?
I mean it’s pretty sad when it happens in your own family, that throwback power tripper. but to a whole scene. it’s so “unreasonable”. it’s so old school. it’s so unsustainable and it’s so NOT the way of the new world. or art.
one hopes.
whatever happened to graciousness, generosity with a big G, and that ultimate point setter: style.
LA MOCA – what a joke. the news – only worse and getting worser.
well, maybe that’s the way – the new wave comes crashing in – so red rover red rover let the new people come over.
the art world did not begin, or end with the 80s. ELI BROAD COLLECTION aside. it’s really not that remarkable to call the big ones, it’s calling the overlooked ones !! that really counts.
okay I’m gonna lay it on the line.
ok he has twenty something CINDY SHERMANS and twenty something JEFF KOONS – but does he have even one DAN ASHER, no he does not.
that’s it, end of argument.
still don’t get it ?
anybody talking about the latest show up at LA MOCA ? anybody even know the last show to make waves at LA MOCA. there ya go. you got your answer. NO.
the first street art show, LA MOCA circa JEFFREY DEITCH – – was a blast, but since then ?
when you read in the fashion style sections that even a fashion designer like ALBER ELBAZ is quoted as saying: “it’s all about the curators now – not the art”. you know it’s time to re-think the equation.
but in NEW YORK CITY, it’s still all about – the art.
the massing army in Brooklyn, the dead author round the corner.
LA gonna beat NYC – not in this lifetime.
~it’s a GOOD TIME in NYC . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 13th, 2012, 1:22pm
it might be SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE and DEMENTED IN LA (!!) – BUT IT’S STREET FOOD CARTS and huge happy festive summer crowds – all the way !!
in NEW YORK CITY !!
in the baking big apple – its still – all about the art.
last night’s openings in Chelsea were no exception. in fact the crowd outside the 100+ artist group show at NANCY MARGOLIS GALLERY on W25th St – was so packed, the whole street overflowed and there was absolutely no getting in. just some of that huge local NEW YORK CITY talent – bursting at the seams, ready to take over . . . go NEW YORK CITY.
‘PERMANENT COLLECTION’ – curated by EDWARD del ROSARIO and JORDIN ISIP
NANCY MARGOLIS GALLERY – 523 W.25 – CHELSEA, NYC.
JULY 12 – AUGUST 14, 2012
over 100 artists creating work inspired by the MoMA/MUSUEM OF MODERN ART PERMANENT COLLECTION – all on a scale of 9 x 12 ins.
here’s 2 of our favs – from the gallery website.
artwork by GREGORY BENTON / ‘PERMANENT COLLECTION’ – NANCY MARGOLIS
artwork by POLLY BECKER / ‘PERMANENT COLLECTION’ – NANCY MARGOLIS
~food carts and street throngs . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 13th, 2012, 1:04pm
or: ok. so, if you really go back in time, you can blame the whole MOCA mess – on JEFF !!
JEFF KOONS.
(just joking, dudes, calm down !!)
omg, don’t get it ? JEFFREY DEITCH + JEFF KOONS = ELI BROAD.
priceless.
JEFF KOONS with the legendary ILEANA SONNABEND, at one of his many shows at her gallery. NYC, NOVEMBER 9, 2002
PHOTO & COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
JEFF KOONS opens ‘POPEYE’ – at SONNABEND, NYC. NOVEMBER 8, 2003.
PHOTO & COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
~JEFF KOONS – a look back . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 9th, 2012, 8:19am
BREAKING NEWS: the buzz about LA MOCA is so bad, the keyword most used to describe it is: “cratering”.
FILE UNDER: the unspoken truth behind the LA MOCA MESS, and it’s not just JEFFREY DEITCH.
what everybody else down there is afraid to say (out loud !!) – but surely knows, is that the man whose last big project was an ‘accelerated’ self-penned book about himself, entitled: “THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE” – a title that would be funny coming from him in his prime – he was notoriously tough in his leveraging skills – is now throwing the scene into even greater chaos – in his swan song. (hey, it happens to us all).
how do you say it nicely: you don’t, and that’s why nobody is saying it. out of sheer respect – which the guy deserves a thousand-fold over – and I guess down in LA, money ties might make it a . . . delicate subject.
a kingpin falling is a sight to see – but it’s a big problem when the whole city has all of its cultural eggs – in his ONE basket.
ELI BROAD at his MAY 6, 2012 booksigning for the launch of ‘THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE’ at 92Y – this past Spring in New York City.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
HOW DO I KNOW ?
I didn’t state it outright – the first time I covered the event – BUT then, I hadn’t read much NORA EPHRON !!
so blame it on NORA’s recent DEATH – but this story is MINE. cruel as it might be – I hope Nora’s smiling down and if you don’t see me at the next opening – call the cops.
I mean he already had the art word by its throat, and everybody knows it, “lending one person museums”, ha. and he was proud of it. so when the person whose holding the 6 million in matching funds, falters, it’s obviously a big big wipe-out.
as NORA says:
“I can’t get over this aspect of journalism. I can’t believe how real life never lets you down. I can’t understand why anyone would write fiction when what happens is so amazing.”
so, here’s the story that I, as Nora would say: own.
I covered that booksigning. I went in awe – when everybody else was at that PETER BRANT party in the country including Jeffrey Deitch. I drunk in every word Mr. Broad said, and never took my eyes off the guy. he was my BILL (CLINTON). I got a great photo of his beautiful wife EDYE with the close associate who sat beside her – and who posed with her – almost as if she was a daughter, an insider for sure. and that would be the well-known curator, NORA HALPERN.
NORA NORA NORA !!
only thing is when NORA stood in line to get the 5 or 6 ‘Unreasonable’ books she had tucked under her arm to be signed, Mr. Broad did not recognize her – out of context.
and when she said, very embarrassed, yet kindly . . “it’s me, NORA” – he said: how do you spell that ?
oh to be a fly on a wall, if not just – a pesky ‘see all – say nothing’ paparazzi.
and then Nora cut her losses and went back to join Edye on the couch, and Eli re-joined the gang and life rolls on, but things must be crazy Shakespearean – down in good ole LA.
the BREAKING NEWS ?:
with thanks to JOSH HARRIS, who took a brief time-out from his 24-7 VEGAS poker game to send this over-nite link – to CULTUREGRRL. Josh titled his heads-up of how bad things really were: “wow, this lady really works him over !!” – meaning DEITCH !!
YEP, hit this: ‘HEAR US NOW: CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, ROBERT STORR & ME’ . . . CULTUREGRRL aka LEE ROSENBAUM: on the LA MOCA ‘MESS’ – a local radio interview with LA TIMES CRITIC CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, ROBERT STORR, former MOMA chief curator and current Dean of Yale University’s School of Art and Ms. ROSENBAUM herself – posted JULY 5, 2012.
and she’s still at it: CULTUREGRRL – HOME PAGE/JULY 7, 2012
also, see: the original artlovers post – ELI BROAD BOOKSIGNING at 92Y – MAY 6, 2012.
CURATOR NORA HALPERN, left, with EDYE BROAD, Mr. BROAD’S wife – at the ELI BROAD ‘THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE’ BOOKSIGNING, 92Y, NYC. MAY 6, 2012.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS, MONDAY MORNING – JULY 9, 2012:
well I was feeling guilty all weekend about being so mean to someone who blew so much of their mind and money on the art world – and who is still 100 times smarter than most of us, even if he is coming undone, organically.
a couple of marbles rolling away, here and there.
but everyone I spoke to, o.k. Simon (!!), told me the guy was a real . . . how does one say this, ballbreaker – so, it was okay funny justice to have a small, but sharp – blog arrow – slung at him from such a lowly art site as this !!
hey, if you don’t like heat – stay outta the art kitchen. art 101.
case in point:
The big upcoming Whitney-generated JEFF KOONS retrospective – a huge festive blow-out gala to mark the end of the WHITNEY tenure in their historic uptown location – will OPEN (!!) get this: “in JANUARY 2014 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, (MOCA LA), then in June (6 months later !!) it will go to the Whitney before traveling to the Pompidou Center in Paris.” – CAROL VOGEL, NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 10, 2012.
it don’t take too much reading between the lines – to see what they all mean by what a cocksucker of a bargainer ELI BROAD is. dependent on him most likely for KOONS work loans, and huge exhibition support aka dough ($$) – the big New City shoe, I mean SHOW !! – gets major pre-empted, it’s like being . . . friggin’ cut at the knees – by having the opening !! and the first 6 months !! of the show – debut at MOCA.
if that’s not a Broad touch, I don’t know what else it could be . . . but I bet it’s a mighty, mighty bitter pill to have to swallow – down here in NYC.
there you go . . . . ‘THE ART OF BEING UNREASONABLE’ – in a nutshell.
yes – see !! and pay attention to the bit about huge exhibition fabrication expenses: JEFF KOONS RETROSPECTIVE at WHITNEY – CAROL VOGEL, NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 10, 2012
makes feel glad – I don’t have to suck up to anybody for content . . . or dough.
I couldn’t handle that kind of ‘swallow it and sing a little song’ beat-down. I guess maybe that’s why, I’m still – just a fly on the wall. cause that’s probably what it takes to be a major player.
SO, FILE UNDER: SUCKING IT UP. oops, I mean . . . . HOOVERING !! IT UP !!
and don’t get me wrong – I love Jeff’s work. hanging two ton train engines aside.
the retrospective’s sure to be dyn-o-mite – it’s just re: collections. come on, guys. red rover red rover, let someone else come over !!
‘HOOVER CELEBRITY III’ – a 1988 (!!) vacuum cleaner assemblage by JEFF KOONS.
PHOTO: JEFF KOONS c/o NEW YORK TIMES
and p.s. the big connect btwn ELI BROAD and JEFFREY DEITCH ???
JEFF KOONS.
it’s street legend that Jeffrey Deitch’s big claim to fame, early on in the 80’s – was discovering and advocating for JEFF KOONS, when Koons first began showing at the small trend-setting INTERNATIONAL WITH MONUMENT. the assumption is, it was DEITCH who was able to find, and then front the big money that enabled Koons to fabricate his larger pieces.
through the late 80s and early 90s – it was JEFFREY DEITCH, in co-operation with SONNABEND – who sold and placed Jeff’s work – in key collections.
case in point: the MICHAEL JACKSON with the CHIMP limited edition (of 3 ?) – at the time the most expensive piece of art by a young living contemporary artist, going for something like . . . half a million dollars.
when JEFFREY meet JEFF – it was art history in the making, at its best.
20, 30 !! years later – it’s funnie to see, how things – play out !! LA – OLA !!
~ELI BROAD is losing his marbles – and MOCA . . . is tripping |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 6th, 2012, 7:26am
GOWANUS BALLROOM presents: To The Stars on the Wings of an Eel / JUNE 29 – JULY 7, 2012
see: GOWANUS BALLROOM for directions & hours
this BIG BLAST HOT FURNANCE . . . . week-long show and nights of band parties is curated by:
SERBAN IONESCU, ETHAN SPIGLAND, GEORGE SFERRA and JOSH YOUNG.
JOSH YOUNG is the owner of SERETT METAL WORKS & the host of the week-long alternative event.
the long list of featured artists is on the website, but watch out for: SWOON, DUKE RILEY, RAY SMITH, JONAH EMERSON-BELL & RAINGER PINNEY, as well as the work of the curators, some of whom are also exhibiting.
“JOIN US AS war machines are deployed against a staid art world, subjective submarines plumb the murky depths of urban history, eels are charmed by the Siren of Gowanus, and Sleeping Beauty is finally awakened by the sound of a thousand falling pianos.”
there is a big bash coming up this FRI – JULY 6, 2012 / 7 PM – 3 AM / $10 after 9 PM
and again on SAT JULY 7, 2012 / 3 PM – 3 AM / $10 after 9 PM – which looks to be the BIG (!!) closing par-tay !!
check the site for the list of bands / performances.
PAR-TAY ON !! BROOKLYN !! TEAR DOWN THOSE OLE WHITE BOX C-ELLINGS, I MEAN, CEILINGS !!
and ROCK THIS CITY, GOOD.
~GOWANUS, also rises . . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 4th, 2012, 8:46am
STO is THROWING an old-timey hardcore POTLUCK BBQ – TO-NITE !!
TUES JULY 3, 2012 at SECRET PROJECT ROBOT – 389 MELROSE – WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN.
the BACKYARD GRILL goes aflame at 7 PM – SO – BRING SOME FOOD TO SHARE !!
IT’LL be a HOT TIME, TO-NITE. ALL WELCOME.
the MUSIC starts at about 8:30 – 9 PM – ish.
BIG BUGS and JEEPNEYS – are on TOUR from CALIFORNIA – so come out & support real live band – music !!
PERFORMANCES BY:
RAFT
Pat Noecker’s (ex These Are Powers) lush looping sound floatation device
check: RAFT is PAT NOECKER
TETRYL RED
Sto n heidi bring the soul cart noise with special guest Mike Colin on drums n Noah Murphy on turntables
check: TETRYL RED on soundcloud
JEEPNEYS – on tour from CALIFORNIA
Exxxtraterrestrial dance jams for the Animal Quenndom
check: jeepneysjeepneys
BIG BUGS – on tour from LA
Stripped down tropical electronix-like a futuristic beachy shaggs armed with drum machines and synths
check: big bugs at bandcamp
~STO’S HARDCORE BKLYN BBQ – TO-NITE !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 3rd, 2012, 12:03pm
from the 6 yr old, cute as homemade cheery pie – Hushpuppy of BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD – the quintessential under-educated but dreamy-wise day-to-day tough survival artist & futurist of the Louisiana backwater bathtub – who hears the voices of her dead mother and of all living animals (!!) by holding their bodies to her ear like a telephone, and who sees the icebergs cracking up and crashing down in her dreams – by the power of the web – we move onto the recently deceased essayist, novelist, screenwriter and film director – in short, a strong but endearing female voice of another generation, and a voice of another definitive American immigration group – just past: NORA EPHRON, the quintessential wise-cracking New Yorker and Jew, some would say, a dying breed – of literary, including film – fame.
She died last Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at age 71.
not quite hard-core enough for me – but yeah I liked the film Julia and Julia (!!) – I was lucky enough to be spanked by God for the under-whelmed toss-off, in that I found myself a captive audience in the backseat of a silver toned Audi sedan sleekly racing upstate, for a Catskills getaway weekend, this past Fri – and NPR was on the dial. do not touch that dial.
as a wonderful homage to Nora, and all her accomplishments, dished up in a funny new age yiddisha mindset, a street-savvy wisdom born from personal experience – day-to-day survival in the over-educated, soulless, and way pampered big city (!!) – NPR played a re-run of an interview – on AGING (!!) done with NORA way back in 2006 – when she was 65.
subtitled: What I Wish I’D KNOWN – it hit home, was funny, and wise. she has a wonderful gentle speaking voice – but I guess esp for her generation, which is not quite as mean as ours, blame it on the web (!!) – it had its bite, no doubt.
case in point:
NEVER MARRY A MAN YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO BE DIVORCED FROM – check !!!!!!!!!!!
you can hear the interview:NPR – NORA EPHRON – Sept 5, 2006 – she’s 65.
and get the background: NPR – BOOKS – 2nd post down
the interview came out – I guess upon the publication of her book of essays on aging: ‘I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK’ – ‘AND OTHER THOUGHTS ON BEING A WOMAN’ – ALFRED A. KNOPF, NEW YORK 2006. and yes she riffed on her real HEARTBURN disaster of a second marriage – so yes, my ears pricked up.
and, score !!
I managed to get my hands on that very same book – a hardly used hardback from my local library – and yep !! – now I want to read all her stuff.
sample:
from the chapter: The Story of My Life in 3,500 Words or Less
subtitle: Everything is copy
Page 105: “I’m seven months pregnant with my second child, and I’ve just discovered that my second husband is in love with someone else. She too is married. Her husband telephones me. He’s the British ambassador to the United States. I’m not kidding.”
and, she wasn’t.
the second husband in question ? non-other than: CARL BERNSTEIN.
CARL BERNSTEIN and NORA EPHRON, FEB 22, 1978. FILE PHOTO: AP PHOTO BY RICHARD DREW. c/o ABIGAIL POGREBIN/LITCHFIELD COUNTY NEWS
if you want to read more, this is a great remembrance:
which one of you married the gentile ? – “NORA EPHRON grew up in BEVERLY HILLS with colorful parents and a Christmas tree . . . ” (!!)
so yes – check out: ABIGAIL POGREBIN – NORA EPHRON, WARM & UTTERLY JEWISH / THE JEWISH DAILY FORWARD
NORA EPHRON – ‘I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK . . . AND OTHER THOUGHTS ON BEING A WOMAN’ (2006)
“Sometimes I go to lunch with my girlfriends . . . and I look around the table and realize we are all wearing turtleneck sweaters. Sometimes we are all wearing scarves, like Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond“. – NORA EPHRON
~NORA EPHRON – YOU FLEW !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 3rd, 2012, 9:16am
HUSHPUPPY !!
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD – A FILM BY BENH ZEITLIN
REVIEWED BY NANCY SMITH. JULY 2, 2012
HUSHPUPPY – SCREENGRAB from the trailer.
if the 30s had the young SHIRLEY TEMPLE. in 2012 – about 80 years later, we have HUSHPUPPY, or more correctly the young 6 year old actress, at the time of the filming (!!) – who plays her: QUVENZHANE WALLIS. why am I thinking her film name is gonna follow her around for life ?
they both have curly hair, and own the camera. BUT that’s where the similarities end, and the fierce metaphors for OUR time arise. no sentimentality here. fierceness all the way “down the drain” of the losers vs. the big ‘machine’ of progress.
yes, HUSHPUPPY makes the case for our dwindling reality. and the power of dreams. the pure storm for – survival.
as does this film, a remarkable, magical, visually rich, emotionally powerful, haunting, passionate and wholly original cry for the world’s increasingly lost souls. it asks all the big questions.
the story is enriched by all the locals – who are cast in the location-centric story, and who help the narrative play out with the kind of utmost power – that comes with the deep inside-out voices – of the native, and authentic ‘players’.
the very first (!!) full-length feature effort of its young American director BEHN ZIETLIN, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, the southern wild being Louisiana, USA (!!) won the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at this year’s Sundance 2012, and also scored the super prestigious Camera D’or at this year’s Festival de Cannes 2012 – an award that goes to the first-ever film feature of an individual.
a NYC ‘homeboy’ – BENH ZEITLIN was raised in Sunnyside Queens, NYC – and meet his ‘Beasts’ co-writer LUCY ALIBAR at summer camp when they were teenagers. His parents STEVE ZEITLIN and AMANDA DARGAN are both urban folklorists who founded the “popular” non-profit CITY LORE which protects landmarks and seeks to preserve and promote the cultural diversity of New York City.
see: IMDb/bio
I went to see the film the very first day it opened here in NYC, this past Fri June 29, 2012 – with my friend, writer and producer JAN ALBERT, who knows Behn’s dad, from way back – and she related that BENH ZEITLIN went down to help with the flood devastation of New Orleans, and that’s how the film began. the people and place caught fire in his imagination, is the better way to state it.
it’s playing at the SUNSHINE, here in NYC.
it’s a pure cinematic rush !! yes, you want to go see it.
Director BEHN ZEITLIN, the young actress QUVENZHANE WALLIS, aka the glorious HUSHPUPPY !! and DWIGHT HENRY who plays her single dad.
PHOTO: MICHAEL BUCKNER copyright 2012 – GETTY IMAGES, by way of: COLLIDER.COM
watch the TRAILER: BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, hit that central arrow
check out: Welcome to the BATHTUB (!!)
read: an interview by SHEILA ROBERTS with BEHN ZEITLIN, QUVENZHANE WALLIS & DWIGHT HENRY – on their DEBUT FEATURE/COLLIDER.COM – June 27, 2012
the caveman ink – on the thigh of the Bathtub’s teacher / medicine woman. screengrab from the trailer.
it’s all agonna change.
the icebergs be a crashin’ down, it’s just – the tip !!
. . . of the iceberg.
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF: DAN ASHER & ALEXANDER McQUEEN. NYC artist, and BRIT fashion icon, respectively – who both felt the impending sea change – up close and personal. very (very) fast frame forward.
now, even the little Hushpuppys of the world – see it in their dreams.
~BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD – YOU FLY !! |
Posted in Movie Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 2nd, 2012, 10:06am
yep: Currensy & Wiz Khalifa – HOW FLY / on YouTube
it’s all KARMA baby, hard work, street smarts & tears. thought I’d leave you this weekend – on a little music note !!
~HOW FLY ? |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 28th, 2012, 4:17pm
I PUT A SPELL on YOU . . .
traditional Amish hex design, symbolizing: friendship and love.
“WE GET TOO SOON OLD & TOO LATE SMART” – Pennsylvania Dutch proverb.
~FRIENDSHIP & LOVE |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 28th, 2012, 3:53pm
