~MY SOUL FLIES HOME TO AFRICA . . .

the PRIVATE PHOTOGRAPHS of NEW YORK TIMES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER – CHESTER HIGGINS JR.

~MY SOUL FLIES HOME TO AFRICA . . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 3rd, 2012, 9:10am



~PARIS vs. BROOKLYN !!

. . . just as we write of the endangered street art scene in BROOKLYN, Brooklyn’s own BROOKLYN STREET ART writes of the big surge in PARIS !!


in PARIS: JEF AEROSOL – PHOTO BY SANDRA HOJ. source: BROOKLYN STREET ART/NEW STREET ART FROM PARIS

read: ‘SPRINGTIME IN PARIS . . . NEW STREET ART In PARIS’ – POSTED on MAY 2, 2012 in BROOKLYN’S own: BROOKLYN STREET ART

with (great !!) PHOTOS and on point / ON-SITE reporting by – photographer SANDRA HOJ, who seems to hail from Copenhagen, Denmark – and who starts off by saying:
“I was overwhelmed by the amount of street art. It was not just limited to a single area, but all over the place, in every crack and corner.”

~PARIS vs. BROOKLYN !! | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 3rd, 2012, 8:39am



~NYC’S BACKYARD . . . BROOKLYN !!

well, r-r-really, WILLIAMSBURG !!


new construction going up, everywhere.


metal, glass, steel-ly, modern and twisted ? as in unsymmetrical . . . or is that: asymmetrical . . .
no diff. it going up. anyways. hey, at least it tapers off, and you can still see that blue blue Brooklyn sky !!


every block is like a patchwork quilt. between the new, the old, and the in-between.


converted industrial lofts . . . and ground level warehouses.


the new construction homes are super clean. blinding-ly white.


what happened to all that ole red clay brick. gone, gone, and more gone.


unless – it’s gentrified – !!
and then it gets the modern sheen, too. super clean, spit polished. power-hosed ?


but, KEY ISSUE: you can still turn a corner – and find the graff.

for now.

note: the ‘AVAILABLE’ – as in: ‘FOR SALE – KALMON DOLGIN REAL ESTATE’ sign at the left.
the writing’s on the wall, sweet dudes & dudettes. it’s only a matter of time, and it all comes tumbling down.
they should save this block – like the pyramids. as if.
dreamer, dream on.


SHEPARD FAIREY . . . red, white and black.
making spray paint – look like some kind of simulated ole-time embossed, flocked ? vintage velveteen wallpaper.

note: the barbed wire running like rusty ole-time – tumbleweed, across the top. and, the (shiny) new construction at the left. (!!)
sharp vs. shiny. ouch.
in fact, I kinda like how the new buildings – are so shiny and white. they work well against the ole-time grit !!
and they reflect the sunlight – like nobody’s business. where’s Winslow Homer, when you really need him.
it’s just the sad downside is they spell: gentrification. no more grit, or graff.

better live in the moment, in-between . . . while you can.


OBEY.


what if, I don’t want to ?


every respectable backyard hood – still needs its gas stations . . . and motorcycle mechanics.
motorcycle mechanics – art patrons, no diff.
in fact probably better & more important . . . keeping, it real !!
and on the streets, Free. and for all . . . where it belongs.
Somebody put that wall under a piece of glass. where’s Jeffrey Deitch, when you need him ?

well seriously, they should – at least landmark it.
you just know – it’s not long for this world. g-e-n-t-r-i-f-i-c-a-t-i-o-n.
imagine if the city had let people buy up some of those saturated spray painted, super tagged 70s subway cars . . .
just a crazy thought. but for real, they should have at least kept a few choice ones.
that would have been one museum – people would be pouring into, now.
probably be the city’s #1 tourist attraction.
bringing in tons of $$$.
man, they’d be selling at auction for tens of millions of dollars. no brainer.
what’d they do, like bury them underwater ?
yeah, that was some real forward urban thinking, wasn’t it.
tear down a tree, put up a parking lot.


wow. Brooklyn. what was that ???
did we just go from OBEY to un-OBEY in the space of one block. yes, we did !!

BROOKLYN – the un-FAIR !!

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. BROOKLYN, NYC. APRIL 29, 2012

~NYC’S BACKYARD . . . BROOKLYN !! | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | May 2nd, 2012, 8:45pm



~BROOKLYN’S BACKYARD . . . 2-UP at SOLOWAY

YO YA’LL !! artlovers going mighty locavore for the upcoming art fair weekend.

first up: BROOKLYN.
a local indie gallery, run by local artists, NO LESS.
showcasing a young NYC-based indie art collective, NO LESS.


PHOTO: ANNETTE WEHRHAHN, SOLOWAY

SOLOWAY INVITES YOU – TO AN EVENING of ART, MUSIC & PERFORMANCES – in their BACKYARD
to-nite: SUNDAY – APRIL 29, 2012 / 7-9 PM
SOLOWAY – 348 SOUTH 4TH ST – BROOKLYN, NY
note: REGULAR GALLERY HRS: SAT + SUN 12 – 5 PM

SOLOWAY invites you to ‘PERFORMANCE FOLIO’, an evening of performances and readings by members of 2-UP in the backyard of the gallery. This event will celebrate the conclusion of 2-UP’s exhibition ‘FOLIO’ currently on view in the gallery.

ABOUT 2-UP:
over the past few years 2-UP has produced a series of poster publications. This has been the first group exhibition of the individual members’ work in a gallery space. The exhibition is structured in two parts: a free newspaper that disassembles into 7 double-sided posters, and corresponding works in the gallery. Members of 2-UP participating in the exhibition are: COLLEEN ASPER, MATTHEA HARVEY, CHRISTIAN HAWKEY, CATHY PARK HONG, ZEREK KEMPF, BENJAMIN KRESS, NATHAN LEE, PAUL LEGAULT, JEN LIU, MORES McWREATH, ADAM SHECTOR, JOE WINTER, and MONIKA ZARZECZNA.

see: 2-UP
for sure, check out: their ARCHIVE PAGE / 2-UP


Still from GOLDFARB’S ‘DEEP CYCLE’ project/courtesy: 2-UP ARCHIVES

UP-DATE: TUES MAY 1, 2012

PHOTOS FROM: ‘PERFORMANCE: FOLIO – presented by 2-UP
at the closing party for their gallery show & newspaper poster project – at SOLOWAY, BROOKLYN, N.Y.
SUN APRIL 29, 2012


the 2 year old SOLOWAY artist-run gallery space, located at 348 South 4th St., just off Keap St. – in Williamsburg, BROOKLYN.
in the storefront window: black and white poster/newspaper sheets from the ‘2-UP: FOLIO’ collaborative show inside.
the show ran April 7 – 29, 2012. to-nite was the closing party.


detail: ADAM SHECTER, ‘Exercise: Problem Behaviors / Group Dynamics’. (!!) (!!) and more (!!). ha. tell me bout it.
2-UP – a New York City based art collective – produced a double-sided multi-page (unbound) ‘newspaper’ for the show. each contributor was given a 2 page spread – essentially a poster – and the newspaper was free – available inside the gallery & yours for the taking !!


the 2-UP – logo. nice graphics – all around.
very what’s happening in NYC right now – on the cutting edge.


inside the gallery: a poster on newsprint by BENJAMIN KRESS.


also on view: the ‘2-UP:FOLIO’ / SOLOWAY APRIL 2012 edition . . . production screens.
standing on piles of the finished newspapers – that open up into double-sided posters, with a mission statement and a key to the contributors – in the centerfold.


on the table a set of ‘tarot’ cards by ADAM SHECTER.
above them, some really funny great plastic bag ‘drawings’ by JEN LIU. ink on paper – their correct title: ‘potato heads’ !!


heading into the gallery’s backyard – for the evening’s performances.


MUNRO GALLOWAY and TOMER ALUF – two of the 4 SOLOWAY directors.
PAT PALERMO is another director, and ANNETTE WEHRHAHN rounds out the group of 4. it’s her living space at the back of the gallery that you move through – to get to the backyard. and that’s her free-standing, glass enclosed studio popping up – in the backyard.


a guest.


the first performance . . .


PAUL LEGAULT read-singing from his ‘Translation Manifesto’ accompanied by poet JOSEPH BRADSHAW on the banjo.
yes, I did hear the words: ‘singularity’ (!!) and ‘love’ mentioned in the very same sentence.
as well as: ‘order’ and ‘void’. it all made sense to me. future – present.


2-UP’S JOE WINTER, CATHY PARK HONG, and ADAM SHECTER.
CATHY PARK HONG had just delivered up a very dry, often quirky-funny take, mostly on being a stand-up comedian. and a woman, and a Korean, with a little bit of Canadian, thrown in for good measure.


ADAM SHECTER – a co-founder of 2-UP . . . a “collaborative poster project” – that was founded in Feb of 2010.

and yes, Adam says: “we are NY based, and nomadic (i.e. operating out of our apt).”
that’s a great term for a long-standing NYC alternative-art tradition – nomadic (!!) love it.
even the gallery space, SOLOWAY, seems to take place in the middle, o.k. front of … co-director ANNETTE WEHRMAN’S living space. a classic NYC – railroad apartment. (!!)
a lot of alternative ‘storefronts’ back in the day, the early 80s, when the Lower East Side – really made its claim to glory and really was the mecca, and not the trendy mall: boutique, bar and restaurant scene it has morphed into – started out that way. 5 Rivington St. and the Bowery – hello !!


and, JOE WINTER – the other co-founder of 2-UP.
see: THIS IS 2-UP


AARON CAMPBELL and JEN LIU played a zen-like musical piece – on 2 halves of a ‘split’ cello.
yes, a cello – split right down the middle.


AARON CAMPBELL on the split cello.


the ‘split’ cello at rest, in its 2-sided case.
JANE BENSON, who was present in the background, acting as the performance’s ‘conductor’ – made the split cello, as part of her body of work: the Splits.
(I’d like to see what else – she splits . . .)


the strangely compelling ‘split’ music was performed to a projected slide of poetry/philosophy/futurism by JANE BENSON, who pointed a laser at the text during the performance.
or in their own words: JEN LIU and JANE BENSON . . “present a piece about the indefinable present, through a palindromic text score and shepard tones played on the 2 split halves of a cello.”


2 guests enjoying the evening’s – unique – and very unpredictable playlist . . .


which included performance artist MORES McWREATH serving up some pretty funny deadpan one-liners – to a variety of hand-made and very ‘creative’ slide images – a ‘digital slideshow’ – which also included some pretty funny & very in-your-face – brief autobiographical video loops.
in a nutshell: still frames interspersed with action. accompanied by a drop-dead narrative that cut to the (unexpected) bone of all existence.


MORES McWREATH – slide projection.


MORES McWREATH – slide projection.


MORES McWREATH – slide projection.


MORES McWREATH – slide projection.
was this, the one about – ‘domestic’ abuse ?


MORES McWREATH – slide projection.
or was it this – one.
I was too caught up in the deadpan/one-liner moment to take notes !!
though, this piece in particular, and the extreme anti-eloquence of the whole deal – reminded me of the early ‘concrete’ and dry humor of the once young too, JOE BRADLEY – when he first started out. confounding all the usual, and predictably clueless (!!) mainstream art world – suspects.
i.e. the so-called “critics.” you know, pass the (jerry) saltz. and go on to . . . collect.


one last look behind at the Brooklyn storefront – window.
newspaper poster by NATHAN LEE. yo, CASPER – the friendly ghost !! NYC ca. 2012 – sure loves its ghosts !!
UNDETECTABLE – think on that – for a moment.
and, on the reverse side – just shadowing through, the ‘flower/fan’ by MONIKA ZARZECZNA.

ALL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, at SOLOWAY in BROOKLYN, N.Y., APRIL 29, 2012

~BROOKLYN’S BACKYARD . . . 2-UP at SOLOWAY | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 29th, 2012, 10:32am



~HARVEY PEKAR’S CLEVELAND . . .

COVER: ‘HARVEY PEKAR’S CLEVELAND’ – ART BY JOSEPH REMNANT. INTRODUCTION BY ALAN MOORE. IMAGE: TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

“I come into the picture in 1939. I lived on a street where I was the only white kid. For the first few years of my life I didn’t have any friends, or acquaintances, for that matter.”
PREVIEW Pg 2 – ‘HARVEY PEKAR’S CLEVELAND – ART BY JOSEPH REMNANT. IMAGE: TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

“Both of my Polish-born parents worked long hours in their mom-and-pop grocery store a few blocks away. I stayed home, sometimes talking Yiddish to my grandfather, who at least had a sense of humor . . . . “
PREVIEW Pg 3 – ‘HARVEY PEKAR’S CLEVELAND’ – ART BY JOSEPH REMNANT. IMAGE: TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS: “A Lifelong resident of Cleveland, OHIO, HARVEY PEKAR (1939-2010) pioneered autobiographical comics, mining the mundane for magic since 1976 in his critically acclaimed series ‘American Splendor’.”

our roving correspondent, and indie music reviewer, SIMON CERIGO, and now ex-underground comic book collector – says that: ” ‘American Splendor’ was a large format comic book series, and ROBERT CRUMB did the covers for the first few early issues.” In fact Simon had the whole series, about 15 issues, which he bought in the early 80s for about $4 or $5 dollars a pop. Regretfully he had to sell the whole lot, “to feed the kids, Kate & Theo . . when we lived back on Rivington St.” when he could realize a profit of about $35 – $40 a piece. He says, obviously they go for way more now, with the R. Crumb artwork cover issues – taking the premium bucks.

‘HARVEY PEKAR’S CLEVELAND’ – ART BY JOSEPH REMNANT / INTRODUCTION BY ALAN MOORE
CO-PUBLISHED BY ZIP COMICS & TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS (2012)
Hardcover Graphic Novel with B+W interiors, 128 pages, 9.3″ x 7.3″ ($21.99)
see: TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS – where you can get more info, and if you hit on the book cover image – you can view 9 preview pages, incl the cover.

THE NYC LAUNCH PARTY for ‘HARVEY PEKAR’S CLEVELAND’ – is to-nite SAT APRIL 28, 2012 – as part of the 2012 MOCCA / MUSEUM OF COMIC and CARTOON ART FEST OFFICIAL AFTER-PARTY.
7 pm to 10 pm
$5 donation at the door (with proper ID; this event is 21+)

VILLAGE POURHOUSE
64 Third Avenue (corner of 11th St)

the event will also feature a performance by DANIEL JOHNSTON


HI, HOW ARE YOU – DANIEL JOHNSTON

see: MoCCA

see: MoCCA FEST 2012

~HARVEY PEKAR’S CLEVELAND . . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 28th, 2012, 11:38am



~DEREK WEISBERG: Porcelain Promises

the card for: DEREK WEISBERG – ‘Porcelain Promises’
Storefront Gallery / Greenwich House Pottery – 16 Jones St, btw Bleeker & West 4th – GREENWICH VILLAGE, NYC
the show ran: March 1 – March 29, 2012

yes, there were a few really striking shows this past winter, though most were off the beaten track.
case in point: the DEREK WEISBERG “figurative sculpture” exhibit at the Greenwich House Pottery’s Storefront Gallery.
it still haunts me, and nothing much has come close, except perhaps the recent MELISSA BROWN show at KANSAS. and that was painting. this is clay. this is 3-D. but ‘ghosts’, and seers, history and visions – do come to mind. and even more, in particular – the show had the tactile & philosophical !! – feel of the day. the inky, murky, deep angst, even anger everybody is expressing, and of whose preponderance in the blogsphere – even CATHY HORYN, the first-person fashion writer for the NEW YORK TIMES, addressed recently.


DEREK WEISBERG, at the show.

“I create works of art that are emotional and psychological self-portraits. Through my work I make sense of my life, my experiences, and the times in which we live. I do not make photorealist portraits, instead I endeavor to achieve an interiority. I create sculptures that are accessible and allow the viewer to have an experience that cannot be articulated – simultaneously igniting contemplation, reflection and a lasting relationship with the work. The works reflect humanist ideology; searching for truth and universal morality based on the commonality of the human condition.” – Derek Weisberg.

DEREK WEISBERG received his BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts in 2005. In 2008, he was named a “Searching Artist” selected as one of ten nationally emerging craftspersons. He has work in the collections of the Oakland Museum of California and the Glasshoff Sculpture Ranch and has shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States.

His most recent solo exhibitions ‘Auroral Dreaming’ and ‘You Were Almost Extinct Again’, were held in California in 2011.

WEISBERG has been artist assistant to STEPHEN DE STAEBLER, URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD, and MANUEL NERI. He has co-owned a gallery in Oakland – and is now a studio technician at Greenwich House Pottery, where he maintains a studio.


DEREK WEISBERG. in fact – the Greenhouse Pottery’s ‘romantic’, and very ‘historic’ architectural storefront – was a very poetic setting – that set the work off nicely, not to mention providing a wonderful prism of natural light – to play off the nuanced surfaces.


DEREK WEISBERG, ‘Who Flew Too Close to the Sun II’, 2011, porcelain. life size.
($1,600.)


DEREK WEISBERG, ‘One Day You Just Appeared, It Was So Beautiful’, 2012.


DEREK WEISBERG, ‘Who Flew Too Close to the Sun I’, 2012.


DEREK WEISBERG, ‘Porcelain Promises XI The Constant Push for Something Just Past the Point of Attainability’, 2011.
($1,800.)


DEREK WEISBERG, ‘Porcelain Promises VII, (I Was Stone Now I’m Dust)’, 2011.

yes, scrimshaw, DUKE RILEY, and even the inscribed lap tops of MICHAEL DINGES – come to mind . . . as ongoing dialog.
see: ‘Dead Lap Tops and other artifacts of the recent present’, TEKSERVE, FALL 2011


DEREK WEISBERG, detail, ‘Porcelain Promises XIII (Between the Message and the Motive)’, 2011.


DEREK WEISBERG, ‘Porcelain Promises XIII (Between the Message and the Motive)’, 2011.


DEREK WEISBERG, ‘Untitled mask I’, 2012
($400.)


DEREK WEISBERG, a close-up of one of his ‘accessorizing’ low-tech hand-made silver foil ‘flowers’ – a gently startling contrast, and a lyric narrative note – but all-in-all a very nice mix – especially as regards highlighting the play of light – on the foil, and then back to the main work: the smooth white alabaster-like surface of the porcelain heads, often embellished with black, sometimes word-engraved – detail.


DEREK WEISBERG, detail, ‘Untitled mask I’, 2012.

want – to see more, he runs a great website: DEREKWEISBERG.com

GREENWICH HOUSE is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, NYC. MARCH 1, 2012

~DEREK WEISBERG: Porcelain Promises | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 25th, 2012, 11:13am



~HO’S UNITE . . .

HORT + HOLE = HORTLE !!

hey, what’s a benefit – without a little fun. HORTLE the Ho ? I mean WHO !!

damn, Where’s Dr. Seuss when you really need him the most ?


IMAGE: DR. SEUSS/CRACKED.COM

MY BAD !! – it’s HORTON !!! – but I got the ‘LOVE’ part right – didn’t I !!!!!!!

and, actually a HORTLE – is for real. well rock my soul.

a HORTLE is a predatory WHIPRAY, a . . . species of STING RAY !! and it sounds pretty damn ugly, too.
found in the shallow waters off southern NEW GUINEA, it grows to 28 in. across (!!) and “has a heart-shaped (!!) pectoral fin disc with a long, pointed snout and minute eyes. It has a wide dorsal band of dermal denticles extending from in front of the eyes to the tail, as well as scattered sharp denticles on the snout.” (omg . . . u-g-l-y.)
“The underside of the disc is a distinctive bright yellow in color . . . ” (!!) wouldn’t you just – know it.

see: HORTLE… WIKI

and not only that – they’re taking over !! like I always said: art world / bio world – no diff.

see: HORTLE – SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE / SPECIES EXPLOSION: “What happens when you mix EVOLUTION with CLIMATE CHANGE” …. !!


A HORTLE: SMITHSONIAN WEBSITE

who knew the art world could be so fun, . . . . and scientific !!

see: ‘SEEK NADA . . .. GET DADA / UP-DATE – JUST POSTED !! – scroll down 3 posts !! – or hit: here !!

~HO’S UNITE . . . | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 21st, 2012, 10:32am



~THE N’ERE DOWELLS – REVIEWED by SIMON CERIGO

LISTEN UP – NYC & EVERYWHERE ELSE, as in BOSTON !!!!!!!!!
IT’S A RED – FEVER – SPRING !!

THE N’ERE DOWELLS – REVIEWED BY SIMON CERIGO, April 20, 2012.

THE N’ERE DOWELLS – a new indie group based in Brooklyn, New York are an up-tempo jangling guitar foursome that contrary to their name – make great music.

Their music is akin in spirit to the early CLAP YOUR HANDS AND SAY YEAH sound – in its forward drive.

My favorite songs from their 5 song demo are: “Jungle” and “Spend Time”.

sample: The N’ere Dowells – 5 song demo . . . “yeah I wanna scream” – & – play it loud !!

The N’ere Dowells comprise:

GIO – guitar/vox
JACK – guitar
THEO – bass
DEXTER – drums

they have 2 gigs upcoming in the New York area:

SAT MAY 12, 2012 – YIPPIE CAFE in Manhattan, NY
SAT JUNE 2, 2012 – BIG SNOW BUFFALO LODGE in BROOKLYN, NY

NOTE: earlier that week of MAY 12, 2012 – the band will be heading to BOSTON, where they are going to play on CAMBRIDGE RADIO on MAY 9th – and then will be playing a show at MIT – on MAY 10th.

ALL PHOTOS: COURTESY – THE N’ERE DOWELLS

~THE N’ERE DOWELLS – REVIEWED by SIMON CERIGO | Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 20th, 2012, 11:01am



~RED FACE, YELLOW HALO ? JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, of course.

FILE UNDER: SO, WHO’S GOT A RED FACE, now ?
TAG IT.

this red – face – tag just went up in the Heights. it’s pretty awesome. just saying. JERSEY !!
it’s on the corner of ZABRISKIE and SANFORD.
hey. just the messenger, not the tagger. but just in time.

I was just so dying for something RED !! – to go up on the site.
esp after all that RED CHINA – news . . . and it’s really blowing up, big time. apparently BO had over a 100 mistresses. count ’em. and then there’s the playboy son at Harvard. The NEW YORK TIMES says he’s the “grandson of revolutionary heroes”. wow. that’s real ‘red’ blood for ya. well, there ya go, funny how – power and dough ($) will come back and bite your butt, every time !!
and SOUTH WEST CHINA (!!) – that’s right smack where DUKE RILEY staged his CHINESE ZODIAC RIVER RACE RE-MATCH !!
leave it to the Duke – to land in the hot spot !! rats, snakes and all.


it’s also funny – how the red and somewhat (added-on) yellow colors of the street tag . . .


echo the highly – un-green !! – ‘bargain’ flyer lying on the street !!
must be the new colors of SPRING 2012: red and yellow.
watch out for them – in your next ‘cutting edge’ fashion spread . . . coming soon.

p.s. wasn’t that D.H. LAWRENCE quoting – EVERGLADES LIZARD – red and yellow, too ? yes he was !!
see post below.
and so are CHINESE LANTERNS !! scroll down. wow. red and yellow, the colors to beat. SPRING 2012.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, JERSEY. APRIL 20, 2012

UP-DATE: WED MAY 2, 2012

could it be new gen-eration KENNY SCHARF ? the folks at BROOKLYN STREET ART, think possibly, so !!

see: some super great KENNY SCHARF PIX & TEXT/POUL WEBB ART BLOG !!

~RED FACE, YELLOW HALO ? JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, of course. | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 20th, 2012, 10:58am



~OWEN GRAY

o.k. back to ‘reading’ our ‘world’ – through the eyes of the animal kingdom. you know, the usual suspects: rats, snakes . . . and, toads.

FILE UNDER: a story as old as the very hills – never loses it’s poetry.


OWEN GRAY at his long time studio in HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY. hey, tell me Jersey ain’t a happening place.


while some artists reach for the stars, others are content to continually plod a path through the natural flora and fauna – on the geo planet’s natural unification of chaos . . . evolutionary food chains and all.


there are futuristic ‘systems’ artists working in truly !! cutting edge online – wide world web technology.
the very Rev LUKE MURPHY comes to mind, of course. as the best of the best – in that field.


and then there are the wonderfully naive yet prescient neo-folk artists, like DUKE RILEY – re-matching the mother goose animals of the ancient, and very much enduring – Chinese zodiac, on the very banks of the Caogang River in Zhujiajiaso, CHINA, near the legendary and nefarious Shanghai !! as if – right on cue.

yep, DUKE RILEY done been stirring up the ancient gods – right smack dab in hot button China, where some big politico party boss named BO, has a wife named GU, there’s a dead Brit named NEIL HEYWOOD, rumors of illicit affairs, money-laundering, and even the word ‘cynanide’, as in ‘poisoning’ – playing out a nice and most eternal fable – in the current world headlines.
and, yes, the word rat, and rob – does does comes to mind.

see: Chinese murder puzzle thickens – Poisoned British businessman . . . NEW YORK POST – APRIL 18, 2012

yep, there’s Brooklyn’s own pied piper of tattoos and ancient seafaring arts, scrimshaw anybody ? the DUKE RILEY bringing the ancient wisdom of the Far East – back home for the US of A.
ONE: there was, and still is, real truth – in those age-old bestiary adages: a rat is a rat is a rat, and watch your back. cheaters and lowlife win.
and TWO: don’t ask me why, but even the most simple of scrimshaw folk artists – be shamans and seers.
if you just let the hands do the drawing, connecting the dots is easy. it’s all about reading the ‘pictorial’ code.
from the earliest cavemen – to the most far-out ‘systems’ – guys around today.
hey, does LUKE rhyme with DUKE – or what. just saying.


and then there are the guys, like Owen – who just like to stick with the basics. the code of the jungle, river and forest.


you know, the usual suspects: snakes. bugs, and toads. the occasional forlorn human, and/or water sprite.
it’s called: allegory. as in: all the gory . . . of nature.


bringing it back home, to planet, Mother ? – Earth: “EVERGLADES – THE STORY BEHIND THE SCENERY” !!


“A lizard ran out on a rock. . . ”


“A lizard ran out on a rock and looked up listening no doubt to the sounding of the spheres
. . . if men were as much men as lizards are lizards, they’d be worth looking at.” (too !!)
D. H. LAWRENCE.

OWEN GRAY CURRENTLY HAS SHOW UP of HIS ‘ANIMAL KINGDOM’ PAINTINGS – at BLUE MOUNTAIN GALLERY, 530 W. 25th ST in CHELSEA, NYC.
note: the show comes down this weekend, APRIL 21, 2012.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, HOBOKEN, N.J. APRIL 15, 2012.

~OWEN GRAY | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 18th, 2012, 11:02am


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