DAN ASHER . . THE ART WORLD’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET
JEW YORK
JUNE 20 – JULY 26, 2013
ZACH FEUER – 548 W22 – CHELSEA, NYC
DAN ASHER, Untitled, 1983.
oil-stick on newsprint, 22.5 x 14.5 inches.
Provenance: from the estate of DAN ASHER.
($14,000)
PHOTO: NICHOLAS STEINDORF
surprise surprise, there is a seriously beautiful, early DAN ASHER drawing – in this otherwise somewhat quiet show. and it is .. truly beautiful. expressive. unique, with a raw power that speaks with the wild strangeness, and powerful eloquence – that was Dan.
dating from 1983, just a few years into Dan’s arrival into the city as a young artist, it is also rare in that Dan seldom worked on ‘found’ newsprint/paper – and especially towards the later years, you will find all of his output on professional grade archival art paper.
what do I mean by dirty little secret.
ha.
I mean almost everybody, whose anybody – in this town, and in Europe and even Japan, has some of Dan’s work. I would surmise, a slightly informed wild guess based on my personal knowledge – the average holding being about 10 pieces. often more. Dan would sell you something, and then he would continually hound you, to get the rent paid, so that sometimes it was hard to say no, esp as the price might seriously drop to facilitate a sale. but the deal is . .
nobody who has any, will part with them, no matter how much or how little they paid. everyone who holds a stash, to a person . . believes so much in the work, that no matter how little official action there is for the stuff, c-u-r-r-e-n-t-l-y . . they will only sell at prices . . that way exceed the real-time market.
so note that price: $14,000. wow, I guess the public face of the game – is finally changing. but we all saw it coming.
I guess Dan’s real-time price has finally caught up . . to real-time market ?
put it this way: YOU are trying, or hoping to turn a 1 or 2 million dollar return on your brand new $24 million Basquiat. these guys, buying and holding onto Dan’s work are going for the ultimate thrill. they going for the whole hog. they are going for making . . $24 million (!!) – on (still) a relatively very small initial investment . . .
wow. what a horse race.
and, work that is also . . quite pleasing on the wall. just as rough & ready as Basquiat, in fact.
don’t say you weren’t told.
ps:
sorry I had initially posted the price as $1,400. my bad. wow. I guess it’s hard to believe Dan’s market has finally caught up to – what was the insider action. and it’s still only an indication of where it’s really & truly, gonna go.
we all knew it. so did Dan.
that’s what him so frustrated, and angry in his lifetime.
wow. I guess the secret is – out.
~DAN ASHER . . JEW YORK |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 11th, 2013, 12:58pm
BROOKLYN UPDATE – REPORTING & PHOTOS BY: KATE CERIGO
KATE was walking along the Williamsburg East River ‘coast’ one early evening, about a week ago – when she spotted this hand-crocheted full-color primary spectrum . . . camo van.
actually a very large van, parked at North 7 and Kent.
note, even the wheel chassis – is crocheted !!
she pretty much thought right away it was: OLEK . . .
sweet, darling DARLA, just back from London, her close friend who lives nearby . . said she had indeed seen a “woman crocheting on it the week before”.
all me and Kate could think, was . . how much bizarre & creative stuff goes on, L-I-V-E in the streets of Brooklyn, all the time !! that even Darla wouldn’t think twice about a woman crocheting a van – in bright rainbow-colored camo !!
haha.
that’s so Brooklyn in a nutshell, summer 2013.
“The End is Far” – that’s good news.
NAT GEO or was it HISTORY CHANNEL . . says our sun is going to explode, and take all our ‘hard copy’ art and artifacts, architecture and h-i-s-t-o-r-y, and maybe even us – along with it ? if we don’t find another place to park – ourselves.
for sure, in 2 billion years.
or was it DISCOVERY, anyways . . was I imagining things or have they updated / as in speeded-up the no-win scenario by – 3 billion years ?
yikes.
so, sure enuff:
google . . . OLEK and THE END IS FAR, and voila, OLEK’S most recent show . . pops up !!
see: OLEK – THE END IS FAR / ARRESTED MOTION
see: OLEK – THE END IS FAR / JONATHAN LEVINE GALLERY
~OLEK . . THE END IS FAR |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 9th, 2013, 1:46pm
BROOKLYN UPDATE – REPORTING BY: KATE CERIGO
HEADS UP: RATHBORNE PLAYS – MERCURY LOUNGE – TONIGHT – TUES JULY 2, 2013 !!!
KATE TELLS US . . .
BROOKLYN-BASED .. LUKE RATHBORNE & THE BAND . . . have upped their game . . with their new song, LAST FORGIVEN.
the video . . sure is s-w-e-e-t.
CATCH: RATHBORNE – LAST FORGIVEN . . . YouTube
and, YES !! that is our friend . . DARREN WILL, playing bass on the right !!
the song is from their new album, SOFT – which drops JULY 13 on the DILETTANTE/True Believer label. the new CD is notably produced by EMERY DOBYNS & co-produced by GUS OBERG and Strokes guitarist ALBERT HAMMOND Jr.
the CD launch party is at THE KNITTING FACTORY in BROOKLYN, on JULY 16.
~RATHBORNE . . LAST FORGIVEN |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 2nd, 2013, 7:34am
OPENING NIGHT PIX . . .
JOE BRADLEY – ‘LOTUS BEATERS’
OPENED MAY 16, 2013
the show ran MAY 17 – JUNE 29, 2013
Gavin Brown’s enterprise – 620 GREENWICH ST – NYC
the star of the evening .. JOE BRADLEY, looking like an ex-pat novelist, from the 20’s ?!!
p.s. the exterior of the West Village gallery was plastered by a RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA project.
art world publisher & collector – PETER BRANT, made sure to get there early so he could reflect over the paintings.
I thought that was pretty impressive, and really indicative of his true feelings, since he runs a pretty hectic schedule. he had hosted PRINCE HARRY at a polo match in Greenwich, Connecticut – just the day before.
art writer CARLO McCORMICK.
he told me the KOSTABI SHOW – just isn’t the same, without the notorious showboating .. SIMON CERIGO.
painter ANDREW GUENTHER.
Andrew’s been showing some paintings at the VARIETY coffee in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. he’s calling the series of works: DOLPHIN SOUNDS.
see: ANDREW GUENTHER at VARIETY
well .. that makes sense, seeing as this is the image that fronts his website !!
see: ANDREW GUENTHER
ANDREW GUENTHER also sent along this image for a project of t-shirts and tote bags, called ‘Eat the Leaf’ that he was working on for Cafe Press . . .
SEE & maybe even .. ORDER: EAT THE LEAF by ANDREW GUENTHER
haha .. talkin bout bongs !!
it was just a few days before the notorious bong throwing caper of AMANDA BYNES – splashed over the tabloids !! ‘Bynes is busted in bong toss’.
BYNES is a newly transplanted New Yorker.
lucky she didn’t hit anybody – down on the street.
hey, great art, re: Andrew’s Hampton’s Bong, who’d a guessed – – always, lands on the DOT !!
artist PATRICK BERRAN, at the JOE BRADLEY opening – Joe’s work behind him.
PATRICK just had work in a 2 man show at STOREFRONT BUSHWICK.
see: PATRICK BERRAN & JACK HENRY.. STOREFRONT BUSHWICK
PAINTING BY PATRICK BERRAN
see: PATRICK BERRAN
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~JOE BRADLEY .. the PEEPS |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 30th, 2013, 9:06am
JOE BRADLEY – ‘LOTUS BEATERS’
MAY 17 – JUNE 29, 2013
Gavin Brown’s enterprise, NYC
the WALL OF DRAWINGS . . . in the last room.
here’s the premise:
it’s funnie to think of JOE BRADLEY and KANYE WEST, in the same breath – let alone the same sentence.
for one thing . . .
KANYE can be annoying, whereas JOE BRADLEY: never.
but both produce work, that speaks l-o-v-e, and: cries out . . . ANGST.
as for drugs, Lotus eaters and . . . beaters !!
KANYE says it best:
“my ego is my DRUG. My drug is, I’m better than all you other motherf—ers.”
WELCOME TO THE ART WORLD !!
KANYE WEST – W MAG QUOTE: HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
the last room presents a wide, yet solemn wall .. of Bradley drawings – on paper.
most are charcoal. some are crayon and charcoal, some are pastels.
they go back to Joe’s ‘figurative’ roots.
they seem as if they sprung freely – but, questioningly.
take a note: the wall of drawings is just as ‘grid’ organized as the individual compositions of the paintings.
so much for free fall.
but no doubt, the free fall is in the drawings, for sure.
and so is EGO.
if A is for – angst.
than . . . “B” is for – BRADLEY ?!!!
Lotus eater, or Beater ?
Beater . . .
BRADLEY and KANYE, now that’s . . .
a funnie . . thought.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~JOE BRADLEY .. ANGST ? |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 29th, 2013, 8:04am
that’s the funny thing about JOE BRADLEY, the work has ‘legs’.
continuous meaning. absolute relevance.
every time you go back to it . . . some life force, prevails.
the work keeps jumping back at ya.
JOE just keeps on .. giving.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Untitled’, 2013.
oil on canvas. 120 -1/4 x 123 in. framed.
there were just 2 canvases, hung side by side in the third gallery . . .
realizing just now, the obvious simple truth, they were interactive.
and yes, THEY WERE ABOUT .. LOVE !!
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Love Boat’, 2013
oil on canvas, 124 x 158 in. framed.
haha. North West is out of the picture.
North West got her very own face time . . all the better to see ya.
North West got her own – face time !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~JOE BRADLEY .. LOVE BOAT ? |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 29th, 2013, 7:54am
JOE BRADLEY .. the artworld’s answer to KIM & KANYE’s baby name ?
I think it’s a great name. and no, you can’t be all serious – all the time.
esp if you want to understand contemporary art – you have to consider contemporary culture.
art 101.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Untitled’, 2013.
120-1/4 x 123 in. framed.
currently on view in:
JOE BRADLEY – ‘LOTUS BEATERS’, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, until JUNE 29, 2013.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
it’s funny how sometimes the most simple, and most minimal ‘enterprise’ – is the most provocative, and therefore: profound.
and, as is usually the case with art – right on the – proverbial .. dot.
case in point. ‘untitled’ above, the only untitled painting in this show.
well, maybe Joe felt the title hadn’t revealed itself yet ?
well, how about . . ‘North West’ ?
there’s so much one could project upon this simple .. one color, green on white; one form, flower-like .. large canvas.
apart from the ‘a-cute’ cultural note .. little baby Kimye receives a name !! and so, poetic.
first of course is the quilt/grid orientation, and the essential/eternal 4 points – north, south, east and, west. d-i-r-e-c-t-i-o-n.
solar orientation. the 24 hrs of the day. the way we chart .. the round ‘ball’ we live on.
what’s really going on here.
is this painting .. a ‘color’ chart with regard to show’s BIG QUESTION: Lotus Beater v.s Eater ?
is it all, that is: life .. all blank, without that touch of the ‘green’ divine ?
the green divine of floa and fauna. of man’s spirit, and mind. body and soul.
that ONE quarter of flower burst.
is WILD.
is it – the key to: Beauty, Creation .. life itself. inspiration.
is it ok, and, in fact NECESSARY . . to be ecstatic, and to experience altered consciousness – to wake up the north west – region – in an otherwise white, unwrit, mundane, banal, well: muggle-like complacency ?
is a little magic .. in order ?
is Lotus eating, ok in moderation, or does the need for Lotus Beating .. and the constant tension and war that ensues, .. yin yang, play a part in our world’s dynamic and cycles.
in life and our understanding of it and .. therefore: creativity, too ?
is this how .. a painting begins ?
is that painterly north west sector – the birth of the universe, the big bang. not just the setting of the sun.
is this how .. an abstract ‘platform’ begins to take on a wordless .. voice ?
is this how we face a painting – like a mirror.
do we need absence, as in the other 3 ’empty’ quarters to know, to realize .. the beginning of form and color and expression ?
do we need contrast of form vs empty – to know and realize the diff between ‘engaged’ and beckoning vs nothingness. angst in a nutshell ?
is this a poem to love ? to know life, is the beginning / is this an ode .. to “bio”-ness.
is creation, more easy to discern, in the field of ’empty’ ?
I offer these thoughts to you . . . on a summer’s hazy afternoon.
LOTUS EATER .. of the mind.
LOTUS BEATER of the run-away . . im-pulse.
P.S.
they are going to call her NORI for short. Nori means ‘believe’ .. in Japanese.
well it could be worse, Knori ?!!
Knorth, haha. as in ya, silent k – know !!
all good. (in the universe.)
continues . . .
~JOE BRADLEY .. NORTH WEST ? |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 22nd, 2013, 9:49am
THROW EM’ UP, and let them stick, er . . . RIP !!
JOE BRADLEY – ‘LOTUS BEATERS’
the show opened MAY 16, 2013
MAY 17 – JUNE 29, 2013
Gavin Brown’s enterprise – 620 GREENWICH ST – WEST VILLAGE, NYC
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Dutch’. 2013.
oil on canvas, 105 x 150 in. framed.
the paintings in the following rooms, were less all-over dense ‘mind sets’ or ‘heartbeats’, than actual ‘metaphorical’ or ‘evolutionary’ depictions of . . things, and thoughts. it’s up to you, to connect the . . . passages.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Smoothie Maypole’, 2013.
oil on canvas, 96 x 102-1/4 in. framed.
these paintings were more lyrical, and more . . . narrative. the action, took place outside the body, and out . . in the world. there was a lot to look at, and a lot to . . . consider.
a lot to figure .. out.
detail, JOE BRADLEY, ‘Smoothie Maypole’.
the colors were . . unpredictable, and .. ‘talkative’.
there was a lot to consider, a lot to figure out. a lot of feelings . . . and mind ‘grabs’, without ‘words’.
JOE BRADLEY , ‘Smoothie Maypole.’
it was kind of a super smart game of: what you see . . .
is what . . . you ‘behold’.
whatever . . you were: ENGAGED into the surface. into the process. into the artist’s thoughts.
and all, most definite: NON-DIGITAL.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Love Boat’, 2013.
oil on canvas, 124 x 158 in. framed
was it a guy thing ?
or just a ‘tough’ thing ?
I thought it was pretty beyond ‘pure’ academic, and very . . emotional.
it was also a ‘quilt’ thing. and therefore . . women’s work !! haha.
look at the ‘grid’, it’s a ‘quilt’ – that’s . . . the under-lying organization.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘Lotus Beater’, 2013.
oil on canvas, 105 x 150 in. framed.
the show got it’s name from this painting, which also is the one painting which seemed, ‘human-centric’. the body/figure on the left.
Lotus ‘beating’, and Lotus ‘eating’ . . do some of the research for yourself !!
profound, mystical, and . . mysterious.
there is no one definitive .. in sight, it’s a relevant yin yang, even today . . .
well, you don’t want to walk your lifetime on earth submerged in the mud, in the banal. but you also don’t want to lose grip of ‘real’ life going by, with your head totally . . in the flowers/clouds.
it’s funny to consider that, a such sweet flower . . in a pond, can be so capable of . . rockin’ the boat.
background: Lotus-eaters
IMAGE: Nymphaea Lotus
it’s interesting to note that many of the paintings in this show, seem to begin with, and retain: a surface composition that is divided into ‘quarters’. in fact many of them do have a dominating ‘quarter’ – that remains as a ‘focal’ point . . . see: ‘Love Boat’ above.
‘Lotus Beater’ also has a quadrant ‘organization’.
‘Smoothie Maypole’ – is a classic ‘9 patch’ / a grid of 3 by 3. 3 down, 3 across. 3 wide.
this botanical illustration, is also, in fact . . a classic nine patch – in organization.
sometimes the surface of the Bradley painting is broken down a bit further, into a slightly smaller system . . say: sixths. as in ‘Dutch’ above. like a quilt, these divisions are grid-like. they retain an up-right orientation. the paintings are not quite as all-over ‘messy’, as in old school abstract expressionists, Jackson Pollack or Mark Rothko – as they might appear to be – on first glance.
and in fact, VERY much like, or HOW … this botanical flower illustration is divided into ‘organic’ and compositional . . quarters/sixths. look for the squares. if you are not quite an experienced artist, just look for the ‘squares’ – they are there, unspoken, but ‘ruling’ the plant’s separate element / boundaries . . . in the background.
esp take note of the the top right hand ‘quarter’, the single white flower in bloom. that’s obvious.
‘realist’ botanical flower painting vs. Joe Bradley ‘abstraction’ . . . quelle / interesting.
so contradictory. and, yet .. NOT.
JOE BRADLEY, ‘untitled’, 2013.
oil on canvas, 124-1/4 x 123 in.
I guess on that note, we should conclude .. like this.
yes, JOE BRADLEY . . is a many-splendored . . mind.
you know what they say, “beauty is in the mind of the beholder.”
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~JOE BRADLEY . . throw ’em, up |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 21st, 2013, 7:40am
DEDICATED TO: JAMES GANDOLFINI – JERSEY BOY.
who died today, Wed June 19 age 51, in Rome – a huge heartbeat, lost.
BIG QUESTION: so . . . is a Lotus ‘beater’, as opposed to a Lotus EATER .. just . . a muggle ?
as in, you know . . Harry Potter.
that is: a common no-inspiration, no magic . . . ordinary lowlife human-type sub-species.
is lotus ‘beating’, something you want to achieve, or eschew ?
JOE BRADLEY – ‘LOTUS BEATERS’
the show opened May 16, 2013
MAY 17 – JUNE 29, 2013
Gavin Brown’s enterprise – 620 GREENWICH ST – WEST VILLAGE, NYC
the ‘first’ gallery was home to just one series of 4 big paintings, hung in a tight row, and titled, from right to left:
“Muggles #5, Muggles #4, Muggles #3, and Muggles #2.
they didn’t seem to make sense . . individually. at least on first impression.
they didn’t seem to make sense, at all. actually.
I’ll be the first to admit. coming after my huge rush . . on the hyper real, totally graphic, so graphic it’s abstract .. work of JACK GOLDSTEIN, it was hard to make the . . leap.
hard to transition.
in fact, coming off of Joe Bradley’s own early work, which seemed ‘abstract’ – but always referenced the human form, or the human ‘feature’, as in grin, or Superman logo, scroll down to the intro post below – it was hard to catch the drift, though the work did have roots in Joe’s early no-name, no-form ugly brown rug wall piece ?
maybe that was the deal.
these were MUGGLE paintings. these were portraits of a mind-set. so yep, they still referenced: HUMAN.
these were anti-art trophy paintings. these were anti-Jeff Koons paintings.
these were . . heartbeats.
these were pumping mysterious heartbeats . . not euphoric exactly, but background bass beats. you know, you have your Jean Michel on one wall, your Andy Warhol centered on the next, your Jack Goldstein, sharp as a knife on the third, and a couple of Bradley heartbeats, pumping away, below the surface – on the last. you sit in the room, and your pulse rises.
Lotus Beater, ha.
still Lotus – eater !! if you ask . . me.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~JOE BRADLEY . . MUGGLE MUDPIES |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 19th, 2013, 7:09am
RULE !!
just happened to catch the closing party for a small group of Jersey City high school seniors – who are off to some exciting college fine art programs, this coming September 2013.
all on FULL SCHOLARSHIPS . . .
KELSEY REILLY, SUMEET MEHESH, and DILENIA RODRIGUEZ are some of the latest, and obviously very successful participants in what is apparently a very dedicated and ambitious . . . JERSEY CITY ARTS HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM – a specialized course that takes local young artists-in-the-making to a well-run and very serious art work / study space, apart from their regular high school – for a good period of time, 5 days a week. for 4 years.
DILENIA RODRIGUEZ, with her painting, ‘Girl and Stripes’, mixed media – is off to RISD / RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN.
DILENIA RODRIGUEZ, ‘Mina’, acrylic and ink.
KELSEY REILLY, with her painting, ‘Daddy Playing I’, acrylic paint, 2012 – is off to Parsons, here in NYC.
KELSEY REILLY, ‘A Different Time’, acrylic paint, 2012.
SUMEET MEHESH, beside her painting, ‘Test Strips’, acrylic & test strips’, 2012.
Sumeet is off to the MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE of ART, this fall.
SUMEET MEHESH, ‘Langa’, acrylic, 2013.
congrats all !!!
JERSEY CITY ARTS at HENRY SNYDER HIGH SCHOOL presents:
‘Socially Inadequate’
featuring works by: KELSEY REILLY, SUMEET MEHESH, and DILENIA RODRIGUEZ
MAY 30 – JUNE 14, 2013
THE DISTILLERY GALLERY – 7 HUTTON ST – JERSEY CITY, N.J.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, N.J. JUNE 14, 2013.
~JERSEY GIRLS . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 15th, 2013, 6:59am
