~ANDREW GUENTHER . . GREENPOINT OPEN STUDIOS
and then it was time to visit ANDREW GUENTHER, a cutting edge indie artist – if I ever did see one.
here he is looking like one big Greenpoint garden gnome . . and I mean that in a good way – with his young daughter EASTER. her full name is EASTER LILY, and I always blow it and call her TIGER, after Tiger Lily.
the Indian princess from PETER PAN.
it’s hard to tell what she’s thinking, she’s very silent – but, totally focused on observing.
right off the bat, I see a black and white painting . . that I have never seen before: it’s a riot.
Andrew works out of this basement studio in his home, and keeps a near-by storage space for the larger works, and as a more formal viewing platform.
Andrew shows me another one of his newest paintings, a collaboration with his friend, painter RICHARD COWAN.
he also had a collaboration with Richard in that recent Gowanus Canal show.
this one is even more radical. it’s the head-on collision of the formal qualities; color, composition, graphics, etc – with the non-verbal content – that knocks the work off the wall, for me.
this area was painted by RICHARD COWAN.
while this is Andrew’s painterly handiwork.
fooling around in the studio secrets – Andrew shows us a puppet he made of himself !!
talk about big, pink and fuzzy . . except as a puppet, long, wild, and bearded . . fuzzy.
but note . . the 24/7 surveillance camera monitor in the background, just to the right of that puppet.
living in NYC, or anywhere . . apparently, is no fun and games.
but it’s fun to see a serious artist . . let down his hair !!
kind of shocking, is that a ‘beheaded’ self-portrait ?
I don’t think that is what he actually had in mind, but there ya go.
actually I’m not so surprised, Andrew has a ‘craft’ side. one of my earliest photos of him – is him in the Silverstein gallery, so must have been about 2001 or so, and he has a rabbit (self-portrait ?) hand-puppet that he made – on his hand, saying hello . . to the camera.
I think of any artist I have photographed I have the most photos of Andrew, 14 years worth – if anybody wants to put on a show – you know, just ask !!
god . . are the galleries in this town mostly lame right now, or what.
and trust me, ‘Independent’ . . does not spell: INDIE !!
a ‘young’ Andrew . . puppet. kinda looking like . . Where’s Waldo !!
that’s why I have so many photos of him, one: the work is superlative, always edgy, always evolving, always original. always INDIE !! and two: he is always changing, too.
I don’t know what he thinks of the twisty path his career has taken, as opposed to the more commercial path of some of his early pals, like – name one: MATTHEW DAY JACKSON. but in my books he’s much better off for the being indie, & I have no worries that his career will catch up with him, big time.
even now, I get the feeling he is making sales, and keeping it on the low-down. storage spaces cost . . $$$.
it’s not the artists that are holding things back in this town, it’s the dealers.
no imagination whatsoever.
I brought NICHOLAS STEINDORF along to meet Andrew. and obviously, he’s having a blast.
I think Andrew is a great role model for young artists – just . . STICK TO YOUR GUNS.
haha SANTA & COLA . . a classic advert mix, thrown up, and coming back down . . radical, super smart, & funny !!
this was just a sketchbook page.
I was thinking, so where’s the silver glitter, and fake white cotton-ball snow ?!!
switching gears, I spy Andrew’s paperback book: ‘POPCORN ILLUSIONS’, 2014.
a random page said: “What do you consider your most understood endeavor either resolved or still in conflict ?”
a random page was this hot dog / man puppet in a jar, and I do mean . . m-a-n.
that’s what I was talking about, his ‘crafty’ side.
Andrew is stamping the inside cover.
wow, looks like I am scoring a copy – that I can really call – my OWN.
crazy wild, dolphin stamp.
talk about ceramics.
ANDREW GUENTHER, with 2 seminal paintings from his Gowanus Canal show – anybody . . out there ?
listening.
with, half a brain ?
just as we are about to leave I catch this NEW TIMES MAGAZINE . . on the floor.
“EVERY HOUR, AN ACRE OF LOUISIANA SINKS INTO THE SEA. WHO IS TO BLAME.”
ok, one more painting for the . . road !!
DOLPHINS: S.O.S.
HUMANS: S.O.S.
trust me the days of MARY POPPINS, are o-v-e-r.
in fact, more like PETER PAN, on steroids. laced with some very bad . . acid.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. OCT 5, 2014.