~VITO . . BIG BLUSTERY BOWERY BLOW-OUT, TO-NITE !! UP-DATE: MON MAY 18/11:10 AM – BUSTED !!
NEW WHITNEY vs ‘old bank’ . . . ?
‘OLD BANK’ – wins !!
talking about ‘under the volcano’ – ha, !!
file this under: ‘ON TOP OF THE VOLCANO’ !! . . . caves, !!
yeah, you know, ‘under the volcano’ . . .
as in . . ‘the underground’, as in . . the under-represented creative power seething . . just below the surface of the scene, as in . . trying to get out from under the . . powers that be – at the top !!
this show, Vito’s show – was obviously the exact opposite – let’s be honest.
in the purest sense, this wasn’t a ‘pop-up’ in the real functional sense of needing to dig up any empty or alternative venue, for cheap, or better yet . . FOR FREE. this was . . a ‘pop up’ in a classic 70s Lower East Side ‘happening’ context, a shabby chic, and still . . . an absolutely awesome, beautiful and significant moment.
a moment as temporary, and as shiveringly awesome – as the glassy, prism-like soap bubbles the little kids next door are blowing up and way with a flip of their magic plastic wands, what no more tiny bubble-blowing pipes ? – on their summertime stoops.
designer budget, or well-oiled connections, or what, or not. who friggin cares ?
‘FIRST SHOW LAST SHOW’ was a show with a great card, a great title, a great line-up, and a rare chance to see for yourself . . a slice of Lower East Side history – the storied 190 Bowery Building. in a weekend of super mass, super dumbed-down art retail big time – this was an authentic voice, and intelligent voice. this was bringing it all down to the superlative ‘singular’, and . . NOTHING WAS FOR SALE..
and guess what, people got that !!
everything about this show spoke, softly. but with great eloquence. relevance, a curatorial bell ring – that caught people in the cross hairs, and stole the big FREIZE, right from under their tent poles, and divider walls.
and you know what . . ?
obviously !!
I’m still ok with it – because the novel artist line-up, the precise careful artistic production, the total sum of the whole, from the first glimpse of the graphics on the card, to the well-burnished non-commercial location, and of course . . looking at the few online pix that have surfaced . . . this show was amazing.
even if it just lives on as a virtual reality, stab in the dark – I’m glad this show was.
that the opening had to bomb, is another story.
and yeah, I’m blaming the NEW WHITNEY, the tourist traffic fairs – for the void that caused the kind of anticipated crush, I’m assuming ? that shut the opening down.
I guess bad timing on Vito’s part. should have done it on an off-weekend ?
it started to trickle in Sat night, that people were being turned away at the door, and told that although it had been clearly promoted as a public event . . . it was a private event. who knows the real reason, Vito has handled over-size audiences before ? case in point: the BHQF Biennal throw downs.
I dunno, maybe the building wasn’t covered legally for a crowd, and they didn’t want to get shut down ?
maybe HEIDI panicked. she had had a big bomb scare in Europe, the day or so, before ?
it wasn’t such a great rep – to gather. it was a major misstep.
from authentic, and wild – to elitist and . . private.
the show being shut down, before it even happened. sucked. don’t get me wrong.
plus gimme me a break, we ALL KNOW it was only going to happen for the opening night.
no matter how I love the production, please don’t fuck us over with that ‘appointment only’ – crap. we all know that’s only for VIPS and the press, and who needs . . another class ‘rejection’ in this town ? it’s like . . don’t play shabby chic & cutting edge, when you are at the top of the charts ($$$$), hire a decent security force. why didn’t you guys – man up ?
well however, and for whatever reasons, it played out, the opening did NOT GO DOWN, and became a bad elitist misstep, instead. plus from the tabloid pix – Heidi’s outfit was really bad.
what ? a sequined top, way too-skinny jeans, paired with towering, nail-studded heels.
tacky. Heidi, a wannabe hipster art moll – does not make for a pretty picture.
ok.
doesn’t mean the show wasn’t great.
in the few pix that came out online – it totally, TOTALLY lived up to my ‘intuit’ based on my experience with the scene, the art being shown, . . and the players.
totally loved how it was generational, and let’s face it . . anything that brings JOE BRADLEY up against JULIAN SCHNABEL sounded like a ball park home run from the get-go.
the classic old bank setting – was priceless.
the really big take away, is NOT some garbage about some ‘bad advance flack’, about the show . . . ‘only being about 7 (successful/careerist) white dudes’, shutting the show down, as if !!
and thankfully, for not. things don’t run that way yet, at least in NYC ca 2015 – because that is such a low ceiling fascist, bully low-brow faux stance. it’s the kind of turkey gobble-talk, only ‘the usual suspects’, let me guess, perhaps the class clown puts out ? . . because they can’t really can’t talk about art, or call the shots . . . in a more meaningful way.
and it’s so boring. god does every show – have to be diverse ? what NO women, no people of color ?
first of all, this was a private project, and second – if those kind of inane, and just plain moronic pressures, if they apply anywhere – would perhaps apply to PUBLIC PROJECTS . . institutional tax-payer funded curatorial forums.
but exactly – !!
the big take-away here is not . . on-the-fly pop-ups vs high profile starry night soiree, or even – ‘careerist male painters’ vs the rainbow coalition.
the big take-away is: where the HELL ARE THE MUSEUMS in this town ?
what the f-ck are they doing with all their money, cultural resources, and teams, literally T-E-A-M-S of well-paid, (obviously over-paid) directors, curators, administrators, and their small army of MFA assistants !! they are the – who are supposed to be putting on compelling shows of this nature – in the buildings with the security, and organization, and prob insurance (!!) in place to handle big crowds.
period.
I mean Vito is basically a kid, if he’s even 27 / ok his dad is Julian, we get it. but, still . . he puts on a small 7 artist downtown show, in an old building way past its prime, that started life as a bank for god’s sake !! – and is being renovated for ‘creative’ media offices and retail spaces – NOT GALLERY or MUSEUM space !! – and that was shuttered for decades, and has none of the bells, whistles or even a set of exterior wall ‘hooks’ – !! for artists to play on. let alone the pull of the High Line.
and he has to shut down, or so it’s being put out – because the response to his show, is over-whelming ?!!
meanwhile . .
. . . back at the NEW WHITNEY – !!
what a joke !!
tell me the attendance numbers aren’t tanking – now that the ‘innovative’, novel, brand new artist ‘wonderland’ of an art space’s initial ‘house a & garden’ variety architectural reviews, have dwindled off – ?!!!
go on, I dare ADAM WINEBERG to publish the NEW WHITNEY attendance numbers . . . haha.
the NEW WHITNEY vs the OLD BANK ?
the old bank . . wins !!
see: PIX OF THE OLD BANK, ‘FIRST SHOW LAST SHOW’ – INSTALLATION via artnet.
and, no despite their headline, it DID NOT START OFF as – ‘INVITE ONLY’.
BUT, even if the show only lives on, only – as a sketchy virtual reality – that still beats . . . THE NEW WHITNEY.
an, that’s saying something.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
MAY 16, 2015:
probably the most dynamic, if not the most important – event of the entire FREIZE WEEKEND.
and, it’s a . . . pop-up, of course !!
it just takes one night – to make a splash in this town, with the legacy of the Lower East Side, but esp the Bowery being looked back upon, with fresh and enchanted eyes.
ABY ROSEN and VITO SCHNABEL INVITE YOU TO – THE OPENING OF . . .
‘FIRST SHOW LAST SHOW’ – SAT MAY 16, 2015 / 5-8 PM
the show runs by appointment only thru MAY 29, 2015
curated by VITO SCHNABEL and featuring the art work of:
JOE BRADLEY, DAN COLEN, JEFF ELROD, RON GORCHOV, MARK GROTJAHN, HARMONY KORINE & JULIAN SCHNABEL
190 BOWERY, the ‘old bank building’ as we used to call it, at the corner of SPRING STREET.
LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC.
HRS & APP’T CONTACT:VITO SCHNABEL gallery
for more background, see: THE LO-DOWN !!