NICHOLAS CUEVA . . ‘THE PEOPLE GAMES PLAY’
Paintings & games by NICHOLAS CUEVA
OPENS SAT OCT 14, 2017 / 5 – 8 PM
the show runs thru NOV 5, 2017
FIVE MYLES, 558 SAINT JAMES PLACE, CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN NY
HRS: THURS-SAT / 1 PM – 6 PM – OR BY APPOINTMENT
READ MORE: ‘NICHOLAS CUEVA – THE PEOPLE GAMES PLAY’ / FIVE MYLES
~NICHOLAS CUEVA . . FIVE MYLES / OPENING SAT | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 16th, 2017, 9:59am
ANDY CAHILL . . ‘HOME’
OPENING SAT OCT 14, 2017 / 6 – 9 PM
RUNS THRU NOV 12, 2017
SAFE GALLERY, 1004 METROPOLITAN, BROOKLYN 11211
~ANDY CAHILL . . SAFE GALLERY / OPENING SAT | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 13th, 2017, 3:13pm
also noted . . at THE CASUAL ART FAIR, OCT 1, 2017 . . !!
and pretty, damn gritty it is, too !!
GRETTA JOHNSON. . one-of-a-kind artist ‘lounger’, from the LIKE MINDED OBJECTS series / ELISE McMAHON.
GRETTA calls it . . . “FERAL” / it sure is, for REAL !!
show boat – show stopper !!
but comfortable, too.
JUST – THE RIGHT SIZE !!
see: GRETTA JOHNSON – ARTIST WEBSITE
see: LIKE MINDED OBJECTS
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~GRETTA JOHNSON . . LOUNGER, LIKEMINDEDOBJECTS / THE CASUAL ART FAIR | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 11th, 2017, 9:45am
‘DESERT . . SMOKE’.
JUST LIKE ANY ELIZABETHAN FAIR, THE WHITE TENTED . . CASUAL ART FAIR of 2017
HAD IT’S . . JESTER !!
and his name was . . . RYAN FOERSTER !!
RYAN FOERSTER . . . aka ‘THE JOKER’ / as of now.
showing his slightly ‘twisted’ work – at the HELPER PROJECTS / GALLERY, BROOKLYN . .
BOOTH . . at the CASUAL ART FAIR, OCT 1, 2017. LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC.
that’s his ‘wasted’ . . . ‘Hot Dog Umbrella’ behind him.
see: HELPER PROJECTS
his calling card ?
a matchbook . . of a rat eating the American flag.
his biggest piece, was this ‘found’ & most likely discarded, ‘seen-better-days’ . . .
NYC hot dog street vendor umbrella, stashed at the back of the HELPER booth. hmmmm.
so iconic.
he actually offered it up to me “for free”, at the end of the day, if it didn’t sell !!
I was so taken aback, mostly . . just for the storage issues !!
not to mention transportation, that I politely declined.
now, looking back, hell YES !!
I should have had him sign it – and boxed & taped it up as best as I could, and trunbled it home.
I mean . . how much more damage could a little ‘ad hoc’ travel distressing . . do ?
funny how things are so much clearer the day after. and certainly, in retrospect.
gotta be quick in the art world, damn.
AMERICA . . TOP DOG.
but, he did have this one-of-a-kind . . artist t-shirt !!
the price was right . . and, I BOUGHT IT !!
not only was the ‘faux’ Armadillo skin . . right up my alley,
faux, faux, and more FAUX !! the Real Fake, etc. etc.
but, the way it was stapled on, really appealed to my sense of the fine art of DIY.
and being a huge contrarian – just born that way.
even . . . to myself / me and my ego fight all the time.
my hard-won hand-stitching skills, found a perfect opposition / match-up, & it was love at first sight !!
SKILLS . . vs RAW / that’s my second most favorite motto.
and forget everything . . in-between.
but best of . . ALL !!
you could lift the Armadillo ‘hide’, and find: ‘GOD HATES ME’ . . in nice big bold white Helvetica letters.
the motto of my life,
I explained to the few who took note & who were mighty confused – with the depth of my reverence
. . to the piece.
ah, the long,hardroad of a stubborn, indie artist, is not for the chicken-hearted,
& mad yeah . . . sometimes it gets me down. it keeps me rich in art, but broke . . in dollars.
or, at least until the rest . . of the sorry, retarded & super slow – art market, catches up !!
but, then . . I woke up the next day.
not to. . more delusion with my life, or even . . buyer’s remorse !!
no sir. no way.
but to that sick madman who massacred all those young country music concert-goers in Las Vegas.
what a downer. that was a reality check. bring on the distressed – hot dog umbrellas.
bring on the clowns.
so apparently, not only am I loser, but now . . I’m a whiner.
RYAN FOERSTER . . collage.
turns out his gritty jaded ‘Joker’ vision – was . . on point.
RYAN FORESTER . . ‘DESERT SMOKE’.
damn, if I had known Los Vegas was to become a ground zero killing field / within 24 hrs, I would have grabbed this too.
as it is – at least . . I have it for the photographic RECORD.
RYAN FOERSTER . . Joker, Jester, . . . Mad Man, Shaman ?
DAN ASHER . . would have loved that.
he told me, this ‘HOT SAUCE’/ ‘CAMP IN MY ASS’ bundle . . what a killer combo,
was “a collaboration with JOSE MARTOS” . . ?!!!!!!!!!
what ? were things actually going to come round – in one big magic circle ?
things – were adding up. things were starting to make sense.
I think he said, this was also a ‘collab’ . . with MARTOS ?
What, was MARTOS – seriously, r-e-a-l-l-y so cool ?
my bad, seriously !! . . all these years !! who knew ?
he shows DAN ASHER, I should have known.
as for the package / God only knows what was inside.
but it looked T_R_O_U_B_L_E !!
Trouble . . in a troubled world. gift wrapped by RYAN & JOSE !!
now, that’s a seriously s-t-r-a-n-g-e DUO. Batman & Robin.
I wonder how they met ?
well, anyway . . !!
this is how me and RYAN met . . !!
he came by our ARTLOVERSNEWYORK booth, I think, he “knew the brand” . . !!!
“Great brand”, he said !!!
we had written up the HELPER . . ‘MUSHROOM’ show / curated by NICHOLAS MOENICH, for one thing.
and, then he had also come by . . .
like a bee to honey / like a moth to a flame, tell me about it !!
attracted like a compulsive, uncontrollable magnet to talent . . to our rare DAN ASHER offerings !!
though he liked the whole booth, once he settled down, and the ‘radar’ alarms stopped . . sounding.
said I to him, kindred art radar-enhanced soul / how do you know . . DAN ASHER ?
and he told me, “I’m showing my work with the RECORD STORE at MARTOS GALLERY this week” / and, MARTOS shows Dan, and so . . it’s a really small world, even in big old NEW YORK FRIGGIN CITY. and it circles, yes it does. it endlessly ‘new’ waves, and it circles back.
he didn’t have a business card, and neither did I, come to think of it / so damn contrarian for anyone trying to promote themselves, or their work, in the Big Apple. so we made him one on the spot – for the photographic record.
so yeah, go to the RECORD SHOP at MARTOS GALLERY, to see more of his ‘stuff’.
yep, that’s one of JEAN-BAPTISTE LENGLET’S . . porn scribbled, ‘faux’ Disney / Looney Toons / Tibetan children’s notebooks – underneath.
faux faux.
NATHAN GYWNNE . . of HELPER PROJECTS at The Casual Art Fair of October 1, 2017.
this hard-core . . indie curator / artist / artist-run galleriest . . . put RYAN FOERSTER in the mix !!
and let him run, WILD.
wild, crazy as a . . FOX !!
the both – of them.
see: NATHAN GWYNNE / ARTIST PAGE !!
omg . . FRANK ZAPPA has come back, and better.
don’t tell me the hardcore underground indie art world . .
doesn’t always come down – right on the . . money !!
in this case, in a word: ‘DESERT SMOKE’.
the smoke that rises, after the bullets stop. and the bodies . . need to be cleared.
how do sweet bio babies, grow up to be . . so vicious ?
how does the soul seep – into the art, so unknowingly ?
Think Twice . . about a Gallery, named . . ‘HELPER’.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~RYAN FOERSTER, NATHAN GYWNNE . . HELPER / CASUAL ART FAIR | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 10th, 2017, 10:06am
THE CASUAL ART FAIR, SEWARD PARK, LOWER EAST SIDE. NYC. Oct 1, 2017
so like I was saying,
ANTONE KONST’S drawing on an aqua-resin tablet, was so . . terrifyingly EROTIC !!
really beautiful, how it ‘dialoged’ with . . the ALFREDO MARTINEZ / phony ‘BASQUIAT’ – behind it.
“ORES of URANIUM” – one of ALFREDO MARTINEZ’S best “Real Fake” Basquaits, and a gun piece on hand-made paper to the right.
This forger is so good / he got caught red-handed, and went to jail.
as long as he sells them as outright fakes, he’s ok / conceptual artist ?!!
RIP / SIMON CERIGO, ca 1980s.
raw & wild paint / collage piece on board. love the color chart !!
it’s interesting to see work outside – of its usual resting place.
this time & place – I picked up on a wild angry yellow ghost man in the background.
‘Ulysses Yellow’ was Simon’s nom de plume / back in the 80s when it wasn’t cool to both show & make . . your own work !!!
as in: to be both gallerist / curator . . and painter.
the back wall.
SIMON CERIGO, NICHOLAS STEINDORF, DAN ASHER.
of course !! NICHOLAS was loving . . hanging between these 2 old Lower East Side legends !!
not to mention the real life fauna background, was a real boon for his artwork !!
in fact, NICHOLAS made it a point to tell me, the spontaneous raw / & casual vibe . . of the fair was really fun for him.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF . . the prints were color separated, not just color saturated !!
and you caught the best bang, when you looked at them . . through 3-D glasses.
though I thought they were pretty rockin’ out – just as is.
looking at NICHOLAS STEINDORF’S color separations !!
we had plenty of 3-D glasses on board, and they & Nicholas’s work – were a big hit with the Casual Art Fair goers.
NANCY SMITH – ‘Double Wedding Band’ quilt repair – ‘Dedicated to EMILY DICKINSON’.
my newest quilt project was very subdued, compared to the wild and wacky ‘100 and 1 Dalmatians’ Disney crib quilt repair project / I showed at the fair with ESSEX FLOWERS, last year.
which had been . . a real show stopper.
I didn’t care – repairing quilts is always about – change !!
and something . . new / some things just come on slower, but then – they make a really big BANG.
anyways, I was hosting this booth, so I was quite content to let my invited guests . . do the flower, bloom & shine !!
this was all about . . being Emily Dickinson !!
quiet. gracious, humble. but secretly . . intense, concise, to the point, skilled. killer.
full of workmanship & tiny elements / poetry. reveling in nature. leaving the ‘humans’ behind.
repairing quilts is . . very much a channeling. a ghost play. a ghost army of one. a ghost army of LOVE.
even the more so, because this particular quilt is actually . . a vintage, commercial ca 1980s-90s / CHINESE ‘REPLICA’ / CHEAP ‘REPRODUCTION’ QUILT.
still ‘hand-sewn’, but by some poor day laborer in a Chinese knock-off factory !!
the word . . counterfeit does come to mind !!
the “Real Fake’ . . quilt ???
one of the clues to its ‘faux’ origin is the textile pattern, it’s slightly off for being more Chinese than American, in color and tonality / and of course – how it is not cut into piecework. but patterned into ‘faux’ piecework.
as well, the lack of precision . . through-out.
but still, these are really fun to work on, and developing a new context for them, Emily Dickinson lol, . . is all, PART OF THE GAME – FOR ME.
talking about . . small elements, humble. concise and, meaningful.
we showed a rare & early DAN ASHER pencil drawing, a ‘finger print’
a lot of people were very confused by these, when DAN first put them forward, late 1980s.
minimalism – hadn’t quite gone this far . . minimal !! yet !!
DAN ASHER . . bring on the ghost army !!
if you are wondering how I come to have these, I worked as Dan’s studio assistant, in trade for his art work.
smarts – is smarts / esp in the art world.
small elements !!
I mean look at how Dan’s graphite piece converses so well, with this cutting edge / minimalist painting – with just 3 tiny elements of colored light – by JAMES MILLER, 2017.
I guess if our booth had a theme it was: faux, faux, faux and . . . go !!
small elements, and counterfeits . . of the soul !!
damn, that’s EROTIC !!
THEO CERIGO, the ARTLOVERSNEWYORK booth curator, with . . ELISE McMAHON of Like Minded Objects, and the founder of THE CASUAL ART FAIR & . . the entire HESTER STREET FAIR GROUP.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF, and ANTONE KONST, at the ARTLOVERSNEWYORK booth . . .
THE CASUAL ART FAIR, 2017.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~ARTLOVERSNEWYORK . . OUR BOOTH / Part II | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 6th, 2017, 12:48pm
at . . . THE CASUAL ART FAIR.
SEWARD PARK, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC. OCT 1, 2017
our booth . . .
came together . . . much easier & way better than we had anticipated !!
the random tent assignment, which gave us . . . nature and trees for a backdrop !!
was an incredible . . lucky BONUS !!
not only did the grid of the little urban ‘pocket’ park fencing that ran behind us – solve the technical issue of how to hang the works / but it looked so great to have a moving, alive & breathing !! backdrop behind the displayed art.
and esp. behind NICHOLAS STEINDORF’S ‘leafy’ nature / ‘color separation’ pieces at the center.
our intended spirit of hanging everything casual / Casual Art Fair !!, & wild, as in ad hoc & improvised / as opposed to formal, framed & white box/ . . super benefited from this real time, real world . . lit !! & sunny dialogue.
it was just the best background ‘window’/ a virtual video of ‘nature’ running behind – could not have said it better. it gave a fluid, infinite space to the cutting edge art & in a very real sense, combined the diverse nature of our effort . . bringing in the prevalent & shared humanity !! loud & clear !!
that’s our curator THEO CERIGO, with artlovers’ ‘mascot’ & real life pooch . . Zora / a crowd pleaser – if there ever was one.
ps: that’s my newest, & very subdued . . quilt project, hanging down on the right.
we originally intended to screen . . a loop of the VDC / VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER . . inter-active, archival digital animated re-creation of ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH’ – ‘A Pop-Up Painting Show: Lower East Side 80’s Art Scene’, June 2015 . . . on the right hand side of our main table . . . ??
which would have been . . . SO GREAT !!
but alas it was not to be, screening video is a touchy prospect it turns out.
have to admit – we were very disappointed by the fail !!
fair goers would have been so enchanted !!
you can catch a glimpse of the beginning of the re-creation here . . the empty storefront in New York’s gritty Chinatown, where the pop-up took place / June 6-8, 2015.
right on The Bowery.
which is pretty close to by, to where we actually we had our studio & where most of the art included in the pop-up show was made / a raw storefront, at 5 Rivington St, just 2 doors up from the Bowery, where we, me and Simon .. lived & worked & Dan was just around the corner / 1987-1996.
we have to thank NICHOLAS STEINDORF . .
who actually produced the digital re-creation from photographs / and of course !!
a GIANT BIG thank you to . . Paris-based JEAN-BAPTISTE LENGLET for including ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO’ – on his futuristic online artist gallery space / VDC – VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER !!
yes, CHECK OUT: VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER / it’s an online, ongoing . . interactive platform that you CAN DOWNLOAD – FOR FREE !!
DIRECT link to: ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH’ – on VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER ARCHIVE !!
well, BACK TO REALITY, um, maybe . . . !!!
we did have some catalogs explaining the Paris-based online project:
VDC / VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER, founded & curated by JEAN-BAPTISTE LENGLET, that fair-goers could leaf through.
and some of JEAN-BAPTISTE’S own artwork !!
sketchbooks he made while on an art residency in . . TIBET.
he used everyday children’s notebooks – as the forum, but hello !!
of course, the line drawings inside are quite – XXXXX rated !!
lol, FAUX – DISNEY !!
the “Real Fake” . . . WALT DISNEY / with hand-drawn PORN inside – to boot !!
& . . check out that blowing-up / friggin trippy MUSHROOM !!
& that Looney Tunes ‘tweety’ bird !!
what kind of message are these guys – giving their schoolchildren . . anyway ?
it’s very Americanized – to say the least.
it’s very .. counter-culture ?
it’s also very counterfeit ? is that the Asian . . component ?
it’s the new . . global ‘mix’ !! and such a ‘happy’ place too, lord.
esp in Tibet.
that this is such a taken-for-granted / made for kids / new wave global ‘branding’ statement . . . astounds me.
I mean Hello Kitty . . was one thing.
I mean . . TIBET ? sacred Tibet / or what’s left of it.
on the left:
a fine & lively papier-mache ‘Orchid’ by TAYLOR McKIMENS . .
Collection: THEO CERIGO
and . . 2 small ‘tablet’ (aqua-resin) pieces by the ‘2 sides’ of yin / yang ANTONE KONST !!
and so . . damn erotic.
that’s a “real Fake” . . ALFREDO MARTINEZ faux Basquiat, coming in on the right.
there was just some inherent ‘narrative’ – that run through all of these pieces / a kind of slightly twisted / slightly sad, slightly lush/tainted erotic, slightly alarming ?
. . take on ‘reality’ ??!!!
esp with the complexity . . of Taylor’s flat, yet 3-d space.
obviously so “FAUX” yet . . real / as in well-observed.
the orchid flower petals really popped against the black cloth, of the tent next door.
at once so painterly, and so . . cartoon / lush vs. ironic is all I can say.
‘faux’ vs real is a very real – issue here. it’s a very deliberate . . game.
TAYLOR McKIMENS: the “Real Faux” / the “Real Fake” . . . flower painter ?
which is always what intrigues me so much about Taylor’s work . . that crazy balancing act he has going on – between . . narrative & philosophy / realist & cartoon-inflected.
sincere & tongue-in-cheek.
of course, sadly later . .
that night was that terrifying & deranged Los Vegas country music concert massacre / a kill box, some called it. like killing fish, and young ones at that . . . in a bucket I would say.
the horrific stats made the bad news / killer clown nuclear international threats fade away.
the brilliant planning . . so god damned American at it’s very best / & worst.
so efficient. and great, now everybody got the ‘master plan’.
after that, the next morning, when I looked again at the photos, I saw more clearly the jaded, sad narrative, the esp sad American cowboy narrative . . that Taylor distills, & which . . inform his ‘cartoon’-based works especially.
I saw a mad, angry face in the pink ‘water’ spill, spreading like a a huge blood stain against the ‘table’.
I saw ugly consumerism in the tiny, shabby peel-off orange price tag; and I saw the death of the soul – in the green drooping cash / money.
and of . . course, tears, tears, and more tears !! in the drippy drips.
a McKimens trademark from day one.
damn: it’s a drippy world, out there.
damn: it’s a drippy world amongst the beauty.
MORE PIX – ON OUR BOOTH – TOMORROW !!
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~ARTLOVERSNEWYORK . . OUR BOOTH !! | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 5th, 2017, 10:48am
ARTLOVERSNEW YORK . . will be participating in the 2nd annual CASUAL ART FAIR !!
THIS SUNDAY . . OCT 1, 2017 / 12 – 6 PM
SEWARD PARK – CORNER OF ESSEX & HESTER ST, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
see: CASUAL ART FAIR / HESTER STREET FAIR
LOOK FOR OUR TENT !!
CURATED BY . . new gen curator/collector, THEO CERIGO,
the booth will feature new work by . . TAYLOR McKIMENS, NICHOLAS STEINDORF, ANTONE KONST, and JAMES MILLER.
and will include a rare piece each – by ‘forever cutting edge’ indie artists: RIP DAN ASHER & RIP SIMON CERIGO.
NANCY SMITH . . will exhibit her newest quilt repair project, and ‘the real fake’ Basquiat forger . . ALFREDO MARTINEZ will e exhibit one of his notorious faux Basquiats and 2 smaller gun paintings.
additionally we will present a catalog of . . . Paris-based JEAN-BAPTISTE LENGLET’S virtual reality online platform: VDC / VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER – not available outside Paris.
here’s the sign I made for our tent – drying in the sun, this morning.
Theo requested a rough and raw one, just the like the one, in spirit !! that I spray painted on the wall . . for his and Kate’s pop-up show: ‘UNDER THE VOLCANO: SIMON CERIGO, DAN ASHER, NANCY SMITH’ / summer 2015.
kind of raw and wild, and in indie distress, lol !!
yes, those are two very real, authentic vintage American folk art . . ‘tire’ planters, that I found dumped on the street a few years back & have cherished ever since, RICHARD PRINCE, roll over . . with envy !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
NANCY SMITH . . detail of the reverse side of my current quilt project.
it’s ‘Dedicated to EMILY DICKINSON’, because y’all know I’ve been obsessed with her – all winter !!
therefore. I’ve tried to keep it very condensed & minimal in decoration, and execution, but still: packing . . . a quiet PUNCH !!
very spiritual. very contemplative.
I’ll “reveal” the front tomorrow, . . or better yet, come see it at the Fair, and I’ll explain all the old school traditional patterns, and resources . . to you in person !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
a page from JEAN-BAPTISTE LENGLET’S . . ongoing / online virtual reality project catalog: VDC / VIRTUAL DREAM CENTER.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
ALFREDO MARTINEZ aka ‘the Basquiat forger’ !!
we will have one of Alfredo’s notorious . . ‘Real Fake Basquiat’ drawings.
come see if . . YOU !! can tell if: it’s real, or fake !!
besides, the price tag !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
ANTONE KONST . . will exhibit some new ‘slabs’ . . magic, passion and ghosts are afloat – already !!
PHOTO: COURTESY ANTONE KONST
speaking of which, RIP SIMON CERIGO, (1952-2013) . . crossing the line – to come par-tay with us !!
Ghost army !!
PHOTO: MARTIN BROMIRSKI via represent.com
most def, read: the obit article – THE DORSEY REPORT / REPRESENT
~ARTLOVERSNEWYORK . . CASUAL ART FAIR, LOWER EAST SIDE / SUN 12 – 6 PM | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 30th, 2017, 7:13pm
BUSHWICK !! BROOKLYN !! ARTIST !! DANCE !! PARTY !!
8:30 PM . . DOORS / 9:30 PM . . SHOW !!
“10 BONES before 10 PM / or after performance / 20 BONES OTHERWISE”
“DRESS TO SEE & BE SEEN”
RSVP to rubulad@outlook.com for address
~RUBULAD . . BIG PAR-TAY-YAY-YAY !! TO-NITE !! SAT !! | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 30th, 2017, 1:37pm
THOMAS SPOERNDLE . . ‘STAND’ – OPENS TO-NITE / FRI SEPT 29, 2017 / 7-10 PM
WON_EH .. 467 TROUTMAN ST., BROOKLYN NY
~THOMAS SPOERNDLE: ‘STAND’ . . WON_ EH / OPENING FRI | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 29th, 2017, 7:36am
NYABF/NY ART BOOK FAIR 2017 . . MoMA PS1
JOHAN KUGELBERG . . curator / archivist & founder of BOO-HOORAY
VINTAGE PADDINGTON PRESS POSTER – FUND RAISING DANCE for RASTAFARIAN WOMEN, ca. 1982.
VINTAGE PADDINGTON PRESS POSTER . . ca. 1975.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~BOO-HOORAY: VINTAGE PADDINGTON PRESS POSTERS . . NYABF17 | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 29th, 2017, 7:24am
