You’ve may noticed that a good number of bus shelters and billboards around the city are not so lame anymore. In the rush of traffic and commutes we don’t normally pay attention to trifles such as outdoor advertisements, but lately there have been some reasons to wait for the next bus.

It won’t take you long.  You can spare a couple of minutes to spend with the art displayed in your bus stop. If you just scan it with your smartphone you’ll immediately discover more about the piece, the artist and its history, as well as the museum it comes from.

This is not a natural phenomenon as you can expect, but a nationwide campaign to promote American art and raise awareness for a group of museums. The art will be displayed in all sorts of billboards, telephone kiosks, subways, newsstands, bus shelters, and oversized screens such as the all mighty LED screens of Times Square.

This artistic campaign is a collaboration ( #ArtEverywhereUS ) between the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and five museums: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Dallas Museum of Art, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and The Whitney Museum of American Art. These museums aim both at educating the public and of course sparking interest in the American art they display at their sites.

Once you are aware of the existence of this campaign, the images surprise you everywhere. There are 58 different art works disseminated around the City, and all over the country, but that’s too much of a wide field for this modest urbanite. The big screens in front of the Madison Square Garden spot art from time to time. The horribly overcrowded Port Authority Station displays “The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme” by Joseph Stella in the steps of a random staircase. Inside metro cars, or in a pathway at 14^th Street, the list becomes too diverse. You can drive by 23^rd Street between 8^Th and 9^Th Avenues and get instinctually stopped by a big Rothko that resembles a STOP sign. We can travel to Egypt in 8^th and 38^th Steet. Or reconcile with your lovely one at Broadway and West 91^st because after all we get along so much better than the couple in Grant Wood’s American Gothic.

American Gothic, 1930 by Grant Wood

My Egypt, 1927 by Charles Demuth

Written and Photographed by Alejandro Pardo

The post What the ART is Going on with my Bus Stop Advertising? appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Saturday, March 8, 2014

This year the first of the Armory Arts Week press previews was for  Spring / Break Art Show in an old school house (called The Old School) in Little Italy. It’s a cool step away from the traditional art fair because it not only focuses on the curator as key, but also has a hard-on for “new media” art, which means you will be seeing either video or projection art in almost every room, and if no video there is usually some auditory component.

Sometimes it is fun to be surprised by art, going into a show without knowing any of the players is like going to a movie not just without any spoilers, but also having no knowledge of the plot or cast. That was my experience last year when I first attended Spring / Break 2013. I was a blank slate. Having never been to the fair previously I was green to the rundown elementary school layout. It seemed disjointed and reminded me of a cross between PS1 and the random dilapidated school buildings turned solo artist exhibitions you see at the Governors Island Art Fair.

This time I settled right in. I knew some of the artists and curators personally ahead of time and was able to more easily identify the work.  It was fun to see how each curator played with this year’s theme for the fair PUBLICPRIVATE.

Entering the building and checking in I wandered into the first room which had an eaten away pillar which reminded me of the box from Frieze except made out of garbage.

Passing through that room I encountered a hallway full of blood illuminations by Jordan Eagles I have been to several Jordan Eagles blood shows when he worked in solid form, but these 13 projectors really filled out the space with a hemo-glow. Curated by Tracy Causey-Jeffery.

Jordan walking through the corridor.

Jordan’s silhouette in blood.

Ducking out I spun around when I heard my name called. It was art writer / curator Benjamin Sutton. I had seen some of his install pics on Facebook and instantly recognized the room he curated by the unmistakable ceiling cats by artist Caroline Wells Chandler.

Benjamin getting interviewed by Samantha Katz from Whitewall Magazine.

Samantha Katz.

The piece that was his starting point for building the show was this grotesque sculpture “Selfie as a Chocolate Chip Cookie,” also by Caroline.

I climbed up on the radiator to get this shot.

“Rule 34; Charm” by Sigrid Sarda. Made with real maggots dipped in gold, wax, real human bones & hair.

This room was curated by Jessica Hodin, The director of the Bleeker Street Arts Club.

Jessica jumped behind this transparent piece.

Jessica Hodin.

Assistant Director of Bleeker Street Arts Club, Anita King.

They have a new show titled FEELING HUMAN, with an opening reception this Sunday, Mar 9, 2014 from 1-4pm featuring some artists from this exhibit. 305 Bleecker St., NY NY 10014

Artist Lucas Zallmann poses with his fridges.

You open them up to find metal dildos and books.

Curated by Wills Baker and Sarah Sulistio.  Sarah is seen here talking with Spring/Break Co-Founder Andrew Gori.

A few photos by Carl Gunhouse.

A piece by Jacob Rhodes from Field Projects.

Curated by Chris Bors seen here with an original piece of his own.

Lia Chavez performing Luminous Objects

Which is curated by Tali Wertheimer, seen here, who is opening a new gallery called TWO RAMS on March 16th.

Artist and curator Max Razdow standing in front of one of his drawings.  I met Max last year when he had his own booth at Volta NY.

Curator Kari Adelaide.

Artist Jesse Bransford and his drawing experiment based on rolling a RPG die titled “Dice Drawings Set Five.”

Singing Bruce Springsteen with a mask on, mask off, show is over.  Crystal Curtis

Group Show curated by David Alexander Flinn

Room with projectors by Rin Johnson audio by Michael Valinsky.

Iphone cases by Collin Munn

I asked three staircase docents if they knew who made these streamers and none of them had a clue.  One said the girl with the yellow purse who was just here.  One said the girl with the green purse who was just here.

It wasn’t until I found a map.  Coralina Meyer.

Founders of the Spring/Break Art Fair, Ambre
 Kelly and 
Andrew 
Gori.

Andrew Gori.

Art by Alex McQulkin which was a collaborative piece she did with her mom.  She commissioned her mom knit a pussy riot mask for her.  She then wore the mask, took pictures of it, and then drew the mask.  This drawing is the end result.

Art by Alex McQulkin & Michael St. John.

This is a piece made by hand cutting out individual diamonds from Sotheby’s catalogs and pasting them together.

Curator Marina T. Schindler

Pin-up style art by Walter Robinson, curated by Ambre Kelly & Andrew Gori

Wall of small pieces depicting Jerry Saltz doing things, by Ambre Kelly, curated by Andrew Gori.

The next room I photographed parts of Liminal Reclamations curated by Tracy Causey-Jeffery and Amy Kisch.
We Are Made To Endure, Portraits of the Donner Party by Robert Saywitz

A room playing all of Woody Allen’s Oscar Nominated films while a toy train goes in a circle referencing recent allegations.

As well as A Universe in My Throat, 2012 by Kevin Bourgeois

Golden Coin by Patrick Meagher

Nightfall by Devin Powers.

Photo and video pieces by Rachel Garrard

Private Drive-In.

By artists Fall On Your Sword and Sarah Bereza (pictured above).

Inside the bug.

I blew out the shot with a flash so you could see the paint work on the car by Sarah.

Sit in the bug and enjoy a superfast loop of scenes from movies that take place in the front seat of cars, including this scene from Grease, as well as that famous 1955 Back To The Future scene with Marty McFly and his teenage mom.

Spring / Break Art Show is located at Old School, 233 Mott Street, NYC and costs $5
All work from the show can be purchased online at SpringBreakArtFair.com

Thursday, March 6 –  Sunday, March 9
Noon – 8pm Daily

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post SPRING/BREAK Art Show Is Your Elementary School On Psilocybin appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Friday, March 7, 2014

I am really loving SCOPE’s venue at Moynihan Station, they must have knocked down some walls and gutted the place a bit more than last year because the size of the floor plan seemed massive.  Makeshift unvarnished wood steps leading to higher ground, and long benches here and there for sitting (a luxury not easily found at most art fairs).

Exposed ancient metal ceiling girders with peeling paint were everywhere you looked, if you looked up that is.   What a  great contrast with the polished and illuminated gallery booths, and let’s face it,  it sure beats a tent.

I arrived and cut the line to the press check in.  I always bring my SCOPE press lanyard which has the logo printed all over it.  They bothered to do that one year and have ever since opted for just the plain black, having the official one makes me feel like not just press, but SUPER PRESS.

Art Now NY scored the first Banksy I’ve seen in a NY art fair.  Fell off the back of a truck maybe?

Spotted street artist Buff Monster enjoying the show.

Pashmin Art Gallery, Hamburg, this artist Davood Roostaei was dressed as a cross between Michael Jackson and his actual paintings.

Art by Cazes Uriel.

I noticed at Villa del Arte Galleries, Barcelona they were carrying a piece by Castle Fitzjohns, New York artist David Datuna.

Fabien Castanier Gallery, Los Angeles was back again at SCOPE. Fabien posed for me in front of a few 44.75″ x 32.5″ pieces by Speedy Graphito.

Some really amazing larger than life hyperrealistic sculptures of Andy Warhol at different points in his life titled “ANDY” by Kazuhira Tsuji Copro Gallery, Santa Monica.  He should have been the one to do the Memorial in Union Square.

Really detailed drawings by Artem Mirolevich at Barbarian Art Gallery, Zurich.

Saw a piece by Matt Neuman at Asterisk Projects, Brooklyn, which reminded me a lot of his piece I saw the night before at Clio Art Fair but with 12 more targets.

Beautiful paintings by Malcolm T. Liepke at Arcadia Contemporary.

Really moody street scenes from New York City, by Kim Cogan, also at Arcadia Contemporary.

A bunch of pieces by David Kramer at Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis.

Whimsically disturbing line art paintings by Brian McDonald at Reaves Gallery, New York.

I ran into sculptor Cheedah Shikaage Itchi Suuwah (Thunder Wolf), and we had a long talk about the 3d Printing sculpture he’s getting into.  He showed me his new digital work on his phone, amazing stuff.

Some pop work at Krause Gallery.  Including these really cool dimensional pieces that look like they might be made from thousands of straws cut to precise lengths.

Galerie Mark Hachem, Paris | New York has some work with multiple layers of glass creating a full image by Ardan Ozmenoglu.

Large drawings by Maya Mukumizu, at Gallery G-77, Kyoto.

A bunch of pieces by Karim Hamid at AUREUS Contemporary, Providence, RI.

More work at AUREUS Contemporary.

Samurai – 1982, by Paula Rego, at Cordeiros Galeria, Porto / Portugal.

Ran into Jeremiah Johnson who’s piece “House of Worship” house made out of pill bottles is debuting at Fountain Art Fair today.

The cafe / bar / lounge area.

Work by Tiptoe at Vertical Gallery, Chicago.

Artwork by Stormie Mills, also at Vertical Gallery.

Safaeddin Emami, “The Battle of Pashan Begins” Silkscreen on canvas at Shirin Gallery, Tehran | New York.

A giant assemblage of Mixed Media on paper by Amanda Marie.  They are sold individually as 16″ x 20″ pieces, and 20″ x 24″ pieces, at Andenken Gallery, Amsterdam.

Drawings by Clayton Chandler, at C. Emerson Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL.

Drawings by Justin Nelson, also at C. Emerson Fine Arts.

A picture of me at Fuchs Projects booth by Rafael Fuchs.

Artwork by Petros Chrisostomou, Miguel Libarnes, Rafael Fuchs, Skewville, Aakash Nihalani, & Trey Speegle at Bushwick’s own Fuchs Projects.

Artist Naomi Campbell.  Her pieces combine X-rays, aluminum, copper, plexiglass and drawings.  They are abstractions about gaming, and the blurred lines between reality and video games.

Artist Victor-John Villanueva  poses in front of a piece in Fuchs Project’s booth, he didn’t make the work, he just has a similar color scheme.

Art by Valerio Adami at Barbara Paci Gallery, Pietrasanta.

Disturbingly haunting art by Michele Mikesell at La Lanta Fine Art, Wattana.

A requisite Swoon piece.

Some really interesting works by Peter Grich at VIMM Gallery, Prague.

This one reminded me of works by H.R. Geiger.

An entire booth of works by Shen Jingdon, at Coral Contemporary, Nanjing.

The Jayson Atienza shoe at the bucketfeet shoe exhibit.

Lots of glitter at the Natalie Kates Projects, New York

One half of the Gentleman’s Game art team Jason Douglas Griffin.

Gentleman’s Game artists Jason Douglas Griffin and Brandon Friend.

They have collaborative works in the Magpi Projects booth, and they have their own booth at Fountain – where they had just come after having just finished setting it up.

Artist Sebastian Wahl, also represented by Magpi Projects.

Artist Joseph Grazi, who has two pieces in the Art Now NY booth, including this shark.

Muffinhead, a living sculpture at Galleria Ghetta, Ortisei, England.

Some really angelic drawings by artist Amy Sol at Thinkspace, Culver City.

Hubert Kretzschmar, Techno Pop (front cover) at Licht Feld Gallery

Also by Hubert Kretzschmra.  I first met Hubert at the Art of The Rolling Stones Show.

Photographer Mia Tyler in front of a portrait of her father, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.

Photographer and curator at Fuchs Projects, Rafael Fuchs, in front of a few of the pieces from his most recent series about his horrible landlords.

Artist Bradley Theodore, aka Brad Digital.

Brad introduced me to artist Jaclyn Santos.

It was a great show as per usual, and AS I HAD PREDICTED earlier in the week. After taking it all in, I headed out into the night to shoot down to SoHo for Mark DeMaio’s opening at Sacred Gallery.  This week really is the Superbowl of art going.

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”
(*editors note – I will set up all the galleries and artists names as hyperlinks next week when I have time)

The post SCOPE Art Fair NY 2014 VIP Opening Reception Was Packed (Photos) appeared first on Artiholics.

Once again the week has arrived where the titans of the art world (global art world) flock to NYC for Armory Week to take in the art work and show off the art wares.  Parties, social climbing, art writers, buyers, dealers, artists, and gallery inbetweens swap stories and mingle in converted warehouses, armory’s, post offices, and climate controlled piers along the Hudson river.

The week takes it’s name from the Armory Show, which is the grandaddy of all of the week’s fairs, but any seasoned art traveler will now that the Armory is just the tip of the art fair iceberg.  Satellite fairs pop-up and take orbit, each with it’s own respective gravity and collector base, trying to pull the titans toward them, and each year the satellites either get larger, or fizzle out.

We all know that in NYC, time is money.  Rather than spend a lot of both shuttling yourself around town without any direction as to which fairs  (and social affairs ) might appeal to you, we at Artiholics.com have created this handy guide to NYC Armory Week.

Listed in descending order from Most to Least expensive:

THE ARMORY SHOW:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $40  |   Students – $20  |  Armory / VoltaNY Dual Pass: $50

Wednesday – March 5, 5pm – Midnight @ MoMA | The Armory Party $175 – $10,000 Tickets
Thursday – March 6, 12pm – 7pm
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 7pm

Featuring: 200+ Of The largest art galleries in the world showcasing their artist’s most sellable work, the worlds top collectors, art writers, etc.  Art wise you will see: Lots of Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Neon, Random Artists In Costume, Collage, Interactive Art, New Media, Photography, Performance art, etc..

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Peter Max

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Kenny Scharf & Damien Hirst.
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Damien Hirst, Barry McGee, Kenny Scharf, Tracey Emin, John Wesley, Jenny Holtzer, Olaf Breuning, Yayoi Kusama, Julian Opie. Nancy Chunn, Marina Abrovonich, Kehinde Wiley, Retna, Ryan McGuinness, Nick Cave, Chuck Close, Gagosian, Chitra Ganesh, David Kramer , Kim Jones, Pierogi, Warhol, Basquait, etc.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: The variety of Blue Chip and Museum Artists’ work in one place.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at The Armory Show? Yes, I’ve seen a Marina Abrovonich performance, although it was with an actor not Marina.  Live drawing by Ai Kowada Gallery’s Fukuhara.  Also weird performance artists doing their thing in the crowd.

The Scoop on The Armory Show From An Artiholic:
This is the one show all the satellite shows revolve around.  It has anywhere from 200 – 300 international galleries represented in a given year, and is a lot to take in, and a lot of walking.  Make sure to wear your comfy shoes and prepare to see a lot of neon, glitter, and museum quality presentations.  The sculptures are as polished and pristine as it is possible to make them, the wall paint is flawless.  If you go to as many of the art fairs as I do will start to feel like you walking through a brand new IKEA after a while (the scale of the two piers are enormous) .  If while you are seeing world class art in this familiar Big Box Store format your eyes  become blurred and the work starts to become indistinguishable from Norwegian furniture, take a seat in their cushy bar areas and get a drink.  You don’t need to push your eyes that far, the brain can only accept so much eye candy before it goes into shock.

For the price of admission you get access to both the Modern show, and the contemporary (each with it’s own pier), so you can see work from older masters, as well as the masters that are still alive and working today (based on which pier you are checking out).

Positives: Buying the Armory / Volta NY combo ticket for $50 is the best deal in town.  There is a shuttle bus between the two venues, and you get to experience the opposite worlds of the big box store IKEA experience of the Armory, along with the intimacy of Volta NY. You will be seeing the best most sought after artists in the world hanging in a show that is only up for an extended weekend, buying frenzy is a thing to behold.

Negatives: The size and scope of this show can be daunting and overwhelming to a beginner, just start at one side and work your way through it to the other side, move to the next row and do it again.  Think of it like a giant supermarket, but instead of cereal and canned goods, you are looking at artwork worth 10’s to 100’s of thousands of dollars by artists you have seen at The Whitney and The Met.  You will not see these galleries taking to many risks. At SCOPE, The Unfair, and Fountain artists aren’t paying the insane per-square-foot rates as at The Armory so they can go edgier.  This show is squeaky clean – most booths on a factory produced precision.  If you prefer to see a little of the artist’s hand (blood, sweat, and tears) mixed into the paint, you might want to check out some of those other fairs.

Location: Piers 92 & 94:  711 12th Ave New York, NY (@55th Street & the West Side Highway)

Website: https://www.thearmoryshow.com/
View Our Armory Show Photos From Previous Years

SCOPE ART FAIR:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $25  – Student $15

Thursday – March 6, 3pm – 6pm (Platinum VIP Preview Gala)  –  6pm – 9pm (First View Benefit & Press)  $100
Friday – March 7, 11am – 8pm
Saturday – March 8, 11am – 8pm
Sunday – March 9, 11am – 7pm

Featuring: Drawing, Collage, Sculpture, Painting, Performance Art, New Media, Neon, Photography.

THIS YEAR’S SCOPE (SPOILERS): SCOPE Art Fair NY 2014 VIP Opening Reception Was Packed (Photos) – Artiholics

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Ron English

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Ron English.
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Augusto Esquivel, Jordan Eagles, Karim Hamid, Ron English, Banksy, Luke Chueh,  Russell West, gilf! Hiroko Tsuchida, Gabriel Barcia-Colombo, Andrea Stanislav, HuskMitNavn, Kikyz 1313, Camille Rose Garcia.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: Performance art piece where a female artist walked around the fair nude from the waste down.
Possibility of Live Nudity: It’s Possible.

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at SCOPE? Occasional Live Painting, Occasional Live Performing Installation, Occasional Live Music.

The Scoop on SCOPE From An Artiholic:I’ve personally attended the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013 incarnations of the fair.  It’s one of the satellite fairs that didn’t have a permanent home until 2013 and was constantly competing with Pulse as they have very similar vibes, that is until Pulse decided to slide into May and be a part of Frieze Week, thus freeing Scope up to take control of the more serious emerging contemporary art galleries.  I watched this fair bounce from Lincoln Center, to a tent on the West Side Highway, and finally to it’s current NY location in the giant post office building Skylight at Moynihan Station next to Madison Square Garden.

Scope is a good dowsing rod for what trends are most likely to be prevalent thought-out all of the art fairs during Armory Arts Week.  Mostly pretty good art, there are some major international galleries represented, as well as a lot of NYC talent.  Scope is what galleries at Fountain aspire to graduate up to.

Positives: A ton of good work, lots of roaming artists, friendly gallerists.  The show has really come into its own since Pulse left.  A good mix of low and high brow to appeal to a wide audience.  Gets a lot of solid press, and a lot of sales.

Negatives: Some galleries are obviously not yet ready for prime time and stick out like a sore thumb.  When you start to notice trends, you will see them repeated and repeated in multiple booths. Location is far from Armory. 

Location: Skylight at Moynihan Station 360 West 33rd Street, W 33rd St, New York, NY 10001

Website: https://scope-art.com/
View Our SCOPE Photos From Previous Years

THE ART SHOW:  March 5th – 9th 

General Admission: $25

Wednesday – March 5, 12pm – 8pm
Thursday – March 6, 12pm – 8pm
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 8pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 5pm

Featuring: Solo Shows, Museum Quality Gallery Shows, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Collage, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: John Leguizamo

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Andy Warhol & James Rosenquist
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Rosenquist, Henri Matisse, Mark Rydan, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, George Condo, Ray Johnson, Phil Guston, Wim Delvope, Sperone Westwater, Charles McGill.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: The Egon Schiele / Gustav Klimt exhibit.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at The Art Show? No, this is a serious art fair.

The Scoop on The Art Show From An Artiholic:

This fair is decades older than The Armory Show and has a sterling reputation as presenting some of the best in the business.  Blue chip art, museum art.  Most of what you will find here by artists who’s names you will recognize from your Christie’s and Sotherby’s catalogs.

Positives: You will see museum quality work, amazing drawings and paintings from many dead modern artists, and some current living blue chip artists, as well as original portraits of famous artists.  If you are a fan of really good drawing, and seeing drawings by some of your favorite dead artists, this is a good place to get a glimpse of artwork that exists outside of museums and is sold to private collectors.

Negatives: This is a lot like the Modern section of The Armory Show.  It is old masters, mixed with some more elite contemporary artists.  The crowd is extremely highbrow and it’s easy to feel under-dressed when attending.

Location: Park Avenue Armory – Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York City

Website: https://www.artdealers.org/artshow.html
View Our THE ART SHOW Photos From Previous Years

INDEPENDENT:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $20

Thursday – March 6, 6pm – 8pm (Private Vernissage)
Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 6pm

Featuring: Sculpture, Kinetic Sculpture, Collage, Car, Interactive Art, Neon, Animation, New Media, Painting, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: John McEnroe

Unofficial Art Patriarch: Dan Flavin
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Ella Kruglyanskaya, Steve Claydon, Thomas Julier, Oliver Mosset, David Shrigley.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: A random DeLorian with no flux capicitor.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at Independent? No

The Scoop on the Independent From An Artiholic:

To me this fair always felt the least like a fair, and even refused to call itself a fair.  The floors have big open spaces in the middle rather than the sectioned off walls that the other art fairs are known to have, all the galleries share the same light.

Since it started The Independent has always been free admission to the public, and the focus has been more about the art than the selling.  It is many people’s favorite fair because of the amount of sculpture, and minimalism and distinct lack of drawing and painting.  I am in the minority, and the lack of drawing and painting drives me up the wall.

I don’t know exactly what changed with Independent’s business model,  but this year it costs $20 instead of costing nothing to get in ($20 is a distinct price increase from free).

Positives: A ton of big sculptures on four floors.  The possibility of a random car in the middle of one of the floors.  The permanent Dan Flavin instillation on the staircase in between floors is always inviting – not technically part of the show, but a welcome break from the different levels.  Top Floor Cafe, with Roof Access

Negatives: Extreme lack of drawing and painting. Super snobby curators who really don’t want to talk to you, which is another thing that makes this unlike the other art fairs where the exhibitors actually want to interact.  I have hundreds of photos I’ve taken of artists and curators at the various art fairs, and Independent is the only art fair I have taken zero shots of any curators or artists.  I am acting the same as I do at the art fairs but never get approached.  Located in Chelsea it is close to other art openings, but far from The Armory Show piers.

Location: 548 West 22nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues in the heart of the Chelsea gallery district.

Website: https://independentnewyork.com/
View Our INDEPENDENT Photos From Previous Years

VOLTA NY ART FAIR:  March 6th – 9th 

General Admission: $15  |   Students – $10  |  Armory / VoltaNY Dual Pass: $50

Thursday – March 6, 11am – 2pm (Guest of Honor) 2pm – 5pm  (VIP / Press Preview)  6pm – 9pm (Public Vernissage)
Friday – March 7, 10am – 8pm
Saturday – March 8, 10am – 8pm
Sunday – March 9, 10am – 5pm

Featuring: Solo Shows, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Collage, Interactive Art, New Media, Neon, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Delroy Lindo

Unofficial Art Matriarch: Amanda Coulson
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  This changes every year, as all booths are solo shows.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: Very focused solo shows that aren’t like the typical art fair.  The ability to see a depth to an artist’s work, unlike the other top tier fairs that would only showcase one or two pieces by each artist.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Not Good

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at VoltaNY? Yes, I’ve seen Break Dancing & Pastry Eating Contests

The Scoop on Volta NY From An Artiholic:
Volta NY rules.  It is the offshoot of The Armory Show so it has the top tier credibility of The Armory, but also has the intimacy that comes with solo shows.  It feels like you are attending 90 gallery openings where the artist is in attendance, and you are the only guest.  You get a real one-on-one experience with each booth and are able to engage with the artists.

It is an invitational show, and all the artists have to be represented by a gallery, so there is no room for amateurs, and no buying your way in.  I have had nothing but positive experiences with Volta NY, and since they moved down to SoHo from their previous residency at  7 West 34th Street they really have the space you need to fit everyone and not feel like you are walking around a fair in a converted office.

Positives: Buying the Armory / Volta NY combo ticket for $50 is the best deal in town.  There is a shuttle bus between the two venues, and you get to experience the opposite worlds of the big box store IKEA experience of the Armory, along with the intimacy of Volta.  This is a show I would love to one day solo in, and you can’t get much higher praise from me than that.

Negatives: If you don’t like meeting artists, or seeing solo exhibits, and prefer to see more salon style gallery showings presenting a diverse group of artists from a gallery’s stable, then you won’t like this show.  If you aren’t planning on attending The Armory, this show is kind of out of the way in relation to the other shows.

Location: 82 Mercer Street., New York, NY  (Between Spring and Broome Streets)
Website: https://ny.voltashow.com/index.php
View Our VOLTA NY Photos From Previous Years

FOUNTAIN ART FAIR:  March 7th – 9th 

General Admission: $10 – VIP Pass: $50 – Weekend Pass $15

Friday – March 7, 12pm – 7pm (VIP Press Preview / Open to the public)  7pm – Midnight (Opening Night Reception) Music Lineup: DJ Nick Zinner
Saturday – March 8, 12pm – 7pm (Open to the public) 7pm – Midnight (Saturday Night Event) Music Lineup: THE DEEP!
Sunday – March 9, 12pm – 5pm

Featuring: Solo Shows, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Collage, Interactive Art, New Media, Neon, Photography

Featuring: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Live Painting, Live Performance, Performance Art,  Music, Collage, Car, Interactive Art, Neon, New Media, Photography

Celebrities / Celebrity Artists I’ve Personally Spotted Here: Mia Tyler
Unofficial Art Matriarch: Swoon
Notable Artists / Gallerists Associated With This Show:  Alison Berkoy, The Murder Lounge, Brian Leo, Dave Tree, Casey Porn, Jonny Fenix, Veng, Victor W. Cox, Ryan Cronin, Chris Smith, Alex Emmart, Rob Servo, Leah Yerpe, JMR, Brandon Friend, Christina Ray, Mighty Tanaka, Leo Kesting, Front Room, Munch, Dacia.

Coolest thing I’ve seen here: Nude Body Finger Painting.
Possibility of Live Nudity: Very Good.

Ever Seen Live Performance or Live Art at Fountain? Yes, tons.

The Scoop on The Fountain Art Fair From An Artiholic:
I love fountain, it is such a fun fair to attend and you get a lot of bang for your buck.  Lots of good artists, also a lot of not so good, but the needles in the haystacks are in the numbers at this fair.  This is truly the independent fair as usually it’s one artist, or a group of artists splitting a booth on their own.  No galleries need be involved, although a lot of booths are represented by galleries.  It’s one of the cheapest art fairs for artists to get work in (per square foot) so the bar is set a little lower than a Scope or Pulse, and leaves the door wide open to untrained artists, street artists, and Brooklyn artists on the rise.

You will see a lot of drawing at this fair, a lot of painting, and a lot of pop.  I have heard it referred to many times in art circles as “amateur hour” but there are generally some stand outs in the masses, and as years go by you will start to see artists who got their start at Fountain’s careers shoot them up to larger galleries, and land them larger exposure at the top tier fairs like Scope and Volta.

You will be likely to meet a lot of artists if you wander around this fair, as most booths are artist run.  It is a great way to talk to artists and have them talk to you about their work.  Almost everyone is friendly and open here, and there is very little pretension.  You will find a few street artist wanna-be-banksies aka Mini-Banksys, who don’t want to have their photo taken, which is annoying as fuck, and almost comical.

When I  first attended this fair in 2009 it was on the frying pan pier.  In a tent that leaked when it rained.  There was a basement floor called the Murder Lounge where a small collective of Greenpoint artists would always show together. Fountain in gaining credibility and exposure has moved several avenues over to the Lexington Ave Armory and now has a solid foundation and doesn’t have to worry about dark clouds.They still have a section of the new location called The Murder Lounge, but it’s more of just a tribute.
Fountain is a 1917 work widely attributed to Marcel Duchamp. The scandalous work was a porcelain urinal, which was signed “R.Mutt” and titled Fountain. Submitted for the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in 1917, Fountain was rejected by the committee, even though the rules stated that all works would be accepted from artists who paid the fee.  The exhibition took place in the building where The Fountain Art Fair now resides almost a hundred years later.

Positives: A lot of fun, a lot of really great artists and a lot of good drawing.  Live painting, performances, music.  It is almost like getting a first glimpse into the unsigned talent of the art world.  You see what bubbles up from Brooklyn, Queens, and the outer boroughs before it gets snagged up by the machine.  The Friday opening night reception is the most fun you will have at any of the art fairs with open bar and live music – it becomes a party – and I will see you there.  If you are a fan of drawing, street art, illustration, comics, lowbrow, or graffiti, you will really enjoy yourself.  If you are a collector you can find a great deals on artwork by emerging artists here, and fill your apartment for a fraction of the price you would have to pay at the other fairs.

Negatives: Depending on your perspective, you will either come away loving, or hating Fountain.  If you like drawing and painting, you will have a good time.  If you really enjoy The Independent, you will probably not like Fountain so much.  If you are looking for Museum Quality work, you will not like Fountain.  It is very unpolished, but that’s what gives it it’s underground handmade charm.  Although I have a great time at Fountain it is one of the lower tier fairs and doesn’t get much love from the mainstream art press, but art blogs and Scene and Alt magazines like Paper are all over it. 

Location: Centrally Located at the 69th Regiment Armory (Lexington Avenue & 26th Street)
Website: https://www.fountainartfair.com/
View Our Fountain Photos From Previous Years

SPRING / BREAK – $5

THIS YEAR’S SPRING/ BREAK (SPOILERS): SPRING/BREAK Art Show Is Your Elementary School On Psilocybin- Artiholics

CLIO ART FAIR – $FREE

THIS YEAR’S CLIO ART FAIR (SPOILERS): The Clio Art Fair 2014 Inaugural Show Opening Reception- Artiholics

THE (UN)FAIR – $FREE

THIS YEAR’S (UN)FAIR (SPOILERS): THE (UN)FAIR is Back, Bigger, & More Popular Than Ever – Opening (Photos) – Artiholics

MOVING IMAGE- $FREE

NEW CITY ART FAIR- $FREE

The post Artiholics New York Armory Week Art Fair Travel Guide 2014 appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Thursday, March 6, 2014

It is always a crapshoot when a new satellite art fair decides to join the Armory Arts Week fray. The already saturated lineup of round robin fair hopping is somewhat a well oiled machine, throwing a new wrench into the mix will either make the machine run smoother, or can jam up the works and die on the vine.  Some will to mutate to another month, or even focus on another city to survive (see Bridge, Red Dot, Verge, PooL, Pulse, Korean Art Fair, Dutch Art Now).

I always am one to root for the underdog and when the new upstart Clio Art Fair contacted us about being a media sponsor I figured why not at least check it out and throw our Artiholics logo and some press their way for support. Touted as The Anti-Fair for Independent Artists (aka without permanent NYC gallery representation) it seemed to be just that.

Located in Chelsea at The Highline Loft, 508 West 26th street and 10th Ave, if you didn’t know it was happening as there is no outdoor signage, you might walk right by.

The signage is in the lobby and is oddly missing it’s media sponsorship logos. Elevator up to the fifth floor and you will arrive at the venue. Two large rooms separated by a median wall.

I got some wine and cheese and set out to meet some of the artists.

Guang Zhu with her work, a steel set of mathematical floating cubes.

Artwork by Matt Neuman.

Pop Dogs, the mobile art installation to discuss the global issue of dog over-population by exploring the global cycle of craving, consumption and abandonment.

Artwork by Paolo Pelosini.

Artwork by Rodolfo Edwards.

Artwork by Ted Barr.

Photos by Mel Rosenthal.

Francesco Lecci, Artribune U.S. Contributor

Artist Michelle Kaufman standing behind her furry pink letterform sculpture “POWER.”

Alessandro Berni, the US Editor of Artribune.

Artist Verdiana Patacchini in front of a drawing she made with acid and aluminum.

I’ve noticed a pattern trend of seeing neon signs that flash and then have an alternate meaning –  this sort of thing is big at The Armory Show.

Artist and founder of Artefuse, Jamie Martinez.

The insane thing about this piece is that when you look at it with the naked eye it looks like an abstract pattern of triangles, but if you see it through the viewfinder of a camera or back up several dozen feet the image instantly comes together as a tiger.

“El Tigre” 16″ x 20″ Oil on Cotton. Thousands of triangles took him five months to complete.

This is a puffer fish in a cage, also by Jamie, but really hard to photograph.

This bed is titled Torturing Wishing Despairing Withering, 2012 by Crayon Minyen Hsieh

Rain Shaking Scene,2013 by Han Hong Park

Vulnerability Part 1, 2010 composed of worn underwear, by Floor Grootenhus.

Artwork by the late artist Luoratoll, presented by Michela Bondardo pictured above.

Photographer Alessandra Guidetti.

Photo of myself by Alessandra Guidetti.

Architect Aida Miron 

This is an eclectic mix of artists of all disciplines. Sculptors, painters, photographers. I was glad I was there for the VIP opening reception and was able to meet some of the artists.  The reception was priced at $90 a head, which is a little steep for an unproven entity, especially when the extremely popular Unfair was having their opening reception 30 blocks away for free, with free wine, popcorn, and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream served to you by THE ACTUAL Ben & Jerry.

Photo of me by Jamie Martinez.

Jamie Martinez was off to meet up with some of his writers at The Unfair, which happens to be the other upstart Anti-Fair Fair Artiholics is a media sponsor of so when he left I grabbed my coat and went along for the ride.

If you are in Chelsea this week checking out the Chelsea Fairs: The Moving Image, The Independent, The New City Art Fair, The first ever Highline Open Studios, be sure to swing by and check it out Clio, and tell em Artiholics sent you.

Artiholics is a media sponsor The Clio Art Fair
508 West 26th Street and 10th Ave

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post The Clio Art Fair 2014 Inaugural Show Opening Reception appeared first on Artiholics.

San Francisco, California – Thursday, February 6, 2014

Heidi Kirkpatrick’s work is chilling in an alluring way. In this new art exhibit titled LOST & FOUND currently on display at the RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco, she pitches photos with objects to create new monsters almost like an elaborate game of exquisite corpse.  A group of such works called the Cyanohoops are made from cyanotype photography. The artist printed her images on fabric and stretched her pictures onto embroidery hoops.  She does all her own work, she shoots on film, prints on film, and develops in her own darkroom.

Some of her images include the bluish white silhouette of a fork, a simple dress, a frail feather, and then a dainty hand.

There is also a windy outline of a snake, other plants, and other dresses too.  A few portraits of ladies and one man hang among the objects.  These round frames and blue prints place the images all on the same visual level, connecting them and leading us to wonder, in a Surrealist fashion, why a fork might be linked to a dress; or a clover to a man; or a ring to a feather. The hoops all act like different parts of a delicate poem, one that harkens back to an old craft and an old method of printing.

Kirkpatrick’s hoops are scattered in an unspecific, eye-pleasing arrangement across one of the larger walls in the space.  I’ve decided that pictures displayed without edges feel less routine, but natural. Isn’t that how we look at the world, through roundish eye sockets and not boxes? Perhaps our penchant for straight edges and boxes is really some need to bring order to life. The round hoops conjure more of a  dream-like mood, and could be reminiscent of thought bubbles.

Speaking of eyes, the sculptural piece called Watch Tower caught me. It is made up of six wooden baby blocks, each carrying a lovely female eye, underneath a smart brow.

Human and non-human eyes can be so alluring and frightening at the same time. Because so many animals fear eyes, biologists use the term cyclophobism to talk about that specific fear.  In this small piece, the eyes in this triangular tower don’t feel threatening. They appear alert in a spirited way.

Kirkpatrick began exploring alternative film processes in the Nineties, and at that time felt a strong attraction to film positives. Today, many of her works (not including the Cyanohoops) are made with film positives. Kirkpatrick admires the pioneering work of Anna Atkins, the English Botanist who published the first book of photographs, and is credited as the first female photographer. In terms of the actual images, Kirkpatrick employs old family photos that carry narratives and emotions held deeply important to the artist. Of the one picture involving a man, she notes that this is her great grandfather, now passed away. The mention of him prompted the artist to recall a few storylines about his life:

“We called him big grandpa,
he had a filling station in Waterloo,
he let the kids steal penny candy from his store,
he grew tobacco and taught me how to fish,
he lived into his nineties.”

Her image-objects are an outcome of familial loss and preservation of memory. Though a sense of warmth emerges from those story-lines, Kirkpatrick’s images haunt her as well. She continues using some of the same photos over and over

Also included in the show is a piece called She’s An Open Book, which displays two images of thin arms and clawing hands reaching upward. Whatever body these appendages are connected to seems to lay upside down. In between the hands and arms are the pages of a book curled and folded together. The body here, is a book, and from the look of the desperate arms, this book does not want to be unfurled.

Kirkpatrick also continues to explore different ways of photographing the female body.  While doing so, her object-photos recall some of the dream-like image pairings in Joseph Cornell’s boxes, or the imagery that captivated Surrealists painters. All throughout, the show delivers a sense of her unique minimal touch.
“I spend a lot of time by myself building the work.  I am happiest at my work table working on my puzzle, although I do enjoy the thrill of the chase finding the objects.  I like working with pieces that have had a previous life. I like old things. I like the smell of history.” – Heidi Kirkpatrick

Lost and Found is actually the name of a larger body of work containing more image-objects. In the past, Kirkpatrick has also combined photos with objects like dishes, well-worn tin boxes, serving trays, and cedar Mah Jongg game pieces. On view at the Ray Ko Photo Center are Kirkpatrick’s Cyanohoops, She’s an Open Book, and the two sculptures Watch Tower, and You and Me, both involving wood blocks (Over 60 pieces total).

Heidi Kirkpatrick’s LOST & FOUND is on view from 1/1/714 to 2/23/2014. RayKo Photo Center is located at 428 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 and  is open Tuesday to Thursday from 10 AM to 10 PM, and from Friday to Sunday 10 AM to 8 PM. The artist is based in Portland, Oregon where she works as an educator and as an artist. On Saturday, February 8, 2014 at 1 PM, the RayKo Photo Center will host an artist talk with Heidi Kirkpatrick.

 Written by Audrey Tran

The post Artist’s Cyanotypes Feel Like Relics Found In An Ancient Curio Cabinet appeared first on Artiholics.

Have you ever heard of an artist named Haddon Sundblom? No? Well you’ve seen his work. You could say he’s one of the most famous character designers ever. He created the iconic Santa we know and love. He based him on Clement Clark Moore’s 1822 Poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”. Sundblom had his friend Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman model for the initial painting.

The illustration above was a commission from Coca-Cola for an ad that ran in a 1932 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, and later ran in Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker and others. Sundblom continued painting Santa for Coke for the next 32 years.

According to Coca-Cola’s : 5 Things You Never Knew About Santa Claus and Coca-Cola:

The Santa Claus we all know and love — that big, jolly man in the red suit with a white beard — didn’t always look that way. In fact, many people are surprised to learn that prior to 1931, Santa was depicted as everything from a tall gaunt man to a spooky-looking elf. He has donned a bishop’s robe and a Norse huntsman’s animal skin.

In fact, when Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper’s Weekly in 1862, Santa was a small elflike figure who supported the Union.

Haddon Sundbloom painted Santa from 1932 -1964. Coca-Cola advertising continues to feature images of Santa based on Sundblom’s original works. These paintings are some of the most prized pieces in the art collection in the company’s archives department and have been on exhibit around the world, in famous locales including the Louvre in Paris, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Isetan Department Store in Tokyo, and the NK Department Store in Stockholm. Many of the original paintings can be seen on display at World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Ga.

So this holiday season, raise a glass of eggnog (or Coke), or eggnog with rum (or rum and coke) to Haddon Sundblom, the forgotten father of father Christmas (and a freelance illustrator).

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

(via. artiholics via. coca-cola, header photo via. love hate advertising)

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New York, NY – Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Late last year Street Artist Essam was arrested for a highly charged NYPD drone fake ad campaign he hung around the city.  In mid-March I went to a fundraising art event at Mother hosted by Animal NY to help pay his attorney and court fees.

The list of artists that donated work to the silent auction included Clay Patrick McBride, Dan Witz, Peter Max, Tanyth Berkeley, GILF, Mr. EWOKONE, Patrick Waldo, Jaron Berman, QRST,Stash, SERVO, Army of One, Adam Dare, and many more.  There were also musical performances by Ben Morgan, Danny Musengo​, California Kings​, Motherwell Johnson​, and Ludlow Thieves.

I caught up with Essam a few months later to see what had resulted from the auction, and how the case was going after all the dust had settled.

Artiholics: “First off, can you give me a little run down of what exactly happened for any of my readers who might be living outside of NYC who might not have caught the story?”

ESSAM: “On November 28th the NYPD intelligence/counter terrorism unit came knocking on my door and arrested me for allegedly placing mock NYPD public service announcements all over Manhattan.  The ad’s said things like ‘Always Watching,’ with Bloomberg’s face, cameras and drones ominously watching overhead, and “NYPD Drones, protection when you least expect it,” with a drone firing a hellfire at a fleeing family. Needless to say the NYPD was none to pleased.”

Artiholics: “What charges did they slap you with?”

ESSAM: “I’m being charged with Grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, 56 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, and criminal possession of a firearm for my great grand fathers antique revolver.”

Artiholics: “Who proposed the Free Essam silent auction?”

ESSAM: “The silent auction and concert were actually first proposed by my close friend Danny Musengo, the lead singer of Ludlow Thieves who headlined the performance that evening. I spent a week thinking, ‘I either let this ruin my life, or I try to use the momentum in the press to make something of this’. In hind sight it seems like a no brainer.”

Essam (Left) with Clay Patrick McBride.

Artiholics: “How did you get such an eclectic mix of artists to donate work?”

ESSAM: “Well, I received a formal arts education at SVA, and having been older than most other students due to my previous military service, I formed some very lasting relationships with the faculty, a few of which were instrumental in making the benefit happen. Mainly Clay Patrick McBride who was the MC for the evening, is a very well known and respected photographer in the music and sports industries and really went to bat for me. Through him I was able to meet many of the artists who donated, including one of the performers.”

Artiholics: “Anyone show up at the party you didn’t expect to?”

ESSAM: “I met a lot of people that I was honored to have in attendance to include one of the heads of Ron Paul’s presidential campaign, the wall street journal, a representative from Adam Harvey’s studio, but I was most surprised to see photographer Kareem Black, who’s presence usually signifies ‘this’ is the cool thing to be doing, and collector W. H. Hunt who is one of the bigger collectors and curators of photography in New York. There was also an Assistant District Attorney in attendance which made me a little nervous.”

Artiholics: “Did the party raise a lot of funds?  Anyone offer up a get out of jail free card?”

ESSAM: “I managed to raise about $13,000 front the event itself and another $10,000 through the sale of work online with 1xRun, which in total nearly covered the cost of my attorney, so i’m happy, though a get out of jail free card would have been nice. I did make a piece for Libertarian Billionaire Peter Thiel and sent it along with a letter to his place of business in San Francisco in hopes of at least having an ally in the fight but I never received a response.”

Artiholics: “Have you had to return to court since the party?”

ESSAM: “I have, I went back on May 1st, the case was adjured until August 5th.  To date there has been no progress in the case, My attorney is in communication with the district attorney to negotiate a plea bargain. The only real progress is soon I may finally be receiving my computers and hard drives that were taken in the raid.”

Artiholics: “What’s next on the horizon for you artistically?  And where can we keep tabs on your openings and events?”

ESSAM: “Right now I’m working with 1xRun on another edition of screen prints and I’m putting together work for a couple shows. No dates are set but you can keep updated with both my photography and my street art at www.eadamattia.com and www.freeessam.com, Free_ESSAM is on all social media as well.”

To support the FREE ESSAM campaign, you can buy a poster, the first two posters have sold out.  The third edition of posters are now available to purchase on 1xrun.com  (here)

You can also sign the petition to drop the charges against Essam, on ForceChange.com

Interview and Photos by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”
(header image by The Daily News)

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If The Metropolitan Museum of Art is doing away with their metal admission badges on Monday in conjunction with their new “Open Seven Days A Week” viewing hours, as this New York Times Article claims, they forgot to tell their marketing department.  The iconic architectural M tin badges are the crux of their ad campaigns in this week’s NYC’s Coolest Museums Revealed issue of Time Out NY.

I know art lovers and collectors who on a day off of work will run their own personal art gauntlet, collecting buttons, and stickers on their vest like merit badges. They try to take in as much culture as possible, almost like a scavenger hunt: Guggenheim, MoMA, Whitney, PS1, etc…  You see these people at the end of the night at a random art opening, exhausted, but proud.  You can trace their patterns by the various affixed baubles, and the metal Met circle has always been a must.

Time Out NY Spotlights the various museum badges.  Uncool fact…they are becoming extinct, forcing TONY to a post a bummer blog update.

The metal badge costs maybe 5 cents max for them to have made overseas, but people (tourists who don’t know better) are giving the museum a “suggested donation” of $25. So $24.95 isn’t enough of a profit I guess? A badge people will continue to wear throughout the day, pretty much like a badge of honor, showing the world that they indeed “support the arts” and are “worldly.”

A badge they will have taken home to their podunk town as a memento of their trip to the big city, where their podunk friends will see it, be jealous, and they themselves will dream of one day affording the luxury of taking their own big trip, to the big city..  A dream experience to be added to the bucket list, the feeling of they themselves being able to feel “worldly”  and well traveled.  A member of the “frivolous day trip to some of New York’s larger art and cultural institutions” club, of which The Met is the largest, and like all good cub scouts, returning home with a badge upon their sash.

But like the Times article said, the price of tin went up, so FUCK YOU hillbilly, enjoy your twenty five dollar sticker.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

[via NY TIMES via Time Out NY]

The post I Hope You Have A Collection Of Metal Met Badges, Because On Monday They Are Going Bye-Bye appeared first on Artiholics.

Today Groupon posted this map on their facebook page.  I love Groupon, and I love maps, hand drawn typography, and infographics, so you figure win, win, win, win… well, sorta.  This map is pretty good, but it leaves a lot out and has some inaccuracies. Everyone in NJ and Eastern PA go to “THE SHORE” not the ocean, not the New Jersey Shore, and especially not BOARDWALK, just “The Shore” which means Jersey Shore (we also would go to lakes and rivers btw)

Manhattan should say “the Hamptons” or Long Island, and Brooklyn / Queens should say “The Rockaways,” AC (Atlantic City), or “Coney Island.” Most of New England could say Cape Cod, Nantucket, or Martha’s Vineyard.  And from taking summer trips to Tennessee with Molly’s family and having never once been to Dollywood, I know for fact that’s bogus.  They vacation in Panama City, Florida (also known as “The Redneck Rivera.”

I’m pretty sure anyone who lives around the great lakes, don’t go to Florida (it’s the one time a year they can swim in their lakes).  I assume Hawaiians might want a break from time to time and when they go on vacation it’s to “the mainland” and when the do, they go to VEGAS.

I’m heading to AC this weekend for a first dip in the Atlantic of the summer, and yes, I will walk on the boardwalk.  Where are you from and where did you go in the summer on vacation.  I’ll draw a new map and do this shit up right.  Please post below!

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post America Divided By Where We Summer: Infographic appeared first on Artiholics.

It’s the classic story; man draws cartoon boy, cartoon boy eats shorts, cartoon town is constructed in a theme park, cowabunga, we all drink Duff, itchy, scratchy, badda boom badda bing.  You’ve seen it 1000 times.

It’s always fun to walk around inside a cartoon and be able to interact with the characters, it’s every kid’s dream.  Jeeze, it’s the whole allure of this place.

So it was only a matter of time before the Fox / Groening machine merchandised their characters all the way up to Pinocchio status, where the buildings have cut free of their cartoon strings and become “real” brick and mortar edifices.

So far the main online critiques of these pictures is that the Flaming Moe is supposed to be purple, and the Duff energy drinks are a sell out and should be actual beer. (More images HERE)

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

[via Reddit]

The post Well, At Least Now We Know Which State Springfield Is In. appeared first on Artiholics.

What kind of douche would tag a cartouche?  According to CNN, his name is Ding Jinghao unchained? (The D is silent 母亲 笨蛋!), a 15-year-old Chinese tourist whom actually carved the words “Ding Jinghao was here” into a 3,500-year-old ancient Egyptian Temple. This idiot does not know even the most basic rules of etiquette to graffiti writing.

The first rule would be to never tag your “real name” because it will make it a lot easier for you to get in “real trouble.”

The next would be, when you do tag something, you don’t need to write “was here” like KILROY, because the very fact that you tagged it implies that yes, you were there (making ‘was here’ redundant).,

If you have to do a “throw up tag,” try not to do it on an ancient cultural artifact while visiting a foreign country, they tend to frown upon that.

And finally, if you tag on top of someone else’s “piece,” the artist who created the original will have beef with you.  As the original artist of this piece is a long-dead 3,500-year-old mummy, the beef of course will be in the form of a Pharaoh’s curse, which will most likely (If you believe the movies) result in this Chinese “Teen Banksy” vomiting and shitting black blood while scarabs and hissing cockroaches crawl into his flesh from under his fingernails, and exit out of his orifices.

Great Job…Dingbat.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Can A Graffiti Tag Result In A 3,500-Year-Old Pharaoh’s Curse? appeared first on Artiholics.

One of the cooler events the Skirball Center For The Performing Arts hosts is the annual season finale of NBC’s The Apprentice.  The show is always packed with celebrities, the Trumps of course, and some of the best dressed millionaires of New York.  Whenever I am not busy and the big show comes to town I try to make it down there to see the taping, meet some of the celebs, and of course attend the after party which (like everything TRUMP) is opulent.  Even though I haven’t seen an episode of the actual show in years, you fall right into the drama.

I was literally one of the first people to get a seat.  Back row of the orchestra, dead center.

You can see me circled in red in this screen grab from the show.  My girlfriend Molly is also circled in red on the right.  The show was live and it was a two hour season finale so group by group the various celebrities were brought to the stage to talk to Trump.  He would basically ask them why they didn’t make it to the end, and they would respond with some version of  “because you fired me.”

The final two players in the game were magician & comedian Penn Jillette from Penn & Teller vs. a country music star named Trace Adkins. When Trump announced Trace as the winner and fired Penn the confetti came down, the stage was swarmed by the celebrities families, and everybody was happy.

The second cameras went off Molly grabbed me and brought me on stage.  I’m standing behind George (one of the Trump’s minions judges from earlier seasons).  As you can see it’s a very odd class portrait.

Left to right we see Penn Jillett, Ivanka Trump, Marilu Henner, Gary Busey, Donald Trump, Omarosa (who’s celebrity is entirely a creation of having been on this series), Dennis Rodman, Stephen Baldwin (aka the other Baldwin), La Toya Jackson (aka the other Jackson), Dee “you will never see me without sunglasses” Snider from Twisted Sister, Trace Adkins, Trump Jr. and Trump Jr.

Molly poses in front of the cast as they pose for photos.

George who was blocking part of my shot joins the cast.

One of the cooler celebrities we ever got to meet, I’m a genuine fan of this guy.  Penn is a genius, and the only reasons he lost to Trace Adkins was because of things he wrote about Trump and his politics in the past, as well as the fact that the show probably has a huge viewership in the South and they wanted to appeal to their target demographic.  I told Penn that we were big fans of Bullshit.  One of only a few people on earth you could utter those words to and it would make them proud.  Molly then said to him “And what happened tonight, that was Bullshit.”  Penn grinned and nodded. You can see Teller and Gilbert Gottfried walking around behind them, not often you get photobombed by Gilbert Gottfried.

Trace Adkins is a country music star.  Molly’s family is all from Tennessee and this guy was representing Nashville.  Molly said to him “I’m from Murfreesboro.” Trace replied “Are you lost?”  Molly responded “Yeah, pretty much.”  She then told him that it would sure make her momma proud to get a picture with him.  He obliged.  Molly looks really short in these pictures, but both Penn and Trace are 6’6″.  Between them, the 6’7″ Dennis Rodman, Donald Trump at 6’3″ and Dee Snider, and Gary Busey both being over 6′ this had to be one of the tallest non-sports-related reality show casts in history.

Myself and Gilbert Gottfried.

The audience had cleared out, the house lights were dimmed, and for a short while people were still on the stage taking publicity photos and whatnot.  They soon boarded the VIP buses to the wrap party on 42nd Street.  I stuck around with Molly until she closed up the theatre.  We then drove up to the party in our car.

It’s amazing how quickly the crew can break down a set.  This is literally 15 minutes after the last of the celebrities left the stage.  Cast was off the stage at 11:30pm, this photo was taken at 11:45 pm.

Amazingly fast.

The final contest was designing and marketing an Delish ice cream flavor exclusive to Walgreens.  We got to eat a lot of it at the afterparty.  Penn’s flavor was a Vanilla & Chocolate Magic Swirtle (which was delicious with toppings or without).  Trace had a Maple Macadamia Mash-Up.  I love Maple, and I love Macadamia nuts, but for some reason this ice cream tasted like something you would eat around the holidays if that makes any sense.  It tasted like a flavor you eat around Christmas, not year round, very odd.

There was a lot to eat that was cooked, and we were starving.  I started drinking some Cape Codders.  Everything was top shelf.

Molly with Hard Rock Johnny looking slimmer than ever.

The dance floor wasn’t empty for long.  After people got full and loosened up this floor got packed.

I got to meet Lil Jon.  I mentioned to him I had drawn a comic strip with him in it in Complex Magazine in the early 2000s and he knew the name of the strip and started explaining it and shook my hand. Whenever someone draws a celebrity in print they see it and keep that shit. He probably has had it hanging in his office for a decade.

Here is a panel from that Complex Magazine strip.

It was kind of loud in there…as he was talking I wanted to yell “WHATTTTT? WHATTTT?” Dave Chappelle style.

Dennis Rodman leaving, when you are 6’7″ with an 8″ Mohawk, a revolving door become a problem.

The Celebrity Apprentice spelled out in tiny delicious cupcakes.

Molly grabbed one of the golden ones.

The most famous circus clown in the world Bello and Molly.

Terrific party, so much fun, thanks Trump & NBC.

We hit the red carpet once again.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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I stumbled into the opening of Bass! How Low Can You Go? at Lelia Heller Gallery on West 25th Street last Wednesday.  The show was named after a rap song, which was named after the lyrics of an earlier rap song.  Curious.  I wonder if Flavor Flav is getting any royalties or kickbacks from the sales in this show? Those giant clock necklaces don’t buy themselves!

“Too black…Too Strong…Too black…Too Strong…” are the opening lyrics of the song this show is based after. What was great about this crowd and this opening is that it’s a nearly 100% chance that nobody in attendance identifies with those lyrics, owns a copy of the Public Enemy Vinyl “Bring The Noise,” or has a clue who Chuck D is. Most likely they will know Flav as nothing but a weird reality TV star. Yeaaaahh Boyyyyee!

This was later remixed by Simon Harris into a piece-of-shit song called “Bass! How low can you go?” which was just composed primarily of samples from the the Public Enemy Song.

I personally first heard the song by playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (as many white kids from the burbs in the 90s probably did) which featured the Antrax / Public Enemy Version. (Listen to this if you want a 90s flashback).

Chuck D signing Public Enemy Comics at NY Comic Con 2007 first sign of the Hiphopocalypse.
The funny thing is, if the gallery had extended an offer, Chuck D would probably have come to the opening.  I remember back in 2007 at the New York Comic Con when I was a guest in Artist Alley,  my mind was blown when I was walking the event and  saw Chuck D signing “Public Enemy” comic books.

In the same way that Simon Harris sampled from Public Enemy, a lot of rap takes samples of what came before and remixes it into new work. This show is very much in the vein of younger artists sampling from artists that came before them.

The show includes work by Erica Baum, Raphael Danke,Rachel Lee Hovnanian, Sheree Hovsepian, Anthony Pearson,Gibb Slife, Alighiero Boetti, Agostino Bonalumi, Enrico Castellani, Lucio Fontana, Dadamaino, Paolo Scheggi, not to mention Robert Rauschenberg & Andy Warhol.

Internationally renowned art collector, and the show’s curator Amir Shariat explains:

“When Chuck D raps ‘He can cut a record from side to side,’ he is cannily referring to Terminator X, the legendary Public Enemy DJ.  Erica Baum and Gibb Slife allude to the voyeurism of Warhol, while the former revels in the genius of Michelangelo. Antonioni’s masterpiece Blow Up and the latter can’t stop our innate thirst for news and gossip.  Sheree sculptures then take Rodin to the next level or should I say the Tower of Babel? Anthony, a sesasoned record collector, meets Bonalumi head on, takes his hand and shows him the way to America.  Rachel meets Enrico and Enrico meets Rachel: it’s not the economy stupid, it’s the fabric of society!  Raphael D rounds them all up and shouts “Danke” to Agostino, Andy, Dadamaino, Enrico, Lucio, and Paolo. Fontana’s 1946 White Manifesto sums up the exhibition: ‘Matter, color, and sound in motion are the phenomena whose simultaneous development makes up the new art.'” -Amir Shariat

Bass! How Low Can You Go? is currently on view Lelia Heller Gallery until June 1
The gallery is located on the corner of West 25th Street and 11th Avenue

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Bass! How Low Can You Go? Art Samples Art – Opening In Chelsea appeared first on Artiholics.

New York, NY – Monday, May 13, 2013

Artist Takeshi Miyakawa was arrested and sentenced to five days at Rikers Island and mandatory psych evaluations for hanging some plastic “I Love NY” bags with battery-powered lights, sparking a bomb scare on Bedford Avenue two Fridays ago, and is now free according to Brooklyn Paper.  I wonder if Milton Glaser will be implicated?

As we learned last month with the arrest of Kenny Scharf, just a little spray paint on a building will get your ass thrown in the slammer.  If you are “highbrow designer” who is “above spray paint” and are thinking about doing some illegal art installations involving electronics, you better think again.  Unless you are commissioned by the city, or at the very least have permits, people who see bulky battery packs and taped wiring strapped to trees in their neighborhoods will tend to get a bit jumpy (we are conditioned to be jumpy).

Street art involving electronics in a post 9 11 world (especially in a major city like New York) will alert the nearby citizens who have had  “any package left on a subway is a threat- report it” drilled into their heads for over a decade, and have them dialing the cops before you can connect the batteries to the bulbs. You won’t have to worry about climbing down the ladder, you’ll be getting cuffs slapped on your wrists and be pulled down the ladder.  Either that or the direct route, a nice paralyzed fall onto pavement after being tasered off the ladder

Best to learn the lessons of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force light bright bombscare in Boston a few years back, any street art visible to the public involving electronics in a post 9 11 world will get you locked the fuck up.  We are our own big brothers.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

[via brooklynpaper]

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Art Production Fund and the New Museum have teamed up for “After Hours 2: Murals on the Bowery.” 15 artist were selected to paint the lockdown gates of several store fronts along the Bowery.  Sounds cool in theory but the not as cool as these pictures (from the article on artlog) portray, as I saw them driving down the Bowery the other night.  These murals are only visible when the stores who’s window space they occupy have their lockdown gates pulled closed. Which means the store is closed.

So any special lighting the windows or awnings might have had is off.  The murals just end up looking like art in an unlit room, or graffiti on a wall in a dark alley.  No spotlights were provided with the project, just paint.

I like how the murals have an end date.  Are the businesses going to paint over them on September 29th?  What would be the point?

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

[via artlog]

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David Shrigley, the artist who makes these adorably morbid dog sculptures has been nominated for the most prestigious art prize England has to offer British artists under 50 years of age.  The Turner Prize.  You can read more about what being nominated for The Turner Prize is like if you read the book 7 Days In The Art World by Sarah Thornton.   The picture above with the little pup I took  at The Independent in 2011 (read on ArtSucks.com), and it was one of the only things I enjoyed about The Independent in 2011.

According to Animal NY  the other nominees are: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye for “Extracts and Verses” at Chisenhale Gallery for paintings; Laure Prouvost for Wantee commissioned with Grizedale Arts at Tate Britain and her installation for the Max Mara Art Prize for Women; and Tino Sehgal for This Variation at documenta (XIII) and These Associations at Tate Modern.

The winner gets $38,000 and bragging rights, but it’s an honor just to be nominated, an honor that comes with an $8,000 consolation prize, which beats the shit out of the Seiko watch and boxed edition of the home game you get for losing on Jeopardy.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

[via AnimalNewYork]

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NYC’s Department of Records have recently released an online photo database featuring 870,000 images of the big “rotten” apple dating back to the mid-1800s.  They put together this database from the Municipal Archive of over 2.2 million images.  Many of the newer images are a result of sending photographers out to take pictures of every building in the city for tax purposes, but the older ones not only show buildings and structures going up, but also mugshots and gangland crime scenes.

The UK’s DAILY MAIL put together a good slideshow of just a few dozen of the 870,000.  Here are just a few:

I love looking at old signage and architecture.

Can you imagine this elevated train rolling above 3rd Avenue?

From The Daily Mail:  This circa 1983-1988 photo provided by the New York City Municipal Archives shows 172 Norfolk Street, which is now the Angel Orensanz Foundation, in New York. Over 800,000 color photographs were taken with 35-mm cameras for tax purposes. Every New York City building in the mid-1980s can be viewed in this collection.

It’s funny because this is the only color shot they included, and I was just over at the Angel Orensanz Foundation a few weeks ago and took a picture of it.  Here is what it looks like now:

To see a bunch more pictures, check out the full article on The Daily Mail.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post The Manhattan Bridge, Without The Bridge & Other Recently Released 100+ Year-Old Photos of NYC appeared first on Artiholics.

I don’t know if this is just a New York phenomenon or if it’s nation wide but AMC, not wanting loose all of their Walking Dead Audience to GAME OF THRONES pumped a ton of money into one image.  An illustration of Don Draper done in 1960s advertising marker, paint, pencil, and gouache mock-up (the way ads were laid out before Photoshop).

When I saw this ad my first reaction was HELL YES!  Traditional illustration for a poster for a modern TV show or Movie is unheard of these days.  Other than the Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones type franchises which are now just continuing the tradition because their earlier films posters were done this way and it would be an insult to the brand to do it otherwise, and maybe the odd independent film here and there, but this is mainstream.

I have seen them all over the subways and on buses and maybe like me you were curious as to who drew it.  Basically you would be looking at an older illustrator who can still work in a style that for any other product would be dated to that time period, and unmarketable .

It is signed by the artist, a 75-Year-Old British illustrator named Brian Sanders.  In a New York Times article about the creation of the piece they actually show Brian at his drawing table adding some finishing touches (most likely the piece was already finished, and he was just pretending, you know posing for the camera).

The interesting thing is that if you also look at his drawing table (and they don’t mention this in the article in the Times), above the painting are a bunch of printed out comps of the piece ALREADY MOCKED-UP IN PHOTOSHOP.  Either the art department at AMC laid out the composition ahead of time and emailed it to him, or they emailed him photos of Don Draper, as well as 1960s era street scene references.

I used to do a lot of illustrations for the British Edition of Maxim Magazine, and I remember that it was always a challenge to draw anything that took place outside.   I would have to research online how these things looked in England.  From street signs, to fire hydrants, to gutters, to manhole covers.  The cops and firefighters all dress differently there, and have different vehicles, fashion, everything is different.  I don’t know if they put all of that on a 75-year-old proper British illustrator to google image search and have him send them comps, or if they just handed him the .jpg and said MAKE THIS INTO A 60s style illustration.

Most likely the latter.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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“We’ll always have Paris”, is part of one of the most famous lines in Cinema history, and it’s funny after looking at photos from streets in Paris from today and 100 years ago from the same vantage point.  The Paris of 1940’s Casablanca was pretty much the same Paris then as it is now, as it was in 1900.

The signage might have been a bit updated, there are cars on the streets rather than horses and buggies, and now there are few trees where formerly there weren’t.  I have seen great before and afters with NYC streets, and when a city isn’t already thousands of years old like Paris, a lot of construction and renovation happens in a century, hell in a decade.

Porte Saint-Denis (2013 – 1914)

Passage du Caire (2013-1914)

Rue d’Aboukir (2013-1914)

Rue Basfroi (2013-1918)

Rue Puget – Rue Lepic (2013-1914)

These photos were from the French News Site Rue89 with an interactive slider function, so you can pull them from one century to the next, but that takes precious seconds, and as Americans, Sweet Brown said it best, Ain’t Nobody Got Time For Dat. The good people at 22words already did the heavy lifting (screen grabbing & cropping them).

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Photographs of Paris Taken 100 Years Apart From The Same Location appeared first on Artiholics.