You are an artist and you also perform in shows. Which side of the job do you like and enjoy the most?

I like when everything blurs together and it’s a lifestyle versus a job or a show. It is not just painting, not just performing. I like being ongoing. I paint on my face, then I smash the paint into a canvas, then I stack that onto my chest, then I slam it into a wall, while making a song. Then the song inspires me while I’m drawing. I let it all out, non stop. Sleep less/do more. When we dip back into this “human” life of roles and routine we become less in the moment.

You bridged the gap between the Art and Club world in the 90’s; can you tell us more?

I was a naive kid working clubs in ’93 for food money. I drew at all my events, jobs, even when I WAS A D.J. or did the door or ran events. From booking Wutang to Fat Joe, I was still  drawing all the people that came out. I filled sketchbooks and everyone was like YOOOOO! “Why don’t you just show your work?”  and I was like “ whhhhhhat???”

As a kid I had no clue. I grew up struggling and with no art education so the Club world x “my” people put me on, and then I started organizing art shows at the clubs. Once I saw that I could organize I put other people on. I did things every week back then. I was curating in a way, from dance shows, raves, punk, palladium, horrible bars etc but I left all that and moved on into showing and full time artist life around 18, 19 years old.

Your signature line work has made an impact on NYC. Can you tell us some of the details of what that line is and how it impacted NYC?

I don’t think it’s up to the artist to determine if the work impacts anyone. New York City is constantly changing, the lines are fluid and always moving, overlapping, changing, like this crazy place. Everyone has a line of work, I’m just channeling the rhythms  worked on as a kid and what I develop daily now, to hopefully make new language.

The lines developed from growing up here as a coping mechanism, drawing life, faces, places and movement. Everyone’s experience in New York is different. Growing up I was an extreme outsider to art. The line work I developed was without exposure to the art, even though I was born here. This kind of lifestyle is often overlooked in “art” storytelling when we think of NY. I hope we can start to think of other artists from rough areas that made it, but the common story is born into, or came for it???

I was born sick, as a kid I suffered from extreme illnesses and just became known as the kid that stayed inside and drew weird lines. Outsiders come from all over the world to New York to make art. I was an outsider in my own town, I just drew all the time and it took all the other New Yorkers to tell me to look at these drawings, to look at Warhol, that I was an artist and to go see a Chuck Close show. I was a strange street kid- I was always  getting into trouble living by the side of the road. My NYC story is odd, but many can relate; they just don’t all get the chance to speak and I hope that changes in this extreme twisted culture.

How would you define your work, technique, and what your message is behind it?

I work around the clock every day. I’ve always been this way since I was a kid. My focus has been being free, making, making, making- from doing collage, sculptures, drawings, paintings, masks, music, immersing myself. I like to throw paint on my clothes, cakes on my head and do jackass performances. I need to escape the system and all this man made bullshit construct by creating all the time and fully being lost in the moment. I don’t want to conform and be a part of anything.

You say that your paintings are inside paintings, can you explain to us what you mean by that?

I try to create paintings that are not one dimensional. Even if it’s as simple as strange Miss Piggy if you look closer you can see a skull, a flower and an exploding eye, then maybe yourself. I have to compete with life. People are busy. If I’m making work and want people to see, I have to think of my competition, this huge thing called life which has so many pictures.

There are layers into layers, pushed, smushed and splattering all around fields of color that shift, faces inside of worlds and if you move in close you can discover hidden levels. I’m doing my math, drawing from different angles, different foregrounds, and multiple perspectives. It’s not a straightforward story, it’s more like a painted Matthew Silver bit.

What is art for you?

Art to me isn’t described by the word art. It isn’t something in a box, destroyed by intention, it just is. All the rest is just human bullshit, needs and wants. The thing that works is when it transcends into the next dimension.

You opened the Alien X the living installation. What inspired this installation and can you share with us more about it? What is it about?

We just did an installation on our Lower East Side rooftop with the city skyline, and have another one coming up. We recorded the whole thing live and it’s available to watch. www.michaelalanart.com/thelivinginstallation

During our performances we are creating human paintings, that change and melt and transform on our bodies and in space. In short we slap ourselves up with anything you can think of. We create robots, slam materials on our head, scream and transform and meld our skin, wreaking and creating objects, blindfolded and covered in paint. We speak about the human condition and the artist as a clown and the underlying emptiness of capitalism. My 84 year old mother performs! Jadda cat is my partner. I am just a clown.

People think of New York and they think of Graffiti and Hip Hop and an underground performance scene. We are continuing that old school punk ethos. New York has been shut down and there’s not been too much going on and we are trying to contribute to its rebirth. We designed the show to be accessible in the open air or by live feed so that people have a way to experience art safely again. We also at random daily walk around as living art.

Since artists seem to always be creating or thinking of their next creation, please share with us any of your future projects and dreams.

I have so much work around me piled up and in progress, and series upon series and so many various styles that I can barely keep up. I just keep working and I let it guide me to where I’m going. I want to keep finding the new without an agenda.

 My next show is this upcoming Saturday, May 22nd.

www.instagram.com/michaelalanalien

www.instagram.com/thelivinginstallation

www.facebook.com/MichaelAlan1.0

www.michaelalanart.com

https://michaelalanalien.bandcamp.com/album/michael-alan-alien

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Before we get into the informational questions, could you tell us something about you that would be surprising and unique? Tell us about yourself and a curious fact in your life.

I am the only boy of a family of eight children. My little 5′ tall Irish fairy mother gave birth to a girl every year for 5 years straight. My father was working as a salesman for a pharmaceutical company. He was injecting my mother with Vitamin B and Folic acid to “build” her blood back up after all those babies. They did not know my mother was pregnant with me when she was receiving large doses of Vitamin B and folic acid. The result was that I had an energy level unmatched by anybody else.

What an interesting start to your life. What was your pathway like to become a photographer? When did you decide to become a photographer?

I studied radio, television, and film at Pennsylvania State University. I worked in local community television production for a few years. I left the industry and returned to pursue neon body-painting photographic art. The pathway to my art I cut for myself. I do not like to follow and copy other people’s creativity. I prefer to invent my own. Perfecting the technique was accomplished with much trial and error.

Please tell us what the inspiration is for your photography.

I like to make beautiful things, which I do through stimulating other people’s creativity and inspiration. Everyone has a creative side. I attempt to access and amplify it through my art.

Describe for us what is “Glow-Art”? And how do you create it?

GLOW-ART is a portal to experience the ethereal through the use of everyday earthly items. It is a God-source inspired photographic art. I do not create it. I push the buttons; the creativity comes from above, I am simply the conduit. I created GLOW-ART.COM to expand the conscious and the unconscious feelings and thoughts of my audience.

How do you create your designs? Can you tell us about your creative process?

To create the design I blend contrasting colors. The contrast between the colors is what brings out the thought evoking process.

You are a photographer and now you are also a fashion designer. How did you connect these two artistic worlds? What inspired you?

Transforming from body painting photographic artist to fashion designer was a financial decision. I do not want to make an income from photography the way other photographers do. I chose to cut my own path. Fashion design I believe is a natural avenue to promote art. The fashion and art worlds are both beauty driven, so merging the two is a perfect decision.

You recently have been part of NY Fashion Week. How was that experience for you and your career?

I loved New York Fashion Week. I love all fashion shows. New York happens to be driving distance from my home in York, Pennsylvania. I pursue any and all fashion shows I can afford and can travel easily. Fashion shows have an amazing energy you don’t find anywhere else. The models, the designers, the photographers, the audience are always very positive and vibrant.

COVID-19 is having an impact on every facet of life. How is the Covid-19 situation impacting you?

I maximized the quarantine time to create, design, and market my product from home. I shot photography quite a bit less and less and built much more apparel.

What is on the horizon for you concerning your creative outlets of photography and fashion apparel?

I will continue to bring awareness of  GLOW-ART to people through fashion shows, and photoshoots with other photographers and their models. I hope to bring awareness of my apparel through involving other more traditional photographers and BY working with models from their area. I will happily bring a garment bag full of GLOW-ART apparel to a photo shoot to enhance the work of other photographers and models.

Looking farther down the road into the future, are there any future projects percolating, either in your current fields or with an eye to branching out even further?

I am building a studio with a dark GLOW-ART studio and other spaces for more traditional photography. In my studio I am building model’s quarters to host traveling models. This enhances the ability of the model and regional photographers to create by having the model and studio in one place with all the tools to make great photographic art.

Ron Vestal: GLOW-ART.COM

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What is Clio Art Fair? Can you please describe Clio Art Fair to me?

Clio Art Fair is a marketplace that allows independent artists to come into direct contact with insiders without the presence of any intermediary. The project was born when I was living in New York and working as an art critic, I had come into contact with many independent artists capable of producing quality works but who had difficulty finding exhibition spaces and therefore an audience of insiders; this was because we had little time or little experience to devote to our promotion. Starting from this need, we built a tailor-made fair where artists can promote themselves, and where gallery owners will not be present as exhibitors but are invited to participate as spectators.

When did you create the Clio Art Fair? And how many editions have taken place so far?AB: In our first 6 years of life, Clio had 11 editions of the fair and hosted 541 artists representing 5 continents and 35 countries.

What kind of works do you showcase at the fair?

All sorts of artworks from independent artists and collectives from all over the world. Artists have been freed up to use different materials and media and to deviate from accepted art practice definitions. Clio also hosted two special sections: I Want to Go Home, curated by Asya Rotella in March 2019, and A Nest Watching an Avalanche in March 2020.

What makes Clio Art Fair unique?

The logistics services that we are able to make available to our artists is what makes Clio unique. We can offer logistics for the shipment of the works, for installation and also for sale if requested. We have a team of art handlers and very close curators and sellers built over the years. Moreover, during the selection process, our team of curators establishes a dialogue with each artist, preparing in detail the selection and promotion on-site and online of each work.

How did Clio Art Fair grow in the past years?

During this period together, the fair grew exponentially. In the beginning, the fair started on the fifth floor of the Wolf Building on 26th Street, and by 2018, we were organizing our events on street-level storefronts  positioned in the key areas of the city.

Is there a preferred medium of art that has been successful using this method?

It is important for us to have the maximum diversity of media present, site-specific included.

Do you have any particular success stories related to the new types of dialogues that you have created (artists/collectors, artists/curators)?

From 2014 to today we have managed to create a network of returning artists, curators, and collectors. Every edition we meet new friends, people we sometimes hang out with during the year. Our fair is an opportunity for dialogue, sharing, and comparison with people from all over the world.

What are the plans for this year? And how has this pandemic impacted the fair?

Considering the current health situation, we are officially suspending our fair programming for the next 12 months.

Starting with the name chosen for our project, Clio, the muse of history, we have never hidden the Greek and Latin references of our roots. Our culture, although lovingly open to influences from all over the world, which provide for profitable and mutually enriching exchange, continues to have at its core an education that includes the texts of the Old Testament. Our spirituality is experiencing an epochal and ancestral challenge. And these new times have allowed us to dedicate ourselves to the rediscovery of texts that contributed to our education in our youth and have helped us to  rediscover an awareness of how to live in an obligatory period of repose. In biblical times, every seventh year was a “sabbath under the Mosaic law, a time during which the land was allowed to rest. Clio will enter a sabbath of sorts.

When and where will the next editions of Clio Art Fair be taking place?

We have arrived in our seventh year of activity with an awareness that we will be coming to a halt. However, we are ready to announce new developments. Clio, the Manhattan Fair for independent artists, will debut in Venice in June 2021 as a side event of the Biennale, it will then return to NY in September 2021 during the Armory Show and will debut in Los Angeles in February 2022 as a satellite event of Frieze LA. Once this period of emergency is over, we expect a period of freshness, vigor, and additional energy. We are awaiting and planning for an historical awakening.

We are ready to select the artists for our new programming period, and we invite you to submit your works. The application is free. The marketing fee will be waived if you complete the application by December 14, 2020.

With the hope of a profitable and creative sabbatical period, we respect social distancing today, but we will re-hug stronger than ever tomorrow.

https://www.clioartfair.com/

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For the ninth edition, Asya Rotella (the daughter of the unforgettable master Mimmo Rotella) has been the chief of the curatorial team, and we must tell, she made a great job!

54 international artists from Canada, the United States, China, Japan, and Europe brightened the second weekend of October.

Asya Rotella chooses among many applications the most representative artworks for this era: versatile, powerful, and eclectic.

Sculptures and paintings, installations, big sized pieces exposed to be the joy of all the art lovers.

Clio Art Fair is known to give to the exhibiting artist lots of services such as free studio visits, which for this edition if we can say, has been a very fortunate choice. Clio Art Fair is also the place where you can meet artists that are showcasing their works for their very first time as the talented Thomas Fazio (painting and sculptures). this edition has seen also the debut in the fine art world of the well-known fashion designer Adrienne Landau, who exhibited her painting for the first time ever.

As old friends of Clio we appreciated again Anne Hefer with two romantic oils, Lauralee Franco with her huge canvases; the exuberant photographer Amanda J Armstrong, and, after a few years, we were glad to meet again Anthea Zito, painter and photographer, just at the entrance.

We would like to highlight also the Greek artist Despina Zografos with her very mystical and elaborated multi-layered paperwork; not to mention the cityscape photographer Annette Schreiber, or the magic gouaches by Hyun Jung Ji or Denise Adler‘s complex paintings empowered by the collage technique; the exquisite bronzes by Emilio Diiorio, and a young – very Basquiat-inspired – Keith Josiah.

Clio Art Fair hosted a couple of thousand visitors from Friday 10th to Sunday 13th, and counting the red dots on the walls we can say that the 25% of the artists sold at least one piece, data that definitely confirm that the human size of the show, and the affordable prices of the artworks (from $300 to $20,000), are a winning formula.

Written by Caterina Chavez

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Summer is in full swing in New York City, a time of the year when outdoor activities take center stage, especially in a city known for its vibrant life. Walks around the neighborhood, movies at the park and picnics are a fun way to enjoy the sun, the long days and the heat of the season.

A favorite interest among locals and visitors is to take advantage of art shows, presented in many forms and places all around the city. More recently sightseers have a new interactive public artwork to see, The Nautilus. Located in the famous waterfront at the Seaport District the exhibit lights up the nights of an already popular district.

The Nautilus is a collaboration between Lincoln, Atlantic Re:think, and SOFTlab. A partnership that brought to life an impressive art installation that invites those who visit it to appreciate the design and its magnitude but also to be active participants. An invitation to touch the art reads in most of the elements that shape the piece. Michael Szivos, founder of New York City-based design studio SOFTlab explained, “Museums are great, but our work that’s in the public realm is not in a white box, so it’s not framed, in a way.”

Consisting of 95 interactive poles, The Nautilus recognizes the visitor’s presence and touch. Each pole displays light and plays a melody when grasp, creating an experience of an oversize musical device. Linked by computer and sensors, with a touch, poles will play a full audio display. Guests can walk between the installation, immersed inside, and have a unique experience.

Approachable art and the need to stimulate society were partly the inspiration of its creators. Easy technology to understand and use was the main focus when creating the piece. “With this public art installation, we were able to use Lincoln’s rich design heritage and technology, and bring a really fun and immersive experience to the seaport,” said Jeremy Elias, executive creative director of Atlantic Re:think in a press release.

The Nautilus named after Lincoln new crossover the 2019 Lincoln Nautilus, is free to the public and showcase at Pier 17 until September 10, 2019. Later, it will move to its final destination at the Lincoln Headquarters in Detroit.

Written by Monica Herrera

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Clio Art Fair is a unique form of fair because it gives artists the freedom to use different types of material to create their work and they can deviate from the accepted art practice and definitions, unlike in the usual concerns in the art business where there are too many rules on how art should and should not be; after all art is about freedom to express yourself and your thoughts right?

To celebrate or to make famous are the terms that define the Greek word “Clio” and for the second time in 2018, the 7th edition of Clio Art Fair is going to do as per its meaning and norm; to celebrate and make famous works of already affirmed creative minds. The world of art will converge in New York City and this weekend will undoubtedly be an amazing one for artists and art lovers. The four spectacular days from 11th October- 14th October 2018 will be defined by dialogue between artists and collectors, artists and curators, positive energy, colors, and free public viewing. Art lovers will get to see different artworks not forgetting the faces behind them and there will be a chance to buy any piece of art that you will love from paintings, sculptures, digital art and more. Talent from all over the world will all be under one roof.

From October11-14, a group of 69 worldwide artists will be exhibiting their works, they will showcase their prowess and prove their creativity and originality as far as art is concerned. These creative minds will convince the world that art is beautiful, art is capable of bringing people together and that it is a career just like any other. The 7th edition of Clio Art Fair has the privilege to showcase thrilling works of artists such as Francesca Schwartz, Paulina Cerda, Amanda Armstrong, and Emiko Aida among many others.

Art is always up for grabs with every edition of Clio Art Fair and with its unique approach to art, it continues to highlight the achievements of artists. From upcoming artists to the well-known ones, all stand a chance to exhibit in New York. Clio Art Fair is home to creative artists sharing their expression of art to the world.

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When Kate Shin invited me to the opening of the Summer Art Festival at the Waterfall Mansion I had to come back to the city. Not that Manhattan was in absolute need of another gallery, but this was different. This is an absolutely new concept.

I buy art to put it at home. There are people out there using safes in Switzerland to stack their art stock in the dark. Not me. I want to enjoy my new piece from the couch, the kitchen, or the bathtub, naturally. I want to invite my friends with any excuse to talk about my new acquisition and track its value growth dinner after dinner.

Kate Shin and co-curator Alessandro Berni are challenging the idea of the warehouse gallery, where they intend for the art to be decontextualized. That very expression is an oxymoron. Context is always present, and unavoidable. The question is finding the right space. The Summer Art Festival offers a living space, the atmosphere of an enlightened lifestyle.

There is a Nam June Paik, a piece of Art History, in a wide room presided by the tallest residential waterfall of NYC, a classic Andy Warhol in the lobby of the second floor holds conversation with the anthropomorphic ceramic of one of the Michael Lucero’s sculptures, found in spaces across the rooms and corridors of the Mansion. There are also surprises. Close to a million dollar Murakami painting there sits the new work of Borinquen Gallo: a sunny ode to the danger of narcissism. Nobody was indifferent when Jedd Garet, one of the most prominent figures of the American neo-expressionism of the 80s, after a silent impasse of twenty years, reemerged in the new digital period. Friends and collectors celebrated Garet’s reappearance, in awe of his newest work.

It was a lively opening full of champagne and exclusive guests, but the feeling of being in a real house never abandoned me. One can look at a Jessica Stockholder or one of the last works of Seung Mo Park sitting within the last works of Karim Rashid or Antonio Pio Saracino who recently erected the iconic “The Guardians” at Three Bryant Park. One can envision himself coming back home after a feisty day at work, and leaving his metaphoric boxing gloves at the sideboard before dining with family and friends. Gloves that Robin Antar carved in marble to make violence too heavy to carry on into this peaceful space.

The Summer Art Festival is going to keep the Waterfall Mansion open to the public until late August, but I’ll certainly go back next July 23^rd to listen to the Midsummer Musicale concert where violinist Christine Kwak will be playing a ten million dollars Stradivarius featuring pieces by Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky. That’s the kind of delight that makes this mansion a truly living space.

Exclusive pictures from the opening:

Victor De Souza and Kate Shin. Travelista TV Host Teri Johnson & friend. Virginie Sommet and Morgan Munsey.

Paul Mcloughlin.

Kim Squaglia and husband.

Kate Shin and Zana Briski.

Kate Shin, Karim Rashid and wife.

Jedd Garet and Gigi Ferrante. Jae Yong Kim, Gary Litchtenstein, Melissa Marr, Kate Shin and Alessandro Berni.

Gigi Ferrante (second from left), Jedd Garet and Alejandro Pardo.

Chris De Boschnek and Ina Backman. Antonio Pio Saracino (right). Alessandro Berni Borinquen Gallo.

Written by Alejandro Pardo.

Photographed by James Nova

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Harlem, New York City – Thursday, June 26, 2014

Harlem has had its ups and downs throughout its history, to say the least. One of its shining times was the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s, in which African American culture was booming with Southern cuisine, music, art, excitement, and creativity. During the Harlem Renaissance, between 7th avenue and Lenox, there were over 125 entertainment places that operated, which varied from cellars, lounges, speakeasies, cafes, taverns, supper clubs, rib joints, theaters, dance halls, bars and grills. 133rd Street was known known as “Swing Street”, because it housed cabarets, a jazz scene during the Prohibition era, and was named “Jungle Alley” because of “inter-racial mingling” on the street. The area has also seen great sadness stemming from poverty, crime, disease, and ongoing gentrification. Harlem is a cultural epicenter that has given rise to major hip-hop artists such as A$AP Rocky, Immortal Technique, Tupac, P Diddy, and Azealia Banks, to name just a few. There is a strong spiritual component to Harlem, as there are over 400 churches and religious congregations. The area is constantly going through change, turmoil, and celebration. For the past two years, I have lived on 100 West, 141 street, right up the block from the mural of Big L, and the Harlem Hospital which houses a massive glass painting on 135th street and Lenox. I have been a guest of Harlem, but I am about to take part in a new change within it: The Harlem Arts Festival.

The Harlem Arts Festival, is happening in Marcus Garvey Park, a 20.17-acre park, surrounded by flat lawns and playing fields. The park is bounded by 120th Street and 124th Street and by Madison Avenue on its east side. The Festival is the culmination of an extraordinary amount of work  by J.J. El-Far, Neal Ludevig, and Chelsea Golding, three extremely ambitious entrepreneurs who see the potential in Harlem’s art scene as what it once was, and what it can become. This is the festival’s third year, and I have a strong feeling it is going to be bigger and better next year.

The following are just a few of some of the over 40 artists behind the Harlem Arts Festival of 2014.

Artist, Lance Johnson, with collage merging with paint in stunning imagery.

Zest Collective, a group of movement artists – some from Julliard and others from the Alvin Ailey School. I will be combining the talent of Zest Collective dancers with Andrew Kaminski Art audiovisual projections enhancing their movement, the night of the Opening, at MIST, this Friday, June 27th from 7:30 – 8 pm. In this video, I combine their movement with my video projections. 

There are musical acts such as Isaac Katalay, who sees art as an outlet to promote positivity for humanity.

Paul Tabachneck, whose smooth voice exudes his love and passion for music and his life.

Tiffany Latrice, with her figurative representations juxtaposed with vibrant patterns.

Alice Mizrachi is a working artist in Harlem, and has been prolific with works on canvas and murals.

The schedule for the Festival is here, and it runs from June 27th (the opening night), Saturday, June 28th, and Sunday, June 29th. I hope to see you there!

Written by Andrew Kaminski 

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Lynda Barry, one of my all time favorite cartoonists (Marlys, The Good Times Are Killing Me, Cruddy), is finally having her first NYC solo show “Everything: Part 1,”on view at Adam Baumgold Gallery through July 11. She is pictured above with me at MoCCA Fest 2008.

I found out about her solo show by stumbling upon a great article and interview on ARTnews by Nicole Casamento giving some back story as to what you can expect to see in the show.  In the interview Lynda explains why comics are like songs, and how to teach creativity to people who can’t draw.

Adam Baumgold Gallery is located at 60 E 66th St, New York, NY 10065

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York – Monday, Jun 16, 2014

The neighborhood is filled with formal and renegade artists, performers, and merchants pouring from the streets, galleries, salons, bars showing arts and crafts all over Bushwick. Here is a sampling of some interesting pieces from Bushwick Open Studios 2014 from June 1, 2014.

The Tarot Society located at The Body Actualized Center, 143 Troutman in Bushwick, featured live palm and tarot readings. On display was a collection of ceramic vessels with esoteric photo transfers, TERRE POTTERY by Pearl Vasudha Chanter.

As a passerby looked up from the sidewalk, an artist climbed high on a ladder to create a giant cat sculpture out of stacked cardboard boxes.

Brent Owens’ multimedia sculpture, see the Dr. Seuss-like tree in the photo collection below, was his fishing lure to bring in an audience to his garage studio. His work is a nod to artisan crafts of his youth and to an Americana hobbyist era that occurred even before he was born. Jenn Brehm, his wife and studio partner, is a painter who created a Dayglo participatory piece for patrons to interact with and add to. She had three collaborative collage, ink, and paint on cotton paper pieces finished by the time I arrived.

One of my favorite installations and performances was by Matty Davis. A visual artist, performer, and jewelry-maker using poetic ideas to encapsulate interactions between his body and of his art objects. His jewelry is unconventional and rough looking, made of flattened nails, gems, and chains.

His calmness as he hammers the nails is in contrast to the unsettling noise of the banging and crafting. It’s a very romantic installation, a collection of work that draws attention to the corporeal body of the artist being as important to the work as the finished object itself.

In one haunting photograph that documented a performance of his, he pressed a flower into a cut made into the palm of his hand. It’s vulnerable, disturbing, and beautiful. So much art today relies on polished gimmick or suffers from being ideas that can be executed by someone else as long as the “existential essence” of the idea remains.

The fun of going to an event like this that could be easily dismissed as a “Hipster block party”, is that the variety here at BOS lets you decide what you want to interact with and look at. This notion is much more pleasant than being in the confined editorial note of established curators for museums that compete with each other, but whom show the same content.

Click any image to view the gallery:

Written by Betty T. Kao

The post NOT JUST HIPSTERS: A Sampling of Art From Bushwick Open Studios appeared first on Artiholics.

Meryl Meisler is a Brooklyn based photographer who captured a very tumultuous, dangerous, and simultaneously glamorous era in NYC history – the 1970s and 80s. During that time, Manhattan was erupting with surreal characters and scenesters, gallivanting in iconic night clubs, while across the bridge in Bushwick, Brooklyn, there was destruction, arson, looting, the crack epidemic, and tensions between the disenfranchised communities that resided there. She taught in a Bushwick public school and with camera at the ready she bore firsthand witness to the opposing worlds, which existed just few subway stops apart.

Meryl carried a medium format camera nearly everywhere she went, and caught a glimpse into two very different social environments. One of those settings was the disco-era music and dance scene. She snapped photos of William Shatner, Andy Warhol, Grace Jones, and frequented  Studio 54. She went to places like the Paradise Garage, one of the most powerful House music venues of all time.

Meryl Meisler referred to the initial lines of A Tale of Two Cities when describing the then NYC dichotomy between extravagant Manhattan nightlife and the struggling nightmare of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” – Charles Dickens

I went on a walk with Meryl, and then she took me out to lunch. Her eyes glowed with compassion and warmth. She currently lives in Chelsea, and she supervises/teaches future art teachers at NYU. Her new exhibition highlights photos published in her new book by Bizarre Publishing, called A Tale of Two Cities & her work is displayed in Bushwick’s Black Box Gallery (12 Jefferson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206). She sent me photos, some of which have never been released. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did:

The original Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, and later to become the Priceline spokesperson, William Shatner is seen above. Meryl didn’t seek these people out, they just showed up in her life without her going out of the way. They seemed to be bizarre characters that had found their place in the media.

I love this one, it’s almost as if there was a crossover with disco night life into the grime and neglect of Bushwick.  My guess is that this depicts the relics of the night a woman got drunk, and experienced that shaky, exciting time. The shoes are evidence of god-only-knows what kind of misfortune and tales of love and loss that accompanied this shoe’s original owner.

 Meryl described Grace Jones (follow the link to view Jones’ YouTube video, ‘Cannibal Corpse’) as a diva, and when she walked in, she looked fabulous and divine.

This photograph cracks me up, the overt abundance of pubic hair, and the benevolent yet devious grin of the man contorting his body. Not to mention the guy with the flamboyant hat, in a mesmerized daze.

I said, “why not ask her for a photo of herself?” This photograph exemplifies the sexy and exuberant energy that I witnessed Meisler to possess ( she is standing to the left).

Meryl talked about where these three amigos wound up – one in jail, one died, and one still lives in Brooklyn. This photo was the first one that caught my attention due to the presence of innocence that had the immanency of destruction and pain.

To see more of Meisler’s photos, check out the show in Bushwick.

Meryl Meisler’s
A TALE OF TWO CITIES:
DISCO ERA BUSHWICK
exhibition and book launch
Exhibit open through September 10, 2014
Gallery Hours: Daily, 11am – 4am
BIZARRE PUBLISHING
8.5 x 11 inches
180 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9910141-1-8
$40.00 USA/CAN

Written by Andrew Kaminski

The post Is This Bushwick’s First Hipster? Meryl Meisler Photographed The Neighborhood Before It Was Cool appeared first on Artiholics.

Cutlog is the first of the Frieze Week Art Fairs to open their doors to the press and VIP’s.  It’s hard to turn down an opportunity to check out the work before anyone else while being treated to a free gourmet brunch.  I can’t stress enough how much fun the perks of art writing can be, and recommend it to any artist who has a knack for words.

This morning the NY edition of the renowned Parisian art fair treated the press to a small talk with it’s founders Bruno Hadjad and NY Director, Guy Reziciner orchestrated by Lainya Magana in a small second floor theater.  It was followed by a brunch of Crepes and Champagne.

Cutlog NY Director, Guy Reziciner.

Cutlog Founding Director and visual aritst, Bruno Hadjadj

After brunch we were given full access to wander around Cutlog, to the 40+ exhibits featuring many first time galleries and curators, 80% of which are international.  Of all the booths 80% were only 80% hung.  This was truly a definition of a first look.

I found parking right out front, but the meter was only good for an hour, so after an hour I had to go out and feed it for another hour.  I felt a bit rushed in looking at the art, also knowing that they weren’t fully set up I didn’t want to get in the way of some booths, so in this article I  really have only documented about half the work in the fair.  If you hate spoilers, this article won’t ruin the show for you.

There are three theaters in the building which during the fair will have lots of scheduled live performances and presentations.

The building, The Clemente, is an old school house in the lower east side that has been converted into a community center, but unlike the schoolhouse that houses Spring/Break, this place is laid out in a weird way.  If you don’t pay attention to the map, you might get lost.

Look, there are some mirrors, how novel.

Artist Matthew Denton Burrows who is a recent SVA Masters grad, I recognized his work from the MFA senior thesis show last year.

Folioleaf founder Todd Masters.

Photographer Serge Sellem.

Above are some photos by Serge.

Installation artist and photographer Arnaud Cohen.

A Bowl Of Mixed Art curator Frankie Velez in front of the Folioleaf booth.

PG Artventure has a great booth of Swoon‘s work.

There are many more Swoon pieces, you will have to come to see them yourself.

Artwork by Marjan Moghaddam.

Amsterdam’s Amstel Gallery owner Petra Leene in front of the work of artists Laura O’Reilly, Kathy Grayson, Gregory de la Haba, and Lee Wells.

Family Affairs, an incestuous avant-garde survey of art group show within a fair by IFAC.

Neon artwork by Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos.

These paintings when viewed through this screen have secret three dimensional elements jump out of them.

The artist behind the 3D paintings, G.H. Hovagimyan

More mirrors.

View of  the Fuman Art booth, a gallery from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On the left: works by French artist Stephane Blanquet,  In the middle: works by Japanese artist: Aoi Fujimoto, On the right: works by Japanese artist: Minoru Sugiyama.

Works by Malaysian artist: Azizan Paiman.

Rafael Fuchs in front of a lot of his work in the Fuchs Projects booth.

Greg Haberny and Matt Kinney art at Ethan Cohen Fine Arts‘ booth.

Matt Kinney himself standing in front of a few of his tools which are sculptures carved from wood.

Artist David Henry Brown Jr.

  David Henry Brown Jr.’s artwork in the Bleeker Street Arts Club booth.

cutlog NY Dates and Times
May 7, 2014: Vernissage by Invite Only, 5 – 10pm
May 8, 9, 10, 2014: 12pm – 9pm
May 11, 2014: 12pm – 9pm

Location
107 Suffolk Street,
New York, NY 10002

Written and photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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New York – May 8 – 12, 2014

Navigating Frieze Art Week (May 8th -12th) in New York City isn’t easy.  Three years ago when Frieze London decided to branch out and leap over the pond to Manhattan (Randall’s Island) for a few days each May, many Armory Week Art Fairs decided to shift months from the usual March jumble to align forces with the British powerhouse.  New satellite fairs popped-up and hopped on the bandwagon as well.

ARTIHOLICS SHORT LIST:
FRIEZE – PULSE – DOWNTOWN– OUTSIDER – CONTEMPORARY – CUTLOG – SELECT – FRIDGE – NADA – VERGE

Here is Artiholics Art Fair Guide to Frieze Week:
(Listed in the order of descending Admission Price)

FRIEZE ART FAIR

9 – 12 May 2014
Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan, United States

Admission: $43

https://friezenewyork.com/ 

PULSE ART FAIR

8 – 11 May 2014
125 W 18th St -New York, NY 10011

Admission: $20

https://pulse-art.com/ 

DOWNTOWN FAIR

8 – 11 May 2014
68 Lexington Avenue (@25th Street) – New York City

Admission: $20

https://www.downtownfair.com/ 

OUTSIDER ART FAIR

8 – 11 May 2014
548 West 22nd Street  – New York NY 10002

Admission: $20

https://www.outsiderartfair.com/ 

CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR NYC

8 – 11 May 2014
269 11th Avenue Between 27th & 28th Street – New York, NY 10011

Admission: May 8 = $20, May 9-11 = $12

https://www.contemporaryartfairnyc.com/

CUTLOG

8 – 11 May 2014
107 Suffolk Street – New York NY 10002

Admission: $15

https://www.cutlogny.org/ 

SELECT

8 – 11 May 2014
135 West 18th Street – New York NY

Admission: $15

https://www.select-fair.com/new-york-city/

FRIDGE ART FAIR NYC

8 – 11 May 2014
5-25 46th Avenue, Long Island City

Admission: $10

https://www.fridgeartfair.com/

NADA

9 – 11 May 2014
Pier 36 – 299 South Street  – New York NY 10002

Admission: $0 – FREE

https://www.newartdealers.org/Fairs/2014/NewYork 

VERGE ART NYC

8 – 11 May 2014
177 Prince Street in SoHo – Between Thompson and Sullivan Streets – New York NY 10002

Admission: $0 – FREE

https://www.vergeartfair.com/vergenyc/vergenycmain.html 

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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New York – Thursday, April 17, 2014

Hanging new work next to old painter Mark DeMaio‘s new show Priests, Stilts, Clowns and Freaks at Sacred Gallery, acts as a mini retrospective of sorts as we are treated to a bunch of DeMaio’s darker, quirkier, more twisted, and more personal work than he has shown in some time.  It also had a lot more color than his last show which was almost entirely black & white line art.

As per usual for a Mark DeMaio affair a large and eclectic crowd of beautiful misfits, artists, and art collectors turned out to celebrate the work and the man behind the brush.

Artist Kathleen Hayes (Center) & Friends.

Gallery Director Kristen Chiacchia.

Showing off a tattoo based on a Tara McPherson piece.

Celebrity hair stylist Kristin Jackson.

Three friends named Kristin or Kristen.

Sterling Senia and Kristin Jackson.

Myself, Mark DeMaio, and some guests.

Written and photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

Mark DeMaio’s Priests, Stilts, Clowns and Freaks at Sacred Gallery NYC closes on April 30, 2014.

Sacred Gallery
424 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York City, NY 10013
212•226•4286

Just North of Canal Street. Hours: Monday—Friday 12pm to 8pm Saturday & Sunday by Appointment only.

More Mark DeMaio On Artiholics >
More Mark DeMaio On ArtSucks >

The post Mark DeMaio’s Priests, Stilts, Clowns and Freaks – Nothing’s Sacred @ Sacred Gallery appeared first on Artiholics.

This afternoon in cities around the globe, people are gathering in town squares to beat the shit out of each other.  Luckily they are using weapons purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond.  That’s because it’s International Pillow Fight Day! If you want to join in on this fun interactive flash mob, check out the list of cities and see where one is happening near you.  Then just show up, and bring a pillow.

If you want to take the fun to the next level, and you have a decent Halloween costume still laying around, the theme for this year’s fight is Superheroes vs. Villians.  If you are in NYC, the pillow fight takes place at Washington Square Park at 3:00pm.

Rules: Please follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and fun pillow fight for everybody!

• + Soft, feather-free pillows only!
• + Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at once.
• + Do not swing at people without pillows or with cameras.
• + Remove glasses beforehand!
• + Deposit pillows in donation boxes or take them with you.
• + Pajamas welcome.

If you don’t want to join in the fray, you can come with a camera and take pictures.  It’s not often you get to see 5000 New Yorkers whomping on each other with pieces of fluffy furniture.  For every five pillow people there is one person who just shows up to take pictures, so you also never see this many cameras in one place.

A great venue for marketing your artblog for example.  If you have a funny, or important  message you want out there to the world, write it on your pillow.  It will be photographed hundreds of times, it will be posted to facebook hundreds of times, and it will be posted on flickr, used in magazines, and shared by social media, 100s  or 1000s of times.

And you have a good shot in getting interviewed.

I attended and photographed the second annual International Pillow Fight Day in NYC back in 2007.  I drew the ArtSucks logo on both sides of a pillowcase and sent my girlfriend Molly in to do battle.  She is only 5’2″ but packs a wallop.  That pillow fight day took place at Union Square Park, but I assume they have outgrown that park and have since moved to their current location, Washington Square Park (the one with the arch and the fountain in the Village).  Here are some never before published photos of the insanity:

Thanks to the writing on the pillow it was easy to keep tabs on her in the crowd, well, before all hell broke loose and the fight started and feathers started flying, then not so much.

It’s not a party till some pillows start to get damaged, then it starts to look like a truck transporting chickens exploded.

The match that lights the flame.

This is seriously fun, you will see more people smiling and laughing than you have in a while, and you will be smiling too, even when you are getting clubbed in the head.  It is pure childish fun, and something you don’t get to experience as an adult very often.

The guy wearing a shirt that reads “MEAN PEOPLE SUCK” getting clobbered by a pillow that says Art Sucks.

A pillow fight selfie 🙂

Someone brought a futon mattress to a pillow fight.

I hope you didn’t need to use those lungs.

This guy thought ahead.

This ginger haired girl had a chicken fighting technique of pillow fighting.

Having the height advantage is good, but also makes you a good target.

Guys can ride on shoulders as well, it just takes a little team to get them up there.

He soon becomes just another pillow in the crowd.

Best bet is to wear leather or at least something not wool or a material that feathers like to embed themselves into.  A lesson I learned that day.

As the fight winds down the park looks like a snow globe that has been freshly shaken, and the particles are starting to settle.  People are winded, and their arm muscles (muscles many of them aren’t used to using) are completely spent.

Written and photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

Many thanks to Molly Roberson for taking a pillow beating to get these shots. International Pillow Fight Day was created as a flash mob art project by Newmindspace.

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Last night my second art crawling stop was at The Lodge Gallery on Christie Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown for Johnny Leo Projects Presents: Charity Auction Benefiting Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for the 118th Boston Marathon.  The show was a pop-up mix of street artists and contemporary artists who all donated a piece(s) to raise money for the Claudia Barr Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the top cancer research facilities in the world.

The show is up at the gallery until March 30th, so if you want to see the pieces in person you only have a small window to make it over there.  If you aren’t in Manhattan but want to own a piece, you are in luck, works donated to the show are available to be bid on through Paddle8 here.  Auction ends 8pm Sunday, March 30, so you best check it out and make your bids ASAP.

Featured artists include: GILF!, Icy & Sot, Joe Iurato, Greg Haberny, EKG, ASVP, Lunar New Year, Alice Mizrachi, OCMC, Sek3, Cern, Gentleman’s Game, Shinji Murakami, Vexta, Fumero, Victor Cox, Dave Tree, Clown Soldier, Queen Andrea, Whisbe, Chris RWK, Boy Kong, Adam Dare, Brian Leo, Ellis Gallagher, Chris Smith, Joe Heaps Nelson, Rachel Meuler and Joseph Meloy among others.

Artwork by Alice Mizrachi.

My art crawling buddy for the night, artist Raquel Echanique.

Chris RWK , Herb Smith, and Johnny Leo.

“Staying Ahead” by Chris RWK.

Art by Rachel Meuler.

Johnny Leo and Cassie Leventhal.

Artwork by Fumero.

Greenpoint artist Chris Smith poses with his work.

Johnny Leo and Raquel Echanique.

I actually have been to this gallery once before a few months ago when I went to my buddy Josh Clark’s birthday party here.  The door in the back wall opens up to a speakeasy.  One of many NYC speakeasies that are trendy now.

The bar probably keeps the lights on better than what they normally sell out of the gallery.

Artist Dave Tree, Mrs. Tree, Johnny Leo, and Shelby Werschmidt.

Artists Raquel Echanique, Joseph Meloy, and Chris RWK.

Artwork by Joseph Meloy.

Artwork by Greg Haberny.

Artist Victor Cox and his work.

A drawing by Victor Cox.

Christie O’laughlin, Joseph Leo (Johnny’s Father), Johnny Leo, and Cassie Leventhal.

Written and photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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One of the only Manhattan art collectives, Con Artist Collective, has currently on exhibit a trio of artists who’s work pushes the humble triangle to it’s extremes.

Brandon Wisecarver, Patrick Grzelewski, and Jamie Martinez, the three artists in the show.

These artists borrow the visual form of the triangle and its wealth of symbolic meaning. Their collaboration is in and of itself a triangle; a union of three creative points of reference focusing on the same symbolic center.

When invited to an art opening revolving around the triangle, the first place my mind jumped to was that scene in Art School Confidential where Malkovich talks about his evolution into triangle paintings.

Having already seen Jamie’s Tiger made from triangles at the Clio Art Fair, I had an idea that seeing an entire show of his work wouldn’t disappoint.

Like the Tiger, when seen though a camera view finder, or through a phone, these images are more easily distinguishable as paintings of ancient sculptures heads.  They are hand painted on hundreds of tiny squares broken into triangles, somewhat of a triangle pixelation, tricking your eye using the same principals of a Chuck Close portrait.  One of these two sold early on.

.

Jamie isn’t just a painter, he also works in 3D, with this orange liquid filled plexiglass triangle.

An x-ray with triangles stitched into it.

Jamie made this 3D printed missile.

Jamie and a bunch of the Artefuse contributors.

Artist Jamie Martinez.

Artist Joseph Grazi talking with Jamie about his work.  Joseph was gallery hopping with Yeah Yeah Yeah’s drummer Brian Chase.

Artist Patrick Grzelewski and his collages.

In the back of the room is a small wooden room installation by Brandon Wisecarver.  When you enter it and close the door you see a black light and laser light show of glowing triangles.

Andres Augusto Penaranda.

Brian Shevlin, founder of Con Artist Collective.

∆ will be on display from Tuesday, March 11th to Saturday, March 29th. It opened on March 12th at 8pm, had a gallery night March 19th at 8pm, and a closing party Wednesday,  March 26th at 7pm.

Con Artist Collective
119 Ludlow Street
New York, NY 10002
11:00 am – 11:00 pm

Written & photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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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 – Sunday, March 9th, 2014

Sunday between 8pm – 10pm I will be performing two 10 minute butoh inspired pieces at THE (UN)FAIR.

Belly full of artifacts by Betty T. Kao
A scientist and a monk reshuffle photos of world events, scientific papers, and diagrams to try to decipher the mystery, and understand what the events of the world are leading toward for it’s strangest sentient being, humankind.

The papers are constantly rearranged as a detective or pathologist would, to see how the data relates to each other, the info comes together to form different shapes, but mostly that of the human body. Performed by Betty T. Kao and Amanda Flowers

Unfair Performance Schedule:

Find us at the freight elevator on the 3rd floor.

THE (UN)FAIR (Free And Open to the Public
500 W 52nd St. New York, NY 10019

Artiholics is a Media Sponsor of The (UN)Fair

Photographs from Thurs 6th, Benefit party art show. Panoramic pictures by Lauretta Prevost

Written by Betty T. Kao

The post Belly Full Of Artifacts: Performance Art At The (UN)Fair Sunday appeared first on Artiholics.

New York – Friday, March 7, 2014

After checking out the opening reception for the first ever Clio Art Fair Jamie Martinez from Artefuse and I grabbed a train up to 55th street for the opening night party for The (UN)FAIR. Being press and a media sponsor of the event we buzzed the massive line and shot upstairs.

The first thing you couldn’t help but notice was that the place was packed.

I walked into the masse following a siren’s song and found a woman singing while standing right next to a beautiful Norman Rockwell painting, not the first (or ten thousandth ) thing I expected to see at THE (UN)FAIR but a pleasant surprise. Into the next room where for a few bucks they print your face on a t-shirt onto a baby’s body.

I quickly passed to the next room which had an intricate floor to ceiling vision obscuring sculptural installation.

On the wall beyond hung a few of those meta art world comic strips that Hyperallergic publishes. Into the large room where on the right is an interactive musical installation where you can play a series of instruments by pressing old school arcade buttons.

& Jerry.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream served to you by THE ACTUAL Ben & Jerry. After meeting Jerry, and initially guessing wrong about which ice cream hippy I was talking to I got some cookie dough ice cream (and you just had a taste memory of that flavor). It hit the spot and I ended up coming back a few more times over the course of the night. (Just FYI, THE (UN)FAIR has free unlimited Ben & Jerry’s for the run of the fair).

I ran into fellow Artiholics Jen Wallace, the curationista of THE (UN)FAIR and got a picture with her.

Her partner James Wallace who was acting as greeter to the elevator crowds.

While talking to him one of the poet performers walked into the hallway and started reciting poems for us from memory, and they were great (anyone know who this guy is?)

Last year, the first year of THE (UN)FAIR, the show only occupied half of the entire floor space on the third floor. This year the space was twice as big with two additional new large rooms making way for some large paintings.

As well as an area for performance.

Vivian & Artist Gigi Chen.

And a massive projection piece, nearby which there are a few large patches of comfy AstroTurf where you can lounge out eating popcorn and ice cream while drinking wine in a small stackable mason jar like the most bizarre Willy Wonka factory picnic.

Max Noy, and Jamie both from Artefuse.

Artist Mark Parsons and one of his CartoGraphiPOP sculptures.

Jen and Mark Parsons.

Artiholics writer Betty T. Kao is doing a performance piece called “Belly Full of Artifacts” at The (Un)fair. Photos by Lauretta Prevost.

She will be performing again there on Saturday from 8 – 10 pm.

Artiholics is a media sponsor The (UN)Fair.

THE (UN)FAIR is located only a few blocks away from The Armory Show.  500 W 52nd St. New York, NY 10019

March 5th – 9th, 2014
11am – 8pm free

Opening Party: 3/5, 8-10pm free
Benefit Party: 3/6, 8-10pm $20 click here
Closing Party: 3/9, 8-10pm free

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”
(*editor’s note: I will finish crediting these photos and hyperlinking to artists websites next week when I am done seeing all these fairs and have time)

The post THE (UN)FAIR is Back, Bigger, & More Popular Than Ever – Opening (Photos) appeared first on Artiholics.