New York City is a vibrant and dense city, full of life, colors, and forms. A city known for its love of art in all expressions and ways. Artists and creators find in New York City an open space to showcase their talent, that openness and invitation to create are what makes New York City a reference in the world and a destination for many artists and visitors who want to experience and see the world through the eyes of those who have a story to tell.

A beautiful and special place is Central Park, right in the middle of Manhattan, a space that has allowed New Yorkers and guests to experience nature in the middle of this concrete jungle. Central Park is there to offer all its visitor a space to breath, to walk and to decompress from the intensity that this city can embody. Central Park is also an open space and an open canvas for many artists to present their work to the world.

The Horses is a remarkable art installation located in the Doris C. Fredman Plaza in Central park, curated by Public Art Fund and the curator Daniel S. Palmer. The Horses is an impressive artwork of three aluminum horses, created by the well-known and respected French artist Jean-Marie Appriou. The massive sculptures raging from 16 feet tall to 16 feet long are outstanding installations that evoke those whimsical and poetic figures that can be found in magical stories.

Appriou was inspired by the horses-drawn carriages that are one of the many attractions found in Central Park and by August Saint-Gaudens’s gilded monument of William Tacumseh Sherman on horseback, located in the area. The Horses are magnificent sculptures, carved in clay and foam models, cast in aluminum and full of textures emulating muscles, metal plates and in some places like fabric. One horse is seated, the two others are standing but their location it’s made to create a feel of a scene or scenario.

Public Art Fund curator said about the artist in the public art fund press release, “Jean-Marie Appriou’s unconventional approach to sculpture is almost alchemical, His craftsmanship is informed by a deep knowledge of the historical lineage of sculptors that have preceded him. At the same time, Appriou’s equine sculptures are otherworldly, evoking the silent majesty of horses with nuanced sculptural details that flicker between narrative and poetry.” 

The Horses are sculptures of a mix of human and horse form, giving the viewers the experience of being in front of mystical creatures, encouraging the visitors to see beyond what their eyes see and into what their imagination see. The Horses installation is also an active experience, where people can walk under the standing horse, or around the others to see all of their details and touch their textures, an activity that creates a distinctive experience.

The installation is a beautiful artwork that invites all visitors to use their imagination and to find the magic in the creation and is a suitable art piece that asks everyone to experience the charmed that Central Park offers. Art could be a special way to see the world, with curious eyes and with an open and creative mind, and that is the perfect attitude to go to Central Park and see and discover all its beauty, secrets, and artistic elements.

The world is living in a new reality, where social distancing, face mask and proper hygiene are part of the vocabulary, a new reality in which parks and open spaces are now the perfect and safest places to visit and to spend time. For New Yorkers and tourist now days Central Park has become not only an essential point in an itinerary but also a must visit to fulfill the artistic need, to calm the anxious mind and to enter for a moment in a new and simple reality full of nature and art. The Horses and this type of art exhibits give people the chance to practice art in a safe and fun way.

Public art is a great way to enjoy and satisfy that artistic necessity in any day, but most important during this time when people are not only facing isolation and health concern but also economical concerns. Now creativity is a key not only to create art or to find it but also a way to enjoy time, families, and friends. New York is a place that offers many forms of public and accessible art to its residents and guests. The Horses installation is an example of that artistic vain that is part of the essence of this city.

The Horses will be on display at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, 5^th Avenue at 60^th Street, until August 2020.

Jean-Marie Appriou, The Horses, 2019, Cast aluminum, courtesy of the artist and CLEARING, New York/Brussels; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich/New York
Presented by Public Art Fund, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, Sep 11, 2019 – Aug 30, 2020

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New York City is a city that breathes art in most of its corners, and it is known as the city that never sleeps and where dreams come true. New York City is where art cannot only be found in its famous museums, but also in its streets. Walking through the city could lead you to multiple and diverse forms of art, from installations, murals, paintings to monuments, you name it and probably you can find it in the well-known and appreciated street art in the mist and heart of the city.

A city that is full of attractions but also it is in itself a massive attraction to many visitors and locals. Walking through New York City has become in many cases a free for all access pass to a giant and singular urban museum of architectural wonders, music and other cultural experiences. New York City is a clean and open canvas for many artists, performers, and creators to display and share their talent with everyone willing to pay attention. Street art is mostly for everyone, and is an accessible way to convey art, to provide an experience to all visitors and viewers, and a spectacular way of doing art.

Banksy is the famous British street artist, known for his mysterious and anonymous identity, and for his popular graffiti paintings around many countries in the world. His urban street art and interventions in the art community have gained him recognition, his style is a signature that he has developed over the years with each of his pieces and displays. Banksy has attracted an interest in his street art and in the meaning of it, making it an experience for his followers, admires and critics. The inclusion of his fans in his way of doing art, and the chase to discover his latest creation or intervention is what has made him a symbol of the rise of street art. The use of cultural, urban and mundane objects and spaces as part his artwork, the graffiti form of painting and the inappropriate feel of it has gained him an audience that appreciates his irreverent style and his mysterious message sometimes implicit and at other times difficult to identify.

The Hammer Boy, located on 79^th Street and Broadway in Manhattan on the wall of the DSW store, is one of many Banksy’s street art pieces left during October 2013, when the artist created a few art pieces around New York City, in over a 31-day period. Some of those pieces were removed, but the Hammer Boy was preserved by the local business, owner of the store, where it was found it. Now covered with Plexiglas to protect the art over time and from other forms of damages, Hammer Boy has become a point of reference for tourist, visitor and Banksy fans.

The simplicity and the use of his surroundings are signs of the artist’s work found in the Hammer Boy. A simple black silhouette of a child holding a hammer painted in a stencil, imitating for many the popular carnival game, where a person uses a hammer to hit a level, the contrast with the brick beige wall and the black color of the silhouette makes it stand up to the viewer. The use of the hydrant, the pipe and the signs on the wall are a demonstration of Banksy’s style of using artless and ordinary objects.

Graffiti and the definition of it as a form of street art, art or  just simple vandalism is a topic of discussion and evaluation, but what is not up for discussion for many is the inspiration and appreciation street art provides to those looking to transform mundane objects, spaces and lives into better and more artistic expressions. Street art challenges the artist and everyone that admires it to see the world with a different and more artistic eye.

New Yorkers are coming out of a difficult quarantine due to a virus that has impacted the city in unimaginable ways but has strengthened its spirit and determination. The love of their city is ingrained in what it represents and provides not only to its local population but to the world. Art is subjective but also is encouraging, inspiring and healing, having these options accessible by a simple walk or a simple train ride, for many is what helps and keeps this city alive. Discovering and re-discovering these little gems throughout the city is a way to get back into a new normal that people are still trying to discern and grapple with. Soon Museums will open again and inside door activities will be available, but for now and for all those who value seeing and finding art in the monotonous and daily life, street art is a way to enjoy art and life in these difficult times.

The Hammer Boy is a simple, very accessible piece of art that is not only a representation of its creator, but also a fit in a city that love, speaks and inhale art. You can find Banksy’s Hammer Boy art piece on 79^th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, on the wall of the DSW store. It is worth a visit.

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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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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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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 – Tuesday, February 4, 2014

In the entire 140-year history of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, they have never exhibited a Pop-up Museum, until now. A “Pop-up Museum” is a concept developed in the 1990s, which is generally defined as a short term institution existing in a temporary space. These temporary museums exhibitions are finding increasing favor among more progressive museum professionals as a means of direct community involvement with objects and exhibitions.

To be seen as a progressive step for the Met, I considered it to be a strange choice- they chose vintage football trading cards. Of course the logic behind the exhibit is that it opened in coincidence with the Super Bowl happening just over the river.

If you are a printmaking or photography buff, you may find it is also interesting to witness some early American printing, photography, and lithography techniques and methods.  The feature image at the head of the article used colors that pop – the complimentary relationship between orange and blue, which shows that there was an artistic touch behind the execution of the cards. As an art lover, you may find the content of football to be society’s opiate, but you will see the exquisite origins of America’s commercial publishing industry.

The show engages a different crowd than the usual art lover. It’s a show that satisfied the fans that were building up that Super Bowl fever, in which they could excite themselves even more as they marvel at some of the oldest vintage football trading cards currently on public display. Chance are you will NEVER have an opportunity to see this kind of history again, unless you have the rare position of inheriting these valuable cards. Now that the Super Bowl is over, fans get to indulge just a little bit more with their football fix.

The installer, when mentioning the show said, “For the first pop-up museum in history at the Met, it is an interesting choice to put playing cards from the 1920s on display, so that when tourists come to the display they can see what their parents and their grandparents saw.”

One of the rarest cards, a Harvard player named Dunlop, is worth somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.

The Show is called Gridiron Greats, opened January 24 and runs till February 10, 2014, Sunday–Thursday: 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

Written by Andrew Kaminski

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Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey – October 11, 2013–March 9, 2014 – At the Brooklyn Museum

Wangechi Mutu‘s new show, A Fantastic Journey, is currently up, and it is beyond a feast for the eyes. One could search her name, and find a plethora of digital photographs of her collages, but to say you’ve really seen Mutu’s work, you need to see it in person. The saturation and dissipation of paint, with all the intricate combinations of pasted photographs, is hard to completely see on a computer screen.

For those who are not familiar with her collage work, she renders the black female form with application of intensely innovative surface quality techniques, all along challenging those who use the term “exotic” to categorize a black woman. Perhaps the title, “A Fantastic Journey” comes from the visual voyage the viewer takes as they stumble across the hidden creatures, and varied patterns lying within a figure that has so many colors, that it brings a new meaning to the word, “colored woman.”

She demonstrates a mastery of balance between ambience and rich, detailed content. The hidden treasures found within her work range from decontextualized elements of animal heads and limbs cut out from magazines, combined with violent red splatter reminiscent of blood massacres, to pornographic images, and machinery parts, all of which compose most often in her works, a slender female warrior.

Viewing these images from a fine artist perspective, she nails all they needs to make visually pleasing and evocative imagery within her collages. Nothing less than extraordinary intuitive placement, each pattern synergistically flows from one to the next. If an art student is running short of what mark to make next, it is urgent to see this show, because Mutu knows how to experiment with color and juxtaposition.

When and if you see Wangechi Mutu’s show at the Brooklyn Museum, on the fourth floor, I strongly suggest you actually appreciate it, and pause at each collage, considering the painstaking details, the sophisticated color choices, and those suggestions of gender, war, race, colonialism, global consumption, and science-fiction. Don’t breeze past them, because you will regret not being attentive to the wide range of visual language she has developed at and since her education at Cooper Union and Yale. Each of her collages has its own unique hook to allure the viewer into its clusters of warm polka dots, and black mold ornamentations curving to the contours of the figure, or the figure’s bulbous lips and wide nose.

Her collages were her strongest work. Mutu is known for her collages, but this show was also an opportunity for her to demonstrate her strength in video installation, and sculpture. Her video work touches upon how “wild” and “untamed” her black female characters are, as one of her videos displays the artist, herself, eating cake without utensils in a fancy white dress, in some outdoors environment. Her other video, which immerses you within its cinema-like presence, displays a woman with a giant attachment of mechanized, industrial forms, oozing, smoking, eating bats. Her video work recalls the attention to detail and conglomeration of content that her collage work does, but it also moves on-screen.

She also installed trees made of multi-colored carpet throughout the exhibition space, and in another room (photo not included), she hung black plastic bags in tied hemp string from the ceiling. Her sculptures omitted the knowledge of color, tonality, and heavy-subject-matter-infused photographs. Her sculptures are simple, exploring the wrinkles the materials make. Her sculptures didn’t exploit the colors that people often associate with exotic fruits and flowers, but rather stuck with browns, grays, and earthy hues.

Wangechi demonstrates her vast imagination, and attention to detail so vividly in her fiery, colorful collages, I was hoping to literally walk into one of her worlds, being able to touch the different textured forms, smell the body odor of one of her figures, or hell, even eat some exotic fruit off the branches of her installed trees. Her installations are shadowed by her collage work. Mutu seems to work liberally, without restraint in her collages, and she challenged herself with her sculptures. My hopes were not let down by seeing this show, but I wonder if in the future, her installation and immersive sculptural work will truly compete with the seductive nature of her collages and 2 dimensional work. She is certainly in her element on flat surfaces, but it seems apparent that she could further push her installation work.

I have no doubt that this artist will continue to grow, and share her incredible gift with the world, especially through her 2-d work, but I’m still waiting for her sculptural work to grab me like her collages do.

Written and photographed by Andrew Kaminski

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Ok, I feel robbed…the other day I was watching Science Channel.  It was a show about how science fiction writers have effected reality, when they mention hydrogen fuel cells for cars.

I made a model of a hydrogen powered car in the late 80s for a school science fair project. The simple beauty is that water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen so if you separate the gases through electrolysis you have pure hydrogen gas to burn in an engine as fuel and oxygen to breathe …and the only thing that comes out of the exhaust pipe when you burn hydrogen would be liquid water. Now this car is set to be mass produced by 2020…. I got a C on this project, and the diorama was good too..WTF!!?

They were talking about filling your car with hydrogen at a hydrogen gas station, with the electrolysis being done in these large machines, my concept was more self contained. The electrolysis would happen within the engine, so your car would run on hydrogen gas, the Oxygen would be breathable air released into the atmosphere, and you would only pour water into your tank, never to have to pay for gas again.  The exhaust pipe could even be hardwired back into the engine so the water vapor produced could be reused as fuel.

Going on Youtube I found many videos of a man named Stan Meyers who as early as the 1970s had started experimenting with water powered cars, and by the early 90s had developed a prototype and had filed dozens of pattens.

As witnessed in this news report, the pentagon was interested in his invention.  So if he invented it so long ago, why doesn’t this exist en masse? …If you journey down the rabbit hole you find, yes, it’s fucked up.  Before the cars could be mass produced, Stan died of mysterious causes.

There are tons of videos of amateur tinkerers and inventors building off of Stan’s concepts, creating water based, or hydrogen based prototypes and posting their results on Youtube.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Youtube Art School: Designing A Car That Runs On Water appeared first on Artiholics.

Manchester, England – Monday, June 24, 2013

In a bizarre, as-of-yet *unexplained ancient art phenomena, a statue dedicated to Osiris, the god of death, in an enclosed museum display case in Manchester, England is spinning like a top…a very, very, slow top.  *(well, not conclusively)

“[Physicist Brian Cox] thinks it’s ‘differential friction,'” Price told The Daily Mail, referring to the process by which two surfaces — in this case the statue’s stone and the glass shelf, “cause a subtle vibration which is making the statuette turn.” Cox believes foot traffic or vibrations from the street outside are causing the mysterious movement, but Price refutes that theory. “It has been on those surfaces since we have had it and it has never moved before,” he said.

I’ve always thought a Pharoah’s curse involved something outside of the five elements of hip-hop.  If this is all the ancient Egyptians were afraid of, yo that’s kinda funny – Ra’s got fat base lines like Russell Simmons steals money.

My best guess is that another one of the statues Stepped-up, and Osiris had to pull out some killer, thriller moves.

My advice for any statue who doesn’t want to get smoked by Osiris…

Try throwing in a windmill, it’s always impressive.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

[via Gawker via DailyMail]

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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]

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Over the weekend Bushwick, Brooklyn and it’s sister art community Ridgewood, Queens; artist studios, art galleries, and art collectives opened their spaces up to the public.  There were over 600 venues to visit, and being that I only was going to be spending one day crawling around Brooklyn in the baking summer heat, I tried to take in as many of those 600 as possible before melting into a stinky sweat stain.

One amazing place you wouldn’t know is there unless you stumbled upon it is the Secret Project Robot Institute For The Living Arts.  A not for profit art collective which used to be based in Williamsburg and has recently taken refuge at Melrose St. and Knickerbocker Ave. in Bushwick.

When you enter the building you walk directly into a gallery, with a stage.  The ceilings are massive so they are able to hold massive paintings.

These giant works belong to artist and musician David Shull.

I walked through the gallery to the bar in the back, which had a pinball table, a comic book collection, and a ceiling and walls covered in stuffed animals.

I introduced myself to Rachel Nelson, the co-founder and director of the place.  She was so sweet, and insisted on giving me the grand tour.

The building, aside from having an amazing gallery and bar, also housed multiple artist studios and an office.  Each studio looks out to the side yard and has great natural light.

This is the work of artist Raul De Nieves.

Here is a piece by Rachel herself.  The dayglow colored sandwich.

The side yard reminded me of Pee Wee’s Playhouse.

Giant bag of money, a metal hut, tables, chairs, sculptures, a little modern building, a bandshell, a tiki bar.

She took me over to these three giant metal storage freighter shipping containers.  She opened one up to show me.  They have each been converted into…

Soundproof practice rooms for bands.

Everyone was in the middle of setting up, as they were having a music act that night, and a bbq.

I met artist Dean Cercone unfurling a giant mural he had painted and rolled up.

He was getting ready to mount it to the cynder block wall behind him.  I climbed up onto a stack of planed wood to get these shots.

Dean in front of his pieces.

   Erik Zajaceskowski is a multimedia artists who creates the video art which plays on multiple screens around the space.

The outdoor tiki bar.

I ended up hanging out there for about 20 minutes, one of the longest stops I made on my day of art crawling.  Cool people, great vibes, and an awesome venue.  I will be back.  Be sure to like them on Facebook to see when they have upcoming shows and openings.

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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There are many inventions, skills, and artistic innovations that have been lost to antiquity.  The composition of Greek Fire; the ingredients in the Rarest Color Blue, and up until recently Mayan Script.

One that is rarely thought of as a lost ancient art is the bouffant of the ancient world.

In a report by BBC UK, a hairstylist and “hairdo archaeologist” Janet Stephens on a trip to a museum noticed the intricate hairstyles on ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and thought that they would work as a hairstyle for a modern day bride.

Much in the way a painter can learn color, composition, and technique by studying a master painter at a museum, she was taking tips from the ancients.

What has always been believed to be by historians as intricate wigs, she observed that the hair looked less like a wig, and more like the clients she deals with on a daily basis in the salon.

She began the task of trying to recreate the styles using modern hair pinning implements, and becoming frustrated because they failed to do the job, she had to rediscover old tricks of the ancients to make the styles work.  Visit the BBC UK website to watch a video of Janet describing the process of rediscovery, and modern hair art innovation, with a little help from ancient sculptures.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut” 

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Look!  Behind your walls!  Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to keep your home from leaking heat in a cold Minnesota winter, also able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! It’s a bird, it’s some insulation….it’s SUPERMAN!  No shit, the first appearance of Superman in 1938’s Action Comics no.1 (AKA, the RAREST COMIC BOOK EVER) was found behind a guy’s wall while renovating.

According to an article on Gawker a man named David Gonzalez bought a ten thousand dollar house in Minnesota, and when he was doing some repairs to a wall which had been lined with old newspapers, he stumbled upon the MOST VALUABLE COMIC BOOK in existence being used as insulation.

Up until this point there have only been a few prized copies of this book still surviving in the world (estimated 50- 100 copies), the most highly prized and graded is the nearly pristine copy actor Nicholas Cage sold at auction for $2,161,000 in 2011.

Finding this comic in your wall is the comic book equivalent of finding the lost da Vinci.

The article goes on to mention that he’s now selling it at auction online and the bidding is over 100 thousand dollars and rising, and that it would have been worth a lot more if his in-laws hadn’t accidentally ripped it in an argument, decreasing the value of the book by $75,000.

“They got all excited and tried to take it,” Gonzalez told the Star Tribune. “I understand it’s something cool, but told them: ‘You don’t have to act so rude. I brought you in to show you, don’t grab it.'”

That’s one motherfuckin’ expensive game of tug-o-war.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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