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.

New York City – Tuesday, November 19, 2013

On the heels of my showing last month in Bushwick I was invited to have a solo show at Le Salon d’Art in the Lower East Side for a show I titled Losing Our Figures A line artist’s journey into abstraction.  After a few weeks of intensive painting and drawing I pulled together a solid body of abstract works on paper and a few new works on canvas which were to be the start of a series I am currently working on of the visualization of synapses firing (the visualization of what it looks like to have ideas pop to life). 

With very little time to promote the opening I managed to design postcards, send out facebook and email invites, and round up my creative friends for wine, socializing, and small talk surrounded by some of my new abstract work, as well as some pieces representing my more cartoonish figurative work. 

Half of the gallery was more cartoonish and the other half abstract.  I tried to make an interesting mix of fully rendered, fully colored pieces, and minimalistic black & white and monochromatic.  The following photos were taken by Reginald Thomas from Cryfoto.  (I also took pictures of the reception myself and am simultaneously posting them in a separate article on ArtSucks.com- READ.)

Cojo & Mark DeMaio.  Cojo and Anaisabel Garcia.

Cojo and Kristin Jackson.  Kit aka kitctrlaltdelyou and Cojo.

 Losing Our Figures runs from November 12 – December 9, 2013

Le Salon d’Art

90 Stanton Street

New York, NY 10002

Photos by Reginald Thomas from Cryfoto

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

For more pictures check out the article on ArtSucks.com photographed by Cojo.

The post Losing Our Figures: Abstract Opening In The Lower East Side appeared first on Artiholics.

If you have yet to make the subway ride to Soho on the border of Chinatown for the new Mark DeMaio show at Sacred Gallery, I suggest you do so ASAP, as it’s closing this Sunday, May 5th (it got extended from closing April 30).

Molly and I were fortunate to have attended the blowout opening, complete with stilt walkers, attendees getting free tattoos of Mark’s drawings permanently inked onto their bodies, and Mark in semi-harlequin garb.

Is this the right building?  Yes, unless every gallery has two stilt walkers standing in front of it.

If you are a regular Artiholics reader, you will recall I recently visited Mark in his studio, where he fed me pasta and wine while showing me a preview of works from this show.  And if you are a longtime reader of ArtSucks, you will remember when I got a private tour of Mark’s last show Pop Goes The Bible back in 2011.  This work has zero to do with that work, other than Mark has taken the line art he learned in that show, and mastered it.

Of course Molly wanted to ham it up in between the stilt walkers.  Balancing for hours on stilts must be tough, while holding a sign, tougher.  I feel bad for the guy holding it with his less dominatnt hand.

He has an underlying style, but every one of his shows is completely different, so you never know what exactly you are going to see when you go to them, but whatever it is, his hand will be evident in each piece.

Inside we hit the wine, Molly struck a pose in front of one of Mark’s black glitter line art pieces.

Considering the theme of the work is stark black and white line art, the suggestion was to wear black and white to the opening.  I have a fashion sense for shit, but of course Molly rocked it.  Here is a tour of some of the work in the show.  Being that it was oil on canvas, the line work was so clean and slick it made me jealous (as I work in acrylic).

This piece was the highlight of the show, and was sold before we even got there?

The first willing participant to go under the needle for a free Mark DeMaio tat.

A view from inside the tattoo parlor half of the space.  It’s a really amazing gallery in that the front is a fully REALITY TV SET style tattoo shop, while the back is a professional white box gallery.

Art monk Michael Kronenberg.

It being Mark’s show, there was a great turnout, and a pile of press waiting to  have him pose.

I loved how this piece turned out.  So clean,

Molly looking 50s pin-up style in her black and white.

Molly and Mark having white wine.

Photographer Worm Carnevale and Kronenberg.  You may remember Worm from the

WORM CARNEVALE

NOT A FU#%ING POLAROID show at Fuchs Projects.

These were interesting in that they had photo collages incorporated into the line work.

The silhouette of the wicked witch is unmistakable.

Molly took a shot of Kronenberg and I.

In the hall are some prints of a few of the pieces in the show.

Director of The Sacred Gallery Kevin Wilson.

Myself and Molly pose for a picture, photo by Michael Kronenberg.

Artist Antoinette Johnson and one of her models Lena Marquis.  You may remember Antoinette most recently from the photos she let me publish, which she took at the HBO Game Of Thrones Exhibit, or from her solo show at Le Salon d’ Art titled Manhattan Rampage.

The second victim  volunteer takes a seat in the chair. This guy has completely untouched arms.

And he’s opting for the pumpkin with a top hat on his left arm.

Molly poses with the other girls.

Photographer and fellow SVA alumni Kathleen Hayes.

Phantom curator Frankie Velez, and Kathleen.

The one partially colored piece in the entire show.

Artist Sterling Infinity.

Molly is short enough already, put her next to a guy wearing pumps, forget it.

Vegan chef and Manhattan restauranteur Junie Ishimori.

The stilt walkers come in to take some pictures with the man of the hour.

Molly is impressed.

Another volunteer, this time a girl and it’s a skull on her shin.

Some of these are black on silver.

The show was winding down, so we hopped in a cab for the west village.

An after party Mark threw at Yerba Buena had open bar on the spiciest Jalapeño cocktails, and

delicious french fried fruit.  I guess if you can french fry potatoes you can also french fry avocado, watermelon, papaya.  Molly and I hung out at a table with celebrity hair stylist Kristin Jackson, artist Moni La Femme, and photographer Worm.

Mark your calender to fit in a trip down there before next Monday to check out the work.  If you are a fan of black and white, drawn assemblages, and line art in general, this is a show not to be missed:

Mark DeMaio “I Walk The Line”
April 4 – May 5, 2013

Sacred Gallery NYC
424 Broadway 2nd Floor (Between Canal and Howard) SoHo
New York, NY 10013
212-226-4286
Hours – Monday – Friday 12pm – 8pm Saturday & Sunday by Appointment only.
https://www.sacredgallerynyc.com

The post Artist Mark DeMaio Draws The Line, Walks The Line, & Sometimes Crosses The Line appeared first on Artiholics.

Tonight I’m heading down. . . to Chinatown, for “I Walk The Line.” Painter Mark DeMaio‘s 20-Piece solo show, (his first ever done principally in Black & White) opens at Sacred Gallery tonight (Thursday April 4, 2013 from 8pm to 11pm – facebook event page) and runs until April 30th.

Mark DeMaio, at his studio.

I first met Mark in 2011 when his last big controversial line art solo show “Pop Goes The Bible” had recently opened.  I had been out of town for the actual opening, and I will be sure not to make that mistake again, as his openings are over-the-top.

When he called me in early March, he asked me to swing by his studio to check out his new work.  As my focus has always been line art.  I managed to squeeze a trip over the the West Village at the end of one of the Armory week nights.  After having been on my feet all day for 5 days in a row, it was nice to kick back, drink some wine, and eat some pasta on the couch while Mark pulled out and displayed piece after piece for me.

The lighting was dim, and I don’t want to “give away” the entire show before it is unveiled tonight, so I will just show a few pieces.Large faces and silhouettes composed of tons of little faces, iconography, scenes, clowns, and ink drips.  These are all oil on canvas with some mixed media thrown in on a few of the pieces.

Playing a lot into what I had seen over Armory week where the big image is made up of lots of little images, although, in this case the little images are not uniform, not collage, not multiples.  They are a giant smorgasbord of drawings all on on canvas balancing on one another, mushing together,and piling up to make a larger image.

There are a few drawings mixed in with the paintings, this is a very detailed ink drawing of an ice cream cone.

They do have a little bit of an Underground comics vibe to them.  Like some R.Crumb Zap Comix from the late 60s where all the artists were dropping acid and drawing crazy shit.

These are just the tip of the ice berg.  I hope to see you all tonight at the opening!

Mark DeMaio: I Walk The Line
April 4-April 30, 2013
Opening Reception: April 4, 2013 8PM-11PM

Sacred Gallery
424 Broadway 2nd Floor Rear (Between Canal and Howard)
New York, NY 10013
https://www.sacredgallerynyc.com/

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