Old Metal Lunchbox

Gallery Hoppin' - NYC 1/12/12

2012-01-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

Frosch & Portmann, 53 Stanton St, NYC
Dacia Gallery, 53 Stanton St, NYC
Lambert Fine Arts, 57 Stanton St, NYC
Luxembourg & Dayan, 64 E. 77th St, NYC

Crazy day running around Brooklyn and Manhattan, but managed to slip into a few galleries. Here's a brief bit about 4 of the lot.

Renewed energy on this strip of galleries on Stanton (Chrystie and Bowery). Went to see the effervescent Johnny Leo, he of the Fountain Art Fair fame, and the group show he has at Lambert Fine Arts. The show is quite a mix - locals and foreign artists doing graf/street, pop surreal, and collage/assemblage.
Rachel Meuler's transformational, morphing critter people is a subject visited by artists many times, but her small watercolors on stretched white paper draw you in nonetheless. Curious to see where she goes with them.

Also there were mixed media pieces featuring a male face and text ( left) by Benito. In a similar vein, but more graffitti oriented were three small framed pieces by Terrenceo (below right). He'll be having more work in a show opening here on January 20th, with Shalom Neuman who does colossal sized assemblage robot like creatures. One was in the gallery, an imposing 12-15' tall.

Next door was another group show at
Dacia Gallery of appr 15 artists. Most of the work was representational in a wide array of styles from tight realism to big eyed Keene-inspired paintings of girls. Of note were some detailed graphite on paper drawings by Leah Yerpe. I was told that she does miniature or very large (like several feet long) drawings. There are works by Ms. Yerpe and others in this show on the gallery website that are worth checking out.

And next door, the Frosch & Portmann Gallery was setting up but let me take a quick look. In the corner was a blank canvas on the wall and artists materials. On the floor was a painting of a satellite photo of the gallery and surrounding neighborhood. Artist Brad Nelson was going to do live painting at the opening standing on the satellite image, which was the spot he was standing on and painting!

From the funky lower east side to the elite upper east side to see the NY Times reviewed "Grisaille" show at Luxembourg & Dayan. The group show featured work in shades of gray with work from Giacometti to Jeff Koons to John Currin. Below are photos and a detail of the Currin piece ("L'Intimite," hangs on 1815 wallpaper by Joseph Dufour et Cie). Across from his piece were two pieces by Leonor Fini from 1938, "L'Penture"and "L'Architecture." Below is a detail from the former, of the upper body of the figure.

Brooklyn Museum visit

2012-01-03T15:30:00.001-08:00

Went to the Brooklyn Museum a few weeks ago to catch the "HIDE/SEEK" show, and also walked through a few other shows including Eva Hesse. To the left is the one photo I got of a painting by Romaine Brooks. Beautiful portraiture, but read recently in a Modigliani bio that she had a hard time getting commissions. Generally portraits are a hard sell unless commissioned, but her pieces here were so good that I've been inspired to learn more about her.
Below are photos and the description of the exhibition (up to Feb 12, 2012):

"The first major museum exhibition to focus on themes of gender and sexuality in modern American portraiture, HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture brings together more than one hundred works in a wide range of media, including paintings, photographs, works on paper, film, and installation art. The exhibition charts the underdocumented role that sexual identity has played in the making of modern art, and highlights the contributions of gay and lesbian artists to American art. Beginning in the late nineteenth century with Thomas Eakins’ Realist paintings, HIDE/SEEK traces the often coded narrative of sexual desire in art produced throughout the early modern period and up to the present. The exhibition features pieces by canonical figures in American art—including George Bellows, Marsden Hartley, Alice Neel, and Berenice Abbott—along with works that openly assert gay and lesbian subjects in modern and contemporary art, by artists such as Jess Collins and Tee Corinne."

There was a small show of work done by Eva Hesse during a stay in NY. Apparently she was experimenting a bit with her work, and it is exciting to see this process when an artist is loose, letting it flow, and not necessarily thinking about the outcome. The work has an energy and excitement to it, maybe not so much in these photos, but definitely in person. Here are some pieces and a portion of the wall text.

Below the text are miscellaneous shots from the museum including a large painting by Kehinde Wiley from a room full of his work, including chapel-like ceiling pieces. In another part of the museum were these skateboards spread out on the floor and if you look closely, they're covered with Persian rug pieces. A cool commentary on youth cross-culture and amusing play on a magic carpet ride.

Alessandra Exposito at Mixed Greens Gallery

2011-09-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

The front gallery of Mixed Greens is currently dominated by a large branch-like structure sprouting from a nightstand. The clay piece is adorned with flowers, however upon closer inspection there's an odd assortment of other items as well. Are they passing visitors, like the little mouse, or dead/dying remnants like the potato sprouting "eyes" or pea pods? For that matter, what's up with that mouse? A pet? unwanted vermin? or a natural wanderer into this porcelain garden? and what about that potato - amusing and strange.

This whole structure and its inhabitants look as if they gazed into the face of Medusa and turned to stone, frozen in time. Alessandra Exposito has mined this terrain before, most notably combining skulls of various animals with fictional narratives in a gorgeous show from a few years ago, also at Mixed Greens. According to the artist, the nightstand is reminiscent of one she had growing up in the 70s. Ever seen a piece of wooden furniture left outdoors for an extended period of time? Nature overtakes, and perhaps this tree sprouting from the nightstand is a metaphor for life moving on, memories getting colored over time, and how we wish that some childhood memories could indeed be frozen in time. Or how they're attached to us whether we want them there or not.

Another similar piece hangs on the wall, only with a much smaller branch and covered with a glass dome. Suspending it on the wall rather than setting it on the floor was a nice touch and gives it an otherworldly quality. On a more formal level, it keeps it from being overpowered by its larger counter-part. From a pop culture perspective, it would fit in with the other floating objects in the opening sequence of Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone."

In some ways these pieces are like a giant cigar box filled with items from someone's youth. While so much work today looks dashed off or made sans dirty hands on a computer, this is no rush job, it's clearly labor intensive, well-planned and engaging for us viewers. Ms. Exposito has a unique gift for combining humor and melancholy with excellent craftsmanship.

Misc Gallery shots: Haring, Van, Kirkland and Lee

2011-06-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Did a gallery hop on 6/2, here are some quick notes and shots:

- Feature Inc (131 Allen St) has large paintings by Isabella Kirkland of fauna and flora. I'm often left a bit cold by work like this that seems scientific and mechanical, but Kirkland brings a sensitivity and sense of reverence that makes them more accessible. And from a technique standpoint, they are stunning! The detail in the plants and trees and leaves, and the various birds and jungle critters is a feast for the eyes whether you're a painter or not. (til 6/18)

Over to Chelsea and when walking by Nicholas Robinson Gallery I was drawn in by the large red paintings by SeaHyun Lee. Upon closer inspection, washy monochrome paintings of landscapes and traditional Korean architecture are mashed up with modern battleships and industrialization.
Lee recounts his time in the military wearing night vision goggles and observing the heavily mined 4km wide demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The goggles bathed everything in red, hence these images. There are times when reading artist statements seems merely an exercise in artspeak and being pedantic, and then, as with Lee, you learn something that brings the pieces to a different place of appreciation. (535 W 20th St, til 6/27).

Jonathan Levine Gallery had a return show by French-born, Barcelona-based Miss Van. She started painting her couquette-ish "poupée" (doll) figures into her street art before moving to canvas and the gallery. Many of the works in this show are on paper. This show, "Bailarinas," brings these characters into the realm of dance and still blends her animal imagery and role play with her mysterious, pouty figures. (529 W 20th, til 6/25).
Stopped at Gladstone Gallery (515 W 21st, til July 1) to see the large scale works on paper by Keith Haring. They also had pages from his sketchbook of geo drawings, and amusing penis sketches.
Always bittersweet when I see his work - he was so prolific and talented, always pushing - it's inspiring. At the same time it makes me sad to think what he would've produced if he didn't die so young.

2011 Art Fairs: Pulse, Scope and Fountain

2011-03-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

Made my way to the PULSE NY art fair show on Friday and saw quite a bit of interesting work. Previously I noted the trend of words and text, but the other trend was butterflies! Lots of butterflies throughout all five shows I attended, from Damien Hirst prints in metallic inks to sculptures to Sandy Skoglund photos. Here's a sculpture at the Morgan Lehman booth.

Brooklyn's Black & White Gallery had some cross-stitched portraits from Alicia Ross's "Hot Mess" series, phrenological (shape of skull and bumps as it relates to moral character) studies of famous/infamous women from Miley Cyrus to Jenna Jameson.

Fouladi Projects from San Fran had this hilarious text painting (below) by Graham Gillmore, a rejection letter to a gallery, rejecting their rejection letter! The gallery also had a signature Barry McGee, a painted face on an empty flask bottle of liquor for five grand, which to my knowledge is way, way out of range with his prices. Odd.

Christina Ray (NY) had new graphic dog pieces by Casey Porn, David B Smith from Denver had an eclectic mix of work including some tight graphite drawings of birds by Christina Empedocles.

Over at the SCOPE show, Spinello Projects from Miami had impressive chalk pastel pieces by Barnaby Whitfield (below right). A difficult medium to work with, Whitfield is deft at handling chalk and has created some thought-provoking images. Also at Spinello were some oil portraits by Kris Knight. Realistically painted with an intense color palette, this young artist has the technical chops and I'm curious to see what he'll create if he moves beyond straight portraiture.

Janine Bean Gallery from Berlin had paintings by 20-something artist Anna Bowory. Canvas in the 3-5' range of women painted realistically and a bit washy and lots of - yes, butterflies. Her career is taking off and is worth keeping an eye on.
Contra Projects had large faux cereal boxes by Trustocorp satirizing religion and big banks.

Also grabbed a pic of this mixed media piece by Jason Shawn Alexander at 101/exhibit from Miami.

Lastly I made way over to the tugboat on the pier off the West Side Highway, home of the Fountain Art Show. This is the most bohemian of the shows with a strong Brooklyn feel. Similar artists from past years with some new additions, it feels like an artist studio building on water rather than an "art fair" with work varying from an art school-like mashup of styles and media to more mature work by others. Collage artist Ray Sell had a large assemblage piece which was not only successful but fits right in with his previous work. McCaig Welles had some pieces by the Morning Breath team who mix layers of silk screened magazine images and ads with cartoony odd faces (sorry, pic didnt come out). Evo Love presented chairs covered with small, fun objects and covered in resin. Much of the other art was very raw and has a ways to go in its development, but it works in the anything-goes vibe at Fountain. So, if you decide to hit the art fairs next year, don't just do the big one, Armory - make sure to hit the other shows as well, you'll be glad you did!
NOTE: click on any of these images to see them larger.

2011 Art Fairs: ARMORY and VOLTA

2011-03-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

The beginning of March in the art world means one thing - time for the Art Fairs in NYC! Last year I went to several smaller venues (and wrote about them here) but skipped Armory. Just as well because everyone I spoke to was pretty down on it, however this year I made it my first stop to avoid the weekend insanity.
The Armory show is massive. So much work from all over the world, some of it great, some mediocre, some confusing...so best to go in with as open and objective a mind as possible. Looking for trends (I write this on Day 2 after attending 3 fairs so far) I've noticed quite a bit of text based work. Not so much statements as words for words sake, or playing with letterforms, but there were several narrative pieces. One of the first I saw was at Cajablanca from Mexico, a series of monochromatic paintings with text in the center. Artist Gustavo Artigas handpainted the name of the color and below it the health warning and side-effects from using that paint.

Nice to see David Kramer's watercolor and text based pieces again. Seen his work at different galleries many times over the years, the text often has a retro feel as does some of the imagery. The text varies from sayings and ad slogans to slices from a novel or a diary.

Right is a random shot of another text based painting (I didnt get the artist's info) but I did get info about the other piece from London's Hales Gallery. The words in these pieces are painted large in vibrant colors in a novelty typeface probably of the artist's own making. In them, Laura Oldfield Ford comments on the art world and struggles of an artist in often humorous terms. Her encounter with Ronald Feldman is funny on one hand, yet on the other it shows the difficult hurdles, barriers and sometimes non-sensical aspects of the artist/gallery relationship.

Not just text, but there were several images of books and actual books used in pieces. Doing paintings of old bookcovers or spines of books is not an uncommon subject in painting, and at Armory and Volta were several drawings and paintings of books in various media. One gallery had bookcovers splayed and collaged on raw linen canvas. Others had actual books with the covers painted over, and one had pseudo digitally recreated covers. One gallery from Japan had a well-rendered watercolor of a few books and I commented to the owner that it was a common thread throughout what I'd seen so far. "It must be the economy," she mused. I asked why, to which she replied, "Maybe people can't afford to go out so much and they're staying home and reading books. It's cheaper."

The Armory show had much more than text pieces. It was very much anything goes from styles to media, but overall it felt a bit "safe." In the past, France and Germany's galleries presented edgier, pushing the envelope, in your face type work especially in sculpture and installations. Last year I felt French work had more meat to it, that they were pushing but hadnt gotten there yet, but were onto something. This year, not so much, it felt a bit repetitive and not very energetic. Italy surprised me with the energy in their modern work, the artists seemed to be having fun, the work had more life to it. Another observation at Armory and Volta was the lack of sexual themes, notable only because at these shows there's usually a fair amount of graphic (and often banal) work dealing with sex.

Jim Houser was featured at Jonathan Levine Gallery's booth at Volta. His trademark text pieces and palette were in full effect with new and old paintings, painting on the walls of the booth, and his music playing. I've written about Houser's work here in a previous Old Metal Lunchbox entry.
Armory and Volta didnt have alot of painting which I attribute to it having lots of EVERYTHING - drawing, collage, photography, sculpture, installation, you name it. A.D.D. on the part of galleries or the artists? Hmmm...
Near the entrance to Volta check out the very cool Nick Cave sculpture, a lifesize figure with dozens of tin horns and noisemakers on the upper body. ADA Gallery had 3D photos and watercolors by George Kuchar (a huge influence on Warhol and John Waters), and the Mulherin Pollard Gallery featured amazing large scale (like 4'x6'!) colored pencil drawings by Winnie Truong . These are eye-catchy, fun and well-crafted portraits with hair gone wild! Untamed surreal hair, beards and pig-tails - a must see at Volta.
Berlin's Wilde Gallery had several interesting pieces by EVOL with lots of red pins (sales). EVOL started as a product designer in Stuttgart and began doing graffitti on electrical boxes of faux building facades. The pieces here are done on cardboard and include windows and terraces with the cardboard acting as the building facade. They are not done with brush but with several layers of stencils and spraypaint! Really exciting work and the gallerist described it to me as "Banksy and Shepard Fairey gone super German obsessive."

ARMORY - Piers 92 and 94, 55th St and 12th Ave
VOLTA - 7 W 34th St and 5th Ave

Hungry Monkey: Basso 56 Restaurant

2011-02-15T19:35:00.000-08:00

There are so many restaurants in NYC, that even when you find one you love you often end up not getting back there for quite some time. Since I went to Basso 56 over a year ago with the divine Miss Kyle (she of The Obsessed Chef blog fame: http://theobsessedchef.blogspot.com/). The meal we had back then was fantastic from beginning to end. I've always wanted to return and finally did last night.
My valentine, Courtney, and I began with a glass of Prosecco Jeio from Veneto, crisp and clean, and it went well with the bruschetta, bowl of olives, and crusty bread that were brought to us as we perused the menu.
For apps we got Calamari all Griglia - tender, grilled calamari (about 8 pieces!) with baby arugula over an eggplant puree. The puree didnt have much flavor, but the calamari was perfect and the spicy arugula balanced it out. We also got Carciofi e Parmigiano, a baby artichoke salad with some greens and lemon and truffle oil. Very light and a great starter, topped with punchy parmigiano cheese shavings.
I ordered Baccala in Crosta di Patate , a nice-sized piece of fresh cod, baked with a potato crust over some sliced potato on a fennel puree. Accompanying this was a dollop of whipped potato with a few homemade potato chips. The fish was succulent and full of flavor, and I was going to get a Soave Classico but instead opted for a less fruity recommendation by our waiter that was a special, didnt get its name. C got a robust glass of 2008 Poggia d'Elsa, a cabernet/sangiovese blend from Tuscany, mainly a sangiovese with the bite of a cab-sauv behind it. Quite good.
Her dish was the ravioli of the day, spinach and ricotta in a light tomato sauce. A good portion, the filling tasted very fresh and the pasta was light.
Basso 56 was in the LES on Orchard St before moving uptown. A few steps down into a long and narrow space with the bar upfront. At the other end is an open kitchen. Too often it's a loud, cramped affair in places like this, but Basso 56 gives just a little extra space between tables where you don't feel as if you're dining with those next to you. You'll find the staff here very helpful and professional offering excellent service. The food is fantastic - a solid menu, big Italian wine selection, great specials, and a light touch to the dishes with lots of flavor and fresh ingredients. Sometimes Italian restaurants are coma-inducing heavy cheese and sauce experiences, but not here. Highly recommended!
Basso 56, 234 W. 56th betw 8th Ave and Broadway, NYC

Gallery Reviews: Marc Jancou & Mike Weiss Galleries

2011-02-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

"Private Future" is the current group show at Marc Jancou Contemporary, curated by Michael Cline. A veritable variety show of styles, media and imagery, the show wanders far and wide.
"These artists re-present the world as their own and refashion it to their own private means" makes sense with the title, as these works are individual and not of a distinct theme. 16 artists, mostly male - graphite, mixed media, acrylic, photography - abstract, pop, commercial, realistic - all find their place here. Jim Shaw's "Kill your darlings #3," 48x72" (left) has floating heads glaring at eachother on a swirly ground, an Asian woman on the left and three men on the right. Noir-ish, and this simple composition allows for imaginative narratives to be created by the viewer.
On the other hand, Lari Pittman's "Untitled #6," mixed media 88x102", (above on right side of wall) is a collage of recognizable and unrecognizable shapes and images drawing you in but not via a narrative. Then you have Peter Saul's "Squeeze Pimple," acrylic, 59x59" a suited figure with a pimple head which is gross but eye-catchy, a pop image reminiscent of Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids stickers.
The ages of the artists in this show is wide-spread as is their geographic locations, again adding to the meandering feel of the show. Marc Jancou Contemporary, 524 W 24th St, NYC, show up til Jan 29th.

Mike Weiss Gallery (520 W 24th St, NY) has a second solo show by Christian Vincent titled "Tunnel Vision." Many of these large scale pieces feature rows of young boys in perspective, a reference to the title. He also seems to be commenting on conforming to group mentality or instruction - the tempering of the individual, blind obedience, or "the desire for empowerment through belonging?" Are they in a phys-ed class? at a cult or religious camp? is the boy pointing to a "messianic figure" as the statement suggests?
These eight large-scale oil paintings have a retro feel in one way, while also imbued with a sense of futuristic foreboding, sort of like the feeling one gets when watching Fritz Lang's "Metropolis." The images remind me of an old stereotypical British boarding school, where conformity and following rules is paramount and individuality is squashed with harsh discipline. Vincent is a resident of LA now, but I'm curious about his past. Paintings that bring other images to mind and make the viewer curious about not only the imagery but the artist must be considered successful. Through February 12th.

GALLERY REVIEWS: Freight & Volume, Lyons Wier Gallery

2011-01-21T14:40:00.001-08:00

"Haymaker" is the current show at Freight & Volume, 530 W. 24th St, NYC. A group show with the main room featuring paintings by Damian Stamer, a mash-up of abstract expressionism and realism. Fairly large canvases with wide washy brush strokes with rural images of old barns and shacks, fields, and barely rendered objects that resemble bales of hay. Makes for an interesting discussion - it's all brushstrokes, but some combine to form a recognizable image, some don't...can they live amicably in the same composition?

The statement says that Stamer's imagery reflects "the art market’s fluctuations, its in-favor/out of favor oscillations between the two genres." Whether anyone would take that from the paintings without the statement is debatable. Regardless, there is some good painting going on here and Stamer meets the challenge of combining two styles/genres quite well.
Above left: "Golden Leaf" 30x40", oil - Right: "South Lowell" 58x72", oil

Another artist in the show, Eric White, takes a jab at music market sound bites by recreating, in actual scale, album covers from the 70s and 80s.

I've been following Michael Lyons Wier's galleries for many years because of the consistent high quality of the work. This is to my reckoning his third space and he still maintains Lyons Wier Limited over on 7th Ave and 20th.
This is the debut show at his new space, a group show of some of the artists he reps. Mostly geared towards realism but with stylistic variety - photo realism, loose painterly, pop, and in cases like the always amazing Cayce Zavaglia, mixed media. One of the most underrated artists today, her portraits are layered and woven onto linen canvas with crewel wool, and then a painted background. "Abbi," the size is 11x27" (detail left) shows her amazing skill which has been championed in this blog before. When seen in person they're kind of awe-inspiring.

James Rieck's "Cockblock," 82x54", is interesting because the artist only uses 3 colors in this series of paintings: napthol crimson, sap green and white. The model is wearing a t-shirt with Bruce Lee images and humorous titles which correspond to them.

One more piece of note is another personal favorite, Fahamu Pecou. His piece, "Him and I (and Me)," acrylic and oil stick, 60x72" continues his ballsy self-portraits as pseudo pop/hip hop/celebrity icon. There is an energy in his work with a dash of Kehinde Wiley and a hint of Basquiat fed into the hip hop hype machine.
This group show is up til January 29th and Lyons Wier Gallery is located at 542 W. 24th St, NYC.

Eatin' and Drinkin' in Napa

2010-11-29T16:23:00.001-08:00

Napa is exactly what you'd expect - rolling hills, lush vineyards, great food, great wine. The lovely Miss C and I stayed at the Wine Country Inn in the St. Helena section of Napa. Country-ish, our room's decor had lot of chickens - statues, quilts, pictures, etc. No TV. Our two favorite parts were the fireplace already setup with wood, kindling and paper, and the private patio with an outdoor jacuzzi about 20 feet from the grapevines with a great view. Each night they have a mini-tasting in the lobby from a local vineyard and we tasted a sangiovese from Castello di Amorosa, a nice dry red, right up there with a sangiovese from Italy. We stopped there the next day and grabbed two bottles, but unfortunately time didnt allow us to take the tour - the place is an actual stone castle with a moat! If you go, consider adding this to your agenda.

The first night we dined at Go Fish in St Helena (the inn offers a free shuttle service to local restaurants!) and it was amazing (see pics below). We were seated in a romantic and comfortable banquette with pillows. I ordered a bottle of sauvignon blanc from St. Supery and it ended up being my favorite wine from the trip. Some sauvignon blancs are too citrusy or too fruity, but this was perfectly balanced, full of flavor and we vowed to get to their winery in Napa and buy a few bottles. Our driver told us to order the lobster sushi roll which is not on the menu, so we did and it was unique and delicious (and $33!) A long roll with ahi tuna and crab, avocado and topped with chunks from half of a cooked lobster tail! We also ordered the ceviche of the day, sea bass marinated in citrus for 20 hours, then tossed with a light tomato broth, onions and spices. Rounding out the meal was a dish one rarely sees outside of Hawaii called poke. It's sort of like steak tartare but using ahi tuna. In Hawaii it's served in a parfait glass topped with avocado and various other elements depending on the restaurant. Go Fish's version was a burger sized serving on a plate with ginger, baby carrot, tobiko, pine nuts and a sprinkling of a potent spice called, if I remember right, tobuhiko? Something like that. I asked the waiter about it and a few minutes later he showed up with a small scoop of it in a plastic cup for me to take home. Waitstaff everywhere need to take note how a simple thing like that endears diners to the restaurant, and also adds to the the tip.

The next day we went to Sterling Vineyards because Miss C's friend hooked us up there and we rode the tram up to the winery. A simple self-guided tour with tastings set up throughout, and we had several excellent wines. Below are shots of the huge wooden barrels and they also had a patio with amazing views.
We bought a few wines here - I'm not a chardonnay fan, but their's was light on the oak, not cloying, and it's always good to have a chard on hand for guests. The surprise hit was Malvasia Bianca ($30 bottle) Spicy flavors of ginger, nectarine, pear, tangerine, with a nice finish of lemon-lime. Not as sweet as a dessert wine, and I'm not partial to sweet wines in general, but this was so unique and tasty we had to buy some! The sommelier suggested serving it with spicy foods or bleu cheese, but not one that's too salty. We were thinking a rich cheese platter, crackers, fruit, figs, with some good friends outside in warm weather. Highly recommended if you can find it. We also picked up some of their reisling and if memory serves, a cabernet sauvignon as well.

We drove to TV/book chef Michael Chiarello's restaurant, Bottega, for lunch. A beautiful, rustic place with attention paid to every detail. Even the water was served in hammered copper cups rather than glasses, a unique touch. For an app I got the charred octopus with potato and greens and C got butternut squash soup. I guess butternut squash was big at the farmer's market because I ordered a special, tortelli stuffed with it. Not sure why they called them tortelli, they were actually ravioli - light sauce, filling was full of flavor and not too sweet. C got skirt steak with pommes frites, salad and a zesty red pepper chimichurri sauce.

Dinner was at Market in downtown St. Helena. A medium-sized, rectangular, casual restaurant with a fairly large bar, which is where we sat. At this point we went with small plates, and I got some local oysters, fresh and delicious, and a lobster roll with asparagus, avocado and mango with an awesome dipping sauce of basil and mint in a light oil. We also got a dungeness crabcake loaded with crabmeat and lightly fried, with roasted white corn. For dessert we again went with our driver's recommendation and got the house specialty butterscotch pudding - cool, creamy, sweet and a must-get if you eat here.

Our last winery was Peju, a family owned green/organic vineyard. The server was very friendly and informative and we sampled about 7 wines. I wasn't terribly impressed with most of them, but the cabernet sauvignon and syrah were good. Then he broke out their "Fifty/Fifty" a small run blend of merlot and cabernet that was outstanding. I asked if they had any of their reserve wines open that we could sample and he brought out their reserve cab and it completely blew away their regular cab, not even close. We got the 50/50, about $75 or 80 to save for a special occasion, but not the cab reserve which was over $100.

If you go to Napa, I suggest you go for 3-4 days at least. We crammed in alot because we only had just over 2 days and then were off to San Fran. There's plenty to do - many wineries to choose from, great restaurants, spas (we had an amazing scrub and massage in our room) and Ol' Faithful geyser is nearby, too! And of course, you'll need some chill time from all that food and vino!

Tiger Woods

2010-10-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Restaurant: Dovetail - NYC

2010-07-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Michael Colameco (PBS's "Colameco's Food Show") had a morning radio program on WOR in which he talked about cooking and dining. One restaurant he consistently recommended was John Fraser's Dovetail, so when I saw it was participating in Restaurant Week, I went for dinner. Inconspicuously located just off Columbus Ave at 103 W 77th Street, Dovetail ( "to join together harmoniously" ) has a warm, cozy atmosphere of earth tones, exposed brick, maple panels, oak tables -you get the idea. A dovetail is also a type of joint in woodworking, so they're working that theme here.

I ordered an interesting cocktail, a Black Martinez, with gin, sloe gin and orange bitters. A perfect meld with neither liquor dominating and the delicious orange finish was spot on. The lovely Miss C ordered a sauvignon blanc to go with her fish entree, more on that shortly. We were served cornbread and an amuse bouche on elegant spoons of a piece of curried watermelon topped with coconut flan. A surprise extra is always a plus in my book! However, this didn't quite hit the mark. The flan was so airy it was almost tasteless, but the curry in the watermelon was pretty heavy. It would've been a cool experiment if the curry was barely there on the backend of it. This was the only unbalanced thing we had all evening.

For her appetizer Miss C selected the White Gazpacho with almonds, asparagus, lavender and grapes. Served with some of the aforementioned items in a bowl and the "soup" poured over it. Light, tasty and not as sweet as the ingredients might suggest. I went for the Cantaloupe Salad with squid, fennel and mint. Funny thing about Dovetail, the portions look small but are surprisingly filling. The cantaloupe was thinly sliced, but I was more interested in the squid. All the ingredients were balanced and the squid was light and tender.

My entree was Braised Veal Shoulder with chorizo, peas, preserved lemon, sauce blanquette. There's a consistent theme to the food here at Dovetail, and that is balance. Elements that you'd think would dominate the dish, don't. There's obviously been time spent in achieving this because things could easily tip one way or the other taste-wise, but they don't. The veal pieces were tender, moist and the sauce blanquette complimented the meat. Again, at first I thought, "Not enough here!" but I was wrong. Miss C had a good-sized, firm, flaky piece of hake with grilled shrimp in a tomato stew (a tad salty), parsnips, peas, carrots, haricots verts and one last item we couldn't decipher that turned out to be chick pea fritters!

For dessert she had a berry crumble with ice cream - nice texture but a bit bland, and Miss C felt it definitely needed the ice cream to complete it. I had a chocolate mousse cake, a sliver of thick chocolate cake with a piece of hard chocolate on the top with a few cherries on the side, pistachio crémeux, and to the side, 3 pistachio nuts which visually was a bit amusing for some reason. Just these 3 little pistachio nuts sitting out there on this large plate like little sailors lost at sea.

We ate in the bar area, which was comfortable but darker than the restaurant area, and I like the visual part of dining. We were mainly served by our bartender who was very friendly, and an unending stream of suit-and-tied men that were either checking on our meal or taking our plates, along with the regular waitstaff - it was a little confusing! It was an enjoyable Restaurant Week meal (our drinks were $14 each) and we were pleasantly surprised at how full we were since the dishes seemed small. Not stuffed, just right, which in my mind reiterated the theme of balance here at Dovetail.

Harvey Pekar RIP

2010-07-13T06:51:00.001-07:00

Like most people, the first time I saw Harvey Pekar was on his David Letterman appearances when I was in college in the early 80s. One of my roommates, John, and I were taken by this oddity - a comic book guy on Letterman? a weird dude who is completely unintimidated by Dave? His appearances were bizarre and you never knew what to expect, which is part of what led to their parting of ways - watch the "American Splendor" movie for details.

The best part is that his appearances prompted me to seek out and buy an American Splendor compilation. I had been buying comics since I was 7, but this - this changed the whole way I looked at the medium. These didn't necessarily have a beginning, middle and end, or battles with villains, and the quality of the various artists' work was inconsistent (Pekar wrote, didnt draw). This was "neo-realism," nothing more than snippets of this guy's daily life, tribulations and thoughts. Simple mundane things like being in line at the grocery store, to being lonely, to interesting facts about jazz musicians. I could not believe someone made a comic of those things - and I loved it. So much so that I called 411 in Cleveland and got his phone number and called him. We talked for a bit, he was very cordial, and I called him every so often. I sent him letters and comics, too.

Here's a coincidence for ya - I was chatting up AS and Pekar to my oldest brother, Tony, who for a few years was a surgeon at the VA Hospital in Cleveland. I put two and two together and thought perhaps it was the SAME hospital that Harvey worked at. I asked my brother and he replied, "Wait, the squirrely little guy that worked in files?? That's him?!?" I called Harvey and he said he remembered my brother. Six degrees of separation.

Years go by, and I opened a bar/gallery called Liquid Lounge in Hoboken. When tending bar, people talk - personal problems, crazy stories, wacky behavior, etc. Like the saying goes, "People confess to their priest or their bartender." Some stories were so good that I would jot down the salient points on napkins or a pad in order to remember the story. I came up with the idea, thanks to Harvey's American Splendor, of doing strips recounting these stories. The art had the customer looking directly at the reader so that you (the reader) became the bartender, like the person was talking to you. I called it "True Tales from the Bar Side." It appeared in a few local papers, I self-published a collection of them, and one strip was in an Australian anthology comic around '98 called Dee Vee! My strip appeared next to one by the amazing Eddie Campbell which felt like an honor, but more so was that after all those years of reading comics and drawing superheroes and villains that I finally had something of mine appear in a real, honest to goodness Comic Book!

I went to a movie at the Sunshine Landmark Theatre in NY around 2002, and during the previews I almost jumped out of my seat when they showed the trailer for an upcoming American Splendor movie!! I had no idea about this and the next day, filled with excitement, called Harvey . By this time, I rarely called because he had married Joyce and she usually answered the phone. I imagine climbing the Berlin Wall to escape the USSR was easier than getting past her to Harvey. She was always brusque, suspicious and well, just plain rude. Anyway, I passed the interrogation and got through to him. I told him that I saw the trailer, that the audience was buzzing about it, that it looked great, and how psyched I was for him. In true Pekar fashion, he replied, "Oh thanks, I just hope it makes me some money. You know I got to put this kid through college here in a coupla years."

Not long after the film came out he was doing a book/film tour and made a stop in NY. I went and finally got to meet him. As I was walking away, he said, "Oh, hey Joe, that comic you sent me, that was pretty good."
Cheers, Harvey - R.I.P.!

Hamid Karzai

2010-06-22T09:00:00.001-07:00

Elisa Johns at Mike Weiss Gallery

2010-04-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

I first saw Elisa Johns' work at the Scope Fair, and recently at her solo show, "Huntress," in the Mike Weiss Gallery. The large paintings show better here with plenty of white wall space which accentuates the stark white in most of these ethereal pieces.
The female figures come from myth and history, yet Johns' interpretations of them are with a fashion illustrator's sensibility with references from modern fashion magazines.
(Left: "Judith With the Head of Holofernes", 66x44")

The application of the oil paint is a mix of thin washes - some linear, some allowed to bleed. These aren't tight, photorealistic copies from fashion magazines, but are loose and freely drawn in an almost naive, sketchy style. Part of this comes from her nod to Chinese pen and ink drawings, composing the image to read vertically.
(Right: "Athena and Nike", 80x78")

Johns contrasts her washy applications of color with impasto, palette knife layers of paint within the images but she also applied layers of white to the background, pointed out by the artist as they're not so obvious to the eye. Subtle impasto, isnt that an oxymoron?
Another interesting contrast is the soft, washy overall feel of the paintings yet there is some heavy, sometimes violent, imagery at hand here - Diana taking aim at a victim, and the biblical heroine Judith with the decapitated head of Holofernes.
(Left: "Diana and The Stag," 78x70")

You can see these paintings by
Elisa Johns at Mike Weiss Gallery,
520 W. 24th St, NYC,
from April 8- May 8, 2010.

(Right: the artist in front of
"Pallas Athena," 94x77")

NY Art Fairs '10: Scope, Red Dot, and Verge

2010-03-05T14:50:00.000-08:00

I am always jazzed for the annual art fairs in NYC! Loads and loads of art to look at, new and old galleries, and great conversations!
This'll be short due to a camera issue and no photos! But it's been fixed and I'll have it for Fountain and Pulse.
First off I went to Scope. A solid show, nothing really "spectacular" to me, but I saw alot more interesting work here than at Red Dot and Verge. Mike Weiss Gallery had a piece by Elisa Johns who is opening in his next show. Ethereal women in washy oils, loosely based on fashion ads but set in nature and most are up-shots. Mike and director Helene exhibited the finer aspects of art fairs, that is being friendly, open and informative about their artists.
ADA Gallery from Virginia had large collage/mixed media pieces by a sort of outsider artist named Jeremiah Johnson - and it's a real family name, not after the Robert Redford flick. The backstory on this artist is a trip - his dad is a gay fruit farmer in the midwest and Jeremiah was forced to work the farm as his father moved into floral design and mom split to be a truck driver. Again, a long conversation about art and the artist with the gallery owner courtesy of the Scope Fair.
David B Smith Gallery had several interesting artists including a great portrait by Kris Lewis and wax pencil bird drawings by Christina Empedocles. The Pool NYC had paintings by Soviet Georgian artist Eteri Chkadua - biographical pieces with a hint of Frida Kahlo. Karim Hamid had Bacon influenced paintings of women with allegorical and historical references at Aureus Contemporary, a self-professed group of "art nerds" who collect art and push their favorites ala fairs and exhibits and more. Very interesting approach that comes from a love for art!
Fun comic book inspired pieces by Cara Ober at Civilian Projects (DC), Opus (England) and Gerard Ellis at Lyle Oreitzel (Miami).
Overall there was a mix of pop surrealism, a few too many images of Warhol and Marilyn Monroe, drawing and alot of (mostly representational) painting.

RED DOT
Even if the admission is only $10, this is NYC, and to run a show during the Art Fair and not have a credit card machine at the entrance is mind-boggling. Spread out over three floors, this very small show didnt have much to offer. There was quite a bit of secondary market prints and few originals by big names. Saw a Larry Rivers print riffing on an old Camels cigarette ad that was interesting and not often seen. Galerie Cubana had some interesting abstract pieces by a Cuban artist. The photography at other galleries was pretty weak - digital manipulation seems passé this year. As a matter of fact, so far the photography at all three shows has been mostly derivative or safe. Most of the painting at Red Dot not by blue-chippers was uninspiring loose abstraction or garishly colored realism that quite frankly looked like work you'd see in a mall.
VERGE
Verge was a classic hotel room show at the Dylan in midtown. Again with the "sorry, no credit card machine"! At least Red Dot had a coat room.
Another small show with spotty work. An exception was the newbie Mighty Tanaka Gallery from Brooklyn. Its enthusiastic curator, Alex, had an eclectic mix of work from street to realism. Several galleries showed geometric abstractions and loose minimalism - paintings consisting of repeating brush strokes or dots. There were some large oil and encaustic nudes in one gallery (that I sadly can't find their card), realistic and loose with gestural patches of color here and there. Encaustic seems to be making a resurgence, as does hand-done collage.
Next post will be more positive I hope and have photos - Fountain and Pulse fairs tomorrow!

Obama 1-on-1 with Ahmadinejad

2010-02-11T11:58:00.000-08:00

Jim Houser at Jonathan LeVine Gallery

2009-11-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

There's an expression when it comes to buying a piece of art: "living with the piece" - in other words, how will the buyer feel with the artwork in his home, office, etc. It's not necessarily about the size, color, and "will it match my decor?" issues. It may be in part, but for many collectors it's about "Will I still feel as jazzed about it when I get it home as I do now? and what about after a week or two? Is this just a reactionary buzz, or will it continue to stimulate me and make me love looking at it over and over?"
At the moment, all I have of Jim Houser's work is the promo poster for his show a few years ago at Jonathan Levine Gallery hanging on my wall, and the reason it's still up is because I still stop, stare, and enjoy it. I dream of having an original - someday. His current show (Oct 24 - Nov 21, 2009) once again delivers that rush I get when I walk into a gallery with a show of great work. It's vintage Houser in that it's an installation with on-site wall paintings, shelves with 3D works, all with his signatue palette, imagery, and words. And music, too! It might be easy for some to dismiss his work at first glance as being too cartoony or a send-up of self-taught art, but with some examination you'll at first begin to appreciate his craftsmanship, his consistency, and then that the work is not just a one-note cartoon and that there's quite a bit to grab hold of.

In his Fecal Face interview, Houser discusses his palette of subdued colors: "I like red and blue and variations of red and blue. That's the direction it seems to be going. Browns and tans. No more pink. No more orange. No more green. Even my black is just super dark blue or brown. My white has blue or brown in it. Sea water, dog fur, and dried blood. That's my inspiration."

Houser incorporates hand drawn words and phrases in various novelty typefaces, "visual poems" if you will. There is the temptation to read into and analyze the meanings and thoughts behind these words, which can be a pitfall in painting, but Houser merges them seamlessly in his works without overpowering the other images. They blend. They're fun. It's a carnival ride for your eyes, going from words to recognizable image to shapes to words again.

Some of the words reflect thoughts about his late wife and his own difficulties with health issues, among other things. With "Make Room for Emptiness" the press release states that Houser "has celebrated the affirmation of a new love and also has received medical treatment for his previous health condition." Both are cathartic elements for anyone to experience, and how could it not be reflected in an artist's work, particularly Jim Houser's?
Jonathan Levine Gallery is located at 529 W 20th St (10th and 11th Ave), 9th Flr, NYC.

Yankees win! Thuhuhuhuhuhuh Yankees win!

2009-11-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

Wish I had my camera...

2009-10-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

I stop at Two Boots Pizza on 7th Ave & Greenwich (NYC) to grab a slice and in their window display were 2 fireman boots. OK, makes sense, right? In the boots were decorative tree branches. On the branches was a string of baseball shaped holiday lights, with the Mets logo on the baseballs. Also on the branches were mardi gras beads. And finally, sticking out of the boots were two rainbow flags.
Wish I had my camera with me...

GUIDE TO MODERN LIVING - Chapter 1

2009-09-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Don't talk in movie theatres.
During commericals and trailers it's Ok, but once the flick starts, shut up! This is not a cultural thing, this is basic manners. At $12.50 a pop for some theatres in NYC, a person shouldnt have to miss one second of a film because some knucklehead is talking on her cell, or another knucklehead is giving commentary on the film like he's the director on a DVD extra. Ya wanna narrate? Do it on your couch!

Part 2: Never let waitstaff clear the plates til everyone at the table is done eating.
This makes the person still dining uncomfortable and pressured, two things one does not want to experience during dinner. People eat at different speeds, sometimes a person tells a long story, whatever. If I finish first, I leave a bite or a piece of bread on my plate and say, "Still working on it" when they try to clear, until everyone's done eating. Plus if your dining companion(s) order something that you're envious of and they don't finish it, you can score a few bites by sliding it over onto the open real estate on your plate!

This is really Part 1-A:
Shut off cell phones in movie theatres, live theatres, religious services, lectures, concerts, etc.
This is a no-brainer.

More to come...

Gallery Shows: Lennon Weinberg & Nancy Margolis

2009-09-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

A bit behind am I, so here's some catch-up on gallery visits in Chelsea, NYC. Nancy Margolis Gallery had a show featuring works by Wendy Heldman. I've written before about this trend I've seen the past year + of environmental chaos -- buildings exploding or images of them being deconstructed in a wild diagrammatic fashion. Also houses, cityscapes and more in a representational and abstract style. Heldman had pieces of library racks with books scattered all about - "We Just Keep Taking Turns" and "One Against Two". These were made from photos of libraries in California after an earthquake. I discovered this when talking to the woman working at the front desk (don't be intimidated to ask questions about the work! Often they are bored or simply welcome a break to chat about the art and you usually get some interesting info), and I mentioned the trend I've noticed and she agreed. Apparently, this has indeed been a frequent element in works as of late.
What could be the reason for this? Is it because this is a common CGI (computer generated imagery) effect in hugely popular home video games? Think of all the grand explosions and mass destruction so realistically depicted in Hollywood films courtesy of CGI - I believe this has all sunk into our subconscious which gets stirred into the soup of peoples' visual creative vocabulary. How could it not? Every artist is influenced by their environment, what they see, hear and feel.
Or is it deeper - a feeling of danger, post 9/11 trauma, insecurity, and lack of faith/trust in our leaders and political system that creates this feeling of our "world" being torn apart by forces beyond our control? or is it the artist TAKING control and deciding when and how he/she will deconstruct their world. Perhaps I'm reaching too far, but the more I see of this imagery, the more questions it raises as to common motivations and inspirations for it.
"Little By Little and Then Not Even That" is an acrylic piece of a decrepit building that's obviously been sitting a long time in that state. Was it commercial or residential? Where is it? Why did this happen and how? Natural disaster or an explosion? A successful piece in that it triggers these thoughts and questions and stirs the imagination.

A retrospective Cindy Workman's works of women were on view at Lennon, Weinberg Inc this summer. Composite images address the many roles women perform, or feel compelled to perform, in society. "Fig. 35-92" (left) from 2000 combines drawing with digital imagery with a blond child, a scientific diagram and a black and white sexy image of a woman, all layered in this intriguing image. "Pebbles" from 2003 (right) presents a more pornographic image of a woman with the face of Pebbles Flintstone, a child-like crayon drawing of a child over her face, and a connect the dots image of a skating girl. A jumble of females in different styles and media in a simple yet powerful composition.

"Diabolical Small Talk"

2009-08-26T20:01:00.001-07:00

Saw Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" last weekend. The promo budget for this film must have been tremendous, there was a ton of hype and Tarantino seemed to be everywhere doing interviews. Either he felt he needed a big hit, or he knew it was going to be a hit and wanted to make sure it was seen.

I heard him explain how he came up with the idea - simple and interesting. He was thinking that it's been awhile since they did a "group of guys" war movie ala "Kelly's Heroes" and the "Dirty Dozen." The next step, was how to put a twist on it. He thought about what if they were all Jewish? But instead of being POWs or in a concentration camp, they were on the offensive? and violently killing Nazis? and so on, in his signature style.
Indeed, "Inglorious Basterds" has all the Tarantino trademarks. There are titled chapters. Separate stories slowly merging together. Pop culture references. A unique soundtrack. Some recurring actors. Oh, and violence - very graphic violence. I don't know how much of that is because he watched so many horror/gore films from the 70s, or if he's saying, "Oh you like action flicks? You like violence? Well, THIS is what violence really looks like - do you still dig it? Is it still fun?!?"

Either you like Tarantino or you don't. I have yet to hear many people be lukewarm about his work. But one thing cannot be denied - he is quite the wordsmith. And he uses dialogue, and the pacing of that dialogue masterfully in this film, particularly through the character of Col. Hans Landa played by Christopher Waltz. There is surely a Best Supporting Actor nomination in store for Mr. Waltz. His cat and mouse verbal slow torture is gut-wrenching, you can feel the tension building inside you as he toys with his "victims." In thinking about this post, I came up with what I (not too humbly) think is the perfect description of this aspect of Quentin Tarantino's writing:
"DIABOLICAL SMALL TALK."
So many of his films' characters have done this seemingly innocuous chit-chat, and yet there is the underlying tension, building like an old Edgar Kennedy slow burn, wondering at what point things are going to combust. Like when Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta are in the room with those college kids and Jackson is rambling on about burgers and the metric system.
I recommend you see this film. The violent parts are pretty nasty, but it's obvious when they're about to happen so you can always close your eyes for a sec or look away, and then get on with the good parts of this movie - like the Diabolical Small Talk!

Art review: The Female Gaze

2009-08-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

Cheim & Read Gallery (547 W 25th St, NYC) is hosting "The Female Gaze - Women Look at Women" through September 19, 2009.
A multi-media show of nearly three dozen female artists, the work is diverse and engaging for the most part. Whether it actually does reclaim the traditional domination (still so?) of the "male gaze" can be debated at length, and the press release is fertile ground for this. Quoting Laura Mulvery's essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" and Wendy Steiner's "Venus in Exile: The Rejection of Beauty in 20th Century Art", it's worth getting a copy of the release as a starting point to explore their essays and this show - but for this post, I'll stick to the visuals and not the theory.
So much solid work, alas I only have these three shots. Vanessa Beecroft's "Blond Figure Lying" 2008 is slightly larger than life, 77" long, a nude yellow figure of water resin coated in beeswax with long blonde hair. A cadaver? Lady Godiva? a sleeping woman? or a modern fetish fertility figure more Maxim girl than Venus of Willendorff?

This oil portrait by Chantal Joffe, "Anna," 2009, is one of the most unassuming pieces in the show, but I was captivated by its simple directness and the likeness. You feel as if you know or have met this average looking woman, and even with its simple broad brushwork, the viewer gets a sense of this woman's intelligence and confidence. Mission accomplished in terms of portraiture.

The last shot is Lisa Yuskavage's "Heart 96-97" done in her signature soft pastel fuzzy style featuring a female with large upturned breasts, this painting measures 84x72". Her Playboy cartoon-like females always create some discussion and/or controversy, mostly centered around if she is having a laugh at our expense or is there more here than meets the eye? The press release states that the "exhibition attempts to debunk the notion of the male gaze by providing a group of works in which the artist and subject do not relate as 'voyeur' and 'object,' but as woman and woman." So does Yuskavage's portrait of a woman on her knees masturbating satisfy this claim? As I said earlier, this show is fertile ground for discussion...

Yumiko Kayukawa at Joshua Liner

2009-08-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

Yumiko Kayukawa shows frequently on the west coast, so it was a treat to see her large show at Joshua Liner Gallery. I've been a fan of her work for years and bought a painting by her about 4-5 years ago. I wish I bought more, now her work goes for 2k to over 7k (much more than what I paid) but still reasonably priced for her success and the quality of the work.
Kayukawa was born in Hokkaido, a northern Japanese island. Influences are pretty clear in her work: Japanese and American pop culture, young girls, graphic design and all critters great and small. Although there's a legitimate temptation to call her work cartoony, don't confuse it with anime. Her work does have a comic book feel to it, being delineated in black, but it's more sophisticated and layered. At times the pieces are a bit too precious and cutesy (as in Cookie Time), but "cute" is such a huge part of Japanese visual language and culture, it's hard to fault her for it.

The Japanese also have a preoccupation with very young girls, teetering on the edge of creepiness at times. Yumiko's girls have a sensual air about them, that heavy metal sexy schoolgirl posed vibe, or images where they are in on the joke, or images where they are more mature and simply in youth's full bloom. In an interview on Crowndozen.com she said, "Girls posing in sexy ways is just kind of charming and amusing to me."

Her compositions usually involve a girl or girls, animals, and Japanese lettering. Her palette is bright and pop influenced (Suzuchan and Marichan) yet she can tone it down a notch to create an altogether different feel (Lotus and Iris).

Yes, Yumiko's paintings are eye candy. Yes, they titillate. Yes, they're cute, funky, punk, elegant, colorful, fun, surreal, graphic, and well-executed...add all that up and you have some great work here.
The piece below with the candles is "Fate" and the other is "Kamen (masks)". She works with acrylic and ink on canvas and sometimes illustration board. Unfortunately the show comes down before you read this, but you can see most of the work online.

29 year old Vancouver artist Ben Tour has the second room for his "Crash and Burn" show. An illustrator that straddles the fine art world as well (a common occurrence in Pop Surrealism), Tour's show here has some striking images, but overall is uneven.

The work here consists mostly of portraits of women done in his signature style of loose, washy rendering with sometimes design-y and sometimes violent splatters and explosions of color. Some, like Cold 1, are visually arresting and hold up after the initial eye-pop is over. Therein lies the problem with some other pieces, particularly the Orphan Dreams series and Grief Girl. They're not fully realized, and when painting waif/model/thin young women, it's a thin line between relevance and cheesiness. These pieces seem incomplete and rushed, like first drafts, unlike Blood 1 which has a fullness and is simply rendered much better. (Blood 2 is pictured here as well as Cold 1). It'll be curious to see how Mr. Tour's work evolves from here because there certainly is some raw talent and youthful energy to his art.

Pierogi Gallery Summer Show

2009-07-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Checked out the Pierogi Gallery summer show in Brooklyn last week. Went to about 10 galleries - 3 closed for installation, 4 gone, 1 closing, and 2 open. Yikes!
In true Pierogi fashion, lots of drawing in the show. Two trends in most exhibited drawings over the past 2-3 years: lots of intricate "doodling" of small shapes and abstract organic and geo forms. Actually, they remind me of those Grateful Dead/weed/black light posters you could create and/or color that were popular in the 70s. However, some of these are sophisticated and exhibit a sense of intricacy, dialogue, and an amazing amount of patience. Left is a large piece by (don't have the artist's name) done on pieces of paper, a well orchestrated mix of abstract and representational.

The other trend is the deconstructed cityscape, or exploding scape, or post apocalyptical scape. I've seen many samples of work like this from pen and ink sketchbook pieces to whole room installations. When one sees these common threads, the question arises as to why? Are these reflections of a common sociological fear? desire for destruction? Coincidentally (or not) the piece below is titled "Fear and Hope" by Johan Nobell.

The entire show wasn't abstract geo renderings. There were text-based, cartoony, and realistic pieces as well. This exhibit is up until 7/26. Pierogi Galery, 177 North 9th Street Brooklyn, NY 11211 Tel. 718 599 2144

LOVE at the Spread Art Gallery

2009-07-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Went to the opening last week that my piece was in - Jethro Rebollar curated this show at Spread Art Gallery in Brooklyn, titled LOVE.
It was an old school small sized gallery opening with tons of people and tons of sweat. Painting, drawing, sculpture, photo - an eclectic mix all examining Love and whatever goes with it.

Some of the work was pretty straightforward, and I thought Filip Olszewski's "18 Gigabytes of Melissa Joan Hart Images" for $2000 was hilarious (first pic below).

"LOVE" art opening in Brooklyn

2009-07-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

I have a large drawing ("Couple", below) in a group show titled "LOVE"!
Should be a great opening, and you are invited!
JULY 17th 2009 ~ 7pm
@ SpreadArtGallery
E. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. ~ 104 Meserole St.
http://www.spreadart.org/

Here's the official lowdown: This summer, Love comes to Brooklyn. Over a dozen artists from New York and around the country will be submitting to and attending the premier Love show hosted by the Spread Gallery art + performance space in E. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The show will exhibit a generational cross-section of celebrated working artists and designers through their reflections on love. Love as a force of good, a force of malice, force of height, of hate, a force of God, creation, destruction, oppresion, and the many experiential et ceteras.

Oh, no...no no no no no no no

2009-07-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

Project Runway for artists?? Say it ain't so, but it was inevitable.
I heard about this awhile ago, and that Sarah Jessica Parker might be affiliated with it. I can predict the stereotypical cast: the wacko artist w/ funky hair and clothes who speaks artspeak; the black feminist lesbian; the white good looking macho guy; the insecure mousey artist; the flaming queen; the intellectual snob; the hot blonde rich chick; the political activist; and so on and so on. Just like Project Runway, Top Chef, Real World and all the rest fill their cast with stereotypical characters and polar opposites (to create drama), I'm sure this one will be no different.
"OK, artists, the Art Challenge today is to create a public monument about Angst, using only cardboard, string, play-doh, and duct tape. You have 1 hr. Good luck." Actually, that kind of reminds me of art school. And I'm sure the send-off line to whoever loses that episode will be, "Take your portfolio and go back to the drawing board."
Here's the press release courtesy of Art Blog:

[The show is] an hour-long creative competition series among aspiring contemporary artists who will create and compete to conquer the art world!

If you’re an emerging or mid-career visual artist with a unique, powerful voice that demands a bigger stage – well. . . Here. It. Is.

We want contemporary artists. Your medium could be one of many (or several of many) – painting, sculpture, installation, video, photography, mixed-media – we want voices that believe in their art and want the world to know.

*To be considered for the cast, attend one of our four regional casting calls around the country, see below.*

Go to www.BravoTV.com/casting to download an application and see what you need to bring with you to an open call.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

Chia enjoys the annual 4th of July Parade in Asbury Park, NJ!

Farrah...

2009-06-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

Like nearly every hormone driven male in the 70s, I was into Farrah Fawcett-Majors. I had the famous red bathing suit/nipple poster (the framed one above the stage in Liquid Lounge was the original that I had on my wall!) and a montage of Farrah poster, too. Brother Pete was more of a Jaclyn Smith fan.
I had a dream once that Farrah and Lee Majors had moved into the house across the street. I went over to visit, Farrah opened the door and gave me this innocent kiss - and I slowly levitated off the ground and floated back to my house. That was it, but I was hooked.
I remember one time going to the sweet shop to buy comic books and on the magazine rack above I was astonished that nearly EVERY magazine, probably 80-90% of them, had Farrah on the cover. Never saw anything like it before or since.
So my props during this week loaded with celeb deaths (incl. Ed McMahon and pitchman Billy Mays) goes to Farrah and NOT Michael Jackson. Yes, he made some great albums. But this MJ lovefest sickens me - did everyone forget that the guy was a pedophile?? and that he hasnt made decent music since the Bad album? Did I mention that he was a pedophile???

10 Random Things That Suck

2009-06-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

In no order of relevance:
1) Walking in pouring rain in NYC.
2) Shoestrings that break when you're late to get somewhere.
3) Having to listen to gangsta rap when you don't want to.
4) People who are constantly texting.
5) Seeing one's receding hairline in photos.
6) When you're on the highway and someone is going slow in front of you, so you put on your blinker to get into the left lane to pass and just then the guy behind you does the same thing and cuts you off.
7) Blind dates.
8) Flat tires.
9) The movie "Synechdoche, NY" - 2 hrs of my life I'll never get back.
10) My mom has cancer and starts chemo in 2 weeks - that sucks more than anything.

"Bad" Barack Obama paintings!

2009-06-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

The Zuke called me this weekend to make sure I saw the Sunday Times article about the growing Barack Obama art business. There are even websites dedicated to showing work made about the Prez and my fave is, get this, "Bad Paintings of Barack Obama"! http://badpaintingsofbarackobama.com/
Now, in the name of good karma, you have to admire the work for its sheer earnestness and genuine feeling, which make up for the lack of training. Perhaps some enterprising entrepreneur will scoop it all up and get a booth at the next Outsider Art Fair? Anyway, here are two masterpieces. The one on the left is fascinating - US/Mexican relations, tacos (love the halo/taco hat on Barack), scantily clad chicks and lots of tighty-whities. Awesome. The website doesnt list titles, so I dubbed the one on the right "Barack Eyebama".

Pics from art opening 5/28/09

2009-05-30T17:09:00.001-07:00

Art Opening!

2009-05-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

In this economy, "do-it-yourself" is crucial. There's an empty studio across from mine, and the landlord was willing to give it to me for 4 days in exchange for getting the word out about its availability! So Lou Carbone and I are having a 2-day show on THURSDAY MAY 28th at 7pm til ??? (you know how those Hoboken art parties are!)
We'll also be there Friday 29th from 1-9pm ish. We're each showing about a dozen new paintings.
Monroe Center, 720 Monroe St (betw 7th and 8th streets)
5th Floor, E-504, Hoboken NJ. Free parking in rear of building. If you are coming in from NY on the PATH, it's easiest to take a cab from the Hoboken station. Entrance is mid-block.
If you are looking for a studio to rent, come take a look, for info call National Property at 201-337-8488.

Portraits, Powhida and Picasso

2009-05-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

Continuing on the Chelsea gallery hop with Painter Lou and BAMA Chris, a large portrait in a window caught our eye and we popped into the Axelle Fine Art Galerie. The large, like 4x6' (?), pieces were from a series of self-portraits by French painter Laurent Dauptain. He's done over a thousand self-portraits ("A little narcissistic," mused Painter Lou). The formal training and approach is there, yet he is very comfortable with loose brushwork, and there is more of a hint of impressionism than abstraction here. A skillful use of color, shading, and just plain old solid painting. He also has some equally loose city scenes and scapes, but the portraits are more memorable.

An unplanned stop presented a pleasant surprise as I once again got to see work by William Powhida. Simply put, he makes lists. But that is far too simple a description. They are like pages torn from a journal that he replicates in graphite that at first glance seem like journal scrawl when in fact there is an order to them, a graphic anarchy that seems about to burst into wild scribbling like a kid ignoring the coloring book lines, but that never happens. He's funny, satirical, observant, factual and bitchy. "Book Ideas" and "Chronology" are drawings, and he also has painted pieces including some of his signature appropriated newspaper and magazine articles, often about movie and art world "celebrities".
"Relational Wall" (below) is a large painting surrounded by photos of art world figures. In it he replicates their images with text and arrows in a wild informal flow chart. Under or near these artists, critics and dealers are facts and observations ranging from the person's job title to pithy opinions like "shows mundane work." Ballsy, skewering, and definitely worth going to see. This show is up til May 16th at Schroeder Romero Gallery, 637 W 27th. Oh, and go to his website, it's also well worth the trip, too: WilliamPowhida.com

We trekked over to the 21st St Gagosian Gallery with the museum quality exhibition of late Picassos, "Picasso: Mosqueteros" featuring work by Pabs from 63-73, mostly his musketeer pieces. I saw the last show of late Picassos at the Guggenheim in 1984 and thought this was better. I'm not going to attempt to analyze Picasso here, there are dozens of books by writers more able than I to do that. Unfortunately, many fall into what I call "the cult of Picasso." He was surrounded by sycophants (often with his encouragement and enticement) who, like many writers, think that every stroke by him was a stroke of genius. No denying his genius, but some of his late pieces seem as if he fell victim his own cult of personality and was playing "Picasso" as he painted.
The thing I like about the Gagosian show is that it's clear when he was bored or uninspired or just noodling around on some pieces, and then on others you can see his enthusiasm and energy bursting through when he was pushing himself and working hard - color mixing, brushwork, and the image itself. Musketeers, lovers entwined, interpretations of old masters are here in this large show which is up til June 6, 2009. Picassos are best appreciated in person.
"I enjoy myself to no end inventing these stories. I spend hour after hour while I draw, observing my creatures and thinking about the mad things they're up to."
--Pablo Picasso, 1968

Gallery Hoppin' 4/28/09

2009-04-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Part of an artist's homework is "Gallery Hopping." Doing your due diligence, research, homework - however you label it, hitting the pavement serves several purposes. Before you submit work to a gallery, you have to make sure your work is right for that space - a gallery showing realistic cityscapes isn' t likely to be interested in your minimalist canvases painted black and covered with beeswax. Gallery Hopping helps in many other ways, but I'll save that for another post, today I wish to write about some recent shows I saw.

First stop was to see the AIKO "Love Monster" show at Joshua Liner Gallery. AIKO, born in Tokyo and now residing in Brooklyn, was part of the group FAILE that did street art, wheatpasting their way through cities around the globe. Her work is obviously pop and influenced by street art, kawaii ("cute" in Japanese) culture, and "globalized depictions of female sexuality" mixing screens, stencils, and blowups of images (many from comic books) repeated throughout the show. There are many artists doing this type of work (Greg Gossel comes to mind) and it's eye candy and draws you in, yet in some ways the artists paint themselves into a corner and the works become a one-trick pony. My impression is that AIKO is aware of this compared to others, so it'll be interesting to watch how, and if, her work evolves.

Tony Shafrazi Gallery had a large show by Theodore Knobloch of Germany, his first solo in the US. Many of the paintings of are of a seaside town - boats, children playing, shacks, all painted realistically but somewhat deconstructed with large areas of color, taped straight edges mixed with loose brushstrokes and cropped composition. The show loses some steam compositionally with several paintings having an image (ladder, pole etc) going straight down the middle - clearly done intentionally, but to the detriment of the overall image.

Mike Cockrill showed his "Sentiment and Seduction" paintings at Kent Gallery ("Hatari" left and "Tag" on the right). First impression was of John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage influences, the slightly off-kilter, sexually-undertoned scenes of daily life. Snapshot like moments (not as photo-realistic as Martin Mull's or Eric Fischl's work) where someone or everyone's guard is down and there's some naughtiness afoot. The statement suggests he is exploring the "rich transition from the world of childhood fantasy to adult awareness in a manner that is both playfully innocent and sexually charged." "Flag Day" shows a girl scout, shirt unbuttoned and becoming aware of her own sexual prowess next to an oblivious boy (you know, girls develop quicker) whose hormones havent kicked in yet.
Cockrill grew up in an area of Virginia where most men worked for the CIA, FBI and State Department and secrets abounded, a state of mind that is present in these pieces. You really sense this in "Hatari" - notice the middle boy staring straight up the woman's dress and ya gotta love the Sinatra album on the floor next to the Hatari soundtrack.
Next: Portraits, Powhida and Pablo

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T06:55:00.001-07:00

MIchael Rakowitz at Lombard-Freid

2009-04-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

Happened to catch an interesting show by accident at Lombard-Freid Projects titled "The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one's own," an interesting installation by Michael Rakowitz.
You're first greeted by a large replica of Hussein's Victory Arch, made from deconstructed GI Joe figures, papier-mache from Saddam's novels, and toy light sabres.

Seems the premise of the show is Saddam and Usay Hussein's fascination with sci-fi, especially Star Wars. At the base of the faux Victory Arch are helmets cast in resin I believe, with more toy parts mixed in. The odd thing is that these helmets are just like Darth Vader's minus the front face part, which along with ski masks and curved swords were actually the uniform of his paramilitary group. It seems like a parody at first until you realize the eerie reality of it all.

Along the walls are long framed drawings on paper done in pencil and ink. These explore the second aspect of this show, "the intricacies and complexities of how science turns into science fiction and vice-versa, capturing imaginations and becoming militarized." Going from hot air balloons to young Gerald Bull's story to the CIA, Saddam, super-guns, and into the bizarre intertwining of the movie Star Wars and the Husseins' twisted reality. It seems so adolescent and would otherwise be easy to laugh off if the events weren't so close chronologically. "On the eve of the Gulf War, the Star Wars theme music played as Iraqi soldiers marched underneath the monument for Iraqi TV cameras."
This show is up til 4/4/09 at 531 W. 26th St between 10th and 11th Aves in NYC. (Click on any image to view larger)
http://www.lombard-freid.com/home.htm

Re-Run's On My Mind! (and I don't mean the chubby guy from What's Happenin')

2009-03-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

Ever have those evenings where even with several hundred channels to choose from, there’s nothing on that you want to watch? This is one of those nostalgia blog entries, you know, “When I was a kid...”. So, when I was a kid we had seven TV channels - 2,4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. If you had a rabbit ears antenna (or a clothes hanger) hooked up to the TV, with some patience and positioning you could pick up a few fuzzy UHF channels, usually Spanish ones. Obviously, viewing choices were limited so the majority of shows were common knowledge even if you weren’t a regular viewer. By that I mean even if you weren’t a big fan of a particular sitcom, you kind of knew the theme song and the characters because with such limited choices, sometimes you simply watched what was on. Of those seven channels, in the NY/NJ area, 2 was CBS, 4 was NBC, 7 was ABC and 13 was public broadcasting. The others were local affiliates and their schedules consisted mainly of local news, sports, lots of movies, and reruns, which is the subject of this post.
There were about a dozen sitcoms that were in perpetual reruns (much like The Simpsons and Seinfeld today) with I Love Lucy (the favorite of brother Pete and I) frequently on twice a day. The others were Gilligan’s Island, The Munsters, Addams Family, I Dream of Jeannie, Dick Van Dyke, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and The Honeymooners.
There were other series that were broadcast often, but stations would occasionally put them on hiatus and bring them back a few months later, unlike the aformentioned which were on almost constantly. These would be Get Smart, My Favorite Martian, Make Room for Daddy, Petticoat Junction, Mr. Ed, My Three Sons, Leave It To Beaver, F Troop and Hogans Heroes.
I thought of a few more that don’t fit into either category, they had short shelf lifes in the re-run world - Hazel, Father Knows Best and the Mothers-in-Law. The Abbott and Costello Show was on alot, more than these three but not as often as the others.
The Little Rascals were movie shorts, not a TV series, but they were a staple, particularly in the a.m., and we watched them a million times. Unfortunately they were butchered to fit two episodes in a half hour. Last Christmas, Pete gave me a DVD set of The Little Rascals, restored and uncut, and he had it autographed by one of the originals, Dickie Moore! He works in the same building as Pete or something. Now, here’s the weird thing - I’d be watching an old Little Rascals short that I haven’t seen in maybe 20 or 30 years, yet I could quote what was about to come out of the characters’ mouth before they said it!! I was a little freaked out by this (much the same way you might hear a song you havent heard in ages but can still sing the lyrics) and it made me wonder just how much all of those hours of TV, especially watching the same episodes over and over, is buried in our grey matter, sitting dormant, just waiting to be brought to the surface!? Kind of weird, kind of sad, and kind of amazing all at the same time...

Haunted House pics!

2009-03-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

My brother Pete (that's him as a corpse) read my post about the Haunted House we did as kids (1977!!!) and sent me these pics! Scroll down to Feb 27 for original entry.

George Lois at MoMA

2009-03-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Squired the lovely Pamela around town yesterday as her visit to NY winds down, and we went to the Museum of Modern Art where we caught the George Lois show. Lois is one of the most renowned art directors in the history of graphic design, known best for his iconic covers at Esquire in the 60s. Given complete creative freedom, his covers turned Esquire from near failure to one of the most popular magazines of its time.
Lois also did the "I Want My MTV!!" ad campaign as well as created a new marketing category (gourmet frozen foods) with Lean Cuisine. Taschen is putting out one of their amazing books in the fall which will be a collection of his covers. Show at MoMA is up til May 09.

Art Fair Mania - Part 2

2009-03-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

DAY 3
I started at the Bridge Art Fair, which for me was the most fruitful of all five. Some really good work, lots of interaction with the galleries, and networking. There was quite a bit of representational work here- realism, pop, surrealism, street, cartoon - some excellent and some simply fun eye candy.
Opus One from England had plenty of enthusiasm for its pop and street art inspired artists, among them Hush, Dave White, and Polaroids by sculptor Marc Quinn (of the solid gold Kate Moss statue fame). Hush's collage pieces were another trend I noticed emerging, similar to Greg Gossel's work (Shooting Gallery at Scope Fair). Another gallery showing low brow/pop surrealism was Headbones Gallery from Toronto, which has dubbed this genre "Neopriest" - New Pop Realists Intellectually Engaged in Story Telling. Another off beat take on comics was the "Queer Batman" series at Kathleen Cullen FIne Arts.
Ginocchio Galleria from Mexico had well-crafted pieces by Hugo Lugo, appr 20x30" sheets of watercolor paper with blue lines and shredded edges just like a page ripped from a spiral bound notebook, with doodle type illustrations. McCaig Welles offered more pop with Eric Joyner's fun robots and donuts paintings - yes, robots and donuts. Charlotta Janssen displayed her own paintings inspired by Obama's victory and paying homage to those that paved his way (MLK, Rosa Parks and others) with painterly, limited palette replicas mixing arrest photos, handwriting and vintage images. Brooklyn's Like the Spice Gallery had three pieces by Dean Goelz, known primarily for his anthropomorphic sculptures. Here were appr 11x14" delicate drawings of odd faces with hundreds of tiny dots of paint forming swaying draped figures. Forster-Art from Switzerland had dreamlike paintings by Sergev Leonid and when I said I liked his work, she replied, "Well, why don't you buy one?" Not having 20k on me, I grabbed a card instead.
I ventured over the Westside Highway to what appeared to be a barge which hosted Fountain, the smallest and most funky, loose, old school east village/Brooklyn type of all the fairs.
Leo Kesting Gallery had lots of pop fun from young artists like Casey Porn and her line cut like drawings of critters (right). Curator John Leo has a good eye, and also showed collages by Ray Sell. Mixed media collage frequently has the feel of here's the collage/here's the paint, but Sell manages to blend them seamlessly. He told me that his day job is architecture and the attention to detail and craftsmanship shows in his work.
Shawn Bishop Leo (below),like the aforementioned Greg Gossel and Hush, creates lush and layered pieces with photos, magazine imagery, vintage wallpaper and three dimensional elements.

McCaig Welles, also at Bridge, had a large installation, "Donkey Party Game" by Gregory Habenry Yum Yum Factory done in their self-proclaimed “Pre-Apocalyptic Expressionist” style- scattered paintings, collage, and bits and pieces of everyday life. Definition Gallery from Baltimore had more pop surreal work. I met owner Daniel at Red Dot last year but he was at a Phish concert today. Paintings of the Jersey shore by illustrator John Puglisi, paintings by Bethany Marchman (also owner of Rabbit Hole Gallery in Atlanta), and Sylvia Ortiz.
Lastly, I forgot to mention my one purchase - a print by political activist artist Kudzanai Chiurai from Zimbabwe at South Africa's Goodman Gallery. A silkscreen of a shopping cart filled with weapons and below it the words SHOPPING FOR DEMOCRACY.

Art Fair Mania - Part 1

2009-03-08T10:16:00.001-07:00

Going to attempt to sift through and make sense of the pile of cards from the 5 art fairs I attended from March 5-7th. The art fairs are basically art gallery trade shows - large spaces in which galleries rent booths and show work. The big boy is The Armory Show, and I also attended Scope, Pulse, Bridge and Fountain.
On Day 1 I hit Scope and Pulse. Jonathan Schorr was showing Wayne Coe's work (which I saw previously at McCaig Welles). He built these retro model kit boxes featuring scenes from Guantanamo and AbuGhraid - Human Pyramid, Guantanamo Guard Dog, etc. Well designed and darkly humorous, sad comments on the CNN-ization of conflict. New pieces were these pencil drawings about 9x12" of old gay x-rated theatre marquees. Wayne told me that a friend of his showed him photos of these and that it reminded him of the "film hyperbole" style of ads in Art Forum hyping hot and/or blue chip artists. So the drawings substitute the porn stars' names with artists names (like John Currin) see pic. Jonathan said that some of these artists were quite pissed and a few were bought to be hidden or destroyed!

The Fernando Pradilla Gallery from Madrid had these large blue Bic pen portraits by Nelly Penaranda (?), in the 3x4' range. Nothing groundbreaking, but scale and execution made these attention grabbers.
Being that Scope was my first stop, I was pretty jazzed and took more pics here than the other fairs. Here's another one from dFaulken Gallery, figurative paintings by Karim Hamid. Most of the figurative painting at the fairs was traditional studio posing or photo realistic. In general the loose, gestural work looked more unrealized than worked through (except for Hamid's who had some great energy in his pieces). That was a theme for the fairs, especially Armory. So much work was weak in the sense of looking like very early career or even art school levels of exploration into different styles and genres. More on this in the Armory show section.

Christopher Cutts Gallery had these child-like portraits of artists by Matias Sanchez which I found audacious and amusing in their simplicity. Part of the reason I liked them is that I imagine these artists would've appreciated the naive style of the paintings.

I keep an eye out for trends in art at these fairs and noticed several. For example, there were several large portraits done in mixed media - an Obama portrait made of cereal, faces made up of chamomile flowers, thread spools as well as 2D images composed of shapes or images repeated to create a portrait. There was very little naturalistic photography, most of the photos were digitally manipulated and layered to create surreal images. These fantasy like realms, situations and people were prevalent in not just photography but across several genres - seemed more like the visual influence of video games and high-end CG effects from film rather than a desire for escape. Thickly impasto'd paintings (to the tune of 2-3" thick) were a common sight, oil and turp wafting through the booth. There was a number of Chinese galleries showing paintings of young girls with huge heads and big eyes, a cross between 50s Keene paintings and Japanese anime only loose and painterly. I asked the 798 Gallery about it and Jin Zi's paintings (right) are representative of this. I was told this is indeed a big trend amongst Chinese painters right now. I'm not a fan of these, but they were everywhere.

I hopped the shuttle downtown to the Pulse Art Fair. Pop Surrealism made its presence felt here at galleries like Copro Nason from Cali and Okay Gallery from Austin. The young guy from Okay who was in NY for the first time said, "I had a hundred bucks in my pocket yesterday, and today I have like ten, and I have no idea where it went!" I replied, "Welcome to New York!" There were also galleries showing original works by Robert Crumb and Robert Williams. Stopped at Lyons Weir Ortt Gallery which show alot of tight realism. Last year they showed work by Cayce Zavaglia which blew my mind!
I thought it was a portrait painting until I got closer to see that it was all thread!! Words cannot describe the skill and intricacy of these pieces. She does about two a year, and last year they were going for 14k and now they're 20. Worth every penny. PLEASE go to the gallery website and look at her work. LWO also had paintings by Fahamu Pecou - think Kehinde Wiley (several of his beautiful works at the fairs, too) only in a looser, more hip-hop style.
Space Projects from Slovakia had these silly jackets by Otis Laubert, one pictured here covered with stamps (Postman's Coat), one with matches (Fireman's coat, duh). Thought this one was fun.

DAY 2
Onto the Armory Show...
It's the big boy - the most booths, the anchor, whatever. Costs thirty bucks to enter. There are so many people that you can tell it is very exhausting for the exhibitors, making it difficult to engage in conversation about the work. However, if you dress nice and wear a jacket, I discovered that they think you're a collector and come up and start chatting! But seriously, the concensus seems to be that this was by far the worst show of all the fairs, and I agree. I have no pics because I forgot my camera, but there wasnt much that would've motivated me to shoot. An exception was Hope Gangloff's pen and ink drawings of nightlife at Susan Inglett. They appear in the weekly email I get from MyOpenBar.com, or something like that. Also, Kenny Scharff's installation was playful and typical of his style, and had energy and enthusiasm that made it stand out from the (over?)abundance of exhibitors.

The Parisian galleries as a whole were pretty awful. They were showing avant garde and conceptual work, but so much of it was weak and unrealized. Had the feel of a first draft, retreads of old work that the artist was doing as part of their process to explore beyond it but hadnt arrived there yet - so why show it? Germany had many galleries showing similar work (one German gallery told me there are 420 galleries in Berlin!) but it seemed like their work was pushing the envelope more, edgier, trying some things that even though they weren't very successful, were dipping their toes into new pools.

I have my likes and dislikes. But I've learned over the years to look at work in its own context and so on, and I don't like to dwell on the negative. However, it baffles me how a gallery can spend thousands for a booth, airfare, hotel, etc and show such weak work! Want examples? A blurry mirror. 20-30 framed primitive pencil drawings of a penis. A piece of material with a pink oval in the middle (ooooo! it looks like a vagina! oooo! - puh-lease!). Appr 50 (yes 50) framed 11x14" drawings of a pink circle with the words (not exact) "Similar to a color in Jackie O's makeup compact" written in pencil under each one. A canvas painted white. A canvas painted black. Two aluminum(?) bananas.
Next year, I think I'll skip Armory. Pulse and Scope are keepers.

The Haunted House

2009-02-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

I grew up on dead end street. Not what one expect from the sound of it - we had a big yard, woods, a pond and a brook - almost kind of rural in a way. What we didn't have was a neighborhood of kids, just the two girls across the street and we didn't get along too well with them. They got mad because I punched their poster of Bobby Sherman that they used to kiss.
My brother Pete and I, being only 18 months apart, had a slightly distorted view of reality. We did have 2 neighborhoods on each side of us, so we drifted in and out of them but weren't real members. We were avid fans of the Little Rascals, and since we didn't know what a real neighborhood of kids was like, we thought that the Little Rascals version was real. We thought putting on shows and having wacky adventures was normal. For awhile we even got all the kids to wear hats since all the Little Rascals, and the Bowery Boys as well, all had their signature caps.
One of the drawbacks was being kind of naive about alot of things, but then again, we did alot of stuff that if we lived in a regular neighborhood we likely never would have even thought about doing. Pete and I teamed up with a local kid, Jeremy Roschelle, and started the B&R Carnival (as in Borzotta & Roschelle), an annual one-day event that we did probably five summers. We'd start work in January and months later on the big day make a whopping twenty bucks or so which we usually donated to the Jerry Lewis Telethon - but the B&R Carnivals are for another blog entry. This one is about the Haunted House we did.
We had a detached two-car garage with an attic above it. The idea was to have me as the Crypt Keeper-like host escort 3 or 4 kids at a time through the Haunted House. We took a whole bunch of my mom's bedsheets, as well as towels and a blanket or two, and nailed them to the ceiling creating a winding passageway. God bless her, my mom didn't get angry about the nail holes in her good sheets! I would lead the kids through, and there were several things set up to try and scare the hell out of them. We had one kid chained in the corner in a werewolf mask. Dead kids in bloody make-up and baby-powdered faces coming to life. In the attic were 2 kids who would scream, "No! Don't! I don't want to die!" all the while stomping and dragging chains. We made a dummy with a rope around it and they would drop it doing a faux hanging from the attic while yelling, "NOOOOOOO!"as we walked by the steps.
The best part was the dreaded Acid Pit. I took my mom's big spaghetti sauce pot, filled it with water and green dye, and placed it on a table in front of a sign that said, "BEWARE! Acid Pit!" Next to it was a raw chicken breast on a plate. Before I brought each group of kids in, I shoved an Alka-Seltzer tablet in the chicken breast. I would lead them to the Acid Pit, caution them, and say, "Watch this!" as I gingerly picked up the chicken breast with tongs, dropped it in the "acid" and the alka-seltzer would fizz away creating the illusion of horrible roiling death!

Greatest Love Poem EVER

2009-02-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

In a belated nod to Valentine's Day, I present a poem - not of love, but of ex-love. Call it pithy, call it succinct, I call it the Greatest Love Poem I Ever Wrote!!
Here 'tis - "Ode to an Ex" :

Thoughts of you
are like gas.
Both cause pain,
both eventually pass.

Art and the City

2009-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

I recently saw the film, “Milk,” about San Francisco politician and gay activist, Harvey Milk. I was struck by something early in the film when Harvey and his lover moved to SF. Apparently he was an avid photographer and almost on a whim decided to open a shop below the apartment they shared in the Castro district, selling film and photo processing. What struck me was how easy it was - rents were very cheap, and the income not only was enough to keep the shop going and put money in his pocket, but he was able to hire people to work there while he spent most of his time and energy getting involved in local politics! I think the reason this stayed in my mind is that I’ve been toying with the idea of opening another business for awhile, but the biggest problem is getting the numbers to make sense. Rents are particularly high in most cities as compared to back then, and throw in insurance, all the taxes, red tape, etc, that are part of doing business nowadays and the nut just gets bigger and bigger. If Harvey tried to do that today, he probably wouldnt have had the money to open in the first place, probably not have been able to afford hiring staff, and he would have had to work long hours and not had the time or energy to get involved in local politics. So the thought arises: how many potential Harvey Milks are out there now that can’t do what he did because city life is so expensive, yet being in a city is part of the formula?

Two other examples come to mind. In the late 50s/early 60s, the rents in Soho were very cheap. Artists could rent large live/work loft spaces for next to nothing. Larry Rivers wrote in his bio about the camaraderie and support between artists such as himself, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and many others who interacted on a daily basis visiting eachothers’ spaces, looking at their work, socializing, sharing ideas, etc. (similar to the abstract expressionists before them). Artists today cannot afford loft spaces in Soho unless you’re a high ticket established one. Frequently I read and hear about artists who move far away and get a big space and cheap rent. This enables them to focus on their art, and if not surviving on that alone, they can get by with a part time job or roomates or their spouse working. The result is that they get to focus and work, which is what Rivers, Johns and others sought in NYC as well. However, it’s highly unlikely the artist out in Wherever USA has the interaction with other artists that they had, not to mention the lack of galleries and museums to visit. In a city you have a higher concentration of artists, not just visual artists, but writers, musicians, performers and venues - the aforementioned museums and galleries, music venues, performance spaces, theatres, foreign and indie films, and so on. Again the thought arises - how many potential Rauschenbergs are out there in the suburbs or the country toiling away in solitude that may never have those synergistic influences to light their blastoff into new realms of creative expression?

The East Village in the late 70s/early 80s is another example. Rents were very cheap mainly due to the fact that the area was in terrible shape and full of drugs and crime. I saw a documentary on Blondie (they lived on Bowery off Houston) and one of the band members said that people could live in that area at the time and be an artist or musician or poet and focus primarily on what they wanted to do and get by with occasional gigs. Watch the film, “Downtown 81” starring a 19 year old Jean-Michel Basquiat and you see that the east village looked like the Gaza Strip does now, so I’m not trying to romanticize things. The point is, if you were willing to make sacrifices, you could do your art, mix with like-minded people, and thrive. The list of artists and musicians who blossomed during that time in the east village/bowery area is staggering. While I was painting a mural at the first Howl Festival in 03 in Tompkins Square, this older painter told me that in the early 80s within 1 block of the park were about 40 galleries!! Many of the old buildings had mixed use apartments on the first floor, so artists would live there and make the storefront a gallery and/or studio. Some make the argument that its still cheap in Bushwick, but for how long? As for the east village, there is still alot of artistic activity there, but they are struggling and working their butts off (unless they’re trust fund kids) and stressed out due to the overhead.

I have no answer, or any point really. That scene in “Milk” just triggered this chain of thought. I mean even in Asbury Park the rents are high enough to have pushed out many artists. Perhaps the way grunge was born in Seattle, maybe there’s a similar city, away from New York, LA and Chicago where rents are cheap, creatives are gathering and before it gets gentrified something exciting will arise. Maybe with this bad economy, it might even happen in New York somewhere again.

Winter on the Boardwalk

2009-02-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

Went up to the Asbury Park boardwalk this morning and took a few shots.
Snow white beach. Below is the casino building which practically separates AP and Ocean Grove.

Lilac tree in my yard-

Economic Stimulus Plan marches on!!

2009-01-27T06:52:00.001-08:00

President Barack Obama continues his unique economic stimulus plan in the east village...

Why???

2009-01-27T06:48:00.000-08:00

Chia looks at me, perhaps wondering why we're leaving NYC.

Joe Borzotta - Craphound

2009-01-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

I am a Craphound. A craphound for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is a person who collects alot of stuff. Not the psycho pizza boxes up to the ceiling nut, just to be clear. If you remember Liquid Lounge, you'll remember all the pop culture memorabilia decor, most of which is stored away in my attic. What am I going to do with all those lunchboxes, figures, games, pez, bobbleheads and such?? I might have to open a new place to display them! I also have thousands of comic books (in mom's house, thank God!), hammered aluminum trays and bowls, sports cards, art books, vinyl records, and a slowly growing collection of original art (other than my own). And don't suggest that I sell the stuff! How could I part with my Mr T sprinkler? or the Justin Timberlake N'Sync marionette? or the Sta-Puft Marshmallow man radio? or the can of Popeye Spinach? or Chairy? or my 1966 Batman lunchbox? How dare you?!?

I have visions of someday owning a house where I have one room that's MINE, off limits to the future wife and kids, my own Sanctum Sanctorum (comic book geek reference) and I have all this STUFF displayed, a drawing table, and a lazyboy with a TV so I can watch wrestling and UFC, and read in peace...the modern term is "Man Cave."
Craphound or not, I have reeled it in considerably. Especially with lunchboxes - they just take up too much room. HOWEVER, I finally managed to get one that I've longed for since first grade. I always got beat out on Ebay for it, but this one came up Buy It Now-- and I did, damn the consequences!!
Ladies and gentlemen, from 1968, the dometop Snoopy lunchbox!

Obama, Facebook and Chia

2009-01-21T07:01:00.000-08:00

Worked home yesterday so I could catch the inauguration. I won't go into it because it was kind of done to death by the media, but it was pretty amazing and wonderful. I may have written this before, but I began to study Obama about 2 years ago after reading "Audacity to Hope" on a plane ride and was very impressed by his thinking and approach, so it was satisfying on many levels to see him take office. And I admit, I flipped the bird at Bush as he flew off in his bird.
Unrelated Post #1: after much cajoling and badgering I caved and joined Facebook a few days ago. The good side is that I managed to get in touch with some people that I lost contact with, particularly Shelley, who I was very good friends with during my grad year at SVA in 86-87. Also, through painter pal Lou (who described Facebook as "time suck city"!) got in touch with painter pal Linda. I did a few paintings of her, including "Claire Voyant" below. She's married w kid and living in Singapore!

The Way Back Machine also delivered me emails from high school friends! Its pretty cool so far, kinda creepy though, too. Now, I am terrrible with names, and I got a few Friend Requests from people whose name I don't recognize and they don't have a picture posted, so what do I do??
Unrelated Post #2: just found this photo of Chia and wanted to post it for no reason. My sister got her that toy because it looks like her, which it does! Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Farewell to Love

2009-01-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

Just made a fantastic purchase to combat this diabolical cold weather (how the hell do people live in No Dakota where it's like this for MONTHS at a time! My friend's sister went to college in Minnesota and had to use a device to keep the oil in the car from freezing - oil freezing??? OIL?? But I digress...), one of those winter hats like Van Gogh wore in a self -portrait, or like that guy who could fix anything wore on Hogan's Heroes. The kind with the furry lining and big ear flaps that's hipster ironically cool? Fashionable or not, it's WARM WARM WARM! Maybe people in Minnesota could use them in their engines to keep the oil from freezing.
Anyhoo, a block away from St Marks (where I got the hat) on 2nd Ave is
Loves Saves the Day, the famous pop culture memorabilia store that's been there forever. As many of you have probably heard, it's closing in a few days. I saw a piece on it on NY1, and apparently the owner's wife died about a year or so ago and they have a store in New Hope or somewhere, so he's downsizing to just that store. I have mixed feelings about LSTD - it's cool that it was there, great for the neighborhood and fun to pop in and look at the collectibles. However, it was a total tourist trap - his prices for collectibles were on the far side of astronomical. Just about anything there could be found on EBay for 25-35% of their asking price, so as a collector I could never take their pricing seriously. Nonetheless, sad to see it go - probably turn into a PinkBerry or Verizon store...feh.

News Nausea

2009-01-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

I usually sit down to dinner and either read or watch TV, usually the news. I watch NBC News with Brian Williams, or ABC local (I think Liz Cho is abso-f'n'lutely gorgeous!). But back to the NBC Nightly News, one of the Big 3 national newscasts at 6:30pm.
Am I the only one eating during the news? If not, then I can't be the only one getting grossed out by the nasty commercials which flood the airwaves during breaks!! Try enjoying dinner when nearly every commercial is about some physical malady. During tonight's broadcast, I jotted down the following ailments and issues addressed during my meal: heartburn, overactive bladder, constipation, diarrhea, blood clots, allergy, arthritis, erectile dysfunction, closed nasal passages, male urinary/prostate issues, and scalp itch.
Bon appetit!

2009-01-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

So I went to cardio therapy yesterday afternoon, then to Mom's for some grub and a visit. A combo of the holiday season, food poisoning, and well, mainly the holiday season, led to some serious slacking in the exercise department and I didn't do much the past three weeks. It's amazing how quickly one's conditioning falls back a few notches! I got through my normal workout at therapy but was feeling it. The thing that I have to be careful about since the surgery is that when I miss exercising and then get back to it, I feel the strain in my heart and besides the discomfort (think how your leg muscles feel when you run after not running for awhile) and concern, I get really tired. I crashed at mamasan's at about 10!! I didnt even stay up to watch the end of wrestling and I slept over 9 hours! Yikes! But no discomfort today and finished up 2 paintings at the studio. But the holidays are over, and the way I felt last night is plenty motivation to get back to the gym and therapy regularly...and the hope that I see Padhma (or is it Phadma??) from Top Chef at my gym again! Yum!
Below is a painting I have in a show at Black Maria Gallery in LA called "Feminine Perspective" and below that is one that I sort of finished today, as yet untitled.

WFMU show

2009-01-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

Went to Maxwells in Hoboken NJ for the Glen Jones/XRay Burns WFMU live show. Brunched with pal painter Lou and BAMA Chris and saw the usual group of freaks, geeks and IBJ members.

Later when taking Chia out for a walk, I came across these 2 great signs on Ave A. From "Liberty Fries" to "Obama Fries" - God Bless America!

Film: "The Wrestler"

2008-12-23T19:55:00.000-08:00

(TEASER ALERT: If you haven't seen this film, the ending is mentioned in this piece!)
Just saw Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. I thought it was a very good, gritty movie, but I think Mankiewicz from At the Movies is a bit over the top in his praise about it being the "number one" and "solidly number one" film of the year. As a story, it's actually pretty formulaic, in that almost from the beginning his death in the ring seems inevitable, and the heart attack confirmed the ending halfway into the film. Having had open heart surgery last year, the scene where Randy the Ram went for a run in the woods and had to stop, painfully out of breath, was reminiscent of the first few long walks I had to take by myself after returning home from the hospital. Your mind says one thing but your body says another.

Marisa Tomei's performance was solid and can't be underestimated in helping round out Rourke's character. Aronofsky's camerawork was interesting, at times much like a documentary. For much of the beginning of the film the camera is behind Rourke, following him, making the viewer feel like a hanger on, tagging along with the former wrestling star trying to be close to him. As we see his character "come down to earth", the camera assumes a more traditional position. Speaking of camera shots, there were quite a few in Asbury Park! I figure the shots were done in 07, and it's incredible how much work has been done in the past 12-18 mos! The Casino, boardwalk and carousel building were still in the same dilapidated condition they've been in for years, and if you go there now it's completely different. Amazingly fast changes...

I think the media is being naive when articles create this image as if Rourke's career tailspinned, he didnt get any work for years, and this is his big comeback, something he is subtly presenting as well. People love a comeback, and I think this has been an effective marketing tool as that is the main gist of the buzz. However, the fact is he's been in at least one movie a year, except for 07 when he was filming, since 1989! Granted, many were duds or supporting roles, but it's not as if the guy wasnt working til Aronofsky rang him up.

It is undoubtedly the best fictional wrestling movie ever made. Having sold artwork at a few wrestling conventions (yes indeed, think several rungs down the ladder from a Star Trek convention!) I've seen firsthand former bigtime stars hobbling in to sell merchandise and sign autographs, and I've seen them work small indie shows in pretty bad shape, so I could relate to watching the Ram. So I watched this film with an insider's eye and I'm curious what my non-wrestling fan friends think of the film. Please post your comments!

On being follically challenged

2008-12-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

There are no two ways about it - losing one's hair sucks. Royally.

I first noticed it many years ago after a day at the beach, sans hat. That evening, my head felt - hot. I looked in the mirror and realized that my scalp was sunburnt! And then, like a loud CRACK-A-DOOM, a lightning bolt hit me and thundered throughout my mind the unthinkable - "C-Could I - is it possible - maybe the sun was just really intense today?" "No", the reasoning side of my brain calmly stated to the panicked side of my brain - "the sun got through because there is less hair to block it as in the past, Joe." Less and Hair are two words when put together don't sit well with a guy. For me, it was particularly galling. See, my hair is auburn. No one else in my family has it, nor do most people in general. It made me feel unique. My Uncle Paul used to call me "Big Red." People often said, "How can you be Italian with red hair? You look Irish!" One woman, a former hairdresser, accused me of dyeing it saying, "Do you know how much women pay to get that color and you're gonna tell me it's natural?!"

I accepted it a long time ago - I had to. I had to get used to that cringing feeling when I saw photos and I looked even balder than when I looked in the mirror. I had to accept the fact that I really only had one choice left as far as hair style, which is short. Nothing worse than those guys in the 70s that would let their hair grow long on the sides and back and be bald or really thin on top, like my wood shop teacher in junior high. Or those poor delusional bastards that do the "comb over". Yikes! Fortunately, ever since I was a kid I liked hats. Hats are the salvation of guys with thinning hair, a respite from reality, an oasis where you can pretend that you still have a head of flowing locks, still look at chicks and feel young, still imagine that feeling of running your fingers or a brush through a sexy mane and actually having need of a blowdryer!! Ah! High school with my hair parted down the middle and feathered back! Ah! College with a handful of gel and spiking my hair up into pointy daggers of defiance! Ah hell, all that hot blowdrying, over brushing and cement like gel are probably what led to the hairloss!

I've often wondered if a genie gave me three wishes, would I be so vain as to waste one on wishing for a full head of hair again? I honestly don't know. On the bright side, at least I'm not totally bald on top and forced to shave it yet, nor am I fat and out of shape like alot of guys my age. Like Frank Sinatra said on his 51st birthday, "I might be 51 on the outside, but inside I'm still 28!"

Don't miss this show!!!

2008-12-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's not often that I call friends and tell them that they MUST SEE a particular show - this is one of those times. Joshua Liner Gallery has a show (til Dec 23rd) of 3D wall hangings and free standing pieces by Kris Kuksi. I have never seen work like this. Kuski began as a painter, and began these assemblages from dozens if not hundreds of model kits and cast figures from 1/2" and up - military, mythological, historical, anatomical, animals, architecture, etc.

Influences seem to be HR Giger, the heaven/hell/day of judgement pieces by Bosch, Brueghel and others, Star Wars, all filtered through what is one heck of an imagination. Photos absolutely don't do this work justice - go see these pieces in person (sensing a theme here?)! The painstaking craftsmanship is clearly evident, for example: a 2" figure of a military figure, but with a stove pipe hat and a head at the top of it, holding a 1/2" nude figure in his hand while on one leg is a skeleton firing a bow and arrow, and there are other small objects on his clothing. This is but one of several hundred figures on this one particular piece! The works are all a gray/dun color. I inquired as to how these are shipped and apparently Kuksi carves out the base of the artwork into a large piece of wood and sets it in there. There is much more to it than that, but he has to be using an incredibly strong epoxy on the figures to keep the work intact during transport.

Go to JoshuaLinerGallery.com and check out the work, and better still go to the gallery at 348 W 28th Street between 10th and 11th Ave.

These kids today...

2008-12-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

Being around the young-uns this holiday got me thinking about how different everyday things were when I was their age. Here's a random list, I'm sure it won't be the last:
- When we turned on the TV, we had to wait for it to warm up.
- The channels were 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 - that's it.
- Everybody subscribed to TV Guide, and I remember next to each show was either a C if it was in color or BW if it was black & white.
- Every house had a milk box in front where the milkman left milk and picked up the empty GLASS milk bottles. It made a good seat when waiting for our friends to come out and play.
- Actually, almost everything in the supermarket came in either glass or cans, there was very little plastic. And your groceries were packed in brown paper bags which often embarassingly broke.
- Photos were taken with cameras using film, which had to be dropped off or mailed out to be developed.
- No ATMs, cell phones, Ipods, home computers, email, GPS, CDs, VCRs or DVDs.
- Car doors were actually heavy.
- Most phones hung on a wall or sat on a desk and had a cord (that often got tangled).
- Very few people had answering machines.
- If you called and someone wasnt home, you had to call back in order to reach them.
- We typed reports on a typewriter (electric if lucky) - remember Wite-Out?
- Letters were hand written (or typed) and mailed.
- Most movie theatres consisted of 1 theatre showing 1 movie (and a kiddie matinee). Remember ads in the paper "Held Over 40th Week!"
- No videos, Netflix, pay per view, DVR, Tivo or movies on demand.
- You never heard "damn" or "hell" on TV til Archie Bunker came along.
- Every house had a TV antenna on the roof and many sets had rabbit ears.
- At the beach everyone listened to WABC on their portable radio.
- We were a Walter Cronkite household. News came from him, the local news and the newspaper - 24 hr news like CNN came much later. If something BIG happened, and it had to be really big, shows were interrupted with an ominous "We interrupt out regularly scheduled program with this SPECIAL REPORT!"
- If we got caught writing on the desk in school we had to come after and wash all of them with that nasty scrubbing powder and brown paper towels.
- We never went trick or treating with our parents.

I could go on and probably will again, but feel free to add to the list!

"F*ck Terrorist!"

2008-11-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

With the horror show going on in India, this photo I took in Bali in 04 came to mind. So hell yeah, F those terrorists in India, F the AlQaeda terrorists who are mumbling about going after NY subways, and F those terrorist microbes that gave me food poisoning which forced me to miss Thanksgiving dinner and a hot date tonite, to boot. Bastardos!!!

UFC - Lesnar vs Couture

2008-11-20T18:32:00.001-08:00

Caught the UFC PPV headlined by Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar. It came down to whether or not the 40something Couture, after a year off, could use his experience and mastery of defying the odds to beat Brock Lesnar, with only 3 UFC fights under his belt. Fan polls picked Couture.
Lesnar weighed in at 265, Couture at 220, so by fight time Lesnar was a good 10-20 lbs heavier. When they entered the octagon, Lesnar looked HUGE, but I was surprised how Couture was able to move him around, using his greco-roman skills to his advantage. But Lesnar's size and strength were too much and the match was stopped after he tagged RC and did the ground and pound.
I think UFC needs to get Fedor Emelianko signed up NOW. That without doubt is the big money dream match down the road. Fedor is a machine, but largely unknown to the casual fans. UFC needs to bring him in and start fighting (and presumably winning) to get people familiar with him. Meanwhile, if Lesnar blows through the pretty limited heavyweight division, people will be clamoring for the big match with Emelianko. This will all take 18-24 months. If they do not sign up Fedor now, and Lesnar blows through the competition leaving only Fedor as a credible challenger, his asking price will be huge - add in that his management is notoriously difficult to bargain with, and it seems a no-brainer that it'll be financially prudent to get him now rather than later.

NY to RI

2008-11-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

Good Reason To Keep a Camera Handy: so I'm at my computer which faces the back of the building when I noticed this commotion outside. I looked out and about 20 feet from me was a beautiful (and large) hawk sizing up the menu of pigeon and squirrel. Grabbed the camera and got this shot, I guess its blurry because I shot through the window. Cool though.

Tuesday the Zuke and I did a one night road trip to our alma mater, RI School of Design, in Providence. A beautiful day, but of course upon entering La Prov the sky turned gray and that cold New England air kicked in. We walked all over campus and there's been many a change in 10+ years. Mem Hall is now the painting dept, and the mailroom and supply store are now on No Main St next to the Auditorium. We went to the Refectory for lunch and its completely different, several food stations and lots of "This contains Gluten" and "Vegan" signs - well, it IS art school. Oh, and computers in the cafeteria!! Actually, there were computers everywhere. Carr Haus is still there and cool although laid out differently.
We saw one of our old teachers, Hamid Nowroozi, and everybody had their little Mac laptops in his class. My how times have changed - our desks had xacto knives, rubber cement, cut boards, etc. Also, the school is now 70% female and of those, appr 80% Asian. Zuke was dialing up moving companies within minutes! Had a great dinner at Hemenways, then went to Wild Colonial (by the way, the Hot Club, Spats, Andreas, Geoffs, and Steeple St are all still there!) but like 2 middle aged guys, we had a few then retreated to the hotel, watched a movie and crashed. The Tap Room wasn't open that night, or we would've slogged through our weariness to stop by and hear the ghosts of 80s music echoing in our brains - DJoe Say Dance!
Providence is a great place. I love the old New England homes, slower pace and people are very friendly. I wouldnt mind teaching summer session and renting an apt. for the month there. Oh, they also built a huge mall near the capitol near downtown. The Arcade is closed now and is revamping, but people don't seem to know what the new incarnation will be. Lastly, below is our home from '82-85 at 230 Wickenden Street. When we lived there it was BAD, I actually walked in on 2 robbers in my apartment, but that's a tale for another time. 2nd floor lived Paul, Bill and Raymond and through the years Bif, Johnny W, John, Mark, Leo and Chaka Tong lived with me. Great memories and I took this shot for the boys.

Coffee, Tea, Obama?

2008-11-10T06:37:00.001-08:00

Christy, she of the Hot Potato blog fame, sent me this photo. If you scroll down a few posts, you'll see the GOBAMA print I made to sell on EBay as an Obama fundraiser. Now look closely at her photo - it's from one of the ubiquitous breakfast/coffee carts in NYC, this one at 53rd and Madison.

There's a new Prez in town!

2008-11-05T08:15:00.001-08:00

4 years ago I was pouring drinks at my place, 12" DJ Bar, on Essex St in New York City. With each passing hour, the mood turned more blue as more states turned red. It was an unpalatable cocktail of shock, dismay, and sheer disbelief that the country had voted for 4 more years of Bush. There had been hope for John Kerry, but more in an anti-Bush way than a pro-Kerry way.
The only similarity last night had to that election 4 years ago was that I was once again in a bar (on the other side this time) in NYC watching CNN.
The polls were correct this time with Obama winning many states by a small margin, and the map had plenty of blue, this time in stark contrast to the mood of the crowd. A cheer rose when CNN projected Barack Obama as President of the United States! John McCain, being the man that he is, didnt drag it out, he conceded in a classy, positive heads-up way. The crowd at Nice Guy Eddie's (not a regular place of mine, but they have lots of TVs) was diverse, clearly pro-Obama, and wildly enthusiastic. Everyone intently listened to Barack Obama's speech, which was captivating, masterfully delivered, and inspirational. I noticed the looks on the faces of the black people there, it was a mix of joy, relief, and pride - actually, almost everyone there had the same expression, but for them it obviously had a deeper importance.
I don't envy Barack Obama. He's now captain of a ship that's taken on alot of water in a swirling sea with Poseidon Adventure waves. I'm not sure that anyone could successfully steer us through the straits the world is in now, but I am happy to have him at the helm. At one point I paused and noted that we were living through a true moment in history - a decisive one that didnt involve bombs and carnage was a refreshing change. I turned to my friends last night and said, "This is going to sound corny, but I feel proud to be an American right now," to which they replied that they felt the same way. After eight long years, I no longer felt ashamed of our president.
As we left, and walked up Avenue A from Houston St it was like New Year's Eve. I've never seen a reaction to a presidential election like this in my life! People were literally dancing in the street, cars were honking their horns, people were cheering, embracing and their smiles lit up the street more than any streetlight possibly could.

Halloween Redux

2008-10-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

So good it's worth visiting again - Halloween costumes from back in the day...

http://www.retrocrush.com/costumes/

GOBAMA!

2008-10-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the election is a week away! The polls mostly all have Obama ahead albeit by a small margin. I heard the other day about some machines that were tested in Virginia or W Virginia and votes placed for Obama came up McCain! Visions of the debacle in 2000 which, well, we know how that all went, danced in my head.
The general sentiment is that Barack Obama is going to win. But what if McCain wins and there is controversy like in '00? I think there would be major rioting throughout the country, particularly in Cali, NY, Chicago and major urban areas.
Is Obama perfect? Of course not, but since I read "Audacity of Hope" about 2 years ago and researched the man, I became a supporter. Some bottom line reasons: Restoration of diplomacy, analysis and rational thinking re:foreign policy. The Bush Administration's "my way or the highway" style has proved disastrous. Geez, even during the Cold War, Reagan was in constant negotiation with his nemesis, the Soviet Union! If nothing else, I believe that for the next 4 years, the pot will be on simmer rather than boil which is something the world needs right now. Second, I don't want my president to be a common man. I want him to be of way above average intelligence, confidence, temperament, and communication skills. I think Obama possesses these traits. Lastly, I feel he will surround himself with the highest calibre of people who will enlighten and challenge him, use them and his own education and intelligence to analyze problems from all angles, and that he will listen and do research to develop solutions to challenges. Those are the broadstrokes.
Above is a painting I did that I sold prints of on Ebay as a fundraiser for his campaign. Let's all sneak in a prayer this week for the health and safety of both candidates and for an election without controversy.

Studio Tour, LA, and...Pricasso???

2008-10-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

The annual Hoboken Studio Tour was slammin! A slow start, just sold some prints and a drawing and then near the end a group came in. One woman, Eva, bought a painting, then her friend, Nina, bought 3 small ones. Then, another woman, Liza, who was in the studio bought one, my phone rings and Melissa (who already owns 3 of my paintings) wanted one that she saw earlier that day - this all happened within 20 minutes!! Maybe they were all lubed up from a day of drinking wine - cheers to the grape! Add to that, the Black Maria Gallery in LA emailed and wants one of my new pieces based on the work I started in Costa Rica for a show next month as well as 2 of my Astro Monkey pieces.
Now from the wonderful to the bizarre...this link was sent to me, seems there's a guy in Australia who goes by the name "Pricasso", who proves the old axiom "It's not the size of the brush, it's the brush stroke."

http://www.artnewsblog.com/2008/10/pricasso-paints-sarah-palin-naked.htm

Restaurant Week Part 2

2007-02-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

SPICE MARKET

Located in the meat packing district at 403 W. 13th St (off 9th Ave), Spice Market is still a very popular destination. Chef Jean Georges Vongerichten has described the cuisine as "Asian street food" albeit with his own unique touches. You'll find standards and unusual items on the menu, and the restaurant itself,with an exotic Asian theme, is beautiful. An expansive space, dimly lit, with an upscale hipster crowd as well as plenty of well-heeled tourists and business folk. Old foodie friend, Steve, and I both started with a Cava Brut. In addition to the Rest Week menu we ordered Black Pepper Shrimp with sun-dried pineapple - well-seasoned and succulent. For apps, Steve got the Mushroom Congee which he described as "soothing", and unusual in that it contained no rice, just minced mushroom. An earthy, thick, rich dish. I got the Chicken Coconut Soup, a Thai staple, it was a good sized bowl and not too heavy on the tamarind, which can easily overpower this dish.

My entree was Red Curried Duck, an ample portion in a ceramic bowl. This was very good and filling, full of flavor - nothing radical or spectacular, very solid and satisfying. My glass of Fireblock Grenache (Australia) stood up well to the curry and gamey duck. Steve got Crispy Salt and Pepper Skate with Thai Basil and Lime. Again, something you can find in many Asian restaurants, and done to perfection here. He ordered a Singha Beer to accompany this dish which was a good pick. Jean Georges himself stopped by our table as he did with others, and having the head guy himself stop by was a big check in the plus column. As a former bar owner, I feel the personal touch by the owner goes a long way with customers.

Dessert consisted of Tahitian Von Kulfi, a mousse with minted orange and salted pistachio. Much like the dessert I had at Del Posto only a more Asian version - this was very good, but Del Posto's was extraordinary. Steve got the Thai Jewels and Fruits with crushed coconut ice. He said many Thai restaurants offer this, and this was very good, especially the ice. As we left, Jean Georges thanked us for coming and I told him about our meal at Artisanal (remember the 3 gnocchi that I ranted about in Pt 1?) and he said, "Oh, thees is not good!" and we added that we mention it because we were quite happy with our portions at Spice Market.

This is a lovely, stylish place, good food and great atmosphere. A bit expensive, but a hot spot to impress a date!

GOTHAM BAR & GRILL

Despite only eating here once before, GB&G is one of my favorite restaurants in NYC, so I made it a point to come here for Restaurant Week. They only offered lunch, and my friend had to bail at the last minute, so I ate at the bar. This was fine, but a great meal is so much better when in good company. So this is brief since I didnt take many notes and had my nose in a book. I started with smoked salmon, with dill and chive emulsion which was delicious and light. I also ordered a white wine but I didnt note the brand, knucklehead that I am!

For the meal I again went with salmon, this being organic and prepared with meyer lemon confit, white wine and a green peppercorn sauce. The sauce was not overpowering and complimented the fish, which was cooked to perfection. If memory serves they also had a goat cheese ravioli that I was tempted to get. For dessert I went with the namesake Gotham Chocolate Cake with a passion fruit sauce. This was a real treat for a chocolate lover, rich and sweet. I wish I took more notes, perhaps I was experiencing restaurant week burnout? Nonetheless, to me this Restaurant Week(s) goes in the memory banks of my time living in NY as a great experience enjoyed with friends, and sampling some of the finest cooking this great city has to offer. I highly recommend that next Restaurant Week, you pick out at least 2 places that you’ve never been to and go with a good friend or two...or three.

NYC Restaurant Week - Part 1

2007-01-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

ARTISANAL: The first adjective that comes to mind when entering Artisanal Restaurant and Fromagerie is: pungent. This French bistro boasts over 250 cheeses, and the powerful aroma is a bit off-putting when you walk in for a meal. I chose to persevere, as this was the first destination for Restaurant Week (which is actually two weeks) in NY. For those unaware, this is the twice yearly event in which many restaurants have a special 3 course, prix fixe menu available for lunch and/or dinner, $24 for lunch and $35 for dinner. It gives diners a chance to go to restaurants that they might not otherwise be able to afford, and it give restaurants a chance to expose their skills to a new audience, one that will hopefully return. Reports vary, as some restaurants rise to the occasion, while others offer meager portions and not the greatest fare. I think it’s unreasonable to expect rack of lamb on Restaurant Week, so if you don’t go in with unrealistic expectations, you may have a wonderful dining experience. The ones who seem to dislike it a bit are the waitstaff, as people tend to tip based on the prix-fixe price rather than what the meal would actually have cost them, but hey, that’s kind of the point, isnt it - having a chance to eat there and not pay full price?? I’m sure it works out in the end due to volume, as most places are completely booked.

Last year I vowed to book a bunch of reservations at the next Restaurant Week, and luckily I have. I’ll be taking notes and will post my reviews here. First up is the aforementioned Artisanal, located at 2 Park Ave. off 32nd Street. Very high ceilings, many French cheese posters, and a friendly waitstaff (maybe too much as I caught our waiter flirting with my brother’s boyfriend). We started off with the Artisanal fondue as an appetizer, very tasty and not too rich, served with chunks of crusty bread. We shared a bottle of Chateau Pichon Saint Emilion, a rich bordeaux which matched up great with our dishes. For the first course, we had a choice of pumpkin soup, parmesan gnocchi or mesclun salad. The mesclun was a good portion served in a bowl, and the gnocchi was prepared with braised pork and root vegetables in a delicious brown sauce, however, there were only TWO gnocchi in there! TWO! I mean, it was tasty but this is not a high ticket item, and serving only two gnocchi is an embarassment. It was definitely a WTF moment. Entree selections were Beef Bourgignon served on a bed of creamy,cheesy polenta with glazed vegetables. The beef was tender and full of wine and seasonings. I was jealous that I didnt order it, as I got the Parsillade Crusted Cod with Fennel Marmalade and Caramelized Orange Vinaigrette. The cod crust was delicious, delicate and a bit of crunch but the piece was about 1-1/2 by 4 inches and maybe 3/4” thick. The fennel was braised and the sweet orange vinaigrette was an interesting match. The beef dish was a good portion, and I found myself reaching for the bread to fill up with my cod dish.
We each got one of the three dessert choices. Most interesting was the refreshing Fruit Soup with a scoop of coconut sorbet and pomegranates. I got the Fromages Du Jour, three slices of cheese, one mild and semi-firm, one a tangy goat cheese (I think) and the third a ripe blue cheese. Most popular as can be guessed is their wonderful cheesecake with pecan praline and some caramel sauce.
Overall, the food and wine were very good at Artisanal, the restaurant was well-lit, busy but not too loud, and service was good. One can argue that it was “only” $35 for the three courses, but I at least want to be relatively full (and not on bread) and for the most part they skimped on the portions, at times embarassingly so. Our bill was $187 (not including tip nor the $14 martini Pete had at the bar). Perhaps the non-Restaurant Week menu offers larger portions, but this is not an inexpensive bistro. Am I glad I ate here? Yes. Did this make me want to come back? Not really. Last year I ate at Mesa Grill during Restaurant Week, and it was such a great meal and dining experience that I went back shortly thereafter and bought a gift certificate for a friend who did some legal work for me. That is how a business benefits from Restaurant Week. Not to beat a dead horse, but for a coupla more gnocchi and some better portions, I might have left Artisanal feeling more appreciative and shown it the way I did at Mesa Grill. If you are a cheese lover, a fondue lover, are fond of good French bistro food and have some bucks to spend, then try Artisanal. Or stop in with a group and just enjoy a fondue and a good bottle of Bordeaux!

CRAFTBAR: #2 was lunch at Craftbar on Broadway between 19th and 20th. Simple, semi-elegant atmosphere, and we were seated side-by-side at a comfortable banquette for 2. Right off the bat, the menu was excellent. Plenty to choose from, and everything sounded fantastic. Ms. Kyle, former chef and current salesgalextraordinaire at Petrossian and I were ready to explore some of famed chef Tom Colicchio’s menu (he’s also a judge on Bravo’s Top Chef). We started with a glass of dry Cava Brut, and these salty spiced breadsticks that were awesome.
For appetizers we got Seared Calamari with Baby Arugala and Lemon Confit, cooked to perfection with a hint of citrus. The other app was Fried Oysters with Celery Root Remoulade. These oysters were perfect examples for Frying 101 - light, crisp, and not oily at all. Delicious. There must’ve been a dozen or more appetizer choices.
Our lunch entrees were difficult to pick from the wide selection, but we went with Sauteed Skate with Black Currants and Bacon and Brown Butter. Two portions of skate (I think they were pan fried) - very tasty, subtle taste of brown butter on a bed of sauteed cabbage. One piece was a overcooked on one end, but THAT is the only complaint about the entire meal! The other dish was Braised Short Ribs over Potato and Celery Puree, the rib meat was succulent and tender and the puree was creamy, light and had lots of potato flavor. The cooking was dead on, this was great. We almost ordered the Pork Belly with Red Cabbage and Spaetzle, mainly from a curiosity standpoint - I’m sure it’s great, too.
For dessert I got the Crispy Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Ice Cream. The cake came wrapped in a light pastry shell, about 2.5 inches in diameter, and the cake was very rich. Reminded me of a molten chocolate cake. The pistachio ice cream was very fresh, right out of the ice cream maker! Creamy, and not at all like the green pistachio ice cream you get at the ice cream shop. Kyle got the cheese plate with 3 cheeses - Bucheron (goat-France), Cabrales (cow/sheep-Spain), and Plave (cow-Italy).
Cappucino and tea brought the bill to 81.43. In addition to the friendly and efficient service, we were each given a $10 gift certificate! Now THAT is how you make the most of Restaurant Week from a business stanpoint - great menu, delicious food, decent portions, and an added incentive to get the customer to return. Highly recommended.

DEL POSTO: Del Posto is owned by two huge names in the Italian restaurant biz, Mario Batali and Lydia Bastianich. Located on 85 Tenth Ave and 16th Street, where many giant-sized restaurants, like Morimoto, reside. An expansive space, when you walk in there is a dining area to the right and the bar and more tables to the left, and dead center is a staircase leading downstairs to walls of glass and wood wine storage. This is available for private affairs, but when we (we being college chum Paul and I)walked down the staff was dining and giving us the “why are you here?” look. Paul’s a very successful self-employed graphic designer, husband and father of four, so he doesnt have much opportunity to go out like this. It’s great because his enthusiasm level is always high for these special occasions, plus he’s just good company. I got a glass of Moscato d’Asto prosecco and Paul got an Italian white. Paul started with the Pasta Fagiolo soup. It had a hint of rosemary that accented the flavor perfectly, it was mostly broth with a few cannelini beans and extra virgin olive oil. That had to be Lydia’s touch, if you ever see her show, she is HEAVY with the olive oil. I got the Affatati Misti, a selection of house cured meats and dry aged sausages with bruschetta. Three meats, one slice each, two pieces of prosciutto and a very small piece of crusty bruschetta. Good, but kind of a small portion.

For mains I got the Pork Loin with artichokes, fennel and peppercorns. Omigod! The pork was juicy and tender, lightly crusted with the pepper and spices - excellent. Paul got the Garganelli Verde, quill shaped spinach pasta with Mario’s favorite Bolognese sauce. Quite tasty, the pasta was light and fresh and not heavy on the sauce.

For dessert we had the Sheepsmilk Yogurt Cheesecake, with kaffir lime leaf and coconut gelato plus something else that I can’t read in my notes! Oops! I got the Semifreddo di Torone, and this was unique and full of flavors. Served in a short glass, it had siciilian pistachios, blood orange and moscato d’asti meringue. Layered, and the various textures of the frothy meringue and other ingredients was unlike any dessert I’ve had before. If you go to Del Posto and it’s on the menu, definitely order it. Our waitress was great, didnt rush us and took time to chat with us for awhile. She gave us each a glass of dessert wine on the house, which was a very nice touch. My amigo was inquiring as he wanted to take his wife here for dinner sometime, and apparently there are two menus that alot of people arent aware of. I’m a bit restauranted-out so I can’t remember the particulars, but it sounded like the same food but served on one side of the restaurant or something like that, and less expensive. If you call for reservations, inquire about this, or check out the website DelPosto.com, there might be info there. Del Posto has nice atmosphere, roomy, not loud and an excellent waitstaff, and I recommend it for a special date or business meal. Could get pricey, and I don’t know what their non-Restaurant Week portions are like, although I’m sure they’re more generous. Mario being Mario you know there will be unusual ingredients and surprises (in a good way) and Lydia does solid Italian cooking with a homey touch. If you are a wine enthusiast, you’ll appreciate the selection if Italian wines here.

"And in this corner..."

2006-12-14T05:58:00.000-08:00

I'm about to explain something that has perplexed those who know me.

Some people have vices like gambling, drugs, porn, and booze, and though I have dabbled in some of the aforementioned, I have one more. Those of us with this vice have all the traits - hiding it from people, denial, secretly indulging in it, finding others who also have this vice, etc. What I'm speaking of is...professional wrestling. I know, I know, I know what you're thinking. My eldest brother has often asked me with a mixture of confusion, contempt, and pity, "You're educated and cultured - why do you watch that crap?!?"

The answers are many. I'll take you back to the beginning and tell you how I got hooked. 6th Grade. Anthony Wayne Junior High School. Art class. My friend, Ralph, and the other guys at my table kept talking about these characters with names like Bulldog Brower, Mighty Igor, The Mongols, and the Italian Connection. Turns out they were talking about professional wrestling, in this case the now-defunct IWA (International Wrestling Association) which aired Saturday nights at midnight on channel 9. My curiosity piqued, I asked the parental units if I could stay up to watch it. Their bedroom was just off the living room. I guess I was disturbing their Saturday night fun, because Dad came out in his white briefs and said, "Fer crissakes, what are you watching? Why don't yo go to bed??"

Finally, midnight arrived. The show opened with the roll call featuring the aforementioned stars plus Eric the Red (viking guy carrying a big jawbone), The Love Brothers, Ernie Ladd, Tex McKenzie, and of course, the champion of the world, the masked Mexican sensation and man of a thousand masks and a thousand moves, Mil Mascaras (above is a portrait I painted of him)! Keep in mind, I was a diehard comic book collector, and this was way before computer special effects and "Superman" was a decade away, Spiderman and XMen movies were TWO decades away. I was captivated by all these larger than life, colorful characters who didnt take anything from anybody. Good vs Bad, plain and simple. A bad guy picked on a good guy? Well, he turned around and belted him! This was pure enticement for a skinny adolescent. I started doing flying dropkicks on the couch in my pajamas. My bathrobe was no longer a mere bathrobe - it was a sequined robe with my name gleaming on the back as I strode to the ring! I wasnt a gangly boy anymore - I was a 6'4", 250 lb stallion!!

Anyway...halfway through the program, these two guys were fighting and a bad guy runs in and they double team the good guy. Suddenly, out runs this huge muscular guy in a cool mask and a cape! He climbed up the ropes to the top turnbuckle, does a "sunset flip" (dives over the guy, grabs him around the waist, rolls forward holding him, the guy comes over and falls with his shoulders to the mat) and then he beat the hell out of him!! It was the heavyweight champion of the world - Mil Mascaras!! My jaw was literally hanging open and I jumped up! This was a comic book superhero come to life! I never saw such a thing - it was a dream come true! It was amazing; and I was hooked bad.

Several months later, the IWA was appearing live at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ. I begged my father and he took me and my friend, Ralph. I was still young enough to have that all-encompassing excitement you get as a kid when you're psyched for something and was bouncing off the walls. The Capitol Theatre was set up like a concert venue/cinema, so the ring was on the stage, rather than in the center like at an arena or school gym. This didnt dampen our enthusiasm one iota. Dad bought me this bad black and white photocopy of Mil Mascaras and a program at the concession table. The champ fought Eric the Red that night, and I distinctly remember Eric standing on the ring apron waving his bone and yelling at the crowd. Finally, Mil reached over, grabbed him by the neck, and flipped this 300 lb viking over the ropes and into the ring - with one arm!!! The crowd was unglued and that first time seeing pro wrestling live was something I'll never forget. The IWA only lasted a few more months, as the dominant northeast regional promotion, the World Wide Wrestling Federation now know as the WWE, ran the upstart IWA out of business. This was before the national expansion and wrestling was still divided up into regions and closely guarded. The WWWF started running shows the night before or opposite the IWA in the same town with surefire stars like Andre the Giant appearing, so people spent their money on their shows instead of the IWA and they eventually went out of business. However, the WWWF show replaced the Saturday midnight IWA show, so I was able to get my fix. I hope this explains my attachment to rasslin, and for those reading this who share this addiction, know that you are not alone.

Retro Halloween costumes

2006-11-03T06:10:00.000-08:00

Ms. Kyle sent me this link to a site of retro Halloween costumes! It's amazing and very amusing. One of my faves is the Mr. Kotter costume from Welcome Back Kotter-try to imagine some little kid coming to your door wearing that mask!

http://www.retrocrush.com/costumes/

As usual, I went down to mi casa in Asbury Park to give out candy. Didnt expect it to be near 70 degrees or I might have stuck around for the Village Halloween Parade. I heard it was beyond packed, one friend who went said all he could think about was that Who concert where people couldnt move and got crushed. This highlights one of the strange phenomena of getting older - you start to really dislike crowds. Remember when you were in your teens and 20s, if you went to an event, or a club or a party and it was packed you were pumped - it made it more exciting, more happening, or whatever. Now it's the opposite!! "Uggh, let's not go there, it's too crowded!"

I'm curious, why do you think this is??

I Hate Technology

2006-10-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

There are times when I really hate technology and this is one of them. I'm stuck at home waiting for DHL to deliver a cell phone. "Why?" you may be asking. OK. My cell phone literally broke in half in August. One of the great things about car life in the burbs is that you can get in the car, go, park, do your thing, and head back. No cabs, subways or long treks. Anyway, I went to the Verizon store and being that I have insurance, I was able to get a new phone delivered the next day. So Wednesday late afternoon, only 6 weeks later, the new phone starts acting silly with a reverse screen, shutting off etc, then dying. I schlep to the Verizon store in Soho, ordered a replacement (no $50 fee this time, woohoo!) and am waiting for DHL to deliver it, and I am sure that my buzzer won't work and they'll leave a note on the door. Then I have to go back to the Soho Verizon store so they can download (or upload??) the #'s from the old phone to the new. Uggh. Bad timing, as this Sunday is the 25th Annual Hoboken Studio Tour, and I was planning on doing the annual studio vacuuming today. Plus a dozen other things. Plus I may be opening a coffee bar/art gallery in Asbury Park, but that's a whole other entry.

I want my modern technology - cell phone, computer -- to be like my refrigerator. I want to plug it in, have it work, and only have to deal with repairs/maintenace every 10 years or so.

OK, occasionally I have to change the baking soda and do a cleaning if I forget about food in there and it mutates into a science experiment, but that's much easier to deal with than DHL deliveries, updates, modems, and all the bizarre mind of its own bullshit that computers love to do.

I had a cartoon on my cubicle wall at Arthur Andersen that was great - 3 guys were pulling an enraged fellow office worker away from his desk as he gave the finger to the computer, and the computer screen read "F**k you, too!"
I have AOL (which is another blog entry!) and Explorer. When I go to explorer it says I need to update Mozilla or Safari (I have a Mac). So I download Safari, and it says the same thing!! Why? Anyone know?? Help a brother out.

Well, I used most of my time this morning to print labels, price lists, etc for the Studio Tour. I'm very happy because Mom is setting up tables outside my studio to sell her handmade quilts and pillows. For someone who never took an art class in her life, she has an amazing sense of color. I have alot of small pieces, someold some new, on the wall in my studio at low prices. I always do well at the Studio Tour which equals extra moola and extra space. If you're reading this, it's at 720 Monroe Street betw 7th and 8th in Hoboken, NJ on Sun Oct 15th from noon-6pm. Below are some pics.
I used some of my time surfing the net, and did my guilty pleasure perusal of Craigslist. I wrote a note to a woman who's going to be in town and has an extra ticket for Madama Butterfly at the Met! She replied and I think I'm in, I'll know when she calls tonight - if my damn phone ever gets here. I've never been to the opera, isn't that lame for an artist?? My end of the deal is I have to find a nice place for dinner, which is cool as I love fine dining and I rarely have an excuse to wear a suit.

A free ticket to the opera with a cute woman from out of town via the internet - OK OK, I don't COMPLETELY hate technology.

My NY "Free" Day!

2006-10-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning the cell rings and it's Martin, a friend I've known since we met the very first day of college in 1981. Martin just left his job of 15+ years to pursue the freelance life, and lucky for him (and me) we make our schedules because a friend of his gave him 2 tickets to the Yankees/Tigers game!! FREE!! Game 2 had been rained out the night before and this was an afternoon makeup game. "Hells yeah!" I replied when he asked me if Iwanted to join him. It was gorgeous and sunny, but cold, and luckily I layered the clothes - it felt like a 20 degree difference between sitting in the sun and sitting in the shade where we were. I never sat in the bleachers before, and it's a different breed of fan there. For starters, there's no alcohol allowed in the bleachers. Everyone seems to know eachother. Lots of cops. And lots of abuse to the opposing team's outfielders. But hey, the best part of being at a live game is the crowd, and these bleacher bums really get into it. The funniest was when they'd play the fanfare to yell "Charge!", this guy would yell in a raspy, deep, New York accent-ed voice, "Chahahahahahge!"

We were right behind Bobby Abreu, and unfortunately the Yanks lost 4-3. But I love going to Yankee Stadium, and I have mixed feelings about the new stadium. When I go to Yankee Stadium, it's the history that gets you. You sit and realize that the field you're looking at was played upon by the Babe, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mickey, Yogi, Reggie, Thurman, Murcer, Mattingly and the amazing rosters of the past 10+ years. OK, the new stadium will be "nicer" and have more luxury boxes and maybe more food and family oriented stuff, but dammit, I like the grittiness! Oh well, you can't stop "progress". One more Yankee note: I think the most overlooked player on this team is Jorge Posada, my favorite. A-Rod gets the press and the big bucks, Jeter has the skills and the looks, and so many others get more media attention, but Posada is Mr. Consistent. I'm not enough of a sports fan to be able to rattle off stats, but Posada always gets the clutch hit or homer, never causes waves - he'd be a huge star on another team but this team has so many stars he gets a bit lost in the shuffle.

OK, so this is about my NY Free Day. I get home from the game and checked email and got a free screening pass for the movie "Infamous" about Truman Capote. It's exactly like the last movie about him starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote". This stars Toby Jones and directed by Douglas McGrath. Apparently this film was in the works for some time and sat on the shelf for a bit. Perry Smith was originally to be played by Mark Wahlberg, then replaced by Mark Ruffalo in 04 and finally by Daniel Craig who did a great job. Michelle Pfeiffer was originally to play Slim Keith but was replaced in 05 by Hope Davis. Get this cast: Jeff Daniels, Sigourney Weaver, Isabella Rossolini, Peter Bogdonovich, and Sandra Bullock. Much different in tone from the brooding, sometimes plodding "Capote", Jones' Capote is much more flamboyant than Hoffman's, from what I remember of Truman Capote on talk shows and such, more true. "Infamous" had plenty of humorous moments and focused alot on his gossipy relationships with NY high society. There was an awful lot of liberty taken here and the film had a disclaimer at the end. McGrath employed the use of fake talking head interviews with the other characters, and I don't know how much was scripted and how much was taken from actual statements. Interesting, because the film talks about how Capote was developing a new style of reportage, that being using the techniques of a novel to report non-fiction, and here we have a film that is doing the same thing. Daniel Craig's Perry Smith was deeper and explored more here than in Capote. In that film the stance is that Perry wasn't very bright and Capote simply used him for the book. "Infamous" delves more into their relationship, including a kiss and confession of mutual feelings which may or may not have happened - - did Capote ever admit they kissed or is this supposition based on the rumor that they had developed real feelings for eachother? I'll be curious to see the reviews and to learn more about what was "real" and what wasnt in this movie. If you're not annoyed by the Greek chorus faux interviews, it is an entertaining movie with a very fine performance by Toby Jones. How odd would it be to have 2 actors win Best Actor for portraying the same character? My pick, though, is Forrest Whitaker as Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland", which I highly recommend! Watching Jones as Capote preening in long scarves and fur coats in rural Kansas at that time was a riot, and the supporting cast make this movie worth seeing.

Even better, I saw it (and a Yankees play-off game) for FREE - all in one great New York day!

Locked in the Paris Metro

2006-09-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

My friend, Chris, was telling me about his trip to Paris, and it reminded me of the time I almost got locked overnight in the Paris Metro, which is the French equivalent of our subway system.

It was a bit over 10 years ago, a cold February night. I had flown to Frankfurt to visit friends and took a train to Paris. My ebullient mood could not be diminished by the cold nor the musty room I had - after all, it was a block away from Notre Dame! My first night there I decided to dine at a small bistro near the Ecole des Beaux Arts (let me ask now for your indulgence if I spell any words in French incorrectly). I stood outside in the rain with my French/English - English/French dictionary and translated the entire menu. Having heard all the horror stories about the French, I was fearful of asking if they had a menu in English and being hit on the head with a baguette and being chased out of the bistro by a meat cleaver-swinging fat chef as the staff and customers cursed me in French as a boor and ugly American. My translation a success, I had a great meal of soup, "poulet" (chicken to you and me), veggies and a cheese plate for dessert, as well as a nice glass of red wine. My middle aged waitress, with that high, sweet sing-songy voice so common in French women, asked me at the end of my meal, "Monsieur, terminé?" (sp?). I thought, "Terminé? Sounds like terminate, so she must be asking me if I am finished!" I answered with a triumphant "Oui!" and paid my bill.

Later that night I went out to hit a nightclub that I read about in my guidebook. I stopped in a cafe for a rejuvenating espresso and went to the metro. I had to go two stops and switch trains. I took the first train, got off and went to another track (if any of you have ever been on the Metro, you know that it's a labyrinth of hallways) for my next train. It was empty except for me and a drunk. So I'm standing there waiting, and I hear the click of the loudspeakers and a man saying, "Madames y monsieurs, blah blah (in French) blah blah blah TERMINE blah blah blah." I thought, "Waitaminnit...terminé. Terminé. Oh, like the waitress asked me at the end of my meal... terminé...terminate? Finished? Holy sh&t, they're closing the Metro!!!" I ran full speed through this labyrinth and did a Charlie Chaplin-like skid around this corner to come face to face with a French cop, who was pulling a gate closed. He looked at me quizzically and I stuttered, "Uh, uh, terminé?" He said. "Oui, Oui!" and pointed to his watch and muttered in French as I squeezed through the gate and made my narrow escape, trying to grasp the fact that I came about five seconds from spending the night locked in the Paris Metro.

The lesson is: not all trains are 24/7 like our dear, drafty, rat filled New York Subway system, so when abroad, FIND OUT THEIR CLOSING TIMES!