Closed for Business! (and Summer show at Winston Wachter Gallery)

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Yep it’s that time of year again. Chelsea is closed for business. Well most of Chelsea is closed for business. For the next two weeks if your headed to the west side for a cultural smorgasbord of the best and worst NYC has to offer and you expect to delight yourself with free cocktails and beer while you push past the suits and hipster collectives then you will find yourself sorely wanting. These are the percolation days of summer and they’ll be free booze and art schmooze for all of us soon enough. So while the busy bodies and installation teams make their mad push to secretly erect the opening acts of our beloved Fall gallery season, feverishly working away on ladders behind brown papered windows, I set out solo to see if I could find an exception or two to the rule. 

Ok so even though the show at Winston Wachter Fine art (with an umlauts over the a) has been up since June, I’ve wanted to post about it for a while. It was also the only  descent gallery open this week so I though it would be worth my valuable time to say thanks for being there Wachter (with an umlauts over the a) Gallery. I’m going to give this show enormous props for courageously installing wax works by Jil Weinstock that have been surviving the dread heat of summer completely unaffected. I figured that they would have melted clean off the wall by now but there they are, still hanging in there. Get up close and the wax smells sweet and there is a fragile nostalgia to her work that will strike a chord in anyone who enjoys reveling in the little details of the past. Beau Chamberlain and Scott Platt are also represented here and if you like space and you like funny then Scott Platt is the man for you. I was just writing about how I wished artists would make more work about space in an entry from a few weeks ago and here Mr. Platt doesn’t disappoint. In his series “wormholes” we are confronted with a troubled relationship between space and time. Their struggles are played out in brief messages on each canvas such as, “Dear Space, It’s not you. It’s you. Time.” and “Dear Time, Wish you were here. Space.” The paintings and mounted prints are witty for sure and playfully engaging. They  twist simplified scientific theory in order to explore very relatable human problems that must be surmounted in any relationship between people or cosmic forces.  When you realize that space and time are cosmically bound to each other like two sides of a universal coin, his dark jokes suddenly become optimistically inspiring and laughably absurd in a Taoist kinda way. Im also a sucker for pictures of stars and galaxies so maybe that alone would have been enough to win an A+ from this critic.

Well worth the trip downtown for a quick visit or if you just happen to be wandering down 25 street and want to see one of the best designed galleries in town. Winston Wachter is located at 530 West 25 Street between 10 and 11 Aves and the show is up for another two weeks.  You can see more images of the work in the summer show and find out more information about Winston Wachter by clicking here.   

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Film Review: Bonnie & Clyde at the HBO/Bryant Park Summer Film Festival

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There were only a few words my Mother never let pass out of my big mouth when I was a child. Words like can’t, won't, never, hate and quit were met with bar of soap. I shit you not, I probably consumed 4 or 5 whole bars between the ages of 5 and 7 and we aren’t talking about your American candy fun soap we’re talking about old school European awful. My point is that her message stuck. So I apologize to her and to you for breaking this rule when I tell you that you will never watch a crazier love story devolve into a wild orgy of beautiful violence than the 1967 Depression-era crime drama, Bonnie and Clyde.


Wild at heart and dangerously inspired this movie is a passionate rage through a time when the great depression had this country walking Spanish down the hall. Completely amoral, perhaps psychotic, and sweetly fascinating, Bonnie and Clyde starts off bravely spirited and although Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty)  describes himself as “not much of a lover boy” there is  a palpable sexual energy between the two anti- heroes that slowly and with a great sense of humor cascades into the brutal spirit of the last act of Romeo and Juliet. I hadn’t seen this movie in 10 years and forgot how hypnotizing and beautiful Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker) was is her heyday.  I mean seriously. So the re-imagined plot line isn’t exactly true to the real life events that inspired the film but we are left with a real American myth that makes you want to swig bathtub gin from a flask and go rob the same bank twice just to see if you can get away with it. The dark side of all of this is that ultimately both Bonnie and Clyde turn out to be self centered all American narcissists with a flawed lack of empathy for other human beings. Well so be it. I guess you kinda have to be if your going on a suicidal crime spree. A word to the wise for those of you who see the film and are motivated to go for the gold with a fuck all attitude and a Tommy gun: Never parallel park your getaway car.

This was the last of the Bryant Park films for 2010 and that’s a damn shame because that means your going to have to wait until next year to pull out the picnic blankets and brown bag your booze to see another great classic film like this one -  out doors in the greatest city on earth.

Rating- A

Friends from Albany Bringing the Goodness to NYC - Go see the show!

Convergence NYC Art Benefit to Help Operation Homefront –Aug. 27-29 NYC Artists Benefit Supports Military Service Members

New York City, NY-Artist from across the world converge in NYC to present an epic exhibition benefitting families who have lost loved ones due to the Afghan and Iraq wars. CONVERGENCE NYC will be presenting art to the public, Aug. 27th –29th , at the Historic 69th Fighting Regiment’s Armory located at 68 Lexington Ave & 25th St. During these three days the public is invited to enjoy art and live music, while getting the unique opportunity to meet and mingle with the over 70 participating artists. Fifty percent of all sales will be donated to the NY/NJ chapter of Operation Homefront.

Operation Homefront provides emergency, financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors. A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers across 23 chapters and has met more than 267,000 needs since 2002. With over 70 Artist and Performers, CONVERGENCE NYC is going to be an exhibition of grand artistic proportions.

Venue History: The 1913 Armory Show The downtown 25th St. and Lexington Ave. Armory was the site of the historic 1913 “Armory Show” in which Picasso, Duchamp, Matisse, and many other world renowned visionary artists’ premiered their ground-breaking works, which changed art history forever. CONVERGENCE NYC draws inspiration from the rawness of this historic event and blends it with today’s edgy aesthetic. Urban art lovers, young professionals, contemporary art collectors, and emerging artist are all invited. CONVERGENCE NYC builds on the notion that as we unite as an entity, ideas are created and history will be made.

Artist include: Marta Alexandra Abbott, Scott Micheal Ackerman, Meech Art, The Phantom Street Artist, Of B&AB, Brian Balderston, Sam Bassett, Al Benkin, Jennie Booth, Tracy Von Becker, Annika Connor, Just Seeds Collection, Alex Contompasis, Samson Contompasis, Victor W. Cox, Deacon Czar, Jack Davietshin, Lauren Jean Domsky, DumbWon, Georgia Dormeus, Gregory Dunn II, Jacqueline VanDusen & Gabriel Escobar, Mike Ferrari, Jonathan Fritz, Gabby, GAIA, Austin Gamsjager, Kristin Gambell, Eleanor Gilpatrick, Ben Godward, Chucky Grimm, Lauren Hoffen, John C. Kuchera, Kaliptus, Brian Leo, Chealsea Greene Lewta, Miller Lopez, Christina Mannino, Seth Mathurin, Josh Matson, Liz Medina, Laura Meyers, Greyegg McKenna, Erica Morgan, Luis Monteagudo, PAPERGIRL PROJECT NY, Courtney Novak, Dwell & Oneunit, Nicholas Papadakis, Joseph Puma, Danny Quirk, RAD!CAL, Lance Rautzhan, Chris Reynolds, B. Scribles, Miss Chloe & Mister Sebastien, CAKE & Patrick Seeley, Rob Servo, Jason Shelowitz, Anslem Skogstad, Corrina Snider, The Free Art Society, Mani the Uncanny, Meghan VanAlstine, Mathew VanAlstine, Ron & Valerie Vanone, Hans Wolf… More to be announced at the show.

Preformers Include: FRIDAY: DJ TRUMASTER, DJ DWELL

                                                            SATURDAY: Egemen Sanli, Homespun Vector, Mr. Pants and the Adventure Soundtrack, Match Party, Forbidden Fruit, DJ DWELL & DJ LOS, 

 Individuals, families, groups, and corporations interested in more information about the event may contact Tamara Gabbard @ (704) 787-3888 or go to the web site http://convergencenyc.wordpress.com . For more info about Operation Homefront go to www.operationhomefront.net or contact via email at ny@operationhomefront.net.

NEWBREED II @ Last Rites Gallery - 511 W.33rd St. NYC

Down a darkened avenue where Chelsea meets Hell’s Kitchen, up three flights and deep within the ominous chambers of a badass needle and ink joint you will find it. Last Rites Gallery is a home for productive deviants and artists alike who prefer to explore the darker side of their imaginations by holding up a mirror to yours. Holy power to the low brow, to the wicked and pierced, to the scarred and inked from throat to ankle who wear their fears and tears on their sleeves. Holy power to the outcast and the non-believer. Glory to the punk and the rockabilly junkie, glory to the girl with a bone through her nose and flames in her eyes. You are the hurricane farmers. You make all the girls wet and all the boys excited by violence. Ok. I’m gushing. I did my time in this world and I’m not gonna lie, although I’ve passed into another state of consciousness, my memories of that life are the wonder stuffs that smiles are made of. I really dig these people.

As for the exhibition, there is no new stylistic departure to wonder and awe at but the magic of lowbrow is the infinite variations on accepted aesthetic themes. That being said, I really enjoyed the diversity within context. Mark Elliot’s small detailed portraits were masterfully rendered and a sweet start to the show as you made your way though the space. The other artists were just as interesting and im not going to play favorites on this one so here’s a list of all the players…

John Cebollero

Patrick Deignan

Leslie Ditto

Mark Elliot

Steve Ellis

Angie Mason

Celeste Rappone

Natalie Shau

Jasmine Worth.

Facing one's fears, negating puritanical taboos, and tapping into often repressed emotions can be truly empowering and this is where the artists in New Breed II find their strength. Highly recommended from yours truly and I would be disappointed in you on a deeply personal level if I ever found out that your didn’t take the time to go see this show or just introduce yourself to the space. For more information you can visit their website here:

http://www.lastritesgallery.com/shows.php

and if your interested in getting marked up for good you ought to get ready to wait. The top artists at the shop have a three year waiting list to ink you. From what I understand about these things, its worth it.

Show Rating: A

Refreshments:  They were charging for booze but I’m going to give them a pass. Rather than even see what they were serving up I just avoided the area all together.

Booze Rating F-