We had a chance at Spring this week, and then it blew away. We’re back to the Antarctic for a few days.
NYC was inundated by art fairs as well, which was swell. Volta, Scope, Clio, Spring/Break – which was surprisingly not political or contentious, given its rather outsider status. Fair talk was glum, attendance was actually light at times, and most people where blaming you-know-who.
Perhaps that’s why Thursday’s opening of Trumpomania was packed and rather sweaty, although when you have 30 countries and 30 artists represented, you will probably fill the place. Even so, the energy was palpable, and guests freely “voiced their concerns”, as your high school guidance counselor might say, about a seemingly corrupt cabal that is practicing shock and awe on/upon the country daily.
One portly fellow at the show with a perspiring red face, beige cardigan, overcoat, and a backpack possibly containing an anvil, accosted us forcefully with champagne flute in hand to nearly yell for 10-12 minutes straight about Russians, cabinet heads that want to destroy their departments, Goldman Sachs, Exxon, the wall, book burning, impeachment, recusals, Jewish cemetery vandalism, teleprompter scripted calmness, possible alzheimer’s, and general viciousness. It was a Greatest Hits album minus the catchy hooks and clever phrasing – but with all the drums and guitar solos. (For you kids, an album was this flat wax disc that contained 9 songs you didn’t want and 1 song you did… oh never mind.) Just before he ignited into flames or triggered the heart attack which appeared to be imminent, we were mercifully interrupted and led away to look at OLEK’s pussy
art and Icy & Sot’s crocheted barbed wire fence piece.
Out on the streets of New York and elsewhere, artists are nearly yelling as well with their text based and figurative Street Art work. There appears to be no rest right now, and everyone is losing sleep or fighting or shaking their heads or “finding healthy strategies to achieve a sense balance” in a chaotic gritty abrasive beautiful city that somehow keeps racing forward no matter what the hell is going on.
City that never sleeps? We hear that.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring: Ann Lewis, Beast, BustArt, El Sol 25, Empty Boy, Epic Uno, Felipe Pantone, Icy & Sot, Jerk Face, King, Koralie Supakitch, Mikael Takacs, Nico Panda, OLEK, Sen2, Smells, Stinkfish, and UFO 907.
Top image: UFO907 . Smells (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified Artist on the street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sen2 at Trumpomania. Salomon Arts Tribeca. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Icy & Sot at Trumpomania. Salomon Arts Tribeca. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Olek at Trumpomania. Salomon Arts Tribeca. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Mikael Takacs at Trumpomania. Salomon Arts Tribeca. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ann Lewis (photo © Jaime Rojo)
King (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Empty Boy . Stinkfish in Medellin, Colombia. (photo © Stinkfish)
Felipe Pantone (photo © Jaime Rojo)
El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Nico Panda . Beast (photo © Jaime Rojo)
BustArt. Basel, Switzerland. (photo © BustArt)
Jerk Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Koralie Supakitch (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Koralie Supakitch. Deatil. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Epic Uno (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Epic Uno (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Manhattan. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Montreal's Stikki Peaches wonders what would it be like if art ruled the world and we were shocked to learn that it doesn't. Although if the last few days of art fairs are to be relied upon for global...
“The special magic that comes from our cities is germinated in the mad sum of their improbable juxtapositions and impossible contradictions,” says curator Carlo McCormick when talking about the new sh...
The three-dimensional figures cavort with the thickened and filigreed waves of memory and emotion. They emerge from the wall, flicker across the screen, mesmerizing. Swoon. "Cicada" Deitch Gallery...
We're excited because today we get to spend a few minutes on stage with one of our hometown heroes, the artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. Leveraging her artistry with her politics with her desire to suppo...
Some people have been working hard in their studio, Haculla re-emerges, and there looks like a new taper on the street - this time electrical tape.