Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Not one, not two, but three invites for Andrew Smith's new drawings and collage at Beez And Honey






Let me know if you'd like to join in the festivities! If you click the title you'll see more of Andrew's work.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Rooftop jacuzzi party at Deity






My friend Tomas made this party in collaboration with a group of people over the weekend at Deity in Brooklyn. It was super fun with cool people, great cocktails, great music (both live and dj) and a jacuzzi!

Gay Pride Weekend


I didn't take pics of the Parade but if you click the links you'll see how creative some people get while celebrating their sexuality.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Goodbye Katinka!






Katinka's moving to Trinidad to work with a friend Alex. I've only known her a little while, apparently we met in Trinidad in April at Peter Doig's birthday party but I forget...The sun setting over the Hudson was divine from her roof deck in the West Village yesterday.

Lines At The Chelsea Art Museum for Iran Inside Out









Well we had our lines too on Thursday for a hugely popular exhibition curated by Sam Bardaouil. If you click the link you'll go to Randy Kennedy's review of the show in the New York Times.

I'm very happy about all the attention the exhibition, the museum and the curators are getting. Everyone did a fabulous job and it's definitely something to be proud of and to build on for the future.

Another exhibition on the 3rd Floor, the Terna Prize Connectivity exhibition, brought a very stylish crowd as well.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

An Artist in Alf Naman's Building on 11th Ave





I ran into Pablo De Ritis from the Core Club on 10th Avenue in Chelsea and he invited me to join him and Meghan to go to Annabelle's studio. Annabelle is in Alf Naman's building on 11th Avenue and 21st Street.

I must say, in the last year or so I've got to know Alf and I really like what he's doing for artists now. First he donated a building for them to work in for free for three years. I'm sure artists thanked him with art, but now he's renting spaces too, at very little cost to artists.

It was great to see Annabelle's work, and to hear about her process. She's a computer programmer and a song writer too. Brilliant!

I know other artists in Alf's building, like Tom Beale, whose work I've admired for years. He created Honey Space around the corner from the museum, which has mounted many great shows and performances in the last year or so.

Lines at X Initiative









This was a funny opening; funny work, funny people, and hot fun too! After the first hour there was a line outside the door. On the roof were the noodles my former intern Caroline worked on cutting up all the previous week.It was a fabulous idea and really well executed. I knew a couple people participating; Tjorg Beer with his Bar Project and Che Lovelace, presenting films from the Studio Film Club.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Trace Magazine and DJ Spooky MoMA after party






According to Trace, Black Girls Rule. This was one of several party's that Claude has thrown, but it was my first, at the Austrian Cultural Institute. Lots of fun, but I got there too early to stay late. Was happy to see Paul Laster, arts editor/writer, and his wife Rene Ricardo, as well as Kihende Wiley and Mie Ueda; two great artists.

It was funny to see these black girls ruling with the Austrian Consul showing art about The Veil. All these cultures melding into one made for some "stimulating" juxtapositions!

Magic!




This guy Alex at a dinner on Saturday night in East Hampton did some tricks (cards and dollar bills and telepathic/mind reading/hypnosis tricks) and it was magic. Apparently he's been practising since he's 10 years old though.

I took pics with my iphone, not all that good!

Wow! Layoffs at the Met? Never heard of them.

It's definitely hard times when the big non profits like the Met are laying off people. Have all the donations dried up? I guess in hard times philanthropy is the first thing to go...Click the title for another NYTimes article.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Iran Inside Out at the Chelsea Art Museum beginning next Friday June 26

This exhibition, understandably, is getting a lot of attention right now. Click the title for an article and highlights by Kelly Crow of the Wall Street Journal.

Real Art in Chelsea




Le Book hosted this mega networking fair (and I say mega because I saw real business happening!) at the Chelsea Art Museum this week. I love when art meets fashion and the union is pure art! One of the organizers, Tiphaine, went to the school of Beaux Arts in Paris before working for a bunch of high end fashion designers (who I'll leave unnamed) and now he's at Le Book. If you click the title you'll get their site.

Meanwhile, outside the museum, and outside all the galleries selling "art", these young kids started rapping, freestyle, and it was pure art. Or like I like to say, art at its essence.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Work and Play (and Art!) in Watermill










Summer still hasn't set in, but we were in this house that belongs to an 80 year old artist this weekend. The whole house was an installation!