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So here I am, back in NYC, taking the lessons I've learned so far and putting them into the projects that lie ahead. The four weeks since my return have been hectic, starting with the final preparations for Four-Handed Lift.
Four-Handed Lift is a benefit exhibition and silent auction which I conceived as a fundraiser for the HIV Law Project where I am a Board member. We kicked off last year with a show of 54 artists at the Moti Hasson Gallery in Chelsea. This year, we featured 60 artists at the same gallery, sold 31 works and had a powerful evening for all. The evening showed the progress that comes from experience and having a great team featuring a new Development Director at the Project and three great co-curators, Almond Zigmund, KJ Baysa and Jess Frost. It also demonstrated to me the support of my community of friends who turned out to support the vent with grace, charm and a dash of style.
Since then, I have moved back into my apartment and have been finalizing interviews and negotiations for my next career move. News to follow shortly.
This last week was particularly rich in experience and community. I attended another powerful event, the annual Stonewall Community Foundation dinner held at the UN Delegates Dining Room. I was a guest of Bob Beleson who has generously sponsored the the Law Project exhibition in the past and has become a friend. The crowd of 400 was highly energized and I was surprised at how many faces I knew and the event was flawless with rich media content and two very moving awards. The skies even produced a rainbow for the event. I was proud to belong to this community and inspired to participate with the Foundation's efforts. I was also gratified to find an exhibition of Body Maps in the UN Lobby - my first exhibition was one where I introduced Body Maps from South Africa into the US.
On Friday evening I joined 10's of thousands of my fellow New Yorkers for a picnic in Prospect Park and a concert by the Metropolitan Opera. Only in NYC can this many folks gather in a small place and have the whole experience transcend its limitations.
Yesterday, I went to PS1 to see 1/2 of the Eliason exhibition which was the expected mix of surprising stimulants for the senses and insightful lenses on perception. The unexpected moment was my viewing of PF1, the summer installation that is created each year by the Young Architects Award process. The urban farm complete with plants, waterfall and pool, live and virtual animals and solar recharging station for cellphones. I can't wait to frolic on this set during an outing to Warm Up.
I finished the afternoon with a visit to Crane Street Studios, across from PS1, for their annual open studios. I visited with Marshall Harmon whom I met recently at a show of his work held in a private apartment. Marshall was a blast and the rest of my stops included the usual mix of high and not so high works and yet overall the characters were inspiring.
Next week is shaping up to be another doozy and I look forward to sharing more with you.
Memorial Day Weekend signaled the end of my first desert foray. It also signaled my first exhibition - a group show at the Art Queen organized by Shari Elf and Randy Polumbo. The show had a loose theme of spirituality and the title referred to the many guises in which spirituality is embodied. I had a print – Free Tibet – that I could have submitted yet I decided to produce something fresh. My collages had been progressing into various forms of authored work – the prints, drawing, watercolors – and I had been yearning for a larger canvas to work on than the 8 ½ x 11 sheets I was using as backgrounds.
As I looked around the cabin, I noticed a reserve of brown shopping bags. I decided to cut them open, form a canvas and then sew them together. The first one of these I had made was quite large and the submission request had included a request to keep things manageable. So, I made a smaller canvas from a Trader Joes bag John Luckett had used to wrap a gift. The shopping bags made a good canvas, particularly owing to the handles which allowed for easy hanging. I drew, collaged, watercolored and sewed onto the canvas. I then located a deep frame at a thrift store, scraped off the alpine decal that it sported, framed the work and oiled the frame. It was as good as…well, you get the idea. Just as I finished up, I noticed that a hair had become trapped under the glass. I tried to shake it free to no avail. I just couldn’t face opening the whole thing up again and went with the flow. So much so that I ended up calling the piece ‘Untitled: Hairy Problem”.
On the Friday before the opening, I dropped into the Art Queen to see if I could help. Shari has already hung more than half the show in one gallery and I helped her get most of the second gallery done. Not only was this fun, it helped me score rime real estate for my piece, right next Randy’s brilliant corner of many spiritual and other delights. Saturday dawned, I had a delightful coffee date at Regina and Dimitri’s. Then it was time for the main event. The Art Queen was wonderfully decked out with seating in the courtyard, fires in braziers and the outdoor fireplace, a bar and great catering by Chantale. A new stage had been built and there were several musical acts, some twirling and chanting accompanied by a harmonium.
The crowd was diverse, the conversation fun and the action energizing. I bartended a bit, talked a lot, ate a lot, twirled and chanted and generally had a ball. Toward the end of the evening, Shari performed accompanied by Randy and the evening drew toward a close with a performance by Anne Magnuson. Lovely. The show will be up for several months – drop by if you’re in the area ;)
Last weekend I participated in my first art
fair. It was the inaugural Village Market, a monthly fair arranged by the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council. I had just returned from a trip to the coast to see my incredible nephew and my wonderful friends Candice and Marc (and Poppy the schnauzer too). Instead of driving back on the freeways, I took a state highway, Route 74, that is a single road from San Juan Capistrano to Palm Desert. It passes through the Cleveland National Forest, Lake Elsinore and eventually becomes the gorgeous Pines to Palms Highway that climbs high on the St. Jacinto range, passes an alpine town called Idylwild and then plunges into the desert.
However, I digress. The fair was held at Roadside Attraction, a local gallery that shares frontage with an insurance brokerage. Yes, the sign says "Art and Insurance". It was held in conjunction with a postcard benefit and silent auction for the MBCAC, into which I donated a set of four postcards. The fair was small, the weather was hot and the crowd was eclectic. I set up with flowers, mandarins, yogurt pretzels, gummy bears and, oh yes, art. My works were the prints I had created at the 29 Palms Creative Center and I displayed them in bags I had purchased at an art supply store in Laguna Beach. People stopped by to grab a munchie and I received one great compliment - on the flowers. However, I had one fan who kept eying a large collage and monoprint entitled 'Crazy World'. By the end of the evening, and with a little gentle persuasion by my friend John Luckett, the deal was sealed. The identity of my first collector is being withheld at her request. I am very grateful for her patronage.
I ended the day at a benefit evening for Sky's the Limit, the new observatory being built in 29 Palms. Music, friends, food, star-gazing - no, not LA-style - desert style through a huge telescope.
This past weekend was action packed as Rick Guzman, my good buddy from NYC, came to visit. As my first guest out here, he was subjected to a very thorough run around aided by the fact that there was a lot on. We dined in on Thursday evening after Rick's arrival. Friday morning featured a brisk long walk up into the mountain and then all around the houses in the Joshua Highlands. After lunch, we drove into the Park proper and went for a leisurely hour walk around Barker Dam. Then a trip to the cactus garden before dinner at the 29 Palms Inn. The evening was rounded out by an opening of Tina Bluefield's work at the 29 Palms Creative Center. Gretchen always throws a great event and this one was no different - complete with Belly dancers.
Saturday featured the farmers market, late breakfast at Crossroads Cafe, the Yucca Valley swap meet and then a hike at Black Rock Canyon. Not content with the long vertical ascent and a view of San Giorgiono, we went off trail, scrambled a few hundred feet higher and were rewarded with the twin peak of San Jacinto. A breather was followed by a huge dinner and music at Pappy and Harriets.
Sunday. Leisurely morning into lunch at the cabin. Then a trip to the 29 Palms Gallery for an opening of the tribute exhibition for Noah Purifoy. Lots of familiar folks there, many introductions and then an excursion to the Purifoy Foundation to see the work that inspired it all. We were accompanied there by my local buddy John Luckett, who had a great piece in the show.
A late afternoon drive to Palm Springs and Rick was off home again. I think he was surprised by the variety and depth he saw here and I was happy for his energy and good spirit after all of that activity. Au revoir Rick .
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