If Cindy Sherman was eligible for an Academy Award she could be included in every single nomination (except for ‘best sound’ maybe).  Not for nothing did the MOMA clear a big wing on the 6th floor to showcase her work – in what is perhaps a more overwhelming retrospect than Cattelan’s recent spectacle at the Guggenheim.  Not unlike many other contemporary artists, she uses the concept of appropriation to explore roles and typecasts in media and culture – but Sherman does it most successfully; recreating herself in a fluent manner achievable only by someone who is in control of every aspect of their work. After all, she does everything herself,  from the make-up to the modeling, to all other technicalities - here is a photographer who has mastered the art of non-self portrait. Click here for more info on the exhibition.

+ Share

No Comments »

The inevitable is happening; The Multi-Color Tulle man got a beating in Union Square yesterday. Ten feet away, the Fresh Prince crew is bringing back the flat top. Popsicles are for sale and FINALLY, it’s hot in NY!!

+ Share

No Comments »

Summer is around the corner and the masses are coming out of hibernation;  an event that is easily witnessed, for example, at street fairs and flea markets which are now springing up around town. One among them – Hester Street Fair; the opening day is this coming Saturday, May 7, from 10am to 6pm, and then every Saturday following until September. This has been one of my favorites in the past and I’m sure this year’s won’t disappoint. And as explained on their website, the opening will be marked by a mini Food festival which means half the Fair will be food and the other half  will be “filled with a shopper’s paradise–vintage, estate jewelry, lamps, watches, skincare, accessories, you name it, we probably got it.” – so that’s the deal. Go check it out!  (For more info go here.)

+ Share

No Comments »

This past Saturday, over at Zebulon, our dear buddy celebrated his birthday. It was the sort of night that could have easily gone wrong considering the non-stop torrential rain and wind gusts – but instead became super successful, maybe even thanks to it. I’m talking about an indoor atmosphere filled with rebellious hair and glistening skin – a place filled with humid air and the energy of dancing souls, all enamored by the  sounds of Voodoofunk, aka Frank Gossner; a DJ best described as a record explorer and avid collector, who through his years of travels has dug up records of long gone-by West African cultures, which he has brought back to share with us youngens. The variety of genres, spanning from Afrobeat, Soul-Funk, to Nigerian disco and Highlife, easily seduces even the most stubborn hips.  I’ve never seen the place so lively! Big up DJ Frank.

+ Share

No Comments »

Talk about a little girl’s crush…

+ Share

No Comments »

Only once a year can you look in the mirror, think yourself as hideous, and walk away with joy. It is a weekend when Manhattan fills up with pretty monsters, slutty nuns, and every other incongruent adjective and noun you can think of. Discrimination is close to impossible at it’s peak and the proportion of weirdo pedestrians rockets skyward.

Most triumphant here is an unlikely group of Average Joes who orchestrate ‘runway hits’, in the closet cross-dressers who, if they get to live out their alter ego only once a year, will do so fiercely, and finally, the hundreds, if not thousands, of babies and dogs who entertain involuntarily.

Once you get used to the sight, there are pleasures to be had in costume-spotting. Most rewarding is the experience of recognizing  the ’smart costume’ or as my brother explained to me “a subject going through something”, as in “a man on a windy day” or “Peter Griffin when he had liposuction”. Another thing is that costumes tend to emphasize certain physiological arrangements that are very attractive. Nothing draws the eye more than an ill fitting dress or a character with questionable proportions, like the 6″2 broad-shouldered Marilyn Monroe. The key is to be ridiculous.

Ricky’s pre-packaged costumes aside, and you will notice that Halloween draws some talented closeted creatives. As someone who consistently fails to impress on this day, I can say that it is very easy to be left behind with a cat’s tail or a pair of scrubs. But don’t feel inferior to the 8 foot Frankenstein, or the old lady carrying a twenty-something on her back.  See it more as an alien invasion in which you are the only safe witness and enjoy it as a spectator.

+ Share

No Comments »