 |
| John Feckner, “Decay,” Fashion Moda flyer, 1980 |
131 Chrystie Street, NYC
December 19 - 28, 2014
Opening Friday, December 19, 6 - 9 pm
December 19 - 28, 2014
Opening Friday, December 19, 6 - 9 pm
 |
| Colette, “Taken away by Police,” from the series Records from the Story of My Life, 1973/78 |
The website 98bowery.com tells
the story of the downtown art scene in the 1970s and 80s as I
experienced it living in the top floor loft at 98 Bowery. These bleak
years for New York were marked by economic decline, crime, drugs, and in
many sections of the city, a desolate landscape of abandoned buildings
and rubble-strewn lots. But for the young artists living in the Lower
East Side during one of its worse moments there was a silver lining:
cheap rents, camaraderie, plenty of real-life inspiration, and a
do-it-yourself ethos that made anything possible. To use the ironic
phrase coined by artist Joseph Nechvatal, downtown was an “Island of
Negative Utopia.”
Every
era creates its own type of art object. The multiples, political
statements, and ephemera in this exhibition at the Lodge Gallery are
representative of the deliberately transient quality and populist
impulse of art in the 1970s and 80s. These are treasures that I acquired
during that time, as well as vintage works that I have collected more
recently for Gallery 98, the online store
of the website 98bowery. In selecting the items, I have not held back.
Many are masterpieces whose rich historical and aesthetic content rivals
that found in more conventional art objects.
- Marc H. Miller, Curator
 |
| Sandra Fabara (Lady Pink), Home Sweet Home, silkscreen, 1989 |
No comments:
Post a Comment