Tim Nye and me travel with the legendary beat artist George Herms to visit his good friend Dean Stockwell, the great scene-stealer of film and TV. Dean is also a lifelong, prolific artist. (his work can be seen in the Taos clips) It’s a long drive to Taos, and we get to Dean’s place in Taos, and damn if it doesn’t take us but about three hours before one of us that says something that set’s Dean into a rage. Once that gets settled, we broke the ice and he could just torture us with abandon. He rocks!

Then I go to George’s hideaway in Topanga, and he shows us the magic. He is the real thing, and an international treasure, and I love him.

at his survey show at  Armand Bartos Fine Art. David’s work is f%@king funny! I know, I know it’s uptown, but still easier to get to than Bushwick.

Seems Like We’ve Been Down This Road Before… A survey of works from 1989-NOW. Curated by Sarah Murkett at Armand Bartos Fine Art, 25 East 75th Street. NYC. June 9 – July 30.

Taped LIVE on April 19th,  at Pierogi 2000, 177 North 9th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.

This show includes guests Fuzzanova, Jim Torok, Reverand Jen, Oliver Wasow, HUDSON, Jaqui Becker with Syrie Moskowitz and hosted by Dr. Lisa Levy and Paul H-O.

GB Producer – Paul H-O, Samantha Schlaifer, Cameras – Gaia Baldini, Aimee Graham, Editor – Gaia Baldini

Btw: Note to Ken Johnson of The NY Times re this comment: “But he is not a big risk taker, and not one to stir up the censors.” I find it hard to perceive  a man who runs into burning buildings is not a risk taker. -Dr. Lisa

“Edward Koren: The Capricious Line” continues through June 12 at the Wallach Art Gallery, Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, Morningside Heights; (212) 854-7288, columbia.edu/cu/wallach. “Edward Koren: Parallel Play, Drawings 1979-2010” is on view through June 2 at the Luise Ross Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea; (212) 343-2161, luiserossgallery.com.

But it’s not about age because these artists are ageless. They are some of the most important artists to come from the Los Angeles, and specifically Venice to Malibu, art scene. They had all started their careers in the three seminal contemporary art galleries of the 50’s and 60’s / the Ferus Gallery, the Dwain Gallery and the Nicholas Wilder Gallery. Some of them are featured in the Primary Atmospheres Exhibition that opened at Nyehaus and David Zwirner Gallery, and all of them are part of the Art Historical Exhibition to come / Venice to Venice.

Currently, I’m in production on a new film so the focus has been slightly altered from our regular GalleryBeat programming.  Please bear with us as we go through these changes.  All categories will be functioning as we design our input and postings during the summer.  We will be posting and sending out E-Blasts as we post new content on Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter.  Thank you for your patience as we load up content this summer.

Paul

This video was created last August when Dr. Lisa spent 2 days interviewing the hundreds (thousands?) of artists, outside of White Columns, who are vying to be cast in the new Bravo TV reality show, “Work of Art, The Next Great Artist.”

This show was taped on February 13th, 2010, at the Frederieke Taylor Gallery in Chealsea and the first talk show. Try it, it just gets tastier as the acid kicks in.

But then I thought, WTF, Tim’s a really nice guy – he’s just a thoughtless turd. Or did I get an invite? Oh well late is better than never.

And that’s what you get here, late but in a way, a summery reminder of grinding alloy brackets, stealing money from your granma to buy downdraft carbs for the Zuke, you know, it’s gonna be sweet again. That in a way is Tim Hailey’s weird world of life smoking art on location. If you don’t know anything about dragbikes, here’s your chance, pussy.

Yet in the end the work is the work, and it’s mighty Fine, distinctively complex with intuitive eruptions of emotive execution. The show was back in the fall 2009, and we use the critical calendar set by Art in America Magazine, where timeless is months behind.

One of the more provocative installation pieces was by Kate Gilmore; a video of the artist beating her way out of a sheetrock closet with no doors or windows. She has apparently been walled in with a camera located from above when Dr. Lisa Levy posits a possible analysis the catches some traction – in Flavorpill.

Cooking with GalleryBeat!

(Pictured at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival L-R: Lisa Rosen, D’art Demone, Art Crumb, Walter Robinson) photo by Jesse Winter.

An Obituary to Singlehood: Two of  the NYC Downtown scenemakers have decided to tie the knot after years of living in sin!

Dame LISA ROSEN, ex-NY/Paris model, now a respected painting conservator, (clients include the Vatican) was known as the social glue stick at Max’s, Danceteria, Glenn O’Brien’s groundbreaking TV Party, the subsequent star of the documentary of the same name, and the daughter of Miki Rosen, is to be wed by the end of this week in a private legal ceremony to WALTER ROBINSON, Editor in Chief of Arnet.com Magazine. Walter Robinson’s glam checkerboard of accomplishments include :  He was a member of CoLab and and as an artist, exhibited in galleries in the East Village in the 1980s, including at Metro Pictures, where his famous Spin Paintings were later ripped by Damien Hirst. Robinson was Contributing Editor at Art in America from 1978-1997, cofounder (with Edit DeAk) of Art-Rite Magazine in the 1970s, and Art Editor of The East Village Eye in the 1980s. He was the charismatically cranky correspondent for “Gallery Beat TV” in the late 1990s and is the author of “Instant Art History”, as well as being one of the stars of the 2008 smashkinda hit film “Guest of Cindy Sherman”. He is the father of Antonia Smith-Robinson, who resides in San Francisco.

I wish them all the best and even with Walter’s track record, I think this one is a a sticker since Lisa has put up with him for years already, so she knows what she’s in for. Kind of like if Katherine Hepburn actually married Spencer Tracy. All my love, even to the fab mother-in-law Miki!

I finally found something truly interesting about the 2009 Miami/Basel. Sly Stallone, whom I believe had purchased a number of works from L.A.’s newest museum director, is also a collector, paint-slinger, and sensitive artist type. Way behind on reporting on the fun-house of art fairs, (Or the out-house of fart fairs) but GB is a retro site, and we bring you the news either really late, or before it’s happened.  (Or the out-house of fart fairs) I apologize ahead of time for sub-collegiate crunking.

I actually found them, Powers and Frey, to be affable fun gents when I did an interview with them in the fall.  Nontheless,  a small hailstorm of art shitlets will likely hit the fan once the business associates connection is brought to the fore. Links are from the Smoking Gun.com and Wikipedia tell the story.

Frey’s fiction/nonfiction has not hurt sales of his books. People love his books and don’t seem to mind the factual stretching. People don’t care, so what if the book was claiming nonfiction status. So what if Bravo claims to have  The Next Great Artist and will that matter if the game is just a game?

Judges, even TV judges may find themsleves under a microscope should they become celebs, not just culture celebs. Or maybe not. Probably not. although just looking at the outfit China Chow is wearing in that Reuters Press Release ? Who designed that? She plays a really bad cop on Burn Notice.  Thanks to Patti Calderone for noticing that press photo – it looks like China got papered topside to bottom? Knowing people that work in the “reality TV” business have been freely acknowledging that “reality is what you make it”.  It will be interesting what artists watching the show will think – and what they’ll do in response. The title of the show claims that these individual judges are the decision makers of The Next Great Artist. Pretty big claim.

Primary Atmospheres, L 2 R - Craig Kauffman, Larry Bell, De Wain Valentine

David Zwirner Gallery, Jan 8 -Feb. 6 2010.  With Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Laddie John Dill, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, John McCracken, Helen Pashgian, James Turrell, De Wain Valentine, and Doug Wheeler. Curated by Tim Nye. 

It’s all plastic fantastic plastic light monolithic and so febrile with air passing through matter passing as light, simply an atom solid vibration bolting down the concentrated escape patterns through which the chaos of that time of those minds had somehow corralled a zen concept with simultaneity, refracting reality breaking through cosmic farce, heading to the base, the base being the alchemy or not logic, the logic the thread is sight the eyes roam over clear matter as cream, slow sensuous fingers stare capture you want to touch gel sublime existing solid stars gleam perfect, and exquisitely delight.

I love this show! (how uncool is that for a start?)  When you walk into the gallery it’s like walking into a Kubrick set for 2001 A Space Odyssey or Tarkovsky’s Solaris. When the work in this show was made, we had Beatniks, The Beach Boys, Hullabaloo, then the Beatles, Civil Rights riots, Miles Davis, LSD, Nixon, the hippies, Black Panthers, the Vietnam War, Woodstock, The Doors, dirt, pachoulie oil, Easy Rider, Hendrix, and then there is this group of L.A. based artists that  essentially invented their own brand of minimalism that reflects the light of a California psyche in spite of the insanity of that period. How did they do it? This show is so well curated and full, but it’s it’s all kind of floaty too.

The use of plastic definitely reflects aerospace tech, surf and hot rod finishes. The use of resin in Peter Alexander, De Wain Valentine, and Helen Pashgian’s work demonstrates aesthetic purity and the magic mix of chemistry.

The first thing I saw was the gallery to the right  and two pieces by Robert Irwin. the untitled but well-known icon is set just away from the wall, (like the better-known orb with four lights, with the precision shadows)  so the orb or disc seems to disappear into the wall,(1969) offset by the simple clear acrylic column, (1970) .  Irwin also has his dot painting from ‘63  another early painting “Crazy Otto” , ‘62 which is far ahead of its time with it’s spare horizontal lines on ochre. Irwin continues to produce challenging work, and is literate in theory. In truth, Mr. Irwin is just plain literate, which explains why he is so influential, and as such, a dominant force because he is so good at talking about art and the ideas generated to other artists. Theory is tiresome, but as the first Francis Bacon said – “By far the proof is experience”.

John McCracken, Peter Alexander, John McCracken

The works by De Wain Valentine, Helen Pashgian and Peter Alexander dominate the senses on the front left gallery because they are not seen often here, and are masterworks of  perfect simplicity and execution, but not before passing a sand and glass sandwich installation sculpture by Laddie Jon Dill, the edges of the the 12 vertical panels of glass are lit under the sand with argon gas light. No matter where I went in the gallery, I was glued to each piece. Dill’s work in those days clearly put the materials in a chemical algorithm as sand is glass. Craig Kauffman and John McCracken are well-shown here in the context of the tribe. They are big game here but it was De Wain that showed McCracken the secret of the perfect resin finish. Doug Wheeler is that one crescendo tremelo. so deep sea or Star Trek, who knows?

That these amazing artists could soak the pure insanity of that time and then produce pure soul work without the acid noise invading is baffling. It all happened in L.A. and as far a I can tell, it’s the one  show I’ve seen in a long while that gave me a sense of redemption, joy, and that rarest moment, perfection.