My old pal, the prolific artist Hunt Slonem, will be at at Lord & Taylor tonight in New York City signing copies of his new book Bunnies. There’s a pop-up exhibition of Hunt’s work too, on display through April 20, Hope to see you there! 6-8pm, Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue, New York. You can get your own copy of the book here. Tell him I sent you.
REAL ESTATE PORN: 15 CPW, HOUSE OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE
I guess it REALLY pays to be an employee at 15 Central Park West, so says author Michael Gross in House of Outrageous Fortune, his new book about the billion dollar behemoth condo building. Apparently, in 2011 the average worker there made $22,500 in tips during the holiday season. (Generous designer Elie Tahari handed out $300 cash and a fancy shirt to each building employee) The resident manager makes $600,000 a year — before tips! Not too shabby for tending to a tower full of pampered millionaires, plenty of whom have made Fifteen — its nickname — their power home base. I’m sure it’s not an easy job (but it’s not digging a ditch either) Gross says there were plenty of worker bees willing to spill the dirt.
Other choice tidbits from the juicy book:
• The developers were nearly one-upped by a stubborn tenant. Herbert Sukenik, longtime resident of the Mayflower Hotel, that once stood on the spot where 15 CPW is now, is described in the book as a Ph.D. who was “hugely intelligent” and “too smart for his own good,” and became a multi-millionaire after digging in his heels and refusing to move, – even after demolition began. The Zeckendorfs paid him $17 million to vacate and put him up in an Essex Hotel condo for a fee of just $1 a month. (Wonder if he’s still the there?)
• Denzel Washington's agent supposedly demanded to pay less than the asking price and “in exchange … developers were given permission to publicize his purchase.” His agent, of course, refutes this account, however, but supposedly the famous actor, “didn’t care.”
• Alex Rodriguez rented there for $30,000 a month and according to some chatty 15 CPW insiders, he didn’t deserve Cameron Diaz, who he was dating at the time. One thought she “was way too nice for A-Rod,” who was considered “a narcissist” by another source. While there, A-Rod supposedly dated Madonna, Kate Hudson, and Diaz (who, btw, all famously get around THEMSELVES.) One staffer says while he was dating all three, he had visits from hookers – an allegation that A-Rod’s spokesperson told the Daily News was “defamatory.”
• After paying $26.5 million for his duplex, Sting remodeled his apartment, including removing private elevator to his unit. Who takes out an elevator? Was it for security? What do you need the space for – a broom closet? Honestly, that’s the weirdest thing I’ve heard about this place, so far.
The lobby at "15", as it's nicknamed
15 CPW, far left
RIP LEGENDARY ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER, LEEE BLACK CHILDERS
Well, sad news to report but the legendary photographer, Leee Black Childers has just passed away. He shot everybody – EVERYBODY and his famous book, Drag Queens, Rent Boys, Pick Pockets, Junkies, Rockstars and Punks has shots of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Robert Mapplethorpe, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, Andy Warhol and of course, his “Superstars” like Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling. Here are some of his pictures and in this video he tells of encountering drag queens with 12 pairs of false eyelashes on, during The Summer of Love – about being in and around Warhol’s factory craziness, working for Bowie and Iggy Pop and more. He joins the pantheon now. Watch him.
Me on Eighth Avenue
THE EVER-CHANGING STOREFRONT LANDSCAPE IN NYC
New York City is forever changing – for better and for worse, in sickness and in health. Lately, there’s been a wave of luxury condos and Subway sandwich shops that have replaced delis and dive bars, that seem to upset everyone. Photographers, James and Karla Murray, set out to document the city’s transformation and the result is a book, titled “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York,” in which they photographed “mom-and-pop” stores around the city. Then they returned to those original locations to see what stands there. “We hope this glimpse will bring awareness to the unique character these small mom-and-pop businesses add to the streets and neighborhoods of New York City and the sense of community they provide.” The Murrays have lived in the East Village for more than 20 years. “These storefronts have the city’s history etched into their facades. We also hope that viewers will frequent small businesses so that they will continue to survive for many more years.” That, I agree with entirely. But having said that, the reality is you sometimes pay more to do so. My local pharmacy is great, but their prices are 25% higher that Walgreens or Duane Reade, so do I buy everything there? No, mostly I fill a prescription or get something special. The reality is that we shop differently that we did 20 years ago.
What is tricky are the layers involved in a story like this. On the surface, you think, “Oh no! These great old storefronts are disappearing to be replaced by hideous new buildings”, and in some cases you’d be right. I live in the West Village and just yesterday, there was a FOR RENT sign in my favorite coffee house/ vegetarian sandwich shop, S’Nice. It seems, their lease is up and the landlord raised the rent, so they are closing. (They’ll keep their Brooklyn outpost) Next door where there was a juice bar, Organic Avenue, is now a real estate office – with $4200 one bedroom apartments for rent. (BTW, Organic Avenue moved to a better location and bigger shop on Hudson, which is even MORE $$ than 8th Ave, I’ll bet.) So, there are many different realities at play – every one is different. In some cases, the store has been empty and disused for years. In others, the business might have been forced out by higher rents, like S’Nice. But what if YOU owned a building that the tenant payed $2000 for the last 20 years and once the lease was up, you could get 10, or even 20 times the rent? Would you honestly say, “No, stay at your old rent. I won’t send my kid to college…” And this cupcake store, “Baked By Melissa”, for all I know, that’s a “mom and pop” shop that people in the neighborhood love. (I DO hope somebody saved that “Optimo” cigar sign, though.) Rizzoli bookstore is a beautiful – you would think – landmarked building on 57th Street, with a fab vaulted interior, but has been facing potential demolition. And now they are moving for sure and FYI, will be having a moving sale through April 11, with all books 40% off. Now this is terrible and I’ll miss that store but the reality is, a. I never bought books from that location (too far uptown) b. Amazon has books 40% practically every day.
But myself, I love these old storefronts architecturally – these new ones seem to be all glass and pretty generic. CBGB sadly closed years ago and John Varvatos, who replaced it, honors the legendary club in his new shop. Bleeker Street, over the years, has morphed into Madison Avenue – you have Marc Jacobs to thank or blame for that. Terrible, right? Well, it brings money into the area, employs a LOT of people and, hey it’s America, the landlords have every right to get top dollar. You’ve heard, Roseland Ballroom is disappearing to be replaced by a new condo tower. That’s really unfortunate. It will be missed. But you think a MAJOR concert venue like that would have been able to negotiate a deal to disassemble their interior and reassemble it in the basement of this new tower. Basements are always cheaper rents. Who knows – maybe they will? Do we really need another Duane Reade, Subway or Chase branch? But probably more people want a Subway sandwich than they do wholesale hosiery. Although, it’s hard to think of anything uglier than a Subway shop – unless it’s a Verizon storefront. So, again, there are nuances here – even though the before and after comparisons seem stark. Anyway, it’s a great project. So, the moral of the story, support your local businesses, lest they disappear. You can get the book onAmazon. (Photos; James and Carla Murray
2nd Ave Deli, opened in 1954 in the East Village, replaced by Chase Bank
CBGB, an iconic music club on Bowery closed in 2006, replace by John Varvatos, that is music themed and has a lot of the original elements.
Mars Bar, a dive, closed in 2011 replaced by a TD Bank
McHale’s Restaurant, which opened in 1944 , was replaced by the Platinum NYC tower
A grocery store and mediocre pizza joint once stood at Bleecker Street, replaced by Grom, which has THE best gelato in New York, btw
Lismore Hosiery Co., a decades-old hosiery wholesaler was replaced by Subway
Bar Martins, a local watering hole on Houston , replaced by Subway
Casa Nova Pizzeria in Hell’s Kitchen, replaced by Verizon Wireless
Optimo Cigars, a bodega in Union Square, replaced by Baked by Melissa cupcakes
REAL ESTATE PORN: MIES TOWNHOUSE, $150K
You hear news about cheap Detroit real estate all the time. (I was just having a conversion with my friend April about it just the other night) Here a pristine townhouse with an excellent pedigree, designed by modernist architect and director of the Bauhaus, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Asking price; $150K. You get all you see here; 1,400 square feet, three bedrooms, basement, cork floorss, geothermal heating and cooling, floor-to-ceiling walls of exterior-reflective glass and major bragging rights. This is just like meeting that great guy in Amsterdam. DAMN! Almost perfect, wrong location. It’s enough to make you want to pack up and move to the Detroit. Almost. (via Curbed)
GEORGE W. BUSH: EX-PRESIDENT, OUTSIDER ARTIST
The world’s most distinctive gallery of international leaders will be seen tonight at an opening in Dallas. These famous faces were painted by another famous face, the 43rd president of the United States and George W. Bush. He’s graduated from dogs and cats and self-portraits in the shower and tub and has painted more than two dozen portraits of foreign figures he encountered while in office and put them on display at his presidential library, which is, to me, odd on SO many levels. “I spent a lot of time on personal diplomacy and I befriended leaders,” Mr. Bush said in a video produced by the History Channel that will greet visitors to the library on the campus of Southern Methodist University. “I learned about their families and their likes and dislikes, to the point where I felt comfortable painting them.” Alongside many of the portraits in the exhibit, “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy,” are photographs of the subjects with Mr. Bush as well as some artifacts of their interactions. Bush picked up painting two years ago after the Yale historian John Lewis Gaddis suggested he read Winston Churchill’s essay, “Painting as a Pastime.” After Mr. Bush experimented for a while with an iPad sketch application (I’d like to see those) Laura Bush’s friend, Pamela Nelson, a Dallas artist, recommended an instructor and he began lessons with a noted Dallas painter. He started by painting his pets, producing scores of works. He crafted a portrait of Jay Leno that he presented to him on “The Tonight Show.”
By last fall, at the suggestion of an S.M.U. art instructor, Mr. Bush began concentrating on world leaders. Now on some days, he spends three or four hours at his easel. The man who never much cared for museums – he famously rushed through the legendary Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in 30 minutes flat – told a private gathering the other day that he now can linger in art exhibits for hours at a time studying brush strokes and color palettes. Many have wondered whether Mr. Bush is working through some unresolved issues through his art, but friends say it is a way of channeling a restless spirit now that he has left politics behind. “Fundamentally, he’s a guy with a lot of energy,” said Mark McKinnon, his former political consultant. “And he needs a pursuit to help burn it off. And it may seem counterintuitive, but it’s also how he relaxes.” To be sure, this is not a new Rembrandt, and Mr. Bush freely acknowledged in the video that “the signature is worth more than the painting.” He told the recent private gathering that it was either confident or foolish to put his work on display.
No disrespect but more foolish, I’d say – although everyone LOVES this idea of an ex-president “artist”. But, you know there are COUNTLESS painting of the same quality as the ones you see here. As an artist, I FULLY understand where this is coming from. My work is based on vintage paint by number pantings – kits created in the 50s and 60s for JUST such a weekend painter. The trick is that painting were created by professional artists. So I get the impulse to paint whether you are good or not. Outsider artists have exhibit this style for as long as there have been canvas and paint. The cliché is “paint what you know” and Bush didn’t deviate from this dictum an iota. I think it might have been more interesting had he painted more interesting subjects, but world leaders fit in nicely, if you happen to have your own presidential library. They do have a naive charm and I was tempted to combine this with The Museum of Bad Art, but I’ll save that for another post. I kinda wish he had embraced the bad art idea and painted Pamela Anderson in her Baywatch drag (hey, he did Jay Leno) he is an ex-President, and not our brightest, so that’s a bit much to ask. So, no criticism, and I think W knows this, NO ONE would be interested in these if YOUR uncle George had painted them – except maybe your Aunt Sarah.
Putin, Daddy Bush, Hamid Karzai
Dana Hoey
UP CLOSE & PERSONAL
Up, Close & Personal is a group exhibition curated by Ruben Natal-San Miguel, explores the relationships of these artists with a look their most intimate and personal work. From the shocking to the subtlety beautiful, this exhibit looks at some of the most popular themes of contemporary culture, on the surface and hopefully deeper. Artists include: Amy Elkins, Sheri Lyn Behr, Dawoud Bey, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Timothy Briner, Luis Carle, David Carol, Michal Chelbin, Adrian Chesser, Jon Feinstein, Rafael Fuchs, Dana Hoey, Jeremy Kost, Mona Kuhn, Annie Leibovitz, Lisa Levy, Jennifer Loeber, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Cara Phillips, Alex Prager, Carlo Van der Roer, Ariana Page Russell, Tyler Shields, Bayete Ross Smith, Trey Speegle, Zoe Strauss, Bill Sullivan, Hank Willis Thomas, Betty Tompkins, Phil Toledano, Michael Wolf. Up, Close + Personal, April 4 – May 13, Fuchs Projects, 56 Bogart Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
Brenda Kenneally, Alex Prager, Trey Speegle, Annie Leibovitz, Dana Hoey, and Michal Chelbin
Installation with curator
#DIRTYLOGOS
I don’t know how much explanation this needs. This brand of logo design has some built-in subliminals that are more overt, it seems. What’s the international symbol for inappropriate? I think you’re looking at it.
THE GAY WEDDING OF THE DECADE
I know, that’s a BIG statement – and who knows if it’s true or not. But I was there, so I’ll tell you it was SOME wedding and a killer reception – gay or straight, in city or the boondocks. Fab.com co-founder, Bradford Shane Shellhammer and investment banker, Georgi Balinov wed one year ago today. They were married by Sandra Bernhard, at the Russian Tea Room, in front of 150 friends and family dressed formally in black and white and all wearing elaborate masks. Bille Rae Martin (of Your Loving Arms fame) sang. There was a fab masked cocktail reception. Then on another floor a sit-down dinner and show – more singing by Bradford himself and Marcella Detroit of Shakesspeare’s sister, and toast after toast. Then, on yet another floor, more drinks, dancing, Andy Bell of Erasure in concert, Latrice Royale!, and music by the one-and-only, Lady Bunny. You can see from the pics, it was EPIC. Seven plus hours after I arrived, I dragged my happy, tired ass home. So, in honor of, let me hear you say LOVE! Happy Anniversary, Georgi and Bradford!
The Russian Tea Room ballroom as cathedral; masked guests; Billie Ray Martin; Bradford and myself; Bradford and Georgi exchange vows
Latrice Motherf*cking Royale; Francois Sagat; Andy Bell of Erasure in concert; masked guests; The Lady Bunny spinning
Bradford, Latrice & Georgi
UNIQUE PICASSO JEWELRY SMASHES ESTIMATES
These one-of-a-kind pieces were given to Françoise Gilot, the mother of two of Picasso’s children, Claude and Paloma. Gilot later passed down the pieces to Carole Mallory, the model, actress, and author who was engaged to Claude in the 1960s. In “Life With Picasso,” Gilot describes how Picasso, with the help of Dr. Chatagnier, a dentist, made gold and silver jewelry through the lost wax process. “In all Pablo made about 10 necklaces… I thought they were all very nice except one, a rather heavy head of a satyr, in silver.” As it turned out, that satyr pendant (pictured below, left) fetched the most. $153,000. A round silver “sun” pendant brought in $141,000, while this silver brooch, with a drawing of Claude sold for $92,250.
