Tag Archives: jean michel basquiat

Allouche Gallery Opens Pop-Up Space in Soho

BAST Neon Sign
BAST Neon Sign (All Photos By Gail)

Gallerist Eric Allouche (Opera Gallery) has reopened his now eponymous gallery with a pop-up space on Wooster Street after leaving Opera/Allouche’s long-held previous address on Spring Street, where we attended many, many exhibits over the span of a few short years. The Wooster Street address is just temporary, until Allouche can find an ideal new home in which to showcase the works of his cache of represented contemporary pop artists, such as Ron English and FAILE. A low-key opening reception took place last Thursday and fans of the gallery were more than happy to have a destination to draw them in from the newly-arrived polar vortex holding adventure-seeking Manhattanites in its tight grip.

Faile Fox Hunt Go Get Em
FAILE: Fox Hunt Go Get Em

The current exhibit is a bit of a ‘warm up’ or re-boot, featuring both new and older works in Allouche’s collection. If you were fortunate enough to attend last summer’s FAILE exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, then the above collage will look familiar to you, as will the bright Neon sign in the gallery’s front window, which was included in the BAST/FAILE Arcade collaboration.

Detail from Faile Fox Hunt Go Get Em
Fox Hunt Go Get Em Detail

Jessica Lichtenstein Afterglow

Also on display are the Japanese Manga-influenced works by Jessica Lichtenstein, including the title piece from her Afterglow exhibit seen previously at Gallery nine5.

Afterglow Detail
Afterglow Detail

Lichtenstein’s works are recognizable for the flocks of tiny naked ladies in her images; which, from a distance, can easily be mistaken for blossom clusters. Clever.

Jessica Lichtenstein War
Jessica Lichtenstein: War (2013) Edition of 3

She has also this piece in the show, which is populated with hyper-sexualized, semi-clad females cavorting on WMDs. War is Hell.

Rafa Macarron Caos
Rafa Macarron, Caos

Spanish artist Rafa Macarron has several of his mix-media large canvases in the show. His cartoonish drawings are lots of fun.

Rafa Macarron Caos Detai
Caos, Detail

Ron English
Ron English, All American Lady Lick

Kid Zoom Rose
Kid Zoom, Rose

Psychogeography
Dustin Yellin, Psychogeography Study, Matter

The gallery has a small rear space, where they managed to stage a surprising number of pieces, including these two glass/acrylic sculptures by Dustin Yellin.

Zulu Jungle Cave No. 1
Dustin Yellin, Zulu Jungle Cave No. 1

Warhol Map
Andy Warhol, Map of Eastern USSR Missile Bases

And of course, the Holy Trinity of late, NYC-based pop artists, Warhol, Haring and Basquiat are all represented.

Basquiat Untitled
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled Drawings

Allouche Gallery Pop-Up Space is Located at 148 Wooster Street, Between Price and Houston, in Soho, NYC. Permanent Location Coming Soon!

Gallery View

Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks, at the Brooklyn Museum

Basquiat Unknown Notebooks Signage
All Photos By Gail

During his career, Brooklyn-born artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 – 1988) filled numerous notebooks with poetry fragments, wordplay, sketches, and personal observations ranging from street life and popular culture to themes of race, class, and world history. The first major exhibition of these notebooks, now on view at the Brooklyn Museum, features 160 pages of rarely seen documents, along with related works on paper and large-scale paintings.
Continue reading Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks, at the Brooklyn Museum →

Kobra’s Warhol and Basquiat Mural, Williamsburg

Warhol Basquiat Mural By Kobra
Photo By Gail

Now that summer is here, a warm, sunny day is the perfect time to go on a Street Art Safari around the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and the adjacent Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Just take the L Train from Manhattan to either the Bedford Avenue or Lorimer Avenue stops and you’ve got an urban Wonderland that’s yours to freely explore. Recently, we spotted this colorful piece by Brazilian mural artist Eduardo Kobra on North Ninth Street just east of Bedford Avenue and instantly recognized it as an homage to one of the 1985, black-and-white portrait photo’s by Michael Halsband (see below), which captured Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol wearing Everlast shorts and boxing gloves. Continue reading Kobra’s Warhol and Basquiat Mural, Williamsburg →

Sur-Real at Woodward Gallery

Cristina Vergano
Art By Cristina Vergano (All Photos By Gail)

Not necessarily comprised of surrealist works, Sur-real is a bit of a mixed exhibit bag now showing at Woodward Gallery on the Lower East Side. Participating artists include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Thomas Buildmore, Deborah Claxton, Sybil Gibson, Richard Hambleton, Kosbe, David Larson, Mark Mastroianni, Margaret Morrison, NoseGo, Kenji Nakayama, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, stikman, Jeremy Szopinski, Francesco Tumbiolo, Jo Ellen Van Ouwerkerk, Cristina Vergano, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Andy Warhol, so there’s something for just about every taste in modern and contemporary art. Continue reading Sur-Real at Woodward Gallery →

Leila Heller Gallery Presents Calligraffiti 1984 / 2013

Art by el Seed
Art By el Seed (All Photos By Gail)

Geoffrey and I were in the thick of an exhausting Art Crawl last Saturday, trying to catch up on dozens of exhibits whose opening receptions we weren’t able to hit on September 12th — the official kick off to the NY Art Scene’s Fall/Winter Season — when we were drawn into the Leila Heller Gallery by the colorful graphic mural by Tunisian artist el Seed wrapping the gallery’s windows from 25th Street around the corner and down 11th Avenue.
Continue reading Leila Heller Gallery Presents Calligraffiti 1984 / 2013 →