Whole in the Wall: Opening Night Review
On Thursday, May 28th, Chestykins and The T. were pleasantly surprised to have been taken seriously (for a change) and receive an invitation to the opening of the Whole in the Wall exhibit at the Helenbeck Gallery in New York City.
We were delighted to accept the invitation, but it turned out that we weren't quite as VIP as we thought we were and still had to wait on an obnoxiously long line to get in.
The T: At least we got a chance to see the Wafels and Dinges.
Chestykins: Yes, the Wafels and Dinges were very exciting. And smelled good.
After waiting a long, obnoxious hour to get in (yes, we'll probably keep referring to the line as obnoxious because it really, really was)...
The T: Don't forget to mention the obnoxious assholes cutting the fucking line every time.
Chestykins: That and the guy who kept getting mad at me for hitting him the head with my umbrella... how rude. I was just trying to stay dry.
Where were we... right, so we get to the front of the line, go inside and get our cute little Red Bull bracelets snapped on to our wrists. As we proceeded to the main corridor, we were graced with posters showing bios of each of the artists featured in the show.
Chestykins: They were done in a very nice font.
The T: I liked the fact that they looked like they were printed with a laser jet printer at home, only large scale. It really ran with the theme of street art. You know, that minimalist street art.
Chestykins: Right, make a nice well stated comment so I look like an idiot.
The T nods his head.
The floor was set up like a huge studio, with permanent cement white and grey backdrops in all four corners.
The T: I want one of those in my house.
Chestykins: I want one of those to be my house.
The DJ spun some awkward medley of music, from current European hits (presumably) to things like "Puppy Love" and-
The T: What was it, some Italian fucking thing... he kept saying like "bacio" with this techno beat from limelight playing in the background.
Chestykins: Should I put that in a block quote?
Sculptures by the artist known as Plateus were the centerpieces of this giant open area. It seemed like an odd choice of piece to be the central focal point on the very first floor of the exhibition - they look much more like high-end fabrications, costing more and not really flowing with the theme of the show, which is much more urban and gritty.
Not to criticize the pieces themselves, we believe they were cleverly done - the forms followed those of old tagging styles and obviously, as we stated before, the manufacturing and the quality of the sculptures were way beyond par. They just seemed to stick out in harsh contrast with the other pieces and works on display.
The T: You're in a room with sheets covered in brilliant art made by cheap cans of spray paint - the last thing you wanna see is a sculpture, resembling the quality of something you'd see in the Met, standing in the middle of the exhibit and taking up space.
The walls were covered with new pieces by great American street artists from the 70's and 80's, as well as pieces from their European contemporaries. The work was well arranged and displayed, however, the lighting in the space was a bit problematic for people who came hoping to catch some great photos.
The T had some fun making shadow art.
Obviously, we can't ramble about every single piece in the show-
Chestykins: Well, I mean... we can, but we probably won't.
-but we would like to discuss a few highlights and things we really enjoyed getting the opportunity to see.
Chestykins: I took this photo for The Black Boy Wonder, but I really liked the piece and all others by this artist, Ikon, that were on display. The way he re-envisions these already well-established characters is both quirky and creative, as well as visually appealing. His color palette is also really vivid and, well... awesome.
The T: I love the fact that he took these strong, powerful mutants and gave an opposite twist to them, making them seem fat, lazy, out of shape, weak, and grumpy. Very pop art meets the wise-ass cleverness of the streets.
This piece by Lee Quinones was another that stood out to us immediately.
The T: First, I have to say: I am a huge fan of that old patriotic style of art - very bold images (vector based), strong type with a strong message.
Chestykins: The way the artist mixed mediums, working with mainly paint, but then including those lacquered dollar bills formed into paper planes-
The T: And the contradictory imagery of the Taj Mahal instead of some American establishment. I don't know if it was intended or not, but the interaction of a black man with the Uncle Sam symbolic figure is a very funny image to think about when you consider the time period that this style of art comes from.
Moving along to another room on this first floor, we came across another great piece by Ikon.
Chestykins: I actually managed to catch the title of this one, which was "Grrr!" It was probably one of my favorite pieces in the entire show. I love the flawless lines, bright colors, and cute - but angry subject.
The first floor also featured several great pieces by infamous French artist, Blek le Rat, including the one seen below.
The T: Makes me wanna go out and do some paste ups. Classic.
The second floor had much more to do with photography of street art and artists as opposed to the actual street art itself. A few photos portraying everyday materials (Andy Warhol-esque crushed can arrangements with a street art kind of feel), a few images depicting street culture, law enforcement...
The T: ...black guys in thongs.
Chestykins: Yep, can't forget those. Ever.
....and a series of photos of an anorexic older woman.
The T: I actually liked those because the contrast in the black and white worked perfectly with the contrast created by the woman's skin and bones. I think if it had been done with any other model, and in color, the result wouldn't have been as powerful.
We're not sure if it was a part of this exhibit or not, but in a smaller, corner room (which was covered with a white curtain), there were black and white reproductions of Gustave Corbet's Origin of the World. They seemed like the complete antithesis of the content of this particular show, but they were incredible.
The third floor was a much more open space with tons of pieces on display. We, unfortunately, didn't get to catch this guy's name, but he was one of the artists in attendance who seemed really cool and was taking time out to draw new, original sketches into the books of visiting fans.
The third floor also played host to a small collection of new pieces by Banksy. One of them happened to be a two-part piece featuring a drawing, originally sent to Banksy by a young child and returned to the child with Banksy's own sketch added into the drawing and a note thanking the boy for his work. One of his signature rats was also a stand out point.
Though we could sit here all day, talking about every single piece that was in this exhibit, three floors of art are just way too much to mention. All we can say is that this show is a definite must see for both those who are fans of street art, as well as those who aren't. The Helenbeck Gallery is located at 529-535 West 35th Street in New York City and the Whole in the Wall exhibit will be on display until June 27, 2009. Check it out before it's too late!
We enjoyed ourselves a great deal ...even if others did not.
The T: This bitch needs a dinge.
