Trigger Magazine - New York City

Clayton Patterson - The Lower East Side

2007-09-10T14:45:24Z

September 10 - October 27, 2007 Kinz, Tillou + Feigen Patterson has been a ubiquitous presence of the Lower East Side of Manhattan since the early 1980's, and is widely known for his dedicated documentation of this historic and now fast changing neighborhood (i.e. vanishing neighborhood, courtesy of Mayor Bloomberg and City Planning co-conspirator Amanda Burden's campaign of development solely for the sake of developers). He has been a conscientious chronicler of this urban magnet for the disenfranchised that has long been recognized for its creative influence far beyond its humble street corners.]]> Kinz, Tillou + Feigen 529 West 20th Street, NYC www.ktfgallery.com

Chris Marker - Staring Back

2007-09-08T14:33:18Z

September 8 - November 3, 2007 Peter Blum Gallery Staring Back is an exhibition of almost 200 photographs taken over the course of six decades by the enigmatic and influential French filmmaker. This show, organized by Bill Horrigan at the Wexner Center for the Arts, is the first exhibition of Marker’s photographs, and consists of images selected by the artist himself from his own archive, including black-and-white portraits of individuals that Marker has encountered during the course of his world travels.]]> Peter Blum Gallery 99 Wooster Street, NYC www.peterblumgallery.com

Larry Clark: Los Angeles 2003 - 2006

2007-09-08T13:59:52Z

September 8 - October 13, 2007 Luhring Augustine Los Angeles 2003-2006 reflects the artist's life-long interest in the subject of today's youth within a marginalized urban environment. In this particular body of work, we witness the physical transformation of Jonathan Velasquez throughout the period of his adolescent years. Jonathan, a teenager living in South Central Los Angeles whom the artist encountered by chance, inspired Clark to write and direct the film Wassup Rockers. In this obsessive four year photographic chronicle of Jonathan's life, we experience not so much the unfolding of a series of portraits but rather the weaving of the subject's personal life within the context of a particular social milieu common to so many of today's urban youth subcultures.]]> Luhring Augustine 531 West 24th Street, NYC www.luhringaugustine.com

Jon Pylypchuk - Push a weight through the world...

2007-09-07T14:26:16Z

September 7 - 29, 2007 Friedrich Petzel Gallery Push a weight through the world, and I will watch this crush you" was commissioned by Museum of Contemporary Art- Detroit (MOCAD) for its inaugural exhibition "Meditations in an Emergency," organized by Klaus Kertess. Inspired by his first visit to Detroit and the scrap materials and refuse he found there, Pylypchuk meticulously crafted a shantytown replete with vagrant creatures engaging in myriad unsavory behaviors, such as drinking beer from miniature Budweiser cans, smoking, and urinating in public. These miscreants, clothed in hand-hewn patchwork layers and fabricated from fur, wood, ping-pong balls and stuffed socks, loiter aimlessly together in their bleak melancholia. ]]> Friedrich Petzel Gallery 535 West 22nd Street, NYC www.petzel.com

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: Photography and Sculpture

2007-09-07T14:19:17Z

September 7 - October 13, 2007 Andrea Rosen Gallery Andrea Rosen Gallery is delighted to announce our second significant exhibition of the work of László Moholy-Nagy. Five years ago the gallery unveiled a selection of Moholy's color photographs that had never been seen before, marking the beginning of our journey with Moholy's work and our relationship with the Estate of László Moholy-Nagy. That first exhibition focused on the strikingly contemporary feel of the photographs as a testament to Moholy's innovative sensibility and influence on contemporary photography. ]]> Andrea Rosen Gallery 525 West 24th Street, NYC www.andrearosengallery.com

Natalie Frank: Where She Stops

2007-09-07T13:51:06Z

September 7 - October 13, 2007 Mitchell-Innes & Nash Natalie Franks paintings explore relationships of power as they function within issues of identity, sexuality, religion, and history. The personal, political, and theatrical collide in her representations of the beautiful and the grotesque. Franks paintings are peopled by figures of the in-between -- characters ill-defined by gender and sexuality, reality and fantasy, presence and absence. Her life-sized figures assume a variety of roles, both allegorical and highly personal, which recur throughout the paintings. Blurring the lines between the perverse and the everyday, Franks paintings engage the viewer as a complicit voyeur into their strange reality.]]> Mitchell-Innes & Nash 534 West 26th Street, NYC www.miandn.com

Robert Whitman: Turning

2007-09-07T13:41:23Z

September 7 - 29, 2007 Pace Wildenstein In the current exhibition, Turning, Whitman explores the light, movement, and space of planetary experience. He began by gathering video footage from NASA which he has digitally manipulated and montaged to create moving imagery projected internally onto the surface of three plastic hemispheres: Earth (2006), Europa (2006), and Ganymede (2006). The works, which hang from the ceiling, measure between four and five feet in diameter. “Our generation is the first bunch of people that actually know the moon close-up. On the one hand that’s kind of wonderful and on the other it adds another area of stuff we can’t imagine…. another diving board to jump off into the unknown,” commented Whitman in the new interview.]]> Pace Wildenstein 534 West 25th Street, NYC www.pacewildenstein.com

Mail Order Monsters

2007-09-06T14:07:06Z

September 6 - 29, 2007 Deitch Projects Deitch Projects presents a group exhibition curated by Kathy Grayson exploring new trends in fucked-up figuration. Every generation has its unique take on the figure and the most exciting new art seems to portray the figure as broken, decaying, fractured, and monstrous! Each artist in this exhibition exemplifies this pervasive tendency in a unique way: Francine Spiegel’s soupy, sloppy women protrude from and are engulfed by pop slime piles. Rapper’s girlfriends, socialites, and pin-up girls are all thrown into the stew of mylar, goo, glitter, and chewing gum. Their glammy/gory juxtaposition, coupled with the analog and digital moments of her distortions, presents an interesting visual conundrum of seduction and repulsion to these primordial females.]]> Deitch Projects 76 Grand Street, NYC www.deitch.com

Damn Vandals

2007-06-20T16:14:14Z

New York Magazine just published a rather lengthy article about the person who has come to be known as the "splasher." Seems he gets off on trashing street art around the city and posting glass-infused manifestos. Now the street artists are upset because their vandalism is getting vandalized. SVA grief counselors must be working overtime.

RAPTURE CAFE - Coffee Is The New Vodka

2007-05-08T20:45:03Z

by Mikal Saint George “[I might move to] LA because it's hard to commodify LA. As I say, How do you destroy a strip mall? How can you tell? It is not as easy to brand it the way the East Village is being eaten up.” Penny Arcade - Trigger Magazine Manhattan Island has always been a piece of prime real estate in flux. An ideal harbor sight, the Dutch pounced upon it with Trump-like zeal a few hundred years ago. When England decided it should really be a part of their Empire, war was waged. Then the early New Yorkers spoke. Essentially saying, “We don’t care who the landlord is, just don’t interfere with our business of making money and starting more businesses.” The Dutch gave up, the English renamed a few streets and it was business as usual. The same battle still rages today. Where once the battle cry was, “Don’t interfere with our economics,” the cry now is, “Don’t strip our identity in the name of economics.” We all like being able to pay our bills and live comfortably. But to replace every artist, free thinker and eccentric with a franchise and a bevy of girls in flip-flops, Fendi sunglasses and sequined cell phones is a mistake. The very essence that is drawing new economic possibility and viability is being drowned out. I would hope that in 400 years we have found a way to preserve the vitality that makes this city remain interesting while still making enough money to pay rent and buy food. Living in nearby Stuyvesant Town I am well aware of the infiltration of Walgreens – we now have nine in our “neighborhood” with more to come. No doubt, time marches on economies change but how many pain relievers and curling irons do we really need? ]]> Rapture Café proves that it is possible to run a smart, successful business and still care about community and integrity. Co-owner Joe Birdsong is a hunky, butch fantasy dripping with bad boy looks and prep-school eloquence. Throughout the Midwest there are legions of clean cut, middle aged, married men secretly surfing the net trying to find forbidden glimpses of just his type. Hopefully in minimal attire and giving the camera the finger. He and partner, punk/drag/glamourpuss legend Hattie Hathaway have successfully created probably what larger chains started out to do before getting lost in the corporate sauce of branding and mass appeal. It is large and comfortable and surprisingly does not require six bitter wanna-be pop stars to pour a single cup of coffee. The real reason to visit is the vibe. If you are an artist, unemployed, or a real good queer pervert you need to be there. Keep in mind there is a selection of teas unsurpassed in this hemisphere – the coconut chai is sex in a cup. You can also find coffee table books on Harleys, Clive Barker and Courtney Love along with selections of high fashion glossies and zines with dirty stories about really hung Latino guys who don’t shave their nuts. They even have lesbian porn for girls – not the purple eyshadow, cheap stiletto heels, Larry Flint version but the kind real chicks dig. MIKAL SAINT GEORGE: The last time I spoke with you you were recovering from a night of auditioning boys in their underware wrestling in Jell-O. Any good stuff like that since? JOE BIRDSONG: That’s part of Daniel Nardicio’s D-list radio broadcast. We did just have a garage (gay-rhage) sale here. His intern would actually model the clothes for sale and people would bid and then he would take it off. So at three in the afternoon we had this boy in a jockstrap on a coffee bar! MSG: Tell me about your concept in creating this space. JB: Well, the idea was to create a safe space that really carries on a tradition of arts and activism and consciousness that the East Village is known for. It is a space for visual arts, it is a space for community, it is a place for people to come together and hang out. MSG: I love the fact that it is a multi-concept business, that there is more than one thing going on. What has been the general response? JB: Overall – very, very positive. People really like it and have told me it is a breath of fresh air because it is not just another bar. It’s not another Starbucks. They really appreciate the care and the work that goes into this. They appreciate that the space is open and welcoming and we are not trying to shove the New York Times best seller list down their throats. MSG: Tell me a little bit about the book section. It really feels like a well curated library of sorts. JB: Our location plays a big part. We pay a great deal of attention to the art scene here. We hope to attract the kind of people that add to the culture of this neighborhood. We pay attention to art, literature, sexuality, gender issues. Biographies are huge. People seem to like to read about other people’s lives. There’s some politics but we don’t go crazy. MSG: Thank God! JB: We are certainly left leaning. MSG: Has anyone come in and stayed too long. Like a cup of coffee a magazine and camped out for the day? JB: Absolutely! MSG: That’s obviously not a problem! JB: Well, it can be but 95% of the people that come in are extremely respectful. MSG: What advice would you offer to someone that wanted to start a business in the rapidly changing East Village? JB: Just don’t stop thinking you can do it. MSG: Would you ever go nationwide? JB: It’s too early to say but if I looked ten years down the road I wouldn’t mind seeing one in New Orleans, one in Santa Fe, San Francisco, maybe L.A. But, again it would have to be a curated kind of space specific to the individual needs of the location. MSG: Is there a specific schedule for art installations and performances? JB: Pretty much we are doing month long installations on the walls. Performances, last month we were pretty booked, this month not as much but June we are really busy. It’s a matter of connecting with the right talent. I haven’t perfected the formula yet! MSG: Perfect answer! Online | www.rapturecafe.com

Ten With Neal Carlson of Mink

2007-04-10T16:08:53Z

Fresh off their stint at SXSW, Neal Carlson and his band Mink are playing The Saint tonight in Asbury Park. You may recognize Neal from his former band Bona Roba, or from the reality show Rock Star: INXS or from his really tight pants. Trigger talks to the Mink front man about his new band, their forthcoming record, and their new single “Talk To Me”.

]]> 1. Mink just got back from SXSW, what was that experience like? It was insane. We played four shows in three days and Lou Adler, who produced Sam Cooke (one of my heroes), checked out one of our shows. That was cool. Late at night everyone got really trashed so it turned into more of a frat party vibe, except everyone was wearing really tight pants. 2. What's the deal with your other band Bona Roba? Did you guys break up? Yeah, we were all ready for something new. I started in Mink about a month after Bona Roba's last show and it's been pretty intense. I still listen to the Bona Roba stuff very fondly and I am convinced that it's going to be a cult classic in a few years. 3. What's the response been like for your new single, "Talk To Me"? It’s been pretty rad. "Talk To Me" is getting a great reaction from radio and it's currently in rotation on a lot of college and indie stations. "Talk To Me" is one of those songs that took twenty minutes to write and that's the appeal. There's nothing over thought about it. Looking back I would say so. It's never fun to get tossed in front of four million people, but it is better that I did. A few months after the show ended, I was already in Mink and on tour in Australia. 5. Is it hard keeping a band together when half lives in New York and the other half lives in Australia? Not at all. Anyone who has played in the same city for a few years knows that the scene gets old after a while. The way we're doing it keeps it way more exciting and it is important to give both hemispheres equal attention. 6. We've seen you play live a few times and you really know how to work a stage, you have the girls...and the guys drooling. Who were your music idols growing up? Is it safe to say Mick Jagger was one of them? I don't know that I've caused drooling…maybe frothing or eye-spasms. My idol as a kid was Axl Rose. His style in the video for Sweet Child O' Mine was incredible to me. Then to follow it up with an all-white leather suit for Paradise City…genius! There also was David Byrne, Jim Morrison and Evan Dando. 7. Mink's first LP comes out in June, how was the recording process? Any fist fights or diva-sized tantrums? We worked with Sylvia Massy, who produced some of my favorite bands growing up like Tool and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She's very free-flowing and open to experimentation which makes recording fun. I've been known to pitch a diva-sized tantrum every now and then. For example, I WILL NOT sing unless there are three dozen swans in a circle around me, cooing my name. 8. With a lot of New York clubs closing recently like CBGBs, Tonic and Sin-E, what impact do think it will have on the scene? I don't know, it's painful to see. Maybe McDonald's will open a music club and a $10 cover charge gets you in to see the band and a #2 combo meal. 9. You are a Guns N' Roses fan...will you buy Chinese Democracy should it ever be released? It's a race. Mink vs. Guns N' Roses. I wouldn't be surprised if Axl decides to scrap all the material and start rewriting Chinese Democracy. 10. What's you favorite movie with Mink Stole? Don't hate me for this, but I haven't seen a movie with Mink Stole. I am a corrupt and bad person because of this. Mink plays The Saint April 10th, 2007 The Saint 601 Main Street Asbury Park, NJ www.thesaintnj.com Mink online | www.minkmuisc.com

Art Vendors Vs. Police

2007-04-03T21:01:26Z

No...it isn't the tourists and SUV-sized baby strollers crowding SoHo...it's the people selling art! Art vendors say police get picture all wrong - The Villager

Graffiti Bars

2007-04-03T19:52:34Z

Finally, some non-offensive chocolate usage! "Urban sensibilities and New York City flavor are the key ingredients to the early success of Alison Nelson’s Chocolate Bar, a purveyor of premium chocolates and gourmet sweets located in the West Village. Since starting her business in 2002, Nelson has brought a fresh approach to the stuffy world of premium chocolates by combining confectionary delights with uniquely urban sights – a reflection of her irreverent nature and her love of the arts and New York City. Her latest creation, Graffiti Bars, promises “Great Chocolate, Pure Street” and includes ten new flavors adorned in wrappers designed by a group of legendary New York City graffiti artists such as Lady Pink, Crash, Spar One, and Blade. Nelson will donate a significant portion of proceeds to a non-profit group selected by the artists – the All Stars Project, a performing arts organization for underprivileged youth that operates in Harlem, Coney Island, Bedford-Stuyvesant and the South Bronx." Graffiti Chocolate Bars - Format Magazine

Astroland May Get One More Ride

2007-04-03T13:43:13Z

"It's not quite game over for Coney Island's fabled Astroland Park. Developer Joe Sitt, who bought the 3.1-acre summer amusement park to incorporate into his planned, glitzy, Vegas-style complex, told The Post he's "willing to keep Astroland open" - or some form of it - for at least the 2008 summer season if his project is delayed. "The last thing I want is for Coney Island to go dark," said Sitt. On Sunday, Astroland opened for what was expected to be its final season, with Sept. 8 as its scheduled last day. The developer and City Hall remain at odds over whether Sitt's firm, Thor Equities, should get the green light to include luxury condos in its proposed $2 billion, 10-acre, year-round entertainment project. Without the condos, the developer says the project doesn't make fiscal sense. The Astroland sale has no effect on the park's most popular ride - the landmarke Cyclone roller coaster." Astroland May Get One More Ride - New York Post

LES: It's hard out here for a pimp.

2007-04-02T19:21:51Z

If you can keep from being distracted by the collapsing buildings on the Lower East Side, you'll notice that both Tonic and Sin-E are closing this month. Thank god, we were just wondering when someone would be kind enough to open up seven more Duane Reads on one block.