Sunday, December 20, 2009

Life on Mars today



Life on Mars debuts today at the Mars Bar. NYPress caught up with co-curator Grimace, who discussed whether the artwork will change the endearing atmosphere in Mars Bar:

Artwork has always been a very strong element of the look and feel as well as the patrons of Mars Bar. Throughout its 25-year history, many artists such as Basquiat, Keith Haring and Lee Quinones have spent time here, and today many of the people that hang out here and even the bartenders are artists as well. If you focus your eyes in the dim Marsian light, you can always see a ton of art everywhere in Mars Bar. There are canvases behind the bar, custom paintings on the walls, windows and outside. This combined with the history of Mars Bar, the Old-New-York feel that is impossible to get almost anywhere in downtown Manhattan, and very special regulars that have been patrons of Mars Bar for years with many stories to tell, along with the raw art, make the entire bar a living, breathing, drinking art piece on it’s own. This is not something that can ever be re-created in a stuffy Chelsea gallery.


Related:
hijinks and shenanigans at Mars Bar.. (Slum Goddess)

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