A lot of people turned up last evening for the chance to see the inside of 190 Bowery and look at the Aby Rosen/Vito Schnabel-backed group exhibition titled "First Show/Last Show."
However, the whole thing was called off before the show even started … much to the surprise of people who arrived at the landmarked building at Spring Street.
@evgrieve the #germaniabankbuilding isn't open to the public today - they're saying invite only. Lame!
— Gillian (@GillianEK) May 16, 2015#190Bowery is a total fiasco. Hundreds of art fans getting stuffed by 6 security guards letting in about a dozen middle-aged Art snobs
— Scott Heins (@scottheins) May 16, 2015According to artnet, the show "has been abruptly closed to the public for reasons unknown."
Now what?
"The show will be open by appointment May 18 – 29, Monday through Friday from 12-6 p.m. Closed Memorial Day. Please respond with your requested time and we will do our best to accommodate you."
You have to RSVP here.
Per artnet:
The original invitation didn't even require an RSVP, so it's not surprising that Rosen, Schnabel, and their coterie of rich and famous friends got a little spooked by the prospect of the unwashed masses showing up to rub elbows with the art elite.
As for the exhibit, the Observer pointed out:
Titled “First Show/Last Show,” Schnabel’s exhibition brings the work of seven auction-approved white male artists together under the cryptic rubric that their art “immediately conveys its significance,” a super power that is obviously absent from any artwork authored by a woman or a person of color.
Photographer Jay Maisel bought 190 Bowery in 1966 for $102,000. He recently sold it for a reported $55 million. A still-unnamed creative agency has leased floors 2-6. The groundfloor retail remains on the market.
Photos by Scuba Diva … H/T Gothamist
Previously on EV Grieve:
Take a last look inside the mysterious 190 Bowery
28 comments:
Would have liked to see the inside but did not bother going as knew it would be logistical nightmare.
A group of us thought of going for a second but knew it would be a mess. You can't invite an entire city to a building like this with no crowd control.
The entire promise of being let inside that building was a PUBLICITY STUNT to draw interest to an UNPROVEN curator... as if you attach the name Schnabel to anything and it instantly has value and credibility. Julian was the only draw for me (outside of seeing the building's interior), which I am guessing is why 90 percent of the other folks showed up. Also, you cannot RSVP, the email gets kicked back and when you call; it's just lame voice mail without any further instruction. In the words of Ann Magnuson: "Julian said, 'I need a new ism for my work' and I turned to him and replied, 'Julian, how about jism?'" That about sums up this art show in all likelihood; you missed NOTHING.
There's a new "ism" in this part of town and it's called elitism. Surely they could have clarified their sloppily worded announcement before hordes of unwashed masses showed up on theor doorstep to savor whatever the Schnabels consider to be art. Instead they locked the doors and hid behind their artwork.
But what did you really expect, that 28 year old "Don" Vito Schnabel would allow a bunch of you unwashed simpletons to rub elbows with his 41 year old girlfriend Heidi Klum? Cougars like Heidi Klum gets to go inside, not rats like you. Remember, it was Vito who used to walk by and dream of going inside the Germania Bank building. It was his dream, not yours, because you weren't invited to his dream. And once he finally got inside he locked the doors behind him.
Don't count on getting an RSVP any time soon, unless you are a rich famous former supermodel who doesn't mind hanging out with the much younger son of a rich famous artist. You have a better chance of being invited to Peter Brant's private museum on 6th St, the one where they had the big champagne tasting party with a marching band while all those buildings on 7th Street were burning down. Maybe the next time the neighbor's buildings are burning they will at least piss off the rooftop to help put it out.
SAMO© AS AN ALTERNATIVE 2 “PLAYING ART” WITH THE “RADICAL? CHIC” SECT ON DADDY’$ FUNDS. -Basquiat
Giovanni's spot-on comment brings to mind another highly relevant "ism" that holds sway in today's EV and indeed, all of NYC - schism, that widening and irrevocable rift between the haves and the have-nots, the hip and the codgers, the native/old-school New Yorkers and the clueless yutzes overrunning us. And that's a truism.
I actually got an invitation to that for some unknown reason but I don't attend group shows that only include white male artists so I wasn't going. New generation of curators, just as sexist and elitist as the ones that came before...
Inviting the public and then un-inviting them was just not professional. Baby Schab, Heidi, and their art clique could have had a private reception the night before. Public viewing on Saturday. If a ton of people
arrive then have them stand in line if they wish. Or leave.
Without his rich daddy's money and connections Baby Schnab would be just another nobody on the the street. As Warhol said " Art is whatever you can get away with"
And that applies to curation as well.
Several of us neighbors - block association and Bowery Alliance - made the scene. And that's what it was. Uninterestingly, it followed a long line of previous events when producers (unexpectedly) got in over their heads and made some bad calls on the fly. talk about unprofessional! But it's so common in the art world that I have to cut them some slack... this time. Maybe later it will be written about in some art book; maybe titled Shit Shows [tm], and we'll laugh (at them) about it.
Funny thing is that there are presidents for such shows -- only a block away! Before the building on Spring and Elizabeth went all luxury on us, they had a big, last exhibition - hundreds, if not thousands of people. Everyone got in and got out, saw some cool art, made their peace, without any damage that I heard of, and went about their day. It seemed to be a big hit, like a New Orleans funeral.
If only these folks had done their research, they might have been more prepared. They could have done themselves a big favor going forward and a big favor for the community. Painful missed opportunity, oh well. There are much worse things going on in the Bowery right now, so I wouldn't get too worked up about this.
Re Brant and Schnabel - don't look to the CB #3 Staff for help. Board Manager Stetzer thinks Brandt's promise that 'it won't happen again' is good enough for the CB - as for informing the Community residents - she knew in advance re the generators et al - but did NOT bother to warn the neighbors.
So look forward to more elitism.
"don't look to the CB #3 Staff for help." -- no, they wouldn't help because the show is not within their boundaries. 190 Bowery is in CB #2 (in case that's not common knowledge). Being the dividing line of two CBs that don't work together enough has been to the detriment of the Bowery -- it's only ever half-represented.
Although I agree that this is nonsense...
I must say that comments which people make against it being white males is totally bigotted and sexist.
You wish for others to not judge one by race creed or sex. Yet, it is acceptable to pull that nonsense if they are a white male?!
I say Fuck You and your hypocrisy!
Why is it acceptable to discriminate in these comments about a male who is white?
That is hypocritical, sexist, racist and blatantly ignorant.
We can only hope the Schnabel's aptly named First Show will be their Last Show since it was a total ShitShow™ This non-event was brought to you by:
BroTastic Events ®
© 2015 Crap-o-Matic Productions
All Last Rites Reserved.
The only thing I don't understand is why savvy LES residents would flock to an event like this. It had Publicity - Stunt written all over it. Has the caliber of LES residents really deteriorated to that point? PS: That was a rhetorical question.
Hello Walter. I've lived nearby for some years. I walked by the crowds several times. I saw a few familiar faces. There were people from all over. I heard some people talking about returning home to Brooklyn. So in my opinion this is less about "savvy LES residents" and more about "savvy NYC residents." I agree with you on the publicity-stunt angle of this. I just think we need to expand the demographic from beyond our neighborhood.
Yes, but is it art????
The art was posted - no need to go to this BS. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/vito-schnabel-new-exhibition-bowery-299159
It seems archaic to grind-away about stuff like, "white male artists . . . a super power that is obviously absent from any artwork authored by a woman or a person of color." I can't believe that people still harp on gender and race, much less still try to get away with putting them in the same bag. Rich white dude got his buds to show their stuff; 'nuff sed. This wasn't some "women and their work" to-do. Maybe it was the inverse? Some "men artists" thing? How'bout some tolerance?
Otherwise, as a distant observer – a former New Yorker now one time-zone behind you guys now – I think, "What else did they expect?" The New York City art scene has always been snobbish/elitist, to whatever degree that it might be conflated with the wealth of curators and clients. Did people assume that there might be free hot dogs and a few open kegs of Rolling Rock and a DJ up on the roof? That this might be an indoor block party for E. Village residents? Would the artists have had to have been black lesbians for that to be the case?
What a bunch of asshats. The organizers, that is.
Anonymous Jim D. said...
Hello Walter. I've lived nearby for some years. I walked by the crowds several times. I saw a few familiar faces..... So in my opinion this is less about "savvy LES residents" and more about "savvy NYC residents." .... I just think we need to expand the demographic from beyond our neighborhood.
You're absolutely correct, I fully agree with you. And I feel even worse for the people who had to travel to ultimately be dismissed as extras in a publicity stunt.
@ Anon 8:34
I stopped by at around 5pm to see the show and told by a girl with an iPad girl with an iPad that "Nobody's getting in unless they're on the list". I don't live nearby but it was no big deal because I was in the city to attend the Soho Design Events. I, however, don't think it was a publicity stunt, just inept PR by V Schnabel. A simple 'sorry for any inconvenience' would have been in order.
I also think the notion that this was for "savvy LES residents" or "unwashed masses" is a bit off base as well. People from all over the world are in NYC at any given time so someone interested in an offbeat art or cultural event might have wanted to see this.
@ 10:46- Did I expect hot dogs and kegs of beer? umm, no….I was thinking more smoked salmon and sauvignon blanc which is what I had in Soho a bit later ( and a whole lot more). Though the crowd was mostly well dressed anyone could have attended even the somewhat smelly ones.
All in all a fun night in Soho and everyone went home drunk, stuffed and happy!
Listen to you squealing white pigs. It's acceptable to discriminate against white males because they are the direct beneficiaries of political, patriarchial power. Yes, even those homeless white men encrusted with their own urine that you step over on your way to work; even all those white men who get their limbs blown off fighting wars for Dick Cheney and Hillary Clinton; even all those white boys drugged into catatonia in our schools; even all those white men who get 50% of their livelihoods stripped away from them for their rest of their lives in alimony payments; even all those white men who commit suicide in numbers multiples of their fairer sex counterparts; even all those white men not graduating from college, not employed or underemployed -- all these white men still live lives of greater privilege and advantage over the embattled blacks, women, and LGBBQTs that endlessly lecture them about how fucking sweet they have it. Don't look for logic here. It's not about fairness and it's not about equality. It's about expediency ... stupid white people.
P.S. Schnabel is not "white."
"I can't believe that people still harp on gender and race"
--- said no woman or person of color ever.
LGBBQT? Extra letters mean?
those clueless lost looking 20 something clip board girls with their 300lb muscle making a human wall behind them and the flustered scrawny queen running about trying to bark orders on deaf ears... it was pure performance art and far more relivant than anything hanging inside.
If you are on Vito schnabels email list, an email was sent out a few days before the opening saying the demand was too high and it will now be by appointment only. I replied asking for an annointment and I will be going to see the exhibit later today. If you are really interested in seeing it just send them an email
@10:12,
Nothing against Vito, but could I get an anointment from Heidi instead?
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