Check out the 'Cityscapes' of Tabboo! at Karma

The work of longtime East Village-based artist Stephen Tashjian — aka Tabboo! — is now on display at the galleries Karma and Gordon Robichaux. 

Here's more via Karma: 

In these works, Tabboo!’s beloved stomping ground of New York City takes center stage, giving the viewer a chance to see the city through his eyes—a vantage imbued with possibility. The city has anchored Tabboo!’s practice across works on paper and on canvas. Rendered in quick, impressionistic gestures and a vivid palette, gray skies and iconic skyscrapers attest to its stoic beauty. 

In describing his turn to the city as muse, Tabboo! has said, "I made art about what was around me, what I knew… I know my plants. I know all my tchotchkes, my puppet collection, and New York City…. So that’s my subject matter." 

And! 

These sweeping cityscapes are reminiscent of the backdrops Tabboo! painted for his drag performances in the 1980s. Dramatic colorfields render the city in moments of transition, from day into night and back again. Gleaming windows are sprinkled with glitter, scattering the sun’s brilliance as it sets. 

An indelible energy soaks these cityscapes, many of which depict the view from Tabboo!’s apartment windows. "I paint from my Alphabet City apartment, which I've lived in for forty years," Tabboo! explains. Here's my big fancy artist statement: I don’t have one! I just do what I do." 

The work is on view at both Karma spaces on Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B — Nos. 188 and 172. Gordon Robichaux is at 141 Union Square West. 

The exhibits will be on view through April 16. The two galleries on this block are open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Gordon Robichaux is open Friday-Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, Tabboo! is the subject of a Guy Trebay profile the other day at The New York Times. 

An excerpt... 

The irony is by no means lost on Mr. Tashjian that, while just seven years ago he was collecting disability food stamps, the art world has suddenly discovered him hidden in plain sight at age 63 ... a cadre of collectors has emerged eager to acquire one of his paintings. "I'm pushing the work harder than ever,' he said. "I'm living," he added, suddenly tearful, "for all the people who couldn't."

By that he meant countless members of his generation lost to the AIDS epidemic. "Everything before digital, there's now a push to erase," he said. "And I am insistent on not being erased."

There's a separate preview piece of the exhibits at the Times here.

Top photo via Karma

Karma's newest 2nd Street gallery is open

Karma's newest EV gallery space recently debuted at 22 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

On view through Aug. 13: "Lee Lozano: Drawings 1959–64," a solo exhibition of 200 works on paper.

You can read an overview of the show at the Karma site here. 

The New Yorker has an item on Lozano and her work at this link. An excerpt:

As the art world has grown increasingly careerist and market-obsessed, Lozano has attained cult-hero status for her commitment to absence. Now an astonishing selection of two hundred of her early drawings, made from 1959 to 1964, arrives as a jolting reminder of her ferocious way with materials.

The gallery is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

As previously reported (here and here for starters), this is the latest EV expansion for art dealer and publisher Brendan Dugan, who debuted Karma at 188 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B in November 2016. A smaller gallery arrived later at 172 E. Second St. (Karma Books opened in April 2018 at 136 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.)

As for 22 E. Second St., Willard Morgan started the Ideal Glass Studios, an artist-run film & TV production studio, in 2004 ... and the Second Street building was in use as a gallery and art collective. Morgan, who still owns the building, runs Ideal Glass Studios from space on West Eighth Street.  

Ideal Glass sign disappears on 2nd Street

Updated: Karma is now open. Here's info (link) on their debut exhibit. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Renovations continue at the Ideal Glass building at 20-22 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery... where, as we reported here and here, Karma Gallery is opening a new space.

Unfortunately, as multiple readers pointed out in recent days, the familiar Ideal Glass signage apparently isn't going to be part of the new exterior.

Unable to resist the easy answer, I think it’s bad karma not to have found a way to incorporate the sign. There are few archaeological remains of the neighborhood’s past. Not all are worth saving, I think this was one that was.

— Barry Udoff (@BDYOU) July 8, 2021

Through the years, artists creating murals on the storefront worked around the Ideal Glass signage ...

The Ideal Glass building dates to the 1950s, when used as a glazier's workshop... and the remaining sign was from that era...

Willard Morgan started the Ideal Glass Studios, an artist-run film & TV production studio, in 2004 ... and the Second Street building was in use as a gallery and art collective. Morgan, who still owns the building, runs Ideal Glass Studios from space on West Eighth Street.  (We reached out to Morgan to see if, perhaps, the sign had been preserved.)

As for the new tenant, this is the latest EV expansion for art dealer and publisher Brendan Dugan, who debuted Karma on Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B in November 2016. (Karma Books opened in April 2018 at 136 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.)

According to artnet News, who first reported on this deal, this "latest venue is set to be the crown jewel" for Karma. Why? "The ceiling height alone is enough to make a dealer salivate, and there will no doubt be a number of artists maneuvering for spots on the programming schedule."

A look at the under-renovation Ideal Glass space on 2nd Street

A few readers have asked about the renovations at the Ideal Glass space at 20-22 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

As reported last fall, Karma gallery is taking over this space... the latest EV expansion for art dealer and publisher Brendan Dugan, who debuted Karma on Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B in November 2016. (Karma Books opened in April 2018 at 136 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.)

According to artnet News, who first reported on this deal, this "latest venue is set to be the crown jewel" for Karma. Why? "The ceiling height alone is enough to make a dealer salivate, and there will no doubt be a number of artists maneuvering for spots on the programming schedule."

The Ideal Glass building dates to the 1950s, when used as a glazier's workshop.