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 expanding East Village footprint

Karma gallery is taking over the Ideal Glass space at 20-22 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

This will be 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 ... in the former home of St. Mark's Bookshop. And more recently, Karma opened a small storefront gallery on the same Second Street block as its first EV gallery.

As for Ideal Glass, that space had been on the rental market going back to January...

 

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."

Since 2004, performer Willard Morgan had been using Ideal Glass as an events and performance space. He still owns the building and had been looking for a like-minded tenant. Ideal Glass carries on with film and TV production studios in two other NYC locations.

The Ideal Glass building dates to the 1950s when it was in use as a glazier's workshop.

Karma Lounge closes after 21 years on 1st Avenue

Karma Lounge, the two-level hookah club on First Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street, announced yesterday that the venue had permanently closed.

Ownership shared the message on their website and social media properties:

After 21 years, Karma has closed. On behalf of everyone at Karma, we thank the community, our neighbors, our patrons, and our employees for the years of support and wish everyone the best of health and happiness in the future. Thank you for being a part of our family.

Karma, which hosted a variety of DJs and comedy nights, had not reopened since the COVID-19 PAUSE went into effect back in March.

And it was one of the few places in the city where patrons could still legally smoke cigarettes inside the establishment. As the Times reported in 2010:

Opened in 1999 as a hookah bar, it was able to get the cigar-bar exemption because it served alcohol and derived at least 10 percent of its income from tobacco products by the cutoff date in 2001.

Friday night at the Bambi One-Hour Cleaners on 2nd Street

EVG reader David shared these photos from Friday night... he encountered a well-dressed crowd in line for the Bambi One-Hour Cleaners here on Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...



The signage is part of a new installation at the Karma gallery by Alex Da Corte titled "Marigolds."



Friday was the opening reception... and the show ends on Nov. 3. Karma opened here in November 2016. There are also several unconfirmed reader reports that Karma is also taking over the former Sugar Sketch space on the block...

Police looking for suspect in slashing outside Karma on 1st Avenue

The NYPD is looking for a suspect in connection with a slashing outside Karma, the hookah bar on First Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street.



According to the Post, a fight broke out inside the club around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, spilling out onto the sidewalk.

That’s when the man pulled out a sharp object and slashed his 25-year-old victim, causing a cut to the back of his head, cops said.

Police said the men did not know each other.

The victim needed stitches at Lenox Hill.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

In April 2017, a rapper who performs as Ju was slashed in the face during a fight outside Karma. Ju left in an Uber, but was ejected from the car "for excessive bleeding," the Post reported.

Karma Books now open on 3rd Street

Karma Books, an offshoot of the Karma gallery on Second Street, opened this week at 136 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue ... in the former home of St. Mark's Bookshop.

An EVG reader who took a quick look inside the store reports an art-focused selection, with some big coffee-table books on contemporary art as well as rare and special editions.

Here's a selection of their titles, as seen on Instagram ...

A post shared by Karma (@karmabooks9) on Apr 6, 2018 at 7:07pm PDT

A post shared by Karma (@karmabooks9) on Apr 7, 2018 at 9:19am PDT

A post shared by Karma (@karmabooks9) on Apr 6, 2018 at 7:06pm PDT

A post shared by Karma (@karmabooks9) on Apr 6, 2018 at 6:48pm PDT

Previously on EV Grieve:
Bookstore coming to the former St. Mark's Bookshop on 3rd Street

Some good Karma for 2nd Street?

[EVG photo photo from March]

Work has been ongoing at 188 E. Second St., a former beverage distributor housed between Avenue A and Avenue B. The single-level, 2,600-square-foot space arrived on the market at the beginning of the year. (Per the listing at Leslie J. Garfield, the monthly asking rent for the raw space was $13,000.)

The plywood came down this week to reveal (via this EVG reader pic) ...



Turns out the space is the new home for Karma, the art bookseller and gallery. Karma opened in 2013 on Great Jones Street, and later moved to a temporary space back in March on Orchard Street.

Here's more on Karma and founder Brendan Dugan via ARTnews when he opened the Orchard Street space:

Karma’s roots are in publishing, but it has become known for hosting shows by contemporary artists including Mark Grotjahn, Brice Marden, Dike Blair, Rudolf Stingel, and Marianne Vitale.

He said he was working on a program schedule to host events once a week on Orchard Street, veering away from the usual schedule for galleries, which organize new exhibitions every six weeks. “It’s a way to keep busy while we finalize our space,” Dugan said. “This is an interesting moment to kind of not rush into anything.” He described the real-estate market as “really overpriced. I don’t know if we’ll find any relief, but it’s helpful to have time to look.”

He wouldn’t say where else he was looking for a permanent spot, but added that it would be somewhere in Manhattan. He did allude to the fact that Karma may stray from the pack, as it were. Dugan mentioned the absence of galleries on Great Jones Street, as well as at Karma’s Amagansett space, which will begin its 2016 exhibition schedule in May. “I like being in places just where we’re on our own,” he said.

The opening reception was last evening for the initial exhibit here.... featuring the works of Lee Lozano. The exhibit is up through Dec. 17. Find more details here.