On 6th Street, the Brant Foundation's inaugural exhibit will feature the work of Basquiat

The Brant Foundation will make its debut on Sixth Street in March 2019 with an exhibition of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.



ARTnews, whose parent company is owned by Peter Brant, made the announcement yesterday.

The inaugural show will be curated by the Brant Foundation’s founder, Peter Brant ... and art historian Dieter Buchhart. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Foundation Louis Vuitton, will include loans from Brant collections as well as international museums and other private collections.

Brant said in a press release, “Basquiat has been a cornerstone of the East Village art scene for decades, and to bring his work back to the neighborhood that inspired it is a great privilege. Our family is thrilled to launch the Brant Foundation’s New York space with an artist who is central to the collection, and above all to share his legacy with the community that was fundamental in shaping it.”

Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones St. near the Bowery at the time of his death in 1988 at age 27. (He also lived for a year in 1979 in this East Village apartment, as you may recall.)

Brant reportedly began acquiring Basquiat's work shortly after being introduced to him by Andy Warhol in 1984. "Jean-Michel Basquiat is the quintessential Van Gogh figure of our time," Brant said in a 2013 interview. "He left with us a genius body of work."

The show opens on March 1 and will be on display through May 15. No word at the moment about about hours or admission. (The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich is open to the public by appointment and free of charge.)

As for the building, the Brant Foundation at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors.





Here's a recap from recent years:

Brant bought the building for $27 million in August 2014.

The gut renovations started in April 2016 at the former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio.

Brant's daughter Allison Brant oversees her father's contemporary art collection. This feature on her in the April 2017 issue of Town & Country reported:

Allison will also run this second space, which is in the East Village and will primarily be used to showcase the foundation's permanent collection. "So many artists my father collects have a connection to that neighborhood," she says.

And here are a few more photos from earlier this summer...









... and on the Seventh Street side...



Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

Hardware store replacing hardware store on 4th Avenue

The Ace Hardware outpost at 130 Fourth Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street closed back in April.

After being on the rental market for several months, the storefront has a new tenant — Union Square Supply, as this photo via EVG reader Doug shows...



This will be a sister store for Fulton Supply Hardware, which opened down on Fulton and Gold in 1970.

TBT: Breaker, breaker: The Bandit spotted on Second Avenue

First posted on Sept. 5, 2011... RIP Burt Reynolds...





Perhaps dining at a nearby "choke and puke"? (And if you really want to watch the trailer for this cinematic milestone ... go here.)

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Report of a suspicious package outside Cooper Union

EVG reader Chris Rowland shares this photo from outside Cooper Union... where the NYPD has blocked off the area due to a report of a "suspicious package."

Cooper Union's Great Hall also happens to be playing host tonight to the Democratic primary debate for New York State Attorney General ... however, they have not been told to leave, per a reporter on the scene...

There is a suspicious package outside Cooper Union where NY AG debate is being held. Debate hall not being evacuated. I was ushered off block right before a live shot at 7:15. Will apprise. ⁦@NY1⁩ pic.twitter.com/WZuHoK4nAG

— Josh Robin (@joshrobin) September 6, 2018

Updated

The suspicious package turned out to be a "harmless suitcase."

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's this week's NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

This morning in inflatables

First, on Astor Place, EVG reader Liz S. shares this photo (subject line: "can't bear it") of the Thomas Burberry Bear ... the bear has been making the rounds showing off the brand's new logo, having been spotted at Xintiandi Taiping Lake, Shanghai.

Meanwhile, on Seventh Street and Avenue B, the Philosophical Zombie notes the always mesmerizing lime green inflatable tube man welcoming back students to the St. Brigid School...

3rd Annual Alphabet City Short Film Festival is Saturday at the 6BC Botanical Garden

The 6BC Botanical Garden, located on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C, is playing host to the 3rd Annual Alphabet City Short Film Festival Saturday evening.

Here's info via Facebook:

Join us for a rare screening of diverse shorts by local filmmakers. Curated by 6BC member and filmmaker Kris Enos.

• “I Aint Lazy, I'm Just Dreamin” 2015, 7 minutes
A concept music video that harkens back (...or forward?) to a time of hobo prophets, mulligan stew, orange ladies, bowery boys, bawdy vaudeville acts, and the fuzz. A burlesque club musician en route to work imagines magical dreams ... or is he living them? Featuring cameos by several Downtown NYC filmmakers and performers.
Director: Bill Poznanski

• "SunnySide Up" 2003, 26 minutes
A comedy from NYC... Where do babies come from? Marie doesn't want to know, but she's going to find out.
Director: Charles Krezell

• “Downfall” 1989, 6 minutes
An experimental documentary, shot between 1988-1989. The East Village May Day protests, interspersed with New York City Marathon footage. The demolition and beginnings of gentrification in Alphabet City — a neighborhood under siege.
Director: Kris Enos

• “Willow Weep For Me” 2017, 8 minutes
After 41 years of Cher, a willow tree beloved by her community and strongly identified with La Plaza, she's dismantled for the neighborhood safety. Her life is celebrated with a wake in the garden, officiated by community members.
Director: Alvah Holmes

• Mahagonny Songspiel Animation Reel” 2018, 5 minutes
Hand-painted animation inspired by Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht's early operatic work. The city of Mahagonny offers prosperity, but its citizens prove to be its undoing.
Director: Klay-James Enos

• “Penelope & Kennedy” 2017, 19 minutes
Two women face the challenges of their unique relationship.
Director: Anthony Laura

The films start at 8 p.m.

Emmy Squared's owners are bringing grilled pizza to the former GG's space on 5th Street

[EVG file photo]

Matt and Emily Hyland, who run Emily and Emmy Squared, have announced their intentions for the former GG's space on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

In a fall preview at New York magazine, the Hylands say they'll be bringing the under-represented grilled ­pizza to the address.

The Hylands reportedly went to "grilled-pizza mecca" Al Forno in Providence, R.I., on their first date while attending Roger Williams University.

Per New York:

Hyland plans to cook his pizzas over a hybrid gas-and-charcoal grill. The key, he says, is achieving a crust that’s crisp, but not cracker-crisp, and also soft. He’ll use a nifty combo of Fontina, Pecorino, and a fancy, eminently meltable Jasper Hill Farm shredded-cheese blend on some of the pies. And that’s not all. More so than at their other restaurants, the kitchen will delve into non-pizza dishes including housemade pastas like spaghetti chitarra with clams and bonito butter; grilled whole fish and head-on shrimp; and johnnycakes treated like polenta and topped with, say, roasted mushrooms and bitter greens.

Emmy Squared was originally thought to be taking over GG's. However, that space has been dormant since GG's closed on Dec. 23.

Emmy Squared, with its Detroit-style pizza and double burgers, opened on First Avenue at Fifth Street in July.

The still-unnamed grilled pizzeria is expected to open in November, per New York.

Gotham Pizza looks closed

Several readers in recent days have noted that Gotham Pizza has not been open during its usual business hours ... with the space cleaned out here on 12th Street at Third Avenue, as these photos by EVG reader Laura K. show (and H/T @JCooper911!) ...



Gotham's phone is still in service, though there isn't any answer. The various online delivery services note that this Gotham location isn't currently taking any orders.

The pizzeria, part of a mini chain, opened here in August 2016.

Their slices were serviceable though nothing spectacular... and why bother with the excellent slices at Joe's beckoning around the corner on 14th Street. And telling — despite the proximity to five dorms (four NYU and one New School), Gotham Pizza never seemed all that busy.

The corner space last served up the FroYo via Funkiberry. There were more slices before this with AAA (New) Amici Pizza.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Funkiberry-replacing pizzeria revealed on 3rd Avenue

Hey, the Funkiberry closed on 3rd Avenue

Hey, the Funkiberry space is for lease on 3rd Avenue

Hey, Funkiberry is now open on 3rd Avenue

Hey, the Funkiberry sign is up on 3rd Avenue

The Detox Market now open on East Houston

More than two years after the new-building reveal, 76 E. Houston St. at Elizabeth has a new tenant... the Detox Market recently opened for business.

This is the first NYC outpost for the shop, with multiple locations in Los Angeles and Toronto, that offers "green beauty brands to detoxify your life" ...



The two-story structure, which is adjacent to the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall (also owned by Goldman Properties), was a long time coming. Construction took several years. (BoweryBoogie reported in October 2014 that work slowed down here due to Certificate of Occupancy issues and a dispute over the property line.)

No. 76 was previously home to the big top of Billy's Antiques.


[EVG photo from 2011]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Deal off to bring Crif Dogs to the former Billy's Antiques space

The Houston/Bowery Mural Wall has been boarded up

Full stop work order for 76 E. Houston St., and the return of Billy's Antiques (sort of)

Checking in on the incoming building at 'the four corners of Downtown'

The painting Billy Leroy left behind

Banksy's grim reaper and the old Bowery ghosts