WE LOVE NEKE CARSON

When Neke Carson moved to New York in 1969 after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design he exemplified a new type of artist schooled in the cerebral conceptualism of Marcel Duchamp and inspired by Andy Warhol’s expansion of Pop Art into film and multi-media events. Carson quickly established himself as a conspicuous participant in the Fluxus-infused downtown scene where distinctions between art and life, and the separation between performing and object making, were often blurred.  Although he was primarily a performance artist, Carson also exhibited objects in galleries.  Equally important was his realization that newspapers and magazines provided a new alternative venue through which ideas could be communicated and audiences expanded.

This online exhibition is devoted exclusively to Carson’s early art from 1970 to 1985, the period in which he first established himself as one of the art world’s original thinkers. It is a show filled with unusual masterpieces: psychologically-charged drawings that hint at impropriety; ephemera from guerilla performances staged in Soho galleries without permission; the notorious rectal-realist paintings created with a paintbrush in his behind; and objects connected with ventures like Carson’s LaRocka Modeling Agency and LaRocka Nite Club (later Armageddon) that functioned both as performance art and real-life business.  The works display Carson’s entirely individual take on things, his sense of style and humor, and the transgressive streak that has always kept him a little on the outside.

Gallery 98 is offering some of the best items from this early phase of Carson’s ongoing forty-year career. It is a challenging legacy not only because of the content of the works, but also because of the rarity of the objects due to a devastating fire in 1984 that destroyed much of Carson’s  early work.  Sometimes a printed announcement is all that remains from an important performance.  There exist now only a few drawings from these years and their intent is not aesthetic but as expressions of ideas. What survives is an intriguing and unfamiliar body of work that establishes Carson as one of the most interesting artists to emerge in the 1970s, a decade dominated by performance, conceptual and neo-Dada art.  And Carson continues to be active. For the last twelve years he has been organizing performance events at the Gershwin Hotel in New York; in 2008 he had an exhibition at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh;  and in 2009 he showed new photography at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Booksellers, NYC.

Neke Carson--who is also a member of The Triangle Project--exhibited his work at the Copenhagen Photo Festival in 211.




The exhibition was at the DAMP Gallery in Copenhagen and the opening was well attended, as you can see in the above video, that also includes the video screening of Neke's "Inglourious Bastrds Oiano Performance" video.

More about the exhibtion in Copenhagen, go HERE

Neke Carsons Site HERE

Gallery 98's Site HERE

Max's Kansas City - Art Imitating Life, Imitating Art - Curated by Jacob Fuglsang Mikkelsen

In the fall season of 2004, The exhibition called Max's Kansas City - Art Imitating Life, Imitating Art curated by Jacob Fuglsang Mikkelsen in collaboration with Yvonne Sewall Ruskin was shown at The Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, housed in the 13th Century Churh called Nikolaj in the center of Copenhagen. It was one of the first exchanges between Copenhagen and New York, as part of what later became The Triangle Project. The concept and shape of the Triangle had a large part in the design of the catalog that was designed in collaboration with Emilie Hasløv. The very fact that Dan Flavin's sculpture in the Red Back Room creates one large Triangle and two within itself is of course also of great inspiration. The above collage was created by Danish Graphic Designer Sten Jauer for Copenhagen's free newspaper called Citadel. Most of the images are taken by Anton Perich.

The Banana is the new cross! Anton Perich's lightbox of Warhol to the left and a print of Mich Jagger by Warhol to the right. The original Banana hanging above Warhol's head is one of the ones he made in connection to designing the LP cover for Velvet Underground and Nico and a photo by Billy Name also documented the moments when they were made

The Tiger Morse Golden Dress from behind, with a print of Candy Darling by Richard Bernstein to the left and Andy Warhol taking a polaroid of Anton Perich, who took the picture of him. And the Banana as the new cross.

A Bald Silver Model wearing a golden dress by Tiger Morse with a silkscreen print on the front, in the background the Back Room insatallation behind the black curtain. An image of Tiger Morse with her back huge glasses on the right side of  the entrance.

The stairs up to the main part of the exhibition, with red bulbs in the old church's light crown.

The Malcolm Morley painting of Mickey Ruskin and his split up family at a messy breakfast table

Leee Black Childer's "Who is Who of Max's" installation with images and his brilliant text

Spread from PUNK Magazine of Debbie Harry to the left and print by Richard Bernstein of the Back Room and Dan Flavin's  Red Neon Triangle Sculpture

The re-creation of the Back Room with an original Dan Flavin Red Neon Triangle Sculpture with video's by Anton Perich and Ira Schnider. The sound from the video was connected to a speaker where a mirror was glued to the membrane on top of the room. Onto this this mirror, a laser was shot from high up in the tower of the church and down throughout the exhibition with several mirrors, finally hitting the mirror when the music that was playing in a loop ("All Tomorrows Parties" most of the time) made the membrane move, making the green beam of light bounce up into the vaulted ceiling, where in the center there was a fish fresco sculpture that danced with the vibrating laser. It was a little hello! to Billy Name who is also a fish. The laser installation was inspired by Frosty Myers laser installation that he made at Max's, that shot out of his studio window, down through Park Avenue South and finally hitting a mirror that was glued to the speaker membrane of the Juke Box inside.

Anton Perich's paintings of Andrea "Whips" Feldman, Candy Darling and Cyrinda Foxe Tyler done with his painting machine. The video on the monitor is of the painting machine painting the very same paintings, shot by Anton Perich in his NYC studio.

The "Girl Eating a Banana Dress" was made as a tribute to the "Max's Kansas City exibition" by Ann Charlotte Vengsgaard and as a part of a fashion-line-up and interactive catwalk performance. Anton Perich's print was on the front of the dress and he signed it "live" on the back of the model Sabine, as a part of a happening produced on the "Copenhagen Night of Culture". The same Night that Frosty Myers installed his Pyramid Light Sculpture over the Nikolaj Church and Maya Albana performed music from her album "God Bless Education".

Betsy Johnson T - Shirt installation in the glass box and Debbie Harry (who also worked as a waitress at Max's) in her first band The Stilettos hanging above by Bob Gruen

The Frosty Myers Search Light Pyramid Sculpture over the Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, housed in the 13th Century Nikolaj Church. The Sculpture installation was specially designed for the Copenhagen City Night of Culture held each fall.

The above invitation for the 40th Anniversary event in 2005 held at the Hit Factory Studios that also houses Gibson Guitar Show Rooms. The project was also a fundraiser for Max's Kansas City Project, with an auction with art work by artists connected to Max's. The invite was designed by the Turkish artist and DJ Cansu Aybar, who is part of the  Istanbul Art Collective KOP ART. She was also later part of The Triangle Project as DJ Bang in both Istanbul and Copenhagen.

The image above of actress and model Misha Sedgwick (also Anton Perich's muse) from the Max's Kansas City Punk Event in 2006. Photography by Kristian Holm and Enok in Studio 7 at the Gibson Baldwin Show Room in the Hit Factory Studios.

TRISTAN PERICH IN COPENHAGEN

Tristan Perich and his friend Zach Layton had a artist in residence with DIVA in Copenhagen in connection to an exhibition at mikrogalleriet in the Nørrebro area of the city.
They were joined by Lesley Flanigan that produced films about the visit and also performed with Tristan and Zach at B7 in connection to the opening party for Zach's exhibition.

Message from mikrogalleriet

new sounds from new york: investigations in physical sound

"we are super proud to present zach layton (US) and tristan perich (US) in mikrogalleriet during february. they are both producing some very interesting, very physical and super ambitious sound installations for mikrogalleriet.
be sure to come by!"

tristan and zach will also be giving artist talks at dorkbot cph in kunsthal nikolaj, february 6th 15-17

you can download the full press release (in danish) here: http://mikrogalleriet.net/presse/presse-investigations-in-physical-sound.pdf

and you can read more about tristan perich’s “interval studies” here: http://www.mikrogalleriet.net/?p=32

A video where Tristan talks about his work

Minimal Portrait #091 - Tristan Perich - About Interval Studies from Minimal Cinema on Vimeo.

TRISTAN PERICH IN COPENHAGEN 2009

Tristan above playing on Copenhagen's Trinitatis Church House Organ


Tristan Perich was together with Katie Shima recently in Copenhagen (DK) and Malmö (SWE) to perform. In Malmö as part of the "Overhead Festival" produced by Christopher Nelson and in Copenhagen as part of "Festival of Endless Gratitude" produced by Hurraaaa (fomer Bottega Areté). On the 22nd of June he will perform at Scandinavian House in New York as part of The Triangle Project PART 6.

Tristan Perich sites:

www.tristanperich.com

One Bit Music: www.1bitmusic.com

Myspace: www.myspace.com/tristanperich

Website for Scandinavian House: http://www.scandinaviahouse.org

The Future: Tristan Perich in Copenhagen 2010