"Death of Venus" by K-Guy

Just down the block from Artlog's Shake Shack-fueled, Misshapes-dj'ed, pre-Miami party at the Chelsea Art Museum, a brand new gallery was celebrating its inaugural group exhibition. Indica on 11th, owned by Alex Mallick Williams (art lover, daughter-in-law of Robin Williams), opened on Thursday night in a long, narrow space facing the highway. For some, the name, Indica, might refer to the '60s London art gallery where, famously, John Lennon met Yoko Ono, while for others, the word may bring to mind that popular strain of marijuana (a shorter-bodied plant that tends to produce a heavier, body high commonly referred to as "couchlock"). As Mallick explains, her gallery "aims to maintain a spirit of fun and take cues from counter culture, showing a mix of both established, emerging and street artists."

From left: Alex Mallick Williams and Wendy Asher

Perhaps in a nod to its London predecessor (the galleries are connected only in name, not ownership), Indica on 11th's first show featured almost all British artists in an exhibition curated by Wendy Asher, a longtime art collector based in Los Angeles and family friend of Mallick. Asher named Indica's first show, "Dirty Little Secret," not for a closeted pot-smoking habit, but for the art collection that she was forced to keep hidden from her husband, music producer, Peter Asher, for many years. Among the secretly purchased pieces were early works by Warhol, Ruscha, and Kruger, now part of an impressive personal collection.

Tobias Keene with "Winged Victory"

For her curatorial debut, Asher selected five artists, filling the entire front room with large paintings by Tobias Keene, an LA-based, British-born artist. Keene's paintings, like his large "Winged Victory," often incorporate antique elements to conjure the spirit of another time, a loss of innocence. His large-scale image of Nike is rendered in black and white, with strokes of red and gold over-painting, turning the piece into massive relic. Not only is the roughly painted gold seemingly chipping off, but Keene has also rubbed sand onto the spot where the sculpture's foot would have been, adding a subtle textural impression of that long-lost, phantom foot and giving his flattened Nike a hint of 3-D life.

From left: "Nike" by Laura Keeble and Laura Keeble

"Money Makes the Merry-Go-Round," by Laura Keeble

One room back, Laura Keeble's playful little sculpture, "Money Makes the Merry-Go-Round," is based on a piece she illegally installed outside of the Bank of England in London last year. A commentary on the ups and downs of the world economy, Keeble's horses are made from international bank notes as well as tears from The Financial Times. The moving miniature version displayed at Indica on 11th, circles around and around. "This is one ride," says the hot pink haired artist, "that you just aren't able to get off of."

Nicholas Bowers

It's clear from their real estate in the show, that Asher (also sporting some hot pink streaks in her hair) responds to Keeble and Keene, but she hasn't forgotten about the younger sect. Nicholas Bowers, an artist who works with Shepard Fairey in California, has a full wall of pieces in his first-ever gallery show. Asher, who points to Bowers as a new talent to watch, has fostered the careers of several emerging artists, including early collecting of Fairey, Banksy and others. Mallick, who's first exhibition is on view until December 22nd, won't reveal much about her upcoming program, but mentions a possible future project with an unnamed graffiti artist, perhaps following in Asher's footsteps as a patron of street art.

"Dirty Little Secret" at Indica on 11th, 150 11th Avenue, New York, NY. Through December 22.

All images by Annie Powers

New York Dolls at Max's Kansas City, ca. 1970. Courtesy Anton Perich/Steven Kasher Gallery, New York

Since legendary music venue Max's Kansas City and its storied backroom closed in November of 1981, the cool that used to hang thick around the place -- around William Burrough's table, Andy Warhol's backroom, and Debbie Harry's backstage -- has dissipated and gone on to as many scenes as its former habitués.

Today, Max's Kansas City, or 213 Park Avenue South, is a deli and not even an especially interesting one -- a detail Andy Warhol would no doubt relish. Now, getting into the space that once housed the 1970's most exclusive music scene is as easy as buying a bag of chips. Not that the mystique of Max's Kansas City was ever dependent on its location. Lou Reed, Robert Rauschenberg, Willem de Koonig, the New York Dolls and tastemakers Mickey Ruskin and Peter Crowley made Max's.

Earlier this week, Max's cool descended upon the Steven Kasher Gallery for the opening of an exhibition accompanying the launch of a new book from Abrams Image entitled Max's Kansas City: Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll. Lou Reed and Danny Fields were among the Max's regulars who came out to look back and remember the original downtown scene. For your chance to slip past the velvet ropes, see the show before it closes on October 9^th.

Photos by: Christos Katsiaouni

Last night, Tribeca's Dash Gallery opened their doors for art enthusiasts and cyclists alike for "Joy Ride," a group show organized around the theme of, you guessed it, bicycles. The exhibition includes work by Tom Sachs, Agathe Snow and Spike Jonze alongside many emerging artists, and kicks off the Bicycle Film Festival (now in its 10th year).
The film festival (at Anthology Film Archives in New York through this weekend) is traveling to more than 40 cities worldwide. See the festival website for details.

The debut of Mark Ryden's new show at Paul Kasmin gallery last week was not your typical Chelsea opening. For one, many of the cult artist's fans came out to see Ryden's new paintings and works on paper —"The Gay 90's: Old Tyme Art Show" —dressed in "Old Tyme" 1890s-style garb. (One guest walking on stilts wearing a massive gown made of large replica pieces of meat was truly a sight to behold.) Ryden's big-eyed, doll-like heroines never lose their impassive expressions, whether they're lying across on Jesus's grand piano, purchasing meat from Abraham Lincoln, or wearing a dress made of of raw meat and sausage links.

Mark Ryden

Performance artist Ali Schmitz

Photos by Christos Katsiaouni

Art fans came out in full force last night to mark the opening of The Armory Show, which is on view until March 7 at Pier 94. The after party was at MoMA, where The Walkmen performed and guests got a little silly.

Last Saturday a crowd gathered for the opening of Wolfgang Tillmans' latest solo show at Andrea Rosen Gallery. Clutching a Rolling Rock, the German artist happily chatted up guests and friends, John Waters among them.



Wolfgang Tillmans



John Waters



Cole Mohr


Andrea Rosen

Photos by Marc Gabor

Last Thursday night, The National Arts Club was the scene of the opening of "7:10," a group exhibition featuring the work of "seven young artists for the new decade": Francesca DiMattio, Jenna Gribbon, Annabel Mehran, Lola Montes, Caris Reid, Ava Warbrick and Dustin Yellin. The gracious space was packed with eye candy, both on the walls and in the flesh.



Photos by Christos Katsiaouni.

In this era of still-on-the-stretcher, deathbed Tweeting, it was refreshing to see throngs of New Yorkers braving the bitter cold Wednesday night to pay homage to rock god Patti Smith (above left) and her decidedly analog art.  In yet another permutation of her decade-plus collaboration with photographer Steven Sebring, Smith, 63, has mounted "Objects of Life" at the Robert Miller Gallery in Chelsea, a far-flung multi-media mix that includes everything from her elaborate wooden litter strewn with poetry and eerie silkscreens of Ground Zero to Sebring’s worshipful shot of Smith’s crusty old black boots.  

Steven Sebring



Without question, Smith has been feeling the love on the serious-artist front. The show comes on the heels of retrospectives at Fondation Cartier in Paris and Artium Centro-Museo Vasco de Arte in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, as well as a 300-work extravaganza organized by the Andy Warhol Museum that made the rounds from Houston to Rotterdam.

A cynic might posit that "Objects" is the cash-money leg of the duo’s artistic tour. (Sebring's documentary, “Patti Smith: Dream of Life,” aired late last month on PBS, and Sebring has provided artwork for three of Smith’s recent albums.) Still, it’s fun to see them squaring off against each other, as they do with their dual images of Childhood Dress. While Smith’s black and white Polaroid of her sweet smocked kiddie frock is listed at $3000, Sebring’s take—a lush, light-boxy pigment print—can be had for $12,500. Not that Smith is selling herself short; her haunting “South Tower Skyline” silkscreen is expected to fetch $45,000.

Zac Posen

Steven Sebring

Next up for the ageless, eternally busy bee: Just Kids (Ecco),  a memoir of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, which bows later this month.

Photos by Ryan James MacFarland.

Click HERE to see our previous Gallery Go-Round entries.

Last night, the opening of the "The Martus Maw," an exhibition of paintings by not-very-well-known French artist Nicolas Pol on the Lower East Side was the "it" destination for New York's chic set. (The fact that the show was curated by Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld probably had something to do with it.) Afterwards, the VIPs -- think Tom Sachs, Aby Rosen and the Roitfelds -- headed to Indochine.

Daphne Guinness

Carine Roitfeld, Olivier Bialobos, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld

Tom Sachs and Aby Rosen

Genevieve Jones and Carlos Mota

From left: Adam Lippes; Fabiola Beracasa

Byrdie Bell (right) and friend.

Photo of Tom Sachs & Aby Rosen by Patrick McMullan, all other images by Meghan McElheny

Collectors may have tightened their belts, but the crowd thronging the gallery Haunch of Venison last night was happy to loosen them to sample the mouth-watering art on display. Thrown by Kreemart and American Patrons of Tate, the event showcased commissioned cakes by four artists, each of whom designed a delectable work in collaboration with a leading pastry chef.

Leandro Erlich teamed with Guido Mogni of Sant Ambroeus to produce “You Can’t have Your Cake and eat it too,” which took the form of a lifesize chocolate sofa, while Rob Wynne made “Cake, Cake” (the word ‘Cake’ spelled out in letters made of cake, as shown above) aided by Lidia Bastianich and Brooks Headly of Del Posto.

Mickalene Thomas, meanwhile, sent topless beauties (above) into the fray, bearing trays laden with cakes that they hand-fed to anyone eager to take a bite. (Thomas' treats came via Bob Spiegel of Creative Edge) And artist Marina Abramović, working with Daniel’s Dominique Ansel, kept herself busy conducting the “Abramović experiment,” wherein participants were invited to don lab coats and smear gold leaf over their lips before gathering in a cluster to form a symbolic cake with their bodies. Cakes, naturally, were their reward for all that hard work.

Marina Abramović