Monday, May 19, 2014

The NYC Art Scene Thriving Then & Now - "The 80's Past & Present" at Bleecker Street Arts Club!

You still have a couple weeks to view a legendary exhibit entitled "The 80's Past & Present" at Bleecker Street Arts Club, not to miss.  Curated by Keith Miller the show includes works by John CRASH Matos, Michael De Feo, Ronnie Cutrone, Tom Slaughter and Scott Kilgour.  
From the gallery: Each artist is linked to the zeitgeist of the events that were transpiring in the 1980s New York art scene - the years when creativity and flash ruled the streets. It was a time when Graffiti was making its way onto the gallery walls, and Andy Warhol was the six degrees of separation of the art world. Art was changing and it was selling, and young collectors like Keith Miller were among the first to see the potential and importance of the new art coming from the streets influenced by the idea of Neo-Pop.

Have a look at a few photos from the opening reception...
John CRASH Matos
Ronnie Cutrone

Michael De Feo
Tom Slaughter
CRASH collaboration with fellow artist Bio (Tats Cru)
More about the featured artists from the gallery:

CRASH was a well-respected father of the Graffiti movement having created murals on the subways and walls at a time when New York was a lot more dangerous. As Andy Warhol’s assistant at the factory from 1972 to 1980, Ronnie Cutrone remained a main fixture in the Warhol cast of characters even after he went out on his own and developed his “Post-pop” aesthetic replete with animated character references. Even though Cutrone was not working in the street, his use of cartoon characters and common brands were his way of accessing the broader public in the decidedly Warholian pop way. Michael DeFeo was painting his iconic flower all over New York at the same time Tom Slaughter began making conspicuous images of New York City water towers, a theme which he still uses in the studio today. After emigrating from Glasgow in 1983, Scott Kilgour was using trash and found objects as his subject matter and showing at 56 Bleecker Gallery. From Scott Kilgour’s turn to formalism and Michael De Feo’s flowers, each of the five artists has been influenced in some way by the 1980s art scene. For CRASH and Ronnie Cutrone, it was being part of the nucleus of the scene. For Kilgour and Slaughter and De Feo, it was being influenced and surrounded by the scene. For their show at Bleecker Street Arts Club, each artist has a unique take on art that, at its core, is about passion and exploration of what art is and what it can be.

See it through May 31, 2014,  BSAC is located at 305 Bleecker Street, NYC.
For more information visit: http://bsacny.com