NYC x Scion Art Tour x Free Time!

Days later, I am recovering from a massive case of New York eye candy. From May 7-10 Tessar Lo and I ventured the streets of NYC by the kind support of Scion who flew us out and took care of us during our stay in the concrete jungle. There were Friends, galleries, ice cream, ramen, boozing, pizza, gyro, a thunderstorm, train fight, suicide attempt, bike fetish day and a birthday party. But let us start from the begining…
Before their new print show went live, we dropped by GRNY to check out the “Devil’s in the Details” group show. It is situated in a lovely spot sprinkled with trees, botiques and apartments.
Look at these Jordan Isip paintings. You may not see the amazing textures working here but it doesn’t defer from the power of these images. This show also featured artwork by Jeremyville, David Jien, Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch, and Yellena James (my fave of this show). Visit GRNY and check out their current show, “A NY Print Show.”
With a full belly after finishing a meal at Momofuku noodle bar, we headed out for the opening of the Scion Art Tour at The Showroom NYC.
The Scion Art Tour Installation Five was hosted by The Showroom NYC a gallery just a block away from our hotel. At 7PM the doors opened to an invite only list which filled the gallery within minutes. There was swag, booze, music and art for the guests but most importantly old and new friends. Pictured here from left to right: Ben from Ralph Lauren, JP, Tessar and Lynne. Funny thing is that back in the day, Ben used to work at the Art Store (now Blick) in Pasadena which I used to frequent when I attended the Art Center College of Design. JP used to work at the Lab 101 Gallery in Culver City. He was the friendly face I would meet when I showed there. Now he lives and works in NYC as a Photographer. And Lynne is a fellow Hawaii native who graduated from the School of Visual Arts and now works as a Graphic Designer for toys. Writing this makes me realize how far we have come.
As you can see, the packed crowd doesn’t give off the scenester vibe. It was kind of weird how many guests were there for the art and music. Can you spot Blek Le Rat? Also in a drunken stupor, Tessar nearly makes out with my painting. The boozing then carried on in some nearby dive bar.

Day 2 was spent gallery hopping in Chelsea. First stop, Joshua Liner Gallery who has a solo by Aiko (half the ensemble of Faile) entitled, “Love Monster.”
I want to mention that Joshua is a really nice guy. He even took some time out of his busy schedule to point out a few galleries we should check out. Drop by his gallery to see what I mean. Aiko’s solo exhibition continues through May 16, 2009.Many of the galleries here are of museum quality and size. And why not when you have a solo show by Chuck Close who showcased a large body of paintings and tapestries.What’s going on at Gagosian Gallery? The open portion of their location shouts out: “Yayoi Kusama!” Not quite sure if the bunny in front was part of the show, but arise something to think about. Anyways, I’ve been wanting to see this exhibit for quite some time now and boy was it worth the wait. Her show consists of works from 2008-2009 with a installation room you have to see in person to experience it the right way. Sorry I don’t have any pictures from the inside since the security guards that litter Gagosian’s 2 large rooms kept reminding visitors that no photography was allowed.
To make the night an even more surreal moment, the street our hotel was located on was blocked by police cars. Why? Right next door to our hotel, a young man started to chuck things out of his room (such objects including an iron). By the time we got there, the scene had escalated to a suicide attempt. With the street blocked people in the bars were forced to stay inside while other New Yorkers yelled at the guy to jump so they could make last call.

Day 3: Woke up at 1030AM just in time to grab a complimentary breakfast downstairs. Freshened up and met up with Tessar so we could catch a meal with Sam Weber in Greenpoint. Since Tessar used to intern for Sam, he gave me a tour of his former surroundings. Venturing further than he had done before we followed the sound of music which led us to the Bike Fetish Day festivities. There were bike enthusiasts proudly showing-off their custom and/or vintage bikes.A Brooklyn style pizzeria.And finally these are the last two photos on my film roll. This is Times Square. Tessar and I decided to check it out before the night ended. This place only exemplifies the energy of a wild city. Something I hope downtown Los Angeles will be able to achieve after it’s face lift is completed. So it is a sweet farewell until next time. Thank you to Scion’s Karen DaVanzo, Tessar Lo, Lynne Yoshii, GRNY’s Mike Denicola, Sam Weber, and the entire cast and crew of NYC for making this trip a memorable one.