It's Not Safe, 1983. Mixed media and collage on paper with canvas backing. 83 1/2 x 120 in (212.1 x 304.8 cm)
James Kalm has pedaled from Manhattan’s Lower East Side back to Brooklyn along Essex Street for years. Last week, his eye was captured by dark gray “paintings” hanging in a creepy, under construction ground floor space. A reassessment of the 1980s East Village art scene started as a trickle about twenty years ago. Now it’s being driven by “institutional forces,” and has become a market tsunami. Inexplicably, one of the artists who seemed best to capture the burned-out, exuberance of this tragic decadence has been overlooked.
James Fuentes has organized a “Pop-Up” exhibition of major works from the mid-1980s by Sue Coe. These pieces are like black holes of nostalgia, dragging viewers (at least those who witnesses the decade) back to that challenging period, and depicting shockingly parallel social situations to present times. These large paper works are constructed by collaging small studies of faces, figures and objects into large unstretched sheets.
EJ Hauser’s latest venture features bold graphic designs of cartoon animals employing her signature pixelated/pointillist brushstrokes. Extra punch is added to the mix with a beefed-up color sense, and the inclusion of glinting metallic pigments. A musical introduction is supplied by Kid Bowery. This program was recorded May 21, 2021. #jameskalmroughcut #lorenmunk #kalmsees