You wanna go see a dead body? On Saturday night, artist Nate Hill opened his studio to unveil a life-sized human sculpture sewn out of animal parts, appropriately titled the A.D.A.M. Project (A Dead Animal Man). The parts used in the sculpture were scavenged from Chinatown garbage piles to Florida roadkill and include chicken, conch, cow, crab, deer, dog, duck, eel, fish, frog, lobster, rabbit, and shark. It was great to see up close and we’re looking forward to the E.V.E. Project.

Click here for more photo of the A.D.A.M. Project.

This was a one time viewing of the A.D.A.M. Project but you can see some of Nate Hill’s taxidermy in person at Better Beasts, a group show opening at Broadway Gallery (473 Broadway, 7th Floor) this Friday. You can also read an interview with him in the Wildlife issue of ANIMAL magazine. Interestingly, Saturday’s unveiling coincided with the four year anniversary of a giant sperm whale exploding on the streets of Tainan.

Continue reading: ‘The A.D.A.M. Project’ by Nate Hill

BETTER BEASTS

Artists:
Chiken Coop
Leslie Grant
Nate Hill
John Kilduff
David McBride
Visual Buffet Public Arts

Curated by Thomas Seely and Gerald Edwards III

February 1st-15th, 2008

Opening reception: February 1st, 6-8 pm

Broadway Gallery
473 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY�

El Anatsui: Zebra Crossing at Jack Shainman Gallery

The sculptures in the show are actually metallic tapestries, constructed out of flattened metal foils, like those found on a bottle of champagne. A very delicate wire construction holds these together – they’re all glitter and sway. Lots of fun, check it out. The metal gives it all a certain bitterness, that same taste you get when the champagne leaves that same wrapper on your tongue. Where did all these wrappers come from? Who left them on the ground? What became of those people? It’s all shadow and remnants. Whether we can know the stories or not, these tapestries are record keeping. People made these items, and El Anatsui wants to celebrate that.

“Zebra Crossing” on display through February 2nd at Jack Shainman Gallery. 513 West 20th St.

Photo by risknfun on flickr.

Michael Bell-Smith: Bouncing Lights Forever at Foxy Production

Windows screen-savers circa 1993, but with meaning. Potentially. The spare video loops are either projected or screened, just moving pixels, abstract and silent. If anything, the images are a sort of rendered starlight, though fated for far less viewers on the personal-sized t.v. screens. These works are memories, not substance. It is light and only light that creates this work, and the nature of the subject is as fleeting as the medium. It is that which doesn’t exist on which the work dwells: technology of the past, starlight in the city, the image that comes and goes without material presence. It’s only the flicker of the GIFs we have anymore, Bell-Smith suggests; zone out and wonder.

“Bouncing Lights Forever” on display through February 16th at Foxy Production. 617 West 27th St.

Image by Michael Bell-Smith, Glitter Bend, Courtesy Foxy Production

Last night, “Writer’s Strike” opened at the Lott Gallery in Chelsea. Curated by Bombin Magazine, it’s a group show of graffiti writers, street artists, and vandals covering every surface in paintings, drawings and tags. The show asks viewers to consider a New York without these illegal works where nothing counterbalances the daily onslaught of bullshit advertising. It’s too bad not everything could be seen through the crowd, which likely featured a few from the NYPD Vandal Squad taking notes. Still the work to be seen was good and the mixture of styles made for a fun show. It was the perfect antidote to an underwhelming visit with the New Museum’s Unmonumental show earlier in the night.

Check out more photos from the opening of “Writer’s Strike” here.

“Writers Strike” is on display through February 21st at Lott Gallery at DriveIn24. 443 W. 18th St., second floor; (212) 645-2244.

Continue reading: ‘Writers Strike’ Opens at Lott Gallery

Spotted on the streets of Bushwick: All City NRG, a graffiti-themed iced tea energy drink being hawked from a predictably tagged up promotional van. The new drink from AriZona comes in a ‘limited edition’ aluminum can adorned in typical mainstream graffiti fashion with the work of FACT ONE. Putting aside the lack of relevancy between graffiti and iced tea, associating your caffeine boosted drink with the aging, unpredictable, oft-flooded, rat infested, piss smelling subway system of New York City seems a little silly (MTA, we still love you!). How long before Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. denounces the drink for encouraging NYC youth to go out and bomb the city? Not long.

Continue reading: Arizona Goes ‘All City,’ Bombs Hard