Documenting chic club kids, stylish celebrities, and flamboyant drag queens with ready-in-an-instant Polaroid prints for the past five years, Jeremy Kost has developed an influential following in New York’s downtown art world, as well as on the international fashion scene. The subject of solo shows at Washington DC’s Conner Contemporary Art (Anyone Other Than Me, through March 13) and New York’s National Art Club (The Ladies Who Lunch, through March 27), Kost makes grids, collages, and blow-ups with his snaps, capturing the energy of the moment while exposing a walk on the wild side.
Click here to view a slideshow of his recent work »
The talented Mr. Terence Koh, whose poetic and provocative artworks have been labeled both brilliant and the emperor’s new clothes, was at his best last week when he delivered the performance piece Art History 1642-2009 at New York’s venerable National Arts Club. Speaking to a packed house of art-world sophisticates in a completely unintelligible language, he railed, whispered, gestured, and danced his way through a visually entertaining lecture about art since the time of Goya.
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Gallerist Jeffrey Deitch and honoree Jeff Koons
How do you recall a moment as unexpected as the National Arts Club’s presentation of its 2009 Gold Medal Award to controversial pop artist Jeff Koons? It was an over-the-top, earnest embrace of a celebrated contemporary artist in an old world setting. (View a photo gallery of the evening here.)
The National Arts Club has honored 56 artists, architects, patrons of the arts, and arts organizations since the initial Gold Medal Award in 1958. In most regards, the club still reflects the times of the first award, or an even earlier period. New York Times literary and art critic Charles de Kay founded it as a gathering place for artists, patrons, and audiences of the arts in 1898. Although it has aesthetically evolved over the years, it maintains an art salon ambiance, which relates to its beginnings; but it’s an atmosphere that’s totally charming. Paintings in gilded frames, sculptures on period pedestals, and plush sofas with broken springs create a cozy atmosphere for considering culture, both old and new.
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