Gallery Hop: A Trip to an East Village Exhibition Causes a Quick Retreat to Chelsea

It’s true: Chelsea is indeed the center of the art world. So, as an experiment, I thought I’d break from the norm and go to an East Village exhibition. It used to be that the East Village was the home of cutting-edge art. Nowadays, it’s the home of ironic amateur art exhibitions complete with soft drinks. I should have known better. Just the name of the gallery itself ([Giant Robot]) should have been a warning. Hipsters were crowding the area, making connections and basically ignoring all of the art (while smuggling in beer) at the Tides of March: New Works by 17 Artists show. For that, I have to give them credit, but this was ridiculous. True, some people don’t really look at art when they’re in the galleries, they see it as more of a social thing, but I have never seen this behavior at such a level. 

At the Giant Robot gallery there were crude drawings with lazy and forgettable paintings.  I guess one could describe it as snarky wholesomeness. To be fair, this was a group show and some of the stuff was well done—in the “arts and crafts” sense—but everything exuded this trait and there was very little in the way of a genuine artistic aesthetic.

What happened to this city? It wasn’t always like this. Gentrification is one thing, but why bother going through the charade of creating faux bohemia?

Now, back to Chelsea where I attended the [Peter Hujar: Second Avenue] opening reception at Matthew Marks Gallery. The irony shines. There I was in Chelsea, taking in an exhibition of someone from the East Village, back when it was the East Village. Peter Hujar was a photographer who was known for black and white, intimate portraits. Born in Trenton, N.J., he moved to NYC and worked in advertising and fashion areas. I wish he could have been there at his opening. I would have liked to have asked him if Frank Paulin was an influence since Hujar's works can be perceived as a Punk/Post-Punk version of Frank Paulin’s city snapshots. I compare him to Paulin since he, too, was documenting with artistic expression.

Hujar had a certain way of illuminating the picture. Using the gelatin-silver process he created a tone which is prominent in every picture. It’s one of the themes that bind together all of these shots.  Most of the photos chosen were taken from his East Village studio at 189 Second Avenue. The photo that’s pictured was a girl sleeping in his hallway. It's priceless to see time captured from the era of 1970 to 1987.

Peter Hujar once said that New York City is one of the loneliest places in the world. Even though it’s a city of millions, his subjects are mostly are shown in solitude, dealing with their states of mind, without any superfluous background. Despite the freakish nature of some of those characters, they were never exploited. He hauntingly evoked that mythic era and froze it—without judgment.

Peter Hujar: Second Avenue through April 26. Matthew Marks Gallery, 523 W. 24th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-243-0200.

Tides of March: New Works by Seventeen Artists through  April 16. [Giant Robot], 437 E. 9th St. (betw. 1st Ave. & Ave.), 212-674-GRNY (4769).