Old ideas, New ideas

Chuka ran back from Harris Lieberman gallery last week and exclaimed that we all HAD to go check out a show. I didn't realize I was about to enter a House of Nausea. But it was fun nonetheless.





Julian Hoeber's DH#2 is "an interior space in which gravity appears to have been altered or suspended. As a result, visitors may experience disorientation, dizziness, nausea, and/or exhaustion."

Oy, was that right. I was outta there in about 15 seconds. But it was a completely amazing experience. And yet wait....where had I experienced this before??

READ MORE (click below) to find out...


TAGS: exhibitions

Art Theft Not Just for Dummies

After reading a handful of articles about the Rotterdam theft, Tom Flynn's article is a breath of fresh air.


My Halloween costume this year is very much inspired by art thievery. Stay tuned for photos next week.

TAGS: news

Art Fairs can be exhausting

That Texas Contemporary Fair really wore Steven out...

TAGS: artfairs

Mixed Greens @ Texas Contemporary!

Quick peek at the Mixed Greens booth: showing work by Howard Fonda, Suzanne Song, Julianne Swartz, and Mary Temple!



Kim Beck's installation in a project-zone at the fair!

Fine Texas Contemporary Fair info here!


TAGS: artfairs / installation

Gallery Girls and Interning: the legal truth

Image courtesy of The New Yorker.

The New Yorker's description of Bravo's Gallery Girls says it best:

Bravo’s “gallery girls” are unpaid interns at mediocre galleries, recent college grads blowing their trust funds on vaguely artistic pursuits. There’s mild nudity, there’s cattiness, there are really expensive shoes. There is practically no mention of art.


There's been a lot of grumbling about Gallery Girls, mainly that it wasn't about art. But why isn't there more chatter about the fact that these unpaid internships are totally illegal??

The art, design and fashion worlds have long depended on the labor of interns. But the current lawsuit involving a former Hearst intern has made it pretty apparent that those days are long over. And don't think you're going to get off easy by calling your unpaid helpers "volunteers". For-profit entities CANNOT have volunteers.

So what IS an intern? A legal one, that is...

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, there are circumstances in which an individual may "intern" at a for-profit entity without receiving compensation. The following 6 criteria must apply:

1. The internship is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
4. The employer that provides the training receives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern (and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded).
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job upon completion of the internship.
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

There are at least 3 specifications above that would contradict a majority of the "internships" in the art/design/fashion field. It's impossible to argue that sending your intern to pick up a sample swatch did not somehow benefit you, the employer. But don't start mourning the loss of labor yet. You can still have unpaid interns--but they must be students receiving school credit.

What's great about the current crackdown on this practice is that it will force companies to pay the young labor force. Those of you graduating college finally have a fighting chance at getting paid right away! No more interning for year(s) just to build up street cred.

My prediction for Season 2 of Gallery Girls (if, uggh, there IS a Season 2), is that Maggie sues Eli Klein for 3 years of back wages for her time spent interning. Now that's a storyline I'd tune in to watch.

TAGS: news

See you tomorrow at the opening!

Little preview of Joseph Smolinski's Night for Day, opening tomorrow at Mixed Greens!

TAGS: smolinski

Joseph Smolinski's "Night for Day" opens this Thursday

Heather, Joseph and Rob finalize placement of the works during installation today. We'll see you all at the opening of Joseph Smolinski's Night for Day this Thursday, 6-8pm @ MIXED GREENS!

TAGS: installation / smolinski

belated Friday Fun Day

Image courtesy of NYMag.com.

Thank you Chuka for pointing out the "best thing I've read today":

World’s Least Fun Person Removing One-of-a-Kind Slide From Apartment He Just Bought over at NYMag.

I'm guessing that's a Carsten Höller slide. And if it's not, it still does the trick of making visitors (even those in-the-art-know) wonder to themselves "is that a Carsten Höller slide?", which is, in my book, victory enough.

Happy Weekend, dear readers. For those of you in Washington D.C., be sure to check out the (e)merge fair! S&M will be there all weekend presenting work by Conor Backman. SHOUT OUT to the Washington City Paper for their nice write-up of Conor's work there.


TAGS: artfairs / fridayfunday / shoutout

Goings On

Steven & Monica are finishing up the last details for our installation/room at the (e)merge Art Fair, opening tomorrow. Mixed Greens is presenting work by Conor Backman! Be sure to check it out. Visitor info can be found here.

Also, click here to read about Joan Linder's participation in the Neo Rio Questa artist residency. We're looking forward to seeing the book she created.

TAGS: artfair / installations / linder

Linder "Weeds" in the Subway

Next time you're on the D train, you might come across some of these lovelies (pictures above). Joan Linder's intricately oversized drawings of weeds are now gracing the 71st Street subway stop as part of the Arts for Transit project. Linder's The Flora of Bensonhurst is permanently installed along the platform.

TAGS: installation / linder