Every week, Artnet News brings you Wet Paint, a gossip column from original scoops. If you have any advice, email Annie Armstrong at [email protected].
INSIDE AMANITA’S RED POKER LEAGUE
It seems the whole town is in turmoil Amanitathe gallery installed in the old CBGB space on Bowery It is executed by Garrett Goldsmith, Caio Twombly (yes, that Twombly), Tommaso Rositani SuckertAnd Jacob Hyman. Each opening of the space is filled up to the gills with new York Magazine That girls more anyone who has ever modeled for Marc JacobsThe lively “Heaven” campaign by , was taken to the streets by a safdie brother, or what have you. Suffice to say, that’s where the cool kids are. And, oh… oh, my dear God. They organize themselves.
Fresh paint learned that the founders of Amanita were hosting bi-weekly poker nights in the basement of their space. Curious to know more, I stopped by the gallery to see if they could tell me more about these invite-only gatherings.
Is it therefore an illegal gambling den of inequity at the Former operation of Helly Nahmad? “The games are always very honest,” Hyman assured me (the gallery doesn’t take rakes or profit from the game, so rest assured it’s legal), “except for one night, my little girl’s dog friend accidentally got pregnant.” The post-op dog was sitting on the gallery floor. Well, what’s a game of poker without a dose of vice?
Part of what was once the bathroom of famous punk venue CBGB’s. Photo by Annie Armstrong.
Gathering art world insiders to play poker is not uncharted territory, Nahmad aside: if you attend Frieze Los Angelesmaybe you were aware of Jonas WoodAnnual World Series of Art Poker held in the penthouse of the hollywood rooseveltattracting artistic luminaries such as Marc Grotjahn, Richard PrinceAnd Alex Marshall while the Felix Art Fair roils in the hotel rooms below. It was time for the New York art world to pick up the tradition, even though I assert that the Lesbian Backgammon League has been a worthy foil to Wood’s tournament for several years now, trading the hyper-masculine affair for a queer female exclusivity.
Amanita’s version takes place in the gallery’s unfinished basement, on the way to becoming a veritable amusement park. After touring their delicious new show “Works On Paper: 100 Years” – featuring well-priced merchandise by big names like John Currin, Alice Neel, Philip Guston, Pope.LAnd Robert Nava featured—former David Zwirner staff member and now Amanita gallery director Lauryn Ashley Vandyke showed me around on a recent afternoon.
In a corner Ben Werther maintains his studio practice, and directly behind him is a preserved CBGB-era bathroom – torn Pavement posters, vintage graffiti on the mirror, and everything. The main area is currently worked by Ricky Cliftonrenowned interior decorator of the crazy elite, who transforms the room into an amanita mushroom whose name the gallery bears; Forest green ceilings and a red gesso floor will complete the “Alice in Wonderland” effect when complete.
“It’s going to be a little fancy, but we’re going to keep it going with some serious furniture,” VanDyke told me. It will be a fairly easy mission to complete, as Suckert is the owner of his great-uncle’s famous house in Italy, Casa Malapartethat you may have seen in Jean-Luc GodardThe classic of the French new wave Contempt. (Suckert now creates the reproduction of the bespoke minimalist furniture his uncle designed for the iconic home.) Additionally, artist and friend of the gallery Adrian Schachter hard at work on a custom poker table for the basement. “We are furniture people, can you tell?” said Van Dyke.
Looking to train before February and those regulation tables at the Hollywood Roosevelt? Amanita’s league seems like a great place to work on your qualification. Although it has not been confirmed, I hear the buy-in is not too high. If you can swing it, I suggest you stop.
QC ON QUEER THOUGHTS
There’s been a rumor circulating around downtown New York lately that has already caught on. did you hear that strange thoughts is closing? Because I certainly have, from a number of sources. The gallery, open since 2012 under the leadership of artists Sam Lip And Miguel Bendanawas an OG in the Tribeca scene where the duo moved from there Chicago in 2015, and over the past eight years, it has delivered some of the bold programming that has made the neighborhood the hot destination it is today.
It was only recently that business was booming, and the duo told me last year that they would expand into the space above theirs to 373 Broadwayin writing, “We will continue to present work that is truly I don’t know what.”
They did indeed deliver that aura of mystery in two ways: via haunting programming dedicated to uplifting queer artistic voices, and the fact that sometimes they would, uh, just sort of shut down for a few weeks without much warning. . To this day they have always reopened with aplomb, but this time when they closed I heard it was different so I decided to go through the space myself. Arriving on the doorstep, I was buzzed by confused workers who were busy setting up filing cabinets for a new business, obviously without a gallery – with Lipp or Bendaña nowhere in sight. “Yeah, they officially closed earlier this month,” a neighbor told me.
I know what you’re thinking, this is pretty deflating news! Especially during pride month! As I mentioned before, I to like a space managed by artists, and Queer Thoughts is a prime example of how scrappy artists can make their own decisions in the commercial art space. Among the rising stars whose careers they launched are a few of my favorites: the imaginative painting designer Guilty of Chelseathe reference and striking sculptor miserly diamondand the visceral Bri Williams among them.
The last show in space, by Arthur Marie, closed on May 20, and my sources claimed it was the last act of Queer Thoughts. In a stunning twist, however, Lipp emailed me back just before publication to suggest the gallery might be reborn again, writing, “We are taking a summer break but not closing. We will have new projects opening in the fall.
How is it for I don’t know what?
WE HEAR
Nikita Gale is now represented by Petzelstarting with a solo exhibition next spring… Manhattan Art Review will publish a print issue of their irreverent and polarizing art reviews this summer… Lisa Cooley quit her job as New York director of Various small fires…Only people from the team Sotheby’s were present at Joe Nahmadof marriage, and not a soul of Christie‘s been invited (remember what I have said of the Montagues and the Capulets?)… There is a $50 bounty for anyone who can taunt the graffiti artist who left this admittedly heinous tag on Half Gallerythe window of…
spotted
Courtesy of a tipster.
*** Gavin Brown And Alex Katz have dinner together at a bakery in Paris ***Jeff Bezos had a private tour of the Richard Avedon show to Gagosian during the weekend *** Jeff Koon, Stacey Engman, Ed Ruscha, Alexandre ArnaultAnd LaToya Ruby Frazier were among the VIPs of MoMA*** Annual garden party Wolfgang Tillmans, Pascal SpengemanAnd Dara Allen were among those brave enough to set out in the deep smog on Wednesday to james fuentesis the afterparty at public hotel For Juan-Pablo Echeverrinew exhibition at the gallery *** Josh Baer seems to have granted an interview to Adam Lindeman wearing only his socks ***
⭐ ? ⭐ CALL FOR CASTING! ⭐ ?️ ?
Last week I asked you to cast me a movie based on When When Klaus Biesenbach professed his unrequited love for Marina Abramović during a dinner hosted by MoMAand imagine who would play the duo more Agnes Gund in a Mike Nichols-romantic film.
The winner goes to Alexis Johnsonpartner of Paula Cooper Gallerywho wrote in this Daniel Day Lewis is expected to come out of retirement to play one last role as Klaus, Cate Blanchett would reprise her parody of Marina in “Documentary Now!”, and Aggie Gund would be played by Glenn Close. If that’s not perfect casting, I don’t know what is. Look up, Hollywood.
My mind is set on Basel for next week’s prompt, and I like to imagine some kind of Glengarry Glen Ross type of industrial film on Noah Horowitzfirst year at the helm. Let’s see who would play Horowitz and Marc Spiegler for a film about the office dynamic that led to the current regime at Art Basel. Email your responses to [email protected]
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