Nichelle Newsletter

Smile

Chicks and Giggles Ticket, originally uploaded by nichellest.

I am so busy that recaps take too much time.

Chicks and Giggles did the Black Comedy Experiment on Saturday, NYU on Monday and we have a show tonight at Ochi's Lounge.  I would post pictures of the comedians but I would take care of the red eye on the pics first.

SXSW:  I am not going, but many of you are.  Nate from Bricabox has created a party wiki, SXSWHere.

Art:  See beautiful stained glass work from artist Joseph Cavalieri this Thursday at Gallery 24
(111 Front Street  #220) in DUMBO.  I will be there!

Clothing Swap: March 9 at Greenpoint Church of the Messiah. I am not organizing, but I plan to swap.

Shining Star

new museum art, originally uploaded by candiedyams.

Bowery:  Last night, I went to the New Museum on Bowery and I love the building, but outside of a few pieces like the one pictured above, I am not so impressed with the art.

Book:  My friend gave me a copy of Blogging Heroes for my birthday.  The book interviews 30 top bloggers, and  from what I read of the book so far, the top bloggers say you have to passionate about something to blog.

Cup Runneth Over:  If Tanya from The O'Debra Twins tells you how disgusting "Two Girls One Cup" is, then I have no interest in seeing it WHATSOVER.

The Glamorous Life

Birthday salutations: To fellow Sag and Southern Girl, Tayari Jones.

Do a night in Chelsea for under $15:  Go to a few openings on a Thursday night (I went to Rebeca Raney's opening at Monya Rowe), have a margarita at Trailer Park ($7.50 with tip)and get a Hot Diggity dog from F&B ($4.00).

Fabulous is as Fabulous does: After watching about four episodes of Kimora Lee Simmons' "Life in the Fab Lane", I  have my new mentor, my glamour compass, my true north. I must have Fabulosity, the book.

Game Is My Middle Name

Art: I have an artists postcard that I got at AGAST last month. that I had been using as a bookmark, and I really like the artist's work.  Check out artist and poet Joanne McFarland.

Vote: For Matthew W. Caldecutt for Alley Insider People's Choice.  See this is how works, if he becomes famous, then I will get rich and/or famous and then he can die.   It's win-win!

Show: Tonight's Chicks and Giggles is a special one with ukeleles, characters and a surprise guest.

Gift:  A perfect shirt from Locher's for my friend who is not a fan of les enfants.

Hurry On Now

jonathanshorr bathroom, originally uploaded by candiedyams.

Meat: After Thanksgiving, don't have leftovers. Come to the Meat and Potatoes show on November 26 with fresh stories about growing up middle class.  It's funny enough for the richies and the poors.

Fete: I am planning a wondrous holiday party at the Jonathan Shorr Gallery on Saturday, December 1. It is a party where we celebrate many of the December holidays including Monkey Day.  I need performers, so email me if interested. No pay, but how often do you get your party on drinking vodka in an art gallery in Soho?!

Treat: Cupcakes Take The Cake Third Anniversary Party is December 6 at Beauty Bar.  It's gonna be a cupcake lover's dream!

Gettin Wise

Diana Schoenbrun's plushies, originally uploaded by candiedyams.

Suspension: I roamed about lower Manhattan looking for suspenders and I found them at Ted's Formal Wear. I will wear them with a long skirt I bought at the Salvation Army.

Surprise: Flipped through the latest issue of Essence and found a jewelry designer who stuff I adore. Check out Subversive Jewelry.

Schoenbrun: My friend Diana's plushies are on display at MF Gallery through December 23.

Dirty Mind

BrianLeo2, originally uploaded by candiedyams.

Saturday evening was a visit to a few art galleries.  Starting in Chelsea,
I stopped by the Cueto Project and saw the Marko Velk exhibit. Then I went across the street and saw this exhibit of 25,000 laser cut paper moths.  I am not sure who the artist is, but it was amazing.

Later, I went down to Soho for a private party (me and three friends) at the Jonathan Shorr Gallery.  The picture above is artwork from Brian Leo.

BTW, the New Museum on Bowery opens December 1st.

Front The Most

ice cream in mccarren park, originally uploaded by youngna.

Arty:  Met supercool artists and dancers at Jonathan Shorr Gallery Saturday night.

Drawn:  If you read comics, check out Douglas Wolk's book, Reading Comics. 

Film:   Enjoyed a summer blockbuster, "The Bourne Ultimatum" and it makes me want to visit Morocco.

Nerds:  You may have read about Nerdcore in the Sunday Styles of the Times, but did you know that Negin Farsad and Kimmy Gatewood (Chicks and Giggles comedians) directed and produced a documentary, Nerdcore Rising? Check out the trailer!

Not a twat: The fashionable backlash to the Anya Hindmarch "I am not a plastic bag" craze.

Step Into My Office, Baby

A beautiful elevation, originally uploaded by Badison.

Random things that make me love this city!

Last week, I did a free initial consultation for a person who will may my bookkeeping services (fingers crossed), and they gave me some CDs as a token of gratitude, which included  Belle and Sebastian's "Dear Catastrophe Waitress". I never had any Belle and Sebastian, but "Step Into My Office, Baby" is one of my Pandora stations.

Also, I stopped by Jonathan Schorr's gallery in Soho and talked about art and everything aesthetically pleasing.  Just so happens a photographer walked by and the picture above is from his Flickr stream.

Starfish And Coffee

its having the time to fill it all in, originally uploaded by arlene textaqueen.

Last Saturday, I met the wonderfully talented artist, Arlene Textaqueen.  She was doing a portrait of a friend of mine and now that I have seen some of her work, I am a big fan!

By the way, the latest issue of the LVHRD MGZN is out and ready for download.  The cover art was created by Paul Pope.

Piece Of My Heart

JHeart, originally uploaded by candiedyams.

Two weeks ago, I met street artist JesOne and she gave me of her posters. If you live in Queens, you may have seen them.

Check out her Flickr set of the "Jheart Line".

The Sweetest Thing

Treats, originally uploaded by Undiscovered Superstar.

The Other White Meat:  Open Art Studios in Bushwick is this weekend. 

Something Fishy:  Sushi demonstration and knife sale at  The Brooklyn Kitchen (616 Lorimer St) on Monday June 4.

A Hamburger Two Days Ago: After a client meeting, I treated myself to a late lunch at BRGR (7th Avenue near 26th St, Chelsea). The bacon cheeseburger that I had was great!  The bun is a soft and tasty that I could eat on its own.

True Colors

Friday night, my friends and I stopped by V&A gallery in Chinatown for Ryan Hixenbaugh's opening. I really like Ryan's use of muted colors in his work.  Then we grabbed  dinner down the street at Big Wong King (67 Mott St).  The duck  was delicious!  Later, we attended a party in the East Village, and there was a live jazz trio playing and Sugar Sweet Sunshine cupcakes for the birthday girl.

clipped from www.artcal.net Ryan Hixenbaugh        V & A East Village / Lower East Side   98  Mott Street    212-966-5457 May 11 - June  2, 2007   Opening: Friday, May 11,  6:00PM -  9:00PM   Web Site   Show Map Ryan Hixenbaugh Using process as a means for interpretation, Ryan Hixenbaugh's work falls somewhere between photography and color field painting. Painted in oil with barely visible brush strokes his sparse monochrome canvases reference minimalists traditions that sought to rid art of superfluous rhetoric. However he complicates their interpretation through the addition of figures and objects that seem like subconscious projections of isolation and mystery.   Image from V & A.

How To Save A LIfe

soft sculpture anatomical heart, originally uploaded by Bird in the Hand.

Lisa Congdon:  I stopped by San Francisco artist Lisa Congdon's art opening at Rare Device.  Her very cool show, Anatomie, is inspired by anatomy books.

Dod sees god:  Sampled a hot dog at Willie' s Dawgs in Park Slope ( 351 Fifth Avenue). The Mutt dog I had was very good. Plus, there's  a great selection of mustard and other condiments that I relish.

A blogger a day: I met Joyce Hanson of My Bad Girl Blog.

Flame Thrower

So I didn't make my quota of 27 posts in seven days,  but it was fun trying.   This week, I will try to do 20 posts.  Saturday, I got some culture.  I went to the Film Forum to see "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis" which is a fantastic documentary about filmmaker and performance artist Jack Smith. Jack Smith is most famous for his  1963 film, "Flaming Creatures" that was so controversial that it was banned in 22 states.

I first heard about the  film "Flaming Creatures" in fall 2005 when I attended an event during the Performa which is a performance art biennial.  Then in 2006  artist Bec Stupak had a show at Deitch where she did a blind remake of "Flaming Creatures" based solely on what people told her about the film.  This post is getting meta, but the bottom line is there is nothing new under the sun, but it's great that people keep coming up with new ways to re-package ideas through their own perspective. That is the one thing that keeps art with similar themes from being carbon copies of each other.  If imitation is flattery, then a meme is unabashed ass-kissing.   Besos!

14th Street

Fourteenth Street balloons two, originally uploaded by Alice Ayers.

If I could listen to Rufus Wainwright's "Want One" while sipping peppermint tea, then I would be in true bliss.

Back to work, which means back to parties,  art openings, comedy and bookkeeping.

Chicks and Giggles is tonight! Check out the new site;  we're all chicksandgiggles dot.com and sh!t...

Adam Matta's MAKESHIFT is this Thursday at Here Arts Center (145 Sixth Ave). By the way, Adam is one of the Artists-in- Residence for Here.

Jake Thomas (artist, illustrator) is having a solo show at Supreme Trading. The opening is this Friday.

Womanizer: Deitch Projects (76 Grand Street) is pleased to announce a group exhibition of dangerous females featuring Julie Atlas Muz, Kembra Pfahler, E.V. Day, Breyer P-Orridge, Vaginal Crème Davis, Bambi, and Liz Renay.

Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

DSC_9270, originally uploaded by brianvan.

I'm nearing the end of a decadent week of parties, but the weekend may kill me.  I may attend as many as 6 parties in 2 days.

Highlights from the past couple of days:

Pictured above is from the after-party of the screening of the latest  Michael Lucas flick, "La Dolce Vita".   In the middle is Randy Jones from the Village People.

Art:  Caught an exhibit of fetish photography by Anita Velez in a midtown location that I am sure hosts some wild seks parties.

Design: Attended Design Blogfest and saw almost everyone who blogs and who is not homeless in NYC.

Book:  I got a copy of Backstage with Beth &  Trina, an adult scratch-and-sniff adventure.  It's the perfect Hanukkah gift for your friends who used to be groupies.

Coming up:

Art 2.0 : Wooster on Spring starts today (Friday) and goes throughout the weekend.

Talk: Randy Jones will be on a panel with Michael Musto talking about the Disco Years at Powerhouse Arena this Friday.

At Least

_DSC7085, originally uploaded by brianvan.

Weekend Recap with Recommendations

Shop: I highly recommend a trip to Daffy's for colorful footed or footless tights.

Art: Check out the current SHAG exhibit, "Donna con Bambino" at Jonathan LeVine Gallery.

Eat:  Creamy Seafood Chowder at The Half King (505 West 23rd Street) keeps your tummy feeling yummy good.

Combine: Pumpkin Pie + Redi Whip + Barefoot Wine Champagne = excellent brunch.

Read: Reserve a copy of Grant Stoddard's hilarious memoir about his sexpert stint at Nerve, Working Stiff.   It "drops" January 2007.

Inner City Blues

Last night, I attended the opening reception for "The 1,000 Faces of Spook Cornbread" at McCaig Wellles Gallery. Artist Anthony Pugh (AKA LogikOne)'s vivid work is influenced by comic books and  graffiti.   From the artist statement,

Taking on both political and racial issues, he uses dark satire to shoe the struggle of the everyday man in America. This collection's central figure, "Spook Cornbread", loosly inspired by the novel, The Spook Who Sat By The Door by Sam Greenlee, expresses anger, fear, and frustration at the "bamboozling" of life in contemporary America.

LogikOne's exhibit is amazing AND affordable!  The characters in his work reminds me of the "Fat Albert" comics and also the work of artist Ernie Barnes who work appeared in the closing credits of  70's sitcom "Good Times".   

"The 1000 Faces of Spook Cornbread" work will be on exhibit through November 29.

The Breakdown

 

Spent most of the beautiful yet chilly day in Brooklyn...I met artist Richard Egan who is also known as Kay Sera when he hosts karaoke at Hope & Anchor in Red Hook. I stopped by 440 Gallery in Park Slope and met artist Nancy Lunsford who will have an exhibit opening on November  30. I saw the "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" exhibit at Powerhouse Books, had a late lunch at DUMBO General Store, and later played pool badly, ate some nutty grapes and caught a FREE burlesque show on Avenue A. What a day!

La Vie En Rose

Bracchetto D'Aqui, originally uploaded by warriora.

Rosa Regale just may be  the official wine of art galleries.  I have attended two events where the delicious red sparking wine was served.  At the opening at Onishi Gallery in Chelsea, I had my first taste of Rosa Regale. It tastes like a red champagne.   Then I had Rosa Regale again at the closing reception for Travis Lindquist's exhibit, "Subliminal Seduction", at McCaig-Welles Gallery in Williamsburg. Travis is one of the founding members of the Goldmine Shithouse Art Collaborative, which is a group of artists who found a way to inspire each other artistically  by collaborating yet still promoting the works of each individual artist. Plus, the guys throw cool silk screening parties!

Can't You Hear Me Knocking

Don't Eat the Scenery!, originally uploaded by carpe icthus.

OMGBecky: Pictured above is  Yamamoto and  Stokes chewing up the scenery.

Brown: Brown Bloggers brunched at Dinosaur BBQ yesterday, but I got there late after getting lost and playing Boggle badly.

Curly:  Girls with curly hair are funny! check out the C & G this Tuesday when Adira Amram,  Brandy Barber, Michelle Buteau, Erin And Her Cello and  Molly Reisner perform. [Save the blowout for next week and come support the curls!]

Literary:  I am reading Joe Miller's Cross-X and he will be reading at Hue-Man Bookstore this Wednesday.

Arty:  Travis  Lundquist will be showing his work at the McCaig-Welles Gallery.  (129 Roebling St) Opening Reception is Friday the 13th.

Time For Deliverance

_DSC3702, originally uploaded by brianvan.

Thousanded:  This is my 1000 post.  I started this blog nearly three years in October 2003.

Porned:  Last week, I went to a lame party and there were two things in the goodie bags worth noting--a coupon for free threading and a book, Pornification by Andrew Benjamin.

Jacked:  Starting Sunday October 1 , Rachael Parenta has a new weekly comedy show called, "I Love Jack" at M. Shanghai’s Den, ( 129 Havermeyer Street) Since the L is not running,  be down with brown and take the JMZ to Marcy Avenue.

Watered:  Check out new work by artist Eric Zener.

Wired: I am going to Next Fest this weekend.

Home

Family Pictures, originally uploaded by candiedyams.

Pictured above is my grandfather looking very sartorial at a family wedding in Alabama.  Next weekend I will be down South visiting the peeps.

Rap:  Jon Braman, ukelele-playing rapper/songwriter, will be performing tonight at 8 PM at the Sidewalk Cafe. Arthur Lewis and Shockwave will be backing up.

Art: Hope Gangloff's opening at Susan Inglett was like a back-from-summer vacation reunion for the hipster art scene.  I really like her drawings.  The exhibit runs from now until October 14.

Soul: Head out to Brooklyn for the Atlantic Antic and stay for the soul at Magnetic Field. The Third Annual Atlantic Antic Rock' N' Soul Fest will feature The Fleshtones, The Dansettes and others.

Launch: Ladies Who Launch Live is October 19. Register today!

Smoke On The Water

_DSC2707, originally uploaded by brianvan.

Weekend Recap coming soon!


Parade:  See Alice Ayers' photo set of the Deitch Projects Art Parade.  [I missed it, but it looks like fun!]

Drink:  Included in the goody bag from the B/W party that I went to on Saturday was a bottle of Metro Mint water.  It is like chewing gum and drinking water at the same time.

Thanks:  I raised $125 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Thanks to Girly and Kambri for their donations.

Name drop:  Flavorpill founders' Mark Mangan and Sasha Lewis featured in NYT Magazine.  Long Tail, Chris Anderson, Spank Rock and Dodgeball are mentioned.  Writer Chip Brown gets props for the name drops that got me banned from Gawker.

Lush Life

streaks, originally uploaded by yinghao.

Bake: Cookie blog

Drool: All Angelina, All The Time.

Laugh: New comedy website, Daily Comedy.

Read: Michelle Embree's Young Adult novel, Manstealing For Fat Girls, a high school drama like no other.

See: Wonderful B/W New York City street photography exhibit at Photographic Gallery (252 Front Street).

Just Because

Ice Cream @ Häagen-Dazs, Shanghai, originally uploaded by yusheng.

Yesterday, I went to the Met. I finally saw the AngloMania exhibit which was great, but the Kara Walker was closed due to the fact that the Met had less staff.  I really wanted to see Kara Walker's work as I have seen some of her provocative art at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati back in the day. I don't know why the Met would not have adequate staffing on a holiday weekend when there are so many tourists in town.  Anyway, the roof garden was nice and sunny.

Yay! I got to raid my friend's voluminous library of books while housesitting so I have read Mixed by Angela Nissel (writer from the excellent show Scrubs), and now I am reading Haters by Alisa Valdes Rodriguez (Dirty Girls Social Club). Haters is AVR's first Young Adult novel which comes out in October 2006, and it is really good.

Gettin Wise

c m-d, originally uploaded by timothy b. buckwalter.

A Weekend Recap with Recommendations...

Friday, I checked out a new exhibit at the ISE Cultural Foundation in Soho. I spotted Jen Bekman there as well as meeting artist Callie Hirsch.  I got even more arty later as I went to see "Art School Confidential" at the Angelika. I laughed at the funny parts but I thought it was an amalgamation of "American Pie", "Scream" and John Water's "Pecker" all round into one movie.

Saturday, I went to the Grand Street Block party and the best thing about it was having a beer at Rose's, a nice little bar at 345 Grand St that I am sure was not there a year ago. I also stopped into Cheeks Bakery and I had one of their buttery cupcakes. [YUM!]  Later I went to two birthday parties. Birthday party season is on!

Sunday, I went to Chelsea for a artist reception. Photograher Larisa Fuchs' work is now on display at Chelsea Market. Larisa's photography is of New York's most eclectic musicians and performers including AdamMatta,Scotty the Blue Bunny, Sxip Shirey, The Wiyos and the Luminescent Illustri. Before the live music began, I treated myself to orange lemon gelato from Jimmy's Gelato. [So good!]

Hello

20060422D_7190.jpg
Originally uploaded by jcn.

Recommended...

Director John Waters' exhibit at the Marianne Boesky Gallery (535 West 22nd St) It runs now until May 20.

F&B's Viking roll (cod with horseradish, chopped tomato and onion)

Digging The Vein by Tony O'Neill. Former keyboardist for Brian Jonestown Massacre has written a gritty book that will make your hair stand on end and you might laugh, too. I saw Tony read at KGB along with other authors from Contemporary Press.

Paint It Black

IMGP2910
Originally uploaded by Alice Ayers.

After Lauren's party but before the Brazilian Muse party, Martha and I stopped by MF Gallery (157 Rivington Street) to see the lovely Molly Crabapple paint. Her work including the illustration for RKB's reading series will be on display at MF Gallery through May 14. (info and pic via Alice Ayers)

You Are My Starship

• Starsky + Cox: Sexology
• Gigi Chen artist at Deitch Project
• Moonshot Beer
• Artist Dylan Graham at Rare-Gallery

Here Comes Your Man

That Man: Peter Berlin is a fascinating documentary about Peter Berlin, a gay icon. Now playing at Cinema Village, Peter is very honest, somewhat narcissistic and simply funny as he talks about growing up in Germany, coming out, living in San Francisco, being a photographer and starring in two gay porn flicks.  A special highlight of the documentary are the hilarious commentary by irreverent director John Waters.

Peter Berlin's photography are also on display at the Leslie/Lohman gallery.

Garden Of Earthly Delights

There are so many cultural events going on this week that I have got to mention to you.

• Go see Sarah Schulman's "Manic Flight Reaction" at the Playwrights Horizon Theatre. I went to see it with Cheryl B on Saturday and I really enjoyed the play.  It's funny and it makes you think.
• Happy Ending Reading Series with Amanda Stern on Wednesday November 9 with Lisa Loeb as musical guest. Yay!
• Artist Carolyn Weltman's exhibition of her paintings, "Fresh Girls" will have an opening reception at Art at Large on November 10, from 6-9PM. (630 9th Avenue @44/45th St.)
• Ethan Lipton will be performing November 11 at Barbes in  Brooklyn with Mike Strumm
• The Fuse GAllery at Lit Lounge will play host to Bauhaus art opening with bands Gym Class and Lions and Tigers playing the after party, also on Friday November 11.

Update:  I got an email today (11/11) saying that Gym Class has broken up. Damn! I was just starting to dig their EP. I wish Dylan and the guys the best.

F@#k The Police

hot cops
Originally uploaded by candiedyams.

I mean no disrespect to our finest, but these "cops" at the Art Parade were just plain hot.  I believe I saw burlesque star "Little Brooklyn" dressed up in cop drag, but I think she was in character so she didn't hear me yell her name. It was the shortest yet wildest parade ever.  If you combine the naked spectacle of the Mermaid Parade with the Pride parade and Halloween parade and shrink the size to only three blocks, then you have the recipe of the Art Parade.

You Don't Bring Me Flowers

pink flower in central park
Originally uploaded by candiedyams.

I took this photo on saturday afternoon in Central Park after spending a couple of hours at the MCNY with Gretl and Girly. The current photo exhibit,"New York Changing"  is great, and it just offers further proof that a Starbucks opening is nothing new.  Sunday, I attended a clothes swap in Brooklyn, and later I went to Get Morified.  Everyone's stories were hilarious, but Jenny ("I am the walrus")Rubin, Laura Mannino (AKA Paula Abdul) and Law Tarello were fantastic.

Blowout Comb

Tonight I stopped by the Studio Museum Of Harlem to check out the opening night of Chris Ofili's exhibit, "AfroMuses 1995-2005". It is brilliant!  Loads of beautiful people walking around checking out the lovely watercolors that Ofili has painted.  It was crowded, but I did see Lola  Ogunnaike of the New York Times and designer Cynthia Rowley. Gawker!  Where were you?

Orange Crush

This morning I walked down to Harlem Meer to take some pictures of The Gates. You can see more pics at my Flickr.

French Kissing In the U.S.A.

Hermes had an opening reception party last night for an exhibition of photography by Parsons School of Design students. There was an abundance of white wine and cute waitstaff along with all the expensive French stuff and the lovely art photography. Being around those silky scarves and ties made me think of seks. [my mind works in mysterious ways.] But I can console myself with another round of good ol' blogf@#king. Yay! Blue Jake was there, with camera in hand. Eurotrash was there, but I missed her and I was gently reminded to mention her. Standard Deviance, Greek Tragedy (looking quite stunning), Culture Kitchen, GirlyNYC and Manhattan Transfer enjoyed another gathering where bloggers are seen, pictures are taken and gossip is exchanged. It was fun!

One day when I am older (about six months from now) and nostalgic for the summer of 04', I will think back and say, WTF?!

Amazing Grace

Whatever you are thinking doing Saturday afternoon, drop those plans and visit the beautiful new facade of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Free admission! The weekend celebration is called Open, and there will be music, dancing and a scavenger hunt. All events are Free!

Take My Breath Away

The Brooklyn Museum will be FREE this Saturday, April 17 in celebration of its new facade. If you have never been, I strongly suggest that you check it out. The Brooklyn Museum has an awesome and impressive collection of art, and it is conveniently on the 2/3 at Eastern Parkway. I love the Brooklyn Museum, and I want more people to enjoy it! Today's New York Times has a good article about the museum's desire to increase attendance.

Plus, one of my favorite bands, The Lascivious Biddies will be performing a set from 2-3PM. Come on down!