So, I've officially moved back to NYC this week. That said, first on my agenda (other than moving all of my crap) was to reintroduce myself to the NY gallery scene. My first stop was Chelsea... it was also my 2nd, and 3rd stop since there are upwards of 350 spaces there. I checked out probably about 10 places, including the Agora Gallery, and the Stricoff Gallery. At Stricoff I found some stuff I was really into- my personal favorites there were Paul Beliveau, Katelyn Alain, and Rimi Yang.
From there the next stop was Soho, where I saw some names I'm more used to seeing in Juxtapoz Magazine rather than a gallery space when I stopped at the Opera Gallery. I got to see some work by Banksy, Keith Haring, Basquiat, Shepard Fairey, and Damian Hirst to name a few. Just after I finished looking at a Ron English work (Abraham Obama), I look over and realize that Ron English himself is sitting at the front desk. I wanted to talk to him but 1) he was doing business, and 2) the part of my brain that is a coward was at the wheel. Even so, its an unbeleivably humbling experience to see such a big name. I think I sometimes forget that, even though a great work takes on a life of its own, someone made it and is that respectable. It made me reflect on my own budding life as an artist- almost to a scary degree. The only thing I can do is just persue as hard as I can and hope to make a dent in the art world before I'm dead. As unobtainable as success seems to be, now is the time to do anything I can to make it happen.
