Cousins

Cousins Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

Rip & Sibs

Rip & Sibs Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

Dad's Birthday

So, last weekend we celebrated Dad's 80th Birthday... his real birthdate is 26 July, but this is when we could get the most of us together. Fourty some odd of us showed up. Some cousins who I hadn't seen in twenty years... found out that some of them have been lurking my blog and Frickr. Dad was surprised (actually we all were) that some travelled from as far away as Maine (that's his sister, Evelyn). Nice to get reaquainted. Dooley and Diane (brother and sister-in-law), Diane making more food than we could possibly eat and Dooley forever trying to expand and tame the property. In an earlier incarnation the house was once the town "Poor Farm". Someday we might have to reinstablish that...

Painting, then...

I'm having an awful time trying to post on this blog... after an hour of typing, it all goes away. Anyway... here's one of the paintings I've been doing. The red lines were painted over an unfinished canvas, given to me be a friend. No thought, just make the lines. From there I discovered / created the images. Kind of fun, actually. Sylvia hasn't sent me the pics from my Dads Birthday Party... we'll try that tomorrow night...

P1010030 Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

P1010221

P1010221 Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

Finally we go see DADA at MOMA

Friday the 14th... We're all to meet in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)at 10:00. So, I'm up early enough to pack my gear back up and check out of the hotel...putting my stuff in a locker, to collect later. Subway uptown (might as well use the card I'd purchased) with enough time for a coffee and a paper. Arriving at MoMa, I see Jas Felter in the queue. He shows me his international museum pass and I'm very impressed. Meanwhile, Joel arrives, with a bunch of others and starts doing a head count, collecting money, trying to get us the group rate. At one point he starts to panic that we won't have a big enough group and tells us to recruit members for our group. Wasn't necessary. He gives us a pep talk, just before we go in... "Don't talk too long about an object... Give others a chance to talk..." And after a photo shoot, we go in and all head in our own directions... no group at all. We do bump into each other as we look it over, but we're on our own. Good to see the real stuff... Duchamp, Schwitters (that was great), Picabia, Ernst, Hannah Hoch collages and dolls, that you don't see often. I'd seen more than half the stuff before, but it was grand to see the lot together. We were to meet up back in the lobby at 2:00... gave me time to take in the rest of the museum. Marilyn Rosenberg directed us to a burger joint down the street and we commandeered enough table space. Lunch, more photos and a few pass around art projects. After that, we were on our own for a while... some went back to MoMA. Me I walked up to a gallery that had a Flickr Self Portrait project going. Sorry, I can't find the details at the moment. The gallery had about a dozen computers set up to access the portraits posted. You could view them by "Gallery favorites" "Public Favorites"... I'm really sorry that I can't find the link. So... downton again. Early again, and I'm back Fanellis. Got into a conversation with the guy next to me and the bartender... I'm about to bugger out when the bartender GRABS the glass from my hand! He tops it up for me! I'm not used to this wonderful treatment.
So it's on to Katz's... the crew is showing up. The usual picture taking and all. Until Mark Bloch shows up... with just two sheets printed up, this time. One, he gives to me, (how did I get into this ???). Entitled "Rãge"... a tirade against an unamed (but known) participant. I told Mark that he shouldn't deliver the other copy. But, then I had to kiss everyone goodbye... in order to get my self and make the bus. Ran into Anna Boschi on the street and kissed her goodbye as well.
10:00 0'clock bus out and I was home by 2:00.
Gawd it was good fun....

P1010200

P1010200 Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

The Second Day in NYC

That would be Thursday, 13 July.
I woke up rather late and had coffee and read a paper around the corner at Starbucks.
The Special Viewing of Ray Johnson collages had been cancelled, so I wasn't expected anywhere until 6:00pm. Wandered around the neighborhood, waiting for noon as I was treating myself to a Sushi lunch. After lunch, I went back to the hotel and got suitably dressed for the Bill Wilson "Black Tie reception". Over to Chelsea and the galleries, where I saw a couple of hundred Group Shows (it was the dead of summer). Surprised to find two Boston artists that I know in the mix. Nothing bowled me over, but it was good to see what was out there. Stopped in at Printed Matter Bookstore... kind of interesting... kind of interesting, I decided that I don't really have a clue as to what it's all about. Stopped for a beer at an outdoor place before I headed over to Wilson's. Ran into John Held Jr. and BuZ Blurr and we arrived together.
Bill Wilson has this wonderful old house... 3 floors+. Ray Johnson and his mother, May Wilson artwork throughout. The downstairs sitting room is crammed with books and artwork. The upstairs Kitchen has been remodled and the crowd of 35 or so of us was spread throughout. CrackerJack Kid arrived... he hadn't been at Katz's the night before... the same with Jo Ann Hill from the UK. Joel Cohen and Honoria made a great pasta dish and we ate, drank and we socialised. Catching up with old friends and meeting new.
At some point Mark Bloch arrives with copies of PANMAG 53, which he'd produced over night. Eight pages with color. He was defining and copywriting his "Storãge" concept. I was impressed.
We continued on with lots of photo taking and chatter.
When it was time to go, Mark offered me a ride to near my hotel. (what's he want a car on Manhatten for?) He was still pissed off about John Held Jr. and I listened to it for mercifully short drive.
I stooped in at O'Reilly's and had a beer before I went to bed...
More to come

Joel, Neosho and Mark

P1010181 Originally uploaded by jstangroom.

NY DADA

OK, I can take a hint...
Joel Cohen (The Sticker Dude) had given me a heads up about this Mail-Art meeting.
There was a list of events... John Held Jr., BuZ Blurr, Gaglione, Geert DeDecker and a host of others were going to be there... I signed on.
12 July- I shouldered my bags and walked the couple of miles to Central Square to catch the Red Line to South Station, to catch my bus. Smooth trip down until we were on Manhatten, where it took an hour to get to the Port Authority. As soon as I got off the bus, the skies opened up and I was drenched by the time I made the 5 block walk to my hotel, regardless of the umbrella. (The Herald Square Hotel... cheap, safe... but bare bones).
Checked in, dried off and headed downtown on foot. I made the 30 odd blocks in 45 minutes, checking in with Sylvia as I walked (cell phones CAN be usefull). I was early, so I had a beer at Fanelli's in SoHo. Over to Katz's where the group was starting to assemble. Held, BuZ, Sticker Dude were there and we started to reaquaint. People kept arriving. I finally got some food (this is the land of the $15 sandwich... I went with the $3 Hot Dogs) and sat down properly. To my left was a woman that looked vaguely familiar...turned out to be Anna Bosci from Italy. We'd never corresponded much, but years ago, someone assigned me her name to make a mail art piece about and I had.
As the evening wore on, others arrived... notably Mark Bloch. I commended him on writing about Carlo Pittore. BuZ was taking pictures with a digital camera for his cut out project. A good time was had by all..
As the evening wor down, I found myself on the sidewalk with Held and Bloch. Held is telling us that he sold all of his Mail-Art catalogs to the Getty Museum for an
outrageous sum. Bloch says he's defined a new art form... Storãge. Held says, "That's good, I'll use that".
The night's over... Bloch and I are walking in the same direction. He's mad. "John Held Jr. is stealing my term"...
We parted ways and I went uptown on the subway... back to my room, where I swear I could touch all walls from one standing position.
More to come.

More to come