Fantasy Flash Art
Curating a niche on the Lower East Side
Amy Smith-Stewart’s gallery at 58 Stanton Street is all valley-girl props, “kittens and hearts and rainbows and dreamy girls with long, flowy hair” this July, as it showcases the fantasy exhibit “She Was Born To Be My Unicorn” (the title is based on a T. Rex song from Unicorn, 1969). Smith-Stewart dares to continue this ethereal femme-centric streak with Swedish artist Ylva Ogland, next up in September with “Venus At Her Mirror.”
For a first-time solo show in the States, Ogland’s work feels right at home in the imperative New York scene. Her still-life paintings represent three stages of growth – in small, medium, and large scale – to chronicle her claiming of self. You might find the pieces insidiously unusual, poised with a surprising intimacy. When looked at carefully, you can spot banal, domestic childhood toys next to free love, drug experimenting tools. The end result screams sexual liberation with out-of-the-box energy. This is a breaking third-wave trend: inversion of the gaze with a subtle twist.
Amy Smith-Stewart, spunky in a hot pink tank top and blonde braided pigtails, muses on the NY scene, “This is empowerment in art that is accessible for the individual...We have two hundred plus galleries. It’s exhausting but breathtaking.” Right now, the formula that rules the NY art zone is about diversity and pluralism. “More venues mean more voices for the new generation. Artists have simultaneous collaborations and so many mediums here.” The gifted woman behind the myth of the one-woman show, Smith-Stewart knows what it’s like to start from scratch, pull resources, and take big risks. She offers a glimmer of wisdom, “A young curator can learn a lot more than being part of a museum for ten years.”
Six years ago she assisted at Ps1 museum in Janet Cardiff’s booming sound installation of 9/11, “Forty-Part Motet.” This sensational experience made it blaringly clear, “My craft would be curating. It pretty much solidified that this is what I am going to do.” Headstrong and bold, Smith-Stewart doubled up her NYU art history degree with a masters in contemporary art from Sotheby’s in London, then worked under the gold-rimmed guise of pioneering icon Mary Boone, of 1980’s Basquiat glory, in 2006. By April of this year, she was ready to ride a wave of passion, confidence and a little bit of luck to go a long way. 
With dynamic pathos and raw talent as a touchstone for her artist choices, Smith-Stewart feels ecstatic to have this space as a diverse extension of where she is. Mission accomplished, so what more is in store? Amy Smith-Stewart flashes a smile and opens her arms wide to the sky. “The Lower East Side is for discovery. Art is anchored here.”
Karen Fu is a freelance writer in the manmade, concrete jungle of New York City with many walks of life: student, publishing assistant, traveler, cellist, to name a few. She has written for Pulp Magazine in New Zealand, Sentimentalist, Common Sense Media, Impose, and the Indypendent. When she isn't tapping into her serious inner dragon, Karen likes to lurk the underbelly of the music scene.
|
Related Articles
No Dumping Creating portraits out of celebrity junk, Jason Mecier gets up close and personal with famous garbage.
ARTICLE TOOLS