August 2013: ROX GALLERY/#PPP/NONE OF US IS GREATER THAN ALL OF US!/CURATED BY MINT AND SERF

ROX Gallerist Emerald Fitzgerald and collector Justin Argenti
 

Text by Blayke Kogan, photos by Michael Anderson

ROX Gallery continues to deliver avant-garde spectacle for the lower east side community. Engaging with the momentum of street art and youth culture, the graffiti boys known as Mint and Surf curate the smashing and decadently grunge PPP: None of us is greater than all of us. The show is divided by the upstairs exhibition and the downstairs installation, occupying the entirety of the ground level space. Descending into the installation is like entering a time warped, graffitied grotto. It is as if you have entered a dystopian underbelly reminiscent of downtown New York in the 1980’s. The opening last thursday night was a scene of mayhem.

Wild boy artist Pablo Power, featured in the show, even peed on the installed dirty mattress as a means of authenticating the installation. He then progressed to use baby scissors to cut his hair off in the midst of conversation. Enclosed by onlookers, blood was incorporated.

The scene at the opening almost bordered on performance, with a mixed crowd including one artist wearing an oversized and dress-like ‘Rich white N#gga’ white tee. Cameras and photographers were in abundance. It was an amusing bunch, as it should be considering the exhibits subject matter: Peter Pan syndrome and the namesake artist collective Peter Pan Posse.

The upstairs includes standout pieces by Erik Foss, Bast and Curtis Kulig. All three works emanate a sense of downtown yesteryear, a DGAF mentality with an attitude of: ‘Don’t feel like growing up, why bother? Who cares?’ At the same time, these pieces manage to re contextualize street art onto the white walls of a contemporary gallery. Bast even depicts Peter Pan in Fairy Tag as a distorted, some what sinister tagger in the midst of chaos.

All works on view until Sept. 7th.

Artist Berndt Naber

Artist Caitlin Rose

Artist Erik Foss

Artist McKenzie Railey

Artist Tom Fruin and candidate for House of Representatives and collector Jeff Kurzon

 Model Nofar Avigdor and restaurateur Louis Fisher

Carnage NYC's Ray Mock

Collector James Hammond

Collector Martin Navarrete

Critic Megan Garwood

Curator Hash Halper

Curator Kristin Sancken

Curator MINT of MIRF

Dandy and man about town Ashok Pie

Downstairs installation at ROX

Curator Michaelle Tillou

The windows at ROX
 Fashionista Sarah Gill Thomas and Everything Records artist Michael Carter


Gallery Attorney Stacy Kohn and City Firm/ROX curator Laura O'Reilly

Lina Viktor and artist Michael Hoerner

Photographer Christos Olympios Katsiaouni

Photographer Clayton Patterson and actor Leo Fitzpatrick

Photographer Elizabeth Waugh

Photographer IGOR

A ROX gallery assistant