#bibbehansen

Heartbreak Hotel at Invisible-Exports

The Heartbreak Hotel show at Invisible-Exports gallery featured 18 artists in an exploration of melancholy and nostalgia. In this spirit, I am remembering the day it opened.

We all went to this wonderfully lit space on February 24th to take in all the work, within an atmosphere that was quite festive, in support of dear Dietmar and other fellow artists.

I got to the gallery about a half hour into the opening and saw Bubi, Erik, Gerardo, Francis, Henry, Johnny, Norberto, Runn, Scooter, Van… I was so happy to say hello to everyone and soon saw Dietmar, Woody, John… Kelly arrived soon afterwards… And Ivy and David… 

I visited with all and noticed how the lighting in the gallery made my chartreuse silk shirt light up (a vintage Romeo Gigli from the early 90s, which Paul had gotten for me back then, worn with my go-to Gap 1969 jeans Tony Mansfield sent in a care box to Joel’s, a Dansk Smykkekunst necklace Lillan gifted me, and Nike camo sneakers. As I write this I kind of feel like Alaska, the icon of the Spanish Movida, as she always wears the same dress, but in different colors and patterns, and to the Foam Talent opening that took place a month after this show I wore the same exact shirt but in peacock blue). Erik was sporting a stunning shirt on which Dietmar had embroidered Freddy Mercury on the back.

Bubi was wearing a lovely sweater with Odie from Garfield and Scooter was in gothic finery; Van was sporting his new Vivienne Westwood bag. Dietmar was wearing a vintage vest and Paul Smith shirt he had custom embroidered.

I was thrilled to see Bibbe Hansen, and admired her untitled embroidered calligraphy piece on nkjet print. The image of calligraphy cards, like the ones that graced every blackboard frieze when I was in grade school, evoked memories of the sturm and drang of formative years. We visited for a while and Runn took our picture with Cynthia, who is always a joy to see. Soon after, I visited with Kathy Rey, who is always uplifting with her glowing energy.

“A Break in One and Several Places,” a piece by Diana Shpungin, was mystifying in its use of horse hair and graphite pencil to recreate a cryptic broom having gathered shards of glazed porcelain that resembled obsidian.

Joel had misread the address of the venue, so he went home after attempting to find the gallery and then took another cab back to Orchard Street. While I was outside making sure he arrived well, I ran into Rafael and hugged him.

We snapped some more pictures inside and I was delighted we could take home the mugs from the bar, in themselves a piece by Cary Leibowitz, aka Candy Ass, which featured an ingenious, mind-bending poem.