Farrington Smith Gallery

Join us tomorrow, Thurs. Dec. 13th at 7 p.m. when Jennifer Shaw will discuss her show Hurricane Story.

We will open at 6:30 in case you haven’t seen the show yet and want to check it out first.

-Amy

Famed catalyst of the NYC music and art scenes for over 20 years, Michael Alago has recently become a name world-wide for his photography.

His eclectic taste and joie de vivre have taken him on a wild ride since his youth: from booking U2’s first New York City gig at the Ritz at age 21, to hanging out with Mapplethorpe, to signing Metallica and Nina Simone, to partying with Iggy Pop and David Lee Roth in the men’s room of the famed Peppermint Lounge, Alago has seen and done it all. But he always wants more- more muscle, more art, more men, more beauty. Fearless and bold, his photographs are a testament to his love of all of this and more.

Michael Alago has exhibited in New York City, Berlin, Paris, Toronto, and San Francisco, among other cities. Now Farrington Smith Gallery welcomes him with an opening reception for his show on Saturday, October 13th from 6-9 p.m. Please join us!

You can check out more of Michael’s work here on his website. His Rough Gods book will be available at the gallery, as well.

The show runs through November 3, 2007.

Madeleine Mollyneaux posted some highlights of the footage taken inside her and Scott Smith’s World’s Smallest Disco on the opening night of Rainbow Ghetto!

Here are the links for you to enjoy:

Miss Pussycat vs. Adam Farrington

Lil’ Gisselson - the smallest but feistiest dancer

Sean and Chris - the dynamic rocker duo

Louise Brooks look-alike

Quintron works it

Dragette Brian Peterson and his musical collaborator Anthony Sears

Join us for A Night of Jim (James) Lyons, an evening of reading and cinematic delight, curated by Madeleine Molyneaux. This special event, coinciding with Farrington Smith Gallery’s final weekend of the RAINBOW GHETTO group show (Sept 8-29th) will feature a reading of Jim’s script “A Short Film About Andy Warhol” by local actor/performer Shannon Williams; clips from Jim’s acting, editing and lecturing work; and a special screening of the 1991 queer indie classic POISON, directed by Todd Haynes, featuring Jim as both actor and editor!

Born in New York in 1960, Jim was a master editor (all films of Todd Haynes including Poison, Safe, Velvet Goldmine and Far From Heaven as well as The Virgin Suicides, Silverlake Life, and Prozac Nation); super cool actor (Poison, Safe, Postcards from America, Frisk);  brilliant writer; teacher; and AIDS activist. Jim passed away this past April.

Farrington Smith Gallery is proud to dedicate the RAINBOW GHETTO group show to Jim’s life and legacy.

SO…this promises to be a great night…and gives all of you a final opportunity to see the RAINBOW GHETTO show that features Jim’s script as part of RG curator Scott Smith’s mixed media work “I Dreamt Again Last Night/Homage to Jim and Andy”. Scott has done absolutely gorgeous blue/gold foil portraits of Jim. Very Warhol and very hot. Jim would have LOVED them!! And they’re for sale…

See you there!

–Madeleine Molyneaux   madsockmonkee@yahoo.com

Here are some photos by our pal Madeleine Molyneaux, who is the film curator and a contributing artist for Rainbow Ghetto. 

Thanks to all who attended! If you missed opening night, we’re open Saturdays from 12-5 or by appointment.

And don’t forget A Night of Jim Lyons on Friday 9/28 at 8 p.m.- it’s featuring a reading of A Short Film About Andy Warhol and a screening of Poison. I’ll post more about the event as it draws closer.

-Amy

The show opening is this Saturday, Sept. 8 from 6-10 p.m. and it runs through the 29th…I just wanted to post more details and links to the web pages of some of our participating artists!

Opening night features a special presentation in the back room video gallery of Los Angeles-based artist and archivist William Jones‘ feature ” V.O.”, a haunting work that pastiches dramatic (non-sex) clips from classic 70s gay porn with audio excerpts from Bunuel, Genet, French post-structuralists, and music from European soundtracks. (ETA: “V.O.” is being shown with kind permission of the David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles.)

For those inclined to revisit the last days of disco, the gallery has created The World’s Smallest Disco, in which participants will have full freedom to dance the night away under the watchful eyes of both a playback camera and fellow gallery visitors.

Rainbow Ghetto features over 40 works culled from an open call for artists to submit visual pieces exploring life, love and lust in the gay world. Equal parts pop, pomp and circumstance, the show includes local photographers Louviere + Vanessa, Stephen Forster, David Halliday, M.J. Brown, Lisa Blu, Jennifer Shaw and Charles Lathem; painters Maxx Sizeler, Brad Caldwell, Perry Morgan, Skylar Fein, Edward Hebert, Todd Perley, Mark Bercier, Chris Slave, Scott Guion, Melanie Guion, Peter Wood, Josephine Wallis, Kevin Butler and the obsessive comic adventures of local illustrator Roscoe. Mixed media work from Todd Shaffer, Madeleine Molyneaux, Sean Neary, Eden Gass, Adam Farrington and Scott Smith is also included. Artists from outside the region include photographer Michael Alago (NYC) whose solo exhibition Rough Gods will be presented at Farrington Smith in October, painter Kathrine Thompson (NYC), mixed media artist Lewis St. Louis (Raleigh), and 77-year-old self-taught artist, Martin Forman, an outpatient at Christian Huygen’s Rainbow Heights Club, a Brooklyn, NY LGBT mental health community clinic. An after-opening party including a drag show featuring “Rusty LaRue” will commence at Big Daddy’s on the corner of Royal and Franklin (right around the corner) starting at 10 p.m. and going until…

Rainbow Ghetto is dedicated to the late Jim Lyons, film editor (Safe, Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven, The Virgin Suicides), actor (Poison, Postcards from the Edge, Frisk), writer, and activist who passed away this past April. Rainbow Ghetto will exhibit the script of A Short Film About Andy Warhol, a project that was to be Jim’s debut film, as well as clips from his work.

A concurrent Rainbow Ghetto film event on Sept. 28th entitled A Night of Jim Lyons will feature a screening of “POISON” (1991) and a reading of “A Short Film About Andy Warhol“.

-Amy

Join us Saturday, Sept. 8 from 6-10 p.m. for the Rainbow Ghetto group show opening!

Equal parts pop, pomp and circumstance, our show features a wide range of artwork by lots of artists celebrating visual gay culture in New Orleans and beyond.

Don’t miss the screening of V.O., a feature film by L.A.-based artist and archivist William Jones. It is a haunting work that pastiches dramatic (non-sex) clips from classic 70s gay porn with audio excerpts of Bunuel, Genet, and music from European soundtracks. It will be looped, but on opening night only!

Visit The World’s Smallest Disco and dance the night away under the watchful eyes of a playback camera!

Rainbow Ghetto is dedicated to the late Jim Lyons (filmmaker, actor, writer and activist) and will exhibit the script from A Short Film About Andy Warhol, which was to be his debut film, as well as clips of his work.

Keep the fun going at our post-opening party down at Big Daddy’s, including a drag show featuring Rusty LaRue…it’s just around the corner from the gallery on the corner of Royal and Franklin.

Also, I want to mention our Rainbow Ghetto Friday night film series throughout the month of September. The first, on Sept. 14, is A Night of Jim Lyons featuring a screening of Poison (1991) and a reading from A Short Film About Andy Warhol. Details to follow…

ETA: The film series has changed to a one-night event…A Night of Jim Lyons is on Friday, Sept. 28, and will feature a screening of Poison (1991) and a reading from A Short Film About Andy Warhol.

ETA - again: “V.O.” is shown with kind permission of the David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles.

-Amy

When I posted yesterday, we didn’t have confirmation, but it’s all set! You know we like to have a little something extra going on for our openings, and this month’s is a doozy! The fabulous Mr. Qintron will be spinning for your listening pleasure. Put your dancin’ shoes on!

I don’t have a specific time he will be starting, so just come on by between 5 and 9 Saturday night!

Also, don’t forget that other St. Claude Ave. galleries will be open as well. Check out Barrister’s Gallery just blocks from us…the current show is The Sacred Arts of Haiti. And then over the tracks in the Bywater, there’s l’art Noir…they have a group show up and always have interesting things going on.

-Amy

We are so excited to present our next show of solo and collaborative work by Louis St. Lewis and Sean Yseult which includes multimedia collage and silkscreens on silk.

The show opening is this Saturday, May 19, from 5-9 pm.

Noted artist and North Carolina native Louis St. Lewis has been kicked out of every school he ever attended. With over 30 solo shows to his credit and over 100 news articles and reviews profiling him, he has been praised by critics and collected by princes. St. Lewis was once hailed by Andy Warhol as “Hieronymous Bosch meets Mtv.”

He has exhibited internationally and is represented in Paris, San Francisco, Raleigh, Charlotte, and New Orleans. Noted for his lush collage techniques and biting wit, Mr. St. Lewis draws his share of comments. Mark Sloan, curator of the prestigious Halsey Gallery at the College of Charleston states, “If people were electrical current, Louis St. Lewis would definately be HIGH VOLTAGE.”

St. Lewis has permanant pieces in The Ogden, NOMA, The Masur Museum of Art and The Morris Museum of Art.

A New Orleanian for 10 years, Sean Yseult spent her childhood at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, where she studied both ballet and visual art. She continued studying graphics and photography, receiving her BFA at New York’s Parsons School of Design.

Yseult went on to co-found and play bass for Grammy-nominated rock band WHITE ZOMBIE, moving to New Orleans as soon as they disbanded. Her photography showed in a number of galleries independently and in collaboration with Louis St. Lewis, receiving high accolades.

Post-hurricane, Yseult began filling sketchbooks with abstract graphics from her early childhood influences including Peter Max, Maurice Sendak, Beardsley, and Pucci. The vision quickly took shape on silkscreened silk charmeuse, and they have been snapped up by high end boutiques in London, Tokyo, Paris, Melbourne, New York and Los Angeles.

Before being kicked out of the North Carolina School of the Arts, Louis met Sean. The two became fast friends and cohorts, creating spontaneous art collaborations that usually led to trouble. Since then, St. Lewis and Yseult have collaborated on shows in New Orleans, Raleigh, and New York City, where they first showed their collection “12 Inches of Fame” at the gallery of the famed and now defunct CBGB’s. Theirs was the final show at the venue before its closing, and some of the remaining work will be premiering in NOLA, along with some brand new collaborative pieces.

Show on view until June 16. Gallery hours 12-5 Wed-Sat.

Be on the lookout opening night for special guests!

-Amy

So, wake up early on Saturday and make St. Claude more beautiful…eat at a lovely restaurant in the Marigny or Bywater…then take your sweaty self around to some artists’ studios!

We have maps you can pick up for the Marigny/Bywater Open Studio event. Lots of great artists this time; I noticed some new ones! Hope to see you all!

-Amy

Farrington Smith Gallery is proud to present our upcoming show of paintings by Steve Richardson and Katherine Thompson.

The artists’ reception is Saturday, March 24 from 6-9 p.m. We hope you’ll join us!

- Amy Farrington

This Saturday, March 24, Barrister’s Gallery, Farrington Smith Gallery and l’art Noir New Orleans have coordinated their openings to offer you a gallery-hopping experience St. Claude Ave.-style.

For Barrister’s Gallery, this is also an inaugural show at their new location of 2331 St. Claude Ave. and Spain. I saw the space at about the halfway point in its construction, and it promised to be very nice. The show is new works on paper by Myrtle Von Damitz, III and is entitled, “I’m Running Out of Coffee and It Smells Like Rotten Onions.” The artist’s reception on Saturday is from 4-9 p.m.

At Farrington Smith Gallery, we will have paintings by Steve Richardson and Katherine Thompson. Our artist’s reception is from 6-9 pm. (see the separate invite post for images)

Furthur down the way at 4108 St. Claude Ave., l’art Noir is opening their Comic Art Show, which includes work by Tony “Baloney” Juliano, Henriette Valium, and Caeser Meadows.

We’re excited to be building on the art scene over here in the Marigny/Bywater; please stop by any or all of these shows this Saturday, March 24!

I’ve submitted this information for cross-posting over at the Alternative Arts New Orleans blog, which I’m going to write more about soon. Please think about submitting to the site; the more people participate, the better the blog will be!

Amy Farrington

Adam Farrington and Jamie Baldridge have an upcoming show at Taylor Bercier Fine Art. Adam will be showing work that includes some brand new sculpture, and Jamie is a photographer.

The opening is this Thursday, March 15 from 6:30-8:30 pm, and the gallery is at 233 Chartres Street. Hope to see you there!

If you can’t make it for the opening, the show will be on view until April 30.

-Amy

To make it easy for you to take a listen before Monday, I’m linking to Louis Ledford’s site and for more information on Robert Blake, his record label’s site.

Please join us Monday night!

-Amy

This short film is very haunting and beautifully done. I wonder if the theme will seem outdated to those of you less connected to New Orleans…I hope not.

-Amy

We didn’t know Helen Hill, but she was our neighbor and an artist, and by all accounts, a good and kind person. We are so sorry for her loss to her loved ones and to our city.

A website has been set up in her memory.

We will be participating in the Stop the Violence March on City Hall tomorrow.

- Amy