The Golden Glow in the West

What’s your favorite spot in New York?

My favorite spot is Village Works bookstore on 12 Saint Mark's place that my friend runs. Do you know that place? It's about New York urban culture and there’s a lot of graffiti and a lot of zines and self-published books and art books. It’s really fun.

What’s your favorite spot in London?

Anywhere along the Jack the Ripper walk. I know all the haunted houses, I know all the spooky places and notorious places.

Tell me about your studio. What is the interior like? Do you keep it a certain way?

Messy. But it's nice to come out here because I can make a mess. I don't have to clean up after myself every afternoon before, oh, the wonderful Simon [Hawkins’ friend] gets home and chides me and I don't stink the house up with turpentine, stuff like that. It's really nice and it's great to, just, I don't know, not be in the house all the time.

So you’re an advocate of the separation between house and studio?

I didn't used to be. I would rather live and work in the same place. But, it's not nice to do it to my friend, so that's the reason. I mean, it has nothing to do with how much I like it or anything like that. I'd rather just, like, get out of bed and go and paint and not have to get on the train.

Critics have described your paintings as realism, or narratively informed works. How would you describe the style you adopt?

Well, I made up this term “pseudo-realism.” I don't know anatomy. Like, when I paint some animal, I don't know the anatomy of it. So in that sense it’s like pseudo-realism. I mean, an academic person would look at it and go, “a wooly mammoth doesn’t have joints going in that direction.” And those gems in the painting in the Off Paradise exhibition… I don’t know what a gem looks like. I don’t know how many sides a gem has, or anything [laughs]. But, a big jeweler bought the painting. And, you know, they think it’s funny. Anyway, so I made up that term: pseudo-realism. But it’s surrealism basically.

In art school, they tell you: “paint what you see and not what you know,” in order to encourage realistic depictions rather than subjective renderings. It sounds like you’re taking the opposite position by articulating forms with which you’re not familiar.

Yes, but I can see it! I can see it in my head! I’m really good at visualization. I don’t even need to do a preliminary sketch. It’s so in my mind that I just look at the blank canvas and fill it in.

Tell me about your subject matter.

All the stuff that I paint is stuff that you couldn’t see in real life, that you would want to. Some people want to see a ghost, but they’re never going to be able to. They’re never going to be able to see a caveman, or experience Cro-Magnon live, or something.

Tell me about the show! Was there something from the story of the “dream mine” that compelled you to portray it visually?

Well, it’s always been in my history. I mean, you know, my grandpa bought the stock and it was always kind of just a family joke, basically. I mean, nobody really believed it or anything. But it was always around and I thought it was a great story. And then I went to the mine about three years ago, and renewed my interest in it. Then I thought, ‘oh, that'll be a good idea’ because I paint things in themes anyway. Like, one show will be all about one thing. This one was about yellow and orange and gold and dazzling. So that you would want to stand in the middle of the room and spin around and go ‘Gold! Gold!’

What are you working on now?

I’m painting a series about infinity. [Showing me around the studio] A golden maze… Clouds… the inside of a tornado [all on round canvases]. This one’s of when Prince Charming had to go find Sleeping Beauty. You know how it was all thorny and stuff. This one is of a well, which will go on the floor, and this one’s of a whirlpool which will go on the floor too. There’s this place called Flying Tiger, and it’s just like this Danish –

Oh, I love Flying Tiger.

I love it. I bought all these canvases for $18 apiece. They don't even know. And I just buy all of them. I mean, I couldn't get one of these made for less than $200. They have no idea. And, yeah, so I just bought them all.

I know you were involved in the artistic community in the East Village in the 1980s. What was that like?

I mean, it was completely different and, and of course, it was great, it was a lot of fun, and it was the best time to be around and be doing art in New York. But it’s not like that anymore. I was involved with Patrick Fox Gallery but that was more like a party house than an art gallery. And I never really took the art world that seriously, but it was fun while it was happening because nobody was taking the art world seriously back then. It was like the Emerald City and Andy Warhol was the Wizard of Oz and then Andy died and so did everyone else and, and it wasn't fun anymore and I was lucky to get out.

Do you take the art world seriously now?

No. Not a bit.

Art

LIA LIA by Iga Drobisz

Your work often explores intimacy and vulnerability. How do you create a safe and authentic environment for your subjects during a shoot?

The past few months, I’ve been working on two series of photographs: nudes of women in their own apartments and portraits of women before and after giving birth. Both series involve capturing them in deeply personal spaces—bedrooms or nurseries—where they feel at ease.

Shooting in their spaces, in their own beds, plays a crucial role in creating comfort. I choose film and cameras that show them in a way they find beautiful and empowering, emphasizing softness and warmth. It's a stark contrast to modern, hyper-detailed phone cameras that sometimes reveal more than one wants to see.

Your photography has a distinct emotional depth and texture. How do you approach the interplay of light, color, and composition to achieve this?

My process is highly intuitive. I’ve never formally studied photography or apprenticed under anyone—I learned by experimenting and seeing what felt right. It’s about trusting my instincts rather than adhering to rigid rules.

What role do personal experiences or cultural influences play in shaping the stories you tell through your images? Many of your photographs feel deeply narrative.

Growing up, I was surrounded by great cinematography. My grandmother had a TV, but my mom only brought home VHS tapes—films with substance. I think that exposure shaped how I see the world, how I approach subjects, and the narrative depth in my work.

What role does spontaneity play in your shoots? Do you leave room for improvisation, or is everything carefully planned?

To balance spontaneity and structure, I go in with a clear plan and strong direction, but I remain open to surprises. It’s about letting the subject feel like the shoot is about them, not me. That openness often leads to the most unexpected, meaningful moments.

What inspired the shoot with singer LIA LIA? How did it come together?

Collaborating with Ruby and Naomi always takes me out of my comfort zone in the best way. For this shoot, we wanted to transform someone with an iconic face but also someone like Lia—someone with a clear sense of self.

Giving her a completely new look was exciting; it brought an unexpected energy to the set. The approach was playful and experimental. The night before, I had no idea what wigs Ruby would bring or what colors Naomi might choose. It was a beautiful mix of spontaneity and collaboration.

What inspires you the most?

Movies and music are big inspirations for me, as well as the work of other photographers like Carlijn Jacobs, Harley Weir, Rineke Dijkstra, Charlotte Wales, and Nan Goldin.

What emotions or truths are the hardest for you to express through your art, and why?

I don’t think I consciously try to express specific emotions when I work. Instead, I follow what feels right in the moment—what draws me in or excites me that day. It’s less about a deliberate expression and more about letting intuition guide the way.

Art

Luna Luna: Surrealist Spectacle Lands in New York

November 21, 2024

In the 1980s, André Heller, an Austrian artist, singer-songwriter, and former actor, was looking for a new place to showcase his art. He had already taken to gardens, creating a colorful, surrealistic character using 40,000 flowers, and to the skies, organizing a 'fire theatre,' which involved an over-the-top fireworks show complete with steel-frame sculptures set on fire. But he had never tried out a fair.

So began "Luna Luna." Created as the world's first art carnival, "Luna Luna" combined the spectacular with the absurd, showcasing original rides and attractions from rising and already-at-the-top artists in Hamburg. Nearly forty years since its debut, followed by foiled plans for a worldwide tour, breached contracts, and 44 storage containers, the art fair has finally returned, calling New York home after re-debuting last year in Los Angeles.

By Hailey Johnson
Photography by Delvin Claro and Sabrina Sarnitz, courtesy of Luna Luna LLC

On a recent evening in Hudson Yards, a small carousel featured characters in quirky, Twister-like poses and an outstretched dog with seven legs. (Almost a century old, the rides are no longer rideable.) Goofy wooden sculptures were elevated in another corner, some of them cross-eyed or with a horn for a nose. A geodesic dome glowed, with Gregorian chants hovering somewhere above it.

"It's an art experience like no other," Michael Goldberg, Chief Experience Officer of Luna Luna, said recently. "People get to see artists do things they've never done before," he added.

Goldberg, founder of Something Special Studios, a creative agency behind many Nike campaigns, was determined to resurrect “Luna Luna” after reading about it online in 2019. Goldberg shopped for investors, eventually teaming up with DreamCrew, a media company co-owned by the rapper Drake. (Details on the company's investment remain vague; sources have reported that DreamCrew spent over "100 million dollars.") In 2022, an intensive restoration process began, with a team of artists reviving many of the original works, which had remained in boxes in a Texas warehouse for over thirty years. Several had been in pieces. (The team reportedly had to rebuild each work "bolt by bolt.")

That night, at the Shed, fourteen out of the original thirty-five works were on display, including the small carousel (Keith Haring), the goofy sculptures (Kenny Scharf), the neon dome (Salvador Dali), and a towering Ferris wheel decorated in drawings of stick figures, upside crowns, and references to Jim Crow (Basquiat). Missing works are in a "constant state of restoration," Goldberg said. Meanwhile, new attractions are joining the line-up. For the New York show, the Puerto Rican duo Poncilí Creación was commissioned to create "PonciliLand," a blink-and-you-miss-it section where guests "can create fantastical characters out of custom building blocks." Poncili also developed floating characters, inspired by performers who circulated the original “Luna Luna” fairgrounds in 1987. Known as "Lovers," the two characters, large and dreamlike, teetered to one side, mumbling the kind of nervous groans one does before a fall. (They never ended up falling.)

I asked Goldberg if, given that today's culture doesn't quite look or feel the same way as it did in 1987, there was any hesitation in showing some of the original works. On a back wall, a tribute featured Manfred Diex's "Palace of the Wind," a show featuring performers who fart into a microphone; on another, two ornate pedestals held sculptures of spiral poop.

"I don't see any reason why we wouldn't show any of these works," he said. "A lot of the time, art is exclusive and uninviting. The big difference between “Luna Luna” and other art experiences is that it has many sides to it, and things that have a bit of humor and playful energy. "As for "Palace of the Winds,” the decision to keep it was simple: farting is universal. He went on: "The “Crap Chancellery" is, conceptually, one of the most important works in “Luna Luna.” Daniel Spoerri's dad was killed in the Holocaust, and the work was inspired by Albert Speer, who was Hitler's architect. He took the facade of what was meant to be a Nazi shrine and turned it into the facade of a bathroom with two steaming statues of shit standing on the outside. These works are extremely important and are things that we would definitely want to honor and draw attention to."

As “Luna Luna” further develops, the show will likely change. "It will continue to evolve as we go to different cities in response to the spaces that we pop up into and in collaboration with the local city," Goldberg said." With it, there will be new characters and new stories to tell. One aspect that won't change, though, as Goldberg assured, is a long-held sentiment about a potential partnership. At one point, early on during the original “Luna Luna” era, McDonald's wanted to buy into it. Heller said no, adding that he "didn't want it to feel like Disneyland." Goldberg agreed. Nonetheless, as I watched Kenny Scharf's dizzying swing ride go around for what felt like the hundredth time, with the cartoon characters decorated on it blurring together (one with a villain's grin, another morphed into a martini glass), I couldn't help but feel like maybe I was at Disneyland, only not as robbed, but just as entertained and exhausted by its rides and fantastical characters, and wanting to go again.

Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, 1987.

Art

Pamela Sneed’s Speaking Tongue opens at Dashwood Projects

November 15, 2024

Pamela Sneed’s latest exhibition, Speaking Tongue, will be on view at Dashwood Projects from November 20 to December 21. The show features twenty watercolor and ink paintings inspired by her recent trip to Kenya, where she was deeply moved by the elegance of giraffes, the landscapes, and the energy of Nairobi.

Blending her background as a poet and visual artist, Sneed’s work reflects on themes of identity, nature, and connection. Her paintings capture the beauty and spirit of the animals she encountered, alongside reflections on her own experiences as part of the African diaspora.

This exhibition marks Sneed’s first solo show with Dashwood Projects and will be accompanied by a new book, also titled Speaking Tongue, to be released in December.