Vote Vezzoli—Again

In DEMOCRAZY (2007), he cast Sharon Stone and Bernard-Henri Levy as US Presidential candidates in deadpan campaign spots that spoof the form by showing just how indiscernible an absurd imitation is from the real thing. In politics and beyond, his art plays with perennial themes of appropriation, vanity, and the subjectivity of the real. And so, in an age when the star-spangled big top of pop politics has blown open to reveal a circus of venal, hubristic cowards, we’ve invited the man whose work has cast a critical eye on the past and present grotesqueries of the system to try on the candidate’s shoes and step into the ring himself for something of a one-man debate.

Please welcome to the stage Francesco Vezzoli.

[applause]

Let’s jump right in. Mister Vezzoli, your critics have assailed your so-called “LA values,” claiming that your collaborations with Hollywood stars are pure egotism. What do you say to those who doubt that your work serves a greater purpose than self-promotion?

I am sincerely not hurt by the words of these critics, they are entitled to analyze and scrutinize my work—and in some ways they are right, but probably not in the sense they intended. All those videos were openly and bluntly conceived as forms of self-entertainment for the artist, i.e. myself. They were self-proclaimed acts of egotism, mises en abîme of my own vanity. I never saw anything wrong in that. Actually, some of the most memorable artworks of the past centuries were the fruits of private romantic or sexual relationships—or worse, they were just the outcome of very basic financial transactions, or merely the reflections of the overinflated ego of the artist. Who on earth can say that egotism has nothing to do with art?

[cheering]

So is critic Jerry Saltz wrong when he refers to your work as “stunningly shallow?”

I’m a deep expert in super cial cultures and subcultures. Sometimes the critics mix up the subject of my studies with my private persona or my very own passions. It’s a very easy and understandable mistake, it’s probably a mistake I endorse subconsciously myself. I just love creating a bit of tension, and I sincerely forgive even my harshest detractors for stumbling into my little glittering traps.

You are Italian—Italians are decadent, self-absorbed, and famously corrupt. How will you defy this stereotype to win the people’s trust, and earn the respect of the global community?

Self-absorbed decadence and corruption have certainly characterized some of the politicians of Italy’s more recent past, however dear old Berlusconi, when compared to Donald Trump, comes across as the illegitimate but well- behaved son of Abraham Lincoln and Mother Theresa.

[laughter, applause]

You’ve spoken of your parents’ onetime af liation with the Partito di Unità Proletaria—will you explicitly denounce Communism, or did you inherit their Communist sympathies?

I guess I inherited a very healthy attitude toward discussion and analysis and debate. As much as my parents related to the Communist ideology in a critical way, I’m afraid I have adopted a similar approach to pop culture.

You have been described as a “market darling” and portrayed as a member of the industry establishment. Why should we believe that your work is anything more than “politics as usual?”

I sincerely wish I were a market darling. Unfortunately for me, all the critics that have accused me of such a crime can easily be proven wrong. I produce very little. I don’t have a real studio. I don’t have assistants. The output of such a scarce team is a very, very, very small number of artworks each year. A limited but loyal group of collectors around the world has, year after year, very generously acquired some of these works, and all the finances I gained were entirely and constantly reinvested in the production of all those over-the-top budgeted videos. Not a market star. Not a very rich artist. But certainly a very bemused one. My integrity is written in black and white on each one of my tax declarations.

For our next question, we turn to social media. @ asks, “Mister Vezzoli, when it comes to abortion, do you support a woman’s right to choose? If not, what the fuck is wrong with you? If so, what the fuck is wrong with you? What if your mother had terminated your birth? What if the Blessed Virgin— who has appeared in your work—had murdered dear baby Jesus in the womb?” How do you respond?

In Italy, abortion, just like divorce or same-sex marriage, has been a right achieved in slow motion, so to speak. Always with a substantial delay compared to other European countries. The first and absolutely undeniable reason for granting these rights was simply the fact that privileged people could already afford all of the above, and the unprivileged couldn’t. So, besides any religious or moral issue, if society endorses certain changes these changes should be accessible to everyone, everywhere, with the same dignity for all social classes.

[cheering]

In recent years, mass shootings have sadly become a regular occurrence. What is your personal view on guns, and do you believe they have any place in modern society?

I have never touched a gun in my entire life, and to be honest I already nd fairly disturbing those infomercials with former celebrities or chefs praising the sharpness of those horrifying knife sets they sell. Basically any object that can even remotely cause harm to another person scares the hell out of me.

Ken Johnson of the New York Times has called your religion-themed work “sophomoric, pseudo-blasphemy.” Seeing as much of the populace you serve are people of faith, what can you tell them about your relationship with God?

I autonomously refused Communion when I was seven. That says pretty much everything.

[mixed cheering and boos]

Your supporters rely on you to stay informed on a broad range of subjects so that you are equipped to make the wisest decisions when it comes to your work. Can you share with us what your go-to sources are for the latest in current affairs and cultural critique?

I’m afraid my answer to this question is absolutely boring—I just browse the net randomly from Grindr to the Huffington Post to Vogue.com, and mix everything in my very special blender.

[laughter, applause]

As we all know, every aspect of a candidate’s private life is put under the microscope during their campaign. I’d like to give you the chance now to get ahead of any rumors or accusations that might be leveled against you by your opponents—is there anything from your past that the public should know about?

When I was around six or seven years old I applied to become a member of the Italian radical party. That was around the time they were the defenders of some of the most basic civil rights that everyone in Italy now takes for granted, but back then every other single Italian political party was simply overlooking— from abortion, to divorce, to legal rights for same-sex couples. I still believe Emma Bonino should be president of my country today. She would certainly give Donald a run for his money on any matter related to foreign politics.

Finally, in one sentence—what is your plan to stop ISIS?

To stop talking about them and just get on with my very decadent and immoral life.

Goodnight.

[sustained applause]

Culture

Moss Grows In Midtown

At the club’s inaugural salon in their interim Midtown space (a 59th floor penthouse, no less) supporters and friends of the club gathered for a panel discussion with designer and researcher Mindy Seu, in conversation with culinary artist and producer Angel Dimayuga. The conversation floated between topics grounded in love and relationships, Seu’s latest work, “Cyberfeminism Index”, and humorous explanations of the menu that guests received throughout the panel.

Sipping on “Reverse Aging” cocktails (algae and coconut fat-based), attendees sampled earthy mochis bathed in broth, a grassy custard mixture seductively dolloped into a curved glass (meant for licking off), and strewn-high piles of radishes and leafy greens on a grazing table.

Moss’s permanent location will open at 520 Fifth Avenue in 2025, a five-story clubhouse that promises a cocktail of intrigue and unexpected flavor.

Culture

Empowering Artisty at Free Arts NYC's 2024 Benefit Gala

For the gala, the guest list and committees (including a particularly slick afterparty board) spanned the realms of culture, art, and fashion in New York. The organization counted Larry Gagosian, Kim Gordon, and SUPREME’s James Jebbia among its event roster, as well as stylists Danielle Goldberg and Beverly Nguyen, the Salon21 and Visionary Projects teams, and art advisor and editor K.O. Nnamdie.

Artists across a range of disciplines and backgrounds contributed work to the auction, supported by Artsy. This year’s range included pieces by Shaniqwa Jarvis, Bill Saylor, Jamie Nares (warmly accompanied by her daughter at the gala), and Tariku Shiferaw.

“We’ve established a relationship where I’m able to mentor a team of interns, and I was invited to donate a piece for the auction. Their programs are about gifting the next generation with the skills and knowledge to succeed,” Shiferaw shared.

Between a festive dinner by Tillie’s and a cheeky speech from Wool’s close friend Richard Maxwell, a guest took the stage to share her story: Yaqueline Hernandez, an FIT graduate now on the design team at Derek Fordjour Studios.

Emigrating with her family from Mexico at age two, Hernandez shared during a moving speech, she never imagined a future that included college or a career in the arts. With a hunger to achieve and the warm patronage of the organization, she made a new future possible. Raucous cheers and raised glasses accompanied her closing statements, before guests moved on to the afterparty to finish off the evening.

“It’s not just a non-profit organization, but a dynamic community of students, artists, and supporters. Everyone's enthusiasm and participation is key – we grow together,” the group’s Development Manager Rachel Park shared.

The evening coincided with the opening of Wool’s latest exhibition, See Stop Run, a survey of the artist’s works over the past decade. Throughout the show’s run over the next four months, he will invite Free Arts NYC school groups, community centers, and emerging young artists from around the city to visit and participate in specialized workshops.

Culture

Congrats on Being Alive

March 22, 2024

If we all die now, what would change? If we live to see another day, then die the day after, who would care? This is how the poem "Salomon Faye," featured in Anthony Thomas and Theophilos Constantinou's latest book, Slow Collapse One Ocean, All Lands, begins. Slow Collapse is all about that special feeling of being untouched. Five years in the making, the book chronicles the duo's journey as they traveled, climbed mountains, made art, and talked about God. The pressing global environmental concerns back in 2018 fueled Thomas and Constantinou's wanderlust and curiosity to explore the nature that we have, while we have it. The result is a captivating photo book, with poetry, artwork, and imagery drawn from their adventures. It's a token of appreciation that highlights the beauty of nature, which is easy to take for granted.

In three words, Anthony describes their work as: multilingual, freedom, and purgatory. "Congrats on the book," I say, he responds, "Congrats on being alive."

Introduction by Sarah Hersom
Text / Interview by Kora Quintana
Photography by Liv Solomon

Drawn out of the house by the allied currents of my roommate Liv Solomon and the promise of a free drink, I found myself at the launch of Slow Collapse: One Ocean, All Lands by pure chance, battling the opposing tides of a Thursday night out and the desire (desperate need) for an early night in.

Our local wine shop was hosting a tasting, hence the free drink and some wine knowledge. But as so often happens in the treacherous waters of downtown Manhattan, a riptide comes along to tear me away from my perfectly laid plan of a single glass of wine, minimal conversation, and a restful sleep. A photographic obligation for Liv but one that she says I “might actually be interested in,” something that is not always the case with the events that she finds herself frequenting. Afraid of finding myself beneath the waves of the night, unable to break to the surface for a breath until I am nearly out of it, I can’t argue with the allure of a colliding of worlds or, at the very least, the logistical reasoning that nanamica NEW YORK, both a partner in the project and where the event was taking place, was en route to the wine.

Following the flow of intersecting interests is precisely what brought this project to fruition in the first place, a collaboration between artists Theophilos Constantinou and Anthony Jamari Thomas, whose individual endeavors may not be thought of as being entirely from the same worlds but who found themselves caught together on a tide of exploration regarding the expansive and expressive forces of nature. Founded by Eiichiro Homma and functioning under the resonant philosophy of “ONE OCEAN, ALL LANDS,” nanamica NEW YORK became swept along for the ride as well. The end result of which is Slow Collapse, a book consisting of imagery illustrating both the complicated and deeply connected relationship between humans and nature, along with words few in number but plentiful in power.

Though there is an obvious power in the images and words of Slow Collapse, in the midst of the scenes of sociality swirling around the tables on which the book sits, lit by stark bright lights despite evidence of the fading day occurring outside, there is something that feels insufficient. In a storefront in Soho, so far removed from the force that is supposed to be the focus of the night, it can be easy to wonder where we fit into all of this.

If my child is born to a burning planet, did I summon him to hell, or will he learn to live with fire?

What place does art/do artists have in the business of nature and the ocean?

Theophilos Constantinou— It is one of my deepest beliefs that an artist must create around the global consciousness of their time. In our time, society has lost its way in regards to our relationship with nature. The destruction and pollution of nature and oceans through industrialization has led us to dire circumstances. If we are to create, what are we creating and to what means does that creation speak to this crisis. Artists don't have any business in nature or the ocean if they don't wish to make art relating to either. However, if you go to any myriad of museums around the world, most paintings are of landscapes or oceans. Planet earth is our home, she gives us the raw materials in which to create. This process is holistic. That is the place in which I believe artists have in nature and the ocean. And this project in particular is our document of what we deem as the 'slow collapse' our environment in the context of 'One Ocean, All Lands'

In the theme of tensions between nature and people, where do you see these tensions reflected in the relationship between the simultaneously contrasting and comparable environments of the ocean and a city like New York?

Anthony Jamari Thomas— Tension is such an incredible word to describe the ethos of this work. A permanent tension, a desperate tension, that carries our survival. Unfortunately, tension also describes humanity’s affair with nature’s preservation and how we’ve come to engage with its vitality and future. I also want to preface this statement, the words, ideas and concepts of this book present a knowingness that I certainly want to dispel, if anything this work is an observation of this tension, kind of like when you know you can’t stop something, so you hold dear the moments of reflection you actually can have.

Living in NYC I’ve come to feel connected to our global conversation of warming, through different fronts: fashion or politics but often through the conversation of production and even so I have always felt slightly disassociated from the conversation. The concrete has a way of mystifying your reality, where your environment can be as vast as your three neighbors to the right or the bodega you frequent. But what I have come to know, is that there is more out there and marginally, cities like ours have an even more palpable impact on the state of our environment than we perceive. I think rather than imagining demise, I think we should acknowledge this tension confront so and see such as a form of regeneration - as our civilization dwindles, nature will find ways to rebirth what was lost and I’m sure life-forms like our oceans, when the elements that prohibit so are controlled, can return to a state of peace.

This project having been sparked by an increasing focus on climate change and concerns about the environment, what impact do you hope to make with it?

Eiichiro Homma— Since environmental issues have become significant challenges for humanity, many years have passed. I believe there have been numerous efforts, including discussions among governments and the United Nations to establish rules for environmental improvement. However, it remains a fact that environmental destruction continues unconsciously in businesses as well as in the daily lives of individuals. Humans tend to think that as long as they follow the rules, everything is fine. Through our project, we hope to raise awareness of the beauty of nature and the ocean among those who do not usually interact with them or have no interest in them, encouraging each individual to start finding solutions to environmental problems.

So long as we continue drifting along the currents, following the tides, allowing ourselves to sometimes get caught beneath the waves, but always finding our way back to the surface for a breath of fresh air, we can never be truly removed from these natural forces because they are us and we are them.

As Aslak Aamot Helm reminds us in the apt conclusion of Slow Collapse, which itself concludes with “(I still don’t know where to end),” “Everything that is about us, is also about Earth.” So long as we continue drifting along the currents, following the tides, allowing ourselves to sometimes get caught beneath the waves, but always finding our way back to the surface for a breath of fresh air, we can never be truly removed from these natural forces because they are us and we are them.

Not above the surface, but not fully submerged either, I finish my canned sake and take an extra few moments to walk to the corner to throw my cigarette butt into the trash can (an act that is mostly fueled by how guilty I feel about my existence on this world on any particular day and which feels like the least that I can do tonight). I arrive at the wine shop too late, they’re out of wine. I attempt once more to achieve the promise of a free drink but my friend who works at the bar down the block tells me that they’re closed for a private party. I take this sequence of events as some great sign from the universe to go home and get some rest, though I’m sure it’s a moment that the universe couldn’t be bothered with considering everything that I have been reminded that it is already dealing with. Between an absence of alcohol (one can of sake doesn’t count) and thoughts of the sea swirling around my mind (hopeless, hopeful, and the full range in between), I’m certainly still caught between an array of allied and opposing currents but am saved from drowning for at least one night longer.

I too don’t know where to end, nor do I think that any of us do, but we can at least do all that we can so that we won’t ever have to say that we never began.