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Category: Art

  • Wannabe Rapper Chicks Visit The Chelsea

    Here’s a clip from the rap chick search that we wrote about back in February.  Watch it for yourself and see if you can spot the next Queen Latifah or Foxy Brown—or whoever the hell is hot in rap right now.  http://legends.typepad.com/rap.mov  (The movie takes a couple of minutes to download so be patient.) Here’s…

  • Anders Bramsen: Sometimes Less Can Be More

    Filmmaker Anders Bramsen’s short film "Slough Poem 1" will premiere June 5, 2006 at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. Slough Poem 1 is an anti-drug picture. An electric look at  the silence before the storm. A Cocaine poem. The horrifying experience of mind-altering substances.  The video documents the last hours of the twentieth century, capturing…

  • Gary Indiana’s Favorite Place in NYC: El Quijote

         I found a booklet called Frank 151 in the Chelsea Hotel lobby last week.  In addition to a ton of ads, it has short profiles of "cutting edge" New Yorkers, including a few former and current Chelsea Hotel residents such as Rene Ricard, Julian Schnabel, Jonas Mekas and Ben Rhue.  It also has…

  • Katherine Dunham, 1909-2006

    Katherine Dunham, a pioneering dancer, author and civil rights activist who abandoned Broadway to teach culture in East St. Louis, one of America’s poorest cities, has died. She was 96.  Dunham, according to the Chelsea Hotel website, (which does include some inaccuracies) once resided here at the Chelsea.  The story of Dunham’s career, "Dancing a…

  • Arman – 1928 – 2005

    Linda Troeller sent us this report from the memorial service for Arman, which was held at the MET earlier this week.  The speakers included painter Frank Stella; collector Ronald Lauder; and actor Geoffry Holder among others. They spoke of his wit, shaman ways and the power of his art.  In attendance were about 150+ family,…

  • Time in Place by Gerald Busby

    Traveling SalesmanIn the mid 60’s I was a traveling textbook salesman for Random House and Alfred A. Knopf.  My territory was the rocky mountain states.  Every day after visiting college teachers I would go to the practice rooms in the music school and play any piano that was free.  One day at Colorado State University…

  • Toast That Damn Puppy!

    May Wilson at Pavel Zoubok GalleryBabydolls and stuffed animals wrapped in stiff canvas, spray-painted in garish colors and trussed up in baling wire: silenced, shrouded, sealed over for eternity, mummified.  This lady sure had some dark, sadistic revenge fantasies.  B&D anyone?  A golden child is crucified, broken on a wheel, or else ensnared in some…

  • Mother’s Day by George Chemeche

    MOTHER’S DAY Each year, on Mother’s Day, I remind myself of my Oedipus complex. To my antagonistic father I send the bill to pay for my neurotic disorder. by George Chemeche

  • Hawk’s Stolen Paintings Have Been Found

    According to the New York Times, Hawk Alfredson’s stolen paintings have been found in a Florida trailer park.  Alfredson’s paintings were on the same truck as works by Milton Avery that were reported missing Monday. Hawk’s work is on display here at the Hotel Chelsea.

  • Henry Chung: The Hotel Chelsea’s Jack-of-All-Trades

    For those of you who don’t know Henry Chung, he seems like a man to get to know.  He’s the guy behind those hot new Chelsea Hotel t-shirts and the redesigned bath products (an improvement over the Lisa brand soap that we had around here forever).  And, it seems that we can thank him, in…