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  • All Tomorrow’s Parties: July 17 – 23

    Tuesday, July 18, 10:30 p.m.
    Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny invite you to Happy Valley Tuesdays.  As usual, there will be DJs (Tommie Sunshine and Ryan) and a hot show featuring THE WORST. Hosts: Sophia Lamar, Miranda Moondust, Kim Aviance, Theodora and Amanda Lepore.
    14 East 27th St., NY NY

    Wednesday, July 19, Drs Open @ 7pm, Free before 9:00 p.m. $5 Cover after or $25 2 hour open bar Brlogoglossy8- 10pm. Party alongside of the most attractive women and men New York City has to offer at the Burlesque Room. The infamous duo DJ THIS AND DJ THAT (The Loathesome couple) will be spinning originals throughout the night to get everyone going- 0’s/Electronica/Ambient/Trip Hop. Serena’s in the basement of the Hotel Chelsea, 222 West 23rd St., NY NY

    Gerald_2 Thursday, July 20, 11:00 a.m.
    Gerald Busby is sure to have another entertaining guest lined up on his weekly internet radio talk show, Collaborations. You can also listen in on Tuesday & Wednesday.

    Friday, July 21
    The Daniel Reich Gallery is the site of a show of emerging Brazilian artists organized by A Gentil Botner Carioca. A Gentil Carioca is an artist-run gallery whose name roughly translates as “Gentle people of Rio”. It is located in the historical center of downtown Rio De Lima Janeiro, more specifically in Saara, an area known for housing the largest outdoor market in South America. Artists included are: Botner e Pedro, Carlos Contente, Fabiano Gonper, Jarbes Lopes, Laura Lima, Marinho, Marssares, Maria Nepomuceno, Paulo Nenflidio, Pedro Varela, Renata Lucas, Ricardo Basbaum Joaõ Mode Simone Michelin, Alexander Vogler, Guga Ferraz, and Thiago Rocha Pitta. The show closes August 16.
    Daniel Reich Gallery, 537 A, West 23rd St., NY NY

    Saturday, July 22, 11:30 p.m.
    Former Chelsea Hotel guest Dan Bern performs at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival at Dodds Farm. Hillsdale, NY

  • Are You Experienced?

    According to a recent article in USA Today, “The hotel is about having an ‘experience’.”  At the Ritz-Carlton, a “bath butler” will sprinkle rose petals on your water, while at the Hyatt you can get a Gabrielblackberry hand massage.  Visit a Sofitel and consult a “romance concierge,” or take a “hot-tub detox”  at the Regent – complete with oxygen bar and hangover-helping fries.

    Though it all sounds well and good, these amenities pale in comparison with those of the Hotel Chelsea. For it is only here, and here alone, that you can experience the magic healing fingers of Gabriel.  Touch Massage Party every Sunday and Mondy at Serena’s in the basement. (Photo: Touch website )

    Read more: hotel massage

  • Kaare Ehrenskjold Visits the Chelsea

    We recently received a nice e-mail from Kaare Ehrenskjöld, a blog reader from Denmark.  He writes, Denmarkflag "Just a quick word of thanks for your effort with this excellent blog… I find myself missing the place,so to be able to have some contact through your blog, is great when you are stuck in Denmark."  That’s why we spend all of this effort on the blog.  It’s for all of the nice people stuck in Denmark dreaming of the Chelsea.

    What do you do?
    I own a design company. Basically I´am a design facilitator working with various european designers on various products for my company may-day. I also work with the competition sometimes as well as doing art deals on rare occasions.

    When did you first stop by the Chelsea?
    I stopped there for a few days in 1989. Being 19 alone in NYC in the late 80´s was a source of worry for my mother, and when I insisted on staying at The Chelsea and not in some established chain,she nearly fell apart. I must admit I was a litle spooked by the prospect myself but as it turned out I´ve never felt more safe.  And it is this strange feeling I get as soon as I enter the lobby, I feel at home and free. It´s still the same when you come back David L is reading his paper and Jerry is at the front desk.  (Welcome Back I got you 619 that you requested it´s very nice and  cheap). It took me a few weeks of hagling with Stanley before he gave me the room I would be happy in.He had me in a room on the second floor with a shared bathroom and no heating in november I was wearing skipants and a jacked. So I moved a few times even spent a night in that room thats not there anymore(You know the one) and  had the freight of my adult life 20 sec of total fear. Of cause there was a natural explanation for what happend but for 20 sec my heart stopped.

    What inspired you to stay at the Chelsea? 
    I`am not sure where I first heard about The Chelsea.I can´t imagine where a teenager on the other side of the Atlantic would hear about such a place. Bad company I suppose…
    Kn
    How’d you become interested in Ken Noland’s work?
    Well I was lucky to grow up in a house with a collection of abstract art and Noland was represented with a couple of works from the 60´s . Then in 1977 one of his new Shaped Canvases came from Leo Castelli in giant wooden frame box. I was seven and helped unwrap it. And I realized that these new paintings were somewhere in between an abstract sculpture and flat surface painting.
    I had never seen anything like it. So since that day he´s been one of my favorites.

    What changes have you noticed since the 1980s?
    I think the old lady is in better condition now than then it´s certantly a lot more light in the hall ways and less grotty.  The main thing I remember from my first time. Is the building´s noises and the sweet smell on the staircase.  The heaters have a life of their own and you will never forget the amount of noise coming from them at the same time the dumpster trucks collect the trash on 23rd at 5 in the morning.

    Do you think the Chelsea has a creative spirit?
    Of course there is a vibe something has to linger when so many creative minds stayed under one roof for all these years.  If the tenants had all been body nazies Iám sue the wibe would quite different. We will never know thank god…  Will it make a less creative person more creative probably not. One must not forget than many a man has been swallowed up in belly of the beast.

    What’s the best/worst thing that has happened to you at the Chelsea?
    My self induced freakout in the room that does not exist.

  • Another Superstar Drops by the Chelsea

    Last Wednesday I was sitting in the lobby and some kind of old time vaudeville-looking character walked by. Now I Franklinjoe_1had no idea who on earth he was, but I could tell by the way he carried himself that I should’ve known who he was.  He went to the front desk and chatted with the guys who were working the evening shift.  Then he revealed his real purpose for stopping by, whipping out an autographed photo of himself for Victor, the desk clerk, who generally works at night but wasn’t around that Wednesday.   I asked Jerome, "Who on earth was that weirdo?"  "That was Joe Franklin!" Jerome said, incredulous. "Don’t you know who Joe Franklin, is?" Well, I do now: he’s Victor’s friend.

  • She Dreams of Living At The Chelsea

    Here’s another e-mail from an obviously well qualified potential Hotel Chelsea resident.  She doesn’t 001k_small_8say so in her e-mail, but I bet she would be willing to add another blog to her resume by joining the Legends team if she could score a room.  Can anyone help her out?   We would love to help since she’s down with the blog business, but we can just give her the same advice we give to everybody — bring examples of your art, your transcripts, lots of cash and let us know what happens.

    I’ve been trying to get some information on how to go about getting a long-term rental at the Chelsea Hotel.  I have called periodically to inquire about availabilities but have never learned of any.  I am a fledgling filmmaker, comedy producer/manager and painter, and I’ve wanted to live in the Chelsea for years.  I might be looking at moving soon so I was wondering if you could spare some insider’s information.   I occasionally go to the hotel to get my hair cut at Suite 303, and I find myself lingering around the building long after.  There’s an energy there that I can’t put my finger on…but I want to surround myself in it.

  • GS

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  • Catherine Leroy: 1946 – 2006

    Photojournalist Catherine Leroy has died in Santa Monica, California, following a battle with lung Leroy_but cancer. She was 60. Leroy was best known for her photographs of the Vietnam Clap War.  Her photographs are featured in "Under Fire: Images from Vietnam," which was published earlier this year.  Also known for her fashion sense, in recent years Leroy ran a vintage clothing store in California.

    Catherine Leroy arrived in Saigon at 21, armed with a Leica camera and a resolve to capture the human side of the Vietnam War. She crawled through rice paddies while hiding from the fighting, jumped into a combat zone with American paratroopers and was briefly held captive by the North Vietnamese. When she and her cameras were hit by shrapnel, only Leroy survived.  Her stark images — extreme close-ups of the bloody reality of ground combat — accomplished what the daring photojournalist intended: They pulled the viewer into the middle of the conflict. Widely published, the photos brought her a number of honors, including the George Polk Award for news photography in 1967. (Source: LA Times, July 11)

    In an April 2005 article in the NY Times, Leroy talked about the current state of war photography:
    ”We saw 24-hour-a-day Iraq war,” Ms. Leroy said, referring to cable television, ”but we didn’t really see much of anything.” While Americans recall memorable images of Vietnam taken by war photographers, the most memorable images of Iraq — the prisoners of Abu Ghraib — were snapped by soldiers, she said."

    Catherine Leroy lived in the Chelsea Hotel in the late 1980s.  Small of stature, she is fondly remember by her friend, Rachel Cohen, as "a tiny bundle of energy." Rachel was kind enough to provide the following photos from her archives.  The two of Catherine were taken in the late 80s here at the Chelsea.  The photo of Merrilee Cohen (Rachel’s sister) and Catherine were taken at Norman Gosney’s Halloween party in 1987 or 88.

    Clbutter

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    Clnorm


    Catherine LeRoy took this photo of Rachel and Merrilee Cohen, wearing their jewelry creations, for an article on the Chelsea that appeared in an Italian magazine.
    Italrach

    Italml_1

  • FRIGHT WIG FLIPPED

    Susan and I were walking up Eighth Avenue late one Saturday night.  Susan was wearing a brown t-shirt that said Ciao Manhattan!  As we approached the Hudson Diner we noticed a pretty girl in a Ciao floppy hat and a blond bob haircut sitting at an outdoor table sucking on a milkshake.  She kept staring at us over her milkshake with her big blue eyes.  What the hell is she looking at? we wondered.  Finally, as we got up to her, she stopped slurping her milkshake long enough to raise her head and blurt out, “Edie Sedgwick!”

                Yeah, that’s right: Edie starred in the film back in the late sixties.  But who the hell even knows about that old movie, we wondered, much less cares?  And then we recognized the girl: it was Sienna Miller.

                That would explain a lot, since Sienna recently finished shooting the Edie biopic, Factory Girls.  But the more pressing question remains: What was Sienna Miller doing at the Hudson Diner?

                Perhaps she was just really getting into her role, we speculated, slumming it in an attempt identify with the tragic bohemian princess.  Sienna visited the Chelsea for just that purpose, we knew, and we heard that she even went to Edie’s grave and wept.  But then, that was when she was filming the movie; by this point the shoot had already wrapped.  Had Sienna flipped her fright wig entirely?

                And anyway, not even Edie would’ve been caught dead at the Hudson Diner. (Ed Hamilton)

  • All Tomorrow’s Parties: July 10 – July 16, 2006

    ChezgentryTuesday, July 11, 5:30 – 9:30 p.m.
    Chez Gentry, an event organized around the current exhibition Moved by Music: Herbert Gentry Paintings, Prints, and Drawings. Gentry is best known for his figurative abstractions that were inspired by the spontaneous rhythmic expressions of jazz.  Jazz music by Dick Griffin.  Gallery talk by Mary Anne Rose (Chelsea Hotel resident and Herbert Gentry’s widow).
    Amistad Center at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main St. Hartford CT

    Tuesday, July 11, 10:30 p.m.
    Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny invite you to the after party for The Adored aBuzznd The Buzzcocks. DJs Ryan and Kim Ann spin downstairs. SHOW: Rainbow performing his new song; guitar Dave Brophy. Hosts: Sophia Lamar, Miranda Moondust, Kim Aviance, Theodora and Amanda Lepore. Complimentary Vodka Ikon 11:00 – 12:00.
    14 East 27th St., NY NY

    Thursday, July 13, 12:00 – 6:00
    “Into Me/Out of Me” is a group exhibition that examines how artists have explored the physical and psychological boundaries of their bodies and those of others creating images of fragility and strength, illness and suffering, tenderness and violence. The exhibit spans over 40 years and features an international group of more than 130 artists.  Andy Warhol’s work is represented by one of his piss paintings (an oxidation painting made by urinating on metallic-paint-covered canvases). Works by Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean Genet, Annie Sprinkle, and David Wojnarowicz are also included.
    P.S. 1/MoMA Contemporary Art Center, 22-25 Jackson Ave., Long Island City

    Friday, July 14, 7:00 – 12:00 p.m.
    RestBastilledayaurant Florent’s famous Bastille Day bash is not to be missed. Entertainment by Mr. Murray Hill, Dirty Martini and lots more. (Photo: misterg8s blog)
    Gansevoort Street, between Washington and Greenwich Streets

    Friday, July 14, 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.
    The Stephen Petronis Dance Troupe inspired by the music of former Hotel ChelsPetronio1ea resident Rufus Wainwright, will present Bud Suite and Bloom with original score by Wainwright, portions of which will be performed live by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.  We saw their performance at the Joyce earlier this year and it’s worth taking a trip uptown to see. FREE.
    Central Park SummerStage Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. NY NY

    If you have a relevant event you want featured on All Tomorrow’s Parties e-mail the information to chelblog@yahoo.com 

  • Chance To Hear Keren Ann

    Nolita Keren Ann has announced that she will play a benefit concert tonight at 10:00 p.m. at the Bowery Poetry Club.  $20.00 minimum donation at the door.  Money will go to the Tangier Bike Project.  The Bowery Poetry Club is located at 308 Bowery.