East Village, NY: Vulnerable and Extreme

Exerpts from the introduction to the exhibition catalogue: Seoul Museum of Art presents the exhibition East Village NY: Vulnerable and Extreme, that explores the art of the 1980s East Village, from 13 Dec. 2018 – 6 Feb. 2019. The exhibition invites 26 individual or team of artists and presents 75 artworks. Rather than focusing on individual artist’s great achievements, it attempts to demonstrate the context and the experience of the artists who have led intense lives within the era’s social and political circumstances. […] The works of the East Village artists do not profess a distanced truth appplied only in a particular world, but show diverse yet universe sentiment of art and reality where heterogeneous and marginalised values are discarded. The art scene of the East Village is a singular and historical event beyondrepetition but at the same time, it poits to complex problems that still linger today, all over the world. From political art that strives to reform everyday life to experimental works that are scandalous, the East Village art exudes energy in which we could listen to the voices of the work. Yu Byung Hong Acting Director of Seould Museum of Art Andreas Sterzing: East Village Slide Show (2018) presents 1980s Downtown Manhattan and East Village in 140 slides. The work features: the beginning of Gracie Mansion Gallery, as well as artists – Rodney Alan Greenblat, David Wojnarowicz, Rhonda Zwillinger, Mike Bidlo and others – with their work at the gallery; the studio and portraits of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring; prominent galleries such as P.P.O.W., B-Side Gallery and New Math Gallery; graffiti and graffiti artists; shows and performances on the street; Poppo and GoGo Boys performing at the legendary club 8BC and New York Alphabet City street life