Sunday, August 21, 2005

Artist Alexis Ross revisits Coney Island and set up a tattoo studio in the clubhouse

This past week artist Alexis Ross, a member of the crew, "Thee Gents of Desire", made the long trip across the country from his home in sunny Los Angeles to revisit the Dreamland Artist Club. Last summer Alexis worked on a number of signs for the first year of the project, including the much loved image for "Pete's Clam Shack" on the boardwalk. It was a memorable week, as a makeshift tattoo studio was set up, yes they were real, done by Alexis' hand out of his own designs, push-up contests were had, pictures were taken, signs were painted, powder was available to freshen up after the 100 degree heat, and the crowd at Coney loved it. Thank you Alexis.

Alyssa
-From the Clubhouse

Thursday, August 18th, 2005

Steve gets busy out back painting more signs

The end of summer is coming around, as well as everyone's time out at Coney Island. There's some talk about keeping the clubhouse and doing this again, nice and grassroots next summer, the way we all love it. Other than that, we're all trying to enjoy the space while the sun is still shining.

-Clubhouse

Sunday, August 14, 2005

"The Sign-Painting Shop"

The back space of the clubhouse operates as a fully-functioning artist studio and sign painting shop. Each week different artists come in to work in the space, pictured here, Matt and New York artist, Chris Yormick, at work in the studio and below, the finished piece as well as Steve at work on more signs. All finished signs are exhibited in the front of the clubhouse. People are able to come in, browse around and even buy a sign for the amazing price of $50.00 for a small work, and $150.00 for the larger pieces!

- Alyssa Natches,
Creative Time Clubhouse, Coney Island, NY

Artist Patricia Tobin staged one of her "Sales" in front of the clubhouse during the Mermaid Parade. These sales involve setting up welded steel or aluminum racks to display the artist's nonfunctional, undefined objects (printed linocuts on septic paper with price tags sewn on). Tobin then hands out flyers and attempts to sell her items for 100% off to passers by. Shoppers choose one or several items from the hundreds of hand printed pieces hanging on the racks, and the artist then packages the "sold" items for them in translucent plastic bags, with receipts and a "credit card" application. The artist can be emailed with comments or questions: info at patriciatobin.com.

Here's Ned and Matt assembling boxes to create a maze in the back hallway. When I left at night they were still feverishly working, so more photos on how that turned out this coming week.

The floor put down by Steve last week, the entire sign reads, "Pretty Please" and greets people as they enter the clubhouse.


Here are some other random shots of the cluhouse, some of Steve's signs in the front, the movable counter (the entire piece swings open to make one large space) and the back studio.

Time really does fly, we were just talking about how it's hard to believe that this will all be over on August 28th, now less than a month away. There are still so many ideas constantly developing and every week the space evolves more and more — the back artists' studio into an old-fashioned sign-painting shop, and the front clubhouse into a bona-fide storefront / gallery.

Just last week Steve installed a sign he had been working on in the back as the new clubhouse floor. He painted the sign using One-Shot paint on aluminum in three panels with a turquoise background and large red and white letters reading, "Pretty Please." The same day Ned took two antique metal signs brought to the shop by Matt and also installed them in the clubhouse. That same day Steve finished six new signs and hung them out front — all in time for the dinner / party thrown by Jeffrey Deitch at Gargiulos.

All of this work stands in addition to the signs surrounding the front windows framed by light boxes, the movable counter with panels from Steve's anti-hero series and Matt's signs covering the back wall and ceiling. There are plans for Paul Lindahl to come in and paint a mural of Coney Island in the back artist studio and as I'm writing this Ned and Matt are creating a maze of boxes in the back hallway, reminiscent, Matt says, of many of the sign shops he's worked in. Seeing how much can get done in one day and how different the space really looks, we are all excited to see how things will turn out at the end of August.

There has been steady interest in the project from the get-go with people coming in from the street to check out the space and to see what we are all about. Some just wander in from off the street, while others have read about the project and came out to Coney Island to see for themselves or to buy a sign. With Swoon showing at Deitch Projects right now we've noticed a renewed interest in her work, especially on this project. At first, before the front clubhouse was finished, people would come in and look confused in the space, but now that the floor has been put down and every surface covered with the signs, people tend to stay longer, getting information, sitting down reading the press releases and looking at the signs for sale.

Walking around it's hard to imagine Coney Island without the signs and murals installed the past two summers. Outside the music is bumping from the El Dorado and, as always, Coney Island is packed. With new developments on the horizon, Coney Island stands to change a lot in the next few years, for the better or worse is yet to be seen. I think we're all just happy to be involved this summer with a project that breathes some new life into a place that has been so New York for so long.