Sculptor John Ahearn and his studio partner Rigoberto Torres have converted a former Blimpies on the north side of the street into an art studio, a "base camp" for the whole project. Portraits of people who wander in and volunteer will be drawn, photographed or cast in plaster, painted and hung on the walls creating and art gallery of the world of 42nd Street.
"'The idea,' says 33 year-old Bronx-based Torres, 'is to give the runanways and homeless an opportunity to know art, express themselves, using their minds. Because these kids got problems in their heads.'" ("Dada on 42nd Street," Jerry Tallmer, New York Post: July, 1993)
"Crowds three and four deep jamming the small storefront to watch the artists slime their subjects with K-Y jelly, and insert breathing straws into their nostrils, then bury their heads in Gel-Trate and fast-drying bandage plaster." ("Arts Moment's Notice," Franklin Sirmans, ACE: July 23-August 6, 1993)
Artists' Biography
John Ahearn lives and works in New York City and is represented by the Brooke Alexander Gallery. His work is included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; The Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles; and the Australian National Gallery, among others.
Rigoberto Torres lives and works in the Bronx and is represented by the Brooke Alexander Gallery. He has exhibited his works at the Washington (D.C.) Project for the Arts, The Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Venice Biennale.
History of the Site
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