Taking It to the Streets: Advertising Yourself as an Artist

2008-02-06T06:34:00.001-08:00

by Nathalie Hall

Strolling down the mundane lengths of 2nd Avenue near 86th Street last year I was both shocked and delighted to see a piece of artistic heaven peek out from under my feet. There on the sidewalks of the Upper East Side were small “teases,” or samples, of the art of James De La Vega. They were, in essence, simple chalk line drawings frequently of fish consisting of just images or images with short adages of wisdom signed lovingly by “De La Vega.” While street art is hardly a new medium for city artists, in recent times artists have been working to break out of the mold by exploring untouched mediums of presentation of course in addition to creating original works of art that subscribe to original artistic philosophies and beliefs.

Street art is a fantastic way of presenting your work to the world. Thousands of pupils take in what you have created all in a mere walk to the subway station or a jog down to the corner grocery store. While the impressions are indeed quite numerous, what is really striking is how this advertising can transform an artist's career. Gaining recognition through gallery endorsement is a long and arduous process, but with street art you create on the outside. Your visibility increases. Your name takes on real meaning. As long as the police do not catch you drawing, painting, spraying, scratching, etc. where you shouldn't be, that is. One of the delights of De La Vega is that he uses chalk, which - both gladly and sadly - washes away in the rain.

Even as your canvas may be a bench or a wall in the city, artists must not be overbearing or exceedingly selfish. As is evident by the nationwide public uproar against highway billboards (they are illegal in some states), the public only has a certain amount of tolerance for you mussing up their surroundings. Perhaps a better idea is to dabble in street art and save the real thing for canvas, t-shirts, boards, or paper.

James De La Vega, who was described the New York Times writer David Gonzales as “a hybrid between a street kid and an Ivy League guerilla performance artist” knows how it is done. De La Vega, who hails from Spanish Harlem and attended Cornell University, has gone from el barrio muralist to East Village gallery owner. His work has just the right mixture of visual appeal and depth of meaning and he used the streets to build up his persona and personal brand cache. Next time you brave St. Marks Place in New York City, stop in and say hello. And don't forget to take notes.

Some Tempura With Your Tempera?

2008-02-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

by Nathalie Hall

What can be said of art and food? That is, aside from the fact that there are many restaurants in New York City that try to combine the two in the most delicious ways possible for the most amount of money possible.

Open the latest Zagat or Michelin Guide and you will find hundreds of worthwhile restaurants to please even the most seasoned palates (and that's palates, not palettes, my fellow painters!). If you manage to get a reservation at a top dining destination such as Jean Georges, Le Cirque, or Maze you will come expecting not only food that is paired so well - lest it even be something as unexpected as Artic Char with jalapenos or Goat Cheese as sorbet - that the taste is A+ but food that looks creative from a presentation standpoint.

Creativity in the realm of fine dining is not a new concept, albeit it is one that many places tend to neglect in favor of the tired and true run of the mill offerings. Artists who come to New York City and experience its restaurants will seek out the more creative and visually appealing dining experiences, but amidst a sea of “baked salmon” and “spaghetti bolognese” where does one actually discover the most worthwhile dining experiences that not only tantilize the tastebuds but also the pupils? Toss aside your Zagat and keep reading:

Wallsé - Fold up your easel planted on the corner of Barrow and Commerce in the quiet West Village and head up to this modern Austrian art-lovers mecca. We all know how good Austrian food can be, but Wallsé steps it up a league with menu items such as the heavenly quark dumplings and lobster over spaetzle. As if that wasn't enough, the wine list is beyond comprehensive and the requite art comes in the form of the Expressionist painter Egon Schiele…on the walls, in the logo, and omnipresent as his spirit lives on through culinary artistic excellence. 344 West 11th Street at Bank Street.

Café Mozart - When you've had enough of hearing birds singing over your canvas in Central Park journey west over to 70th and Amsterdam where this classic mainstay offers a dessert menu that would make you give up even your ritzy Blockx pure pigments. Great for after dark if you're keen on live piano playing and a cultivated high-culture experience. 154 West 70th Street

Vynl - If Mozart isn't exactly your cup of tea, breeze on down to this other music-driven haunt. Relish in vivid blocks of colour, mosaic tables, and a surplus of action figures collected behind the bar. Sip a beach blanket bikini key lime martini over the best pad thai a non-thai restaurant can serve up, admire your mosaic table, and study the plethora of typefaces on the varied menu while your eardrums take in the best of pop music over the years (think Cher, the Spice Girls, and Donna Summer). It certainly puts the “kitch” in hell's kitchen. 754 9th Avenue at 51st Street

Lever House - After a long day of fighting past the crowds to admire the Picassos, Van Goghs, and Motherwells at MoMA it wouldn't be overkill to breeze up to this mod architecturally mesmerizing restaurant. Granted you'll be so busy admiring your modern nautical-meets-Corbusier surroundings to even notice what you're eating, but don't worry - the food is quite good. Chances are you will be so astounded you won't even remember you even went to a museum beforehand. 390 Park Avenue at 53rd Street

Freeman's - So you just experienced the red-hot New Museum that took over the Bowery and now that you've already sighted some t-shirt-clad hipster types and angry cart-weilding hobos you're ready to escape back to SoHo. Instead, walk northward up to Rivington Street. Freeman's harbors the best collection of wild game both on the walls and in the kitchen. Taxidermy aside, you'll be glad you braved those hobos and hipsters. The atmosphere is rustic, laid-back, and there is an abundance of dark wood and even wood plank flooring that will most certainly trap your high heels. The food comes in the form of wild boar, lamb, and a famous artichoke dip and is sure to fill you up before your safari back to SoHo. End of Freeman Alley off of Rivington Street

Highlands Art Union

Taking It to the Streets: Advertising Yourself as an Artist

Some Tempura With Your Tempera?