Club 57

Club 57 was a nightclub located on 57 St.Marks streets. It opened around late 1970s and closed  down in 1983 because many artists moved to more expensive venues and AIDS came along. It was the hangout place for performers, artists, and musicians such as Madonna, Keith Haring, Cyndi Lauper, Charles Busch, Klaus Nomi, The B-52s, RuPaul, Futura 2000, Kenny Scharf, Frank Holliday, Staceyjoy Elkin, John Sex, Wendy Wild, The Fleshtones, Joey Arias, Lypsinka, Michael Musto, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Fab Five Freddy, Jacek Tylicki, and so on. It was in the basement of the Holy Cross Polish National Church on St. Mark's. Ann Magnuson was the manager and the one who hosted events. Many artists felt that it was their home and also their relationships with each other were like a family. There were resident DJ -Dany Johnson- and also several guest DJs.

Frank Holliday

Frank Holliday was born on May 2, 1957 in North Carolina. He went to California at the age of 18 and later moved to New York for School of Visual Arts. He is currently a professor in Parsons The New School for Design and is working on his abstract paintings. 

Frank Holliday became known in New York in the art world in the 1970s and 1980s. He was associated with the East Village Scene and Club 57. He has worked with Andy Warhol and was close with Keith Haring and Ann Magnuson. He was a teenager finding his own path and living his life having fun in New York City when it was abandoned, dangerous, and dirty. He was rebellious and his physical appearance was "the sexy bad boy." He wore tight black jeans and kept his look iconic in black and white.

Ruth Polsky

Ruth Polsky was born on December 5th, 1954, and was a famous music booker and promoter in New York City during the 1970's and 80's. She is known to have broke the post-punk New Wave music scenes in clubs like Danceteria, Limelight, and the Ritz. She also set up U.S. tours for bands like The Smiths, New Order, and Sisters of Mercy. On September 7, 1986 she was hit by a runaway cab and killed in front of the Limelight theater.

Greer Lankton

Greer Lankton is an East Village artist who was born in 1958 in Flint, Michigan, and is best known for her work in the field of mannequin art. In galleries such as P.S. 1 and Civilian Warfare, Lankton has exhibited her life-size dolls that depict AIDS victims, anorexics, the transgendered,and those considered outcasts in society. She has described her art as the "mix of fine and folk art". Presently, her work is exhibited in a permanent installation in the "It's All About Me, Not You" show at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh. 

David Wojnarowicz

David Wojnarowicz born on September 14, 1954 was a artist whose work consists of using various medias such as film, performance, photography and writing. David Wojnarowicz has never recied formal art training, and after dropping out of high school, he lived on the streets of New York City prostituting himself, and his experience during this period of his life can be seen in the comic book 7 Miles a Second. 

In the late 70's, he was in a band called 3 Teens Kill 4 and exhibited his work in various well known galleries in the East Village such as Ground Zero Gallery NY, Public Illumination Picture Galler and Civilian Warfare. Wojnarowicz often appeared  in or collaborating on works with artists like Nan Goldin, Peter Hujar, Luis Frangella, Karen Finley, Kiki Smith, John Fekner, Richard Kern, James Romberger, Marguerite Van Cook, David West , Ben Neill and Phil Zwickler. After he was diagnosed with AIDS in the late 80's, his work took on a sharp political edge. Not only was he an advocate and activist fighting for gay rights, he also challenged public arts funding. 

Jenny Holzer

She born in Ohio, 1950.

She was abstract painter first but in 1977, she exhibit her first text art work 'truism' and moved to public artist.

In early 1980  she start 'Protecct me from what I want' on Times Square board. After that she did a lot of big scale light projection art. In 1990 she got golden lion trophy. Her philosophy is 'language as art'. Development of technology advance her art work very much. For example LED technology make her art work more bigger. She also communicate with citizens by her art work. She give some messages and get comment about it. Her text are very simple but has powerful meanings. It contains a lot of things such as social and politics. It makes modern people to wake up from insensitivity about text and communication.

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol is an American artist that was born on August 6, 1928 in Pennsylvania and died on February 22, 1987 in New York City. He was the creator of the visual art movement pop art, while he explored and experienced many types of art, such as drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, film and music. He had a studio called The Factory which was a gathering for him and his friends, most of them famous people, such as Eddie Sedgwick, Mick Jagger or Betsey Johnson. Moreover, he was a gay person that lived openly. Warhol was also religious and a practicing Ruthenian Rite Catholic, volunteering at homeless shelters in New York. Some of his famous works are "Campbell's Soup" or "Mona Lisa". Last but not least, he has a series of famous quotes, one of them being "In the future, everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes". 

Kenny Scharf

Janis Savitt, Keith Haring, Dianne Brill,
and Kenny Scharf, 1987

Kenny Scharf in his studio, 2012

Kenny Scharf was born 1958 in Los Angeles California. He is an American painter who now lives in Brooklyn, New York. He received his BFA at the School of Visual Arts in 1980. Scharf’s work became well known in the 80s art scene due to his monstrous pop culture based paintings and installations. He is very much inspired by animated cartoons that he watched as a child such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons.

Scharf was a key figure in the 1980s East village art scene. He held shows at the Fun Gallery (1981) and tony Shafrazi (1984) and now museums such as the Whitney, Monterrey Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Queens Museum of Art have embraced his work. He has collaborated with Keith Haring, Scott Ewalt, Joe Grillo and Laura Grant of Dearraindrop, and many other influential people. 

Karen Finley

Karen Finley is a living performance artist who's work is categorized as obscure due to its graphic nature of sexuality, abuse, and disenfranchisement.

Karen was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1958. She received her MFA at the San Francisco Institute of Fine Arts. Karen Immersed herself in the Bay area Punk Scene of 1977. There she performed at art galleries and underground music clubs. With the help of an NEA Grant Karen moved to New York City where she collaborated with many artists like David Wojharowiz and The Kipper Kid. In her performances she is often nude dabbing, smearing, and pouring different materials like sprinkles, chocolate, or eggs on her body to symbolize the violation of the female character, she speaks for these women in her screams and moans on stage. Some of her recordings featured her rants over disco music (some of which were produced by Madonna). Because of the controversy of most of her pieces Karen has been in many popular media outlets (Oprah, Seinfeld, and the character of Maureen in the musical Rent is thought to have been an on homage to Karen). Karen has published many books, and is currently teaching at New York University in Manhattan

Stephen Sprouse

Stephen Sprouse was a fashion designer and artist who was known for his eccentric taste in integrating bold, clashing styles and his punk-inspired day-glo graffiti prints. His career began when he started designing clothes for Debbie Harry's stage shows. Although his designs appealed to young customers, they were too expensive due to the high quality materials used. This lead to bankruptcy and production problems which forced him to hand-paint graffiti prints on his clothes instead. Although his success was inconsistent throughout his career as a fashion designer, he later became most well-known for his designs for the Louis Vuitton Paris spring 2000 collection. Inspired by his habit of scribbling phone numbers and reminder notes on his arms, he designed handbags using raw fluorescent-painted letterings to cover the Louis Vuitton monogram handbags.  

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Basquiat painting

Jean- Michel Basquiat 
( December 22, 1960- August 12, 1988) 

BOHEMIAN/LADIES' MAN/GENIUS/POET/DRUGGIE 

Jean- Michel Basquiat wan an American artist, and primary player in the 
1980's counter culture art movement of the East Village in NYC. He began his career doing obscure street graffitti art in 
  during the late 70's, however later evolved into an acclaimed Neo- Expressionist & Primitivist painter by the 80's. 

Jean-Michel was born and grew up in Brooklyn with his two sisters, 
leaving home at 18 to pursue his art career. 

Basquiat generally explored suggestive dichotomies, such as wealth vs.poverty and integration vs.segregation, 
often always incorporating social commentary into his artwork.
Basquiat viewed art as a " Springboard to deepen truths about the individual." 

He was heavily involved in the social scene of the time, which included musicians, artists, and designers of 
the counter culture movement including Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, BLONDIE, Madonna, etc. 

Basquiat died August 12 1988 of Opiates and Cocaine overdose.

Eric Bogosian

Eric Bogosian, 2012

Eric Bogosian, 1980's

Eric Bogosian, born April 24, 1953 in Massachusetts, is an American actor, playwright, monologist and novelist. He went to Oberlin College and later moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. He married theatre director Jo Bonney in 1980 and have two sons. He applied his writing skills to several pictures including the play which he is most known for, Talk Radio. He is also known for his play subUrbia as well as numerous one-man shows. Between 1980 and 2000, Bogosian wrote and performed six major solos. His plays Talk Radio, subUrbiaand his solo, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll were adapted to film. He has written three novels: Mall, Wasted Beauty, andPerforated Heart. In television, Bogosian is known for his starring role in the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He worked at The Kitchen as a phone operator and later founded the dance series there.

Danceteria

Danceteria, outside

Danceteria poster

Danceteria was a famous nightclub renowned for its various DJ’s. Throughout its history, it changed location seven times, the most famous one being the Danceteria at 30 west 21^st street in Manhattan.

The club was initially opened in 1979 by Rudolf Pieper and Jim Fouratt, but soon closed down due to the absence of a club license.  In 1982, Danceteria re-opened at 21^st street with John Argento hiring Pieper and Fouratt. The latter then got fired 3 months after, and Ruth Polsky got the job as the club’s talent booker. From then on, musicians such as Madonna, Duran Duran, Billy Idol, The Smiths, Cyndi Lauper, etc. performed, and attended the club, along with artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, etc.

As of today, all of the Danceterias no longer exist. Most have been turned into luxury condos and hotels. 

Diego Cortez

Diego Cortez, 1980's

Diego Cortez, 2003

Diego Cortez, born as James Curtis in 1946, is an influential character of the 1980’s New York art movement. Curator at large, he has been the instigator of several significant art exhibitions, one of them being the New York, New Wave exhibition at PS.1 in 1981, where he showcased works from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Stephen Sprouse, Kathy Acker, Robert Mapplethorpe, and many more.

Though mainly known for his role as curator/gallerist and for helping several artists break through in the arts field, Cortez has also been working as actor, musician, director, manager, producer, lecturer, author, etc. He has also co-founded the Mudd Club in 1978 with Steve Mass and Anya Phillips.

He is currently still alive, and still working in art, collaborating with museums and galleries. 

Keith Haring

Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat

Keith Haring, 1985

Keith Haring was a prominent street artist in New York City. Haring, who was born in 1958 in Reading, PA, decided to move to New York City in 1978. Later that same year, Haring also enrolled in the School of Visual Arts (SVA). In New York, Haring found a thriving alternative art community that was developing outside the gallery and museum system, in the downtown streets, the subways and spaces in clubs and former dance halls. Here he became friends with fellow artists Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as the musicians, performance artists and graffiti writers that comprised the burgeoning art community. Haring was swept up in the energy and spirit of this scene and began to organize and participate in exhibitions and performances at Club 57 and other alternative venues. Furthermore, in April 1986, Haring opened the Pop Shop, a retail store in Soho selling T-shirts, toys, posters, buttons and magnets bearing his images. Haring wanted the shop to be an extension of his work and painted the entire interior of the store in an abstract black on white mural.

Unfortunately, Haring was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988. He then established Keith Haring Foundation in 1989 to provide funding to AIDS organizations and children’s programs, and to expand the audience for Haring’s work through exhibitions, publications and the licensing of his images. 

Keith Haring died from AIDS complications in 1990. 

CBGB

CBGB, a music club located at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in New York City from 1973 to 2006, was a venue that became known for being at the heart of the American Punk and New Wave music movements.  CBGB stood for  Country, Blue Grass, and Blues while OMFUG, displayed under the name stood for Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers.  Included in its long list of notable performers are The Ramones, The Misfits, Blondie, The Patti Smith Group, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Agnostic Front, and US Chaos.  

Mary Boone

Mary Boone, born October 29, 1951, is the director and owner of Mary Boone Gallery, a venue that has helped launch the careers of many artists since its establishment in 1977.   She was instrumental in the burgeoning art world of the 1980s, with her gallery representing artists who were on the fringe of the advancing artistic envelope.   Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Eric Fischl are among a long list of distinguished artists who had their beginnings at the Mary Boone Gallery.  Currently, Mary Boone Gallery has two venues in New York City: one at 745 Fifth Avenue and the other at 541 West 24^th Street. 

Julian Schnabel

Julian Schnabel, present

Julian Schnabel, 1980's

“My paintings take up room, they make a stand. People will always react to that. Some people get inspired, others get offended. But that’s good. I like that.”

Julian Schnabel is an American artist, designer, and film maker. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Texas, Schnabel moved to New York City during the early 1970s to pursue an art education at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Soon afterwards, Schnabel became infamous for his rapid integration into the blossoming East Village art scene of the 1980s. After his first 1979 exhibition at the Mary Boone gallery in Chelsea, Schnabel was immediately recognized as an unconventional artistic force and personage by New Yorkers and art critics alike. His precocious ability to self-promote and brash, unapologetic attitude led to further fame and success. Best known for his large scale paintings composed with a variety of unconventional materials, most often cracked pottery, Schnabel explores themes of sexuality, death, resurrection, and religion. A pioneer of Neo-Expressionism, Schnabel rejects the quiet intellectualism of Minimalist and Conceptual Art, instead promoting expressionism, excess, exuberance, and abstraction. For the past ten years Schnabel has expanded his artistic endeavors, merging his distinct aesthetic vision with the fields of film and interior design. A critically acclaimed director, Julian Schnabel is most recognized for his films The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Basquiat, made in honor of late friend and artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Julian Schnabel currently lives and works in New York City. For news about his recent work and exhibitions, please visit:

www.julianschnabel.com

Rene Ricard

Rene Ricard, present day

young Rene Ricard

Rene Ricard was born in 1946 in Boston. Massachusetts. He is a poet, painter, and art critic. As a teenager, he was inspired by the early works of Andy Warhol. He eventually moved to New York City and began work Andy Warhol's factory. During his time there he acted in a few film, such as Kitchen and Chelsea Girls. Later on, Ricard went on to be an art critic - writing articles for magazines such as ArtForum. He is recognized for launching and enhancing the careers of artists such as Julian Schnabel, Jean-Michele Basquiat, and Keith Haring. More recently Rene Ricard has been focused on writing poetry, specifically in the form of painting.

FUN Gallery

FUN Gallery

FUN Gallery was founded in 1981 by Patti Astor and Bill Stelling as a place for graffiti artists to display their work in one-man shows. The original FUN Gallery was located in the East Village on 254 E. 10th Street. Along with graffiti, FUN gallery was a place for neighborhood kids, hipsters, and beat boys to celebrate all art forms of hip hop culture in the 1980s. Exhibitions at the FUN Gallery were created by artists including Kenny Scharf, Futura, Fab 5 Freddy, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Word spread, and soon the FUN Gallery became a popular place for museum directors and uptown collectors to mingle with the fresh-face artists of downtown. The success of FUN Gallery boomed until Patti Astor finally closed the gallery four years later in 1985.

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Tseng Kwong Chi

Tseng Kwong Chi, 1981

Keith Haring, 1981

Tseng Kwong Chi is known for his photographic series, Expeditionary Self-Portrait Series (also known as East Meets West). Born in Hong Kong in 1950, he moved to Canada with his family in 1966. Interested in the arts, he studied painting and photography at the L’École Suerior d’Arts Graphiques in Paris, France and eventually moved to New York City in 1978. 

 

Always fascinated with traveling, Chi took photos in America, Europe and Asia, becoming known as an “inquisitive traveler.”  

In his series East Meets West, Tseng Kwong Chi makes fun of western stereotypes, exploring Westerners’ ignorance of Asia. To represent a tourist, he wears a traditional Mao suit, mirrored sunglasses and a fake ID, which is clipped to his chest pocket. Receiving great attention, these photos were shown in the Mudd Club in 1981.

Becoming active in the arts in the 1980s, Chi befriended Keith Haring, taking photos of him working on murals, installations and in the subway. These photographs were eventually shown with Haring’s work at the Semaphore Gallery’s East Village location in an exhibit called “Art in Transit.”

Passing away in 1990, Chi’s work is still remembered to this day. 

Patti Astor

Patti Astor, 1980's

Patti Astor was born in 1950 in Cincinnati, Ohio. When Astor was eighteen, she moved to New York City and became involved in the downtown East Village art scene and began acting in low-budget films. Her acting resume include films such as Unmade Beds (1976) and Underground USA (1980), however she is most known for her role in Wild Style (1983) where she plays a reporter who "introduces uptown culture to the downtown art world" (Paper Magazine). In 1981, she founded FUN Gallery on 254 E.10th Street with Bill Stelling, which was a gallery and hangout spot for Astor and like-minded artists, beat boys, and neighborhood kids. She was crowned the "Queen of the Downtown Scene" for introducing hip hop culture to a wider audience. 

Patti Astor, today

Patti Astor is currently living in California. In 2012, she published a memoir called FUN Gallery...The TrueStory, which recounts her experiences in the downtown culture of New York during the 1980s (Exposed PR).

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