N-Y-C-ya

Just back from NYC - despite killer jetlag it was definitely the most fun i've had in the city.

Highlights of the week were the lunches for artists at Soho House I put on where I had the pleasure of hanging out with Lawrence Weiner, Nick Relph, Ken Miller, Agathe Snow, Ian Tweedy and Evan Gruzis among many others, my big brother Jose Parla's rammed opening, the crazy group show at CANADA gallery (which included work by Jim Drain one of the stars at my next show at MU), the White Columns party at China Chalet, Kathy Grayson's dinner for The Hole, doing a talk with Slater Bradley and fascinating cinematographer Ed Lachman, and some exceptionally nice times in the company of Jeremy Shaw and Blake Mawson.

After the hilarious amusement of being listed in Modern Painters top things to do during Armory (getting drunk with me is apparently a nighlife highlight) I got double blogged - Jonathan Yeo who I curate Soho House with did Vanity Fair's blog and the delightful Alexandre Stipanovich on Opening Ceremony's blog (where I nabbed the photo above).

Much more NYC to come in the coming months.

Dean Street Interview

A nice mention for the collection I co-curated on Interview online

Dean Street Townhouse

Artist Jonathan Yeo and myself have co-curated the permanent collection of artworks at the Dean Street Townhouse, which opens to the public on Wednesday November 25.

The collection plays with the history and atmosphere of Soho and London, highlighting the breadth and brilliance of contemporary British art. The building has an amazing history. It was the location of The Gargoyle Club, a notorious hang out before and after WWII. Its red and glass interior was partly created by Henri Matisse, whose painting ‘The Red Studio’ hung on its walls. RNoel Coward, Sigfried Sassoon, Dylan Thomas, Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, John Minton and Graham Greene all hung out there. In the 1970s a theatre was installed and it later became a sauna and massage parlour for men, before turning into the 1980s nightclub Gossips. Expect a lot of artist's to hang out there for the year.

The ground floor is filled with awesome selection of artists - to be honest I'm a bit blown away. Its like a greatest hits of contemporary British art! There's the old school (Andrzej Klimowski, Peter Blake), an acre of YBAs (Tracey Emin, Noble and Webster, Gavin Turk, Fiona Banner, Paul Noble, even a humorous Hirst), lots of outsiders (Jamie Hewlett, Jose Parla), the Turner Prize crowd (Keith Tyson, Mark Titchner) and tons of really great younger names (Jamie Shovlin, Tom Ormond, Sam Griffin pictured above etc).

Dean Street Townhouse, 69 Dean Street, London W1