Artists are always in the forefront of social and political innovation. In a world gone mad with commodification and greed, they are generous and unafraid—inspiring and goading us to have agency in the world. One such artist is Darryl Lorenzo Wellington. SSB is proud to highlight a poem from Darryl’s new book of poetry, Life’s Prisoners.
Some Serious Business and Howl! Happening are pleased to celebrate Love Among the Ruins with a culminating performance by two masterful performers: John Kelly and Joseph Keckler. Kelly performs excerpts from Time No Line, a solo performance work presented as a live memoir. Keckler will perform three of his original arias and songs, invoking themes of…
In SAFEWAY I heard a whining | Song. Dill fills the air with longing | What was the Twentieth Century | Appetite. I grew up wondering would I | Ever fuck like them, the dead. They left | Behind the lingering sense of an ethos:
I hate to begin with the big D—death—but there it is. My co-curator Bill Stelling’s brilliant title for the exhibition, taken from Robert Browning’s poem “Love Among the Ruins”, aptly describes the main themes—love and mortality—that were the impetus for this show. As I lost so many friends so suddenly and unexpectedly in…
SSB and Howl! Happening are delighted to present a snippet from Penny’s performance of Margo Howard-Howard below. The full performance, as well as a video of the infamous performance of Jackie Curtis’ Glamor, Glory, and Gold at 56 Bleecker Gallery will be featured in Love Among the Ruins. Performance artist Penny Arcade’s work has…
When Dean Rolston, co-owner of 56 Bleecker Gallery, died in 1994 from AIDS, he left behind a memoir—Remembering Dying—a memento mori of the last two years of his life. No hagiography: In this short, powerful, beautifully written, and honest work Dean looks at his life and imminent death through the prism of contemporary culture and…
Join Some Serious Business for Love Among the Ruins POETRY NOIR hosted by Maynard Monrow on September 28, 2017, 7pm at Howl Happening: An Arturo Vega Project. As the name implies, this evening turns on the dark side of creativity at the end of an era of partying and excess that is now the stuff of…
SSB is pleased to present a portfolio of photographs by Mark Sink. An intrepid chronicler of the antics and personalities that animated 56 Bleecker Gallery, his insightful portraits on view in the exhibition make a powerful statement about the energy and creativity of late 80s New York. A private art consultant, Sink represents and curates…
I knew I wanted to work with moths. Moths conjure up an image of nighttime, lights, creepiness, and they are food for bears. I am a big fan of mammals. In seeing the gallery space I saw options of darkening the room, creating a nighttime “moth feeding” and possibly including a two story tall bear over the stairwell landing who would be consuming the moths.
Quintan Ana Wikswo interviews SSB Founding Director Susan Martin about her essay in The Dharma of Dogs, Our Best Friends as Spiritual Teachers. The Dharma of Dogs shares the reflections of spiritual teachers and writers who have found a source of deep truth and practical wisdom beneath the furry surface of our four-legged friends. (1) You…