I went to the Hamptons for work, it was the longest that I
have been there, 5 days, 4 nights, and it was fun, odd, revealing and
surprisingly full of art. More
then anything, it sheds light on what it means to be wealthy, and it makes one
think about how class and money are so tightly entwined with this art
business. Albeit, this version is
the living cliché, it is the version that we all want to exist because it makes
the contrast of things seem starker.
In reality, this is just the mirage, the real money and the real
influence; those things are tucked far out of sight. But nevertheless the performance of it all was quite
fantastic to behold and it makes one realize that New York City is the best
place ever to live. Below are a
few things I saw, noticed, or just have to remark upon that was stirred by this
Hamptons trip.
Art
Martos Gallery
As I said, there was actually some great art to be seen
amongst the Buddha carvings and fountain displays. One such experience was at Martos Gallery’s summer location
in Bridgehampton, a large group exhibition curated by the indomitable Bob
Nickas entitled Creatures of the Blue Lagoon. The summer location
appears to be the gallery owner’s home, and the work is hung, installed, placed
and displayed amongst the unedited life that is lived there. It is all very charming but it is
surprisingly not gimmicky or overly clever. There is some damn good art there and the eclectic mix of
young hot things, outsiders, forgotten ones and the old guard is both
refreshing and exciting to see.
The works were displayed and hung in a home that was cozy and had people
wandering casually in and out and lounging about. This is what art does when it is purchased, well 90% of the
time. It resides in the private
space of someone’s every day; a home, an office, and it sits there until moved
for some reason or another. There
is something direct in that acknowledgement but in this case there isn’t a
reduction in that action but a heightened honesty. It makes the art feel very present. As if each piece was a stand-in for a
friend, a guest that couldn’t make it in person but left their avatar in the
form of a piece of work. The
artists and their fine selection of works can not be understated in the success
of this. For those that go out to
any of the Hamptons, you must pop in, but make sure to mind the sleeping baby
upstairs.
Art
Halsey McKay
Located in East Hampton just off the main road, there is a
surprise of a gallery called Halsey McKay that was opened in 2011 by Hilary
Schaffner and Ryan Wallace. Both
Schaffner and Wallace are New York art insiders and their taste and knowledge
of what is happening in the arts is on the pulse. They had an opening of their current show with Andrew Kuo
and Sarah Greenberg Rafferty doing a combined show entitled, Friends and upstairs they had the work of Ryan Travis
Christiansen entitled, Something, Something, Black Something. I
could only stay for a bit, but both shows were a friendly surprise to see in
all that white pant-ed secondary market ambiance of the Hamptons. The exhibitions were well selected and
there is nothing rag-tag about the space or the presentation. It was also slightly familiar, for
someone who sees art like the above on a weekly basis, but this show isn’t for
me, it is for all those that live, summer, or weekend getaway that want, need,
or desire to see new and good contemporary art. I can only imagine the hurdle that must feel like out there
but thank god someone is doing it.
Clothes
What people where in the Hamptons is just too funny! Here are a few: Bright colors like pink,
turquoise, purple, yellow; white pants; white shorts; white everything; flip
flops; loafers; children in matching outfits; wearing only a sheer/skimpy
cover-all over a bikini and walking where ever you damn well please; fitness
clothes as outfits; tight pants that go way up woman’s butt cracks; big bangle
bracelets; palm trees, alligators, etc on bright belts; dogs, dogs, dogs; small
children; strollers with at least two children ages 2-6; straw hats; pastel
pants; bad legs; spotted skin; collagen lips; plastic surgery face; soft
baseball caps; polos.
Food
Eee gads the food is bad out there. It is super expensive, which is the
norm for beach towns but really, $13 for a wrap sandwich?! I only had one decent meal at a place
called Silvers in South Hampton, someone had a BLT and it cost $19! The rest was all bland, blah, blah
food. Food is so easy, it’s mind
boggling it can be consistently so bad.
Most who live/summer there eat at home/at the homes of others which
makes sense but really, the food was hideous in every way.
Whiteness
The Hamptons is about whiteness being as white as it wants
to be. It is really a beautiful
setting out there and understandable why people want to be there. The beaches are beautiful and the whole
feeling of wealth, ease, suspension of time and the possibility for a breezy
fabulousness permeates. There are
few non-whites en masse, mostly they are Hispanics who are biking at 12:30am to
go mop floors, as I met, or they are black security guards, check out girls at
the grocery store or cleaners.
This really isn’t about white and non-white per se, as there is clearly
a population of working class white locals who have their own bars, their own
restaurants and you see them working for various establishments on various
days. They too are not the
“whiteness” that I am referring too.
Seeing a room full of pretty, skinny, tight dress wearing young girls on
one side and a smaller number of older, post 50s, rich, blazer wearing, tanned
men makes you go “gah” inside but this is also a part of the game, the goal to
achieve ultimate whiteness. In
this whiteness money is a concept and reality is just much different then
everyone else’s. It is truly
amazing to behold, all that whiteness.
It is like performance art, it is like those novels where a wealthy
woman is dumb and numb by the delirious safety of boredom. All that whiteness on such a small
stretch of sand, it is entertaining, appealing and appalling all at once.
