Design Observer :: Join the Discussion http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/the-city-in-your-dreams/35698/ en-us Design Observer Group 2012-08-25T12:17:58-05:00 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0 http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/the-city-in-your-dreams/35698/#comments 2012-08-25T12:17:58-05:00 The City in our dreams is very real.
I do not remember the A. Fontana Shoe Repair in the East Village, yet it must have been there near the Tanager Gallery (1952 -1962) on East 10th Street, where some of my favorite teachers got their start. I do remember the 1980’s East Village like the back of my hand and to remember it is like a dream. My girl friend (now my wife) would walk art critic/cooper union professor Dore Ashton’s DOG for her when she was away from home in the village. Here is a memory from Dore Ashton that I found on a quick search.

“The first co-operative artists’ gallery that I knew well was opened very near my home. It was called the Tanager Gallery on East 10th Street. It was a parlor floor in an old brownstone with a large window. I can remember the openings there: Every downtown artist packed into its limited space. One spring I remember seeing two Bowery bums staring at the colorful scene across the street and one bum said to the other: “Well, it takes all kinds to make a world.” Soon after, there was a downtown rush to open co-op galleries, and we all heartily supported them. It was, in its way, a political statement of defiance of commercialism and institutionalism in the rapidly expanding milieu of what is ludicrously called “The Art World.” To my mind, there is no such thing. The so-called art world is merely a small precinct in the great world, reflecting all its vices and, once in a while, its virtues. ” — Dore Ashton

2010_BMG_Catalogue.pdf
]]> http://observatory.designobserver.com/feature/the-city-in-your-dreams/35698/#comments 2012-08-22T04:40:05-05:00