WED, DEC 2, JOEY MUGICA AT FASHIONABLY WEDNESDAYS GANSEVOORT

Check out Pop Artist, Joey Mugica during Art Basel at the Gansevoort on Wednesday, December 2, 2009. Get your Havana Nights Fashion Shoot and Pop Art done by Joey (the Color Queen) while you sip on some cocktails and enjoy our new and most welcome cool weather on the Rooftop of the hotel. Get ready to strike a pose! ALSO, Fashion Show by Berta Bravo, famous for her Guayabera creations.

Elaine Lancaster

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It was a night to celebrate Fashion and Art from local artists who chose an alternative way to showcase their Art. Frank Navarro (brother of artist, Carlos Navarro) and Martin Solorzano promote this wonderful event open to all visual artists and so I would definitely Add them as Friends on Facebook to get in touch with them, if you are interested in showcasing your work. It is held every other Wednesday.

The Color Queen a.k.a. Joey Mugica was there in his little “magic” make-shift studio photographing his next subjects, including me. Joey’s shtick, or short performance, is he gives you a scenario to imagine with a few short phrases like, “Imagine me naked,” and he captures your reaction, literally. It’s hard not to laugh when Joey follows up with, “And then, act like you were disappointed!” So, in short, the artist captures facial expressions and turns non-suspecting participants into would-be actors. It is absolutely so much fun to partake in the performance part of Joey’s art, however, the wonderful surprise at the end is that he will provide the “actors” with a printed version of the shoot.

Mugica, “Color Queens” his photographs and the end-result are beautiful, vibrant Pop Art images that leaves you with a sense of nostalgia as you do remember the experience. His work is much more than a simple photo:  It is a fun journey from casually socializing with people, as Joey does so well with his mild manner, and arriving at their temporary alter-ego snippets.

My buddy Gloria was there as well as she loves Fashion and Art, as well, so she enjoyed posing against the incredible Fiberglass Installation made by Aaron Powell. Aaron has been airbrushing since the 80’s and the work on display was comprised from several components to produce his “wall” of color. He had his self-portrait that reminds me of Speed Racer days when the animated cartoon depicted just that:  Speed. It’s an edgy throwback to the 80’s with a modern-day twist showing slabs of color chips alongside his portrait, below his portrait and finishing it off with a beautiful, horizontal abstract sunset from Mikonos complete with etched, diagonal lines. Powell, matched his outfit to match his artwork which consisted of the complementary colors Purple and Yellow. He couldn’t go wrong. The outfit was a work of art on its own complete with rhinestones and glitter on his painted pants.

Aaron also had projections of Digitally Airbrushed work he has done in the recent months over the main entrance of Plunge on the rooftop of the Gansevoort and on the monitors behind the bar and lastly, in the elevators. It was well-executed and professional.

Newcomer, Suzana De Paola, was also showcasing her work in abstracted black and white compositions depicting the human form. Her eye-catching piece was a red and orange Batik also made up of shapes resembling a figure. That was my favorite piece!