Living downtown, one must be open to a steady stream of surprising new events, people, spaces, energy, vibrations, delights, and possibilities. For example, last month I learned that Washington Square Park, a block from my front door, has an official artist in residence. Also, I was introduced to a tiny room in the upper reaches of the Jefferson Market Library, new scents, a powerful body of work by an artist whose name barely registered on my consciousness previously. Then there are the amazing people one encounters. And, of course, there are wild and fascinating happenstances that burst and blossom everywhere.
Denny Daniel is Washington Square Park’s artist in residence this year. You can find him every Tuesday evening from 6:30 – 8 pm in Holley Plaza on the west side of the park. There he sets up a display of interesting things which come from Daniel’s nearby Museum of Interesting Things. https://MuseumofInterestingThings.org
Interesting things can mean an old-timey nickelodeon for which he will supply a coin so you can operate it and watch a very early incarnation of what eventually became Imax. Or a wax cylinder phonograph. He introduces folks who stop by to the history of the gadgets, mechanical toys, strange photos, unusual decks of cards, odd dolls, and/or whatever else he brings each week. Everything is hands-on, interactive, and fun. Daniel also takes his lively presentations to schools throughout the five boroughs.
His Museum of Interesting Things is located in an apartment not far from Washington Square, and open only by appointment. Among the items he most treasures are a Moviola (pre-digital film editing machine) on which director Tim Burton cut his first feature (Pee-wee’s Big Adventure) and which was part of the action in George Clooney’s recent star turn as Edward R. Murrow in Goodnight and Good Luck on Broadway
Originally a filmmaker, Denny Daniel restores and shows 16 mm films in a loft on Prince Street every Sunday evening at his Secret Speakeasy https://secretspeakeasy.com. He introduces each movie with his enthusiastic showman’s patter. The Sunday night films also have a Zoom audience.
On Saturday July 12 at 7 pm he will be showing 16 mm Prohibition-era jazz films. Daniel will present rare 16 mm short films featuring jazz legends like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Bessie Smith.
Be careful, though. Denny Daniel’s enthusiasm and positivity is contagious.
Ideal Glass Mansion, part of Willard Morgan’s event space on West 8th Street, was the scene of a super high-energy presentation of the fusion of dance and acrobatics one Sunday evening in June. The performer was Cay Izumi, founder of Tokyo Dolores Dance Company. More info about upcoming NYC dates can be found on https://tokyofashion.com.
My plus-one at the Ideal Glass Mansion event was the amazing Vilma Hodo. Since establishing herself as the Empress of New Perfumes on Instagram, she has taken on general manager and curatorial duties at G Gallery on Broadway at Canal Street, which is another very active event space. In addition to introducing perfumes and other beauty essentials, there is a group show which includes Hektad, the street artist. I saw a couple of his murals while in Coney Island on the day of the Mermaid Parade.
G Gallery has a functioning robot that walks on all fours and stands up straight like a good bot should.
Unsurprisingly, Vilma smelled wonderful.
In last month’s issue, I wrote about Anita Durst and Chashama. Shortly after the article came out, Durst announced that this year’s 30th Anniversary Gala would be the last that she will produce. What she’s up to next remains to be seen. It’s sure to be special.
Since it was the last Chashama gala, I had to go. It was, as always in the past, a mind-boggling series of live performance installations. While there I witnessed Lee Klein, my colleague here at the Village Star-Review, have his lips painted red, kissing a wall, and getting spanked with a wooden paddle covered with sequins. Now that’s a party!
I also ran into the extraordinary documentary-maker Mary Sue Connolly, in town for a visit from her native Ireland. Formerly a powerhouse documentarian for a couple of U.S. network news divisions, she is indie now and known for her award-winning Overdosed – a searing, microcosmic look at the macrocosm of Big Pharma’s recent push to get Americans addicted to opiates.
Reid Stowe, the planet’s greatest living adventurer, was also at the gala. He’s just back from a sea voyage that was part of his Mars Ocean Analog foundation training program for astronauts and aspiring space voyagers. Among the trainees were astronauts from the EU and India, and a woman tech billionaire. NASA has yet to get on board with Stowe’s training, but the word is Elon Musk is planning to engage with the program. Accompanying Stowe at the gala was New York-based supermodel Maxine Hoover.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I rewrote and am credited as co-author of Stowe’s screenplay about his multi-year solo adventure at sea. For 1186 days and nights he sailed without touching land while single-handedly guiding an 85-foot schooner which he built himself. A big announcement on the movie is coming soon.
Chashama and the great work it does providing space for artists and first-time entrepreneurs will continue even if the gala, alas, has ended its 30-year run.
The last Saturday in June was a full day and thank God the weather played nice.
My outing began with a staged reading in the Venetian-style Mae West room tucked away on the top floor of the Jefferson Market Library. Jeffrey Cyphers Wright – poet, playwright, and new contributor to the Village Star-Revue beginning with this issue – oversaw a delightful rendering of his one act play The Remake. It’s about Erato – the muse of both lyric and passionate poetry – mortality, and the afterlife. The ever-entertaining downtown acting icon Gary Ray, the lovely Madeleine Verbasius, and Atanasio Di Felice as Virgil (shades of Dante!) brought the script to life for the appreciative crowd that packed the space.
Lee Klein was there with the painter Shelley Joy on his arm. After the library, we all three traipsed down into Soho to Jeffrey Deitch’s Wooster Street space and caught the last day of the museum-worthy Carnival exhibit, curated by the artist Joe Coleman. He was there with his lovely wife Whitney.
From there we crossed the street to the Drawing Center. There we were treated to the powerful works of the late Beauford Delaney, who I was aware of only due to his famous portrait of James Baldwin. Delaney was an active part of the Harlem Renaissance before moving to Paris and becoming an abstract expressionist. That show is up through the summer and well worth your time.
That’s a wrap for June. Thankfully, life and art go on.
DiLauro is a playwright and poet and arts journalist. His most recent chapbook of sonnets is Be Merlin.
