Interview

Remember when New York City was a place where the hopeful, the talented, and the lost came to get found, live cheaply, and become great (not just rich) artists? Well, it hasn’t seemed like that kind of place for a while, but a new young art scene is emerging in all the boroughs that is more excited about the city streets than the white walls of Chelsea.

Aurel Schmidt
Age: 25. Hometown: Kamloops, Canada. It’s a pulpmill city. Currently resides: East Village. Medium: Drawing. I would like to get into photography—but last year I said I wanted to get into sculpture, and I ended up throwing all my work in the garbage. What are you currently working on? I’m taking a break from showing to concentrate on making work without any pressure from anybody. I’m sick of having my work go out the door and never seeing it again. What’s your studio like? I just moved out of my studio, which was three times the size of my apartment. I had been sleeping and eating there, but now I’m working out of my house, and everything is covered in huge sheets of paper. When people come over to see my work, I say, “It’s in my bedroom, and I’ll buy wine,” which always sounds erotic. Artist hero: For now, Nan Goldin, because she wears her heart on her sleeve. She never tried to separate her life from her work. It changes as she changes. If you could change one thing about the art world, what would it be? Haters. Street artists who hate artists who make money. Conceptual artists who hate painting. Painters who hate conceptualists. Lowbrow people who think the highbrow are shitting on them. You can hate art in general, but if you’re in it and hating, you’re like a dog chasing your own tail. Do you want everyone to be like you? Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is in transition. Artists want a change and feel something big is about to come together, but can’t quite see what it is yet. We’re in the eye of the storm.

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Alexander Shulan

Age: 21. Hometown: Manhattan. I grew up in SoHo. Currently resides: I split time between Chicago, where I go to school, and SoHo. Medium: Digital and video. I’ve been doing a lot of video manipulation. I’ve been taking films and breaking them down frame by frame, destroying them and then restitching them together. What’s your dream project? I’m interested in curating, not as a curator, but making a new piece out of a lot of other pieces—my own and other people’s. Something like Urs Fischer and Gavin Brown’s show last year at Tony Shafrazi Gallery—“ ‘Who’s Afraid of Jasper Johns?’ ”—but even more so. Artist hero: Joseph Cornell. And Lawrence Weiner, because of his book Statements, which is instructions for making a piece. What’s your studio like? It’s my laptop and whatever space I can scrounge. Day job: I have had a lot of internships. I worked for Gavin Brown, Jeffrey Deitch, the New Museum . . . I really liked working for Gavin Brown. He had a good manner. The New Museum people were nice, and Deitch was fun—there were a lot of parties. If you could change one thing about the art world, what would it be? More writers and fewer critics. Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is surprisingly small and closeknit. There are a lot of talented people, although the pressure to produce something feels real and excessive.

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