The New New York Art Scene

By Alex Gartenfeld
Photography Robbie Fimmano

Kyle Tregurtha
Age: 23. Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa. Currently resides: West Village. I lived on the Upper East Side for four years, rentfree. Then I got kicked out. But my friend has an actor friend who is 80 years old—he owns a duplex in the West Village and lets me live there for $300 per month. Medium: Film. I’m working on a documentary called 111. My friend and I hitchhiked from Seattle to New York and 111 is the number of cars we took. what’s your Dream project? I’d love to do a biopic of the guy who invented LSD, Albert Hofmann. What’s your studio like? Right now, I work out of 3rd Ward in Brooklyn. It’s amazing to be around all these people making things all day. Artist hero: Keith Haring, because you can use him in any format. In Stuyvesant Town,Haring’s work is in the kids’ playrooms. Favorite gallery: The walls in a friend’s living space. hobbies: I like reading biographies. I like to learn about new people and stalk them, basically. I try to find out as much about them as I can. If you could change one thing about the art world, what would it be? That no one talks to each other. It’s really difficult to break through to people. Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is about to change. There needs to be more communication between people.

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Lucien Marc Smith
Age: 20. Hometown: I was born in L.A., but raised in New York. Currently resides:Chinatown—in the building that Agathe Snow and Rita Ackermann once lived in on Forsyth Street. Medium: Mainly oils and found sculpture. A lot of sculptures that I make are put together with found materials. I was always afraid of oils, but I worked with Dan Colen about a year ago when I was a freshman [at The Cooper Union], and he showed me how to use them. Right now, though, I’m doing canvases with stretched linen. I’m basically creating shapes with canvases in all different tones of blue. What’s your studio like? It’s my house. It’s a giant wall where I mount the paintings and a glass table which I use as an easel. Artist hero: David Hammons. He’s just the real deal. He’s not bullshit—he just is. Favorite younger artist: Aaron Bobrow. He’s a really good, smart kid. He’s 23. I can’t even explain it. His work is in between sculpture and appropriation. Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is a bunch of beautifullosers. Or at least they think so.

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Michael Bilsborough

Age: 30. Hometown: The desert in California. Currently resides: Chelsea. But I spend all my time in Chinatown. Medium: Drawing. I have a solo show that’s running until June 21 atInvisibleExports, and it’s a group of drawings about bacchanal parties and mysterious rituals. The figures I draw correspond to biological ideals, while the spaces they inhabit belong to geometric ideals. What’s your Dream project? Well, the Sistine Chapel is taken. What’s your studio like? My bedroom is my studio. I’m there as much as possible. I aspire to be a hermit. And while usually it’s immaculate, it’s currently a mess. Artist hero: Director Pier Paolo Pasolini, because he smoothly roped together politics and erotics with an eradefining aesthetic. Favorite younger artist: K8 Hardy is the perfect example of an artist at the epicenter of multiple art scenes. Much of her art is based on events that bring together communities of artists. If you could change one thing about the art world, what would it be? The art world already changes often, so if I’m unhappy, I can just wait till the bad stuff passes. Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is trembling. Because we are facing such economic challenges. But we’re also gleefully oblivious because it doesn’t matter. We’re going to keep making art anyway.