The New New York Art Scene

By Alex Gartenfeld
Photography Robbie Fimmano

Mikaela Bradbury
Age: 22. Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa. Currently resides: In my cousin’s apartment on the Bowery. Medium: Film, painting, writing. I am currently editing and storyboarding a film about suicide that takes place in the afterlife. I’ve been brought on to make it funny and accessible, which is proving to be slightly challenging. I am also working on a series of semiabstract paintings on plywood that uses the wood grain as a guide for landscapes. Artist hero: Francis Bacon. Favorite younger artist: My friend Dale Jimenez. His work is funny and beautiful, and he finds the most amazing material—purple cardboard packing from some food market or amazing glittery fabric scraps from Dumpsters—and creates entirely new universes or creatures. His latest project was creating a giant meatball. Favorite gallery: I like art that perverts everyday interactions. I think galleries already have such a set choreography that they don’t really generate new musclememory. If you could change one thing about the art world, what would it be? That it wouldn’t take itself so seriously. Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is apolitical. It’s very wrapped up in fashion and media. But, to be honest, I don’t have a developed opinion either.

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Natasha Ghosn
Age: 22. Hometown: Houston, Texas. Currently resides: Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I don’t want to talk about it. That’s where my friends are. Medium: Currently it’s Tshirts,Photoshop, and collecting old images . . . collage, but I wouldn’t call it that. I am working on my Tshirt line called Mondo Mondo. What’s your studio like? I work in my bedroom because that’s where I’ve always worked—on my bed, although recently I’ve moved onto the desk. Because you don’t have a real closet in New York, my closet is all over the walls. Artist hero: Guiseppe Arcimboldo. He did the 16thcentury food and vegetable faces. They’re insanely surreal. Favorite younger artist: AIDS3D, who I’ve known forever from my freshman dorm. They make more than anyone else. They can make art and party their brains out. Their energy is really insane and terrifying. hobbies: I collect perfume. Day job: I work at Bess, a store in Nolita that puts studs on everything. If you could change one thing about the art world, what would it be? To eliminate the desire for fame. Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is not the world I live in.

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Oskar Agnes Tarplee

Age: 29. Hometown: St. Simons Island,Georgia. Currently resides: Flatbush, Brooklyn. Medium: Music, sculpture, painting, and performance art. Right now I’m working on a secret new band. I also perform with MaryJordan’s performance group, Parthenogenesis. I’m doing a new painting series and a book and research for developing my treehouse project. That’s my answer to the problems facing a nomadic art tribe. It will consist of several properties in strategic locations which artists run and develop with local communities like selfsustainable hubs. We could be a moving community, like gypsies, but with property. What’s your studio like? My studio is a collection of science experiments and oddities—paints, canvases, wires, saws, drills, keyboards, and trumpets . . . random boots with cans screwed to the soles in case of a bit of tap dancing. Artist hero: Egon Schiele. He basically did street art himself, painting without making much money. He drew anyone who would let him, like prostitutes. He caught this sense of life that anyone can identify with. Day job: I perform at The Box and at parties and events, although that’s more of a night job. Fill in the blank: The young New York art scene is needing a jumpstart. Let’s dance, people!