Interview

"There's something beautiful about capturing the spontaneity of youth. It's something everyone can relate to on some level, even if they can't immediately identify with this mad group of punks," says photographer Niall O'Brien of his first show at Art Work Space in the Hemptel Hotel, London, called "Good Rats." It's an identification that he cultivated slowly while living among a group of young punks called the Kingston Brew Crew (K.B.C) from South West London and tailing them on adventures from Brighton to Berlin. O'Brien describes a difficult balance he worked to achieve in the two years of his immersion: gaining a level of trust with his subjects without "doing anything that would affect what comes naturally." O'Brien also worked to balance the articulation of truth and fiction in his documentary style of portraiture, which manifests in alternately romantic and melancholic styles. Witnessed in groups and by themselves, with their dogs and with a beer, the kids don't look so mad after all.


GOOD RATS IN ON VIEW THROUGH MARCH 11. ART WORK SPACE IS LOCATED AT 31-35 CRAVEN HILL GARDENS, LONDON, W2 3EA

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Whether filled with concrete or crotchless, the depiction of fabric in David Rimanelli's exhibition, "Denim," at New York University's 80WSE Gallery extends well beyond the bounds of the material. Using the blue jean as a platform to clothing as a uniform, as a means of expressing social or sexual identity, the exhibition also highlights our ability to rebrand ourselves depending on our attire. Complicating the reading of literal materiality with abstraction and metaphor, Rimanelli curates a show of artworks by 11 artists created over the last 40 years. He explains the bias against exhibitions on fashion, and how to get more action out of your pants. CLICK FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW.


DENIM IS ON VIEW THROUGH MARCH 13. 80WSE GALLERY IS LOCATED AT 80 WASHINGTON SQUARE EAST.
UNTITLED (HANNA AND KLARA LIDEN), COURTESY THE ARTISTS

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PHOTO BY AIMEE WALLESTON

Last night, a group of artists showed their work at a prestigious Chelsea art space. For 24 hours beginning the morning of February 3 at 11 AM, any and all artists were invited to show art at the X Initiative in its last show. The result was a Relational Aesthetic mini-masterpiece, inspired by curator Walter Hopps' infamous 1978 event "36 Hours," and a fitting conclusion to a year of improvised but accomplished programming that added a dose of beneficent, renegade energy to an art world undone by bubbles and bursts. SEE THE FULL SLIDESHOW

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Graffiti artist and nightlife impresario André Saraiva is well known for his Mr. A tag, the ­flâneur-like smiley face he stamps on images of women, ­bottles of vodka, and pretty much ­anything else that gets in his way. “I’m always drawing, and I think a napkin is one of the best kinds of paper,” he says of the quotidian ­canvases for his solo show this month, his first since 2002, which will occupy a “cabinet of curiosities” at Parisian ­boutique Colette. The intimate ink drawings ­evidence Saraiva’s interest in American ­comics and his memories of childhood in Sweden. In one such sketch, Saraiva portrays Nabokov’s Lolita as a larger-than-life book; it looks like a building and is situated conveniently next to Saraiva’s nightclub Le Baron. More info at colette.fr.


WORK BY ANDRE IS ON VIEW THROUGH FEBRUARY 27. COLETTE IS LOCATED AT 213 RUE SAINT-HONORE, PARIS 75001. THE SHOWOPENS TONIGHT.

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