Swooning over Deitch

The other weekend, Sheri, Katie, and I all went to see “Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea” at the latest Deitch gallery… in our own neighborhood of Long Island City, no less.

To me, one word represents all that is artistic, progressive, creative, and distinctly NYC: Deitch.

Unlike others, Jeffrey Deitch’s galleries never disappoint. His gallery concept is very simple: find the most talented young artists, and allow them to exhibit — or rather transform — enormous warehouse-sized galleries with whatever they want.

Artinfo put it best in their write-up of the exhibit:

“On August 15, a fleet of seven handcrafted boats — each a “floating sculpture” designed by Swoon from repurposed materials — set sail from Troy, New York, with Long Island City, Queens, as a destination. The traveling community of more than 40 artists stopped in eight cities along the Hudson River to perform music and a play about the imagined origins of the “Swimming Cities” written by the multidisciplinary artist Lisa D’Amour.”

By definition, this should have been an awful, pretentious disaster: performance art, large-scale installation… acting. Trust me, it all worked. The performances were great, the boats were incredible, and the music was absolutely captivating, and the art was fantastic. Click below for more info….

The flotilla as it traveled down the Hudson…


Swoon’s art on a grand scale inside the Deitch Gallery…

She is a gifted draftsman, who signature style is marked by intricate filigree patterns, expressive portraiture, cut paper, and found objects.

An assortment of doors were cut and arranged as giant fans and wall details…

Outside, the performance raged on….

While the band “Dark Dark Dark” played on…