Transcript
Mary Boone (0:00)
Foreign.
Alison Stewart (0:09)
This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. The two floor Townhouse gallery on the Upper east side takes a fresh look at a defining era in New York's art scene, the 1980s. A decade shaped by artists like Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, Jean Michel Basquiat. The exhibition Downtown Uptown New York in the 80s is on view at the Levi Gorvinda Gallery at 19 East 64th Street. With 78 works by 25 artists, the show captures a moment street where street art and pop art were reshaping the cultural conversation and when political critique was front and center. It has become a huge hit with art Instagrammers, most of whom weren't even alive when Mary Boone was one of the best curators and helped define the downtown art scene. Mary Boone and Brett Gorvey, co founder of the gallery, joined us to talk about Downtown Uptown. It's open until December 13th, so you've got about three weeks left to see it. I started by asking Brett what was something about the 1980s that he wanted to highlight in the exhibition.
Brett Gorvey (1:18)
For me, as you can hear from my accent, I'm British, but I came to New York in 1983 and as a 19 year old student and was immediately taken in by the energy and really the, the show is really about New York. I mean, I've often referred to this as a love letter to New York. And this was a time where you had young artists downtown basically living off the Bowery, living basically in a very, you know, New York was a, was coming out of bankruptcy. So this was a time ultimately where there was huge possibility. I mean, there was no money, there was, you know, art was, was basically people were, you know, graffiti on the streets. And that excitement is really what we wanted to capture for the show and working with Mary because Mary was basically part of this history. I mean she, she was it, she was the queen of downtown.
Alison Stewart (2:07)
Yeah, I came to New York in 88, graduated from school, came with my friend who was an art history major. And like, going to Mary Boone Gallery was a big deal. I just want to say that out loud.
Mary Boone (2:18)
Very nice to say that it is. Well, come on.
Alison Stewart (2:22)
Legend, Legend. Exactly how would you, Mary, categorize the people involved in the 80s art scene? How, what were they like?
Mary Boone (2:34)
I think since it was pre Internet, people were much more given to see things actually. So there was, it was more like what was the routine. And it was on particularly on Saturdays, you had collectors all kind of starting in mass uptown, like in the 70s and 80s, coming downtown to have Lunch at Bellotto's and then going to the Soho Galleries. And it was a great thing because you saw things in person. You had Victor Ganz talking about how this was like going to Picasso Studio, and there was a kind of actuality to it that made it, I think, more relevant. And for the show that Brett and I have done at his gallery, so many people that come in are people that I knew from, like, the late 70s, early 80s that want to remind me of what they bought from me 40 years ago. And they're so happy to have this because so much now is seen on the Internet. And, I mean, various industries grew as a part of the Internet positively. I think the Internet has not been positive for the art world.