Ultra Violet
Though it was a day before the real crowds arrived–Mr. Friedman expected a record-breaking 30,000 visitors the next day, all making the pilgrimage out to the fair’s new location in the Sculpture Fields of Nova’s Ark–by Friday evening the word had already spread. Hamptons Magazine’s EIC Samantha Yanks chatted near Mr. Marin, while artists Jenna Lash and Wanda Murphy, whose work would be exhibited the next day at The Bego Ezair Gallery mingled amongst the crowd that included Elaine Sargent, Jonathan Goldberg, Unik Ernest, Elizabeth Derringer, and ArtHamptons president Rick Friedman.
Lisa Jack held court in her booth, unveiling all of the photos from her 1980 shoot with President Barack Obama, the most infamous of which made it onto the cover of Time magazine. (Perhaps in a nod to Mr. Marin, Ms. Jeff’s photos had quite a few of the POTUS toking on… something.)
“Can you believe,” she exclaimed in half-outraged/half-bemused tones, “my editor at the time hated these pictures? He said the composition was terrible.” We decided not to point out to the proud photographer that it was President Obama as a subject, not her lighting technique, that had generated so much buzz about her work.
Former Warhol superstar Ultra Violet (aka Isabelle Collin Dufresne) gave us a sneak-peak of her sculpture commissioned for the 9/11 Memorial Museum: a metallic structure of purple numerals that she wouldn’t let us leave until we guessed what the numbers tallied up to. (It was obviously “IX XI,” but we were a little slow after all that chocolate cake.)
Also in attendance was Jason McCoy, nephew of Jackson Pollock, whose centennial ArtHamptons is honoring. He is planning a larger retrospective of his uncle’s work in his New York galleries later this year, though when asked if Ed Harris would be involved (he directed and starred in the 2000 biopic Pollock, and two Pollock replicas painted by Mr. Harris for the film were being shown in an ArtHamptons exhibit), he replied tersely, “No Ed Harris. We just have the paintings.”
Like a little celebrity glamor ever undermined the artistic value of an art show. Didn’t Mr. McCoy know that only museums are too good for Hollywood?
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