Sky and Muscle

We were out in Williamsburg last night for an opening at Pierogi and a closing at The Boiler: "The Slow Inevitable Death of American Muscle" a live, head-on collision which takes place in slow-motion over the course of the exhibition.

The main event of the evening, however, was this traffic stopping, crowd gathering sky that took over the city for about 20 minutes at sunset. Whoa...

Saipua Front

We're taking a little break from construction this week in order to give Sarah and the gang the space they need to handle the big wedding weekend they are tackling.

In the meantime, you can see that we have closed in the front of the store and we have started with the last layer of barn siding which will close up the backside of the boxes. We'll be back in there first thing next week to finish the remainder of the siding, hang the rear warehouse door and to find a suitable solution for an operable storefront. Until then, I'm heading to the RabbitHole for happy hour and then on to the Highline.

Porcelain Pea Shooter

When leaving Amsterdam, Pauline [the artist we stayed with and pictured in overalls in the last post] gave An one of her beautiful art pieces, a porcelain revolver, to congratulate her on her first solo exhibition.

While An couldn't have been more pleased, airport security was not as enthusiastic. Believe it or not, after much discussion, a phone call to the head of security, and a heavy frisk, we made it through Amsterdam security [a feat I attribute to the Dutch appreciation for art.] However, our transfer to a connecting flight and subsequent security screening in Dublin wasn't as successful.

To their credit, the screeners in the Dublin airport couldn't have been any nicer, but for reasons I completely understand the porcelain revolver couldn't be carried on. With very little time between flights, and my refusal to check luggage, Brian [the security screener] offered to take it with him and mail it to us after he got off of work!

I think An was a little hesitant, but I've always heard stories about Irish pride in their mail service [i.e. successfully delivering a package with as little info as a name] so we gave him our address and hoped for the best. Happy to say, we got a package this week and the gun is now hanging on the wall. Thanks Brian! Thanks Pauline!

Amsterdam Pt. 2

I'm fighting a bit of jet lag and we're busy making the final push on the new store, so my posts are lagging a bit behind. So in the meantime, here are a few pics to whet your appetite.

As you can see, the Dutch light really is spectacular. The sun didn't go down until 10pm or so and the evenings just seemed like long 5 hour sunsets [which if you have been following this blog at all, you know I like.] Also, check out our buds Ron and Pauline in their matching OshKosh overalls! We were lucky enough to stay with these guys and meet all of their wonderful artist friends.

For more photos of our trip to Amsterdam click here.

For pics from An's show click here.

Heading to bed. We have the last load of barnwood showing up tomorrow. The store is looking nearly complete now. I promise to post new photos right soon!

Opening Night

amsterdam

It's Saturday and this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and look at a computer. Kind of nice really.

We've been here since last Wednesday and for the first four days we have been staying with our wonderful friends Ron and Pauline in their beautiful loft in and old hospital that has been converted into artist studios.

There is too much to cover in one post, so for now I will just throw out a sampling. Tomorrow morning we head over to visit our new friend Pia and then on to The Hague for An's opening!

An Hoang Exhibition

Tonight we leave for the Netherlands for 7 days to attend the opening of An's first solo exhibition of her work! The upcoming show has been generating a bit of interest in the Netherlands art press, but we were most excited to see this nice post by Pia.

If you or anyone you know will be in the Hague this Sunday, please come on by Livingstone Gallery.

As excited as I am about An's opening, I'm also pretty excited about trying this

[almost] Saipua!

We're not quite there yet, but we're getting very close and everyone is super excited...including Nea.

With our deadline fast approaching, it seems untimely to be boarding a plane tonight and heading to the Netherlands for 7 days. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little stressed about leaving in the middle of a project, however, this is not the first time I have had to leave during a deadline*, and there are some things in life that you should never miss. This week, I am lucky enough to have two good reasons to take some time off:

1. An and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday [we've actually been together for 11 years!]
2. An has her first solo exhibition in her new gallery in the Hague! [more to come in the next post]

This really has been an amazing project to work on, and I think in the end the new Saipua will be the project we're most proud to have been a part of. Keep an eye out for a July 1st opening!

*while finishing the 3.1 Phillip Lim Boutique in Soho, I had to leave for a prior teaching commitment in Shanghai and Beijing for two weeks at a time over 6 weeks. With the help of a high speed internet connection, an amazing crew in my office and our trustworthy contractors [yes they do exist] we managed to not only finish 1 week early, but under budget as well.