Steven Shearer

:::While trolling the streets of the East Village [I just made a permanent move to Manhattan], I stumbled upon the New Museum on Bowery, which I've been meaning to check out anyway. I forgot my student ID [technically not a student anymore as of May 23rd, but they sure as hell don't know that], so I had to pay the full $12. Needless to say, it ain't worth it [I'm used to D.C. museums & galleries that are free, so bear with me here]. It was a bit underwhelming, I must admit. There are like 5 levels, each floor super small. The first floor is a cafe and gift shop, both equally and expectedly overpriced. The second floor housed the current exhibit "Double Album: Daniel Guzman and Steven Shearer."

:::Guzman was not my fave, and all of the works incorporating human skulls just reminded me of Damien Hirst and the legions of others who now use that kind of symbolism as well. It represents death; we get it.

:::Shearer was not bad; I particularly liked the Leif Garrett photo collages. It was less of a fan's homage to his teeny-bopper-dom than Shearer depicting his own identity. Shearer looked strikingly similar to Garrett in his youth [I wonder if he had a lot of game by looking like a teen idol as a teen....?], and many of the collages were a mash up of both he and Garrett. While making the works, there was construction being done in his studio; when the contractor tore down a wall, he found a newspaper from the '70s with Garrett on the cover, in almost mint condition. Crazy!

:::Anyway, to make a long story even longer, it made me wanna unearth my old Britney & 'NSYNC pictures/posters, and create some conceptual, adolescent regression piece of my own [I was an art major once upon a time, however I don't exactly take my art seriously.....clearly]. Would YOU pay $12 to come see it???