Gregg Chadwick at Van Der Plas Gallery

 

Excited to begin 2022 with my oil on panel painting "Tax the Rich" in a new group exhibition in New York's East Village at @vanderplasnyc. The exhibition opens January 20, 2022 6-8pm and runs until January 30, 2022 at the Van Der Plas Gallery, 156 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002

Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez created headlines around the globe with her Tax the Rich Dress worn at the 2021 Met Gala.

The socially provocative dress was designed by Aurora James who said in the New York Times: "Listen, it would be a lot easier to go to the Met Gala and just wear a really beautiful dress and look really beautiful and have a good time. But that was not her intention, right? Her intention was to take a conversation that’s largely existing in working-class communities and bring it into rooms where that conversation might be a little bit more uncomfortable. It’s not easy to show up in a room like that, with a statement like that.

There’s a lot of people who gain access to rooms like that and are too afraid to rock the boat."

My painting celebrates AOC, Aurora James, and everyone rocking the boat.

Creating Reality: All Art+ features work by artists Kelly Ahern, Joseph Bernadas, Joseph Bauer, Laurie Buman, Renata Cabral, Kate Muehlemann Cataldo, Sauce Child, Catherine Clancy, Nicole Collie, Adama Coulibaly, Gregg Chadwick, Hugo Diaz, Trudi Esberger, Jose Maria Santos Ferreira, Ismael Rodriguez Fernandez, Arlene Finger, Anissa Fritz, Jacylyn Gordyan, Léa Hernando, Indigo, Mic Khan, Vidho Lorville, Ryla Louise, James Meunier, Stewart Milne, Jennifer Jean Okumura,  Verónica Ordóñez, Stephanie Orudiakumo, Gabriele Scanziani, Jens Schaefer, Shanon Schneider, Darian Smith, Anabela Sobrinho, Ellen Verlinden, Kevin Vlainic, Suzanne Watters, Dylan Wilson, and Kira Wong.

#art #NYC #EastVillage #NYU #vanderplasgallery #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist #contemporaryfineart #artcollection #modernart #GreggChadwick

In a New York State of Mind

by Gregg Chadwick

Super Bowl Sunday has grown to become a secular holiday that rivals Thanksgiving in the United States. I just got off the phone with my brother and our New Jersey/New York roots run deep. Sporting events from this past weekend remind me how much I carry Spike Lee's and my Grandpa Chadwick's sporting allegiances with me. Jeremy Lin's astounding play for the New York Knicks basketball squad last night proved to be a harbinger for the New York Giants inspired play today. Tomorrow morning will be a bit sweeter as New Yorkers access their newspapers of choice. For me, memories of late Saturday nights in the Village buying Sunday's New York Times at a corner grocery never fail to bring a smile to my face.

As did Clint Eastwood's inspired role in this year's Chrysler ad. I'd recognize that silhouette anywhere. Doesn't look like Carmel's Hog's Breath to me though. I've been in a Noir mood myself with a studio full of new paintings and new ideas.

Chrysler Commercial: It's Halftime in America

In a subtle nod to union labor and the struggles in Wisconsin, a brief snippet of the protests against the soon to be deposed Governor Walker appears in the Chrysler ad.

Wisconsin's Capitol Dome glows on a cold Madison night as protestors gather to support union labor. Importantly, Clint Eastwood is also a union supporter as a member of the Screen Actors Guild. 

Tonight, I salute my Meadowlands ties from Newark, to Bloomfield, to Montclair, to Asbury Park, to Manhattan, to Columbia, to NYU. 

Congrats to New York - my city of Dreams