New York, NY - June 16, 2010 – New York Location Artist, Jason Borbay’s recreation of the Figure Five in Gold will be auctioned tomorrow evening, June 17, 2010, at the A.C.E. Black & White Ball, celebrating Henry Buhl’s 80th Birthday.
About A.C.E.
One summer morning in 1992, philanthropist and art collector Henry Buhl was leaving his loft on Greene Street in SoHo when a local homeless man approached him for twenty dollars. Instead, Henry offered the man a job sweeping the front of his building, then rallied the other businesses and buildings on his block to pay the man to clean their storefronts as well. Within months, the street cleaning operation had grown exponentially and the SoHo Partnership was born.
Now known as A.C.E. (The Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless), Henry’s organization keeps the streets and sidewalks of SoHo, TriBeCa, Nolita and NoHo/Bowery clean and beautiful and, more importantly, enables recovering homeless men and women from all over New York City to successfully transition into full-time employment and long-term economic self-sufficiency.
The Figure Five Artist Perspective
My Figure Five in Gold is a faithful recreation of the original Figure Five in Gold, a Futurist masterpiece by Charles Demuth. Demuth’s picture resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art – mine is now available for your private collection. From the first moment I gazed upon Demuth’s mesmerizing work, it represented the essence of Manhattan flawlessly. Thus, I set out to truthfully recreate his opus based on a series of photographs and sketches I created while standing in front of the original. Demuth’s work is the visual representation of a poem by William Carlos Williams, “The Great Figure”, about a Number Five fire truck barreling down 14th street in the rain.
My Figure Five in Gold is done on canvas in acrylic, versus Demuth’s original, which is oil on cardboard. His image pays homage to Williams with the inscription of “Bill” in the top left of the canvas, “Carlos” on the brown building in the background, and “W.C.W.” at the lower center of the picture. Shifting the gratitude, I changed “Bill” to “Chaz” for Charles Demuth, “Carlos” to “Leavy” (my former roommate and artist Patrick Leavy), and “W.C.W.” to “C.D.” Created in 2006, this work is 36”X48”, and has been in my private collection since its creation.
Event Details
To purchase a table, please contact Gala coordinator Melissa Robinson at (212) 274-0550, extension 15, or email mrobinson@ace4homeless.org
To make a pledge or pay by check, please download, print and fax the
ACE gala pledge form to (646) 613-8276 or mail to:
Melissa Robinson at ACE New York
598 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10012
Following my Apple Store Painting, I decided to take my “show” (or, easel and canvas) to Columbus Circle. I’ve had my eye on the controversial redesign of the Museum of Art and Design for some time. And, since it includes the CNN Sign and the sexy Hearst Tower, how could I resist?
Here’s the scene from the Central Park side of Columbus Circle. After the jump, putting the mad and Madoff into the MAD Museum.
I was touched to receive this wonderful thank you video from Bay Shore’s Art Department and Students. I really enjoyed spending an evening with this talented group.
My next street painting in this series has commenced. I will be set-up on the park side of Columbus Circle, capturing the newly refurbished Museum of Art and Design. Check Twitter for frequent updates beginning Monday, June 14th around noon.
All considered, I had little choice but to paint one of New York’s most photographed locations. In the picture, Steve Jobs is both the Godfather, and a man with a target on his head. Apple clashes with Flash, and is singled out by the President. Doomsday simmers at the foot of the steps, and Google looms visibly atop the cube.
This is my vantage point from across the street, in front of the fountain by the Plaza Hotel (of Home Alone 2, Lost in New York fame.) After the jump, the full painting, cops with AK-47′s, the dreaded Sex and the City tour, the Ratman cometh and much, much more.
Day four of my Apple Store painting was eventful, and full of visits. Friend and collector Howard, founder of the Hakker Film Festival, snapped theses photos on the sly.
Fortunately, it makes me look like I am working hard. Pictured in the foreground – a couple about to make out. Tongues. Swirling. Furiously. After the jump… more sly photos, and two pictures of the famous rat whisperer.
Sometimes you pick the subject, and sometimes the subject picks you. Steve Jobs’ incendiary Flash missive and the resulting headlines pointed my easel toward the Apple Store, on 59th Street. This picture, as mentioned in my last update, is both a work in progress and an exploration of refining the unfinished.
I’m not sure who this gentleman is, but, it is almost impossible to take a photograph of the Apple Store without someone walking by. This is my vantage point from across the street, in front of the fountain by the Plaza Hotel (of Home Alone 2, Lost in New York fame.)
After the jump, the process to date, cops with AK-47′s, the dreaded Sex and the City tour and much, much more.
Being a street artist, now that my leg is unbroken, it’s time to hit the streets. This summer, I will be creating a series of 30″X30″ collage paintings focusing on two concepts: The Void, and being “Inside The Box”, aka, the Anti-Graffiti. My first work of street art will be The Apple Store in Midtown (above.) This location was chosen by the headlines, Steve Jobs, his thoughts on Flash, and my past as a business director for an agency built upon their landmark work in Flash. More after the jump….
