111ladders

Next To The Sea:the work

2012-01-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

here is most of the works which made it into the show at MUNCH Gallery There are a bunch more of works on paper. But there are 22 of them so I put a few.

Next To The Sea

2011-12-18T23:52:00.000-08:00

I am very pleased to be invited by the lovely Lillan Munch to participate in a show at her gallery, which opens this January, 2012.
The show is titled "Next To The Sea". It is a 3person show and the first extensive showing I will be doing in NYC in 5 years. I am thrilled to be premiering a few of my new large format Polaroids. I will also have a few new photo constructions as well as an installation of 111 ships. I am very excited to be able to show on my home turf and I really hope, if you are in the NYC area, you are able to come and see the exhibit while it is up. I have here a few sneak peek shots of works in progress.And here is the info for the show:
Opening Reception Sunday, January 8, 5-8 pm
“Next To The Sea”

Pierre Botardo
David Hochbaum
Jacob Dahlstrup Jensen

Opening Reception Sunday January 8, 5-8 pm
MUNCH GALLERY
245 Broome Street
New York, NY 10002

The show runs January 8 - February 5, 2012

Japan Relief

2011-11-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to say that with the assistance of the wonderful crew of Strychnin Gallery and my exhibit there in June, Kaidan Shu, I was able to donate 700 Euros(aprox $950) to Japan relief from their devastating earthquake this year. It is not much but there is no way I could have raised this much without the help of Strychnin.
Thank you Strychnin and I love you Japan.

3 book box set

2011-11-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings all! I would like to let you know about a limited offer I have going on here for a 3 book box set I am making.

In order to keep this art-wagon train going, I am putting up for sale a handmade, limited edition, numbered, one of kind case holding 3 5x7 signed, self-published books of 3 different bodies of work of mine. These boxes are only available through me and also come with a 5x7 one of kind silkscreen print on watercolor paper. The books are not available anywhere else or individually. I have attached here photos and description of the goods so please have a look see. There will be a total of 333 made and are made to order so it is a first order, first to receive kind of deal.

The whole set is just $250 and includes shipping within the USA. Some xtra charge will go for over seas depending on destination.
*For those in NYC area, save 20 bucks and pick it up yourself here at my studio

If you are interested please email me at davidhochbaum@gmail.com to place an order and work out your payment.
Now, since this is a totally DIY project, it may take up to 2 weeks to receive your box after payment so keep it in mind if you want it by a certain time.
Okay, thanks for listening and have a look!

Art Fair 21 Cologne 2011 day 1, 2, 3

2011-10-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

Well, as I expected, we are all exhausted from travel, installation, anxiousness, beer, and other extra curricular activities. Soooooo, I am not going to write too much and just post some pictures of the past 3 days.
Just a quick explanation, I arrived 5 am on Tues, went to drop my stuff at my buddy Tobias's flat and meet up with Marcus so we could head over to the venue and install. It is always great to meet up with old friends, meet new ones and see what they have been up to with their art.
No sleep for 2 days, lots of coffee, and just plain old work work work...The opening is tomorrow. Time to catch up with some sleep.

2011-10-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

October is here and it is once again time to travel to Cologne Germany for the Art21 fair. This will be the 5th year I will be attending the fair with Strychnin Gallery. It runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1st
I am very excited to have the gallery showcase my newest work. I call this group of 5 works "Underwater Empire on Fire". I feel this is the first part of a larger body of work called "Burden of Dreams". I am looking forward to seeing my comrades and fellow artists as well as the beautiful city.
I will be hanging with the likes of Miraschi, Daniel van Nes, Elena and Ekaterina Popovy, Marcus Poston, David Stoupakis, Eric van Straaten, Raf Veulemans, Benjamin Vierling to name just a few the fantastic artists that will be presented by Strychnin Gallery in Art21 in conjunction with the Blooom creative industries Art fair.
Fingers crossed for a successful art fair for all!

These are the works I will have hanging.

one of my earliest inspirations:E J Bellocq

2011-10-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

love:love winter

2011-10-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have been invited to participate in a charity auction run by Christie's at Bellevue Castel in Berlin on the 10th of November 2011. The money raised is for the foundation of Chaim Sheba Medical Centers. I have donated this work below for the hospitals. It is a picture of my niece Corrine.

2011-10-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well after a year and 4 months, I guess it is time to add to this blog. I am just so bad at keeping up with this. I wish to be better at it.

Anyhooooooo, in the year after returning from Japan, many many things have happened. I spent this time working on the Japanese ghost project, which came to be titled "Kaidan Shu:tales of mist and wind" The show opened in Berlin in June 2011. The journey was amazing, with the help of many amazing people, a list sooo long.
The unfortunate earthquake in Japan added a tragic tone to a place I was just starting to learn about and become attached to. The gallery and I decided to make a relief fund during the show, giving a percentage of all sales to help relief efforts in Japan.
We managed to raise much more than I would be able to give not having the show.
The entire show is on view on my Flickr account

I am going to try, really try to post more often, there is so much going on which I would like to share.

Japan: Tokyo day 14

2010-07-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

Slowly recovering from bad food poisoning. But plugging along here. I had a shoot with the beautiful and charming Fujiko. She surprised me with a makeup artist, hair stylist, and clothing stylist..not only did this make my job more easy, but it added such a nice new level to the image and I made some new friends.

Nasu, she did the clothing.

Susu did the makeup and Aoki did the hair.

Each one of these cats are so talented in their field, I am so lucky to have had them participate in the shoot.

The character who Fujiko posed as is a rendition of the Yurie whose mouth was slit by a jealous husband who did not want his wife desired by other men. Still wanting to be beautiful, she made herself up with lipstick but could never conceal the wounds inflicted upon her. My works will range from loose to literal translations of the traditional tales. As I shoot, Fujiko kept adding more and more makeup as if demented and driven mad by the actions upon her once flawless mouth. hehehe. this is so fun
Here is a light test of the shoot.

We ahd so much fun together we decided to throw a party here at the apt. for the world cup final. Fujiko, being half Korean, will prepare a Korean style dish with authentic homemade kimchee dinner. The game starts at 3am so we start around 11..should be fun!

Japan: Nagoya & Kyoto day 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13

2010-07-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well the last week has seemed to fly by. Ill try to sum it up in words as quick as I can.
First off, I found myself on a bullet train to Nagoya to see my sweet Juliet's cousin, Takahiro.

I met him once in NY when he visited.he was to take me to Noma, a small beach town about an hour outside the city. But before that, we had to spend the night at his place in Nagoya and make no error, we had to go out to eat!

We met up with his lovely girlfriend and dined!

We then had to hurry home to catch the world cup.

The next day, despite the weather, we made our way to Noma.

There were a few choice place we made for photo ops,

but the highlight was, of course, the food!!!

Well, the weather was a bust, but we had a super fun day, stopped at the shrimp chip factory for snacks

and made it home in time to watch the amazing win of the Dutch! The final game is gonna be a doooozey!

The next day I hopped on another bullet train to Kyoto.

I had a few quick sights before I settled into my hotel.

After I dropped off my goods met up with my friends from Osaka, Maiko and Chika. We strolled about the Gion district

I spotted a genuine Geiko but did not want to disturb her with bothersome photos.
sorry.

We ate ramen

and strolled down the river

and then met up with Brian who showed us a nice rock and roll dive bar.

After a good buzz and good conversation, I found my way back to my hotel and passed out.

I woke in the middle of the night with some chills, possibly too much drink?? or something else??

Well anyhoo, the next morn I got on a bike and did a little tour of the city with my camera. Saw some great temples and shrines.

I parked the bike, got on a train, and found myself going through tunnels and into the hills.

I then found more temples and a beautiful bamboo pathway to stroll in an area on the East end by the hills.

Back on the bike and back to the hotel..

Well after all that grand fun times, it all hit me. The next 2 days I found myself alone and bedridden with cold towels on my head and fever dreams which kept me clear from a true sense of reality.

To be fair, I was not alone in the fact that I was getting emails from friends close enough to help if I felt it got too bad.
Well I did miss out on my last day and half in Kyoto but after all it is their Gion festival this month to drive away pestilence, so I left.

Im back in Tokyo, I am gettin better after some pills that Keiko picked up for me

and a much more comfortable bed.
I resume shooting today at 5 with Fujiko..so check back for those images..tomorrow.
xoxDavid

Japan: Tokyo day 9&10

2010-07-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

HEy ho. So the shoots are taking up this whole week with brief periods of dumplings and noodles. And beer. Soooooo tired but I am going out of the city for a few days to explore Kyoto. Ill be out or range so the posts for the next week will be, well, next week. I am so in debt to all these wonderful ladies who have all been so helpful and kind.THe more I shoot, the more models have been appearing to be made into Obake.

Ok enough..on to the sneak peeks!!

Japan: Tokyo day 7&8

2010-06-30T04:02:00.000-07:00

Well as I get more busy the less time I have to get the updates up so im going to be doubling and tripling upon these.
To get caught up here, we have been moving around a lot, picking up things for the shoots and seeing a bit of sights but not too much.

The shoots have been taking up a lot of the time which is really why we are here to begin with.

I did have a meeting with Akari who will be modeling tomorrow and Chiaki joined for lunch.

I am very excited for Akari's shoot. She has made up her own ghost...wait and see!.

I was able to find a good photo shop in Shinjuku since I am already running low on instant film.

And then there was this guy....????I do love it here!

And Udon Lunches are the bomb!

Before I show a few more light test shots sneak peeks, I have to mention the Japan world cup day. I was very pleased and honored to be here for it and being invited to Chiaki's house to watch. I met so many super cool guys and ladies there.

There was home cooking and beer and wine and then some! I had such a blast and felt so at home with them, only I didnt understand a lot of what they said..I do love being forced to try to recognize words and phrases and tones of a language I do not know.

There were a lot of laughs and an all in all great time!

After a fantastic night, a super tight and well fought game, the sad news was that Japan lost from a missed penalty kick. It was a very emotional loss and I felt the pain of such a hard battle.

I then made my drunken way home in the rain. It was a beautiful and spooky walk.

And soo, here are just a few of the newest images....spooky shit baby!

Yasha has been so busy trying to run her gallery from Japan so no entry this time..but she did take pic and here is her dog of the day

Big love from Japan xoxoxoxoxoxo David and Yasha

Japan: Tokyo day 6

2010-06-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry for skipping a day but it gets a bit rough to keep up the blog daily with such full days...and nights!

Yesterday I met with Kieko who will be shooting with me this week as well as doing her best to get to Kyoto with us. She is fantastic and sweet. Our meeting got pushed to later in the afternoon so I skipped lunch and by the time we got together I had no food in my belly so the couple of beers we had went right to my head. I am sorry to not have pics of her yet but they are coming.
So we parted and I went back to the apartment to pick up Yasha and meet up with Minoka, who I got connected with through my buddy Teru in NYC. She is a sweet, young thing who kindly showed us a great time for which we are very appreciative.

She took us to a fantastic fish joint and we filled our bellies to the limit with fishes of all sorts, shell fish, sake and topped it off with noodles. A perfect meal..I was sooo happy to have finally have a taste of sashimi here in Japan.

After a quick stop at some "banker pick up yuppie" bar we hopped in a cab to a night club in Shibuya. Now, this is not really my cup of tea but when visiting, you just load up on the booze and dance! so We did...many drinks later we got a cab back to our station, got lost for 5 minutes and then found our way home... I stayed up with a few more beers and watch the USA loose their place to advance in the world cup..its all good, we dont deserve it...just yet!

sooo after a lot of water and a slow start to the next day, we got the place ready for the first shoot of the project.

Rie arrived with Teruyuki Hirabayashi:makeup artist

Takahiro:hubby,

Kaho Shusaku :stylist,

and Yuka:perfomance artist(who will be returning tomorrow to sit for a shoot!)

Here are a few sneak peeks of the lighting tests from the shoot.

I am very happy with the results. A good night. England shit the bed and Germany took them 4-1 in tonights game of the World Cup..

So we missed one day in preparation of this shoot and the evening meeting with our translator girl Minoka.
The evening started out with a very tired David - the World Cup is taking a toll on his sleep pattern but hardcore as he is he will hold on and
stay awake until the very last game - the occasional "yeay" "uuuhhh f-----"" go you Mother----" and "damn right DAMN RIGHT" keeps waking me
from peaceful slumber but at least this way I wake informed ;-)

We met Mino in Roppongi and she took us to a super special insider sushi place - where we realized that beer on tap means go and ask your personal beer robot to make you that perfect pint !

But it kept getting better - you can smoke in the restaurants which for me was hell after just quitting but heaven for David and Mino. She ordered food for us and it was the most amazing medley of huge sea snail, squid gut, flying fish, sashimi, crab tummy, oysters and fermented tofu. I know it sounds beyond the imaginable but it ALL tasted delicious.

Than we proceeded to TRUMP - at the moment Tokyo's hot underground night spot and without knowing how we ended up surrounded by plush and golden mirrors, chandeliers, stuffed animal heads

Drinks for $20 and DJ's that are worshiped by their crowd. It didn't take long and Hochbaum owned the dance floor while sipping on Shiso Leaf Sake on ice.

Yet after a techno remix of "Everybody Dance Now" I felt old and decided it was time for us to leave ;-) - of course not before David was crowned king of the night and adorned with one of the Fadsnap.com stickers indicated he was worthy and fashionable enough to be feature on this very special trend spotter site !! The hits just keep on coming hahahahha........

Tired and slightly lost in Tokyo we finally found our way home where we didn't get any rest as the game was on at 3.35 in the am - how i was experiencing it ...see above....! However I did not SMOKE not one cigarette !

The morning came and we had a whole day of cleaning and prepping the house for our first studio shoot ahead of us - improvisation is key and we also learned models do not come alone - they bring
artist friends and co - models
make up artist
husband
and
stylist

now you do the math all of that and a little studio on 42sqm ;-) !!! But nothing that a few beer and some sake in funny looking tetra packs can't fix as Hochbaum would say

- so there is no stopping us!! The days of shooting OBAKE stories have begun !!!

xoxoxox Yasha

PS: while on beer run I met a new furry friend ;-)

Japan: Tokyo day 5

2010-06-26T21:15:00.001-07:00

No blog today...hungover.....
Photo shoot today. I will make up for it, I promise. I will be taking pics of Rie as Rokuro kubi.

Japan: Tokyo day 4

2010-06-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last night we decided to make some pasta to switch up a little for the palette. Just a brief departure from the Japanese cuisine. Not too shabby when paired with a 5 dollar pear/apple type fruit for desert.

I could not sleep because the Japan-Denmark game was airing at 3:30 am and since I am a guest here, I had to see the game. It may have re started my jet lag but it was worth it to watch Japan destroy Denmark. Sorry to my pals out there!

Plus I got to see a fantastic sunrise.

After a whopping 4 hours of sleep, it was time to get up and have a slow start to the day. After a brief meeting with one of the gallery's new artists, we ventured through Shinjuku to locate some fabrics for the shoots.

We totally scored.

We then headed back to Harajuku to pick up some more kimonos for the shoots, grab some soup and dumplings and walk through the beautiful park with its Meiji-jingu(shrine).

We made a few prayers there and enjoyed the lovely weather and sights.

hey, whoa there..sorry, I cant help it.

We made our way home soon since I was oh so tired due to the lack of sleep.

We went to the grocery for the night dinner, soba noodles, some thin slices of beef, spring onion with ginger, tempura and baby sized beer for the lady and reg for myself.

We made some plans for Kyoto and decided to have an early night in and watch the Brazil game. Meeting with Kieko for lunch tomorrow to plan out her shoot. Im tired. Bye bye.-xoxoxDavid

oopps

What a long day - but no wonder. We were exhausted after having to stay up until 1.30am to even begin to watch the football games and whilst I passed out shortly after David was screaming and dancing and growling with all the Japanese fans out there. I had given all I had for Italy to beat the Slovenians _ my least favorite _ but alas we all know what happened.
After starting my day with a "Papple" - a $5 cross between a pear and an apple we ventured out to go meet with one of my artists Marmite Sue in Shinjuku.

I would consider Shinjuku like the fashion/fabric district in NYC. As David and I were looking for more white and black fabric for the shoot Marmite Sue was so sweet to guide us to the biggest fabric store in the neighborhood and I almost died.

I mean there was everything - stars. stripes, plaids, dots, Alice in wonderland and than some !!

And that was juts the first floor second floor was fully dedicated to eyelashes and top hats in all shapes and sizes third floor everything you need when it comes to feathers and than the fourth floor a button paradise and so much fun !!! We found what we needed and literally forced ourselves to leave the premise.

Than with dried black squid noodles - japan's replacement for pretzel sticks we went to the beautiful Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine.

The thing I love most about Shinto is that it has not founder no holy book not even the concept of religious conversion. Instead it values harmony with nature and virtues for example such as " Magokoro" - the sincere heart. David made me a beautiful present and bought me a wooden prayer plate on which we each wrote our wishes and placed them amongst the thousands of prayers or wishes that are put here everyday.

A monk showed me how to pay respect which starts with washing your hands and rinse your mouth before you bow and clap your hands in front of the main shrine.

After that we went home and on the way I found a beautiful raven feather.

Ravens are amazingly large here and their feathers beautiful blue black. It felt nice to find such a beautiful thing right after I had just send wishes to the sky at the shrine. Home bound we were and just before I went up to the apartment door I met some more doggy friends ;-)-Yasha

PS : after successfully passing tea ceremony David has been upgraded to red which means " TAKE ME NOW!!" hahahahaha

Japan: Tokyo day 3

2010-06-24T02:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the world cup I was able to stay up late and beat the jet lag! We woke up at a reasonable 8:30 and found a beautiful day waiting for us. First let me show you some shots of our apartment.
I sleep here in the living room on a futon and watch the FIFA on our flat screen.

Yasha has got nice private quarters fit for a, well, a queen.

The balcony is great for a smoke and take in the sunrise and sunset.

The kitchen is super cute and equipped with all we need from rice cooker to coffee maker and then some.

For the past couple of mornings I have been preparing eel omelettes to get our energy up for the long walks ahead.

Today we made our way to Shibuya to meet up with Rie who will be modeling for me this Tuesday. First we walked around a bunch to check out the area with all its shops and places to eat.

And if you want some puffer fish, this is the place.

The malls are filled with funny little clothing shops for your cosplay, forest girl and hip hop super cool fun times with the girls screaming irasshaimase! in super high pitched voices.

We met Rie at the doggie sculpture at the Shibuya station. She took us to a sushi conveyor belt joint for yummy fish and beer.

She then took us over to Harajuku to look for some fabric for the shoots.

We met up with her buddy(his name I forgot) who knew a perfect shop to find old kimonos and we scored a nice all white one for my ghosts. It was a looong day full of great conversations and finds. Now its rest up time, make spagetti and watch Japan in the world cup. See you tomorrow!!-David

Another day of beautiful weather in Japan - we are blessed. It should be rainy season but we have been lucky - which is very good for scouting parks and locations for the shoots.

Today took us to Shibuya and Harajuku.

We met with Rie our second beautiful model and she was wonderful and amazing. She took us to a little Sushi place where in order to enter we had to agree to have 7 little dishes - i gave up after 4 David managed to eat all 7 and a beer ;-)

Than our wonderful guide and model led way to a very special little street in Shibuya known for being THE hangout place for the high school kids and "Harajuku Lovers". Store after store filled with costumes of comic characters, fake eyelashes, neon colored backpacks, Lolita dresses and tiny miniature top hats for prices that made me think I should start import- and exporting those things to the US i'd be a millionaire and finally a dog clothing store to match your bumblebee clad owner.

It reminded me of St.Marks in the early 80's and Camden town around the same time. A little cheesy, a little weird but a LOT of fun and creativity.

We bought spiderweb eyelashes for the girls and left to meet yet another friend and helper for this shoot " the stylist " We will get his name because we forgot and he is coming for the shoot on Tuesday. He knew of our search for a white Kimono and so he led us to a store called " Chicago" where we found vintage Kimonos and all the accessories needed to make it look authentic and stick with the white ghost theme of the Obake. As you can see David was so excited that upon our return home he could not resist but had to play dress up - I made him serve tea immediately ;-)!!
xoxoxox Yasha

Japan: Tokyo day 2

2010-06-23T04:28:00.000-07:00

I have traveled to Japan along with my good friend and owner of Strychnin Gallery Yasha Young who is behind the production of my next project about Japanese ghosts and demons. We have come to Japan to gather the materials and inspirations to put the show together. The exhibit will be next June with a sneak peek into the project this fall at Art 21 in Cologne Germany in which I will premiere a few pieces. For the next 3 week we will gather images and thoughts of our travels to share on this here blog. We will both be posting images and text of our adventures throughout our voyages in Japan.
We both hope you will enjoy this peek into our trip and spark some anticipation of the works to come over the next year.
We arrived 2 days ago(the 22nd) to a seriously humid and rainy season.

After settling in and getting provisions, we rested up and began the exploration of the city of Tokyo. We met up with the first of my would be models, Fujiko, who is also a renowned DJ and I look forward to the shoot with her. I was too preoccupied with my soba and tempura to get a photo of her at lunch but I will share that after the shoot with her. We met her after a stroll through Roppongi with sudden and scattered rain showers.

I am now just trying to stay awake after filling my belly with fried jack mackerel and tempura at home. I just wanna see the world cup, since now its on at night rather then when I wake up in the morning.

Our apartment is actually bigger then I expected and thank the lord has air conditioning. The area is 白金高輪駅（東京）..i mean Shirokane Takanawa and is quiet and pleasant.
There are a few shrines and temples right off our street. I cannot wait to see more!
-xoxoxDavid

Ahhh finally we have arrived - after about 20h of travel and one super nice virgin atlantic flight attendant who had a constant supply of tea with honey for me I touched down Narita airport with and snotty nose and one bag less due to Heathrow stop over - no surprise there.....! Now all I needed to do was wait another 6 hours for David to arrive and finally after delay after delay there he was !!!! Tired, sweaty but happy and ready to get on we took the Limousine buss through tokyo and than a very cute cab (!) to our apartment in Midtown Tokyo. After such a long day the temperatures outside this beautiful little place with air condition, fridge and shower for ridiculous $$$$ was worth every penny !! A quick shower and out we were to go to Peacock supermarket. You quickly learn that eating healthy might be expensive in NYC when buying organic but I mean one onion for $2.50 and two oranges for $3.95 - are you serious? !! Yes Tokyo is the most expensive place to eat fresh fruit or vegetable - a green salad with tomatoes - equals about $9.00 and that got you one head of romaine lettuce and 2 small tomatoes.
We bought the bare essentials and David decided to get one of his favorites - fried Octopus balls !!!! now followed a quick dinner and than passing out on our first night in Tokyo me in the bed ( Thank you David ) and he on the futon extra in the living room with football and some good japanese beer.

Today we woke to a lot of rain and I personally to a polka dot umbrella David brought especially for me his albino friend! We decided to venture out to Roppongi to meet with one of the potential models and after a long walk past thousands of on the street drink and coffee vending machines we arrived at one of the "new" Tokyo landmarks Roppongi Central Mall where we broke down and although filled with shame had a Dean and Deluca steamed soy milk - so much for "yeah man we are going to do it all authentic old school japanese style " - but it was sooooo good......

We still had some time to kill and ventured off through a beautiful park and found in between skyscrapers and parking lots a tiny street with a beautiful little temple and very old cemetery with beautiful big trees and japanese grave sculptures. A very peaceful place.

Then Fujiko, shopgirl during the day and a major celebrity DJ by night met with us and took us to a little Rahmen noodle spot where we sealed the deal with hot and cold Rahmen and Buckwheat tea. The excitement of getting started and scheduling the first shoots was in the air and she may even have an original Kimono !

So one new Passu card later - it's the japanese oyster card - and our first subway ride which is an amazingly easy and fast system we were back ohm for a nap and some homemade sticky rice beer and of course ready for FOOTBALL! ( yes david found CNN amongst those 323558 channels !!! )
-xoxoxYasha

Summer Screen Parties 2010!!!

2010-06-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hey there folks! Summer is here and it is time for some silkscreen fun time action party goodness. Starting this upcoming Sunday the 13th, I will begin hosting a series of fund raising screen parties at my studio in downtown Manhattan. The monies raised will be going towards helping artists involved in a new art fair held in Cologne Germany for underground artists offering affordable booth space for those who cannot afford the high priced entries of more established art fairs while showing right along side the big boys. The fair is called Blooom and this is its first year. I have been asked to curate a booth and will consists of 6 great talents under the title of Guild of The Black Eagle, a multidisciplinary collective I started in 2006. So I am going to host 6 parties over the next 5 months to help these artist raise a few extra bucks towards their project.

The first artist I will be screening with is Ivan Mora. He and I will be screening this Sunday the 13th from 5pm until midnight. We will be new screens as well as a bunch of older designs.

How it works is you bring something to screen on, shirts, pillow cases, any printable surface, and for 5 bucks, we put our designs on it for you. Its fun and cheap and for a good cause towards giving artists the opportunity to showcase their works in Europe.

Where?: 93 2nd Ave. buzzer 1 (press buzzer hard) between 5th and 6th streets in the East Village Manhattan.

When?: This Sunday the 13th of June from 5pm til midnight
Bring?: stuff to print on and 5 buck per item, and cold beer!

It is gonna be hot up in the studio so don't wear leather pants.
I will have a punch bowl offering cold drink(spiked) but do not feel scared to BYOB since it will be limited

Also there will be a raffle offered at 5 bucks a ticket with the chance to win up to 4 prizes! The 1st prize is a plaster ship I made, the one golden version of the "Black Ships" installation I will be presenting this September at the Governors Island art fair,another great art fair for artists by artists project here in NYC. There will be 3 other secret prizes! Raffle drawing at 11pm.

Aaaaand, just for this party, there will be 8 x 10 one of a kind screen print on wood available for just 20 bucks each! They are limited as well so come early and grab yourself one! These are only available at this party and that's it!

We will also be showing new prints by Mark Sobczak which are quite beautiful. He is a fantastic photographer who has been working with artist Gregory Colbert for over a decade.

Please come and join us and help us get these guys across the sea and showcase their work!
here is the list of Guild of The Black Eagle in Germany this year
Ivan Lee Mora
Buddy Nestor
Jeff Faerber
CJ Stahl
Jeremy Holmes
Eduardo Benedetto

Copenhagen 2010

2010-03-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

My trip to Europe this early spring brings me to Denmark for an exhibition in a small beach town in the North named Saeby. On the way there I am spending a few days in Copenhagen. I was supposed to hook up with an old friend Jacob Fuglsang Mikkelsen, but at the last minute he had to go to NYC for an exhibition. Great news for him, but we now do not get to meet up in his home city, since he is now in mine. wah wah. But he was kind enough to lend me his apartment. Today I took his bike out to see the town since the weather, which was forcasted as rain, turned out to be sunny and beautiful. And now, with a sore butt(from the bike mind you!) I have a few shots of my morning tour through the center of town. I found a navel museum,walked through Christiana, which you are asked to not take photos, but I was able to sit outside with a beer and roll a spliff to smoke,and then I strolled till I got hungry. I went grocery shopping. Not a bad day.

Los Angeles Exhibit at Corey Helford Gallery

2010-01-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

This February I will be having my 2nd solo exhibit in Culver City CA with the ever so sweet Corey Helford gallery and all their crew. It has been 2 years since I have had any shows in the US and I looking forward to it very much. I have spent 2009 shooting material for "You are not falling, you are floating". This is a series dedicated to consciousness, the dream state, and the in between. I have here some studio shots as a sneak peek before the finished pieces are made available for viewing online when the show opens the 13th of February. Besides the many paintings, I will be showing a few sculptures including an 8 foot round sphere of over 2500 birds. I hope you enjoy!

Roma

2009-11-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

There really was nothing that could have prepared me for the city. I have seen photos and painting for as long as I remember. My mother is obsessed with the country and has been trying to get me to go for decades. I was completely struck by the buildings and streets. I took a lot of picture but it comes nowhere near to the feeling of size and power that being there has, I almost didnt want to take a photo because it made no sense. But of course I had to.
But besides that, I was there for the opening at the MACRO where I had 2 pieces hanging. I met a few great people, all whom are quite talented and super sweet. The food was amazing amazing amazing amazing......Now I am back in Berlin with shin splints from trying to see so much in 3 days. Today is the 20 year anniversary of the coming down of the wall. I will suffer my splints and go into the town to celebrate.
I am adding this link for my photos from Italy.

One more week and its homeward..

Art 21 Koln 2009

2009-11-03T05:28:00.000-08:00

I just got back into Berlin after a week long in Koln for the art fair. Marcus and I took the train in together 4 days early to install the tower/arrows installation. It took us a bit more than 40 hours with minimal breaks. Tired and sore, we got it done and then spent 5 days at the fair, yuking it up with the staff and other artists. Loads of Strychnin Gallery folks, Ansgar, Madeline, Daniel, Raf, Wee, Jan, Marina..the crew..Cookie, Graham, Iris..and of course the man who put us up for the week, Tobias.. A real life saver and all around awesome guy. The fair was, well as art fairs go, pretty fun. A lot of familiar faces at the booths and it was fantastic to hook up with old friends and make a ton of new ones. I always enjoy getting to see some new paintings and sculpture and what have you. A lot of fun and the Gallery did great! beer is good. food is meaty. The Dom is ominous and beautiful. I love Koln.
to see all the pictures I took during the trip, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmsh/sets/72157622725240268/
Enjoy!

Review in Die Welt newspaper!

2009-10-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

WhooHOoo! A sparkling review in the International edition of Die Welt! Its online as well and is pretty funny when you put it through one of those online free translators. Yippie!

Roma

2009-10-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

I finally get to go to Italy. Ive been waiting for the chance! Thanks to Yasha of Strychnin Gallery, I now I get to show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in a group show..sheesh. I just cant wait to eat everything in sight!
CHOMP CHOMP!

Opening Night in Berlin

2009-10-12T00:19:00.000-07:00

There was much fun to be had at the opening night. After an hour and a half of nail biting and beer chugging, people started to file in and see the work. It was good to see some familiar faces, friends and lots of new faces. I was pleased that Kim of Vermilion Lies asked to come and play a short ukulele set for us. All in all, a fun night, I am pleased with the way the show looks and It is quite gratifying to see all the work hanging together after the past years efforts to create them. Now I prepare for the tower installation "At the Gates" in Cologne. I hope you enjoy these images from the show. Thank you Iris Bitter for all these photos.

Garden of The Dispossessed

2009-10-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

I am writing this from a room in Berlin which the Strychnin gallery lends out to their traveling artists. It’s a modest sized room filled with art and drawings on the wall of the previously visiting artists. Its my 4th stay here, I haven’t been here since last October and its getting chock full of art and memories. There is a small fridge for all the goodies one can get at the amazing Farmers market around the corner on Sundays and a work bench which I grown to miss since the first week I spent finishing my first show here in October 2006. It’s a perfect dose of solitude and inspiration to be here in Berlin, an amazing city at an exciting time to be in this living city. Not to say Manhattan is not alive, it’s different. It’s hard to pinpoint and explain, and hell, right now I want to tell about the show that I am here finishing up.
It’s titled "Garden of the Dispossessed". I got the title from what my good friend and long time collaborator Nicole Belvedere said in describing a piece I made with her in 2004.
The older work has little to do at all with the show I made but the title transcends into the new work.
For me, the meanings of the works revealed themselves as the body grew. I found myself making more and more city landscapes, towers and clusters of buildings. I spent the majority of the year at home, in the studio in Manhattan surrounded by the people and structures, which inspired and penetrated the works. I am not sure if I was smothered or enamored by the city, which I fell in love with as a child, constant movement and unnatural sounds.
I also felt a strong desire to return to the roots of what spawned the works I create which is photography, straight up black and white silver prints. I love working in the darkroom, although after 19 years, I have developed allergic reactions to the chemicals involved. I seem to be the only on in the rent a darkroom who dresses like Darth Vader with my gloves and respirator mask. Anyhoo, despite the formal wear, I love to be there in the dark.
So I spent a lot of time this year with in the darkroom, rekindling my romance with the medium, being very attentive to the fine print method, then bringing it back to the studio, and abusing the paper to all hell but holding on more than before to the essence of the print. I still scratch and carve and scribe onto the work but I held back on transforming the original print too much, allowing the original landscapes on the negative to remain.
But that’s not to say that my desire for color and super saturated imagery had disappeared, I was still working on pieces of multicolored and layered images. The challenge for me was to discover the thread that ran through the two approaches of technique. I certainly wasn’t trying to make them fit, or even feel like they need to. But I knew somehow the works were off shoots of one another, referenced each other and would continue a narrative when mingled.
What I have here now are the works I created from some of the images I shoot this past year. A lot of things happened, as always, in the world and my personal life. Emotions flourished and some things have come to pass and died. Ideas had for certain images transformed and revealed themselves as different over time. The story throughout the works now is unstressed and fluid. And although there is quite a bit of text in the works, I feel the real tale is that of a visual language and deeply personal, offering also to the viewer to interpret for themselves, to use for their own. I would love to hear your take on them. I would love your feedback

Obsessed

2009-07-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

One of the first artists work I recall becoming familiar with as a child is Pieter Bruegel the Elder. My mother had this coffee table type book of his work that I would skim through from time to time. I must have been about 9 the first time I saw “The Triumph of Death”.

For some reason, I found the piece to be erotic. Not that it turned me on or anything, but I associated the images of some of skeletons that seemed to still have penises, to sex.

I also remember Bruegel’s Towers of Babel. The stout tower,tiny houses in the landscape, with a clouds scraping the topside of it, very fantastic and eerie.
These images never left me.

For the past few years, I have delved deep into my obsession with the image of the tower. First, in 2005, I brought the idea to the table of my collaborative group, Goldmine Shithouse, to make a painting of the tower. It was totally inspired by the Bruegel piece and it was large.

I was thinking about doing a large-scale work of the tower for some time but for some reason I was afraid to do any large works that were not like the large photographic work I have been up to for over 15 years. I think I was locked into my habits and found it difficult to allow myself to explore. The GMSH has always been the best place to bring ideas to be hammered out. Working with Colin and Travis has really freed my inhibitions and taught me to open myself up to considering other media as a part of my processes.
Well the piece came out great and that just opened the floodgates for me to harp on the image and concept of the tower in different landscapes and forms. I can’t say exactly how many different types of cities or pieces of cities I have made since then, there are hundreds. Some are paintings, collages, silkscreen, drawings, and so on.

The cities I created began to consume the works and me. The portraits I photograph of people now seem to be residents of the cities and towns and the towers themselves are like maps or globes.

The latest project I am involved with is an installation to be presented in Cologne, Germany at the Art 21 fair this October. It is to be approximately 11 foot by 11 foot tower made of hand crafted, wooden houses.

It is to be like an extension of the works I have been making of these claustrophobic cities and looming towers. I am only one third into the construction and I am not totally sure how it will look but it is starting to take form at the base.

Some if the houses will be inserted in the roofs of others and it will stack up the ceiling of the foyer of the building that the fair is in.

This is the 2nd year in a row that I have been invited to do the foyer; last year I hung 1,111 black birds.

I was a bit shocked that I would be asked to do another piece but as soon as I was asked I said yes without thinking twice. I had no Idea what I would do when I agreed but it did not take more than a few hours to realize what to do. The 11-foot tower with 700 arrows in an inward moving spiral hanging around the tower.

Lets break down some of this number business. 11 is my favorite number and I thought 700 is better than 1,111 again (because that means over 2,000 squat thrusts in order to hang them). Plus I need to work with some new numbers here.
All the surfaces of the houses, inside and out, will be painted or silkscreened or layered with photographs. The pictures I am using are from the large collection of prints I have left over from the past 10 years or so. Some are images that never made it to apiece and some are extra work prints or bad exposures. The photos on the sides of the houses make me think of the possible lives lived in those houses, past and present.
The tower is starting to become a testament to my past accomplishments and folly. The weathered wood, scribbled on text, fragments of old photos, it is all starting to reveal its purpose for me to be making this huge sculpture. And for all I know, it will be installed once, shown for 5 days, and then either stored or broken apart, sold for scrap so to speak. Truth is I would not even mind if it were its only time to be seen. It wouldn’t be the first time I have gone through all the days of work and hundreds of dollars to make something to be destroyed. It is a release for me.
That is where the arrows come in. I now see them, hovering around the tower, threatening to hit, but not necessarily to destroy it, but to penetrate it and release the tension inside, all this history of images and work of my past. Kind of an erotic image, no? Not quite a sexy skeleton like but an erotic theme in an unexpected place.

Eno

2009-06-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

OK, I am crazy about Brian Eno and thats that. I love his music, his collaborations, even the bad stuff, I like it. So what. I found loads of goodies on the inter web about him..like this bunch of quotes by Eno. Last year I made this piece as an homage to him. Its called The Big Ship but the text along the top is from his song Spider and I.

His work with Fripp and Byrne, I mean, come on!.....anyhow. I just wanted to say he is amazing.

black and white

2009-06-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

i recently have found myself caught in between wanting to create large scale,mixed media, muted palette, white wash pieces and black and white,dark, mostly photographic works. I dont have any problem with this except concern over weather or not the works look good together or make any cohesive sense to one another. My buddy Mark tells me I need to work through it, and to not treat them with the same approach or technique. I agree but also want somehow to integrate the two. I anticipate some conclusion to my confusion, I just kinda need to be venting this out.quack

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Holly Miranda

2009-06-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you meet someone who you just feel a certain attraction to, to their energy, to their humor, and you get to know them and discover how special and talented they are. I met Holly about 5 years ago when she would frequent the bar I work at called Hifi here in downtown Manhattan. I got to learning that she was a musician and fronted a band called The Jealous Girlfriends. I began going to their shows cause I knew I would be in store for a night of good music and drinks and I did love to heckle them. All in good fun of course. Anyhow, over the years I developed, what I like to think of, as a special relationship with this lady. the only problem being that I found every time we hung out, I needed a few days to recover. But always worth it, cause I cant compare or really want to have to explain her. She has a very natural and passionate need to express herself in music and I keep loving what she does. Now she no longer plays with The Jealous Girlfriends and writes and preforms her own music which for years, I've heard her play on her guitar, or Casio when id visit or on CD comps that she would gift me with from time to time. She seems to always be writing new ditties. I cant tell you how happy I am that her concentration has gone to focus on these songs and that she was able to gather a band together to preform them live. I am not going to try to explain her music cause it needs to be listened to without having to be compared or stripped down to references. I am bias, I know because I know her, I know how awesome of a friend she is so the beauty of her music is just amplified by that, I am lucky in that way. Although I am quite sure I would still be moved by her songs If I had not, but I sure am glad she is in my life. If you do get the chance to see Holly Miranda play live, you ought ta. I will be having a preview of my next exhibit for Berlin here in New York. During this preview salon, Holly and her magnificent band will play an acoustic set for us. This will hopefully be in Sept. and I will be spreading the word on that closer to the date.

Critique Salon

2009-06-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this year, I started to host artist's critiques at my studio. I invite about 10 or 11 people to come by, bring some work in progress, of finished works, and have an informal discussion about their process, ideas and whatnot. They have proved to be insightful, fun gatherings of some pretty swell and talented folks. Its nice to hear fresh perspective from peers and build relationships through dialogue, sharing of ideas and criticism. And at times, when all the artsy fartsy talk is done with, it degenerates into just a bunch of people drinking and smoking and being goofballs. I come for the after party myself. Ok thats the gist of it...I am having another salon this Sunday the 7th of June so if anyone sees this before hand, you are invited, I just need a RSVP to keep a tally on who is coming and if there is room. Otherwise, if you would like to be on the invite list for these gatherings, please just drop me a line at davidhochbaum@gmail.com requesting it, and ill add you on. Cheers!

BOLZANO

2009-05-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

Strychnin Gallery is taking my work to the 6th KunStart international art fair this month in Bolzano Italy. The fair runs from Thursday, May 21st until Sunday, May24th. If you happen to be in the country, please do stop in. The gallery would be happy to set you up with free VIP tickets so contact them @ team@strychnin.com.....and tell them I sent you! I am showing a few works including this brand new one "Upon Returning", which is a new approach to my tower composites. The surface is coated with thick resin so it goes *POP* and the saturation goes *ZING*. I love resin.

heyooooo

Charlie Brouwer

2009-05-14T09:39:00.001-07:00

Well I figure the best first post for my new blog would be to show this amazing artist I cam e across while searching through different installations of the Tower of Babel. I was trying to see some different interpretations of the tower since I am to be constructing one out of handmade tiny houses in Cologne, Germany in November this year. It should be about 10 feet high and 8 feet round. What I found during my browse were these amazing ladder sculptures and installations. Now, I have been obsessed with ladders for the past, oh I'd say, 8 years. I even constructed a 16 foot by 10 foot tower of ladders in Los Angeles in 2007 at the Corey Helford Gallery. This is a shot of the tower I built from hand made ladders for the gallery. And that Charles Baudelaire on the wall behind it.

So when I saw this guy Charlie's work, I drooled over my screen. I had found my ladder porn..take a look at
Charlie Brouwer.I naturally fell in love with this work. I mean, towers of ladders, houses filled with ladders, houses on his back! If you know anything about my work, you would understand why I am drawn to his georgeous constructions. If gives me such joy to find a kindred spirit creating these beautiful things. Please go visit his site.