Every week, Artnet News brings you Wet Paint, a gossip column that brings you the exclusive scoop. If you have a tip, please email Annie Armstrong, who is summering in Los Angeles, at (email protected).
Baseball cap fever in the art world
I think we in the art world should be proud that the public enjoys our merch. It means the art world is still something to aspire to, and we still have cultural value. It feels like validation of our coolness every time I see a then-college student in a Bushwick coffee shop with a Milk of Dreams Venice Biennale tote bag slung over his shoulder.
I mention tote bags because they're a mainstay of art-world merch, arguably reaching a peak in popularity around 2018, when New Yorker cartoonist Will McPhail drew this cartoon, but right now, the art world is dominated by baseball caps.
Last week, David Zwirner announced a hat collaboration with Mel Bochner, with proceeds going to Democratic campaigns across the country. The team at Cultured magazine also recently released a series of what they call “dad hats” featuring simple phrases (“ART,” “CHAMBERLAIN”) or artists' names. And Rashid Johnson designed a bucket hat in collaboration with the New York Mets earlier this year.
Frankly, I think it's time to move on to new merch. I vote for the mugs or the sports socks. But before the era of the art hat ends, I want to pay tribute to the influential hats that got us this far. Here are the top six status hats you'll see at art events and what they say about the wearer.
Karma's “Book” Hat
You've been in the industry a long time and you know a lot about yourself: your taste in art tends to be more academic and a little safer, but you're also willing to engage with emerging gallery people (provided you've worked with a few collectors you admire). You regularly attend talks and readings, and you knew that Dolly Parton had a crush on Dave Hickey even before he wrote the blurb for the recent reissue of Dave Hickey's Invisible Dragon.
2. Ballroom Marfa Trucker Cap
Oh, you're such an incredible person. You showed up to a gallery dinner after missing an opening, and that's fine. It's not your fault. The Jitney was late. You were invited because you have a great story. You have at least 300 photos tagged on your BFA profile, but who knows what your work actually entails. Somehow Ruinart doesn't give you a hangover.
3. Ed Ruscha “BOSS” Hat
I humbly grin when I see memes about starting a relationship with a trip to Dia Beacon. I did it in 2015, and it was an unforgettable day. I'm a Whitney Museum member, but don't usually read the text on museum walls because I find it detracts from the viewing experience. I've replaced my cedar shower mat from the MoMA Design Store three times now.
4. Jerry Gogosian's “Nothing Is Available” Hat
Oh my goodness, how did you get a tailor to make that blazer so perfect? It's like you were born to wear it. I paid a fortune to get a degree from Sotheby's Institute and I don't even look people in the eye unless there's a deal. There's no good art below 14th Street and I've cried at Chagall paintings at Beyeler. Or maybe I'm just tired.
5. Gaylord Apartments/Schlitz
I combine the two because, from my experience there, New York and Los Angeles are the same as each other. You could be a young collector or you could be someone who deals in art. Either way, you've spent a fair amount on your art book collection, which you frequently brag about on Instagram. There's no better art above 14th Street. You're a regular at both The River and Stir Crazy. Gavin Brown once complimented you on your outfit and you remind people of it.
6. Wet Paint Hat
The Wet Paint Hat is courtesy of artist Kiko Kostadinov's brand Otto 958.
The best people in the art world. Get up close and personal with them.
For posterity, here are some honorable mentions.
Brian Bellot will call you.
It's such a romantic time of year, isn't it? Most galleries are closed or in the process of closing their final shows of the summer. I can almost hear all the preview emails for the Armory Show being drafted and scheduled to be sent out next week. (I'm here wagging my tail, waiting for them.)
This puts us in a rare dead zone of artistic displays, but not a dead zone entirely, and elusive and beloved New York artist Brian Bellott has offered us all a helping hand in the form of a performance art hotline, which remains open for all those with performance art cravings and yearnings.
There has been very little announcement about this project, and I can only report this to you all because I was watching intently the Instagram stories of Jamian Giuliano Villani (whose business partner in O'Flaherty's, the artist Billy Grant, is a frequent collaborator with Bellotto), who posted the following:
Calling the number, I hear a recorded performance of the artist. Over some vaguely psychedelic Muzak, he belts out incoherent phrases like “Almost over the crevasse,” “The point is glycerin. Glycerin at its most shining,” “Manhole cover, manhole cover,” and “Mission accomplished, Brian Bellot. Oh yeah, crazy salami…now it's on its way to reaching the whole world.” The call ends with some gurgling mouth sounds and an abrupt “Goodbye!”
The last time I saw new work by Bellotto was two years ago, at a solo exhibition in Canada, where he presented some of what are perhaps his best-known works: collages (which he often stores in his refrigerator). The work is reminiscent of John Giorno's Dial-A-Poem project, but with a decidedly Bellotto-esque Dadaist bent, and a little reminiscent of his iconic performance at the SFiFF Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony.
“I heard that Brian had set his hair on fire during a performance, and that was one of the first acts that caught my attention and drew me to his work,” said Mills Moran, gallerist at Bellotto in Los Angeles, who recreated the piece at the Serpentine in London in 2016. Moran Moran has represented the artist since 2015 and most recently mounted his solo exhibition in 2019, a year after Bellotto's final show at the now-closed Gavin Brown's Enterprises.
Moran told me, “Stream of consciousness, no-nonsense vocals, fake fashion lines (George De George haircuts), I've seen it all. I can guarantee that any project Brian takes on is worth your time.”
Call him and tell him what you heard.
We are listening
That's enough to make any New Yorker jealous. Congratulations! Image courtesy of tipster.
Fran Lebowitz was a witness at the wedding of Francesco Clemente's son Andrea to Nahamad Gallery director Michel Molokotos…I'm sure many of you can relate to this cartoon by Guy Richards Smit…Otiam, the restaurant attached to The Broad in downtown Los Angeles, will close next month…Let's take a moment to be grateful that Laurie Simmons and Lena Dunham gave Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith a very cute cat…In my next life, I'd like to take Maeve Turner's latest job: head of gardens and horticulture at the Frick Collection…Bayard Street hot spot The River will begin catering at gallery openings (I'm always in the mood for a white Negroni and a gourmet hot dog at every opening)…Here's some news for watch lovers. Two Patek Philippe-designed watches with slim designs are being auctioned off at Doyle Auctions with relatively low estimates, along with a selection of Greene Naftali co-founder Gloria Naftali’s own watches… And finally, the summer of “Brat” comes to an end…
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