Harvey Wang

Alfred Gescheidt-1926-2012

2012-01-25T23:42:00.001-05:00

Alfred Gescheidt died this past Sunday, peacefully in his apartment on Lexington Ave. I had the honor of interviewing Alfred last year for my documentary film about transition in photography from a chemical process to a digital one. Alfred began his career as documentary photographer in New York in the late 1940s. He was most known as a photo satirist and photographic montage artist, creating images that were outrageous, experimental, funny and erotic. His work seemed photoshopped, long before Photoshop was invented.

His erotic photomontages were exhibited at Higher Pictures in 2009.

2012-01-17T22:30:00.000-05:00

Flophouse: Life on the Bowery (Random House, 2000) is featured in a recent post on Joe Bonomo's blog No Such Thing as Was. Joe is an author, essayist, cultural historian and professor in the Department of English at Northern Illinois University.

"While reading East of Bowery I was put in mind of Flophouse: Life on the Bowery, published in 2000, a terrific collection of Harvey Wang's photos of soon-to-be-gone Bowery transient hotels, David Isay's and Stacy Abramson's historical commentary, and edited monologues of folks barely if stubbornly hanging on in those residences. After Joseph Mitchell's New Yorker essays and James Agee's and Walker Evans's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men—and predating the boomlet of blogs such as Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, EV Grieve, It's All The Streets You Crossed Not So Long Ago, and many others—Flophouse documents the city in vivid and precise nonfiction, telling true stories as those stories leaned and dissolved in dire times. I've long been fascinated by the Bowery and its place in popular culture, careful to leaven what could become dangerous and irresponsible nostalgic romance with the painful reality of the street's history and its untold broken denizens."

Photo Essay in UK's Life Force Photography Magazine

2012-01-03T13:07:00.000-05:00

An early photo essay of mine about Madison County, North Carolina has been published in Life Force the acclaimed magazine of the photo-essay. The magazine's goal is to "show the work of the best photographers in the world." Life Force Magazine is designed to tell stories in pictures and to explore the unique power of the photo-essay. The only writing in the magazine is by the photographers themselves and is there to add context, color and understanding. The BBC's Culture Show have described Life Force Magazine as the Picture Post of the 21st Century'

Make + Model

2011-12-19T00:22:00.001-05:00

I am happy to be represented for commercials and film projects by the Culver City based production company Make + Model. REEL

New York Bound Books

2011-12-18T00:29:00.000-05:00

Nice Post on the New York Bound Book blog about "Out Harvey Wang's Window" at the Tenement Museum.

Out Harvey Wang's Window

2011-11-30T13:22:00.000-05:00

"Out Harvey Wang's Window," opens at The Lower East Side Tenement Museum's newly completed Sadie Samuelson Levy Immigrant Heritage Center. This will be the first exhibition in the Tenement Museum's new building at 103 Orchard Street.

The museum's press release writes that the exhibition "explores the ongoing evolution of the Lower East Side through 22 black-and-white photographs. Taken between 1979 and 1993, Wang’s images tell the fascinating and often-forgotten stories of immigrant and working class New Yorkers. The traditions, homes and everyday lives of Wang’s subjects are captured with tenderness and clarity, revealing powerful glimpses of the neighborhood’s complex history." Annie Polland, Vice President of Education at the Museum said, “Harvey Wang’s photographs are beautiful and historically important. They echo the mission of the Tenement Museum and extend the stories we tell into the late 20th century.

Harvey Wang on NY Times Lens Blog

2011-11-28T13:07:00.000-05:00

The New York Times Lens Blog featured a slide show from my upcoming exhibition at The Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Club 57 at Royal/T- Pacific Standard Time

2011-11-19T13:51:00.000-05:00

Royal/T’s Pacific Standard Time installation features Ann Magnuson and Kenny Scharf’s East Village West exhibit. Scharf and Magnuson met in NYC and became key figures in the East Village art scene in the eighties. The show honors an era of art that was directly inspired by Hollywood dream factories during the Atomic Age. Featured in the installation are over 20 photographs by Harvey Wang, as well as ongoing slide show of his documentation of Club 57 and the East Village in the 1980s.

In additon to work by Scharf the exhibit include work by other East Village luminaries such as Keith Haring, John Sex and Jean Michel Basquiat. Located in Culver City, Royal/T, LA’s first Japanese- style cosplay café, gift shop and art space, is a little piece of Japan dropped right into LA. The Harajuku waitress maids surrounded by Murakami and Hello Kitty make this unique gallery café a playful experience not to be missed. Gallery owner, Susan Hancock’s intention is to make everyone feel like, “Alice in Wonderland, gone down the rabbit hole.”

East Village West runs through 1/10/12

Royal/T 8910 Washington Blvd Culver City, CA 90232 T 310 559 6300

Adam Purple in West Virginia

2011-11-04T12:48:00.000-04:00

Adam Purple and The Garden of Eden was screened at the American Conservation Film Festival. The ACFF is an annual event held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, a vibrant arts community 70 miles west of Washington DC. The ACFF features films from a diverse group of conservation filmmakers from around the world that rarely receive a wide showing. The Adam Purple film was screened at the beautiful Opera house in downtown Shepherdstown.

Starz Denver Film Festival

2011-11-02T13:07:00.000-04:00

Adam Purple and The Garden of Eden by Harvey Wang and Amy Brost was screened at the Starz Denver Film Festival on 11/2/11.

My City, My New York

2011-10-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

I am included in the book, "My City, My New York" by Jeryl Brunner. The book interviews 300 of "New York's Notables: actors, writers, chefs, directors, sports stars and moguls--from Matthew Broderick to Tina Fey to Fran Lebowitz to Woody Allen to Daniel Boulud to Julianna Margulies" and...Harvey Wang.

Club 57 & Friends

2011-09-08T14:19:00.000-04:00

September 8th -October 9th, 2011
Three photographs of mine are included in CLUB 57 & Friends, an exhibit focusing on many of the pioneers of the early 1980's East Village visual and performing art scene.

CLUB 57 (57 St.Mark's Place) was one of the first truly avant-garde night clubs and performance spaces in the East Village. From 1979 through 1983, Club 57 played host for countless venues and was the source of immeasurable of creative experimentation. With a slight punk and alternative edge, the club provided a forum that encouraged artists to push the creative boundaries through all possible forms and mediums. Themed events that included such standards as art exhibitions and poetry reading were trumped by elaborated staged productions of the Grand Ole Opry, Elvis nights, Monster Movie night and a Putt-putt reggae miniature golf course, complete with refrigerator boxes to resemble a shanty town. For many years Club 57 was by managed by Ann Magnuson.
This exhibition also focuses on what was happening with street and graffiti art in the East Village during this same period. On display will be numerous figurative "shadow" paintings by Richard Hambelton who many consider the dean of late 70's- early 80's street art. Featured along side these works will be photographs, collages, paintings & drawings by many of the pioneers of East Village art scene, displayed alongside Club 57 alumni. Included in the exhibition are the following esteemed artists: Futura 2000, Keith Haring, Rene Ricard, Julius Klein, Robert Carrithers, Clayton Patterson, Robert Hawkins, Mark Sink, Martha Cooper, Hank O'Neil, Edward Brezinski, Parker Dulany, Rodney Alan Greenblatt, Harvey Wang

, Scott Covert, LA 2 and Jean Michel Basquiat.

Gallery Address:
437 East 9th @ AVE. A, New York, NY 10009

Mary Frank

2011-08-04T12:30:00.000-04:00

I've been working with filmmaker/photographer/musician John Cohen on a documentary film about artist Mary Frank. We filmed her working at her studio in Woodstock, N.Y. over the summer.

Nicaragua

2011-07-24T12:17:00.000-04:00

July 19-24. I traveled to Nicaragua to photograph and film programs supported by Episcopal Relief and Development. The work is used to promote the important work done by ER-D.

Adam Purple and The Garden of Eden screening

2011-05-23T22:07:00.000-04:00

The short film, "Adam Purple and The Garden of Eden" (Directed by Amy Brost and myself) will be screened at the Brooklyn Shorts Film Festival on June 15 at Galapagos in Dumbo. 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the destruction of The Garden of Eden, an earthwork created by Adam Purple that once spanned five city lots on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. This short film features Harvey Wang’s photographs which documents the expansion of the Garden from 1978 to 1985.

Adam Purple and The Garden of Eden exhibit

2011-02-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

January 8, 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the destruction of The Garden of Eden, an earthwork created by Adam Purple that once spanned five city lots on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. This selection of Harvey Wang’s photographs, for the most part unpublished and on display for the first time, documents the expansion of the Garden from 1978 to 1985. Rare prints of a few of Adam’s 1975-76 negatives will also be shown.

FusionArts Museum (Gallery B) 57 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002

Milton Rogovin- 1909-2011

2011-01-18T10:17:00.000-05:00

Milton Rogovin passed away today at the age of 101. He was great man, and great photographer. I had the privilege of spending time with him as he revisited Buffalo's lower west side to make portraits for his final book. I also made a short film, which was chosen as "Best Documentary short" at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival.Stockmartel Blogpost and link to my film.

Aborigines on display in Austin

2010-09-16T22:25:00.000-04:00

Two vintage photographs of Aborigines visiting New York City in 1981 are on display at the Champion Contemporary Art Galley in a show called "Interrupted Landscapes." The gallery is located at 800 Brazos Street in Austin, Texas.

THE LAST NEW YORKER at The Quad

2010-02-19T22:40:00.000-05:00

THE LAST NEW YORKER at the Quad Cinema in New York City February 19-25.

The Last New Yorker is actually a daring piece of work.
--The New Republic, Stanley Kauffmann

  It's hard not to be moved by a film so hopelessly sweet.
 ---L Magazine.com, Henry Stewart   

The best thing about this tiny independent film is its evocation of the relentless speed with which the city tears down and rebuilds itself, driving out older, less affluent residents.
 --The New York Times, Stephen Holden

THE LAST NEW YORKER WINS

2009-09-25T22:45:00.000-04:00

THE LAST NEW YORKER won an Audience Award and was chosen as one of the best narrative features at the 2009 Moondance Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado.

Gelf Magazine's "Non-Motivational Speaker Series"

2009-08-27T22:48:00.000-04:00

Harvey Wang will be featured at the monthly Gelf Magazine "Non-Motivational Speaker Series." New York Stories is the theme for this month's event. The slide show and talk is entitled "My Lost New York, and The Last New Yorker."

Doug Quint, proprietor of the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck and Salvatore "Buddy" Scotto, owner of the Scotto Funeral Home and unofficial mayor of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn will also speak.

Location: JLA Studios
63 Pearl St (between Water St. and Front St.)
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Doors open at 7:00. Event starts at 7:30. FREE!

Awarded Alfred P. Sloan Grant

2009-07-15T22:59:00.000-04:00

Harvey Wang has received a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to research and shoot a project that explores the transition of photography from a chemical process to a digital one. The work will be published as a book, and a companion film is also being made.

Sun-Sentinel gives THE LAST NEW YORKER 4 Stars

2008-10-24T23:01:00.000-04:00

FLIFF SCHEDULES ANOTHER EXCITING LINEUP

Here's a look at a few of the titles at this year's FLIFF, reviewed on a five-star scale.

The Last New Yorker: ****

There's an old-fashioned, romantic charm to "The Last New Yorker," appropriate for a movie about an old-fashioned romantic who feels increasingly displaced in modern society, or at least the modern streets of New York. Aging, long-divorced Lenny Sugarman (Dominic Chianese) spends his retirement days having breakfast with best friend Ruben (Dick Latessa) and kvetching about the wonderful city he grew up in and the shell of its former self they now inhabit. His life changes when his stockbroker nephew (John Hamilton) informs him that he's penniless, the result of a series of ill-advised financial decisions. At the same time, he meets Mimi (Kathleen Chalfant), an elegant lady who steals his heart. Lenny is determined to remain self-sufficient in his twilight years, rejecting his nephew's offer for financial help and instead masquerading as a stockbroker himself. This lament for a lost New York is that rare find in the movie industry: a central, dynamic vehicle for a senior citizen actor.

THE LAST NEW YORKER Festival Screenings

2008-10-08T23:06:00.000-04:00

Harvey Wang's first feature film, "The Last New Yorker" starring Dominic Chianese, Dick Latessa and Kathleen Chalfant will be screened at two upcoming festivals: BendFilm (Bend, Oregon) on October 10, 2008 and Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival on October 24, 25, 26 & 27, 2008.

Visit the website: www.lastnewyorker.com

Spotlight in BLACK AND WHITE magazine

2008-05-01T08:40:00.000-04:00

A portfolio of images from "Flophouse: Life on the Bowery" is featured in "Black and White"a magazine for collectors of fine photography. Below is the profile written by Dean Brierly:

For the past 30 years, Harvey Wang has photographed America’s outcasts, eccentrics, dreamers and iconoclasts. The photographer himself, however, prefers a simpler word: individuals.
“What fascinates me is that anyone and everyone is an outsider, a loner or a misfit, and the fact that those words are often meant pejoratively shows how far our society will go to punish people for nonconformity,” he says. “My interest is in the exquisiteness of individuality, and its implications for how we should live.”
That commitment to the singularity inherent in us all has informed a body of work that includes five books that cast revealing light on little-seen corners of life in America. Arguably the most emotionally charged of these is Flophouse: Life on the Bowery (Random House, 2000), from which the images on these pages are taken. Flophouse depicts with great sensitivity inhabitants of the last skid row lodging houses in New York City. Wang’s collaborators, oral historians Dave Isay and Stacy Abramson, interviewed residents in four such institutions while Wang took their portraits. The book focuses on a segment of society many would prefer to pretend doesn’t exist, yet Wang disclaims any political subtext.
“On one level, I was seeking to show the beauty of these simple places that are on the verge of oblivion. But more importantly, I wanted to show the humanity of a population that was largely shunned by the people of this city. What we learned from the residents of the flophouses was that in some cases, all it took was a small setback — like the loss of an apartment or a job or a divorce — to precipitate a devastating downward spiral. Within months, one could easily find oneself in dire circumstances without any safety net.”
As in virtually all of his work, Wang’s visual approach is grounded in simplicity. He doesn’t editorialize or impose his viewpoint on his subjects, but lets them define the parameters of how much they want to reveal. Wang earns their trust and respect, makes them feel comfortable in front of his camera, and ultimately allows them to decide where and how to pose. The resulting portraits resonate with rare honesty, revealing weakness as well as strength and, in the case of the flophouse series, a surprising range of attitudes regarding their lot in life.
Resident “Fat Anthony” gazes out of a grilled window at a bleak cityscape with an enigmatic expression that seems poised between resignation and longing. “Tattooed Man” provides a contrast of fierce pride and defiance that betokens a refusal to go quietly into that good night. Images like “Man on Stairs” and “Paul, Andrews Hotel” project varying degrees of melancholy, disquiet and acclimation.
“The residents of the flophouses become like family to each other,” notes Wang. “Some of the men are clearly ‘passing through,’ but for those who see themselves as permanent residents, it’s a difficult and painful life. The flophouses could be dangerous places, rife with drug and alcohol abuse, where residents could be robbed, hurt or even killed. I was awed by many of the men we met who found the strength to subsist in those circumstances, and those who found ways to protect their hope and pride. It was humbling.”
Born in Queens, New York, in 1956, Wang determined from an early age to use photography as a passport with which to explore wider geographic, social and cultural horizons. While a student at the State University of New York at Purchase, he embarked on a photo project in the Appalachian Mountains that depicted the impact of mass culture on folk traditions. He has remained faithful to the theme of the individual’s relationship to society through his photographic endeavors, award-winning film and television projects, and even commercial assignments.
“What has influenced my development most as a photographer is my feeling that rampant egoism, unbridled and amoral consumerism, and materialism are eroding our humanity,” Wang states. “As I was growing up, I felt a real discomfort seeing those aspects of life around me. That discomfort compelled me to seek out people and places that felt more real — people who had a different frame of reference — to celebrate that and hopefully to learn something from it.”

Goodbye Coney Island?

2008-04-04T08:46:00.000-04:00

An exhibition of more than fifty photographs from the Brooklyn Museum’s holdings, Goodbye Coney Island? traces the evolution of this fabled part of New York over the past 125 years. Coney Island has undergone many transformations since it first became a popular resort in the nineteenth century, and in the near future a prospective redevelopment plan may yet again change this section of Brooklyn.

Goodbye Coney Island? presents images that depict the area’s early life and its landmarks and attractions from the 1870s to the present, including the Oriental Hotel, Steeplechase, Luna Park, the beach and boardwalk, and the classic Thunderbolt rollercoaster. The exhibition will include photographs by Breading Way, George Bradford Brainerd, Stephen Salmieri, Garry Winogrand, Lynn Butler, Harvey Wang and many others.

That 70s Show at Powerhouse

2007-03-09T08:53:00.000-05:00

Eight of Harvey Wang's photographs are included in That 70s Show at the powerHouse Gallery (37 Main St., Brooklyn, NY in Dumbo). The show is an ode to a New York City long forgotten, a city on the brink of bankruptcy, rife with anarchy, brimming with unrivaled creativity and artistry. The exhibition pays tribute to the people of New York—from the pimps and the pushers to the police and the politicians, the musicians and the artists to everyday citizens—whose perseverance during these years reveals the true spirit of our city.

Harvey Wang's work is featured along with other artists including Bruce Davidson, Jill Freedman, Larry Fink, Ron Galella, Godlis, Arlene Gottfried, Bobby Grossman, Helen Levitt, Builder Levy, Christopher Makos, Susan Meiselas.

Harvey Wang's America exhibit

2006-11-01T08:59:00.000-05:00

An exhibition of American images from the last 30 years at Hofstra University's Rosenberg Gallery. Calkins Hall, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. Mondays & Wednesdays 10-3. Tuesdays & Thursday 11-2, 4-5 and Fridays 1-5. For info call 516 463-5474

Exhibition: Jersey Shore '74 and '84

2006-08-01T14:32:00.000-04:00

Harvey Wang's photographs of the Jersey Shore from 1974 and 1984 are on view at the Exhibit A gallery in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Distinguished Alumni

2006-05-19T14:38:00.000-04:00

Harvey Wang received the President's Award for Distinguished Alumni at the Purchase College, State University of New York, commencement ceremony on Friday, May 19. Wang created his own major while an undergraduate at Purchase, combining studies in anthropology and visual arts. His thesis exhibition in 1977 was presented by the Neuberger Museum of Art, and was the museum's first exhibition of a student's work.

Harvey Wang's New York Party in "Talk of the Town"

1991-02-04T21:44:00.013-05:00

"New Yorker" writer Vajra Kilgour writes about the publication party for "Harvey Wang's New York" in the magazine's "Talk of the Town" section. The party was held at the last Horn & Hardart Automat on 42nd Street & 3rd Avenue. Entertainment was provided by Carmine Venezia's Italian Band from Chinatown. Many of the subjects of the book were in attendance, and even Robert Frank stopped by.