Reality

Well now you can see me and Don from Jack the Pelican square off through the power of editing over the future of Williamsburg. I think they came to me looking for a verbal ass-kicking of the 'burg, but there's none really to be had. I made my satirical peace with my changing relationship with the art scene a few years ago with my personal eulogy and monument to the dearly and not-so-dearly departed. I tend to agree with Don that Chelsea has indeed chewed up and spit out some of those that jumped the pond, but many have succeeded. Galleries are definitely closing, but not just the ones from the 'burg. As Becky Bellwether said, Williamsburg is 'just lower-risk'.

There's really not much to argue about, and Williamsburg may look more appealing to the Chelsea crowd when their leases come up for renewal. The Lower East Side offers store fronts, not the large commercial spaces still lingering in Williamsburg. It wouldn't be surprising to see some galleries relocate here out of necessity, not the tsunami of hype that threatened to drown everyone a few years ago. James Kalm has a far more in-depth look at the trajectory of Williamsburg in this month's Brooklyn Rail, and again, I'm never going to live that fucking eulogy down. I hope not, it's actually embedded in people's consciousness, which is sort of awesome.

Anyway, you can check out the edited sparring, Williamsburg is Dead, or maybe not?, moderated by Keith Wagstaff on A Walk Around the Blog. Sadly, despite my chops, I look like a douche bag. What was I thinking? Nice button down loser. Also, I don't stand around my studio moving panels. I sit and stare at the wall until I'm motivated to paint something.