Karen's New York Love Affair – Page 3 – Karen Rempel's Art and Stories

Throw Your X Up

One thing I love about New York is the constant surprises. I woke up Monday morning with no idea of what the day had in store. I read the NYT and stumbled on the fact that Slick Rick was playing at a free Hip Hop concert in the Bronx. I lucked out and was able to get a ticket for the very same day, and plotted my first ever journey to Orchard Beach.

A latecomer to hip hop, as I described previously, I learned a lot about its history at the concert in the Bronx. Hip hop’s beginnings in 1973 are traced to the rec room of DJ Kool Herc, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. DJ Kool Herc invented hip hop and unleashed it on the world on August 11 at his sister’s birthday party, when he played his “break beat” using two turntables with the same record on each, to extend the most danceable drum section of the track.

I was excited and extremely moved to be at this inaugural NYC Homecoming Week free concert in the Bronx, where hip hop began. It seems all the hip hop pioneers from the Bronx performed. I felt so lucky to be there hearing these master artists spin and scratch their beats, rap their rants, and drop their knowledge.

DJ Hollywood (the ur-hip hop artist from Manhattan, who is reputed to have coined the term hip hop) kicked off the show with rhymes to please. He got the crowd dancing from the first lick on his turntable.

DJ Jazzy Joyce was the only female headliner who performed. Remy Ma was also on the bill but didn’t appear, to the disappointment of more than a few fans. But I really dug DJ Jazzy Joyce, one of the most prominent female rap DJs in America, and a producer on New York City’s radio station Hot 97. Born in the Bronx, she has also worked under the name Sweet Lime Pie.

The crowd was mostly over 40, and probably over 50. Folks who were actually around in the 80s and, as some proclaimed, late 70s, and were there at the birth of hip hop. Obviously a very cool crowd. I was surprised when the audience started booing one of the performers. Most of the acts had a 10-minute limit, and one guy just didn’t want to get off the stage so he launched into a raunchy rap, proclaiming he was a sex star. You wouldn’t think it would be possible to rhyme with something even ruder than anus, but he did it. Folks in front of the stage booed and shook their head and yelled for him to stop. I guess there are limits, and the crowd was there for a family-style concert. I liked that.

Headliners KRS-One (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone) and Slick Rick capped off the night, followed by a grandmaster jam that Busy Bee hijacked to end the music in the true spirit of hip hop battle rap. Slick Rick didn’t come back onstage for the final jam, and KRS-One dissed him for showing up at the event in a green car that matched his green outfit and eyepatch. Burn!

Busy Bee buzzed around the stage all night, in fact. He did his own set and kept popping up again, ready to battle and relive the glory days. Born in the Bronx, he started in 1977 and was in the first battle royale, one of the most infamous battles in history, against Kool Moe Dee.

Other hip hop pioneers on stage:

Grammy winning Kid Capri, the first hip hop artist to be inducted onto the Bronx Walk of Fame.
CL Smooth
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5
Fantastic Five
Grandmaster Melle Mel
Grand Wizard Theodore

In addition to the freaking amazing hip hop performances that made me dance non-stop for six and a half hours, another highlight was when New York State Senator Jamaal Bailey freestyled with brother politician-rapper, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

U.S. Senator of New York and Democratic Party Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer talked about saving the birthplace of hip hop, and making it a National Place of History. Schumer declared August 11 as National Hip Hop Appreciation Day (this is legit–he passed a resolution on the floor of the U.S. Senate, and Congressman Jamaal Bowman passed it in the House). He presented a plaque to Rocky Bucano, founder of the new Universal Hip Hop Museum, located at 610 Exterior Street, the Bronx.

Manhattan-born Mayor Bill de Blasio showed us that you don’t have to be from the Bronx to throw your X up! The Bronx is back!!

Inextricable from hip hop, maybe, is graffiti art. Artist TatsCru, featured at the top, did live art throughout the concert.

It was an astonishing day. Can you imagine?! Waking up thinking I’d probably spend the day writing on the computer. Instead, I saw over a dozen Hip Hop legends, state senators, mayors, and the DA! I love NYC!!

P.S. In case you haven’t figured it out, throw your X up means you love the Bronx. XXX

Sunday on the Stoop

This is the piece that the Salmagundi Club selected to include in their most recent open exhibition.

It was a great honor to have my work on display at this venerable institution, which happens to be a mere long block from home on Fifth Avenue. This exhibit on Cityscapes was mostly a love affair to New York, although there were also a few caresses of Venice and Paris. It was a passionate show, illustrating why we all love New York so much.

In addition to the physical exhibit, the Salmagundi Club lists my work on Artsy. Of course, if you are interested in purchasing this picture, you can also reach out to me directly.

Smalls Brings Jazz Back to Life in the Village

The thing I missed the most during the pandemic was live jazz. From that fateful day in March 2020 when New York City shut down, until May 2021, when the city tentatively began to reopen, no jazz clubs could have live audiences.

Smalls on West 10th Street already had a solid tradition of streaming live jazz around the world since 2007, so they were able to keep this going during most of the pandemic. They shut down on March 16, 2020, but resumed streaming live jazz on June 1, 2020. This was a tremendous gift to homebound jazz fans around the world, but it’s not the same as the magic of being in the room.

Fast forward through a dreary year to June 2021. When I heard that Smalls was open again, my heart raced with joyful excitement. I rushed to buy tickets, and was delighted that one of my favorite jazz artists, Wayne Escoffery, was playing on June 4, a Friday night. I texted my friend Tess, and she was instantly on board the jazz train with me.

It was a thrill descending the familiar carpeted staircase with the 90-degree turn at the bottom. Even before the show began, there was ecstasy in the room. The rows of chairs had been spaced out a bit, with small tables for each pair. (Room capacity was still reduced at that point.) Everyone in the room was vaccinated.

Introduction. Applause. The first saxophone note piercing the air. No worries, just the joy of giving and receiving, playing, listening, grooving. Magic! The band was ecstatic, the audience was ecstatic, and a love affair happened down in that jazz-steeped basement room.

Playbill

WAYNE ESCOFFERY QUARTET
DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 PM
SMALLS
06/04/2021
Wayne Escoffery / Tenor Sax
Dave Kikoski / Piano
Ugonna Okegwo / Bass
Mark Whitfield Jr / Drums

My Next Exhibited Work: A New York Scene

Karen Rempel - Love Affair New York - Spring on Christopher Street — *Spring on Christopher Street by Karen Rempel.*

I am so excited to have my artwork exhibited again at the Salmagundi Club. The theme of the exhibit is Cityscapes.

Stop by the exhibit from June 6 to June 24, 1 to 6 PM (5 PM on the weekend). The Club is at 47 Fifth Avenue at West 12th Street.

Karen Rempel - Love Affair New York - Bikes on MacDougal Street — *Bikes on MacDougal Street by Karen Rempel.*

I submitted four pieces, and one was chosen for the Cityscapes exhibition. Here are the other three. I want to save the chosen entry as a surprise for you to see when you visit the gallery, so I’ll put the selected artwork up after the exhibit closes.

Karen Rempel - Love Affair New York - If I Could Fly — *If I Could Fly by Karen Rempel.*

Emerging Fibers

*Hanging art by Shradha Kochhar, hand spun from Kala Cotton, a miracle crop native to India that sustains completely on seasonal rainfall.*

I was strolling through the West Village on a sunny Sunday when I happened to go by Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Center on Greenwich Street. There was a sign outside the exhibit space next to the store that said “Exhibit closes today.” Of course that made me want to go in!

The exhibit was called Emerging Fibers, and showcased the Parsons School of Design MFA Textiles 2021 Graduate Exhibit. One of the artists, Shradha Kochhar, gave me a tour of the exhibit and described the methods and meaning of the textile artworks. I was incredibly impressed with the complex, intricate, beautiful work. Many of the pieces expressed the inextricability of the personal, familial, and political.

This dress is made from a sustainable material called TômTex. It’s a biobased material made from mushroom or seashell waste and coffee grounds. Designer Uyen Tran aims to establish a complete system of viable, biodegradable materials with zero waste and zero pollution. I would definitely wear this dress!

Hongci Hu created this underwater world from a collection of biomimetic E-textile artworks. She says these soft-robotic-individuals are chatter of conscious thoughts, raising awareness of how beautiful nature is and what we can learn from it. Certainly her crocheted creatures delight and inspire the desire to protect our underwater landscapes. See Hongci Hu’s playlist for more about her work.

I was delighted by the creative outpouring of these fresh, hopeful souls who came to New York to develop their capacities to offer their gifts and vision to the world. Kudos to all of the graduates.

City Beats Rap New York

Slick Rick Orchard Beach the Bronx 2021 — Slick Rick in green eyepatch and monster rapper medallion at Orchard Beach, the Bronx, August 2021. It’s time for Hip Hop in NYC.

I think of myself as a latecomer to rap and hip hop, but last September New York Magazine printed “The City and the Beats: 100 songs that tell the story of New York rap.” It took me a few months but I listened to all 100 songs. I was sorry when I got to the end of the list. Hip hop had become part of my soul.

The Wu Tang Clan’s C.R.E.A.M (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) and Slick Rick’s licks were a couple of my faves on the list that I dial up again and again. Slick Rick’s Children’s Story (1989) and La Di Da Di* (1985) just caught my fancy and I loved this London-born nasal-toned pirate with the biggest bling necklace on the planet.

Here were my other 10 top faves from the list of 100. Click this KQS NYC Beats playlist if you need a lift to your spirits and dance like it’s 1989.

M.O.P. – Ante Up (Robbin Hoodz Theory) – 2000 Broolyn armed
DMX – Ruff Ryders’ Anthem – 1998 poppy motherfuggas
Erik B. & Rakim – Paid in Full – 1987 “This is a journey” was sampled by Handsome Boy Modeling School, a long-time fave.
Juice Crew – The Symphony – 1988 Opening with Morricone’s haunting spaghetti Western call, this posse cut is hilarious.
Lost Boyz – Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz – 1998 catchy Queens representin’.
MC Lyte – Ruffneck – 1993 butch swagger that led the way.
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Streets of New York – 1990 hardcore street rap.
Run-DMC – It’s Tricky – 1987 love it! Obviously a big influence as evidenced by many** who came after.
Salt-N-Pepa – Push It – 1987 this was a cross-over hit that I saw on Much Music in Canada. The dancing, the balls, the rapaciousness. Like I wish you would! And I have to add Shoop – even hotter, and filmed at Coney Island.
Beastie Boys – No Sleep Till Brooklyn – 1986 big surprise for me – I thought they were white wannabies, but they can rap, finishing each other’s lines with a metal backbeat. This one is obviously an homage to Motörhead’s No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith, and Slayer’s Kerry King is guesting on guitar.

Big surprise, most are from the 80s, when I was a metal head. But I guess it’s the era we come up in that creates the music that stirs our soul.

* Don’t cry, dry your eyes” sampled on Handsome Boy Modeling School’s 1999 Album, So… How’s Your Girl? Fave track: Rock n’ Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This).

** I still have the 45 of Funky Cold Medina (1989, Tone Loc), which I used to bring to the biker bar in New Westminster, Rockin’ Tonight, and force the DJ to play 5 nights a week!

High Wire

Anthony Valencia’s wire sculptures captivated me from the first moment I saw them.

I thought an 8″ rocking chair would be perfect for my tiny New York apartment.

This sweet young man brought me a floral bouquet as well. This really touched my heart.

See more of Anthony’s work on this website.

Catch and Release

This year started off with a bang. I have a new monthly column in WestView News called “Catch and Release,” about my dating mishaps and misadventures. I’m so happy that people have been commenting that they like the story. I can’t wait to tell you what happens next! I hope you get a giggle from it.

Chapter 1 – Meeting Keith

Chapter 2 – The Proposition

Chapter 3 – Drinks at Ascent

Chapter 4 – The Christmas Date Part 1

[Update: Catch all chapters of C&R at karensquirkystyle.nyc.]

And here’s a video I made of scenes outside the church at Andrew Giuliani’s wedding in July 2017, with a coda about my feelings about marriage. 😉

Ruling Rockefeller Rink

I felt sadness and a profound sense of loss that a precious piece of New York is slipping away when I learned that the iconic rink at Rockefeller Center is scheduled for demolition in January 2021. It is classic New York sensory overload to skate here, with the magnificent Christmas tree shining rainbow colors above, and golden Prometheus forever falling to the ice at rinkside. Colored lights flash and bathe the ice in pink and blue, and sometimes the music from the Saks Christmas display across Fifth Avenue is so loud it drowns out the music at the rink, which seems to range between Christmas classics and funk.

When I read the news, I immediately went online and bought a ticket to skate at 6 PM every Saturday from November 21 to January 16. The first Saturday, the splendid 75-foot tall Christmas tree (which weighs 11 tons!) was in place, but not strung with lights. I went downstairs to the skating area right at 6 PM, pasted a yellow sticker from the ticket taker on my right leg, and rushed towards the rink. I was enchanted to see two angelic ice dancers in white costumes with fairy lights walking down the hallway to the dressing room ahead of me. I found a locker, put on my skates, and rushed onto the ice. The ice dancers were already out there, filming a video. They spun and twirled and swooped in the center of the rink for the entire time I was on the ice, which seemed to last only 20 minutes.

It was my first time on skates in a couple years, so it took the full 20 minutes just to warm up and feel less wobbly in the ankles, but still I soared past all the other skaters on the rink. I kept telling anyone who would listen, “I’m Canadian!” to explain my superior performance, possession of my own skates, and knowledge of ice grooming. The ice was a choppy mess, in fact. But I loved the feeling of gliding and tentatively trying out a few of my skating chops—switch to backwards skating for a few seconds, try a twirl in a quiet corner. And secretly wished I could skate like the ice dancers.

Because of Covid, the ice was socially distanced, meaning less crowded than usual, but it was still at the maximum allowed, filled with couples holding hands and trying to keep each other vertical, kids falling and skating in the wrong direction, and packs of people taking each other’s picture and blocking the flow.

Unfortunately, my mind kept finding fault with every little thing for the entire 20 minutes until I was told people wearing the yellow sticker had to get off the ice. Then the problem was that my miserable time had been cut short!

I went over to the skate rental return counter with my litany of complaints. I didn’t have any skates to return, having brought my own (because I’m a Canadian). But I complained about the quality of the ice and the short session, which was supposed to be an hour from beginning to end. After lodging my comments with the skate rental attendant, I waited for a manager, and then repeated the litany. The manager asked to see my yellow sticker, and my ticket, and went to investigate. It was the first day of rink operations, and the manager–let’s call him Tim, since that’s his real name–determined that an error had been made in the color of sticker I was issued. I should have received a blue sticker, not a yellow one. He said I could go back on the ice, but by now I had changed out of my skates. He said they were still working out the system but that next week would be better.

Then we turned to the matter of the ice. “The ice was a mess!” I said. “We cut it every few hours,” Tim said, clearly not realizing that this was completely inadequate. “I’m a Canadian!” I said. “I’m used to better ice.” He appeared to be quite sympathetic to my plight. I obviously knew what I was talking about, since I was a Canadian, and besides, I’d purchased eight tickets in advance.

He gave me the general manager Kristen’s business card, and said to email her on Monday. Which I did. I didn’t mention the fact that I was a Canadian, but my expertise in ice matters must have been convincing; by end of day she had changed my remaining tickets to the 7 PM session, immediately after the ice cleaning, which for some reason they call cutting here. That’s quite a stretch, considering the puddles of water everywhere on the rink. Their ice is not exactly cuttable!

The next Saturday, I knew the drill. I was first in line to go downstairs to the rink. Since I was the only one who brought my own skates (quite probably the only Canadian) I changed into my skates in a flash and was the first on the rink!!! For five minutes I had the rink to myself! I couldn’t believe it. The lights were on the tree, casting a magical glow. There were hordes socially distanced above on 49th Street, waiting for their timed visit to look at the tree. And here I was, circling round and round, the rink and the tree all to myself. I wept at my good fortune and craftiness. Finally I could relax. I had controlled the universe. And when others started to trickle and totter onto the ice, I smiled with fond benevolence. I was the ruler of the rink!

Check out my new video, “Crappy Skaters”!

P.S. They use an inferior ice cleaning machine called “Olympia,” perhaps in deference to Prometheus’s family. Every Canadian knows that Zambonis are the ice machines of the gods.

Rink at Rockefeller Center — *A seldom viewed deer-populated forest outside the dressing room*

Slipping into the Third Dimension

This month, I have been honored again to have my artwork accepted in an open exhibition at the Salmagundi Club. Last year, the photograph “Summer Piano in Washington Square Park” was part of a Village-themed exhibition co-sponsored by Village Preservation. I took the photo on my second trip to New York, in 2015, while I was having a mad crush on the city. The moment when I took the photo was also the birth of my Another New York Love Affair video art project on YouTube. The series is up to 53 videos now!

Karen Rempel Tailor 10x10 Framed — *Karen Rempel, Tailor, 10″ x 10″ Framed*

I took the photo currently on exhibit, “Tailor,” in May 2020, the day after the first major protests in New York in response to George Floyd’s murder. I was photographing the aftermath of the protests—burned police vehicles, graffiti, and broken windows—when I came across this whimsical display in the window of a Wash and Fold on University Place. My heart was pierced watching small business owners patch up their shattered storefronts. This miniature sculpture arrangement expressed a simpler, fairy-tale time, when mice came out at night to help the cobbler finish his work.

As I mentioned in my last post, I took a gallery walk on Madison Avenue in October. The Castelli Gallery had three Joseph Cornell paintings on display. A man working at the gallery showed me the backs of the artworks. Cornell had put art and found objects on the back of each frame. I was delighted at this secret treasure, which eludes all but the most curious viewers. This inspired me to do the same for my modest photo.

I haven’t done collage before, but I began collecting bits and pieces. The date for bringing my photo to the Salmagundi Club fell in the middle of my staycation weekend at the National Arts Club, so I brought the pieces with me, as well as all the supplies I thought I might need. The morning of November 7 dawned bright, and my room overlooked many windows of other creative New Yorkers who live across from Gramercy Park. I imagined each building was packed with artists and sculptors, and I was steeped in creative inspiration. After making coffee and checking on the New York Times election map (no decision yet), I brought out the makings and spread everything on the kitchen table.

The first piece was a beautiful watercolor painting of a pink and yellow-toned forest, from a chocolate wrapper my friend Lew gave me on my birthday. I had some “outtake” prints of my photo, from testing different types of paper, so I cut out a few bits from the photo—the sewing machine, the tape measures, and the woman doll’s head (with my own distorted reflection dimly seen). I had a postcard from my friend Sally’s recent birthday dinner at the Gramercy Tavern, and a wonderful zebra in a gold party hat cut from the birthday card my cousin Julie sent me from Germany.

I often think of the New York artists from the ’60s (Warhol, Rauchenberg, Stella, Lichtenstein, et al) when I slip on the shoes of artist, wondering how they felt as they prepared their art for exhibit, attending to the details of framing, wiring, and packing. I imagine my methodology is more feminine. I wrapped my 14 pieces for Shadow Play in pillow cases. Now here I was using birthday cards with a decidely pink tinge in my Cornell-inspired collage.

As I placed the pieces, trying different compositions, I needed a few more bits to fill it out. I turned to the copy of The Week laying on the table, and cut out the delightful squirrel dining at a mini picnic table. Suddenly I heard cheering, car horns honking, and bells ringing. I checked the NYT graphic on my phone, and Biden had surpassed 270 electoral college votes! Mad joy and euphoria spilled out around me, through me, and in texts with my cousin Julie in Germany and my sister Kim in Canada. New York was alive with celebration, and so were cities around the country. Half the world exhaled a profound sigh of relief. (The rub is in the other half, but let’s not dwell on that today.)

The cover of The Week had a signpost, with one pointing towards the current fake president, and the other pointing towards Biden. I cut out the sun shining through the clouds from the cover, and this was the last piece of the puzzle. I made a few final embellishments in silver ink, and one more mystery addition on the upper left corner of the frame. Ta da!

I love these moments of slipping into two dimensions and living an artist’s life. Then it’s back to the third dimension, lunch at Kubeh celebrating with friends, New York City alive again, for one brief day. Which is more real?

If you’re in New York, come to the Salmagundi Club and see the exhibit, November 10 to November 20.

Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street. Open Tuesday-Friday 1-6 PM, Weekends 1-5 PM.