Pissing off Scenesters Since 1995
As part of Jersey City’s redevelopment plan, the city is allowing developers to turn crappy warehouses into luxury lofts. Who knows if the plan will work, but in the mean time, I a ton of artists have taken up temporary gallery space in Canco Lofts – one of the largest empty spaces I’ve ever seen. Seriously, there was like three acres of real estate used to house thousands of pieces of art – some good, some bad. There was also a ton of terrible music. But that’s beside the point.
I made my way to Prime Surreal Estate, located all the way at the other end of the loft space. It took ten minutes to navigate through the drunken hippies, but once I arrived, I was shocked to see the amount of contemporary pop art on display. Dozens of original works by everyone from Mark Dean Veca to Lady Pink adorned the makeshift walls in the kinda dilapidated building.
Ron English spent a few hours signing Abraham Obama posters and copies of his new book, while curator Dylan Evans hawked Dunnys, caroused with the visiting artists, and kissed the heads of a lot of babies. To say it was a surreal experience is an understatement. Gigantic Ron English posters hung on the walls between the different lofts as well as on the front of the building. Hundreds of fans flowed in an out of the rooms taking pictures with friends and artists and gawking at Ron’s phenomenal new work.
Try to catch the show while it’s still on. The art is reasonably priced and the wine is boxed.
