So amid all this hoopla over Jeffrey Deitch, the dealer behind Soho’s Deitch Projects, accepting the job of director at Los Angeles’ faltering Museum of Contemporary Art, people are starting to act like he’s already moved to the West Coast. But we still have about five months of Deitch Projects programming to look forward to before one more outstanding Soho gallery goes the way of Guild & Greyshkul.
For one, the gallery’s huge Long Island City warehouse, Deitch Studios, has been hosting an exhibition of Josh Smith paintings since November, a collaboration with Luhring Augustine, the Chelsea gallery that represents Smith. That show continues through March 28 and, barring a final “going out of business” party, will likely be the last opportunity to see that beautiful waterfront space. Plus you should really be familiar with Smith’s paintings for future reference, so it’s really worth the trek.
Meanwhile, news of Deitch’s last two shows in Soho emerged yesterday, with New York and the LA Times reporting that embattled “Hope” poster designer Shepard Fairey will take over the gallery’s Wooster Street space for the month of May ahead of Deitch’s June 1 closing deadline. Fairey will also be the last artist to paint the gallery’s billboard space at Houston and Bowery, which is currently occupied by an Os Gemeos mural. Before that blockbuster blow-out, though, Deitch has at least one other show lined up.
For the month of March LA-based neo-expressionist painter Rosson Crow, a much buzzed about (and rightly so) artist not represented by the gallery, will show her latest large-scale canvases at 18 Wooster Street. The young art star’s style of neon-hued nostalgic architectural paintings should fit right in with the Deitch aesthetic, particularly given the show’s title and subject. Bowery Boys, March 4-27, will look at the role of bad boys, outcasts and renegades in the New York art scene, which is exactly what Deitch’s gallery has tried to do throughout its fourteen year history. And with these three final must-see shows, Deitch will be closing in fine form.