{"id":482,"date":"2024-04-16T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/?p=482"},"modified":"2024-04-21T03:41:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T03:41:19","slug":"review-chelsea-hotel-portraits-expertly-reveals-humanity-in-the-chelsea-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/16\/review-chelsea-hotel-portraits-expertly-reveals-humanity-in-the-chelsea-hotel\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: \u2018Chelsea Hotel Portraits\u2019 expertly reveals humanity in the Chelsea Hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Six<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chelsea Hotel could, at one point, have been a little bohemian city all on its own. Originally established as an apartment cooperative in 1884, the red-bricked 23rd Street dwelling was more than just a temporary stay for starry-eyed New York visitors \u2014 it was a <\/span>creative refuge<\/span><\/a> for the artists, writers, musicians and performers who have come to define 20th-century pop culture, like Madonna and Patti Smith. In 1994, Australian photographer Tony Notarberardino unintentionally <\/span>joined<\/span><\/a> the hotel\u2019s roster of artistic tenants, and his portraits of others who lived there are on view in the exhibition \u201cChelsea Hotel Portraits\u201d at the American Contemporary Art Gallery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having originally planned to crash with a friend for just a couple days, Notarberardino ended up inhabiting a room on the sixth floor \u2014 previously owned by fellow Australian artist Vali Myers \u2014 and has been living there for many years. During the first three years of his residency, the photographer observed the hotel\u2019s eccentric residents and visitors with fascination and an unshakeable urge to document them in all their authentic glory. Armed with his vintage 1960s Toyo-View camera, he began shooting black-and-white photographs of the individuals who both ran the hotel\u2019s daily operations and upheld its creative legacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChelsea Hotel Portraits\u201d displays 35 portraits of residents and hotel regulars who epitomize the dwelling\u2019s rich, artistic history. The gallery\u2019s rooms feature portraits ranging from cultural icons like Grace Jones to employees like the late hotel manager Stanley Bard, revealing the faces of the people who have encapsulated the hotel\u2019s vibrant spirit and allowed its magical charm to live on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The exhibition does a great job at portraying the array of personalities that the hotel attracts, from portraits of dazzling showgirls to unassuming writers or workers. \u201cTrash Man Elias Jose Reramos,\u201d a portrait of a man carrying two large plastic bags ready for disposal, sits next to \u201cRose Wood,\u201d a portrait of a performance artist with a face powdered white standing fully naked. \u201cWaiters El Quijote,\u201d displaying servers from the neighboring Spanish restaurant in blazers and bowties, is adjacent to a portrait of Mexican actress \u201cSelene Luna\u201d posed bare-chested in a corset, balancing on a stool. These juxtapositions illuminate the colorful array of faces that were vital to establishing the hotel\u2019s culture of expressive freedom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Notarberardino not only consistently employed black-and-white photography for the entire photo series, but strategically placed all of his subjects in front of a blank wall outside of his apartment. Cultural icons like \u201cSusanne Bartsch,\u201d clad in a one-piece Thierry Mugler suit, \u201cAmanda Lepore,\u201d with her legendary protruding lips, and \u201cDebbie Harry,\u201d fiercely striking a pose while wearing a trucker hat graffitied with her own name, all of a sudden are just normal people in their homes, removed from their element. They become deglamorized and humanized, an <\/span>intentional strategy<\/span><\/a> Notarberardino employed to viewers\u2019 advantage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By blowing up their portraits, the exhibition also destigmatizes sex workers and nude performance artists, instead, celebrating them as lively hotel community members. \u201cFranco and Manuela,\u201d for example, welcomes visitors to the exhibition. The life-sized portrait depicts a woman wearing glittery nipple coverings and a pair of shiny panties with cash peeking out from its seams, while the man beside her glares into the camera.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same vein, the \u201cPorcelain Twinz\u201d \u2014 featuring two identical, nude women chained together by neck collars \u2014 are the first subjects viewers see as they enter the third room. Storm\u00e9 DeLarverie, a gay rights activist rumored to have thrown the first punch during the 1969 Stonewall riots, smirks and crosses her arms in the adjacent portrait like a proud guardian of sexual liberation. By putting these portraits front and center, Notarberardino spotlights the untold stories of New York\u2019s citizens, who are often kept hidden from the public consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notarberardino\u2019s \u201cChelsea Hotel Portraits\u201d visually tells a story of this iconic landmark, but instead of focusing on its architecture, its origins or neighborhood, he highlights what really cemented its legacy into New York City history: the residents. Notarberardino\u2019s portraits find beauty in the mundane and normal amid New York\u2019s glitz and glamor. It\u2019s a showcase of the hotel, but perhaps more importantly, a showcase of humanity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChelsea Hotel Portraits\u201d is on view at ACA until April 27.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact Sofi Cisneros at arts@nyunews.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story Review: \u2018Chelsea Hotel Portraits\u2019 expertly reveals humanity in the Chelsea Hotel<\/a> appeared first on Washington Square News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chelsea Hotel could, at one point, have been a little bohemian city all on its own. Originally established as an apartment cooperative in 1884, [Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485,"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions\/485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bikaner-hotels.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}