12ozProphet

I was fortunate to get the opportunity to roll out with Mare 139 on personal invite by Fab Five Freddy, who played host to a private party celebrating the art recently found at a loft in downtown NYC. In case you haven’t already heard, it turns out an art critique used to have a space at 151 Wooster Street that was frequented by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Futura 2000 and Fab Five Freddy way back in the day. Sometime around 1978-79 a wall had been painted by them, and somehow managed to get buried over time. Luckily, the developer of the space recognized the importance of the scrawls his crew uncovered and called in some experts that are now in the process of restoring it. Considering Basquiat passed away in the late 1980’s, it’s not everyday that you come across a new work of his. So, I guess the owner decided to celebrate the find, by calling in Fab Five Freddy to host a party in the space so others could get a chance to see some of the stuff first hand, along with several paintings contributed from private collections displaying other works from the same crew (plus a few of their contemporaries) from about the same period. Though I was disappointed to not see more artists and writers from that period in attendance, (I think Lee was about the only other writer present besides Mare 139 and Freddy), it was a great party considering how quickly they managed to pull it together. I’m not sure if it’ll be opened up for the public, but if you happen to be around Soho, definitely walk by 151 Wooster Street and see if you can sneak up to the second and third floors to peep it.