19th Nervous Breakdown
19th Nervous Breakdown:
an immediate response
curated by Elliot Lessing
with special assistance from Anna D’Agrosa
Dec 12- 13, 2009
Norte Maar, 83 Wyckoff Avenue, #1B, Brooklyn
Bushwick, Brooklyn — 19th Nervous Breakdown is a spontaneous exhibition and informal companion piece to “Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present”, currently on view through January 31, 2010 at The Brooklyn Museum. It is a must-see for all-ages fans of Photography, Graphic Design, Pop Culture, and the power and Rock & New Music. 19th Nervous Breakdown radically extends the language and energy of “Who Shot Rock & Roll” and, like its colorful source material, brings it right up to the very edge our current cultural moment.
19th Nervous Breakdown is the hidden track, the bootleg, the alternate take and the coveted b-side as presented by today’s most thrilling Contemporary Artists. It is also an immediate artistic action where, within one week: Elliot sees a show/develops a project, Norte Maar offers to host, and the artists CREATE. The works are a mash-up of all media, wildly edgy, and freshly made for this exhibition. From Grime to Bubblegum, Blonde Redhead to Screaming Jay Hawkins the subjects are frenetic, iconic, and fully loaded. Striking chords that are both dark and humorous, 19th Nervous Breakdown raises a classic Bic lighter in ways that shine a light on our personal heroes, while torching a shaggy lexicon of enigmatic cultural touch points and extreme fandom.
