Cause: Hope For Them Foundation’s Holiday Toy Drive
Date: 12/17/2011
Painters Ari Lankin and Borbay are teaming up with talented artists and great organizations to benefit school children of Haiti for one night of festive holiday philanthropy. Each artist will create a four hour painting during the festive toy drive on the night of December 17th, 7-11pm. Proceeds from the paintings will benefit the Hope For Them Foundation.
If you would like to spend your Saturday the 17th, from 7-11 PM watching Lankin and Borbay paint, while rocking out to music by DJ Super Jaimie and a live performance by Kate Nauta, sipping fantastic cocktails courtesy of St. Germain and Evening Land Vineyards, enjoying hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Alison Eighteen — all for a great cause, please RSVP here.
***Act now for 2 for 1 admission with this prepaid special.
Lankin and Charity
Lankin has live-painted for charities including Broadway Cares NY, Broadway Cares Las Vegas. Additionally, he has donated work for auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Doug Varone and Dancers, and Jewish National Fund.
Borbay and Charity
Borbay has live-painted for charities including Broadway Cares NY,Broadway Cares Las Vegas and We Love Japan. Additionally, Borbay has donated work for auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Children of Armenia Foundation, A.C.E. and The Skin Cancer Foundation.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - HopeForThem, Edeyo, and im.material Global are excited to unite the worlds of art and philanthropy in a festive holiday toy drive.
The toy drive will be on December 17th, 2011 from 7:00pm to 11:00pm at Gallery 151, 132 West 18th Street, hosted by Ines Ferre of CNN, benefiting the school children of Haiti.
Inspired cocktails by St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, and artisan wines from Evening Land Vineyards. Delicious food from Alison Price Becker and Chef Robert Gurvich, soon to open the new restaurant Alison Eighteen.
Music by DJ Super Jaimie.
Live performance by upcoming singer and Hollywood star Kate Nauta; best known for her performance in the movie Transporter 2.
Live painting by Borbay and Ari Lankin. Exclusive paintings by William Quigley and Jean-Baptiste Frantz to be auctioned off live, in addition to a Michael Jackson signed book.
For admission to the event, guests will be required to bring an unwrapped toy (valued under $25) with an additional $30 donation; or, to donate $50 without a toy.
The HopeForThem Foundation is a non-profit organization that delivers aid to disaster-stricken areas around the world. After the catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti in January of 2010, founder Mike Jean committed his organization to providing relief to his home country.
Unik Ernest and the Edeyo Team is a non-profit made up of dedicated business, medical and educational professionals. They are currently re-building the Joyous Heart School which was demolished in the January 2010 earthquake. He has devoted his energy and talents to educating and enlightening the world about Haiti, bringing hope to the future of these disadvantaged children.
im.material global is a non-for-profit group that builds strong and sustainable communities in developing nations. Founder Patrick Simeon leads a team currently building a village in Haiti to accommodate the homeless people of the post-earthquake devastation.
The exhibitions and events at Gallery 151 would not be possible without the generous support and sponsorship of Michael Namer and his company Alfa Development , Chelsea Green at 151 West 21st Street, and Alison Eighteen.
Produced by: Mike Jean, Clark De-Marcus, Cole Blumstein and Ben Lang
Press passes: Jenny J. Kim jenny@hopeforthem.org - (860)580-9646
Tickets: www.hopeforthem.org/toys or http://hopeforthemtoydrive2011.charityhappenings.org/
The Details -
Uniting the Worlds of Art and Philanthropy
For the Children of Haiti
Dec. 17, 2011 from 7-11pm
Gallery 151 (132 W. 18th)
Hosted by Ines Ferre from CNN
Music by DJ Super Jaimie
Live Performance by Kate Nauta
Live Painting by Borbay & Ari Lankin
Cocktails by St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Wine by Evening Lands Vineyards
Hors D?oeuvres by Alison Eighteen Restaurant
Admission:
$30 with a toy
$50 without a toy
(Toys must be unwrapped & valued under $25)
RSVP or Make a Donation at http://www.hopeforthem.org/toys
For Press Pass, contact Jenny
Jenny@hopeforthem.org
860.580.9646
Exploring the unknown is one of the most exciting things about the creative process. Starting a work of art without a preconceived final image leaves room for discovery in any direction. With a piece like MagiKid it’s hard to tell when the creative process began. Perhaps it was a few years ago when my friend gave me a Scrabble board game that was missing some pieces. I saved it because I knew one day I could use it in a work of art. Or perhaps it was over six years ago when I acquired the Yoda miniature action figure.
The story continues when I was in Las Vegas with artist Borbay doing location and live painting in April. We decided to walk to our meeting at Vegas Seven magazine. The walk was a little further and off the beaten path then we thought. While walking in a half occupied industrial park I came across what looked like a discarded childs drawing in a parched leafless bush. It was a great drawing, so i folded it up and put it in my back pocket. The last ingredient was a magazine tribute to Michael Jackson that I saved since his death.

Las Vegas, April 2011.
Me celebrating the golden discovery. Shirt off because the desert is hot. Unlike a handful of other things, the drawing survived the Vegas trip, and a few months later ended up in this painting. MagiKid is another addition to the assemblage painting series I started in 2004.
Click image for larger version.
MagiKid has several obvious references which I will touch upon, and other ambiguous layers of interpretation I will leave for your discovery.
Words are spelled out: liv(e), jedi, magi, kid, magik.
The standard seven letters of a Scrabble game on the top row add up to the number 18. A special number in Judaism meaning life. It’s essential to keep a child’s spirit as one grows old.
What’s in a name? My middle name means Life.
What’s in the middle? The great wise man Yoda.
The Yoda toy is a third generation hand me down that i’ve had for at least six years. The rock around his neck is from a necklace that a friend broke in my company.
The childs drawing alludes to Luke Skywalker, and holds a double saber of red and green, or perhaps good and evil.
A young Michael Jackson photo is cropped to look like Darth Vader’s helmet.
Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and Vader, a magi of knowledge, and knowledge is power.
It’s amazing how this piece came together. For now i’ll leave the rest up to you and send it off with a quote by a great painter.
All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. – Pablo Picasso
On July 14th the reception for Clipped, a group show featuring the work of Andrew Matsumoto, Michael Serafino, Jeremy Penn, Flip Skip, Ari Lankin and Borbay was held at Le Salon d’ Art. Orignally scheduled from 7-10pm this party didn’t end until about 1am. This is what happens when you get a great group of people together and a very large quantity of refreshments that kept being replenished by the many happy guests. We would like to thank all of our loyal fans and the many new ones that came out for great art, conversation, and NYC style revelry. We’ll see if the streak continues and anyone gets married from meeting each other at this show. Sparks were flying, art was consumed, and drinks were flowing.
All of the photos (except the first two and the last) are by the very talented Tessa Beligue Photography. When you are finished with these take a minute to check out more of Tessa’s photos. I particularly like her portraits, night shots, unique perspectives, and intense use of color.
Relive the glory, or experience if for the first time…

Ari Lankin, Jason Borbay, and Jeremy Penn pose for a picture a few minutes before the show starts with the always early art/entertainment guru G (in green). Photo courtesy of according2G.com, check out the link for his really cool blog. He is everywhere and sees everything.

Penn and Borbay lounging in the plush salon chairs before the doors open. Photo courtesy of according2G.com

Michael Serafino hanging out by Borbay’s home base.

Matsumoto, Victoria, Lankin, and Serafino pause for a moment. A camera in a photo, so real, surreal.

The ever alert Serafino, nothing gets by him. The lovely Ms. Wells and Penn chat it up in the background.

Sanpaku eyes gaze through the crowd as the party starts to pop. People getting locked and loaded.

Now thats how you carry a cell phone.

Matsumoto!

Lankin and Shiva Krishna in the middle of a formal discussion.

The vibe.

The view from behind the bar. Borbay’s Marilyn holding strong. Read more about his painting here.

Reflections, people reflecting, don’t blink, or rather blink twice and move along.

The Deception of William Murphy by Jeremy Penn.

Paparazzi started to get out of hand. Two photographer’s passing in the night.

Borbay’s work including his newly finished Old Bay painting hang above the mirrors.

James Serafino, a handsome fella, a good bartender, but a much better illustrator.

Full house.

Who could resist that smile? RED

Where’s Courtney?

More vibin’

Lankin and the always interesting Ms. Dubash discuss the art of staying young at heart forever.

Penn, Lankin, and Serafino. One for the ages.

Ed. Nuff said.

Just having fun.

A Penn, Victoria, Lankin sandwich. Hold the cheese.

Gallery/Salon owner Hans Kerremans and his spectacular wife Grace.

V is for Vogue.

Borbay, Jon-O, Ms. Grignon, and Lankin take a moment even Mr. Kodak would be proud of.

Shiva supports Borbay as he gives a rousing impromptu speech to the masses. Artist Paul Zepeda in the background.

How many speeches end with people high fiving?

Newly hitched husband and wife. Congratulations!

Chessa and Matsumoto. She is clearly overwhelmed, but rises to the challenge, with how to pose alongside the artist.

Stunning portrait of Christina. I love Tessa’s portraits. That’s why we hired her to cover our show.

Fedora, Shades, and Sanpaku.

Vibin’ continued….

A couple of rad fashionistas, Christina and Nigella.

Has anyone seen Edvard Munch? I demand answers! L, Z, and C hold a tribunal in the background.

Closing down the shop almost 3 hours after scheduled ending time. You know how we roll.
The End.
Thank you to everyone for coming out.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY - June 23, 2011 – The group exhibition: CLIPPED — “Appropriated Material From The Streets of New York,” will take place during July at Le Salon d’ Art Gallery. Running the entire month of July, this group exhibition will showcase six New York artists, including: Andrew Matsumoto, Michael Serafino, Jeremy Penn, Flip Skip, Ari Lankin and Borbay.
“CLIPPED” refers to the link these artists share using printed paper as their most common found material. These works embody and perpetuate our fractured reality by literally fracturing it even further. Materials, words, and images are clipped from their original context and reborn in new situations. The end result enables the viewer to slip into an infinite realm of the past, the present, and the future.
Artist Reception: July 14th, 2011, 7 – 10 PM
Show Duration: July 1 – July 31, 2011
Location: Le Salon d’ Art | 90 Stanton Street | Manhattan
More About the Show and Preview Images:










































































































































