London in New York

“Live for nothing or die for something”
-John Rambo

Who am I?  “Say my name! Say my name! If no one is around you, you can say I love you.”

I repeat, who am I? Bro, this ain’t no “Existential Crisis” here.  I know what I mean and I mean what I say. So you think I have a god complex? Let me tell you something, when you are alone reading my words in the quiet of your home or out in the public domain on say an iPad, between you, me and the truth I am god!

So, what is my perspective? Simple.  Stand on the middle platform in Times Square, stretch arms wide and hold on to the “Third Rail” on both tracks so I can feel the electricity of dissent.

You want a piece of me? “Go ahead,  make my day” and let the first amendment be your guide. I don’t censor unless you are a spambot. But I warn you if you come with a pop gun or water pistol of an intellect you will be destroyed like one of RAMBO’s victims below.

So who am I? The way, the truth and the life? I am…I said. I am said I.  I am what you get when Bridge & Tunnel American with Spanish, Colombian, Austrian, German and Italian roots meets the school of hard knocks followed by the Ivy League. I have sat in conferences along side of titans of industry,  CEO’s, soldiers, Generals and I have worked as a Wall Street Lawyer, delivered newspapers, mopped floors and was even the deep fry guy at Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips. I paid my way through college on scholarship, work study and money saved from selling t-shirts and souvenirs at Madison Square Garden. There is not a job that I was ever unwilling to do to put a few bucks in my pocket. If we had migrant farm workers in New York City, I would have been one. My dream job? To be a crew member aboard the Bob Barker Sea Shepherd. I aspire to affect the human condition not to line my pockets or be well known or famous. I am the anti famous and that is fine with me. In the words of Jane Jacobs, “I do not know who this celebrity called Jane Jacobs is. It’s not me. You either do your work or you’re a celebrity; I’d rather do my work”

I am safely and securely ensconced in the truth of my convictions and the experience of life at all levels of society.  I care to see and understand things that most don’t and my “small talk” is the human condition, freedom, democracy and the right to challenge bad ideas, the supremely misinformed and the punch drunk fame whores who stand atop a pile of mediocrity proclaiming their short list of non-accomplishment. No matter how perfectly polished and painfully posed, I am not impressed even if Andy Warhol predicted your retarded social climb. You are still a clown to me. “This ain’t no party this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around.”

Are you sure? Hold steady, ready, aim fire! Pump me full of shells and watch as I stand here like Crazy Joe Gallo dining at Umberto’s Clam House on Mulberry Street in Little Italy, except I would be at Puglia’s instead,  laughing until your little pop gun is empty. Then at least I could get back to finishing my Pork Chops Pizzaiola with Linguine. If you are not too tired maybe you can pour me another glass of Opus 1 before you get out of my sight.

Kelly Killoren Bensimon at Opening Day of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge at Blue Star Jets Field

Social Media-ites, please do keep in mind that it’s not really “journalism” if you are in essence covering yourself. In that case it’s called “self promotion”, “self dealing” or serving as your own publicist.

There is nothing wrong with infusing yourself and your brand into a story. These are after all strange and unusual times. Many are hurting and can use a little brand extension, but then if that case let someone else write about it and photograph it. For when you masturbate unless someone else’s hand, mouth or even feet are involved than no matter how you slice or dice it, it’s truly nothing more than an exhibition of self love.  Capische?

On Saturday afternoon, July 24th as my brother drove the two of us out to the East End of Long Island to cover events for the MacDella Cooper Foundation and The Watermill Center’s 17th Annual Benefit: Paradiso my email rant via blackberry to a select friends list ended up on Scallywag & Vagabond. I was almost going to ask the publisher Christopher Koulouris  to pull it down as I suspect it would not make me many friends, although what else is new right? But then after arriving at Mercedes Benz Polo Challenge, taking photos of many of the guests of import, I found it nearly impossible to get a clean photo of Kelly Killoren Bensimon from The Real Houswives of New York City who was also the July 4th cover model for Social Life Magazine, for which I write the Society column. You see Kelly Bensimon was too busy taking photos of and videoing herself on her own iphone while her team was also videoing her, to accomodate photographers who wanted to take her photo. On a blistering Saturday afternoon in the heat, the last  thing I needed to do was get in the way of Kelly’s self love at Two Trees Farms in Bridgehampton.

Truth told when this old man first leveled a critique at GuestofaGuest for its practice and promotion of self love, many dealers critiqued me for raining on their parade dismissing me as envious of the success of the Gen Y Social Networking site which has since, not surprisingly, given the history of their financial backers, morphed into Facebook Lite. Generation Y’s self absorption seemingly knows no bounds and has made them drunk with indifference, hooked on bad art/culture and thus the ideal consumers of the culture of distraction. While the country has gone to hell in a proverbial hand basket our best and brightest are consumed with everything Lohan, Hilton, Gaga, Kardashian et al etc.—wondering how they can in essence be like them and similarly cash in. Example of the culture of the social retard is no better exemplified than Micah Jesse and his following band of twit-idiots who represent nothing of character, substance or lasting value in our society other than I am here, I want to be famous and will stand next to be people who are famous and have my photo taken with them. By comparison, American Porntrepreneur,  Joe Francis and Girls Gone Wild almost seem to have redeeming societal value, even if merely attending one of Joe’s gatherings, in some states serves as a woman’s implied consent to be sexually molested, turning her into a veritable Samantha from Sex & The City or just another Christine Saunders. 

While the social whales referenced above search for the right price for their barren hustle, even famed game show host Bob Barker knows that The Price is Right when he donated $5 Million to the Sea Shepherd’s whale rescue missions.  Maybe if more of us were saving those whales, we could allow the Japanese to harpoon some of the social whales referenced above and rid our society of the social blubber, rather than the endangered species that they continue to hunt with abandon, and save the cause of humanity in the process.

Where prior generations asked questions about the state and future of humanity, this one doesn’t bother cause its too phucking busy looking at itself in the mirror, taking pictures of itself and jacking off on Facebook.  In America at the present time there is no Beat Generation to question whether society sucks, just one over run with narcissists beating off to their 15 Minutes of fame and hoping to turn that famegame into the cause of a lifetime. The tools of the trade for the new Social Journalist are a mirror and a camera aimed in their direction at all times. Critique of these folks can even potentially make one persona non grata at events where these exhibitionists are on display and allowed, if not encouraged to document and exhibit themselves with your event as their backdrop.

President Obama is a lawyer.  He is a graduate of Harvard Law School who practiced briefly for several years as a full time attorney with Miner, Barnhill & Galland in Chicago. That got me thinking as to what kind of lawyer he was in his practice days. As one who was trained as a Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyer (a multidisciplinary practice) one might think that this was perhaps the perfect time for the Chris London Presidency. But if that were the case they would probably tap Harvey Miller of Weil Gotshal & Manges, the leader of the Business Finance & Restructring Group at WGM which I started with ironically.  In that case then my experience relative to his would sort of look much like……President Obama’s on economic matters. I digress

So, I started thinking even more deeply. What kind of lawyer is or was President Obama? What set of skills or perspective does he bring to his view of the world?  As a Summer Associate he hooked Michelle, then an Associate at Sidley & Austin–nabbing your mentor slick. As a mentor to some brilliant and charming young Summer Associates, I wish someone had nabbed me. I was not so slick. I was just trying to tread water in the brilliance around me. And Weil Gotshal’s Bankruptcy Department had some great minds.

America hates lawyers but I LOVE em, if only because you can tell a lot about their persona and philosophy by which craft they choose. Did America get a Transactional Lawyer such as an M&A Lawyer, a Venture Capital Lawyer or a Litigator or perhaps even a Trial Lawyer?  I know he is not a Real Estate Lawyer. We have those, in the name of Privatization everything is sold off to a foreign entity.  He is not a Bankruptcy or Restructuring Lawyer because if he had the skills of Harvey Miller we would be out of this Chapter 11 by now.

Then it hit me. We have a series of legislative victories from Stimulus Act, Health Care and now Financial Reform which have been panned by critics on the left and the right for a variety of reasons, including specifically that the assault on capitalism has not put anybody back to work yet. And what kind of symbolism is there that Jamie Dimon who is as responsible as anyone for saving Wall Street will not be there when the Financial Regulatory Reform bill is signed today?  Maybe that is not entirely fair but “Smart money” in America remains on the sidelines not sure where they should place their bets, entrepreneurs frozen in their tracks not sure if this game is even one they want to play as the outcome is far from certain.

It became clear:  Obama is a Trial Lawyer selling America on his victories on the court house steps, while engaged in a Motions practice, which inch by inch seems to give his case for rebuilding America some forward momentum. But the rest of us are scratching our heads because yes, he has won some procedural motions allowing him to frame the debate but the case is not yet won, testimony has not yet been heard nor have any jury deliberations been held,  resulted in a vote much less a verdict.

If America’s case is still being held back in a Motions Practice in 2012, many may be fooled but ultimately we as a people, all LOSE. In the alternative, American Citizens may file a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment against him.

Note: The author is “currently” a Registered Democrat who voted for and supported President Obama. But in terms of full disclosure, he has voted for members of both parties, including Independents like Mike Bloomberg at the local and national level. He wishes to note that he has no issues with lawyers being President but just believes that maybe in retrospect, if we were going to elect a lawyer to rebuild America, we should have elected a transactional lawyer instead of a litigator.

There is an inherent and perhaps legendary tension between artiste’s who originate, create or design creative works/content and those who represent, market, publicize and form a historical narrative about the artiste and the body of their work.

The engines of Capitalism churn through the work of sales, marketing, branding and public relations professionals and/or firms engaged in such work. All of the foregoing, who work in effect in a promotional capacity, are at risk of having their work attacked for issues related to competence and performance obviously. In uncertain times, where profit margins shrink and the creator having gotten use to a certain value for their service, product, including art, once they begin to experience reduced cash flow, lower status or a reduction of the value of their brand will look on with a greater degree of circumspection and even disdain at those professionals, often questioning the terms if not the merits of their contractual arrangements.

In the world of Fine Art , if having one’s work exhibited in an art gallery and being represented by any one of the city’s numerous elite gallery owners were unnecessary, artists would merely represent themselves and sell all their work on the street, on e-bay or to their personal network of friends via invitation to their studio or home. Notably throughout history many artists have died before their work was recognized, accepted or became value often enriching museums, visionary collectors and families and not the individual artist.  Perhaps in recognition of that fact and that the life of a starving artist is highly over rated, today’s modern artist, especially one who “seeks out” gallery representation to frame the story of their life’s work or their passion and form a narrative about its context in the grand scheme of humanity is looking for someone to represent them who is part Art Historian, Branding, Sales, Promoter and Public Relations professional with a cache of connections to the world of the affluent, high net worth and high society as well as the intricate world of sophisticated patrons, collectors and museums.

This leads me to the curious case of graphic designer Paula Scher who’s paintings of maps I saw on exhibit at The Maya Stendhal Gallery in 2007. The openings at Stendhal Gallery always interested me, because in a comfortable but upscale environment in Chelsea I would often discover the work of artists that I was unfamiliar with, as was the case with Paula Scher. That is no indictment of the graphic designer who is a Partner with the Pentagram design consultancy firm, and one of the most famous graphic designers, famous for designing some legendary contemporary images for some of New York’s leading commercial and cultural institutions, including the Citibank logo. She also happened to design the first album cover for one of my favorite bands,during my childhood, Boston.

Recently, it was reported in the New York Post and referenced in sorted other blogs, including Scallywag & Vagabond,  post.thing.net and Hyperallergic (all of whom merely repeated the allegations of the plaintiff’s without any investigative reporting or perspective)  that a couple of artists one of whom was Paula Scher, the multimillionaire graphic designer represented by Wall Street’s Carter, Ledyard & Millburn LLP were suing Harry Stendhal of the Maya Stendhal Gallery, inferring that she was some kind of crooked “rogue” gallery owner. As one who covers society, philanthropy and cultural life (often with a camera in hand while I listen with my eyes) and also as a lawyer who received his legal training at the  University of Pennsylvania Law School and then having worked at top firms like Weil Gotshal & Manges and Bingham LLP in New York and Boston, something did not smell quite right.

CHARACTER:  Harry Stendhal

From a character perspective, I have found Harry Stendhal to be a visionary, an intellectual with a broad perspective of humanity and a man who is truly a creative person’s best friend. His openings are more like salons or exhibitions at a museum where the focus is on telling a story and enlightening press and art world patrons about the context or import of the works and the artist or the subject. Truth is many creative people who have had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Stendhal and learn from him only improved their own station in life and discovered economic opportunities that they never even contemplated existed for them and their work.

ARTISTIC VALUE: Graphic Art vs. Fine Art

Paula Scher, a graphic designer and typographer who is a Partner in the Pentagram Design Consultancy firm (a firm specializing in graphic design, architecture and industrial design) is the creator of so many award-winning iconic identities.  As a designer and entrepreneur in a successful design firm, she is living what amounts to the American Dream, regarded as one of the most successful graphic designers of our time,  her work having enabled the life of a multi-millionaire,  even prior to her exhibitions at Maya Stendhal Gallery, that include a Chelsea Loft in Manhattan and a country home in Salisbury, Connecticut.  But in an interview with the New York Times in January 2006 Ms. Scher rejected the notion that she is a Fine Artist:

[Ms. Scher herself rejects the idea that she has suddenly turned into a fine artist.] “I don’t want to be a new painter, but an old graphic designer,” she said. “The only thing I’m really good at is painting typography.”

This is relevant if only because there is a notable difference in between the culture and mores in the worlds of Fine Art and the worlds of Graphic Design/ Commercial Art. Projects in the latter world have a specific or defined time period for completion. Payment is often project oriented. As you create and complete you get paid. In the world of Fine Art, that is not exactly the formula and is in fact quite to the contrary.The branding process is longer and more complex to create a legacy and long term increase in economic value.

The truth is many creative people and fine artists starve because there is no “inherent value” to artistic creation, at least in my opinion. Value is subjective. The story tellers, those who develop a narrative help explain the world at large the import of great works are an extension of those great works and the artist themselves, perhaps necessary to extend the life, create a buzz and a brand behind said art and the individual artist and make them more relevant to collectors and museums.

Despite her professional success as a graphic designer which enabled a very comfortable standard of living with multiples residences in exclusive locations, Ms. Scher, who was herself 55 years of age around the time she contracted with the Maya Stendhal Gallery, even as a multi-millionaire, apparently needed or wanted, at least intermittent representation, by a leading gallery like the Maya Stendhal Gallery. Why? Was it a vanity play, a Famegame or was she after a financial windfall or some cross over appeal, further enhancement of her brand as a graphic designer relative to other mere graphic designers?  Fact is that gaining credibility and standing in the Art World would, could or may have led to greater leverage to obtain work for the Pentagram Design Consultancy, relative to competitors who were mere graphic designers.

Otherwise why obtain gallery representation? Why obtain the representation of Maya Stendhal Gallery and Harry Stendhal and have them work to promote your brand in the world of Fine Art for the better part of nearly five (5) years only to discard it as the economy headed south? Maybe the same reason perhaps that homeowners who are underwater in their mortgages decide to sell their homes without the services of a broker who will take a cut of the proceeds of sale.

THE PENTAGRAM CONSULTANCY: Exposure in World of Fine Art Increases Economic Value of Paula Scher’s Agency

At this juncture, Paula Scher’s work having been exhibited at Maya Stendhal Gallery is an additional feather in the cap of her otherwise extensive resume that has more than likely enhanced the economic value of her designs for existing clients, allowing her to bill at a higher rate but also likely assists in marketing herself for major projects from leading corporations, cultural institutions and museums, folks who became more and more aware of her work and the individual behind said work as a result of promotion and exposure in the Art World. It would be interesting to know, since the Pentagram Consultancy is referenced along with most press pieces referencing her exhibitions at the Maya Stendhal Gallery whether the gallery in fact served as a promotional vehicle and de facto public relations arm for Pentagram enhancing their balance sheet during the time period since she was represented by the Stendhal Gallery up to and after the parties found themselves in a dispute over contract terms.

As the economy tightened, your brand extended, one might be tempted to consider why they should still have said gallery and its ownership the benefit of the bargain for their representation, especially if you can manufacture a way out of your arrangements, terminate or breach a contract and be liberated from sharing of profits for your works. A rather effective way to do so is to smear your promoter (gallery owner) in the press with allegation of improprieties which apparently you had no issue with up through the last exhibit which ended March 27, 2010 , especially if some favorable contracts connected to Stendhal Gallery representation landed in your lap during that time for which said gallery may have a right to a share of proceeds.

You will forgive my cynicism if in the end, I suspect that this case will be one that is less about a rogue gallery owner exploiting a poor starving defenseless artist than it is about a contract dispute between two sophisticated parties and a fight for power, control and money and questions about whom is entitled to what percentage for putting the map lady on the map in the world of Fine Art.

That a couple of “artists” who benefited from representation by Maya Stendhal Gallery are only now taking pot shots at Harry Stendhal in recessionary times is to me, by implication only and the absence of specific proof of wrong doing, is no indictment of the man or his character but more a sign of the times and an effort to use the press to undermine a man’s standing to extract a settlement and release from contractual obligations. If the case were so air tight against Mr. Stendhal use of the press by “victims” who are rather sophisticated entrepreneurs themselves would not be necessary. When all is said and done, I suspect that those who seek to smear a man and destroy his reputation to get a contractual advantage may get a little mud on their shoes and their otherwise sterling reputation. Perhaps then the world may see whether the soul behind your art is non-existent or simply camouflaged by the mindsight of a mere commercial mercenary attempting to hold on to a greater percentage of the value of their  work, while depriving your representative of the benefit of the bargain, even if in truth, I must admit that one of the map paintings would look rather nice over my Maurice Villency couch in the living room. The sad reality in cases like this is that both parties are at risk of undermining the very value that they sought to create with the agreed upon representation. Cases like this are often better settled behind closed doors in the privacy of a lawyer’s or mediator’s office and not in the media or even a court of law. That is just my opinion.

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle, you see the blue center-light pop, and everybody goes ahh.”

-On the Road (Viking Press 1957) by Jack Kerouac

I never said that I am the way, the truth and the life but ye who believe and trust in me, well maybe, just maybe, we’ll live a new life.  Our metropolis. Our country. Quiet conversations in the shadows. Some in plain view. The comforting nods, a knowing glance, comfort. Brief verbal exchanges about nothing and everything. How you doin? We are not alone. You know. Our experience is shared, even when we don’t know it.   This blog, a farce or dangerous even maybe? Yeah.  What I express herein, it is not some vanity play or a famegame.  Hell no, I will not expose  fellow patriots who communicate in silence, in the dark or who walk away not to associate with me. Your concern and your defiance although shared,  it is yours alone to reveal in due course. If you want me to stand a post with ya I will.  Who am I?  Just a citizen, one of the  Ordinary People.  I expect to get few BRAVO’s along the way as I do not have some well styled Real Housewife from New York City to jazz me up and make what I have to say more palatable or attractive to the current generation. Lost and they will ignore me.

A simple man, weathered by my life experience?  Sure, I am. Yet at this point in time,  I believe, still in possession of all my faculties, if not all the worldly possessions and financial security that I once had before….before  9/11 turned my economic world upside down. The pain of that loss is a subtle reminder, whatever security I have I know it can be taken away, undermined or destroyed, if not by me by forces I have no control over in this universe.  The trade off of my journey through “The Dark Night of the Soul”, what keeps me going, is a rebirth as Jack Kerouac with soul of Paul Revere, assuming a Beat Generation leader could be a freedom fighter (of note, I am of the same age as was Mr. Kerouac in the year of his death).

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take

Free spirits seek liberation not confinement and subservience for the greater goals of a collective. That quote’s mine, don’t forget it. You feel me yet? Somehow yes I do suspect that they, Revere and Kerouac, might have more in common than one might think.  This side of me I have tried to suppress,  to peacefully co-exist, as a pragmatic survival mechanism, even as I witness the slow erosion of what I once revered as the American Way of Life. That Indian with the tear, its me, so I am not an Indian but I am a native son.  While I was certainly no Superman, The Secret of my Success was always a simple belief in Truth, Justice and the American way.

My world, always full of those more successful, affluent and well connected making me what?; a veritable Sabrina looking through the glass, across the lawn or into the ballrooms and clubs: clubs which I was not a member wondering, wondering  how the other half lived. Beautiful.  A taste here and there? Yes, yummy, feels good and tastes nice. Envious of those who possess more and who are living the American Dream?  Absolutely.  Steal or destroy their dream? Or pray and hope for  Government Central Planning to dilute and redistribute their wealth?  NO. It’s not mine. They earned it.  An example of something to aspire to…the hunger to learn from the example of their life’s success? YES.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

–Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1532)

Masks worn by many in our society; that I am able to see through them  is not always useful or helpful. Often more of a curse than a blessing indeed. Feeling exposed knowing that they know that I know.   Islamic change agents make Machiavelli proud with their mission to breed greater interfaith and cultural understanding? Improving Muslim-West relations? Then why in an ever so subtle fashion do they work to unravel the Constitution and install a societal framework in the spirit of that designed by the  Warrior Prophet or the General of Islam? To provide greater justice, fair play and equality? No.  Democracy? No. Their terms? YES! How Prince like indeed.   But let us first discount the culture of intolerance and oppression that takes over wherever Sharia Law has been installed. The labeling of critics as intolerant of their religious freedom may stifle the PC Crowd but not me and hopefully not you.

Socialism, Marxism, Collectivism, Nazism all purport to come to liberate humanity but they kill the free and independent spirit of man. And ironically in this country, there was once a time that we sought to stifle the creative genius of the Beat Generation when it in earnest posed no threat but Sharia ironically poses a threat to the very idea of such a generation ever reconstituting. Then why, why why don’t those with the spirit who challenged our society then, why is that the alternative crowd insisting on more tolerance for this movement?  Oh I see, it is counter cultural so they ignore the oppressive aspects until they find themselves being ruled by it. Only then will it be too late.

The collectivism of Islam and Sharia Law, however, is plain; it’s simple and purely antithetical to democracy and the free will of man; as an anti-democratic force even arguably a form of terrorism on the freedom, independence and spirit of the individual. As a movement it must be challenged, questioned, subdued,  reformed or at least held  accountable for the more radical elements disguised in spirituality and ultimately forced to modernize to peacefully co-exist with  the modern world.  For in uncertain times the people hunger for spiritual fulfillment and will attempt to drink from an empty sand trap if it looks like an Oasis for their soul. If religion is the opiate for the masses, then is Islam cocaine or PCP?

Their agenda may be camouflaged from the masses who have been numbed, confused and stifled by the culture of distraction and mainstream media disinformationalists who steer them away from focusing in a manner which allows them to comprehend that their freedom, independence and democracy is becoming more diluted which each and every passing day and the American Dream vanishing before their Eyes Wide Shut.

My hope is that our people awaken before the coming Caliphate causes everything near and dear to your heart to evaporate in a puff of smoke. Make no mistake that a government which targets the affluent and turns its citizens against capitalists, free enterprise and silences its critics, while supporting those who preach Collectivism, is one which ought to be challenged. Ride with me. How far we get is not certain.