Tonight was my first encounter with emerging artist Sadie Weis and gallery entrepreneur Talia Eisenberg. I hope it won’t be my last. Something about the art world has always eluded me. I just haven’t gotten it. Tonight at Heist, at 27 Essex street, I found what I’ve missed out on. Friends, fans and hipsters galore came out in all their Buddy-Holly-glasses-wearing glory.
Sadie’s story is like something out of a fairy tale. A girl with nothing, she moved to Germany to pursue her craft and teach English (as a second language) to make money. Graffiti taggers have infamous turf just outside Berlin, and like any burgeoning artist, Sadie was drawn to it. Having no money for supplies, she went to the landmark anyway, and found a cache of fifteen cans of spray-paint there waiting for her. From nothing, Sadie created a remarkable portfolio ready for downtown Manhattan.
While in Berlin, Sadie finished a tremendous piece, Yes, Androids Do Dream Of Such Things. (Get it?) Tonight, I was lucky enough to see the work firsthand. As someone with no artistic training or experience, I can still say that the piece left me speechless. Sadie’s work is a wonderfully vibrant display of chaos, line and organic form that overlaps and spills on top of itself with molten, living color. Her work spread off the canvas and onto the walls and ceiling of the gallery, and it was a sight to behold.