New Zealand’s Webb Auction House and Gallery is proud to present Niagara and a selection from her current world tour exhibition ‘From Detroit with Love’ in conjunction with Stephan Jay Rayon’s "Imaginary Film Stills", which was recently shown at the Fuse Gallery, NYC.
Niagara is the Detroit chanteuse/painter/provocateur whose fierce depictions of noir-ish Femmes have taken her from cult status to artistic force worldwide.
Since the mid seventies, punk-queen and general enfant terrible, Niagara has traversed the genres of visual and audio art. At the forefront of what is now considered to be the deep origins of the US punk movement Niagara stepped up and let loose the seminal Detroit punk outfit ‘Destroy All Monsters’ which included soon-to-be art luminaries, Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw. Other members of DAM were Ron Asheton and Micheal Davis who between them went on to stage an attack on the music scene in the form of MC5 and ‘The Stooges’.
In the eighties, Niagara began to slowly but surely, create a Post-Pulp rogues gallery of dangerous dames and Dionysian iconography. Says Robert Williams: "Niagara is the embodiment of the pop image and the empress of the one liner. Mark Ryden: "Niagara is a true Art Diva…
Of Hysteric Glamour fame, Stephan Jay Rayon is a self taught artist and graphic designer who’s practice creates a collage of still narratives that sift in and out of memory, creating loaded, contemplative, spaces that pull the canvasses into meaningful forms and monochromatic shapes. Finding his passion in art through cinema Stephan Jay Rayon carefully stages scene that never were or will be.
I was lucky enough to attend the launch last night, here’s a peak at whats on show.
Feb 29 - Mar 7 2008
Webbs Gallery
18 Manukau Rd
Epsom
Auckland
New Zealand
