The artist was respectively sweeping the sidewalk outside of the gallery when I arrived. His once long, blond hair was now buzzed off and dark brown. Sonny, the SVA graduate, was wearing a floral printed jacket over a black, ripped Tshirt with distressed and washed out denim jeans. The Bowery gallery was a shiny, rippling silver space, reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s iconic art studio, which was called “The Factory,” where the walls and ceilings were covered in reflective silver mylar. Approaching the gallery, the viewers were greeted by several headless mannequins. “The purpose of the show is for ppl to look at themselves and look around. The world is a beautiful place but we get distracted by our phones and looking down,” the artist mumbled as he continued preparing the space for his show. He continued, “we’re constantly looking down when we should be looking up around us. We’re so caught up by social media and by likes, by this purposeful distortion, it plays with the human persona and the idea of themselves and self-image.” Sonny then went on to lead a performance of a guided meditation, which was to encourage people to be aware, present and mindful of their surroundings. Sonny also included a moment of silence in his meditation monologue, dedicated to the tragedy of the shooting in Orlando that happened this past week. The vibes of the performance were zen, meaningful and mindset changing. By the end of it, we were all truly awakened. Celebrity guest appearance included a slew of social media phenomenon including power couple, Elliot and Jessica Tebele AKA FuckJerry and BeigeCardigan, as well as Cully Smoller, Samuel Krost, along with actor TJ Miller, among others.
Sonny Gindi is curator of the Instagram art account@Vibes, which has a staggering number of 205 thousand followers on Instagram, along with being what could be described as a “cult following,” so to speak, they are also revolutionizing the art world as we know it.
@vibes is extremely excited to bring you the #absentgeneration.
“The Absent Generation” is a three-day performance art show that will run from Tuesday, June 14th until Thursday, June 23rd. Space will be open from 12 pm – 11 pm daily, with a performance each evening beginning at 7 pm. Please join us for some beers on opening night. 312 Bowery, New York, NY.
This show is for the self.
It’s a reminder of the self, the true self, the lonely self.
This show is about the obsessed, the absent-minded, the easily distracted, and the scared to be alone. The selfie, the needed to be liked, the needed to be seen, and not to be missed. It’s for the constantly refreshed and always uploaded, this is for the ones that are never alone, even when they are alone, this is for the ones who are scared to be alone because they don’t know what will be seen when no ones there.
During this show, you will be viewing the way others experience themselves and those around them, through an audience engaged art performance.
With Love,
Vibes
To learn more, follow them on Instagram: @Vibes and @WallPlayGround
To attend their art show RSVP to [email protected]
Written & Edited by Sara Nardea and Kelly Cohen
