Vlad The Insurgent

It seems I am not the only one that noted Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld is taking the New York art world by storm...The New York Observer recently issued their list of "Insurgents of 2010" and included our favorite rising art maven. These "insurgents" are deemed to be the rebels that will refashion New York City in the arenas of business, style, culture, media, and politics, dismantling the old machine and creating the new energy of the city.

The selection criteria of the Observer is amusing: "Insurgents think of things we didn’t think about or were too lazy to mull over much. They have the spirits of street fighters. But whether you like them personally doesn’t really matter. That economy that flattened dreams all over? It emboldened them. The Insurgents may not know it yet, but they’re about to remake this town in ways many of us can’t even fathom... It’s going to be a hell of a show."

According to Monsieur Restoin-Roitfeld, it sounds so very simple to become an insurgent: “I was going to different exhibitions and it always had this feeling of a closed circle, and it was something very hard to enter for many so I thought if I just did it in a different way, I could capture the interest of a different crowd of people. I just decided to rent very large spaces and invite a huge crowd of people and present art that I believe to be amazing and just make it more fun and open-minded.” Of course. The print edition of the Observer contains a nifty pullout visual representation of the Insurgents in the new New York, check it out.

Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld photograph © 2009 Getty Images

Comments

[Mike]

Cool story. Do you think the ICA might invite Vladimir up to be a guest insurgent?

[kellina]

Glad you like, sugar. This is a groovy idea.