Downtown Portraits by Curt Hoppe 2010-2019. This 100-page catalogue includes all 24 painted portraits and 105 photos, along with essays by Marc H Miller, Carlo McCormick, and Walter Robinson. Available for purchase in person at Howl Gallery or through Howl’s online store.
Don’t miss the exhibition of Curt Hoppe’s monumental portrait paintings now on view through Sunday at Howl! Happening, at 6 East First Street. Painted over a nine-year period, Downtown Portraits is Hoppe’s tribute to the many talented people who inspired him over more than four decades when he lived and worked on the Lower East Side.
The Howl exhibition includes 14 of the 24 paintings in the series, and 30 of the 100-plus photographs. Hoppe will be at Howl! Happening this Sunday, August 11, at 3 PM, to sign copies of the catalog for Downtown Portraits.
These are not merely the usual legends of the 1970s and 80s. Downtown Portraits is Hoppe’s personal pantheon, his attempt to save for posterity his own favorites among the many artists, musicians and writers active during a special moment of creativity in downtown New York. Hoppe’s skill as a hyper-realist painter is the crucial element here. Each of these larger-than-life, fastidiously executed paintings took months to complete. They are portraits for the ages, created to preserve for future generations Hoppe’s own unique perspective on the history of his time.
Art critic Jerry Saltz gives Hoppe’s exhibition a thumbs-up
From Jerry Saltz’s instagram video shared on July 28. Don’t forget to read the comments on his post!
