Curt Hoppe, "Photographs For Your Kitchen"
February 11 - April 19, 2010

Opening: February 11, 2010 8:30pm - 10:30pm
Aces' Lounge, 34 Avenue A, 2nd Floor, New York, NY

Contact: Tom Michaelsen @ 917.705.5724
Info: www.curthoppe.com


Bartender: "What're you having?"
Patron: "I'll take a shot and a beer… on second thought, make that a Curt Hoppe."

Aces & Eights at 34 Avenue A, brings back the glory days of East Village art with a fun   exhibition of evocative, post-pop photographs by Curt Hoppe in a lively, lounge setting.  Who could be more perfect for the bar's first foray into serious art than the legendary Hoppe, who as a young artist was one of the most talked about stars of the notorious "New York / New Wave" show at PS1 which helped launch the careers of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Mapplethorpe and others, back in 1981.

For most of the last twenty years, Hoppe has kept a relatively low profile steering clear of downtown shenanigans for a lucrative career making exquisite photo-realist paintings of scenes in the Hamptons.  Hoppe has always used his own photographs for his paintings. Recently turning his camera on city scenes, he has accumulated a profusion of exciting new images, and began thinking about exhibiting the photographs themselves.  When Aces and Eights called, it seemed the perfect opportunity to give the new work its first public test.

This first show of photographs by Hoppe explores two ubiquitous New York motifs:  Mr. Softee ice cream cones and Happy Face bags ("Have a nice day").  "I'll be honest with you," says Hoppe, "these are depressing times and I was looking for something that picked me up."  Although the exhibition is entitled "Photographs for Your Kitchen," these bright, large-scale, color photographs will liven up any room.  They look especially good on the brick walls of Aces and Eights' spacious, second floor lounge gallery.  Hoppe has printed the photographs himself exhibiting the same fastidious craftsmanship that marks his photo-realist paintings.

Aces & Eights' decision to show art was an outgrowth of the spirited exchanges on EV Grieve's neighborhood blog between then general manager Tom Michaelsen and East Village residents concerned about the bar's Upper-East-Side, preppy reputation.  "Our style is sometimes a little different," says Michaelsen, "but there is much about East Village culture that we share and we're proud to be part of the community and its history