SHOOSTER Arts & Literature in Sag Harbor presents its summer programming featuring art and collectible design. The space will feature works on view by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Schachter, Claes Oldenburg, Jenny Holzer, Lola Montes, Suzannah Wainhouse, René Ricard, and Vito Acconci.
Photographic works by Vivian Maier, Helmut Newton, Joel-Peter Witkin, and Werner Rohde are also presented alongside Northern European design. You’ll find a rare 18th-century Gustavian pine sink, traditional Swedish Monk chairs, and a Swedish pine sofa by Uno Kristiansson. The site will also feature collectible design by Jean Prouvé, Gerrit Rietveld, and Willy Rizzo. You can also find a collection of 84.Shelter fragrances.
Talks and readings throughout the summer season are organized by director Pamela Willoughby. The series brings artists, writers, and curators together to consider the works currently on view. Participants include Max Blagg, Bill Fine, Camille Okhio, Sasha Bonét, Eliot Duncan, Norman Scherer, and David Fishkind.
SHOOSTER Arts & Literature is created by Lauren Shooster, a former artistic director in the luxury sector, who has worked with clients including Saint Laurent, Marc Jacobs, Ulla Johnson, Narciso Rodriguez, Totokaelo, and La Garconne. SAAL is her first independent project.
The Early Life of Jean-Michel Basquiat with Norman Scherer & David Fishkind’s “Don’t Step into My Office” will be held on Saturday, June 18, from 5 to 7 PM. Scherer and Fishkind examine the origins and fallout of cultural exclusivity across eras.
Scherer will reflect on his relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat during the formative years of New York’s downtown art and club scene. He worked alongside Basquiat in the late 1970s at the Unique Clothing Warehouse in the East Village, where the two dressed mannequins and created window displays. Scherer knew the artist simply as “Jean,” years before Basquiat became an international figure. Scherer’s collection of Basquiat’s early postcards, signed “Jean Basquiat” not “Jean-Michel Basquiat,” is currently on view at SAAL.
These pieces are historically significant because they were essentially Basquiat’s earliest mass-produced business and marketing cards. He used to hand-paint and sell these early pieces on the streets of Manhattan for about $1 each before breaking through into the mainstream gallery scene. Scherer’s specific set comprises 7 distinct designs and 11 duplicates.
David Fishkind will read from his debut novel, “Don’t Step into My Office.” Fishkind has described it as a “maximalist metafiction neo-noir murder-mystery missing-persons family dramedy — just your typical beach read.” Primarily set in East Hampton, the novel explores marriage, class, and too much time on one’s hands, sending up a wide cast of darkly comic Out East archetypes.