Sexposé had two failed bookings before 2015.
The work started out kind of as a joke and ended up turning into a very educational labor of love.
In 2013 the original idea to have the show on the casino terrace for Music is Art Festival was first thrown around. We had it pretty much planned and then it fell through because a sponsor for the festival came in and wanted to use the space. Music is Art did everything they could to find an equal space for me to move to, but it just wasn’t happening. So I decided to wait. After promoting it like a fool I ate crow and pulled out. Truth be told, the work wasn’t ready.
In 2014 we tossed the idea around again. Management told me to sit tight…they had something special planned for 2015. Fair enough. I moved ahead and booked a show at the American Visionary Art Museum. I secured funding from a well know dildo company who, when push came to shove 2 months before the show, couldn’t come up with the money. To their credit they did try to fit me into their budget very last minute in the fiscal year. And so it goes. My friends and I threw together a rather successful Kickstarter campaign that raised a good amount of funds…but I turned it off before it was over. There was just something that didn’t feel right, shaking down my family, friends and followers to put on an exhibit. So again, show canceled.
Throughout this time the work grew but I had become pretty “over” hustling this work. I think it was too soon in pop culture honestly. Within the three years of creating this work all things pop got naked and sexuality really took a big turn. People like Miley Cyrus and movies like 50 Shades of Grey created a comfort zone for the risqué and that really affected how people started to open up to my mannequins.
I booked a few pieces in some local galleries and everyone was pleased. So I figured that I had to keep going.
I could tell that the tone of Music is Art got much more serious as we approached the 2015 festival. Goo Goo Dolls management started interacting more with the work online, taking a greater interest. I knew that it was a go. I also had my money straight this time around. I had taken some time away and started selling wholesale party goods. I made the money myself, and saved it. I was hell bent on pulling this off out of spite and because I needed to move on creatively.
Music is Art pulled out all of the stops. They were all in. So I had to be too. I compiled a crew and we mounted all of the work very professionally, as best we could considering I had to travel it from Baltimore to Buffalo.
I hired an old dear friend from my NYC rocker days to be my tour manager. I could not have done any of this without him. He really was essential in making one of my dreams come true. Which is a wild concept – when one of your dreams comes true. It’s a spectacular feeling. I hope you all get to feel it some day, if you haven’t already. I digress….
We drove a massive commercial truck all the way up and down the mountains of Pennsylvania with 14 8-foot mannequins drilled into cinder blocks, standing. Bryan roped them all together like something I had never seen! It was remarkable! And when we got to Buffalo we had very few casualties…nothing a glue gun couldn’t fix!
I rented an Air B’nB on Delaware Avenue for a week. It ended up being a palace and a friend of the Brooklyn Bowl family. When Bryan and I found that out, we almost died. It was a sign, we were at a home away from home. And there was a Jacuzzi tub, so I mean….
The next day was full of museum visits, photo shoots, studio stops and cocktails. We were escorted around town by Goo Goo Dolls management like total rock stars. I kept looking at Bryan all confused and he would just be like “stay cool.” HAHA I am sure I had my moments, but I tried my best 😉
Friday was install day. It really was like a flash of light. I tried to stay out of the way as best as possible. The festival had supplied stagehands, and management was right there helping with Bryan so I figured…”fuck it.” Whatever happens now happens.
They started bringing them over by pallet loads and down the elevator. I got to work installing and fixing things as best as I could. The stage was built, the lights went up, Robby Takac let me borrow his personal gear for sound and it was coming together, really, really coming together. We were ready.
I spent two hours that night playing with my new toy; DJing and screwing around with the lights…they kept sending cabs for me and I would refuse them. I ended up getting a ride home in a golf cart at about 2am.
SHOW TIME and in typical Buffalo fashion it was a torrential downpour. But see, this isn’t my first rodeo. I have experienced every single element of weather on my show dates. Blizzard, heat wave and now, utter-fucking-raining-shit-show. This time, I was under cover and my joint was going to be packed. I welcomed the weather. I zipped up my hoody and went on with the show, like a professional.
Four thousand people attended. And it was a total blast. Goo Goo Dolls headlined at 10pm and everyone was a mess and no one cared. It was a total party! So much so that the after party consisted of me in my bed, sleeping.
We had to break down the next day. By this point Bryan had taken off. He had fit my show in between Lollapalooza, a wedding and going on tour with Metric. I was on my own. Luckily, I had lots of help on site. Music is Art is a very respectful bunch. Some of the best of the best in the biz get together and all act like equals to help propel artists like me. That is incredible, because anyone who knows anything knows, pulling off a music festival is some of the hardest work anyone will ever experience. It is physical and emotional on every level.
I took a day off. Hired someone to drive the truck back from Buffalo to Baltimore and I flew home two days later.
This is all chronicled in photographs and ridiculous comments on my Facebook if you feel so inclined for some visuals.
Something transpired to me on this trip. Once I returned home I had a new found confidence as an artist. I think being self-taught has always been a little bit of a thorn in my side. I am over it now. Gaining the respect and continued support of my peers really helped with that. I decided that I was ready to give it a go full time and I had to figure out how I was going to make that happen.
So that’s where we are…starting the next chapter as a full time working artist. Fingers Crossed!