Heather Flow on the art of Richard Hambleton

NEW YORK — Has the era of the ’80s returned? I don’t want to be perceived as retro, but lately I’ve found myself surrounded by things that on the surface are derivative of (if not an exact copy of) the ’80s. Fashion, music, theater, and art trends: Peter Halley at Mary Boone, Mary Boone (herself, yes!), Seth Price’s “Bombers,” Cady Noland, Alex Bag… the current trends are akin to the ’80s, but below the surface what we see, touch, hear, and wear today is entirely different. Just bring someone like Kelley Walker: behaving like Tom Cruise in the 1988’s blockbuster Cocktail, Walker is putting a base of Warhol, with a tad of Pollock here, a bit of appropriationism there, all mixed and whipped as only an artist from the second millennium can do… consequently, here we are, the drinks are served.

Surely part of this legacy is Richard Hambleton’s exhibition sponsored by Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, Andy Valmorbida, and Georgio Armani. Hambleton was a productive, and at times innovative, street artist in the ’80s. Hambleton’s work gained media attention with his “shadow” series in which he splashed paint to create loose and ominous renderings of the figure. Where is Hambleton now? The artist shows with Woodward gallery and was the fashion elite’s fascination in September. Guests like Anna Wintour, Mary Kate Olsen, and Carine Roitfeld ogled over Hambleton’s canvases while sipping champagne and teetering on mile-high heels. Following his street “shadows” of the ’80s, Hambleton has been working with similar splashed figures, but on canvas. He explores the limitations of a canvas best in the ’80s when he places colored lights behind the stretcher. Hambleton’s work does not translate easily onto canvas. The raw energy of his street art was lost among the glamour and glitz.

Speaking of glamour and glitz, I was unprepared for the decadence of the soirée. Though I arrived in a fashionable outfit, I stood out as completely underdressed in my Phillip Lim dress. As my French grandmother taught me, with grace and poise I picked up a glass of champagne and began my journalistic observations. Has the era of the ’80s returned? We are experiencing an interpretation of the ’80s. Martin Heidegger (among many, many others) explored the idea/word/concept of interpretation. For Heidegger, the development of understanding is interpretation. Understanding appropriates what one has understood in an understanding way. Interpretation is based on understanding.

Since the unyielding drama of 2009, the ’80s can be easily understood and thus easily interpreted and/or reinterpreted. For our immediate pleasure, the ’80s are back. In understanding the true essence of the ’80s, I will interpret the many meanings and trends and move on in 2010… adorning myself in colored tights, shoulder pads, and listening to Michael Jackson.