Seth Tane

My relationship with New York goes back a long way, to when I was born there in the early '50s. I can clearly remember looking and longing west towards a mythical image of California as I pumped harder on our backyard swing-set as a five year old. I waited until 2:30AM after high school graduation to make my escape from the suburbs of Long Island to wilder western lands on the only vehicle I had, a bicycle with 60 pounds of camping gear, much of it made in the independent study industrial design class I'd also created in my senior year.

But I've returned many times, once for most of the '80s, converting and re-building the oil tanker I'd bought as studio-home and salvage ship in Jersey City, Hastings-on-Hudson and eventually, Charleston SC. Recently I've been spending a week or two at a time in Chelsea, traveling outward into the boroughs and Jersey by subway, PATH, ferry and bike, with enough comfort and familiarity to feel at ease, but with the eyes of an outsider.

I write this from my apartment there, about to return to the Northwest, where multiple projects await, and it has been an extraordinarily fruitful visit. The driver for the trip was the delivery and installation of my latest large painting in lower Manhattan, and the crating for shipment of another. Unfortunately, it all had to be re-scheduled at the last minute because of an impending snowstorm. I flew in just ahead of it, rented a truck, and got the painting wrapped inside the six-foot, 375 pound crate from the freight forwarder to its new home before the blizzard began.

Then I had time to be at the opening of the Whitney Biennial and see the galleries, but more importantly, put in time with my camera soaking up images for new paintings and working on the logistics for fabricating and siting a new 36 foot tall steel sculpture in the NYC area. The images above are some of hundreds I took in an attempt to capture the full spectrum of our interaction with our surroundings, amplified by the density and pace inherent in all that is New York...in its cold-weather mode this time.

And if you happen to be in or near NYC next month, I've got several of my small paintings in a group show at Bernaducci Meisel gallery on 57th street from Apri 6 - 29th.

My wonderful gallery representation: LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
And as always, you can also contact me directly by email: info@sethtane.com and follow my occasional photo posts on: Instagram