Wall-Smart: an Art Installation and services company in New York City.

Wishful Thinkers 2009 Benefit

2009-05-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

The event included an exceptional portrait series of inspirational women, photographed by Viki Forshee. Prints were for sale and donations were taken on behalf of International Community Assistance. Everything looked great at Milk as usual, so I snapped a few pictures of the installation.

A pre-previewer.

The long wall wasn't a long haul.

Stoked benefit at Open House on Mullberry

2009-05-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Wall-Smart hung a benefit auction for Stoked last night. Stoked teaches action board sports to underprivileged kids to help them set and achieve goals while staying school. This year's benefit event was the first to take place in SoHo. Judging by attendance, things looked extremely successful.

Rassi Mazdak of Milk Studios holds up a Swoon, courtesy of Deitch Projects.

Rickey Powell has a few things to say about his picture of LL Cool J.

The artwork was varied, as much as I hate animal art I thought the anthropomorphism of zoo animals were pretty well done digitally.

a close up of another animal picture with a zebra pretending to be a monkey.

and one more personal favorite, a new piece by mara sprafkin

Eponymy

2008-12-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hello All -

Today I received an email from the relatively new boutique on Bergen Street, Eponymy. It's a great store for unique garments, jewelery and artwork. I installed the mostly framed prints there a few months ago. They mostly* consist of contemporary emerging photography mixed in with turn of the century vintage pictures from France. The salon style with the empty frames on the backwall was a cool personal touch. It was nice to be reminded of this installation and is totally worth checking out if you're in park slope.

*As the artwork is for sale, things have probably changed since it was installed, but they have great taste, so I probably owe myself another visit as well.

Norman Jean Roy at Milk 11/21 - 12/08/2008

2008-11-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent photos and the press release to some of my recent installation work.

Norman Jean Roy is a photographer of immense natural talent, and it's encouraging the way he chooses to point the lens as to shine a spotlight at some of the worlds intense social ills. If you get a chance, stop by Milk to experience the exhibition and purchase a book for yourself.

Norman Jean Roy, Traffik

Milk Gallery
Chelsea

450 West 15th Street, 212-645-2797
November 20 - December 3, 2008
Web Site

Photographs by Norman Jean Roy

A Milk Gallery Project

While on assignment for Glamour’s “Women of the Year” portfolio, photographer Norman Jean Roy was introduced to Somaly Mam, a former Cambodian sex slave who was being honored for her work rescuing women trapped in the sex industry and reintegrating them into society. Overwhelmed by her story and haunted by the faces of the women she’d worked with, Roy decided to spearhead TRAFFIK, a project that would expose and elevate the grave reality and gross injustice of their experiences.

In January 2008, Roy returned to Cambodia to begin the emotionally taxing work of photographing the victims of the country’s notorious sex trade. With the help of Mam and her organization AFESIP, Roy was given access to brothels, where he observed and documented the harrowing lives of adolescent and child prostitutes in situ, as well as AFESIP rehabilitation centers, where he interacted with those whose lives had finally taken a turn for the better, thanks to Mam’s tireless work. Captured in the book are the powerful stories of young women like Srey Ny, who was and beaten and raped by her family and sold to a brothel where she was tortured and starved, and Sok Muteta, who was sold by her mother for 10 U.S. dollars and was first raped at the age of four. Both girls were rescued and are now in AFESIP’s care.

TRAFFIK presents images of an industry that doesn’t just sell sex; young women and children are routinely bartered, exchanged, and sold across international borders, resulting in a soulless flow of human traffic. Part exposé and part call to action, Roy’s intimate and affecting photographs are aimed toward giving these victims a voice that will resonate across Cambodia’s borders.

Norman Jean Roy was born in Canada and grew up on Montreal’s South Shore. A prominent portrait photographer for the past 15 years, Roy is the winner of numerous awards for his contributions to the world of editorial photography, including honors from the Art Directors Club, Communication Arts, and Photo District News. In 2007, he signed a contract with Condé Nast to shoot exclusively for Vogue, Vanity Fair, Men’s Vogue, Allure, and Glamour. Roy resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Joanna, and his three children. TRAFFIK is his first book.

more photography here:

http://www.art-dept.com/artists/roy/

Hello

2008-11-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

These are some photos of art installations that I have worked on personally or with my company, wall-smart. If I get a chance, I'll upload some historical installations.

Please note: although I am proud of this work the focus on this blog is more to function as a CV
of the installations than the artwork itself. Furthermore, in certain instances I may choose to
omit the location and other pertinent information of where the works are installed.

It is my hope that visitors will stop by to enjoy some insight and artwork, as well as the goings on
of an overlooked share of the private sector of the art market.