VegA'rt - Art by Alan Vega

sculptures, photos, texts, ...

"Alan Vega is one of the most powerful artists going. He has been for years. His unrelenting passion and intensity have been a source of inspiration to me for well over a decade ... This guy is one of my heroes, flat out." - Henry Rollins 10.27.93 Los Angeles, CA [in Cripple Nation]

The cross itself is now the body, blood is electricity, halos are lights bulbs, wounds and sweat are wires, anarchic mantras chant as long as electricity wills, if permitting until the end of time. Blind accordions moan. Golgotha is a subterranean bar in the basement of a teenager I used to know in Brooklyn. "Alan Suicide alias Alan Vega has been meditating on the cricifixion, death and ecstasy with every sensory pore in his body, wheter singing, making music or building crosses, since I can remember and even before that", wrote the cook of the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club. - Julian Schnabel, july 13, 1997, San Sebastien, Espagne [in 100 000 Watts of Fat City © Anna Polerica]

In 2002, Alan "Suicide" Vega's first art show in 20 years of his neon/light/junk sculptures entitled "Collision Drive" at the prestigious Jeffrey Deitch Gallery (Deitch is best known for championing the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat) in Soho, New York City is open until March 1st. [another link with the painter : the track Cheeree has been used in the film Downtown 81 - starring Jean-Michel Basquiat]

Art-Rite #13 Special Project chaque numéro était réalisé avec la colaboration d'un artiste confirmé ou en devenir. "Laissez vous séduire par le mode de vie qu'idéalise Alan Suicide dans ces pages. Ce qu'il fait entrer sous votre toit, c'est la poésie de la sous-culture : « courses de chevaux, obscénité des blancs pauvres, rock'n'roll primaire, corps body-buildés, grosses cylindrées et fin de la civilisation" Edit DeAk & Walter Robinson, directors	New York, NY: Art-Rite Publishing Co.,1977 Deux éditions (chacune avec des colorisations différentes), de 20 pp, 27x20,5cm cover - Jose Velasquez, jockey très rare :un dizaine d'exemplaires connus
"We decicate this issue to the average American in search of exitement. These images, distilled from the mabient culture, are the touchstones of a new sensibility, icons of the dissipations and strengths of the modern spirit. Let the way of life idealized in these pages by the To Lose Io Track of the punk scene bring into your home the romance of the underculture - horse racing, white-trash smut, greasy rock'n'roll, muscles, motorcycles and the end of the civilization."

GETCHERTIKITZ	1996 - A project by Alan Vega, Ric Ocasek, and poetess Gillian McCain , with more specifically 8 tracks and 5 graphical works by Alan Vega.
	Train Go right there Park behind the policestation What can I say Brooklyn days and nights Dream come true Dream come true What can I say Once upon a day A guy and his lady Said some nasty things Got a big time life For a few lousy nickels Smash, Smash Crash, Crash Death row's lookin real fine Stayed in a halfway house Running, Running In the train Want's my ass Hey, Hey no way Get the fuck out of here Out of this life This place ain't for me No more, no more, no more No brain, no brain No brain, insane Yeah, norn on the death row Born on the death row It's enough to make you cry Gotta get out of here You gotta crawl, you gotta crawl You gotta crawl, you gotta crawl They say hey Beleive in Jesus What a crock of shit Beleive in something It's enough to make you cry It's enough to make you cry So long mom So long dad You ain't no good Put me in this fucking home True death row
	Smell War For genius Shake ya, Scam ya Ready ya, Feed ya Smell War, baby Smell war, baby Say's he dazzles Swears he don't puke Inside face Hey, You won your medals Smell War, baby Smell war, baby For the big time bag boy's Yeah your worse Than bad luck No more favors No more favors For the walking killers Mutilate Mutilate Mutilate It's too late For the shadows

The portraits are another side of my work. I guess they reflect the anguished, tormented Alan Vega, man. It does, it's both, it's me, it's people. I draw just people. To me a face is everything anyway. Most of the drawings I throw out away. It just has to come out without thinking, if you know what I mean... When I write lyrics, or poetry, it comes from my mind. It's just trying to get deep into yourself. To be honest with you, I hate writing, and ironically the only way I can sit down and write is if I draw a portrait; once it's out it makes me think. But that's not the only reason for it. Alan Vega, 1994 [in 100 000 Watts of Fat City © Anna Polerica]

I started as a painter. The first time I did a light piece was when I was working on a very big purple painting. There was one light bulb in the room and as I walked around I noticed how the painting acquired different aspects. I wanted it to be one color so I said, "Fuck this, man!" I took the light out of the ceiling and really stuck it on the painting. That started me with the whole idea of light because I wanted to control the color but then I suddenly began to realize just how much light affects a painting - all painting is about light. Whitout light in the room you wouldn't see the painting. Painting is actually reflective light. Suddenly, I wanted to control the light, I wanted to control the color and as I started working with light, I started getting more and more into different colors of light instead of using paint. I started using light bulbs of color that became my paint, you know, and then also because you have to attach a bulb to a socket, it suddenly became a sculpture. Alan Vega, 1993 [in 100 000 Watts of Fat City © Anna Polerica]	The Iron Man © Alan Vega, 1983, lights, paint, wires, wood, 72x72 (183x183) - coll. Ric Ocasek
[photos from 100 000 Watts of Fat City © Anna Polerica]	Alien V. 2023 © Alan Vega, 1993, lights, wires, wood, plastic, cassettes 28x52 (71x132) - coll. the artist - photo Anna Polerica
Alien V. 2023 © Alan Vega, 1994, lights, wires, wood, metal 16x26 (40.5x66) coll. the artist - photo Anna Polerica

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2002 Collision Drive exhibition at the Deitch Gallery : started Sat.12th January 2002 / ended 1st March 2002 David Candler's review on Max's Kansas City.com The Village Voice Features Suicide Watch by Simon Reynolds