Every week, Artnet News brings you Wet Paint, a gossip column of original scoops. If you have a tip, email Annie Armstrong at aarmstrong@artnet.com.
THE HEAUX MENTOR AND THE ART COLLECTOR
While I’d like to pretend that 100% of reporting Wet Paint is made up of me in a trench coat and dark sunglasses idling outside of Gagosian uptown, often some of my better scoops are sniffed out in a manner less Pink Panther and a bit more doom-scrolling screen-addicted Gen-Zer.
On a recent slow afternoon (Artnet execs, don’t read this), I was mindlessly looking at what people were chatting about on Twitter, when I saw an old meme recirculate. An image from 2017 of a peculiar eulogy was making the rounds once more. I’ll let Demanda, aka Amanda Drago, who is now known on the Internet as Duchess Lydia Dupra, speak for herself:
Via X.
I’ll let you take a beat to digest all of that.
So why is this in Wet Paint? It certainly is salacious, but where is the art angle? Lucky for you, I am exactly the type of tragically online to dig a little bit deeper into who exactly this whippet-loving diabetic named Brad is (or was). What I found made me do a triple-take.
According to an obituary published on obituary aggregater Legacy.com, the man in this photo is Bradley Carmel, who died at the age of 47. The obit goes on to mention his love for jam bands and his dedication to his fantasy baseball league, and mentions that he is survived by a sister, Candy Barasch, née Carmel. Wha?!
Presumably everyone behind this paywall knows who Candy Barasch is, but in case you don’t, let me catch you up to speed. Barasch is a prominent collector and New York-based real estate heiress, who has been a mainstay in art industry headlines this year as a former top client of advisor Lisa Schiff, who brought her to court on allegations that Schiff had failed to remit $1.8 million owed on the resale of an Adrian Ghenie painting. The saga of Schiff’s alleged misdeeds spiraled from there, but we’d need an extra 3,000 words to reiterate the whole thing.
I suppose this story fits more under the surprising oddity category in the grand scheme of Wet Paint items, but I’d encourage any of you who are interested to follow along with the Youtube channel belonging to Demanda, who goes by the moniker The Heaux Mentor, as she continues to publish videos about how Brad haunts her. It’s great cocktail party chatter for Miami next week.
HUGH HAYDEN’S WET SCULPTURE
Courtesy a tipster.
I’ll admit that I’m biased as a journalist when it comes to the artwork of Hugh Hayden. Since I first saw his show Huey at Lisson Gallery back in 2021, I’ve kept a close eye on the biting visual language the 40 year-old sculptor is building through his imaginative use of material and symbolism (his presentation at Clearing’s booth at Felix LA a few years ago nearly turned me into the tabi swiper). Adulation aside, I’m always keeping a close eye on what goes on with him.
So that’s why I asked my cohort of spies in Los Angeles to keep me posted on what went down at his new opening at Lisson, Hughman, his first ever in the city of Angels. I fear I may have cursed the opening with the spirit of Wet Paint, though, as one of his site-specific installations unwittingly became a Wet Sculpture.
According to the show’s press release, “Upon entering the gallery, the visitor is confronted with a large, open space lined along the perimeter with generic metal bathroom stalls… Hayden probes this notion of privacy and expectations throughout the exhibition, including urinals with atypical positioning that suggest the users participate in an usually intimate arrangement.”
One insider told me that Hayden took the installation of these urinals a step further, by rewiring the gallery’s old plumbing from when it was a gay club (the gallery declined to confirm this). That old plumbing apparently did as old plumbing tends to do, and during the opening, viewers were also confronted with some sewage water.
Strangely enough, the gallery denies that this ever happened, despite the photographic evidence I have had sent to me from many sources (including photos of the water being soaked up by moving blankets, which I’d have to imagine come from within the gallery). If you’re reading this, Alex Logsdail, I say don’t be ashamed! And also never forget that I have eyes everywhere.
WE HEAR
Courtesy a tipster.
Though his name isn’t listed on the job posting, it looks like Loic Gouzer is looking for a new assistant, and the pay is pretty decent… Did anyone else notice that Nino Mier isn’t showing at NADA next week? Wonder why… Dover Street Market will have some sort of special presence designed by Oscar Tuazon at Felix LA next year, which is an art + fashion collab I can finally get behind… Journalist Kat Herriman has crossed over into the gallery world and was named director of client development at Nina Johnson… James Fuentes has picked up representation of Dalton Paula… Phillips made this perhaps Freudian typo in a recent announcement…
I love this typo: “Hernan Bas: The Conceptualists is resented with support by PHILLIPS.”
— Grant Wahlquist (@GW_Gallery) November 26, 2023
SPOTTED
Should someone tell Jerry Saltz that he doesn’t have to live like this? *** Gwyneth Paltrow apparently stopped by the Ruth Asawa exhibit at The Whitney, which led to hushed titters from the staff who imagined she’s probably excited to finally see a real one *** Sophia Cohen is officially off-the-market, mazel tov! *** Marc Spiegler, Lola Kramer, and Bridget Donahue were among those to stop by Diamond Stingily’s equal-parts fantastic and devastating first solo show at Greene Naftali ***