AN INTERVIEW WITH
SAMUEL BOEHM AND DANIEL GIORDANO OF
Vicki
JOSEPH CONIFF
FEBRUARY 21, 2018
REGION > NEWBURGH, NEW YORK
Senseless drifters, gun-wielding parole officers, semi-domesticated animals, relationship managers and High Art all convene to inhabit the one--and only--Vicki Island.
Some sixty miles north of NYC we find Vicki, right in the heart of Newburgh, NY. A town of nearly 30,000, Newburgh is situated just across the Hudson from Beacon, NY (home of the Dia Foundation, with its sprawling 160,000 square foot museum operating out of a former Nabisco Cracker Factory). Newburgh’s history is in industry, and for being the birthplace of Ellsworth Kelly. Now the only thing art-related in Newburgh is Vicki… but Vicki operators Samuel Boehm and Daniel Giordano pay no mind. So after you wander Dia:Beacon, cross over the river and pay Vicki a visit. Just don't forget your E-Zpass because the bridge has a toll and a commuter rail hasn't serviced Newburgh since the 50s. --Joseph Coniff
SB: Samuel Boehm
DG: Daniel Giordano
Joseph Coniff:: So who is Vicki?
Samuel Boehm:: Vicki is Daniel's aunt. The story goes that the Vicki Clothing Company on Liberty Street was founded by Daniel’s grandfather, Frank, who named it after his daughter, Vicki—so Daniel’s father’s sister. They made ladies’ coats until 1996. Now the factory is more or less vacant.
Daniel Giordano:: And then there’s Vicki Vermicelli.
JC: Who is Vicki Vermicelli?
DG: Vicki Vermicelli is the spirit entity of the entire sha-bang.
SB: People are always like, “so what’s the next Vicki project?” and we always say, “no, it’s just Vicki. Vicki is a she.”
JC: The sha-bang is in Daniel’s family’s factory in Newburgh?
DG: Yes. Vicki, the project space, is located on what we call Vicki Island—the factory that was the Vicki Clothing Company.
SB: We were sitting in my studio one day and Daniel started showing me pictures of the factory and was like, “what can we do with this?”
JC: And the answer was Vicki. What’s the space in Newburgh like?
SB: It’s funny, the factory itself is a dream…
DG: A sweet day dream. You’ve got the doll house (the reception area/deli), the dungeon (the first floor), the sanctuary (the 2nd floor), and the third floor with access to a nice grey roof.
SB: It’s really big, three storeys, with nice wood floors and whole walls of windows. Nice light in there. We have a hammock on the top floor. People would be paying big money to have studios on Vicki Island if it wasn’t in Newburgh.
JC: How is Newburgh?
DG: Newburgh’s a shithole.
SB: Newburgh’s great. It’s got a lot of nice architecture and views of the Hudson. A lot of the roads are still brick, including Liberty Street.
DG: Yes, we’ve got a nice paved-over brick road.
SB: People have been talking about “Liberty Street South of Broadway” lately. We’re North of Broadway. It’s rougher up here.
DG: Our neighbor’s parole officer showed up unannounced one morning and ended up shooting his dog thirteen times in the apartment stairway next door. When I arrived, I saw it all for myself, bullet holes and all. It wasn’t pleasant.
JC: Oh my God, thirteen times?
SB: I showed up an hour later… all the neighbors were staring at me. I didn’t know anything had happened. We were trying to set up the Jim Lee show that day. Jim was in a terrible way about it all day so we ended up just getting milkshakes at the Alexis Diner.
JC: So, you ended up having the Jim Lee show after all that?
DG: He hauled ass and made twelve new large-scale paintings on-site.
SB: There was also a big speakerbox that played a muscle car rumble. Ideally all the shows would go something like that, someone comes into the space and makes the work and then we show it.
DG: What are you talking about? I don’t agree with that at all… that’s a major pain in my ass.
SB: How do you figure?
DG: I’m the guy that has to be there to let them in.
SB: Fine. This is why we need Anthony.
JC: Who’s Anthony?
DG: Anthony is my brother.
SB: Anthony declared me the third brother and made himself mediator between the two of us.
DG: Mr. Anthony Giordano, relationship manager.
SB: Can we just finish this thing?
JC: Alright. Back to Vicki.
DG: We’ve got a mouse infestation, and they’re really friendly. They run right up to you and sniff your feet before they run back into the radiators. The mouse traps don’t work. I was sitting on the couch and I watched a mouse eat all the peanut butter off of one. What else happens, Sam? Tell them about Kimberly.
SB: We decided it would be a good idea to rent out part of the building to offset some cost. We ended up renting to this lady from Ohio, Kimberly, who claimed she was having a show in the city and needed a space to work in nearby. She brought along this dog that was blind and deaf and couldn’t really do much of anything and on top of that she had a tendency to collect stray cats from around the neighborhood. She drove one of those stereotypical white roadie vans. I think she was living out of it before she got here.
DG: Kimberly liked to burst in on us.
SB: She once tried to convince us to take down the show we were installing and hang her paintings instead. This was after she put on a mini performance that consisted of playing air guitar and singing along to an entire Alice in Chains CD. We’re still not convinced she ever had that show in New York.
DG: She didn’t. And she didn’t pay much rent either. We decided to kick her out after she didn’t pay rent for four months and she tried to sue with some made up allegations. She lost. She vaporized with her dog and cats and her California King.
JC: It sounds like Vicki is more than just a place to show work.
SB: We could just do it the normal way and rent out a spot and have a regular program but this works better for us.
DG: Vicki would have never existed if we didn’t have this space available.
SB: Even though we’re working against a lot… that’s all part of it.
DG: The project actually ends up being all the behind the scenes shenanigans that know one else knows about. That’s the real Vicki.
Images courtesy Vicki
Joseph Coniff is an artist and writer. He’s on with Rule Gallery, Denver/Marfa.
josephconiff.com
Vicki
327 Liberty Street
Newburgh, New York 12550
vickiprojects.com
from NYC via train / via car
open by appointment
info@vickiprojects.com
+1 845 926 7703
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