Carter Kench was a delight to interview as we discussed moving and celebrating the holidays in the West as fellow Southerners, his TikTok presence and inspirations, and his partnership with International Delight this season.
Throughout the course of his career, Academy Award Winning director Guillermo Del Toro has been inspired by the artistry and age-old story of Pinocchio. For over seventeen years, he has wanted to create a new version of the story, and this weekend, his passion project is now available to stream on Netflix. Over the course of one thousand days, the cast and crew worked tirelessly to create an immersive stop-motion experience involving little puppets and the in depth process of fabrication. Del Toro teamed up with award winning stop-motion legend Mark Gustafson in order to reimagine the classic Carlo Collodi tale, and the result is something complete for it’s seventeen years of anticipation. A cinematic masterpiece that will be timeless through many years.
When we meet Geppetto in Del Toro’s re-imagination, he is devastated over the loss of his beloved son Carlo, spending his days in a drunken stupor to dull his pain. When he decides to channel his pain into art, he creates Pinocchio, a wooden boy with love in his heart. After coming to life, Pinocchio embarks on his own enchanted adventure that transcends worlds and reveals the life-giving power of love. Combined with an incredible cast made up of Finn Wolfhard, Ewan McGregor, Gregory Mann, Tim Blake Nelson, Tilda Swinton and many more, the film is a can’t miss event this holiday season.
We spoke to the briliant cast and crew of Pinocchio at it’s New York Premiere, check out the full conversation below!
The Rose Theater in Jazz at Lincoln Center hosted the world premiere of the highly anticipated movie ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Tuesday night.
Executive Chef and Partner of Pig Beach & Barbeque Restaurants, Matt Abdoo, brings together his cultures of being half-Italian and half-Lebanese, to his delicious dishes. Being an informational and charismatic Guest Chef on TV shows such as, The Today Show, has “always been a dream” for him. He drew up watching the greats – Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, and Bobby Fley, being “iconic rockstars,” telling me, “I remember Emeril Lagasse doing his thing, and being completely enthralled by it.” Abdoo is also an Award Winning Pit Master, a Food Network Celebrity Judge, and a classically trained, fine-dining Chef, as well as the Co-Author of “Pig Beach: BBQ Cookbook,” along with Shane McBride.
“Food is about brining people to the table, sharing your love, with your family, with your friends, and with your loved ones, to bring everyone together.” What I found most celebratory about the dinner event, was the absolute deep enthusiasm and passion that he embodies during his demonstrations. “Getting every demographic, every diverse group and everyone from every walk of life, getting excited about food” was always something “special,” for him.
N: How did the partnership come about with Zippo, and what excites you most about this partnership? Why is Zippo so targeted to your audience?
M: Well, first and foremost, there isn’t a better lighter on the market than the Zippo. It’s the most reliable and badass looking lighter that’s out there, and it works consistently without ever worrying about it at all. I started using these lighters when I was much younger, in my upstate New York days, just setting camp fires in my Boy Scout trips. It was always like the cool thing to breakout that really cool lighter that was in your survival pack, and then it grew to be this sort of iconic thing, that everyone knows what it is, whether it’s a movie scene or a tv show- the villain or the hero, where the guy like sets the house on fire, or blows it up. There’s always a Zippo, but that sound is like quintessential. You hear the click, and it’s lit, and it’s just the coolest thing ever, so I’ve always loved using these lighters for as long as I can remember. It happened just by happenstance, that Sherry, who I’ve worked with in the past, reached out to me and said, “hey, we got this really incredible thing/ client that we’re working with. I think you would be perfect for them!” And she connected us and they took a liking to me and knew that the whole, barbeque, pig-master, live-master thing was a good match, and we just had a lot of fun working together, collaborating on these dishes and holiday-themed recipes, doing something special so that we can have a really fun holiday event with you guys!
N: Love it, and I want to congratulate you on the cookbook! What are your top two…
M: Oh my God, recipes?!
N: Yes!
M: That’s like trying to pick who’s your favorite child! So the really cool thing about the Pig Beach cookbook is the majority core is based upon fundamental barbeque recipes. Later in the book we have some cool recipes that me and my partner Shane, that helped me write the book, take our fine-dining-“Chef-y” careers, and we get a little bit more elaborate with smoke, and the flavor, verses just traditional barbeque. We have some incredible recipes. I’ll give you one- my favorite Barbeque recipe, and then I’ll give you my favorite, what we call, “non-barbeque-barbeque” chapter. So, my favorite recipe in the cookbook is gotta be our peach and glazed baby-honey-back ribs… In the “non-barbeque-barbeque chapter,” it’s gonna be a toss up either between, again, cause of my fine-dining Italian roots and barbeque, we do this smoked-duck lasagna in the back of the book.”
The wonderful and delicious dinner and specialty drinks was concluded with goodie bags filled with Matt and Shane’s cookbook, Zippo decorative lighters of choice, candle lighters and chargers.
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Zippo Dinner. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Jennifer Elster has always been a deeply reactionary artist. Whether it is rebutting (or accepting) seismic shifts in the culture or simply responding to a question posed or a happening taking place, her multi-modal replies are always candid and fizzling with raw, determined energy.
Elster has always consumed with world as anyone else does- receiving and interpreting on an on-going basis. But rather than letting things happen to her passively, she posits and responds urgently and instinctually. Stepping into the Take Heed show, now on view at The Development Gallery in Tribeca, one feels as if they’re stepping outside for the first time after an apocalyptic event.
Crystalizing the flurry of cultural norms that have been introduced in the past two years, Take Heed is the first honest retrospective of work that was created or heavily reconsidered under the shadow of an on-going global pandemic and an affronting war.
Taking shape amid the soaring columns and roiled tin roof and wood of the Tribeca space, the show feels like a shell of what once was and a space being repopulated once more. The dust has settled but hasn’t yet been swept away. A mount of KN95 masks, a signature element of the deepest valley of the COVID-19 pandemic, are positioned on a pedestal, taking on the performance of a future relic. In fact, preservation seems particularly important to Elster in this show, with many works being encased in plexiglas or wood.
A series of large-scale self-portraits, originally executed in 2016, featured Elster in military fatigues and gas masks. The works, faraway and innocuous at the time of their execution, are revisited within the collective gasp and gaze of an egregious war taking place in Ukraine. Have no doubt, conflict rages globally. But distance can breed unfounded comfort.
Elster’s instinctual quips, done in chiseled marker, are not flailing in conspiracy, but are bright-red warning lights. “Warhead” (2022) is one of the most delicate and thought-provoking pieces the artist has completed in recent memory, adding to an ongoing series of “head” works that address, in the most abstract way, the awe-inspiring dynamism of the human condition.
When Is It Enough?, 2015, 2020, Acrylic on paper with hands and no body, 44.5h x 44w x 44d inches
Unlike previous shows, Elster is no longer angry. She’s done defending herself. Now she is a communicator. Her prophesies have come true and she’s been prepared for a long while. Now she invites the broader world to involve themselves. Of course, there is humor. There is realism. Elster remains as buoyant as ever, motivated by- believe it or not- absolute optimism.
Bowie as the character of Ramona in a photograph taken by John Scarisbrick for Bowie’s 1995 1. Outside album. Styled by Jennifer Elster
Viewers will relish in the opportunity to revisit one of Elster’s most remarkable achievements: the styling of the late David Bowie. In a new installation, the image, which is celebrated for its deeply collaborative and improvised instant, enters into a new territory of multi-dimensional bliss by way of cut web around the enlarged image. “Bowie and I went very deep. I wanted to pay tribute and incorporate but not overwhelm the show.”Elster’s work are available to purchase for the first time at ChannelELSTER.com/art-gallery and on Artsy. Most of the show has sold, but there are collectible Limited Editions Gaeclee canvases and Digital C-Prints that will be available upon proposal.
Take Heed will be on exhibition through January 5, 2023 at The Development Gallery in Tribeca, NYC.
Shop the J. Elster collection here.
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