\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJoel Meisler, Untitled (Party Time), 2024<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n \tUpstairs is where the fun is. In a gallery, amid display cases filled with small paintings, trinkets and childhood mementos, Mesler has set up a table and a sofa. There are also two comfy chairs, a rug and a desk. \u201cThis is literally an extension of my office,\u201d he says. \u201cI call it my office.\u201d Mesler isn\u2019t kidding: He\u2019s there every day. He works a banker\u2019s schedule, sitting in a chair behind his desk with a balloon sculpture spelling out the word \u201cJOY\u201d hanging below it. There\u2019s even a working phone. In one corner, next to a stack of CDs, there\u2019s an easel where he paints portraits of LGD employees.<\/p>\n \n \t\u201cI was literally just sitting here waiting to see what would happen,\u201d Messler said. \u201cPeople were peeking in and asking if they could come in. I said, \u2018Sure!\u2019 Pretty soon, they were sitting down. We were chatting about art, about anything else. It created a completely different experience.\u201d <\/p>\n \n \tArt galleries can often feel intimidating, even unwelcoming. With its grand staircase and elegant moldings, L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan\u2019s space exudes the air of an old institution. It\u2019s definitely not the place for a casual chat. But that\u2019s exactly why Mesler\u2019s project works. <\/p>\n \n \tWhile the images and sculptures downstairs have sinister overtones \u2014 he says the first room was inspired by \u201cthose awkward childhood pool parties where the adults drank too much\u201d \u2014 upstairs is filled with messages of healthy positivity and acceptance. Words like \u201cPray\u201d and \u201cFeel\u201d are painted on a tie-dyed background. The office space functions similarly, symbolizing an artist finally feeling at peace and comfort in midlife.<\/p>\n \n \tMeisler\u2019s extensive address book attracts a large number of visitors. On a mid-June morning, office visitors included a loquacious art consultant who used to work at Pace Wildenstein, an affable old couple from Florida who came to visit their granddaughter, art world gadfly Benjamin Godsir, and Meisler\u2019s friend, the artist Rashid Johnson, who brought sushi. The gallery\u2019s front desk clerk told me that sometimes 80 to 100 people pass through in a day.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJoel Meisler, Untitled (Courage), 2024<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n \tIf the L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan show was Joel Messler’s only event this summer, he would have hit 1,000. But that’s not the case. In late May, he threw out the first pitch at the MetLife Stadium in Queens as part of two “Artist Series” giveaways. That Saturday night, the first 15,000 fans in the stadium received a beach tote he designed. Later this month, behind the plate will be Rasheed Johnson. <\/p>\n \n \tWhat could be more exciting than throwing out the first pitch at a New York ball game? Take over Rockefeller Plaza. On Tuesday, a grand public installation transformed 30 Rock\u2019s ice rink into a Mesler-designed \u201cpool party.\u201d L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan\u2019s wavy dark blue wallpaper in the first room covered the floor, making the entire plaza look very cool from above and making your feet feel wet. His oversized beach ball sculpture weighed more than 500 pounds and was installed alongside giant versions of the words \u201clove\u201d and \u201cjoy\u201d spelled out in balloon letters. All 193 flags around the plaza were replaced with rainbow-colored banners from Mesler\u2019s mind. Giant pool foam bars really brought back the summer vibe. <\/p>\n \n \tOn Tuesday morning, Phil Collins’ “Take Me Home” filled the air softly, even during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. A few songs later, it was Hall & Ozzy’s “I Can’t Go For That.” It was a true ’80s pool party. <\/p>\n \n \tChildren decorated real beach balls on picnic benches, sat on pool foam sculptures, and posed for photos hanging from the letter \u201cL\u201d or hugging the letter \u201cY.\u201d Pink and white beach balls floated in the fountain of the Prometheus statue. Art world heavyweights like Hank Willis Thomas, Rujeko Hockley, Sarah Harrison, Sheba Shabazz, Brett Gowey and Glory Cohen mingled with sunscreen-smeared French-Canadian tourists and would-be Instagram influencers who took dog photos. Meisler-designed gifts, including Martinique wallpaper, were sold in the gift shop. Later in the day, ice cream was served.<\/p>\n \n \t“Joel’s sense of humor is outstanding, but at the same time his pathos is outstanding,” Gerv\u00e9 told me, standing next to a pink and white beach ball emblazoned with the word “You.” “The public is as important to him as the collectors. How many artists today really touch the public in a way that’s not ironic or cynical or full of false sentiment? Joel puts his tremendous positivity out into the world, and it works because he’s an honest guy, a good guy.”<\/p>\n \n \tIt seems that the good guys do sometimes win.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screen-Shot-2024-07-03-at-11.20.47-AM.png?w=400\")
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\tOn a recent afternoon, a couple was viewing Joel Meisler\u2019s latest exhibition at the Beaux-Arts townhouse at L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan Gallery on New York\u2019s Upper East Side when Meisler himself stopped them and asked a startling question. \u201cHave you seen the secret clown room?\u201d the art dealer-turned-artist said. \u201cYou really have to see the secret clown room.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\tHidden behind sliding doors on the gallery\u2019s first floor, the \u201cSecret Clown Room\u201d contains eight portraits of clowns in, you guessed it, various states of happiness (or pain). The works are exceptions to Meisler\u2019s exhibition, titled \u201cThe Kitchen Is a Good Place to Cry,\u201d which consists of new paintings, sculptures, and installations. They\u2019re a bit of an inside joke. \u201cIf anyone hasn\u2019t seen that room,\u201d Meisler said in an interview, \u201cthey probably left too early. When they hear about this, maybe they\u2019ll feel they have to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\trelated articles<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n \t\u201cThe foot traffic has increased,\u201d he said with a broad smile.<\/p>\n \n \tIn a sense, the L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan exhibition is the end of one chapter in Mesler\u2019s life, and the beginning of a new one. \u201cIt feels like the end of the first act,\u201d says the 50-year-old artist. \u201cAfter this, I don\u2019t have to tell my story anymore. I can stop living in the past and live in the present. Maybe I\u2019ll even help other people tell their stories.\u201d<\/p>\n \n \tVisiting the exhibition is like tiptoeing through the colorful skins that Meisler has shed over the years, from his childhood in Los Angeles to his time as an alcoholic art dealer on Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side to his move to the Hamptons in 2016. It was there, in the East, that he 12-stepped his way out of alcoholism. In the basement of his art space, Rental Gallery, he began making drawings: brightly colored paintings, often embellished with text in jaunty bubble letters. <\/p>\n \n \tThe first room of the current L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan exhibition is covered in wallpaper that mimics the way summer sunlight dances and glides across the top of a swimming pool. Mesler designed the room for the exhibition with the brand Martinique. Small pilasters hold 200-pound beach balls, cast in bronze and painted to match the room. Each beach ball is decorated with a different word\u2014\u201cLife,\u201d \u201cLove,\u201d \u201cMom\u201d\u2014and painted to look like the metallic helium balloons that are ubiquitous at children\u2019s birthday parties.<\/p>\n \n \tDownstairs, the second room takes on a darker tone. The bright, six-foot-tall paintings here feature phrases like \u201cPLAY THE HITS\u201d and \u201cGO GO\u201d in 70s-style fonts. The words are set atop scenic mountains, with snow on the tops hinting at cocaine addiction and the subsequent loss of control. One image captures this feeling, with the words \u201cITS FINE\u201d thick and brown, melting into the murky river below. Above it all, a white \u201chill\u201d with a rainbow peeking out from it. A glittering disco ball in the upper left seems to be suspended from invisible clouds. Another painting features the words \u201cPARTY TIME\u201d in messy lines. This time, the rainbow looks eerie behind the shadowy white hillside.<\/p>\n\n
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