HBO comes to Irish Haven thanks to 19 local artists

A group of 19 different artists mostly from Brooklyn and Staten Island displayed their work for an HBO-focused show June 20 at a bar on Fourth Avenue.

The CCD Art & Supply Co., a facilitator for a collective of local artists who make art based on popular culture themes, organized the show at the Irish Haven Bar, 5721 Fourth Avenue.

The show was called the HBO Show—the fourth show the company has held overall—and exhibited 22 pieces based on HBO programs that inspired the artists, including a “Band of Brothers” painting, an abstract painting of Ari Gold from “Entourage,” and a painting that portrayed Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie from the show “Flight of the Conchords” as robots.

“We look for topics that are broad but niche enough that people who come don’t see the 16 same characters,” said Mike DeVito, the company’s curator and a bartender at Irish Haven. “At HBO there’s something for everybody.”

Around 200 people attended the show, which DeVito wanted to have a relaxed vibe.

“Most people go to the back, check out the art, and then come out to the front and enjoy their Saturday night [at the bar],” he said.

CCD Art & Supply acts as a middle man for artists so they don’t have to produce multiple pieces to fill out a gallery; they instead work with other artists so they usually only have to display one piece at a venue that the company books.

CCD Art & Supply received a small commission on the six pieces sold on the 20th, and is getting 50 percent of revenues on small digital prints of the works that people buy on their website.

The artists decided on the prices for their works for the live show, but the company put a $250 cap on each one so that, in DeVito’s words, local people who attended could afford them.

“People were saying that it was our strongest show art-wise so far,” said Tommy Lombardozzi, the company’s art director, who also supplied two paintings for the show. “I think all the shows have been consistently good, and art is so subjective that it’s hard to say what is better. [But] I liked my piece.”

 

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