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Art of the Day: Play Fascination by Philomena Marano

Posted in art, tagged Coney Island, Coney Island Hysterical Society, cut paper collage, Faber's Fascination, Philomena Marano, signage, typography on September 19, 2010| 6 Comments »

PLAY FASCINATION by Philomena Marano. Cut paper collage, 1990s

In 2007, artist Philomena Marano’s signature art piece, “The World’s Largest Paper Lollypop,” paid tribute to Coney Island’s much-missed Philip’s Candy, which moved to Staten Island when Stillwell Terminal was rebuilt. Her latest tribute to a vanished Coney icon is this cut paper piece done in the early 90s and dedicated to Faber’s Fascination.

When Marano recently learned that Faber’s sign had gone dark, she posted the image on Facebook along with a note: “Do you remember the ‘FABERS FASCINATION’ sign made up of a million light bulbs? Visible as you got off the train station on Surf Ave- well, the sign was taken down recently. Tears.”

The piece is from Marano’s Coney Island series “American Dreamland,” which spans over 20 years (1979-present). “I think Faber’s Fascination, all lit up, was symbolic in the fact that it was the introduction to ‘Fascination’ in general…. as you left the train station & stepped into the Coney Island world,” says Marano.

In 1981, the Brooklyn native co-founded the Coney Island Hysterical Society with fellow artist Richard Eagan because they were “Hysterical” at the rate that the amusement rides and attractions were shutting down. Her work is currently on view in “Urbanessence,” a group exhibition at New York Institute of Technology’s Gallery 61 through October 7th. One of the pieces, “Vision for the Parachute Jump Pavilion,” is a composite of design ideas in collaboration with architect Philip Tusa for the Van Alen Institute competition in 2005.

Photo of the Day: Takeshi Yamada’s Freak Baby Museum at San Gennaro

Posted in art, sideshow, Uncategorized, tagged Coney Island, Freak Museum, gaff art, Museum of World Wonders, rogue taxidermy, San Gennaro, sideshow gaff, Takeshi Yamada, two headed baby on September 18, 2010| 2 Comments »

Freak Baby Museum of Dr. Takeshi Yamada at Feast of San Gennaro, Little Italy. September 16, 2010. Photo courtesy of Takeshi Yamada

At last year’s Feast of San Gennaro, ATZ photographed quite a few Coney Islanders who’d decamped with their games, sideshows and food stands to top off the season in Little Italy. One of the strangest sights at this year’s feast, which runs through September 26th, is Dr. Takeshi Yamada and his freak baby museum from Coney Island. The Neptune Avenue resident, whose studio is known as the Museum of World Wonders, has quite a family: There’s a Two-headed Baby, Mermaid Baby, Octopus Baby, Lobster Baby, Penguin Baby, and Three-headed Baby. “His” is not just a figure of speech–the six rogue taxidermy infants are made from Yamada’s own skin!

Yamada, who has an MFA in fine art from the University of Michigan School of Art and was Grand Champion of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists in 2006, considers his artwork “specimens” rather than examples of self expression. He uses a variety of natural materials to create his curiosities including some that might be considered controversial.

When we wrote about the babies last year, readers inquired how the artist collected his skin. Yamada replied: “During summer months, I shed skins multiple times, and I carefully remove them from my body, save them, and preserve them as ‘specimens’ for my Cabinet of Curiosities. I mounted my own skin specimens on the super-realistic replicas of freak human babies, which I created. In this way their body surfaces look really real, [more] than ones replicated in other materials (rubber, plastic, fiberglass, clay etc.). In loose terms, my freak babies are my clones.”

Yamada’s full explanation, titled “Creatures as Art Supplies,” can be read in the comments section of a post written last year, “Thru Dec 31 at Coney Island Library: Artist Takeshi Yamada’s Cabinet of Curiosities.” It remains one of ATZ’s top 25 posts, thanks to curiosity about such curiosities as a mummified six-fingered witch’s hand and a three-eyed human skull. The free exhibition of oddities and rogue taxidermy artwork is currently in its fifth year at the Mermaid Avenue library, a six-minute walk from Stillwell Terminal. But if you want to see the freak babies, head over to San Gennaro or pay a visit to the nursery at Coney Island’s Museum of World Wonders.

Rare & Vintage: Major Debert the Tiniest Man’s Sideshow Banner

Posted in art, Auction, tagged advertisement, Coney Island, Major Debert, Millard & Bulsterbaum, sideshow banner, Sideshow Freak on May 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

Vintage Sideshow Art: Major Debert Tiniest Man by Millard & Bulsterbaum, 2894 W 8th St. Coney Island

This circa 1920s banner from Coney Island is among more than a dozen sideshow banners offered in a Mosby & Co. online auction that begins on May 5th. We first set eyes on the mysterious “Major Debert Tiniest Man” in Freaks Geeks & Strange Girls: Sideshow Banners of the Great American Midway. The 1996 book catapulted this unusual genre of American art from fringe culture into the mainstream. “Major Debert” was one of the prized Millard & Bulsterbaum banners from Coney Island owned by Jim Secreto, whose collection we got to see “Alive and On the Inside” when we profiled him for Art & Antiques.

This extravagant advertisement for Major Debert is 12 feet tall by 7 feet wide, a size that readily lends itself to hilarious exaggerations of scale. The Tiniest Man does indeed look tiny beside the gigantic faces of the “normal sized” man and woman who are oohing and aahing over him. Algernon Millard and John Bulsterbaum established their Coney Island shop around 1915 at 2894 W 8th Street across the street from Luna Park. Their ads proclaimed “We Paint Banners That Get Top Money for Carnivals and Circus.” The studio was credited with introducing liberal use of orange paint and bold lines that made their banners visible from clear across the midway.

This is the third Mosby auction featuring sideshow banners from the collection of the late Bob McCord. Back in the 90s, Bob began buying or trying to buy every sideshow banner in sight. He got quite a few from Johnny Meah, whose banners are also featured in the current auction, as well as some vintage pieces from the Secreto collection. Last year we wrote about the sale of an orange-hued “Armless Wonder” banner by Dan Casola from the same Coney Island studio.

Mosby & Co Auctions, Auction # 3 Closing May 20th, 2010 at Midnight, Lot #438, Opening Bid $850