McSorley’s Old Ale House
Product Description
McSorley’s Old Ale House by Randy Hage
24.5″ x 20″ x 10.75″, 1/12th Scale Model, Miniature Sculpture, unit comes housed, framed and lighted
Material Used: Wood, Metal, Styrene, Glass, Paper, Cloth, Resin, Acrylic, Spray, Oil Paints, Water based and Petroleum based Adhesives
McSorley’s Old Ale House Storefront Address: 15 E 7th Street, New York, NY 10003
Current Exhibition at Flower Pepper Gallery: Facade by Randy Hage from October 10th to November 18th, 2015
Previous Exhibitions at Flower Pepper Gallery:
- 3rd Year Anniversary Show from December 6th, 2014 to January 6th, 2015
- Group Show: Minuscule from May 3rd to June 6th, 2014
- Solo Show: Fleeting Moments – The Art of Randy Hage from October 5th to November 15th, 2013
- Solo Show: NYC Store Fronts by Randy Hage from May 19th to June 21st, 2012
McSorley’s Old Ale House, established in 1854, is widely known as the oldest Irish Pub in New York City. It’s provocative past includes patrons such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt and Woody Guthrie. It was even immortalized by famed poet E.E. Cummings in his poem “I was sitting in mcsorely’s” with “the ale which never lets you grow old.” For now this Old Ale House is still here but as with other historic institutions, we can only hope it continues to survive and preserve the past for the future generations to enjoy.
Artist Biography:
Visual artist, Randy Hage, has always been fascinated by the character and often overlooked beauty of aging structures. In the late 90s, he began photographing the cast iron facades in the SoHo area of New York as possible subjects for future art projects (The cast iron and brick structure on this site is a product of that original research). His interest soon moved to the unique street level Mom & Pop storefronts with their hand painted signs, layers of architecture, wonderful patinas and intriguing history.
As he continued to photograph these storefronts, it became clear to him that this was becoming more than an art project; it was becoming a documentary project as well. These neighborhood storefronts were closing at an alarming rate, falling victim to large-scale redevelopment that was exceeding a normal pace for neighborhood change.
Hage’s work not only seeks to preserve a vision of the past, but also to call attention to the loss of established and diverse neighborhoods as urban renewal and gentrification displace the store owners and the area residents who make up the tapestry of these communities. Over the past 12 years, Hage has photographed more than 450 storefronts and in that time, more than 60% of those have closed or have been torn down.
Hage’s storefront project reflects a love for these iconic structures, as well as a passionate interest in the communities that they serve. His sculptures represent more than fading facades, they honor the very soul of the city, its people.
Randy Hage has been creating sets, models, and props for the TV/Film and small-scale hobby industries for over 25 years. He is a former instructor at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, where he taught set and prop fabrication.
Artist Website: http://newyorkstorefronts.com
New Mini New Works by Jeremiah Moss at Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York Blog on September 14th, 2015: http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2015/09/new-mini-new-yorks.html
News & Articles About Randy and His Works:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/29/nyregion/album-storefronts.html?_r=0
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=9275290
http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2013/09/new-work-from-randy-hage.html
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/09/10/its_a_small_world.php
http://gothamist.com/2013/09/10/photos_amazing_miniaturized_nyc_sto.php#photo-1
http://laist.com/2013/09/25/river_cats.php
McSorley’s Old Ale House on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McSorley%27s_Old_Ale_House
McSorley’s Old Ale House Profile and Review on NYMAG.COM: http://nymag.com/listings/bar/mcsorleys/
McSorley’s Old Ale House on The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/dining/reviews/comfort-from-the-cold-winds.html
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