By Foster Kamer 6/08/12 3:31pm

ART IS HARD

Andre Sariva Penis Ride

Manhattan’s Newest Thrill Ride: A Giant, Purple, Mechanical Penis

Andre Saraiva doesn’t just own the keys (and velvet rope) to Chinatown’s most impossibly hip club, Le Baron, but the Frenchman-about-town fancies himself an artist as well. To wit, his first major solo show—subtly titled Andrépolis—premiered last night at Bowery gallery The Hole. It has been characterized as an “urban phantasmagoria” by Purple Magazine‘s Olivier Zahm, who also explains that “the exhibition has a surprise at the end, a carousel for adults, for those who are not afraid to ride the wings of desire.”

And oh, does it ever. Read More

By Foster Kamer 1/27/12 4:03pm

LE BARONPOCOLYPSE

Andre.

THE FRENCH ARE COMING: New York City’s Nightlife Salvation (Maybe, Possibly) Begins Tonight With Rumored Opening of Le Baron

The arrival of Andre Sariva’s New York outpost of Le Baron—the most exclusive nightclubs in the world that you’re only getting into if you’re, like, one of the owners or friends with Stefon—has been waited by those who get off on velvet-rope-rejection-masochism with the eagerness of people who wait for nightclubs for two years at a time. Which is to say: Quite a bit.

As Eater New York’s Scott Solish reports, it is supposedly opening this weekend. Read More