Lockdown inspires an artist’s loving tribute to an older, grittier New York

‘We have entered a new New York, a revival period,’ says Sam Sidney, who has opened an exhibition with an homage to the good old days

GROWING UP IN ROSLYN, Long Island, Sam Sidney’s frequent trips to New York City meant lunch at Sammy’s Noodles in the West Village and hanging around the vintage clothing stores and antique flea markets in Chelsea. It was a little dirty, a little dangerous and always exciting.

Now, post-pandemic, Sidney thinks there might be an opening for that version of New York — what she called the “quintessential” New York of the ‘80s — to return, and she wants to celebrate it.

Her new exhibition, “New York Never Felt So Good,” is a collection of 23 felt portraits, ranging in size from a 16” x 20” bagel and lox to the 40” x 30” Lady Liberty. The pieces pop off the wall at Eerdmans New York on E 10th St., somewhere between childlike cartoons and Picasso renditions.

FULL STORY Lockdown inspires an artist’s loving tribute to an older, grittier New York (JTA)

Photo: Sam Sidney's felt portraits of Fran Lebowitz, left, and an iconic New York City coffee cup are featured in "New York Never Felt So Good," at Manhattan's Eerdmans gallery. (Courtesy of Eerdmans New York)