When Mary Boone and Julian Schnabel Ran New York

In a trip down memory lane last week, Mary Boone and Julian Schnabel traveled far and wide, from Max’s Kansas City and the Cedar Bar to Ocean Club and Christ Cella, lighting up each bygone hotspot with memories of the artists who crossed their paths. They recounted trading paintings with Andy Warhol; the night Brice Marden took a swing at Schnabel; the time a painting fell off the wall and landed on Patrick Lannan; and the mischievous exploits of Sigmar Polke, who would run wild around Manhattan licking public windows to startle strangers on the other side. 

The era left an indelible mark, paving the way for a litany of artists whose internecine scandals and rivalries were just as much a source of intrigue as the work itself. It’s no wonder that Boone, after a five-year hiatus from the art world (and a minor stint behind bars for tax fraud) has chosen to revisit the halcyon days with Downtown/Uptown: New York in the Eighties, an all-star group show she’s guest curated at Lévy Gorvy Dayan’s Beaux-Arts townhouse. On view through December 13th, the show features works by Schnabel, Francesco Clemente, Eric Fischl, Ross Bleckner, Jeff Koons, and Cady Nolan, to name a few. To mark her welcome return, Boone and Schnabel took a plunge headfirst into their unruly and decadent pasts.