“All right now, for all you boppers out there in the big city, all you street people with an ear for the action, I’ve been asked to relay a request from Bottleneck Gallery. It’s a special for Raid 71, that real live bloke from Manchester,UK and I do mean Raid 71. Here’s a post with him in mind.”

Bottleneck Gallery will be having its first solo show next week and it is with one of my favorite artists, Chris Thornley – AKA “Raid 71″.  (Subsequently, this is also Raid 71′s first solo show in NYC too.)

Chris hails from the UK where he is fortunate enough to walk to the local pub for a pint and watch guitarist Johnny Marr perform old Smith’s songs in a room the size of your living room.  (Of which I am insanely jealous.) Besides music and art, he is also passionate about charity.  A majority of the proceeds he earns from his regular work goes to a fantastic organization called ArtVCancer.  (Click the link already and go check out their site for some wonderful art and to support a great cause.)  It seemed only a matter of time before Bottleneck, who also donates proceeds from every show to multiple charities, and Chris teamed up.

The show is called “The Popular Faces of New York” and will give us Raid 71‘s fresh perspective and sense of humor of NYC’s finest moments in film. Everyone from a 100 foot tall Ape to the Mafia’s best will be making an appearance.  “The Popular Faces of New York” will feature approximately 25 original works by Chris.  Each one is extremely limited with most only having prints runs of 25 pieces or less.

Here is Raid 71′s inspiration for the show in his own words:  “Pop culture profoundly influences the identities of not only its consumers, but also its real world referents. The curate’s egg that is globalisation has scattered a billion Brooklyns, Bronxes and Manhattans around the world.”

“Each one is selectively shot, sung or drawn with an agenda. When the world sees Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks finally meet at the top of the Empire State Building with Manhattan spread out before them like a celestial banquet, the city becomes as synonymous with romance as Belle Époque Paris; when Kong climbs the same building to meet his tragic fate, the city becomes a jungle in which the astounding and the unique are forever doomed to be reduced to bloody spectacle; when Patrick Bateman wends his sanguinary way through the antiseptic warrens of Wall Street, the city becomes an icy skullscape where weakness is punishable by death.”

“With the exhibition ‘The Popular Face of New York’, I present an outsider’s perspective on a city. For me, this is Scorsese’s city – an abyss of vice, drugs and crime which echoes with the sound of ricocheting bullets; it is Woody Allen’s city of introspection, ennui and sexual paranoia; it is the only city in the world strong enough to survive a million celluloid obliterations; it is a postmodern diorama in which Top Cat and Vito Corleone can coexist on the same block.”

If you are in the Big Apple on March 15th, do yourself a favor and head on over to Bottleneck Gallery – 60 Broadway, Brooklyn, New York 11249 and check out all of Raid 71′s incredible work.  You can also follow Bottleneck Gallery on TWITTER or check out their WEBSITE for info about this and upcoming shows.

You can follow Chris on TWITTER as well to learn about his future endeavors or check out his WEBSITE to see his impressive portfolio.  (Fans of the Smiths…unite and take over…)

Name: The Popular Face of New York
Artist: Raid71
Opening Reception: March 15th 7pm – 10pm
Charity: ArtVCancer
Drinks provided by Brooklyn Brewery and snikety-snacks by O-live.