Hi!
I have something weird to report: these past few months I have had some things going on in my life that involved leaving my apartment. And it’s not over yet!
Would you like to leave YOUR apartment and see me doing something that I needed to leave my apartment in order to do? Here are your two chances (if you can get to New York City).
Number 1:
I will have my work in a pop-up exhibition organized by my old pal, art school crony (no relation), artist supreme, and 1995 presenter of my first solo exhibition “Lonely” at his then-Berlin Gallery: Rupert Goldsworthy. The exhibit is at 191 Chrystie St. #2 and runs for only ONE WEEK – from April 30 thru May 8. Artists include Bank, Zhou Yichen, Timothy Gass, Rupert Goldsworthy, Billy Miller, Jim Ramer, Barbara Sullivan, and ME!
There will be a reception on Saturday, April 30 from 4-6pm. Please come if you can- I’ll be there!
May 14, I will be doing something I am very excited about:
I will be debuting my brand new musical-performance-piece-with-costumes-and-talking, Loving You is Easier at The 8th Floor. Vital stats: Saturday, May 14 2:00pm at 17 W17th St. 8th Floor. RSVP IS REQUIRED! Here is the official description:
Loving You is Easier is the third in a series of scripted musical performances on the theme of personal identity by Larry Krone. Preceded by Who or What I Am, presented at Joe’s Pub in 2018, and Beyond Repair, presented at the RISD Museum in 2019, this new work will focus on the individual in the context of family. This entertaining and thought-provoking 40-minute extravaganza will take the audience through the painful dissolution of failed biological family dynamics and the work it takes to rebuild a new, healthier family unit based on love. Consistent with his practice over the past 25 years, Krone expresses himself in Loving You is Easier through a concert format, performing his original country songs interspersed with storytelling.
I’m putting my heart and soul into this, and I really hope you can come. Most of my performances over the past several years have been at music venues with lights and sound systems – this kind of intimate, acoustic performance in an intimate gallery setting, however, feels so perfect for what I want to do with Loving You is Easier. Oh yeah, I will also have special guests including an entertainer I am looking forward to meeting, Jim Andralis!
But there’s more! Your FREE admission price gets you tickets to TWO shows! Following my show, Kalup Linsey will be performing his piece The State of my Feelings and Emotions… at 3:00. RSVP Here for both!
But what about the recent past?? What have I been doing since the last time I reported?
Well, Kindred Solidarities: Queer Community and Chosen Families happened! Curated by Anjuli Nanda Diamond and George Bolster it was presented at The 8th Floor Gallery and included Jamie Diamond, Andrea Geyer, Nan Goldin, David Kelley, Kalup Linzy, Carlos Motta, and Christopher Udamezue. I was so pleased with the show, particularly with the chance to show some of my larger work, including my 25 foot long Mylar curtain “Cooking With Love” and the monumental (to me) “Then and Now (Cape Collaboration),” displayed flat on the wall for the first time, giving viewers the chance to see every inch of the cape’s outer surface.
March 9th, I performed with Jim Andralis, opening for Jessie Kilguss at Sid Gold’s Request Room and even joined forces with Jessie and her band for harmonies and a big Wilson Phillips finish!
House of Larréon sprang back into action after having taken some time to reflect and regroup (translation: tear our hair out, pace the floor, and fret) during these unprecedented times.
At the end of November, Bridget Everett and the Tender Moments triumphantly returned to Joe’s Pub with a new show and a whole slew of triumphant new Larréons to go with it! She opened the show with Fashion Club’s two-part creation, the “Gold-dust Crop-duster,” torn off to reveal the “Caprisunrise,” newly altered by me and co-president of Fashion Club, my niece Iris Kennedy, to a bubble-hemmed minidress.
Later Bridget and her daughters Olivia and Precious warmed themselves with a symphony of ruffled tulle ski-wear: please enjoy the “Everett Family Wonder Bread Singers Suite”.
How was that Wonder Bread pattern achieved on these elegant garments, you ask? Very lovingly and time-consumingly, I answer. I cut the tulle into long strips, folded the strips in half lengthwise, gathered them, and then hand stitched them onto the base pattern pieces into the classic polka-dot couture you see before you. This is what my workshop looked like for a few weeks:
To close the show Bridget changed into her new lighter-than air micromesh awning-striped reversible Larréon gown, “She’s the Stripe Type”.
The holidays wouldn’t be the holidays without Murray Hill’s “Murray Little Christmas” show, but it almost didn’t happen, because Murray’s home and all of his belongings were destroyed in a fire just as he was preparing for the show. But House of Larréon sprang into action and created a “Polyester Sports Jacket of Many Colors” in record time, as well as a charred and distressed Santa suit for a dose of “too-soon” humor that would thrill and delight the audiences.
February 8, my dear friend, comrade, and collaborator Neal Medlyn presented his new play “Comeback, Comeback” at Joe’s Pub. Neal had been working on this show since long before the pandemic, so it was a thrill to finally get it together with the Larréons we’d been imagining for years. The show is about a semi-surreal, ambiguously-aged Elvis Presley inexplicably making a comeback in present times while deconstructing his origins and legacy via banter and guest appearances by some of his famous associates and friends. He is accompanied by a sensational band led by Tom Beaujour, and he looks like this:
The idea was to make an off version of a classic Bill Bellew-designed Elvis jumpsuit–still flashy and finely made, but a little creepy and disturbing. The material is (Neal’s) flesh-toned slinky/saggy rayon/lycra jersey with special iron-on nail heads and clear and black Swarovski crystals applied one by one. Fascinating fact: the rhinestones and nail-heads were given to me a while ago by my hero and friend Todd Oldham who had saved them in his archives for years. Todd originally had them prepared specially with the heat-sensitive glue for a trio of outfits he made for The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) back in the ’90’s! These were what remained. I used every single one on Neal’s jumpsuit.
Incidentally, working on this for Neal, the Larréons for Bridget, and the Tallit I made for my niece Iris earlier during the pandemic inspired me to write my favorite new song:
At this rate I’ll be working through the dawn
And I’ll know I’m done when all the rhinestones are gone
And even though my love for you goes on and on
My job here will be finished when the last rhinestone is gone
from “Rhinestones” by larry krone
I also made special souvenirs for the show, including straw boater hats with hand-embroidered had bands:
This metal badge-encrusted coach jacket:
And this elegant crystal rhinestone-studded jockstrap, a reproduction of a jockstrap that the real Elvis Presley owned. It was originally given to him by a fan:
Look for more costumes from this production and others in my COSTUME, SET AND GRAPHIC DESIGN PROJECTS section on my website
April 15 I performed at Joe’s Pub in the Country variety show “Grand Ole Pubry,” hosted by Jim Andralis, Neal Medlyn, and Jenn Harris. There were some cancellations in the lineup because of COVID, so I came in last minute. Boy was my face red when I realized that I got the theme wrong! Or was it all part of the gag??
In gallery news, you can still see my piece “We’ve Been Here” at Pierogi in the show Make Art Not War: Pierogi for Peace, with proceeds form art sales going to charities to benefit Ukrainians affected and displaced by the current war.
But what am I working on RIGHT NOW??
Well, I am just finishing up the album art for my client Jim Andralis’ upcoming record I Can’t Stop Trying. The album is absolutely stunningly gorgeous, deeply thought-provoking and heartwarming/breaking. I know, because I have listened to it all the way through roughly a zillion times. It also may interest you to know that I sing on the record. But don’t worry, it’s still good!
The album art is beautiful, and I say that in all modesty, because the foundation of it is the photography of Gregory Kramer*. YES, there are hours and hours’ worth of my hand lettering, obsessive composing, and photoshop tweakment, but I insist that I must not hear any praise for me. Thank you in advance for honoring my wishes. Here is one of my snapshots from the top-secret photoshoot:
Stay tuned for the big reveal of the album cover, but in the meantime, please follow Jim Andralis on Instagram for news about all of the singles and videos that he will be releasing one by one over the next few months. Even better, follow Jim on Spotify and pre-save his first single Soloflex, which has its release on April 28.
I am also still writing my book! The working title is now More Than You Need to Know About an Artist You’ve Never Heard Of: A Literary Self-Portrait in The Form of an Advice Column, Cookbook, Entertaining Guide, Health Resource, Last Will and Testament, Manifesto, Memoir, and Sex Log. I will save more details about my progress for a future entry, but in the meantime, if anybody out there knows of a literary agent they think might be interested in looking at my proposal, I would be very interested to hear about it!
OK enough about me. I hope you stay healthy and safe, happy even. And I hope to see each of you again someday soon – maybe even at the pop up show on Chrystie St. or at my performance at The 8th Floor Gallery on May 14. Or how about at a bar? At my studio? At the Bronx Zoo? Anywhere!! (I miss you.)
*P.S. and by the way, Gregory Kramer is also a wizard when it comes to solving website problems & stuff. He helped me spruce up and unkink this old dinosaur, and I could not be happier with the results! Contact Greg thru his website if you’re interested in hiring him for your website needs!
Oh, and please follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube if you are so inclined.
Thank you, and good night.