Jason Lewis

Last weekend we brought your attention to RETNA's mural on Bowery and Houston, but in the week that has past most of the city's artistic focus has been off the streets and into the various fairs participating in Armory Arts Week. But that's not the case for British street artist D*Face who took to SoHo and Brooklyn this week to construct three large-scale murals. Though not totally isolated from the week's festivities -- D*Face's work is being shown by the Corey Helford Gallery at the SCOPE New York Art Show -- the artist explained why he relishes the opportunity to paint in the open and engage with a broad audience, beyond just those that might choose to go to an art fair.

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Courtesy Milton Glaser

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Milton Glaser, the 82-year-old graphic designer behind, to name just a few, the "I Love New York" logo, the DC Comics "DC bullet" logo, the famous Bob Dylan poster, and, of course, New York Magazine, which he founded with Clay Felker in 1968, for my article in this week's issue of the Voice, "How to Be a New Yorker."

Glaser spoke of the early years of New York Magazine and revealed his amazement over the success of his "I Love New York" logo, which he did for free in 1977. (Hilariously or not, the state came after him for copyright violation when he did "I Love New York More Than Ever" after 9/11.) He also shared what he thinks it means to be a New Yorker -- and why this is the only place for "real New Yorkers" to live.

Our interview, after the jump.

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Last night, the gallery world's Top Chef eliminated our man Sucklord, the Chinatown-based bootleg toymaker we splashed on the Village Voice cover in September. Throughout the course of the first six episodes, the Sucklord was the reality competition's clear breakout personality: the Sucklord got the most airtime, the most character development, the most massaged subplots, the most televised quotes about "balls," and even a chance to spraypaint China Chow's (clothed) breasts.

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BRAVO

Tewz on Work of Art

One of the more intriguing aspects of Work of Art, the BRAVO reality show we've been following, is that the show's producers chose a handful of cast members who'd already had a presence in the world, whose self-propelled careers could exist apart from the reality-television lens. Along with Sucklord, who's semi-miraculously managed to survive four rounds, there's also Tewz 1, an accomplished street artist, painter, musician, urban explorer, printmaker (and a lot more) from Chicago whose work tends to get lumped into the lowbrow-art genre. Last week's episode saw Tewz's dismissal from the contest, along with Sucklord emotionally defending his pal's piece before the judge firing squad. (In true Sucklish: "I think this thing has balls!") We spoke with Tewz about making a friend cry, his pal Sucklord, and how Work of Art was a little like jail.

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Andrew Eccles/Bravo

Ugo goes bye-bye

Last week on the season premiere of the BRAVO reality show Work of Art, the first contestant eliminated was Ugo Nonis, a tall, dark, and handsome Frenchman whose thick-lined pop-art squiggles the judges' repeatedly derided as aping Keith Haring. "They say good artists borrow and great artists steal," offered gallery owner Bill Powers. "This feels like something borrowed." Tonight, the second episode airs at 9pm, and stars Voice cover subjects Sucklord and Michelle Matson.

We spoke to Ugo about what it was like to be the first man eliminated, the Keith Haring comparisons, and his roommate Sucklord.

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Last week, we had the opportunity discuss our Voice feature story "The White Mayor's Burden" on Brian Vines's BCAT show Intersect. Vines invited us to join Dr. Noel Anderson of Brooklyn College to talk about Mayor Bloomberg's Young Men's initiative.

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We've long wondered about the dapper gentlemen we always see on our way to and from Voice Headquarters, standing outside the gentrified hotels of the Bowery. What must they think? What must they see? We took to the streets to ask a few questions of the bellmen of the Cooper Square Hotel and the Bowery Hotel. Due to some job security related issues, they decided to keep it anonymous.

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via Wikipedia

According to a new book of interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy, the former First Lady said that her husband openly doubted Lyndon Johnson's ability to be president. The interviews, which were conducted by historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in the year following JFK's assassination, revealed "her husband even discussed ways to prevent Johnson from winning the Democratic nomination in a future contest."

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Courtesy of SPiN NYC

When we saw reports of Susan Sarandon hanging out at the opening of the High Line roller skating rink this summer, we immediately wanted to do two things. First, we wanted to go check out the rink -- which we did (hey, celebrity endorsements work!). The second? Chat with the 64-year-old Sarandon, a Chelsea resident who prefers downtown to uptown, and is an outspoken devotee of the city. So, how did the High Line relationship happen?

"I just loved when they approached me about supporting the High Line," she told us by phone last week, in a conversation ranging from her Jackson Heights childhood to cycling in the city and parks, ping-pong, and her dogs. "I love finding ways to use things that have been around for a while. Maybe that's something you develop as you get older and you yourself want to keep being used."

That's not something we think Sarandon has to worry about. Highlights from our chat, after the jump.

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In a hilarious turn of events, journalism website OMGICU has located the woman who took the video of Ryan Gosling busting crimes on the streets of New York City, or someone who very much resembles Ryan Gosling, and interviewed her! In fact, it was Ryan Gosling, in so much as this woman, Valerie, is to be believed, and we'll largely believe her, because we would like this story to be true. Of interest: She did not even know who Ryan Gosling was, until it was pointed out by her wife that this was the fellow from The Notebook. Watch her interview here! (She comes on at 2:45.)

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