(Courtesy of Super 8)
Somehow Amy Sedaris always seems to be around when paintings have to come down off the walls. Remember the Mondrian that Jacqueline was forced to part with in the new season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt? And how Sedaris’s character, spazzy socialite Mimi Kanasis, was taken aback when Kimmy approached her in Jacqueline’s empty apartment: “I thought you were a Jeff Koons sculpture of Ronald McDonald!”
(Courtesy of Super 8)
Well, it’s safe to say there won’t be any Mondrians or Koonses on hand when Super 8 gives away dozens of unwanted artworks from its motels tomorrow, but Sedaris will definitely be there. While the city’s Jacquelines and Mimis are at their pre-Frieze parties deciding whether or not to pay taxes on the polystyrene turds they’re eyeing, you can head over to Openhouse, at the corner of Bowery and Kenmare, and—provided you get there early enough— take home one of the nearly 100 paintings that have hung on the walls of Super 8 motels for as long as 40 years. The chain is giving away the admittedly “not-so-super” art– gathered from everywhere from Texas to Montana– as it continues to give its rooms a more modern makeover.
Why was Amy Sedaris tapped to be the mistress of ceremonies? Well, she has an “enviable knack for appreciating imperfections with humor,” according to Mike Mueller, the Senior VP of Super 8. On that we can agree.
“When the Art Comes Down: Works from the Super 8 Collection,” May 4 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at 198 Bowery, at Kenmare.