THE NEW VULGARIANS

In a 1962 essay, art critic Max Kozloff referred disparagingly to Warhol, Lichtenstein, and other pop artists who had infiltrated the once-staid New York art world as The New Vulgarians, jokey “delinquents” who were bringing a low brow aesthetic to the rarified world of fine art. History was kinder to these artists, and today their influence transcends cultural and artistic boundaries. At this moment, downtown has its own New Vulgarians, beautiful people who have both a sense of play and highly articulated taste, an understanding of history and an eye toward the future. Content to look lush and lavish, they live loosely, impatiently. Theirs is a neon life. They are the new now, The New Vulgarians.