Today, as I was walking through Manhattan I heard a yell behind me, in a clear, spoken, beautiful New York accent, the man was yelling

“THIEF, FUCKING THIEF, THE GUY IS A THIEF”

I turn around and I wonder what the commotion is, and I see a tall bald gentleman running through the streets. I face forward to tackle him alongside some others, and we do so. He was in fact, much taller than me but not so muscular, so it was not actually hard. We seize him and now there is a whole crowd, but because we are a respectable civilized society he is not punched yet. We form a tight circle pinning him down while separating him from the people.

I go through his pockets.. Iran.. Iran? I never met someone from Iran, I think they speak a little Arabic or French over there, I see a college ID - means another student immigrant, probably art or something because somehow Bard sounds artsy, I see his passport and card, I check his wallet and I find it to be of modest funds. I try to communicate with him, but the only French or Arabic I know are insults, and why would I insult him? I speak English and he gets me, he swears on his life, his father, and his fathers fathers that he did not steal anything, he was just curious about the Gold store and went in to check it out, which by itself is not a crime.

I check his pockets again, I tell him to open his mouth, make him remove his T-shirt, I see nothing, I tell one of the shop staff that I did not find anything on him, they should call the police and empty their cameras and we will see who’s who, but to treat that man with a little respect, he is already seized.

I ask him is there anything I can do for him?

“Do you have any free cardboard?” he replied.

What is the morale of the story? I am not sure, but perhaps one must not give way to one’s basic instincts for no reason, or call Hadi if you have free cardboard I guess.

Passerby, Summer 2014

Meyer Riegger is pleased to announce “Basic Instincts” , a new exhibition by Iranian American artist Hadi Falapishi. The exhibition presents a new body of work centered on large-scale paintings made from found cardboard, alongside a more intimate group of highly rendered oil paintings. Together, these works explore processes of transformation, contradiction, and the instability of images.