Parlor interviews collector Andrew Livingston.
Parlor: Tell us about the artwork you chose from Parlor for the store, Rally High by Ricardo Gonzalez. Why did you choose it?
Andrew Livingston: We’re on a corner-facing street, and I just knew I wanted to find something that would draw people in. With this piece, you can see the subject matter from really far away. The shop’s not even open yet, and we’ve already had people knocking on the window asking about it.
I feel like it has the same erratic energy of Canal Street, you know. The color palette fit perfectly. And then when I learned Ricardo was New York-based, it just all worked out. I actually got to meet Ricardo in his studio. He was just super sweet and non-pretentious, one of the most humble people I've met in this world of art and culture and fashion. I was looking through his sketchbook, and he has all these little drawings in there.
I learned he did this piece and a few others like it as part of a series, and it was pretty funny because his reasons for creating the piece were my same reasons for wanting it: He created these large subjects, basically blowing up some of the quick shapes and caricatures he had in his sketchbook, so they would be very recognizable from afar. I was drawn to that bold statement, but also just the organic nature in which it was made. It feels fluid and off-the-cuff—like just trusting yourself and putting it on the canvas.
**Excerpt from a longer interview.**
Image: Founder Andrew Livingston in front of Rally High by Ricardo Gonzalez at the Knickerbocker flagship. Photo: Mark Rosen.