On September 23, 2026, the 15th edition of Spring Break Art Show will open its doors to the public at 555 W. 57th St., NY, NY, with this year’s concept: “HIDE N SEEK”. According to the organizers of this year’s fair, the theme of “HIDE N SEEK” “desires artworks predicated on code, seeming malfeasance in the face of American imperialism, reference to the symbologic language of the artists popular during the rise of the Holy See… To process-based works, Art of materialist mysticism, master-classes on process as well…And also for works in the intimate, impressionistic, personal, small — our SEEK a thing of action; or HIDE a thing of gestation and recuperation and dream.”
One featured booth exploring this year’s Spring Break Art Show theme is Nick C. Kirk’s “Shelf Life”.
Developed over the last five years, “Shelf Life” opens the door to Nick’s vision of childhood nostalgia: painted works of action figures and video games on assembled wood panels, along with a fabricated sculpture of a hatchback window with hand-painted stickers that embrace 80s skateboard culture. From GI Joes and Star Wars figures to old-school Nintendo games, all painted in an impressionistic style to act as a memory (both Romantic and fuzzy) of opening these retro collectibles from the package, Nick’s paintings of toys and video games aim to bend the concept of collecting fine art through the channels of everyone’s inner child. With “Shelf Life,” Nick hopes that the viewer “remember these items, seeing them from stacked in the towering, mesmerizing aisles of a toy store to the joy of bringing them home and ripping the packages to play with.”
–Introduction by Dan Alvarado
You can visit Nick’s booth, B23, at Spring Break Art Show, from September 23rd – September 28th at 555 W. 57th St., 9th floor, New York, NY.
Curatorial statement by Raul Barquet:
Nick C. Kirk’s installation Shelf Life scrounges the artist’s memory for imagery and experiences of play lingering since his formative years. Upon a backdrop of simulated pegboard walls, the artist has hung to-scale paintings of toys he owned or coveted during his childhood in the 1980s. These impressionistic paintings are hazy and obscured much like the memories of our youths.
The pegboard motif, symbolizing the origin of these objects of play, has been repeated on a series of artist-made plinths and crates serving as the pedestals upon which these toys are placed. Collector culture focusing on mint-in-box toys as investment items as opposed to the innocent chaos of childhood draws interesting parallels to the motivations of various parties operating within the contemporary art market.
Artist statement by Nick C. Kirk:
Action figures, video games, and stickers are some of the things that have made me smile throughout my life. There’s nothing like standing in front of a toy store aisle filled with your favorite toy; it’s mesmerizing! For some, that feeling fades over time as we grow older. I paint the toys in a more romantic, impressionistic style to portray that fuzzy memory. Scale and color are important to have that immediate recollection. The pegboard pattern is an easily recognizable reference to the toy store. I have always been a builder and enjoy working with my hands, so making this series more of an assemblage makes me quite happy. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy drawing and painting, but sculpture and building really make sense to me. I blend the flat with dimensional elements while sprinkling in a touch of Trompe l’œil. There’s always something nice about textures and craftsmanship choices that make you look twice or think about it. ‘Oh, that’s not actually pegboard’. I blend the playful with the nostalgic in a dimensionally flat type of experience. This selection of work in “Shelf Life” references toys I personally played with and enjoyed: GI Joe, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Nintendo games, etc.
Nick C. Kirk is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in New York City and Fort Worth, Texas. He is a graduate of TCU and the New York Academy of Art. His work explores the interplay between nostalgia, pop culture, and commodification through narratives of personal memory.
Raul Barquet is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary artist, independent curator, and filmmaker from Staten Island, NY. His artwork has been featured on the cover of FONT Arts & Literature Magazine, on New York 1 Television, on the murals of the 100 Gates Project, the Centrefuge Public Arts Project, and BKLYN House, and is included in collections across the globe. Barquet completed his first film “Flint. For Those Who Dare…” in 2023.
Dan Alvarado (b. 1985, Middletown, NJ) is a Brooklyn-based artist who works with drawing, screen prainting, and painting as his primary mediums of choice. Dan earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at James Madison University in 2008. He has exhibited his work as solo exhibitions at Con Artist Collective (NY) and The New Gallery (Calgary, AB, Canada), as well as being featured in group exhibitions at Culture Lab (NYC) , SoHo Photo Gallery (NYC), and Parlor Gallery (NJ, formerly Cry Baby Art Gallery). Some Other notable exhibitions Dan has been selected in include: Untitled Art Space (NYC), Creative Debuts (London), A.I.R. Gallery (NYC), Sacred Gallery (NYC), City Without Walls (Newark), Pyramid Atlantic Print Center (Silver Spring, MD), and K-Space Contemporary (Corpus Christi, Texas). Dan has also expanded his art career by curating art shows within New York City, including “Trumpocalypse: What Now?” (Sacred Gallery), “BOROUGH5” (Black Diamond Gallery), and “Watershed” (Carrie Able Gallery).
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