April 13th, 2010
Just Kids in New York
It’s perhaps a little unreasonable to think of Patti Smith as a pop iconoclast, but that’s a title that often follows her wherever she goes. Better titles might be along the lines that recognize her contributions to straight-up rock and roll, and punk, as well as the logical heiress to the legacy of the symbolist poets that inform so much of her work and world-view. Whatever she might be, she is also part of the fabric of New York City.
Even though she’s from Detroit, and returned there famously, in what struck many as a sudden retreat from catching a very hot rising star, her imprints are all over the urban landscape. This comes very clear, and painted in poignant and elegant ways, with the release of her new book, Just Kids . It’s an event that’s caught the attention of many rock and roll historiographers, not to mention the likes of the New York Public Library.
The writings here remind the world of her early days in the city, when she lived at the Chelsea with Robert Mapplethorpe , when the rent was cheap, and bohemia was waiting for its next reinvention. The two of them reinvented it boldly, madly, and deeply, inflecting it with their own inner visions that fluctuated between turmoil and ecstasy. She was striking then, as much as now, causing an aging Salvador Dali to remark that she looked like a crow, another label that stuck.
Labels do follow her, but she somehow manages to throw them all off with an unusual grace and introversion, suggesting that the soul of a poet never gets older, and never burns out. Her early years here with the controversial and brilliant photographer remind that even the most audacious artists have insecurities, and moments when falling seems immanent. Those visiting the city, seeing it from New York luxury hotels , can still find traces of the younger Patti Smith here. In part, this is because the story is still unfolding, and the footprints are as fresh as they ever were.
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