From “Inside an Artist's NYC Loft Since 1972” by Joshua Charow
Ben Schonzeit's NYC Loft: Art, Eye Patch and Memory
Since 1972, one loft, one life in art.
Key points
- Ben Schonzeit moved into his New York loft in 1972 paying $270 a month including heat, and rent stabilisation still keeps it affordable despite later increases. 0:00
- He lost an eye at age five when an ice pick he was carving with went into it, and he says that injury shaped his early drawing and made him introverted. 5:09
- He left architecture after a year at Cooper Union because he felt it required being a responsible businessman, and switched to painting. 1:45
- He is drawn to surrealism because it tells no specific story, leaving the viewer to bring their own, and he finds it easier than painting in a Da Vinci manner, which never interested him. 6:42
- He argues that when something happens to you you cannot ignore it, and his work shows this: he painted only in black and white after his parents died, and colour gradually returned. 7:10
In order
- 1. Loft since 1972 — Schonzeit recalls moving into the loft in 1972 for $270 a month and his plans to be here at 84. 0:00
- 2. Brooklyn and Cooper Union — He introduces his Brooklyn childhood, the big painting with the tie, and his brief architecture studies under Ed Barnes at Cooper Union. 0:33
- 3. Soho then and now — He contrasts the working Soho of his youth with today's street style and recalls Village coffee houses and existentialism. 1:40
- 4. Surrealism and making art — He explains his turn from abstraction to surreal painting and how his parents' deaths shifted his palette to black and white. 5:00
- 5. Carving, junk and the loft — He describes carving clay and wood as a student, scavenging Soho materials, and the loft's renovation history and rent. 7:00
- 6. Age, mortality and a good life — He reflects on growing older, health worries and the friends he has lost, ending that it has been a good life. 10:00
The argument, point by point
- He has lived and worked in the same loft since 1972 and expects to stay. 0:00
- Losing his parents made him paint in black and white for a time. 7:28
- A childhood accident cost him an eye and shaped his introverted, drawn-to-art character. 11:39
- He sees being an adult and mortality as his greatest challenges. 11:53
Things in the studio
- Wall clock in studio — A large round wall clock hangs between the tall studio windows above the work tables.
- Paint tube drawer — An open black flat-file drawer is packed with tubes of paint, sorted by colour.