The Painter Freak
Tabboo!
Artist, 65; East Village, Manhattan
Origin story: “Back in the early ’60s, being left-handed was not a thing, and they would try to correct it: They would hit your hand with a ruler at school. You’d realize that almost everything is made for right-handed people. Being left-handed or being an artist or being gay — just learning how to navigate the world from a different point of view and still succeeding takes a certain kind of effort.”
Glory days: “New York in the early ’80s was like a bombed-out city. It was fun. I moved into the East Village, not even knowing what that was, and it was filled with artists and bohemians and actors and musicians. Nowadays a lot of people come in, go to N.Y.U. for four years and then leave. In my day, downtown was a small world. People died [from complications] of AIDS or drug addiction or couldn’t afford the city, but everyone that stayed stayed. Now ‘downtown’ doesn’t even mean anything. Most artists and gay people are way out in Bushwick or something.”
Domicile: “When I moved here in 1982, for $300 you could get a huge apartment with a big studio, a big living room, plus a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. I’ve had some kids come in and say, ‘I want to live like this when I grow up, Daddy! Can I live like this?’ That’s why I’ve stayed, with all the bright light.”
The Beauty Freak
Sonny Molina
Hairstylist, 29; Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Origin story: “Growing up in Austin, Texas, as a pastor’s kid, I was always a freethinker. I’d try to find the loopholes that made sense for me to exist within the ministry or within my own family.”
Style philosophy: “I went into this store in SoHo the other day, and the girl was like, ‘Oh, how did you distress your denim?’ I was like, ‘Girl, I don’t have money to buy new clothes, so I make being broke my style.’ I spend money on hair, and that doesn’t leave me with a lot, so my wardrobe is vintage. It falls apart and I just keep wearing it.”