I just met Dr. Koan Jeff Baysa at a place called Bubby’s in Tribeca,
where I was having a beer. Bubby’s is an excellent place, by the way.
See www.bubbys.com. He agreed to be New
Yorker of the Month, but needed to leave right away, because corporate taxes
are due. I downed my beer quickly and then we were both off. First stop: Koan’s
friend’s gorgeous shop, called Tama at 5 Harrison St., where Koan needs
to use the fax machine to send some documents off.
AskaNewYorker: So, Koan, what do you do?
Koan: I do curatorial work and medical work. I basically tell people I have
a medical and curatorial practice that run concurrently. The two offices are
next to each other in Tribeca. One is Tama, which is an exhibition space/gallery
for furniture and art work, and next door is the office for my medical practice,
where I do hypersensitivity disorder assessments, including skin and lung allergies.
AskaNewYorker: Tell us more about Tama.
Koan: Tama was featured recently in Architectural Digest as a specialist in
Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino furniture. Very high-end. Recently there was
an exhibition here called Winter Light, which was very successful. We sold most
of the works. Three of the four artists I worked with before in the curatorial
sense, Lisa Kim, who put together the Larry Gagosian Gallery (www.gagosian.com)
in Chelsea (currently displaying the work of Damien Hirst www.damienhirst.com,
it’s worth checking out), did the bamboo veneer lamps.
AskaNewYorker: Where do you live?
Koan: I live across the water in Williamsburg, the new art ghetto. It’s
the home of about 40 galleries and 40,000 (I was told) artists. Emerging artists
and mid-career artists.
AskaNewYorker: What’s your favorite gallery in the city?
Koan: That’s like choosing your favorite child! So I really can’t
comment. Except for the fact that I can tell you that I worked with certain
galleries more than others. Those would be Tama here on Harrison Street and
the Lab Gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel (www.rogersmith.com),
which is in midtown under Grand Central Station.
AskaNewYorker: What color is your toothbrush?
Koan: (with a laugh) Multi-colored, actually. It’s clear blue and white.
What is this, like a Papa Doyle question from the French Connection? “Do
you smell your feet in Poughkeepsie?” or something like that? He used
to throw people off when he was interviewing them by throwing them a question
that came totally out of the blue.
AskaNewYorker: No, we don’t do that here at AskaNewYorker, we really
want to know! So, do you have any pets?
Koan: No, but I have the memory of a great pet I had in New Mexico. A commodore,
a very unusual Hungarian dog that people don’t know so much about. Kind
of looks like a flying mop. It was on the cover of the Beck album “Odelay”.
That amorphous shape on the CD is actually a dog called a commodore.
AskaNewYorker: What was this commodore’s name?
Koan: I named her after my favorite town in Hawaii. Her name was Nalo, short
for Waimanalo.
AskaNewYorker: I lived in Hawaii for 9 years. What’s your connection
to the Aloha state?
Koan: Born and raised in Hawaii. It’s probably one of the most beautiful
places in the world, and I’ll probably retire there and be buried there,
too.
AskaNewYorker: Cremated?
Koan: Actually, yes. A water burial. Somewhere off the east coast of Oahu in
the churning, blue, foaming white water.
AskaNewYorker: Any notable Hawaiian food in NYC?
Koan: I’d have to say L & L Hawaiian Barbeque at 64 Fulton Street.
Give them a plug. One of the owners is Filipino.
AskaNewYorker: Two scoops of rice?
Koan: and macaroni on the side!
AskaNewYorker: For those who don’t know, those are the standard sides
for a plate lunch in Hawaii. Koan, what do you think of graffiti as an art form?
Koan: I think it is an art form in itself. I think that it has been receiving
massive exposure, maybe too much, because I think now people are starting to
mimic the work and I think when mimicking comes in, the art dies.
AskaNewYorker: Where are you going now?
Koan: We’ll head next door. Actually, this is the medical office where
I share a practice with Femme health gynecologist Dr. Donna Bell. She has an
interesting history. She was an OBGYN at Riker’s Island for the women
out there. She has published a fabulous book which is called Guerilla Gynecology,
which you can see right here on the counter!
AskaNewYorker: A curator/allergist. Very cool. What allergies do New Yorkers
have to watch out for?
Koan: Respiratory, probably nasal and ocular pulmonary allergies are the most
common.
AskaNewYorker: So, spring must be really busy for you.
Koan: (laughs) I’m a consultant. So, most primary care physicians are
very capable of handling ordinary asthma and other allergic diseases. I usually
see those that are complicated by infections or those who are victims of poly-pharmacy
over-treatment, or treatment with multiple medications. Let me show you downstairs.
Here’s an OBGYN exam table complete with stirrups. It reclines fully,
it’s all electronic and hydraulic.
AskaNewYorker: Normally, I just see bad art in a doctor’s office. It
is refreshing to see work of substance in a doctor’s office. I love the
art you’ve got in this exam room. One last question: Were Christo’s
Gates orange or saffron?
Koan: I think it depended on the time of day you saw them. Actually, I heard
them say that they were decidedly NOT saffron.
AskaNewYorker: What does “Gestalt” mean?
Koan: It means an overall feeling, a general overview.
AskaNewYorker: Well, the “Gestalt” of this interview is thumbs
up! Thanks, Dr. Jeff Koan Baysa, for sharing!
