PRESENTING OUR DISTINGUISHED JURORS:

BENJAMINphoto credit: Sam Bassett

MICHAEL BENJAMIN is an artist living in Fort Greene with his wife and two boys. He studied at both Pratt and Cooper Union and installs Sol LeWitt wall drawings. In the warmer months, Michael can occasionally be seen drawing portraits in the parks of NYC. The current length of his 8 year mustache is 13 inches tip to tip. His paintings may be seen at http://www.emichaelbenjamin.com

 

  

BENJAMIN

AGNES BERECZ, PhD is a New York-based art historian and critic. She teaches art history at the Department of Graduate Studies of The Fashion Institute of Technology and at The Museum of Modern Art. Though she does not have a moustache she aspires to be one.

 

 

  

BENJAMIN

For years, one of DON CARROLL's curatorial obsessions has been moustache art. He sees it all in one room, packed from floor to ceiling—all kinds, from every era of history, rendered and interpreted in all sorts of ways. For the viewer to walk into the gallery and be confronted by it all, now that! would be something. Though not himself an artist in the medium of facial hair, Carroll—an art and fashion writer for Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale's and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others, the founding editor of Artlies magazine and the owner and curator of Jack the Pelican Presents since 2002—is an aficionado of vintage and contemporary man chic and an avid fan of man's grandest form of expression. (And he's always on the lookout...) Visit www.JackthePelicanPresents.com

 

  
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JANET GINSBURG is a writer and producer whose work has appeared in the Onion and on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She is a co-author of several hilarious books about animals (The Dangerous Book for Dogs, The Devious Book for Cats, both from Villard/Random House) and in October 2009, she will be the co-author of a hilarious book about vampires (The New Vampire's Handbook, also from Villard). She once had a friend who carried a fake moustache in her purse at all times. When Janet tried it on, she was humbled by how much she looked like the rhythm guitarist in an Allman Brothers cover band. You can see what she was up to in 2005 by visiting her rarely updated website, www.janetginsburg.com.

 

  
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Master barber with the New York Shaving Company, MICHAEL W. HAAR's most memorable moustache experience occurred one morning, as his father, a mustache man from the time he was 20 years old, shaved it off before picking 9-year-old Michael up from school. He flipped out. Unable to recognize, nor believe this was his father, Michael was traumatized. His father grew back the mustache with vengeance, yet to shave it off. Michael believes, to honor men of a bygone era, everyone should grow a moustache. If not for that, it does make shaving a bit quicker.

"A stunning moustache has well balanced handlebars. Without handlebars it isn't stunning. A clean center split under the nose without scraggly hairs popping out keeps it full. Avoid the hard to the touch, overly waxed look, and being unable to eat food without chewing on hair. 5 out of 5 is quite difficult. Everyone should grow a moustache to honor the men of a bygone era. If not for that....it does make shaving a bit quicker. "

 

  

CHARLES LEGENDY had a clean-shaven face until he was in his thirties. Then he went to a costume-ball, dressed up as some sort of a pirate, and painted himself a mustache with charcoal. After the ball, all the girls he knew were unanimous in criticizing him for washing off the charcoal. That did it. He has been wearing the mustache ever since. Other than that, he's a retired scientist; his book, "Circuits in the Brain," is due to come out in March.


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JUSTIN ROCKET SILVERMAN is a features writer for the New York Post who, while reporting a story about the power of the mustache, discovered that sometimes the man wears the mustache, while other times the mustache wears the man. Justin's own 'stach, alas, fell into that second category.

 

  
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DIONNE THORNTON (Awards MC) is a rather precarious contradiction, if to no one other than herself. Forced into the spotlight by her unavoidable six-foot tall, voluptuous frame, she quickly learned how to keep her teeth white and cast a ridiculously long shadow. When she’s not whoring herself for the arts as a professional ass-kisser and schmoozer she can be found in the shadowy corner of a Ft. Greene bar savoring a bottle of red—preferably Pinot, Syrah, or Rioja—and trying her best to avoid people.