Walter Steding (click on Walter's name to see his artwork) was one of the artists in the Club 57 Art Show. I was surprised because I always remembered Walter as a very talented musician in New York in the 80's. He would wildly play his electric violin while wearing special glasses that brightly lit up as he played. Back then, he was somewhat known as the punk violinist. Walter started out in the late seventies as a one-man band, appearing as a favorite opening act at CBGBs for popular bands such as Blondie, The Ramones and Suicide. When Blondie became a number one act, Walter continued his opening as a one-man band, but in arenas and stadiums.
In 1980, Walter formed a group called Walter Steding and the Dragon People. Walter and band appeared in and did some music for the soundtrack of the feature film "Downtown 81". American artist Jean Michel Basquiat played the lead in this film, which explored the downtown New York art and music scene of 1980-81. Walter composed music for the soundtracks of films such as John Water's "Polyester", Eric Mitchell's "Underground U.S.A." and also documentaries like Danny Vinik's "T.V. Party". The film "TV Party" is about a New York cable TV show called... TV Party. It was on TV from 1978 to 1982. Glenn O'Brien was the host, co-hosted by Chris Stein, from Blondie, and directed by filmmaker Amos Poe, the hour long show took television where it had never gone before: to the edge of civility and "sub-realism" as Glenn would put it. Walter Steding and his band was the regular house band and many artists and musicians, from Jean-Michael Basquiat to David Byrne to Arto Lindsay were regular guests.
In the eighties, Walter’s day job was painting assistant to Andy Warhol, who eventually became his manager. Walter released several albums on Red Star and Animal Records, featuring such musicians as Robert Fripp, Television’s Richard Lloyd and Blondie’s Chris Stein. Walter continues to still make music, playing concerts, doing soundtracks for films, and (as I recently discovered through the Club 57 Art Show) is a noted painter whose work is in many important collections. Please click on the highlighted names above to find out further information about them.