Firestone’s First at Montauk's Surf Lodge Yields Ticket

Montauk's Surf Lodge got into hot water with the Town of East Hampton at the start of Memorial Day weekend thanks to a colorful mural.

The Eric Firestone Gallery’s first show at the Surf Lodge displays work by Jen Stark, with a painted mural on the side of the building and a paper sculpture installation in the small gallery space just off the hotel lobby. (Mr. Firestone is profiled in this week's Star.)

On Friday, the town's code enforcement department slapped the Surf Lodge with a court summons for failure to obtain architectural review board approval for the mural. Julien Bizalion, the director of operations at the Surf Lodge, received the violation, which is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, according to Betsy Bambrick, the director of code enforcement. Mr. Bizalion has to answer the summons in East Hampton Town Justice Court on June 1. 

Ms. Stark, like Mr. Firestone, grew up in Miami; she now lives in Los Angeles. Her wide bands of Day-Glo color, reminiscent of Peter Max, are adaptations, she said, of her typical mural approach, modified to suit the building’s Fort Pond Bay location. “Usually my drippy style is a lot more detailed, but I wanted you to be able to see it while driving by,” she explained.

As of last Thursday it was still a work in progress, even having worked a number of 10-hour days, with a group of assistants, to complete it. The artist was happy to report, though, that it was visible earlier in the week from a restaurant across the lake where she and Mr. Firestone had had dinner.

She has shown with him previously at the UNTITLED fair during Art Basel week in Miami, as well as in some group shows in the gallery. The future may bring a solo show in the New York City space.