Disappointed Tourist
Ellen Harvey

Mars Bar

New York, New York, USA

Closed 2011

The Disappointed Tourist: Mars Bar, Ellen Harvey, 2021. Oil and acrylic on Gessoboard, 18 x 24″ (46 x 61 cm). Photograph: Etienne Frossard.

For Jonas Mekas! Iconic East Village dive bar! It should still be there!  Jé W.  

The Mars Bar was a legendarily gritty dive bar in the East Village, owned by Hank Penza. It was forced to close in 2011 to make way for a new condo development. The planned month-long goodbye blowout was cut short by a Department of Health shutdown.  The painting is based on an uncredited photograph.

No. 136