Thai Varick Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1941 - d. 2001

The following information was submitted by Tina Denise Varick, daughter of the artist.

Louis Gladding Varick Jr. , known as the artist Thai Varick, was born with the name Louis Gladding Varick Jr. (IV), to Louis Gladding Varick Sr. (III), and Nazarene (Brown) Varick, on 14 July, 1941. As his parent's first surviving child, "Baby Lewy" was the apple of his parent's eye. Louis' younger siblings included: Denis, Nazimova and Anthony.

Louis Varick is a direct descendent (7th or 8th) of an African American historic figure James Varick, the Founder and first Bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church. Separation of humans according to racial categories was the culture of the time.

Varick was a incredibly talented sculptor who used wire as his medium.


Thai Varick's intricately rendered wire sculptures have smitten retailers, seduced gallery owners and thrilled art collectors. The 57-year-old artist effortlessly veins lacy, evocative horses, fish, whales, dinosaurs and unicorns out of tenacious wreaths of steel. Each piece's trademark is an exquisitely sensitive heart, suspended from a single thread. It throbs whenever anyone approaches or departs. One more detail: The artist has a substance abuse problem. "I smoke crack," admits Varick, explaining one of his recent incarcerations. His crack habit has kept him homeless for the past six years, bouncing from shelter to flophouse to friend, with regular stops at the place where only one phone call is allowed. From the thousands of dollars Varick has earned from his art, he has no asset other than his Raleigh bicycle. He is accustomed to hearing his work compared to that of Alexander Calder. "He was my predecessor," Varick intones indifferently. A handsome man with silver sideburns peeking out from his beret, Varick says he has worked a hodgepodge of ordinary jobs, done time for armed robbery, suffered lead poisoning and fathered two children. Varick's lifestyle poses an interesting question for those who cherish and stand to profit from his talent. "It's tragic. At times I feel like I'm supporting a bad habit," laments Danny Koch, who owns the Town Shop, a lingerie store at 81st St. and Broadway. Koch, who stores wire for Varick and fronts him a seemingly endless stream of $20 bills, displays his lacy filigreed pieces above clusters of European panties and bras. "My goal was always to help him as much as I could and get him off the streets," says Koch, who remains hopeful that this might occur. Then again, says Koch, who has dozens of pieces in a private collection, "he's not my child. He's an artist I help out as much as I can.