I’m really enjoying reading Alec soths blog and his latest entry Painting photography has a great video link of a Robert Bechtle movie which shows him creating a painting from a photograph. The video was from a Christian Patterson post which led Soth to comment and me to post here and who knows where it’ll all end up?
has anyone read Gerhard Richter’s “The Daily Practice of Painting†?
At the nth hour, we made it to Haven Arts Gallery in the South Bronx to see Penetrating Empathy, a group exhibition curated by Inwood artist Diana Schmertz. The pieces in this show, which hinged upon a philosophical discourse of human empathy and the deobjectification of the (female) body, were brought together with the intention of inciting intellectual dialog on the nature of pornography, eroticism, stereotypes, sexuality, physicality, and compassion — in a nutshell: what roles our bodies play in how we respond to ourselves and others; our humanity vs. media marketing. The visual dialog was well supported by the elegant, printed first issue of “Perfect Eight” magazine (much of the content now on-line) and the gallery’s “Food for Thought” event, a regularly scheduled event inviting people to visit the gallery (and bring a dish) for some food and lively discussion of the current exhibition.
What is heartening about the arts scene in the Bronx is the sense of mutual support and cooperation amongst the handful of venues that have taken hold in the area. You can hop on and off The Bronx Cultural Trolley (info: www.bronxarts.org) and see several of the areas attractions, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts (now headed by Holly Block), Longwood Art Gallery (founded and directed in the 80s by Fred Wilson), and Ironworks Gallery, as well as Haven Arts Gallery. The next Trolley ride through the ‘hood is slated for December 6th, just in time to catch Haven Arts next show Longwood Arts Projects: Then and Now, a tribute honoring neighboring Longwood’s 25th anniversary, curated by local mover, shaker, and idea-man Barry Kostrinsky. Also new at Haven Arts are weekly life drawing sessions. Call the gallery at 718-585-5753 or e-mail info@havenarts.org for more information.
[Image above: Diana Schmertz “Spoon Loving”, acrylic on canvas, 4′ x 6′, 2006, ©2006 Diana Schmertz All Rights Reserved)
from Now:Here:This contributors Olga & Alexander Florensky (Wendy promises a translation shortly):
I’ve been watching Ric Burns’ 1999 PBS documentary series on the history of New York. The history of the city is filled with shocking twists and complementary moments of horrific greed and triumphs of humanity.
I was struck by an art-related quote during the discussion of the moment at the end of the 19th century when the society of New York reached a point of luxury at which it turned its attention to bringing something greater to all the people of the city–the moment where individual interests were superceded by civilization. At that point the money that flowed into Wall Street and created individuals of incomparable wealth funded Carnegie Hall, St. John the Divine, the Museum of Natural History, the New York Public Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The quote is from corporate lawyer and Met trustee Joseph C. Choate in 1880:
“[O]urs is the higher ambition to convert your useless gold into things of living beauty that shall be a joy to a whole people for a thousand years.”
Image: Flowers in a Chinese Vase, ca. 1906
Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916)
Oil on canvas; 28 5/8 x 21 1/4 in. (72.7 x 54 cm)
Bequest of Mabel Choate, in memory of her father, Joseph Hodges Choate, 1958
Art News reports that Klaus Biesenbach, head curator at P.S. 1 will be heading MoMA’s new Department of Media. The department will begin making acquisitions this winter, so get your CD’s ready, you new media artists.
I’ve been wondering about the experience of media in the gallery setting for months now; thinking about new delivery methods where pieces can get more than just a cursory viewing that the white box affords. Hopefully the curatorial staff at the new department will get to address that issue as well as showing us some work that’s been falling through the cracks between the other museum departments.
Ceramics Alone: Vessels, pendants, raku, porcelain, etc.
Threshold Pay What You Wish Sale* & Mini-Gallery (* Threshold tables: above $5, above $10, etc.)
Risa Hirsch Ehrlich, Hudson View Gardens, Manhattan
Contact for directions: 212-740-2136 / www.risaclayart.com / hirschehr@aol.com
Thursday, Dec. 7, 5- 8 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 8, 4 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 9, 9:30 - 5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 10, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Or by appointment
I’ve had lots of conversations with James Huckenpahler in which the words ‘create programming that make art’ occur. It’s no small coincidence that one of James’s heroes, Brian Eno, has been thinking along the same lines.
Art News reports in the December issue about Eno’s project “77 Million Paintings,” built out of the abstract images Eno’s been drawing for the past 18 years. The 300 images overlap in kaleidoscope fashion to create permutations for which, according to Eno, not even the creator can predict the result. He likens the work to a ’seed’ rather than a defined, finished thing.
This work is an obvious parallel with music that Eno has been producing since the ambient “Music for Airports,” and he says as much in interviews about this project. And like the groundbreaking soundscapes, this visual project not only creates the art but envisions the experience of it. Eno reports that the release of the “77 Million Paintings” now is made possible by the current trend in TV and computer technology. He envisions this project as the answer to the question, ‘what do you do with that big, cinema display screen when you’re not watching movies.’ The morphing format of the image is made possible by speedy processors that allow the work to be truly generative, via programming, rather than a recorded show, like a DVD slide show.
via Marketwire, the “77 Million Paintings” package, which is published by All Saints/Hannibal/Ryko, features an exclusive interview DVD, limited-edition deluxe numbered packaging that includes a 52-page hard-bound book with an extensive essay by Eno covering his career as a visual artist, fully illustrated with previously unseen images and a generative software disc playable on Mac or PC.
You can get the flavor, a description from Eno, and watch the “painting” at Rykodisc’s site. The package sells for under $40, but be sure you have a DVD player or computer that’s compatible.
image: one of 77 million permutations of Brian Eno’s “77 Million Paintings.”
Please go to www.PelhamArtCenter.org and download the form for the Alexander Rutsch
Memorial Award in Painting.
Winner receives $5000 and a solo exhibition at the Pelham Art Center in Pelham, NY.
Entry Deadline: February 2, 2007. Entry Fee $25.
SUNDAY 12/3 @ 3:30pm
Cornerstone Chorale’s Winter Concert.
We have a really special program planned. I know, I always say that, but it’s true! This season the Chorale has prepared a repertoire of mostly secular music. Rather than doing one long centerpiece like a mass or requiem, we are doing a number of short pieces many on the themes of music, singing and love. Most of the pieces are in English. The program includes traditional music, gospel, a Quaker hymn, madrigals, contemporary settings, and more; lyrics include the poetry of Frost, Rielke and Whitman. It is a beautiful program of terrific music — joyous and joyful.
The concert is at the Holyrood Church, 179th & Ft. Washington Avenue, this sunday, December 3rd at 3:30 pm. Tickets are $10. A reception follows.
Atencion:: Amigas, Actrices y Activistas
se solicitan para participar en Los Monologos de la Vagina.
m o n o l o g!s.
Primera Reunion y Audicion
Viernes 8 de Diciembre
7:00 PM
Libreria Caliope
170 Dyckman Street
(212) 569-3511
las_tablas@nyc.com
El 8 de marzo del 2007, se presentaran “Los Monologos de la Vagina” en la libreria Caliope con motivo al Dia Internacional de la Mujer. Esta entrega, busca destacar un numero de actrices locales. No se requiere experiencia en actuacion, solo ganas de trabajar en conjunto y un deseo de elevar la voz en contra del silencio.
Usted puede contribuir al projecto de varias formas. Por ejemplo, informando o identificando candidatas de su entorno para el projecto y refiriendo esas valiosas mujeres a nuestra primera reunion.
Tendremos una reunion inicial el viernes 8 de diciembre a las 7:00 pm en la libreria Caliope, ubicada en el 170 de la calle Dyckman. En la reunion, se identificaran las interesadas, se escojeran los monologos para cada participante y se elaborara un programa de ensayos.
WXPN.
Petra Hayden, who recorded an entire Who album (The Who Sell Out) acapella, is doing it live with her group the Sellouts. At 2:00 Eastern on WXPN or you can pick it up later as a podcast.
From the show: “You should see the way I conduct, I look like Jerry Lewis…”
Should be fun.
As an editor, artist, and person in a United States that is giving so little respect to its Constitution, I am thankful for and apprehensive about the future of this guarantee:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
- The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Nina Katchadourian, who has brought bird language to car alarms (with her Nature’s Car Alarms), human language to spider webs (in her “Unintended Collaborations with Nature”) and morse code to popcorn machines (through her “Talking Popcorn” project) gives hope for a voice to anyone who has ever felt anonymously locked away in an office building. Nina’s latest public art project pairs a tourist telescope with an office window to give a voice to the endless, inhuman, office landscape.
She’s so clever 
Read the review in the NY Times.
I like that Edward Winkleman’s blog is at times an unabashedly political blog from an art writer and at others an art blog from someone with strong political views. But we try to keep the Artists Unite site at least tangentially connected to art at all times. I am saying this, because I’m going to use some very old and probably very unlikely cinematic art as the art connection to the current political situation.
Wendy and I just spent a long weekend at a friend’s cabin in the woods, where the video (yes, video) collection hasn’t changed in quite a while. With the limited available choice, we got a jump on the season-that-gets-earlier-each-year and watched “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Frank Capra’s tale of the importance of every person’s contribution to the lives of those around him or her.
As I watched the film, I was reminded of the “values” argument that runs so popular in the media and allegedly in the conservative quarters of the U.S. It struck me that the “family values” embodied by the Bailey family–first George’s parents’ family, then his own, are what conservatives, neocons and other non-liberals are after. A kinder, gentler, purer, America; a return to the kind of America we used to know and love before “free love,” “free sex,” and “equal opportunity” a.k.a. integration changed it into a non-homogenous union of willing co-habitators under a pretty good constitution. I’d bet W. watches the flick at Xmas time, wouldn’t you? How interesting, though to look at what’s going on here (and in most of Capra’s films). The American hero: the everyman, the straight-shooter, the regular guy, is basically the communist in this film, creating a social pool of capital at virtually no profit to help the citizens buy homes, and in opposition to the corporate icon, Potter, who, left to his own devices, turns the town into a den of commercial shit (when George gets his “wish” that he was never born).
Capra, a Sicilian-born immigrant American, was certainly no stranger to political corruption. It is interesting that as an American artist he tooks such bold blows at the U.S. elite’s ideals. Self-proclaimed subjective British film biographer David Thompson says in his delightful reference, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film (2002),
In America, I “discovered” the uneasy depths of It’s a Wonderful Life. I had seen the film in England, but I had not grasped it and it had not gripped me. But, in America…[it brought good cheer without letting us forget a vision of dread]… happiness here was pursued by the hounds of living hell; the American dream was so close to the nightmare. The film that failed in 1947 had become a token of uplifting fellowship, yet it was a film noir full of regret, self-pity, and the temptation of suicide…
I am thrilled at the U.S. mid-term election results, but I wish that every member of Congress would take a couple hours to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” for a little inspiration in what it means to be an everyman in America; and who the typical citizens are and how extremely basic are the needs they struggle to meet. (I am reminded of Bush senior’s trip to a grocery store when he marvelled at the check-out counter’s use of scanners–clearly demonstrating that he’d never had to shop for groceries in his life).
image: Potter (John Barrymore), “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Following up on an earlier post where I opine that photo-realism tends to be a big snooze, here are two examples where bigger than life and realer than real are about more than bland replication: Ron Mueck, now at the Brooklyn Museum, and Jenny Saville. Although both artists’ work is lifelike, neither would be categorized as photo-realism.
This just to clarify that I recognize there’s still plenty of interesting work going on out there involving the figure, and realism/naturalism. It’s mostly photo-realism that furrows my brow.
If you are participating in this episode of Now:Here:This, please submit your work by Saturday night November 18 (you get an extra day this time). See the project page on our site for details.
21 November 2006 - 27 January 2007
“In The Sky”, an installation by Leesa and Nicole Abahuni,
The Abahunis, identical twins, will create an aural, visual, and tactile environment in order to orchestrate an experience which investigates synesthesia, the stimulation of one sense modality through another sense modality, and questions the ways in which we perceive our senses to exist. The medium is installation; and the materials are intriguing:
60,000 feet of ball chain *
12,000 strands *
2000 square feet of net *
1500 boxes of paper clips *
video
sound
music
15 installers and volunteers
gallons of coffee *
tons of talent and patience
immeasurable creativity* numbers approximate
Watch the installation happen here.
Wednesday November 29th, 6-8pm
Reception and special performance of a musical composition created for this work by Elliott Sharp and performed by 4 percussionists.
In The Sky was conceived by Leesa and Nicole Abahuni in their Location One studio while participating in Location One’s International Residency Program with support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts and assistance from Harvestworks
for more information go to http://location1.org/artists/inthesky.html
Here’s a fun thing! Harry Ettling’s New Orleans R&B band The Hoodudes will be playing a concert this Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at a great performance space, the Inwood YM-YWHA
The band is:
Ed Alstrom, keys and vocals,
Steve Alcott, bass and vocals,
Grisha Alexiev, drums and vocals, and
Moi (Harry), guitar, vocals and penny whistle.
These mugs rock–for real–so you owe it to yourself to make it out for this one. Take the 1 & 9 to 190th St., and boogaloo up Broadway to Nagle Ave., or take the A to Dyckman and boogie down. Either way, when you get to Nagle, the Y is in the first block on your left.Â
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
p.s. Afterwards, swing by The Lounge at Hudson View Gardens for a great art exhibit in another great space
