DAN COLEN & NATE LOWMAN – ‘WET PAIN’ – aka – ‘CLO$ING DOWN $ALE’
MARCH 28 – APRIL 26, 2008
MACCARONE GALLERY in collaboration with PERES PROJECTS Berlin/Los Angeles
MACCARONE GALLERY – 630 GREENWICH ST – WEST VILLAGE – NYC
‘WET PAIN’ = STATIC ELECTRICITY
This is an interesting exhibit in terms of how static it plays out – especially for an exhibit that aspires to be so in flux. Even the title seems to have been changed at some point, the show being called ‘CLO$ING DOWN $ALE’ on the invite/poster & now, ‘WET PAIN’ on the gallery website !!
It was RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA who made the momentarily startling and absolutely correct observation, when happened upon in the show on a recent Saturday – (see previous post) –
that for a ‘slacker’ aspired show of spontaneous & deconstructionist ambiance – actually everything – every element of the show – had a deliberate and controlled placement & final visual effect. even the cardboard boxes supposedly jumbled into the window and the clothes seemingly picked thru and randomly arrayed on the metal clothes racks. This is not a value judgement – nor a critical assessment – its just an interesting and ironic fact. (after all, static can be electric !!) Particularly given the source. though it might have been a critical assessment by Rirkrit – in his mind. It’s compelling to contemplate the paradox: how casual and thrown-together/at-the-moment, in-the-moment, organic – Rirkrit’s installations are – even though they are generally speaking much bigger and more involved productions, such as re-assembling an apartment, or re-creating a Thai Kitchen performance/installation, and actually sheds a more intimate light on Rirkrit’s own work – in that – the element of spontaneous placement & organization – is actually – probably – very much more of a carefully considered (and beautiful element) of the overall design – than one might have formerly realized . . . and, easy to overlook, or under-estimate in the over-all schematic impact.
Its kind of funny to think of the paradox – that Rirkrit’s academic & intellectual or polemic leanings, produce work that seems freely, really – organically – is the best word – evolved structures, rather than deliberately hyper-designed ambiences – and, the seemingly random thrown together casual ‘slacker’ output of ‘WET PAIN’ – especially as defined by the little narrative story, presented as a ‘stage play/theater’ script’ that accompanies the show,
(see: gallery website/PRESS RELEASE/’WET PAIN’)
assembled by DAN COLEN and NATE LOWMAN – has such a careful and static rendering.
In retrospect, that ‘static’ placement constitutes an interesting, invisible torque – to how these 2 artists are trying to make a statement about their particular brand of culture – celebrity tabloids, street smarts, male angst & hard partying – almost in direct opposition to Rirkrit’s ‘cultural’ territory – which tends to be more of a global ‘higher’ ground projection. kind of like The National Enquirer vs. The New York Times !!
‘WET PAIN’S’ static dynamic also helps the exhibit manage a kind of artistic ‘get-over’ – 2 hard partying guys – who just managed by the skin-of-their-teeth to pull off a full fledged exhibit in such a huge & serious exhibition space – while actually interpreting the space in a deviously deliberate, and yet, seemingly raw way. The stark empty spaces between the sparse works is actually very fine tuned. or at least they hoped to hell, you’d think so . . the whole idea being to be ultra stylish and ambitious – while seeming casually at play.
. . . in ‘WET PAIN’ (get it ? – ‘WET PAIN-T’) – DAN COLEN and NATE LOWMAN by playing the creative ‘chaos’ element – low-profile and very contained . . just like dropping that extra ‘T’ – achieve a kind of static ‘electricity’ . . and succeed as this generation’s ULTIMATE ‘POSERS’.
this is an archival RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA installation shot – ‘untitled (Demonstration No. 3)’, 2001
installation, van, diverse utensils, 8 monitors – on the videos there were sequences of the artist’s journey/IMAGE COURTESY:YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2001
pix from the current MACCARONE exhibit: DAN COLEN & NATE LOWMAN – ‘WET PAIN’:
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA tours the DAN COLEN/NATE LOWMAN collaboration – ‘WET PAIN’ ….
the boxes could be seen from the street – at the bottom of the big display windows
the view from the street
the show’s over-size posters in the window. what we’re trying to get at – devilishly deliberate detail in the ‘spontaneously’ effected lettering, which becomes ‘static’ design in the repeat !!
the first view of the installation
a traveler’s ‘sunshade’ !!
“dude its about your mama”
“Dude, you got the joke wrong”
“LIFE’S A BEACH”
“PEACE, MAN”
Jaguar, electronics and sound system, Christmas tree
a jumble of home-made video loops on small monitors & assorted electronics filled the interior haphazardly, seemingly held together by packing tape.
one of the small interior monitors spooled a Mexican band – while a Spanish street beat/sound loop played
in another room, in the vast MACCARONE space – “it’s about rape”
detail, bottom previous painting – “damn!”
“STOP & THINK”
“Easy Japanesy”, 2008, Steel I-beam. metal, tire, aluminum rim, drywall, dimensions variable … drywall? guess, therefore it comes with the crashed-in wall !!!
see: recent pix of DAN COLEN & NATE LOWMAN, RYAN McGINLEY OPENING, APRIL 3, 2008
MACCARONE
~DAN COLEN & NATE LOWMAN/WET PAIN |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 17th, 2008, 12:12pm
Here comes another great CD, OPEN FIELD, in English by a group from Sweden. This time it’s Victoria Bergsman and her solo project band, TAKEN BY TREES.
From 1995 to 2006 she was a founding member and lead singer of that well-established pop collective – the Concretes. She was also the female vocalist on the Peter Bjorn and John hit, “Young Folks”.
The vocals on this CD remind me of the Brazilian singer and bassist Isabel Monteiro of the cool 90’s British group, Drugstore, and also Mazzy Star – while the music has its own unique relaxed tempo as a result of the many (19) different musicians, and their instruments.
There is also a Chinese music influence in “Cedar Trees†which is really interesting. This lovely, and deceptively simply, and quiet, music made by this new collective – will make even the hard-hearted swoon.
GRAPHIC DESIGN BY OLOV SUNDSTROM
TAKEN BY TREES, OPEN FIELDS, copyright 2007 ROUGH TRADE RECORDS LTD
watch !!: VICTORIA BERGSMAN sing “Chosen One” – with the Concretes
sample the music: TAKEN BY TREES/myspace
visit: ‘HAVE YOU BEEN TAKEN’ – their official website
~Taken By Trees |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews | By Simon Cerigo | April 14th, 2008, 11:20am
RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA walking through the DAN COLEN / NATE LOWMAN collaborative show – ‘WET PAIN’ – MACCARONE GALLERY, the West Village, NYC, SAT APRIL 5, 2008
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
‘WET PAIN’ is up until APRIL 26, 2008 – see: MACCARONE
~RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 11th, 2008, 11:49am
RYAN McGINLEY – ‘I KNOW WHERE THE SUMMER GOES’
opened THURS APRIL 3, 2008
the show runs APRIL 3 – MAY 3, 2008
TEAM – 83 GRAND ST – SOHO – NYC
read & see more about this show: TEAM/McGINLEY EXHIBIT
some pix from the opening – APRIL 3, 2008:
from left: A-RON and RYAN McGINLEY
A-RON (the Don) and RYAN McGINLEY, outside on the street, as the McGINLEY opening – ‘I KNOW WHERE SUMMER GOES’ – winds down.
JOHN WATERS scoped out the RYAN McGINLEY show.
NATE LOWMAN drops by.
DAN COLEN, also at the RYAN McGINLEY, ‘I KNOW WHERE SUMMER GOES’ opening.
NATE LOWMAN & DAN COLEN currently have a collaborative show up at MACCARONE – titled: ‘WET PAIN’, it is up until APRIL 26, 2008.
supposedly the opening was hugely packed & yes, one of those OLSEN twins, MARY KATE , did come by for like 2 seconds.
see more on that show: MACCARONE/’WET PAIN’
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
TEAM
~RYAN McGINLEY |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 11th, 2008, 11:07am
‘AFTER THE REALITY 2’ – curated by HOROMI YOSHII
APRIL 5 – MAY 3, 2008
DEITCH PROJECTS – 76 GRAND ST – SOHO
. . . the show opened last Saturday, April 5. the worst show to hit NYC in years. it was embarrassing to watch the opening collapse – as word quickly spread about how bad it was. Jeffrey made a big show of slinking out, in a big (old) limo, way before closing time.
while we are on the subject, apologies to ROSSON CROW, but that other DEITCH show, ‘SUBSTRACTION’, just around the corner, at the Wooster street location, is really bad, too.
too bad, her painting looked really good in that wonderful group show – PERRY RUBENSTEIN showcased her work in – last year. called ‘ACCIDENTAL PAINTING’, it ran from APRIL 4 – 28, 2007, and, it still looks good!!
check it out: ‘ACCIDENTAL PAINTING’, PERRY RUBENSTEIN
DEITCH PROJECTS
~HIROMI YOSHII-After the Reality 2/SUBSTRACTION |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 11th, 2008, 10:17am
WALTER ROBINSON, ‘Motel Marriage’, acrylic on board, 17-1/4 x 24-1/4 ins./PHOTO: COURTESY METRO PICTURES
WALTER ROBINSON – ’80s Paintings’
opened SATURDAY APRIL 5, 2008
the show runs APRIL 5 – MAY 3, 2008
METRO PICTURES – 519 WEST 24TH STREET – CHELSEA – NYC
see a ‘slide’ show of the exhibit on the gallery: website !!
some pix from the opening – APRIL 5, 2008:
WALTER ROBINSON greets us.
ALEXIS ROCKMAN, in green shirt, drops by the WALTER ROBINSON opening
Alexis Rockman currently has a show up at LEO KOENIG, called ‘South’,
it runs until APRIL 26, 2008.
there is a survey of the show on the gallery: website !!
WILLOUGHBY SHARP (claim to fame: 60’s/70’s minimalist art mag – “AVALANCHE’), LISA ROSEN and WALTER ROBINSON.
’80’s Paintings’ by WALTER ROBINSON
’80’s Painting’ by WALTER ROBINSON
’80’s Painting’ by WALTER ROBINSON
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
METRO PICTURES
~WALTER ROBINSON |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 11th, 2008, 10:17am
ANTHONY HADEN GUEST drops by the ‘GARY PANTER: Pictures from the Psychedelic Swamp:1972-2001’ opening, CLEMENTINE, APRIL 4, 2008
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
ANTHONY HADEN GUEST – HACKED BY A HO !!
makes the rounds of the openings last weekend – blissfully unaware that his confidential email is being circulated behind his back & that he is the laughing stock of his down & dirty party ‘pals’ !!
ANTHONY HADEN GUEST, born 1937, is a BRITISH PEER with a long lineage of doctor/soldier/statesman fighters. He just missed being the 5TH BARON, his (younger) brother from his dad’s 2nd marriage – seems to have scored that title. His dad sounds most unusual – a professional dancer, his stage name was PETER MICHAEL.
see:THE PEERAGE
He also has a website: moi
excerpt:
ORIGINAL POST: APRIL 6, 2008 – HOME PAGE
. . . anybody who has written anything ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ to ANTHONY HADEN GUEST – in the last little while – be warned – his email account’s security was breached.
Anthony – watch out for that art groupie, 40+ years younger than yourself – who has been ‘doing’ ya. Not only is she notorious for spreading VD among th art world “elite” – well, at least the – truly bon vivant ones – just ask a couple of your well-known pals – but, when you recently used her computer to check your email – she hacked into your account, after you left – and has been telling everyone about CHARLIE FINCH’S supposedly ‘confidential’ emails to you – esp re: “I hate my wife.”
. . . so, it was actually no surprise to see Charlie running around in Chelsea yesterday, on the way to WALTER ROBINSON’S opening at METRO PICTURES, telling everyone – “I’m back” – and exclaiming profusely happily – how he had just filed divorce papers . . “but don’t tell anybody” – trust me, Charlie – thanks to Anthony’s little ‘helper’ – everyone already knows !!
CHARLIE FINCH greets fans & well-wishers last weekend, in CHELSEA.
back from self-imposed exile up-state, he says he is back in his old apt in the East Village and ready to hit the scene in full force, again. He was on his way to the WALTER ROBINSON opening at METRO PICTURES, APRIL 5, 2008
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
~ANTHONY HADEN GUEST/CHARLIE FINCH |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 11th, 2008, 8:33am
Film Review
April 11, 2008 by JAN ALBERT
Sometimes two films come your way at the same time, totally unrelated and yet drawn together by synchronicity, they inform and amplify each other in some way. Such is the case with FROZEN RIVER, which I saw as part of the NEW DIRECTORS, NEW FILMS series, and THE VISITOR.
Both stories revolve around the desperate plight of illegal immigrants in America, but there’s nothing didactic about either one. Both take place in New York, one – way upstate, the other – right here in the Big Apple. Both star character actors who have always stood out from the crowd, but have never gotten the chance to shine center stage. Melissa Leo and Richard Jenkins grab their moment with both hands and deliver exceptionally memorable performances.
FROZEN RIVER, written and directed by first time feature director Courtney Hunt won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. It is a tense slice of life from the tough day-to-day existence of trailer mom, Ray Eddy. Hunt often puts her confidence in a picture to tell the story, since the people in this world are not big gabbers. She starts in the stark bitter cold morning, panning slowly from Ray’s tattooed toe up to her ravaged face. The combination of her clothing, her hopeless expression and the resigned tears she wipes away, tell you a lot right off. Entering the dumpy trailer nearby and seeing her interact with her sweet little boy, then straining to communicate with the smart teenage son (a fine performance by Charley McDermott) from whom she can no longer hide how deeply messed up things are, you’ve got the whole picture. Ray is a mother she-wolf trapped in a hole of abject poverty in one of the richest nations in the world.
When her husband, a compulsive gambler, takes their nest egg and splits for Atlantic City just before Christmas, Ray is left broke. She has a shit job that pays just enough to feed her sons Tang and popcorn around the clock and she is reduced to scrounging up quarters to buy gas. Some of the best moments are tiny ones: Ray with a bunch of coins in her hand requesting $2.74 in gas, then finding a $5 bill at the bottom of her purse and triumphantly announcing, “Make that $7.74!”.
It’s while searching for her husband at the Bingo game the Mohawk Indian tribe runs on the nearby rez, that she meets up with Lila Littlewolf (Misty Upham’s impassive eyes and beautiful face make for some very compelling close ups), a young Native American who is trying to steal her car.
Hunt uses equally economical brushstrokes to establish that Lila is estranged from her own people and views the white citizens who share the town as an alien tribe. Turns out Lila is making money by smuggling illegal immigrants over the frozen St. Lawrence River from Canada to N.Y. Ray wants in on the money and these two desperados team up to carry even more desperate people to the U.S. in the trunk of Ray’s car, delivering them to a motel where they will perhaps work as slave labor.
Ray and Lila, who previously wouldn’t have given each other the time of day, begin to learn the details of each other’s lives while crossing again and again with Chinese and Pakistani refugees squeezed in the trunk. If they don’t get caught and jailed by the border police and the icy river doesn’t crack and swallow them up, this could be their ticket to financial freedom. After coming through one near disaster of epic proportions, they begin to trust each other. Then comes another moment of reckoning.
Courtney Hunt makes you care about the place and the people who inhabit it – both the citizens marginalized by their own country and the foreigners taking such desperate measures to start their lives over here. This small story, so specific and yet completely universal, has the power to move film lovers around the globe. It opens nation wide in August – keep your eyes peeled for it.
see: FROZEN RIVER/OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Haaz Sleiman in Overture Films’ THE VISITOR (2008)
Richard Jenkins and Haaz Sleiman in Overture Films’ THE VISITOR (2008)
THE VISITOR, which opens this Friday, takes place right here in NYC but presents a parallel world that most of us barely notice. It’s the world of people from the four corners of the earth here illegally, living and raising families, selling handmade goods on the street, playing music, driving gypsy cabs, and making New York City their home.
Our window into this world comes from a depressive professor, attending a conference at NYU and planning to use the Manhattan apartment he has barely visited since his wife died a few years ago.
Walter Vale arrives to find flowers in a vase on the piano and a beautiful African woman in the bathtub. Her Syrian boyfriend flies through the door seconds later and begins to pound on Walter who he thinks is an intruder. After everyone takes a deep breath, it emerges that they have been rented the apartment by a swindler. They prepare to clear out when the professor (played by perennial supporting actor, Richard Jenkins, who you will recognize as the deceased dad in Six Feet Under and from dozens of movie roles ) takes a leap of faith and declares there is room enough for all of them to stay. Jenkins is perfect as a sad sack doing his best to disappear into the shadows until this chance encounter cracks open his world.
This is the 2nd film from Tom McCarthy, whose debut, The Station Agent, made a splash a few years ago. That film was filled with quirky little asides from the main story and so is this one – a charming scene where Walter collects his mail and meets a gay neighbor who was once the little boy who took piano lessons from his wife exists as a showy moment for Richard Kind, but also points up Walter’s extreme isolation and lack of engagement with other people. Another aside features Zainab, the African woman, selling her jewelry in Soho to a well meaning but clueless woman (Deborah Rush) who starts gabbing about her trip to South Africa (even though Zainab is from Senegal, hundreds of miles away) and reducing all Africans to vacation fodder.
Tarek, the charming young Syrian musician (played by Lebanese actor, Haaz Sleiman in a star-making performance), who along with Zainab has been residing in Walter’s apartment, plays the drum professionally. Through a series of wonderfully understated scenes, Walter responds first to Tarek’s music, then to his ebullient personality. Tarek insists on thanking Walter for his kindness by teaching him how to drum, then invites him to see him perform at a small club in the village. The three roommates fall into a regular pattern of shared meals and conversation, which culminates with Tarek giving Walter his own drum and introducing him to the spontaneous drum circle that gathers in Central Park.
McCarthy very cleverly plays on the mistrust and paranoia that exist as a fact of life these days. I kept expecting lovely Tarek to reveal himself as an international sleeper cell agent, but that’s not where this movie is going. In a stroke of rotten luck, Tarek is picked up in a random subway sweep by undercover cops and disappears into a hell hole of bureaucracy. He is indefinitely detained and held for deportation.
Walter launches himself into the mission of saving his new friend with a passion he didn’t know he had. He helps keep Zanaib (who cannot visit Tarek, or she too will be picked up by immigration authorities) together, gets Tarek an immigration lawyer, and meets Tarek’s beautiful mother, a widow he develops a circumspect crush on.
It’s a muted happy end when a sad guy whose just been marking the days starts looking forward to waking up again, while two vibrant young New Yorkers have their joy temporarily extinguished. In between, they have made an unlikely, but one would hope not impossible, connection with someone they might pass on the subway but under most circumstances never talk to.
see: THE VISITOR/trailer
Both THE VISITOR and FROZEN RIVER nudge us to consider the whole world of human beings out there that aren’t so very different than us and remind us to open our eyes to the people right under our noses.
FROZEN RIVER opens nation wide August 1 – put it on your calendar.
THE VISITOR opens Friday – enjoy.
~Frozen River/The Visitor |
Posted in Movie Reviews | By Jan Albert | April 11th, 2008, 8:00am
OMG – look at this !! PAGE SIX is the best !!!
. . . the caption reads: “Natalie Portman strolls arm in arm around the West Village with her hairy new beau, Devendra Banhart.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Abaca/Ramey
PAGE SIX – NEW YORK POST, Thursday, April 10, 2008
~DEVENDRA & NATALIE PORTMAN !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 10th, 2008, 10:50am
portrait of DARK FAIR co-founder, JOHN RIEPENHOFF by PORTS BISHOP, taken at the DARK FAIR, using only reflected ‘glowstick’ illumination/PHOTO COURTESY: LITTLE CAKES LITTLE GALLERY
or, as we like to call him, John ‘Lennon lives’ Riepenhoff – when we manage to get his name spelled right !!
JOHN RIEPENHOFF runs the GREEN GALLERY in Milwaukee, as well as being part of MILWAUKEE INTERNATIONAL – the 5 person crew that brought NYC – the DARK FAIR.
check out: THE GREEN GALLERY
PHOTOGRAPHER PORTS BISHOP set up his tripod and medium format camera to take portraits at the DARK FAIR – powered only by 100% glowstick juice.
Participants were able to choose from three differently colored and arranged light boards, illuminated only by glowsticks, sit on a chair, and hold still for a couple of minutes, and have their ‘souvenir’ photo portrait taken at what will most certainly prove itself to be – one historic NYC art event.
HANNA FUSHIHARA ARON, wrote in the LITTLE CAKES press release: “The reflection of such unnatural light casts an otherworldly phosphorescence that could only come from the world of Sci-Fi or that of a rave. ..”
Ports Bishop’s digital ‘Glow Portraits’ were available for $20 – while an 8 x 10 ins. signed color print was available for $100.
see: PORTS BISHOP
see: LITTLE CAKES
ORIGINAL POST: THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2008 – HOME PAGE
. . . no, JOHN RIEPENHOFF wasn’t at the SCOTT & TYSON REEDER OPENING – last nite – a beautiful gem of a show – he’s ALREADY in TOKYO !! . . at the 101 TOKYO ART FAIR !! where it’s said he is showing his “miniature art gallery tour” – some kind of contraption.. “where you climb a ladder – put your head up a box – and see a miniature fair” . . . as TYSON REEDER put it.
so, it does sound like we picked up on the right vibe – JOHN LENNON has come back to earth & inhabits JOHN RIEPENHOFF’S body.
TYSON REEDER further confirmed that, as if we hadn’t guessed – JOHN LENNON is JOHN RIEPENHOFF’S favorite artist !!
. . . also at 101 TOKYO – atm Gallery out of NYC, THE HAPPY LION out of L.A. & WILLY WONKA out of OSLO. 101 TOKYO features 28 galleries in all – and opens – today: THURS APRIL 3 – running thru Sunday, April 6, 2008
see: 101 TOKYO
~JOHN RIEPENHOFF/PORTS BISHOP/101 TOKYO |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 10th, 2008, 10:30am
