‘Doc’ PAUL H-O

and, ‘Doc’ TOM DONAHUE (co-directors) ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ at the afterparty,
THE CUTTING ROOM, NYC, TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, APRIL 27, 2008
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH

. . . BRING ON THE ‘DOCS’ !!!

as in . . doc-u-mentary !!
. . . from full-length (low budget) Indies like: ELEPHANT EYE’S ‘PLANET B-BOY’, and now, FILMLIKE’S ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ - to - big time - TV ‘Docs’ like SUNDANCE CHANNEL’S ‘NIMROD NATION’, and that other great TV sleeper - PBS.ORG’S - ‘CARRIER’/chronicling life on the nuke-powered warrior ship USS NIMITZ !! - to -

. . . in-your-face, (no-budget) mini-Indies !!! - such as those 4 short clips - screened at the journal Gallery last Sat - as part of their recent ‘Being True’/NIKE (’hipster/slacker/skater’) American documentary photo/exhibit curated by EMMA REEVES and AARON ROSE, (who also curated the screening) and, better believe it - !! - no mini-Indie presentation, anytime !! soon - is gonna beat that screening - for sheer juice & stun gun impact - this - one time only - swift stab in the night showing - in terms of: line-up, talent, and on-the-edge presentation - totally flew over (and under) the radar - dead straight/ahead of the curve.
what can I say - beyond the obvious - it blew me away - just like ‘PLANET B-BOY’ and ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’.

. . . the key, is - not just that these are ‘Docs’ - it’s that these are brilliant ‘Docs’ - and, they just seem to be coming at us fast & furious - from what looks to be all sides - they are, simply put, some of the best stuff being put forward in NYC, right now. kinda, like that big wave of comic-inspired art - that hit NYC a couple of seasons back, which despite a current, & brutal, turf shake-down - still pulses strong.

. . . look at this, its like a boxer getting beat up - to warm up & go on to win - first ‘PLANET B-BOY’ touches down in NYC, a few weeks ago, and, unknown to us - that was just the beginning, the ‘Doc’ momentum just kept on rollin’ - with exceptional ‘Docs’ & ‘Doc’ style shows - hitting the deck running, every time - ahead of the curve, right on the mark, totally down and totally entertaining - and completely without warning - within the space of less than a week, you got Paul H-O & Tom Donahue’s ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ opening at the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL & then, 3 days later - the 4 ‘Being True’/NIKE clips at the journal Gallery.
(profiled in post below)

look out !! - The ‘Docs’ are coming back, not just to re-claim their fair share of the ‘art’ product turf - but, hopefully, to muscle in on some of that art ‘product’ cash flow - CINDY SHERMAN, NAN GOLDIN - move over !!

How many ‘Doc’ pix - did you see in ELI BROAD’S collection - ? EXACTLY. that’s what I mean - none !! - his collection was so behind the curve, as to be absolutely embarrassing. well, that’s the great thing about art - art moves on !! and you gotta follow the flow - and the flow is: the ‘Docs’ vs. the ‘Posers’ !! and in APRIL 2008 - the ‘Docs’ are winning.

(who said ‘posed’/staged/theatrical photos outrank or beat the archival photo, as ‘art’ product - anyways ? I’d like to punch ‘em out - well. ok. back in the 80’s they were pretty hot.)

bye the way - ‘Poser’ in this case - refers to ‘posed’ or ’staged’ photos, and, after-the-fact bio pix, and definitely what is, today - mostly, all deadbeat stale & staged - performance art.
unless you want to consider THE DARK FAIR - performance art - and I do !!

and . . . yo!, we don’t mean the ‘ULTIMATE POSERS’ - that’s a whole other POSER category - those guys are very much in the ‘Doc’ game. the NATE LOWMAN/DAN COLEN, ‘WET PAIN’ show at MACCARONE - was very much a NYC ‘Doc’/style show !!
we include RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA, URS FISHER, maybe PAUL McCARTHY & definite, yes - the obvious hit of the month - RYAN McGINLEY - all as ‘Doc’ worthy !!

and, no - we don’t mean all we ever want to see is ‘Docs’ - we’ll ride that crazy DARK FAIR/MILWAUKEE INTERNATIONAL train - any old day. It’s just a matter - of stopping - to state the obvious - ‘Doc’ is the flavor flav of SPRING 2008 - NYC.

a great graphic design is still a great graphic design - & - you still jump - when one comes your way. in fact - this year’s SENIOR CLASS - GRAPHIC DESIGN/ADVERTISING at SVA - really rocked the art student/young professional turf - they contributed a lot of buzz to artlovers to follow up on - esp the SAGMEISTER show - so much so - here’s a shout out to them - they graduate this MAY 2008 - congrats!

comic/illustration still rocks much of the art here. PICTUREBOX, TAYLOR McKIMENS, MATT LEINES, the CINDERS crew, BRIAN CHIPPENDALE, even BRIAN BELOTT - some of the new street artists - they are just gonna get bigger, and bigger.

but all-in-all, those guys made their big splash - upon arrival - their wave has hit and - now a new wave is coming in - ’staged’ photo/tableaus/re-created narratives/stilted or academic performance pieces are out !! the ‘Docs’ - are back - and want back in - big time !!

in fact, if you look no further, than that old ‘lost-it’ scourge of an art magazine - the APRIL 2008 - ARTFORUM - its mostly all ‘Doc’ realism/or aiming for ‘Doc’ realism - almost all the way through - the endless parade of paid for/full color/full page gallery ads. (though as usual, the commentary is pretty much a waste of time) - whether actual photography - or painting/drawing - ‘Doc’ aesthetics rule - from the black and white TOMOO GOKITA display at TAKA ISHII GALLERY in TOKYO; to more technically - RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA’S ‘Foster You’re Dead’ poster at GALLERIA EMI FONTANA in MILAN; to MARK TANSEY at FAURSCHOU.COM, wherever that is - to EIJA-LIISA AHTILA at MARIAN GOODMAN in New York, to GREGORY CREWDSON at LUHRING AUGUSTINE in New York, WHITE CUBE in LONDON, and GAGOSIAN in Los Angeles; (ok, the CREWDSONS are staged - but yell ‘Doc’ - so we’re letting them in) - to the obvious - archival PETER HUJAR photos at MATTHEW MARKS, and - the not-so-obvious - also in New York, at L & M ARTS - the Chinese artist TIANBING LI - whose documentary painting style him sets him, in my mind’s eye - right on top of that huge Asian horde wanting to devour the artworld beast, so badly, though, let’s be honest - if that CHINA market isn’t the artworld equivalent of a con - what is ? well, what do I know ’bout making money ? that’s just my consensus on the actual contemporary art being shlepped to and from there. but, someone who’s been there - told me, even 2nd generation Chinese Americans who make it (very very big) in international finance/law, whatever - as well as most other native (super wealthy) Asians, like filling their huge homes up with Chinese or South Asian artifacts, whether it be antiques or contemporary art. . put it this way - they ain’t big on collecting AMERICAN FOLK ART, be it SHAKER ART or AMERICAN VINTAGE QUILTS !! if they can be talked into buying CHUCK CLOSE - remains to be seen !!

but, . . . back to the case at hand - the ‘Docs’.

Julian Schnabel’s ‘BASQIUAT’, and even, ‘BEFORE NIGHT FALLS’ - were great - but !! both were actually formatted as: documentaries - by someone who could pull it off !! - the #1 question that young artists hitting this town ask - is - “was ‘BASQUIAT’ a true rendition” - and yes, it was, & it still is one of the greatest art movies ever made - but, the big diff from then to now - is - that ‘PLANET B-BOY’ and ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman” - are true ‘Docs’ !! - the real people - the real talent - in their real story, in their real time - pretty much caught - as they were living it, making their art moment - LIVE !! . Art and it seems, movie making has caught up to real time. ONDI TOMONER and VASCO NUNES caught the vibe, early on - as anyone who saw early footage of the JOSH HARRIS/QUIET PARTY or the commercially released ‘DIG!’ already knows.

just to add some perspective - can you just picture a bunch of pro theatrical Broadway dancers re-creating ‘PLANET B-BOY’ ? that’s such a ridiculous concept, such an ugly scenario - it just cracks me up - and, who else could play Paul H-O & CINDY SHERMAN - better than, they do !!
Paul H-O, video camera in hand - made to feel like a second cousin, if that - to Cindy’s capital A ART photography.

it’s interesting to stop and consider - that - ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ - is really about 2 - two !! - polarities - it’s not just about the polarity of male and female - it’s also about the polarity of artist/photographer (Cindy) vs. ‘Doc’/photographer (Paul H-O). Not only does it give us exceptional bird’s eye views of how each side ‘creates’ - but it also - very much shows us which side is/was favored by the artworld at that time - it was a very unbalanced and very unwarranted bias in favor of staged - ‘I am art’ product. What was wrong with the artworld - or really the big collectors, who determine and actually define - the market - at that time - (and now too, probably). Are they that unsubtle that they can only perceive art that is “plated” for them. how can any serious art maven - miss out on the significance, beauty and can-never-be reproduced ‘art’ of the Documentary photo ?

In fact, Cindy’s work began as a kind of send up of the ‘Doc.’ And, her camera is also focused solely on herself - but not in real time - not as a visual journal - but as ‘making a point ‘ - ‘creating a fantasy’ - a personal ability to be camo/girl in ‘mock-up’ land. Most of Cindy Sherman’s work (nix on those clown photos, ugh) is great art - no matter how you slice and dice it - but it’s not the only genre - why should it be the only photo on the a wall - in that huge grouping in ELI BROAD/LA AA land ? Paul H-O might yet, get the final word. or at least a respectful re-evaluation from a new hipper generation. His ‘Doc’ photo art - is just as intense, just maybe not as capital A ART as Cindy’s.. His photo art is more akin to a digital version of ‘wake and bake’ - you know - like, when you wake up and the first thing you do is get stoned, that’s called ‘wake & bake ‘ - except in this case, it was - wake & film. the video camera diary vs. the staged portrait - why can’t it be both that score the artworld gold. the newly appreciated ‘Doc’ rush looks to be real. though these ‘Docs’ - are definitely not !! stoner ‘Docs’ - in the least !! - nor, could you term them ‘reality’ shows - without getting kicked in the face. though obviously, YouTube - and digital camera culture - helped set the tone.

one last word: on ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ - actually one of the things so fascinating about the film - is - how well - it gets across Cindy’s game - there is no put down of her work - but the role of observer is so well done by the ‘Doc’ behind the camera of the film - that the Eli Broads of the world - just can’t make the leap.

(bye the way, heard that Cindy Sherman and Nan Goldin hate each other - oops - we weren’t supposed to say that - if this needs to come down - so be it !! can’t resist the low-down, for the moment.)

SO, . . who else is in the ‘Doc’ game ?
besides the filmmakers above, and of course the 22 young artist/photographers in ‘22 YEARS OF AMERICAN YOUTH’ - ‘BEING TRUE’/NIKE - that surfaced recently at the journal Gallery.

#1 - all those great ROCK N’ ROLL chroniclers, of any decade !!!

AARON ROSE’S ANP QUARTERLY is great ‘Doc’ art magazine.

and, well, no brainer - how about last Fall’s LARRY CLARK show (SEPT 8-OCT 13, 2007) at LUHRING AUGUSTINE - it’s so obviously the grand daddy - so therefore, its so easy to overlook - but the show’s poster - the only poster from that season, still up on our wall - just keeps on rollin’ - looking better and better, as time passes. and you can include ‘KIDS’ here, too. HARMONY KORINE is all about ‘Doc’ style. AGNES B - seems to get it !!

if you wanna to walk the wild side - than, that’d be - my pal, PORTS BISHOP - and if you wanna get really wild - I’d throw artlovers right into the mix, too, cause if I’m not gonna - who is ?

. . . like the APRIL 29 BlackBook Insider!! says - “Breaking out is hard to do !!”

those guys, BlackBook - finally - sent out their first decent missive - they got one nano-second to throw something your way - !! - what else - 3 documentary portrait photos: COLIN MELOY leaving the DECEMBERISTS, in San Francisco; PETER MOREN, of Peter Bjorn and John, attempting a solo flight in Los Angeles; and ADAM YAUCH (MCA) of the Beastie Boys .. who is, quote: “Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot when he discusses his new documentary!! at the Apple Store in SoHo . . . so support these guys in their solo endeavors, because .. as they say, breaking out is hard to do.”

A SELECTION FROM THE AD PAGES OF ARTFORUM/APRIL 2008:

RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA, ‘FOSTER, YOU’RE DEAD’, APRIL 3-31 MAY, 2008,
Galleria Emi Fontana, Milano

PETER HUJAR, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

‘Doc’ style painting - MARK TANSEY, ‘FIX’ , 2000, OIL ON CANVAS, 30 x 46 ins. Faurschou/Copenhagen/Beijing

‘Doc’ style drawing - TOMOO GOKITA, APRIL 1-26, 2008, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo

‘Doc’ style painting - TIANBING LI, ‘ME AND MY BROTHER, MARCH 20-APRIL 26, 2008,
L & M ARTS, New York