ETHOS:
another way to say . . in a PEACEFUL WAY, new cultures bubbling . . up !!
‘ETHOS BELOW’ – ILLUSTRATION BY . . DINA GADI,
a young artist from the PHILIPPINES who is represented by a new gallery in Brooklyn . . with a, how fun !! global voice: OWEN JAMES GALLERY.
where they will be showing Dina’s work this Spring, MAY 2015.
see: DINA GADIA, hold yer horses, etc
I’m posting this image because, apart from the nice theoretical, political, cultural, & social resonance – to last Saturday’s MAS PAZ special on artlovers – !!
and, of course focused first . . on the great art, visuals, graphics and vision !!
I particularly like how diverse cultures, previously quite ignored in the contemporary art world, i.e. South America, Philippines . . are coming up through the cracks, in small venues in BROOKLYN !!
and I totally dig, how it’s coming up as ‘cutting edge’, which IT IS – as opposed to being pegged as ‘outsider’ or ‘folk art’.
I also think it’s interesting to contrast Dina’s work with Taylor McKimens’ !!.
both have a comic book retro feel, but that’s where – the line stops !!
DINA GADIA vs TAYLOR McKIMENS ?
hmmmmm, well Taylor has it up on Dina, come on, be respectful !!
he’s been around a lot longer, and is more of an original expressionist as opposed to Dina’s more quiet, appropriation collage ways, but those ‘hands coming up from the muck’ – of her’s . . are pure gold !! could be a gold mine – over there in Manilla, give or take a few more years !!
I mean, Taylor has been cooking in the fires of the underground NYC scene for quite a while, which definite toughens you up, Dina could do well to look at his work. and then . . go her own way – of course. and watch out !!
and, go BROOKLYN.
because this global voice – is just so much more real than the big $$$ mainstream galleries who show for example, Chinese contemporary ‘art’ – as they chase the big $$$ Asian art buying market !!
BROOKLYN, is so ahead of the curve. and that’s the way – we like it.
OWEN JAMES GALLERY will be showing Dina’s work, along with 3 other young artists from the PHILIPPINES in his booth at the JUSTMAD6 – THE EMERGING ART FAIR – in SPAIN, that happens next week, coinciding with their big ARCO ART FAIR over there – more info on OUR NEXT POST !!
shout out again to CHE MORALES at IMAGE GALLERYfor including MAS PAZ in his ‘ARTISTANCE’ show, which you can still catch this week – the show runs thru FRI FEB 27, 2015.
UP-DATE: THE ‘ARTISTANCE’ SHOW HAS BEEN EXTENDED THRU . . FRI MARCH 6, 2015
see: IMAGE GALLERY
see: OWEN JAMES GALLERY – 61 GREENPOINT AVE, suite 315, GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN. NY
MAS PAZ – WALL MURAL, ‘Protected from the Sun’ – Barra De Navidad, Mexico
see: MAS PAZ
~DINA GADIA . . ETHOS !! & still time to catch MAS PAZ !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 21st, 2015, 11:27am
UP-DATE: SAT FEB 21, 2015:
on an ‘exciting’ note: YULIA TOPCHIY will be presenting what looks to be a very dynamic ‘group’ offering in the highly anticipated SPRING BREAK ART FAIR – during ARMORY WEEK. what makes this new fair so exciting is that it is . . curator-based, as opposed to . . gallery-based.
SPRING BREAK . . founded by ANDREW GORI & AMBRE KELLY, has a new location this year, looking to be a better and bigger exhibition space. good-bye little red schoolhouse on PRINCE ST, hello:
SKYLIGHT at MOYNIHAN STATION, 31st Street entrance – 307 West 31, NYC at 8th Ave.
on a ‘well-deserved’ note: artist & graphic credits for the incredible awesome ‘THE DREAMS THAT I GAVE’ closing poster image – have just been listed below the poster, scroll down !!
‘THE DREAMS THAT I GAVE HER’ – CURATED BY KELLI BURTON & YULIA TOPCHIY
CLOSING RECEPTION: FRI, FEB 20, 2015 / 6-9 PM
with readings by:
CATE MARVIN – Nostalgia Is A
JAMES Yeh – Sayonara
Cate Peebles – Waking Up
NARS Foundation Gallery – 201 46th St, 4th Fl, BROOKLYN, NY
gallery hours: MON-FRI 12-5 pm / and by appointment
the group show runs JAN 24 – FEB 20, 2015 / don’t BLINK !!
for more info: CO-WORKER PROJECTS
‘THE DREAMS THAT I GAVE HER’ … includes original writing, music, and visual art created specifically for this event. In conjunction with NARS Foundation curators KELLI BURTON and YULIA TOPCHIY have organized a creative project that involves 30 New York-based artists. The participants consist of 10 writers, 10 musicians, and 10 visual artists …
The 10 writers were asked to craft a new poem or short story. The writing pieces were then distributed anonymously to the 10 musicians and 10 visual artists. They then had one month to use their designated writing piece as inspiration for an original song recording and an original visual artwork in the medium of their choice. The opening which took place on Sat, Jan 24, 2015 revealed the collaborators to each other as well the display of the artworks. There will be printed books available which contain the 10 writing pieces with an attached sound card containing the 10 digital recordings of the inspired songs.
the participating artists:
Chris Bors, Eric Brown, Anelise Chen, Michael Crowe, Matt Duncan, Alaina Ferris & Matt Schlatter, Alan and Michael Fleming, Catherine Foulkrod, Rita Ikonen, Invisible Things, Melissa Godoy Nieto, Alison Kuo, Cate Marvin, Noveller, Cate Peebles, Walter Robinson, Bill Santen, Adam Sipe, Amanada Stern, Christopher Swetals, The Tablets, Tarwuk, JD Walsh, The Westerlies, Whale Belly, Woodsy Pride, Writer, Jessica Wynne, and James Yeh.
Alan and Michael Fleming’s shows have been reviewed several times on artlovers, as have those of my long time friend, and former editor at artnet – Walter Robinson.
the photograph is by – JESSICA WYNNE – an artist in this show.
JESSICA WYNNE, ‘How Mourning Goes’, 2014.
Digital C Print, 30 x 40 in. edition of 10 + 2AP
her project was inspired by the story with the same title by AMANDA STERN, and the song with the same title – was composed and recorded by The Tablets.
the graphic design is by – CASEY BURTON who goes by the name PIO.
~THE DREAMS THAT I GAVE HER . . CLOSING PARTY / UP-DATE: SAT FEB 21 – FIRST BUZZ on SPRING BREAK !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 19th, 2015, 8:38am
pretty far, actually.
funny how things synch up, funny how round the world . . turns,
direction: WEST !!
all the way from KKK/KANYE WEST & O.J. via AMBER ROSE, onto MM/MICHELE MACCARONE, via how-low-can-you-go NATE LOWMAN and ending up with . . JERRY SALTZ ?!!
you might have caught my big rant on SAT FEB 14th ?
turns out it was a really hot weekend, Saturday was Valentine’s Day and yesterday, was FAT TUESDAY aka MARDI GRAS !!
so things were heating up mad, and . . YES, I DID FEEL THE HEAT.
in the pop culture that rocks us hard, whether we know it or not, things were hot as hell.
BBW in the art word, ‘n BBQ in the fashion-celeb word !!
BBQ – ?
AMBER ROSE goes commando ballistic mad, or as she calls it, ‘South Philly’ !! on her ex KANYE WEST via KHLOE KARDASHIAN . . and nails it very nicely in just a few words, and, of course little North sporting a bullet proof vest c/o KANYE – priceless. I love little North. I hope she gets to watch cartoons, and if they ever put her butt naked on the beach – shilling Guess jeans, ala GIGI HADID, I’ll have a fit.
so, who knew Amber was such a creative genius – posting the meme of all mothers, o lordy, while briefly stooping to call O.J. (“the man who got away with murder”), and in a sense he is . . Khloe’s dad !! !!
of course this bloody Valentines Day massacre goes down just as Kanye gets his mement, I mean moment !! in the fashion world sun, and his song with Taylor Swift, and Paul McCartney, at the Grammy’s – was hardcore . . wow.
gritty. and so are his – boosts. and his referencing of VANESSA BEECROFT.
read: AMBER GOES ‘SO PHILLY’, CALLS KIM . . a WHORE !! and, worse !! – DAILY MAIL
didn’t I tell you that, just last week, at Taylor’s opening: it’s a PHILLY INVASION – !!
so much for crispy well-burnt celeb BBQ,
in the art world proper, it was:
BBW – BUYER BE WARNED !!
MICHELE MACCARONE GOING SOUTH, and we don’t mean her upcoming expansion to L.A. – !!!
actually Michele Maccarone is someone I love to hate, so I actually did go off on her on Sat, but then I thought twice about putting out so much negative derision on the Day of Hearts, and retracted.
but funny how the world spins, and things started to line up in such a groovy connect-the-dots fashion, I just have . . to re-visit.
first up, was the crazy cozy pairing, after the fact – of NATE LOWMAN and his ex MARY KATE OLSEN, aka THE OLSEN TWINS in the ‘OFF DUTY’ section of the WSJ – just in time for VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND.
so are MARY KATE & her sis . . justified or what / and big time !!
BOHO – that was their look !! before they clamped down, went THE ROW – in the face of mass criticism.
and just inside, on PAGE 4 – thanks to the recent contemporary art auctions, a little art world BUYER BE WARNED /BBW – chart !!
and, guess whose on it, and . . tanking ?
yep, sad to say .. NATE LOWMAN thanks in part to the careful, translate: awful . . curation and representation of, by one MICHELE MACCARONE, his dealer.
‘ARTISTS TO WATCH’ – compiled by KELLY CROW, WALL STREET JOURNAL – ‘Sotheby’s Shakes Off Doubts’.
and note: there are only 4 artists who made the list, and ONLY ONE is going south, and that be: NATE.
and, yes – that is a god awful ‘MM” painting by the way.
“Art world wild child NATE LOWMAN, 37, scored at auction in 2013 with a series of works that look like giant bullet holes on walls. But sellers looking to flip the American artist’s works for a quick buck this week found a soft secondary market . ‘Six Shooter’, a series of “bullet holes” from 2005, attracted low interest at Phillips, and sold below estimate at $170,000. The seller of 2011’s ‘Trash Landing Marilyn #12’, (the painting in the chart) who bought it in 2013, took a 10% loss at Phillips when the work sold just above its low estimate for $650,000.”
boo hoo, BBW !! HOW LOW CAN YOU GO – NATE LOWMAN ?
but what really go me to re-post, connect-the-dots !!
was that I had pegged Michele Maccarone, and very nicely I thought – as having her “nose-out-of-joint” meaning unbearably snobby, wrong, and just plain . . stuffy.
you know, stuffy . . nose.
when on quite another cyber research project yesterday, I actually stumbled across JERRY SALTZ and his wonderful chronicle of MICHELE MACCARONE and her BROKEN NOSE . . at VENICE !!
too funnie !!
and, JERRY SALTZ taking pix !! hilarious !!
well you only need to catch the moment if it’s hysterical, by that I mean newsworthy, and so yes he even had a pretty awful photo of Michele and her broken nose, kudos . . JERRY.
but BTW BBW, Jerry – don’t lose the day job !!
read: JERRY SALTZ with the tale of Michele Maccarone’s broken nose – artnet
NATE LOWMAN, ‘LOSER’, 2009.
‘A DOG FOR EVERY COUNTY’, MACCARONE GALLERY, NYC. Feb 10 – April 2009.
now this was from when NATE was GREAT, but that was the last time I ever set foot in that god-forsaken place, talking about . . tragic ‘maccaroni’ westerns, west side NYC, and all.
ALL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
UP-DATE: SAT FEB 21, 2015
first of all, turns out to be a classic Western frontier, CLASSIC AMERICANA story . . or what ?!!!!
slice and dice, . . and all.
and there’s more on the . . PHILLY FRONT – !!
while I was stabbing, o.k. slice and dice metaphorically . . MICHELE MACARONE here in the fringes of west side NYC, some bad action was going down, in where else .. Philly !!
two members of NICKI MINAJ’s tour crew got stabbed in the CHE BAR & GRILL in PHILLY the night before this was published, that would be Tues night FEB 17, 2015. the news has just started to surface. De’Von Pickett a stage hand for Nicki died, the other crew member is hospitalized. they were only in Philly for 2 days !! for tour rehearsals with Nicki’s BF rapper MEEK MILL – who’s from ?
where else: PHILLY !!
see: NICKI MINAJ – ROADIE .. DEAD / TMZ
something bad-ass in the water – in Philly.
~how low – can you go . . ? / UP-DATE: SAT FEB 21 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 18th, 2015, 10:53am
MAS PAZ . . MORE PEACE !!
MAS PAZ, my bad !!
MAS PAZ . . the ‘anti-executioner’ – !!
MAS PAZ making his statement . . with such tenderness, and way ahead of the curve.
MY BAD, MAS PAZ, for ranting and raving . . when you do it all so underhandedly.
so sweet, so caring.
MAS PAZ bringing art to the table, in more ways than one.
check out: ‘MAS PAZ’
do not miss: MAS PAZ – WALLS
and, FOR SURE: HIS VIDEOS
ARE FOR ALL . . ‘TAKERS’.
I couldn’t pick out a fav – so just go with the flow, and watch them – all !!
YO !!!
you can see work by MAS PAZ at the big ‘ARTISTANCE’ group show curated by CHE MORALES at IMAGE GALLERY . . thru FRI FEB 27, 2015
IMAGE GALLERY
~MAS PAZ . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 14th, 2015, 9:52am
ARTISTANCE . . . CURATED BY CHE MORALES
26 ARTISTS – ONE STANCE
OPENS FRI FEB 13, 2015 / 7-10:30 PM
the show runs thru FRI FEB 27, 2015
IMAGE GALLERY – 1501 BROADWAY AVE, BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN, NY
more info on the show: ARTISTANCE
FEATURING WORK BY:
BKFOXX, CERN, TMOPLATER, DANIELLE MASTRION, LEXI BELLA, MAS PAZ, MARTHALICIA, COCAINE&CAVIAR, LAVAN WRIGHT, CLUB BUM, THEO MIGHTY, MIGHTY MATH, CHRISTINA DUARTE, KID KUUP, AARON VALENTIN, DEREK PEREZ, SARAH BERMAN, RAOUL ANTONIO ALBERTUS, SID LOPEZ, CASEY CAULLEY, JON RODRIQUEZ, MATT STANTON, KAHEIM ARCHER, MURJANI, IKE SLIMSTER.
AFTERPARTY: BIZARRE BAR – 12 JEFFERSON St, BUSHWICK.
will include a special video presentation by performance artist AKIL DAVIS, then dancing to Latin sounds of DJ’s DIGITAL GUARACHA
JMZ @ MYRTLE / BROADWAY AVE
~ARTISTANCE OPENS . . FRI FEB 13 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 12th, 2015, 10:05pm
‘TAYLOR McKIMENS: COMMISSIONS BY BRIGHT LYONS, 2008-2015’
FEB 3 – TUES, FEB 18, 2015
BRIGHT LYONS, POP-UP – 455 West 19th St, Chelsea, NYC
“THE STARRY MESSENGER” . . .
well, lookie here, Taylor’s show – is in synch with the . . stars !!
that means . . for sure, I’m up, for taking . . another LOOK !!
TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘You and I’, 2014, acrylic paint. 14 x 10.75 in.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, Y’ALL . . !!
though actually I’m not 100% if this is . .’You and I’, or: ‘Far from Me’ ?!!
the artworks weren’t listed exactly in synch with the installation at the opening, they must have done some last minute re-arranging.
so I didn’t get the note, and somebody else can do the . . grad school paper.
but I do see hearts, and plenty of them on her dress, and they most def . . are in the POP vernacular, or what !!
though that ‘chain around her neck’, pardon the expression (!!) is causing me some mystery, and sleepless nights.
whose got the other half ?
and ps: in case you didn’t pick it up, the narrow hem around her t-shirt – clearly speaks: comic book.
this is a close-up of the woman’s head, in Taylor’s ‘Victory’, 2015 painting, discussed at some length in the previous post. what’s so strangely interesting about these paintings, is that while they most strongly project ‘cutting edge’ contemporary art – they also carry secret passageways to and from great ART, mostly vernacular, and definite outcasts . . from the past.
so, is ‘ex-outsider’ a formal term ?
and, now of course very revered and respected painters, in this case: it’s clear to see the ‘hand’ of the mighty outsider, now a god . . VAN GOGH.
in short in Taylor MCKimens’ paintings – Van Gogh meets comic book story-telling & neon color spurts – in 21st C Brooklyn !!
off-tangent: the definition of ‘outsider’ has morphed & changed, and in some sense remained exactly the same – incredibly through the centuries.
you better thank your lucky stars – there’s a fluid path . . in the rat world. I mean: art world. even if it does take .. centuries.
“CLOTHED IN GLORY – An 1889 self-portrait painted in Saint-Remy, where Van Gogh spent the final year of his life.” – WSJ, BOOKS SECTION, Sat/Sun Jan 17-18, 2015.
VAN GOGH making the . . news.
and damn, that’s a true . . ‘SELFIE’, if I ever did see . . one, not to repeat myself, but . . just laying out the cultural cards, as they plainly fall.
in black and white, and read all over.
but back to TAYLOR:
it hadn’t really dawned on me why I was so haunted by the show, until I noted this Wall Street Journal, Books section – on the top of my reading desk !!
yep, weekend of Jan 17-18, 2015, VINCENT VAN GOGH is not only in the news, his self-portrait, his ‘SELFIE’ . . . is headlining . . . the cultural pack heading into New Year 2015, and if you dwell on these kind of things, trends, even slightly, you can well pause to consider why the WSJ editors picked a ‘selfie’ instead of let’s say, a landscape – as their large format, go-to-image ?!!
anyway, so it’s not just American painter Taylor McKimens who is looking back.
look look . . lookie back, young dudes.
apparently Brit painter JULIAN BELL is also looking back, and he seems to have astounded everybody with his new Biography, ‘Van Gogh: A Power Seething’. (great title). a quote form the book: “My existence is not without reason,” the artist once wrote to his brother Theo. “There is something inside me, what can it be ?” the WSJ reviewer, JONATHAN LOPEZ, says Julian Bell “answers that question forcefully”.
see: ‘THE STARRY MESSENGER’, ‘Van Gogh: A Power Seething’ – by JULIAN BELL, WSJ
close-up, detail, TAYLOR McKIMENS . . ‘You and I’, 2014.
which brings us back to . . Valentine’s Day, 2015 – where you can also observe the animated gestural Van Gogh influence, that Taylor borrows to 3-D ‘model’ his figures, but you can also pick up some – GAUGUIN . . kind of his contemporary evil ‘twin’.
in the flat planes, esp across the face. the flower in the hair. the expression – etc, etc. the passion.
so, GAUGUIN’S also in the news, too.
“Paul Gauguin painted ‘Nafea Faa Ipolpo (When Will You Marry?)’, a portrait of two Tahitian girls, in 1892.” – WALL STREET JOURNAL, FRI FEB 6, 2015.
‘GAUGUIN PAINTING SELLS FOR NEAR $300 MILLION’ – BY KELLY CROW.
in short: “A colorful painting of two Tahitian women by Paul Gauguin has reportedly been sold by a Swiss family foundation to a group of state museums in Qatar for nearly $300 million, a record sum for a single work of art.”
read the article for yourself: “Gauguin Painting Sells …”, WSJ – FEB 6, 2015.
but what’s also interesting about this painting is how it speaks to the forward direction of Taylor’s work, which seems to be leaving the pick-up truck, dive bar culture of the southwest desert, and Brooklyn (!!), the exotic women of the hot islands of Gauguin, and the even hotter, thicker emotions – of Van Gogh – and taking the whole heap, kit and kaboddle / comic book art and all, flat planes and painterly gestures, animated inanimate details . . and moving them all . . . towards THE LIGHT !!
as opposed to the . . HEAT.
big diff.
and there’s a wonderful strangeness to that – too.
detail, TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘Greek Head’, 2015. 14 x 11 in.
the L-i-g-h-t of the . . THE GREEKS – !!
moving forward, by going even further backward ?
that’s an interesting concept – as well.
one can just feel the light, refracting & reflecting off the coolness of that cold hard white marble, desert ? what desert. it’s all gods and civilization, thought. marble, and water-dwelling oracles !! the linear color areas, and crazed messy details of LIFE – are morphing into patterns of stained glass reflection that speak to answers, order and pattern. entropy is banished, and a flood of optimism shines rays over the small, but very alive, and evolving universe of the living – in a word: Brooklyn. just joking, calm down !!
Happy Valentine’s Day, from artlovers – your original content provider, and her take on the art scene . . multiplied by the everyday tarot cards, life in media-driven NYC throws at us, all.
a ‘selfie’ is a ‘blog’ is an . . insider/outsider ?
better believe it !!
oh, to the Greeks . . and their Starry Constellations !! Cupid and all.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~TAYLOR McKIMEN’S: THE HISTORY OF ART & bye the way: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 12th, 2015, 12:14pm
‘TAYLOR McKIMENS: COMMISSIONS BY BRIGHT LYONS, 2008-2015’
opened Tues Feb 3, 2015
the pop-up show runs thru TUES FEB 17, 2015
BRIGHT LYONS POP-UP – 455 West 19th St, Chelsea, NYC
PIX FROM THE OPENING:
the 2 week pop-up show takes place in the former ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG FOUNDATION building, so that was very elegant and spacious. and unexpectedly, had a real traveling in Japanese countryside temple look. super nice. if not plain: straight-out magic. for a NYC snowy side street.
what looked like they had been former industrial garage doors, had been re-worked (previously) – with a real Japanese feel to them, which suited the work.
and, the night.
TAYLOR McKIMENS greets guests . . at the opening.
even though this painting was most obviously NOT a selfie, there were signs that the paintings were a kind of 3rd party . . . ‘selfie’, as in self-reflection.
biographical: where I’ve been.
TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘Victory’, 2015. 84 x 110 in.
although the paintings are right on the cutting edge, many art historical references inform them. they have a very strange & flat composition, despite many shading details . . that is very Japanese, esp as regards Edo Period woodblock prints, whose influence is also seen in the way the colors are used so flatly, and yet also so ‘decoratively’. there’s also often a throwback narrative to Taylor’s southwest roots, comic books, and . . retro advertising.
pops of florescent color, like over-the-top sharp pink, help define the mood, and contour the objects, that’s what I meant by . . ‘decorative’ color. if there is a light source, it is going to get some fantastic painterly play.
as well, small details take on a very animated comic book-like character – the whole background is alive, just as much as the subjects. the truck is just as alive as the girl.
also, note the girl’s leg is modeled by brushstrokes, as opposed to shading per se. it took me a while to get what was so haunting about this, VAN GOGH, of course !!
above all, this is painting that depends on drawing. you can see that not only in all those small details, that pop and squirm, and drip !! but also in how larger color fields have linear boundaries, and the superb, humorous calligraphy – is a big tip-off to the draftsmanship that rules the ‘chaos’.
above all these are . . stories.
PAUL BRIGHT, in front of TAYLOR McKIMEN’S . . ‘Sundown Somewhere’.
TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘Sundown Somewhere’, 2012.
60 x 84 in.
($17,500.)
kind of a very painterly EDWARD HOPPER meets VAN GOGH, by way of Edo Japan, while taking a giant step into the nature of mankind, via comic book ethos.
a distraught, lonely man in a dive of a diner – we’ve all been there, down and out.
the giant ‘decorative’ face in the background, left-hand side, very: flat, very comic book.
but, still kind of . . buddha-like ?
a touch of .. sci-fi ?
a street art . . sticker/decal ?
every element – has a . . ‘life’. a ‘take’. a visual ‘philosophy’ starts to bubble up . . everywhere.
it’s the equivalent of our 21st century . . frenzy of existence.
gears, germs, micro-germs, nano organisms, the hidden life of DNA everywhere.
Taylor often uses ‘food’ and small ‘graphics’ / ‘logos’ – to add to the storytelling gestures, and mood.
symbols, they add up to a . . ‘decomposing’ humanity ?
there’s even a signature, retro sign / ‘calligraphy’, snaking by . . a fluid but funky hand gesture that rides across the canvas plane, on the outside of the glass plate window, realism.
artist JAMES MOORE, at the opening. his work also plays heavy with symbols, but more on the dark side, purple crystals, stalagmites, secret mushrooms, forbidden forests with elfin inhabitants, in a word: the mystical dark side of the woods vs the jumpy neon-lit street diner.
in a word: cave vs. booth. choose your weapon.
while one is goth, the other . . is comic book narrator. James might be said to dwell on the darker arts, black magic and ritual, while Taylor is catching everyday . . psycho-drama.
PHIL COTE . . of the notorious, now-disbanded cult art band BOBO, which increasingly morphed into a seriously creative, lurking on the fringe, definite ahead-of-the-curve, always looking forward art collective/gallery. the 4 member group used to storm into NYC, from Philly, every now and then. always guaranteed to blow you away. apparently Phil Cote has re-located to NYC, so . . let’s see what’s up on that.
the ghost in the room – DREW GILLESPIE !!
another BOBO member who is also re-locating to the Big apple – he’s been in San Francisco, he just sent word of his new art website: CONNOTATION CHUMP (!!).
yes, hit that . . link.
a guest . . in the room.
artist JUSTIN SAMSON is also returning to NYC, after a long stint in PHILLY.
when everyone else seems to be going to, and from LA – it’s a Philly invasion.
CHE MORALES, the director of new I.M.A.G.E. Gallery & community/venue space in Bushwick, is putting on a big show of cutting edge artists, 26 in total, this FRI FEB 13, 2015. it’s called ‘ARTISTANCE’ and aspires to . . hardcore ‘visionary’.
looks to be a big Valentine’s Day . . blast.
see: I.M.A.G.E.
is that . .
MISAKI KAWAI, yes !!
detail, TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘Greek Head’, 2015.
14 x 11 in.
($4,500.)
this is the direction in which, Taylor told me – he is currently going, portraits based on classic Greek mythology and art.
what ? no dive bars. no pick-up trucks. less drippy and more plaid ? just j-o-k-i-n-g.
maybe – not !!
love . . the detail on the EYEBALLS !!
another very narrative / hyper graphic, comic book-influenced, linear draftsman-infused, edgey ‘formalist’ painter . . MATT LEINES.
says he’s “doing good” and working in the studio all the time.
with Matt Leines, freelance illustrator, artist: LEIF LOW-BEER.
he showed in Matt’s short-lived indie gallery, deep in Brooklyn.
I didn’t know his work, so it was fun to do a quick peek. I could see right off why Matt would be attracted to this almost deck-of-cards quirky, minimal . . slyly humorous building block vocabulary work, in 3d as well.
. . but, it’s his show, we’ll give Taylor . . the last word !!
TAYLOR McKIMENS, ‘Catching Hell’, 2014. 14 x 11 in.
hello, humans, I am . .
. . plant LIFE !!
I AM . . CACTUS.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~TAYLOR McKIMENS – PIX from the OPENING . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 9th, 2015, 12:09pm
TAYLOR McKIMENS . . COMMISSIONS BY BRIGHT LYONS, 2008-2015
opens TUES FEB 3, 2015 / 6-9PM
the show runs FEB 3 – 17, 2015 – so don’t blink !!
BRIGHT LYONS – 455 WEST 19th ST – CHELSEA, NYC
note: the Chelsea street address for this event !!
this is TAYLOR’S first solo show in NYC since his solo project, ‘SOFT SERVE’ at DEITCH PROJECTS in 2008.
here’s the low down:
TAYLOR McKIMENS . . is a great painter, right up there, and I have been a huge fan since day 1, it’s almost 15 years since we first crossed paths, and it’s been great fun to watch his work grow, and unfold. this is a painter’s painter . . very smart. a very tough mix that manages to be both fantastic yet hard-edged ‘story-book’, and yet absolute gritty & realist . . it’s most definite: painting, mixed further, as in hot & heavy . . with brilliant gestural color and flourishes, embellished by a desert dry wit, and dripping . . comic book ethos.
dare I say the ‘poster’ image below – is a kind of ‘selfie’, if not exactly a self-portrait, certainly a portrait within Taylor’s private world. so a ‘selfie’ – by extension ?
what makes it read ‘selfie’ to me – is the way the face confronts the viewer, challenging, maybe even hiding – but dead pan: “what am I thinking”, “what do you think – gazing upon me” ?
what worlds open up – between us.
what worlds, what ‘bookmarks’ – of time and place are thus archived, noted, and illuminated.
what of the boundary . . between you and .. me ?
can you see through me ?
or is that, can you see through . . to me ?
or do I only mark a point – in time and space.
and for those of you who flew by this post, without hitting that BRIGHT LYONS link, I just wanted to make sure . . you saw this !!
even a funny desert CACTUS, is a selfie x selfie x cactus, in TAYLOR’S hands !!
hello world, I’m a . . cactus.
now what ?
~TAYLOR McKIMENS . . OPENS at BRIGHT LYONS, CHELSEA POP-UP |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 2nd, 2015, 4:43pm
2/2/15: my bad !!
CLEOPATRA’S is NOT an artist collective, but “more a curatorial project” – !!
NO artists !! – how interesting, you mean us artists are not the only ones that can key in ?
clue in, and rev up. all the better.
you wouldn’t know that . . just looking around at all the big time ‘professional’/’institutional’ curators in this gritty frontier art town, who all seem sadly lacking in vision, devoid of excitement, and just are so lame – well well behind the curve, instead of being face first ahead of it, and most certainly not making any decisions from . . the ground up.
so, again congrats to CLEOPATRA’S, what a great name – for putting together a really tough little big little survey show. catching the trends, and making statements. they held a very tough line, both visually and thematically.
in other words: the curating is very . . on point, and offers up lots of viewing and . . thinking.
2/3/15: White Columns correction . .
so, seems that strange little nymph-like clay ‘garden’ sculpture by Ms.SAM ANDERSON, in photo below – sitting on the floor – in the midst of that huge crushing chaos party of an opening, like a stubborn guest, is quite the . . trouble-maker.
quite the gnome !!
the correct title of the piece is, NOT: ‘Blood on Santa’s Claw’ (!!), but . . rather:
‘Blood on Satan’s Claw’ !!!! x !!!! x ahah – that’s so much more cipher-able, metaphor-wise.
‘Satan’s claw’ – too much !! that’s so . . funnie, hardcore, and tragic.
but wow, SANTA vs. SATAN – !!
‘LOOKING BACK: THE NINTH WHITE COLUMNS ANNUAL’
GUEST CURATED BY CLEOPATRA’S – a Brooklyn curatorial project composed of: BRIDGET DONAHUE, BRIDGET FINN, COLLEEN GRENNAN & ERIN SOMERVILLE
opened TUES, JAN 13, 2015
the show runs thru FEB 21, 2015
WHITE COLUMNS – 320 WEST 13th ST – enter on HORATIO ST BTWN HUDSON & 8th AVE, WEST VILLAGE, NYC
more info: on the exhibit & curators
there are a lot of big group shows circulating in the city this month, meaning lots of options, and lots of bodies at the openings – the better to warm everybody up vs. the big winter chill !!
I really liked this big selection at WHITE COLUMNS the best – mostly for its overall pro-active, steely take on the art trends that zapped the art scene last year, and the dedicated ‘eyeballs’ that these guest curators put on art that: mattered. these four Brooklyn-based women made a point of including art that focused on our world – as it falls apart before our very eyes. even though the show was hung seemingly without a larger thematic or compositional / spatial floor plan, there was a kind of cool, minimal industrial feel to the overall exhibit, which I felt was very on point – as well.
PETER FEND with his text piece: ‘SAVE YOUR SOIL’, 2014.
Aluminum sign with vinyl decal, 42 x 28 x 1 in.
courtesy of the artist and ESSEX STREET, New York
less is more, Mr. Fend becomes the poster boy for new world thinking as his 3 simple words nailed the very potent social and political commentary that papered the scene last year.
interestingly, for such a reduced work, it is also long on resonance. whether conscious or not, Mr. Fend takes the run-away concept of ‘SELFIE’ – and turns it upside-down, on its head, and focuses thought, and attention back to the needs of the REAL world outside us, a world so desperate in its need of some (big) tender loving care.
it’s the ultimate . . ‘un-selfie’, a gorgeous 3 word dig at the ‘selfie / selfish’ – me me me mindset that spans the global culture, and message that needs to go global, along . . with DUMP YOUR GUNS.
though I don’t mean that, bad as it sounds – as on attack on the very valid ‘selfie’ movement. the urge to ‘selfie’ and post it – for all to see (!!) does greatly contribute to global thinking. it makes everybody an artist, and gives everybody a voice, as well it appears to be a great coping mechanism with all the horrible things going down – and of course, selfie is a vibrant first person archive – that adds up to collective dialog – for sure. just it’s good to get the un-selfie in the midst of all that sharing, that nails the focus, as beautifully as Mr. Fend does.
extended version: I’m thinking . . it’s quite strange to ponder how in biblical days when the soil, the earth was rich and un-degraded by modern populations, greed, and chemicals, it was the SOUL that needed tending. now it’s the inverse.
LILY van der STOKKER, ‘Yelling Women’, 2014
Acrylic paint on wood, 108 x 90 x 7.5 in.
courtesy the HALL COLLECTION, the artist and Clinton & Koenig, NY
as befits a show curated by a group of 4 woman – there were some pretty heavy duty feminist . . takes.
interestingly this piece, although big pink and cloudy, even sweet . . brought ‘feminist-y’ up to-date.
both funny and serious, it also reflected the big ‘cartoon’ format that livens up the NYC art scene, while it also indirectly addresses the preciousness of FREE SPEECH, political cartoons, etc. etc.
you know I am talking about: JE SUIS CHARLIE. JE SUIS FEMME.
if Peter Fend’s piece was the ‘poster’, this piece by LILY van der Stokker is the – thought/talk ‘bubble’.
looking at JOSH KLINE’S wall-mounted, industrial-commercial ‘cooler’ – it confronted one directly as you entered the exhibition space. it was aptly & brilliantly . . titled: ‘Problems’ – !!
as it picked up, and carried on the political dialog.
yep, we got . . problems.
it was cool, too – how the show’s planners gave it that great empty space of a wall.
very nice.
as for how it referenced the scene last year ?
DRINK THIS – DEATH BY ART !! / a metaphor, duh !!
JOSH KLINE, ‘Problems’, 2015.
Plexi, refrigerator, LEDS, 42 smoothies containing Mr> Clean, money order, medical scrubs, french fries, toilet paper, phone card, latex gloves, pennies, Dayquil, Red Bull, Ritalin, Claritin, Aspirin, Advil, Aleve, video camera, microphones, pig’s blood, pepper spray, duct tape, and dirt.
74 x 57-1/2 in.
courtesy of the artist and 47 Canal, NY
(special thanks to Friends of the High Line)
the toxic colors and ingredients – speak for themselves.
EUGENE von BUENCHENHEIN, ‘Untitled (blue vessel with pink flower)’, n.d.
Oven-fired ceramic and paint. 8.75 x 3.75
switching industrial / tech gears, and smack in the face of the digital revolution, Eugene von Buenchenhein caught that other great trend of last year – aka the YEAR of THE HAND-MADE CERAMIC POTTERY . . WAVE.
SAM ANDERSON, ‘Blood on Santa’s Claw’, 2014 / correction: ‘Blood on Satan’s Claw’, 2014 – !!
Epoxy clay, metal, wood, wire, plastic, dirt, lead.
variable dimensions
courtesy of the artist and Chapter, NY
though not kiln-fired, the piece is still hand-formed . . from CLAY !!
but more importantly, it is one of the few pieces in the show that caught that other ‘trend’ of last year: the MINIATURE !!
the fact that it was presented here in such a big show, with a huge crowded opening, in such a small scale & so precariously under-foot, suggests that Ms. Anderson was well aware of that huge . . small scale dynamic that swept the scene so strangely. mini mini mini. it does speak to: everything boils down to singularity, the small individual element, even more so, in our huge inter-connected social media world. less is more, and apparently in NYC 2014, nano-scale is a power player, and a power getter. . from the small gesture: big thoughts.
also referencing . . preciousness of resources, and the also the small scale of who ‘we’ are . . on our planet, a raging out-of-control global world . . and then even further, how small is are ‘we’ – in the face of the ever-closer and way way larger universe(s) – out there, in space.
though I’d love to ask the artist – just what she meant by the title, ‘Blood on Santa’s Claw’ – specifically ?
it seems very: inner-reflection driven ?
even a bit: Peter Pan-ish ? that’s a good . . thing.
magic, for sure.
POLLY APFELBAUM, ‘HWP 10-20’, all 2004
Marker on rayon silk velvet panels, ceramic beads. dimensions variable, ten pieces.
courtesy of the artist and Clifton Benevento, NY
all I can say is 2 key-words: miniature and clay, re: clay beads in the (above) materials !!
and, that other big trending statement: CRAFT SERVICES !!
hand-made, one-of-a-kind, and proud.
POLLY APFELBAUM at the opening . . loving life, and art, but not necessarily a camera pointed directly in her face.
they don’t always go hand in hand.
maybe it takes a fellow media player / a writer . . to welcome the Kodak moment.
WILLIAM SIMMONS, freelance art writer & contributor to ARTFORUM, FREIZE and ART In AMERICA . . with artist STEPHANIE GARLAND.
see: STEPHANIE GARLAND
TREVOR SHIMIZU, ‘Goofy’, 2014
Oil on canvas, 64 x 70 in.
courtesy of Holly Fogle and Jeff Lieberman.
if GOOFY could take a SELFIE . . this would be it – !!
TREVOR SHIMIZU nails . . SELFIE, CARTOON ART & POLITICAL COMMENT – all in one, with finesse, along with freedom of gesture re the traditional canvas painting/rendering. a great wash of lines.
and the last word goes to . . ANNETTE KELM: disarm – !!
ANNETTE KELM, ‘Institut fur Zeitgeschichte-Archiv, Bestand Hannelore Mabry / Bayerisches Archiv der Frauenbewegung, Signatur ED 900, Box 532, Korperuberhang: “Keine Mark, Kein Dollar, kein Rubel fur Waffen!” / “Frauen, Mutter, Feministen fur Entwaffnung aller Lander!”, Body overhang: “No mark, not dollars, not rubles for weapons!” / “Wives, mothers, feminists for disarmament of all countries!”, 2014.
C-print diptych, 34.75 x 31.75 (sic) each, edition 2/6, with 2 AP
courtesy of the artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, NY.
political comment, craft, textiles, skills, function, bare-faced hand-scribbled fonts, in a word: hand-lettered small batch – artisan output. it’s all about . . the word.
in the beginning was .. the word.
from a woman . . to the world of dumb-ass dudes bringing us down:
“Wives, mothers, feminists for disarmament of all countries!”
or WARNING, the EPIC FAIL . . button is lighting up.
Looking back . . at total annihilation is all that will be left.
which, takes us full circle back to that man-artist with a JE SUIS FEMME, woman’s soul – PETER FEND.
(no disrespect – welcome to the sane)
YEP.
IT’S GETTING RAPIDLY HOT IN HERE, as in . . TOXIC !!
SOS / SAVE YOUR SOIL / USE YOUR HANDS, not just your head / or at least USE your head !!
DISARM, REFLECT.
CLEOPATRA’S ‘LOOKING BACK’ . . at WHITE COLUMNS, JAN 2015.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~LOOKING BACK: THE 9TH WHITE COLUMNS ANNUAL / revised 2/2/2015 & 2/3/15 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 31st, 2015, 11:08am
if you want a snapshot of PPP, if you are unfamiliar with the crew – I offer up PABLO POWER and his tough gritty sculpture – from the 15 WARREN ST underground pop-up exhibit that hi-jacked the start of JAN 2014.
a huge group show – electric with energy, creativity, and social comment.
just scroll down the archive at left to JAN 2014 – to see more images.
it was an explosion of site-specific light works, wall murals, projections, social politics, war/conflict/WTC, bio-future-ness, future chaos, pop-up splendor to the max, and . . homeland security.
all: very industrial in the making. raw, tough. ranging from expressionistic to the finely pointed.
very hardcore. very awesome and dished out hard and crazy wild.
PABLO POWER with his piece, a very hardcore new age ‘ready-made’ !!
exhibited at 15 WARREN ST – HAPPY NEW YEAR NYC 2014 – curated by SEAN VEGEZZI, ABELINE COHEN & ANDREW KASS.
metaphor-driven, those are crack vials, painted silver – in the standard kitchen glass measuring cup.
I’m thinking bullets vs crack vials – you can break down the nuances of meaning, for yourself.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, 15 WARREN ST, NYC. DEC 28, 2014.
~PABLO POWER / PPP – PETER PAN POSSE |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 29th, 2015, 2:03pm
