HELLO KITTY, “Say cheese!”. p-a-p-a-r-a-z-z-i.
HELLO KITTY – Coloring & Activity Book – SANRIO – copyright 1967, 2009
for sure I saw that big write-up in this weekend’s NEW YORK TIMES on the big ‘blockbuster’ show that just opened (MARCH 18, 2011) at the Japan Society entitled: ‘BYE BYE KITTY !!!!’.
I dunno, but I think we must be living in amazingly powerful times for the art and the real world to come down together – with such force. and in New York, no less. my favorite art town. not LA. not London. not Paris.
smack down upfront & street-smart in gritty New York City.
had they produced this show any later – and missed getting it up before the catastrophic events of last week – of course it would have been canceled or censored. the person who thought up the title would have been fired. but what can they do now – but be amazed, along with the rest of us.
‘BYE BYE KITTY’ – more like, BYE BYE KITTY – WIPE-OUT. Oh my lordy.
and is it possible – I’m thinking, yes. that it is the lightning speed of the internet and its often irreverent, snarky snarly scribblers – that has contributed to the popularity of such punchy titles ? that are fun – if you don’t really think about the real meanings. and consequences . . . amid the shocking immediacy of this one.
which translates as: DEATH TO CUTE & INNOCENCE. DEATH TO CHILDHOOD HAPPY. AS WE KNEW IT – PRE-JAPAN 2011.
it’s almost supernatural.
timing wise: maybe it is – supernatural. the stuff myths are made of – centuries down the road.
not to forget that Japanese culture itself, has a very long, ancient and rich tradition of ghosts, goblins, witches, fortune tellers, warriors and shamans – in short: eerie goings on – all the way back to day one ?
one has to stop and give credit immediately to the show’s curator, DAVID ELLIOTT for his vision – !! – and title – that thrust the JAPAN SOCIETY – an institutional cultural & exhibition hall – into the excruciatingly precise pinpoint – where art and reality – became one.
and while a whole range of media personalities took some heat, if they were not downright right fired, for their irreverent tone on twitter regarding the catastrophic news when it first broke – here was this august institution – founded in 1907 – coming in – with such an audacious title – and end-of-the-world take.
really it’s quite astounding, and there was no denying what had already been put in motion.
smart cracks and all. it must be a huge shock for the administrators over there.
about: the JAPAN SOCIETY
GILBERT GOTTFRIED – VOICE OF THE AFLAC DUCK – NO MORE !!!/PHOTO: SYKES/AP and AFLAC
I mean, is the show’s title – ‘BYE BYE KITTY!!!’ – let alone its dire and graphic content (!!!) – any less shocking than what GILBERT GOTTFRIED twitted, I mean twittered – in complete 100% American wise-cracking idiocy – as the triple whammy – earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown – disaster in Japan – crashed world headlines:
“I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any day'” !!
omg – he got canned. then if you look into it – surprise surprise, not – 1 in 4 Japanese households buys AFLAC insurance products and Japan represents 3/4 of their business !! no wonder he got the chop.
see: GILBERT GOTTFRIED FIRED AS THE VOICE OF THE AFLAC DUCK – FOR IRREVERENT TWITTER JOKES . . .
which just goes to show – yep. t-i-m-i-n-g is everything !!
YAMAGUCHI AKIRA, ‘Narita International Airport: Various Scenes of Airplanes, 2005’ at BYE BYE KITTY!!! – JAPAN SOCIETY.
THE FRONT PAGE – THE WEEKEND ARTS – THE NEW YORK TIMES – THIS WEEKEND/FRI MARCH 18, 2011.
the NEW YORK TIMES titled their review of the show: ‘ANXIETY ON THE FAULT LINE’ !! – what a metaphor – !!
talk about trying to straddle the uncomfortable line of when tastefulness meets the rudeness of reality – head-on.
it was up to HOLLAND COTTER to maintain the standard New York Times chit-chat casual – as opposed to heavy and dour – arts coverage that had somehow this weekend come to feast at a head-on collision – a delicate balancing act, no doubt. esp considering the dark futuristic tone, and grim imagery of the work itself, never mind the grimace-inducing no-holds bared title.
‘BYE BYE KITTY’ – indeed.
wow. they couldn’t have wished upon a star and got it – better.
KOHEI NAWA, ‘PixCell – Elk No. 2’, taxidermied (Elk) specimen covered with translucent plastic globes . . . in ‘BYE BYE KITTY’. PHOTO CREDIT: OZIER MUHAMMEAD/THE NEW YORK TIMES
. . . good bye, Hello Kitty – hello Nuclear mutation ?
the whole title of the show is: ‘Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art’ – go figure.
it is up at the JAPAN SOCIETY – 333 EAST 47th STREET – thru JUNE 12, 2011.
like I said, it was up to HOLLAND COTTER to do the dirty deed. the review. he did a pretty good job. he stayed pretty calm. it was an awkward position for an (institutional) arts critic to be in – the wipe-out of cute !!
when it had – just – actually happened . . .
he began:
” . . a piquant exhibition of dark-minded work at Japan Society . . was conceived as a sharp counterweight to the cult of cuteness – kawaii – that has been Japan’s dominant aesthetic for decades. No one of course could have known that the show’s images of fragility and decay would end up being seen in the light of real-life disaster . . . .
Some people have long viewed the cuteness craze, exemplified in the “Hello Kitty” commercial logo – a blank-faced cartoon cat with a bow in her hair – and filtering into the work of art-stars like TAKASHI MURAKAMI, as a symptom of cultural malaise, a stress reaction on the part of a nation living with chronic uncertainty.
As DAVID ELLIOTT, the independent curator who organized the show, writes in the catalog, ‘In a densely urbanized, highly stratified society situated in the heart of an earthquake zone, the fear that the worst could easily happen lies at the back of many minds’.
By that view, images associated with very early childhood, a stage of life traditionally free of pressures in Japan, feed into a desire for communal security. And feel-good art, of the kind produced by artists like Mr. Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara is yet another way to market that sensation.”
(I think I would not be alone in questioning that specific artist-choice conclusion – there is also – and always was something too over-the-top and waiting for the other shoe to drop – in all of Japan’s ‘cute’ art, but esp in his two references – but it’s a good point to beg further discussion . . . )
Mr. Holland continues:
“In a way utterly foreign to the plastic Hello Kitty universe, much of what’s in the Japan Society show is, for better and worse, about organic change. You see this in the scarred faces of MOTOHIKO ODANI’S wooden Noh masks, and in KOHEI NAWA’S ‘PixCell-Elk No. 2’ – a taxidermied specimen covered with translucent plastic globes that look luminous but also pathological, like growths from genetic experiments or excessive radiation.”
and concludes:
“Not everything is wonderful. . . But a lot of what’s here carries a strain of critical fierceness and existential seriousness that has been absent from Japanese work for some time. And with the hellish natural and nuclear catastrophe Japan is now suffering, this is likely to be the way at least some new art will continue to go.”
read his whole article: ANXIETY ON THE FAULT LINE/HOLLAND COTTER/THE NEW YORK TIMES/ MARCH 18, 2011
Personally – I’d slightly disagree with his projection . . .
I’d venture to say, just off the top of my head – along with art about ‘mutation’ – and no ‘cute’ in sight – I bet a new folk art emerges. quilt-making, shelter-making, and a return to simple folk art, like carved ‘icons’ – such as totems and masks – as well as communal survival narratives, such as renewed theater fables. and maybe, just maybe in the face of so much tragedy – there will even be – a return to cute – !! – from the grassroots-up art vs. commercial-driven art.
cute art – maybe even with smiley faces this time – you know real home-made dolls – instead of those blank ones – with no mouths. I mean, looking back those HELLO KITTY cats – were kinda scary. cute but scary. but maybe that was their wide appeal – weren’t they having a hey day – waiting for it all to end. join in the fun. life. it’s all one big fairy tale . . . ca 1976.
so, watch out – new generation – HELLO Mr. MUTATION – coloring books – ala KUMI MACHIDA – coming your way soon . . . I don’t think so. but hey, the ways things are going, maybe its not so far off.
MOTOHIKO ODANI, wooden Noh masks in ‘BYE BYE KITTY!!!’
PHOTO: YAMAMOTO GENDAI/THE NEW YORK TIMES
. . . . a (nuke) mutated – Noh mask ??!!
KUMI MACHIDA, ‘Relation’ – in ‘BYE BYE KITTY!!!’
PHOTO: KUMI MACHIDA/COURTESY: THE NEW YORK TIMES
and the nuke-mutated babies – of the future ??? – new age coloring books – here we come !!
KUMI MACHIDA (1970 – ), ‘Visitor’, 2004 – in ‘BYE BYE KITTY!!!’/IMAGE COURTESY: JAPAN SOCIETY
unbelievably there was an exhibition-linked event, titled ‘Cordoning the Child, Killing the Kawaii’ – (Kawaii – meaning cute . . and over-the-top innocent and happy !!) scheduled for yesterday, Sat March 19, 2011 – a discussion by the show’s curator DAVID ELLIOTT – which addressed this topic: “In recent years, Japanese contemporary art has too often confined itself to the restrictive hierarchies of the antique, the childish or the ‘cute’.”
“THIS talk …. examines the ways many young Japanese artists have confronted cultural stereotypes, digesting, and re-imaging tradition in a challenging and at times visceral exposition of contemporary experience.”
BOY – did they get a wake-up call or, what ?
I guess the odds were running out and maybe – they just saw it coming.
reality bite: JAPAN-style. or what.
HELLO KITTY, “SPENDING THE DAY – WITH NATURE” !!
HELLO KITTY COLORING & ACTIVITY BOOK – SANRIO 1976, 2009.
~BYE BYE KITTY !!! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 20th, 2011, 12:59pm
JAPAN REELS AS TOLL RISES AND NUCLEAR RISKS LOOM
The scene in Natori, JAPAN, reflected the paralysis across the country on Sunday March 13, 2011.
PHOTO BY: TOSHIYUKI TSUNENARI/ASAHI SHIMBUN, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS/COURTESY: THE NEW YORK TIMES. MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011 – FRONT PAGE.
MORE PIX – FROM THE RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA: ‘FEAR EATS THE SOUL’ – OPENING – MARCH 5, 2011
GAVIN BROWN’S enterprise – the show is up thru APRIL 16, 2011
inside the installation – after the packed opening nite crowd – had subsided.
so mysterious, so eeire, and that was before Japan – blew up. F- E- A-R.
so, of course the big global disaster in Japan that racked and reeled our world, happened pretty much one week to the day after the RIRKRIT TITAVANIJA opening. I was going to file this post – more opening nite pix – originally as: ‘blockbuster’ – but that seemed a poor way to go – after the events of last week unfolded.
I was speechless, yeah I know. too stunned to write. artlovers has many fans and friends in Japan. that red-haired girl above – could be one – the photo hit home in a most terrible way.
mostly I thought about how the greatest art – always touches the soul of the times. and sometimes literally.
how artists are and always have been shamans.
I felt overwhelming that a show that got titled: ‘FEAR EATS THE SOUL’, instead of, for example: come eat Thai soup – at my Soup Kitchen – hit a raw nerve, a live-wire before anyone knew it was all gonna blow . . . how does an artist do that – pull the magic out of the air . . . like that. just like an ole-time diviner . . .
just like SHEPARD FAIREY did. when he opened his NYC solo show at JEFFREY DEITCH last year, and titled it ‘MAY DAY’ – as in S.O.S – right smack on the cusp of that big BP oil spill.
and that’s really it – but it’s so hard to get your – modern ‘no-frills’ brain around it.
the best artists in this century – and I guess like going back forever – they do divine, not just define – our world. and that is why from the earliest times and unbelievably so even in our skeptical times – artists are shamans.
and RIRKRIT TRIVANIJA is a shaman. conceptual artist yes. shaman yes. can you put that on your resume ?
the opening nite crowd . . .
yes, the show is a blockbuster – both conceptually & production-wise.
it had the magic of ‘creative visionary architecture’ even before the events in Japan unfolded . . . . the kind of creative architecture – that leads to creative thinking that NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF is always going on about in the New York Times. it had stand-alone magic. makes-you-think bout what-you-feels magic. . . that creeps into your total knowledge without your quite stopping to wonder why or internally process.
. . . even before it had tsunami realism. this was one pit stop – that spoke to a FEAR – that absolutely manifested – after the fact.
what Rirkrit had conjured – was not just a pretty candlelight opening – he had torn down a formal white box structure and made a make-shift shelter.
a communal meeting place: with a soup kitchen ladling out free food . . . an art gallery (or ‘bank’ – more on that later), and a T-shirt shop – that both clothed and informed you – a kind of walking newspaper.
just like what could happen next: be it intergalactic space travel on the low-down or apocalyptic calamity here on earth – and, yeah Rirkrit: got it down – right.
in the aftermath of the opening . . .
I mean it is: a blockbuster literally.
Gavin and Rirkrit tore the entire guts out of the entire block long GBE empire. completely destroyed that white box. de-construction. down with boxes. oh yeah, I loved it. I loved it beyond the beyond. . . beyond I have words for.
even before it had a meaningful real-time context . . .
or better said: when its meaning was just in your head . . .
oh my god seriously: talk about de-construction.
it’s hard to destroy that white box & still show art !! think on that.
and this installation ?- like a small movie set within a white gallery take-down, like nesting Russian folk art eggs . . .
had its very own art gallery . . . really a kind of ‘art – bank’.
a stamp-sized one albeit, a cube. but a plywood cube. and all better for it . . . all for the good.
if that art inside – comes with the plywood square it’s housed in – I’m buying the whole damn thing . . . GAVIN BROWN letters – in black – on the outside glass, and all !!
behind that back wall – a back office, of course.
. . . and a god-damn T-SHIRT shop, on the other side of the right wall.
SOUP – NO SOUP.
T-SHIRT. NO T-SHIRT.
Rirkrit – so funny.
and, not just any T-SHIRT SHOP – an active custom silk screen shop with like 24 choices – of slogans – to print on your shirt.
$20 a pop.
T-SHIRT SHOP: THURS, FRI, SAT. 10a – 6p. MARCH 5 – APRIL 16, 2011.
yes of course. all the slogans are political. tabloid global headlines for the alternative consciousness – even before Japan . . . took the big hit. and all of a sudden . . . these silk-screen slogans – assumed a deeper life.
THE DAYS OF THIS SOCIETY IS NUMBERED.
JACK TILTON – in the T-SHIRT SHOP – on opening nite . . .
besides being a big player in the auctions, and back offices – Jack Tilton has also spent a lot of time in China – promoting the big $$ art game – over there. he even knows Alfredo Martinez from Alfredo’s days over there.
even has a few of his pieces.
(wonder what he thought of Rirkrit’s art gallery – Mao and all ?)
with JACK TILTON,
on the left . . legendary 80s art wheeler-dealer/curator, MUDD Club co-founder – DEIGO CORTEZ.
and then, of course there was the soup kitchen – with its separate entrance . . .
where you could find RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA, himself in rose-colored glasses !! – ladling out yum Thai soup and BBQ pork.
and you begin to see – what I mean about blockbuster ?
behind it all – was this great humbleness – a raw-ness – directly opposed to the original architectural premise of the gallery.
a make-shiftness . . . both in terms of an actual – emergency shelter . . .
and conceptually – from a ‘viewing’ to a ‘being-in’ . . . makeshift-ness.
a great ingenuity – that spoke both to breaking it all down, yes. and building it all up, down-scale.
from ‘elite’ to ‘communal’ – in a nutshell.
busting through – that god damn white box. I’m so tired of those white boxes.
and probably this is – pretty much, what is – gonna happen in Japan . . .
all the displaced and homeless people are going to take over whatever structures that are still standing – and will turn them into simple communal shelters.
the night of the opening – you didn’t even have that nightmare scenario – to contemplate. and, still you got it.
does Rirkrit, being from Thailand – does that give him special insight . . . into the future . . of global wipe-out.
at any rate – he is the King of Plywood – if you were lucky you also caught – the life-size apartment – he re-created, working shower and all, at GBE on 15th street – back in the day – when gentrification was the headline.
Rirkrit Tiravanija: the king of conceptional art – the shaman . . .
pre-Japan. he didn’t even know to – what exactly, was he addressing his shelter – except he seemed to see it comin . . .
the gallery’s whole front exhibition space – was no more.
in its place stood a huge open, almost entirely empty communal room – with a long communal table – on which people could eat and drink . . . and have shelter.
and maybe sleep, bring their sleeping bags. if their homes were destroyed . . .
in the communal room – there was no electric light – only candles . . .
just the way it is – in many places in Japan, now.
‘outta the dark and into the light’. . .
walking upon this unlit empty scene – for a gallery opening – was very provoking.
it was dark. only light with the flash.
FEAR EATS THE SOUL
was a way station – no matter how you cut it. a spiritual way station on the cultural grid . . .
“California dreaming I got you in a day . . . stopped into a church along the way, well I got down on my knees and I began to began to pray.” – THE MOMMAS & POPPAS
. . . I didn’t just know exactly how much of a church, my kind of church – this crazy far-out pit stop for the weary – was – and I bet neither did anybody else . . . though obviously Rirkrit knew it’s time – was coming . . . just not, exactly last week.
in Japan.
FEAR EATS THE SOUL . . . GLOBAL SOULFUL.
right to the very last. drip.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~FEAR EATS THE SOUL, yes it does . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 18th, 2011, 6:06pm
RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA and GAVIN BROWN (aka MR. MOJO) dish – out the soup . . . in the soup kitchen.
RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA – ‘FEAR EATS THE SOUL’ – OPENING.
Gavin Brown’s enterprise, NYC. SAT, MARCH 5, 2010
YEP. MR. MOJO – IS KING . . . NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
because, yes, yes, and more yes: Rirkrit’s ‘FEAR’ – DOES – ‘EAT THE SOUL’.
one of the best shows – ever. however which way – you want to cut it.
besides, GOGO lost all momentum after DAN COLEN. ANSELM KIEFER, was big, but way too classical.
ZWIRNER ain’t even in the running, and who’s MATTHEW MARKS ?
(just saying.)
(not to mention – dig, those rose-colored glasses, dude !!)
big time collector PETER BRANT, spotted in the opening night – soup line !!
this is one guy – who knows history in the making – when he sees it.
he only shows – at the hottest of hot spots. but he shows up. unlike alot of the other big ticket guys – he really wants to be there for the action . . . and here he was – waiting in the soup kitchen line.
funny – how he is such a natural – tabloid magnet !! who’d guess. drama just seems follows him – like a pet dog.
check out: the latest ‘dish’ – on the PETER BRANT SAGA/STEPHANIE & son, cavorting on ST. BARTS !!/PAGE SIX MAGAZINE/NEW YORK POST/MARCH 10, 2011 !!
yeah, Gavin and Rirkrit built a whole kitchen – in the (former) LA FREIDA meat packing annex !!
where once was VEGAN-LAND, now pots of animal-laden soup – simmer up, and one word: YUM. says it all.
the night of the opening – they were even serving up BBQ pork – !!
and its all so – friggin ad hoc.
de-construction. oh yeah
more to follow – life, interrupted – what else is new . . .
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~Mr. MOJO is KING . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 11th, 2011, 8:22pm
RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA – at the opening of yeah, the biggest blockbuster of them all, ‘FEAR EATS THE SOUL’ – a kind of waystation for the weariest of souls – on the alternative highway . . .
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, NYC. SAT MARCH 5, 2011
RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA – ‘FEAR EATS THE SOUL’ – !!
opened SAT MARCH 5, 2011
the show runs through APRIL 16, 2011
GAVIN BROWN’S enterprise – 620 GREENWICH ST – ENTRY ON LEROY – WEST VILLAGE, NYC
IF YOU ARE ANYWHERE – NEAR NYC – AND, YOU MISS THIS – YOU WILL NEVER LIVE IT DOWN. OH YEAH, BE THERE or be square.
you’ve been fore-warned. fore-armed, and, are now – dangerous !!
“California dreaming, I got you in a day.” !!
see: SOUP NO SOUP
see: T-SHIRT NO T-SHIRT
MORE – OPENING NITE – PIX – TO FOLLOW – SHORTLY . . .
~NO SOUP ? oh yeah !! RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 10th, 2011, 4:08pm
GOOD LUCK TO SWEET TOOTH NELSON and BRETT LAND, his banjo-playing buddy – who are leaving our sweet shores – well, Bushwick, to take on the rest of the country – well, the Northeast coast, for a month-long tour. We caught their farewell gig, and tape launch party – at NORTHEAST KINGDOM, last night, where they and some of their Folk Revival buddies – rocked the ‘den’.
SWEET TOOTH NELSON and JESS PAPS – capture the folk fire at the Northeast Kingdom – underground ‘den’.
WED MARCH 9, 2011
check out: SWEET TOOTH NELSON
check out: SWEET TOOTH NELSON/myspace
check out: NORTHEAST KINGDOM
JESS PAPS also played a totally awesome solo set.
most def, check out: JESS PAPS/myspace/papsjams
check out: JESS PAPS on You/Tube – apt #5 – cover
the ‘DEN’ – at Northeast Kingdom
BLACK FOREST . . . GANN MATTHEWS on the right.
SWEET TOOTH sang a few solo songs . . .
SWEET TOOTH NELSON/’IT WAS SOMETHIN’ TO ME’/YouTube
BRETT LAND, left, came to join him on banjo, and JESS PAPS joined in, too . . .
BRETT LAND and his banjo . . . sounding better, and better.
GANN MATTHEWS watching the action, from the audience.
BRIAN and HOLLY of ROCKWOOD REVIVAL. . .
Holly plays washboard and sings.
farewell, for now. SWEET TOOTH.
WILD ISLE PRESENTS:
the NELSON TAPE RELEASE PARTY, PAPS, ROCKWOOD REVIVAL, and GANN MATTHEWS – at NORTHEAST KINGDOM, BROOKLYN.
MARCH 9, 2011
the NORTHEAST KINGDOM – DEN . . .
‘fire-burning’ stove, and . . .
all.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~SWEET FAREWELL . . . SWEET TOOTH NELSON & PALS |
Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 10th, 2011, 10:11am
so, the ARMORY ART FAIR – isn’t exactly the right cup of tea – for this art lover, despite the first line of Roberta Smith’s March 4, 2011 New York Times review: “Art Fairs are for art lovers.” ha.
. . . but I made it to the INDEPENDENT.
where the third floor – was my fave.
right off the stairs – you could encounter the fair’s ‘creative adviser’ – MATTHEW HIGGS of WHITE COLUMNS.
just like a lot of others, the first thing to catch my attention was the big red car – which re-cycled into 2 BICYCLES (!!) by FOLKE KOBBERLONG and MARTIN KALTWASSER at the JACK HANLEY space.
and I say, space – because thank the lordy – there were no booths. this fair has lots of open space and very little in the way of walls.
a SAAB 900 gutted, and transformed into two motorbikes. FOLKE KOBBERLING and MARTIN KALTWASSER.
JACK HANLEY GALLERY, New York City.
FOLKE KOBBERLING and MARTIN KALTWASSER, JACK HANLEY.
close-up: motorbike assembled from car parts. FOLKE KOBBERLING and MARTIN KALTWASSER. JACK HANLEY
JACK HANLEY.
just across the way, I found FLORENCE BONNEFOUS of Air de Paris . . . Paris. France.
who was able to show me video on her iPad – and yes. CLAIRE FONTAINE really did set the wall on fire – in her current gallery exhibit – back at the Air de Paris gallery in Paris.
see: CLAIRE FONTAINE /AIR de PARIS
detailed ‘pin’ work by SARAH PUCCI – the mother of contemporary artist DOROTHY IANNONE . . . AIR de PARIS.
(the finely detailed and well-cared-for works were going for between $8,700 and $10,200 US DOLLARS)
SARAH PUCCI, detail. AIR de PARIS.
AIR de PARIS – this gallery was the only one – that really struck me – as to having a super relevant dialog to what was going on in my head, what I was doing and seeing in the art world in New York, and the precarious condition of the global – world outside.
SARAH PUCCI.
meaning guns (ALFREDO MARTINEZ), and artisans. historical narrative (the OLD STONE HOUSE show), folk art, and even devotional ones, scrimshaw !! and the commorative plates of DUKE RILEY. and, artifacts, and even when you think about it – that includes the JACK EARLY VICTROLA at DANIEL REICH. beauty vs. social deconstruction in a nutshell.
SARAH PUCCI.
though FLORENCE BONNEFOUS did unnerve me when she strove to stress that these objects were “not done as art. they were devotional in nature.” I mean what the hell is the difference, and isn’t that the point. get over it already. art theory also makes a mess of it . . . they are great art. skills. it’s all about skills and visual richness. and feelings, what about feelings. most definitely devotional feelings – inform skills. feelings are what inspire artists, no ? like even the Impressionists. or Braque and notoriously, Picasso.
I mean, I consider the above Claire Fontaine wall burnings – to be ‘devotional offerings’ to a world on the brink . . . don’t you ?
SARAH PUCCI, detail.
I can also relate to these on a personal level, as can probably any artisan working in Brooklyn right now – who takes up a needle to embroider or embellish. any time I lose a tiny sequin, or a sweet vintage button rolls away, or a tiny glass or plastic bead escapes – when I find it – it goes right on my pincushion – with a needle through its heart (hole). and when the pincushion is full – as Kate will tell ya – it gets put away somewhere safe. but sadly, we don’t have as many lovely embellishments now, as Sarah Pucci had at her fingertips – inspiring and enriching – her lovely and dramatic confections !! that’s for sure.
SARAH PUCCI.
all us outsiders derive great pleasure when a previously unrecognized artist -or artisan – or even primitive – sorry. finally gets their day in the art world sun. really, it’s everybody else – who has to catch up.
SARAH PUCCI – the AIR de PARIS cutting edge booth at Independent – seen through the eyes of a long ago – devotional keepsake – artisan. love it. right on the dot. the sequin. the paste pearl. the glass bead. you got it.
AIR de PARIS, Independent Art Fair, NYC. Spring 2011.
AIR de PARIS . . .
AIR de PARIS, photos by BRUNO SERRALONGUE . . . nice.
AIR de PARIS, photos by BRUNO SERRALONGUE.
AIR de PARIS, drawing by JEAN-LUC VERNA.
a sequential looped video word piece by PIERRE JOSEPH, AIR de PARIS.
PIERRE JOSEPH.
PIERRE JOSEPH.
sometimes when you see greatly detailed, vintage artisanal work, not to mention gritty urban landscape photographs – it’s a nice contrast – to read some – cutting edge – contemporary – words !!
especially addressed to photography, per se.
happened to run into NYC artist EVAN GREENFIELD . . .
he and ERIKA SOMYGI just a new baby girl, their first. and her name is River.
his favorite piece on this floor, literally – was this assemblage by LIONEL MAUNZ, from BUREAU, NYC.
LIONEL MAUNZ, detail.
on the right, GABRIELLE GIATTINO, of BUREAU, New York City. (127 Henry St.)
she says her gallery is a teeny tiny space on Henry St. in the Lower East Side.
Gabrielle is well-known to us as a former curator at the esteemed SWISS INSTITUTE in Soho. (2002-2007)
another BUREAU piece, incorporating a genuine Berber rug by TOM HOLMES.
left, ELIZABETH DEE – of the ELIZABETH DEE GALLERY in Chelsea, and one of the founders of the Independent, happens by.
the pink and blue neon light behind her – is by BLAIR THURMAN represented by HARD HAT of Geneva.
FABRICE STROUN of HARD HAT, Geneva.
ANNA LUNTLEY, gallery associate at MARY MARY of Glasgow.
left, HANNAH ROBINSON – the owner director of MARY MARY.
besides having a fascinating and very animated personal style, Hannah Robinson’s MARY MARY – seems to have a very cutting edge agenda.
on the floor work by NICK EVANS at MARY MARY.
NICK EVANS. I don’t quite know what to say, yes. I am speechless. go figure. but I really liked it.
when I looked up his work on their website – to clarify the mystery of the appeal – I got the bigger picture – and obviously his main body of work was too large to transport to a weekend in New York !!
check out: NICK EVANS/MARY MARY
I really liked the way the signs denoting each gallery were placed in different positions, and admired their typeface and gray tone.
nice touch.
just to show you – not all the work – was capital A for ART – a funny brute piece by JON PYLYPCHUK at CHINA ART OBJECTS.
a series of abstract wall paintings by DAN REES, girl not included. at NEW GALERIE, Paris.
an overview of the the third floor – INDEPENDENT Art Fair, New York, March 3-6, 2011.
. . . closing in, on the GALERIE BEN KAUFMAN from Berlin, Germany.
that just might be Ben Kaufman leaning over, in the red sweater ?
strange and interesting. arresting even. small paintings by HANSJOERG DOBLIAR. GALERIE BEN KAUFMAN
. . . and if it hadn’t been raining truly cats and dogs – I might, just might, not really – have made it up to the THE ART SHOW at the PARK AVENUE ARMORY.
one: I really enjoyed KEN JOHNSON’S take on it . . . that began:
“The Art Show is the Benjamin Button of art fairs. The annual production of the Art dealers Association of America, it is still the most conservative of the three major and several smaller fairs happening this weekend, but it has gotten younger in spirit over the past decades. If it keeps aging in reverse, it may one day replace the Armory Fair and the Independent as the go-to-place for connoisseurs of the hip.”
see: ‘The Uncluttered Look Has its Day’ by KEN JOHNSON/NEW YORK TIMES/MARCH 4, 2011
Charles Burchfield, ‘Sparrow hawk weather’, (1960), at DEBRA FORCE/PHOTO COURTESY: DEBRA FORCE via the NEW YORK TIMES.
and two: I would have loved to have see this CHARLES BURCHFIELD painting, titled ‘Sparrow hawk weather’ (1960) at DEBRA FORCE – who is apparently showcasing several of his big “radiantly transcendental watercolor landscapes along with paintings by his perennially underappreciated contemporary Oscar Bluemer.” (Johnson)
ALL PHOTOS: by NANCY SMITH. NYC, MARCH 5, 2011 – unless otherwise indicated.
~INDEPENDENT and . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 6th, 2011, 9:16pm
on your way down there . . . for sure, don’t miss the JACK EARLY – INSTALLATION – at DANIEL REICH GALLERY – 537 A WEST 23RD ST.
that’s just on the other side of the street – the North side. just below – 10th Ave !!
or, as the gallery flyer for yesterday’s all day live music event – put it: 1 BLOCK UP FROM !! – THE INDEPENDENT ART FAIR !!
the whole front room – is taken over by – a black light installation.
so from the outside – the gallery looks black, as in shut !! – don’t let that, fool ya . . .
just on the other side of the metal & glass 23rd Street entryway – right on the cultural dot – like a kind of ‘no-words needed’ – is an alternative universe . . . a total environment – as opposed to a quote unquote: show.
step into the dark . . . and find the light !!
DANIEL had to put a sign on his door – that says: OPEN !! – in neon orange, no less.
an apt ‘found” sign – if I ever did see one !!
this is what the JACK EARLY installation looks like – on the other side of the door !!
total black-out. as in surreal.
it was fun to go back and re-check that – ceiling art – again, too.
never saw so much ‘ceiling’ art in my life. in New York City, before . . .
it’s lighthearted, and playful. but a grad student could write a thesis . . .
out of the dark – and into the light . . . a complete alternative environment – takes over – the usual white box- gallery space.
in the back room the multi-faceted JACK EARLY canvas – yes, that is PAUL McCARTNEY – is a fitting backdrop for many of day’s – afternoon long – guest performances . . .
this is ELIJAH TUCKER with SPECIAL GUESTS.
from left: ALEC SPIEGELMAN, ELIJAH TUCKER, and MARK WIXOM.
they were playing JACK EARLY compositions . . . s-p-e-c-i-a-l.
check out: ELIJAH TUCKER & GENEROUS MUSIC/myspace
check out: ELIJAH TUCKER
on the right – JACK EARLY himself, sat in on a few songs. here is his with ALEC SPIEGELMAN.
his music is – really low-down sweet and fine – special. harmonic. melodic. soulful. is that the word ?
A’cappella/Folk Rock/Pop
here’s the best bet: check it out on his myspace page – JACK EARLY !!
DANIEL was enjoying the moment – just like Alberto Magnan at the DUKE RILEY show (post below), he seemed to be taking great pleasure in hosting the guest musician friends of his artist – and allowing them space to perform – live – in the art world.
here he is with JARED VICTOR MASTERS – who plays ‘Roots’ inspired music.
in fact DANIEL REICH was lookin’ positively snazzy – and, well why not, he was the host. the show was great. everyone was having really the finest of times. refreshments included !!
MORE PIX !! – A CHELSEA MORNING WITH JACK EARLY – A LIVE ENSEMBLE PERFORMING THE MUSIC Of JACK EARLY
so, you know where – the Victrola – and the ability to custom press the first home-recorded wax records – is coming at ya, from ?
in the moment, so to speak.
Tha Tha ‘THE KINGS SPEECH’, of course. GEOFFREY RUSH makes that first recording of the King’s voice – on one – in his office. oh yeah.
all good. Jack’s Victrola – plays custom recordings of him and his friends – playing his music . . .
ask Daniel to give it a spin for ya !!
note: little correction – technically, that’s a vintage DISK RECORDER in THE KING’S SPEECH. You could not record on the Victrola. but it’s the same family, re: early hand-wound phonographs.
CAPTAIN KIRK, DR. SPOCK and JARED VICTOR MASTERS – enjoy the musical offerings.
ALEC SPIEGELMAN also played a solo set.
so did CAROLINE MURPHY. and she was asked back for a few encores – she was that lovely.
this was amazingly – the first time she had meet Jack Early – or seen his music – but her voice and timing was a perfect match.
you could say – a match made in (musical) heaven.
CAROLINE MURPHY – in front of the Jack Early canvas.
check out: carolinemurphy.org
then for change of pace – performance artist – THORGY – made an entry.
I think Thorgy – might stand for Thor – as in Viking, and Fergie – for the singer – but I’m not sure. but think that might be a safe bet.
and actually – for real – the performance was quite moving. very low key, but entirely apt & entrancing.
and I wouldn’t usually say that.
Thorgy lip-synced and glided to Jack’s music. . and even the Victrola seemed to sway – to the romance.
Jack Early, left – watching from the audience . . . remember it was all under the spell of the black light’s black magic.
Thorgy did 3 brief sets – with different costumes.
her prance and Jack’s music – another match. strike. in the dark.
out of the dark . . .
and into the light: (left) GEOFF BENTZ, who is a copywriter at BBDO, and OWEN REYNOLDS who works for the gallery.
Geoff works on those funny M&M’s commercials . . .
and then, in walks JOHNATHAN MORPURGO – you could spot him a mile away – a real live wire – if I ever did see one !!
JOHNATHAN MORPURGO – his friends call him – JOMO – get it ? mojo. in reverse. talk about life in an alternate universe.
not only was his great wool hat – in my very fave color palette of the moment – orange, yellow and green – but it also matched – the Jack Early rainbow spectrum !!
JOHNATHAN MORPUGO – aka – JOMO. so, not only is he a fellow archivist & lover of art & history – and therefore a bro to my heart !!
as well as being in tune – with my color spectrum !!
but, he also knew who I was. my secret life – !! – as a cult celebrity . . . I josh you not.
yeah. ok. turns out, he just saw WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – last week.
check out the film’s photos: top row, 4th from the right – yeah, that’s me.
and yes, he thought it was funny how Daniel Reich had no idea what WE LIVE IN PUBLIC was – just like the rest of the NYC art world.
what have I been . . . telling ya: NYC 2011 – du du duality !! it’s all about the alternate universe.
DR SPOCK, JOMO and TIF.
so, talk about Jack Early icons . . . and Jack Early friends . . .
J. TODD (TIF) FERNANDEZ – a radical gay rights mover and shaker and a member of the Radical Faeries.
I think this is a good intro: J.TODD (TIF) FERNANDEZ
a little more Thorgy . . .
yes, she was – that good.
Thorgy even brought a gun !! a little red hand pistol !!
one more – out of the dark . . .
and into the light. Daniel Reich intern JENNY – was serving the lovely refreshments . . .
gourmet chocolate chip cookies, bottles of Peroni beer, and chocolate truffles hand-made by MR. JOMO !! – who else !!
no doubt about it – JoMo must be – mojo – spelled backwards.
and we already got a MR. MOJO – more on that later – so that’s a good thing.
but they still rhyme. the young and the powerful. amen.
JACK EARLY and friends – outta the dark and into the light – even the Victrola was swaying – with de-light.
ALL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
JACK EARLY’S EAR CANDY MACHINE – DANIEL REICH GALLERY – JAN 21-MARCH 5, 2011
~EARLY on 23rd St – just before the INDEPENDENT !! more pix just posted – SUN MARCH 6/2:28 PM !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 5th, 2011, 2:19pm
PIERRE JOSEPH – ‘Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared’, 2010.
AIR DE PARIS at THE INDEPENDENT
AIR DE PARIS – 32 RUE LOUISE WEISS -75013 PARIS, FRANCE
yeah, check out their website: AIR DE PARIS
CLAIRE FONTAINE, ‘NO FAMILY LIFE’. 11 FEB – 19 MARCH 2011/IMAGE COURTESY: AIR DE PARIS
UP-DATE SAT MARCH 5, 2011/1:19 PM:
WANT MORE INFO – ON THE INDEPENDENT ART FAIR ??? – INCLUDING THE FOUNDERS ???
READ: ‘Second-Year Fair Hopes to Stay an Upstart’, by KAREN ROSENBERG/NEW YORK TIMES/WEEKEND ARTS/FRI MARCH 4, 2011
“a Saab 900 at JACK HANLEY that’s been gutted and converted into two motorbikes by FOLKE KOBBERLING and MARTIN KALTWASSER.”
KAREN ROSENBERG. TEXT & IMAGE/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES/PHOTO BY CALEB FERGUSON
“AIR de PARIS, another new addition, has an unuausal display of glittering sculptures by SARAH PUCCI. Ms. Pucci, the mother of artist DORTHY IANNONE, made these small devotional objects by sticking beaded and sequined pins into plastic foamand sent them to her daughter at regular intervals.”
KAREN ROSENBERG – TEXT & IMAGE/COURTESY: NEW YORK TIMES, PHOTO BY CALEB FERGUSON.
~AIR DE PARIS at INDEPENDENT |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 4th, 2011, 11:19am
MARTA RINIKER-RADICH, ‘Untitled’, 2010, colored pencils and pencil on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm./COURTESY HARD HAT GENEVA
BUREAU & HARD HAT at THE INDEPENDENT
548 West 22nd St – CHELSEA, NEW YORK
MARCH 3 – 6, 2011
FRI & SAT: 11am – 8pm
Sun: 12 – 4pm
FREE ENTRY
HARD HAT – 39, rue des Bains – CH-1205 – GENEVE – SWITZERLAND
~HARD HAT at INDEPENDENT |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 4th, 2011, 11:04am
A CHELSEA MORNING – WITH JACK EARLY
A LIVE ENSEMBLE PERFORMING THE MUSIC OF JACK EARLY – WITH ELIJAH TUCKER & SPECIAL GUESTS . . .
12 O’CLOCK NOON ONWARDS, FRIDAY MARCH 4TH 2011,
1 BLOCK UP FROM THE INDEPENDENT ART FAIR – at – DANIEL REICH GALLERY
537 A WEST 23 STREET NYC
see: PIX FROM THE OPENING – JACK EARLY’S EAR CANDY !! JAN 21, 2011
so . . . forget the GREENBERG – CHELSEA HOTEL OPEN SALON bit – wrong information.
DAVID GREENBERG – is having an event – but he will just be in and out over the fair weekend.
he is having a 40TH BIRTHDAY – TUESDAY MARCH 8th – at 8 PM – BUT THAT’S ABOUT IT . . . so, see ya at JACK EARLY’S !!
in the meantime, let your finger’s do the walking: poetdavidgreenberg.blogspot.com/
where this archival photo of a young DAVID GREENBERG / KILL ALL ARTISTS T-SHIRT / ALLEN GINSBURG SCRIBBLE – is the header . . . (!!)
and where, you can scroll down just a couple of entries to find this – PAINTING BY BRENDAN CASS – and a brief poetic entry titled – ‘TONY TOWN’ – dated TUESDAY JANUARY 11, 2011 . . .
and where just a little lower down, you can find this self portrait – DAVID GREENBERG – of today – in a snowstorm – photo by DAVID SISKOVIC- in an entry dated DEC 31, 2010 – titled: ‘SKI LOW SON’ – which begins:
“I wish I was a little bit blacker
and a little less wacker
I wish I had a bro
with a nose
for my steez
I could sleep near . . . ” – amen.
and yes. its true, JOSH HARRIS named his new cat, a rejected found cat straight off Craigslist – for him.
cause Greenberg the poet – is so hardcore. get it ? Greenberg . . . the cat.
see: GREENBERG the cat/Where in the World is Josh Harris, Now ?
scroll down & voila – Greenberg the cat. who turned out to be – pretty cool. after all.
Greenberg the cool cat – all around.
am esp. very respectful of his ties to PATTI SMITH – to whose book –‘STRANGE MESSENGER – THE WORK Of PATTI SMITH’ – he contributed an essay.
and of which book, CAMILLE PAGLIA wrote:
[this book about Patti Smith’s artwork, approx. 60 pieces from over 30 years] . . . “collects early pieces as well as new ones inspired by the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center in which Smith expresses her views about violence, religion, war and intolerance” . . . “she is mad saint, dandy and troubadour, a complex woman alone and outward bound for cultural war.”
by the way – PATTI SMITH’S ROCK ANTHEM – ‘BECAUSE THE NIGHT BELONGS TO US’ – is finally getting some real air play – on the mainstream radio waves. can you believe that. better late, than never. popular culture finally caught up to Patti Smith. or is it the times we live in – I dunno but, everybody’s digging her vibe – all of a sudden.
her and LOU REED – !! – amen.
THE CHELSEA HOTEL, 222 WEST 23RD STREET, NYC. JUNE 1, 2007. PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
~A CHELSEA MORNING WITH JACK EARLY . . . and GREENBERG ? |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 3rd, 2011, 6:40pm
