~REBECCA GOYETTE . . F+V

REBECCA GOYETTE has a ‘performative’ video screening in the projection room, as well.

OCT 17 – NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24TH ST – CHELSEA, NYC


the opening had it’s theatrical moments, mostly provided by Ms. Goyette, although this BANKSY wannabe duo, was making the rounds that night, as well.
BANKSY, not.
FANTASTIC NOBODIES, yes.
that be DAVID HENRY BROWN JR, making an almost plausible Banksy, minus the t-shirt (!!), with his partner in crime, MARC GRUBSTEIN as Little Bo Peep.


speaking of which, Little Bo Peep .. straight out of Mother Goose – 2 unicorn mermaids, courtesy of Ms. Goyette .. wandered around dispensing saltwater taffy.
was I the only one to think it was . . a tray of colorfully wrapped condoms, at first glance ?


Province Town based REBECCA GOYETTE graduated from RISD and went on to get her MFA from SVA, here in NYC.


apart from her well-placed ‘tail’, her ‘lobsta’ rendition, at least at this opening .. was rather colorful, but subdued.
according to the National Geographic .. she shoulda come out swinging . . those padded claws !!
not to mention squirting drug enhanced ‘urine’ from a bladder – atop her head.


if you really want to get into the mood this Sunday, you know, art meets science head on .. just google: sex life of lobsters . . which has been described as “an endless round of ruthless, ritualized violence, and kinky, territorial sex practices that would make a porn star blush.” source: SALON.
here’s a few starters.
see: KINKY SEX SECRETS of LOBSTERS .. SALON.COM
see: UNKNOWN LIFE of LOBSTERS .. NAT GEO

in which case .. Ms. Goyette comes off as rather: soft, fuzzy. and cute ?
but yo, Miley Cyrus . . heads up !!
tongues out, is way over.
here’s your next move. put a squirting bladder on top of your head.


the video, in the back room . . starts off . . Pilgrimish.


but then goes quickly south, though not really violent.


more like, black humor ?

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH




~KENT DORN . . SHADOWLAND .. PART II

MORE PIX FROM THE OPENING . .

KENT DORN . . . ‘SHADOWLAND’
OCT 17 – NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24TH ST – CHELSEA


KENT DORN, ‘Outsiders’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 80 x 60 in.
($15,000)

I like this particular piece because it’s about .. outsiders. just joking. NOT !!
I like the way it has a foot in both camps. the sunlight does manage to come through, the vast darkness of the woods . . the guitar player, and the little dog lapping water, the ‘shared’ social overtones. the vast growth, and the flowing water. still not polluted, not submerged in litter or pollution.
but the rural life is bittersweet, there’s a feeling things are not all they should be .. life’s not that sunny. the forest is degrading, tree limbs are breaking in front of our eyes, the water seems . . icy cold.
there’s a dead end there, lurking just off center.
a vacuous in the faces, that says these are not just revelers, these are hard-times folks.
it’s bittersweet, one foot in the light, and one foot in the dark.

it’s interesting to note the contrast between this show and Kent Dorn’s previous solo show, at FREIGHT+VOLUME . . back in NOV 2010.
in his previous show, titled: ‘REMAINS” . . it was a little heavy going on the portraits, of which .. single portraits there are none – in this show. a nice evolution. it’s nice to see how he moves around in his ‘gray’ area, rather than being ‘trapped’ by it.

see: BIG STREET PARTY/KENT DORN

see: KENT DORN/more opening pix


detail, ‘Outsiders’.
things are not quite as dramatic as a car crash. but they still speak .. plenty.
though the narrative is still there .. to draw out, reflecting off the way the world has moved forward (?), since 2010. though it seems to be afternoon, it feels more night, than .. day.
but not totally .. creepy. just hazy, just at that midpoint, where good meets bad.
light meets dark.


detail, ‘Outsiders’
the painterly technique has evolved, too. it’s a touch cooler, still dramatic, but kind of submerged, like a pulse rather than a shout. with delicate moments, among the big brushstrokes.
flat and linear areas flares up, just as easily as those that are built-up, with painterly 3-D modelling . .
all good.


detail, ‘Outsiders’.
the detailing .. is a road trip – all in itself.


as in most of Kent Dorn’s paintings, esp the landscapes, the sun .. and sometimes the moon, and sometimes both – is really a big part of the game.
a big multi-layered concept / metaphor . . to consider.
a big aspect of the emotional content.


this painting also really fascinated me. it had a sun, and a moon, and a . . vignette.


the light from the sun and the moon . .
vignette: “a brief evocative description, account or episode.”
vignette: “a small illustration or portrait ‘photograph’ that fades into its background, without a definite border.
source: define vignette


KENT DORN, ‘Campfire Song (Waiting for the Eclipse)’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 72 x 96 in.
($16,000)


there is always a surface play – a physical approach to the paint – that is a trip in and of itself, but that also, obviously .. informs the narrative, and contributes to that sense of ‘darkness’.


it’s also a balancing act. counter-balancing, really.
the paint is applied with such ‘passion’ .. yet the overall result is: cool. dark abstract, haunting.
both scratched in, and . . layered over.


nice scene, the red tent and the fire .. the glow around all, yet .. darkness prevails.
sadness prevails.


it’s almost oriental . . in it’s gray area, no border yin yang approach.
it’s not, your standard . . gung ho Americana, that for sure.

MORE PIX FROM THE OPENING . . POSTING SUNDAY.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH




~KENT DORN . . SHADOWLAND .. F+V

KENT DORN . . . ‘SHADOWLAND’

opened THURS, OCT 17, 2013
the show runs thru NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24TH ST – CHELSEA, NYC

TURNS OUT, NICK LAWRENCE & HIS FREIGHt+VOLUME CREW . . HAVE ANOTHER ONE OF THE LIVELIEST, & SERIOUSLY !! PAINTERLY . . SHOWS TO OPEN SO FAR, THIS SEASON. THE OCT/NOV LINE-UP IS – A CRUCIAL MONTH FOR THE GALLERY SCENE. IT’S WHEN THE BIG COLLECTORS COME OUT TO BUY THEMSELVES SOME PRETTY HOLIDAY TRINKETS . . TO HANG ON THEIR WALLS.
NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE PAT-ON-THE-BACK TROPHY ART .. ESP WHEN, IT’S .. THE REAL DEAL.

PIX FROM THE OPENING – PART I


painter KENT DORN, NICK LAWRENCE of FREIGHT+VOLUME, and ERIN SIUDZINSKY. . . at the opening.


KENT DORN, ‘HOME’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 72 x 96 in.
($16,000)

this show is KENT DORN’S 3rd exhibition and 2nd solo show at FREIGHT+VOLUME. the Texas-based, Carolina-born painter, b. 1977 . . currently lives and works in Houston.


‘suns’, and sometimes .. ‘moons, and . . their eerie light figure prominently in Mr. Dorn’s paintings. they anchor the narrative and help ‘cast’ the spell. worldly and yet decidedly .. other worldly, these paintings move into the dark, just as easily as they reference landscape.

from the gallery:

“with a nod to horror movies, hippie counterculture, and the rural Southern landscape of his youth, Dorn’s distinct landscape paintings are not as concerned with an idyllic representation of nature as much as as constructing a virtual stage for an unfolding melodrama.Littered with debris, overgrowth and remnants of past inhabitants, his landscapes are a conflation of the real and the imaginary, where myths come to life.”
read: more


the backgrounds turn towards the dark, dark secrets .. esp when the paint volume, as opposed to the realist ‘subject’ . . is turned, way up. expressionistic, detailed pointillism merges with free form impasto.


what . . goes on in this houseboat ?
there’s a sun, but it sure ain’t .. no sunny day.


yep. there’s some serious dark poetry, some mystery, some human depth .. in these canvas narratives. not quite a moment in time, as a deeper , darker dream unfolding.
lyrical, not.
haunting, yes.
the dark, on the other side . . of ‘counterculture’. the underbelly – the deeper, darker, sadder seams and dreams .. of the American dream ?
I guess that’s why they call the show: ‘Shadowland’.
paintings with an ‘afterlife’ . . all of Kent Dorn’s paintings, do not end at the canvas edges.
they turn over, turn inward, kind of tunnel down into the deeper recesses, like glow worms.
they continue, well on into further viewings and .. musings.
and, yeah initially you do come away, kind of stunned.

KENT DORN, ‘Outsiders’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 80 x 60 in.
($15,000)

TO BE CONTINUED.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH




~road trip

going on a road trip . . to VERMONT.
back in 5.
5 days.
artlovers will resume posting WED 23, 2013




~ARCADE FIRE .. REFLEKTOR .. SIMON CERIGO

DEDICATED TO: SIMON CERIGO, our music reviewer supremo, and big art buddy ..
who sadly left us, meaning earthly life in bio form .. this past Jan 2013.

SIMON was a big fan of ARCADE FIRE, and wrote up a definitive review for us, that posted on MAY 7 of 2007.
as you can see from the essay, Simon held a lot of oral history in his big, round, often .. partied-out, but way friendly .. head.

ARCADE FIRE is a Montreal based-band, and me and Simon both grew up on those long Montreal winter-time streets, too.

read: ARCADE FIRE – by SIMON CERIGO . . . including, images of the original graphics

ARCADE FIRE is making ‘waves’ . . this weekend, it’s a nautical weekend.
what can I tell you, Manhattan is an island !! and so is .. Montreal !!

because they are playing ‘underground’ under a barley disguised ‘nom de band’ – the REFLEKTORS, at a Bushwick, Brooklyn underground arts venue – 299 Meserole St, which only opened last November 2012. apparently tickets went on sale this past Wed to fans, who had pre-ordered the new album, but opened up to the general public yesterday. Formal attire or costume .. mandatory.

some background from yesterday’s WALL STREET JOURNAL . .
“Three years ago, the ARCADE FIRE, the Grammy-winning Canadian Indie rock band, released their album ‘The Suburbs’ with much fanfare, playing to a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden.

This weekend, they are taking a different approach. The band is planning to introduce New Yorkers to their new double album, ‘Reflektor’, with a pair of lightly publicized concerts, played under a false name, in a former sheet-metal and plastics factory in an industrial pocket of Brooklyn with enough room for just 3,000 people . . .”

see: The Arcade Fire, Far From the Maddening Crowd, WALL STREET JOURNAL
note: re-paste the link in your browser, if necessary.

see: 299 MESEROLE ST, BUSHWICK


check it out: ARCADE FIRE, ‘RFLEKTOR’ . . the first song, on their new album . . is posted to YouTube

interestingly, esp for ‘small’ social media sites, like this one . .
the WALL STREET JOURNAL goes on to state:
“The Arcade Fire has taken a calculated, low-key guerrilla marketing approach to promoting ‘Reflektor’ and the band’s coming world tour. Interviews with the band have been extremely limited and despite a few positive early reviews, the album – one of the most anticipated of the year – hasn’t yet leaked on the Internet.”


SIMON would have swooned over the music and driven us all crazy playing it endlessly – at top volume.
but, he also would have been crazy – for the video, and so am I.


mostly what’s so great, are the BIG IDEAS !! but also that the production is so low-key, and as Simon would have stressed: authentic.


but what really freaked me out, was the poignant subject line.
they are transporting a coffin, the dead . . to the country, and we are doing just that, this weekend !!
we are taking a road trip . . to Vermont, and finally letting go of the ghost, Simon’s ashes . . into a rushing . . autumn fast turning winter – rural stream. in fact, as we found out, Simon’s last wish, as told to each one of us – at different times.


rural, inland water . . plays a big part in this video, and so does .. dancing !!
and I guess, celebrating the dead.
so, this is a nice send-off, or what.

“just a reflector ..
we all have things to hide,
see you on the other side.”

“we’re so connected ..
but are we even friends ?
see you on the other side.”


if you knew Simon, this will be a familiar pose . . he did dance like this, with his hands in the air.


our ‘REFLEKTOR’ . . sets off on .. his next journey.
Simon would have liked the metaphor of the mirrored man, the ‘reflektor’ !! – for the artist, the musician, the soul man, the time traveler, in all of us.

he esp prided himself, not just .. on being a natural born ‘mirror man’, but on being able .. to pinpoint a ‘mirror man’, for the rest of us.
Jack Goldstein, ca 1986 . . . anybody ?

P.S.

I did, incredibly . . cross paths with Hash Halper’s brother, astrologer OMKAR LEWIS last night, who actually told me: “WATCH OUT FOR VOICES WITH NO .. BODIES” !!!

hey, you know what they say: no man is . . an island.


SIMON and KATE, at the last band concert . . .


SIMON and THEO . . note the rubber admittance .. wrist bands.




~NAUTICAL SATURDAY . . at PIONEER WORKS

meanwhile back on Earth, or is that: back to EARTH !!

er, SEA . . better yet, RED HOOK !!

PIONEER WORKS is presenting their first annual . . MARITIME FILM FESTIVAL

AN EVENING of LIFE & EXPEDITION on the WATER – SAT, OCT 19, 2013 / 4PM – 12AM

it looks to be a great classical nautical line-up – documentary-wise, 3 cheers for that. but also, not to fear . . this is an artist-run joint, and the evening will also run full sail ahead . . into the wide open sea adventure fantastical, while ‘tacking’ into some mighty fun, and mighty serious DIY . . contemporary Maritime folk art & folklore – with the inclusion of featured artists,
such as . . SWOON and DUKE RILEY.

see: the full line-up

reserve tix: suggested donation, here

some highlights:


BOTTLED HISTORY
a SMITH JOURNAL and Melbourne-based COMMONER Production.
SMITH JOURNAL is a quarterly Australian magazine, for guys (?!!)
MUSIC by BEN YARDLEY.

“RAY GASCIOGNE has been around boats his whole life, as a shipwright, a merchant sailor, and now as a shipbuilder on the on the smallest dry dock there is, a bottle . . .”
read more . . .


MARIANA
a film by ROMAN WOLTER

“tells the the story of DON WALSH and JACQUES PICCARD’S diving mission to the deepest point on earth in 1960. The film is based on real events and features original film material from the 1960s.
The graphic style of the film is inspired by popular science magazines of the the time. One of the last interviews with JACQUES PICCARD in 2003 forms a voice-over that accompanies the viwer throughout the the film.”
see more . . .


OYSTER HARVESTING
Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters

“there’s a man in Prince Edward Island, whose passion for oysters has him out at sea at the age of 82 …”
read more


see: DUKE RILEY: ARTIST & PATRIOT


DUKE RILEY: BATLLE FOR BROOKLYN

looks to be . . that short film the DUKE made about his great homemade submersible adventure .. a few years back. you could subtitle it: THE ACORN MEETS THE NYPD – IN NYC HARBOR.

see: DUKE RILEY artist statement




~BIG, PINK . . FUZZY !!

what’s up with the BIG, PINK .. FUZZY ?

haha, the girls – have it all over the guys this season.

if the summer of 2013 was the SEASON of the UNKNOWN, the FALL is . . the SEASON of the ABSURD !!

3 smart chicks: TWO EYE-TALIANS, and ONE JAP !! got the beat !!

we are talking . . PAOLA PIVI, LAURINA PAPERINA, both born in Italy – and, now up pops . . MISAKI KAWAI !!


MISAKI KAWAI at MALMO KONSTHALL, PHOTO via CONTEMPORARY ART DAILY

MISAKI KAWAI, opens at the HOLE, don’t get me started !! apt name, and let’s leave it at that – to-nite.

see: MISAKI KAWAI .. fluorodigital

see: MISAKI KAWAI .. OHIO

check out: MISAKI KAWAI .. artist website


PAOLA PIVI . . and her ‘bears’ were the debut show at the new GALERIE PERROTIN, NYC outpost.
in fact the show . . is still up !!
SEPT 18 – OCT 26, 26, 2013
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH

see: PERROTIN .. NYC DEBUT


well, LAURINA PAPERINA .. isn’t quite as fuzzy. would that be: deadly / hysterical ?

same diff: ABSURDIST.

LAURINA PAPERINA, image from the short animation, ‘How to Kill the Artists’, episode 7, 2010.
the RONI HORN .. sequence,
at FREIGHT+VOLUME, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ART WORLD, PART II: THE OTHER 99%
SEPT 12 – OCT 12, 2013
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH

see: THE DECLINE & FALL – F+V

see: more LAURINA PAPERINA

see: RICHARD PRINCE .. CLOBBERED by a NURSE




~HOW TO KILL . . THE MOVIE, GRAVITY

add a ridiculous over-blown symphonic sound track . . to a sci-fi flick that is hyped as cutting edge . . and taking place in the deep silence of outer space . . “where sound doesn’t exist”.

witness the start of the trailer, beautifully, starkly . . awesomely, silent.

I bet the Cuaron father/son team’s original draft . . . had no musical ‘background’.

my gut feeling is, my bet is . . some dumb suit – in the back office made them add it.

see: GRAVITY




~HOW TO .. KILL THE ARTISTS by LAURINA PAPERINA, and BANKSY

LAURINA PAPERINA also had a absolute Hysterical short animation in .. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ART WORLD, PART II: THE OTHER 99%, at FREIGHT+VOLUME.

titled, ‘How to Kill the Artists’, Episode 7 – Edition of 15 ($2,500) . . it was a total RIOT.


my personal fave – was RICHARD PRINCE, farting so bad he had to rush to the hospital . . .


running a close second, was the way crazy, even ‘shocking’ .. demise of MARTIN CREED . . .


playing with a light switch .. I guess a metaphor for ‘ideas’.
you get the message !!


MARTIN CREED has a show coming up in NYC, opens at GAVIN BROWN, NOV 8, 2013.
his photo realist ‘dick rising’ video loop – at the debut installation of that then, newly expanded space .. was pretty ‘hairy’.
really, actually: awesome.


the captive and captivated .. gallery audience.
SUSIE Q .. ?
well, that pretty much says it .. all.


PHOTO: banksyny.com via the NEW YORK POST

meanwhile BANKSY put up a one-off pop-up ‘SPRAY ART’ stall – amidst the rows of cheezy art sellers, who cater to tourists – at Central Park, this weekend. key to the prank was the old guy, probably a regular – manning the booth.
and omg, some lucky ‘faynshmeker’* from Chicago – made off with a couple of big canvases, for $60 a pop !!
am I jealous, or what ?!!!

*Faynshmeker .. “faux-connoisseur” in Yiddish. and, no it’s NOT a compliment.
“used sarcastically to imply somebody with high-falutin’ ways: the guy (from Chicago !!) whose suddenly an expert on polo ponies” (street art).
source: DIRTY YIDDISH by ADRIENNE GUSOFF

see: TOURISTS BUY $31 K BANKSY ART for just $60 each .. NEW YORK POST

follow BANKSY’s antics in NYC: BETTER OUT THAN IN

ps:

actually what I’d personally really like to see, is BANKSY cross paths .. with ALFREDO Martinez !! .. haha, now there’s a thought .. worth thinking.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, except where noted.




~a little more LAURINA PAPERINA, please.

apparently, just can’t get . . enough !!

from the . . .
FREIGHT+VOLUME catalog: ‘THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ART WORLD.’

“Laurina Paperina paints, draws, creates installations, video animations and photographs. Over the past years, Paperina has created artworks that present an iconic commentary in response to current events related to the art world. Born in 1980 in Roverto, Italy, she currently lives and works in Trento, Italy.”

“… I love horror movies of the years ’80 ’90. as Braindead movie of Peter Jackson. The irony is fundamental in my life and consequently also in my work. In recent years my works took a darker path than my beginning works: there is always the struggle between good and evil and therefore violence is often present, even if I try to represent it in a bizarre way and not dramatic.

I grew up watching television and eating pizza. I have read many comic books and watched hundreds of cartoons and animations: they have influenced my ideas and my artworks, sure. My works are mostly simple but vivid, and filled with humorous and joyful; I want that my work’s message can be accessible to all as the cartoons style is.”

Q: Do you consider yourself a conceptual artist ?

“It is a fun question. Usually I define my works as the opposite of the conceptual art, but probably my works have a little bit of conceptual at least in the initial creating process (when I got the idea …).

Sometimes I think that art world is boring, too serious, there are too many prejudices; so I put this ideas in my artworks and the victims are famous artists or artist that are very cool in the art world, or artists that I really admire: so it is like saying, ‘Yes, I love You, but I kill You.’ It’s a joke .. It’s a way to ironize on the ‘holiness’ of art world.”


LAURINA PAPERINA, detail, ‘BAD’.

IF YOU ARE A BAD PERSON I CUT YOUR FINGER. BELIVE ME . THE ARTISTS GET MAD.


LAURINA PAPERINA, detail, ‘BAD’.

FUCK BANKSY.

p.s.
just sayin’, so in the animal world . . who is rated smarter, the rat or the crow ?

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH