Monday, June 30, 2008

Henri Cartier-Bresson | Helen Levitt - Side by Side

Henri Cartier-Bresson | Helen Levitt - Side by Side at Laurence Miller Gallery. "... Many wonderful juxtapositions of photographs by each will be shown: Cartier-Bresson’s children playing among the ruins in Seville share the energy and formal complexity found in Levitt’s boys playing with branches in a vacant lot in Spanish Harlem. A near perfect pairing juxtaposes Cartier-Bresson’s boy carrying a wine bottle (Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1954) along side Helen Levitt’s woman holding milk bottles (New York City, c. 1945). It is interesting to note that the Levitt was taken about a decade before the Cartier-Bresson."

Lisa Krivacka

New Work by painter Lisa Krivacka - one of our favourite painters working today.

Exene Cervenka: Sleep in Spite of Thunder

Exene Cervenka... Ectoplasm Spirit (2008, mixed media on canvas panel). From the exhibition Sleep in Spite of Thunder - works by Exene Cervenka at DCKT Contemporary in New York. "...DCKT Contemporary is pleased to present Exene Cervenka’s second New York solo exhibition featuring two new bodies of work deeply invested in the aesthetics of American culture: 'The Spirits Are Alive and Well' and 'EPIC HERO.'"

Milwaukee Rock Posters

Milwaukee Rock Posters. Thank you, DMc.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

A Woman Who Is Beating the Earth

A Woman Who Is Beating the Earth (Daichi o Tataku Onna) by Tsuki Inoue. (jp)

Scooter LaForge

Ajax Scooter LaForge... Ajax (oil on canvas). From Works by Scooter LaForge at Atelier Antoine Proulx in Phoenix, AZ.

The Vernacular Photography of Gregory Blackstock

The Vernacular Photography of Gregory Blackstock at Garde Rail Gallery in Seattle, WA. "...Local artist Gregory Blackstock has taken the art world by storm since his first show of original drawings in 2003 and with the release of Blackstock's Collections he catapulted into the 'world famous' category he'd always imagined. Greg's drawings are one of his many passions; others include world languages, music, travelling and photography."

Michael Eastman: Vanishing America

Michael Eastman: Vanishing America at DNJ Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. "...Over the past thirty years, Michael Eastman has produced a body of fine-art photography on subjects ranging from European architecture to Midwestern storefronts. His work is in many collections, including those of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography in New York City, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." More Works by Michael Eastman at his personal site. Thank you, Steve S.

Almost Home-Less

Richard Gilles... Almost Home-Less @ Fulton St & 48th Ave (2006). From the series Almost Home-Less by photographer Richard Gilles.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

A Little Bit Of Me, A Little Bit Of You

Teddy Robin & The Playboys... A Little Bit Of Me, A Little Bit Of You (Diamond LP-1032, Honk Kong .mp3 audio 02:41).

Aaron Siskind: The Egan Gallery Years, 1947-1954

Chicago 30, 1949 Aaron Siskind... Chicago 30, 1949 (Silver Print). From the exhibition Aaron Siskind: The Egan Gallery Years, 1947-1954 at Robert Mann Gallery. "...At the recommendation of his friend Barnett Newman, photographer Aaron Siskind paid a visit to art dealer Charles Egan, one of the few gallerists in New York devoted to contemporary art at the time. The result was four exhibitions at the Egan Gallery. Siskind's photography had begun moving away from social documentary, flattening the picture plane as everyday objects moved into abstraction. Placing Siskind in an exhibition program that included Robert Rauschenberg and provided the first American venue for Willem de Kooning, Egan recognized the importance of the photographer's work in the contemporary discourse of visual arts. From a 1948 press release: 'Mr. Siskind's discernment of the poetic in the casual and passed-by aspects of every day reality are rich in their eloquence of line and shape and take their place with serious expression of the modern American artists.'"

and i would shine in answer/ being/ without becoming

Angela Fraleigh... it's all what it meant (2007, oil on panel). From the exhibition and i would shine in answer/ being/ without becoming - works by Angela Fraleigh at P.P.O.W. "... Under slabs and curls of paint, figures are tangled with revulsion and desire, violence and lust. Fueled by tension, these usually stereotypical images of couples caught in embraces are obscured with ambiguous power structures. Distinguishing pleasure from struggle is complicated by the rich pours of undulating paint that grip the figures and often envelop the compositions. By disrupting the narrative, spaces and pockets are revealed in between the visible exchanges, they become openings to fill with significance."

Yosuke Ueno

Yosuke Ueno... Scissors & Butterfly (acrylics on canvas). From works by Yosuke Ueno at Mondo Bizzarro Gallery. More Works by Yosuke Ueno at his personal site.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Rockabilly Party

Hugo & Luigi... Rockabilly Party (1957, Roulette 4012 .mp3 audio 02:30). From Probe is Turning-on the People!

Pedro Isztin: In Situ

Raphaëlle, Canada Pedro Isztin... Raphaëlle, Canada (1999, Silver gelatin print). From the portfolio In Situ by Pedro Isztin at Meter Gallery. "...Born in 1964 to a Colombian mother and a Hungarian father, Pedro Isztin has lived his life between Latin America, the United States and Canada, his birthplace. His series, 'in situ,' Latin for 'in its place,' explores the connection between people and their environments in various regions of the Americas."

Diffracted Solstice

Diffracted Solstice at Aeroplastics Contemporary in Brussels.

The Obakemono Project

Futa-kuchi-onna (Two-Mouthed Woman). "...Like the rokuro-kubi, the futa-kuchi-onna is a woman afflicted with a curse or supernatural disease that transforms her into a yōkai. On the back of her head beneath the hair, the woman's skull splits apart, forming lips, teeth, a tongue, until there is an entirely-functional second mouth in that spot. As if that weren't bad enough, the mouth begins the mumble spiteful and threatening things to itself, and demand food. If it is not fed, it will screech obscenely and cause the woman tremendous pain." From The Obakemono Project - Japanese yōkai. Via Incoming Signals.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Alice - A Film by Jan Svankmajer

Alice - A Film by Jan Svankmajer (Neco z Alenky, 1988, Flash Video 04:44). "...In this scene Alice enters the Court and meets the Queen of Hearts."

Cumbia de la Media Noche

The Blazers... Cumbia de la Media Noche (.mp3 audio 02:54). From the album Puro Blazers (2000, Rounder Select B00004TDOM).

Crime Was Weegee’s Oyster

Crime Was Weegee’s Oyster by John Strausbaugh (New York Times, June 20, 2008). "...On the north side of Broome Street, between the Bowery and Elizabeth Street, you can stand where a dead guy once lay. Of course in New York City you can stand on lots of spots where dead people once lay. There are, after all, 'eight million stories in the naked city,' as the narrator of 'The Naked City,' the 1948 film noir classic, intoned. But as Andrew Izzo sprawled on this sidewalk on the Lower East Side in 1942, Arthur Fellig, one of the city’s most famous photographers, took his picture."

No Wave. Post-Punk. Underground. New York 1976-1980

Laura Levine... Arto Lindsay, Ikue Mori, Tim Wright/DNA, NYC 1981. From the exhibition No Wave. Post-Punk. Underground. New York 1976-1980 organized by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley at KS Art in New York. "...This in-depth look at punk rock, new wave, experimental music, and the avant-garde art movement of the 70s and 80s focuses on the true architects No Wave from James Chance to Lydia Lunch to Glenn Branca, as well as the luminaries that intersected the scene, such as David Byrne, Debbie Harry, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, and Richard Hell. This rarely documented scene was the creative stomping ground of young artists and filmmakers from Jean-Michel Basquiat to Jim Jarmusch, as well as the musical genesis for the post-punk explosions of Sonic Youth. It is here revealed for a new generation of fans and collectors. Thurston Moore and Byron Coley have selected 150 unforgettable images, most of which have never been published previously, and compiled hundreds of hours of personal interviews to create an oral history of the movement, providing a never-before-seen exploration and celebration of No Wave."

Edward A. Bass: Doctor and Amateur Photographer

Edward A. Bass: Doctor and Amateur Photographer at the Wisconsin Historical Society. "...Dr. Edward Alpheus Bass was a practicing physician in Montello when he purchased a Velox camera from the local newspaper office in 1892. The newspaper, the Montello Express, reported that Dr. Bass had 'no experience in photography, but during the week has taken a number of most perfect pictures.' More than 130 of his 'most perfect pictures,' taken between 1892 and 1911, are preserved on glass negatives donated to the Society by his son, and are the subject of this month's feature gallery."

Monday, June 16, 2008

Shakin' All Over

Raylene & The Blue Angels... Shakin' All Over (1966, Cuca 6633 .m4a audio 02:07).

Christopher Le Brun: Fifty Etchings 2005

Christopher Le Brun: Fifty Etchings 2005 Christopher Le Brun: Fifty Etchings 2005 at The Fitzwilliam Museum. "...This portfolio of fifty etchings was made between October 2004 and September 2005. The etchings were proofed and editioned by the printer Simon Marsh at Paupers Press, London, and published by Charles Booth-Clibborn under his imprint The Paragon Press, London, in 2005. The Fitzwilliam Museum’s set, numbered 13 out of the edition of 50, was given by The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum in 2006."

Joe Wolek Photography

Joe Wolek Photography. Brilliant! Don't miss 'Classic,' 'American Clutter,' and 'Las Vegas Storage.'

Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976

Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976 at The Jewish Museum in New York. "...the first major U.S. exhibition in 20 years to rethink Abstract Expressionism and the movements that followed, over fifty key works by 32 artists – among them Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko – will be viewed from the perspectives of influential, rival art critics Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg, the artists, and popular culture."

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Os Gemeos: Too Far Too Close

Os Gemeos: Too Far Too Close at Deitch Projects. "...Os Gemeos (pronounced ose zhe'-mee-ose) are two artists from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo were born in 1974, identical twin brothers whose pseudonym, Os Gemeos, translates to 'the twins' in Portuguese. In addition to their incredible works created on the streets of Sao Paulo, the twins have in recent years exhibited their art in museums all over the world. In Too Far Too Close, they will be transforming the gallery into a fantastical cityscape with houses, doors, and passageways, all brought to life with their signature style of imagery."

Tokyo Gore Police

Trailers, stills, reviews, and more of Yoshihiro Nishimura's Tokyo Gore Police (Tokyo Zankoku Keisatsu).

Anna May Wong: Frosted Yellow Willows

Anna May Wong: Frosted Yellow Willows - a documentary by Elaine Mae Woo. "...With disarming sensuality and commanding screen presence, Anna May Wong defined the role of the 'Dragon Lady.' She defied cultural and legal barriers to achieve success in silent and talking pictures. She was the first Asian American woman to reach international stardom and no other actress has yet to rival her acclaim."

Devotio Moderno: Joe Coleman/Northern Primitives

Joe Coleman... In the Realms of the Unreal (1998, Acrylic on Panel, mounted on child's foot pajama fabric). From the exhibition Devotio Moderno: Joe Coleman/Northern Primitives at Simon Dickinson in New York. "...Dickinson is delighted to present an exhibition of the work of Joe Coleman alongside paintings by Northern Primitive artists. Joe Coleman's intricate and visionary paintings defy classification with any contemporary school. Following the recent travelling show in Berlin's KW institute and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Joe's paintings have gained an ever increasing number of admirers. His fascination with themes derived from religion and primitive painting, and his meticulous and detailed style of unabashed realism, have led to numerous comparisons between his art and the paintings of the northern renaissance. All his works are united by a very personal autobiographical theme, and in many ways relate to the early primitive devotional paintings."

Thursday, June 12, 2008

My Underwear Froze To The Clothesline

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy... My Underwear Froze To The Clothesline (1987, Spider Records .mp3 audio 02:28). From Little Hits.

Bob Colacello: Out

Elsa Peretti and Diana Vreeland, ca, 1975 Bob Colacello... Elsa Peretti and Diana Vreeland, ca, 1975 (Vintage gelatin silver, printed ca. 1975 Annotated by photographer on verso). From the exhibition Bob Colacello: Out at Steven Kasher Gallery in New York. "...Colacello documents a social era that seems so close and yet so far away: that wild, glamorous, disco-and- drugs-driven decade between the end of the Vietnam war and the advent of AIDS, when every night was a party night and such distinctions as uptown and downtown, gay and straight, black and white were momentarily cast aside. As the editor of Andy Warhol’s Interview from 1971 to 1983, Bob Colacello was perfectly placed to record the scene, which he did in his monthly “Out” column, a diary of the frenetic social life that took him from art openings to movie premieres, from cocktail parties to dinner parties, from charity balls to after-hours clubs, often all in the course of a single evening."

A Common Space

Melissa Stern... Redhead Sisters (2008, clay, paint, objects, and rubber). From the exhibition A Common Space - works by Charlotte Foust and Melissa Stern at Barbara Archer Gallery in Atlanta, GA.

The Cut-Ups

William S. Burroughs... The Cut-Ups (1966, UK, 18' 45", Black & White, Cinematography: Antony Balch, Screenplay: William S. Burroughs, Cast: William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin). From William S. Burroughs at UbuWeb Film.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Collection of Corbeau et Renard

Photogram Elfriede Stegemeyer... Photogram (1934, Gelatin silver print, Signed, titled and dated in pencil on the reverse of the mount). From the Collection of Corbeau et Renard (Part II, Photographs) at the auction house Phillips de Pury & Company in New York. Amazing!

Sage Sohier: Perfectible Worlds

Sage Sohier: Perfectible Worlds at Foley Gallery in New York. "...Sage Sohier's latest series of "contextual portraits" began with a photograph she took of her friend and his model railroad; a twenty year work-in-progress that traversed and had long overrun his entire basement. Sohier was taken by the man's uncommon devoutness to each detail of the minuscule landscape and set herself in search of his kindred extraordinaires; people with private passions and marvelous obsessions.
The photographs in Sohier's "Perfectible Worlds" portray such singular people; amid their voluminous collections, absorbed wholly into odd hobbies, heavily draped in adornments, or mounting their multitude of achievements. Whether it be by the constructions of small extravagant worlds, or reconstructions of the self, Sohier's subjects are all carving express utopias over which they can exert near-total control." More Works by Sage Sohier at her personal site.

Top 10 LED signage in Tokyo

PingMag... Top 10 LED signage in Tokyo. "...LED elements are cheap and practical for visual instruction — they can be used for traffic lights as well as playful art objects. And since we pass by some marvelous works of basic information visualization in Tokyo every day, we had to collect them for you, beloved reader. Time for a post on the best LED signage in this city!"

Monday, June 09, 2008

Road Works

Elvis Studio... Racetrack (mixed media). From the exhibition Road Works at Adam Baumgold Gallery. "... This group exhibition features 29 artists' meditations on the open road, crowded thoroughfares and nature's paths. Through paintings, drawings and sculptures they explore the road as a symbol of progress, connection, expansion or escape."

I Want Some Of That

Kai-Ray... I Want Some Of That (1961, Brite Star 2267 .mp3 audio 03:10).

Rumble

The Trashmen... Rumble (.mp3 audio 02:23).

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Works by Xue Song

Xue Song... Red Star Shine China (2007, mixed media). From Works by Xue Song at Chinese Contemporary Art in New York. "...Xue Song's works are collages of torn pieces of paper, some with their edges burnt, others not, some completely burnt to black ash, all very carefully selected and placed in each composition. In the early 1990s Xue Song's studio burned down, destroying not only all his works but most of his other possessions as well. In a cathartic process he took the ashes of his old works and the half destroyed remains of other objects and used them to create collages. Ironic though it may seem, he has described this moment as exciting and defining since this is when he realized the power and possibilities of expression that collage gave him."

In the Eye of the Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone

James Whitlow Delano... In the Eye of the Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone (Digital Journalist, June 2008). "...There was vague gossip on the street about a cyclone in the seas south of Burma but not until I was checked into my Yangon hotel, and able to receive CNN, did I realize that a Category 4 storm was about to bear down on Yangon and the low-lying Irrawaddy River Delta. Myawaddy, one of the Burmese television stations, had not forecast that such a severe storm was going to make a direct hit on Burma."

The Mother of Tears

Trailer (QuickTime Video) for Dario Argento's The Mother of Tears - the final installment of his 'Three Mothers' Trilogy.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Works by Josef Breitenbach

Annabella, Munich Josef Breitenbach... Annabella, Munich (1933, Gelatin silver toned print, 12 x 16 in.). From Works by Josef Breitenbach at Stephen Daiter Gallery in Chicago, IL. "...Josef Breitenbach was born in Munich to a middle-class family of Jewish descent. He attended technical high school from 1912 -1915 and trained as a salesman for an instrument firm and later as a bookkeeper for an insurance firm. He attended Ludwig-Maximillian University in Munich (philosophy and art history, 1914 to 1917) and became active in the Youth Section and later the Pacifist wing of the Social Democratic Party. Breitenbach opened a photographic studio in 1931, but the Nazis forced him to flee to Paris in 1933 where he opened a new studio. He went from there to New York where he worked for the American press and taught at several schools including Black Mountain College and The New School for Social Research. Through the 50s and 60s he did reportage in Asia for the United Nations and other varied businesses."

Shorpy

Shorpy. "...the 100-year-old photography blog that brings our ancestors back, at least to the desktop. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a boy who worked in an Alabama coal mine near the turn of the century." Thank you, everyone at Drawn!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Shake Your Hips

Slim Harpo... Shake Your Hips (1966, Excello 2278 .mp3 audio 02:30).

Joakim Eskildsen: The Roma Journeys

Joakim Eskildsen: The Roma Journeys. "...Between 2000 and 2006 I together with writer Cia Rinne undertook travels in seven different countries with a view to gaining an insight into the life of the Roma and the conditions they face. We always tried to spend a considerable length of time among the people whom we wanted to learn about and, if possible, to live with them for a while. It was our own interest that initially took us to the Roma streets in Hevesaranyos in northeast Hungary, where we spent four months at the home of Magda, an elderly Roma. The other journeys to Romania, India and our travels in Finland came about through personal contact, while in Greece and Russia we were initially assisted by human rights organizations and in France by the Centre de recherches tsiganes in Paris. From Joakim Eskildsen Photography.

Tomoko Sawada: Decoration

Tomoko Sawada: Decoration at Zabriskie Gallery in New York.

The Taylor Brothers Photographs

The Taylor Brothers Photographs at the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. "...The photographic images in this collection were taken by the Taylor Brothers photographic studio of Adams County, Wisconsin, circa 1910-1930. In 2001, Murphy Library, UW-La Crosse received the collection as a donation from a private estate. There were 665 glass plate photographic negatives in the donation. Most of the negatives have multiple images on them so there are actually 934 separate photographs. The physical condition of the glass plates was generally high resulting in crisp images with striking detail and clarity."

RIP: Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley Bo Diddley... Bo Diddley (1955, Checker 814 .mp3 audio 02:29) ...Diddley Daddy (1955, Checker 819 .mp3 audio 02:29) ...Road Runner (1959, Checker 942 .mp3 audio 02:47). RIP: Bo Diddley.

Monday, June 02, 2008

David Maisel: Library of Dust

David Maisel... Library of Dust 86-590. From Library of Dust (2005-2006) by David Maisel. "...these canisters hold the cremated remains of patients from an American psychiatric hospital. Oddly reminiscent of bullet casings, the canisters are literal gravesites. Reacting with their ash inhabitants, the canisters are now blooming with secondary minerals, articulating new metallic landscapes."

Marina Abramovic: 8 Lessons on Emptiness with a Happy End

Marina Abramovic... The Family IX (2008, Photo tirage chromogénique marouflé sur dibond). From the exhibition Marina Abramovic: 8 Lessons on Emptiness with a Happy End at Gallery Guy Bärtschi in Geneva.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Loretta

Loretta Townes Van Zandt... Loretta (.mp3 audio 03:52). From the album Flyin' Shoes (1978, Tomato TOM 7017).

Trek Bloopers

Trek Bloopers at the 365 Days Project at UBUWEB. From the album Trek Bloopers: Rare Third Season Bloopers Never Heard Before (early '70s, Blue Pear Records 06217 R). "...Listen as the crew flub lines, assistant directors yelling 'BEEP' to fill in the now famous phaser sound effect, Shatner swearing, space hippies singing, Scotty 'playing football' on the bridge(?), a rather 'delirious' Dr. Janice Lester that sounds awfully X-rated, and the final lines Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett - the future Mrs. Gene Roddenberry) ever uttered on the show."

Surreal Line

FILE Magazine... Surreal Line. "...Surreal Line is a series of images by photographer Chutney Bannister that feature advertising photos juxtaposed with riders on the London Underground. Chutney tells us that 'I'm interested in how these advertisements, specifically designed for delivering one message, can have that story completely hijacked, often by the mere framing of a window, creating an entirely new context. Commuters, who are somewhat static, withdrawn, and locked in their own private routines, are oblivious to these momentary collisions.'"

Marina Richter: Čínské hůlky

Marina Richter: Čínské hůlky at galerie art svìtlana a luboš jelínkovi. (cz)