Bryan Zimmerman installation view

How many people can say they spent the day looking at art on the west side between 43rd and 29th Streets? We made our first visit to Archibald Arts today to see a group show featuring Bryan Zimmerman, Brandon Ballengée, Daniel Zeller, and Rina Banerjee.

Angela Merkel and her husband arrive at the premier of Tristan und Isolde. dpa photo [source]

It's hard enough to imagine a Democratic candidate for president attending a performance of Tristan und Isolde. Can you imagine Bush doing that?

Merkel is chair of the conservative party in Germany, the Christian Democratic Union. At least they're honest with the titles of political parties.

We spotted this near Pierogi on Sunday.

Lynn Talbot
Coalesce, 2004
Oil on linen
18 × 18 inches

I apologize for writing about a show that just closed, but it's been hard to stay on the mailing list of Pierogi for some reason. We saw a great group show there, Reconfigure, on Sunday. In addition to great work from some people we own (James Esber and Reed Anderson), we also saw some work by people new to us. I really loved the enamel-esque paintings of Lynn Talbot, and two funny, brilliant paintings by Andrew Moszynski.

Julian LaVerdiere
Continuous Profile (of George W. Bush)
- after Renato Bertelli's 1933 Continuous Profile of Mussolini

Also, don't miss the current show at Jack the Pelican, titled No Apology for Breathing. It's curated by Matthew Lusk, who curated last year's Some Exhaust show at Lehmann Maupin. It's a great political show with an ambitious installation meant to evoke McCarren Park Pool. The pool was a WPA project that has been allowed to deteriorate and is no longer usable. The city was proposing to refurbish it for the Olympics bid. Can't afford to maintain it now, but we might find the money if it's part of the Olympics! Typical.

I am fucking terrified amuses me, in a silly way.

The Five Lesbian Brothers have a blog! I found it while looking into tickets for their new play, Oedipus at Palm Springs, about to open at New York Theatre Workshop. Go here for discounted tickets from TheaterMania (free registration required).

[photo from New York Theatre Workshop]

Don't miss this video of Jon Stewart with his guest Bernard Goldberg. This makes me look forward to right-wing guests on The Daily Show, rather than dreading having to listen to them.

I like what Tom Moody has been saying about the Rove/Plame affair. Meanwhile, the Iraqi prime minister we're propping up just visited Iran and laid flowers at the grave of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Check out this photo by Nancy Smith.

Mr. Jones was shocked to learn we don't watch TV or read People (and didn't know who he was).

I was amused to see this pull quote:

Woodward came humbly on his knees to deputy director Felt in search of guidance.

in the print edition of today's column by Les Payne, titled Now we can reveal the real Deep Throat.

What a silly country we live in. Via Newsday (it's in Florida of course):

The Holy Land Experience may seem like just another theme park, with its $30 admission charge, $5 parking fee and souvenir shops.

But, ending a four-year legal battle, a judge has ruled that the religious-themed attraction deserves the same tax-exempt status given to churches and museums. The ruling spares its owner from paying a delinquent property-tax bill that would have climbed to more than $1 million by the end of the year.

...

From the start, The Holy Land Experience was controversial. Local rabbis greeted it with trepidation, given its parent company's stated mission of converting Jews to Christianity.

...

In her ruling, Circuit Judge Cynthia MacKinnon sided with Zion's Hope, pointing out that the nonprofit company produces and distributes biblical cassettes, videos, books and CDs; publishes a religious magazine; broadcasts a syndicated radio show and supports missionaries in Israel.

"The property appraiser has failed to direct the court's attention to any evidence that Plaintiff is using The Holy Land Experience to make money or for some other purpose than evangelizing and worshipping," MacKinnon wrote.

If you use Google to find the home page, turn down your computer's speakers before clicking on the link.

Last week I mentioned how much I liked Dominic McGill's work at PS1's Greater New York. Ed Winkleman has a post on McGill as his artist of the week.

I love this paragraph from Walter Robinson's news roundup on artnet:

New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who is running for his second term as a Republican mayor in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, is trying to ingratiate himself with New York City’s progressive voters by showering $20 million on 400 New York arts and social-service organizations, according to a report in the New York Times. Visual arts institutions on the list range from the American Folk Art Museum, Anthology Film Archive and Art in General to the Studio Museum in Harlem, Triple Candie and UbranGlass. Made through the Carnegie Corporation, the donations are for sums between $10,000 and $100,000. According to the Times, Bloomberg gave a total of $140 million to more than 800 groups in 2004. By contrast, the Bloomberg administration jailed peaceful protestors at the Republican National Convention and was only narrowly defeated in a scheme to turn over almost $1 billion in public funds for a private sports stadium on the west side of Manhattan.

From the invaluable Ray Sanchez at Newsday

Since 9/11, the aviation industry has received $18.1 billion for security from the federal Department of Homeland Security, according to the Washington-based American Public Transportation Association. By contrast, mass transit has received just $250 million. Americans take public transportation 32 million times a day -- 16 times more often than they travel on domestic airlines. About 4.5 million riders use the New York subway every weekday.

Of course, the MTA is probably too incompetent to spend the money they are given. Since 9/11, they have been given $600 million in state and federal funds for security improvements. They have spent $30 million, with very little to show for it. Most has been spent on planning and consultants.

Updated: I fixed the $300 million number. It is $600 million.

Silo has a strong show of video work by Sarah Gregg Millman, with particular attraction for those of us obsessed with the women of New Wave film.

Two of my favorite quotes from Truth Stories follow. The first comes from a series of brunettes telling stories of frustration tied to their working lives. They seem to be mostly waitresses. The second comes from a series of blondes, narrated in whispers, imagining life inside an Impressionist work such as Seurat's La Grande Jatte. The narratives are created by Millman based on her own life.

He was a pretty good manager. He knew a lot about fine wines and... subservience.

--

On weekends I don't have to help anyone. I'm free.

[still images above provided by the gallery]

Here is an installation shot of Ara Peterson's Standing Waves in the current show at Greene Naftali. James as more on the show.

Standing Waves, 2004
wood, acrylic
45" × 168" × 30"

I went to look at Bill Gusky's web site because of his comments on James's site. There are some interesting works there, including this work on paper from the gallery page.

Untitled 2005
Gouache and Pastel on Paper
14 × 11 inches

It was too crowded to see the main room (Jen Bekman concurs) at the show Thursday night, so I took a couple of photos of the floor in the smaller project space. I suspect most images of the show will focus on the main room and the walls, so this is a reminder to look down when you visit.

Note to hipsters with cell phones: If you can't navigate a crowded gallery and talk on the phone at the same time, go outside. And leave large dogs at home. They don't seem to appreciate packed openings.

While you're on Jen's blog, check out this Frank Gehry post too.

We went to Soho tonight for the "block party" on Wooster and the openings at Spencer Brownstone, Guild & Greyshkul, and Deitch.

Block party (I think pedestrians should spontaneously take over streets more often):

and, from the Spencer Brownstone show, I present red, white, and blue:

The people on Mitchum's PR team are idiots. This morning I heard the news of the London attacks when I woke up. While riding the subway to Soho tonight, I saw this:

One would think someone would have thought of the Madrid attacks, and what happened to the stupid MTA ad censors that have previously prevented such things as safe sex ads on the subway? I would think the suburban guys that are at the top would find this... problematic.

I found it sad, knowing that people like Muhammad Ali are there, to read that people went wild over Hillary Clinton's "star power." I was more than sad -- horrified was more like it -- to learn that one of the other people in Singapore to lobby for NYC to host the Olympics is Henry Kissinger. I guess it's one of the few places outside of the USA he can still visit without risk of arrest.

I don't want the Olympics here, and obviously no thinking person does either if they have that man representing us. I agree with Todd Gibson on what hosting them would mean:

a month of lockdown and police-state presence in 2012 that will make last summer's Republican Convention look like a fire drill.

Paper Rad and Matt Barton extreme animalz: the movie: part 1 2005 video and mixed media [detail of installation]

NY1 has a short segment on the Rhizome ArtBase 101 show at the New Museum. It's kind of funny in a "gee whiz, it's art!" way. At least you get to see Lauren Cornell and T. Whid talk, and you have a chance to see Paper Rad and Matt Barton's fabulous work in motion. For more on the show, read the post James did.

[photo by James]

If you want to see what work we've been seeing lately and liked most, check out the homepage of ArtCal. I haven't had time to work, blog, and see art at the same time, so working and seeing art is winning. I also think this heat makes me less likely to carry around a camera and write things down.

We did see most of Greater New York at PS1 yesterday, but didn't make it through all of it. I think I have to say my favorite room was the one containing Sean Bluechel, Ryan Johnson, Christian Holstad, and Garth Weiser. Of course, the two middle ones were already very familiar to us. The "challenge" of finding Cordy Ryman's work throughout the building was fun too.

One more thing. I thought Dominic McGill's piece in the show was wonderful:

Dominic McGill
Project for a New American Century (detail), 2004
graphite on paper
80 inches x 65 feet
source