November 2007 Archives

newmuseum20071129.jpg

We attended the press preview today, and were very impressed with the building. The work visible is

Matière Brute
Abraham Cruzvillegas
Found wood and sandpaper
27.5 × 56 × 4.125 inches

We were able to take photos as press, but their website says that visitor photography will not be allowed in the galleries. I hope that changes.

James and I just bought tickets to see David Gordon's "Uncivil Wars: Collaborating with Brecht & Eisler" at The Kitchen. We try to see everything David Gordon does, and when a work includes his wife/partner Valda Setterfield, John Kelly, and Estelle Parsons as performers, how could you miss it? It's also a great chance to hear some of the music of Hanns Eisler, one of the best and sadly underknown leftist composers of the 20th Century. If you like the Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht collaborations, you'll like the Eisler even more I suspect.

Speaking of Weill/Brecht, we recently watched the new Criterion DVD of "The Threepenny Opera" (1931). Highly recommended!

joan-linder-grill-detail.jpg

Joan Linder, grill, detail, from The Pink

Today's Newsday has an article on the artist Joan Linder by Ariella Budick and it's one of the best things I've read about her work. There is a short video too. Here is an excerpt:

Turning the tables on generations of male artists who offered up the anatomies of women as fruits for delectation, Linder painted a series of "Men" who don't seem aware that they're hardly wearing any clothes. Corporate executives literally throw their weight around at the office, opening a file drawer or searching for a contact lens while bulbous bellies overhang their briefs and wobble over their stick-like legs.

"Nobody wants to look at this work," Linder admits. "People don't want to see naked men."

The drawings were a response to Linder's contemporaries Lisa Yuskavage and John Currin, who merge the classic nude with the Playboy kind. "I thought, 'Screw that. I'm going to do these pictures of fat men and what power really looks like.'"

We first met Joan in 2001 after buying a photo from her "Man About Town" series at the inaugural show of Plus Ultra Gallery, titled "Skank." We also have a small drawing of an electrical outlet from more recent times.

The image above is a detail from her recent show at Mixed Greens, via her website.

Jonathan Neil of Boyd Level, which provides service to art collectors, sent me a link to their excellent PDF guide to all of the events/fairs in Miami. Check it out.

Bosko Blagojevic has penned a review of Brazda's show at Bortolami Gallery. We saw it a week ago, and I loved the fact that the press release used the word "hermetic." That's a word I often think of when viewing contemporary art shows, but galleries rarely come out and actually put it in print.

I was checking out my facebook profile today and saw this ad. I realize it's for people looking to "settle down," but using a baby for a dating site ad is just creepy.

facebook-baby-dating.jpg

hotel chelsea book by ed hamilton

Ed Hamilton, of the Hotel Chelsea Blog, will be reading tonight from is new book, Legends of the Chelsea Hotel, at 7pm at 192 Books in Chelsea.

192 Books
192 Tenth Avenue at 21st Street

James and I will try to get there, probably a little late, as we're attending the opening night preview of the new Asian Contemporary Art Fair. ArtCal is a media partner.

marisa-olson-performed-listening.png

still from Marisa Olson’s “Performed Listening: H” (2007)

The next Over The Opening occurs this Friday from 7-10pm, featuring the lovely and talented Marisa Olson. We'll have to see if any of the wacky ideas we discussed at the last OTO come to fruition. More details can be found here.

All Williamsburg galleries are open until 9 that night, so go see lots of art.

If you can't get to Williamsburg that night, I recommend The Shape of Things to Come opening at LMCC Redhead gallery downtown that night.

[image from tinjail.com]

This page is an archive of entries from November 2007 listed from newest to oldest.

previous archive: October 2007

next archive: December 2007

Twitter

Photos

3 latest


3 random