Bad Barbie By David Levinthal
I made the trip out of Bushwick tonight to see the latest show from David Levinthal this evening. The evening turned into a pop culture night that could only happen in two cities here in the states.
First things first. Bad Barbie is hardly new work from Levinthal in fact it predates his more celebrated work Hitler Moves East a collaboration with Gary Trudeau. The interesting thing about the Bad Barbie images to me is the way the culture of the late sixties/early seventies is clearly reflected and amplified. Levinthal Shows Barbie not as a mild mannered woman hoping to marry the right man (her boyfriend Ken) but as a woman who clearly revels in her sexuality and freedom. You could also say that in these photographs Ken becomes her cuckold while her “mandingo fantasy” is played out with (an african american) G.I. Joe.
Either way you read this, these images are charged with enough thought and minimal theatrics to have a honest sexuality about them. For me that was more than enough. The images have a reality about them that seems for the most part to transform the dolls into characters worth watching.
Off topic, but clearly on the evenings pop culture vibe…
Gossip Girl was being filmed tonight as I was leaving the gallery – that made me stop and think – although I’m not a fan of the show, I know enough about it to know what it is. Comparing that to the free wheeling version of Barbie I just saw, I thought how tame Gossip Girl really is.
I saw Neal Casssdy’s typewriter. That was pretty big thrill for me (I’ll admit to being a beat generation junkie…). FYI Neal Casssdy is perhaps best known for being characterized as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road among others as well as the driver of the bus in The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. He also wrote an amazing book called The First Third.
I found myself in a back room for a moment as well and could swear that I saw some of the Vivienne Westwood clothing that Sid Vicious was known for. I wonder … nah.
Special Note to Sharon Butler – I came face to Face with Alec Baldwin tonight, ok we look something like each other…
Bad Barbie By David Levinthal is on display until December 5th at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller