I'll be showing my work at Smith Content during a special "Hon Fest" opening. So come on by.
Saturday June 10 12 - 6,
Smith Content
904 West 36th Street
Baltimore MD

Visit Hon Fest ahead of time at www.honfest.net

Yes, I know your thinking I"m finally going to say something about the Whitney Biennial - don't worry - I'm still not talking. (I mean is there anything left to say?) However following on the heels of the art reality tv show there is now a video game that has the player become the curator defending your museum against robot-controlled modern artworks.

I think I would rather see artworks attack a la Survival Research Laboratories rather than some fake museum defend itself. I have not played this (probably wont play this) - so go enjoy yourself.

Wouldn't a curator defend themselves with reams or rhetoric and arcane philosophy - but then at the last minute, throw in a zeitgiest-ish celebrity or alterna-rock star for "the people" to attach themselves to and create a bit of buzz?

And at the end of the day, I could be too snooty about this, seeing that its just a game.

Go download the game at www.davidbhowe.net

Since 1997 Ringier AG has produced an annual report - with heavy artist influences throughout the entire publication. In the past, they have showcased the work of Matt Mullican (Yeah!), and Liam Gillick. The annual report which comes in at about 40 pages is said to resemble a RP sketchbook - I have mine on it's way to me right now, upon receiving it, I'm sure I'll report on this again.

Also to complete my dorkiness I'll admit to ordering far too many books this month - Neal Jenney's Bad Painting catalog from Gagosian, the Phiadon Design Classics Set as well as the newly released Factory Records Complete Graphic Album (geek central! - but I love that crap!).

Let's set a date to discuss Peter Saville (best known for his work with Factory Records) sometime soon shall we? Do you prefer tea or coffee?

All three museums will be re-hanging the entire collection this spring - although the Tate has already done this (to some success) the Whitney will be giving each floor its own category (Minimalism, AbEx, Pop) except the 5th floor - that floor will be devoted to works by Edward Hopper.

The Pompidou will rehang its collection around cinematic themes to correspond with its exhibit "Movement of Images: Art & Cinema" In the past the Tate (or should I call it the Tate Modern used themes like History/Memory/society to organize and display its works, it is now taking a more conservative/art historical approach to its presentation.

Since I'm on museums, don't forget - Jennifer Bartlett's Rhapsody is newly installed at MoMA.

Clearly these re-hangings are an alternative to blockbuster shows and costly renovations - I'd like to see this work and maybe slow down the "come see our new architecture-palooza" that is running through every museum right now.

Douglas Coupland - Reading/Talk
Wednesday 31 May [7pm]
15 Gordon Street

Douglas Coupland has always had the uncanny knack of catching a certain zeitgeist and preserving it for generations to follow. Generation X, and Microserfs are two of his best known novels dealing with life and culture in our gnu-technological environment. JPod, his newest book, returns to the same theme of technology culture as pop culture.

My favorite Coupland book is "All Families Are Psychotic" which tells a story arc of a family that has half it's members with AIDS and the other half dealing the best they can. Say what you will about DC - I do find his writing poignant and in parrallel with what is in the back of peoples minds.

If your in London, try this link

Desmond Dekker, RIP
Desmond Dekker, singer/songwriter who helped introduce ska music to the world, died of an apparent heart attack in London on Thursday. He was 64.

Dekker's biggest hit, 1969's mournful repatriation song "Israelites", went to No. 1 in the UK and reached the top 10 in the U.S.-- the first worldwide Jamaican success since Millie's 1963 bubble-ska single "My Boy Lollipop". Unknown to most music heads, Desmond himself had been introduced to a mass audience in 1968 as the inspiration for the Beatles "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" ("Desmond works a barrow in the marketplace...").

Shown is "Untitled", 1981, (from the rich and poor series) Allowing the subject to write their own description and include it in the presentation of the image clearly breaks the distance between subject and viewer. I'm always surprised how frank the comments are on the photos. It remains to be seen how long the art world will support a non-ironic stance that only a few photographers are using to address complex social issues.

“I don’t know what happened,” said London dealer Alex Apsis, “my plane was late and I missed the action.”

Art Deal of the Week (not mine)



This $5.00 Jenny Holzer speaks for it's self.

Follow this link to Printed Matter.

On the Studio Turntable
Dwight Yoakum - Hillbilly Deluxe
Alex Chilton - High Priest
Tom Verlaine - Words from the Front
Mojave 3 - Excuses for Travelers

"When I first started out in the art world in the '70s, the whole idea of a self-respecting artist waiting in line to be in a TV show would have been ridiculous," - Jeffrey Deitch in the opening minutes of the first episode of Artstar.

This is still the case as far as I'm concerned.

During the early eighties New York’s Lower East Side was a hotbed of fun.

Among those emerging were Madonna, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Grace Jones, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, Vincent Gallo. Maripol was part of a collective of artists, graffiti writers, street dancers, and performers who all came out of downtown new york in the eighties. As a stylist for Madonna during the “Like a Virgin” period, jewelry designer, art director for fiorucci, Maripol documented the early eighties scene through the lens of her instant Polaroid SX-70.

Here's the deal - I love polaroid cameras. Although they were the most ungodly expensive cameras in the world they were instant and that made them cool. The images were also indestructible, people would put them in fish tanks, pour acid on them (see Lucas Samaras) - hell, I'm sure people at Studio 54 did coke off of them.

So yeah, Polaroids were cool.

So cut to the chase - on May 19, 2006 at The SOHO Grand Gallery, a show of Maripol’s enlarged Polaroid Prints will be on display.

There is a book too - contributions by: Anna Sui, and Glenn O'Brien. Try this link to amazon.com

PLEASE HELP ME
I'm looking for back issues of a magazine called "The Manipulator" it was printed during the eighties and its size was something like 22" x 17" printed on good quality newsprint (high end newsprint) Can you help? email me at: mlangley@mediastudio.com - thanks

David Askevold
Untitled Wallpaper [Target Practice]
This is a great little piece from Printed Matter. It reminds me of a old tv test screen - with a few "extras"

Silkscreen - Unsigned and Unnumbered

Price $60.00 Try this link

William Eggleston has two movies out right now.
The one that is going to get all the art press is "Stranded in Canton" which is using found Sony Port-a-Pac video he shot in the seventies in and around New Orleans and Memphis. I have not yet seen this, however the raves are already piling up.

The other film, "William Eggleston in the Real World", filmmaker Michael Almereyda asks the renowned photographer: What does it mean to see the world so differently that "common" images are converted into unforgettable photos? Granted, this is going to be a little bit more general and not as specific, although from a few of the conversations I've had with some artists recently - maybe a little bit of generalness is in order. Your mileage may vary. "William Eggleston in the Real World" is available at netflix.



Joan Snyder, The Storm, 1974

High Times, Hard Times, New York Painting 1967 - 1975
This is one of my favorite periods of art in the USA. Sitting between Pop and Neo-Expressionism and best known for the "New Image Painters" this period really pushed the advancement of painting in a time when people really believed painting to be dead. (just like punk - paintings not dead - you are!) Richard Tuttle, Mel Bochner, Blinky Palermo, Pat Steir, Elizabeth Murray, Joan Snyder are just a few of the names you'll see here. of curious note: Nearly half the painters presented in High Times, Hard Times are women, many dismissed by art critics, who saw them only as creating artworks limited value and not as leaders in painting at the time.

American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center, Washington, D.C. November 21, 2006 - January 21, 2007

“Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth” at Hirshhorn Museum. "William Wegman: Funny Strange" at the National Museum of American Art this summer
Ok I'll admit the title really says it all - both artists are either loved or hated. (that might be too strong a wording, but you know what I mean) Some feel that Keifer has developed into a cult of personality that is starting to erode the importance of the work - but give the man credit - grand themes are harder to come up with all the time and he does this time and time again. I also love the use of materials - thick paint, hay, lead, etc.

William Wegman is even more difficult - known at one time as a conceptual artist (video and performance) he has fallen into a universally loved series of images (I'm talking about the dogs) that I think he is just now breaking away from. His new postcard paintings are fantastic. This show, Funny/Strange is a retrospective and should be interesting to see just how it's put together.

May 18 in NYC
EVA HESSE: BEYOND MINIMALISM A distinguished panel of artistic peers and friends of Eva Hesse will consider her influential art and career. Topics for discussion include personal recollections of the artist, and the relevance of her work to that of the panelists at the The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Avenue. Carl Andre, Mel Bochner, Nancy Holt, William S. Wilson are panelists.

June 14 in NYC
BOMB Magazine celebrates its 25th anniversary year of publishing interviews with a line-up of its contributing editors, including: Kimiko Hahn, whose new collection of poetry, The Narrow Road to the Interior, will be published in July; poet Matthea Harvey, author of the collection Sad Little Breathing Machine; Jaime Manrique reading from his latest novel, Our Lives Are the Rivers; Robert Polito, author of Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson; and Ned Sublette, reading from his work in progress, The Year Before The Flood: Music, Murder and the Legacy of Slavery in New Orleans at The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, 7pm $5

Hello there - I'm out of town for a few days - I will return with things to say on tuesday.

In its largest and most important single acquisition the Broad Art Foundation has purchased 570 works by Joseph Beuys, The acquisition - a nearly complete collection of the artist's "multiples" for an undisclosed price from Berlin-based collector Reinhard Schlegel. The works are expected be part of the inaugural exhibition at the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, a huge addition to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Photo by Freddy Langer from the Enders Projects Website

As promised...

"I just need to get out of here and become a famous artist and everything else will just fall into place" - Jerome from "Art School Confidential"

In the chicago style blues song in my head a man in the wings is yelling "c'mon baby walk it and talk it. Tell me about it - hit me where it hurts." Then of course nothing else really happens because eventually the song has to end, the singer steps off stage, the crowd leaves, the house lights go on and the singer has to go home. Eventually. Maybe.

And just what is going to fall into place? Are we looking for Paris in the 20's or New York in the 50"s? Are you looking at me? I don't have the answers.