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June 29, 2006
If you are in NYC ...
...this would be the show to see:
Engulfed by Katrina exhibit at the Nathan Cummings Foundation
Posted by lk at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2006
It's About Power
Curators are, uh, concerned , and not just in Brooklyn. I mean even I'm getting emails about this...
Posted by lk at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2006
Photo in The Southland
Multiple Exposures: Highlights from CSULB Special Collections - Totally work a look. In the main has a few Sternfeld's from “American Prospects” and two Porters from Iceland. There's a mix of the usual suspects of 20th c landscape and photo doc. but the cool part of the show are two smaller rooms showcasing New Topographics style photo - straight from the LBC. My faves: 4 Joe Deal's architectural views and a few Anthony Hernandez images of folks waiting for the bus. Very cool.
Catherine Opie at OCMA - Nice to see the freeways and the mini-malls again but somehow the show didn't quite add up for me. Kind of like the Simpson retrospective at MOCA. I found myself longing for works that weren't there and vaguely dissatisfied with the ones that were. I have been a fan of Opie for a while but somehow seeing the work in this particular show, I was constantly reminded of the work of other photographers instead of seeing what made her vision unique.. I think her portraits are amazing, but you won’t find them in the OC.
"1999" and "In and Around Home" (2005)... just didn't do it for me. Listening to Opie talk about the work via the gallery ipod was way more interesting than actually seeing it on the walls. Interspersing Polaroids of talking heads from the evening news with big color prints of her West Adams neighborhood?... I don't know, maybe I need to go see it again. The show starts off with work from her MFA thesis project "Master Plan"(1986-88) and ends with "Surfurs" (2004), but don't expect to see those gorgeous early color portraits or the family series. And you won't get any of her panoramas of eastern cities either. This show is about LA/Southern California; home to surfurs, strip malls, self-indulgent domestic architecture (aka Beverly Hills) and Opie herself.
I was hoping to make it down to The Office but traffic was terrible. Maybe next week...
Check out Tyler Green's story on Opie for BlackBook.
Posted by lk at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2006
Donald Reilly, a Cartoonist for New Yorker, Dies at 72
From the NYT
Posted by lk at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2006
Birthdays
Happy Birthday Isabella!
…And many happy returns to:
Sir Paul McCartney (insert lame “When I’m 64” joke here)
Roger Ebert (insert insensitive “I Am the Walrus” joke here)
Carol Kane (No joke, just a lament - I love her! Don’t ya’ just love her?! She’s so funny but sometimes she picks crappy movies and that's too bad.)
Posted by lk at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2006
If you can stand the heat...
...there is Chalk and talk to be had in Pasadena this afternoon.
Posted by lk at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)
Remembering …
Posted by lk at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2006
Welcome back, Charlie!
Charlie on The Simpsons
Charlie Rose is finally back on the block, or more appropriately, back at the table and hosting his long running nighttime talk show. Now, I’m a big fan and have been since the very beginning (does anyone remember a little show on CBS called Nightwatch?). He is to me what Carson and Dick Cavett were to my mom. I fully admit he couldn’t touch those guys from a comedic angle but the variety of his guests and the quality of the conversation has always been top notch - heads of state, starlets, judges, and museum directors, even Carrie Fisher. Everyone wants to sit at the table with Charlie and chew the fat and I want to watch em! But this last month was rough. While Mr. Rose was sidelined and recovering from heart surgery I almost lost hope for the show. You’d think it would be simple - no-tech set, big oak table and two people talking for an hour. HA! Watching the cavalcade of guest hosts this last month while Rose was recuperating (or heaven help us, considering retirement…) was quite painful at times. Not everyone has the gift. So Charlie thanks for coming back!
Posted by lk at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2006
Another reason for me to go to Austin
A hack license used in preparation for Taxi Driver (1976) form
The Robert De Niro Collection, Harry Ransom Center, AUSTIN, TX.
AUSTIN, June 7, 2006—Robert De Niro made an offer the University of Texas could not refuse.
The Academy Award-winning actor is donating his collection of film-related materials—scripts, costumes and correspondence—to the cultural archive at the university's Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.
The collection will give students, film buffs and scholars a behind-the-scenes look at the career of one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation.
... They've got the "first photograph" too!
''This is what the Ransom Center is all about, the creative process,'' said Steve Wilson, associate curator of the center's film collection. ''I know of no other actor's archive that is as large and comprehensive as this one.''
There are more than 3,000 costume items and props from De Niro's films, including some from his Oscar winning roles in The Godfather: Part II and Raging Bull. It even includes a full body cast used in the 1994 production of Frankenstein when De Niro played the monster.
Several items will be on display in the lobby until June 18: De Niro's military dog tags and a script with his notes from The Deer Hunter, his real New York City taxi license from his days driving the streets to research Taxi Driver, and photographs as makeup artists tested different broken noses for his role as boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.
After that the collection will be housed for research, although a few costumes may be rotated into the Ransom Center gallery.
''One of the most important things about the Harry Ransom Center is that the material will be accessible to students and the public,'' De Niro said in a statement released by the center. ''Ultimately, that's what it's all about.''
by Jim Vertuno, Copyright 2006 Associated Press
Posted by lk at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2006
Some shows to see around town
I’ve been kind of slacking on the gallery crawl lately but I have seen a few things worth mentioning.
The Saar family reunion show (a.k.a Family Legacies) is pretty good, if uneven. It’s always a pleasure to spend time with Betye’s assemblages and I’m a big fan of Alison’s sculptures but honestly, much of Lezley’s work leaves me cold. Stand out pieces in this show are Alsiosn's Sweet Daddy Good Life and Blonde Dreams. And Betye’s Black Girl’s Window and Self-Window with Reflection are very cool. If you have only seen them in reproductions (as I had until last week), go check them out at PMCA. The show is up through Aug 27th. Also on view is a small Diebenkorn show. It’s a real small show. The work. Is. Tiny.
The next day, after surviving the withering heat of Pasadena, I was on to the Culver City Art Walk. Actually, it was more like a gallery drive by; I only made it to 4 spots before I collapsed. Saw some nice work at d.e.n. and fun concert posters on view at Black Market, and two good shows on La Cienega; Sharon Lockhart’s photos of children are worth a look (more on this later), as is Leslie Hewitt’s show at LAX. I have loved Leslie’s photo-based work for a while now (I included two pieces from riffs on real time in Double Ex), but I had not seen her drawings till recently. They’re really nice, though I wasn’t expecting to see them laying on the floor …
Next week: Chinatown!
Posted by lk at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
Summer movies anyone?
Cars, Supermen, Lake Houses, Break Ups, A Prairie Home Sleeping Pill and the long, long wait for August and the M. Night Shamalama plot-twist? Oh, and something about a plane full of, um, have I got this right, A Plane Full of SNAKES!!! What?!! Is this all we’re getting this summer? I hate to admit it, but I’ll probably end up seeing these movies (or worse ones) at some point this summer, if only to get a break from the heat. Like last year, when I vowed to keep my $ in my pocket in protest of all the poor remakes and silly action films and then SOMEHOW I found myself hanging with Mr. and Mrs. Smith and, uh… Stealth. Ahhhh, Summer...
But there is one thing to look forward to. FINALLY, the other Mr. Smith will give us...
…Clerks II: The Passion of The ClerksII!!! Actually, I'm not even sure it's still called that, but whatever. It's here!
OK, y’all know that I am totally ready for Kevin's return to chinema after the disaster that was Jersey Girl. This looks to be a lot of fun (Rosario Dawson notwithstanding). But while I’m a huge fan, I still found it kind of hard to believe this. Check Kevin’s O face here.
Posted by lk at 08:41 AM | Comments (2)
June 09, 2006
Ed, man, where did you go!?
This was Kent Twitchell’s "Ed Ruscha Monument". Now it’s just a blank wall.
He worked on it for nine years and now. It’s. Just. Gone. I was pretty shocked to read about this last week. I loved that mural! But then again I also dig the ones they do a few blocks away to promote the X Games. I don’t know, I guess that’s not really in the same category, but I do like seeing more than just glass and steel when I’m downtown…
Read about it in the Read about it in the LAT
and in the bloggosphere
Posted by lk at 10:44 AM | Comments (1)