January 12, 2007
Quiet contemplation to be had in West Hollywood
Others have already said it, so all I can do is just nod in agreement and offer a few links. This is a really nice show. The works are beautiful and the exhibition is totally manageable (who needs another eight room, totally overwhelming retrospective? Not me). Eight paintings are just enough to get you thinking and the work fits this odd space rather perfectly. Plus MOCA at Pac Design Ctr is FREE! Yay, FREE.
Posted by lk at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2006
More on Munitz
I wonder why I never seem to know about all these interesting opportunities for women in the arts ????
From the LAT:
Investigators Secretly Mined Munitz's Records
The Getty Trust keeps its probe under wraps, but some details emerge, including the former CEO's spending on two female proteges.
By Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino
Times Staff Writers
September 2, 2006
On a Saturday morning in early December, a group of outsiders dressed in jeans arrived at the J. Paul Getty Trust to carry out a secret plan: copying the computer hard drives in the offices of Chief Executive Barry Munitz without his knowledge.
The outsiders were from Munger Tolles & Olson, a Los Angeles law firm hired by Munitz's bosses, the Getty board, to investigate allegations that senior officials had misspent the nonprofit's funds and acquired looted antiquities.
The decision to secretly copy Munitz's data, carried out with the help of his top aides and the approval of the board chairman, was an early sign of the exten to which Munger Tolles was willing to go to find out how deep the problems ran at the world's richest art institution.
Confidential Getty documents reviewed by The Times and interviews with former senior officials provide a road map of the firm's internal investigation, which led to Munitz's ouster and ongoing negotiations with foreign governments over the return of contested artwork.
The records also show that the attorneys spent a substantial amount of time investigating Munitz's previously unreported use of Getty funds to advance the career of a German art student whom he hired as a "senior advisor" and sponsored as an intern at another museum. They also reviewed his expenditures linked to a Russian researcher whose museum received a Getty grant.
The Getty has declined to disclose whether those expenditures were deemed appropriate. Munitz, through his lawyer, said he was a mentor to both women, as he has been to "students, colleagues and future leaders" over the last 40 years.
"Given these facts, nothing about these professional relationships had anything to do with my decision to resign," Munitz said.
Munitz resigned in February, less than a week after Munger Tolles delivered its findings to the board. He agreed to forgo more than $2 million in severance pay and return $250,000 to settle all claims with the trust.
Munger Tolles has billed the Getty more than $4 million for the review led by Ron Olson, the firm's top corporate trouble-shooter. The money comes on top of $6 million the Getty has spent on lawyers, investigators and public relations specialists over the last five years to disentangle itself from a web of scandals and crises, records show.
Getty officials have not made the results of the Munger Tolles review public, saying it would not be in the interest of the institution, which is still being investigated by the state attorney general and foreign governments.
But the Getty records show that Olson's team spent hours researching the legal exposure of current trustees, who were responsible for overseeing Munitz's compensation and travel.
The attorneys also researched "moral turpitude," a legal term that experts say describes deceit for personal gain and other crimes such as fraud and perjury.
Munitz's contract stipulated that the Getty could terminate his employment for any conduct that "constitutes moral turpitude, or that would tend to bring material public disrespect, contempt or ridicule upon the trust."
Through his attorney, Munitz said that "the moral turpitude clause in my contract was never raised with me."
Olson, in a recent interview, said he had made "a complete report … of the essence of our findings" to the state attorney general's office, which is expected to conclude its own probe of Getty spending in the coming weeks. He added it would be wrong to draw inferences about what the attorneys researched. "Just because we investigate facts or assess legal exposure does not equate to, or even suggest, wrongdoing," he said.
With the attorney general beginning its probe and Munitz under fire for using Getty funds on lavish first-class travel and other questionable purposes, the Getty board hired Olson a year ago to conduct an internal review. Louise Bryson, the board's current chairwoman and a longtime Olson friend, played a key role in the decision, sources say.
Olson billed the Getty $690 per hour and led a team of more than two dozen attorneys, staff and consultants, records show. The lawyers examined hundreds of thousands of documents, interviewed 75 people and even flew to Rome to interview Marion True, the Getty's former antiquities curator now on trial there on charges of conspiring to traffic in looted art.
The attorneys also reviewed 230 trips taken by Munitz from January 1998, when he became the trust's chief executive, through July 2005. They singled out several where Munitz's business justification was weak or where he added official events to trips that originated as vacations with friends, records show.
Those flagged as problematic were cruises to Cuba, Greece, Croatia and Albania with Los Angeles billionaire and philanthropist Eli Broad and others. Other trips included those to Australia, Hawaii and Italy.
Munger Tolles also found that Munitz charged the Getty for three stays in 2004 at the luxurious La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs, where he often vacationed.
Munitz justified charging the trips to the Getty by saying he was conducting a site visit for an upcoming Getty board meeting. But there was no evidence that he had meetings with resort officials, records show.
"Every trip I took was fully documented, completely disclosed, reviewed, approved and subject to internal and external audits at multiple levels," Munitz said, adding that he "carefully allocated between personal and institutional expenses."
The most sensitive part of the investigation centered around the two women Munitz said he mentored, said one former trustee familiar with the internal review.
One, Iris Mickein, a German art student, was an intern at the Getty Research Institute in 2002. Records and interviews show that soon after she met Munitz, he offered to fund her next year of studies and hired her as a "senior advisor."
Munitz repeatedly used Mickein as the business justification for trips, including an $11,000 excursion in August 2002 to Kassel, Germany, where his sole business purpose was to view an art exhibit with her. On a later trip to New York, Munitz billed the Getty for room service breakfast with Mickein, records and interviews show.
The Getty paid more than $5,000 in legal fees for her to obtain a work visa, and Munitz asked a senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York to mentor her for the next nine months — at Getty expense.
The request came just months after Munitz had personally approved a $1.2-million grant to MoMA on behalf of Getty trustee Aggie Gund, who was retiring as MoMA's president. Gund says there was no connection between the gift and Mickein's employment at the museum.
As Mickein's internship at MoMA came to a close in early 2003, Munitz sent word to MoMA curator John Elderfield about her upcoming travel plans.
"As you probably know, we have been able to free her up during several weekends and holidays, at Getty expense of course, to meet a few of my friends and colleagues across the country," Munitz wrote.
Mickein's destinations included visits in Boston; Princeton, N.J.; Texas; the Midwest and the Northwest, records show. The Getty paid her travel expenses.
A few months later, when she decided to attend a summer school at the Tate museum in London, Munitz instructed staff to FedEx her a check for $8,800 to cover "the next installment of travel and expense advance."
In July of that year, Munitz had his staff extend the agreement with MoMA for another nine months, and belatedly formalized the arrangement.
Mickein, who is a doctorate candidate at Princeton University, could not be reached for comment and did not respond to several e-mail requests.
Munger Tolles reported the Getty's payments to MoMA for Mickein's internship to the attorney general as a grant, according to a source familiar with the review.
"The projects to which you refer were fully discussed and approved by appropriate Getty officials," Munitz said.
Gund, who left the Getty board at the end of June, said the information about Mickein was part of the Munger Tolles report to the board and that Munitz's spending on behalf of the intern was particularly telling to a number of board colleagues.
"If you read it, wouldn't you take notice of it?" Gund said. "Look at it as if you were one of the board members, and you'll have your answer."
The records also show that Munger Tolles attorneys spent hours researching Munitz's interactions with Nana Zhvitiashvili, a curator for the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg who specialized in art therapy for children with limited abilities. Munitz met her at the Salzburg Seminar, an annual European event convened to discuss global issues. After Munitz met her, he arranged for the children's center at the Russian institution to receive a $200,000 Getty grant.
A Getty spokesman last week confirmed the multiyear grant and said Zhvitiashvili helped arrange it as an "intermediary" for the Russian museum, but was not involved in administering the money.
In February 2003, Munitz dictated an e-mail to Zhvitiashvili, telling her that she "should be proud and excited about what you have given birth to on behalf of international relations, art education and therapy," according to records of his dictation.
That same month, he arranged to meet Zhvitiashvili on a business trip to London, where he was forging a partnership between the Getty and the Courtauld Institute of Art, records show.
Munitz cleared hours off his schedule so he could be available as she rushed to put the finishing touches on a conference at the Tate on "Russian Modern Art in the Age of Globalization," records show.
"I have put aside the evening to attend your meetings and provide sustenance and comfort," he dictated in a series of e-mails before the event, adding in another: "If at 4 in the morning any of those nights you need just a quiet moment to exchange thoughts or to escape, that refuge is available."
The meeting was one of several he had with the curator during 2002 and 2003 business trips to London, where she lives part-time, records and interviews show. On one trip, he visited the Tate museum and went to a movie with her; on another, they attended a concert, records show.
Repeated attempts to reach Zhvitiashvili directly or through friends were unsuccessful. She did not answer several e-mails, and calls to her London cellphone number were not answered.
Though the expenditures on behalf of Mickein and Zhvitiashvili were particularly sensitive, former trustee Gund said it was the totality of what the investigation turned up that made it clear Munitz had to go. "I think it was the whole package for most people," she said.
jason.felch@latimes.com
ralph.frammolino@latimes.com
*
(INFOBOX BELOW)
Recent Turmoil at the Getty Trust Has Been Costly
In addition to $4 million paid to the Los Angeles law firm of Munger Tolles & Olson to conduct an internal management review at the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Getty has paid more than $2 million to a New York law firm, Heller Erhman White & McAuliffe, to advise it on how best to respond to allegations that the Getty has acquired dozens of ancient artifacts removed illegally from Italy.
Records show the Getty has spent $1.7 million on the defense of former antiquities curator Marion True, now on trial in Italy on charges of conspiring to traffic in looted art.
The Getty also spent $780,000 for a year's advice from public relations specialist Michael Sitrick.
Posted by lk at 07:24 AM | Comments (0)
August 27, 2006
Pics from The Smithsonian on the Web
The earliest known portrait of radical abolitionist John Brown,
made by Augustus Washington circa 1846/1847. The daguerreotype
is from the collection of the National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
On Friday The LA Times ran a small story on the Smithsonian's Photography Initiative. Nice piece and the Smithsonian's website is pretty cool, too. It's just too bad that the reporter couldn't get the website address right (it's actually here), or get Augustus Wasington's name right (and that they couldn't spring to reproduce his amazing portrait of John Brown ). But you can always see it online.
The Smithsonian's scrapbook
A new website provides access to 1,800 digital images from the institution's trove of photographs.
By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post
August 25, 2006
WASHINGTON — From its very beginnings, the Smithsonian Institution has taken and collected photographs. Masses of them.
John Brown's steely eyes were captured in a daguerreotype by August Washington in 1846. A now-extinct Tasmanian hyena, sleek and striped, attracted photographer Thomas Smillie in 1891. Harry Bowden went to Jackson Pollock's chaotic studio in 1949 and found an unintentional abstract of cans and brushes. As the 20th century ended, the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory Center recorded hot gas in the Milky Way.
Spread across the Smithsonian's 18 museums, nine research centers and the National Zoo are 13 million photographs. In the hallways and laboratories are about 700 collections of photos. Harnessing them into a form that gives researchers and the public some access has long been a goal for Smithsonian caretakers.
But like a lot of things at the Smithsonian, you had to know where to go to find what you were looking for. Some photos were locked away in the researchers' storehouses.
This week, however, the Smithsonian Photography Initiative launched an electronic means of looking at a small part of this vast collection. A website, www.spi.si.edu, provides access to 1,800 digital images, the work of 100 photographers, who used 50 different processes.
"The Smithsonian was born at the same moment as photography. Then, the Smithsonian was a very modern institution and quite naturally picked up the new technology," says Merry Foresta, director of the SPI projects. "Photography could bring back to the Smithsonian things from the world, and this gave the Smithsonian a way of disseminating itself back into the world."
The question, Foresta says, was how do you find what's important and artistic when there are photographs of every subject the Smithsonian touches, including archeology, marine science, space travel, celebrity portraits and presidents?
"Almost 2,000 images in the face of 13 million may not seem a lot. We have tried to create a good sample and an interdisciplinary sample. This allows us to test in a small way how this might work," she says.
For about 30 years, the idea of a physical institution, a Center for Photography, was debated. But that faded as fundraising became an uphill battle and the Internet provided new possibilities.
"In the early part of the 21st century, this seemed like a lot of work, to create a building. We decided to embrace fully the idea of the virtual world," Foresta says. Museums were beginning to digitize their collections, and many curators and scientists were very protective of their materials.
"Quickly we realized we would have a war on our hands if we were loading up the trucks and saying, 'Bring your photographs.' It would have destroyed what is unique about the Smithsonian. The photographers are embedded in the subjects," Foresta says.
The website was built with a $500,000 gift from the Comer Foundation, a Chicago-based family fund.
One test, now that hundreds of frames are quickly available, will be how people use the site.
In the first format, people can build their own scrapbooks; for example, portraits of Native Americans. The opening page has an interactive feature called "Enter the Frame."
The visitor can browse by name, photographer, Smithsonian museum, decade and other key search terms. Then they can string them together or go on to another topic.
But will people be looking for a cultural benchmark, a personal memoir or scholarly information?
"At first it seems free-form and gives people an opportunity to experience the interconnectivity of the images. So is that what they want to do?" Foresta asks.
The rugged majesty of the Great Pyramid was captured in 1858 by Francis Frith. A contact sheet of John F. Kennedy and his daughter, Caroline, shows their playfulness in the weeks before his inauguration.
There is a photo showing Washington's Addison Scurlock protesting outside a theater showing "Gone With the Wind" in 1939. Bob Dylan was snapped at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 by Diana Davies. And Sandra Raredon used digital radiograph to show the lines and bones of the surgeonfish.
This is a beginning, Foresta says. "The website is the first manifestation…. It's not complete. We have built the house with many rooms yet to be furnished."
Posted by lk at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2006
Top 5 shows to see on my week off - Bonus Round
Guess my artweek will kick off on Sunday with GLAMFA or the Greater LA MFA exhibition! The show will feature MFA Candidates from art schools in, well, the Greater LA area. It looks to be a lot of fun. Thanks! OC Art Blog for the heads up.
GLAMFA opens Sunday at CSU Long Beach 4-9pm
for more info check the site.
Posted by lk at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2006
Top 5 shows to see on my week off
Top Mark Bradford's Market>Place and Margaret Honda's Hideout from Consider This... at LACMAA LAB, next row: a page from the Strange New World website and Norman Zammitt's Opal (1966), last row: some airy architecture on view in Pasadena, and an image from Suburbia(1972) by Bill Owens.
1. MOCA Pac Design Ctr is weighing on New Topographics
2. The happs at LACMA LAB (scroll down to Consider This...)
3.Extrano Nuevo Mundo, that's Strange New World for my non-bilingual brothers and sisters and it's a perfect excuse to go back to San Diego! The show also has a website - hang in there, it takes a minute to load.
4. Translucence: Southern California Art from the 1960s and 1970s up in Pasadena
5. and since I'll already be in Pasadena, I check out Dialogues and Interventions: Recent Architecture Pasadena to L.A.
Posted by lk at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
MoPA Names Deborah Klochko as New Director
The Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) proudly announces the appointment of Deborah Klochko to the position of Director, formerly held by founding Director Arthur Ollman.
Klochko has served as Director for Visual Literacy, I.N.C., a private consulting business promoting understanding of photography, for the last five years. Her work with Visual Literacy has included consulting on the Smithsonian Photography Initiative Project and publishing three books, including Create and Be Recognized: Photography on the Edge and Picturing Eden. Prior to her work with Visual Literacy, Klochko served as the Director for The Friends of Photography at the Ansel Adams Center in San Francisco. “I look forward to guiding MoPA to the next stage of its evolution,” says Klochko. “With world-class collections, dynamic exhibitions and innovative programming, MoPA is ready to explore new ideas, create new partnerships, and to expand its influence on local, national and international audiences.”
Congrats Deb! Can't wait to see you down south!
Posted by lk at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
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)
April 14, 2006
Go Sheila!
Sheila Pree-Bright
Both images are from the series Suburbia, 2004
Copyright: the artist, Courtesy: Charles Guice Fine Art Photography LLC
Sheila Pree Bright has been awarded the 2006 Santa Fe Prize for Photography for her series, Suburbia. Announced April 11, the prestigious award is given annually by the Santa Fe Center for Photography (SFCP) to a gifted and committed photographer who has completed a meaningful body of work.
For more info on Sheila's work and the catalog for Suburbia check out Charles Guice Fine Art Photography. The site has gotten a bit of a redisign, and it looks great!
Posted by lk at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2006
Trying to hang at the G with Lala
It's been so long since I have been to the Getty for a show that I kind of forgot what was there. So I was completely taken aback when I pulled in to get my parking ticket and saw Miss Lala on her own banner stretched along the curved wall. I figured, "Bonus!" I had come for Courbet but would stay for Degas. I love Degas but I guess I had forgotten that so does everyone else. But can you blame them? I mean come on, the guy was an amazing draughtsman, painter, and sculptor of the human form, and even if you don’t dig all the ballet dancers he painted tons of other stuff too - the least "Impressionist" of the Impressionists and a photographer to boot. What’s not to like?
I was kind of jazzed for this show but little did I know that the exhibition consisted of about 14 works. UGH! Don't get me wrong; sometimes I really like small, focused exhibitions. They give you a chance to concentrate and to really appreciate a few things without being distracted or overwhelmed. But this show is really tiny, in fact, it's teeny-tiny. The gallery was totally mobbed. Actually, the same was true for the larger Courbet show. Way too many people -way too little art for everyone to see (which in a way is the tragedy of the Getty imho). Oh well. I should have known better than to do this on a Saturday...
Related - found this while I was putting together this post. Too bad this show didn't make it to Cali.
Posted by lk at 10:11 AM | Comments (2)
March 11, 2006
Remaining Light at d.e.n
Saw Amanda Sefton Hogg's show at d.e.n and even got a chance to talk with her a little about her work. Among her influences are the light in LA, the films of Marguerite Duras and square format photography. I really had no idea what she was going to say but I certainly didn't expect that! The show is filled with paintings of drippy, shadowy, lacey, chandeliers. They remind me of something Mrs. Haversham might have hanging in her dining room. I actually like a few of them quite a lot, but I think maybe she could have stopped after 4 or 5. I guess I'm a minimalist at heart… Now I’ve got to go rent something by Marguerite Duras.
Posted by lk at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2006
A "Post" Post
Back in 2001 Thelma ushered in a new era when she coined the (slippery) term “post black”… Well, it’s five years later and look how far we’ve come. I’m still trying to tease out the finer points of what it could actually mean to be “post” your racial identity and Jerry Saltz ups the ante! Apparently we are now in a period of “ Post America”. This from his review of the Whitney Biennial:
"Day for Night" is filled with work I’m not interested in; it tries to do too much in too little space; it is often dry and confusing. Nevertheless, the show is a compelling attempt to examine conceptual practices and political agency, consider art that is not about beauty, reconsider reductivism, explore the possibility of an underground in plain sight, probe pre-modern and archaic approaches, posit destruction and chaos as creative forces, and revisit ideas about obfuscation and anonymity.
Interesting. And then there's this:
Finally, to anyone who thinks that the "Peace Tower," right now on Madison Avenue in front of the Whitney, but originally built in 1965 to protest Vietnam War, is silly or ineffectual: Now is the first time it has needed to be built again.
Flaws and all, Day for Night speaks to a nation that is no longer an ideal but only a country. That makes this the Post-America Biennial.
Miles Davis, RU Legal, 1991 (anonymous collection)
I might have to check it out... just to see an oil painting by Miles Davis. HA.
Posted by lk at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2006
The Hammer Collects Photography!
... or, uh, photographs made by artists
Variable Piece No. 44 by Douglas Huebller (because I couldn't find an image of #43)
Saw this in the LA Times yesterday. It reminded me of a MAN post from about a month ago (see The MAN 2005 Acquisitions Series in side bar) Sounds like a nice gift and a good start. It'll be interesting to see how the Hammer goes about creating their new contemporary photo/wks on paper collection... can't wait to see those "Rooftops".
Posted by lk at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2006
New Topographics at The G
Robert Adams, Dead Palms, Partially Uprooted, Ontario, California, 1983
Related: Gallery Hopper has a few things to say about Adams. I will too, just as soon as I have another cup of coffee.
Posted by lk at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)
January 27, 2006
Do you remember?
Easy to Remember(2001), a 16mm film by Lorna Simpson
Posted by lk at 12:54 AM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2006
And now for a little shameless self-promotion …
After two years of blood, sweat, prayers and tears, my show has finally opened at The Wadsworth Atheneum! Double Exposure: African Americans Before and Behind the Camera will be on view till June 18th. Many thanks to the Amistad Center for inviting me to curate this show.
Check it:
Albert Chong, Cousin Shirley, 1986
… And we got some advance press from Photograph, too.
I’ll write much more about the show over the weekend. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming (ie and Photo LA!).
Posted by lk at 09:23 AM | Comments (2)
January 19, 2006
Hartford on my mind ...
I’m back in LA (and will be working Photo LA for the rest of this week) but I’m still thawing out from my 8 days in Hartford… BTW the Wadsworth has a #*&@ load of Sol Lewitt. I do like this one in the staircase, but day-um, they could probably give someone else the treatment now. Nice to see so much photo there and the new Matrix show is pretty cool.
Posted by lk at 07:33 AM | Comments (1)
December 14, 2005
Hollywood gets a facelift ...
Well, not all of Hollywood, just the sign. I meant to post this last week but got caught up with actual work.
Next time maybe they will take a page from Ed's book and re-do the sign in chocolate:
Posted by lk at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2005
At the Getty
I’m off to the G today for some culcha, culcha, culcha!
First time I’ve been this year!
I’m excited to see this:
Julius Shulman, Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960
Pierre Koenig, Architect
And also this:
Weegee, Lovers with 3-D glasses at the Palace Theatre (Infra-red), 1943
Weegee, Cop Killer negative, January 16, 1941; print, about 1950
(every time I see this pic I think it’s Marlon Brando. Weird)
Posted by lk at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2005
New works at Carlagirl
Carla Williams, from the series other people's clothes (2005)
Carlagirl has been making new work and updating her site! Not everything is up yet but her new project (see image above) looks interesting. And Beautiful. Can't wait to see and read more about it. In the meantime, check out "Mother and Daughter". It's a really thoughtful text/image piece. It takes a minute to load up but it's so worth it.
We all need encouragement and support, especially this time of year. You know, when it's visions of failure, overdue bills and cold weather that start dancing in our heads (I never have dreamt of a sugar plums in December, even when I was a kid). So to all you artists and creative types out there my message is: KEEP WORKING. Keep putting it out there! We need you to make us think, and smile, and get angry, and to help us clarify our positions. We need you to show us the beauty in the world and to also help us look at what's not so great in the worlds that we have created. Christmas is coming folks - so let's try to support the arts in some way.
OK. End of PSA. But seriously, it’s important. Check out some art and if you can’t send $, at least send a comment. Let folks know what you think☺
Rebecca Campbell
Albert Chong
Elizabethe Thremante
Myra Greene
Mark Wyse
Artists represented by Charles Guice
Here is another image from Carla's new series:
Check her blog entry, late freight form December 01, for more background on the project.
Posted by lk at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2005
In other news ...
Albert Chong, Aunt Winnie, 1995, chromogenic color print
SF has got themselves another museum. According to the LAT, MoAD is finally opening and it looks like it will have two interesting shows to help launch itself into the Bay Area scene:
"Linkages and Themes in the African Diaspora: Selections From the Eileen Harris Norton and Peter Norton Contemporary Art Collections," includes 39 works — in photography, painting, mixed-media, video and new genre — by such artists as Hew Locke, Willie Cole, Glenn Ligon, Malick Sidibe, Kara Walker, Chris Ofili, Fred Wilson, Isaac Julien and Albert Chong. A mixed-media piece, "Bye, Bye Blackbird" by L.A. artist Alison Saar, consists of a metal suitcase, lighted by neon, underneath a harness of wings made of leather shoe soles. Two untitled 12-color silk-screen works by Iona Rozeal Brown are portraits of a Japanese male and female in dreadlocks and masking, representing the appropriation of hip-hop culture by Japanese youth. The show marks "the first time the Norton collections have allowed an institution to pick out pieces from their collection," Bradley said. Bradley led the marketing of "Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent" for South Bank Centre in London."
I hadn't realized that the Norton's had never done this before and I'm surprised that an LA venue (like CAAM) didn't try to do this first. But then again, does anybody ever ask ME about these things?
Prepare for "diaspora to become the new "synergy".
Posted by lk at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2005
Culture, culture, culture
I just found out that the Macy's has stepped it up this year. The store's famous Thanksgiving Day Parade will incorporate the work of a real live artist:
Artist Tom Otterness has designed a Humpty Dumpty balloon for Macy's 79th Thanksgiving Day Parade. Mr.Dumpty will be 33 feet tall, 20 feet long and 27 feet wide.
Otterness has whimsical creatures sprinkled all over Manhattan. My favorites are in and around the 14th street subway.
Posted by lk at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2005
I wish I had a super cool thing to post about this eve, but frankly I got nothin’. I just figure I need to write some damn thing fast, before the few people that are kind enough to stop by – get fed up with my old, old, old Halloween posts! Life has just gotten the best of me these last few weeks. My mind is basically mush. Serious mid-life crisis stuff, plus a few work deadlines thrown in for good measure.
Above you will see one of my fave pieces from the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. I love looking at this installation but I always found the idea behind it kind of crazy. I mean HOW could you have a totally open window in the gallery of a museum? OK so this whole thing is kind of a non sequitur but at least I posted something….
From the MCASD website:
ROBERT IRWIN: 1°2°3°4°
MCASD LA JOLLA
ONGOING
Originally commissioned in 1997, MCASD has reinstalled Robert Irwin's seminal piece 1°2°3°4°. Irwin's art investigates perception and experiential effects. His early pieces helped to define the aesthetic and issues of the West Coast light and space movement in the late 1960s by exploring how phenomena are perceived and altered by consciousness. This process is clearly demonstrated in 1°2°3°4°, which directly connects interior and exterior spaces through the literal removal of sections of gallery window overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Elements of the outside environment—sounds, smells, and other physical sensations—co-mingle with the clean, controlled space of the museum. Pronounced "first dimension, second dimension, third dimension, fourth dimension," the title of the work acknowledges the importance for Irwin of the fourth dimension of time in an art experience. Time becomes an integral element of the piece, determining climate, light, movement, sound, and even color as the sun moves across the perimeter of the gallery and sets beyond the ocean.
Posted by lk at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2005
The Place to Be? Culver City on Saturday Night
A funny thing occurred last Saturday night. Unusually high levels of curiosity and energy on my part just happened to coincide with a number of gallery openings in CC. I've been to most of the "new" Culver City galleries over the past year but this was the first time I had experienced the tailgate party atmosphere of the La Cieniga strip. The shows were a mixed bag (and I kind of wished that there was more on hand than ice chests filled with Tecate) but all-n-all it was a fun (and free) Saturday night activity.
The high point of the evening was going to Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles Projects. Her current group show, "Cut" features work by Laylah Ali, Edgar Arceneaux, Mark Bradford, Amy Sillman and Wangechi Mutu, among others. Taken as a whole the show was, well, a mixed bag but Mutu's video "Cutting"(2004) was a showstopper. Literally.
In her first film, Mutu shows a slow motion sequence of a woman cutting a tree on a hillside at sunset. The piece is beautiful, disturbing and just long enough for me to appreciate it without getting bored...I probably watch too much tv to fully appreciate video art. If it doesn't grab me right away it's hard for me to stick with it. I realize this is my own limitation and I'm trying to see more and to overcome my prejudices but that's another story ... I watched "Cutting" a few more times, focusing on the figure's simple, violent actions. I imagined that the felled tree was a person and shivered. I thought a bit about who I would want to dispatch in this manner and shivered again. Then I focused on various elements; the colors, the woman's curvy silhouette against the sky, the surreal sound of the blade repeatedly hitting the wood. It didn't sound real or was it that it sounded too real? I was mesmerized. Then I got up and walked out to the lovely patio where the drinks were set up (Vielmetter's patio features a unique Japanese-style-file cabinet-fountain that's quite an eye full in itself. Did I mention that I wish this were MY gallery? Anyway). I poured myself a glass of white wine and went back to the video room and just watched people pop their heads in and quickly decide that this video was not for them. The whole thing was quite entertaining.
Anyway, it might be a while before I take in "the openings" again but if you are in town check out Vielmetter and also Seonna Hong at Sixspace (you can miss Anna Helwing and Harvey Levine, IMHO) and tell me what you think.
PS - When Industry Cafe & Jazz (6039 Washington Blvd.) gets their music/poetry program together, I may find myslef in the area on a regular basis.
Posted by lk at 09:57 AM | Comments (2)
September 29, 2005
A few things “on view” this evening
Tonight's the night!
That's right kids, after a long, hot, rumor-filled summer Alias is back with extra big belly JGarner and two young (totally unnecessary) new agents in tow! Let's hope tonight’s premier is better than last night's eppi of LOST. YAWN! JJ, you are officially on notice. Do the right thing tonight and no one gets hurt.
OK, OK, I realize most of you may not be as interested in JJBC and the fate of Michael Vartan as I am. So if you MUST do something cultural and you live in NYC, you should probably check this out tonight. If you are in LA (and prefer art to the spy life), go see Basquiat. It’s a great show and MOCA is open late tonight. On the other hand, if you reside in the city by the bay, go to SFMOMA. They are also open late tonight and there’s tons of new stuff to see. Robert Adams and Edgar Arceneaux would be my picks.
Enjoy!
Posted by lk at 08:26 AM | Comments (2)
September 22, 2005
Summer is over and it’s already time for Winter!
Mark Wyse’s new show is up at Wallspace. Winter will be on view till Oct 15th – which is fab because that means I get to see it while I’m in town for Photo NY!
For the longest time the Wallspace website was not working and all I could see was this image:
I love this photo. It reminds me of a Twombly painting…
Yesterday I tried the site again and was able to get the next image to appear on my (new) laptop. But after thinking about the first two pictures for a while I decided to stop so that the rest of the show would be a surprise.
Congrats Mark!
Posted by lk at 08:38 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 20, 2005
The MacArthur Foundation does it's thing ...
I’ve already read two posts on Saltz's Babylon and four on this year's Genius Grant recipients and it's only 8am! Do I have anything new to add? Not really, except that I love Julie Mehretu and I think it's cool that she now has big bags of money coming her way and can concentrate on making things like these:
“Excerpt (Riot),” 2003, ink and acrylic on canvas, 32 x 54”
"Renegade Delirium", 2002
and this:
"Entropia (review)", 32-color lithograph and screenprint on Arches 88 paper, 33.5 x 44"
and when she gets worn out from making giant paintings she can create more of these:
"Untitled", 2001, ink, colored pencil, cut paper on mylar and paper, 18"X24"
In June when I was in NYC I saw her work at The Whitney right after seeing the Fenton show at the Met. Then I dreamt about curating a show of 19th century photographs paired with twenty-first century works on paper. One day...
Posted by lk at 08:36 AM | Comments (7)
September 13, 2005
Crush at LA Louver
American Fork, 2005
oil on canvas
8 x 12 1/2 feet
I went to see Rebecca’s show at Louver on Friday. Wow, what a knock out! The gallery was full of big, juicy, beautifully painted canvases. A total feast for the eye but with enough content to keep your mind spinning long after you have left the gallery. Love the skies, love the moody, sensitive adolescent boys, love the luminous skin of the gal in the tub but mostly I love the mysterious encounters that happen in and around this house.
Congrats, Rebecca. Excellent pictures!
Check out her other paintings here and you can read a bit more about the work here.
Here are a few more glimpses of my favorite location. These earlier paintings are not in the current show but you can still drool over them on-line.
Discipline, 2002, Oil on Canvas, 96" x 144
Close, 2001, oil on canvas, 9 x 14 feet
Posted by lk at 08:03 AM | Comments (7)
September 07, 2005
File this under ..."Interesting"
Tom Benedek finally gets his script shot!
Ripped from the headlines! Well, actually, no... I just happened to see this in the Arts section of the NYT. I have only two things to say about this. First, PEOPLE. ARE. STRANGE. Second, of course the show will debut in Santa Monica later this month - Where else?!
You might have to register with The New York Times to see the full article by Sharon Waxman but it’s worth it. Here’s an excerpt:
A Screenwriter Shoots His Own Unproduced Scripts, With a Gun
"That's 'Ivory Joe,' " says the screenwriter Tom Benedek, who has just pumped bullets into one of his 22 unproduced scripts. "It's a rewrite of an adaptation I did after 'Free Willy' for Lauren Shuler Donner," he adds, referring to a well-known producer. "A romantic comedy-drama." …
After 20-plus years of a middling career as a Hollywood screenwriter, Mr. Benedek, 56 - the brother of Peter Benedek, a partner in the United Talent Agency - is forging a new path in the field of fine arts, using the raw material of his past failures for a canvas. Having shot the "Ivory Joe" script, which he wrote in 1992, Mr. Benedek will make it into a bronze sculpture, or take photographs with a special camera for striking jumbo prints. He will show these and other pieces this month in an exhibition at the Frank Pictures gallery in Santa Monica titled "Shot by the Writer - Works on Paper: 1982-2004."
Posted by lk at 09:22 AM | Comments (4)
August 25, 2005
Bonus tracks
two additions to Mondays list:
Songha alone, from Winter In America (2005) by Hank Willis Thomas and Kambui Olujimi
Hank Willis Thomas will have work in Frequency, at the SMH. Oh, and try not to think of this show as Freestyle II (even though that's what it is).
Got a Crush on you, Butter Gun. Our own Rebecca Campbell emerges from the studio for her solo show at Louver. Yay! Yay!
Berto, profile (from Winter in America)
I meant to include Frequency on my list the other day but I thought I would hold off until I knew which artists would be included. I still don't have a whole lot of background on this show but I just found out that Hank Willis Thomas would probably have video and photographic work on view. Photography has never been that central to Thelma Golden's exhibition program at the SMH but I'm glad to see that Thomas' work will be a part of this show.
I have been looking at, and thinking about, Thomas' images since I got back from SF last month. "Winter in America" (2005), the stop-motion animation video and photographs he created in collaboration with artist and curator Kambui Olujimi, is a searing commentary on gun violence. Thomas created the work in response to his cousin Songha's murder in 2000. To dramatize the night of the shooting, Thomas uses the same action figures that he and his cousin played with as children. Simply put: it's one of the most haunting works I've seen this year.
"Winter" premiered at the "Bay Area Now 4" triennial, presented by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (on view till Nov 6th). A large blow up of Thomas' iconic color photograph "Priceless", hangs over the Mission Street entrance to the Yerba Buena Center and serves as a kind of banner announcing the exhibition. Carla has an interesting post on the lack of context for this piece and the reaction that it's getting on the street. You can read about it here.
Thomas is a skilled image-maker. All of his works are technically polished and often blend slick style with social commentary. Ironic appropriation of corporate symbols and strong graphic design are combined to create pointed responses to consumer culture. His photographs and prints provoke discussion of the myriad forces at work in determining black male identity in America. I saw some of this work at Artist Space last year in a group show called “Salad Days”. For this show, Thomas created photographs, silk-screened T-shirts and baseball caps and curator Isolde Brielmaier presented this work in a section of the gallery made to look something like a corporate lobby mixed with a gift shop. The combination of corporate iconography with slave era images of ships and lynching resulted in eye catching, if familiar political statement.
Technically, these works were well executed, clearly presented and easily understood. But it's the works that are more closely tied to the loss of his cousin that have stayed with me, playing again and again in my mind. The video along with his observant color photographs of family members morning their loss are at once an indictment of our violent culture and a deeply felt memorial. The balance of social statement and human emotion is pitch perfect and the echo of those moments still reverberates in my mind's eye.
I look forward to seeing more of Thomas' work in this vein.
Posted by lk at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)
August 15, 2005
A calming view
Untitled (Ocean), 1969
A drawing by the amazing Vija Celmins.
Is everyone having a good Monday?
If not, maybe looking at some more art will ease things a bit...
"Concentric Bearings C," 1984(detail)
Aquatint, drypoint, and mezzotint etching
Night Sky 3, 2002
1 color photogravure/aquatint/drypoint
...And if that doesn't do it for you, try some cakes!
Wayne Thiebaud, Cakes, 1963
Posted by lk at 01:02 PM | Comments (1)
August 12, 2005
Friday Eye Candy
Works by Karen Davie.
Paintings that look good enough to eat.
Posted by lk at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
A Christo Runs Through It
Drawings and collages from Over The River, Project For Arkansas River,
Colorado by Christo
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, those crazy septuagenarians, are at it again! Artinfo.com has a story on their plans to cover part of the Arkansas River with a huge clear canopy ...I'm probably the only person in North America who didn't see "The Gates" last February and it's unlikely that I will be traveling to Colorado anytime soon but I can still enjoy the idea of their installation. I can also enjoy the beautiful drawings. What a cool project!
Check out the website for more info on projects completed and those yet to come. It's pretty interesting. I also liked the page on "How to Read the Art Works"
kind of hard to believe that just a few months ago it was bitter cold in NYC....
Posted by lk at 10:57 AM | Comments (6)
July 12, 2005
Trying to get some work done today so no time for an extended post. But here's a nice photo:
A Southern California landscape by Mark Wyse - fab photog and all around good guy. He's also just come out with a new book (scroll to bottom of this link). Congrats, Mark!
I keep threatening to write something meaningful about his work. Maybe this weekend ...
Posted by lk at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
Catching up
Just being a total LOX this morning ...catching up on the stack of summer magazines that came straight to my door while I was away...
Nice to see the "Art Attack" piece in VIBE's June issue:
"We need art to make us think about the unthinkable, be angry about what we should be angry about, and help us appreciate the subtler beauties in our midst." Amen to that! and thanks VIBE for shining a little spotlight on Franklin Sirmans and Isolde Brielmaier, two curatorial types who are helping to bring more art to the public.
Franklin about town... and Isolde with Vibe's Teddy Hatwood
Snaps around for Franklin, who is basically the hardest working man in the art biz! Well, maybe not quite that, but every time I turn around I see Franklin has written 3 more articles, been awarded a fellowship, curated or co-curated 6 new shows (including Basquiat at the Bklyn Museum) and, you know, in his spare time is traveling to Italy to check stuff out over there! Go, Franklin!
And major congrats to Prof. Isolde Brielmaier, currently teaching at Vassar but soon to be Co-Director of the Brooklyn Institute of Contemporary Art (slated to open in 07)! It's great for Isolde and great for Brooklyn!
I had the chance to get to know both of these cool peeps when I was living in New York last year. So smart, so funny, and totally down to earth - the art world could use a lot more folks like them. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of their work. But first, a little more loafing around. Oh, come on, it's SUNDAY.
Posted by lk at 09:59 AM | Comments (1)
June 28, 2005
New York, New York ...
Yes, it's still a hellofa town. The Bronx is still up and the battery is, well, you know the rest. The trip has been almost entirely about food, friends and fotos (and some other art too). It's also been hot as HELL (and now it's raining!) but I have managed to do quite a bit so far, including:
The Open Book at ICP
Beautiful photographs by Phyllis Galembo at Sepia International
Good eats at Negril Village and the Feast of St. Antonio Abate Society of Castrofilippo, Queens (Zeppoles Rule!)
 2003, 2005.jpeg)
Some nice dags (also at ICP)
and some "tasty" looking work chosen by Tyler (That's right kids, it's packages of duck sauce!)
I have also been enjoying quite a bit of:
A nice break from:
It just feels more nooo yawk.
Posted by lk at 06:10 AM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2005
Should have passed on “Forward”
Saw two shows last night.
One was good
the other was weak.
More on this later ...
Posted by lk at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2005
Brangelina? Well, it's better than Bennifer.
I guess Brad and Angelina are one everyone's mind today. Tyler Green has a brief post with the nifty title: "W + Crewdson = Bradgelina". I actually think Brangelina sounds a little bit smoother, but no matter. The point is that he's right. This spread in W is a combo of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", Greg Crewdson, the Orbit and the art director from "Far from Heaven" - glossy, sexy and kind of sad. I think you're supposed to look at it and say "That's so Cool". Still, I prefer the beefcake.
Posted by lk at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2005
Taking a page from carlagirl's calendar...
Amalia Amaki
Holiday Sweets, 2001
Mixed media
Collection of the artist
I think I'm going to have to make a special trip to DC when I'm on the "other" coast in two weeks. "Women and Blues"- great concept for photo based shows. Both Amaki's work and the historical photos in the accompanying exhibition are right up my alley. Can't wait to check them out.
Posted by lk at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2005
Good news and good art
Gerald Cyrus, Three Couples Dancing, New York City 1995
I just found out that my good friend Gerald Cyrus was awarded a Pew Fellowship! He is also having a solo show at the Sol Mednick Gallery at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. “Gerald Cyrus: Stormy Monday” features his wonderful series on the Harlem jazz scene. It will be on view June 3 through Aug 12.
Gerald Cyrus, St. Nick's Pub, 1994
Way to go Philly for doubly recognizing one of your own!!
Congrats, Gerald!
Sol Mednick Gallery
The University of the Arts
211 South Broad Street, 15th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215)717-6300
Monday-Saturday, 10:00am to 4:30pm
The Universtiy is just south of City Hall in
Center City Philadelphia.
More good art – this time in LA – can be seen at Buttergun.com.
"Did You Happened to See the Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is the painting Buttergun is working on right now.
Rebecca describes her new painting perfectly – Sad and Beautiful. Go look!
Posted by lk at 07:29 AM | Comments (2)
May 11, 2005
Photography in Santa Monica
Some good photos at Bergamot:
Saw a few nice shows in Santa Monica yesterday. The highlights were Catherine Wagner at Gallery Luisotti - austere and beautiful views of the Moscone Center as it was being built in the late 1970s and an old favorite, Kertesz, at Fetterman. Funny thing about Fetterman's space, I actually don't like it. The funky railroad flat layout always unsettles me. You seem to enter into the middle of a cramp apt, standing in the central room which is too narrow, with large living room-style space to your left and cubbyhole office to your right - it's not a great design for looking at photos. I always feel like I'm intruding when I go into the other rooms but I also always come out of there feeling glad I went. Kertesz's overhead views of Paris and New York were some of the first images I fell in love with when I started studying photography. All those quiet pictures of small moments in the middle of large cities and pitch perfect interiors... These pictures can cure any cynic. Thank you, Andre!
Lowlights included Graciela Iturbide at Rose Gallery - her people less landscapes were kind of disappointing but I do appreciate that she's not just recycling her old themes. Also available to disappoint were porn star portraits by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. These are huge frontal and rather static color portraits. They show quite a bit of detail (I mean, like, peach fuzz and lots of pores on the faces, I was looking at the faces!). Actually, the whole porn star photo trend is kind of boring and just not my thing. I think good photographers like Larry Sultan and even pop portraitists like Saunders should just move on.
Oh, almost forgot the credits! Top, Catherine Wagner,Rooftop Construction with Tar, 1981 (from her series on the Moscone construction site in San Francisco), Below, Stairs of Montmarte, Paris, 1925, and Carrefour, Bois, 1930 by our man in France, Andre Kertesz.
Posted by lk at 09:28 AM | Comments (1)
May 08, 2005
Missed Opportunities
Edward Weston William Edmondson, Sculptor, Tennessee, 1941
I recently found out that the Studio Museum in Harlem is hosting Bill Taylor, William Edmondson and the Modernist Impulse (through July 3) . On the one hand, I'm excited because it means I might actually get to see it on my upcoming trip back east. But on the other hand, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. Once again, The Newark Museum has missed the boat. Actually make that twice again! - they missed out on organizing this kind of show themselves, and then they missed the second chance sweepstakes of hosting the traveling exhibition once The Krannert Art Museum put their show on the road. With an important collection Edmondson's sculpture AND a very long and significant history of collecting folk art, TNM should have been the ones to organize this exhibition (or at the very least be the big Northeast stop on the tour!) But TNM, suffering from a poor self image, a problematic location (read: too far from Manhattan island) and various staffing issues, was probably never asked to be involved and didn't have the support to generate the show on their own. Too bad. When I worked there I was constantly amazed by the work in their American collection and though the galleries were always bustling, I often wished we had visitors that were over 4ft tall.
I'll report back on the show after my trip next month. In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful portrait of Edmonson by another amazing 20th century artist. This photograph is ALSO in the collection of TNM. Last time I checked it was hanging in Picturing America (in the same gallery as one of the collection's crown jewels).
Posted by lk at 12:40 PM | Comments (2)
May 01, 2005
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning at the AAMP
I'm going to be doing some traveling soon and so I was checking carlagirl's calendar for photo shows around the country. I ran across this great photo spread on the opening of Saturday Night/Sunday Morning: An Exhibition at the Philadelphia African American Museum - this show was curated by my good friend and mentor Deb Willis and includes work by some amazing photographers. If you happen to be in Philly between now and Sep 17th, check it out.
Thank you Carla for being so diligent!
Posted by lk at 11:04 PM | Comments (2)
April 29, 2005
...of time, work and pictures
I have a ton of work to do this weekend. The only outing I should be making is to the computer store, so that I can get more stuff onto my little mac, so that I can do MORE work! But I'm still going to try to make it over to ACME tomorrow to see the Uta Barth show. I have liked her work for a long time but know it mostly through reproductions. Somehow, I always seem to be in the wrong city when she's having a show!... I would have liked nothing more than to grace this post with one of Barth's luminous interiors, but I can't seem to find any images that I can "move" onto Toastkitten. So you'll just have to enjoy the little slide show at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Posted by lk at 06:11 PM | Comments (2)
April 18, 2005
Anonymous
Native American in American Dress
ca. 1855, ambrotype
Wilson Centre for Photography
One of my Wasabi Sisters was checking out photo shows in NYC over the weekend and mentioned an interesting exhibit at the The Dahesh Museum of Art. First Seen: Photographs of the World's Peoples, 1840-1880. I was pleased to see that the catalog features an Introduction by Carla Williams. Go Carla!
According to Sis, the images are impressive but there were just too damn many of them! As much as I love to see daguerreotypes and albumen prints in pristine condition – 250 of them in the smallish galleries of the Dahesh is probably a little much. Still, I’m sorry that I will miss this show at this venue. I have always liked the Dahesh, it’s quirky as hell but they have done some interesting things. I'm also quite fond of sitting the atrium of the former IBM building just upstairs from the Museum (after I’ve done my culture, of course), and treating myself to an overpriced coffee.
Posted by lk at 06:26 PM | Comments (1)
April 13, 2005
News
Carlagirl.net has a new look and some news. It’s been a hard year for her and I can relate. I’ve been through a lot of what she’s talking about both professionally and personally and the shit feels overwhelming sometimes. But it sounds like things are looking up, which is good because she really deserves it. She is amazing. Great photographer, committed activist and good friend to boot!
This is one of my fave works of hers:
All The Women in My Family, 2004
Posted by lk at 08:58 AM | Comments (1)
April 12, 2005
The view from here
As I was catching up on the blogosphere this morning, gripping my coffee mug ever so tightly, I saw MAN's entry on aerial photography and satellite mapping. This got me to thinking about, well, aerial photography and satellite mapping. (Moving kind of slow today kids, so bear with me) Anyway, a good friend of mine, who is way more tech savvy than I am, told me a long time ago how you could look up any location and get super cool aerial images online. At the time I was too busy to check it out. But this morning (while I should have been working) I had big fun looking at some of my old haunts from thousands of feet in the air. Try it yourself! It's pretty cool: Google Maps
Tyler connects google maps, WWII, the work of Edward Steichen, The New Topographics crew, ideas for future exhibitions AND recent acquisitions by the Getty's DOP - He's a smart guy. I, on the other hand, am not coherent enough to write anything all that meaningful today. I'm just gonna to give you some links. Make of them what you will...
E.R.'s work (love his stuff)
Map of The Human Heart
(an uneven film w/some really beautiful images- lots of maps, planes and photographs)
Edward Steichen take on the world c. 1955 (it's a small world after all, according to him)
Posted by lk at 12:14 PM | Comments (3)
The view from here
As I was catching up on the blogosphere this morning, gripping my coffee mug ever so tightly, I saw MAN's entry on aerial photography and satellite mapping. This got me to thinking about, well, aerial photography and satellite mapping. (Moving kind of slow today kids, so bear with me) Anyway, a good friend of mine, who is way more tech savvy than I am, told me a long time ago how you could look up any location and get super cool aerial images online. At the time I was too busy to check it out. But this morning (while I should have been working) I had big fun looking at some of my old haunts from thousands of feet in the air. Try it yourself! It's pretty cool: Google Maps
Tyler connects google maps, WWII, the work of Edward Steichen, The New Topographics crew, ideas for future exhibitions AND recent acquisitions by the Getty's DOP - He's a smart guy. I, on the other hand, am not coherent enough to write anything all that meaningful today. I'm just gonna to give you some links. Make of them what you will...
E.R.'s work (love his stuff)
Map of The Human Heart
(an uneven film w/some really beautiful images- lots of maps, planes and photographs)
Edward Steichen take on the world c. 1955 (it's a small world after all, according to him)
Posted by lk at 12:14 PM | Comments (3)
April 04, 2005
A Little Art
Hannah Greely, Muddle, 2004
I went to see Thing at the Hammer yesterday. This was my favorite piece.
Posted by lk at 10:42 PM | Comments (5)
March 18, 2005
The Met's Dream Comes True
After 15 yrs of courting, the Met has finally acquired the Gilman Paper Company Collection of photographs. According to TNYT this trove of over 8,500 photographs, (some purchased by the Met and others donated by the Gilman foundation) "will greatly strengthen the museum's photography holdings and make it, along with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, one of the world's pre-eminent institutions for 19th-century photographs." ... It always boils down to LA vs. New York, right...
I never saw The Waking Dream when it was on view back in '93, but I have the catalogue and the images in this collection are gorgeous! These days I spend most of my time thinking and writing about photographers that are actually, well, still alive. But as far as the 19th c goes, Gilman and his curator knew what the hell they were doing. Props to the Met for finally closing the deal.
Posted by lk at 12:22 AM | Comments (3)
March 10, 2005
Top 5 Exhibitions I Would See If I Could Afford Airfare ...
1. Thomas Demand, at MoMA
Organized by Roxana Marcoci, Assistant Curator, Department of Photography. While there was a time (not too long ago) when I HATED big, color, German photography, I have to admit that I have grown to really like Demand’s work. Kind of seductive and sad, too. Saw "Clearing" last year at 303 and had to rethink my grumpiness towards the Germans.
2. Ellen Gallagher: DeLuxe, at The Whitney
I saw her last show at Gagosian and it was a knockout. So intricate and kind of hypnotic. Serialization, variation and kind of fun with all those wonderful repros of women from Jet and Sepia (but with yellow hair). I spent long moments looking at the individual faces. After about an hour I realized that a part of me was hoping to spot a picture of my mom.
3. Uta Barth: nowhere near, …and of time, white blind (bright red), 1999-2002,
Site Santa Fe Organized by SITE Santa Fe. Quiet pictures about light and looking/seeing. Have liked Barth's photos for a long time but have mostly seen them in reproduction.
4. African Queen, Studio Museum in Harlem
Organized by the Studio Museum in Harlem Curatorial Team; Rashida Bumbray, Ali Evans, Sandra D. Jackson and Christine Y. Kim. As stated on the SMH website, “With works by twenty contemporary artists working in painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media, African Queen will present numerous images and notions of blackness as defined through the influence of women”. Right. Whatever.
Kind of vague. Granted, shows at the Studio Museum are mixed, but with work by Dawood Bey, Mark Bradford, Chakaia Booker, Rico Gaston, Wangechi Mutu, Kori Newkirk, Tracey Rose, Lorna Simpson, Malick Sidibe, Carrie Mae Weems and my friend Deborah Willis, this would qualify as a must see (if I had the cash).
5. Turner, Whistler and Monet, Tate Britain
Love Monet. Love Whistler. Turner is overwhelming! Amazing painters and beautiful landscapes. Plus, I think it's cool to see paintings of a city when you are in that city - all 3 did such great paintings of London.
Posted by lk at 03:38 PM | Comments (3)