STORE FRONT WINDOWS

Openstal Art Route : Mail Art Project

2012-01-25T14:27:00.001+01:00

Visit: http://www.openstal.nl/

Jean-Baptiste Marot: Confession in Paris

2012-01-20T14:26:00.000+01:00

VOTE NOW: THE END OF THE WORLD

2012-01-15T01:34:00.002+01:00

KINDLY CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR THIS ON THE SAATCHI ONLINE SHOWDOWN COLLAGE HOE DOWN. Thank you very much.

ULF SKOGSBERG: MUSIC THEOREM

2012-01-14T02:53:00.000+01:00

Photographer and composer Ulf Skogsberg's newest album, BINARY, has just been published. The music is otherworldly, yet it is clearly of this world, too. Produced via global collaborations between the Swedish-born Skogberg and a half dozen musicians around the planet, all are invited to listen to the tracks on Binary, and if you are so inclined buy them via iTunes.

LISTEN TO ULF SKOGSBERG'S : BINARY

MISS REPRESENTATION

2012-01-11T21:04:00.001+01:00

Women and the media.

Post Cards From The Edge at Cheim & Read, New York City

2011-12-24T13:23:00.002+01:00

Post Cards From The Edge : The preview show for the Visual AIDS exhibition at Cheim & Read, 547 W 25th St, New York opens on January 6, 2012. Proceeds from the sale of postcard sized artworks – each anonymously shown – benefits Visual AIDS.

FULL LIST OF ARTISTS HERE.

Show Details below:

BENEFIT SALE - $85 EACH
Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 10:00 - 6:00 (Buy four, get a bonus fifth)
Sunday, January 8, 2012 from 12:00 - 4:00 (Buy two and get a bonus third)
Take a guess: Over 1500 anonymous displayed postcard-size masterpieces.
First-come, first-served. $5 suggested admission
Cash, check, credit card (MC/VISA/AMEX) accepted.
Proceeds benefit Visual AIDS.

PREVIEW PARTY
Friday, January 6, 2012 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Sneak Peek: The only opportunity to see the entire exhibition. No sales.
Admission, payable at the door, includes a raffle ticket for the chance to pick the FIRST postcard that evening. Participating artists attend free.

Postcards From the Edge is a Visual AIDS benefit show and sale of original, postcard-sized works on paper by established and emerging artists. All works are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The works are signed on the back and exhibited so the artists' signatures cannot be seen. While buyers receive a list of all participating artists, they don't know who created which piece until purchased. All proceeds support the programs of Visual AIDS.

Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving the legacy -- because AIDS IS NOT OVER!

More information and installation shots from previous exhibitions: http://www.thebody.com/visualaids/current/postcards2012.html

Market: Islamabad, Pakistan

2011-12-23T15:59:00.002+01:00

Photo: Anjum Naveed / AP Photo

Dec. 11, 2011 Islamabad, Pakistan
A Pakistani child waits for customers at his father's fruit stall.

More great photographs from DB.

OCCUPY THIS

2011-12-20T11:50:00.003+01:00

LETTER FROM PARIS: OCCUPY THIS

BY MATTHEW ROSE

Pssst…Can we talk about money? I keep on getting press releases from Phillips de Pury about all the wonderful things they’ve sold, the auction records they’ve broken – Richard Prince’s “Cowboys and Girlfriends” portfolio fetching $146,500; Andy Warhol’s “Grapes” topping $104,500 – and the next pot of gold waiting in the auction markets in New York and London. And if it’s not from an auction house, the emails chime in from the art fairs in Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Geneva or galleries in India, Hong Kong or some new white cube that just opened here in Paris.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE FROM THE ARTBLOG.

(Left: Shepard Fairey's Occupy Wall Street design supports the 99 Percent, although we're pretty sure he's a 1 percenter.)

So Long, Kim Jong-il

2011-12-19T15:48:00.004+01:00

The Koreas, North and South, at night, 2003.

PHOTOS OF NORTH KOREA BY David Guttenfelder / AP Photo.

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)

2011-12-17T04:18:00.000+01:00

No one like him, Christopher Hitchens. He lived his life in full view, glass of whiskey and a cigarette at the always ready. His death, too, was very nearly televised. Irreverent, and all that stuff. You could not say he was deluded. Hitchens had a wide awake point of view. And he kicked ass often. RIP, Mr. Hitchens.

Ian McEwan writes a beautiful piece about his friends last few days in The NYT.

Some of his reverberations are captured on video from Vanity Fair are here. Or you can read the full New York Times Obituary for Christopher Hitchens.

GEORGE WHITMAN : THE SPIRIT OF SHAKESPEARE & CO, PARIS

2011-12-16T00:52:00.001+01:00

I've met George Whitman many times over the years here in Paris and have always enjoyed his cantankerous and poetic expectorations, literary and other. He manned the cockpit in the Left Bank bookstore, Shakespeare & Company, and stamped my books with vigor and humor. He will be missed.

An angel. Bless you George.

George Whitman (1913-2011). He was 98.

Read the full article/obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/books/george-whitman-paris-bookseller-and-cultural-beacon-is-dead-at-98.html?_r=1

Les Affaires For Xmas From Keep Calm Gallery London

2011-12-14T14:51:00.000+01:00

From Keep Calm Gallery in London: Les Affaires.

Like a shopping mall from hell and high water, Matthew Rose takes on the vast consumer/consumption subject with a surreal tour through the commercial center of his mind with Les Affaires.

Expertly produced by Mariela Cadiz and Burning Boy Press in Paris, Les Affaires brings consumption and all its myriad expressions to a neat explosion. Here, Freud (lower left corner) considers the expansive narratives from behind a silhouette of Popeye-as-Buddah. A family ponders a side of beef, a salesman dangles a naked blue girl in offering from his battery-as-desk (a housewife's head). A child's arms are weighed on a scale. One of a large pair of hands beholds a fashion plate – her own head morphed into a construction of pipes topped by a fan – while the other hand readies a pen for signing over something of value.

Indeed value is explored and remade as acts of gloating, comedy and narcissistic wonder and feeding. Matthew Rose's Les Affaires, a print based upon an enormous collage takes 'business as usual' to startling new heights and frighteningly new depths.

"I live on a market street in Paris," says the artist. "This happens every day."

Limited edition of 100
Signed, numbered, titled and dated by the artist
High quality giclee print
310gsm Hahnemuhle fine art etching paper
750mm by 700mm (29½ by 27½ inches)

Price: £150.00

Unframed

She Takes A Photo Everyday: 4.5 Years

2011-12-12T11:44:00.000+01:00

See all the photos at http://clickflashwhirr.me

Doris Salcedo : Topography of War

2011-12-10T16:41:00.001+01:00

Doris Salcedo. 8 th International Istanbul Biennial. Istanbul, TK, 2003.

This work takes reference from conditions of forced displacement and how it equals to a form of incarceration, which artist Doris Salcedo calls a “Topography of War”. For this project, I worked on the design of the supporting structure and the sequence of installation that was undertaken in Istanbul with 1600 chairs on an empty space between two buildings. See more images here.

– Sergio Clavijo

JOHN HIMMELFARB : UNSHAKEABLE

2011-12-06T23:16:00.001+01:00

Unshakeable is a documentary about the art and life of Chicago-based artist John Himmelfarb. John began exhibiting his work way back in 1968, and has made it his living ever since. In that time, art trends have come and gone by the dozens, but John has never chased them. Art is his business, and he’s done it his way.It’s time to share with the coasts what the Midwest has known for decades, John Himmelfarb’s work is UNSHAKEABLE.

The film is being funded by artists and like-minded supporters of the arts on Kickstarter.org. See the project: UNSHAKEABLE, and if you want to be a film producer, put in $25 or more towards the production of this film about the great artist John Himmelfarb.

Superstore by Walmart & Friends –Jalandhar, India

2011-12-06T11:42:00.001+01:00

Photo: Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times

A Best Price store Jalandhar, India, a wholesale store that is jointly owned by Wal-Mart and Bharti, a retailer in India.

Family run shops in India are being driven out of business by these new super stores, according this article in The New York Times. While these large retailers help with food distribution, the local economies often suffer. Protests have increased. Read the article.

THE ARTBLOG'S PHILLY SAFARI ON KICKSTARTER

2011-12-02T21:13:00.001+01:00

..... The artblog, an online journal of contemporary art writing edited by Libby Rosoff and Roberta Fallon, has launched a safari. An art safari that seeks to cut the brush and whack the bush in the contemporary Philadephia art scene.

To make this happen the artblog has launched a Kickstarter campaign. And the good news is that the group is only $400 shy of its $2500 goal. Take a look at the magazine, then the campaign, then toss in $10 to make it happen.
For a $40 donation, you will get a Matthew Rose stamp sheet, Rubens Rounding Third, signed, dated, numbered. And, hey! A 2011 tax deduction!

A COLLAGE A DAY FOR 2012

2011-11-29T21:51:00.001+01:00

Randel Plowman's phenomenal project A Collage A Day is set to unfold a day at a time for 2012 in his new limited edition calendar. Yes, you can buy it. Check it out here: A Collage A Day 2012.

Bernard Matussiere : Le Monde

2011-11-27T21:32:00.001+01:00

Photographer Bernard Matussiere reads Le Monde in his studio in Paris. Photo: EM.

ALEXIS ROCKMAN'S THANKSGIVING

2011-11-24T00:14:00.001+01:00

Alexis Rockman, Coxcomb, 2008, Oil on wood, 48 x 40 inches.

Courtesy: Gering & Lopez Gallery, New York, New York.

Tools of Criminal Mischief

2011-11-22T23:22:00.001+01:00

Artist Robert Gastman has a thing for low end crime and created a series of prints based upon spray paint cans. Picked up via World Famous Design Junkies. See the suite of prints: Tools of Criminal Mischief.

007 Writes Steve Jobs

2011-11-18T21:06:00.001+01:00

No idea if this is real or not but what the hell. Sean Connery, James Bond 007, dresses down and then turns down computer salesman Steve Jobs in this lovely piece of egoism and blindness.

Sara J Beazley Prints In Paris At Storie

2011-11-17T10:04:00.001+01:00

British artist Sara J. Beazley will be exhibiting at über cool concept store STORIE in Paris this November and has produced two new limited edition s to coincide with the exhibition.

To coincide with her exhibition at Storie in Paris this November, Sara has produced two new

limited editions. Entitled Grey Flower and Pink Butterfly, inspiration for these works came from

a collection of vintage postcards Sara found in her favourite Parisian flea market Porte de Vanves.

The works bring together digital printing and silkscreen printing.

Each work is signed, numbered and printed on 350gsm Somerset paper.The edition number is 30.

The paper size is 50 x 70 cm (standard frame size).

See the new works at STORIE: 20 Rue Delambre 75014 Paris, France

Exhibition dates: 17 November - 31 December

Private View: 17 November, 6 pm Onwards

For more information and prices in Paris visit www.storieblog.com

The Sentence Maker

2011-11-16T14:14:00.001+01:00

From UK artist Rob White: The Sentence Maker.

OCCUPY AMERICA

2011-11-15T17:46:00.001+01:00

Download this poster and dozens of others from Occupy Together.

More free high resolution PDF posters here: DEFENSE D'AFFICHER.

Kristallnacht: November 9 - 10, 1938

2011-11-10T12:51:00.001+01:00

Kristallnacht was the event in Germany in 1938 that set off the Holocaust. Thousands of store front windows of Jewish businesses were smashed during the nights of November 9 and November 10. See more images of Kristallnacht from the United States Holocaust Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/photo/

JAMES MEYER: THE SOCIAL MACHINE

2011-11-03T15:29:00.003+01:00

New works – light boxes – by James Meyer at Fred Dorfman Projects, New York City, NY. Opening November 10, 2011.

James Meyer website.

What Do Prices Reflect?

2011-10-27T03:07:00.003+02:00

William Powhida, What do Prices Reflect? 2011. Graphite, colored pencil and watercoor on paper
20 x 16 inches.

Intriguing piece that swims upstream with the Occupy Wall Street school. [Click image to enlarge]

From: William Powhida, at Postmasters. My question: How much is this artwork?

Seeing Double: Her Royal Majesty Launches At Le Carmen In Paris

2011-10-26T17:49:00.001+02:00

Her Royal Majesty's latest edition, 85 pages and perfect bound with a glossy cover and watermarked pages, launches at Le Carmen in Paris on 11.1.11 with art work and three performances, all female duets, beginning at 9:30pm. The magazine is edited by Harriet Alida Lye (pictured above).

The cover art was created specially for this edition by Badaude, and the printed version comes with a mini-magazine insert that folds out into a beautiful poster by Dan Estabrook on one side, and self-portraits by all of the contributors on the other.

Focused on the theme of Doubles, the works collected in the 11th issue explore questions of duality, opposites and partnership. A new collaboration between James Franco and Alison Higgins illustrates how two people can lead similar lives and have similar goals but with very different outcomes; a story of a parasitic twin reveals quelched potential; illustrations of Finnegans Wake by Stephen Crowe call into question the nature of duplicity and partnership; a new story by Lauren Elkin about partners that become enemies and have a duel in Les Halles…

The magazine will be available for sale at a discounted price at the party, and original artwork by Matthew Rose, Fiona Kinsella and Cara Tobe will be exhibited, along with special edition artists' prints of work featured in Her Royal Majesty by Mia Funk, Rosy Lamb, Grant Creegan and Lendl Barcelos.

Her Royal Majesty has been in the press, lately. Read interviews on HTMLGIANT and Vingt Paris and an article in Paris-Art. An article in Le Bonbon is forthcoming: pick up your free issue anywhere in Paris on November 1. See the magazine online: Her Royal Majesty.

Understand Modern Art

2011-10-24T13:00:00.001+02:00

Lionel Richie : Hello?

2011-10-23T18:02:00.000+02:00

Gisèle Freund: Still Life in Montparnasse

2011-10-22T19:20:00.001+02:00

Gisèle Freund, (November 19, 1908 or 1912 - March 31, 2000), used to live in my apartment building on Rue Lalande in Paris.

On my way to see a friend today I crossed through the beautiful Montparnasse Cemetery a block away to say hello to my neighbor. It was a beautiful autumn day and while it seems strange, I took a picture of her final resting place.

Freund was a wonderful photographer; well known for her dozens and dozens of portraits of artists, writers, thinkers, she chronicled a cultural era just before and after World War II. She became famous overnight in 1939 when she followed James Joyce around Paris for three days taking pictures of him reading, talking, being James Joyce. (One of her many photos of Joyce, in color, was the cover of Time on May 8, 1939)

Freund's work is the focus of an exhibition in Paris now, Fondation Pierre Bergé/Yves Saint Laurent, “Gisèle Freund, l’Oeil Frontière,” 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris. A lovely NYT article on the exhibition by Katherine Knoor is found here: The Elegance of Gisèle Freund.

Some years ago I made an object out of some old discarded name tags she had for her slide cabinet and slide dividers that were tossed out and the apartment door buzzer that was removed (we have a new one now). That piece is called CHEZ GISELE.

Just yesterday someone asked me if the city of Paris was going to put up a plaque on the building. I said I'd find out. Read more about Gisèle Freund here.

Herb & Dorothy: The Film (Part 2)

2011-10-18T11:33:00.000+02:00

The famed art collectors, postal worker Herb and librarian Dorothy Vogel, blazed a trail in collecting art and stuffing it all in their tiny one bedroom New York City apartment. The entire collection was donated to The National Gallery of Art and then that collection was divided and sent to each of the 50 US States.

Film maker Megumi Sasaki is now producing HERB & DOROTHY 50X50, a film that captures the follow up of the collection, following her hit documentary on the Vogels and their collection. Click through to donate to the project on Kickstarter.

Interested to find out more about these two and the film? See Herb & Dorothy dot com or check out their wikipedia entry The Vogels. The list of artists in the collection numbers in the hundreds. Among the artists you'll find: Cindy Sherman, Roy Lichtenstein, Carl Andre, Richard Tuttle, Annette Lemieux, Peter Schuyff, Sol LeWitt and many others.

I met these two in New York City many years ago while they were wandering around the then-art center of Soho and was struck by their seriousness and yet some kind of strange New York reality. "We have no where to put anything anymore," they told me. "We have works and works underneath our bed." True story.

BIRD WATCHING WALL PAPER

2011-10-08T16:23:00.002+02:00

Invite Audubon and friends into your home. Have a cup while you check out rare Nepalese species from your kitchen table. Run a two-inch band of birds in a forest around your bedroom. Dream outloud.

BIRDPAPER, Matthew Rose's new wall paper print made for the GOD & COUNTRY exhibition at STORIE PARIS is now available in linear square meters (110 x 90 cm). The wall paper print will be produced at Burning Boy Press Paris.

DESIGN SPONGE recently wrote about it on their site: DESIGN SPONGE.

Wall to wall to wall installations are available, as well as rolls for do-it-yourself installations in bands or rectangles or squares. The bird watching wall paper is made to order.

For more information on BIRDPAPER installations, please click: CONTACT.

Fine art, 30 x 40 cm, signed and dated prints of Birdpaper, are available from : KEEP CALM GALLERY in LONDON.

Raul Vega Going Neo Classic In Paris

2011-09-12T17:13:00.003+02:00

Celebrity photographer, Raul Vega opens his classicNeoclassic exhibition of personal, unpublished works at The Salon de Lecture/Bilbiotheque of Transacmer Immolbilier on Thursday September 15, 2001 in Paris with an opening reception at 19 Rue du Bac 75007.

The photographer's personal works include portraits of Sharon Stone, Jim Carrey and Demi Moore among swells, as well as architectural photographs from Southern California. Vega's work has long graced the covers of magazines such as Time, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Vogue and Andy Warhol's Interview, among many others.

Where: The Salon de Lecture/Bibliotheque of Transacmer Immobilier, 19 rue du Bac, Paris 75007. Transacmer runs ongoing exhibitions to feature cutting-edge work by international artists.

When: Opening reception Thursday, September 15, 7 pm – 10 pm. The show runs September 16 through October 27.

Exhibition space hours: Monday – Friday 11 am – 1:30 pm and 3 pm – 7 pm. Thursday the
space stays open until 9 PM, and Saturday viewings can be arranged by appointment. More info: Website: http://transacmer.blogspot.com/

AMY WINEHOUSE SITS IN AT SEATTLE EXHIBITION

2011-09-10T11:50:00.001+02:00

Late great Brit blues singer Amy Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) graces this free downloadable poster for Seattle's A Book About Death exhibition at the Almendra Sandoval Quetzalcoatl Gallery, opening on 11.11.11.

Poster by Angela Ferrara for A Book About Death Seattle. Download the ABAD SEATTLE POSTER HERE.

GOD & COUNTRY : STORIE PARIS (MONTPARNASSE)

2011-08-31T23:21:00.001+02:00

Installation views of GOD & COUNTRY at STORIE PARIS, 20 Rue Delambre 75014 (Montparnasse). Exhibition 30 August - 30 September, opening 1 September 2011. Web: STORIE PARIS. For all information on prices, please contact STORIE director, Fiona Cameron.

MATTHEW ROSE STUDIO PARIS FRANCE.

PROJECTIVE CITY IN PARIS

2011-08-26T20:49:00.003+02:00

Projective City is a new curatorial project devoted in part to bringing the work of exceptional emerging artists from New York to Paris through both conventional and experimental exhibitions, and also to developing unusual projects that blur the lines between cultural producers and consumers. This campaign is for the support of four exhibitions taking place in the fall of 2011 (now!).

Syrian gunmen break artist's hands as 'warning'

2011-08-25T22:42:00.000+02:00

BEIRUT (AP) — A renowned political cartoonist whose drawings expressed Syrians' frustrated hopes for change was grabbed after he left his studio early Thursday and beaten by masked gunmen who broke his hands and dumped him on a road outside Damascus.

One of Syria's most famous artists, Ali Ferzat, 60, (pictured here), earned international recognition and the respect of many Arabs with stinging caricatures that infuriated dictators including Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and, particularly in recent months, Syria's autocratic Assad family.

He lay badly bruised in a hospital bed Thursday evening with his hands swathed in bandages, a stark reminder that no Syrian remains immune to a brutal crackdown on a five-month anti-government uprising.

Ferzat remembers the gunmen telling him that "this is just a warning," as they beat him, a relative told The Associated Press.

"We will break your hands so that you'll stop drawing," the masked men said, according to the relative, who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation.

Before inheriting Syria's presidency from his father in 2000, Bashar Assad, a British-trained eye doctor, used to visit Ferzat's exhibitions and offer encouraging words, the artist has said.
When the new president opened Syria to reforms, Ferzat was allowed to publish the country's first private newspaper in decades, a satirical weekly called The Lamplighter.

The paper was an instant hit, with copies of each issue selling out a few hours after hitting the stands. It was soon shut down, however, as Assad began cracking down on dissent and jailing critics after the brief, heady period known as the Damascus Spring quickly lost steam.

Ferzat became a vehement critic of the regime, particularly after the military launched a brutal crackdown on the country's protest movement.

Human rights groups said Assad's forces have killed more than 2,000 people since the uprising against his autocratic rule erupted in mid-March, touched off by the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

An endearing figure with a bushy gray beard, Ferzat drew cartoons about the uprising and posted the illustrations on his private website, providing comic relief to many Syrians who were unable to follow his work in local newspapers because of a ban on his drawings.

His illustrations grew bolder in recent months, with some of his cartoons directly criticizing Assad, even through caricatures of the president are forbidden in Syria.

This week, he published a cartoon showing Assad with a packed suitcase, frantically hitching a ride with a fleeing Gadhafi. Another drawing showed dictators walking a long red carpet that leads them, in the end, to a dustbin.

The response was swift.

Ferzat, who usually works late into the night, left his studio at 4 a.m. Thursday, but a jeep with tinted windows quickly cut him off, according to the relative. Four masked gunmen then dragged him out of his car, bundled him into the jeep and drove him to the airport road just outside Damascus, beating him and making threats all the while.

The men then singed the artist's beard, put a bag over his head and dumped him on the side of the road.

The Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus described it as a "government-sponsored, targeted, brutal attack."

The Obama administration, which has called for Assad to step down, said the cartoonist's beating was deplorable.

"They broke his hands in the most disgusting and deplorable way to send a message," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "It's not only Ali Ferzat that we're worried about. The regime has also locked up a number of other prominent dissidents to send a message."

Assad's crackdown has not spared other Syrian intellectuals and artists who dared to voice criticism. A group of intellectuals and artists, including Syrian actress May Skaff, were rounded up and jailed for a week last month after holding a protest in Damascus.

Damascus-based activist and film producer Shadi Abu Fakher went missing on July 23 and has not been heard of since.

Ferzat, however, is the most famous victim of the repression to date. He had been encouraging other Syrian artists to side with the protesters, even publishing on his website a "List of Shame" that included names of those who were on the side of the regime.

"We were a group of reformers in the country, and suddenly, the doors of hell opened on us. It was a huge disappointment," Ferzat told the AP earlier this month in a phone interview.

The timing of the attack strongly suggests Ferzat's attackers knew his unusual working hours and had been tracking him. Ferzat said his day starts at 5 p.m.

In the telephone interview, he said he was full of hope that the Syrian revolution would bring about the change fervently desired by so many Syrians.

"There are two things in this life that cannot be crushed — the will of God and the will of the people," he said.

Asked if he fears arrest because of his drawings, he said: "I have killed the policeman in my head."

After news of Ferzat's attack broke Thursday, online social networking sites exploded with angry postings.

"Assad's Syria is the burial ground of talent," read a posting on Twitter.

"Ali Ferzat, your innovation will stand in the face of their cowardice and hate," wrote Suheir Atassi, a prominent Syrian pro-democracy activist.

Soon after the attack, his website where he published his cartoons and satirical commentary was taken down. "This account has been suspended," reads a message on the website, http://www.ali-ferzat.com/.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report from Washington.

___

Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram

SARA CONTI : STICK 'EM UPS IN SAINT-GHISLAIN (B)

2011-08-20T23:39:00.000+02:00

Sara Conti has had a busy summer, covering the unused, unseen walls of an abandoned Saint-Ghislain in Belgium with her irreverent characters vomiting, swimming, talking underwater, screaming, buzzing, bleeding and even sometimes (gasp) having what appears to be sex. Sara uses large "autocollants" – simple colored paper that is xeroxed; she then pastes with traditional wallpaper glue.

These newest works are expansive and bring together her simple matryoshka or babushka, Russian nesting dolls into dynamic and very weird plays of love and lust, solitude and electricity (life currents?). We love them. As for the sex, you'l have to figure out where and how. Visit Sara's site: SARACADABRA.

GOD & COUNTRY

2011-08-20T14:13:00.002+02:00

Opening in Paris, Thursday September 1, 2011 at STORIE, 20 RUE DELAMBRE 75014 Paris.

DESIGN: MATTHEW ROSE
DOWNLOAD POSTER (PDF): GOD & COUNTRY

RIVER VIEW: RUSSELL STEINERT'S LANDSCAPE PRINTS

2011-08-19T16:01:00.000+02:00

River View, 2011, aquatint-etching on paper, 10 x 13 inches, $150 (edition of 5)

Russell Steinert has just released two small-editioned, hand-pulled aquatint etchings. Steinert is known for his neo-classical, but surreal dreamscapes in oil on canvas. These prints issue from that sensibility.

The Brooklyn, New York-based artist writes: "We just took the dust cover off our Charles Brand press in the garage. The first two efforts: River View and Two Trees." Take a look : Russell Steinert Website.

Cities of the World Typecast : Via Francophilia

2011-08-17T14:01:00.003+02:00

Enjoy these new typographic designers for the world's cities: From Francophilia.

John Himmelfarb: Driven

2011-08-17T13:35:00.001+02:00

John Himmelfarb talks about his trucks, painting and what they mean for all of us. The artist has actually produced a full-sized truck sculpture that looks like it just drove out of one of his monumental truck paintings. Must see: Click here to watch the 5 minute video.

The famed Chicago artist has also installed his truck paintings along a Chicago viaduct underpass and put together a massive show of his fantasic four-wheeled monsters at the Chicago Cultural Center. Gorgeous work. See the review here: DRIVEN.

Also see John Himmelfarb's website.

SKYPE : THE EARLY DAYS

2011-08-11T23:52:00.005+02:00

The earliest inkling of SKYPEness... Thanks to artist Daniela Akerblom for this very cool heads up. Visit her web site here: http://www.dakerblom.com.

Skype.com/

London Walks!

2011-08-11T15:03:00.004+02:00

Joanna Walsh, aka BADAUDE, the itinerant blogger and artist of many things French has taken her pen for a walk in London and, hey! at the Tate Modern.

The book is an alternative walking guide to London. "You travel through the city by atmosphere rather than by the souvenir shops," she says. "Although there are still a few pubs in there!" Buy it direct from the Tate Modern or in Paris at Shakespeare & Company. It's a steal at 8,99 Pounds or 10 Euros. Click to enlarge the photos.

From the book sale site:

London is best appreciated on foot. Packed with quirky observations and out-of-the-way treasures, this unique, hand-drawn guide reveals the charms of a city waiting for those ready to stop and look.

Badaude's intricate and witty drawings not only capture the unique architecture and atmosphere of London's streets, but also the way its inhabitants talk, dress and behave. With twenty-one suggested walks, three bus routes and one boat trip, London Walks! is the perfect companion for every urban explorer.

Badaude writes and illustrates a weekly column in the Times and her work appears regularly in the Guardian and The Idler. She has exhibited at the Port Eliot Festival, Shakespeare and Company and the Wellcome Collection.

MICHELE BACHMANN: THE NEXT US PRESIDENT ?

2011-08-09T02:42:00.003+02:00

We hope not.

Lucien Freud 1923 -2011

2011-07-29T21:34:00.001+02:00

British painter, grandson of Sigmund Freud, died this week. See the article on theartblog.org. Photo of the artist in his London studio.

East Enders State of Mind: Catching Up With Anglo Hysteria

2011-07-26T15:24:00.002+02:00

Brits and Americans have had a long-running obsession with the BBC show EastEnders.

Larry Jaffee, author and publisher of The Walford Gazette puts these folks on couch for an analytical session that gets to the root of the matter.

"It's escapism," says Jaffee. "...but it takes place in a zone where neighbors actually talk to each other. Yes, there's sex, drugs and everything you might imagine but there's a sophistication about it in the way reality shows are sophistication. That's the working class in all its glory. And, it's ours."

Purchase the book, Walford State of Mind on Amazon. (Also in a Kindle format).

From the publisher's release on the book and its author:

Walford State of Mind: EastEnders As Reported By The Walford Gazette is an irreverent new book that tells the story of the popular BBC series from the perspective of a quarterly fanzine.

The new book (ISBN: 978-0-615-42920-5) features the best of the Walford Gazette’s first 18 years and 72 issues, including contributions from Radio Times’ Andrew Collins (who tells what it's like to be an EastEnders scriptwriter; and renown musician/author Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), who tells how EastEnders saved his marriage, twice!

Walford State of Mind features analysis of the series’ best episodes and characters, and is the follow-up to Albert Square & Me: The Actors of EastEnders, featuring 52 exclusive interviews with current and past cast members (ISBN: 978-0-615-41015-9).

Editor & Publisher Larry Jaffee tells: • how he was banned from the studio for three years for publishing photos in the 'Walford Gazette' under the headline 'ALBERT SQUARE TRESPASSER!" of an American woman who talked her way onto the set;

• how he conversed with Rupert Murdoch on why News Corp. should acquire the US rights to EastEnders when BBC America cancelled it;

• how he encouraged readers to send teabags to the president of BBC America when he told an Associated Press that “The joke around the office is the lesson from [EastEnders] is `Life is miserable and then you die.'"

“The publisher of the Walford Gazette, Larry Jaffee, is the best friend on this side of the Atlantic that EastEnders has ever had, a tireless evangelist for the show fighting for its availability on public television and cable despite setback after setback,” wrote Vanity Fair columnist James Wolcott in his blog.

Walford State of Mind is available on Amazon.com, bookstores everywhere through Ingram, and www.wgazette.com

YANA BYSTROVA: PARIS EN FLEURS

2011-07-11T14:28:00.007+02:00

Yana Bystrova is giving new meaning to plein aire painting these days by French frying the great outdoors in a kind of liquid neon. The world should look this cool. The Paris-based, Kiev-born artist walks out into her own Strawberry Fields and serves up these fertile lands in a very hot juice. The results are graphic, hard-edged works that glow with an intensity that would have easily buzzed Van Gogh during his famous swoon in Arles.

A visit to Yana's Marais studio is a bit like an acid trip stoned on summer sunshine and lavender loaded breezes. Vibrating flowers, rolling and tilled fields populate the two-level loft creating open windows onto scintillating landscapes.

Newer works on round canvases fill the lower area, along with large Rorschach-test inspired canvases (pictured above) that combine abstract patterns with anagrams. Everything spills over in pop color, intimating seemingly drug-drenched puzzles that double as interior psych sessions. These canvases are a sweet industrial magic and light show for high IQs looking for a work out, a stroll through the magic mushroom kingdom.

But these are self-conscious art works, objects in an of themselves. And Yana has long aimed at this kind of visual poetry, without the aid of any kind of hallucinogens.

The works also borrow from a range of printing notions and several of these works feel like they've been silkscreened or produced using woodblock printing. But no, says Yana, they are all done in "the middle of some field by my own hand."

These canvases typically sell for between 1000 and 3000 euros. You can contact the artist directly if you'd like to arrange a visit: Yana Bystrova Website.

Yana's electric landscares are currently on view in Champagne, France from 8 - 28 July in a group exhibition with the controversial theme of : Revolt of the Wine Growers. Well it's actually Centenaire de la Révolte des Vignerons 1911 - 2011. To visit: Coopérative Les Coteaux du Landion 10200 Meurville, France.

MONEY & WARHOL & MONEY

2011-07-06T18:08:00.002+02:00

Cy Twombly 1928-2011

2011-07-06T02:09:00.003+02:00

Randy Kennedy writing in The New York Times on the idiosyncratic painter who had lived and worked in Rome since 1957 : "But Mr. Twombly, a tall, rangy Virginian who once practiced drawing in the dark to make his lines less purposeful, steadfastly followed his own program and looked to his own muses: often literary ones like Catullus, Rumi, Pound and Rilke. He seemed to welcome the privacy that came with unpopularity."

The New York Times Obit : American Artist Who Scribbled a Unique Path
Photo of Cy Twombly : CS GRAPHI

On Billboards : TOO MUCH by Andrew Willett

2011-07-04T11:23:00.002+02:00

From the global billboard art project ART MOVES. The 2011 edition is about: Reality or Fiction?

THE ILLUSIONISTS: BY ELENA ROSSINI

2011-06-27T21:45:00.001+02:00

The Illusionists is a feature-length documentary about the commoditization of the body and the marketing of unattainable beauty around the world. (See the Kickstarter Page).

The film will explore the influence that corporations have on our perceptions of ourselves, showing how mass media, advertising and several industries manipulate people's insecurities about their bodies for profit.

The preoccupation with physical beauty is as old as time; what is different today is the central role that the pursuit of the perfect body has taken. It has become our new religion. Everyone is affected: boys, girls, women and men from Los Angeles to Tokyo, passing via Mumbai.

Almost 50 years ago, French philosopher Guy Debord wrote The Society of the Spectacle. In the book, he spoke about a consumer society obsessed with and drugged by spectacular images. It was eerily prophetic. The central importance that appearance has taken in our world is at the core of this film.

ELENA ROSSINI (writer, director & producer)
http://www.elenarossini.com

BABBLERS 2011

2011-06-27T17:37:00.003+02:00

CLICK HERE FOR MORE BABBLERS.

Corrosion : Gavin Harrison

2011-06-26T13:31:00.001+02:00

British fashion photographer and artist Gavin Harrison has just released his first fine art pigment print, Corrosion. The print is 40 cm x 50 cm and printed by Mariela Cadiz in association with Burning Boy Press onto heavy German Etching paper using archival inks process. The edition is limited to 50, each signed, numbered and dated by Harrison.

Gavin, a professional illustrator and fashion photographer, says he fully embraced the freedom of self publishing and used all his skills to produce a rich, highly detailed work about portraiture and time. "I wanted to make this print for myself," he says. "For my own walls. And to make something something that would work off vintage furnishings and contemporary design. A piece that brought together a collection of surfaces to reflect the world that I live in...and maybe some other people as well."

The artist pulled together a number of different media like aged paper, flaking iron, and a stenciled wall – oxidation in all its forms – and something iconic and British: The school boy photograph from the early 20th century. The effect is nostalgic – an essay on decay, loss, memory and in the end, civilization. The result is dark but humorous and visually compelling.

Corrosion is available directly from Gavin Harrison for £120.00. You can order the work here.

Gavin has long worked as a photographer for numerous fashion and editorial projects in the UK and internationally. His portraits of both men and women, sometimes whimsically attired and posed, are humorous, scintillating and extremely sexy.

See more of Gavin Harrison's work: http://gharrisonphotography.com/

Shop: http://gavinhemporium.bigcartel.com/
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ukfoto
Blog: http://theeloquenceofwantoncuriosity.blogspot.com/

Burning Boy Press Paris produces limited edition fine art pigment prints for artists, photographers and designers in Paris. We work with the finest technology and the highest quality papers. We are also tri-lingual: English, French and Spanish. Contact, click here.

LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH WITH ONE WORD

2011-06-09T00:25:00.000+02:00

From: THE FRANCOPHILIA GAZETTE

Strange Positioning Systems Live From Zagreb, Croatia : Alexander Viscio's Inside Verbal Seed

2011-06-07T01:36:00.001+02:00

SPS is launching its live stream from Zagreb : Alexander Viscio's Inside Verbal Seed in collaboration with Galeria Michaela Stock, Vienna and Muzej Suvremene Umjetnosti Zagreb. Live feed/stream: Thursday June 9th @ 1pm - EST/US.

Please see the live stream here: http://strangepositioningsystems.org/

BASEBALL STAMPS: RUBENS ROUNDING THIRD

2011-05-30T21:58:00.000+02:00

Matthew Rose's Rubens Rounding Third, a unique art idea in a limited edition, signed and numbered print. These prints are produced on gummed paper, perforated and in an edition of 1000. Size: 29.6 cm x 40.7 cm (11½ by 16 inches).

SKIN DEEP : PARIS TATOO - AURELIE PRISSETTE AT KO-KEN GALERIE JUNE 2 THRU 30, 2011

2011-05-30T00:52:00.000+02:00

Aurélie Prissette doesn't have a single tattoo on her (she says) but she's hooked on French people who do.

"I've taken hundreds of photographs of people and their tattoos – in their work places, the tattoo parlors, their homes – even their bathtubs. Skin, for these people is about performance, a sensual one, a private one."

Above: "Viva Las Vegas," silver gelatin print (tirage argentique).

Aurélie presents her works at Kö-Ken Galerie, opening Thursday June 2, in an exhibition on the theme of "SKIN." Two other artists, El Patman and David Law, touch upon fashion and flesh in this collective exhibition.

Address: Address: 107 rue des Couronnes, 75020 Paris - 01 43 58 68 65. Through June 30. The gallery is open every day from 3 PM - 8 PM.

To see more of Aurélie's photographs, click to visit her web site.

No Refunds From End Of The World Prophet Harold Camping. World Continues To Continue.

2011-05-23T18:45:00.003+02:00

I LOVE YOU YOU'RE PERFECT (ALIEN)

2011-05-21T00:10:00.000+02:00

From The Defense D'Afficher Project
Design: Benoit David
Download: I LOVE YOU YOU'RE PERFECT (ALIEN)

CALL FOR SHOES!

2011-05-11T19:00:00.000+02:00

Artist seeking shoes for large scale sculpture. Above: CG mock up for untitled shoe pyre sculpture.

Residency Unlimited has selected Melissa A. Calderon to launch the new community based program Residency Unlimited at Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education.

Her project is focused on shoes.

Bronx-based, multimedia artist Melissa A. Calderon is seeking donations of old shoes to be included in a large scale sculpture.

The artist is looking specifically for women's high heel or work/dress shoes - dressy flats are acceptable as well. She's looking for 500 pairs.

This work will be done in collaboration with the students at Casita Maria during the artist's residency. The work will then be on exhibit this fall at Hunter College's new Spanish Harlem gallery in its inaugural exhibition curated by Puerto Rican artist Antonio Martorell and Curator Susana Torruella Leval.

For Drop Off Info & To Contact the Artist:
Melissa A. Calderon
www.melissacalderon.com
914.246.1851
melissaacalderon@gmail.com

Clare Strand: Sleight

2011-05-11T14:16:00.000+02:00

Clare Strand, Girl in Two Halves, 2008, fibre based lambda print, 144 × 150 cm

British artist Clare Strand opens Sleight at Brancolini Grimaldi in London Thursday May 26, 2011. the artist is interested in the paranormal, the magical and of course, sleight of hand.

The exhibition will display for the first time the installation 'Ten Least Most Wanted' - a wry arrangement of ten vernacular images, chosen by Strand from her research scrapbooks. Also included is her new series Skirts, which features ten mysterious portraits of covered tables that invoke a feeling of concealment and denial.

Brancolini Grimaldi 43-44 Albemarle Street London W1S 4JJ T + 44 (0) 207 493 5721

New York City 1985 By Corinne Bunzl

2011-05-10T18:04:00.001+02:00

Paris-based photographer, Corinne Bunzl, recently exhibited a number of her black and white prints from New York City, circa 1980s at the Studio Harcourt benefit for Cancer Research in Paris. This is one of her works – four good friends, working cigars and the side walk on the Lower East Side. It sold along with several others of her prints. This print is in an edition of 7. Enquiries: Contact Corinne Bunzl.

Bin Laden Watches Himself On TV

2011-05-08T02:41:00.002+02:00

It's clearly time for a little reflection for the global terrorist, who is reviewing his recent tee vee appearances and perhaps seeing how he might improve his image. He's already dyed the beard black and when on camera dons the pastel-colored robes that bring out the message of peace in his blood thirsty rants.

Article: Bin Laden's Videos.

Kate & Will By Mario Testino

2011-04-28T20:08:00.001+02:00

When this photograph was first published on the net, a thread began with the question: "Why no nose rings?"

Taken by famed Kate Moss photo biographer Mario Testino, you have to give him credit for keeping it simple and give the Palace credit for not hiring Jurgen Teller.

The image was produced for the people, of course – an official portrait. Cropped on top and mid-chest, black and white, all smiles, white shirts (both open) the photograph portends equality (between William and Kate), simplicity, honesty and a bit of retro: The 1980s. It's like they are greeting you at the door. Or at a party. And there's a subtle sense that you or they are on drugs. They seem really happy to see you and reflect your joy at seeing them.

Missing: Ai Weiwei

2011-04-20T13:26:00.000+02:00

"The lives of artists are more fragile than their creations." – Salman Rushdie, writing in The New York Times.

LOVE LETTER FROM PARIS

2011-04-17T13:31:00.000+02:00

Ignatz loved Krazy Kat and Krazy loved getting the love kabosh with bricks. Would the French love bricks as much? Courtesy Estate of George Herriman.

READ LOVE LETTER FROM PARIS: THE ART BLOG.

SLUT FOR LIFE & OTHER STORIES

2011-04-15T13:31:00.000+02:00

FRANTICHAM: A LOVE STORY (TWO LOST SEOULS)

2011-04-10T00:15:00.000+02:00

Short documentary about the artists, book makers and publishers Antic Ham and Francis Van Maele. Some of their site are below.

http://www.redfoxpress.com
http://www.anticham.com
http://www.anticham.blogspot.com
http://www.franticham.blogspot.com

GET REEL

2011-04-05T20:52:00.000+02:00

TAKE ONE: COMMUNISM

2011-04-02T22:15:00.001+02:00

NOT YOUR MOTHER'S GROUPON.

TAKE ONE COMMUNISM.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE WORKS FROM THE PROJECT DEFENSE D'AFFICHER.

Ashely : New Paintings At Galerie Claude Legrand Paris

2011-03-24T13:05:00.002+01:00

Ashley Ashford-Brown, an English painter who has long lived and worked in Ivry-Sur-Seine, France is exhibiting some of his most recent works – large canvases that echo ancient Celtic poems and iconography. The artist's work can be seen at: Galerie Claude Legrand, 49 Rue de Seine, 75006 Paris. March 31 - April 20, 2011. (Click the invitation to enlarge).

We took the photo above at Ashley's studio in Ivry-Sur-Seine, in front of one of his massive canvases, during the annual portes ouvertes. See see more of the artists work, click: Ashley Ashford-Brown.

New & Improved: Jumbo-Sized Viagra

2011-03-23T17:06:00.000+01:00

New & Improved: Jumbo-sized 6-liter bottle of Viagra (Only You), 2011 by MATTHEW ROSE. Indeed: Six ways to have fun, on view at La Cave des Papilles, Paris.

European Spiritual Film Festival Paris: March 25 - 27

2011-03-22T19:59:00.001+01:00

Mei Ling, an idle young Chinese woman, lives alone in her flat, waiting for her lover. One day, she finds a little octopus in the kitchen sink. She decides to adopt it to avoid boredom. The octopus grows up...

Mei Ling by Stephanie Lansaque and Francois Leroy, is an animated film, produced in France (2009), and runs 15 minutes. It is one of hundreds of films entered into the European Spiritual Film Festival, held in Paris – and on the Internet. The final selections will be held in Paris from March 26th to 27th, 2011.

For the full program see: EUROPEAN SPIRITUAL FILM FESTIVAL.

Japanese Girl : Defense d'Afficher Project

2011-03-17T14:06:00.001+01:00

Japanese Girl by One Little Bird, Leanda, a British artist, for the DEFENSE D'AFFICHER PROJECT.

Leanda is also selling signed prints to help support the people of Japan during this difficult time.

Download Japanese Girl and see other works from the DEFENSE D'AFFICHER PROJECT.

Wolfe Contemporary By Alexis Mackenzie

2011-03-11T19:51:00.000+01:00

Alexis Mackenzie produced this hand-cut collage on antique paper – "Wolfe Contemporary", 2011 – for the Wolfe Contemporary art gallery in San Francisco. Look closely.

FluxFest Chicago

2011-03-11T17:08:00.001+01:00

Cecil Touchon, Director, The Ontological Museum, directed this photograph of participants of FluxFest Chicago, held recently in Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.

Many participants of this festival also participated in and hosted ABAD exhibitions. The Fluxfest was spearheaded by artist Keith Buchholz. Click the photo to enlarge full screen. (It's a fisheye!). PHOTO © 2011 CECIL TOUCHON.

FLUXUS: ENGLISH, HEBREW, ARABIC

2011-03-10T12:08:00.000+01:00

GENERAL IDEA: 1969 - 1994

2011-03-07T03:18:00.000+01:00

AA Bronson's Website with the history of the art trio.

STEPHEN COLBERT'S ART SPEAK

2011-03-06T23:58:00.000+01:00

Give it a minute, then listen carefully. Stephen Colbert deconstructs art speak in a way that is thrilling, accurate and a piece of performance art.

Julie Sadler's: MagikGlasses

2011-03-05T02:51:00.000+01:00

The wonderful kinetically kollaged world of Julie Sadler: MagikGlasses.

See her very animated Aviaria: Singing birds angling for your attention.

Cutting Edges: James Gallagher On Collage

2011-03-04T12:51:00.001+01:00

Source:Gestalten.tv

GESTALTEN's new book CUTTING EDGES, a big fat book on contemporary collage, edited by James Gallagher. Price: €39,90 | $60,00 | £37,50.

Cutting Edges documents the new heyday of collage in current art and visual culture. Today’s artists, illustrators, and designers are increasingly drawn to this artistic technique by the challenges of seamlessly melding traditional craftsmanship with skilled computer montage. They are not only composing a wide variety of visual elements, but are also deliberately omitting, deleting, and destroying them. This book is an inspiring collection of these unique examples of contemporary collage.

Artists include: Clara Mata, Cless, Jelle Martens, Matthew Rose, Paul Burgess, Dani Sanchis, David Plunkert, Molokid, Eduardo Recife, Lisa Eisenberg, Aprile Elcich, David Wallace, Free Fred, Max-o-Matic and many many other collage artists working across the planet. MORE INFO HERE.

YOU LIKE THIS

2011-03-03T22:50:00.000+01:00

This will probably get me in trouble.

Obviously, the combination of sex, underwear and Facebook is what makes Store Front Windows interesting, no? I understand. I'm sorry. This is a terrible post.

See more of this terrible stuff :
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/victoriassecret

FLUXFACE IN SPACE

2011-03-03T01:31:00.000+01:00

This thing recently took off: FLUXFACE IN SPACE.

Keith Donovan: Travaux Récents At Michel Foëx Geneva

2011-02-25T19:25:00.000+01:00

IMAGE: BATEAU 2010, 75 x 60 cm.

Keith Donovan
Travaux récents

Vernissage
Mercredi 2 mars 2011 de 18h à 20h

Exposition
Jusqu’au 16 avril 2011

Horaires
Mardi – Vendredi 14h 30 – 18h 30
Samedi 13h 00 – 17h 00

Galerie Michel FOËX
1, rue de l’Evêché
1204 Genève-CH
Tél : 022 311 26 86

Keith Donovan Web Site.

DEFENSE DE NE PAS TOUT FAIRE

2011-02-23T02:36:00.002+01:00

Download the high resolution PDF, print, post in your city, and send photos to:

Defense D'Afficher Project.

RICK PROL: THE WAY BACK MACHINE

2011-02-17T23:41:00.002+01:00

Rick Prol used to show his paintings in heavily littered alleys in the East Village in New York City. Well before Berlin with its beat up buildings and unvarnished Eastern sector became hip, the rumble and rubble of the Lower East Side was the place that launched a thousand art careers.

In the 1980s, young painters just out of art school or fresh to New York City, were creating the next wave in the practically rent-free storefronts in Alphabet Land near Tompkins Square. Since then dozens of books have been written about the time when painters returned to the art scene and an illustrated Age of Reagan as seen from street was born.

Another work, right, by Prol from his S.O.S. series. Acid green (the East River), broken bridges and dreams, whores on bicycles plunged into the muck. Going nowhere fast. The artist's cats and sailors, knives and nails punched through their bodies and their bicycles, and yes, sometimes their toilets, describes a tough world. But that, too, was New York.

Rick Prol Website.

Nice interview with Rick Prol by Trigger Magazine: http://triggermagazine.com/2005/02/rick-prol.html

The artist also participated in the 2009 exhibition at The Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery, A Book About Death. Full disclosure: I wrote a profile of Rick Prol in the February 1986 edition of ARTS magazine. You can download this as a PDF from Rick's web site (PRESS SECTION).

PHOTO: RICK PROL BY : Andreas Sterzing.

FLUXFEST CHICAGO FEB 15 - FEB 20, 2011

2011-02-16T11:52:00.000+01:00

FLUXFEST CHICAGO is here. Included in this six-day gala of terribly interesting art works and performances are: Picasso Gaglione, Keith A. Bucholz, Simon Anderson, Darlene Domel, Reed Altemus, Andy Oleksiuk, Patric Lichty, Tulio Restrepo, Jessica Rutherford, James Calfani, Allan Revich, Kyle White, Mark Block, Neosho, Reid Wood, Jennifer Kosharek, Joshua Rutherford, Jeff Abell, Melissa McCarthy, Vivian Vassar, Don Boyd, Julie Jeffries, Adamandia Kapsalis, Joel Lipman, mIEKAL aND, Cecil Touchon, Sally Alatelo among many others.

VENUE: MCA CHICAGO, 220 East Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL

Louise Bourgeois By Alex Van Gelder : Armed Forces At Hauser & Wirth Zürich

2011-02-10T12:53:00.001+01:00

Hauser & Wirth Zürich opens an amazing exhibition by Alex Van Gelder of the hands of Louise Bourgeois : Armed Forces.

From H&W: "Gnarled, sinewy and wrinkled with age, Louise Bourgeois’s hands were fascinating. Her hands are the subjects of portraits taken by the artist Alex Van Gelder, who, at Bourgeois’s invitation, photographed her at her New York townhouse during the last year of her life. The resulting portfolio of eighteen photographic prints will be on display at Hauser & Wirth Zürich from 12 February.

"More than purely a portrait project, Bourgeois considered this collaboration to be an extension of her work. Through this series, she put forth her own physicality to be viewed as an element of her art, focusing on her hands as her tools.

"Clenched or cradling, her hands recall many of her works, from the entwined finger-like forms of ‘Clutching’ (1962), to the skein of lines of her ‘Insomnia Drawings’ and the poised spiders of her ‘Maman’ series. Van Gelder’s images are stark, showing just the hands against the black fabric of her clothes. They are flooded with intimacy and warmth, reflecting his closeness to Bourgeois and the trust she placed in him to work with her on this project."

The portfolio is printed in an edition of 10 and will be shown both on the walls of the gallery and also displayed in its original linen box. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, ‘Alex Van Gelder – Louise Bourgeois. ARMED FORCES’, published by Ediciones Polígrafa and Hauser & Wirth.

Opening Friday 11 February, 6 – 8 pm

Hauser & Wirth Zürich
Hubertus Exhibitions
Albisriederstrasse 199A
CH-8047 Zurich

Louise Bourgeois's hands by Alex Van Gelder.

STUFFED BUNNY SHOW

2011-02-10T03:06:00.001+01:00

Eve-N-Odd Gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida wants to know: Are you interested in making a stuffed bunny for the "Stuffed Bunny" show? Yeah?

Well, then, please follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Make a stuffed bunny.
Step 2: Name yer bunny.
Step 3: Send a brief bio and picture of yourself or your art to Eve-N-Odd Gallery.
Step 4: Print, fill out and sign your consignment form--this includes pricing your bunny.
Step 5: Mail your printed, filled out and signed consignment form, your bunny and return postage cash or stamps (or paypal) and mail to:

Eve-N-Odd Gallery
645 Central Ave #11
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Show will be Thursday April 14th 6pm to 9pm and will last about a month. See the gallery, click here, darn it.

MAD MAGAZINE MAIL ART PROJECT

2011-02-09T21:06:00.001+01:00

Al Jaffee is turning 90. Holy Krap. Who the hell is Al Jaffee?

On March 13, long-time MAD MAGAZINE writer/artist, creator of the Fold-In and Snappy Answers is going to be 90 years old! That means he was born in 1921. Horses were still shitting in the streets of New York and a year after the 19th amendment passed in the US, giving women the right to vote. No shit.

Well, according to famous illustrator, MAD Magazine contributor and Le Select layabout, Rick Tulka, to celebrate Al's birthday, the MAD staff are asking all fans (and non-fans too) to send in letters, cards, poems, drawings, paintings, sculptures, shopping lists - whatever - so they can pass them on to Monsieur Jaffee! "Be part of one of the latest jokes in a long line of jokes at MAD Magazine!" says Tulka. All works will be promptly dumped in the East River in fabulous New York City. Only kidding. They'll go straight to auction. Only kidding. I really don't know what will happen to these pieces of mail, but maybe Jaffee will look at them and say, who the hell is Matthew Rose?

So, get busy and send something to this guy who wall papered our childhoods with funny fold out whatnots and jokes.

Deadline: March 1, 2011

Please send your birthday mail art works and best wishes to:

The Big Jaffee

c/o MAD Magazine

1700 Broadway

New York, New York 10019 USA

Sapporo Snow Festival

2011-02-08T02:51:00.000+01:00

More photos of the Sapporo snow sculptures.

Defense d' Afficher, Paris 1936

2011-02-07T19:45:00.002+01:00

The decorative aspects of Defense d' Afficher are undeniable. Image: André Kertesz.

BUFFET - BASEL, SWITZERLAND

2011-02-06T23:45:00.002+01:00

I took a half dozen photographs of this abandoned buffet counter in in the waiting room at the Basel train station. Time: 1:45 PM, late January, 2011. Some other images of the Basel train station are here.

Charlie Rose By Samuel Beckett

2011-02-05T13:42:00.000+01:00

Film by Andrew Filippone Jr.

Mr Brainwash Goes Bats & Cats

2011-02-05T02:00:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday February 8, at 12pm PST, Mr. Brainwash will be releasing a set of two prints "Bat Papi & Cat Nana." Brainwash will do that to you, make you catty and batty and/or both. His Kate Moss print sold out in a nana second last week. I used to see his wall posters all over Paris, but my guess is they've been torn down by collectors who are waiting for the Christie's moment.

These prints, writes the LA-based artist, were featured in the documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop." Each one is an eleven-color screen print on hand-torn archival art paper. Each print is uniquely hand stained, signed, numbered, and thumb printed by the artist.

Edition: 150. Size: 15in x 19in. Price: $375 for the set (cannot be sold separately).

Want the pair? Go here: Mr Brainwash.

Song 06 By Cecil Touchon

2011-02-04T16:17:00.001+01:00

http://ceciltouchon.blogspot.com/

GUTENBERG MAIL ART PROJECT

2011-02-04T02:06:00.003+01:00

http://blog.kunstzwerg.net/