Monthly Archive for September, 2008

Page 3 of 4

The Digest. 09.19.08.

By c-monster on September 19, 2008 in C-Monster, Street Art and The Digest. 1 Comment

Know Hope, in Brooklyn. (Photo by this is limbo.)

Katya Brailovsky takes portraits of señoras shopping in malls in Mexico City.
From the Department of Not Looking Good: The Detroit Institute of Arts is in tuh-rouble.
How the fall of Washington Mutual could affect the Seattle Art Museum. Plus: More on how the financial industry implosion could and will affect the art industry. More here.
How to be a Washington State-approved artist. Hint: Don’t submit any bronze fish. (Via A.J.)
A 1985 television interview with Francis Bacon. Plus: Looking Around reports on the Bacon retrospective at the Tate.
An audio slideshow of the Giorgio Morandi show at the Met.
And some video of the Jeff Koons show at Versailles. It’s bling-a-rrific!!
We Make Money Not Art reports on Conflux in NYC.
I Heart Recontextualization: Art Press Release of the Day.
Park(ing) Day L.A. is today! (Via NotCot.)
Graff of the Day: Miss EU, Sonda, Koes, Knore and Vano in Italy. More here.
Mozes, lookin’ good.
Banksy stencils getting jacked or buffed in New Orleans. Plus: The Times-Picayune art critic, Doug MacCash, writes an open letter to Banksy (via World’s Best) and deep thoughts from Banksy on advertising.
Kaws is interviewed by The Moment. Interesting fact: He gets his groceries through Fresh Direct.
Plus: JR is in NYC.
For those of you who sprachen sie Deutsch: There’s an interview with my buddy Eko from the seriously awesome graff site ekosystem.org. He gives C-Mon a shout-out at the end. Thanks, dude
A Frank Lloyd Wright house in Glencoe, Ill. is in disrepair.
NPR on pre-fab homes.
More flix from the Venice architecture Biennale.
Your moment of Cucurrucucu Paloma, Lola la Grande edition.

Calendar. 09.18.08.

By c-monster on September 18, 2008 in C-Monster, Calendar and Sculpture. Closed

Trent Whitehead at Cornucopia in Melbourne. (Image courtesy of Juxtapoz and Alana Armstrong.)

In Melbourne: Trent Whitehead at Cornucopia, through Sept. 26th.
In L.A.: Two architecture symposia related to the John Lautner exhibit at the Hammer, Against Reason: John Lautner and Post War Architecture, one on Friday and one on Saturday.
In L.A.: East of Eden, a multi-gallery exhibition, at the Los Angeles Municipal art gallery, opens tomorrow. Through the weekend only. (Via Marshall Astor.)
In Jersey City: The Agitators Collective at the Jersey City Museum, through Dec. 21st.
In NYC: Creative Time’s Convergence Center at the Park Avenue Armory, opens Sunday at noon.
In NYC: Robert Indiana at Paul Kasmin, opens today.
In NYC: Sue Williams, Project for a New American Century, at David Zwirner, through Oct. 25th.
In NYC: Chris Johanson at Deitch Projects, through Oct. 28th.
In NYC: Urban Mantra: The Art of the Streets, at chashama on 44th Street. Show opens today; artists reception on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Digest. 09.18.08.

By c-monster on September 18, 2008 in C-Monster, Miami, Painting and The Digest. 4 Comments

Christian Curiel at Kevin Bruk Gallery in Miami. His show, Collapsing Inwards, is up through Nov. 11th. (Photo by C-M.)

The Arts Action Fund has released their Congressional report card on the 110th Congress. “The Report Card,” the press release explains, “assigns each Member of Congress a letter grade and numerical score based on his or her voting record on specific arts and arts education policy issues.” Guess who got Fs? Ron Paul from Texas, Dana Rohrabacher from California and Tom Tancredo from Colorado — among many, many others. Maine tops the list for best state delegation, while my birth state of Wyoming and the much tittered-about state of Alaska both tie for dead last. Then again, who needs all that pesky art when you’ve got nature?
I stand corrected: The art of engraved oil barrels plasma-cut gas cans.
Bloomberg reports on the fate of the Lehman Bros. art collection, which is comprised of 3,500 pieces, including works by Takashi Murakami, Andreas Gursky and Jasper Johns.
A profile of art collector Peter Brant, former friend of Warhol and owner of Interview magazine. Interesting sentence: “For years art-world gossips have speculated that Brant and the powerful art dealer Larry Gagosian are skillfully gaming the art market through auctions and brokered sales to boost the prices of artists in who they are heavily invested, such as Warhol, Prince and Koons.” Unfortunately, the writer provides no further explanation… (Via A.O.)
Speaking of which, Gagosian is going all Ruski.
Robert Hughes on the art market: “One of the things that sustains the art market is an irrational faith in a continuous rise in prices… There was a 17th-century Italian painter called Guido Reni. Not a lot of people have heard of him but in the late 18th century many connoisseurs thought that Italy’s two supreme artists were Michelangelo and Reni. But by 1950 you could buy a 10ft painting by Reni for £300.”
The social consequences of a bad economy. The Daily Show‘s take here, complete with starchitect jokes.
The Day in Computer Art: Mauritian Sunset by Sandy Smith.
Harvard Law School to award Christo and Jeanne-Claude with its 2008 Great Negotiator Award. For reals.
Gabriel Orozco on his whale skeleton sculpture, Mobile Matrix, 2006.
“Wordless art criticism.“
Interesting essay about contemporary Chinese art: Ellen Pearlman of the Brooklyn Rail takes on Jed Perl of the New Republic. (Via Hrag.)
Hilarious: For the second time, Tracey Emin’s bronze sculpture of a sparrow is stolen and returned in Liverpool. (Via A.O.)
Even more hilarious: A canvas by Hugo Chávez, painted during his stint in prison in 1992, has sold for $225,000 at auction. More here.
Sign up for an October Surprise party, in the vicinity of NYC.
That polar bear terrorizing D.C.? It was really artist Mark Jenkins in collaboration with Greenpeace.
When architecture imitates Damien Hirst.
A thorough three-part report on Renzo Piano’s redo of the California Academy of Sciences.
Chocolate type faces.
When Blackbook imitates C-Monster.
Your moment of Tony Montana.

Happy Birf-day to My Sistah.

By c-monster on September 17, 2008 in Announcements and C-Monster. Closed

C and E Monsters, chillin’ in Rafsanjan, at some point in the ’70s.

E-Monster (little sister of C-Monster), is having a birthday today. The staff here at C-Monster.net would like to wish her a happy day. May the margaritas be copious and the hangover short.

xox, C.

The Digest. 09.17.08.

By c-monster on September 17, 2008 in C-Monster, Street Art and The Digest. Closed

Scheme in Moscow. (Image courtesy of Streetfiles.org.)

Amazing Hurricane Ike photos at Big Picture. (Via NotCot.)
Andres Serrano selling photos of poo for $24,000 a poop.
Call the Bomb Squad: There are guys in bear suits in D.C.
Hirst-a-palooza! The garage sale went well, reports Bloomberg. More on the blowout in ArtInfo, the NY Times, and the Times of London. The latter makes the interesting point that one of Hirst’s gallerists, Jay Jopling of White Cube, bid on 20 of the 56 lots on Monday night — presumably to avoid a general devaluation of Hirst’s work. In the meantime, while Rome the financial industry burned, lots o’ people bought very expensive animals in formaldehyde.
In related news: Charlotte Higgins at the Guardian has an excellent idea! Now that Hirst is richer than ever, he can buy those Titians for Britian’s National Galleries.
Oh yeah! The NY Times has a story about Julian Schnabel that announces the lucky winner of the Schnabel/Mastercard “priceless” campaign.
And yet another report from the world of Art Hype: Daria Zhukova, girlfriend of Russian billionaire, opens a contemporary non-profit art gallery — billed as Russia’s answer to the Tate Modern and MoMA — in Moscow (via A.J.). More here.
How the A.I.G. meltdown will affect the art industry.
Five stolen Dutch master paintings taken from the Frans Hals Museum in ’02 have been recovered. (Via A.J.)
The Getty Center’s new television ad. Well done. (Via NotCot.)
Wax Hitler back on display. Head and all.
Art Press Release of the Day.
Photos of a piece by Vito Acconci and Helene Brandt in Da Bronx.
Nothing Like a Little Imperial Gloating: Russia puts its spoils from the invasion of Georgia on display at the Central Museum of Armed Forces in Moscow.
An overview of the architecture at the Venice Biennale, whose main exhibit the L.A. Times thinks is “a decade out of date.” The action, reports Christopher Hawthorne, is at the national pavilions. More here and here.
A first look at Renzo Piano’s “green” re-do of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
Images of a very flooded Farnsworth House.
A visual round-up of the Bush Years. Just in case you’ve forgotten how badly they’ve sucked. (Via ackackack.)
Your moment of barking cat.

Art Merch: David’s Pee Pee Edition.

By SanSuzie on September 16, 2008 in Art Merch, Incisive Reportage, Italy, San Suzie and Sublime ridiculosity. Closed

But what does the backside look like? (Photo by San Suzie.)

Just off the Piazza Venezia, where the biggest, blingiest monument in all of Italy — the memorial to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of unified Italy — looms over a traffic circle that puts any L.A. freeway to shame, I was halted in my tracks by this admirable piece of local art merch: men’s boxer shorts featuring the salsiccia belonging to none other than Michelangelo’s David. There is a raging debate among local art historians as to whether this fine dong truly belongs to David or is simply a knockoff from some other statue. (I’ll be investigating as soon as I get to Florence.) In the meantime, we report, you decide.

Tags: Boxers, David, Michelangelo.

Calendar. 09.16.08.

By c-monster on September 16, 2008 in C-Monster, Calendar and Painting. Closed

Barry McGee at Deitch Gallery during New York City’s Armory Show last March. (Photo by C-M.)

In San Francisco: A surprise Barry McGee show at Ratio 3, through Oct. 18th.
In San Francisco: Shepard Fairey at White Walls, through Oct. 4th. Radar profiles the artist here.
In L.A.: Stephen Berkman’s Chamber Pieces at Loyola Marymount, through Nov. 23rd.
In L.A.: Francis Alÿs’s portraits of Saint Fabiola at LACMA, through Jan. 4th, 2009.
In Denver: Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Prints and Objects at the Centre for Visual Arts, through Nov. 1st.
In NYC: Collector’s Workshop: Introduction to Affordable Photography at Aperture, tonight.
In NYC: Street Art Street Life: From the 1950s to Now at the Bronx Museum, through Jan. 25th, 2009.
In NYC: Kyung Jeon at Tina Kim, through Oct. 11th. (Via We Make Money…)
In NYC: David LaChapelle, Holy War, at Tony Shafrazi, through Oct. 24th.
In London: Tank.tv online film screenings at the Tate Modern, from Sept. 19th to 21st.
In London: Francis Bacon at the Tate Britain, through Jan. 4th, 2009. More here.
In London: Tate director Nicholas Serota, and others, in a discussion about managing museum collections under changing climatological conditions at the International Institute for Conservation’s 2008 London Congress, at the National Gallery, tomorrow at 6:15 p.m.
At Versailles: Koons-a-palooza!!! through Dec. 14th.
In Milan: Steve “Espo” Powers at Galleria Patricia Armocida, through Oct.31st.

The Digest. 09.16.08.

By c-monster on September 16, 2008 in C-Monster, Painting and The Digest. Closed

Ramon Casas y Pere Romeu en Tandem, 1897, by Ramon Casas at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona. (Photo by C-M.)

Fake Sarah Palin. (Via AFC.)
CultureGrrl points out that Damien Hirst’s Sotheby’s auction did very well, but did not exceed estimate. She has more here. Read more coverage in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Guardian. And lastly, take the poll: Damien Hirst, genius or huckster?
In related news: Winkleman has a fantastic post about the absurdity of it all. Plus: Lacayo on the art of it. More here.
Businessman sues gallery over Rodin’s Thinker.
Jerry “Food Virgin” Saltz is interviewed in the Brooklyn Rail. Interesting fact: he was once a trucker: “I became a long distance truck driver; my CB radio name was the Jewish Cowboy. I’d come on and say ‘Shalom, partner.’” Also, Saltz on ArtForum: “I wanted to write the way they wrote in that magazine, which seemed very cool, smart, and reserved, although I was secretly horrified because I barely understood a syllable of what I read.” And on curators: “I do think curators are more often the weakest link in the chain. The same sixteen curators assemble all the shows all over the world, showing the same sixteen artists. It’s horrible and frustrating.” (Via AFC.)
British gallerist is trying to prove that Pietro Psaier, a Warhol acolyte, existed.
The Smithsonian: Still a mess.
The self-portraits of Rafael Goldchain. (Via ackackack.)
Tacheles, the famous Berlin artists squat, may be nearing its end of days.
Graff of the Day: Big Monster, in Barcelona, seen from Google Earth.
Going, going gone: street art works, including pieces by Faile, Swoon, Bäst and Barry McGee go for a whole lotta money at a Phillips de Pury auction last week.
Video: El Tono does a freight car in Monterrey.
Graffiti for butterflies.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has images of a flooded Farnsworth House, Mies Van Der Rohe’s historic Illinois home (via Hello Beautiful!). The Skyline has more here and here.
Schematics of the planned Herzog & de Meuron residential tower for downtown Manhattan. The stacked box design kinda reminds me of Santiago Calatrava’s South Street proposal from a few years back.
Lots of pix from the architecture biennale in Venice and a photo essay on Greg Lynn’s toy furniture pieces. Also: Jonathan Glancey at the Guardian is not sure what it all adds up to.
The Darth Vader hot air balloon.
Your moment of sublime silencing. (Thank you, Yvonne Connasse.)

The Digest. 09.15.08.

By c-monster on September 15, 2008 in C-Monster, Miami, Painting, Sculpture and The Digest. 1 Comment

Detail of a paint sculpture by Loriel Beltran at Fred Snitzer in Miami. His show, Process/Processed, is up through 10/4. See footage of a shirtless Beltran at work here. Hubba hubba… (Photo by C-M.)

I’m back! And ready to grumble. Thanks for your patience during my absence. xox, C.

Bummer.
Bangin’ Art Video of the Day: Kelly Burns pounding the skins. Sort of. (Go to the link that says Projects on the left and then click on Rush Fort, 2008.)
The End is Near: “…no part of the art market is more vulnerable than contemporary art, which has risen so very high on little more than PR and salesmanship.” (Via A.O.)
All Hirst all the Time: A profile of the artist as a middle-aged man in Time, as well as Richard Lacayo’s Q&A in one and two parts. More on Hirst’s garage sale here. Plus: Robert Hughes does a full-blown fist drop on the artist, while Bloomberg reports that Sotheby’s stock takes a dip in anticipation of today’s debacle auction.
Forgive the tardiness, but I was swamp-walking when this happened: Thomas Campbell is named The Met’s new boss man. More here. (What’s up with Campbell’s Sears Portrait Studio-style headshot, by the way?) Also: New York Mag speculates on what Gary Tinterow, another in-house favorite, will do now that the gig has gone to Campbell.
The Slog is super happy that Dana Gioia will be leaving the NEA: “…he revitalized it by turning it into the most cowering, deferential source of government arts funding this side of Syria.”
‘Cuz they needed more room for all that boring art: The New Museum buys another property on the Bowery. Plus: Yet more evidence that the Lower East Side is totally done: Sperone Westwater Gallery to get the Dark Lord Foster to put up a big and shiny building just up the block.
Newsflash: Art Basel to stay in Miami Beach. Because, really, there was a huge chance they were gonna decamp to Fresno.
The beginning of the end for satellite fairs? Or the end of the beginning?
New York Mag‘s Jerry Saltz (aka the “food virgin”) and the Guardian‘s Adrian Searle write about what it’s like to dine at El Bulli. On a competitive note: C-Monster was there last month. Take that, you mainstream media muthas!
Grocery list art.
Sarah Palin not wild about museums (via AFC). Plus: Palin and Hillary, together again. (Sort of.) And: McCain wants to tax the poor.
Graff of the Day: Titifreak mural in Brazil.
Cool animation: Agua by Sam3. (Via Ekosystem.)
Pixadores in Brazil destroy a gallery show at Choque Cultural in São Paulo for commercializing street art. More here.
R.I.P. David Foster Wallace. Video interviews with the writer here.
Photos from the Venice Architecture Biennale.
The glassification of NYC. In related news: Rem Koolhaas is coming to NYC, or at least one of his buildings is.
Will the affordable housing of today be the slums of tomorrow?
Photo Essay: The construction of the Pentagon 9/11 memorial. Should be interesting to see what this looks like once the trees fill in.
When television imitates architecture: J.J. Abrams’ new series, Fringe, rips off Libeskind.
Attempts are afoot in the Illinois state legislature to keep Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dana-Thomas House open to the public. Plus: Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House is flooded by a surging Fox River.
Your moment of Andy Rooney on public art. Sublime.

Nature break. Everglades Edition.

By c-monster on September 11, 2008 in C-Monster, Florida, Nature Break and Street Art. 2 Comments

What I’ve seen today: a red-shouldered hawk eating a snake, a turtle sunbathing, two locusts mating, ‘gators snoozing, turkey buzzards riding the wind currents, a rat snake hunting, and I got bit on the lip by an absolutely ferocious mosquito. Can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow. (Photo by C-M.)

Tags: Everglades National Park.