Vandal Squad, by Joseph Rivera… photographed in my kitchen. (Photo by C-M.)
Guy works for the NYC’s Vandal Squad for twenty years. Guy writes book. To promote the book, guy even does a panel in Brooklyn with a buncha graffiti writers. That is the story of Joseph Rivera, the retired Vandal Squad cop who has just issued the above tome, from powerHouse Books, about his two-decade-long career in the unit. The text chronicles his life cracking down on graffiti, but the book’s layout, ironically, resembles a celebratory graff book: page after page of burners, masterpieces and bubble tags.
If you were feeling conflicted about spending your unemployment check on a book by a cop, then here’s your chance to lay your hands on it for free. Leave a comment below and this little puppy (complete with a photo of Rivera clutching a can of spray paint inside Scrap Yard on p. 74) could be yours!
Nicolai Ourosoff on rethinking the American city: “The problem in America is not a lack of ideas. It is a tendency to equate any large-scale government construction project, no matter how thoughtful, with the most brutal urban renewal tactics of the 1950s.”
More Hitler paintings to go to auction. (Interestingly, they kinda resemble hipster art.) Not really related: Giacometti cats also to go up on the block.
Shepard Fairey statement on his pending AP lawsuit: “I did not create the Obama poster for financial gain…A free download of the Obama image was available on my website, which should provide further evidence of the desire to disseminate the image, not to benefit financially.”
In NYC: Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s Thousand at David Zwirner, through Saturday.
In NYC: Steve McQueen’s Hunger is screening at the IFC.
In Denver:Dialogue at Andenken Gallery, through Sunday.
In L.A.:Lutz Dammbeck, an artist featured in LACMA’s Art of Two Germanys, is giving a talk and showing some of his early videos at L.A.’s Goethe-Institut this Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
In L.A.:Postopolis L.A., a five-day series on art, architecture, music and design, launches next Tuesday. Get more info here.
In L.A.:Venice, photos by Chris Anthony, at the Corey Helford Gallery Special Exhibition Space in Culver City, opens Saturday.
An interesting panel about rights issues related to the use of photography online is coming up in L.A. next week. Should be an interesting one given the whole cease-and-desist situation between the New York Times and Apartment Therapy.
Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station art gallery district may be in serious trouble.
The developer of Santiago Calatrava’s Chicago Spire is turning to the AFL-CIO in hopes of funding. In the meantime, the project is on hold. (ArchDaily.)
Party Arty: At the Guest of Cindy Sherman premiere in SoHo. (All photos by Yvonne Connasse.)
Bonjour! Last night, we attended the premiere party for the new filmGuest of Cindy Sherman at the last minute request of C-Monster, who was temporarily indisposed. Lucky for you, we happened to be in town and tore ourselves away from our favorite local haunt (a place where you can enjoy a delicious Vesper cocktail and are still permitted to smoke!) to cover the proceedings.
The premiere party for GOCS was held at Tailor, in the mythical land of SoHo, which at one time was synonymous with glamour, art and fashion and is now akin to power walking through a suburban mall, replete with food courts and Z Galleries.
We arrived promptly at 8 p.m. to guarantee a minimal wait at the bar. The party, unfortunately, was co-sponsored by a “vodka” brand that shall remain nameless. Let’s just say we were forced to drink several Cape Cods in order to feel even remotely interested in the proceedings…
A tentacle by Avoid, at Work to Do. (Photos by C-M unless otherwise specified.)
I managed to get a sneak peek atWork to Do, the show that the boys over at the Endless Love Crew have been cooking up over at 112 Greene Street in SoHo. (See Martha Cooper’s preview pix here.) Featuring a super duper line-up that includes Ellis G, Avoid, Darkcloud, Stikman, Robots Will Kill and loads more New York City street and graffiti artists, the exhibit will be openings its doors to the public this Thursday, March 26th at 6 p.m. Check it out!
P.S.: I’ve got serious catching up to do on work, sleep and grocery shopping. No Digest today.
Click on images to supersize. More after the jump.
I am on the road today, so no Digest. But if you’ve got a spare half hour, this talk by Ken Belson, the co-author of a book about Hello Kitty, is super interesting. Includes references to ways in which artists and others have messed with Miss Kitty. The nerve!
