In which I hang out with strangers in their PJs, eat cookies and meditate — over at WNYC.
Monthly Archive for March, 2011
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The Armory Show provided the perfect location in which to scope out some works for my series on the figure in contemporary art (see parts one and two). Above, Marc Quinn’s Michael Jackson, from 2010, at Thaddaeus Ropac. A classical take on a fallen icon — reminding me of Michael Jackson and Bubbles by Jeff Koons, except naked.
Pieter Hugo, Mohammed Rabiu with Jamis, Asaba, Nigeria, 2007, at Yossi Milo. I was blown away by this series of photographs by Hugo when they came out, and it was nice to see a large print in person. The fair was heavy on photojournalism, especially series that deal with Africa.
Anish Kapoor, Untitled, 2010, at Lisson. True to my Midwestern roots, I wore blue jeans and a white T-shirt to the Armory… Now, thanks to Anish Kapoor’s reflective tendencies, you’ll all know about my child-bearing hips and incredible forearms. There was an abundance of mirrors, mirror finishes, and reflective plastics at the fair.
Continue reading ‘The Figure in Contemporary Art: Armory Show Edition.’
Volta is meh. But if you’re there, head straight for Steve Turner Contemporary’s booth which has this piece by Deborah Grant. It is pretty dang epic, charting the all-kinds-of-tragic life of painter William H. Johnson in a series of illustrations that creep out from the center. Click on the image to supersize. Click here to see a detail. (Photo by C-M.)
I’ll be the one in the red leather pants. Find a short report and slideshow over at WNYC.
DEAR ART NURSE:
I have a random conservation question for you: A friend of mine just returned from an African safari and brought back some fresh guinea fowl feathers from a bird that she shot. She said that the feathers really stink and she’s trying to get the smell to go away. (Ick. Don’t get me started.) She said she’s tried dish soap, laundry soap, Woolite (which seemed to work the best), but they’re still pretty stanky.
Do you have ideas on what would work best without damaging the integrity of the feathers?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Stinky Feathers
DEAR STINKY:
Back when I was starting out as a conservator I worked in an ethnographic museum where I recall treating feathers — the most delicate of materials — with the most delicate of techniques. The reason is that any aggressive cleaning strips the feathers of their oils and they are then exposed to damage, drying, and all manner of deterioration. I’ve since gone on to work primarily on detritus and organic matter used in the service of contemporary art, so I thought it best if I posed this question to my pal Dana Moffett, formerly of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. She is now a private conservator working in Washington, D.C., on the artifacts of cultures that have better things to do with skulls than encrust them in diamonds.
After expressing horror at the use of dish soap, laundry soap, and Woolite — which probably completely stripped the feathers of their oils — Dana suggested placing the feathers (properly wrapped, of course, in a few sheets of Japanese paper or acid free tissue) into a sealed container (Ziploc bag, Tupperware) that contains an odor scavenger that will absorb the foul odor, like zeolites, activated charcoal (not the kind with lighter fluid), or even kitty litter (seriously). She also warned that she was not sure how long it would take to work. It all depends on the source of the stench.
If it doesn’t go away, there’s always the possibility of recycling the feathers — perhaps as a fragrant work of contemporary art. The next Whitney Biennial isn’t until 2012. There’s time…
Rx,
San Suzie
Have a question for the Art Nurse? E-mail her at suzie [at] c-monster [dot] net.
Get the deets on the big David Wojnarowicz show at PPOW (image above) — and many other happenings — on the weekly Datebook.
From Jon Rafman’s series The 9 Eyes of Google Street View, Berwick Rd. Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, which was on view as part of the exhibit Free, at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, until late this last January.
Last month, I launched a semi-regular series devoted to the way the human figure is depicted in contemporary art. This month, I continue it by looking at a number of works I’ve seen recently in museums, galleries and even on the street.
I want to begin this particular round-up with a look at Jon Rafman’s work, which is pictured above, and explores, among other things, the nature of travel. Rafman has ‘traveled’ the world through Google Street View and brought back the screen shots to prove it. This series along with the rest of the show, raised a lot of questions about the future of our online lives: Namely, will we eventually experience art, travel, and relationships exclusively online? How will the virtual experience differ from real-life? How is our view of other people colored by the internet? Certainly, we’re still figuring out the answers to some of those questions. But Rafman’s found imagery speaks to the abilities as well as the limitations of the web.
Find other images after the jump. All photos by me unless otherwise noted.
Continue reading ‘The Figure in Contemporary Art: Miscellaneous Round-Up.’
Martin Juarez, an absolutely stunning image given to me by my pal Least Wanted, aka Mark Michaelson. Buy his book.
Congrats (I think) to Moses Hawk for winning the C-Mon Giveaway Extravaganza, Jeff Koons doing it edition.
- Awesome wedding cakes.
- Joanne McNeil and her various online selves. Interesting story.
- The Day in LOL Politicians: Queens Congressman wants to sell “sexist” work of public art on Craigslist.
- Remember those historic hanging-by-a-thread Haitian murals my pal Rosa Lowinger wrote about for WNYC’s Gallerina last summer? They finally made the NYT. (Though the paper neglects to mention the conservators doing the actual work. Boo.)
- An album inspired by Hieronymus Bosch.
- Gary Panter on Jack Kirby. Plus: Panter’s advice to young artists.
- What it’s like to have your painted mug featured in the New Yorker.
- Lights.
- Annie Philbin of the Hammer Museum guest DJs at KCRW.
- Fake vintage Japanese ad mascots.
- The CIA has a Flickr feed. And it’s pretty damn weird.
- A Q&A with photographer Malick Sidibé.
- Clemens Behr: The Merzbau meets street art in stonerrific ways. (IKilledJackJohnson.)
- A graffiti analysis sculpture.
- Things That Are Meta: Cleaning graffiti off graffiti.
- Today’s Street Art, Chuck Norris edition.
- “How can you criticize an artist who gets into the limelight by staying out of the limelight, has a healthy secondary market, has good politics — I think — and seems to be slamming both the art world, and casting doubts upon every other street artist in the universe?” Artopia on Exit Through the Gift Shop, making me rethink Banksy.
- Paper dresses. I want the gold one.
- A building with an integrated skate ramp. Smart.
- Zaha Hadid’s new Guangzhou opera house. (kateopolis.)
- The Best Picture on the Internet. (Art Fag City.)
The Catacombs, 16 October 1967, by Billy Monk. Part of the solo exhibit Billy Monk: Nightclub Photographs at Michael Stevenson Gallery, in Cape Town, South Africa. Opens today. (Image courtesy of Michael Stevenson Gallery.)
- S.F.: Helios, Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change, at SFMOMA, through June 7. Plus: see their related exhibit, Picturing Modernity, also through June 7.
- S.F.: Rupert Garcia, the Magnolia Editions, at the de Young, through July 17. (It was Garcia who graced the cover of the Chicano art story I did for ARTnews.) Plus: there’s a gigantor Olmec heads show going on which looks potentially awesome.
- L.A.: On the Line, at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, opens Thursday.
- Houston: Man Bartlett, New Some, at Skydive Art Space, opens Friday at 7pm.
- Milwaukee: Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century, at the Milwaukee Art Museum, through May 15.
- Chicago: Stephen Collier, Brian Guidry and Rachel Jones, New Art From New Orleans, at Western Exhibitions, through April 2.
- Indianapolis: Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial, at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, through Sept. 18.
- Pittsburgh: The Word of God: Sandow Birk’s American Q’uran, at the Warhol Museum, through May 1.
- NYC: John Chamberlain at Paula Cooper Gallery, opens today.
- NYC: Oskar Dawicki, Phantom pain, at Postmasters Gallery, opens Friday at 6pm.
- NYC: José Parlá, Walls, Diaries and Paintings, at Bryce Wokowitz, opens Thursday at 6pm.
- NYC: Geometric Days, at Exit Art, through April 30.
- NYC: Mutual Regards: Joyce Robins and Thomas Nozkowski, at the LeRoy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University School of the Arts, opens today.
