'Le Phoebus' Camera

'Le Phoebus' Camera (circa 1878-1885, Etienne Carjat et Cie., Paris). "...Parisian Etienne Carjat (1828-1906) has not been recorded by history as a camera manufacturer, but rather as an artist: a talented caricaturist and portrait photographer. His name often appears along with those of Disderi and Nadar when one reads of the most well-known and influential Paris photographers of the mid-1800s. Carjat, like Disderi, photographed many of the celebrities of the time (i.e., politicians, painters, sculptors, writers, poets, musicians, actors) in his studio." From Box Cameras.

Heart Of Darkness

Pere Ubu... Heart Of Darkness (1975, Hearthan Records HR101 .mp3 audio 04:47).

Go Sadistik!

Go Sadistik! - Everything about Sadistik, Satanik, Killing and Kilink. "...Experiencing SADISTIK is like finding a lost Italian film from the 1960s and the stories are informed by the multitude of crime, horror and spy releases of the era. SADISTIK reflects the go-go James Bond 007 Playboy jet-set mid-1960s world in escapades loaded with wry quips and a bevy of sexy and amenable femme fatales. While ‘violence against women’ is a purple pulp noir staple of the series, the torment is mostly perpetrated on conniving, villainous men and women who are thwarting the designs of SADISTIK (and would do the same to him given the chance)."

My Hea

My Hea (My Hair, .wmv video 01:59). Music video promo for the film EXTE (Hair Extensions) directed by Shion Sono. EXTE opens in Japan on February 17. Via Twitch Film.

The Monkey's Uncle

Annette with The Beach Boys... The Monkey's Uncle (Vista 440, .mp3 audio 02:32). Theme from The Monkey's Uncle (1965, directed by Robert Stevenson). One of the coolest guitar breaks the BB's ever laid down, IMHO.

Dennis Hopper: A Survey

Dennis Hopper... Paris Woman (1994, Gelatin Silver Print). From Dennis Hopper: A Survey - photographs and paintings by the actor and director Dennis Hopper at Ace Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.

Family Pictures

Anna Gaskell... Untitled #26 (Override) (1997. C-print, laminated and mounted on Sintra,, 19 3/8 x 23 5/8 inches. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum). From the exhibition Family Pictures, February 9 - April 16, 2007 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, NY. "...Featuring works drawn from the Guggenheim museum's permanent collection, Family Pictures explores the representation of families and children in contemporary photography and video. Since its inception in the mid-19th century, photography has always been used to represent the bonds of family, whether through portraiture or documents of important milestones like weddings. In these images, fleeting moments of childhood are captured and preserved, and the family unit is fixed for posterity."

Now I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms

The Feelies... Now I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms (1991, A&M .mp3 audio 01:51). Great Modern Lovers cover.

Works by Heidi McFall

Heidi McFall... Finley Dodging a Banana Leaf (2006, pastelli, acrilico e stampa digitale su carta). From Works by Heidi McFall at Paolo Curti - Annamaria Gambuzzi & Company in Milan. "...Her paintings, in fact, bear a striking resemblance to photographs, and this might be interpreted as a statement of the surrender of painting to the overwhelming power of technology. But artists have always mined the collective image-bank, and since we are living in a civilization of images, McFall starts with photographs and gives them new life."

Have Some Mercy

Delroy Wilson... Have Some Mercy (1974 Dee Jay, produced by Ainsley Folder, .mp3 audio 03:22). The rhythm was used by Lee 'Scratch' Perry for 'To Be A Lover' by Shenley Duffus and 'To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy)' by George Faith. Thank you, DMc.

Once Upon A Time

Delroy Wilson... Once Upon A Time (.mp3 audio 02:17).

Graciela Iturbide: Juchitan

Graciela Iturbide: Juchitan - Exploration of the matriarchal society of a pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico, 1980s. "...Graciela first went to photograph Juchitan at the invitation of the Mexican painter Francisco Toledo. It is one of the oldest of the millennia-old pueblos in Oaxaca, famous for its legends, myths and oral history. It has a population of approximately 150,000 people, mostly of Zapotec culture. This region beside the sea is a land of women, where most of the economic control, religious power and social influence is in their hands. The Zapotecan language has not withered away like so many other indigenous tongues. The clothing, customs and the structure of the social life have been tenaciously maintained by the community. The same force that built the pyramids and sent the women merchants of Juchitan to the furthest corners of the Aztec Empire to trade. The women of Juchitan are large, voluptuous and colourful. Even the oldest women dress with flair, confidence and no concession to hiding age or the western notion that old means unattractive. Graciela's photographs capture their dignity, directness and tenacity."

Outside In

Outside In (New York Times, January 26, 2007). "...The American Folk Art Museum’s transporting exhibition of the scroll-like drawings of the Mexican artist Martín Ramírez (1895-1963) should render null and void the insider-outsider distinction.
Ramírez, who created the roughly 300 drawings that make up his known work between 1948 and 1963 while confined to a mental hospital in Northern California, is simply one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He belongs to the group of accessible, irresistible genius draftsmen that includes Paul Klee, Saul Steinberg and Charles Schulz. Well selected and beautifully installed by Brooke Davis Anderson, a curator at the folk art museum, this show of 97 drawings, some mural-size, is the first museum exhibition of Ramírez’s work in New York and one of the best shows of the season."

Trailer for Kuroneko

Masters of Cinema Series Trailer for Kuroneko, 1968, directed by Kaneto Shindo (QuickTime Video). From Kuroneko at Eureka Video. "...loosely based on the Japanese folktale The Cat’s Return — a mother and daughter-in-law (Nobuko Otowa & Kiwako Taichi) are raped and murdered by pillagers, but return from the dead as vampiric cat spirits intent on revenge. As the ghosts lure soldiers into the bamboo groves, a fearless samurai, Gintoki (Kichiemon Nakamura), is sent to stop their reign of terror."

Show Me That River

Lee 'Scratch' Perry... Show Me That River (.mp3 audio 04:16). From the album Battle Of Armagideon (Millionaire Liquidator) 1986, Trojan TRLS 227.

Thrasher - The First 12 Magazines

Thrasher - The First 12 Magazines. As part of Thrasher's 25th anniversary they have posted their first 12 magazines - January 1981 to
December 1981.

Oaxacan Exodus

Matt Black... Oaxacan Exodus. "...Over 100,000 indigenous Mexican immigrants, mostly Mixtecos, Zapotecos and Triquis from the state of Oaxaca, are now estimated to be living in the United States. They are among the most isolated immigrants ever to arrive in America. Some speak only their indigenous language, and some come from villages without cars, electricity, or indoor plumbing.
In California's San Joaquin Valley, where over half of these new migrants have settled, they are quickly becoming a new rural underclass. Living on the fringes of the Valley's farm labor economy, and isolated by their culture and language, they suffer some of the worst abuses and exploitation in the country." From Photography by Matt Black.

The Great Midwest Trivia Contest

The Great Midwest Trivia Contest at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI is this weekend. "...The Great Midwest Trivia Contest, broadcast over Lawrence University's Internet radio station, WLFM, was founded in 1966 by James B. deRosset, '66. Each January it offers 50 consecutive hours of questions such as 'What was Holden Caulfield's middle name?' and 'What nation drinks the most coffee per capita?'" The Super Garruda from 2006: Spike O'Dell, the WGN radio personality, has a cup museum in Door County, Wis., that features cups signed by celebrities that have been on Spike's show. What did comedian Tracey Ullman write on her cup?

An Artist on the Overland Trail

An Artist on the Overland Trail. "...In the summer of 1849, artist James F. Wilkins traveled overland by wagon train from near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the northern California gold fields, a 151-day voyage that he captured in water-color sketches and in notations in his diary. The sketches became the foundation for an enormous panorama depiction of the route known as 'The Moving Mirror of the Overland Trail.' While the panorama has been lost to history, 50 of Wilkins' sketches, a unique pictorial sequence of drawings, have survived, and are the featured gallery this month from the Society's online image database, Wisconsin Historical Images."

Cavern

Liquid Liquid... Cavern (from the Optimo EP, 99 Records 1983 .mp3 audio 05:20).

Ei-Q

Ei-Q... Untitled (from 'Reason to Sleep' 1936, photo dessin, photogram). From Works by Ei-Q at Tokinowasuremono. (jp)

Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X–197X

Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X–197X at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, NY. "...An explosion of architectural little magazines in the 1960s and 1970s instigated a radical transformation in architectural culture with the architecture of the magazines acting as the site of innovation and debate. Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X – 197X takes stock of seventy little magazines from this period, which were published in over a dozen cities."

Bruce Osborn: Oyako - Portraying Japanese Generations

PingMag... Bruce Osborn: Oyako - Portraying Japanese Generations. "...In 1982 American photographer Bruce Osborn began what has become his lifelong work: the Oyako series. For the last 25 years he took pictures of one parent with one child in a white studio setting. Bruce even introduced its own version of the Japanese “Oyako No Hi” (parent and child) day: he organizes a huge photo session every year. After some time, Bruce would even repeat the same parent-child shoot to reveal the significant changes in the relationship between mother and daughter for example, the differing characteristics of fashion changing over the years or simply documenting people getting older. A part of Bruce’s huge archive is currently shown at the JCII Camera Museum in Tokyo until this Sunday, the 28th." More at Oyako no Hi. Thank you Vida Fuleira.

Uzumaki

Midnight Eye review for Uzumaki. "...Left stone cold by the deadpan minimalism of Hideo Nakata's ghostly Ring? Baffled by the cold metaphysics of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure? Turned off by the tedious Tomie? Were you amongst the droves stampeding from the auditorium during the grisly resolution of Audition? Well, why don't you give Uzumaki a whirl, by far one of the most deliriously entertaining horrors to emerge from Japan over the past few years."

Readymech Series 002

Readymech Series 002. "...Readymechs are free, flatpack toys for you to print and build. They are designed to fit on an 8.5"x11" page and printed with any printer. You’ll need double-sided tape, thick matte paper, and 10-15 minutes for build time."

Paganini - Adagio espressivo

Niccolò Paganini... Violin Concerto No.1 in D, Op.6, 2nd Movement Adagio espressivo (.wmv audio 05:14). Midori Goto on violin with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Recorded in May of 1987 when Midori Goto was 15.

My Boy Elvis

Janis Martin... My Boy Elvis (1956, RCA Victor 47-6652 .mp3 audio 02:06)

DPRK

Philippe Chancel... DPRK. "...Philippe Chancel’s photographs show us a public sphere orchestrated to the last and finest detail. Everywhere flags, murals, slogans glorify the party ; everywhere monuments, statues, portraits glorify its leaders, the « Great » one and the « Dear » one, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. In this country where slogans read « Art is the Party », where the party’s symbol is the hammer, sickle and paintbrush, the political has been transfigured into an all-encompassing æsthetic – a totalitarian aesthetic for a totalitatian regime." From Philippe Chancel Photographer. Also... From Lens Culture... Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2007 — the four finalists; Philippe Chancel, Anders Petersen, Fiona Tan, and Walid Raad/The Atlas Group.

Spiegel-Spielerei

Auguste Belloc... Spiegel-Spielerei (1855, Stereoscope Photos). From Classics at LUMAS.

Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China

Liu Zheng... Nanjing Massacre Waxwork in the Memorial Museum, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 2000. "...From the series The Chinese. These photographs of waxworks, stone statues and filmsets represent key episodes from Chinese history and mythology. They form part of Liu Zheng's photographic project The Chinese. The series combines both documentary-style photography and imagined tableaux, conveying the rich variety of Chinese culture and society. As critic Gu Zheng writes, the artist 'uses this imagery as raw material to create his own historical memory.'" From the exhibition Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Sex and Drugs and Rock'n Roll

Ian Dury and the Blockheads... Sex and Drugs and Rock'n Roll (.mp3 audio 03:12).

Martin Munkacsi: Think While You Shoot

Martin Munkacsi: Think While You Shoot at the ICP. "...In his day, the Hungarian Martin Munkacsi (1896-1963) was one of the most famous photographers in the world. His dynamic photographs of sports, entertainers, politics, and street life in Germany and Hungary from the late 1920s and 1930s, were taken in a new, freewheeling style that captured the speed and movement of the modern era. Many of those early photographs were published in German photo weeklies, where Munkacsi made his reputation doing reportage, often from exotic locales. In 1933, Munkacsi turned his energetic style to fashion photography, making images of models running on the beach. Those pictures revolutionized fashion photography with their informality and vitality. Soon after he was offered a contract by Carmel Snow, the editor of Harper's Bazaar, and he left for New York, where he made his fame and fortune. This exhibition, organized by F.C. Gundlach at the Haus der Photographie, Hamburg, includes over 125 vintage photographs as well as magazines and page layouts."

Works by Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz

Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz... Traveler 170 at Night (2005, Snowglobe, 9x6x6 inches, Photograph 40x33 inches C-Print). From Works by Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz. "...Few things are more gratifying to the eye and the imagination than a good snow globe. The collaborators Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz have taken advantage of this foolproof form to tell evocative tales of lonesome travelers in frozen wildernesses. Each water-filled six-inch sphere, mounted on a round wooden base, contains an arctic topography of snow-clad hills and boulders and dead trees where one or more little plastic people (bought at model-making supply stores) are passing through or stranded.
In most cases they are carrying suitcases, briefcases or backpacks and are dressed not for polar exploration but in ordinary street clothes. A woman stoops to peer into the hollow at the base of a tree. A little schoolgirl finds her path blocked by a stocky bald man in a shirt and tie. A wolf stalks a woman in red. A man sits disconsolately on a rough wooden platform high in a dead tree. An S.U.V. gone off track is buried in snow. Snow falls gently on these sad scenes when the globes are jostled."

Masks Of The Americas & Vintage Photographs of Masks

Masks Of The Americas & Vintage Photographs of Masks, January 11 - March 10, 2007 at Throckmorton Fine Art in New York, NY. "...The exhibition will feature masks from the Pre-Columbian cultures of Mezcala, Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya and Aztec. A collection of devil masks from Guerrero will be exhibited for the first time and a group of Colonial era dance masks in wood will be shown. Also on view will be vintage photographs of masks from the 1920’s by Edward Weston, images by Tina Modotti, Hector Garcia and Mariana Yamplosky prints from the 1960’s."

The Day of Saint Valentine

The Day of Saint Valentine. "...In 1969, Tony Ingram – a 14 year old student at Melbourne Grammar School, wrote and began to produce a B&W 16mm film of Picnic at Hanging Rock titled The Day of Saint Valentine, only two years after the book's publication, and some six years prior to the production of Peter Weir's film. It was his second film, following an earlier adaptation he produced of William Golding's novel – Lord of the Flies – titled Inward Urge that was screened at the Dendy Cinema in Brighton, Melbourne. Some of the cast in the film were students of Clyde Girls School (the same school Joan Lindsay attended - though resituated in Woodend) and sections of the film were shot at Hanging Rock." From Picnic at Hanging Rock at the Hanging Rock Reserve, Victoria, Australia.

I Gotta Find Someone

Tiny Tim and His Tornadoes... I Gotta Find Someone (1960, Teen's Choice TC-8 .mp3 audio 02:02).

David Choe: Gardeners of Eden

David Choe: Gardeners of Eden, January 6 - February 3, 2007 at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York, NY. "...Jonathan LeVine Gallery is proud to present Gardeners of Eden, David Choe’s first solo exhibition of paintings in New York. For Gardeners of Eden, David Choe will present the full range and scale of his versatile talent. Experimenting with mixed media, sculpture and painting, Choe’s exhibition is a culmination of recent adventures and powerful experiences. Inspired by being alive and loving life, Gardeners of Eden is a celebration of all acts undeniably human."

Works by Céline Pierre

Céline Pierre... Fonds 11 (Polaroïd, zinc, cartes IGN, graphites, impressions encres pigmentaires. From Works by Céline Pierre at La Galerie d'Art de Belgique. (be)

John Isaacs: You Said You Would Always Be There

John Isaacs... What is it that there is something and nothing (2006, archival inkjet photgraphic print). From John Isaacs: You Said You Would Always Be There at Aeroplastics Contemporary. "...Isaacs’s work is filled with dreams of a world in which thought precludes action, in which the theme of protest melts away from the dialectical to form the everyday emotional landscape of the individual elevated to the societal. For Isaacs, art represents not the manifestation of an egotistical creative language or ability, lost in a self-reflective abstraction, but the root of a pre-lingual connection in which all mankind can find itself. Though there are many themes, many forms running through the works presented here, at their centre lies an unwavering exploration and investigation of the human psyche, of the place in which the body meets the mind, and finds in this communication that it is not alone."

L'Anarchie Pour Le U.K.

The Sex Pistols... L'Anarchie Pour Le U.K. (.mp3 audio 03:23). Vocals by Jerzimy, from The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle (1979, Virgin Records VD2510).

One Cup of Coffee and a Cigarette

Glen Glenn... One Cup of Coffee and a Cigarette (1958, Era 45-1074 .mp3 audio 01:56)

The Magic of Antarctic Colours: David A. Paige, Artist of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, 1933-1935

The Magic of Antarctic Colours: David A. Paige, Artist of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, 1933-1935. "...In 1933, Paige applied for the position of Expedition Artist for Byrd’s Second Antarctic Expedition. Byrd replied that there would be no room for an artist, although he would have liked to take one. Although disappointed, Paige continued to pursue his dream of becoming the expedition artist through lobbying several members of the crew, as well as garnering letters of recommendation from the several important personalities of the day, including Senator Coolidge of Massachusetts, Dr. Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History, and Mr. Dart of the New York Times. It is unclear what finally changed Byrd’s mind, but in October 1933, Byrd conceded. David Paige would be the artist on the Second Byrd Expedition to Antarctica."

Stencilboard

It's Hot Time In California (Stencil, Decemeber, 2006, Buenos Aires, Argentina). From Stencilboard. "...Stencils are sprayed pictures in public areas, which are produced by using stencils. The site is exclusively dedicated to Stencil-Graffities, which are in general referred to as Stencils or Pochoirs. Besides presenting these graphics, the site supports the setting up of a Community, which discusses the works on display and features new examples of stencils by uploading photographs."

The Best (And Worst) Of 2006

Midnight Eye... The Best (And Worst) Of 2006. "...The makers of Midnight Eye pick their traditional best and worst of the past year. This year the group consists of Tom Mes, Jasper Sharp, Nicholas Rucka, Alex Zahlten, and Jason Gray.

Just Passin' Through: The Lincoln & Victory Highways in Nevada

"Howdy" from Sparks (postcard, ca. 1955). "...B Street in this busy railroad center in the beautiful Washoe Valley - a friendly 'Western Town' full of traditional 'Western Hospitality.'" From Just Passin' Through: The Lincoln & Victory Highways in Nevada.

Ben Olson

Ben Olson... Untitled #37. From Works by Ben Olson of Minneapolis, MN.

Aurélia Frey Photographie

Aurélia Frey...Absence, 2002-2004. From Aurélia Frey Photographie. (fr)

Launderette

Vivien Goldman... Launderette (.mp3 audio 03:35) From the Dirty Washing EP, 1981, 99 Records, produced by John Lydon and Keith Levene.

Porpoise Song (Theme from 'Head')

The Monkees... Porpoise Song (Theme from 'Head') (.mp3 audio 02:56). Thank you, DMc.

Boogie

Photographs by Boogie at Galerie Alain Le Gaillard in Paris. "...Boogie was born in Serbia and emigrated to the United States in 1998. His work has appeared in Cube (Sartoria/Modena, 2003), as well as The New York Times, Italian Rolling Stone, Hamburger Eyes, Swindle, Vice, Mass Appeal, Playboy, YRB, Ojodepez, and Made magazine, among other publications. His clients include Nike and Shellac. The finalist for the 2006 Santa Fe Prize for Photography, Boogie lives and works in Brooklyn, New York." Also... Works by Boogie at his personal site including those from his latest book 'It's All Good' (2006, powerHouse Books). Awesome! Boogie's real name is Vladimir Milivojevich.

Works by Don Jacot

Don Jacot... Pals (2005, oil on canvas). From Works by Don Jacot at Louis K. Meisel Gallery.

József Pécsi, 1889-1956

József Pécsi, 1889-1956. "...He was a photographer, an artist, owner of the Golden Diploma title, a specialist, a teacher and collector, and one of the best in each area. Without his work and individuality the history of Hungarian photography would be incomplete. Whatever he touched turned to gold in his hands. His pictorial portraits, landscapes, fashion and advertisement photographs which incorporate the results of the Neue Sachlichkeit, still life's, avant-garde nudes, and portraits done with a new pictorial approach have all proven to stand the test of time, and in many cases even created schools of style. His interesting facial features have inspired many painters."

Edgar Martins - The Dininishing Present: Dystopia And The Accidental Theorist

Edgar Martins - The Dininishing Present: Dystopia And The Accidental Theorist at Betty Cuningham Gallery in New York, NY. "...The two series are distinct both visually and in intent. Dystopia (c-type prints, 35 3/8 x 44 7/8 in., ed. of 5) was shot in the immediate aftermath of the forest fires that ravaged Portugal in 2005 and has strong political/ecological concerns. The Accidental Theorist (c-type prints, 26 x 32 5/8 in., ed. of 5), also shot in Portugal, takes place on the beach at night and poises on the edge of abstraction. The two series have in common a surreal quality perhaps generated by an almost complete absence of a human presence."

Make A Joyful Noise

Singers & Players... Make A Joyful Noise (.wma audio 06:03). From the album Leaps And Bounds (1984, Cherry Red Records). Features one of my favourite bass-lines of all time.

José Garcia Montebravo: Cuban Self-Taught Painter

José Garcia Montebravo... Un Gallo para Eleggua (2005, Acrylic on Canvas). From the exhibition José Garcia Montebravo: Cuban Self-Taught Painter at Indigo Arts Gallery. "...José Garcia Montebravo was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba on October 15, 1953. A self-taught artist, Montebravo received a college degree in geography and taught in secondary schools for 19 years before begining to paint seriously in 1980. He had his first solo exhibition in 1984. He still lives in the town of Cienfuegos, where he is a leading member of the art community.
Montebravo is best known for his powerful images of Afro-Cuban infantas or princesses. In a witty play on the court portraits of Velasquez as well as the Latin American“santo” icon tradition, Montebravo’s infantas are unmistakably Afro-Cuban women who carry the attributes of the Santeria deities or orishas to which they are devoted. His 'Infanta con Pez' holds a fish and wears blue in reference to the orisha of the sea, Yemanja, or the 'Infanta con hacha', dressed in red wields a stone club, in honor of Shango/Santa Barbara. His paintings depict birds, animals and the lush Cuban plant life with a strength which suggests an allegorical or religious symbolism. Concurrent with his infanta portraits, Montebravo has worked on two extensive series of mixed media works on paper he calls 'Escenas Fantasticas' (Fantastic Scenes) and more recently a series of 'Espacios Transitados' (Transitional Spaces)."

The Secret Of Love

Yvonne De Carlo... The Secret Of Love (Imperial 5484, 1958, .mp3 audio 02:07). RIP: Yvonne De Carlo.

Civil Defense Food Kit

Civil Defense Food Kit. "...Surviv-All, Inc., of New York City manufactured the food kits, but General Mills developed the central component--a gallon can containing a granulated protein mix called Multi-Purpose Food (MPF). General Mills had experimented with shelf-stable food engineered for fallout shelters since 1960. Served hot or cold, wet or dry, three scoops of MPF were all shelter occupants needed to meet required daily nutrients and caloric intake. General Mills recommended adding MPF to other foods, such as tomato juice for breakfast and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner, suggesting the product's flavor may have been less than desirable. If requested, General Mills would even supply innovative recipes for cooking the post-nuclear apocalypse staple."

Al Farrow: Reliquaries

Al Farrow... Skull of Santo Guerro (1998, Guns, Gun parts, Bullets, lead Shot, Steel, Glass, Bone, Steel, Crucifix, 42h X 20w X 20d). From Reliquaries by Al Farrow. "...Historically, this self-taught artist has rendered his subjects in bronze, pioneering techniques such as solid casting. At one point in his career he constructed and operated his own bronze foundry in order to employ the unique techniques he developed. Recently, however, Farrow is working with found materials, mainly guns, gun parts, bombs and bullets. These unlikely art materials are incorporated into architectural structures, based on medieval Spanish and Italian reliquaries. Farrow’s assemblages contemplate the dichotomous role religion and religious icons play in society: contemporary and historical. The structures at once inspire transcendence and fear as the viewer comes to recognize the violent implications of the materials. Employing his interest in archaeology and art history to explore issues with contemporary resonance, Farrow contemplates the profound irony of the age old bedfellows, war and religion."

I'm Blue

The 5,6,7,8's... I'm Blue (.mp3 audio 02:28).

Amy Bennett: Neighbors

Amy Bennett... Someday You Will Long For This (2006, oil on canvas). From Amy Bennett: Neighbors at Richard Heller Gallery. Also... Works by Amy Bennett at her personal site. "...I am interested in the awkwardness of a group of people trying to coexist and relate to one another, the fragility of relationships, and the uncertainty and anxiety of growing up. Working with common themes such as transition, aging, domestic responsibilities, and loss, I am currently developing a series of narrative paintings based on a fictitious neighborhood."

Pavel Šmíd: Na cestě

Pavel Šmíd: Na cestě (On The Road). "...I am not trying to make a real documetary. I try to capture the brief glimpses of eternal story that I take part in…the story of the times in which all of us play our unsubstitutable roles and it doesn’t matter which stage of the world we currently stand upon. Two photographs in one frame are not a matter of coincidence, they illustrate the resemblance, even though they were taken in Jerusalem, at Ground Zero in New York, in the small village of Richka (Ukraine) or at the shore of Brittany."

3 x 5

Dana Weiser... Dragon Lady Bobble Head (detail) (2006). From the exhibition 3 x 5 - Three images each by five emerging artists at Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. Works by photographers Matthew Jordan, Lisa Robinson, Andrew Miksys and Amy Stein as well as ceramic artist Dana Weiser.

The Savage

The Shadows... The Savage (1962, .wma audio 02:22). Also... Witch Doctor (The Savage, unissued film version, .mp3 audio 02:19).

Eugene Von Bruenchenhein: Viewing Gallery

Eugene Von Bruenchenhein: Viewing Gallery, January 12 - March 10, 2007 at Kinz, Tillou + Feigen in New York, NY. "...Eugene Von Bruenchenhein was a reclusive self-taught artist whose visionary work was discovered only upon his death in 1983. Working in a modest house overcrowded with art outside of Milwaukee, Von Bruenchenhein painted fanciful and phantasmic landscapes of other worlds, some inhabited with primordial sea-like creatures. His skillful finger paintings were made wet-into-wet in one fervorish sitting. Besides writing poetry and theories on the genesis of life, he also compulsively made miniature sculptures from dried chicken bones, ceramics of plant forms and hundreds of loving, semi-nude pin-up photographs of his wife Marie."

Stan Douglas: Klatsassin

Stan Douglas: Klatsassin at David Zwirner Gallery. Klatsassin takes its title from a Tsilhqot’in chief (the Tsilhqot’in are Athapascan-speaking Aboriginal people in British Columbia) and will include two series of photographs and a high-definition video projection. The video, set in 1864 in the forests of Canada’s Cariboo Mountains, focuses on the hostility between the Tsilhqot’in tribe and encroaching settlers seeking gold on the Chilcotin Plateau. Klatsassin led an insurgency but at first evaded capture. He was eventually lured with the gift of tobacco, taken prisoner, tried for murder, and hanged."

Don Baum: Re-Visiting the Brilliance of a Legend

Don Baum: Re-Visiting the Brilliance of a Legend, January 5 – February 3, 2007 at Carl Hammer Gallery in Chicago, IL. "...Carl Hammer Gallery is honored, once again, to present legendary artist, Don Baum, in an exhibition of art work spanning the past sixty years. Perhaps known best for his Domus series, a body of re-constructed constructions, Baum’s life-long employment of the art of assemblage uniquely and successfully analyzed all of that which makes us human. Combining any number of found objects (dolls, boxes, bread boards, paint-by-number paintings, game boards, etc.), Baum’s vision is often linked to the likes of Joseph Cornell, Louise Bourgeois, H.C. Westermann, and others. But his work is both distinct and different. For Baum, construction techniques were more simply a means to an end than an aspect of content itself. Likewise, sculptural issues are overshadowed in his work by a concern for meaning; formal relationships, while certainly considered, are always secondary to the artist’s preoccupation with the potential for emotive or psychological impact."

Sex Beat

The Gun Club... Sex Beat (.mp3 audio 02:48). From the album Fire of Love (1981) - still one of the greatest debut lp's ever, IMHO.

Donald E. Camp: Dust Shaped Hearts

Donald E. Camp... Man Who Hears Music/ Andre Raphael Smith (from Dust Shaped Hearts series, 2006, Photographic Casein Monoprint, Casein and raw earth pigment on archival rag paper. From Donald E. Camp: Dust Shaped Hearts. "...Donald Camp’s intimate portraits resemble great American landscapes. The weathered plains and deep ravines are the terrain of men and woman who have been tested and challenged throughout their lives. Camp’s recent work builds upon his earlier portraits, which confronted negative stereotypes of African American men. Appropriating the basic form of the crime-related headshot — a frequent representation of African American men in the media — Camp countered stereotypes with portraits of African American men who have, without acknowledgement, enriched our country and our culture. In his work, Camp has presented musicians, writers, artists, judges, and many others. Each tightly constrained portrait exhibits the emotional and, in some cases, physical scarring from the struggle to succeed in a marginalizing world."

Promotional Clip for 'Psycho'

Promotional Clip for 'Psycho' (1960, .wmv video 06:42). Alfred Hitchcock gives us an informative tour of the Bates Motel and mansion. From Hitchcockmania - Il sito del maestro del brivido Alfred Hitchcock. (it) Via Peanut Butter Sandwich.

Minami Kaze

Meiko Kaji... Minami Kaze (Southern Wind .mp3 audio 03:10).

Works by Joni Sternbach

Joni Sternbach... Abandoned #3A (Broken Home, Napeague, 2004, Ambrotype). From Works by Joni Sternbach at Photo-Eye. "...My photographs over recent years have embraced traditions of landscape, seascape, and architecture. It’s the human imprint on these views that interests me most. I’ve sought out relics and ruins reflecting that imprint to illuminate the past and our participation in it. Working with a large-format camera, I’ve concentrated on locations that are close to or directly on the water."

Bill Dunlap Art and Illustration

Bill Dunlap... Mayhem (2006, acrylic on cutout cardboard, 24"x21"). From Bill Dunlap Art and Illustration.

One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)

The White Stripes... One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below) (.mp3 audio 03:11). Cover of the Bob Dylan song off Desire (1976) - our favourite BD album.

Sarah Stolfa: The Regulars

Sarah Stolfa: The Regulars at Gallery 339 in Philadelphia, PA. "...Sarah Stolfa envisions the boundaries of collective experience and isolation in her photographic series, The Regulars. Shot while bartending at McGlinchey’s, one of Philadelphia’s oldest taverns, these striking portraits resonate with the searching and loneliness of the urban bar experience. Yet in these images, Stolfa has found the dignity and individuality of her subjects. Composed with consistency of viewpoint and complexity of perspective, these portraits of the bar’s regulars blend the unusual state of detachment and intimacy found in a local bar."

Elizabeth Neal

Elizabeth Neal... Green Lady (2003, Oil on canvas). Nice parody of Vladimir Tretchikoff's Chinese Girl. From Selected Works by Elizabeth Neal at the Saatchi Gallery.

Sweet Jane

The Cowboy Junkies... Sweet Jane (.mp3 audio 03:22). From The Trinity Session (1988) - a cover of the version of 'Sweet Jane' found on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live.

Gold King Mine '03

Gold King Mine '03. "...Ancient cars and trucks and their equally venerable proprietor, Don Robertson, are the star attractions at the Gold King Mine's 'Million-Dollar Junkyard; outside of Jerome, (AZ). Plus and old-time general store and various barnyard critters." From Turnpike Cruiser.

Martín Ramírez

Works by Martín Ramírez, coming January 23 – April 29, 2007 to the American Folk Art Museum in New York, NY. "...Martín Ramírez (1895–1963) created nearly 300 drawings of remarkable visual clarity and expressive power within the confines of DeWitt State Hospital in northern California, where he resided the last 15 years of his life. Ramírez has been codified primarily as a 'schizophrenic artist'; this project promises to go beyond the boundaries of Ramírez’s diagnosis of mental illness and consider the artistic quality and merit of his artwork. In this way, Ramírez’s works will be understood—and appreciated—for the complex, multilayered drawings that they are."

György Stalter: Józsefváros

György Stalter: Józsefváros. "...This series of photographs is the product of several years of work in pursuit of renewal of photo reportage as a genre. I use a specific set of colours achieved by analogue techniques of picture-modification. My aim is to create a subjective reality of present-time documentary by shifting the simple reality. My ambition - stimulated by the changed visual culture and visuality - is vital to help the receiver recognize the social connections. The current experiment means to me an attempt to reassess the category of traditional socio-photography. This revaluation of the photo reportage is important for me in both content and formal means. The photos record the vanishing mood of Józsefváros, the part of the 8th District of Budapest which is undergoing to rapid progress and change where old and new still meet in the lives of people living here."

Sammy Davis Jr. Sings for Alka-Seltzer as Hangover Remedy

Sammy Davis Jr... Plop Plop Fizz Fizz- Rock Version (.mp3 audio 02:36) and Plop Plop Fizz Fizz - Big Band Version (.mp3 audio 02:34). From Sammy Davis Jr. Sings for Alka-Seltzer as Hangover Remedy at Dinosaur Gardens. "...It’s 1978 and the Miles Laboratory, creators of Alka-Seltzer, have signed on international superstar Sammy Davis Jr. as the perfect spokesman for their 'Party hard? Live fast? Get relief FAST!' promotional campaign aimed at the fast growing demographic of late 70’s swingers and drug addicted socialites."

Lost Art: Our Year in Pictures 2006

Lost Art... Our Year in Pictures 2006 | silent. From Ignacio Aronovich and Louise Chin at Lost Art.

Happy New Year

Momokawa Choki... New Years Day (signed Shiko, late 18th/early 19th century, ukiyo-e print.) . Happy New Year from gmtPlus9(-15).