Sunday, December 30, 2007

Carsick Cars: Panda

Carsick Cars... Panda (.mp3 audio 04:44). From the album Look Directly Into The Sun: China Pop 2007 on Bloodshot Records.

A Thousand Guitars

Tracy Pendarvis & The Swampers... A Thousand Guitars (1960, Sun 335 .mp3 audio 02:36).

Alessandra Exposito

Kitty Bean Alessandra Exposito... Kitty Bean (2005, mixed media on cat skull). From Beloved Pets by Alessandra Exposito. "... The hen has been central to the iconography of my paintings. My fascination with this animal has evolved from exploring it as a two-dimensional subject to using it as the medium itself. My bejeweled chicken skulls interplay the image of the hen and all her connotations with the rugged machismo associated with large, exotic, mounted game. In this body of work I appropriate trendy and clichéd accoutrements of femininity, exploiting the color pink and using rhinestones as accents. In a new installation, I have broadened my vocabulary to construct a 'trophy wall' of farm animals and domestic pets."

Wisconsin Historical Society Doll Collection

Composition Doll (girl, worn undergarments, England, 1830-1880) and Milwaukee Handicraft Project Dolls. From the Wisconsin Historical Society Doll Collection. "...In the early 20th century doll collecting became a popular hobby among women, so it is not surprising that the Wisconsin Historical Museum acquired its first doll from a female donor in 1913. Since then the museum has collected almost 1,200 more dolls. For decades the museum staff kept many of them on display in the basement of the headquarters building, where they were tremendously popular, especially among girls. In 1986 the museum moved to its new location on Madison's Capitol Square and the dolls returned to storage. The dolls are finally on view again, but this time on the Wisconsin Historical Museum's online collection Web site."

Palpitating Remains

Gregory Jacobsen... Strangled Dehydrated Apricot Head with Pastry Attached (2007, acrylic on wood). From the exhibition Palpitating Remains - new painting by Gregory Jacobsen at Zg Gallery in Chicago, IL.

Works by Ian Francis

Ian Francis... True love in Hollywood, and other places. From Works by Ian Francis. "...My work is about modern life, particularly television, world events, celebrities, and day-to-day living. It's about pornography and news reports from war zones instead of sex and death."

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Joyeux Noël

Joyeux Noël Joyeux Noël de gmtPlus9(-15)

Monday, December 24, 2007

I Want Elvis For Christmas

The Holly Twins with Eddie Cochran... I Want Elvis For Christmas (1956, Liberty F 55048 .mp3 audio 01:55).

Christoph Ruckhäberle: Falsche Figuration

Grosse Dame Christoph Ruckhäberle... Grosse Dame (Large Lady, 2007, Oil on canvas). From the exhibiton Christoph Ruckhäberle: Falsche Figuration at Galleri Nicolai Wallner in Copenhagen, Denmark. "...Ruckhäberle's work represents a compositional jigsaw puzzle, each element an individually delineated shape filling a gap in the whole: L-shaped knees disjointedly connected to trapeze skirts, and tubular arms and legs unite square bodies - the individual elements locked together without a sense of grounded order. A rhythmic pattern of triangles between the juxtaposed limbs gives form and movement to the figures. This space in-between sums up a classic painterly paradox, how solid mass is only made possible by absence."

Photo LA: The 17th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition

Edmund Teske... Faded Roses, Murray Drive Studio, Los Angeles (1958-59, Gelatin silver print, 1970s solarized negative print. Signed by artist on brown mount margin recto). From Photo LA: The 17th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition.

Christmas Calling

Valerie Masters... Christmas Calling (.mp3 audio 02:32). From the album Joe Meek Presents - Let's Go! - Joe Meek's Girls.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Ann Texter Photography

Ann Texter... Holga and Polaroid Image Transfers. From Ann Texter Photography. "...Ann Texter is a self-taught photographer originally from Kansas, currently living in Texas. She specializes in toy camera, medium format, large format, Polaroid, and various other types of photography. She is an active member of the Austin Alternative Process Group and the Texas Photographic Society."

I'm Learning To Share

DMc recommends I'm Learning To Share. Wow! Me too! Gotta love the Clutch Cargo Comix.

Hollywood in Cambodia

fotos Fotos from Hollywood in Cambodia - Galeria de Imagenes, Buenos Aires, Argentina. "...Los murales de la terraza estan en constante cambio ya que todo el tiempo se acercan artistas que van dejando su impronta grabada en el cemento." (ar)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

To Live Is To Fly

The Cowboy Junkies... To Live Is To Fly (.mp3 audio 04:24). From the album Black Eyed Man. A Townes Van Zandt song.

Talking Man

Stinky Lou and the Goon Mat with Lord Benardo... Talking Man (.mp3 audio 03:40). From the album 12 Roots and Boogie Blues Hits by Stinky Lou and the Goon Mat with Lord Benardo of Belgium.

Candy

Xue Mo... Portrait of Sarula (2007, oil on canvas). From the exhibition Candy at Diane Farris Gallery. "...a wide array of styles and subject matter in paintings, drawings, photographs, glass and sculpture by new artists and long-time favourites. The exhibition pieces have been chosen from new or recent works of the participating artists."

Monday, December 17, 2007

Jungle Rock

Jungle Rock Hank Mizell... Jungle Rock (1958, EKO 506 .mp3 audio 02:42). Mistakenly credited to Jim Bobo on the label.

Shi Guorui: Uncanny Perceptions

Shi Guorui... Tian'anmen (2007, Unique camera obscura silver gelatin print, 119 x 234 cm). From the exhibition Uncanny Perceptions, December 1, 2007 – February 28, 2008 at Chinese Contemporary Art in both Beijing and New York. "...Since his transformation of a watchtower on the Great Wall of China into a pin-hole camera in 2004, Shi Guorui has continuously produced richly detailed photographs of landscapes and cityscapes. His photographic process is as storied as his photos are striking. The artist has completed over ten, large-scale projects, which have taken him across the globe from the base camp of Mount Everest to San Francisco’s Alcatraz. This exhibition, however, highlights new works taken closer to home – in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai."

Birds of Passage

Lens Culture... Birds of Passage - photographs and text by Ingar Krauss. "...More than 300,000 harvest hands come to Germany every year from Eastern Europe. Their season starts with the asparagus harvest in April and ends with cabbage and grapes in autumn. It is interesting to watch the internal dynamics in this kind of migration. Typically most of the workers had come from Poland, but during the last years more and more people have come from further Eastern Europe, from the Ukraine or Romania, while a lot of Polish workers have migrated as far as Sweden and England because they get better pay there."

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Warhol Factory's Danny Williams 'A Walk Into the Sea' Esther Robinson Interview

A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory Warhol Factory's Danny Williams 'A Walk Into the Sea' Esther Robinson Interview (Flash Video 32:46). "...Documentary filmmaker Esther Robinson sits down in New York for a feature interview on The Alcove with Mark Molaro. She discusses her new film 'A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory.' The film tells the story of the still missing person Danny Williams, Robinson's uncle and key member of Andy Warhol's Factory during the 1960's. The film shows the previously unseen films of Danny Williams, which provides a unique window into his extraordinary creative talent and unique character. Surviving members of the Factory reflect on Danny Williams, as well as the legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles." Also... A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory - website for the film which opened on the 14th.

Review of I Am Cuba

Review of I Am Cuba by Ian Johnston at Not Coming To A Theater Near You. "...Mikhail Kalatozov is more than Dziga Vertov’s Man With The Movie Camera, he’s a man in love with the movie camera. His is a camera that flies, plunges, sweeps, twirls, swings, dances, tracks, booms—it’s a dazzling gymnastics of the movie camera that intoxicates the viewer in the same way that Kalatozov is intoxicated by it. Movement is all, in fact there’s a sense that the frankly simplistic characters in the separate stories that make up I Am Cuba are mere starting points around which the camera can dance and from which it can spin off its choreography of camera movement."

Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft

Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft at the Victoria and Albert Museum. "...Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft brings together the work of eight contemporary artists who place craft at the heart of their practice: Olu Amoda, Catherine Bertola, Annie Cattrell, Susan Collis, Naomi Filmer, Lu Shengzhong, Yoshihiro Suda and Anne Wilson. Collectively these artists use a diverse range of traditional and new technologies, from carving, sewing, welding to animation and laser etching. Working with exceptional skill and attention to detail, they use ordinary materials - paper, thread, dust and nails - to make works that are both intricate and large in scale."

Unrealized Moscow

Unrealized Moscow - The Architecture of Moscow from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Unrealised projects.

Images of the Highlander Folk School

Images of the Highlander Folk School. "...The Highlander Folk School, and later the Highlander Research and Education Center, began in the 1930s as a social leadership center focused on labor organization in Monteagle, Tennessee. In 1953 Highlander shifted focus to civil rights, reflecting an underlying belief that advances in labor depended greatly on defeating segregation. The shift to civil rights attracted activists like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and provoked a backlash among white supremacists that earned the school a reputation as a communist breeding ground. The distinguished and tumultuous history of the Highlander Folk School is the subject of this month's featured gallery from Wisconsin Historical Images, the Society's online image database."

Friday, December 14, 2007

Yasumasa Morimura - Requiem for the XX Century; Twilight of the Turbulent Gods

Yasumasa Morimura... A Requiem: Mishima, 1970 (2006, C-print mounted on alpolic, 59 X 47 1/4 inches). From the exhibition Yasumasa Morimura - Requiem for the XX Century; Twilight of the Turbulent Gods at Luhring Augustine Gallery. "...new self-portraits by the Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura. This body of work entitled, Requiem for the XX Century: Twilight of the Turbulent Gods, examines an array of historical figures and political events that have been significant in shaping the 20th century. Employing his usual methodology, Morimura uses costumes, make-up and props to create unconventional and bold renderings of iconic images from history."

Daily News

Jah Berry... Daily News (1974, Phase One, Produced and Arranged by Roy Francis .mp3 audio 03:12). DJ cut to 'Jah Jah New Garden' by Lopez Walker. From the album We Are Getting Bad - The Sound Of Phase One (2002, Motion Records). Thank you, DMc.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The 100 Greatest Rocksteady Tunes

DanceCrasher is counting down The 100 Greatest Rocksteady Tunes. I hope 'Girl You Ruff' by The Overtakers (1968, Amalgamated AMG 809) makes the list.

Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey

Romare Bearden... Untitled - Two Obeah Figures (1987, Watercolor and gouache). From the exhibition Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey at DC Moore Gallery in New York. "...In 1977, Romare Bearden created twenty collages based on episodes from The Odyssey, Homer’s ancient Greek poem. Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey is the first full-scale presentation of these works since they were originally shown thirty years ago. The exhibition will also include additional compositions relating to Bearden’s interest in classical themes and will examine his motivations in creating these works within the context of the Odysseus Series and his overall oeuvre."

Rocket 88

Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats... Rocket 88 (1951, Chess Records .mp3 audio 02:49). RIP: Ike Turner.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Streets of Europe

Orange Rubik Phantom Space Invader... Orange Rubik Phantom (Rubik Cubes on Plexiglass Panel, 31 x 33 inches). From the exhibition The Streets of Europe at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York. New Works and Installations by Blek Le Rat, Blu, Bo130, D*Face, Microbo, and Space Invader. "...The Streets of Europe brings the vibrancy of urban art scenes currently found in London, Paris, and Milan into the Chelsea gallery setting, through newly created original works and site-specific installation pieces. The six talented artists in this show each have their own individual aesthetic, form of medium, and means of expression. Together they will transform the gallery using a variety of materials including paint, wheat paste, stencil, mosaic tile and digital animation—merging techniques and traditions, from the old and new world."

Mr. Glaubitz

Charles Glaubitz... Matter Enslaver (2006, acrylic, cut paper, collage). From Mr. Glaubitz - paintings, drawings, and installations by Charles Glaubitz of Tijuana, Mexico.

Rico Rodriguez: Two Steps From The Blues

Rico Rodriguez: Two Steps From The Blues. "...There are few hornsmen in Jamaican music who get such respect as trombone player extrordinarie, Rico Rodriguez. Essentially a jazz musician like many from his generation of 1950's players, he took those influences, particularly from his teacher and first inspiration, the late great Don Drummond, and added his vibe to what was soon to be called ska as one of many session-men on the Kingston scene, thus contributing to the future development of the music. He cut a landmark album for Island Records in the mid seventies, 'Man From Wareika', and got a whole new young audience as a member of The Specials during the '2 Tone' nu-ska boom in the late seventies/early eighties. For the past sixteen years Rico has been member of Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, but also plays out with his own band. He was recently awarded an MBE for his outstanding contributions to the music in Britain." Thank you, DMc.

Ceremony

New Order... Ceremony (1981, Factory Records FAC33 .mp3 audio 04:23).

Monday, December 10, 2007

Works by Jan De Maesschalck

Works by Jan De Maesschalck Works by Jan De Maesschalck at Zeno X Gallery, Leopold De Waelplaats 16 - 2000 Antwerpen.

The Lion and the Cucumber

Vampires Sound Incorporation (Manfred Hubler and Siegfried Schwab)... The Lion and the Cucumber (.mp3 audio 05:10). From the album Vampyros Lesbos - Sexadelic Dance Party.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Vive la différence! The English and French stereotype in satirical prints, 1720-1815

Vive la différence! The English and French stereotype in satirical prints, 1720-1815. "...The relationship between England and France during this time period was complex. There was a great deal of travel and cross-cultural influence, which would often manifest itself in the emulation of concepts or qualities of the other's culture. There was also a great deal of enmity. The two countries were rivals in economic, colonial, constitutional and religious ways, and they were at war for much of the 18th century, continuing into the 19th century. The differences which were celebrated by some were seen in times of stress as a threat to each side's value system. The satires in this exhibition demonstrate how the portrayal of national stereotypes was affected by the fluctuating political climate of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries."

From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig

From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig at The Jewish Museum. "...Hailed as the "King of Cartoons," William Steig had a long and acclaimed career as both a brilliant cartoonist and an award-winning, beloved author of children’s literature, including his 1990 picture book Shrek! ('fear' in Yiddish) which has been turned into a series of popular animated films. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14, 1907, to Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Steig grew up in the Bronx and began illustrating for The New Yorker in 1930. His prolific association with the magazine is the longest by far of any of its cartoonists, with over 1,600 drawings as well as over 120 covers published during a period of 73 years."

Photographs by Zdzisław Beksiński

Zdzisław Beksiński... Untitled (1950/60, photograph). From Photographs by Zdzisław Beksiński at Dmochowski Gallery. Bravo!

Los desastres de la guerra

Francisco Goya... Que valor! (etching, from Los desastres de la guerra, published 1863, created 1810-1820). From Los desastres de la guerra (The Disasters of War). Also... Unpublished plates from Los desastres de la guerra. Part of the Samuel Putnam Avery Print Collection and Related Works at the NYPL Digital Gallery. "...Nearly 1,100 etchings, lithographs, and some drawings, by prominent 19th-century printmakers. Most of these works are part of the S.P. Avery Collection, complemented by holdings found in the general Print Collection. Together they represent the Print Collection's complete holdings of Félix Bracquemond, Félix Buhot, Francisco Goya, Charles Jacque, Edouard Manet, Charles Méryon, and Camille Pissarro."

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Ernesto Ramírez: Urban Archeology and Close to Heaven

Ernesto Ramírez: Urban Archeology and Close to Heaven Ernesto Ramírez: Urban Archeology and Close to Heaven at Zone Zero. "...Both works explore the tracks and nooks of Mexico City. Urban Archeology examines the ruins and the city waste to document how these remains, on the one hand, contain an aesthetic of the epoch and also how the great urban concentrations promote the culture of waste. Close to heaven is a visit to the urban rooftops, trying to explain how these spaces have become an extension of the house; these territories are the destination of all that nostalgic trash of what we once were."

Nicolai Howalt and Trine Søndergaard: How To Hunt

Nicolai Howalt and Trine Søndergaard: How To Hunt at Silverstein Photography. "...a contemporary study of organized hunting in Denmark, created by the husband and wife team Nicolai Howalt and Trine Søndergaard. Shot from the vantage point of the lush Danish countryside, many of these large format photographs—comprised of digitally, interwoven multiple exposures—illustrate an entire hunt in one single image. Interactions between the armed, exclusively male hunters, picturesque landscapes, and various animals of prey are explored through this layering process. The resulting images are a set of scenic, meditative photographs that question the passing of time and human existence."

Through My Window

Gérard Lange... The Compound (2001, Carbon Pigment print, Edition: 10). From the exhibition Through My Window at Meter Gallery. "...To place a window in a wall is to strike a deal with the world beyond it: I can look out at you and you can look through it to me. The love struck teen on curfew can climb out in the middle of the night-and the cat burglar can climb in. A window of opportunity is also a window of vulnerability. Most of all, though, a window is a frame-or a lens-that's as important for what it conceals as for what it reveals. And for the artists in this virtual exhibit, hosted in conjunction with ApartmentTherapy.com, the opposite could be said to be true, too: A lens is a window."

I'm A Moody Guy

Shane Fenton and the Fentones... I'm A Moody Guy (1961, UK Parlophone R 4827 .mp3 audio 02:43).

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Up Close and Personal: Fort Guerin and Dorothy Netherland

Up Close and Personal: Fort Guerin and Dorothy Netherland Up Close and Personal: Fort Guerin and Dorothy Netherland at Barbara Archer Gallery in Atlanta, GA.

Moody

ESG... Moody (1981, 99 Records 99-04 .mp3 audio 02:51). Boost the bass.

Broken

Broken by Dave Coba at File Magazine. "...Broken is a project by photographer Dave Coba that features black and white studies of nude models. Dave says the images 'were created by photographing the models in front of broken, partly 'blind' mirrors. Thematically they're about dreamlike rapture - self awareness in a reality that's altered, twisted, broken and reflected in an enigmatic way. It means a lot to me that the models wanted to see themselves as they were portrayed: They played their decisive part by 'putting themselves into the mirror' and letting the photographer document them.' The resulting images are intriguing and dreamlike (and depending on your point of view, even nightmarish)."

Gregory Blackstock

Gregory Blackstock at Garde Rail Gallery in Seattle, WA. "...Seattle artist Gregory Blackstock catalogues a wide range of subjects on varying sizes of paper. Using ink, pencil, marker, and crayola, freight trains to insects are laid out in neat rows and columns, each item annotated in near obsessive detail. Gregory's work is compelling and stands alone, but his story is equally as compelling, and adds another dimension to the work he has been creating since 1986.
Gregory is an autistic savant, and has overcome many of the limitations of autism, retiring in 2001 after '25 1/3' years of work as a pot washer at the Washington Athletic Club (WAC). Gregory exhibits many of the remarkable traits of the autistic savant; he speaks many languages, is an incredible mimic, and is able to recall events with uncanny precision. In 1986, he began to create his drawings for the WAC monthly newsletter, which each month would feature one of Gregory's new drawings."

Monday, December 03, 2007

Malick Sidibé: Photographies Inédites

Malick Sidibé: Photographies Inédites Malick Sidibé: Photographies Inédites. "...En 1962, Malick ouvre son propre studio dans le quartier très vivant de Bagadadji. Tout en réalisant des photographies de studio, il effectue de nombreux reportages sur les loisirs des jeunes du tout nouvel Etat malien : les soirées, les surprises-parties, les noces, les fêtes où l'on danse, où l'on exhibe ses vêtements, les bars, les clubs de jeunes où l'on écoute et danse sur les disques de pop music, rock and roll, soul music, ainsi que les sorties sur les bords du fleuve Niger. Surtout à partir de 1968, à partir du 'temps des disques' (et du changement de régime). Le studio Malick, à l'angle 19 de la rue 30, attire son lot de clientèle régulière. 'Le studio, ça marchait les jours de fête. Je pouvais faire trois heures de temps arrêté devant le trépied. J'avais mon petit qui était à la porte qui faisait les réceptions, qui écrivaient les noms", tout ça jusque "vers une heure, au milieu de la nuit'. Les studios de quartier restent ouverts une bonne partie de la nuit, car la clientèle est plus nombreuse le soir." (fr) More Works by Malick Sidibé at Hackel Bury Fine Art in London.

Works by Laurel Hausler

Laurel Hausler... We Saw A Seamonster (oil & encaustic on wood). From Works by Laurel Hausler.

Works by Stephen Cefalo

Stephen Cefalo... Testing the Reels (Oil on Canvas). From Works by Stephen Cefalo.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Sakura and The Quests

Sakura and The Quests Sakura and The Quests... Stupid Cupid (.mp3 audio 03:03). From Sakura and The Quests at the 365 Days Project. Brilliant, fuzzy tracks from Puppet On A String (1967, Columbia ECHK-579) and Sakura Goes Boom Boom (1967, Columbia 33ESX602).

A.R. Penck: Paintings From The Sixties

A.R. Penck: Paintings From The Sixties at Michael Werner Gallery in New York. "...The works in this exhibition are modest in size and painted on fabric or board, simple materials that would have been available to the artist in East Germany at the time. A seemingly minimalist vocabulary of dots, lines and abstract forms is repeated throughout the works, which are painted with dispatch in a manner suggestive of the expressive mark-making that would later emerge in A.R. Penck’s painting. One recognizes the first traces of the iconography later found in the important 'Standart' works from the 1970s, a series for which the artist is best known. For all their apparent humility, these paintings are charged with vitality and an urgent sense of purpose, born of a need for communication over mere depiction. Their seemingly primitive iconography and style mask the deeply conceptual underpinnings of A.R. Penck’s work."

Body and Soul

Eikoh Hosoe... Kamaitachi #17 (1965, Gelatin Silver Print, signed). From the exhibition Body And Soul at Toki no Wasuremono Gallery in Tokyo. (jp)