Kayode Today

Wade Guyton

2011-12-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

^Wade Guyton at Galerie Francesca Pia

Untitled
Epson DURABrite inkjet on book page

Shane Tolbert

2011-12-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

Totem to Modernity, 2011
Pigment Dispersion on Dyed Fiber
54 x 46 inches

Dream Out, 2011
Pigment Dispersion on Dyed Fiber
10 x 8 1/2 inches

http://www.shanetolbert.com/

Garth Weiser

2011-12-18T14:43:00.001-08:00

Chapparel, 2011
Oil on canvas
82 x 69” / 208.3 x 175.3cm

Garth Weiser
Thunder & Light 171 Bowery, 2010
Acrylic, gold leaf and silver leaf on canvas

Matt Keegan at Altman Seigel

2011-12-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

Matt Keegan
No No No, 2011
Laser cut steel
34 x 34 in

He Said She Said, 2011
Laser cut steel
30 x 30 x 30 in

Nothing To Declare, 2011
Laser cut steel
16 x 34 in.

http://www.altmansiegel.com/main.php?menu=current&page=pics

2011-12-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

New Tumblr

http://beautifulandamazing.tumblr.com/

2010-07-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

kayodeojo.tumblr.com

Robert Swain

2010-05-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

Website

Glen Erler

2010-05-23T22:46:00.001-07:00

An old favorite of mine rediscovered.

Website

Lately

2010-03-27T15:07:00.001-07:00

Where does the time go? I love seeing art I've only seen online in person.

Rirkrit Tiravanija's “Untitled” (The Future of Chrome)

Here's a documentary about Relational Aesthetics

Julian Opie @ the Armory Show

Viviane Sassen @ Danzinger Projects

A girl I often see out and about on the art scene interviewed her here.

Me and my friend Ellen from TN enjoying the Armory Sunset

I also saw Philip-Lorca diCorcia in person which was pretty amazing. His gallery's booth featured only his work and I enjoyed seeing prints of many of my favorite pictures as well as 100 of his polaroids from throughout his career.

HD SFX

2010-03-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

For some reason I want to see Avatar.

jpg

2010-03-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about the internet and digital culture as a dominant reality. Here are two remarkable posts from Hipster Runoff.

Who did Tiger Woods let down more: black ppl or white ppl?

And this post was really beautiful and satisfying.

It takes a socially transcendent moment to remind us what makes life worth living. Kanye West is a valuable member of society.

I recently went to a Penelope Umbrico lecture and this video reminded me of her work and made me chuckle.

Stardust

2010-01-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

Jean-Christian Bourcart
from the series Stardust

Source

Christopher Bucklow from the Series Guests

Website

Grid

2009-11-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've been working a project for school that has something to do with postmodern life so I've been looking at artists that work with those themes.

Michael Wolf

from the series Transparent City

Transparent City Details

The artist went through his photographs from the project looking in the individual windows and enlarged some of the sections.

I like the surveillance, anonymity, and rigid structure of these pictures.

Darren Sylvester

Frightened of Something Happening, Frightened of Nothing Happening

2007

The Explanation Is Boring. It's Simple. I Don't Care
2006

Philip & Morris
2003

The Object Of Social Acceptance Is To Forfeit Individual Dreams
2003

Computers Never Tire
2002

Your First Love Is Your Last Love
2005

If All We Have Is Each Other, That's OK
2003

If It Hasn't Happened For You, Maybe It Never Will
2006

Do You Need A Meaning To Life When All You Want Is Not To Die?
2003

I am fascinated by the titles of these works. They remind me of Barara Kruger's work but I prefer the text in the title as opposed to being on the picture. These works not only use the visual language of advertising but the titles are like slogans as well. It's like someone broke up your daily routine with a piercing truism. Some of these are realy devastating.

Opening Ceremony Part 2

2009-10-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

OMGZ I haven't updated in so long. Blogging is so much harder when you have a life. Ok so Peter Hujar at Matthew Marks. Peter Hujar part of that 70's and 80's downtown New York scene and he died of AIDS in 1987. His photos all have a strange, dark, beautiful quality. Everytime I see his pictures I want to throw some black and white film in a Hasselbald. Here are some of the works I know him by:

Candy Darling on her Deathbed, 1974

David Wojnarowicz, 1981

Daniel Schook Sucking Toe, 1981

Susan Sontag, 1975

The show I saw was made up of portraits of developmentally disabled children. The subject matter relates to his portraits of his friends who could were considered misfits in their time. The photos were shot in homes for disabled children and I got a sense that these homes were their own world. It becomes unclear how much the subjects or the photographer cause the feeling of things being slightly off.

Childern Playing by a Pool, Southbury, 1957

Children With Nun, Florence, 1958

Girl with Hand on Her Hip, Southbury, 1957

Children Playing, Florence, 1957

Boy Rubbing His Eye, Southbury, 1957

I always think of Peter Hujar as a ratty downtown punk but apparently he got pretty glossy at one point. From the Times in 2003:

Many of the portraits are of New York culture stars. Others are of types largely absent from Burckhardt’s bohemia and Johnson’s handwritten who’s who: transvestite performers, hustlers, street people. And interspersed among the living are the dead: photographs of desiccated corpses that Hujar shot in Sicilian catacombs. Bohemia had become, literally, the underground.

Hujar, a child of Ukrainian immigrants, raised in a broken and abusive home, was pretty much on his own by 16. He learned photography largely as an apprentice in the fashion industry. Through Richard Avedon, he landed steady gigs for Harper’s Bazaar, and opened studio of his own.

Then, in the early 70’s, he gave up commercial work to finish the portrait project.

Full Article HERE.

I wish I was landing steady gigs for Harper's Bazaar...

Opening Ceremony Part One

2009-09-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

So this week was the beginning of the art season. I missed most of the downtown openings on Wednesday because I had class, but I hit Chelsea hard on Thursday. There were 1728347 shows opening that night and I managed to make it to 10. I'll do a separate post on each show.

Mark Bradford and Kara Walker at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
These are two black artists that deal somewhat (Bradford) or explicitly (Walker) with racial issues in their work. Mark Bradford uses urban Los Angeles posters and signage to make abstract paintings. Kara Walker is know for disturbing work using silhouettes that depict the horrors of slavery. Both are established successful artists and the works in this exhibition were mostly similar to their previous work. Walker's work makes everyone uncomfortable including me but upon encountering her new cutout puppet video piece featuring master on slave violence, the first thing I thought was "Why is she still talking about this?" Maybe it's my upbringing but I can't understand how anyone could become so obsessed with the antebellum south. Her text paintings were more connected with the contemporary black experience and a few of them continue to haunt me. Here is some of the two artist's previous work that I like. Click to enlarge.

Mark Bradford

A Truly Rich Man is One Whose Children Run Into His Arms When His Hands
are Empty, 2008 Mixed media collage on canvas 102 x 144 inches

I WILL TONIGHT, 2008
Mixed media collage on canvas
102 x 144 inches

Kryptonite, 2006
mixed mediacollage on paper
249 x 301 cm

Los Moscos, 2004
Mixed media on canvas
125 x 190 1/2 inches

Kara Walker

Darkytown Rebellion, 2001 Installation view at Brent Sikkema, New York Projection, cut paper and adhesive on wall, 14 x 37 1/2 feet

Gone, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as it Occurred between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart, 1994
Installation view at the Walker Art Center, Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
Photo by Gene Pittman

(detail)

(detail)

Cut, 1998

Actually I don't like these Kara Walker works at all. They make me want to throw up. Apparently earlier in her career she was boycotted by a group of older black artists. The most disturbing thing about these types of works are their life in the commercial gallery system. This is an oversimplification but basically rich white collectors buy this racist imagery and display it in their homes. There are many things that can be justified by the "It's art." response but if I walked into someone's home (regardless of their ethnicity) and saw a piece of art that featured/appropriated/created racist imagery, It would make me really uncomfortable and I would have a few questions. What attracted you to this work? Why do you want to live with this? Interestingly, aside from the video, the works at the Sikkema Jenkins & Co. were relatively tame. This could be a sign of the times and a need to sell.

Next, Peter Hujar at Matthew Marks Gallery.

Art in Argentina

2009-09-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a trip to Argentina. I'm glad I was had opportunity to experience another culture and witness my sister's life as a college graduate seriously employed and living abroad. I also saw some great art. We went to a few art museums, the best of which was the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. The museum was showing works from the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castile and Leon in Spain. The first thing I saw upon entrance was a glowing LED animation by Julian Opie entitled "Keira Walking."

source: musac.es

Here is a video of some of his similar works:

In person the animation was dazzling. I love when the beauty of beautiful art is part of the meaning of the work. In this case the mesmerizing effect of the glimmering lights mirrors the experience of watching a certain kind of woman. The simple figures represent the signs, symbols, and language of fashion and movement. More works here and here.

I also enjoyed the work of Fernando Renes. My favorite:

More here.

I had heard of the artist Marcel Dzama but had never seen his work. The museum displayed a few of his absurd and hilarious drawings. My favorite:

(Click to view large)

The guard wouldn't let me take any more pictures and I can't find the others online but they were kind of like this:

More here.

There was a large room of the museum dedicated to classic and contemporary nudes. I saw a Gregory Crewdson print in person for the first time. It was the only photograph among the paintings. It was a little too painterly for me but it was certainly impressive.

Untitled (Mother Complex 2) (2001) Colour photograph. 121.92 x 152.4 cm

FYI Gregory Crewdson is a professor at Yale's art school and curated the Another Girl, Another Planet show I wrote about before. Also he was the judge for my school's freshman photography exhibition and I'm taking a digital photography course with the woman who does his printing and post-production. I LOVE SVA. More Crewdson here.

We visited a few galleries and the highlight for me were the paintings of Delia Ana Iglesias at Pabellon 4 Arte Contemporaneo. From the series "Creadores del universo":

Is that a Dragon Ball Z reference in the first painting? I enjoy the colors and negative space. Also the idea of two dandy-ish creators is interesting. Gay gods pondering polar bears. Shocking! These are also kind of absurd. Then again depictions of Christianity's story of creation are equally ridiculous. Maybe that's what Iglesias is implying. Her website. She has a blog here, translated here.

And I finally saw Blow-Up.

There was much less sex and much more photography and voyeurism than the trailer would have you believe.

It was a good trip for art. I was able to see some great things in person and discover a few new artists. In less than a week I will be returning to New York. School's starting and there will be an overwhelming amount of great shows opening this month. I am SO ready.

Karin Bubaš

2009-08-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Recently I began compulsively watching episodes of The Hills and was struck by the show's mastery of the fabrication of melodrama from commonplace situations. The whole production is so shiny I could not look away. Apparently I am not alone. I found these pastels by Karin Bubas while browsing art blogs today.

Lauren Crying, chalk pastel drawing, 9.5" × 12.5", 2009

Heidi Pouting, chalk pastel drawing, 9.5" × 12.5", 2009

Audrina with Tears, chalk pastel drawing, 9.5" × 12.5", 2009

Spencer, chalk pastel drawing, 9.5" × 12.5", 2009

Source here

One night I was so moved by the same moment depicted above (Heidi Pouting) that I took a photo for later use.

Heartbreaking.

Valerie Belin

2009-08-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

I first came across this series by Valerie Belin in Face: The New Photographic Portrait. I was struck by the perfection, beauty, and isolation of the images. She used new faces from Parisian modeling agencies. These works are a departure from a previous series in which she photographed extremely realistic mannequins. Info from the Michael Hoppen Contemporary website. I love how she makes you question whether or not the figures are real. When I saw these I knew they were only because I recognized the first model as Lucien Thomkins because he was becoming successful as a model.

Camilla Akrans for Sisely

It's interesting that this was merely another test shoot for the model but Ms. Belin was making art. Actually there is probably a similar (perhaps smaller) crew involved in her process and in the making of a fashion image.

^I really wish this could be part of my life.

I wonder if Lucien uses Belin's photograph in his portfolio. Would the clients respond to it as art at the castings? The multiple functions of an image is a fascinating and sometimes frustrating aspect of photography.

What Male?

2009-07-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

So today I watched the music video for Shakira's new song "She Wolf" and I was struck by how unconcerned she seems with the "Male Gaze". First some theory background from Wikipedia (paraphrased).

In analysing visual culture, the concept of The Gaze describes how the viewer gazes upon (views) the people presented and represented. Feminist theory developed The Gaze in describing the social power relations between women and men — how men gaze at women; how women gaze at themselves; how women gaze at other women; and the effects of these ways of seeing.
In the essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Laura Mulvey introduced the concept of The Male Gaze as a feature of power asymmetry. Theoretically, the male gaze has much influenced feminist film theory and communications media studies. In film, the male gaze occurs when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man. A scene may linger on the curves of a woman's body, for instance. Feminists would argue that such instances are presented in the context closest relating to that of a male, hence its referral to being the Male Gaze.
The theory suggests that male gaze denies women human agency, relegating them to the status of objects, hence, the woman reader and the woman viewer must experience the text's narrative secondarily, by identifying with a man's perspective.

In these videos Shakira seems to objectify herself, contorting and gyrating seemingly for the pleasure if a man. Really Shakira? A cage? But watch closely; look in her eyes. It's like she's looking in a mirror. She put herself in that cage and she's having a blast. It's like performance art or an intense workout. She is so active in contrast to the classic passive role. I can't imagine a man approaching her.

A while ago I stumbled upon this art piece by Oliver Laric that appropriated Mariah Carey's Touch My Body music video and removed all the surroundings to isolate her movements and expressions.

She looks like an idiot and a soft core porn actress. I find this artwork successful because I had a strong reaction to content that I had previously accepted as normal. "Come on and give me what I deserve." Ugh.

Ryan Trecartin

2009-07-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

In May I went to see The Genereational: Younger Than Jesus at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. From the New Musuem's website:

For “Younger Than Jesus,” the first edition of “The Generational,” the New Museum’s new signature triennial, fifty artists from twenty-five countries will be presented. The only exhibition of its kind in the United States, “The Generational: Younger Than Jesus” will offer a rich, intricate, multidisciplinary exploration of the work being produced by a new generation of artists born after 1976. Known to demographers, marketers, sociologists, and pundits variously as the Millennials, Generation Y, iGeneration, and Generation Me, this age group has yet to be described in any way beyond their habits of consumption. “Younger Than Jesus” will begin to examine the visual culture this generation has created to date.

More here

A video I took while I was there:

Untitled from Kayode Ojo on Vimeo.

^The girl sleeping is a work in which the artist paid women to take sleeping pills and sleep in the gallery. It may or may not be about feminism or women's role in art, impressionist painters habit of using prostitutes as models, etc. I was really into the redhead museum employee. She has such an interesting look.

The show was insane. I can't really describe it but there was alot of video art and instillation and when I left the world looked different. My favorite art there was definitely the work of Ryan Trecartin. I had never seen anything like it before. The videos were like everything I love/hate about reality TV deeply concerned with the Internet and modern life with wild characters who were entitled, irreverent, superficial and of indescript gender. Usuallly I video art in a gallery or museum doesn't hold my attention but I could not look away from these. Me and my friend had a full day planned so we made the effort to eventually move on. There was a small crowd around the two rooms filled with junk/furniture/sculpture that housed the viewing screens. The critic Jerry Saltz called Trecartin the star of the triennial and I agree. You can watch all of his videos online except for the newest works that were in the New Museum show. Here is I-BE AREA which is my favorite. It's an hour and 48 minutes long but if you just want a taste the first 6 minutes is really good.

I-BE AREA

I love the breakdown and repurposing of language. It's like a new language. Non-linear is a good description of his style. Apparently the crazy makeup is supposed to mesh with the speech to expand their expression. I'm completly fascinated. More of his work here. New York Times article here. Interview here.

Ben Alper

2009-07-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Images from Ben Alper's ongoing project The Family Dig.

Mom Wrapped In Afghan, 2008

Fran, 2008

Hannah, 2008

Hannah In The Kitchen, 2008

I really like these. This is not my family and yet I find the pictures interesting. Something about the perspective of these makes me feel like I'm just standing there watching them. Maybe it's that they're taken from normal personal space distance.

Ben Alper's website here. He is a co-founder of a photography collective called The Exposure Project. Blog here.

Princess

2009-07-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

So I spent the weekend in Brentwood, Tennessee. I'd never been before and it was pretty much like being on The OC. Not really but kind of. Everyone I met was really great but I could see potential for the twisted upper class drama that places like that are known for. Being there made me think of art that addresses the issues or aesthetic of upper middle class princesses.

Charlie White

Girl Posed

A still from "American Minor"

This work shows a grotesque quality caused by the prepackaged lifestyle offered to young girls.

Angela Strassheim

When I look at these I think about how a desire for suburban perfection creates tension and a sense of dread. Strassheim's technical expertise results in perfect pictures of people who may need to be perfect. My mind adds the possibility of failure and things that must be concealed. My reactions could have something to do with the darker events that have taken place in my otherwise peachy-keen neighborhood.

Michael Schmelling

2009-07-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

I really like these portraits by Michael Schmelling. They feel fresh and intelligent. The mix of quirky subject matter and a somewhat clinical approach is really interesting.

Bonaroo

Melonie Diaz

Beirut

The Felice Brothers

TV On The Radio

Website here

Conrad Ruiz

2009-07-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Orgiastic watercolors depicting scenes of manly awesomeness. I think these are really funny.

Lemon Lime Victory, 2008

Public Display of Affection, 2008

Overload, 2009

^ This is kind of how I felt about Obama fever. More HERE.

That Boy Needs Therapy

2009-07-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

In April I went to the opening of a group show called "Are You Sure You Are You" at the Spencer Brownstone Gallery. The show was about Internet art and the title came from a work by Daniel Everett. The Mac OS X software comes with a virtual therapist application with which the artist discussed his existential issues.

Conversations with a Computer

This therapist application actually exists. Instructions here. I tried it out and I found the idea of"Eliza" surprisingly engaging. Some of her questions and answers really made me think.
Daniel Everett has some other interesting projects on his website. A few things I like:

Omniscience Beta

~~You are here~~

Speed Run

Looking at his work makes me think about technology's role in loneliness, anonymity, and surveillance.

From the press release of the aforementioned group show:

The novelty of the personal computer and the Internet has morphed into a mundane reality that is haunted by the specters of anxiety, boredom, Internet addiction and identity theft. Turning this postmodern condition on its head, the works in this exhibition possess what could be described as a strategy of web-based aesthetic transcendence. They are proof that the user can overcome the condition of the quotidian not by shying away from her computer (and thus the Internet) but rather by considering it as a provider of aesthetic (higher) experience. Developed initially as a scientific tool, the computer has been damned to the realm of the practical. Yet when it is interpreted as an aesthetic space, one is presented with an almost infinite number of creative possibilities.

I'm excited.

Let Me See You Move Like You Come from Colombia

2009-07-09T12:50:00.001-07:00

So I was poking around Columbia University's 2009 MFA website and I found some cool stuff.

Davida Nemeroff

Balloon Cross, 2008

Gorillas in the Mist, 2008

Glowtograph 1, 2008

Glowtograph 2, 2008

Jaqueline Cedar

^ I love the lighting in these. It reminds me of parking lots at night or a football stadium. High drama.

Erik Wysocan

The Sleep of Reason, The Dream Reason, El Sueño de La Razon

Lightbox, polarizing film, inkjet print (El sueño de la Razon Produce Monstruos - from the series Los Caprichos (1799) by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes)
20" x 26" x 6"

The Dream Reason, The Sleep of Reason, El Sueño de La Razon

Lightbox, polarizing film, inkjet print (El sueño de la Razon Produce Monstruos - from the series Los Caprichos (1799) by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes)
20" x 26" x 6"

By whom will these keepers be kept? (Quis costodiat ipsos costodes?) II
Lightbox, polarizing film, acetate
20" x 26" x 6"

Eta Carinae

Graphite on Acrylic Panels, Wood

2006

"they weren't exactly my friends, but I did like them"

Stained Glass, soil, plants, mirror

2007

^This work just blows my mind.

Collin LaFleche

2009-07-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

At School, 2007

Henry Holding Emily, 2007

Will and Alex, 2007

Ray in Prospect Park, 2007

"In December of 2006 I met Will and his group of friends, who grew up in New York and had known each other for most of their lives. At the time they were in their Senior Year of high school. These images were taken throughout the year that followed, and document a time of transition from adolescence into adulthood: the end of high school, the last summer together, and the move on to college."

If I had to pick a photographer to represent my generation I would pick Collin LaFleche. He is close to my age and that inspires me. I think he transcends all the snapshot kids. I am blown away by the romance of these pictures. More greatness on his website here.

Kids

2009-07-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Aw yeeeaaahhh. That emerging shiiitttt. Interview Magazine had an article about the "New New York Art Scene" Aritcle HERE. I was inspired to feature some art babies on this blog.

Jack Siegel

^ This is he

The internet told me that he's from the west coast and now he goes to Pratt. He hangs out with famous (as in people (like me) who don't know them care what they're doing) art babies and takes pictures. He has a website called the skullset here.

I'm fascinated by the bond between documenting and creating/feuling this scene.

Aurel Schmidt

She's not really new and has alot of press coverage, but I'm not over it because I kind of can't look at some of her work. I was looking at a slideshow at tiny vices and i had to stop because I was afraid something awful was going to pop up and I was going to freak out. Yeah I'm a puss. I don't like bugs and I don't like rotting things. Also there are alot of pics of her looking hot and cool and New Yorky and she's from like bumfuck Cananda or something.

I'm honestly having a hard time posting these. I'm upset and distracted. I'm going to have to remove them.
Ian Aleksander Adams

^ that's him

He just graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design.

Black People Art

2009-07-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

So black artists always seem to be making work about race. Actually it's possible that I have encountered the work of black artists that don't make work about race and I just didn't know that they were black. I guess if you have a need to make things andyour work is personal and you are black in America then your racial identity will consume your work. It's probably easier to find an audience for work about the black experience in the US. The audience of these works is sometimes an issue. One view is that Fine Art is a white thing and so if an artist has a show at The Whitney mostly educated white people will go see it. Also if we assume that black = not rich, then most of an artist's collectors will be rich white people. So if an artist make work that references or appropriates racist imagery and it is popular with collectors then at face value you have rich white people enjoying and supporting offensive and stereotypical images if black people. I don't think that this is what's going on but is is interesting that thats how things work out. Anyway I'm going to do some posts about black artists.

Kori Newkirk

Jubillee

Untitled (Modernist House)

Merk

Glint

These are made of plastic pony beads, beads, artificial hair, and pomade. The artist in the way hair and beads could be used to represent the black body.

Whitney Biennial 2006 page here. Listen to the audio clip.

Another article here

Writing about art is hard for me. My impressions about the art and artists I like comes from looking at images and reading articles and forming an opinion and I find it hard to convey that. Maybe it would be best to just show a few pictures and if you're intrigued you can google them yourself and have the experience I had. I'm trying to avoid the TLDR (too long didn't read) effect.

Tristan

2009-07-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

^ I sang this to myself at work today to assert my enlightened art badass identity while I was mopping up floor stains and fighting off flies. I'm so blocking out this unhappy period later.

This makes me happy

Balmain Spring 2008

But not as happy as this.

Tobjorn Rodland
"Park Scene" 2005

Juuuusssstt kiddiiiiinnnng. It's like "What? I just photographed what everyone was thinking." I think my next post should be about black people art. Also I guess as a Young Blogger I should probably start posting about some non established artists.

Really Important

2009-07-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know how or why I started watching these or decided to curate a selection for my blog but this is what I did today.

I don't know why there isn't more art referencing Sailor Moon...

I love Final Fantasy's visuals

So yeah I think I'm on a little break from depth or substance or whatever.

Fourth

2009-07-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

So yesterday it took me a second to remember the point of the fourth of July. It just escaped me and then I started thinking about Christmas and how no one really thinks about Jesus. Once my dad told me that Jesus wasn't born on Christmas and I told someone at school and it was NOT okay. I hope there are at least a few sterile academic discussions about the effects of the concept of Immaculate Conception on contemporary society. I think it's really great that on Christmas ever one gets together and agrees that today everything should be great. I don't really know if I like fireworks. I'm too afraid of the messing around in the backyard variety and after the crowds and seating issues I'm kind of too annoyed and uncomfortable for stuff in the sky. I do like strobe lights though.

Laurel Nakadate

Jen DeNike

Jonathan Horowitz

I don't get it

2009-07-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know how I feel about meta photography. As in photography about photography. These works are conceptual in that the content is secondary or even irrelevant compared to IDEAS that deal with the nature of the medium of photography. Examples of some overtly meta photography and the ideas I have come to associate with them by reading interviews and other articles.

Tobjorn Rodland:

What is good Art Photography? What are good and bad motives and good and bad subjects for art?

There's a brilliant interview with the photographer here.

Christopher Williams:

What is the photographer's motive? How does he feel about photography? Williams is a little different because he chooses his subjects for very specific deeply researched reasons and often hires a photographer to take the pictures.

His Artforum cover story here

Roe Ethridge:
What is the connection among these images when shown in an exhibition? Does there need to be one?

Interview with Roe Ethridge here.

What I find interesting about these artist's pictures is that you're supposed to have to think alot about them to "get" them as in justify them as ART but they're so aesthetically pleasing that you can kind of just enjoy looking at them. They're kind of cheesy and obvious and they look like appropriation. The artists here are very successful and its probably because of the combination of an interesting concept and a glossy surface. Also they can be classified as "artists that use photography" as opposed to to just photographers so their work appeals to people who may not be so interested in photography.

I really like those little white frames. If I ever show my work in a gallery I want little white frames.

More work that is similar but uses more actual appropriation.

Anne Collier:

Elad Lassry:

I love these little frames. It makes the work like an object. They also seem oddly collectible.

So I'm wondering which I find more intersting: The old school of documentation, representation, and obviously serial, linear projects or using photography to discuss photography and making whatever I want and allowing the associations and justifications to come later.

Get it Giiirl

2009-06-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking about "party girls". I guess the modern PG is takes her cues from Lindsay Lohan's wild image.

You know how when pics of you getting loose pop up on Facebook, you think "It would suck if my parents saw these." Imagine if pics of you getting dirrrty were available via Google Image Search. I realize that her parents are irrelevant at this point but still. Oh and since these are really unflattering and Lilo's my girl here are some of her looking cute and being an actress or something.

The term party girl is interesting to me because it has all these behavioral connotations like drinking and promiscuous sex, but it also implies that she's not a real person. She's just another part of the party. Drugs, alcohol, music, party girls. "You want a hit of this weed, man?" "Naw, but I will hit that party girl."

^These girls look like they're in high school. And not like The OC/Gossip Girl High School. Like real high school.

^And while these girls are pushing 30, I love they're frat boy sensibility. "By the end of the night imma have you drunk and throwin up!" Sexxxxxy.

Concerning "high school" on tv, the UK series Skins uses younger (or younger looking?) actors and it makes the risky behavior more shocking but it's actually more real. I mean in my experience when 16 year olds do hard drugs and engage in group sex they look 16.

Veuillez installer Flash Player pour lire la vidéo

Skins secret pary sélectionné dans TV et Jeunesse

This ones more stylized and poetic:

Skins The Uncut Party Trailer -

Fashion

2009-06-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

So when I was like 7 I wanted to be a fashion designer. I made little clothes and everything but then I just stopped. Then at 12 I got really into watching fashion videos on on style.com. I was so fascinated. Back then it was only women's wear. Even now there are no videos of the men's shows. It's not like I wanted to wear the clothes. I don't think I ever thought about people actually bought and wore the things I was seeing. The videos would have Tim Blanks making clever comments about fashion history and the season's trends, Pat McGrath waxing poetic about the makeup and the hair guys going on about extensions and brushes and layers and movement and iconic women. Hair and makeup was always technical and vaguely narrative. Something like "We've blown out the hair and rolled it with a big brush and pinned it in a few places and applied some product but only at the roots to keep it a little messy like a 70's rock chick that's just rolled out if bed ready to go out." Then editors and buyers and models talk about the collection. Everyone loves it and you learn about what women want and how they feel. The Gucci woman does this. The Versace woman is all about that. The Prada woman enjoys experimenting with whatever. I became familiar with all these fashion people. They have suck interesting accents and they are SO into it. They obviously think about fashion all the time.

Then when men.style.com debuted I was all over it. But then I got bored with all the grown man clothes. The only designer I cared about was Dior Homme because it resemble young street style. Those collections were designed by Hedi Slimane who is kind of a legend these day for popularizing this whole thin youth obsessed new rock inspired aesthetic. They say he started skinny jeans.

I think I was responding to the way the skinny awkward bodies were flattered by the clothes. I remember always feeling awkward and uncomfortable in almost everything I wore. They were so form fitting and looked so comfortable.

Two years ago year I got into Raf Simons. This collection was the first bold statement of male androgyny I saw that didn't make me think of drag. It's not about accessories and it's not about sex.

Why is the illusion of one piece feminine? Why are exposed legs feminine? Why do the boots that bear no resemblance to any standard women's shoe seem feminine? It seems to be about vulnerability. The style is futuristic; the mood us vulnerable. The message: In the future a man can be vulnerable. Full collection here.

Then I saw this last year and I'm still not over it.

I mean it seems so feminine. Its almost a little black dress but like the little black dress it's based in minimalism. It is minimal and functional and in that way highly masculine. It is a streamlined jumpsuit. It is a like a wrestling singlet, designed with nothing to grab onto. Yet it has little lapels as if it is suiting. And the boots are pure form, perfect in their lack of detailing. Full collection here.

It is currently Paris Fashion Week for menswear and while I haven't been keeping up with all the shows, the Givenchy presentation was generating a buzz among my Internet fashion sources.

Full collection here.

I'm seeing so many unlikely influences. That white suit has a similar effect to the Pope in all white. The effect is cold and deathly. All white mimics all black. The second look combines a motorcycle jacket, formal wear, and gladiator sandals. Think about the materials: leather, fine cotton, gold. Why are gladiator sandals female footwear now? The third look is all about new styling. The sash over the wife beater is a sot frivolous accessory but it lends a foreign militia feel. Those are leggings under baggy shorts. The leggings are like extended compression shorts. The last look is amazing. The head wear is middle eastern but under a baseball cap it becomes a do rag. Think about how both symbolize violence to Conservative America. Also I'm pretty sure the shirt pulled back like that is a hood thing and it contradicts the covered head. Think about what is covered and what is revealed.

I love the idea of menswear that is unconcerned and unburdened by function. Like art.

My favorite fashion show and one of my favorite videos of all time.

BOY MAN DUDE

2009-06-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

Enough about women and the issues they face in this male dominated society. I'm so over it. They just need to grow some balls. I want to talk about man things now. I'm faaaaeerrrddd up!

Some pictures by Jesse Burke:

These images are from the Humble Arts Foundation website where he had a solo show. CLICK HERE
Jesse Burke's website: CLICK HERE

Coincidentally Mr. Burke shot the accompanying portrait of that Mary Boone article.

Also coincidentally Boone poses in front of a painting(the abstraction on the right) by Brice Marden* whose daughter Mirabelle co-owns the recently closed Rivington Arms Gallery which represented Matthew Cerletty, a painter I really like.

"Selfish Grandma" what the fuck??? SO GOOD.

Jerry Saltz reviewed some boy art. He ripped dem boyz a cupple of noo wunz. Not really but kind of.

QUOTH:

Dan Colen and Nate Lowman’s collaboration at Maccarone has the look of now. Which is to say their show is a self-conscious pastiche of Warhol, Cady Noland’s junked-up approach, Richard Prince, quasi-slacker neo-punk, scuzz, stock ideas about mass culture, appropriation, assemblage, and a sort of car-wreck aesthetic. It’s a new hip academy.

Images are usually derived from newspapers, ads, or porn. Text and jokes often appear (à la Richard Prince); holes are often bashed in walls; Sheetrock and plywood are broken up and spray painted. Noland’s ideas about sculpture and Prince’s about appropriation are so prevalent that those artists ought to be drawing royalties.

Colen and Lowman’s effort is titled Wet Pain, perhaps referencing “wet paint” or Brice Marden’s remark that “painting says pain in it.” *WHAT THE FUCK EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.

The problem is, “Wet Pain” just looks too much like too many other shows—many of them excellent, some at Maccarone—to be taken as anything other than bad-boy shtick and hammy caricature. It radiates hipness and camaraderie, and is a warning that artists need to be wary of the point where influence turns into derivativeness. The Noland-Prince aesthetic stem-cell line isn’t the only one available for use. (Nor, by the way, is the Smithson–Matta-Clark one.) As for Warhol, we all love him, or we don’t. Regardless, artists needn’t continually deploy his play-the-system anti-gambit. It was once brave; now it’s just a conformist pose, and a lazy and self-limiting one.

Full Review HERE. More images HERE

I like Nate Lowman. Kind of the same way I like Rachel Feinstein. Coincidentally I saw this video interview with him from Interview Magazine.

I was genuinely inspired by what he says about making sincere art. Plus:

Even if he didn't say awesome stuff, it's kind of enough for me that he rides bikes with Mary Kate. Apparently she's really into art.

Ben Kingsley opened up about working with 22-year-old Mary-Kate in a profile of the twins in Elle magazine. Kingsley and Mary-Kate share some racy scenes in their upcoming film, “The Wackness” (case in point: Kingsley, who is 64, is straddled by Mary-Kate in a phone booth in one scene). “She was a joy to work with... I was quite taken by her, especially how astute she is about art. We spent a lot of time between takes talking about her art collection,” Kingsley told Elle.

The rest of this article was retarded so I'm not going to link to it. But I will use it to support my views... whatever

Paddy Johnson reviews boy art:

This came to mind recently when viewing Dirk Skreber's exhibition at Friedric Petzel Gallery in Chelsea. Featuring two vagina-shaped crashed cars impaled on penile poles and bare-breasted paintings of super heroes, the show is the closest thing I’ve seen to pornography lately. I hoped there was more to it than appeared, until I read the press release, which described Skreber’s sculptures as “begging ambivalence.” In other words, they are to be read at face value. One might conclude the vehicle’s fastidiously clean surfaces mean to sanitize the sexual references, which might have some merit were it not such an obvious appeal to a notoriously conservative collectors’ market.

Though accomplished, Skreber’s paintings are similarly empty. Resembling a TV with poor signal, the artist uses foam and tape to create horizontal lines running through the work. In theory, this slows the immediate recognition of the comic book character identities, but so what? The mere act of appropriation neither erases the original misogynistic content, nor distances the artist from its original interpretation. In sum, we’re left with a sanitized vagina car-wrap and a bunch of topless, semi-nameless women. Add to this the voyeuristic mirrors covering the gallery pillars and it’s simply impossible to ignore Skreber’s implied violence and objectification of the female body.

Full review HERE. More images HERE.

How weird is it that they both use demolished cars. I like this better.

Cai Guo-Qiang:

Apparently these sculptures titled "Innoportune" may or may not be political as in they may or may not reference car bombings in the Middle East. So mysterious. And pretty.

Oh, and this happened:

Career Woman!

2009-06-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

Still on the topic of female art photographers, the photographers Amy Elkins and Cara Phillips started Women in Photography to bring together...women in photography. They have bi-monthly online exhibitions. Website HERE.

My favorite artist that they featured is Birthe Piontek. Here are some images from her series Sub Rosa.

Amy Elkins came to talk to one of my classes last year and she said that one of the reasons for starting WIP was the reaction to and conversations surrounding an article published in the New York Times about "Gallerinas" or women who work lower level jobs at galleries.

But in a world in which art, fashion, celebrity and money commingle, gallerinas know that their looks — or, at least, their look — can make a difference. Yancey Richardson, the owner of an eponymous Chelsea art gallery, notes that she employs front desk assistants who can answer questions from the public and clients, and also attack a rigorous list of tasks. “You can’t just hire people who are decorative,” she said, “but you can find someone with all those necessary skills and who is beautiful.” Her latest desk assistant is Marla Leigh Caplan, 30, a blue-eyed soft-spoken photographer from Elkhorn, Neb., who studied philosophy at Vassar, has a Master of Fine Arts degree, and worked at three other galleries. As Ms. Caplan learned, her appearance can matter more than her résumé, never mind her thesis on Heidegger. When she interviewed for one job, she recalled, the director shook her hand and, before she said a word, he proclaimed: “Look at her! She’s perfect!”

Full Article HERE

I went to go see a Mickalene Thomas show at the Lehmann Maupin gallery and it was a pretty dazzling experience. It was a huge space with beautiful hardwood floors and the women who worked there were completly gorgeous and absolutely flawless. I asked the woman at the front desk for a price list and then time slowed down and for a few moments there was a complete failure of communication.

Me: Hi. Can I see a price list?
Her: jgkhkdlfgjhlkfgjhkldfghjfgjklgjhkgjh
Me: What?
Her:I'd be happy to help you with anything you have questions about.
Me: Ok... Can I see a price list?
Her:I'd be happy to help you with anything you have questions about.
Me...
Her: Are you interested in a specific piece...?
Me: ...Ooooh...uh...yeah...the large one over there?
Her: That one's 40,000
Jocelyn: Wow
Me:kthanxbye

So awkward. I just wanted to gawk at the prices at my own pace and not in the context of a conversation. I mean obviously I was not going to buy this

Naughty girls (need love too) 2009
Rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on panel

36'' x 120''

even though I kind of really wanted to. In person the gloss of enamel paint and the textured layering of the rhinestones gave many of the works a sculptural effect. Beyonce probs has this in her living room right now.

Apparently some galleries don't display price lists so they can tailor the price based on the client. Sssssmoooooootttthhhh.

So I read this article on Mary Boone in W Magazine last year. Article HERE. Some interesting bits from the article:

And if you think sexism doesn’t exist in the art world, she asks, why is it that virtually every story written about her in the past 30 years has fixated on her (sexy, sky-high, expensive) shoes?

" ...with her skin tanned from two weeks spent hiking, doing yoga and eating vegan at the Ashram retreat near Santa Monica.

"Meet the new Mary Boone. The dealer who epitomized the hard-charging excesses of the Eighties art market, whose dragon-lady reputation made her a convenient scapegoat for its devastating crash, now improbably says that her mission in life is “helping other people.” Today the pint-size (five feet one, 105 pounds) pit bull of yore donates her thick, tar black hair to Locks of Love..."

Together Boone and her artists redirected the art world’s gaze. Rejecting the Minimalist and conceptual-laden Seventies, they re-energized painting with bold, heavily figurative canvases and made neo-Expressionism the dominant aesthetic. Boone became the queen of SoHo. It was a mantle she did not wear lightly. Boone gained a reputation as aggressive, manipulative and combative. When the crash finally hit, in 1990, she was vilified for tackily hyping her artists in the media, turning them into commodities with stratospheric prices and waiting lists for their work. Whatever her role in overheating the market, she stuck by her suddenly struggling artists during the Nineties chill.

Anyway I thought she sounded awesome so I visited her upper east side gallery under the guise of viewing the Patricia Coffie (recent SVA grad, represent!) show which was pretty sweet.

"Daydreams" 2008

My sister once told me this story about how she was walking down the street in NYC and some crazy yelled at her and probably said "C'mere woman!" but it sounded "Career Woman!" My sister studied economics in college and this whole Gallerina thing reminded me of this article I read in W about hot women being hired as Marketing Executives to use their hot bodies to facilitate financial deals. A few quotes from the article:

“Guys who have a load of money [invested] in these big funds are often pigheaded, type A male personalities,” says one male marketer by way of explaining the estrogen predominance in his field. “They want a hot chick with a nice ass and nice boobs who is going to come in and sell the fund to them. I have a friend in the industry who is drop-dead gorgeous, and even she knows that’s the only reason she has her job.”

Says the curvy blond, “Just last night I had dinner with a potential investor, and he e-mailed me 20 minutes after we left, saying, ‘Great spending time with you tonight. Let’s do it again soon.’ That’s not, like, a professional follow-up note. But,” she adds, “he was nice and cute, so I wrote back. Some guys flirt a lot, and you have to be very careful, because some of them get dirty. You can never get your reputation back.” Another lithe exec complains about men who repeatedly arrange evening meetings without ever actually investing in the funds. “It’s a gray area: We know it’s business, and the men know it’s business, but there is also the allure of attractive, young girls taking them out,” she says.
Such stories are part of the reason intelligent, ambitious women in the hedge fund world are still struggling to be taken seriously. “Marketing is the ghetto where they put the women,” says one woman who heads up her own hedge fund. Adds Levin, “The marketers don’t like that stereotype, but there is a lot of validity to it.” Says the aforementioned male marketer, “I have never, ever seen an ugly person in this role.”

Though they usually don’t receive a cut of a fund’s profits, they are compensated well (marketing directors can make up to $2 million including bonus, while lower-level execs can make between $200,000 and $500,000). And, according to one investor who’s been wooed by hedge fund hotties, there’s another upside to the job: “It’s an easy access point to a rich husband,” he says. “These girls don’t talk to anyone worth less than $50 million.”

So that guy yelling at my sister was probably some pervy investor. Seriously though I'm totally becoming a "Marketing Excecutive". What do cougars invest in?

Can we talk about these pictures? Can we talk about how much I love Phillip-Lorca diCorcia's work? Can we talk about how these were commissioned for W magazine? Can we talk about the evil geniuses that must work for their photo department? Can we talk about how the top photo basically describes working in retail? Can we talk about how hard I had to hack the html to rip these off THIS amazing website? Can we talk about how I don't know what the rules are for using images from the internet? We have much to discuss.

GIRL ART

2009-06-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

I went through a little obsession with female photo artists. My interest stemmed from this New York Times article called "The Artist is a Glamour Puss". I really like the idea of being a glamorous artist because of my obsession with aesthetics which is probably I'm into art in the first place. Some choice quotes from the article:

Like young starlets at a trendy Hollywood boite, the artists displayed the casually glamorous style of women who are used to being in the limelight, even though none are marquee names in the art world. With their tousled hair, bare legs, colorful stilettos, sexy leather pants, Tracy Feith slip dresses and beaded vintage handbags, they looked as if they had stepped out of the fashion pages.

A few years ago, when Rachel Feinstein, a sculptor who is now 27, went to Yale for a graduate school interview, she wore leg warmers with garters and a see-through plastic miniskirt, which revealed lacy underwear. She was surprised when the head of the sculpture department, a conceptual artist, was offended. ''He attacked me verbally,'' Ms. Feinstein said. ''He accused me of being a third-wave feminist. He said I was a woman who forces her sexuality on men. He thought I was doing this for theoretical reasons, that I was trying to affront him with my girlhood. He tried to get me to defend myself. Needless to say, I didn't go to Yale.''

Tracey Emin, 36, whose best-known work is a tent inscribed with the names of all the people she has slept with, extends the provocative themes of her art to her wardrobe. ''When I go out,'' Ms. Emin said, ''I show an amazing amount of cleavage because I've got really nice breasts, and it makes me feel glamorous.'' A resident of London, she will have a show at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York next month.

''It is what the art world expects of a woman artist,'' lamented Ana Kustera, whose gallery is on Wooster Street. ''It doesn't hurt to be attractive, and the work should not be politically motivated; it should be influenced by the fashion world, it doesn't offend, and it should represent the perfected image of what beautiful is. I want women artists to be taken more seriously, but if they make more serious work, it will be overlooked.''

Full article CLICK HERE

^ That last bit is pretty disturbing. I dug up the press relase for the Another Girl Another Planet show that was up at Greenberg Van Doren Gallery in 1999. The show was co-organized by Gregory Crewdson. CLICK HERE

Naturally I googled all the artists here are some pictures I liked:

Malerie Marder:

"The Marder Sisters"

Justine Kurland:

"The Pale Serpent" 2003

"The Wall" 2000

"The Milk Sucker" 2006

Jenny Gage:

"Helen (Girl and Gun)"

Jenny Gage collaborates with her husband Tom Betterton. I'm not sure when that started but now they shoot fashion and editorial. Portfolio HERE. She was interviewed by The Believer.

BLVR: As I was on my way over here today, I thought back to the first time I… Googled you.

JG: [Laughter]

BLVR: One of the items that popped up was that New York Times article, “The Artist is a Glamourpuss,” and I thought, huh, that’s so…

JG: Pathetic.

BLVR: But rightly or wrongly, you’ve been lumped into this group of beautiful, young, New York women artists who wear Prada to art openings and see-through vinyl skirts to grad school interviews and utilize their body in their work. There was a point in the piece where someone used as a pejorative term, “third-generation feminist.”

JG: Right.

BLVR: The reporter also interviewed Cindy Sherman, and Sherman claimed she felt young women artists weren’t examining gender implications enough, etc., etc. And so I guess I’m curious, would you define yourself as a feminist? And are you guilty as charged?

JG: Well, I definitely view myself as a feminist. During the time when that article appeared, there was a lot of critical uneasiness over the way I and a few other female artists were seen as participating in the culture we were supposedly critiquing. And while I really was participating with the culture I was critiquing, I was definitely critiquing it at the same time. I think that the generation before us simply critiqued it. They weren’t really in a position to participate as much. Back then, you had two choices: Either you’re the housewife or you’re the breadwinner. That in-between area didn’t exist, where you could critique something from the inside.

BLVR: You couldn’t be the sexy housewife breadwinner.

JG: That’s what I like. But we all looked up to artists like Cindy Sherman and Lori Simmons. We thought they were the queens of feminist art and female artists in general. I think they were uncomfortable with the way we positioned ourselves, because they had such a big battle, then we came along and were like, “Well you’ve gone really far with that battle, now I’m going to move in and work out of this space that’s been created by you,” but neither were we saying, “I am Cindy Sherman Junior and I am going to critique all female roles.” That’s why I always glamorized myself in the photographs—because I like the discomfort that people experience when they look at my work. When I first started doing the self-portraits I remember that some of the women in the class would ask, “Why are you so obsessed with the hooker, the prostitute? You look like a prostitute in these photographs.” And I would say, “So? That’s interesting.” And also I was sort of playing with a picture doesn’t really tell the truth: It’s not as though a straight picture is more truthful than if I put on red lipstick and used dramatic lighting.

BLVR: How about collaborating with your husband? You two collaborated on the film I saw last fall, Elegy. How much is he involved in your photography?

JG: We collaborate on all the fashion work, on all the commercial work; we actually collaborate on everything. All the photographs of me were taken by Tom and have always been, since the beginning.

BLVR: That’s such an interesting, added layer of complication…

JG: Yeah, because it’s him looking at me… it definitely is another layer. And then, just in general, like for Ventura work or for most of the other girls, I took the photographs but we collaborated on everything—the ideas, the locations.

BLVR: So do you direct him? Like how he’s supposed to…

JG: Shoot it? I used to. At first we started making photographs with the camera on a tripod and he would move the camera, but it wasn’t as though he had complete say as to where the camera would be. But I realized that the best photographs were when he would just take them. So now, the collaboration is more like, “What if I was doing this?” or “Take this shot where I’m bending down and doing this.” But I would definitely say those are not the best photographs usually. It’s usually more like him responding to me.

BLVR: It’s definitely very intense though. It’s like husband-wife role-playing.

JG: Exactly.

BLVR: But not just for kicks. It’s a typical New York approach to erotics, like “Well, we could just role-play in our bedroom, but then we wouldn’t have a product afterwards.”

JG: It’s true. That’s so funny. There’s no harm in making a little money off of that.

Full Interview CLICK HERE

I'm kind of having a Rachel Feinstein moment. Actually her work doesn't really interest me but I'm fascinated by the story of how she met her husband John Currin. I guess that's kind of terrible of me but seriouly this is awesome.

O’BRIEN: Is it true that John was painting somebody who looked like you before you met?

FEINSTEIN: Yeah. It’s really weird. I had just gotten out of college, and I got this apartment on the corner of West Broadway and Prince Street—it was a hole in the wall. And I worked at a bar, and I would walk around all the time in the neighborhood. Andrea Rosen Gallery was on the corner of Prince and Wooster streets, and John used to go there all the time, so he thinks that he saw me occasionally. He can’t completely be certain about it, but he started to kind of put me in his paintings. That was from ’93 to basically September ’94, but at that point, we had never met. And then I was in a group show that he was in at the Sonnabend Gallery—actually it was the first show that I was ever in. He had a drawing in it, and I had a sculpture, but he didn’t go to the opening, so we didn’t meet. Then in September of ’94 I was in another show at Exit Art—this group show where I built a big, Sleeping Beauty’s gingerbread house that I slept in. I would sleep there during the day, because I was working at night, and you could watch me getting humped by this motorized castle while I was sleeping. It was really crazy. I would wear a fresh cherry on my neck every night, and I had platinum hair, and I wore big glossy red lipstick, and I would wake up, and the lipstick would be smeared all over my face, and the cherry would be smashed up, and people would look in at me through this frosted glass window . . . The night of the opening, this man came up to me and said, “You look like a woman in John Currin’s paintings.” At this point, John wasn’t super-well-known, and I didn’t know who he was, so I said, “I don’t know who that is.” He said, “It’s so strange that you have to meet him.” I said, “I’m not interested.” And the guy was a little bit weird. He was wearing a leather vest, leather jacket, leather pants, leather boots—he was almost like my leather fairy or something. I thought he was trying to hit on me, but I couldn’t figure it out. And then he started to call me at the gallery all the time. He started really harassing me, and I just said, “Leave me alone.” So then he decided to call up John. He looked up John’s number and called and said, “I saw one of your paintings in some show in Boston a year or two ago, and you’ve got to see this girl.” And John, being a man, I guess, instead of telling this guy no, walked over that minute and into the gallery. I was standing there wearing this big kind of frilly pink underwear that Patricia Field used to sell and a shirt that said I’m a satisfier on it. I was just waking up, so I was all messy . . .

O’BRIEN: You’d just been humped by the castle?

FEINSTEIN: Yes, I’d just been humped by the castle. And he walked in, and it was crowded—there were probably 50 or so people there, and for whatever reason I walked straight up to him, and I kissed him on the lips. And he said, “Are you Rachel?” And I said, “Yeah.” And that was it.

O’BRIEN: Wow!

Full Interview CLICK HERE

Speaking of art and fashion heres painting "Rachel in Fur" by John Currin that later inspired a Marc Jaobs ad that featured Rachel Feinstein.

Apparently people were upset. Art bitches always be hatin'. I've been working on this post for like 2 hours. I NEED TO STOP. Next up Gallerinas!

Shall we begin?

2009-06-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

So I've started his blog mostly because I'm bored and because these days I compulsively link to things in my Facebook statuses. Right now I'm ~~slumming it~~ living in my hometown in Tennessse so until September I'll mostly be discussing abstract concepts and things I experience online. BTW this blog is totally legit complete with the hot profile pic I took when I was trying to be the next face of Sean John and the beautiful banner I made from a photo of an installation that I stole from someone elses blog but photoshopped so its totes FAIR USE.