Black People Art

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

^ 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

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

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

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

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.

Skins secret pary sélectionné dans TV et Jeunesse

This ones more stylized and poetic:

Skins The Uncut Party Trailer -

Fashion

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.