Posts tagged Art

A Brief History of John Baldessari 

The Art of the Heist: Valuing Art through Its Theft

“To enter into the art world at any level is to experience firsthand the appeal of exclusivity and exclusion unknown to most since the seventh grade lunch table. The specialists, critics, curators, dealers, and gallery assistants in black dresses are all selling symbols of culture and erudition to those who are willing to pay for it; those who can’t are left on the outside. A clubby world where large sums of money freely circulate inevitably conjures up images of urbane sophisticates in the mold of James Bond and his eccentric nemeses. But even those apparently on the inside don’t always know what they’re getting into, or how deep they’re in it.”

“Alan Belcher has produced new work for this exhibition, a ceramic multiple edition. Known for his pioneering of the “photo-object_ genre (artworks which fused the disciplines of photography and sculpture); he has furthered that exploration with a multiple series of what can be seen as perhaps the ultimate “photo-object”. Belcher has taken the ephemeral nature of the universal jpeg, and solidified its default icon into a standard image surrogate. The edition entitled “______.jpg” was fabricated in China, is a series of 125 pieces each signed and dated.” 25 Years of Talent at Marianne Boesky Gallery, curated by Michelle Grabner May 2 - Jun 16, 2012.

“Alan Belcher has produced new work for this exhibition, a ceramic multiple edition. Known for his pioneering of the “photo-object_ genre (artworks which fused the disciplines of photography and sculpture); he has furthered that exploration with a multiple series of what can be seen as perhaps the ultimate “photo-object”. Belcher has taken the ephemeral nature of the universal jpeg, and solidified its default icon into a standard image surrogate. The edition entitled “______.jpg” was fabricated in China, is a series of 125 pieces each signed and dated.” 25 Years of Talent at Marianne Boesky Gallery, curated by Michelle Grabner May 2 - Jun 16, 2012.

Psychedelic Poster (Neon Rose, 1967) Large posters from Neon Rose, the design company formed by Victor Moscoso: NR-20/B1 (mistakenly printed “NR- 15”), a KMPX Radio Station poster, measuring approximately 22” x 28” (second printing, with “see-through” silver ink).

Psychedelic Poster (Neon Rose, 1967) Large posters from Neon Rose, the design company formed by Victor Moscoso: NR-20/B1 (mistakenly printed “NR- 15”), a KMPX Radio Station poster, measuring approximately 22” x 28” (second printing, with “see-through” silver ink).

Canned Heat/Country Joe and the Fish Waikiki Shell Concert Poster NR-16 (Neon Rose, 1967) Victor Moscoso designed this psychedelic poster for the 1967 Hawaii Pop Rock Festival.

Canned Heat/Country Joe and the Fish Waikiki Shell Concert Poster NR-16 (Neon Rose, 1967) Victor Moscoso designed this psychedelic poster for the 1967 Hawaii Pop Rock Festival.

ANDY WARHOL, Gun, 1981-1982, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 70 1/8 x 90 1/8 in. (178.1 x 228.9 cm)

ANDY WARHOL, Gun, 1981-1982, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 70 1/8 x 90 1/8 in. (178.1 x 228.9 cm)

ANDY WARHOL, Gun (Detail), 1981-1982, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 70 1/8 x 90 1/8 in. (178.1 x 228.9 cm)

ANDY WARHOL, Gun (Detail), 1981-1982, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 70 1/8 x 90 1/8 in. (178.1 x 228.9 cm)

Sizing Up the Curious New William Eggleston Lawsuit: Can a Collector Really Stop Him From Making More Art?

“Is it possible to create a new photograph from an old negative? That’s the question at the center of a bitter legal dispute between collector Jonathan Sobel and photographer William Eggleston. On April 4, Sobel filed a complaint against the artist in federal court, alleging that Eggleston diluted the value of Sobel’s collection by printing larger, digital versions of some of his best-known works and then selling them for record prices at Christie’s.”

Turkey Asks U.S. Museums for Return of Antiquities - “The government of Turkey is asking American museums to return dozens of artifacts that were allegedly looted from the country’s archaeological sites, opening a new front in the search for antiquities smuggled out of their original countries through an illicit trade. The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Cleveland Museum of Art and Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection are among the institutions that the Turkish government has contacted, officials say.”

Turkey Asks U.S. Museums for Return of Antiquities - “The government of Turkey is asking American museums to return dozens of artifacts that were allegedly looted from the country’s archaeological sites, opening a new front in the search for antiquities smuggled out of their original countries through an illicit trade. The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Cleveland Museum of Art and Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection are among the institutions that the Turkish government has contacted, officials say.”

In 2010, designer Andy Chen called the Silence=Death logo “meaningless”, “effete” and even “self-stigmatizing” in his essay for Design Observer, see Not Queer, But Human. Radical fairies of yesterday were encouraged to assimilate and after watching the majority of their friends die of AIDS, encouraged by Chen to join some sort of imaginary “collective human tapestry”, and play nice. Fast forward two years, art photographer Iannis Delatolas was Gay-Bashed in Brooklyn last month. Rather courageously he didn’t stay silent, he told his story to The Village Voice, Photographer’s Gay-Bashing In Brooklyn Leads To Haunting Image, he empowered himself by making ART, and putting a still relevant graphic front and center on his chest for his latest self-portrait. Silence=Death stands the test of time, and unlike Chen’s assertion, social dissent is still powerful, even when it makes a few Gay-Bashing cowards feel a wee bit uncomfortable; and for us gay guys, still queer, even more human.

In 2010, designer Andy Chen called the Silence=Death logo “meaningless”, “effete” and even “self-stigmatizing” in his essay for Design Observer, see Not Queer, But Human. Radical fairies of yesterday were encouraged to assimilate and after watching the majority of their friends die of AIDS, encouraged by Chen to join some sort of imaginary “collective human tapestry”, and play nice.

Fast forward two years, art photographer Iannis Delatolas was Gay-Bashed in Brooklyn last month. Rather courageously he didn’t stay silent, he told his story to The Village Voice, Photographer’s Gay-Bashing In Brooklyn Leads To Haunting Image, he empowered himself by making ART, and putting a still relevant graphic front and center on his chest for his latest self-portrait. Silence=Death stands the test of time, and unlike Chen’s assertion, social dissent is still powerful, even when it makes a few Gay-Bashing cowards feel a wee bit uncomfortable; and for us gay guys, still queer, even more human.

Did Art Stealing, Santorum-supporting, Gay Hating, Urban Outfitters CEO License A T-Shirt Featuring Robert Mapplethorpe For His Store? - “The [Mapplethorpe] Foundation reps were not aware of the shirt’s sudden disappearance, but it was gone, simultaneously, everywhere. Circumstances taken into the account, yes, this seemed to have happened suspiciously fast. Hidden amidst the boobs, blunts and OBEY, had Mapplethorpe been passing as straight enough for mall-wear with that tough guy pose? Until he wasn’t, until someone figured out that man with the switchblade is the man with a bull-whip up his ass and comes with a heritage of marvelous portraiture Urban Outfitters would definitely never put on a t-shirt? Was he then quietly hidden?”

Did Art Stealing, Santorum-supporting, Gay Hating, Urban Outfitters CEO License A T-Shirt Featuring Robert Mapplethorpe For His Store? - “The [Mapplethorpe] Foundation reps were not aware of the shirt’s sudden disappearance, but it was gone, simultaneously, everywhere. Circumstances taken into the account, yes, this seemed to have happened suspiciously fast. Hidden amidst the boobs, blunts and OBEY, had Mapplethorpe been passing as straight enough for mall-wear with that tough guy pose? Until he wasn’t, until someone figured out that man with the switchblade is the man with a bull-whip up his ass and comes with a heritage of marvelous portraiture Urban Outfitters would definitely never put on a t-shirt? Was he then quietly hidden?”

Get Down With High Culture: The Guerilla Girl’s Art Museum Activity Book gets an update and reprint by Printed Matter, instore high tea and luncheon Saturday March 31.

Get Down With High Culture: The Guerilla Girl’s Art Museum Activity Book gets an update and reprint by Printed Matter, instore high tea and luncheon Saturday March 31.

Bjork, Modern Things & Art Forum Diary

“BJÖRK GUÐMUNDSDÓTTIR, elfin pop savant and, with the recent release of her multimedia project Biophilia, Iceland’s leading iPad bore, may be a perky charmer, but her team is as chilly as their employer’s home. Asking this aloof trio whether photography was permitted at the singer-songwriter’s Thursday afternoon Armory Show Open Forum Panel with performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson (part of a slew of Scandinavian-focused talks at the fair), I received the decision, delivered with relish: “You know what? No.” Video was verboten too, as were interviews, recording, eating, drinking, impertinence… Oh, and if you didn’t have a white wristband, forget about getting in anyway.

Once inside, of course, everyone snapped blithely away as Björk, Kjartansson, and moderator Markús Thór Andrésson chatted among themselves onstage. The clean-cut guys wore sensible jackets; our heroine rocked a dark red velvet dress with mystic amulet and lime-green veil. In other words: business as usual. The topic was “accumulation and regeneration,” to which a jovially improvising Andrésson added “interaction and repetition and…united nations” before exhorting the assembled to “be in the here and now!” Kicking off by reflecting on her recent experience of performing in a format closer to a theatrical residency than a concert, Björk, rolling her rs magnificently, mourned “the old rrrrrock-’n’-rrrrroller in me” but expressed appreciation for new and more varied audience reactions (perhaps not such a surprising effect when shifting venues from Roseland to the New York Hall of Science).”