Copperplate Engraving

Cypress Hill Cephalopods

Now that I'm a wee obsessed with cephalopods I got a little giddy when I saw the video below. Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA found a way to attach an electrode stimulator to a squid's fin nerve, then attached it to an iPod nano and played some Cypress Hill. The results are pretty great.

Gerhard Richter Painting

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing the documentary, Gerhard Richter Painting at the Denver Film Society. As far as artist documentaries go, this one was nice, not heavy handed in the slightest. One gets a real sense of Richter as a humble, private, hard working talent. The film nicely matches his energy and personality, or maybe vise versa. What is missing is a chronological look at his work, which may be unnecessary when you look at the prolific amount of work he has created over the years. His process, which is incredibly internal, is magnified to a point which makes him obviously uncomfortable. What you do get to see, although you may not understand, are the many hours, alterations and versions of a work in progress.  The filmmakers morph and transition the image of a painting in progress step after step. It is a beautiful, contemplative aspect of the film which in a way brings you closer to understanding Gerhard Richter the artist than any of the dialogue surrounding the action of the film. There is a lot of talk and footage about whether or not a painting will be able to hold its ground, or withstand time in being determined as good work. It is not a film that idolizes the artist but instead allows a look into the process which is not glamorous but in fact work, hard work. It is the paintings themselves which seem to grow into larger than life personalities becoming performers in a spectacular show where Richter gets to hide behind the curtain.

For a trailer of the film click here

The Whitney Biennial 2012

I had the great pleasure of visiting New York recently and checking out the 2012 Whitney Biennial. This was only my second time ever visiting the Whitney. The first was for the 2008 Whitney Biennial, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect; contemporary art in its many forms, lots of people visiting with comments like "I'm sorry I just don't get it," "very cool," or "when I was in art school...."

And I have to say that this year was not exceptional in that respect. There was a lot more video and performance scheduled throughout the exhibition which is great but a bit frustrating for a weekend visitor like myself who really wanted to see Mike Kelly's work but picked the wrong weekend. I did happen to catch Dawn Kasper in her relocated studio working with a bunch of youth on a collaborative, temporary, found-object sculpture. It was most amusing watching hipster parents do their best to allow their children to play, stack, grab and gather items from the room with reckless abandon. Dawn Kasper was relaxed and guiding the children with questions and encouragement, mostly blending into the group herself instead of standing on the sidelines with the adults.

My favorite work of the Biennial though was the work of Nicole Eisenman: one painting and several monotypes arranged on two large walls. Contemporary print works rarely get so much attention and I was thrilled to see it. The textures, colors and line work were everything that a good monotype should be; painterly, balanced, and spontaneous. I could have spent the majority of my visit happily looking at each print individually; figuring out the cultural commentary, the ridiculous jokes of our daily habits and relationships. Each print was expertly done with an "outsider art" like quality that fit nicely with the subjects depicted.

Another artist I truly enjoyed was Tom Thayer. Tucked in the back was an installation of paintings, collages, paper puppets, video, sound and projection. All of these works had the residue of labor; folded paper, cut cardboard, sewing, arrangement and play. Even the monitors and record players were older machines, nothing assuming, shiny or new. The work was rich in experience and I longed to see each object put to work, to see it perform in its imperfect, clumsy and magical way.

Nick Mauss caught my eye as well, but not for the large entry way that he created. The entry was great to see, but just to the right was a small reverse projection. When my eye first glanced that way I saw what appeared to be a mirror at eye level. For several seconds I stepped closer while trying to find my reflection and realized there was a light projecting through some frosted acrylic or mylar. I continued to stare into the light and suddenly it changed color. This surprised and delighted me. My enchantment was confirmed when again the light changed, this time to an actual image. I know that my delight in the work was due to an instance when experience and art mix and I am sure that the person who glanced at it next certainly didn't share my delight due to the timing of the slide. Still, the foggy images mixed with colored slides moving along at an unpredictable pace gave the work a mysterious yet discoverable or personal feeling. Intimate video or projection works like this were a nice addition to the exhibition as a whole where large or grandiose video dominated.

Other works I enjoyed included a multiple projector video installation by Werner Herzog, a double sided drawing by Eyre de Lanyx, and photographs by Latoya Ruby Frazier. Again, I am disappointed in the lack of video works available to visitors on any given day. In 2008 there were many more video rooms with looping works and I appreciate that format so much more more. Overall though, I enjoyed my visit very much and look forward to what lies ahead.

Flying People in New York

I can only imagine myself getting in a car accident if I saw this on my way across the bridge, but I love it.

What I Want circa 1992

"I want a person with aids for president and I want a fag for vice president and I want someone with no health insurance and I want someone who grew up in a place where the earth is so saturated with toxic waste that they didn't have a choice about getting leukemia. I want a president that had an abortion at sixteen and I want a candidate who isn't the lesser of two evils and I want a president who lost their last lover to aids, who still sees that in their eyes every time they lay down to rest, who held their lover in their arms and knew they were dying. I want a president with no airconditioning, a president who has stood on line at the clinic, at the dmv, at the welfare office and has been unemployed and layed off and sexually harassed and gaybashed and deported. I want someone who has spent the night in the tombs and had a cross burned on their lawn and survived rape. I want someone who has been in love and been hurt, who respects sex, who has made mistakes and learned from them. I want a Black woman for president. I want someone with bad teeth and an attitude, someone who has eaten that nasty hospital food, someone who crossdresses and has done drugs and been in therapy. I want someone who has committed civil disobedience. And I want to know why this isn't possible. I want to know why we started learning somewhere down the line that a president is always a clown: always a john and never a hooker. Always a boss and never a worker, always a liar, always a thief and never caught."


Zoe Leonard, 1992