Priscilla (from the series The Last Days of W). Courtesy of the artist.

In 2004, visitors to the Whitney were greeted by “Charles,” a large-scale color photograph of a bespectacled man in coveralls standing in the wintry outside beside a house. In each of his gloved hands, he held miniature biplanes, and he did not smile. The image introduced museum-goers to that year’s biennial, but it also heralded the arrival of photographer Alec Soth (pronounced “Sōth”) to a larger public.

The art world welcomed him enthusiastically, heaping praise upon Sleeping by the Mississippi (Steidl, 2004) from which “Charles” was pulled. The book featured 46 photographs taken during a series of road trips along the Mississippi River and which were notable for their sumptuous detail and elegiac documentation of an iconic American byway.  Niagra (Steidl, 2006); Dog Days, Bogota; and Paris/Minnesota followed soon after and, in the jittery election year of 2008, The Last Days of W, which Soth, tongue firmly in cheek, labeled his “Big Political Commentary.”

The young talent doesn’t restrict his work to photography books alone, however. He also shoots for the prestigious agency Magnum Photos, traditionally a photojournalist cooperative, and oversees Little Brown Mushroom (LBM), a blog and small press. (The modest initiative was represented at the New York Art Book Fair at PS1 in November.) Today Soth produces the Continental Picture Show series for the New York Times and is promoting Broken Manual, a collaboration with Lester Morrison that explores the places to which monks, survivalists, and the like retreat. The first U.S. survey of his work is also being shown at the Walker Art Center through January 2, 2011, and on Wednesday, December 8, he travels to New York to speak at FIT. New Yorkers can also catch Soth at The Strand on Thursday, December 9, when he’ll be signing books.

The man is busy, but he graciously took the time to talk to me last month over the phone. I was nervous beforehand, but he’s easy to talk to and we had a good time. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Continue Reading More »

"Wild Child Hand Style" 2010, © Jose Parla

Artists and brothers, Jose and Rey Parla each have unique and recognizable visions. Born into a family of Cuban exiles, they moved to Puerto Rico at very early ages to return to Miami again before they were teenagers. They both currently live and work in Brooklyn, NY. Two weeks ago I had a studio visit with Jose and Rey. Knowing each other since the year 2000 we caught up about their latest projects. It was such a thrill to see all of the work – finished or in progress, their work truly moves me.

Jose’s bodies of work, particularly his paintings, are a combination of memories and experiences, from the many cities he has moved through since childhood and throughout his life. Through these diverse locations, each painting holds the textures, colors and pulse of each place. The walls in which he draws direct inspiration from, hold years of decay and neglect from the layers of paint, to decades of old posters.

"Scratch Graph 1" 2007, © Rey Parla

Rey creates abstract works, which combine film, photography, paint and ink materials. These images are not computer-generated, but are hand-manipulated experimental motion picture based works that create a new kind of a “non-photo” photograph. Continue Reading More »

Reciprocity of Light, 2010

Brandon Lattu’s installations do not give obvious answers. They rather make a statement through more ambiguous gestures, at least on first impressions. Based in Los Angeles, Lattu is an artist with multiple practices including a sculpture that was created from time-based photographic operations, which resulted in an abstraction of physical form. Lattu’s perspective allows us to investigate and pry into our surroundings and current events and is provocative yet slightly understated. I recently saw his solo exhibition “Reciprocity of Light” at Leo Koenig, and was especially drawn to the minimal aesthetics of the “Random Compositions“.  After our brief chat over the telephone and the following answers, I got a better perception of the artist’s theoretical practice. I highly recommend experiencing the unique installation Reciprocity of Light while it is still up.

Seven Projections, 2010

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An  instigator of the social norm, Pilvi Takala’s artistic practice provokes many hidden questions  dealing with societies and communities, and she does so with such nonchalance that almost matches with her innocence. Pilvi is definitely careful and clever in carrying out her performance acts. This past Summer, Pilvi and I had a nice conversation about her recent project Real Snow White, her feelings about the iconic Disneyland, and what irks her about malls. Her solo exhibition at the Finnish Norwegian Culture Institute in Oslo opens on November 18, 2010. Pilvi Takala is a performance and video artist based in Amsterdam.

When did you start doing these live performance acts?
In 2004 I went to Glasgow for an exchange from my school in Helsinki, at that time I was more interested in art in the public space and not so much showing in galleries. There I made the first piece that was kind of meaningful. It’s an artist book based on a performative intervention called Event on Garnethill. Continue Reading More »

"Kon Would Rather Eat A Palm Frond On Slater's Birthday Than Drink Muddy Water"

Pablo Power merges text, photography and painting to echo the ephemeral life of the unseen. Passionate about documenting not only the lives but also the lifestyles found just outside city limits, Power submerses himself in grimy subculture and finds that it isn’t so bad. Rather than criticizing his surroundings, Power focuses on capturing moments and regenerating their energy. As a teenager in Miami he experimented with a myriad of disparate offerings to the street. Exploring a range between public subversion and permanent collaborative commissions for Miami Dade Transåit, Power eventually settled on what would be his focus and obsession for years to come: spontaneous bombardment of all accessible space, stationary or mobile, with his “visual mantra.” Continue Reading More »

photo: hw

Entertainment sells. Up until I met Miles Mendenhall last Thursday at Half Gallery’s opening, I was pretty much living in a hole. Of course I knew about Bravo’s Work of Art reality series, and had even given it about thirty minutes of attention on hulu before losing interest. It’s hard to justify my time sitting and watching a reality show about art that’s not actually about art, but more about selling the idea of what art is suppose to be about. The show could easily be read as a ploy needed by broadcast television to shake things up a bit, because who watches television anymore? When I was introduced to Miles, his work, and subsequently all of the events that led to his show at Half Gallery, I couldn’t resist having a chat with him to hear about his take on Work of Art. Continue Reading More »

This week’s featured artist is an extended interview focusing on the work of multi-media visual artist Joshue Ott.

Joshue Ott is one of those innovative artists who visualizes new media in a broader spectrum. Having created superDraw, a platform in which he customized to become his visual instrument, along with multiDraw and Thicket, both interactive projects, Josh is constantly at the forefront. Working with soundscapes, his distinct style of visuals experiments with the basic qualities of form, texture and movement. Since 2005 Josh has been creating live visuals for numerous musicians and various performances around the world. I first experienced Josh’s work live at the 2010 Unsound Festival in New York. We had this conversation in his studio in Brooklyn where he lives with his wife and two children.

Helen Homan Wu: Okay, let’s talk about how you started superDraw. How long ago was it?

Joshue Ott: It was…years ago. Morgan Packard and Ezekiel Honig released Early Morning Migration and I played at the release party. It was some sort of debut. The first time I did superDraw live in front of people and called it superDraw.

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