The latest collaborative project by our previously featured artist Nico Muhly.

Updates on Ai Wei Wei’s situation on http://freeaiweiwei.org

Friday, April 8, “Dear Japan We Love You” opened at OPENHOUSE GALLERY on 201 Mulberry Street NYC, another great silent auction benefit curated by our friends Tanya Arakawa Rosenstein, Will Robins, and Foundation World. There was something for everyone with a focus on urban art, and people were quick to scribble in their bids hoping to snatch up pieces by David Ellis, Kenzo Minami, Shepard Fairey, Swoon and more at a 10th of the market value.  A painting by Jose Parla was going for $5,500!

From the producers:

3.11 Project was conceptually created by Yuko Arakawa, one of the producers, who was motivated to start this project because she is from the prefecture of Fukushima in Japan. Her hometown is only 70 miles away from the Nuclear Power Plant, and she is heartbroken by this devastating disaster that has affected her place of origin and her family. Instead of feeling helpless, she is compelled to find a way to give back to her country and to her community. 3.11 is an on-going project that will continue to strive not only to raise money, but to raise awarenes for the victims of northern Japan that were affected by the Tsunami, Earthquake, and Nuclear Radiation.

100% proceeds of all projects we produce will be donated to Japan Earthquake Relief Fund via Japan Society.

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Sophie Calle © Adagp, Paris 2010, Courtesy Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris & Miami

A small explosive event happened yesterday, as French conceptual artist Sophie Calle rolled into California College of Arts to give a talk about using photography as a medium in her work.  “In her conceptual projects, Calle immerses herself in examinations of voyeurism, intimacy, and identity. In the process of secretly investigating, reconstructing or documenting strangers’ lives, Calle manipulates situations and individuals and often adopts guises. Thus in the act of pursuing a stranger to Venice, or taking the position of a hotel chamber maid to surreptitiously observe the guests, Calle conditions and recasts her own identity for that period of time. The documents or so-called evidence that results from these conceptual projects are presented as photographs, photo-text installations, and bookworks.

Calle’s works often focus on the nature of desire and on the relationships between the artist/observer and the objects of her investigations, as in her sole video project Double-Blind. Produced in collaboration with Gregory Shepard, this conceptual road movie was released theatrically in Europe as a feature film, entitled No Sex Last Night.”

Unfortunately, I’m on the east coast and couldn’t attend, but there are plenty of shouts published on Tumblr.

Friends at Graphite Gallery in Williamsburg have organized a silent film and auction event with works donated from more than 28 artists!  All proceeds from this event will be donated to a non-profit organization, JHelp, which is dedicated to helping earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. Currently they are working to bring food, clothing, blankets, water, etc. to the people in the Tohoku region where the tsunami hit hardest.

Artists include: Phoenix, Matthew Waldman, Ryan McGinness, Kenzo Minami, José Parla, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Lady Aiko, Kenji Hirata, Rostarr, Sebastien Agneessens, Motomichi Nakamura, Tomoko Sugimoto, Katja Holtz, Junko Shimizu, Patrick Bradley, Austin Power, Hiroki Otsuka, Shigeko Okada, Keiko Tokushima, Yoko Furusho, Lisa Alisa, Max Steiner, Terrance Hughes, Hazuki Aikawa, Begonia Colomar, Masa Kawamura, Akane Kodani and more.

Graphite NY Gallery
38 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn

March 31, 2011
Thursday, 6-10PM

NYC based artist Paul Chan developed his own version of Plato’s original texts, with an erotically-dry and roboticized humor, that probably only New Yorkers can appreciate. The artist created a set of computer fonts named “erotic idiolects” – an evaluation of the conventional alphabet churning in an endless prose. Before you download the contents onto your Kindle, best to hear it live from the author himself.

Reading:

Tuesday, March 29, 7PM