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 »

Metal Rouge. Photo by Lemule Barbour

Matthew Mcauley. Photo by Carissa Pelleteri

When I arrived at White Slab Palace, a stripped down art space in the heart of the lower east side on Saturday night, I had little idea of what to expect. The event, Paradise Now! curated by Artcard’s own Helen Homan Wu, proved to be a cultural tour de force, combining the work of six musicians, three visual artists, and the improvisational poetic styling of poet/writer/DJ Anavelyse. Continue Reading More »

Last weekend, downtown Atlanta (Georgia) kicked it off with urban grit and paint. Street walls came alive with art that was created for the Living Walls Conference, a grassroots project gathering street artists from all over the world. This Summer event, which is still in its beginnings, is like a carnival for artists and friends to come together and communicate through urban art (but also beer, pizza, and games). Unfortunately I couldn’t make it down there, but the photographer Jenna Duffy captured the essence of the scene.

Jesse

Gaia

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“Amor & Pysche” a new opera by the Vertical Player Repertory and Opera Feroce opened Thursday night at the Christ Church in Cobble hill. As mentioned in an earlier post, it might be impossible to find a more humbling venue. The church – a breathtaking space of yawning gothic arches and sparkling Tiffany stained glass which is over 160 years old – is a truly inspiring if unusual backdrop for performance. Continue Reading More »

(above images courtesy Leslie Heller Workspace)

Lior Shvil is a video artist. He is also a sculptor, director, actor, was previously an architect, and served as a marine in the Israeli military. Being brought up speaking four languages, this diversity is also apparent in his artistic practices. I came across Lior’s work at the Leslie Heller Workspace gallery in the Young Israelis group show. Captivated by a stark, clean, forced black and white print hanging on the wall, I immediately approached the gallerist about it. All of the images hanging on the wall are actually representations of all the videos that are in the Young Israelis show. Continue Reading More »

Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) tossed cymbals, banged gongs, and blew bird whistles into a microphone on Friday night at the Berkeley Art Museum as part four of the Gatherings series curated by David Wilson. Stewart aimed to create sounds inspired by “the night, animal calls, and quietness.” His performance was completely chaotic seeming to be propelled by nothing more than Stewart’s impulses creating an animalistic element.  The crashing cymbals, that even Stewart plugged his ears for, induced a shock that hastened heart rates, increased anxiety levels and seemed to put its listeners on edge. Upon closing my eyes a primal feeling arose inside me as if I were an animal being hunted in the night. Continue Reading More »

This past weekend was a special treat for us art lovers who did not have to be stuck in the city’s sweltering heat to see art.  The Wassaic Project’s Summer Festival – with an edge of hippy-folkness  – is much more than just a hippy fest. The founders Eve Biddle, Elan Bogarin and Bowie Zunino are all artists who are based in New York City. They understand how the art world works here and so this is somewhat of a reform to that system. Their mission is simple and straightforward: to revive this hamlet sleepy town with good art, and bring people together to have a good time for the sake of art. And all of the shows are free!  Here’s a photo recap of the event, more words to come after some sleep replenishment.

Wassaic Projects: wassaicproject.org
Thursday – Sunday 12pm – 6pm