I Heart William Lamson

© William Lamson

I just happened upon this video that typifies the playful genius of his work. Really brilliant stuff.

If you dig his work like I do don't forget you can own one of his Me In America prints via Humble Arts Foundation.

Get Your Arse to Brooklyn, Yo!

© Andrew Miksys

This Thursday the Nelson Hancock Gallery will be hosting the opening of two shows by two very talented artists, Jon Gitelson and Andrew Miksys.

Jon's work is smart, funny and personal. It is part Larry David and part Martin Parr, but really it is pure Gitelson. I am super excited he decided to come to town for the opening.

Andrew's photography is rich, classically stylized and flat out gorgeous. He was kind enough to share his work with my class at Parsons yesterday and we were all stunned by his beautiful photos.

Jon and Andrew's work couldn't be more different which should make for a great show.

Here are the details:

Jon Gitelson | Artist's Books and Andrew Miksys | BAXT
Nelson Hancock Gallery
May 1 - July 6
111 Front St. #204
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 1, 6 - 8pm

If two shows in one location is not enough to satisfy your art appetite, New Orleans' own William Greiner has a show opening that very same night on that very same block in the very same building. Be sure to stop by Klompching Gallery for the opening of Fallen Paradise.

See you in Brooklyn!

Send in the Clowns

© John Gordon

Today on Conscientious Jörg compared the work of Idris Khan and Jason Salavon. Both artists create composite images of preexisting photos that share a similar subject.

My husband John was inspired and gave the concept his own waggish spin. The above image represents every clown in the International Clown Hall of Fame (ICHOF). The results are quite frightening and yet strangely hypnotic.

Worst Reality Show Ever

Psycho Hitchhiker (Coming or Going), 2007 © Douglas Gordon

A gallery friend of mine received this notice casting artists for a new reality TV show.

Gallery HD and Illuminations Media are looking for two Fearless, Charismatic, Passionate & Informed ARTISTS to take the definitive chutzpah road trip.

Two Artist/Art Racers must cross the US in 40 days, surviving only on Art. Armed with art materials, cameras and a $1 dollar budget, the Artist/Art Racers must “trade” Art for food, shelter and other artworks.

Starting on opposite coasts (one in NYC and one in LA), the Art Racers’ odyssey culminates in a home-city exhibition of all the works they have created and collected along the way. The winner is the Artist/Art Racer who sells/trades the most artwork. Or at least the one who survives.

Looking for great communicators who interact well with all sorts of people and can make smart commentary as life happens. Intelligent, sassy and witty are good too. All participants must live in the New York or Los Angeles areas, be at least 21 years old and a US citizen or legal resident alien.

If this is you, please submit the following:

• recent photo (no older than 6 months)
• bio or resume
• sample of your art (photo reproduction okay)
• short essay explaining why you are an Art Racer
• be sure to include your full name, home city and phone number

Please send all ASAP to: subs@barbarabarnacasting.com

ART RACE shoots May 26 – July 11 for appx 40 days on the road + up to 5 add’l shoot days & voice over. Each Art Racer will receive $20,000 US for participating.

This has to be the lamest premise ever, but these shows tend to use premise merely as a vehicle to toss dynamite in the laps of the emotionally unstable. For this show I imagine they will cast a fierce gay waif and pit him against a butterfly-tatooed free spirit chick, strip them of their meds and then film them on a 40 day train wreck as they create, cry, stab, starve, fuck, suck and sell their way across the heartland of USA. You know, all the worst stereotypes about artists in one glorious made-for-TV odyssey. Set your TiVo now.

You're Not Going to Wear That, Are You?

© Jon Gitelson

The terminally clever Jon Gitelson just sent me a note about his latest work of genius, Items of Clothing Secretly Hidden By My Girlfriend (So That I Wouldn't Wear Them Anymore). As someone who has hidden and even secretly discarded some of my husband's wretchedly tattered pieces of clothing and fashion missteps (army green Nehru jacket with epaulets?) I had to laugh and sympathize with Jon's wife, Robin. It's time for those Wigwams to go.

The Drawing Project

The first drawing available from Jason Polan's The Drawing Project

I am beginning to think that Jason Polan does not sleep. He produces amazing work at a ridiculous clip and manages a vast array of creative enterprises including the Taco Bell Drawing Club and his blog, The 53rd Street Biological Society. Now you can add The Drawing Project to his restlessly expanding portfolio. What is The Drawing Project, you ask? Jason says,

"I am starting a new project. There will be a drawing posted everyday. The drawing will be available for you to see and possibly have. The first person to request the drawing (send an email to art@jasonpolan.com with your name, the address to send the drawing, and the drawing number) will receive the drawing in the mail. The artwork will be posted on this website.Once the drawing has been claimed it will be noted within the post on the website. Each drawing on the site will be labeled on the reverse and limited to 1. There will be all different drawings (the first one is of a frog). I hope you enjoy the project. It begins right now."

How Cool Is This?

© Robert Bechtle

Six of my Stranded photos are going to be hanging in a museum show next to works by Robert Frank and Robert Bechtle. Holy crap! Seriously, one of these things is not like the others. I will post more about this show later.

To All My Friends

Five Sour Cherries © Neil Plotkin

I am very fortunate to be surrounded by a tight group of very talented friends and family members. They are a constant source of inspiration and each seems to firing on all their creative cylinders right now. Over the past week I have had the privilege of sharing in some of their professional and personal successes.

Saturday we took in an open studio event for my very dear friend Neil Plotkin. Neil is an amazing painter and his newest work includes beautiful landscapes from a month spent in the Loire Valley and a new series called Empty Studio.

Before Neil's open-studio we attended the wedding of my printer, Carl Saytor. The ceremony was conducted with fire by the Reverend Billy and featured a joyous assembly of friends and family. The whole affair was something like the cast of Rocky Horror meeting the cast of Cirque du Soleil at Burning Man. They even had a man in a banana suit stalk the aisle! Definitely the most entertaining wedding ceremony I've ever attended.

This past Friday my cousin, Andy Guthrie, rocked Galapagos to make it the semi-finals of the 2007 Williamsburg Live Songwriter Competition. Andy performed one of his amazing new songs, It Goes On, which you can listen to here.

Last Wednesday the always lovely Jon Gitelson stayed with us while he was visiting New York showing work to some A-list galleries and museums. While he was here, Jon shared plans for his massive new public arts project in Chicago. Very cool.

It's so motivating to see their efforts being validated by others and, more importantly, by their own happiness.

I Love Gifts in the Mail: Jeongmee Yoon and Jason Polan

© Jeongmee Yoon

Yesterday I came home to find two packages at my front door. Inside the first package was a signed copy of Jeongmee Yoon's new Pink & Blue Project monograph. The book is published by the Geonhi Art Foundation and includes an essay by Art in America editor, Richard Vine. It's simply stunning. Jeongmee is a dear friend and a fellow SVA MFA grad and I couldn't be more proud of her continued success. If you would like to order a copy of her monograph, you can contact Jeongmee directly.

© Jason Polan

The second package contained another great gift from the talented, Jason Polan. Jason was very kind to send me a copy of his The Every Piece of Art in the Museum of Modern Art Book. The book is an amusingly exhaustive inventory of every piece of art in MOMA drawn in Jason's unique and lively style. If you want to order a copy of this, or any of Jason's fabulous work, just give him a shout.

One Man's Garbage Can Project

© Jonathan Gitelson

The fabulously creative and altogether wonderful human being that is Jonathan Gitelson just launched his latest masterwork, The Garbage Can Project. You have probably seen Jon's previous work like the brilliant The Car Project or his clever posters. The Garbage Can Project was born from his need to explore the mysterious motivations behind the continued theft of garbage cans outside his home. Says the Git:

The project began because of the frequent theft of the garbage carts in front of my apartment building. In December 2005 I began to keep a daily photo diary of the carts and of any unusual material left on or around them. In October 2006, I began filming the garbage carts twenty-four hours a day.

Each morning I view the footage from the previous day, creating digital video clips of any instances of people interacting with the carts. It has turned out to be surprisingly compelling seeing what can happen in a day in the life of a garbage cart.

The site has all of the data that I have collected since December of 2005 and it will be updated every day with new videos and photographs.

I still have no idea why people keep stealing our garbage carts, or what possible uses they have for them. I hope to uncover this mystery as The Garbage Can Project continues.

Keep checking back to his site for updates. And, if you are the one currently stealing Jonathan's garbage cans, keep it up you beautifully trashy muse.

Don't Miss This Show

© Dan Halm

Dan Halm is a wonderful friend, a big sweetie, and has done more than just about anyone to help me get my career off the ground. He is also a fabulous artist and currently has a wonderful piece in the Jon Arsenault show, Filthy Gorgeous, at Clamp Art. The show closes this Saturday, so if you haven't seen it, do stop by.

I Love Gifts in the Mail: Jason Polan

The other day I received a lovely package of goodies in the mail from artist, Jason Polan. Among the contents were two books of Jason's great drawings and this found photo of some elderly folks stranded on the side of the road in the mid-eighties. (I like to imagine they have "You Give Love a Bad Name" rockin' out of the Ford speakers as they change the tire.)



Sending me gifts in the mail is a fabulous precedent and I encourage others to follow Jason's lead.

Photo Show Madness

© Brian Ulrich 2003

So many good photography shows going on in Chelsea right now. Finally caught Brian Ulrich's work at Julie Saul. Wonderful stuff and I overheard gallery folks saying the prints were flying off the shelves like so many patriotic chairs. Brian has had so much praise heaped his way of late he doesn't need me to tell him how amazing the work is, but I will say it anyways. Brian, the work is amazing.

Also worth seeing are shows by SVA faculty member, Andrew Moore, at Yancy Richardson and SVA alum, Suellen Parker, at Daniel Cooney, as well as Adam Bartos at Yossi Milo.

Sophia Peer Reviewed in the New York Times

You know you are a hotshot artist when you are included in the paper of record. Fellow SVA MFA alum, Sophia Peer, got a very favorable write-up of her video piece, Everyday, in the New York Times review of the Queens International 2006. Congratulations, Sophia!

Where this exhibition can feel more provincial than shows like P.S. 1’s “Greater New York” or the Whitney Biennial is in its attempt to balance the interests of the art crowd while staying “close to the heart of many local residents,” according to its brochure. Sometimes these concerns dovetail nicely, as in Sophia Peer’s quick-cut video “Everyday.” She captures her aging parents moving around their cramped home in Queens like latter-day, empty-nest Bunkers burrowed in a row house amid a social landscape turned virtually unrecognizable.

Also in the exhibition and worth checking out is Rebecca Roberton's Queens Vernacular series. Rebecca is another kickass MFA grad from the School of Visual Arts.