Gawker Artists Present “NSFW”

The blog craze of the past several years has led to some universally known terminology among blog readers and posters. Case and point, the cautionary acronym “NSFW” (not safe for work) is often posted next to provocative pictures that should not be clicked on or viewed at the office.

As an avid Gawker reader, I am used to seeing the “NSFW” notation and became intrigued when I came across a NYC exhibition called “‘NSFW’ (Not Safe for Work).” The exhibition, on display at Gawker Media Headquarters through March 2010, displays the work of Gawker Artists Steve Ellis, Emiliano Granado, Justin Lai, Heather Morgan and Randy Polumbo.

The exhibition features sexually suggestive works and explores the boundaries and roles of corporate art programs. Because the images have been removed from their original blog-post context, each “NSFW” image inspires new interpretations of beauty, intention and importance via timeless isolation – as well as mischievous tribute. The pictures evoke emotions of discomfort, shock and humor and also force viewers to question their own personal definitions of sexual objects and acts.

Contact arists@gawker.com for more information.

Inka Essenhigh at 303 Gallery

In its third exhibition of artist Inka Essenhigh’s work, 303 Gallery in New York City will display the artist’s latest paintings, which are inspired by William Blake, the 18th Century Romantic poet (and painter / printmaker), who wrote, “Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.” Essenhigh’s fanciful landscapes contain lush backgrounds (many of which the artist based off the setting around her Coastal Maine studio) angelic light, and whimsical characters, which combine to give the paintings a hypnotic and spiritual quality.

Two noteworthy paintings include “Green Goddess,” in which a mythical female figure cloaked in flowers and greenery rises from the ground and calls attention to a world of fantasy and “Lower East Side,” which depicts a mystical pink-lit New York street in which an illusory street cave draws in the fanciful figures.

To read more about the exhibition and the artist, click here.

For more information on the artist, click here.

Free and Discounted Art Events Around New York City

With the financial pressure of the Holiday Season (and life in general), it’s refreshing to know some things are still free. There are currently many free (or semi-free, i.e. free for children only) art events and exhibitions going on around NYC. Whether you’re a native New Yorker or first time visitor to the city, don’t miss out on these exhibitions and events!

“The Ego and the Id” @ Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park : Internationally famed artist Franz West’s sculpture, a 20-feet high public art piece, is family friendly. Children (and adults) are encouraged to touch and interact with the boldly colored abstract piece located in Central Park. (Image: below)

“100 Years (Version #2)” @ P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center: Not to be missed if you’re into performance art (as the exhibition is dedicated to the rapidly changing history of the art form). The exhibition will be updated throughout the new year, mirroring Performa 09’s events.

“Annie Pootoogook” @ the National Museum of the American Indian : A fun idea for parents who want to show their children something different and unique. Pootoogook, an Inuit artist, displays historically revealing drawings, depicting clashes between the Inuit and non-Inuit cultures in Northern Canada. The exhibition examines nomadic traditions along with how the cultures live today. (Image: Left)

To read the full list of free events and exhibitions along with reviews, gallery and museum information, and exhibition dates, click here.

“Rockstone & Bootheel: Contemporary West Indian Art” (A True GEM)

Real Art Ways in Hartford, Connecticut presents “Rockstone & Bootheel: Contemporary West Indian Art,” a show displaying the work of 39 artists (who range in age from their mid-twenties to their mid-fifties). The show focuses on artists and work from the English-speaking Caribbean (like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Bahamas) and includes a broad array of media – everything from painting, sculpture and drawing to installation and video. The artists’ locations are equally as diverse, as some live and work on the islands, while others are based in the US, Canada, Germany and England.

The exhibition is extremely relevent to the city of Harford, which has the third-largest West Indian population in the US (after New York and Miami). However, the show is more than just an homage to West Indian culture and tradition. The exhibtions’ works are uniquely varied, but they are intrinsically linked in their concepts of messy and playful wit  and boldly noisy colors – making this exhibition one that should not be missed by contemporary art lovers of all cultures.

To read more about the exhibit’s highlights, included artists, and the entire NY Times review, click here.

Tate Britain’s “Master”-ful Exhibition

When it initially opened, art critics blasted Tate Britain for its decision to remove many of its masterpieces, as the national gallery abandoned the classics in order to display less serious pieces to appeal to the “new art history.”  However, director Stephen Deuchar, who is leaving to take over the Art Fund after a decade-long run as the man in charge, has proved successful in quelling (and even exciting) the critics, while simultaneously keeping the masses happy. Tate Britain has achieved this balance by masterfully displaying the newest art it can find, along with pieces relevent to Britain’s cultural history, exceptional permanent (and semi-permanent) collections and various dazzling exhibitions.

An article from the Guardian praises Tate Britain’s exhibition ”Turner and the Masters,” stating:

Turner and the Masters is a tremendous climax to this run of shows. It has been seen as a show about competition – about Turner’s savage desire to outdo others, epitomised by the splash of red with which he once trounced Constable. Yet I didn’t really find myself thinking of it as a competition at all. Undoubtedly, Turner holds his own in the sometimes quixotic battles he fights – the only artist who slaughters him is Rembrandt.

Yet by bringing in European masterpieces, such as Rembrandt’s marvellous The Mill, what this exhibition really does is let us see the story of art through 19th-century eyes. It’s not a competition. In almost all the juxtapositions, you find yourself making nuanced comparisons rather than judging…

This exhibition, on display through January 2010, should not be missed – especially by those who value traditional art history and the masters.

 

Rock ‘n’ Roll in Brooklyn

 

Henry Diltz Photo of Tina Turner

Since the beginning of rock music, the media and general public have been fascinated with rock stars. Their rises to fame (and often pit-falls due to self-destructive habits) have been carefully documented. As such, the Brooklyn Museum’s “Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present” is an excellent photographic narrative of the rock stars we all know and love.

The exhibition, organized by photography historian Gail Buckland, displays over 175 images from 105 photographers. The eclectic mix of work includes album cover art, candid snapshots, publicity portraits, and live performance pictures.

A New York Times Review of the exhibition calls into question “What makes a high-quality rock photograph?” (and compares these photos to fashion photography) As the article states,

…Fashion photography is more immediately visual; you don’t have to know who the model is or who designed the clothes to be interested. With rock photographs it matters who the subject is. Knowing that the bearded young man smiling genially at the camera in a 1972 photograph by Lynn Goldsmith is Bruce Springsteen greatly enhances the experience of an otherwise nondescript picture, for fans of the Boss, anyway.

One way to make rock photographs more interesting would be to analyze them as sociological or anthropological documents. Examining them according to some quasi-scientific system could bring to light meanings and metaphors that we have come to take for granted in the cult of rock. Hero worship, sexual aggression, gender role-playing, youthful rebellion and the triumph of neo-primitivism in a consumerist age of unprecedented scientific, technological and industrial progress: these are topics worth examining…

However, “Who Shot Rock and Roll” is an entertaining show that most pop-culture enthusiasts will enjoy. This seems to be a show for all ages. Baby-boomers will look at the photos of young Madonna and Elvis and be called back to their youths, while todays 20- and 30- somethings will see photos of rock stars from the 80s and 90s and laugh at the styles they all once tried to copy.

Particularly stimulating are photographs of those who died young, as the NY Times article reports,

Of course, some did not get old. Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Tupac Shakur will remain forever young, and pictures of them evoke thoughts of what might have been.

Vezzoli, Gaga, and Bolshoi

Lady Gaga

It comes as no news that the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) in Los Angeles has been suffering financially for the past year.  Despite rasing over $50 million (with a large chuck of it coming from Eli Broad), they are still looking for ways to bring in some more money.

For MoCA’s 30th Anniversary Gala on November 9th, artist Francesco Vezzoli has planned a piece featuring pop star Lady Gaga and the prestigious dancers of the Bolshio Ballet.

“They (MoCA organisers) basically offered me a social ritual as a blank canvas tobe turned into an artwork. Some artists might see this as a nightmare, but for me it’s like a surreal dream, and in true surreal style I wanted to mix together the youngest and most daring pop icon, Lady Gaga, with the oldest and most classically trained group of dancers in the world, the Bolshoi Ballet. The output will be flawlessly imperfect and unpredictable, just like any overambitious happening should be,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

click here to read more

Francesco Vezzoli

Brand new: The Museum of Chinese in America

The Museum of Chinese in America was founded in 1980 in New York, and despite its decades-long history, is having a grand opening this week.  Their new and expanded location is the cause for celebration, and the near future is full of interesting events:

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Grand Opening Week

Tue, Sep 22 from 1:30pm – 4:30pm

Wed, Sep 23 from 11am – 5pm

Thu, Sep 24 from 11am – 5pm

Fri, Sep 25 from 11am – 5pm

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The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

Fri, Sep 25 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm

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Family Festival

Sat, Sep 26 from 10am – 5pm

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Chinatown Film Project @ Tribeca All Access, Tribeca Cinemas

Mon, Sep 28 from 7pm – 9pm

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Chinatown Film Project @ Apple Store, SoHo

Tue, Sep 29 from 7pm – 9pm

Wed, Sep 30 from 7pm – 9pm

Thu, Oct 1 from 7pm – 9pm

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A Brief Flight…Hazel Ying Lee and the Women who Flew Pursuit

Fri, Oct 2 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Grand Opening Week

Tue, Sep 22 from 1:30pm – 4:30pm

Wed, Sep 23 from 11am – 5pm

Thu, Sep 24 from 11am – 5pm

Fri, Sep 25 from 11am – 5pm

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The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

Fri, Sep 25 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm

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Family Festival

Sat, Sep 26 from 10am – 5pm

*

Chinatown Film Project @ Tribeca All Access, Tribeca Cinemas

Mon, Sep 28 from 7pm – 9pm

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Chinatown Film Project @ Apple Store, SoHo

Tue, Sep 29 from 7pm – 9pm

Wed, Sep 30 from 7pm – 9pm

Thu, Oct 1 from 7pm – 9pm

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A Brief Flight…Hazel Ying Lee and the Women who Flew Pursuit

Fri, Oct 2 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm

MOCA’s Goals

Central to its mission is its goal to make Chinese American history accessible to the general public, ranging from scholars to young children, from community members to international tourists.  Through its thought-provoking work, the Museum not only encourages the understanding and appreciation of Chinese American arts, culture and history, but also informs, educates and engages visitors about Chinese American history that is in the making.  With the opening of the new MOCA, the Museum will continue to encourage dialogue among its visitors that will transcend generational, geographical and cultural boundaries.  MOCA will continue to be a platform for cultural dialogue: a self-renewing exchange that brings to life the multiple journeys, memories and contributions of the past and present, woven into a collective narrative that shapes the future of our Chinese American legacy.

Museum of Chinese in America:

* curates and displays its expanded collections

* presents exhibits and multimedia productions

* offers education programs and curriculum used in schools

* hosts series programming and multi-year projects that feature contemporary voices and current issues in the Chinese American community

* collects oral histories through its information technology and community-based projects

* hosts festivals, workshops, conferences and resources on Chinese American history

* promotes Chinese American culture on the World Wide Web

Through these initiatives, MOCA hopes to continue to increase the visibility of the myriad voices and identities that make up Chinese American history, while increasing local and global dialogue. By understanding and documenting what is happening today, we strive to shape tomorrow.

ContemporAsian

Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly. 2008. Indonesia. Directed by Edwin

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is currently hosting a month of Asian films and cinema:

Asian cinema is fast becoming a cinema without borders. Digital filmmaking and international coproductions are rapidly transforming an industry in which the transnational flow of talent and resources, even between the U.S. and Asia, has become the norm. In the monthly exhibition ContemporAsian, MoMA showcases films that get little exposure outside of their home countries or on the international festival circuit, but which engage the various styles, histories, and changes in Asian cinema. Presented in special weeklong engagements, the films in the series include recent independent gems by both new and established filmmakers whose work represent the rapidly transforming visual culture of the region. Not only are audiences given the rare chance to enjoy these undistributed films on the big screen—they also experience the diversity and richness of Asian cinema in all its many forms.

Click here for more info on the films and get times

Not New Work

I know that one shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but can I judge a show by it’s title?  Not New Work, a current exhibition at the SFMoMA sounds really great.

Not New Work

Vincent Fecteau Selects from the Collection

Judy Chicago, Georgia O'Keeffe Plate #1, 1979; Collection SFMOMA, gift of Mary Ross Taylor; © 2009 Judy Chicago / Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York

Not New Work

Vincent Fecteau Selects from the Collection

In a marked departure from past New Work shows, this exhibition presents drawings, paintings, and sculptures from the museum’s collection selected by the San Francisco–based sculptor Vincent Fecteau. The artist mined the thousands of objects in SFMOMA’s holdings, selecting 25 works that have rarely, if ever, been on display at the museum. The resulting exhibition — composed entirely of undiscovered, idiosyncratic gems — is unlike any other in the institution’s history. Featured artists range from familiar names such as Lynda Benglis, Max Ernst, and Jess to the lesser-known Richard Feralla, Charles Howard, and Dorothy Reid.