2012 Whitney Biennial List Released: Includes Former Braddock Native LaToya Ruby Frazier

I still can never get, why this single show, in a moderately sized NY museum is still considered the standard survey of the new, cutting edge and important in what is now such a vast interconnected world.

"The Whitney Biennial is an exhibition held every two years in which the Museum gauges the current state of contemporary art in America." Fat chance. At best it' gives some insight into what the small clique of curators feel is hot.

Even so, here is the list of 2012 Biennial artists.

Kai Althoff
Thom Andersen
Charles Atlas
Lutz Bacher
Forrest Bess
(by Robert Gober)
Michael Clark
Dennis Cooper and
Gisèle Vienne
Cameron Crawford
Moyra Davey
Liz Deschenes
Nathaniel Dorsky
Nicole Eisenman
Kevin Jerome
Everson
Vincent Fecteau
Andrea Fraser
LaToya Ruby
Frazier
Vincent Gallo
K8 Hardy
Richard Hawkins
Werner Herzog
Jerome Hiler
Matt Hoyt
Dawn Kasper
Mike Kelley
John Kelsey
John Knight
Jutta Koether
George Kuchar
Laida Lertxundi
Kate Levant
Sam Lewitt
Joanna Malinowska
Andrew Masullo
Nick Mauss
Richard Maxwell
Sarah Michelson
Alicia Hall Moran and
Jason Moran
Laura Poitras
Matt Porterfield
Luther Price
Lucy Raven
The Red Krayola
Kelly Reichardt
Elaine Reichek
Michael Robinson
Georgia Sagri
Michael E. Smith
Tom Thayer
Wu Tsang
Oscar Tuazon
Frederick Wiseman

As usual, a few like Robert Gober, Mike Kelly and Nicole Eisenman are very established artists. The general flavor from what I have read and the few names, I recognize is a strong tilt towards work that blurs categories-lots of performance, film (Werner Herzog), photography, protest, etc...

LaToya Ruby Frazier, who for the last three years or so has lived in the NY area is on the list. It will be interesting to see what she does.

Nice Video About Creation Of Crop Bistro In A Classic Cleveland Building

 

I'm not a historic preservation nut-there sometimes are good reasons for radically changing or demolishing historic buildings.

That being said, they just don't make places of dignity and elegance like this Cleveland Landmark every day. Here is a great video I came across about the transformation of the ground floor space into a highly rated restaurant.

United Bank Building

The 9-story, 1.5 million dollar United Bank Building opened in 1925 as the tallest and largest commercial building on Cleveland's west side. It was one of the last of a series of classical bank buildings constructed in Cleveland during the 1910s and 1920s, a golden age for the city's banking industry. The selection of Cleveland in 1914 as one of twelve cities to house a branch of the new Federal Reserve Bank helped fuel this growth, as did the city's emergence as a major industrial center around the turn of the 20th-century. Many of the city's banks, however, did not make it through the stock market crash of October 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression. The United Banking & Trust Company, founded on Cleveland's west side in the 1880s, was a victim of the crash, and it merged with Central National Bank just a month afterwards in November 1929

Crop is on Lorain Ave in Ohio City, a few steps away from the landmark, West Side Market.

Follow the link to learn more.

The Dark Knight Rises Official Batman Trailer #2...Some Familar Scenes Here

Many cities in this trailer, I'm sure. But there are a lot of scenes of Pittsburgh. Fortunately, the atmosphere here in the Burgh isn't usually so dark and ominous. Unless, for example, the Steelers had a twenty point loss the night before and it is dark and rainy (like this past Tuesday).
Like so many others, I enjoyed seeing the movie being filmed here!!!! And I am looking forward to seeing it. For the trailer, go here

New to Cleveland: A Guide to Rediscovering the City: Review on Rustwire

If Cleveland is to have a bright future, it will have to appeal to people who didn't share the same kindergarten class. Good guides to help those newcomers are pretty rare.

Rust Wire reviewed a new one.

"I like that Justin focuses on quality-of-life amenities that are important to the young professional crowd. The stuff that makes Cleveland neighborhoods livable, this book emphasizes, are walkability, transit access, cultural amenities, recreational opportunities (like yoga studios), and even (and I really like this one) diversity.

In my view Justin’s appraisal of city neighborhoods is much more honest and thoughtful that the usual appraisals we get in Cleveland, e.g. Cleveland Magazine’s “rating the suburbs” which encourages readers to adopt lifestyle choices that are liable to have their spending all their free time sitting on the driver’s seat of a car or on the couch (while “saving” a few precious dollars on taxes)."

The HillVille Looks At A Big Placemaking Trend: Downtown Skating Rinks

The HillVille, is a new project aimed at creating dialog among Appalachian cities. I'm really digging it's positive vibes.

Cities On the Rink: Ice Skating Designed for Downtown.

"Greenville, S.C. and Lexington, Ky., opened rinks this November for the first time. Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice has been in Market Square since the mid-2000s, and a rink opened in Pittsburgh’s PPG Place in 2001.

While ice-skating is quintessential wintery fun, it also represents a movement by city leaders toward creating public spaces that are active, engaging destinations even in the coldest months.

Dana Souza, parks and recreation director for the city of Greenville, said Ice on Main, a 3,200 square foot rink surrounded by a hotel, city hall, offices and restaurants, is indicative of the city’s values."

Win Passes to Every 2012 Beachland Ballroom Show

OK, if you live around Cleveland, this is a pretty great prize to go for.

Pretty much, just what it says. You enter on their Facebook page. Deadline December 29th

The Hillville, Online Journal Looks at Appalachia's Urban Side

From The Hillville:

"Maybe it’s because we’re all attached to our region’s rural past, so imprinted are we with our grandparents stories, we can’t stop thinking or writing about it. Or, the issues that dominate conversation happen to be in our rural quarters, like mining, mountain top removal and ameliorating poverty."

A deeply flawed mythology, since Appalachia is increasingly an urban place, impacted by the role of cities in and around it.

"Almost 60 percent of the region’s 24.8 million people live in urbanized areas, and if current demographic trends hold, that number will increase. The feds define Appalachia as a 205,000-square-mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. Within that span, there are larger cities with more than a 100,000 people, like Birmingham, Huntsville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Asheville and Pittsburgh. And, there are dozens of medium-size cities like Greenville, S.C., Charleston, W.V., and Scranton, Pa."

Surprise, but a careful look shows that the emerging, giant of Atlanta, is at the edge of the region.

Even more surprising at least to those who carry the old stereotypes, is how popular and successful many cities like Chattanooga, Asheville and now Pittsburgh have started to become.

So far, I see a very high level of quality in the posts.

The Hillville

Buzz from the Atlantic.

Best Holiday Desserts and Pastries in Pittsburgh (Susan on CBS Local)

I am sure this sugar plum mouse would be nibbling on these if she could.
A round up of the best sweet stuff for the holidays by Susan Constanse on CBS Local. For the round-up go here

Walking Tour of Johnstown's Amazing Architecture

I have still never visited Johnstown but it always looks fascinating from the train, dramatic, Western PA landscape, old steel mills, churches and even an incline!

The Johnstown Area Heritage Association (JAHA), has a very in depth walking tour of some of downtown's historic and diverse buildings.

Once again, I will plug the idea of hosting a single day or weekend of tours so people can really discover these buildings from the inside.

A Walking Tour of Johnstown

Organizations Plan to Give Cleveland Area Homes To Immigrants

I gotta admit to not knowing many details about this but I have a few thoughts, both positive and negative.

The solution is The Discovering Home Program, which is a joint effort by the Cuyahoga Land Bank and the International Services Center.

Together, they want to turn neighborhoods around by offering struggling immigrants housing. The refugees will have to agree to fix them up. The hope is that families will take great pride in their homes and help stabilize neighborhoods. Many believe it is a win-win situation

.

Right off the bat, I'm impressed by any efforts in the Cleveland area to not just obsess over everyone leaving, but attract new residents. Any thinking in that direction is a big plus.

I also, see that ownership is to be gained by fixing up the homes. Here, I have some pretty strong doubts. If no cash investment of any kind is made, one is likely to repeat the same kind of easy come-easy go buyers with no equity that helped create the housing mess. Remember that in many cases, you will be asking people to move into shaky and damaged communities in a region with abundant low cost housing.

I have doubts that incentives like this will draw people who find the homes and neighborhoods of real value since price alone is the main draw.

Contrast that, for example with efforts to attract artists who see the benefits of living in a place with lots of other creatives.

That being said, many larger immigrant families would fit well with single family housing stock.

Beautiful Letter From George Romero in Support of Chapel Restoration

Earlier, I posted about efforts to save the Evan's City Cemetery Chapel, one of the last remaining major artifacts featured in George Romero's iconic, low budget masterpiece, Night of The Living Dead.

$50,000 is needed in less than a year.

From The Post Gazette:

"They welcomed us, in some cases fed us, and occasionally even agreed to play small roles in the film. They gave us all their support and then some. In this way they became the first people to not only approve but endorse what we were attempting to do.

"It was as if, in accepting us, they were willing to accept the far-fetched idea that a film made by what could only be called 'amateurs' might just possibly have a chance at success. The people of Evans City in effect 'teamed up' with us, subscribed to our hopes and dreams as if they were their own.

"The film, 'Night of the Living Dead,' was, as its title suggests, a horror film, which further prejudiced its chance at any sort of lasting attention, but the people of Evans City knew nothing about box-office shares or audience-response polls.

"We believed, so they believed. And, in a hundred ways, they enabled us to complete the film."

A long article. Apparently, Romero had tried to contact the people behind the efforts and after some bounced emails, had to send..a letter.

http://www.fixthechapel.com/

ArtPrize Boosts It's Juried Prize: Is That a Good Thing?

Michigan's ArtPrize is an event that right off the bat combined creative placemaking, art, economic development and public interaction in ways that excited me.

Likewise, in spite of it's success,(and the fact it's not in NY or LA) the art establishment has mostly ignored or tried to look down on it. "Oh My God, they really voted a non ironic religious piece the top award!"

For better or worse, Artprize is tipping the scale away from public voting and more towards "expert jurors".

From Hyperallergic

The top public vote award will be a little smaller next year, $200,000 instead of the $250,000 offered this year, but the organization is adding a brand new juried award of $100,000, which puts it in the same monetary league at the Hugo Boss Prize (also $100,000) and considerably more than the Turner Prize with its £25,000 award (roughly $39,000).

Some facts about ArtPrize 2011:

-1,582 artists from 39 countries and 43 US states took part

-The participating artists installed their work at 164 venues in a three-square-mile district in Grand Rapids

-38,000 registered voters submitted 383,000 total votes for the public prize

-Smartphones increased voting 62%

Artprize 2011 Timelapse from Michael Cook on Vimeo.

In New York Region: Retailers Design More Around Transit

Urban Retailers Call For More Transit, Less Parking

Obviously the trend is stronger in the greater NY region, but a lot of talk at International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Manhattan seemed to be about adpting retail better to transit and denser urban design. Speakers included reps from Burlington Coat Factory, Sports Authority, BJ's Wholesale Club and a number of major real estate developers.

As retailers continue to weave suburban concepts into the urban fabric, more brands—and big-boxes—are going vertical. But as the pendulum swings in favor of transit-oriented development, the nation’s top retailers agreed that the need for mass transportation is beginning to outweigh the need for traditional parking design, according to speakers during day two of the International Council of Shopping Centers’ 2011 New York National Conference & Deal Making event. The convention closed out at the Sheraton New York and Hilton New York Hotels on Tuesday afternoon, where total attendance exceeded 6,000 each day.

During the general session, much of the discussion revolved around the challenges retailers face, running the gamut from site selection, obtaining local approvals, expansion concerns and store formats. The panelists also addressed the paradigm shift of retailers like wholesale clubs and supermarkets—two concepts borne out of the suburbs—that are finding equal strength in cities, especially near subway and bus lines.

An earlier post I did on urban retail formats in NYC

Pittsburgh Biennial @ Miller Gallery Reviewed in Hyperallergic

It's a bit strange that the awesome online art magazine, Hyperallergic only reviewed this one part of the multi venue Biennial. However, in some ways it's not that surprising since this show of artist collectives and collaborative projects might have the greatest relevance outside of Pittsburgh.

"The exhibition at Miller Gallery, curated by gallery director Astria Suparak, features five artist-teams, all with some connection to Pittsburgh. Although the Biennial’s publicity describes the show as an exploration of the art of collaboration, I found concern about space, place and the planet to be another significant thread weaving the works together.

Each collaborative asks the viewer to re-picture the interconnections that make up our experience of the world — to borrow Smith’s terminology. For Smith, this impulse involves the representation of cultural and economic networks on a global scale. The artists at Miller Gallery, however, focus on a wider range of intertwining relationships, spanning not only the global but also ecological, local, urban, public and domestic spaces."

An excellent, long review with a number of images.

The show ends, Sunday, Dec 12

Pittsburgh Holiday Shopping Tips In Pop City and CBS Local

The other day, CBS Local posted some Pittsburgh area unique shopping ideas, which alone didn't seem long or interesting enough to pass along.

Now Pop City also has a nice list of ideas. Check out all the suggestions.

Pop City: Your all-local guide to great holiday shopping

CBS Local: Guide To Buying Last-Minute Local Gifts

Run Down Of Cleveland's Holiday Pop Up Shops In Freshwater

Freshwater Cleveland posted a big list of amazing looking pop up stores and holiday festivals to buy unique gifts around Cleveland.

A high percentage of these seem to be on the West Side. Ohio City, Gordon Square etc, but there are some in other places, Downtown and Midtown.

Once again, places like The 78th Street Studios and Tower Press buildings are the focus of energy.

L Magazine's Story On Ex-Patriot Networks, Detroit Nation, Pittsburgh Nation Etc..

L Magazine has a good post about urban diaspora networks, which not surprisingly involves groups from all the major cities in the Rust Belt like Detroit, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. Most of the usual blogging suspects are quoted, like Aaron Renn (Urbanophile) and Jim Russell (Burgh Diaspora)

Amazingly, active interest in building and exploiting these extended networks is very recent.

My personal views are somewhat mixed in that all levels of engagement need to be fostered, not just with people who left but with all kinds of other people.

It seems like most Rust Belt cities are in a learning curve, moving from Border Guard Bob type efforts to get everyone to stay, to reluctant efforts to get people to comeback to their hometown.

The best ones, acknowledge the natural movement of people while keeping them in touch and involved.

Jacobs acknowledges that networking opportunities and tangible engagement, not just economic redevelopment prospects, should be an important focus for diaspora groups. For people who hope to one day return to their hometowns, social networking is essential in order to replace lost groups of hometown friends who have also left the area. Detroit Nation often organizes road trips back to Detroit where members can socialize with each other, in addition to connecting with Detroit business leaders and experience innovation initiatives first hand.

Detroit Nation isn't the only expat group whose members currently call New York City home. Manhattanite Frits Abell founded the Buffalo Expat Network at the beginning of 2010, after 20 years in NYC. Buffalo Expat Network started out as a Facebook group but has since become an active expat network, connecting former Buffalo residents from all over the world in order to harness talent for Buffalo-based initiatives. Unlike Detroit Nation, Buffalo Expat Network engages their membership more through online communities, although in-person events have been held in New York City. "At the beginning of this year, we decided to focus much more on projects, so we have different expats leading different projects," he says.

IMHO, there needs to be a much broader interest in information and people flow all around. People in Ann Arbor should know Detroit better; folks in Columbus should know Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Indianapolis. It's like looking at a menu and just knowing what's available.

The article does point out that New York City itself benefits from a vast diaspora network.

December Unblurred

The theme for Unblurred in December is large group shows; it seemed like the larger venues on Penn were all doing some variation of this. It was interesting to see the different takes on that idea, and it made for a very active evening. I am sure I missed as much as I got to during December's Unblurred.

Winter in Frames at ModernFormations


A fun exhibit of small format works, Winter in Frames invited artists to submit works for public voting. The top three voted artists get a group exhibit. While the gallery typically follows a monthly show rotation, Winter in Frames will remain in place through January 14, when the winners will be announced. If you missed the exhibit opening on December 2, you can always swing by during regular gallery hours, or for first Friday (January 6).

There are several images from the exhibit in the slideshow. And no, I'm not going to say who I voted for. I will say that it was a nice balance of work. Survey shows like this, with no stated theme and no over-arching juror, can be difficult to present. ModernFormation's Director, Jennifer Quinio Hedges, did a phenomenal job with organizing the installation.

Exhibiting artists include --
Ron Copeland, Julie Urban, Dafna Rehavia Hanauer, Jake Reinhart, Lauren Toohey, Donnie Toomer, Steven M. Yeager, Lizzee Solomon, Katie Sussman, Stephen Tuomala, Stephen Knezovich, Nancy Schuster, L.J. Swiech, Carol Skinger, Ruthanne F. Bauerle, Stephen Haynes, Chris Humphrey, Joel Brown, Mark Zets, Jeff Zets, Eric White, Lindy Hazel LaDue, Rebecca Rose, Kristin Turcsanyi, Susan Contanse, Jes LaVecchia, Mark Mangini, Ryan Emmett, Jay DelGreco, Aimee Manion, and Joseph Materkowski.

Modernformations

Lascaux to Garfield at IRMA FREEMAN CENTER FOR IMAGINATION


A special off-the-wall presentation of local artists work, Lascaux to Garfield was a very short exhibit. There were many familiar names, and the exhibit was a joint venture between the Irma Freeman Center and The Puppet Happening.

There were several pieces that stood out for me. Renee Ickes, whose work is pictured above, creates some very cheeky pierced and cut paper pieces. Laurie Trok, who does very intricately layered paper-cut collages, had a couple small pieces in the show. More of her work is available for viewing at her solo show at Morris Levy Gallery, opening December 10.

Puppet Happening is a venture of Tom Sarver's, who has been producing puppet shows in Pittsburgh for years. He had a mini-festival at the Irma Freeman Center over the weekend, and will be doing more in the future.

Exhibiting artists include: Sheila Ali, Alberto Almarza, Ashley Pixelle Andrews, Tommy Bones, Dean Cercone, Victoria Cessna, Matthew Conboy, Thommy Conroy, Murphi Cook, LEX Covato, Mike Cuccaro, George Davis, Tirzah DeCaria, The Dirty Poet, Sam Ditch, Zach Dorn, Kirsten Ervin, Gabe Felice, Irma Freeman, Claudia Giannini, Karen Hartman, Doug Hill, Jennifer Howison, Renee Ickes, Carolyn Kelly, Jessica Langley, Chris Lisowski, Maria Mangano, Jean McClung, Anna Mikolay, David Luis Montano, John Morris, Lindsay O’Leary, Organza Orgazmica (Scott Andrew, Elin Lennox and Michael McParlane collaboration), Larry Rippel, MJ Sadeghi, Nicole Sarver, Tom Sarver, Jessica Scott, Kate Sherman, Moshe Sherman, Kara Skylling, Steve Smith, Oliver Southgate, Jim Storch, Laurie Trok, Robert Zehmisch & Bob Ziller.

Irma Freeman Center for Imagination. 5006 Penn Avenue. Images from the exhibit are available in the slideshow.

Image Box: Robert Pell


Robert Pell's low-relief pieces are very fun and beautifully presented. The works, a combination of drawing and cut-outs, are a tribute to his school notebook doodles.

Study Hall Series, Imagebox, 4933 Penn Ave

Notes of interest
Assemble went hyper local for its December exhibit, with an open call to artists living within ten blocks of the space. Lots of fun stuff, images in the slideshow.

The CottonFactory had their last Tee Rex event of the year. They won't be opening for first Fridays again until March 2012. Note to my artist friends: The CottonFactory has guest vendors for their Tee Rex events. Contact ink[at]cottonfactory.com for details. 5440 Penn Ave.

Jes LaVecchia has her work at the Mr. Roboto Project. These sweetly-colored, illustrative works are very fun, especially on these dreary winter days. Mr. Roboto is open for several special events in December when you can view the exhibit.

Sad Surprise: Forgery May Be Alive And Well

A lot of people got a shock when a few days ago the very prominent, Knoedler Gallery, suddenly shut it's doors after 165 years in business.

Even more shocking was news, the next day of a major and most likely related investigation.

"In several cases, Ms. Rosales sold the works through an art-world luminary, Ann Freedman, until 2009 the president of the prestigious gallery Knoedler & Company on the Upper East Side. Other works were sold by Julian Weissman, an independent dealer who had worked for Knoedler in the 1980s and had represented Motherwell when he was alive.

Ms. Freedman and Mr. Weissman said through their lawyers that they continued to believe that the works they sold were authentic and that authorities had told them they were not under investigation. But a lawyer for Ms. Rosales, Anastasios Sarikas, acknowledged that she was a target of the inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Sarikas said that his client had “never intentionally or knowingly sold artwork she knew to be forged.”

A few years back, it was discovered that the highly respected
founding director of the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art had played an active role in misrepresenting the provenance of a large group of Warhol Brillo Boxes.

Del's of Bloomfield To Get A Major Makover On The Food Network's Restaurant Impossible

Well, I ate at Del's once and while it wasn't one of the worst experiences ever, the food was pretty bad and I never went back.

The concept is to see what can be done in two days, with only 10,000 dollars. While the show is a bit dramatic, there seems to be a sincere empathy with the struggles of local businesses.

Check out I Heart Pittsburgh's post about it.