Having the upcoming Pittsburgh Alumni Show has made me think a lot about labels and identities. Pittsburgh is a city that over a relatively short period, lost nearly half it's urban population to "greener pastures". Moreover it's a place deeply scarred by a deep sense of loss, mourning and anger over it's fall. it's not like everyone has left and far from it but there is a feeling that somehow it's best and brightest were gone. That feeling seemed confirmed by the gleeming success of so many after they left. You just feel how the city feels angry at itself for not being good enough or offering enough opportunity to retain people. Having outstanding schools seems to have only compounded the wounds as the city watches thousands of star students from all over the world who seem to be just passing on thier way to -- well anywhere but here.
Perhaps if there had been more jobs or more stadiums or well if the city had brushed it's teeth or enlarged it's breasts or something.
So it seems like there is a constant need to point out and take credit for the sucessfull people who stayed. Endless debates rage about the demographic trend of the city and how to retain it's own.Then along comes something like Paper Rad and makes one wonder just how one defines identity and location. Do they live here? Well, kind of -in a way sort of- some of them?
Paper Rad is a free floating mystery; a group of artists that seem to resist any attempt at labeling. Are they publishers or performance artists or video artists ? And who are they and can any place claim them as resident's? What's even more interesting is trying to find thier motives.
Collectives seem to be a rage but many smack as very tightly organized and orchestated publicity mongers-- a new business plan for success. But here you seem to have a group of people who see blending and merging an end in itself. There seem to be three core people, but if you look at thier website you see the definate hands of other guests flow back into the group without much hype or concern. There's a lesson here somewhere.
Here, here, here , are some various stories about this enigma wraped in a mystery. And then more, more, more and also more, more.
And it looks like the merging and blurring of location and identity is starting to confuse a lot of people. The Curators of the last Whitney Biennial of American Art decided that figuring out who could be called an American artist was just too hard and made it an International.
(As far as I know all future Whitney Biennials will be Interntionals) Here's The Voice review of that show--"Crossing swords with conventions that have brought us to the brink of madness".
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
David Grim See's the Big Show
David's selfless campaign to document the world of vice and pleasure has hit the "Sin City;" and is diving straight to the vice. But wait, is it there? Is the hell still in Hell's Kitchen or has the Mouse taken down the rats??
Now we understand he has to examine things first hand and dive into the stinking pit to see it all. It's not for himself but for the good of humanity.
Now we understand he has to examine things first hand and dive into the stinking pit to see it all. It's not for himself but for the good of humanity.
Paul Brainard: Pittsburgh Alumni
In September I am having a show of 20 artists, who are from or spent significant time in Pittsburgh. (one of the artist's, Kate Temple is having a solo on one side ) I will be trying to put up profiles of some of these artists as I can. Here is the first.
Paul Brainard
Born in Pittsburgh Lives in Brooklyn
1993 University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. BA Studio Art
1995 Carnegie Museum of Art Studio School, Pittsburgh, PA
1999 Pratt Institute Brooklyn, NY. MFA Painting
Group Exhibitons
2006 “He Said/She Said” Tastes Like Chicken Artspace April 28 – May 21
2004 "Fake Plastic Trees" Jeff Bailey Gallery , NY June o3 - July 30
2003 "ATTACK – The Kult 48 Klubhouse " Deitch Projects Brooklyn, NY - Curated by Scott Hug. November 21-January 2004.
2003 "Today’s Man" John Connelly Presents NY, NY. Curated by John Connelly. July 19 – September 13th
2003 "Today’s Man" Hiromi Yoshii Gallery Tokyo Japan. October - December
2003 "T-Shirt Show" Silverstein Gallery NY, NY. July 16 – August 15
2003 "Now Playing :K–48"@ D’Amelio Terras Gallery NY, NY. Curated by Scott Hug. July 1 – August 8 .
2002 "Echo" 31 Grand Gallery - Brooklyn NY September 14 - October 14
2002 "I'm with Nature" Brooklyn Front Gallery - Brooklyn, NY April 12 - May 12
1998 "MFA Candidate Group Exhibiton" Puck Building New York. May
1998 Max Fish 135 Ludlow St. New York
Awards
Graduate Assistantship - in the Drawing Resource Center, Pratt Institute 1996 –1998
Scholarship - Carnegie Museum of Art Studio School 1995 – 1996
Merit Award - for Exceptional Studio Art Performance, University of Pittsburgh 1993
From his Artist Statement--
"The images reflect my position in a media saturated consumerist society, combing elements of random advertising, personal photographs and catholic imagery. Icons from early puritan New England gravestones mingle with images of pornography and homogenized culture. Time is compressed; forms overlap and eradicate one another. Random figures exist in a semi-abstracted environment to which they cannot relate. Both abstraction and representation push and pull off of one another to develop a dynamic within the drawing that captures the void of substance in everyday life. The emotional despair in the drawings stem from a distinct lack of spirituality that is very representative of today’s society. The drawings evolve as I follow my intuition and by altering the image through elimination, embellishment or eradication. The process is one by which intuitive discoveries lead in new directions in the drawing, preserving a feeling of spontaneity in the final image. "
He shows us our hollow little plastic life and it's not very pretty well actually it kind of is and yet it's not.
I Hear The Boiling Frogs
The few people who knew me in NY, sort of knew that I had a sleeping problem and a slight problem with Anxiety and like now it is much worse and I don't know why? I mean everything is going fine right? Now at night, I think that I am hearing frogs or that's what I thought at first.
It's like a sound from underwater or something and it is faintly familiar.
Seems like the frogs have always liked NY, they liked the warmth. It used to be really warm but in a cool way and I feel that it was the frogs who were making it warm and every year it got hotter. The sounds the frogs made then was a lot of spashing and rythmic croaking like to all kinds of beats and it flowed together into a pusing croaking sound. If you would talk too one they would say like wow it's hot here, but they loved it-- the work was hot , the parties were too. There really were a few frogs who faintly felt that something was wrong, I mean who controlled the heat. Years ago it seemed like the frogs did, now your like not sure.
But the sound I hear now is only faintly familiar. There's some kind of pulse and it's maybe louder than ever, but the other sounds are just not frog sounds anymore. Do they cry? It's now like a lot of loud sound but thats being muffled by deep water. I think i can hear sort of screaming and bitter fighting among the frogs. Some are on the surface and they still seam able to take the heat. Theres also a sound like laughing but that's coming from somwhere else.
Every day the few frogs that can cluster in hoards around the galleries. A bitter pick me, pick me coming from thier parched mouths. You can here the words clearly. Many frogs have only one limb and all kinds of boils and scars. A lot are from fights with each other.
Does anyone have any idea what this dream means? Does anyone care?
It's like a sound from underwater or something and it is faintly familiar.
Seems like the frogs have always liked NY, they liked the warmth. It used to be really warm but in a cool way and I feel that it was the frogs who were making it warm and every year it got hotter. The sounds the frogs made then was a lot of spashing and rythmic croaking like to all kinds of beats and it flowed together into a pusing croaking sound. If you would talk too one they would say like wow it's hot here, but they loved it-- the work was hot , the parties were too. There really were a few frogs who faintly felt that something was wrong, I mean who controlled the heat. Years ago it seemed like the frogs did, now your like not sure.
But the sound I hear now is only faintly familiar. There's some kind of pulse and it's maybe louder than ever, but the other sounds are just not frog sounds anymore. Do they cry? It's now like a lot of loud sound but thats being muffled by deep water. I think i can hear sort of screaming and bitter fighting among the frogs. Some are on the surface and they still seam able to take the heat. Theres also a sound like laughing but that's coming from somwhere else.
Every day the few frogs that can cluster in hoards around the galleries. A bitter pick me, pick me coming from thier parched mouths. You can here the words clearly. Many frogs have only one limb and all kinds of boils and scars. A lot are from fights with each other.
Does anyone have any idea what this dream means? Does anyone care?
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Hard Working Vacation?
Follow David Grim on another one of his road trips in pusuit of Authentic America, pleasure or whatever. This time he is getting closer to my old hood.
His trip is increasingly followed with resentment, bitterness, envy and controversy by people here. Is he just a lazy ass guy rubbing our noses in the fact that he has some time off or is he a good hard working American?( Perhaps, this trip will cover all the 7 deadly sins? ) I imagine that he will try the glutony, sloth, lust thing while his poor wife, family and all of us can cover anger, envy and the like. I am not too sure how greed fits in, but perhaps the whole trip is just a tour for an "art project" he hopes to sell us on. But, -- If he is working on some project- is he lazy?
Or perhaps he is a true artist and historian? His day job is as a history teacher and this might be an educational trip- that will help him teach the little children? I think he is doing it for the children!! Is he studying America's hedonistic evil ways so that he can see all the evil places the children shouldn't go and if so is he working for the Bush administation- a saint, selflessly spending his time exploring our dark soul like saint Jeff Koons?
My own bitter task is to carefully research all of the world's internet porn. I am doing it for you.
His trip is increasingly followed with resentment, bitterness, envy and controversy by people here. Is he just a lazy ass guy rubbing our noses in the fact that he has some time off or is he a good hard working American?( Perhaps, this trip will cover all the 7 deadly sins? ) I imagine that he will try the glutony, sloth, lust thing while his poor wife, family and all of us can cover anger, envy and the like. I am not too sure how greed fits in, but perhaps the whole trip is just a tour for an "art project" he hopes to sell us on. But, -- If he is working on some project- is he lazy?
Or perhaps he is a true artist and historian? His day job is as a history teacher and this might be an educational trip- that will help him teach the little children? I think he is doing it for the children!! Is he studying America's hedonistic evil ways so that he can see all the evil places the children shouldn't go and if so is he working for the Bush administation- a saint, selflessly spending his time exploring our dark soul like saint Jeff Koons?
My own bitter task is to carefully research all of the world's internet porn. I am doing it for you.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Garfield First Friday
Image Box
Vanessa German
Katherine Young
Marci Gehring
Marci Gehring (detail)
Here are few shots from my trip to the first Friday on Penn Ave., in Garfield. I know that I did a pretty half assed job of capturing it. Katherine Young had her closing and I wanted a chance to see her show again. Also The Clay Penn had a show of the fashion Art Pieces of Marci, an artist that you just sort of half to see to believe. I will have to get back to her later. A new gallery called Image Box had a show of the Photography of Vanessa German. Honestly, I spun through there way too fast to have much to say. The works were installed above a strip with writing that ran around the space and I didn't read it.
I just sort of feel lucky that I was able to see what I did since I had to rush from the Society to get up there. I haven't looked at the future schedules that well, but I expect the first friday drunk driving road show to be in full swing by September when no doubt everyone will plan stuff for the same night.
New Pittsburgh Culture Blog/ Project
A new blog project is finally online. It's the brainchild of Allison Hoge who also has a little alternative space thing/gallery in my hood. Sorry, for the jive talk stuff, I am kind of old now and am sort of trying to sound cool.
Needless to say there is a lot of overlap in what we are trying to do but, I really hope this flies.
Needless to say there is a lot of overlap in what we are trying to do but, I really hope this flies.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Nature/ Culture at Society For Contemporary Craft
Stacy Levy
Fran Reed
Willie Cole 
Here are some images I took friday night at the new show at the Society For Contemporary Craft. The show is great and I hope to upgrade this post a bit. Once again I have to try to capture a show with a pretty poor camera because there are almost no images put online. From what I can see on thier website there is not even a link to a press release or a list of artists in the show. Anyway the show seems great and actually has a fancy catalog to buy.
Here is a tiny blurb from the website- "This exhibition compares works by contemporary artists who identify with culture and the byproducts of an urban society with artists who respond to nature and the natural environment."
Basically, the common thread is artists who use the most mundane materials in thier work. Drinking Straws, Fish Skin, Orange Peals, Shoes, Pens etc... The show is Awsome on a lot of visual and conceptual levels but does raise some rather interesting questions. A few of the artists like Willie Cole are known members of the contemporary art world, while others come from the Contemporary Craft scene. Putting them in one space in a show like this shows just how strange and arbritrary the line is between the two worlds. The easiest way to tell which label the artist wore was to look at the prices on the work. I will try to get back to that issue when I get my head around it.
Of course there were other openings in other areas of the city on the same night and I got to a few on Penn Ave in Garfield.
More Picking at the Scab
So here are some thoughts, I have about the previous post. As you can see it's an ongoing public therapy session which is freely flowing between a lot "issues" but almost all of them relate closely to the pretty hardcore suffering that a lot of artist's are going through right now. Obviously it starts with a rant related to the pressures and inequity that faces a lot of women artists in getting their work done, getting it out there and all the trouble that seems to involve in the current system. It soon exposes a lot of the deep wounds that unite/ divide most artists. How does one keep a studio? How can one get one's work out there? etc...
Here are a few thoughts. First of all, I think that my first purpose here was to just try to expose some of the anger and pain that's out there. I think that one fundamental problem that exists is that a lot of this pain is not talked about freely. So there is an increasing lack of awarness on the part of a lot of the "power structure" of dealers, collectors and the like of what the level of pressure on artists is. I also think it's really important in that what is going on now is pretty new in that it's on a totally different level and now threatens the existence of the art world as we know it. Here and here are some more links on the subject.
Getting back to all that bitching; ( and here's some more, more, more. ) What is my opinion about it and who's side do I take. I would say that, yes I feel the artist's pain but my sympathy level is pretty low and dropping fast. The current scene of today is more than anything else the product of the choices made by artists so they have a lot to do with thier own problems now. I mean, artist's in the 1965 East Villiage or 1965 Haight Ashbury could lay some claim to being unaware of their own role in the process of urban gentrification. And also artists in the NY scene during this period could claim a high level of commercial ignorance since for the most part it wasn't a commercial scene. But with each passing year the ignorance excuse gets thinner as nieghborhood after neighborhood is revived by artists and also as the enourmous art industry develops around artists. A lot of artist's have a lot more money than me ( someone's paying for those $90,ooo MFA programs) and a lot of artists are highly skilled in a way I am not- good on computers and handy. We all know that a huge chunk of NY was fixed up by artists living on the sly in run down buildings. So my sympathy level is pretty low.
Almost all of the middle aged artist's in NY know and now resent the few artists who were smart enough to scrimp and buy thier run down rat infested buildings years ago. The fact is that they were the stupid frogs who sat and sat while they were slowly cooked. To anyone with eyes open the point of no return for Billyburg came around 1996-1997 ( which is around when Joe bought his building I think ) The issue of NY's housing shortage has been known for many years.
Artist's made this situation and now they will suffer for it.
One fact stands out in America. There are dozens of emptied out and run down cities with surplus housing and empty factory space ( I moved to one, not that it's all run down or anything ) and some are pretty big. You would think that artists would be flocking here to grasp thier last chance to have some control of thier lives. ) and you woud think that dealers who are allegedly concerned about thier artist's would be making similar moves. But for the most part this is not happening. The level of inertia is amazing and is more and more unforgivable,
Here are a few thoughts. First of all, I think that my first purpose here was to just try to expose some of the anger and pain that's out there. I think that one fundamental problem that exists is that a lot of this pain is not talked about freely. So there is an increasing lack of awarness on the part of a lot of the "power structure" of dealers, collectors and the like of what the level of pressure on artists is. I also think it's really important in that what is going on now is pretty new in that it's on a totally different level and now threatens the existence of the art world as we know it. Here and here are some more links on the subject.
Getting back to all that bitching; ( and here's some more, more, more. ) What is my opinion about it and who's side do I take. I would say that, yes I feel the artist's pain but my sympathy level is pretty low and dropping fast. The current scene of today is more than anything else the product of the choices made by artists so they have a lot to do with thier own problems now. I mean, artist's in the 1965 East Villiage or 1965 Haight Ashbury could lay some claim to being unaware of their own role in the process of urban gentrification. And also artists in the NY scene during this period could claim a high level of commercial ignorance since for the most part it wasn't a commercial scene. But with each passing year the ignorance excuse gets thinner as nieghborhood after neighborhood is revived by artists and also as the enourmous art industry develops around artists. A lot of artist's have a lot more money than me ( someone's paying for those $90,ooo MFA programs) and a lot of artists are highly skilled in a way I am not- good on computers and handy. We all know that a huge chunk of NY was fixed up by artists living on the sly in run down buildings. So my sympathy level is pretty low.
Almost all of the middle aged artist's in NY know and now resent the few artists who were smart enough to scrimp and buy thier run down rat infested buildings years ago. The fact is that they were the stupid frogs who sat and sat while they were slowly cooked. To anyone with eyes open the point of no return for Billyburg came around 1996-1997 ( which is around when Joe bought his building I think ) The issue of NY's housing shortage has been known for many years.
Artist's made this situation and now they will suffer for it.
One fact stands out in America. There are dozens of emptied out and run down cities with surplus housing and empty factory space ( I moved to one, not that it's all run down or anything ) and some are pretty big. You would think that artists would be flocking here to grasp thier last chance to have some control of thier lives. ) and you woud think that dealers who are allegedly concerned about thier artist's would be making similar moves. But for the most part this is not happening. The level of inertia is amazing and is more and more unforgivable,
Pick at the Scab
I am not sure how to classify this post or why I am putting it out there. I think it has to fall under the "why am I here" category.
I came across this post by a woman artist/ blogger which starts out as a rant on one subject. The comments that follow evolve into a very honest bitching session about the lives of artists.
So many wounds are opened that you just sort of hate to watch. What is rather interesting is the unreal level of honesty here. A lot of the people commenting are "art blog" regulars who comment politely on the "respectable" blogs like Ed's. But what is happening here is something a lot more personal and honest and I think gives one some idea of the level of free floating anger out there. At the time I posted this there were 126 comments and you have to really read them to get to the good stuff. Almost all the comments are by artists.
Ed also had a great post/ discussion that seems related on his blog last month. What is very interesting to me is that some of the commenters are the same but that they seem stramgely reluctant to vent fully. The truth is that ED is a dealer and while his blog is a great place to see the world from a very hardworking and proffessional NY art dealer's eyes- it is not always the best forum to see the world from artist's eyes. The fact is that it is just not a wise idea for most artist's to speak that kind of truth to power.
I came across this post by a woman artist/ blogger which starts out as a rant on one subject. The comments that follow evolve into a very honest bitching session about the lives of artists.
So many wounds are opened that you just sort of hate to watch. What is rather interesting is the unreal level of honesty here. A lot of the people commenting are "art blog" regulars who comment politely on the "respectable" blogs like Ed's. But what is happening here is something a lot more personal and honest and I think gives one some idea of the level of free floating anger out there. At the time I posted this there were 126 comments and you have to really read them to get to the good stuff. Almost all the comments are by artists.
Ed also had a great post/ discussion that seems related on his blog last month. What is very interesting to me is that some of the commenters are the same but that they seem stramgely reluctant to vent fully. The truth is that ED is a dealer and while his blog is a great place to see the world from a very hardworking and proffessional NY art dealer's eyes- it is not always the best forum to see the world from artist's eyes. The fact is that it is just not a wise idea for most artist's to speak that kind of truth to power.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Culture in The Hood
I think that I have said more than once that a lot of the great cultural stuff in my neighborhood was pretty underground. So one of the gallery/projects has a website up that helps to give one an idea of what they are doing. As you should know by now, you might not be getting totally accurate dope from a blog like mine. But here is the story as near as I can piece it together.
There are these twin sisters with a lot of guts. One sister started a tiny gallery in her east villiage apartment a few years ago ( Barb) and has had a bunch of kind of underground shows and the other sister ( Beth ) moved back to Pittsburgh with the idea of buying a building. Now, she owns it ( a few blocks away from me ) and is working to develop an artist residency program that will link both cities. But then someone threw in a Fishing boat in Alaska (Barb ) and you are not too sure what is going on. Really, you sort of get the impression that someone knows what they are doing.
I don't know either of them too well since, as you might guess they are a little busy. The one thing I can say is that the idea is outstanding on a whole lot of levels.
There are these twin sisters with a lot of guts. One sister started a tiny gallery in her east villiage apartment a few years ago ( Barb) and has had a bunch of kind of underground shows and the other sister ( Beth ) moved back to Pittsburgh with the idea of buying a building. Now, she owns it ( a few blocks away from me ) and is working to develop an artist residency program that will link both cities. But then someone threw in a Fishing boat in Alaska (Barb ) and you are not too sure what is going on. Really, you sort of get the impression that someone knows what they are doing.
I don't know either of them too well since, as you might guess they are a little busy. The one thing I can say is that the idea is outstanding on a whole lot of levels.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Blogger Leaves Gift
Another art blogger has come through town on a pilgrimage ( this one sounds a bit overdue ) through a few of our art shrines and hs left a nice record behind. This guy is fairly well known art critic and writer. His post includes some very nice shots.
You just can't thank these guys enough.
You just can't thank these guys enough.
The Warhol Shows
I finally got around to seeing the shows up at the Warhol right now. They didn't allow pictures to be taken at either of the current non " Warhol" shows (I took a couple and they will join my exiting art porn collection) which I guess only helped to underscore how much most of this work has entered the realm of commodity.
Both shows were very good and worth spending time with. What struck one the most about the NY Art Scene show was how hard it is to regain any context for this work. For the most part almost everything in the show is now "iconic" or considered important on some level. A lot of the particular works I had seen before; most likely in Soho in the late 1980's with a lot of it's context already gone. Although I lived through that period, I was young and to a large extent missed the "scene". I have an earlier post on that subject.
I think it's always sort of interesting to look for the points in history in which the anti establishment becomes the establishment. This might have been one of the last times when there seemed to be some sort of a line between them.
The "f" Word show is kind of a gem and I actually came across a few artists in that one I had never seen before. Wangechi Mutu is an artist I heard about but was still very blown away by and Ida Applebroog has really done some great stuff here blurring all kinds of lines in great ways. ( this work was in the show ) Another big stand out in this show was the work of Amy Wilson. ( Amy's dealer is from Pittsburgh )
Both shows were very good and worth spending time with. What struck one the most about the NY Art Scene show was how hard it is to regain any context for this work. For the most part almost everything in the show is now "iconic" or considered important on some level. A lot of the particular works I had seen before; most likely in Soho in the late 1980's with a lot of it's context already gone. Although I lived through that period, I was young and to a large extent missed the "scene". I have an earlier post on that subject.
I think it's always sort of interesting to look for the points in history in which the anti establishment becomes the establishment. This might have been one of the last times when there seemed to be some sort of a line between them.
The "f" Word show is kind of a gem and I actually came across a few artists in that one I had never seen before. Wangechi Mutu is an artist I heard about but was still very blown away by and Ida Applebroog has really done some great stuff here blurring all kinds of lines in great ways. ( this work was in the show ) Another big stand out in this show was the work of Amy Wilson. ( Amy's dealer is from Pittsburgh )
Monday, July 31, 2006
More Dope on Supersonic
I dug up some more, more, more stuff on the giant MFA art show called Supersonic in southern California. So all you kids out there- go to your faculty and demand to be an artstar!!
But seriously folks; I don't want a lot of flack about the quality of the schools involved and or any stuff about the great exhibition spaces that these schools might have. CMU has a pretty great one and I have seen images of Penn State's which is super deluxe-- my point is that very few people will get to see these shows. I think that Supersonic does not take the place of, but is in addition to the regular thesis shows. I also don't expect the effect of joint shows in Pittsburgh, to have anywhere near the same effect as one in an existing media capital. But, I do think it would greatly increase the chance of this work being seen at all.
But seriously folks; I don't want a lot of flack about the quality of the schools involved and or any stuff about the great exhibition spaces that these schools might have. CMU has a pretty great one and I have seen images of Penn State's which is super deluxe-- my point is that very few people will get to see these shows. I think that Supersonic does not take the place of, but is in addition to the regular thesis shows. I also don't expect the effect of joint shows in Pittsburgh, to have anywhere near the same effect as one in an existing media capital. But, I do think it would greatly increase the chance of this work being seen at all.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
MFA Thoughts
When I came to Pittsburgh, I did so with the awareness that the region is home to a lot of respected art programs. CMU, WVU, Penn State, IUP, Edinboro, and Kent State come to mind. I knew a few great artists who had gone to these schools while living in NY and I hoped to be making it out to see a lot of the MFA shows but this has not happened. I was very lucky to catch LeRoy's great show at IUP almost by chance.
In NY right now it seems like the MFA shows are not to be missed part of the scene. Here is some blog buzz to give one an idea of the fever here, here, here, here, here, here, and in LA, -- here, here, here, and in San Francisco-- here, here and Philly--- here.
Now we are all by now aware and a lot of us are a bit mad about the almost pedaphilic interest that the current art world has for hot creative flesh and the MFA's evolution and merger with the debutante ball seems gross. But in this region one can see that the reverse is not good either. There are many serious artist's flowing through these schools whose work deserves to at least be seen. For many, the MFA show is the culmination of some of the most concentrated studio work they will ever have a chance to do. Unfortunatly, most of it will just be seen my a tiny number of academic insiders and students. This is wrong and a huge lost oportunity for the students.
Wouldn't it be so great if these schools started getting serious about interacting with the wider world and started working on joint MFA shows. For the last 2 years 8 schools in Southern California have worked thier MFA shows into a single art blitz called "Supersonic". ( here, here and here is more dope on Supersonic )Couldn't something like that be done in Pittsburgh, using empty spaces in the city?
In NY right now it seems like the MFA shows are not to be missed part of the scene. Here is some blog buzz to give one an idea of the fever here, here, here, here, here, here, and in LA, -- here, here, here, and in San Francisco-- here, here and Philly--- here.
Now we are all by now aware and a lot of us are a bit mad about the almost pedaphilic interest that the current art world has for hot creative flesh and the MFA's evolution and merger with the debutante ball seems gross. But in this region one can see that the reverse is not good either. There are many serious artist's flowing through these schools whose work deserves to at least be seen. For many, the MFA show is the culmination of some of the most concentrated studio work they will ever have a chance to do. Unfortunatly, most of it will just be seen my a tiny number of academic insiders and students. This is wrong and a huge lost oportunity for the students.
Wouldn't it be so great if these schools started getting serious about interacting with the wider world and started working on joint MFA shows. For the last 2 years 8 schools in Southern California have worked thier MFA shows into a single art blitz called "Supersonic". ( here, here and here is more dope on Supersonic )Couldn't something like that be done in Pittsburgh, using empty spaces in the city?
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Emilie Clark at Morgan Lehman Gallery
A number of artists in my files are in shows around the country right now. I will be trying to give info and shout outs on a few of them as time permits.
Emilie Clark is a pretty awsome artist who lives in NY, with some works in my files. She is in a three person Show right now at Morgan Lehman's space in Connecticut till Sept 10.
Emilie Clark is a pretty awsome artist who lives in NY, with some works in my files. She is in a three person Show right now at Morgan Lehman's space in Connecticut till Sept 10.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Le Roy "King of Art" MFA Show
On Tuesday night I caught a ride up to IUP, a state university about an hour from Pittsburgh in the middle of f---king nowhere. It is a good school and sort of known for it's art department.
I went there For LeRoy's MFA show which was just kind of unreal. A perfectly orchestrated overload of visual data. I caught a ride up and forgot my camera so these are some images I copped from someone else. The show was very well organized and was all work I had never seen before. The Walls were completely covered in alternating arangements of eyes and kitchy triangles. Each one a separate world; combining longing, bitterness and fall on your ass humor.
The show was pretty well attended considering they threw him into the middle of the summer in the middle of nowhere. I was really happy that I got to see it. I miss a lot.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Jean McClung at The Center For The Arts
Jean McClung is a local artist who has been documenting the street art scene in Pittsburgh and NY for years. This has culminated in luminous light works installed at The Center For The Arts through August 20. The effect of the room is transporting as she manages to take some of the most raw urban art and create pieces of almost religious beauty.
The show combines shots she has taken in both cities and is both an important documentation of lost worlds like Pittsburgh's legendary graffiti Warehouse and also some pretty profound art. The rather strange revival of street art and it's now current re-entry into and blurring with the fine art world makes this work particularly interesting.
Monday, July 24, 2006
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