Absolute Brend

The Ignorance of the Memorial

2010-02-26T22:53:00.000-08:00

Zizek (re)defines “the parallax view” to describe the ostensible displacement of an object caused by a shift in the subject’s perspective. This change in observational standpoint occurs whenever one attempts to mediate two substantially equivalent, yet ultimately divergent, phenomena. The following excerpts from this book demonstrates how the seemingly cynical nature of our “post-ideological” era is actually symptomatic of the heightened extent to which we believe. Zizek avers that a belief no longer requires an actual believer for its illusion to operate, since the (Lacanian) big Other now believes on behalf of its subjects. In other words, although the “cynic” may not accept the explicit claims of a belief, her empty and continued observance of social customs demonstrates her commitment to maintain appearances for the sake of an imagined, naïve other.

The ironic dedication ceremony for Arneson’s Portrait of George elucidates this phenomenon: even though the gruesome details pertaining to Mayor George Moscone’s untimely death—as well as the appalling outcome of his assassin’s trial—were widely known, the San Francisco Art Commission nonetheless shrouded the monument’s allusions to Dan White’s assassination of both the mayor and his openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk. This act of censorship, which clearly did not “protect” any actual viewer, evinces how the ideological efficacy of memorials relies upon the ignorance of a big Other.

Not only does the preparatory drawing of Robert Arneson’s Portrait of George theorize its referent, it also offers insight into Zizek’s theory on ideology and sheds light on the symbolic authority of memorials in general. Vertical George delineates the traumatic, ontological consequences of rendering the big Other knowledgeable. It posits and delineates a new reality—the reality that emerges once the “secret” information embedded in an ideological edifice is exposed. My writings on Zizek’s text and Arneson’s drawing demonstrate how this shift in observational position designates the murderer, rather than his victim, as the heroic subject of the monument.

Excerpts from The Parallax View by Slavoj Zizek

…“A commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.”[1] These lines should surprise us, since they invert the standard procedure of demystifying a theological myth, reducing it to its earthly base: Marx does not claim, in the usual way of Enlightenment critique, that critical analysis should demonstrate how what appears to be a mysterious theological entity emerged out of the “ordinary” real-life process; he claims, on the contrary, that the task of critical analysis is to unearth the “metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties” in what appears at first sight to be just an ordinary object. In other words, when a critical Marxist encounters a bourgeois subject immersed in commodity fetishism, the Marxist’s reproach to him in not “The commodity may seem to you to be a magical object endowed with special powers, but it is really just a reified expression of relations between people.” The real Marxist’s reproach is, rather, “You may think that the commodity appears to you as a simple embodiment of social relations (that money, for example, is just a kind of voucher entitling you to a part of the social product), but this is not how things really seem to you—in your social reality, by means of your participation in social exchange, you bear witness to the uncanny fact that a commodity really appears to you as a magical object endowed with special powers.” In other words, we can imagine a bourgeois subject taking a course in Marxism where he is taught about commodity fetishism; after the course is finished, however, he comes back to his teacher, complaining that he is still a victim of commodity fetishism. The teacher tells him: “But you know now how things are, that commodities are only expressions of social relations, that there is nothing magical about them!”, to which the pupil replies: “Of course I know all that, but the commodities I am dealing with don’t seem to!”[2]

In one of the Marx Brothers’ films, Groucho Marx, caught out in a lie, answers angrily: “Whom do you believe, your eyes or my words?” This apparently absurd logic perfectly expresses the functioning of the symbolic order, in which the symbolic mask-mandate matters more than the direct reality of the individual who wears this mask and/or assumes this mandate. This functioning involves the structure of fetishist disavowal: “I know very well that things are the way I see them [that this person is a corrupt weakling], but nonetheless I treat him with respect, since he wears the insignia of a judge, so that when he speaks, it is the Law itself which speaks through him.” So, in a way, I actually believe his words, not my eyes: I believe in Another Space (the domain of pure symbolic authority) which matters more than the reality of its spokesmen. Thus the cynical reduction to reality is inadequate: when a judge speaks, there is in a way more truth in his words (the words of the Institution of Law) than there is in the direct reality of the person of the judge—if one limits oneself to what one sees, one simply misses the point. [3]

“Consequently, the first rule of properly dialectical sociopolitical analysis is that the Two (the basic antagonism) as a rule always has to appear as three: the way a given sociopolitical field is explicitly structured, the open struggle which defines its dynamics, is never the “true” underlying antagonism—if we are to unearth the force which is the only stand-in for this antagonism, we have to look for a third agent. […] In our perception, today’s ideological constellation is determined by the opposition between neoconservative fundamentalist populism and liberal multiculturalism—both parasitizing on each other, both precluding any alternative to the system as such. And this enables us to propose the correct formal concept of a “revolutionary situation”: a situation in which, exceptionally and momentarily, the antagonism appears as such, is directly “experienced”; in which the masks of the official ideological struggle fall off, the official opponents discover their “deeper solidarity” and start to share their concerns, and the situation is reduced to its true underlying antagonism—there are no longer conservatives and progressives, totalitarians and democrats, legalists and populists, fundamentalists and liberals, and all other false oppositions—there are only Us and Them.[4]

[1] Karl Marx, Capital, vol. 1 (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1990), p. 163, as quoted in Slavoj Zizek, The Parallax View (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2006), 351.

[2] Zizek, The Parallax View, 351-2.

[3] ibid., 347.

[4] ibid., 349.

Daily Brend Feed

2010-02-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

Alice in Wonderland is Tim Burton having his cake and eating it (The Guardian)
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena announced that Robert C. Davidson Jr. has been elected chairman of its board of trustees -- the first African American to take that top leadership role at the institution.(Los Angeles Times)
Art Review: 'Changing the Focus: Latin American Photography 1990-2005' at the Museum of Latin American Art (Los Angeles Times)
Barnes Countdown: "Art of the Steal" Premiere; "Final Year" in Merion (CultureGrrl)
Best in Show Hitler vs. Eli Broad: A Comedy (T Magazine)
Chanel Treasures on Sale at Paris' Drouot Richelieu Auction House (Artdaily.org)
Henry Moore: An Easy-To-Love Giant of British Art (WSJ)
The Koons Collection (New York Times)
Moore’s ‘Visceral’ Blobs Plop Down at Tate Britain: Review (Bloomberg)
Obama confers twelve National Medal of Arts and eight National Humanities Medal. Of special note are: Maya Lin and Frank Stella and a shout out to the fab Mz Rita Moreno! (Los Angeles Times)
Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah! Lady Gaga at MOCA (T Magazine)
Renowned Indian artist MF Husain, under attack from hardline Hindus for his paintings of nude Hindu goddesses, has been offered Qatari nationality (BBC)
Sex in an art gallery? Klimt would approve (The Guardian)
VIVA Glam: Painted Ladies Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper (T Magazine)
Whitney Biennial: At a Biennial on a Budget, Tweaking and Provoking (New York Times)
Whitney Biennial Mishmash Serves Up Michael Jackson, Macrame (Bloomberg)

Daily Brend Feed

2010-02-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

ArtDaily.org: After London and Before Madrid, the Grand Palais in Paris Welcomes Turner and the Masters
ArtForum: Evicted Artists Protest in Beijing
The Art Newspaper: Shock appointment of anti-modernist to Venice Biennale
CultureGrrl: Whit-Split: Biennial Less Than the Sum of Its Part
CultureGrrl: Whitney Biennial (and Kentridge at MoMA): Let the Debate Begin
Fine Arts LA: Let Those Artists Speak
The Guardian (UK): Ambassador, you are spoiling our view
The Independent: For its new English home, America builds a castle
LAT: Getty, Disney partner on study of animation cel artwork
NPR: 'Equation,' 'Gingerly' And Other Linguistic Pet Peeves
The Washington Post: National Museum of Women in the Arts to turn D.C. corridor into sculpture alley
WSJ: Wangechi Mutu is Deutsche Bank's Artist of the Year 2010

Giorgio Armani does Gaga

2010-02-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

Vogue UK is reporting that Giorgio Armani has confirmed that he will desing outfits for Lady Gaga's revamped Monster Tour. This sketch (above) of a sparkly structured body suit with enhanced curved shoulders is only one of the many looks he will be creating. Lady Gaga's collaborations do not cease to surprise! Armany states "In addition to her formidable songwriting skills, she is a modern fashion phenomenon." We are so jealous right now, it must be quite amazing to be Gaga!

Image captions: (Above) Armani sketchs for Lady Gaga's coustumes for the Monster Tour

(Left) Lady Gaga pictured at the 2010 Grammys in Giorgio Armani Privé.

Happy birthday Winslow Homer! (b. Boston, MA, February 24, 1836 – d. Prout's Neck, ME, September 29, 1910)

2010-02-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

Winslow Homer, Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873-1876, oil on canvas, 24 3/16 x 38 3/16 in
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC) Collection

Daily Brend Feed

2010-02-23T19:39:00.000-08:00

Updated!

ArtsJournal: Biennale to Biennial: Whitney Guest Curator Bonami Organized Venice Display
Critics Loved to Hate
Grazia: Alexander McQueen’s Last Interview
The Guardian (UK): Arts internships: chance of a lifetime or cut-price labour?
The Guardian: Dark matter
The Guardian: Strike a pose
LAT: Eli Broad, Ovation TV's Charles Segars lend a hand to LAUSD arts education campaign
LAT: Long Beach City Council will consider laws to help the local arts scene
LAWeekly: Purpose Restoration's Graffiti Art Influenced, Eco-Friendly Furniture
NYT: Women’s Work
NYT: Abbey Road Studio Is Given Protected Status
NYT: Evicted Artists Protest After Attack in Beijing
Style.com: An Amy Winehouse Explosion You’ll Actually Want To See
Village Voice: Oh, Yoko Ono
Village Voice: Dancing Barefoot: Patti Smith's Just Kids
Washington Post: Art Man cometh
WSJ: Wangechi Mutu is Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year 2010

Weekend's Brend Articles

2010-02-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg: McQueen’s Last Show, Sporty BMW Vie for Design Award
The Independent (UK): The annotated Lady Gaga: A field guide to the wildest wardrobe in pop
The Independent: A-Z of Alice in Wonderland
LAT: Art is the message on these billboards
LAT: Camilo Ontiveros wins ARCOmadrid prize
NYT: Part Traditionalist, Part Naturalist, Part Dissident
NYT: Designed to Help Uplift the Poor
NPR: Celebrating Caravaggio: First Of The Bad-Boy Artists
WSJ: Heard on the Runway
WSJ: The Whitney Biennial Lightens Up

Happy birthday Albrecht Dürer! (b. Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire, 21 May 1471 – d. Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire, 6 April 1528)

2010-02-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia I, 1514, Engraving, 9 1/2 x 7 3/8 in.

ARCO Madrid 2010 Features Los Angeles

2010-02-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

This year the international art fair, ARCO Madrid 2010 is featuring the city of Los Angeles as well as awarding The J. Paul Getty Trust in the international collecting category.

LA TIMES: L.A. is on display at the big European art fair ARCOmadrid
This year, the premier event looks closely at our artists and galleries.

By Chris Lee
February 18, 2010

During its 29-year history, Spain's ARCOmadrid has grown to become not only Europe's largest art fair but also a magnet for the contemporary art world's elite. Every winter, top gallerists, deep-pocketed collectors, museum bigwigs and artists -- not to mention some 200,000 paying visitors -- flock to the Spanish capital for the fair's five-day run.

Fair organizers have historically selected a "focus country" -- South Korea, Australia and India have been among those chosen since 1996 -- showcasing a nation's artistic output and often providing breakthrough international exposure.

This year, however, ARCOmadrid gives that honor to a city: the City of Angels.

A special exhibition titled "Panorama: Los Angeles" opens to the public on Friday (the fair opened to VIP guests on Wednesday), encompassing a broad cross-section of art from 17 Los Angeles galleries, with works by more than 60 artists of every disciplinary stripe.

The show is a response to an increasing international demand for an up-to-the-minute survey of Angeleno art.

"Los Angeles is holding a spot that has been previously reserved for entire nations this year because it's a very complete contemporary art hub," said "Panorama" co-curator Christopher Miles. "It has everything covered: the creation, distribution and critical discussion of art. And people here are very eager to see what Los Angeles has to offer."

Organizers say the fair's massing of L.A. art constitutes the largest and most comprehensive collection ever to be shown outside Southern California.

Toward the future

But unlike such previous Angeleno art surveys as "Los Angeles 1955-1985: The Birth of an Artistic Capital," shown at Paris' Pompidou Center in 2006, or "Sunshine & Noir: Art in L.A. 1960-1997," staged at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, "Panorama" looks toward the future, with its curators strenuously avoiding tropes about the city in an effort to capture Los Angeles in a modern aesthetic overview.

"We tried to provide a broad sampling of art practices from Los Angeles -- across different disciplines, genres, different media and also different generations," said Miles, who with independent curator Kris Kuramitsu chose the galleries and many of the artists included in the exhibition. "But we had no agenda. We were not trying to define the city by a particular look or school, genre or ideology. Because that has been a major problem with how L.A. art has been historicized or presented in the past -- a tendency to reduce L.A. to a scene."

In recent years, art fairs such as London's Frieze, the Armory in New York City and Miami Art Basel have become critical components of the art world's ecosystem, providing one-stop shopping for collectors and high-profile clearinghouses for the latest art trends.

None of those fairs, however, is curated as is ARCOmadrid. According to Christopher Grimes, a member of the fair's selection committee this year (whose namesake Santa Monica gallery will exhibit as part of "Panorama"), such international exposure provides notable upsides for the local art scene.

Galleries on display

"The world is very aware of L.A. artists. They're the greatest asset this city has in terms of the visual arts," Grimes said. "But I don't think the galleries are as well known. For us to have such a large concentration of galleries [at ARCOmadrid], it augments the breadth of knowledge about what's going on here. People who wouldn't necessarily have come to Los Angeles have the opportunity to go to Madrid and take the pulse of L.A. without making the trip.

"Los Angeles' Department of Cultural Affairs worked closely with ARCOmadrid on this year's fair, vetting dozens of curator applicants before deciding upon Miles and Kuramitsu in an effort to "create a microcosm of the gallery scene in L.A.," said the department's executive director, Olga Garay.

Notably, at a time when the city's arts budget has been dramatically slashed, the department was able to allot $80,000 toward ARCOmadrid-related costs, such as the curators' salaries, administrative costs and travel for local artists. The money came from funds the city was owed by the National Endowment for the Arts after it did not spend all of the NEA money provided for the Guadalajara International Book Fair, which the Cultural Affairs Department co-sponsored.

"The fact that the city of Los Angeles is going to be focused on and celebrated in a prestigious international arts exhibition is something you can't even pay for," Garay said. "You can't buy that! If I went to ARCOmadrid and said, 'Can I offer you money to make L.A. the first city you make guest of honor?' they'd scoff at me! This is a welcome and appreciated acknowledgment."

Along with the work shown in the "Panorama" exhibition pavilion -- designed by local architecture firm Johnston Marklee -- a host of satellite exhibitions featuring L.A. artworks and artists has cropped up across Madrid. One is the Getty-produced photography exhibit "Julius Schulman's Los Angeles."

'A domino effect'

Another gallerist invited to ARCOmadrid, Rosamund Felsen of the Rosamund Felsen Gallery, voiced measured optimism for her gallery's involvement in this year's fair. But she envisioned a scenario in which L.A.'s spotlight slot at ARCOmadrid could result in a game-changer for the local art market.

"It could be like a domino effect," Felsen said. "If several major museums and private collectors acquire work from [L.A.] galleries there, word gets around immediately. That would really do a lot for L.A."

Additional Articles:

DailyArt.org: Prince and Princess of Asturias Visit ARCOmadrid as It Rewards the Art of Collecting Art

WSJ: Madrid Fair to Spotlight L.A. Artists

"A" is for Alice, "B" is for Burton as well as for Billboard

2010-02-21T14:40:00.001-08:00

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is set to premier on March 5 of 2010. This feature film of epic proportions will arrive to large screens near you all in 3-D. The promotional frenzy is already reaching fever pitch, for over a month now Los Angeles has been sprinkled with billboards both large and small such as the massive billboard aside The Standard hotel on Sunset Blvd. (above). In aticipation for the upcoming film, we leave you with a handy article published by the UK newspaper, The Independent A-Z of Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton's Alice presents us a 19-year old Alice who escapes (returns) back to Wonderland to find it overtaken by the Red Queen. We don't expect it to fall short of any other of Mr. Burton's obscure yet psychedelic films or Johnny Depp's genius maddened rendition of The Mad Hatter.

Happy Birthday Constantin Brâncuşi! (b. Hobiţa, Romania, February 19, 1876 – Paris, France, March 16, 1957)

2010-02-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

Constantin Brancusi, The Newborn, version I, 1920, Bronze, 5 3/4 x 8 1/4 x 5 3/4" Museum of Modern Art (NYC) Collection

Brancusi sculptures at MoMA, NY

Happy birthday Yoko Ono! (b. Tokyo, Japan, February 18, 1933)

2010-02-18T20:29:00.001-08:00

YOKO ONO CUT PIECE.

Yoko Ono first did this performance in 1964, in Japan, and again at Carnegie Hall, in New York, in 1965. She sat motionless on the stage after inviting the audience to come up and cut away her clothing.

McQueen Tribute on Melrose Ave

2010-02-17T19:35:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we drove past the Alexander McQueen boutique at Madison on Melroseto see if any sort of tribute had been set up. We have to admit that we had to stop to admire the reinstallation! The window display was redesigned to reflect his untimely death. The mannequins had been dressed all in black as mourners gathered around a casket draped by a Union Jack, the phrase “Long Live McQueen” pasted onto the glass. LAWeekly has reported that it was set up by none other than Mito Aviles and ChadMichael Morrisette [our infamous rooftop artist neighbors in WeHo]. Some have criticized this for being "McQueen Tribute Gone Too Far", what do you think?

Lady Gaga's tribute to McQueen at Brit Awards

2010-02-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

At yesterday's Brit Awards Lady Gaga not only stole the show, but she also payed a touching tribute to Alexander McQueen. She arrived at the awards wearing one of his amazing creations, a white organza triple tiered gown and lace mask. Gaga ended up collecting all three awards that she had been nominated for best international female artist, best international breakthrough act and best international album for "The Fame."

Gaga's performance and tribute to Lee McQueen at Brit Awards 2010

Björk pays tribute to McQueen

2010-02-17T18:50:00.000-08:00

Björk's amazing tribute:

Lee Alexander McQueen

dear lee

i can´t stop thinking how both fierce and feeble you are

it is difficult to grasp this

my condolences go out to your family and friends and all your team

who must be all trying to fathom this

i would like to thank you for all your inspiration

it was so important to me to get to work with you and your team

a real mashup of fertile minds

it was vital to my development

i´m grateful

and all the warmth all around you and your mom

björk

and her team

For more amazing images visit http://unit.bjork.com/mcq/

Happy Birthday Raphaelle Peale! (b. Annapolis, MD, February 17, 1774 – d. Philadelphia, PA, March 25, 1825)

2010-02-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

Raphaelle Peale, Venus Rising From the Sea--A Deception, ca. 1822 Alternate Title: After the Bath, Oil on canvas 29 1/8" x 24 1/8" on view at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Happy Birthday Grant DeVolson Wood! (b. Anamosa, Ia, February 13, 1891 – d. Iowa City, Ia, February 12, 1942)

2010-02-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930, Oil on beaverboard, 74.3 x 62.4 cm Art Institute of Chicago collection

Polka remake of Bad Romance

2010-02-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

Awesome polka cover of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance by Caro Emerald. For those of you who don't understand Dutch (like me!), she starts singing at 0:30

Happy Birthday Eugène Atget! (b. Bordeaux, France, February 12, 1857 – d. Paris, France, August 4, 1927)

2010-02-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

Eugène Atget, Avenue des Gobelins, 1925

Alexander McQueen is dead at 40

2010-02-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

Alexander McQueen and Sarah Jessica Parker at the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2006.

Today is a sad day for the world of fashion. British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead today at his home in London, the Associated Press and other media outlets are reporting. Various sources are siting suicide.

The Daily Mirror (UK) and Daily Mail (UK) have confirmed that McQueen's death was indeed suicide

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/02/11/alexander-mcqueen-found-dead-after-killing-himself-it-s-been-confirmed-115875-22035838/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250249/Alexander-McQueen-commits-suicide.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/fashion/11mcqueen.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8511197.stm

Happy Birthday Max Beckmann! (b. Leipzig, Germany, February 12, 1884 – d. NY, NY, December 28, 1950)

2010-02-10T22:33:00.000-08:00

Max Beckmann, Paris Society (Gesellschaft Paris), 1931. Oil on canvas, 43 x 69 1/8 inches

Happy Birthday Gerhard Richter! (b. Dresden, Saxony, February 9, 1932)

2010-02-09T02:38:00.000-08:00

Gerhard Richter, Betty, 1988, Oil on canvas, 40 1/4 x 28 1/2"

Details on six nominees for President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities

2010-02-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Below is Lee Rosemblum aka CultureGrrrl's update on the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities.

CultureGrrl

Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

Chuck Close, Five Others, Nominated for President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities.

Published February 5, 2009

I don't have a link to this yet, but the list of President Obama's six new nominees to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) just hit my inbox. The visual-arts notable is artist Chuck Close, who served from 2000 to 2008 as the artist-member of the Whitney Museum's board of trustees.

The PCAH "advanc[es] the White House's arts and humanities objectives by working directly with the three primary cultural agencies---National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services." Current members of the committee (including Sarah Jessica Parker and Anna Wintour) are listed here.

Here are the details about the six new nominees, from the White House press office:

Chuck Close is a visual artist noted for his highly inventive techniques used to paint the human face, and is best known for his large-scale, photo based portrait paintings. He is also an accomplished printmaker and photographer whose work has been the subject of more than 200 solo exhibitions in more than 20 countries, including major retrospective exhibitions at New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and most recently at The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2000, Mr. Close was presented with the prestigious National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. Close is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has served on the boards of many arts organizations.

Fred Goldring co-founded the prominent California-based entertainment law firm Goldring, Hertz and Lichtenstein which represents numerous global superstar recording and performing artists, and is also co-founder of entertainment strategic consultancy, MemBrain, which works with Fortune 500 companies and new media and technology enterprises regarding entertainment marketing strategy. Mr. Goldring is also the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rock The Vote, and has been the co-recipient of an Emmy Award, a Clio Award, a Global Media Award and an NAACP Image Award.

Sheila Johnson is the founder and CEO of Salamander Hospitality; co-founder of Black Entertainment Television; a documentary film producer; and the only African-American woman to co-own three professional sports teams. A classically trained violinist who began her career as a music teacher, Ms. Johnson is a long time advocate for the arts. She serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of Parsons The New School for Design and several boards including Americans for the Arts.

Pamela Joyner is the Founder of Avid Partners, LLC. Her other business experiences include holding senior positions at Bowman Capital, LLC and Capital Guardian Trust Company. Ms Joyner is a former Co-Chair and current Trustee Emeritus of the San Francisco Ballet. She is a Trustee of The MacDowell Colony, The School of American Ballet and Dartmouth College. Ms. Joyner also serves a Director of The California Healthcare Foundation and an Advisory Board Member of First Republic Bank.

Jhumpa Lahiri is a fiction writer whose debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies, received the Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Addison M. Metcalf Award, and the New Yorker magazine's Debut of the Year. Her novel, The Namesake, was a New York Times Notable Book, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was selected as one of the best books of the year by USA Today and Entertainment Weekly. Her latest story collection, Unaccustomed Earth, won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the Vallombrosa-Gregor von Rezzori Prize.

Ken Solomon is chairman of Ovation TV, a national cable and satellite network focused on bringing art, culture and personal creativity to all Americans. He is also chairman and CEO of Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour network dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. With more than 25 years of television and multimedia experience, Mr. Solomon has held top posts with the Walt Disney Corp., Universal Television, DreamWorks, News Corp. and Scripps. He is currently vice chairman of the Young Presidents Organization Bel-Air (YPO) and has been named "Humanitarian of the Year" by H.E.L.P. Group, one of the largest and most influential children's charities in the United States, for which he serves on the Circle of Friends advisory board.

Feb. 5, 2010: LAT: Obama appoints painter, novelist and four non-artists to advisory committe on arts and humanities

Happy Birthday Alison Saar! (b. Laurel Canyon, CA, February 5, 1956)

2010-02-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

Alison Saar, Chaos in the Kitchen, 1998,Wire, tin, tar miscellaneous objects on wood, 23 x 18 x 19 1/2"

L.A. City Council Spares Arts Funding

2010-02-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles- The LA Times is reporting that the City Council members unanimously rejected the elimination of the arts program after receiving much pressure from the pulic. As previously reported here, the the rumbling rumors about possible budget slashes in the arts had created quite a passionate opposition spearheaded by arts groups, advocates, and organizations.

However, this does not mean that Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) was completely spared, although the council did not follow City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana's recommendations to eliminate the $4 million arts grants program. DCA will still have to try to find least $500,000 in savings in her current budget.

The plan originally proposed plan to do away with the arts agency's reliable funding had been a major concern for Olga Garay, executive director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as for arts advocates. Since 1989, the city has earmarked $1 in taxes per $100 of hotel room charges for the DCA-- money that provides the mayority of its $9.6-million budget.

Although six council members, including President Eric Garcetti, had done a written motion last week to repeal guaranteed arts funding, it never came to a vote because the council unanimously decided it should be "received and filed."

Yesterday, the council heard from more than 30 speakers who denounced the proposed arts cuts. While numerous others rs looked on in the council chamber, many of who sporting red stick-on badges provided by the Arts for L.A. advocacy group, which during the days before the meeting had led a massive e-campaign opposing the cuts to help bridge a projected two-year budget gap of nearly $700 million.

Many denounced that a city which claims to be a world capital of entertainment, arts, and culture would suffer widespread ridicule if arts grants were eliminated. Others advocated for the arts' economic benefits and their key role in keeping many out of trouble.

Image from LA Times: Artist Lilia Ramirez, clad in a white gown and huge white angel wings as "a homage to the city of Los Angeles.""Art saved me," she told council members. "I was in the streets, I wasn't doing so good. Here I am today, giving love and light to everyone."

UPDATE
Click here if you would like to take a moment to Thank the LA City Council members for not eliminating funding from DCA and to encourage them to continue supporting the arts in LA

Giacometti sets record for work of art at auction at $104.3 M

2010-02-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

The entire blogsphere is buzzing about Giacometti's auction sale's record set by “Walking Man I.” The much sought-after sculpture was sold to an unidentified telephone bidder for £65 million ($92.5 million), or $104.3 million with fees, at Sotheby’s in London Wednesday night. The record had been previously been set by Picasso at $104.1 million, paid for “Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice)" from 1905, at Sotheby’s in New York in 2004.

Sotheby’s had originally expected the sculpture to fetch $19.2 million to $28.8 million based on previous Giacometti auction sales. The $104.3 million was more than three times the record for a Giacometti, which was set at Christie’s New York in 2008 with“Standing Woman II” from 1959-60 which sold for $27.4 million.

Sales such as this makes one wonder: recession, what recession? In a time in which arts funding is taking such a huge blow internationally, nationally and at a state-level auction sales records are broken! Could this sale be seen as the sign for better times to come?

Feb. 3, 2009: WSJ: Sotheby's Sells Giacometti for Record $104.3 Million
Feb. 3, 2009: NYT: At London Sale, a Giacometti Sets a Record

Image: Alberto Giacometti, Walking Man I, 1960, bronze, 72 x 10 3/16 x 37 9/16 in [Sotheby's]

BMW Art Car announces a Koonsmobile for 2010

2010-02-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

Munich/New York- BMW has announced today that Jeff Koons "will create the 17th BMW Art Car in the 35th anniversary year of the program." Some of you might recall that LACMA showcased a sample of BMWs from this project designed (decorated?) by Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg on February 2009 at the BP Grand Entrance. The Koonsmobile has not yet been designed but is scheduled to be completed by the middle of this year. We wonder, what he will come up with?

Image: Roy Lichtenstein, BMW Art Car: BMW 320i, 1977 as seen at

LACMA in February 2009

[Image borrowed from http://la.metblogs.com/]

Happy birthday Norman Rockwell (b. NYC, February 3, 1894 - d.Stockbridge, MA, November 8, 1978)

2010-02-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

Norman Rockwell, Triple Self-Portrait, 1960, Oil on canvas, 44 1/2 x 34 3/4 in.
[Originally for The Saturday Evening Post, February 13, 1960 (cover)]
Painting may be seen at The Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge (Massachusetts)

What does it mean to paint like a woman?

2010-02-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Feminist Art Project (TFAP)—originally started by Arlene Raven, Judy Chicago, and Susan Fisher Sterling—will present a day of free and public sessions on Saturday, February 13th at the 2010 College Art Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois. Organized by Professor Maria Elena Buszek of Kansas City Art Institute, the five scheduled panels will showcase the collaborative efforts of artists, activists, theorists, and critics, as they examine contemporary feminist concerns and praxis. These issues range from investigating the role of abnegation in feminist art to gendering representations of medical interventions. Many of the presentations will be delivered in the form of a dialogue and/or performance.

Because I am currently piecing together a paper on visualizing a feminist formalism (in the Greenbergian sense of the term), this panel struck me as particularly brend:

“Feminist Painting”

Julia Bryan-Wilson, Associate Professor, University of California-Irvine
Johanna Burton, Associate Director, Whitney Independent Study Program

In 1975, Alice Neel asserted: “I always painted like a woman, but I don't paint like a woman is supposed to paint.” What does it mean to paint “like a woman”—and how might that differ from painting as a feminist? Featuring Harmony Hammond, Carrie Moyer, Amy Sillman, and Paula Wilson, this session brings together four artists of different generations to discuss the political ramifications of applying pigment to surface. Each of these women grapples in her work with how painting has historically and might continue to signify a feminist practice. In what has been called a "post-medium” (and even "post-feminism") era, how can we look critically at the specific tools, methods, and means of painting, particularly abstraction, from within a feminist rubric?

Image: Carrie Moyer, Affiche #14 (Cherry Bomb), 2003, Acrylic on canvas, 50" x 42"

Survey exhibition of Yves Klein’s work will open at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in May

2010-02-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

Washington, DC – Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers will open at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on May 20 and will be on display until September 12. Co-curated by Hirshhorn deputy director and chief curator Kerry Brougher and DIA Art Foundation director Philippe Vergne, this major retrospective of the experimental French artist’s oeuvre is the first to appear stateside in nearly 30 years. The show will feature more than 90 artworks, sampling from all of his major series. It will also include examples from his comparatively arcane pink and gold monochrome series, as well as a vast selection of ephemera that detail the artist’s conceptual projects. The exhibition’s title alludes to Albert Camus’ entry in the visitor’s album at the private reception of Klein’s infamous 1958 show of nothing, Le Vide (The Void). Brougher and Vergne’s survey of Klein’s work correspondingly aims to chronicle the evolution of his enduring quest to visually capture the indefinable, spiritual element that characterizes every great work of art.

Image caption: Yves Klein's Untitled Anthropometry (1960), from the Hirshhorn’s collection.

Happy Birthday Thomas Cole (b. Bolton, Lancashire, England, February 1, 1801 – d. Catskill, NY, February 11, 1848)

2010-01-31T22:01:00.000-08:00

Thomas Cole, The Destruction of Empire from "The Course of the Empire" series, 1836, Oil on canvas, 39 ½ x 63 ½ in. Collection of The New-York Historical Society

Help Maintain Funding for the L.A. Dept. of Cultural Affairs!

2010-01-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

With a nearly $200-million gap, City of Los Angeles budget officials are looking at large budgets cuts throughout L.A. The LA Times previously reported that the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) could experience a loss of 30 employees. Arts for L.A. has begun a petition to halt the City Council from eliminating the Department of Cultural Affairs' sole dedicated revenue stream, the 1% allocation from the Transient Occupancy Tax that currently funds much of the Department's programming and operations.

Please visit the link below to send a letter and forward this information to friends, family and those who care about the quality of life in the city of L.A.

Take action Arts for LA

Jan. 23, 2009: LA Times: Plan to cut L.A. jobs would hurt neighborhood councils and art programs, report shows

Recipe for International Klein Blue (IKB)

2010-01-30T00:20:00.000-08:00

International Klein Blue
Patent No. 63471 Issued Paris, May 19, 1960

IKB has been perfected by Yves Klein le monochrome in the course of the years 1954-55-56-57-58. The current chemical formula is exactly:

1.2 kilos Rhodopas (paste product) and MA (Rhone Poulenc) (vinyl chrloride)
2.2 kilos ethyl alcohol. 95% industrial, denatured
6.0 kilos Ethyl acetate

A total of 4 kilos

Mix cold while energetically agitating and never heat uncovered!

Then, mix cold the pure ultramarine blue 1311 in powder with fixative medium, in the proportion of 50%—if one adds 1/10 of the total with pure acetone—and 40%—if one adds pure alcohol.

Betsey Johnson and Charm City Devils collaborate for Pink Fashion Rocks! at Long View Gallery

2010-01-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

Washington, DC – Poising the fashion scene in Washington, DC to rival those of Los Angeles and New York City, Long View Gallery will soon serve as the venue for Pink Fashion Rocks!—a benefit fashion show and rock concert organized by Pink Jams! in collaboration with the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce. This event will take place at 1234 9th St. NW on February 24th at 6:30pm. The runway show, commencing at 7:30pm, will feature a unique collection of pink apparel by Betsey Johnson and fifteen of the District’s premiere designers. Charm City Devils, iTunes Rewind’s 2009 Rock Band of the Year, will perform alongside the show. A silent auction of the exhibited couture will immediately follow.

Offering 5000 square feet of warehouse event space, Long View Gallery is no stranger to hosting major fashion galas. Recently, the gallery served as the venue for Fashion Takes Flight—a silent auction and trunk show that highlighted the latest looks from D.C.’s leading boutiques and designers. This fundraiser benefited Luke’s Wings, an organization that unites hospitalized service members with their families.

For Pink Fashion Rocks!, Long View Gallery will transform into a 90-foot, hot pink runway. Pink, the evening’s color of choice and theme, signifies not only the hue of each garment on display, but also the purpose of the show: to raise breast cancer awareness through the arts. Net proceeds from this event will benefit Pink Jams!, Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, and DC Fashion Foundation. The import of this matter is personal for many of the evening’s participants. Christa Floresca, the founder of Pink Jams!, notes: “One of the special aspects of this event is the evening’s models. These are real men and women—a few breast cancer survivors and some of Washington, D.C.’s most recognizable faces and names.” The mother of John Allen, the lead singer of Charm City Devils, is also a breast cancer survivor.

Duly headlining the fuchsia catwalk is another breast cancer survivor and the spokeswoman on this issue for Cornell Medical Center: Betsey Johnson. Having dressed the likes of John Cale of The Velvet Underground, she has been setting the trends for rock and roll fashion since the 1960s. Insiders claim that Johnson will indeed attend the event in order to debut her entire spring 2010 collection at the gallery. Likewise, Belafigura, Bill Johnson Studio, Cecilia Originals, Chaude Custom Clothes, Chez Kevito, Diahna Lynn, Ibhana, KAS Collections, Kustom Looks Clothier, Michael Kaye, Plastic Heaven, Tashia Senn, Tsyndyma Designs Walish Gooshe, and West Potomac Fashion Design will showcase their one-of-a-kind creations, which each designer has made just for the occasion.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the Pink Jams! website.

Image caption: Betsey Johnson's breast cancer t-shirt design.

Happy Birthday Barnett Newman (b. NYC, January 29 1905 – July 4 1970)

2010-01-29T15:16:00.000-08:00

Barnett Newman, Broken Obelisk, 1963-69. Cor-Ten steel, 24' 10" x 10' 11" x 10' 11"
On View at the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Getty Foundation "Pacific Standard Time" initiative celebrates L.A. art

2010-01-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

Just two days before our launch, the Getty Foundation announced $3.1 million in grants to 26 institutions in in L.A. and all across Southern California. Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 is a joint initiative of the Getty Foundation and the Getty Research Institute which aims to document the history of art in LA in the post World War II period and to share it with a wider audience. The Getty Foundation grants will support exhibition planning and publication at SoCal institutions. What the Getty Foundation calls "the largest collaborative project ever undertaken by museums in the region" is scheduled to open “thematically linked” exhibits in Fall 2011.

The press conference was assisted by directors and curators from numerous Southern California museums as well as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. He commented on the importance of the arts in the city of LA. Villaraigosa praised the project stating "I commend the Getty for their leadership and investment in Los Angeles arts, and for bringing all these institutions together to share and celebrate an amazing history. The Getty, with its ongoing support, has demonstrated its commitment to arts in Los Angeles. This initiative will certainly drive cultural tourism to our city and show the world all we have to offer. Pacific Standard Time reinforces Los Angeles' reputation as a major cultural destination."

Among the 26 grantee organizations are LACMA, MOCA, the UCLA Hammer Museum, the Orange County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Museum of Latin American Art, LA Filmforum, and the Palm Springs Museum of Art. In addition to them are eight "programming partners," including the Skirball Cultural Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Norton Simon Museum, featuring self-funded events.

Rumbling about Pacific Standard Time has already begun in art circles and we honestly cannot wait for this string of fabulous exhibits to open!

Getty Press Release

LA Times report

Left-Right: Olga Garay, Executive Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs; Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Deborah Marrow, Director of the Getty Foundation; and Joan Weinstein Deputy Director of the Getty Foundation. Getty Foundation Pacific Standard Time press event, Chateau Marmont, West Hollywood, CA.

Image caption from above: Reenactment of Allan Kaprow's Fluids (1967) at LACMA, 2008.
Photos: © 2008 Museum Associates/LACMA