John D’Addario is a veteran blogger (since 1996), adjunct professor of arts administration at the University of New Orleans, professional arts educator, photographer and man of the world. You can visit him at jonno.com.
Long before Facebook and Twitter made getting a message out to a mass audience as simple as a couple of clicks, the art/activist collective known as Gran Fury used a heady combination of bold graphic design, guerrilla dissemination tactics, and art institutional support to communicate the urgency of the AIDS epidemic in light of disastrous government and political inaction.
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NEW ORLEANS – Prospect 2 isn’t just about the new or the conceptual or the overwrought: William Eggleston brings a pair of several decades-old works to his Prospect installation at the Old US Mint on the edge of the French Quarter, and together they offer the most satisfying viewing experience of anything I’ve seen so far in this edition of the biennial.
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NEW ORLEANS — Of all the stories about New Orleans, John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces is one of the most universally beloved. So an artist who attempts to engage it in a different medium has their work cut out for them from the get-go: anyone who’s read Toole’s posthumously published comedic opus already has their own idea of how Ignatius J. Reilly and his world should be brought to life.
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Sophie Calle moves into New Orleans’ 1850 House for her Prospect 2 installation and brings dozens of objects and stories with her — with mixed results.
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NEW ORLEANS — The Piazza d’Italia generally isn’t high on many people’s lists of Things To See And Do In New Orleans; in fact, I’d guess that most of the tourists who stumble across it do so while getting lost on their way to or from the nearby Harrah’s casino or Hilton Riverfront. They probably no idea that this gaudy urban ensemble, designed by Charles Moore and opened in 1978, represents one of the seminal pieces of postmodern architecture in the country. In his Prospect 2 biennial piece, Francesco Vezzoli adds an extra layer of kitsch to New Orleans’ Piazza d’Italia with his “Portrait of Sophia Loren.”
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Like the Memorial Day holiday weekend with which it bookends the summer, Labor Day is an opportunity for hard-working Americans to kick back, pop open a couple of beers and reflect upon what makes the good ol’ U. S. of A. so great. Which is why the opening of the new installation of Edward Kienholz’s disturbing fever dream “Five Car Stud” at LACMA this Sunday couldn’t have come at a better (or more ironic) time.
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In a crowded marketplace, and especially during uncertain economic times, how can artists stand out from the pack? It helps to be a child prodigy or a former model or a convicted serial murderer, of course, but it’s not like you can just wake up in the morning and become any of these things. Welsh artist Lee Hadwin, however, has been lucky enough to distinguish himself by doing something the rest of us do every day: he’s been making a name for himself as the artist who paints in his sleep.
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Former SpongeBob SquarePants lead artist Todd White’s slick website includes a section where you can keep abreast of “what’s going on in Todd’s fast-moving world”; currently, it includes clips about his various media appearances, side projects and celebrity [sic] endorsements. What you won’t find, however, is news about a curious series of back-and-worth lawsuits he’s involved in this month.
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This week, hundreds of artists from all over the world will begin assembling one of the largest and most dazzling group art shows in the United States, or anywhere. Approximately 50,000 people will view the show during its week-long run, making it proportionately even more popular attendance-wise than the recent Alexander McQueen hullabaloo at the Met. So why don’t you know more about it? And why aren’t you there?
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Some call it “The United Nations of Graffiti.” Its semi-official title, spelled out in giant letters on its main wall, is “The Institute of Higher Burnin,” though you’ll also find it described as “the world’s premiere ‘graffiti Mecca’” on its website. Now there are questions about how long it will last.
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Don't You Understand, I'm an Artist!
Watch Out, Art World: Amazon Is About to Start Selling Art
Can Rectal Realism (and Other 1970s Art) Inspire?
Creative Success vs. Personal Relationships — Who Wins?
Beer with a Painter: John Walker
Overheard in the Art World
The Nazi Ties of Joseph Beuys
Chimpanzee's Polaroids Expected to Fetch Big Money at Auction
Did Vermeer's Daughter Paint 20% of His Works?
Geometry Under Pressure: Don Voisine’s Paintings
Getting Punked: Protesting the Met's Decadent Appropriation
Artist Exchange: In Conversation with Peter Acheson
