Until an artist version of Cribs is invented, the best way we can get inside an artist’s life and work is to get inside their studios. Photographs of artists in their studios are kind of like snapshots of an artistic career, a whole body of work compressed into a single room. A working and living space tells a lot about the person that inhabits it, and the spare objects and trashed drafts tossed around the room communicate eloquently about artists’ inner lives. I’ve collected some cool studio shots that all communicate something inexpressible about the artists they shelter.
Opinion
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Banksy Totally Mainstreams with Possible Oscar Nod
The LA Times reports that chances look good for Banksy’s film Exit Through the Gift Shop to receive a nomination for an Oscar, completely destroying any ideas that Banksy is some kind of anti-establishment bandit. I’m just surprised that Banksy could pull off going even more mainstream than he already had.
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Tuesday Video: Martha Rosler’s Semiotics of the Kitchen
Youtube is a surprisingly excellent place to see art, and not just the latest glitchy gif set your neighbor came up with. The site is full of historical performance videos, all just a click away. One of the greats is Martha Rosler’s performance “Semiotics of the Kitchen” (1975), in which the artist goes through an alphabet’s worth of kitchen implements for a blistering feminist critique of traditional gender roles.
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Watch Frank Gehry Explain his NYC Tower at 92Y
Frank Gehry spoke with New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger at 92Y on October 13. Check out this video for the highlights of their conversation, including some inside info on Gehry’s new New York City Beekman Tower.
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Five Non-NYC Shows Coming Up in 2011
Odds are, you’re probably doing some traveling in 2011. If you’ve got places to go, we’ve got art for you to check out. From Gerhard Richter’s retrospective at the Tate to an exhibition of Gertrude Stein’s personal collection in San Francisco, here are five exhibitions outside of New York to look for in the next year. Better start planning that business trip now!
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Five NYC Museum Shows to Look Forward to in 2011
It’s the New Year all over again, and aside from going out and partying, there’s not much in the New Year to look forward to yet. I’m finding myself starting at empty calendar and wondering what to fill it up with. Why not schedule in some art? It’s never to early to start that exhibition calendar going, so here are five exhibitions that I think will light up this new year in New York City.
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Feng Mengbo’s Video Game Epic “Long March”
Ever wanted to be a Chinese red soldier that shoots fireballs instead of spouting slogans, and battles aliens instead of Nationalists? I know, me too. Finally, we all have a chance to play out our CCP fantasies with Feng Mengbo’s epic, historicizing video game “Long March: Restart” (2008), now on view at PS1.
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What Others Are Saying About #Rank
Earlier this month, I sent out a call for comments on #Rank, a project created by artists William Powhida and Jennifer Dalton, who were the masterminds behind #Class (Winkleman Gallery, February 2010).
The following are the responses we received from across the country and around the world. Some are by event participants, while others from observers (both in Miami and remotely). They represent various perspectives on#Rank (with minimal editing and in no particular order).
Also, tonight there is a post-Miami #Rank discussion (6-9pm) at Winkleman Gallery for those who would like to continue the discussion.
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Commemorating the Blizzard’s Aftermath…
New York City was originally a colony of the Dutch, so maybe it’s no coincidence that the aftermath of Sunday and Monday’s storm put me in mind of some Netherland Baroque landscapes. Here’s Hendrick Avercamp’s 1608 “Winter Landscape with Iceskaters”.
Click through for some more of my favorite winter pictures.
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If Art Was More Like Hip Hop It Would Be Like This
This video, “Art Money” was created by San Francisco-based artist Spencer Keeton Cunningham & Erlin Geffrard as one part of “an on going work in progress of contemporary art videos.” The music is by Kool Kid Kreyola and Spencer Keeton Cunningham. This is all obviously going to be in the next Whitney Biennial so someone better tell curators Elisabeth Sussman and Jay Sanders stat!
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The Anatomy of a San Francisco Rainbow
This stunning photo was taken by photographer and Bay Area tech host Lisa Bethany. She has blogged a step-by-step guide on how she created this lovely image. This is the type of blogging I wish more photographers would do. [via Laughing Squid]
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Does AA Bronson Have a Legal Right to Remove His Work from Hide/Seek?
The short answer is probably not under US law but we’re not sure under Canadian law.
