This July, the monthly film series Dirty Looks mounted the second installment of their “On Location” program, an ongoing presentation of art interventions that encroaches everywhere from bars to galleries to the television sets of everyone in the New York area. The series takes on guerrilla tactics of presenting queer experimental underground films.
July 2013
Posted inArt
Gimme Shelter: A French Artist Retreat Crowdsources
It seems idyllic: a cluster of artist-designed shelters lining a river by an old flour mill in pastoral Brittany, France. This vision of a creative retreat is one that is close to being realized, although they’re angling for an extra push to get them there.
Posted inBooks
The Rise and Fall of Polaroid
Instant: The Story of Polaroid, an entertaining book by the New York-based writer Christopher Bonanos, follows the long and twisting career of Edwin Land and his brainchild corporation, Polaroid.
Posted inOpinion
Tooth and Nail: China’s Resilient Holdouts
CHICAGO — A nail house is not a sharp object or an eyesore. It’s a site to behold, one that holds its ground.
The term “nail house” is a literal translation from the word dingzihu (钉子户), a Chinese word meaning either a household or person who will not leave their home to make way for real estate development.
Posted inBooks
Inside David Wojnarowicz’s Comic Book
Many people know that David Wojnarowicz was an excellent artist, but fewer probably know that he was also an excellent writer. 7 Miles a Second, originally put out by DC Comics in 1996 and recently republished by Fantagraphics Books, is a memoir comprised of personal stories mixed with dreams, hallucinatory images, and social commentary.
Posted inNews
Glasgow School of Art Threatens to Expel Street Artist
The Australian street artist Peter Drew has found himself at a shocking impasse with the renowned Glasgow School of Art, where he is, ironically enough, only weeks away from completing a Master’s thesis examining the tensions between big institutions and street art.
Posted inOpinion
One of the Art World’s Most Interesting Couples
This New York love story chronicles the chaotic 40-year marriage of boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and artist Noriko Shinohara.
Posted inArt
Walk into a Painting’s Colorscape
DALLAS — It was a normal day in downtown Dallas in June. The heat and humidity were bearing down on me with intense aggression, the traffic on Harry Hines Boulevard was jammed as usual, and glare beaming off of Museum Tower almost blinded me as I made my way to the arts district. Destination? The Nasher Sculpture Center, to see the installation by Berlin-based artist Katharina Grosse. WUNDERBLOCK, which opened June 1 and runs until September, features site-specific works by the artist that blur the lines between painting, sculpture, and installation.
Posted inNews
Jay Z’s “Performance Art Film” to Debut on HBO
Earlier this month, Jay-Z set up a daylong operation at Pace Gallery in Chelsea, where he rapped at members of the art world for six hours. Participants included Lawrence Weiner, Mickalene Thomas, Klaus Biesenbach, and the grandmother of performance art, Marina Abramović, among many others. The result, his “Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film,” directed by Mark Romanek, will air this Friday, August 2, at 11 pm Eastern time on HBO.
Posted inArt
Revealing Your Inner Selfie
CHICAGO — Selfies are private moments made available for public consumption. When the shutter snaps, the subject realizes that they’re ready to admit something about themselves that would otherwise remain hidden.
Posted inArt
Five Stories of Art Saved from War’s Annihilation
The greatest casualty of war is always human life, and there’s no doubt that a saved painting can’t account for a lost life. Yet the preservation of culture in wartime prevents a total loss of what gave a place its spirit and meaning.
