Mein Curator
from Jen Graves and the SLOG
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Art as Authority
A contemporary, sometimes historical, art, social, political, blog in and around the art world and its artists. Poetry, litterature, commentary, images, music, books, life... Et aussi, un peu de la culture Française et ses artistes contemporains. A place to come to read, relax and contribute your ideas and projects.
février 11, 2010
février 04, 2010
Movers & Shakers 2: Who’s Who in the San Diego Visual Arts World
by Baudelaire Shepherd
Artist: Lee Puffer - Portrait: Karen McGuire, Curator of Exhibitions, City of Carlsbad’s William D. Cannon Art Gallery
On Movers and Shakers 2, at the Art Expressions Gallery
A visitor to “Movers and Shakers 2: Who’s Who in San Diego Visual Arts” might reasonably expect to be treated to a representative sampling of the best in San Diego art; what they will find instead are a few good works bobbing upon a turgid sea of proud mediocrity. The show’s title already had an air of fawning desperation before an indifferent public, but through the combination of a needlessly narrow selection of artists, a flaunting of mere technique over wit and vision, and an uninspiring theme, the organizers have perversely given the public good reason to stay indifferent. San Diego’s artists deserve better.
Out of a total of forty-four works, by forty-six separate artists, I found only seven pieces that were truly successful, including quirky sculptures by Jeffrey Laudenslager and Lee Puffer, a wittily “minimalist” painting by Vero Glezqui, and a joyful, cartoon-like representation by Michael Gross. I found Lee Puffer’s ceramic bust of Karen McGuire particularly striking, combining energetic form with lively color, as well as touches of subtle comedy. Another eight were of moderate interest. Herb Olds, for instance, presented a moody, large-scale drawing, but without the revealing detail that adds depth to his other work. Cheryl Sorg created another entry in her clever “thumbprint” series; but in the process perhaps revealed the limitations of this cleverness—the overall form risks becoming muddy and over-familiar; the textual content proves no more revelatory than a list of favorite books on Facebook.
Continue reading "Movers & Shakers 2: Who’s Who in the San Diego Visual Arts World" »
Plagues & Pleasures
janvier 29, 2010
Civic Actions
décembre 29, 2009
Visual Art Supply - Welcome to the Neighborhood!
décembre 20, 2009
Anansi
"Anansi Does the Impossible" - published by Verna Aardema
Storyteller in video: Marian Williams
Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6772-zvlVp0
ART Produce Gallery
Michele Guieu
novembre 24, 2009
Dave Ghilarducci
novembre 21, 2009
San Diego NOW: Eight UCSD Visual Artists featuring Zac Monday
novembre 19, 2009
Emigrant/Immigrant: Culture and Identity in Art - Artist Talk & Videos
octobre 17, 2009
Stan Brakhage
Monday, October 19, 7 p.m.
James S. Copley Auditorium
San Diego Museum of Art
$12 members/$15 nonmembers/$10 students
Artist and filmmaker Neil Kendricks leads a lecture/screening of three films by the hugely influential experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage.
So why pay and go when you can sit and click?
Because abstract Brakhage is less image than sound and light: and the sound's the clatter of celluloid, threading the sprockets on a hot machine.
octobre 16, 2009
Debating the Exhaust Pipe of a Hummer
by Richard Gleaves
octobre 15, 2009
Art with Beck
by Kevin Freitas
As the conservative media continues to take pot-shots at anything that remotely smells of the left, it's just a matter of time before they turn their jaundiced eye on the Arts. Everyone's a critic it has been said, and while right-wingers are ranting about everything from the president's selection of artworks for the White House to Fox News commentator Glenn Beck's discovery of Communist artworks in the heart of downtown New York, or Andy Rooney's appraisal of what is or is not public art, you have to wonder if (art) criticism, objectivity, and rational thinking - practiced by some - haven't left the building with Elvis.
octobre 07, 2009
Stretched, Stitched & Stuffed
by Kevin Freitas
"Gold Mama" - Vanessa Madrid
It occurred to me on visiting the new exhibit at Palomar College Boehm Gallery that I’ve been to several campus galleries like this one, and curiously enough, they all pretty much look the same. I’ve bemoaned the gallery at Southwestern College already for their poor space management; the Boehm Gallery on the other hand is much smaller and divided into equal halves. It’s better but still not optimal. The room on the left has a linoleum floor; the room to the right is carpeted in a light gray which neutralizes any sculpture laid upon it. It’s a gallery with two distinct personalities. I imagine most of these community colleges were constructed during the late 70’s and early 80’s during the push to educate everyone in America, however, with no real thought behind what would be put inside. Campus galleries suffered the same indignation.
Artist Talk - Part 1 with Sandra Doore, Marisol Rendón, Brian Dick, Zac Monday and Rebecca Tice
septembre 14, 2009
Bret J. Barrett — "Transports of Form"
by Kevin Freitas
I heard about Bret Barrett before I ever met him. People would talk about some artist making kinetic sculptures out of his garage in some back alley off of El Cajon Boulevard. They said I should check out his work. And then one day, while getting a tattoo at Body Marks Tattoo on El Cajon, a guy comes in with a camera and starts taking pictures of the ceiling. Mark form Body Marks lets artists decorate the acoustic panels overhead. As it turns out, it was Bret Barrett taking the photos. We chatted awhile and then he left as quickly and as quietly as when he walked in. I didn’t meet him again until a few months later when he was part of a group show at the now defunct Zedism Gallery in Normal Heights.
This gallery is currently being replaced by a Subway sandwich shop. People have to eat it seems and no appetite for art.
septembre 05, 2009
Beyond the Border Art Fair
by Richard Gleaves
If you were wondering how one goes about launching something as big as an art fair, but in San Diego in the current economy, the answer is better magic through good design.
The BTB booth design, with its strong emphasis on diagonals and irregular booth spaces, resembled nothing less than a Menger sponge, creating the illusion of an infinite exhibition hall while fitting in a room the size of a medium theatre.
août 06, 2009
Tom Torluemke - "After Glow"
by Kevin Freitas
Tom Torluemke continues to draw the attention and notoriety he so well deserves with a current exhibit on view through September 27, 2009 at the Chicago Cultural Center. The video includes an interview with Tom about his show. He has also received several positive reviews from various online publications that can be found through the links Iisted below. Finally, I'm proud to announce that Tom has included an essay I wrote about his paintings in a newly published catalog that can be previewed and purchased here. All sales go directly to the artist. Help Tom celebrate this momentous occaision!
Art Talk Chicago
Art Letter
Proximity
The Gallery Crawl and So Much More
août 03, 2009
More summer fun
by Kevin Freitas
juillet 21, 2009
La Jolla Art Festival
Moapa Mesa Storm
by Kevin Freitas
Filming a summer lightning storm from the Moapa Mesa plateau in Overton, NV. The plateau is also home to Michael Heizer's "Double Negative".
juillet 15, 2009
On the road to Overton
by Kevin Freitas
A couple of videos taken on the way to go see Michael Heizer's "Double Negative" in Overton, Nevada.
juin 29, 2009
Iz the Wiz
by Richard Gleaves
Iz the Wiz — a writer who lived largely for sex in a can, and died largely of it, kidney and heart.
The NY Times obit mentions that Cooper and Chalfant's classic Subway Art was recently reissued by Chronicle Books. An art book's art book, this one's for the ages... check it out.
juin 28, 2009
Judith Pedroza: Marina Nacional 80
juin 17, 2009
Muscle in the Hustle - Panel Discussion - Tom Torluemke
from the press release
Muscle in the Hustle : Contemporary Approaches to Promoting Art
Tom Torluemke - "Sunny Side Up" 2009 acrylic on paper 48" x 72"
Tom Torluemke will be participating in this panel discussion on:
June 20, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
1048 West 37th Street, 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60609
info@chgourbanartsociety.com
http://32ndandurban.carbonmade.com/
"Muscle in the Hustle" a 2 session panel discussion moderated by Angeline Gragasin & Gregg Hertzlieb.
The first session will be an artist-led discussion on the successes / failures of promoting their art, and new / unorthodox approaches to the current market.
The second session will be led by a panel of curators and gallery directors whose focus is emerging, contemporary, & local artists. They discuss their successes / failures in promoting their venue / vision / artist selection / & original approaches to attracting audiences.
This event is brought to you in partnership and collaboration with The Chicago Urban Art Society NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS & CISA Gallery. Hosted by The Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center (CSMC) in the community of Bridgeport on the south side of Chicago.
Continue reading "Muscle in the Hustle - Panel Discussion - Tom Torluemke" »
juin 15, 2009
A Culture of No Nothing Boobs
by Kevin Freitas - thanks to KAI ONE for the video discovery
It is only fitting to conclude this year’s CowParade event – banished to La Jolla Shores and suffering from unprecedented economic woes, general lack of interest and a theft – by offering yet another point of view on the relevancy of public art to its public. This time by Andy Rooney, 60 Minutes irascible commentator and opinion maker who asks, “When did bright colored plastic cows, pigs, and rabbits get to be art?” Firmly stating, “I don’t like most of the stuff passing for art and it’s everywhere” while prattling off a litany of sculptors and cities that have allegedly peddled this kind of stuff.
Rooney calls for a return to more traditional sculpture (meaning “something he can understand”) citing as an example that “a writer ought to be able to write simple sentences before he tries to be a poet” as the camera pulls back from a larger-than-life bronze casting of General Grant(?) to reveal an abstract sculpture by Mark di Suvero in the same park. As proof, he shows us an earlier work by Picasso – a torso carved in marble, and then a later work in steel, the “Chicago Picasso” situated in Daley Plaza. “Picasso earned the right to do anything he wants”, says Rooney. Indeed he did.
juin 13, 2009
Larry Caveney: Throw the Shoe
by Richard Gleaves
Performance at Balboa Park. June 13, 2009.
GMN Projects Presents: Throw the Shoe Event
juin 04, 2009
Grasshopper
juin 03, 2009
Check 2 Check
by KAI ONE
"My fight is ill" - Naughty by Nature
What do you do when you have no job and no money? I don’t know what you would do but I threw a party. It wasn’t just any party it was like getting flashed transported out of my shitty little miserable city through funk music and revelry. It was more than just a party though it was an art show. Actually it was two art shows in the same night. If you were too stupid to understand the concept then we didn’t want you to come. Check 2 Check. Shit was off the chain. Admission was $1 with a ticket to an art raffle that never happened because the MC got wasted. Instead art was hurled out into the crowd like nuclear warheads.
It all started as a stoned idea in the head of a local sandwich shop delivery driver. He came by our house while we were having a yard sale and saw the mass amount of art we had piled up in every corner. He had a venue that we could have a show in at a local Hardcore music spot. I rounded up a dozen or so of the most honest, free-wheeling, broke, degenerate, beautiful, talented cats doing their thing out here. We had so much art that we needed to find more than one spot to show it in. Plus we were trying to have a free show and they were trying to charge for our bands. Crack Banshee, Zackey Force Funk, and Twenty One Pump Street tore the walls down. Playing cards rained in the air. Minds were blown. This is what art is supposed to be about. Two shows one night. More art than you can shake a stick at. I lost ninety six bucks off the show. The fucking cops even came and red stickered the venue. Welcome to 2009 you still can’t stop us.
Photobucket link to slideshow of art and after party: http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u150/kai1st/
http://www.myspace.com/21pumpstreet
http://www.myspace.com/zac0ne
http://www.myspace.com/crackbanshee
Documentary on UK Crew: http://vimeo.com/4829666
avril 19, 2009
Jason Sherry & Neil Kendricks: In Conversation, April 18 @ Seminal Projects
by Richard Gleaves
I picked this because it's the most beautiful clip in the world. And I think you'll enjoy it. How it relates to my work is something about being a low-budget director, and you just have an idea that you have to do that means nothing to the entire movie — that's totally ridiculous — but you have to do it.— Jason Sherry
He's sort of this archaeologist in terms of pop culture and movies.— Neil Kendricks
Sherry's work is described in the gallery press release as "audio-mechanical sculptures and photo/print collages," but a more elegant way to conceptualize the work is as "image and non-image collage."
Image collage is in essence technically trivial: scissors, glue, and a magazine suffice. But non-image collage — a turntable with a bicycle; a pump organ with a pile of magazines; a hair dryer with ... an image collage! — takes mechanical genius, and Sherry's got it.
A worthwhile reference point here is Tim Hawkinson, who deploys similar levels of genius toward the very different goal of realizing Rube Goldberg. Hawkinson celebrates mechanism, while Sherry works to achieve a seamless whole: the collage ideal.
Update: 4/24
Michele Guieu has posted video of the full conversation.
février 25, 2009
Snapshots - Changing Perspectives in the San Diego Art Scene - New Video!
Video by Lynn Susholtz, montage by Katherine Sweetman
For those of you who may have missed last Saturday's panel discussion, here's one of 12 video's covering the evening's entire talk. Many thanks to Lynn Susholtz for the video and Katherine Sweetman for getting it all online. So go make some popcorn, find a confortable chair, sit back, relax, and enjoy. Did I mention you might even learn something about the San Diego art scene? It does exist you know. Find all the videos here.
janvier 06, 2009
Richard Gleaves - "Front Curtain" at Art Produce
video by Michele Guieu
Art Produce Gallery
3139 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92104
619.584.4448
lynn@artproducegallery.com
www.artproducegallery.com
décembre 06, 2008
Art World Absurd, Heartwarming Division
You don't have to be a Rockefeller to collect art... but to pull a Vogel you'll need a ticket to Manhattan and a time machine.
septembre 18, 2008
KAI ONE Interview - "Urban Detritus" at
Art Produce Gallery
septembre 14, 2008
Working the windows
by Richard Gleaves
août 01, 2008
Le Moulin à Images by Robert Lepage
by Richard Gleaves
Site-specific cinema on 81 grain silos, par un des plus grands artistes de la galaxie.
juin 24, 2008
Not Tapped Out Yet - More Video
video provided by Michele Guieu
(Click image)
Local San Diego artist Michele Guieu was there, were you? Michele graciously video taped the first three rounds of "Art Tapout," held at Agitprop Gallery in North Park. I thank Michele for her support and interest and all the artists who participated: Sandra Doore, Chris Warr, Zuri Waters, Joe Yorty, and Claire Zitzow. I also thank David White, Director of Agitprop, for his collaboration and organization of this spectacular event, and all of you who attended the opening night ceremonies. Thanks goes to Richard Gleaves (fellow Art as Authority contributor), for the additional video footage already posted here on the blog. The exhibit of the artworks discussed, along with complete video coverage of all five rounds, will be up and on view at Agitprop Gallery through July 13th. Won't you please stop by. Kevin Freitas
avril 23, 2008
High-end graffiti
by Richard Gleaves
Behold the power of the white cube, temple of the contemplative arts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96TyAQ7KnVQ
février 25, 2008
REVOLUTION - Julien Colombier
jellyfish revolution
90 Grammes - Julien Colombier
www.myspace.com/mrjulien_c
Art Produce Gallery
3139 University Avenue
San Diego, CA
619.584.4448
Opening: March 8, 2008 - 6 to 9pm (Ray at Night)
janvier 24, 2008
Atomic e-graffiti
by Richard Gleaves
The Czech art collective Ztohoven tagged the morning weather show on Czech Television’s CT2 channel with a simulated nuclear explosion. The tag was accomplished by switching the cables on an unmanned remote camera and routing in an altered video stream. Members of the group face up to three years in jail for "attempted scaremongering."
janvier 15, 2008
"Bowling for Dollars" - A rare look into Michael Arata's studio
janvier 11, 2008
Reverse e-graffiti
by Richard Gleaves
Roaming the Consumer Electronics Show with a bootleg TV remote: like traditional tagging, equal parts antisocial and beautiful:
février 20, 2007
Perfs & Poulpes - Julien Colombier
Paris artist Julien Colombier is at it again. Here's some new work from the studio and a short film.
Video here