DAMIAN STAMER . . ‘SUNDAYS’
OPENS TO-NITE, THURS, NOV 21, 2013 / 6-9PM
the show runs NOV 12 – DEC 28, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24th ST, CHELSEA, NYC
see: PIX FROM THE EXHIBIT
and read: more about the artist/scroll down
IMAGE: DAMIAN STAMER, ‘Patrick Rd.’ 2013, oil on panel, 48 x 72 in. / FREIGHT+VOLUME
~DAMIAN STAMER . . OPENS TO-NITE, THURS / F+V | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 21st, 2013, 12:55pm
so, the BC&GF / BROOKLYN COMICS & GRAPHICS FESTIVAL . . seems to have had a huge flame-out.
not to fear, GABE FOWLER of DESERT ISLAND, apparently came to the rescue, and re-mounted the show . .
solo as: CAB / COMIC ARTS BROOKLYN.
they had their first run this past NOV 9, 2013 . . and though their PR machine doesn’t seem to be quite up and running, they have a great blog going. and though, just a personal opinion . . the on-site pix aren’t totally up to snuff, the wild creativity is !!
ALL THERE !!
see: CAB / COMIC ARTS BROOKLYN
I will definitely make a point of catching it next year, and so should YOU !!
regarding the BC&GF flame-out, I can only imagine.
comic book artists and the people who publish & sell the work . . are NOT the easiest going people in the world, contrary to what you might think.
and let’s leave it at that.
if you want a good history of the BC&GF fest & the absolutely definitive take on the ‘break-down’, check out: ‘BC&GF ENDS’ by TIM HOLDER, THE COMICS JOURNAL
and a sense of the past: BROOKLYN COMICS & GRAPHICS FESTIVAL
anyways, I always wondered why ‘GRAPHICS’ was included . . in the first fest’s name.
it seemed a little defensive. re: the fine ‘art’ status of comic book artists.
there never were . . any ‘pure’ graphics exhibited anyways. and that was an ‘association’ that missed the boat, completely. and with REASON.
so . . ALL GOOD !!
MATT GROENING at the last and final, BROOKLYN COMICS & GRAPHICS FESTIVAL. NOV 10, 2012.
ARCHIVAL PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
see: the 1st BROOKLYN COMICS & GRAPHICS FESTIVAL/artloversnewyork
~CAB: BC&GF . . up from the flames | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 21st, 2013, 12:29pm
MATTHEW THURBER signs . . his book: ‘1-800-MICE’
at the 3rd . . 2011 BROOKLYN COMICS & GRAPHICS FESTIVAL.
sadly, the FEST is no more . . .
but the comic art and the people who love them . . are still here.
hint: CAB / COMICS ART BROOKLYN
truck on, comic book artists !!
the quote on the cover from MATT GROENING reads:
“1-800-MICE reads like a mysterious oddball artifact from a much stranger and cooler parallel universe”.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. DEC 5, 2011. BROOKLYN, NYC.
get: more info on ‘1-800-MICE’ . . from PICTUREBOX
which describes the book as: “an anthropological study of the imaginary city of Volcano Park where flying mouse couriers have replaced Fed Ex with a soap-opera-styled fractured narrative & a cast of thousands.”
& they offer this ‘1-800-MICE’ . . sampling:
~MATTHEW THURBER . . FLASH FROM THE PAST | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 21st, 2013, 11:15am
PICTUREBOX . . . is proud to present a signing & reception for MATTHEW THURBER’S new book: ‘INFOMANIACS’.
FRI NOV 22, 2013 / 7-9 PM
DESERT ISLAND – 540 METROPOLITAN AVE – WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN.
‘INFOMANIACS’ . . “is a graphic novel printed on paper all about the Internet. A hilarious detective story that manages to critique and explore digital culture . . ‘INFOMANIACS’ is marked by Matthew Thurber’s restless questioning and heightened sense of the absurd . . .
Think of it as the Long Goodbye for the tumblr generation.”
MATTHEW THURBER, ‘INFOMANIACS’
8 x 10 in. 200 pages, black + white, hardcover.
published by PICTUREBOX, more info
$22.95
PS:
while you are at DESERT ISLAND, be sure to pick up any free copies of SMOKE SIGNAL, that might still be available.
~MATTHEW THURBER . . INFOMANICS at DESERT ISLAND / BOOK RELEASE & SIGNING . . FRI NOV 22 | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 21st, 2013, 10:12am
‘NEBRASKA’ – a film by ALEXANDER PAYNE. WRITTEN BY BOB NELSON. MUSIC BY MARK ORTON.
is . . an artists’ movie, no doubt about it.
made by artists: storytellers, cinematographers, musicians, prop guys .. who pretty much followed their inner guts . . and kept it, real.
to be viewed by artists.
esp those who live in big cities, far from the sparsely populated and old-school American prairie homeland, or heartland .. as is called, and with good reason.
this low profile, small budget .. yet sweeping American panorama will be viewed by artists, of all genres . . with profound appreciation, as the simple but compelling story unfolds across a wide screen of stark, yet absolutely picturesque, black and white midwest landscape.
the raw-feeling footage was shoot across 4 states.
BRUCE DERN, 77, won BEST ACTOR at CANNES for his work in this film. it’s a beautiful multi-layered performance that is so nuanced with ‘cluelessness’ . . it’s scary.
WILL FORTE carries off the role of the son perfectly. it’s his ultimate ‘kindness’ to his aging dad, who apparently hadn’t been that kind or good to him in childhood .. that is the redeeming factor of this movie, and the ‘key’ on which it all turns.
as the younger son, he could have been, well . . judgmental. impatient. all the way to .. blaming his alcoholic, unambitious ‘bit of a loser’, not much of a dreamer, either .. dad for his already washed-up going nowhere existence . . I dunno maybe that’s just a New York thing ?
but instead . . he rises to the reality of life’s ‘last call’, with tenderness, patience and no .. belittling.
an absolutely riveting low fi character ‘capture’.
the only, very small flaw that caught my attention was the portrayal of the dad, Woody’s .. long suffering wife, Kate Grant, as played by JUNE SQUIBB. she almost almost nails it, but seems too ‘happy’. too happy to have landed the plum gig of her life, out of nowhere. and at this age.
we don’t totally fall into the depth of her being, as we do with father and son.
I’m thinking she should have been a touch more tired, a touch more bitter, a touch more ‘angry’. a touch more in touch with the dialog. it’s not so much that she should be a ‘shrew’, as just more disappointed. and well, fed up. though I did love her screwball moments exposing the underside of small town sex life.
too much info, mom !!
watch out my young ‘uns.
as your baby boomer parents head into their last chapter . . you could do well to watch this, and prepare yourselves . . for what’s ahead !!
more than anything, BRUCE DERN as WOODY GRANT reminded me of . . DAN ASHER.
same mannerisms. same not . . ‘getting it’.
and, that’s exactly how Dan dressed too, even to the glass frames.
same rumpled plaid shirt, same jacket. same physical build. walk.
same everything. except for the wife and kids, of course.
and, not even close to 77 .. of course.
DAN ASHER. a brilliant, quirky, real-life character on the NYC art scene going back to the 80s, who had had some success, but ultimately considered himself a failure . . career-wise. there was no ‘air’ left to breathe, for the rest of us when Jean Michel’s concurrent star ascended and fell.
that was DAN, cantankerous, and stubborn. frustrated by life and where it took him.
the most telling moment, and a wonderful testament to a great fiction portrayal by an actor in any film .. ever, takes place in this bar. when some big mouth from Woody’s past, spills a few too many beans, to his son, also played almost musically, it’s so pitch perfect a performance by WILL FORTE.
it’s the scene where the son, David Grant learns he almost was .. well, NOT.
that his dad Woody had had a moment where he thought he had ‘really fallen in love’, with a half-breed over in the reservation, before he returned to the fold of married life.
the amazed David looks back to his dad . . who just sort of half nods with unspoken guilt, as we see him lost in thought, time traveling back to the brief days of a long long ago, forbidden, and probably .. quelle steamy session.
that look was priceless.
that look was .. Dan Asher.
the small town boy, ace . . ‘paparazzi’.
believe it !!
I did catch the film’s writer, BOB NELSON in person .. at an advance Writer’s Guild screening.
he said, that .. yes this was his family. Alexander Payne, the film’s director grew up in Nebraska, and BOB NELSON grew up in the midwest .. so no wonder the film comes across with such authenticity.
Mr. Nelson said his real-life uncles were all like that. they didn’t say much, and what they did say was football, or cars.
in ten words, or less !!
his family fought, but it was mostly over . . “toasters”.
my family fights over missing vintage 1950’s 18K gold charm bracelets. guess that’s what I get . . for being an immigrant New Yorker with roots in Montreal.
hope my kids don’t fight over .. the Dan Ashers.
see: the trailer
see: NEBRASKA, the official website
ps:
about the music. which is really like a kind of silvery Americana on-the-road ‘silence’ in this film.
below is a brief clip of TIN HAT band member, MARK ORTON . . who wrote the score, and performs on the soundtrack. in it he hits the nail on the head, as to why .. the soundtrack is so on-point. which is that 9 times out 10, it plays along to visual footage, without any concurrent dialog.
see: Interview with MARK ORTON, CANNES
here’s: a good site to hear the soundtrack
~OLD MAN GOES AFTER . . THE PRIZE | Posted in Movie Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 20th, 2013, 10:55am
turns out, homeboy Jay Z was the anonymous buyer of BASQUIAT’S 1982 ‘MECCA’ last week, at SOTHEBY’S.
he plunked down $4.5 million, and that’s considered a ‘steal’ .. as there was no real ‘bidding’ war for it.
that could be because .. the acrylic & oil stick painting was on the minimal side ?
personally that’s what I think makes it over-the-top great.
source: ‘Jay Z snaps up $4.5 million Basquiat’ .. NEW YORK POST
JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT .. ‘MECCA’.
IMAGE via NEW YORK POST
~RAPPER KING BRINGS HOME . . THE BASQUIAT | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 20th, 2013, 10:47am
the veil has been lifted.
the mystery buyer of the FRANCIS BACON triptych, sold at CHRISTIE’S last week for a record $142 million, the highest price ever – for a work of art sold at auction was:
QATAR’S SHEIKHA MAYASSA aka “the most powerful woman in art.”
the daughter of the former emir of Qatar, and sister to the current Emir, “she is said to control billions of dollars that the royal family wants to spend on art for museums they are building.”
her oil rich family spent a record $158 million of Cezanne’s ‘Card Players’ last year . . .
apparently, what Sheikha wants, Sheikha . . gets.
source: ‘The secret buyer’ . . NEW YORK POST
‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud’ – the FRANCIS BACON triptych .. at lats week’s auction.
PHOTO: CHRYSTIE’S IMAGES Ltd / Handout via Reuters via NEW YORK POST
it actually looks quite a lot better in this installation/event photo than the catalog image. I guess that’s because of the way the light has been made to pin point on it, in a more dynamic and pleasing way. instead of coming across so bland and flat, in particular the center of the composition, and the figure, appears more dynamic and nuanced.
nice.
a little lighting can go a long way, ask any wedding planner.
looks very oriental in this image.
SHEIKHA MAYASSA of QUTAR.
PHOTO: AFP/Getty Images via NEW YORK POST
~30 YR OLD BRINGS HOME . . THE BACON | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 19th, 2013, 9:24am
I was thinking about RAMBO, because when I was looking up the archival footage for MARTIN CREED, I found a few RAMBO pix from that time too.
they popped even more than usual . . because actually BANKSY referenced the kind of ‘tag’ work RAMBO does, in his recent ‘rejected’ op ed piece / rant . . for the NEW YORK TIMES !!
BANKSY: “Nobody comes to NEW YORK to bathe in your well-mannered common sense. We’re here for the spirit and audacity, of which One World Trade has none. Instead you have to look to the rooftops – to the chorus of precariously roller painted names and slogans over the skyline like poison ivy.”
by “roller painted”, he means wide paint rollers on long handles, as used in house painting for ceilings/walls.
I also have a vague recollection of reading somewhere . . that these crude but hi-risk, acrobatic ‘tags’ were like ‘lace’ or ‘crochet’ on the city skyline.
when the work plays off an existing ghost of an advertising text . . IT is a bonus.
in this case it’s particularly brilliant, and done up, to the max . . by XAVIOR.
(please) MASTER YOUR BODY THERE’S A SOUL WITHIN – XAVIOR.
how they actually get up there and do the gravity-defying deed, and without being detected, is beyond my knowledge. but I guess those ladders on the extreme left, are a clue.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. JUNE 2010, NYC.
ps: KAWS
used to do this type of action, too. back in the day when he was a young kid wannabe growing up in Jersey. I know this, because you can still catch an early ghost of a KAWS roller ‘tag’ on an industrial roof line on the main drag into the city, the tunnel into New York City .. from the Jersey City side.
kind of near that big HOME DEPOT.
will try to catch a photo, next time I go by.
~SABIO / RAMBO . . & XAVIOR / SUMMER 2010 | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 18th, 2013, 9:59am
‘MARTIN CREED’
OPENED NOV 8, 2013.
the show runs thru DEC 21, 2013.
GAVIN BROWN’S enterprise – 620 GREENWICH ST – WEST SIDE, NYC.
MARTIN CREED at . . the opening.
of course the show stopper was this ‘car’ . . on an ‘activation’ loop, just outside the gallery. was / is.
it’s still out there, it’s part of the exhibit !!
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1686’, 2013, Ford Focus. 70 x 160 x 80 in.
a Brit model of an American car. the driver’s side was on the right hand side. the car pops to life every few minutes. first the ignition comes on, purrs very loud. then the doors and trunk and hood pop open, and a soundtrack engages that mimics a real time sports radio.
it is very surprising, when it engages.
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1788’, 2013. Cinder Blocks. 157-1/2 x 371-1/2 x 162-1/2 in.
inside, the pyramid.
Pyramids seem to hold a special attraction to this artist.
so when you’re good and sick of ‘dots’ . . you know where to head.
cinder blocks, up close and personal.
a sound proof, temporary ‘chamber’ was built-up . . in the gallery.
inside a movie looped over and over, on a wall-sized screen.
unlike that 2010 ‘male rising’ clip . . this one spoke to bio ‘fragility’.
the subjects were ‘physically’ challenged, ‘gravity’ was a challenge.
let’s just say they were various: ‘gimpy’, and leave it at that.
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1701’, 2013. Digital film. TRT 4:15 mins.
this guy was my fave. even though he looked to be all there . . he had to hop across that intersection, which just happens to be the intersection that faces the gallery at Greenwich. check: the Fed Ex office.
though it did oddly also reference . . the BEATLES.
people had to decide for themselves, if the film ‘crossed’ the line. of good behavior, political correctness.
I had no issues, since the accompanying music, a song composed and performed by Martin Creed himself .. was so snappy. so snappy it made me want to dance.
a dancing fool, not so far ‘mentally’ from the impaired ‘strollers’ ? hmm.
a dancing fool .. in close proximity to the physically impaired ?!!
it was a strange tension, to feel so moved to move, while witnessing people who barely .. could.
hmm, and then there’s .. hmm.
could this guy be an ‘escapee’ from the night’s concurrent Bruce High Quality Foundation opening.
the thought did cross my mind.
THE BHQF vs the impaired, now there’s a thought.
hmm, why are these paintings so much more interesting so small, as opposed to large ?
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1749’, Gabriella, 2013. Acrylic on canvas, 12-3/4 x 9-1/8 in.
on the left, the small colorful painting:
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1775’, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 47-1/2 x 47-/2 in.
intersecting the space:
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1784’, 2013. I-Beams. 97-3/4 x 240 x 6-1/2 in.
spatial play. everyday materials.
MARTIN CREED, I-beams.
artist HALSEY HAWTHORNE.
so you can see just how ‘animating’ . . those I-beams can be.
ELIZABETH PEYTON.
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1697’, 2013. Brick and Mortar. 156 x 156 x 12 in.
there’s brick walls, and then, there’s brick walls.
you can run into a brick wall, but there’s always … eventually, the corner where it ends, and you can do a ‘turn around’.
in life, as in art. as the saying goes.
a nice definition of: finite.
while the ‘principle’ itself, is: infinite.
a viewer engages with . .
MARTIN CREED, ‘Work No. 1718’, Elizabeth. 2013. Acrylic and pencil on canvas.
19-7/8 x 16 in.
local artists . . . you might recognize them, if you really get around, esp in the dark. on the wild side.
GERRIT and LANCE.
LANCE. New Order. The Good Order.
oh, to be an art world .. kickass RAMBO !!
The Hidden order. ha.
come to think on it, that’s alot of what this show is about . . hidden order.
MARTIN CREED, ‘WORK NO. TBC”, Acrylic on canvas, 18-7/8 x 15 -7/8
yep, with the contemporary art world in a bonafide fever, this season . .
it’s the whip smart pyramid-obsessed Brit, MARTIN CREED vs. the Japanese dot-obsessed 84 yr. old dame, YAYOI KUSAMA.
like I said, when you’re tired of being ‘dotty’, you can go get . . ‘lucky’.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~MARTIN CREED . . PIX FROM THE OPENING | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 16th, 2013, 9:30am
FLASHBACK TO: SUMMER 2010 ..
MARTIN CREED . . . MARBLE FLOOR at GAVIN BROWN’S enterprise, JUNE 2010.
I’m thinking maybe MARTIN CREED was struck by the particulars of the GAVIN BROWN Gallery, when he presented that summer 2010 show.
like many other big spaces on the West Side aka the MEAT PACKING DISTRICT, part of the gallery was originally a meat packing plant, and thus it had proximity to the street and loading docks.
I’m saying: check out that car !!
on the extreme left hand side.
ARCHIVAL PHOTO: NANCY SMITH. JUNE 2, 1010, NYC.
~MARTIN CREED . . A VIEW TO THE STREET | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 16th, 2013, 9:20am
