LIPSTiCK TrACeZ

My morning run wouldn't be the same without a little Hair of the Dog by Nazareth.    Big looks, big hair and tight jeans. no stylist...that's what groupies were for.   

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." --Albert Einstein

Anish Kapoor

March 16-October 12, 2010
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents a major solo exhibition devoted to the art of Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential sculptors working today. The exhibition, which opened to enormous acclaim at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in fall 2009, is the first large-scale survey of Kapoor's work to be seen in Spain.

Anish Kapoor rose to prominence in the early 1908s with his explorations of abstract sculptural forms and the use of volume, scale, color, and materiality. Best known for his explorations into the concept of the void, his sculptures, monumental installations, and outdoor public-art projects have expanded the language of Post-Minimalist art. This show features several series that the artist has developed since 1979 using tactile or highly reflective materials: bright, pure pigment, blood-red wax; painted fiberglass; stone; polished stainless steel; and most recently, cement. While materiality and process are central to Kapoor's works, he uses both as a means to go beyond the solidness of what you see to experience a perceptual and symbolic depth beyond. "Material somehow always leads onto something immaterial," the artist states.
    
The exhibition has been organized in close collaboration with the artist, who envisions each gallery as a single experience devoted to one series (the pigment works, the void works, polished stainless steel works, the entropic cement forms), or one large-scale installation. Diverse in material and form, each presentation demonstrates Kapoor's interest in the principle of the "auto-generated"--objects that originate without a trace of the artist's hand, seemingly natural and without preconceived thought. A recent and spectacular installation, Shooting into the Corner (2008-09) presents a canon, triggered by an attendant, that shoots enormous wedges of red wax across the gallery space, transforming the museum into a site of violent explosion and its dramatic accumulations. 

A little Repo Man trivia/  Here are the lyrics to the brilliant and funny Jonathan Richman song.  The Burning Sensations actually covered the song for the Alex Cox classic.


Pablo Picasso

Well some people try to pick up girls
And get called assholes
This never happened to Pablo Picasso
He could walk down your street
And girls could not resist his stare and
So Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole

Well the girls would turn the color
Of the avacado when he would drive
Down their street in his El Dorado
He could walk down you street
And girls could not resist his stare
Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole
Not like you
Alright

Well he was only 5'3"
But girls could not resist his stare
Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole
Not in New York

Oh well be not schmuck, be not abnoxious,
Be not bellbottom bummer or asshole
Remember the story of Pablo Picasso
He could walk down your street
And girls could not resist his stare
Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole
Alright this is it

Some people try to pick up girls
And they get called an asshole
This never happened to Pablo Picasso
He could walk down your street
And girls could not resist his stare and so
Pablo Picasso was never called

"Pablo Picasso" was written by Jonathan Richman for his proto punk group The Modern Lovers in 1972.

I guess it was Emilio Estevez missing from the John Hughes tribute at the Oscars that got me into a Repo Man  (1984) kind of mood.    Ran into Harry Dean Stanton at a party and talked about the film at length- love him.  (the remake is coming out-more on that later)  I have a soft spot for historic films set in LA.   Writer director Alex Cox is amazing.

  Probably one of the best punk film soundtracks ever, maybe even numero uno.

1. Iggy Pop - "Repo Man" - 5:11
2. Black Flag - "TV Party" - 3:50
3. Suicidal Tendencies - "Institutionalized" - 3:49
4. Circle Jerks - "Coup d'État" - 1:59
5. The Plugz - "El Clavo y la Cruz" - 2:56
6. Burning Sensations - "Pablo Picasso" - 4:01
7. Fear - "Let's Have a War" - 2:29
8. Circle Jerks - "When the Shit Hits the Fan" - 3:11
9. The Plugz - "Hombre Secreto (Secret Agent Man)" - 1:46
10. Juicy Bananas - "Bad Man" - 4:59
11. The Plugz - "Reel Ten" - 3:09

Wow, if only I could have a second car.    Not much on safety or picking the kid up from school.

Moet & Chandon sponsored a great show by fashion & celebrity photographer Tom Munro.  Needless to say their very exquisite champagne was flowing like crazy all night long.    Tom's first book, a collection of iconic portraits has partial proceeds going to Raising Malawi and M.E.A.K.

When I saw Malawi I Madonna popped into my head.. and Yes, Madonna was there to show her love.  Justin Timberlake, Dustin Hoffman and a lot of really gorgeous women were in the room.   It was a very nice soiree.   The work is gorgeous, shot on film so u can see the grain and tonality, the duo-tones provocative and the framing superb.  Here is a shot of the lovely and talented Mr. Tom Munro.

Notable and controversial.  Photographer Nobuyoshi Araki is one of Japan's National treasures. His show is up at PRSIM on Sunset (gorgeous space) until May 9. 
  I attended the preview and was treated to a great selection of his nudes much of it shots of his wife, YOKO and other gorgeous muses.   One of my favorite parts of the installation was a wall of chromes from his earlier work.   (see pic)  Araki's work has become synonymous with his signature bondage style poses.   You can always spot an Araki.   This series is called "YOKO, my love". 
Erotic and beautiful, he started doing these in the 50's when no one had the balls to show it.    On a side note, even with the rainy weather there was a great crowd.     Liz Goldwyn, Marisa Tomei and Maria Bello all looked stunning.

I have been reading Alice in Wonderland with my daughter the last few days.    I really wanted her to know the story and hear Lewis Carroll's magical words before she saw Tim Burton's vision on the big screen.  (which is absolutely mind boggling and amazing)

Reading the original  was an inspirational journey for both of us, as I hadn't read the book since my childhood.    My copy of the book is totally "yee old" but was passed down from my father and since he is passed away, has become a cherished family heirloom.   Grosset & Dunlap published this special edition in 1946 with gorgeous illustrations by John Tenniel.  It was just a fluke that it hadn't been damaged or lost after all the moving, packing and unpacking I did in my childhood and has been patiently sitting in Nova's bookcase waiting to be rediscovered.   After a little research I  found out the original story was published in 1865 and titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.   If you know the story it was enormously influential in its narrative structure for fantasy lit, and christened what become the "literary nonsense" genre.   (Jabberwalky means nonsense)  If you ask me there was not only a brilliant imagination behind but quite a lot  of Opium smoking (as you see in the film as well)  as many artists of the time where known to do.  


 Lewis Carroll was really English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson writing under a pseudonym.    He was an incredible photographer shooting influential portraits as well as a mathematician.  (hence all the references to space, mirrors, perception and logic)  If you want to know more about this read Gilles Deleuze's classic, The Logic of Sense.  

Anyway, back to Carroll,  this story continues to inspire artists, filmmakers, actors, and  families alike 145 years later.   I told Nova we will save the book for her children and hopefully Alice's adventures and the magical experience of reading it together will continue as a family tradition.

Photographer and artist Jack Pierson opens his show  at Regen Projects on March 12.  Pierson has made a name for himself with a body of work that includes photographs, collages, word sculptures, installations, drawings and artists books. He has shown in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and his works are collected by major museums worldwide.   oh, and he's a cult hero.   
(Regen Press release) Regen Projects is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by New York artist Jack Pierson. Pierson's oeuvre is extraordinary: photography, sculpture, installation, painting, bookmaking and drawing. His subject matter and iconography deals with themes of loss, longing, faded glamour and nostalgia. Working with narratives that are both familiar and removed, Pierson constructs fiction to explore memory. Desire drives the work in whatever shape it takes and that desire is inextricably linked to beauty, conventional or unexpected. Beauty in his work often has a darker side, showing the most intimate moments where beauty becomes tragedy and decadence becomes decay.