Malware

Yesterday morning some people got this malware warning when checking into this site. AT NO TIME WAS ANYONE AT RISK OF MALWARE FROM THIS BLOG. The cause of the warning was a live link to Modern Art Notes (MAN), and that link was quickly removed. Anyone linking to MAN from this blog would have received another warning, and even then, if you proceeded, you would have to open an ad on their site to be infected. For anyone interested, Douglas McLennan, the editor of ArtsJournal, the leading art news aggregator which also houses Modern Art Notes (and 60 other art blogs) wrote an explanation of what happened here. 

David Brooks is a Tricky Bastard

I know this is an art blog, but it annoys me that so many of my friends fall for this guy because he comes off so reasonable. Besides, it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want!

Monday’s op-ed was typical. Brooks spent the first half making the obvious point that almost everyone missed the housing bubble. (Duh.) Then he states: The premise of the current financial regulatory reform is that the establishment missed the last bubble and, therefore, more power should be vested in the establishment to foresee and prevent the next one.  and that the Democratic bill ...doesn’t solve the basic epistemic problem, which is that members of the establishment herd are always the last to know when something unexpected happens. 


Well that’s neither the premise nor the conclusion! The problem is NOT that no one foresaw the housing bubble. Given the lack of regulations, what could be done if they had?  The problem is that deregulated financial institutions were allowed to gamble big time, make an obscene amount of money (with no productive value to the economy), and, when they failed (as gambles inevitably must), the losses were catastrophic. 


Here is an analogy of what happened: Financial firms insure your house. Fine. Regulators make sure they have the resources backing the insurance, so if something happens to your house they can pay off the policy.  After de-regulation, however, they not only sold insurance on your house WITHOUT THE RESOURCES BACKING IT, but they sold policies on your house to thousands of people with NO ownership in your house at all. And even that wasn’t enough -- they packaged together bits and pieces of these insurance policies, contrived to get AAA ratings for the package, and sold them too. So if your house catches fire, they not only have to pay off the owner, but the thousands of other people they sold policies to as well. 


But David Brooks says because “members of the establishment” didn’t foresee the housing bubble they can’t be trusted to re-regulate the economy. ONE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OTHER!

WOW! Check out Art Fag City on the Jersey City Museum

Some great reporting by Paddy Johnson, with Anne Johnson contributing. You may also want to read my suggestions for the future of the museum.

Noteworthy Links

Dieter Roth. Literaturwurst, 1968. Book of cut-up novel, water, 

gelatin and spices in sausage casing, 20 11/16 x 16 3/4 x 4 ¾ in.

98Bowery.com
This site is Marc Miller's autobiographical and historical documentation of Downtown New York art and music from 1969-1989. It is a must read particularly for anyone interested in the New York punk art and music scene in the 1970's. In addition the site has just re-published (in an up-dated internet version) the 200-page catalog documenting the first five years of ABC No Rio, and the larger artistic environment of the times (like Colab, the Real Estate Show and Lower East Side Poetry) that Miller wrote it in 1985 with artist, writer and co-founder of ABC No Rio, Alan Moore.

In Mexico, artists can pay their taxes with artwork - USATODAY.com
Not everyone can pay with art. Participants must register with the Tax Administration Service, Mexico's version of the Internal Revenue Service, by submitting a body of their work to the jury and proving they have shown or sold artworks.

Major Earners in the Cultural World - Graphic - NYTimes.com
Glenn Lowry, Museum of Modern Art, $1.32 million. Thomas Krens, director of the Guggenheim Foundation was paid $2,741,960 in 2008; Richard Armstrong, the current director is paid $84,473. The highest paid woman (12th): American Museum of Natural History president, Ellen V. Futter, $889,038.

Currently Giving Her Show Away: Chauney Peck | Slog | The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper
She does hope for an "offering" in return.

Free Art Update

POWER TO THE PEOPLE
may day  may 1  saturday  6 - 8 pm
free art   one piece per person please
Click here for details


FEATURE INC  (FREETURE)
131 allen st ny ny 10002
participating artists
Dike Blair  Kinke Kooi  Jesse Bransford  Taylor Davis  Paul Baumann  Gina Magid  Tracy Miller
John Torreano  Richard Kern  Kay Rosen  Ben Snead  David Shaw  Alex Brown
Howard Johnson  Oona Stern  Steel Stillman  Michael St. John  Mai Braun  Kevin Larmon
Nancy Shaver  Earl Swanigan  Douglas Melini  Bruce Brosnan  Robert Goldman  Alan Wiener
Jackson  Bobbie Oliver  Renata de Andrade  Aaron Sinift  John Mitchell  Ted O’Sullivan
Bill Jenkins  Bill Komoski  Tony Feher  Lorenzo De Los Angeles  Kanishka Raja
Josh C. Nusbaum  Juli Raja  Oliver Warden  Nigel Poor  Carl Ferrero  Jesse Sadia
Jonathan Hartshorn  Daniel McDonald  Ula Einstein  Janet Carkeek  Kazimira Rachfal  Lisa Beck
Gary Batty  Roy McMakin  Irene Hanenbergh  Doug Henders & Staci MacKenzie
Franck André Jamme  Sam Gordon  Julia Fish  Giles Lyon  Tamara Gonzales  Suzanne Adelman
Keith Walsh  Billy Miller  Carl D’Alvia  Steve McCall  Holly Coulis  Doug Holst
Stefano W. Pasquini  Don Powley  Joan Nelson  Glenn Suokko  Bernard Klevickas  Todd Knopke
Katherine Newbegin  Isabella Kirkland  Jake Ewert  John Fekner & Don Leicht  Jeri Felix
Maria Marta Radman  Clint Jukkala  Jean Foos  Dirk Rowntree  Tyler Vlahovich  Amy Sarkisian
Jessica Nissen  Lindsay Benedict  Boniato  Avi Adler  Charles Lahti  Nancy Murphy Spicer
Michael Rodriguez  Claudia Schwalb  Diane June  Troy June  Hans Accola  Janine Gordon
Rosalie Knox  Jerry Phillips  Mie Yim  Bill Weiss  Bruno Fazzolari  Amy Feldman  Mike Swenson
John Ortiz  Mark Cranford  Mamie Holst  Eric Amouyal  Jonah Groeneboer  Eric Dever
Julie Sass  Ridley Howard  Rebecca Potts  Bobby Goldman  James Sheehan  Robert Fontanelli
Max Razdow  Nancy Becker  Pamela Fraser  Lael Marshall  Patricia Satterlee  Dennis Kardon
David Rubin  Molly Herman  Michael Voss  Charles Hagen  Laura Newman  Sarah Brenneman
Eric Schnell  Jeanne Quinn  Jon Leon  Vivian Kahra  Jim Duesing  Karla Knight  Emma Coyle
Fred Cray  Theresa Swanick  Ivelisse Jiméniz  Donna Ruff  Zilworth & Brotmeyer
Richard Brachman  Gavin WIlson  Lynn Rosenfeld  Rosaire Appel  Jerry Van De Wiele
Andrea Morganstern  Cara Enteles  Ted Gahl  Liz ’n Val  Michael Ottersen  Nathaniel Robinson
Richard Rezac  Julia Fish  David Frye  Scooter LaForge  Paul Brainard  Peter Huttinger

My History Is Not Your History

 Your History Is Not Our History is an exhibition curated by David Salle and Richard Phillips at Haunch of Venison Gallery, open until May 1. (Wouldn’t it have been pure poetry if the show Skin Fruit was there? Too bad.) It's a very upscale gallery located at 1230 Sixth Ave. (between 48th and 49th), 20th Floor. The show includes major work by Donald Baechler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ross Bleckner, Francesco Clemente, Carroll Dunham, Eric Fischl, RobertGober, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Malcolm Morley, Richard Prince, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, Phillip Taaffe, Terry Winters and Christopher Wool. 


The exhibition isn't getting much attention (which must be galling Salle). And a panel discussion at the gallery a couple week ago with Salle, Richard Flood, James Fuentes, Allyson Vieira and Jacqeline Humphries and ineptly moderated by Richard Phillips, was poorly attended and so low energy (except for Jacqeline Humphries) it seemed everyone on the panel was depressed.


The purpose of the show, according to the gallery PR, is to set the historical record straight -- that the conceptual/photography art of the 1980's (what they call "critique art") and painting were not in opposition. In their language and grammar, not mine:

...the different manifestations of art in the 1980s - painting as well as the so called critique art came out of the a shared feeling for life "in extremis" and the oppositional characterization of those ways of making art, as if one is an antidote to the other, is wrong and obscures the deeper structures of meaning at work. "Your History is Not Our History strives to help us better understand the web of influences that conjoined in the 1980s to produce a strikingly original and inventive new artistic environment. We reject the sterilized view that is offered in hindsight and hope to offer a more accurate portrayal of the energy and experimentation that was permeating the city during that time," says Richard Phillips.

I wasn't going to blog about the exhibition even though they're showing some terrific work, and it made me nostalgic for the eighties. I just didn't have anything I wanted to say. But I kept thinking about why David Salle, a wildly successful artist, was so defensive. It's not like he wasn't included in the Met's show, The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984  - which I suspect triggered this response. 


Is Salle (I single him out because I believe he’s the driving force here) seriously claiming there was no distinction between the all-male painting (which was seen as outmoded and, if not market-driven, at least as having no qualms about the art market) and the hipper, more conceptual (mainly photography and/or text) and primarily female art of the time?  Is Salle trying to say “hey, I'm a hip conceptual artist, I should be fashionable now too.”  Is he saying it's a coincidence that all the male painters made the big bucks in the eighties, and that money’s not the point? (If so he chose the wrong venue -- Haunch of Venison is owned by Christie’s). 

Free Art: Give one, Take One

Feature is one of the best galleries and, as you can tell from the letter below, it's run by some of the nicest people. I love their generosity of spirit and feeling for community.


on saturday may 1, 2010
in celebration to may day,
feature will present a free for all:
power to the people.

artists are being asked to donate a work,
something from the studio, something interesting
to share with others, a gift to the unknown,
unconditional love.

donate something to be taken away.
no records will be kept, no check list,
no names will be displayed
other than on the announcement.

not more than 36" in any direction.
sculpture must be under 20 lbs so
easily carried by anyone.

deliver or send to feature to arrive
between april 18 and april 30.

the event will open mid afternoon and close at 8.
exact times and presentation format  to follow.
flat paper work will be displayed in clear plastic
bags pinned to wall, for ez get-a-way.

at a time when everything costs,
this is free.

sincerely, hudson
feature inc.
131 allen st
ny ny 10002
212.675.7772

A Real Spring This Year

Jefferson Market Garden, Sixth Avenue at Ninth Street

Another worthy show, unfortunately closing Saturday, is Jules de Balincourt at Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster Street. This will be the second to last show at Deitch, before he moves to the Museum Of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles,  and the space has never looked better. 

Jules de Balincourt, Dismounted, 2010, 

oil and Acrylic on wood, 40 x 46 inches

 Deitch Projects

What Will Become of The Jersey City Museum?

The Jersey City Museum is Open 
ONE DAY A WEEK!

From the Jersey City Museum website:

Dear friends, members, sponsors, and supporters of Jersey City Museum:

As current economic conditions continue to present challenges to art institutions and other non-profit organizations across the country, Jersey City Museum has taken appropriate steps to reduce operating costs and manage expenses. The museum, a leading art institution in the area, is committed to delivering on its mission to bring art and art education to Jersey City, Hudson County, and the greater metropolitan area. 

Once again a new building killed a museum. It happened to the Pasadena Museum in the 1970's  -- one of the most vital art museums in the world at the time; and almost again with the The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles  and, in the last few months, the Art Gallery of Ontario laid off 23 staffers after a Frank Gehry addition, and The Art Institute of Chicago is closing galleries because of the new Renzo Piano addition. This goes on and on. Ideally the Jersey City Museum should move to a cheaper, funkier, more accessible space, closer to public transportation -- maybe in Journal Square. But short of that, it should change its mission and become a true community space.

The Museum's mission as it now stands is ludicrously grandiose: "to bring art and art education to Jersey City, Hudson County, and the greater metropolitan area." It doesn't make any sense to have a traditional, art collecting museum 5 minutes away from Manhattan. Their pathetic effort to compete is embarrassing, and it bankrupted the Museum. I don't think they should even do group exhibitions -- does the area really need another exhibition, however good? Why spend the money, and expend resources and effort, when 5 minutes away are all the good shows one could want?

So what should the museum do? Imho, it should become a truly indigenous community institution in the broadest sense. The permanent collection should be relegated to a small space and the focus should be on what's unique to Jersey City: local artists, preferably exhibited in solo shows, with perhaps an occasional group show-- if there's a compelling reason for it.  I'd go so far as to suggest they make an effort to sell art and take a percentage of sales. Why not? The money can help pay for their over-ambitious building.

I'd even go further. Open the Museum up to all kinds of community events: rock concerts (we have all these musicians in Jersey City, but very few venues), classical concerts, movies, theater (too bad the Museum's theater doesn't have wings). I'm sure an organization like Art House could figure out many good ways to use the space. They should also have a cafe and bar. And why not rent out the space for bar mitzvahs and weddings or any other event that could bring in some money and help the community at the same time.

-------------------

In 1909 (!)  John Cotton Dana, founder of the Newark Museum said: “A great department store, easily reached, open at all hours, is more like a good museum of art than any of the museums we have yet established.”

And Andy Warhol said: ''all department stores will become museums, and all museums will become department stores.''

Unfortunately some of our great museums, ones that have no need to become like department stores, are doing so; and smaller, regional museums -- ones that need to reach out and become more user friendly -- well they're just going out of business.

-------------------

BTW, what happened to the million dollars LeFrak was supposed to give the museum, and the $330,000  Lloyd Goldman (of 111 First Street infamy) contributed?

Some Shows Worth Seeing:

Norbert Prangenberg, Tengu (09.11.09), 2009, oil on wood, 15 ¾ x 11 ¾ in.

Betty Cunningham Gallery

In the Lower East Side:

A group landscape show at Kumukumu (until May 2nd) 42 Rivington Street between Forsyth and Eldridge.  Nothing hip or trendy, just good solid work in a variety of styles. 

Two 10-minute videos by Alex Pearlstein at On Stellar Rays (until May 23rd), 133 Orchard Street, just above Delancy. Both videos pan back and forth over ten performers as they assume various poses in a dance studio. One of the videos is in the basement, and although the stairs down are treacherous, it’s worth the risk. 

And a site-specific installation, a collaboration between Heather Rowe and Kevin Zucker at the tiny non-profit, Forever & Today (until April 25th). The work references the Spanish Baroque facade of a former Loew’s movie palace across the street. Their hours are somewhat limited: Thursday – Sunday, 12-6pm. 

In Chelsea:

Two refreshing shows of, for lack of better words, modest and unassuming work (by bombastic Chelsea standards that is) both on 25th Street: 

Paintings by Norbert Prangenberg (see above) at Betty Cunningham, 541 W. 25th (until May 22nd).

And another group landscape show (is it the recession?), a 10-person show at the Lohin Geduld Gallery, 531 W. 25th Street (until April 24th).