1945-1998 by Isao Hashimoto
Nuclear weapons and fuel are the greatest threats to our planet and all life on it. Here is a pointed reminder of the stupidity of the human race. In this piece Isao Hashimoto tracks nuclear tests over time showing the where, who and when of each event.
Warehouse 13 and Lucretia
The painting and legend of Lucretia were the historical highlight of the SyFy Network's premiere of Warehouse 13. The show is about 2 Secret Service agents who are drafted into a secret organization that hunts down supernatural items and safely stores them in a location know as Warehouse 13.
I thought the show was all right but the topic of Lucretia got me thinking about the painting of her that is at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I have always found the painting to be haunting and the story behind her rape and suicide horrendous. You can read the history of Lucretia here and here.
The painting used in the television show was not the MIA painting but some unknown one, possibly made up for the plot of the show. The one at the MIA was painted by Rembrandt. The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. also has an earlier version painted by Rembrandt.
In 1992 the MIA and the National Gallery had an exhibit bringing the two paintings together titled "Rembrandt's Lucretias". I remember the exhibit being fantastic and a little digging brought me to the text of the exhibit's brochure.
Zinefest in Minneapolis: July 11th and 12th
I missed Zinefest last year and I am very excited to go this year. Homemade publications have so much to offer and I think anyone who goes will be surprised at the diverse topics that are covered. Sure you will find hardcore punk and anarchist journals but you will also see a ton of creative art work, comics and topics such as mental health, alternative culture, eco-culture and plenty of fiction.
Visit the Zinefest website for more information.
Here’s the Event Schedule for Zinefest:
Saturday, July 11th
11am-5pm open to the public
1pm : open mic zine reading (by attendees and exhibitors)
3pm : MPLS Zines (documentary by Monica Anderson)
4pm : Presentation Night (Minneapolis’ own living zine)
Sunday, July 12th
11am-4pm open to the public
12pm : Starting a Distribution Co-op with Likeminded Publications (workshop with Microcosm’s Joe Biel - limit 20 participants)
2pm : If It Ain’t Cheap, It Ain’t Punk: 15 Years of Plan-it X Records (documentary by Joe Biel)
Admission is free.
Location
Stevens Square Center for the Arts
(Where Zinefest is hosted)
1905 3rd. Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Refinishing a Cherry Bomb
Very cool Flickr set of the refinishing of the Cherry from the Walker Art Center.
Are you and Anglophile?
Here is a fantastic flickr series of English products drawn by hwayoungjung.
itis edition
itis edition is a great looking shop in Teipei, Taiwan. The shop has rare books, magazines and goods.
LA’s MoCA is in financial trouble.
One my favorite institutions, LA's Museum of Contemporary Art is in financial trouble. This even after one of it's most successful exhibit ever of the art of Takashi Murakami. One of there problems is that they foolishly gave the exhibit the rights to open a Louis Vutton store in the middle of the exhibit and then didn't get a cut of the sales. Murakami has developed a line of items for Louis Vutton.
from: SuperTouch
Murakami Exhibit Videos
Excellent Murakami art exhibit tour videos from the Museam of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Designing For A Tuxedo
If you love Penguin books as much as I do, then you will love the site of designer David Pearson.
His work on the Great Ideas series has been a personal favorite of mine lately. Watch for Great Ideas Series III coming this fall.
Here are three from Series II
His designs are beautiful as a single edition but when you look at them as the entire series they really shine.
Here are three from the Zulma series.
Finally for the love of all things Penguin:
If you can track it down (not available in the US), he also did the cover for Seven Hundred Penguins. This is a celebration of all the beautiful covers that graced Penguin books throughout the 20th century. Call a friend in Canada and ask them to buy it for your birthday. Better yet, go on a vacation to Canada or England where it is available.
David Rathman Billboard
My favorite local artist, David Rathman, for Nike?
(full size image)
via: WAC Blog
Enemies With You
So I ventured down to south Minneapolis to view the Friends WIth You Exhibit at the Soo Visual Arts Center, and the trip was not good. First of all going from NE to S Minneapolis is no fun anymore. What use to take 3 minutes now takes 20 minutes. If that wasn't enough, the exhibit was nothing what I hoped it would be.
The Gallery consists of 2 rooms. The large front room consisted of 8 - 10 mediocre paintings and 2 large inflatable heads (as pictured in my earlier preview). The rear room was called a playground and consisted of several large inflatable type objects that could be moved around the room. All of the objects in the rear room were similar to each other.
My problem with the show was 2 things.
- All of the art looked like simple Murakami rip offs.
- The inflatables and playground art were completely worn out.
I wouldn't mind the art being a rip off of Murakami if it were complex and thought out. This seemed to be a couple of people who are just exploiting a genre as fast as they can. If they took the quality and craftsmanship that went into their dolls and put it in their art then they might be considered as real followers of the art style instead of just capitalizing on a fad.
The items in the playground consisted of large creatures that I assume were to be moved around by the viewer. These creatures at one time had faces and designs on them but were now badly worn and lacked any artistic flair. Maybe the artists should visit a children's museum to get an idea of how to create playable art that will last. If nothing else they should resew the items before sending them on to the next gallery exhibit.
With Friends Like These…
Our friends at the Soo Visual Arts Center have a fun new show starting this weekend. Crazy plush doll creators Friends With You will be showing dolls, huge inflatable creatures, a playground and more. This Miami duo is usually full of imagination.
SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 27
OPENING RECEPTION: FRI, SEPT 28
Open Wed 12-6, Thurs 12-8, Fri 12-5
& Sat 12-4 or by appointment.
Soo Visual Arts Center
2640 Lyndale Ave. S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612.871.2263
Pause…art lives on.
There have been so many famous people who have died lately but none who have really moved me to write. Today I heard, a week late, that Elizabeth Murray died. I have never been a huge fan of her art but I have always had a great deal of respect and thought for it. In the mid to late 80's when I was quickly devouring modern art the Walker Art Center would constantly have her art lumped together in galleries with Frank Stella or Jasper Johns. All three of these artists were huge on the Walker's buying list and not huge on my excitement list. Still I saw enough of her art and read enough about her to appreciate what others might see.
I think what really moved me to respect her is that her art was a direct counter reaction to the art that I liked best. I was most interested in minimalism and the art of Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, as well as current artists who were more interested in the impersonal or stripping things down to their bare elements. Murray on the other hand made these huge canvas's that curved and stretched and often stuck out from the wall. They were full of color and were about personal things like coffee cups or goblets. The colors never really seemed to go together particularly well but they always caught your eye.
I have no idea if her art was a reaction to the minimal art style but it seemed so contradictory and for that it drew me in. In a way it broadened the art that I came to love and expanded my taste. I didn't really come to like her art any more but that is life.