a few weeks back i wrote briefly about my experience at the MOCA basquiat exhibit in LA. I had finally seen, after looking for years, my first (and the biggest) jean-michel basquiat exhibit. Instead of posting my 2000 words of notes on the exhibit, i posted (on myspace) the first "real" article about basquiat, which was published in december 1981.
since then, i've read more about some particular pieces and i ran across this article about the exhibit. It's not the most flattering article. the article itself seems to be so concerned about dodging basquiat's hype, that it kinda gets in the way of the actual critique. that and the guy mentions nothing about how one actualy FEELS to be standing in front of a painting such as "pegasus" - 1987.
the painting is about 7 ft. vertical, and completely envelopes your field of vision. everything in the painting... mostly repetetive words, symbols and phrases... is all in black and white... except for one one phrase that is written in orange. sounds simple and obvious enough, but the real-time effect is humbling. i bet even twombly was impressed.
follow the link below and on one of the last pages, you can see a smaller version of it... the guy did get one thing right though... toward the end of his life, basquiat had become the anti-graffiti writer.
click on "launch slideshow." > http://slate.msn.com/id/2119966
this is one of the best clips i've seen regarding the election, via salon.com, could this be the real enemy ? also check this out... 1. this lady does some great art. it reminds me of some of matthew barney's work. 2. she uses dead animals. and - yep... she kills them herself. that's creepy and brilliant at the same time. here's the nathalia edenmont exhibit . and here's the rationale for the art-killings via the host gallery, wetterling. i don't really have an opinion. i just thought i should share that little art nugget. ...moving on... i got the final packaged verison of the jesse payne solo album. it was very well done. the front and back photo is of canterbury church here in birmingham. the liner book is solid white, with plain black text. very simple and clean. i like it. i'll post a pic in a few days. pay attention to rock radio in the next several weeks and you'll probably hear some promos for the album that is slated to drop in election day. ...