In Regards of the Unknown...


Børre Sæthre 'Stealth Distortion'
Photo © Matthew Septimus | Courtesy P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center

I went to the big opening at PS1 yesterday and spent some time wandering in and out of all of the exhibits. The shows were all pretty fun and worth the visit, but the lucky bonus of the trip was that I was fortunate enough to see the last day of Norwegian artist, Børre Sæthre's installation, including this full size unicorn behind glass. I feel like quite often I get stuck inside being a photographer and most things that I see, though I enjoy it, feels so literal. It is nice to look at non-photographic work, or work that sparks ideas of the unknown or mythical realms of the mind. This installation did just that. It shook me out of my photo realm for a moment, something I feel I should try and do more often.

Images © Wayne Liu

I was recently emailed by Wayne Liu, a photographer making beautiful and gritty black and white work in China. His images in the series China, You are A Luck Star feel very cinematic, in that all of them are fleeting moments held captive for the photograph, chalk full of voyeurism and hazy perspectives. I love it. For some reason they all hold a similar heartachey feeling to the movie In the Mood for Love.

Random nonsense for a Friday. This site is hilarious. Get your Fail Blog on and prep up for the weekend.

Book signing in a few hours!

Go meet Jessica Backhaus and see her new books at Yancey Richardson.
5-7pm

My week in a nut shell
brought to you by..

-Holiday Monday at MoMA
-A-Rod Seeking to 'Move Forward' After Steroid Scandal' Tuesday
-Your average regular ol' hump day Wednesday
-Lecturing in Aesthetics in Photo History class at SVA Thursday
-Noah and the Whale Saturday. Woohoo!

AND Tema Stauffer and Francesca Romeo's two woman exhibition at Dan Cooney Gallery opens up Thursday. After party to follow!


© Tema Stauffer


© Francesca Romeo


February 19 - April 18

Opening Reception: Thursday February 19, 6 - 8pm
Daniel Cooney Fine Art
511 West 25th Street, #506
New York, NY 10001
t: 212 255 8158
f: 212 255 8163
www.danielcooneyfineart.com


Shape of My Heart by Noah and the Whale..

Starting my week on a Tuesday...
after spending the weekend absorbing Henry Darger, Marlene Dumas, Paul Graham and Cuben poet, Reinaldo Arenas. I feel charged with new perspective, as their desire to make work with such vigor has kicked me into motion during what feels to be a major lull. At times I feel I have to lose my mind a little or fight a little harder to make work that's real... but maybe that's just the romantic artist in me that feels struggle makes stronger work. At any rate I feel that absorbing works by artists and writers of all variety makes for a stronger artist core, and this weekend I felt I had just the right amount of diversity to start my week feeling motivated.

I highly recommend watching the documentary on Henry Darger, In the Realms of the Unreal. The movie is a serious visual delight and it gives such perspective on Darger's life and works.


Trailer from In the Realms of the Unreal.

The Paul Graham show is up at MoMA through May 18 and is definitely worth a viewing.


© Paul Graham

Unfortunately yesterday was the last day of the Marlene Dumas exhibition at MoMA, so hopefully you got to take advantage of seeing it. It's pretty damn amazing to see so much work of hers up close and personal.


© Marlene Dumas

And last but not least.. another film definitely worth viewing is Before Night Falls, a movie about Cuben poet, Reinaldo Arenas, by Julian Schnabel. It's beautiful and tragic.. and reminded me of how much I appreciate poetry.

THINGS I DON'T WANT TO MISS
in the coming week...

I just got the news from my two lovely friends who collaborate on photo projects together as a married couple (Frank Tribble and Tracey Mancenido), that their work from the series Pillow Talk will be featured in this Sunday's New York Times. I think that's pretty darn sweet.


© Tribble / Mancenido

Also... a little heads up. I am excited to see Rachel Papo's new body of work over at ClampArt next Thursday. It's a project called Desperately Perfect and from what I've seen so far it looks pretty stunning.



Rachel Papo
FEB 12- MARCH 14TH
Reception: FEB 12th / 6p-8p

ClampArt
521 W 25th St
New York


And that same night just around the corner... another show I plan not to miss over at Yancey Richardson Gallery. The works of Rachel Perry Welty in the main gallery and Alex Prager in the project gallery both look quite intriguing.


© Rachel Perry Welty / Still from Karaoke Wrong Number, 2004


© Alex Prager / Annie, 2008

February 12 - March 28, 2009
"You May Already Be A Winner"
RACHEL PERRY WELTY

February 12 - March 28, 2009
"The Big Valley"
ALEX PRAGER

YANCEY RICHARDSON GALLERY
535 West 22nd Street 3rd floor
Reception: February 12 / 6p-8p

Yesterday I went to the movies and saw Synecdoche. I'm a firm believer in feeding your brain and gathering stimuli to fuel your own creativity. I thought the movie was amazing. If you are into Charlie Kaufman flicks you should definitely see it in the theater. It really moved me.