elsewhere

Ronald Ophuis

ronald ophuis

SudsandSoda (Hinke, artist based in Amsterdam) has some powerful installation shots up on her site of the paintings of Ronald Ophuis.
More as well from De Praktijk, where they are currently installed. I can only imagine these kinds of images carry more weight in Holland than they would in the United States; an evening of sitting in an Amsterdam pub and listening to a Dutch man go on and on about how their bicycles were stolen during the war quickly flashes into my mind.

More on Ronald Ophuis, including an article on his Five paintings About Violence. These figurative paintings are reminiscent of early works by Canadian painter Attila Richard Lukacs’ in both their manner and subject.

How about that. ..

Enjoying deeply In Search of the Miraculous’ thoughts on the uber-productive over extended art world. Perhaps what is really in order though, a behind the scenes expose on the studio assistant. I am not sure how realistic it is to expect these folks to be really stretching, preening, pulling and gathering large bushels of work with out the help of those poorly paid and the really over extended studio assistants. Although it appears some folks don’t seem to have it so bad.

I bring this up because as I was reading my newly delivered W magazine this weekend (the one I have previously bitched about ungraciously only to find my poor sister had gone to the trouble…) albeit the thoroughly heinous but strangely compelling October issue of W magazine, which we find is dedicated to ART (their words, not mine) . Our first article we come across is a beefy full pager on the well established, albeit 25 year old Max Eisenstein. Max is packing up his studio in Soho as he has his first show in Los Angeles this month at Kantor Gallery in L.A.

a little ditty about chuck and diane

His main gripe after a two-year stint as both Chuck Close and Cecily Brown’s studio assist is he has to leave town to claim his own identity:

He is moving to Los Angeles just in time for his solo debut. The logic behind his unconventional westward migration: ” A lot of people in New York know me through Chuck or Cecily, so I have to do all I can to not ride that into a career,” he says. Nobody from New York goes to L.A. to paint, so I figure I’ll go there and get famous. – page 92.

{Okay!}

Yet still I don’t quite know what to make of this rag. If you emptied it out of all the Armani and Guess ads (parked next to the Marc Jacobs ads starring John Currin’s wife, utterly a coincidence I am sure) you would have this weird mix of trust fund kids going shopping coupled with this stuff that almost but not quite could make it into one of the art mags. Maybe a little too gossipy and weird to be seen in a mainstream art magazine- for instance Virgil Marti’s ad campaign for Ellen Tracy (sorry I couldn’t find a link for that).

Also in this issue:

Inteview with gallerist Shaun Caley Regen of L.A.’s Regan Projects. (one for L.A.!) Pg. 244.

Profile of Greek art collector (he’s Greek, not the art) Dakis Joannou, with his Koons, Cady Nolans, Matthew Barneys and more Koons. Pg. 364.

Portfolio of 10 portraits, commissioned by W magazine by Alex Katz. Includes a timely Cup Cake free Martha Stewart portrait.Read about it here in artcritical.com. Pg.332.

“The Life of Riley: Curator, architect and arbiter of taste, Terence Riley of MoMA’s man on the move”. Pg. 234. God, this is better than In Touch magazine!

And last but not least, profile of Rosita Marlborough – who is an Artist First- Dutchess Second (pg. 274) .

Well, that’s enough to fill a day with important information.

Anyway, back to those studio assistants. If anyone has any compelling evidence to spill on the life of the lowly studio assist- we’re all ears.

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A big special thanks to Todd Gibson for telling us all about the results of his survey, and extra, extra big thanks to everyone who took the time to take it.

Thurs…if wishes were horses

echo eggebrecht

Not only do I wish I could see these paintings by Echo Eggebrecht, I wish they were mine.

(opening at sixtyseven today, yes in NYC)

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Tyler is breaking out all over the place. You should check out his thoughtful piece on Lari Pittman in the recent issue of BlackBook. He’ll be at the 92nd Street Y giving lectures before we know it!

Actually the piece by Irvine Welsh interviewing Damien Hirst is quite good too, a chat about about what happens in life after drugs. Kind of a their version of Behind the Music.

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On guard. Modern Kicks lets the cat out of the bag regarding his past as a museum guard. More stories please!

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This post is becoming a little too East Coast-centric today, but I just came across the recent Finch piece on artnet. Finch reviews the new Bellwether space in Chelsea. What a nasty man, hitting below the belt in his insults of gallery owner Becky Smith by proclaiming her,”Jocular, sardonic, self-interested and fleshy; also calling her “the lumpy persona of Becky Smith” . I always thought they were the strongest gallery in the Greenpoint and then Williamsburg area, and of course haven’t seen the new space (nor will I anytime soon), yet I can’t imagine what action would warrant such insidious commentary on behalf of Mr. Finch. Ah, yes, the tiny small world of the NYC art scene.

Amy Sillman

amy sillman in philly

Sillman Ramps.

Thank you Roberta and Libby, as always for posting such great content!

I like the bit about Laura Owens at her Fabric Workshop lecture.

“I accepted this information as sincere and not in the least evasive, and I add that comment simply because if I had read that an artist had said that, I would have assumed they were being disingenuous.”

The Inevitable Cycle of Gentrification…in China

“Then artists began to move in, attracted by cheap rents and stunning spaces.” – yes also in Beijing ( today’s NYT)
The Factory….798.

Here is a far more fleshed out story with accompanying visuals on the China Pictorial site. Does this sound familiar:

“Appearing first in Guangzhou and gradually shifting to Shanghai and Beijing, the Loft-Living Phenomenon has represented the accumulation and maturation of youth culture in this new era. “

Life is Elsewhere is a Chinese art blog out of Beijing. Song Li says it’s just from an ordinary Chinese person, yet I am appreciative she is going to the trouble of writing in English. I’m at a complete loss when I pull up a site such as this. (found via jill/txt who asks the interesting questions about Western formatting).

Tonight is the unofficial kick off of the Fall art season here in town with the free Opening Night Gala for the Visual Art exhibits at Bumbershoot. I am bummed I will not be able to attend.

 

Dogs playing poker, what else?

dogs playing poker, what else?

While summer is starting to wind down, we have one week to go before the big local arts festival Bumbershoot this year. There is so much lined up even confirmed crowd avoiders, [like myself] might have to go. The opening night gala is in a week, and free. Exhibits I am looking forward to include Aperture at 50 and Matthew Kangas’ Consumables. The Girlie Fun Show will include one of my favorites, Jenny Hart. Sounds like a good way to kill the dog days.

Bumbershoot Arts Schedule

Yvette has been toiling away and has some beauty of new paintings up!

Hinke  over at Suds and Soda has resumed posting and has some new art up on the walls as well. I don’t see her old work posted, but she has made some interesting progressions with her painting, incorporating a variety of textiles into her work. She always has some fresh postings up in her notebook as well, nice to have a voice from Amsterdam giving a new perspective on the art world. Even though I don’t read Dutch, for instance I very much want to know more about Aaron van Erp’s  paintings, who she posted about on 6.28.