Memorial Day Weekend

Hope you have a relaxing long weekend. I avoid calling if a "holiday" because, like religious observances, our market driven culture has taken a somber day of remembrance and turned it into an opportunity to shop the sales. We have eclipsed the first definition of holiday:

1. a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.

In order to have more of this:

7. of or pertaining to a festival; festive; joyous: a holiday mood.

I wonder how many years it will take before September 11 is formally given federal holiday status and can also be treated as a BIG BIG DOOR BUSTER occasion?

Dawoud Bey

Sarah from Class Pictures Dawoud Bey


If you haven't taken Brian's advice (or missed it) and added What's Going On? - Dawoud Bey's new blog to your regular reading you should. You really should!


The focus, intensity and generosity of spirit evident in his work is now available in his writing.

SF Cameraworks print sale

Untitled #6411 2008 from the series Roaming, Todd Hido

The Intrepid Art Collector gave the heads up that SF Cameraworks has their 2008 Fine Prints posted. Prices range from $350 to $1250, but remember that a large portion of that is tax deductable.

Scroll down the page to the J John Priola print still available for $350! This program is a remarkable opportunity to collect and support photography.

I love getting mail

Although the package looked as though the truck had driven over it...several times, the contents came through just fine. I have more coming. Perhaps tomorrow?

Geeks just wanna have fun!

I spent a long day spring cleaning my files. Consolidating folders, renaming, backing up. All the things we're supposed to integrate into our "workflow", and put off. Here are two videos to cleanse the palate from all the heavy analysis I see coming out of the New York Photo Festival (see this post for a brief example, do a search if you really want to go down the rabbit hole because frankly I don't see why I should do ALL the heavy lifting. On the other hand if you need one more incentive, it seems Robert Frank chose Charlie LeDuff to serve as a modern day Kerouac.).

Good times.

Jane Tam

My Aunt's Tin Foiled Kitchen 2008 Jane Tam

Last month Jane Tam opened a store on her web site to help defray costs associated with her Senior Thesis exhibit. I quickly purchased My Aunt's Tin Foiled Kitchen and Untitled (Can I Come Home With You).

Untitled (Can I Come Home With You) Jane Tam

She has since graduated with her BFA and moved back to Brooklyn. She still has prints available. One can say that one is altruistically helping out a gifted young artist. The truth is closer to jumping at beautiful prints (read her CV if you don't believe me) from an artist who's prices, no doubt, will soon be adding zeros.

Full disclosure. I just ordered one more. I'm altruistic that way.

Planets aligning

from the Mars series 2006-07 Tamir Sher

I received an email from Israeli photographer Tamir Sher the other day introducing me to his blog and website. I was able to take the time to have a look around today. His galleries are Flash based and when you enter, jazz piano plays. Thelonius Monk. Yesterday Jen Bekman had a special edition to benefit SFJazz which I purchased. The edition? Mark Ulriksen's Monk.

Take a look through the projects Mars and After Mars as well as his other series. Intriguing work.

I'm not sure if these coincidences take astronomy and convert it to astrology.

Homeland Security

Bob Shanley Palm Beach Post

Baghdad? No, Boca Raton. The Boca police were able to put on all their gear when they turned out to quell fear when hundreds lined up for housing vouchers.

Really, it's funny if you don't think about it too hard......

via We're Just Sayin

"It's just...the idea!"

Modern Art Notes provided this link to a short interview with Robert Rauschenberg recalling the creation of Erased deKooning 1953. It could not be more poignantly fitting.

"It's not a negation, it's a celebration."

Liz Kuball Print Sale

Copyright 2007 Liz Kuball

Liz Kuball has entered into the realm of blogosphere commerce with a print offer, and it's a twofer. I would recommend jumping over there while there are still a few left. Liz needs a new lens!

I'm happy, Liz is happy, my framer is happy. Win, win, win!

Mother's Day

My daughter and husband love me. They are taking me to ....



Flight of the Conchords tonight! Brunch and a corsage this is not!

Who am I?

Jon Gittelson started this. I have the utmost respect for Cartier-Bresson, I was just hoping for someone with a little more je ne sais quois. It must have been the morgue question.

Photoshop humor

via ninja crayon

Heart

Big Brown passing Eight Belles on the way to the finish, Photo: Morry Gash AP

I bring this photograph to your attention to recall Eadweard Muybridge. Eight hooves off the ground.

I do not wish to address horse racing. I have ridden thoroughbreds. I have trained thoroughbreds. I have been with horses when they were born and I have been with them when they died. A brilliant stud or gelding will give you 100% most of the time. In my experience, a good mare will give you 125% most of the time. Last November 9th I made the humane decision to euthanize my 24 year old thoroughbred mare in the face of devastating illness and 2 weeks of fruitless medical treatment. The tragedy of Eight Belles' breakdown after running the race of her life yesterday at the Kentucky Derby brings me great sadness. She was another mare with an astounding heart who gave everything she had.

Wearing your heart

on your wrist. Re:vision from Australia has a line of bracelets made from lens pieces. The bad news is the cost seems tied to the price of the lens in its first life. Is this recycling or cannibalizing?

On books

The latest essay in the ongoing Words Without Pictures project is a paean to the photo book, Who Cares About Books? by Darius Himes. Be sure to read the post by Jason Fulford in the discussion forum on the right hand side.

Darius ends with a cautious tone regarding the self-publishing trend. Susana Raab's self published 'zine Rank Strangers has cleanly, delightfully avoided the pitfalls he warns of. It is a beautifully produced collection that makes me smile every time I pick it up.

Finally, I was able to get a copy of Here You Are at Art Chicago last week. This is a compendium/catalog of work by the photographers represented by Kaune, Sudendorf ( Note:I tried several times to get to their web site and repeatedly come up with a white page. Either they are down or they take minimalism to a new level). Luke Batten & Jonathan Sadler, Marina Gadonneix, Nathan Baker, Christian Patterson, Peter Granser, Greg Stimac, and Jason Lazarus are all included in this high end catalog that leaves most other galleries in the dust. Score!

The Artful Life

Leslie K. Brown has posted on wall text again. Brilliantly funny!

Zoe Strauss

Have I ever mentioned that I am a huge fan of Zoe Strauss? The person and the artist? Boy do I wish I could be in Philadelphia this Sunday. You do understand she's showing/selling 67 new images, 231 all together? At least 3 prints of each? Under a freeway for $5? How lazy do you feel now?

Portraits of Pictures

Portraits of Pictures, Portrait 22 2007, Anne-Karin Furunes

I have been experimenting for the past few weeks with physically intervening with my prints. I have taped second prints to them and then scanned the resulting piece to make something new, I have cut into prints to fold back a portion and expose a second print beneath. I am at the very early stages with these experiments, but have felt a desire to manipulate them with my hands. To have physical interaction with my photographs.

At Art Chicago last Friday I came upon the work of Anne-Karin Furunes, a Norwegian painter.

Furunes, a Norwegian artist, creates haunting large-scale paintings of faces and landscapes by perforating the surface of black or white canvas or unpainted aluminum with hundreds of handmade holes. The holes allow the image to coalesce for the viewer, similar to the dot-screened images in a newspaper. Her subtly pixilated images of particular people and sites reflect the artist’s concern with memory, history, and the nature of photographic reality. For the past decade, Furunes has exhibited her paintings extensively in Europe, and has created a series of monumental public works in Norway.

Portraits of Pictures, Portrait 12 2007, Anne-Karin Furunes

These Portraits were some of the most affecting and memorable work I saw all day. The occasional current of air would flutter the stretched canvas enhancing the haunting, enigmatic pieces. They will stay with me for a long time.

The critic Mika Hannula noted this active aspect of looking at Furunes’s work: “You see the picture, how it changes, and you realize: sometimes it helps to go a little further away so as to see a little more closely....You are in the end remaking the painting, re-describing it for that short moment as your place, your face, your memory–your version of reality.”

I found this quote interesting, as he pretty well sums up what all photographs do, re-describe.

You can see more of her work here and read the full press release from Barry Friedman, Ltd. here.

Sound Affects

I am very pleased to have a copy of Christian Patterson's book, Sound Affects, after much emailing, a couple of phone calls and then being given the once over, twice, by his gallery (Kaune, Sudendorf; evidently they had only brought a handful with them). The benefits to being from Wisconsin are few and far between, we have to grab them where we can. The design is clean and straightforward allowing the images and the eye to meet without interference. The images and sequence (as you can glimpse above) bluesy, frowsy, blunt, musical, Memphis.

The original prints at Kaune, Sudendorf's booth at Next are exactly as I guessed they would be given his background, stunning. There were quite a few prints (I won't name names) at Art Chicago and Next that left a great deal to be desired in their technical sense. These are of the highest order.

We were able to connect in the afternoon and finally, having written back and forth several times, put face to name. I forgot to tell him two things before I had to catch a train:

1. I love the book printing experience he put up on his site (warning: make sure your speaker is not at full volume before clicking link)

2. I still swoon at this video from nearly a year ago.

I miss his posts but I'm glad he is making work, after all that should be the first order of priority.

Chicago's Artapalooza

Yesterday was spent in total sensory overload at Art Chicago and Next.

7:40 AM - Leave home

8:25 AM - Catch train to Chicago

9:30 AM - Take one of the top ten most heart stopping taxi rides to David Weinberg Gallery with my friend Sonja Thomsen for her to meet with curator Aaron Ott (who by 10:15 had assuaged a good deal of the cynicism I have been feeling about Galleries and their management, i.e. he's friendly, engaging, energetic, and knowledgeable).

10:15 AM - Quick walk through of Catherine Edelman Gallery to appreciate the current exhibit of work by Cecil McDonald (I am completely over the bed as landscape/environment. This picture changed my mind) as well as the Julie Blackmon prints they have hanging.

Fresh Linens 2006 Cecil Blackmon

11:00 AM - Wade into Art Chicago. I think there is such a thing as going art blind. Think of snow blind and change the visual onslaught to art. If you haven't been to a major metropolitan art fair, the effect is best described as taking MOMA, the Louvre, Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory and Sam's Club, then mixing them together. I plan to post this week on the discoveries that stuck.

1:00 PM - Have an "Arnold Palmer" with the ever charming Brian Ulrich (who we found wandering the aisles with his camera bag, hunting images to further Copia) and Kelli Connell (When Brian introduced me I nearly blurted out "No you're not!", so strong is my sense that her work is comprised of self [albeit contstructed, I'm not that naive!] portraits) whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting.

2:00 PM - Take the elevator to Next to further overload and stop at the Kaune, Sudendorf booth. Christian Patterson and I have been emailing back and forth and hoped to meet at the booth. Having left a message on his cell phone, it was time to visit his work and see about getting a copy of Sound Affects. They weren't entirely impressed with my credentials (or lack there-of) so it took a call to Christian to confirm there was a signed copy waiting for me. More on this tomorrow, but suffice it to say his prints from the project are stunning.

3:30 PM - Meet and thoroughly enjoy Edward Winkelman at his booth. Further evidence that if you read someone's blog for over a year you may be able to suss out whether or not they are "good people". As most of you know Ed Winkelman writes a smart, candid, opinionated, engaging blog on art and galleries. While there is always the possibility of disappointment, this was far from the case. He had several pieces of photography (synchronicity? photographs not being his usual media) by Rory Donaldson, with an exhibit of his work next week at his gallery.

4:00 PM - Return to Kaune, Sudendorf to meet up with Christian and thank him for setting aside the book as well as congratulate him on his upcoming marriage and see where he is headed now that the Exhibit in Cologne and the book are achieved. It would appear not back to blogging (unless you read this at Hiding in Plain Sight and wonder?).

4:30 PM - Head to train station.

6:30 PM - Drive home through hellacious rain, lightening and thunder.

I can only wonder what strange dreams I'll have again tonight, even though we didn't see Joel Peter Witkin this year. I'll be posting through the week on the experience.

On faith

Please go here to read about this.

Amen.

Portraits of photographers

If you want to play an amazing game of memory, go to this collection of more than 1000 portraits of photographers by Bill Jay and see how many faces you can identify in the most extensive collection I have seen, and perhaps exists.

The Archipelago of Arrogance

This excellent article written by Rebecca Solnit fits very neatly into the recent discussion that gave rise to Women Photographers Helping Women Photographers. Print if out and give it to someone who needs it (of either gender).

via (Notes on) Politics, Theory & Photography

MARN Mentors 2 opens tonight

Indexed



We'll see how my work plays on the wall.

Bill Owens

screen capture, Bill Owens Godless Geeks

Ben Huff posted a short while ago on Bill Owens. Do yourself a favor, if you haven't taken the time to thoroughly investigate his site. At the very least look through the Movies. My favorite? Godless Geeks (Screen 1, bottom row, left).

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Aaron Ruell

Lee Grant, a new to me Australian photography blogger/MFA student posted on Aaron Ruell's work and his upcoming Nazraeli Press book Some Photos. Kip a photographer? Who knew?

Promised Land (7)

"...planting seeds of God's love." 2007

.

See April 9 post for statement.

Promised Land (6)

"...the evangelistic world." 2007

See April 9 post for statement.

Promised Land (5)

"Thank you. In Him, Shalom." 2007

See April 9 post for statement.

Promised Land (4)

"...Praise God for Paintball." 2007

See April 9 post for statement.