Culture

  • W Magazine’s first-ever art issue

    Related to my earlier post on the rich and their hunger for art/bohemia, I learn that W Magazine will have its first-ever art issue this fall. I believe the LTB Magazine will be called Culture and Travel, not Art & Culture as the NY Post says.

    W magazine’s first-ever art issue is slated to hit newsstands in October, and will cover major artists, auction houses and dealers.

    Some may chalk this one up to a simmering rivalry between James Truman, the ex-editorial director of Conde Nast, and Patrick McCarthy, the editorial director of stablemate W.

    Truman is now the CEO of LTB Media, a company that has as its flagship Art & Auction. He’s also introducing his newest magazine, Art & Culture, in September, but is said to be struggling to find ads.

    McCarthy denies any rivalry with Truman. “It has nothing to do with that. We’ve had this on the drawing board for nine months,” McCarthy said of W’s art number.

    Still, he concedes, it is a first for W. And while he’ll be covering the art world, he said he’ll be going to the same high-end fashion advertisers.

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  • Roebling Hall is closing its Williamsburg location

    Gustavo Artigas

    Gustavo Artigas, Rules of the Game, 2000-2001, video still

    I think this has already been mentioned on Artnet, but I just now realized that Roebling Hall is closing its Williamsburg location after the next show. From the press release for the show:

    Celebrate the Final Gallery Opening at Roebling Hall, Williamsburg!
    This Saturday June 3, 6-8pm preview party

    …

    This portion of the show is the last exhibition at Roebling Hall’s Brooklyn gallery.

    This makes me almost as sad as when Schroeder Romero left. It’s the end of an era. I fear Williamsburg is turning into a yuppie playground, but without anything like the public transit of much of Manhattan. I’m sorry my schedule and the crappy weather discouraged me from attending William Powhida’s eulogy tonight.

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  • What now for bored rich people? More art / bohemia

    Flush with cash from all of their tax cuts and asset appreciation, the rich need new ways to entertain themselves. Pretending to be more connected to bohemia and artists appears to be the new black.

    James Truman, formerly of Condé Nast, is starting up a magazine for LTB Media called Culture and Travel. Here is an excerpt from a Anthony Haden-Guest column in the Financial Times.

    So to Culture and Travel. Truman was editorial director of Conde Nast for 11 years. How will the new title differ?

    “We’re going to select the audience, 60,000 people, from proprietary lists that we’re compiling of art lovers, people who are very involved in culture, people who travel, rich people.” Another explosive laugh.

    And the critical content? “It won’t be an art magazine in the sense of having reviews. It will work off the cultural calendar somewhat. But really it’s a travel guide for creative people. And those people who want to live a creative life for a few weeks.”

    This reminds me of an article I saw in Business Week about Ian Schrager declaring that “design hotels” are over, and “art hotels” are the new thing. Read the Chelsea Hotel Blog for more on that story.

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  • Zombies in the Zeitgeist

    Sixspace in Los Angeles just opened a show of oil on canvas and oil on paper works by Chad Robertson, titled Rise. They are inspired by

    … the films of George A. Romero and the zombie genre. For decades these films, in particular the Romero films, have explored current social or political issues and events that are channeled through this idea of a mindless, yet human, animal – a zombie.

    Here are some images. I imagine these are difficult to photograph. The ghostly technique is impressive, given the medium. Also, hairy-chested zombies / zombie victims are HOT.

     

    chad robertson zombie02

    Untitled, 2006
    Oil on canvas
    72 × 36 in.

     

    chad robertson zombie

    Untitled, 2006
    Oil on canvas
    24 × 48 in.

     

    chad robertson zombie

    Untitled, 2006
    Oil on paper
    27 × 18.75 in.

     

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    adreinhardt-hello-victims.jpg

    On a somewhat related note, Art Fag City writes today about a book titled Hello Victims: Ad Reinhardt, by Brian Kennon, which she describes as

    An extension of the much larger (and soon to be published) three volume Hello Victims book, Hello Victims: Ad Reinhardt presents Reinhardt’s black paintings within the context of the equally apocalyptic lenses of Motorhead, Nuclear War and Zombie films.

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  • Parnassus silent art auction – May 30

    Parnassus_Logo.jpg

    This looks like a really good art benefit on Tuesday night. Heidi Cho Gallery is hosting a silent art auction for Parnassus Poetry in Review. It’s from 6-9 PM (bidding ends at 8:30), and admission is $10. The list of artists as of April 1 was

    David Alexander, Suzanne Anker, William Anthony, Alice Attie, Joan Banach, Lorna Bieber, Ports Bishop, Star Black, Nancy Brett, Susan Crile, Elizabeth Demeray, Lisa Corinne Davis, Jane Dickson, Cynthia Eardly, Tom Evans, Gwen Fabricant, Oriole Feshbach, Seth Michael Forman, Helen C. Frederick, Barbara Freidman, Nancy Friedemann, Mary Frank, Barbara Garber, April Gornik, Linda Gottesfeld, Regina Granne, Guerrilla Girls, Michele Handelman, Julie Heffernan, Kathrin Hilten, Barry Holden, Edith Isaac-Rose, Robin Kahn, Kazuko, Jerry Kearns, William Kentridge, Polly King, Joyce Kozloff , Max Kozloff, Jill Krementz, Bibi Lencek, Anne-Marie Levine, Ellen Levy, Morton Lichter, Martin Likton, Bonnie Lucas, Renee Magnanti, Wendy Mark, Guy Mendes, Arnold Mesches, William Meyers, Roxie Munro, Roni Nicholson, Jacqueline Morreau, Julie Oakes, Will Pappenheimer, Olivia Parker, Carol Peligian, Leemour Pelli, Kenneth Polinskie, Barbara Quinn, Robert Rauschenberg, Beth Reisman, Lucy Reitzfeld, Robert Reitzfeld, Carol Ross, Arlene Rush, Hope Sandrow, Jonathan Santlofer, Mira Schor, Linda Schrank, Christina Schlesinger, Richard Serra, Dee Shapiro, Arlene Slavin, Tom Slaughter, Aviva Slesin, Hunt Slonem, Wendy Small, Michelle Stuart, Robin Tewes, Carolee Thea, Michael Vitti, Conrad Vogel, Jonathan Waite, Jeffrey Wasserman, Madeline Weinrib, Martha Wilson, Nina Yankowitz, Brahna Yassky

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  • Pablo Helguera’s “The School of Panamerican Unrest”

    pablo-helguera.jpg

    Pablo Helguera [source]

    James and I came across this very interesting young artist at Julia Friedman’s now-closed gallery in Chelsea. His newest project is titled The School of Panamerican Unrest. It is described as

    an artist-led, not-for-profit public art project that seeks to generate connections between the different regions of the Americas through discussions, performances, screenings, and short-term and long-term collaborations between organizations and individuals. Its main component will be a nomadic forum or think-tank that will cross the hemisphere by land, from Anchorage, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina, in Tierra del Fuego. This hybrid project will include a collapsible and movable architectural structure in the form of a schoolhouse, as well as a video collection component inside a van that will make the journey. The project, which seeks to involve a wide range of audiences and engage them at different levels, offers alternative ways to understand the history, ideology, and lines of thought that have significantly impacted political, social and cultural events in the Americas.

    For more information, visit the project’s website. There is also an AP story available here.

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  • Plan B Prevails

    Jill Auckenthaler

    Jill Auckenthaler

    I uploaded a few images from the Plan B Prevails opening. Go here to see them.

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  • Plan B re-opening covered by Crain’s New York

    The story is here.

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  • Sounds like a culture war

    “Sounds like a culture war” was James’s reaction when I told him about the New York Daily News editorial on the Brooklyn College MFA show.

    ‘Plan B’ from outer space

    The mewling you hear in Brooklyn emanates from Brooklyn College art students whose education obviously did not include informing them that, no, you can’t do anything you want anywhere you please.

    The young artistes are up in arms that borough Parks Commissioner Julius Spiegel closed their exhibit, “Plan B,” at the Brooklyn War Memorial after some works – including a penis sculpture – were deemed inappropriate for display in a hall that is open to the general public and, just as important, part of a commemoration of valor. How dare Spiegel close the show without asking them? the students fume. And how dare the Brooklyn College administration fail to defend their rights to show their stuff just where they please?

    Reality check, children: Not only can someone tell you “no,” but – shocking! – being told “no” is not a violation of your First Amendment rights. Spiegel showed backbone, and the college made the wise choice in moving the show onto campus, where students, faculty and assorted Chardonnay sippers can muse about its merits. Get used to not being the center of the universe, kids.

    Chardonnay sippers?! Everyone knows real men don’t have anything to do with education and going to college!

    [link via Carl Ferrero

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  • SONYA Studio Stroll

    When I did my weekend events list earlier, I can’t believe I forgot to mention this weekend’s South Of the Navy Yard Artists Studio Stroll.

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