Artists I Love: Nick Cave

Nick Cave:  "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" at the Seattle Art Museum through June 5

When I first heard that my favorite musician alive, the Australian Nick Cave, was showing something called "Soundsuits" at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2009, I was surprised but ecstatic.  "Of course he's an artist now", I thought, since Cave the musician is also know as a novelist, soundtrack composer, and screenwriter of the best western of this decade, "The Proposition".

However, upon a little more research I discovered this was not the same Nick Cave, but a visual artist from Missouri who currently directs the graduate fashion program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My disappointment did not last long, however, when I headed over to the YBCA to check out his exhibition.  The show was made up of several Soundsuits on mannequins as well as video of the performance aspect of the suits.  These suits are constructed from almost everything- afghan blankets, sticks, sequins, etc to create objects which can be worn, and in turn used with dance and sound elements from the rustling they create.  The creations are beautiful and absurd, and appeal to my fun sensibilities, something I find missing from most art exhibitions.

Cave's show is, of course, over now at the YBCA but the same exhibition, "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" is now open at the Seattle Art Museum and runs through June 5.
Soundsuit shop

images sourced from google

Damien, Damien

New Exhibition:  Damien Hirst, "Forgotten Promises", at the inaugural show of the Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong (January 18 - March 19)

The art world loves to hate Damien Hirst because we usually secretly despise those with more money than us.  Hirst as an artist is an ultimate symbol of luxury, decadence, and capitalism, something we attribute only to very few other artists, namely Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, and perhaps Julian Schnabel.  But what others find an affront to the delicate, creative nature of art, I find amusing and even, dare I say it, a little genius.  

Hirst has become known for many scandals around the art world, particularly works involving taxidermy and formaldehyde, and of course, the million dollar diamond human skull piece, "For the Love of God". (Please see more info on wikipedia).  

For the Love of God

Hirst has simply, in my opinion, challenged the world to acknowledge its own vulgarities and hypocrisy.  After the market crash, Hirst recently took his finances into his own hands, and put his works in the major auctions himself, cutting out the middle man of a gallery, and reaping gigantic financial rewards.  He serves as an iconoclastic hero to me, for his repugnance to others as well as his Napoleon-istic sense of ambition.  

For Heaven's Sake

Damien Hirst is currently having a show which, true-to-form, is controversial.  Located in the Gagosian Gallery in Hong Kong, Hirst's best hits are there, like butterfly wing pieces.  The up-in-arms factor, however, is this child's-size human skull, decorated ala-his-previous-skull-piece, which apparently came in a set of Victorian collection of bones.   People, he didn't go out and kill a kid.  Calm down.  What I think he is trying to say is that these days simply pushing the envelope a little is not enough.  In order to reveal something about our society, you have to hold up the fetish/commodity/luxury mirror very close to show something really grotesque.  And yes, I know he probably did it for shock value and self reference.  That's the point though, right?

Damien Hirst website

Art Observed post 

Images from google

Artists I Love: Adam Fuss

"Adam Fuss: Home and the World" showing at Timothy Taylor Gallery through January 8, 2011

I don't know a ton about British photographer Adam Fuss but I think his work is beautiful and super haunting. He is currently having a show at Timothy Taylor Gallery in London, and I would love to go. Surprisingly, sometimes you can find great stuff in your own backyard, too. I discovered that Fuss also shows at Fraenkel Gallery here in San Francisco, so perhaps I will be able to see his ghostly photograms and daguerreotypes in person one day soon.

While I am no expert on photography whatsoever, I have noticed I gravitate towards these types of photography, perhaps because the way a photogram is produced is similar to a print or painting. The image, as I understand it, is made purely with the actual object placed in emulsion and light, so film is not necessary. Daguerreotypes are very old, made with some sort of plate, and associated with images like those from the Civil War. I love the idea of making it a contemporary practice. Fuss's subject matter seems to be rather particular and quite mysterious. He uses live snakes, old dresses, and what looks like smoke or fire to make his work, giving it some sort of Southern Comfort feel, like a backwoods voodoo session. Make your way over to that side of the pond if you are able! Read Fuss interview with The Telegraph here.

From the series, My Ghost (photogravure)

Home and the World (Daguerreotype)

Untitled (pigment print)

From the series My Ghost (Unique gelatin silver print photogram mounted on muslin)

These images were taken from another gallery which represents Fuss, Cheim and Read, and google.

Artists I Love: Wangechi Mutu

"Wangechi Mutu: Hunt, Bury, Flee" at Gladstone Gallery, through December 4, 2010

I have been a big fan of Miss Mutu's ever since I learned the intricacies of watermedia. Wangechi Mutu is well known in the art world as a Kenyan-born, Yale-educated female artist who makes creepy collages combined with paint and ink on mylar. The way she harnesses the weirdness and unexpected nature of drippy pools of paint is why I have always been intrigued by her work. Interlaced within the paint are images dug from various sources, from fashion magazines to National Geographic, producing sinister social critiques discussing colonialism, feminism, and power. She does sculpture as well, and in fact majored in sculpture while pursuing her MFA at Yale in 2000. However, since the paintings are usually the highlighted work, everyone seems to like the paintings better, including me.

She has a new show at Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York and I would highly encourage going if you have the means. She will also be giving an artist's talk on December 6 at the San Francisco Art Institute, so I will have a chance to hear her talk about her work. Yeah!

Art Forum Critic's Pick

Mutu is represented by Gladstone Gallery in New York, as well as Susanne Vielmetter in Los Angeles, and Victoria Miro Gallery in London.

(These images are dense, so don't forget you can double-click for a larger window)

"I Sit, You Stand, They Crawl" 2010

"Before Punk Came Funk" 2010

"Tree Huggers" 2010

Misguided Little Unforgivable Hierarchies" 2005

"My Strength Lies", (date unknown)

The above images from 2010 are courtesy of Gladstone Gallery's website and the bottom images were found on google.

Artists I Love: Kurt Kauper

One of my favorite contemporary portrait artists is Kurt Kauper.  I remember reading about him in school in the painting book that was our new bible in the mid 2000's, Vitamin P.  Mr. Kauper, along with some other highly skilled draftsmen such as Will Cotton and John Currin, inspired me to continue my path towards realism and beauty.  Kauper shows at ACME Gallery in Los Angeles and Deitch Projects in NY (although, I'm not sure what's going on with Deitch- is it still a gallery now that it's gone from NY and Deitch is at MoCA?), and was a professor at Yale.  I did some research on his new work and there doesn't seem to be much out there.  Maybe he has taken a break?  I did find some work on the Obamas at ACME but that was disappointing... I'm not one for the political.  Nevertheless, his skill as a painter is exciting and his desire for beauty is satisfying.  

There are two main bodies of work I'm familiar with; Kauper paints dudes with a syrupy knack for color and attention to fine details.  They are also funny- most are either glorious, strangely homoerotic and unexpected portraits of hockey players from his childhood or naked Cary Grants.

His more well-known series, The Fictional Diva series, are a group of imagined opera stars who strut and pose as if they are challenging you to question their reality.  They are composed of made-up elements of Kauper's imagination, so many of them look slightly masculine, or androgynous because of his tendency to revert to male proportions.  The dresses are borrowed from high fashion magazines and are simply luscious in their painted forms.  

I hope you are doing well and making more amazing art, Kurt Kauper.

Mike
Cary Grant

Diva 1
Diva 4
Diva 14
Diva 14 (detail)
Diva 13
Diva 5

Artists I LOVE: Bronzino

An unsung hero, in my opinion, Agnolo Bronzino, the most goth of all Mannerists of the 17th Century, is my ultimate favorite portrait artist. While he is most often credited with paintings of Venus and Cupid, as well as religious imagery, I think his best works are his portrait sittings, where he combines surreal beauty with uncanny, darkly psychological expressions. What a master of the human condition.

Artists I Love: Matt Borruso

I don't know a whole lot about Matt Borruso, but he is a graduate studio advisor at CCA and my friend, Courtney, just loves him and showed me his work. I like how his attention to detail and skills as a draftsman are obvious, yet the humor of each piece overrides how well they are painted.

He has a show up right now called "Summer Camp" with a whole lotta awesome artists like Assume Vivid Astro Focus and Nina Bovasso at Exile in Berlin until August 14th and another more local show up called "Now and When" at the San Francisco Arts Commission until September 4th. He also has work available through Steven Wolf Fine Arts.

Purple Suede Lederhosen

Orange
Magenta

Artists I Love: Polly Morgan

Polly Morgan by Anna Schori


Blue Fever
Si (detail)
Atrial Flutter

Art Observed posted an article about Polly Morgan's current show at Haunch of Venison recently. It's a cool article and I suggest checking it out. Morgan's London show will be up until September 25th and looks like a great reason to cross the pond, if only I had the funds. I have loved her taxidermy artwork ever since I saw it in Vogue a few years ago. She shows up in my fashion magazines on occasion because her work is beautiful and dark and she appears beautiful and, while blond, semi-dark, too. Ah, the fashion world loves to dress up a young artist. (Me next!)

It can be difficult to find images to borrow of Morgan's work. These are all from Art Observed and Google.

Art I Love: Mystery Images "Espouses Mystiques"

I found these images somewhere long ago and put them in my files. I have no idea who made them, where, or when. If I try to google the title, I just get info in another language, so they truly are mysterious. I love how these portraits (of people? royalty? saints?) have all this stuff they are holding and covered with. What do those little dolls mean? I'm way into their large circular portrait jewelry. It reminds me of those photos from Sweden of the European 60's rockabillies... they're famous and I can't remember the photographer, either. Can anyone help me out?

Artists I Love: Becca Mann

I had the chance to see Becca Mann's paintings few years ago when my art collective, Thin Ice Collective, ( which has since disbanded) had a phenomenal opportunity to show in a group exhibition at Roberts and Tilton Gallery in Los Angeles in a sister space called Domestic. Becca Mann was showing in the main space, and it was one of the few times I can recall being absolutely enamored of the way a painting was painted in a gallery setting. The combination of realism and delicacy with strange subject matter and a masterful technique in oil left an impression on me.

She paints and draws found photos from many different places and time periods, and uses a subtly modern palette to inject magentas and bright blues into the black and gray colors of the photo. She also paints in the worn edges and tears present in the original photo to make the painting a representation of the photo and not simply the image. I don't know much about what she is up to now, but she got her BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and had another solo show at Roberts and Tilton in 2009.

What made the show really unexpectedly great for us was not only being at a super fancy gallery in LA, where we were even taken to a fantastic dinner, but also that of all people in the crowd Robert DeNiro came to the opening! Holy shit! Then we found out that Becca Mann is the daughter of uber-famous director, Michael Mann, of "Heat" and "Last of the Mohicans". We figured that DeNiro was there as a bud of her dad, but it was still cool that he saw our show and we were star struck. Ordinarily, I would have said something like, "Oh, typical. Pampered daughter of famous dad gets the royal treatment at a prestigious gallery!" However, I think she really has the goods as a painter, and I say that she deserved the spotlight.

Noontide
Mary Lone Bear
Cincinnati
Romanov Family Portrait
Sapphire County