Last month we were invited to the Fendi book launch party for John Baldessari: A Catalogue Raisonne of Prints and Multiples, 1971-2007- a stunning collection of the conceptual artist’s work from the last four decades. Of course, Fendi and Co through one hell of a party, with plenty of champagne, an other worldly performance by the amazing rock-jazz pianist ELEW (Eric Lewis), and enough beautiful clothes and beautiful people to last until the new year. The author, Sharon Coplan Hurowitz (a private art consultant), has been on our radar ever since New York Magazine featured her ridiculously modern, colorful, and oh-so-cool rental apartment back in 2007. The main event, of course, was the book’s artwork. Sandwiched between leather Fendi bags and fur coats were beautiful copies of some of Baldessari’s works featured in the catalogue raisonne - print work that is both remarkably contemporary and fantastically absurd. Who could ask for anything more?
This past Saturday, Bushwick’s (that little nabe that could) newest talked about address “Castle Braid”, held the first annual MBP Urban Arts Fest. The event featured live graffiti artists, an array of galleries featuring sculptures and painters, free beer, skate demos, DJs, as well as booths to purchase the work, and honestly, is there anything better than all those things combined?. Castle Braid, located on the corner of Troutman at Evergreen, is the new, shiny home to artists including graphic designers, filmmakers, photographers, and musicians. The building is bursting at its seams with both hipsters and amenities for the ultra cool res. With a fully functional multi-media room, screening rooms, a large gym, practice/ rehearsal studios, and a yoga room, it leaves you asking when you would ever need to leave. You can visit the calendar at http://www.castlebraid.com for future events and get your ass to Brooklyn to che-che-check it out!
Last Friday the second of the monthly series It Came From Brooklyn showcased Brooklyn’s emerging musical and literary talents at the Guggenheim’s Frank Lloyd Wright Rotunda. Eugene Mirman, who served as MC for the evening, featured materials from his new comedy album God Is a Twelve Year Old Boy With Aspergers (Subpop) throughout the night. Rivka Galchen (Atmospheric Disturbances) read from Jane Eyre and screenwriter Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner, The Minus Man) decided read from Henry Miller.
I’m In You’s gritty post-rock orchestral affair started the event. This promising band has an EP available for download via their official site. The band will be the opening band for Julian Plenti this fall as they make their way to Seattle, Los Angeles and Europe (See tour details below).
Backed by a full band plus strings and horns Julian Plenti (aka Paul Banks of Interpol) played his very first live public performance in celebration of Julian Plenti is…Skyscraper. The string arrangements added an extra dimension and newfound depth to “Madrid Song,” “Only If You Run,” and “Skyscraper.” Most surprising was Julian Plenti’s cover of “Horse With No Name.” In the mix of the all-too-cool crowd last Friday night were Carrie Brownstein (NPR’s Monitor Mix, Sleater-Kinney) and Helena Christensen, who is currently dating Paul Banks.
More photos, videos and Julian Plenti tour date information after the jump. Read more…
You don’t have to be sleeping with George Clooney to get tickets to the London Film Festival (October 14 - 29) - but I do encourage it. For the regular peeps, matinées start at a measly £7 and most shows that are billed as fully booked sell a few remaining tickets 30 minutes prior to the show. Skip the bologna ( flicks like ‘Persecution’ and ‘Taking Woodstock’) and grab the real meat ( dark and absurdly funny stuff like Todd Solondz’s ‘Life In Wartime’ or scary Oz-type shit like ‘A Prophet’ by Jacques Audiard). From the line up, most of the best films look dark, morbid, and depressing, but I say soak up all the bleakness and wallow in it - better to do it with movies than margaritas. Maybe.
New York
The New Museum (oh you know you loves it) has two pretty great exhibits out. The first, “Emory Douglas: Black Panther” takes black power to the max, showing Douglas’ best Panther propaganda. The other - “Dorothy Ianonne: Lioness” is all super sexy erotic illustrations that look like they came right out of a comic book written by a caveman. Both retrospectives end October 18 but the best part: entry to the New Museum is free this Saturday (September 26). Prefer to think outside the box? The New York Electronic Art Festival (from September 28 to October 28) has got the city in a techno death grip for the next month. With concerts at Roulette and art exhibitions across town you should be warned: this isn’t just for light-stick wielding candy kid ravers. The festival is also for serious art and technology junkies so you can leave your pacifiers at home.
San Francisco
You know how in the far reaches of Toronto, Cannes, and London, people are watching the most amazing movies ever made ever? Well fuck it. At The Dark Room (www.darkroomsf.com) down on Mission Street, for $5 their Sunday Bad Movie Night takes all the pretensions out of things like “film making” and “well made cinema”. This Sunday geek out with cheesiest of student-teacher lovefests “The Dead Poet’s Society” but please, try not to lick the screen when you see the young and supple Ethan Hawke flexing his - brain. And, in observance of the Halloween Holiday, they’re showing some of the best vampire classics of modern times including: ‘30 Days of Night’, ‘Queen of the Damned’, and ‘Twilight’. Popcorn’s free. Bring your own flask.
Kate & Jon plus Cara, Mady, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, Hope, Joel. Equals too much time on your hands if you know who these people are.
It Came From Brooklyn is a new concert series started by The Guggenheim Museum celebrating the museum’s 50th anniversary. The monthly series launched in August and its aim is to showcase emerging and established talents in music and literature. The first series featured music from The Walkmen, High Places and The Brooklyn Steppers Marching Band. The second It Came From Brooklyn concert will take place this Friday. The concert, hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman, will have performances by Julian Plenti (aka Paul Banks of Interpol) and I’m In You and readings by authors Rivka Galchen and Hampton Fancher. The series is co-produced by Sam Brumbaugh and Bronwyn Keenan. The title of the series references Robert Gordon’s book It Came From Memphis, which details the birth of rock-n-roll in the 1950’s. The last concert had a good mix of Manhattanites and Brooklynites. In an interview with FreeWilliamsburg, Brumbaugh addressed the borough-centric stigma of the Manhattanite and Brooklynite community, ”One of the purposes of this series was to try to loosen up those “I don’t go there” perceptions–on both sides. A museum on the Upper East is not a big leap from three stops in on the L.” Audience members will get a chance to view “Kandinsky,” a full scale retrospective of the paintings of Vasily Kandinsky.
Tickets are on sale at www.guggenheim.org/brooklyn. Tickets are $45 for non-members, $40 for members. All proceeds support the series and the Guggenheim’s exhibitions and programs.
Before there was Naomi Campbell there was the late, great Naomi Sims, who died of breast cancer this past weekend. Sims paved the way for our greatest models of color today, appearing as the first black cover model of Ladies’ Home Journal in November of 1968 and landing coveted modeling gigs for the likes of Halston and Fernando Sánchez thus being dubbed the world’s “first black supermodel”. Though she was much more than a supermodel in the generic terms we use the word today. She was black and beautiful before the 1970’s made such a thing in vogue. She was the beginning of something much greater than she could have ever imagined, ushering in an era of discussion on how our culture truly defines what is beautiful. As Halston once said “Naomi was the first. She was the great ambassador for all black people. She broke down all the social barriers.” You can check out her amazing 1969 cover of LIFE and the 1967 New York Times fashion magazine cover on display in the Metropolitan Museum’s “The Model As Muse” exhibit. Naomi, you will be missed.
Beijing artist Song Dong brings his mother’s possessions to life at New York’s MOMA. In his first solo museum show: Waste Not an exhibit running until September 7, Song personifies frugality and a more earth-friendly thought to would- be trash. Objects that would have normally been discarded, are saved for the chance of new usefulness. For five decades Song’s mother had amassed ropes, toothpaste tubes, shopping bags, plastic containers, broken dolls and anything else she deemed salvageable. After the death of her husband the thoughts of her meer thriftiness crossed the fine line into hoarding, and Song convined his mother to let him help her out of her small house brimming with chaos.
