Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Private Preview of This is you Tapp Francke


gallery nine5
gallery nine5






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David Bowie is September 23, 2014 to January 4, 2015 Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the only US venue for the exhibition

 
David Bowie is 

September 23, 2014 to January 4, 2015
 
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago,
the only US venue for the exhibition
  
Save the Date
Media Preview on Friday, September 19
 ________________________
Tickets and Extended Hours Information  
Tickets for David Bowie is are $25, which also includes general museum admission. 
Tickets go on sale to the public on July 31, 2014

The MCA has extended hours during the exhibition (Mondays are closed):
Tuesdays: 10 am - 8 pm
Wednesdays: 10 am - 5 pm
Thursdays: 10 am - 8 pm
Fridays: 10 am - 10 pm
Saturdays and Sundays: 9 am - 6 pm
 _________________________
Links
David Bowie is 
press release with exhibition highlights and images 
 

David Bowie is presents the first international exhibition of the extraordinary career of David Bowie--one of the most pioneering and influential performers of our time. The exhibition focuses on his creative processes and collaborative work with artists and designers, and demonstrates how his work has both influenced and been influenced by wider movements in art, design, music, and theater. The exhibition's multimedia design introduces advanced sound technology by Sennheiser and video installations to create an immersive journey through Bowie's artistic life. David Bowie is was organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago from September 23, 2014 to January 4, 2015.

The MCA is the only US venue for this groundbreaking exhibition. Michael Darling, the MCA James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator says, "This exhibition portrays an artist in control of his practice who recognizes that the smallest details contribute to the overall aesthetic experience of the audience. Bowie's peerless understanding of the importance of image cultivation and reinvention make him a comfortable fit with others in the MCA Collection and exhibition history, such as Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol--and similar to many artists working today, he has never limited himself to one area of cultural production.

"The MCA's history has been built on a multidisciplinary understanding of creativity from its founding in 1967, and the combination of exhibitions, performances, and programs we present today reflect that wide-angle view of contemporary art. This exhibition repatriates David Bowie, the musical innovator, into the territory of cutting-edge visual and performing art that is his natural home."

The exhibition brings together more than 300 objects, including photography, album artwork, handwritten lyrics, original fashions, set designs, and rare performance material from the past five decades from the David Bowie Archive. David Bowie is takes an in-depth look at how David Bowie's music and radical individualism has inspired others to challenge convention and pursue freedom of expression.

On display are more than 60 stage creations including Ziggy Stardust bodysuits (1972) designed by Freddie Buretti; Kansai Yamamoto's flamboyant attire for the Aladdin Sane tour (1973); and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover (1997). Also on view is photography by Brian Duffy, Terry O'Neill, and Masayoshi Sukita; album sleeve artwork by Guy Peellaert and Edward Bell; cover proofs by Barnbrook for the latest album The Next Day (2013); visual excerpts from films and live performances, including The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) andSaturday Night Live (1979); music videos such as Boys Keep Swinging (1979) and Let's Dance (1983); and set designs created for the Diamond Dogs tour (1974). Alongside these are more personal items such as never-before-seen storyboards, handwritten set lists and lyrics, as well as some of Bowie's own sketches, musical scores, and writings, revealing the evolution of his creative ideas.

Exhibition Overview
The exhibition offers insight into Bowie's early years and his first steps towards musical success. Tracing the creative aspirations of the young David Robert Jones (born 1947 in Brixton, London), it shows how he was inspired by innovations in art, theater, music, technology and youth culture in Britain in the aftermath of World War II. Pursuing a professional career in music and acting, he officially adopted the stage name 'David Bowie' in 1965 and went through a series of self-styled changes from Mod to mime artist and folk singer to R&B musician in anticipation of the shifting nature of his later career.

On display are early photographs, LPs from his musical heroes such as Little Richard, and Bowie's sketches for stage sets and costumes created for his bands The Kon-rads and The King Bees in the 1960s. This opening section concludes with a focus on Bowie's first major hitSpace Oddity (1969) and the introduction of the fictional character Major Tom, who would be revisited by Bowie in both Ashes to Ashes (1980) and Hallo Spaceboy (1995). Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the single was released to coincide with the first moon landing and was Bowie's breakthrough moment, granting him critical and commercial success as an established solo artist.

The exhibition moves on to examine David Bowie's creative processes from song writing, recording, and producing to designing costumes, stage sets, and album artwork. Working within both established art forms and new artistic movements, this section reveals the scope of his inspirations and cultural references from Surrealism, Brechtian theater and avant-garde mime to West End musicals, German Expressionism and Japanese Kabuki performance.

On view are some of Bowie's own musical instruments, footage and photography of recording sessions for Outside (1995) and 'Hours...' (1999) as well as handwritten lyrics and word collages inspired by William S. Burroughs's 'cut up' method of writing that have never previously been publicly displayed.

David Bowie is chronicles his innovative approach to creating albums and touring shows around fictionalized stage personas and narratives. 1972 marked the birth of his most famous creation; Ziggy Stardust, a human manifestation of an alien being. Ziggy's daringly androgynous and otherworldly appearance has had a powerful and continuous influence on pop culture, signaling a challenge of social traditions and inspiring people to shape their own identities. On display is the original multi-colored suit worn for the pivotal performance of Starman on Top of the Pops in July 1972, as well as outfits designed for stage characters Aladdin Sane and The Thin White Duke. Costumes from The 1980 Floor Show (1973), album cover sleeves for The Man Who Sold the World (1970) and Hunky Dory (1971), alongside press clippings and fan material, highlight Bowie's fluid stylistic transformations and his impact on social mobility and gay liberation.

The final section celebrates David Bowie as a pioneering performer both on stage and in film, concentrating on key performances throughout his career. An immersive audio-visual space presents dramatic projections of some of Bowie's most ambitious music videos including DJ (1979) and The Hearts Filthy Lesson (1995), as well as recently uncovered footage of Bowie performing Jean Genie onTop of the Pops in 1973, and D.A. Pennebaker's film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture (1973). A separate screening room shows excerpts and props from Bowie's feature films such as Labyrinth (1986) and Basquiat (1996). In addition, this gallery traces the evolution of the lavishly produced Diamond Dogs tour (1974), the design of which was inspired by Fritz Lang's filmMetropolis (1927) and George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

Bowie's tours combined choreography and colossal set design, taking the combination of rock music and theater to unprecedented levels. On display are previously unseen storyboards and tour footage for the proposed musical that Bowie would eventually transform into the Diamond Dogs album and touring show. An area has been dedicated to the monochrome theatricality of Bowie's Berlin period and the creation of the stylish Thin White Duke persona identified with the Station to Station album and tour (1976). It also investigates the series of experimental and pioneering records he produced between 1977 and 1979 while living in Germany, known as the Berlin TrilogyDavid Bowie isconcludes with a room of towering projections of footage from his signature concert tours as well as the costumes that defined them.

Curators
The exhibition was originally organized for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, by curators Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh. Victoria Broackes is Head of Exhibitions for the Department of Theatre and Performance at the V&A and Geoffrey Marsh is the Director of the Department of Theatre and Performance at the V&A. At the MCA, the exhibition is curated by Michael Darling, James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator.
  
Images: Album cover shoot for Aladdin Sane, 1973. Design: Brian Duffy and Celia Philo; Make up: Pierre La Roche. Photo Duffy (c) Duffy Archive & The David Bowie Archive. The ArcherStation to Station tour, 1976. Photo: John Rowlands. © John Robert Rowlands. Promotional photograph of David Bowie for Diamond Dogs, 1974. Photo: Terry O'Neill. Image © Victoria and Albert Museum.
This exhibition is organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.Lead support for the Chicago presentation of the exhibition is provided by Kenneth and Anne Griffin, Helen and Sam Zell, and Margot and George Greig. Major support is provided by Andrea and Jim Gordon; Cari and Michael Sacks; and Signature Group Holdings, Inc. / Helen & Sam Zell. Additional generous support is provided by Robert and Sheryl Bellick. Sound experience by Sennheiser. Air transportation is provided by American Airlines, the Official Airline of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
  
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. MCA Chicago is generously supported by its Board of Trustees; individual and corporate members; private and corporate foundations; and government agencies including the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Museum capital improvements are supported by a Public Museum Capital Grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The Chicago Park District generously supports MCA programs.  The MCA is a proud member of Museums in the Park and receives major support from the Chicago Park District. Air transportation is provided by American Airlines, the Official Airline of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.  
The MCA is located at 220 E. Chicago Avenue, one block east of Michigan Avenue. The museum and sculpture garden are open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm and Tuesday from 10 am to 8 pm. The museum is closed on Monday. Tuesdays are Community Free Days with free admission for Illinois residents. Suggested general admission is $12 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. Children 12 years of age and under, MCA members, and members of the military are admitted free. Information about MCA exhibitions, programs, and special events is available on the MCA website at mcachicago.org or by phone at 312.280.2660.


 

A FILM BY JIM MICKLE STARRING MICHAEL C. HALL, SAM SHEPARD and DON JOHNSON BASED ON THE BOOK BY JOE R. LANSDALE


Presents
COLD IN JULY
A FILM BY JIM MICKLE
STARRING MICHAEL C. HALL, SAM SHEPARD and DON JOHNSON
BASED ON THE BOOK BY JOE R. LANSDALE
**2014 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: World Premiere**
"The spirits of 1980s genre maestros like John Carpenter, Walter Hill and William Lustig hover strongly over Jim Mickle’s 'Cold in July,' a superior piece of Texas pulp fiction" - Scott Foundas, Variety
Opening Theatrically & On VOD MAY 23RD
PRESS SCREENING
Wednesday, April 9th
12:00PM
Magno Review 1
729 Seventh Ave, 2nd Floor
(Between 48th & 49th Streets)
How can a split-second decision change your life?  While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall) puts a bullet in the brain of low-life burglar Freddy Russell (Wyatt Russell). Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father, Ben (Sam Shepard), rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

Based on the book by prolific author Joe R. Lansdale, Michael C. Hall brings a shell-shocked vulnerability to his portrayal of Dane that contrasts perfectly with the grizzled badasses portrayed by Sam Shepard and Don Johnson. Directed with an excellent eye for the visual poetry of noir by Jim Mickle (We Are What We Are), this pulpy, southern-fried mystery is a throwback to an older breed of action film, one where every punch and shotgun blast opens up both physical and spiritual wounds. Twists and turns accelerate as the film reaches its inevitable destination: a gore-soaked dead end. Cold in July is as muggy, oppressive, and hard to shake as an east Texas summer.
 
Media Opportunities:
Co-writer/Director: Jim Mickle
Co-writer/Actor: Nick Damici
Book Author: Joe R. Lansdale 
Actors: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson & Wyatt Russell
To RSVP or for interview opportunities, please contact Nathaniel at Nathaniel@Brigademarketing.com
 
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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A Heart-felt Thank You


"Hallelujah" Oil on Canvas - 24x30" - Copyright Cyndy Carstens

A Heart-felt Thank You

Your support and encouragement is so much appreciated!

The Painter's Concert - A Mother's Love Raffle was incredibly successful because of youJust over $11,000 was raised to help with my son Jonathan's medical treatments to fight mulitple myeloma bone cancer! He and his young family, including 10-month Elliot, and all of us are grateful beyond words.

The painting above was painted during the "concert" against a 3-hour time clock.
I believe I won!
The painting is titled "Hallelujah" after the musical composition in Handel's "Messiah" which musicians Sherry Finzer & Darin Mahoney were playing as I signed the piece.
My beautiful daughter, Robynn, drew the name Dave & Melodie C. of Chicago from the bin full of tickets.
My husband, Doug, drew the name of Ian & Wendy A. of the Phoenix area as winners of "Forever", the 2nd painting.

It was a magical evening - all made possible by your generosity and unbelievable support.
As a special thank you, please follow this link to a dedicated page on my website where you can download your own copy of "Hallelujah" to use as a screen saver or print out as a reminder of our gratitude. (I would be happy to sign it for you if you bring it by the gallery or mail it to me.)
"HALLELUJAH" Painting

I wish I had more eloquent words . . .
just "Thank you"!

                                     Cyndy
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KATSU Drone Paintings




KATSU
Drone Paintings


April 10 – 13th, 2014
Silicon Valley Contemporary


The San Jose Convention Center
PREVIEW: Thursday, April 10th: 6-9:30pm
PUBLIC: Friday, April 11th: 11- 8pm
Saturday, April 12th: 11-8pm
Sunday, April 13th: 11-6pm


The Hole is proud to present a solo booth by multi-media artist KATSU 
at Silicon Valley Contemporary, the first art fair in Silicon Valley, California. In a fair focusing on art and technology, we will present a series of abstract paintings by KATSU that are made by autonomous aerial vehicles (UAVs or "drones"). The booth will also feature a video that documents how the paintings were made and the technology used to make them.

The artworks in this exhibition are a completely new type of painting that has never been made before. As drone aircraft have become more affordable to consumers, KATSU has been working to develop a way to make them paint. Originally pursuing the technology so drones could be programmed to write illegal graffiti, KATSU created the hardware and software to have a drone carry a spray paint can and a mechanism to press the can to emit spray. These pasts months he has experimented with the weight of the paint, the straw for the sprayer, the sensor for the can activation, the flight of the drone and different paints and surfaces to achieve the artworks he sought.

The results evince a new type of mark, divorced from the artist hand--though remotely controlled by it--and filtered through the nature of the drone and its tendencies. The paintings explore a collaborative relationship wtih the technology as opposed to merely employing it as a tool. The semi-random line in the artworks has a choppy quality to one side of the mark, as the paint is whipped up in the drone’s propellers. The gesture of the mark is governed by the drone’s gyroscope as it tries to “right” itself from the paint payload and the spray propulsion. The result is semi-controlled chaos as the artist dictates color but has only modest control over composition.

These works visually relate to Abstract Expressionism, where the gestures are random and free and a record of movement; however of course here the hand of the artist is on a joystick and has been honed by years of video game playing. In spirit the works are very much part of a tendency in emerging art to engage with process driven abstraction, however in these works, the artist is not seeking to shirk responsibility by turning the composition over only to process, rather he is creating new opportunities of engagement, and their resulting difficulties and restrictions, through a challenging and pioneering process. Like William Anastasi subway drawings or Cy Twombly automatic writing, the process shapes the work but does not engulf and exclude the work; these abstractions are not about robotics but about the beautiful or poetic expressions that can come from a fusion of human and technology.

About KATSU:

KATSU is an artist who uniquely blends traditional graffiti, digital media and conceptual artwork, KATSU creates an entirely new hybridized approach to contemporary art. Both through his visual and his digital projects, KATSU questions notions of reality, fiction, and ‘graffiti,’ by conceptually integrating notions of vandalism with commercialism and technology. 
KATSU is actively involved in the dialogue and experimentation surrounding contemporary art and technology and has previously participated in panels at the MoMA alongside Massimo Vignelli and in collaboration with The Graffiti Research Lab. He is currently a member of the Free Art and Technology Lab, a collective of technologists, artists and hackers.
KATSU is well known for his interventionist works/pieces including an (uninvited?) fire extinguisher installation on the facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles shortly before the opening of the show Art in the Streets. More recently, as he explores the relationship between art, vandalism, and technology, he installed a public mixed media piece employing fire extinguisher propelled paint and video projection in collaboration with photographer Ari Marcopoulos.

About SVAC: 
The fair will present contemporary art in all media, including video art and digital installations from around the world, intended to explore the intersection between art and technology.  All the work included in the fair was created between 1970-present, which parallels the rise of Silicon Valley historically and culturally.

The fair’s mission is to create the “next generation art fair” by establishing a bridge between the worlds of art and tech by showcasing cutting edge new media and moving image works and installations. It is the most expansive selection of significant fine art ever presented in the Valley. For a list of exhibitors please check out siliconvalleycontemporary.com


For more information or to preview available works please email krysta@theholenyc.com


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Monday, March 31, 2014

A WORLD TOUR OF LANDSCAPES

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MARTIN WICKSTRÖM


 

MARTIN WICKSTRÖM

Perfume River
10 April - 10 May


Mike Weiss Gallery is pleased to present Swedish artist Martin Wickström's inaugural solo exhibition in New York. Blending signage, landscape, figuration, and Sixties paraphernalia into montage, Perfume River presents twelve oil-on-canvas paintings of cinematic proportion and enigmatic presence. Composed into scenes and moods with palpable depth, Wickström's scrapbook-like composition intertwines both collective memory and introspective biography, reminiscent of our uncertain past and nostalgic for histories that never were. It is through the artist's line of sight that new, lingering meaning is given - that, or none at all.

Wickström references his extensive world travels, namely an impactful stint in Vietnam, as well as his history of overlapping paint, found object, light, audio and installation. His process splices found imagery and personal photography together, incorporating a kind of chance encounter that lives on in his photoconceptual realism. Interplay of light and focus procures an air of mystery, a visual poetry which resonates with our subconscious and curiosity. Repeating imagery of vibrant plastic buckets, reflective pools, and retro graphic text in sequence feels decidedly Pop, even reminiscent of propaganda. Through this fusion of somewhat dissonant aspects, the works maintain a certain sobriety - an unmistakable façade that bespeaks a world of meaning lurking beneath the surface. Materials then assume a nexus of dyads - water both beautiful and catastrophic; plastic transformative and artificial; perfume intoxicating and pungent; memory sweet and haunting.

Like documentary vignettes the paintings converse as puzzle pieces within a greater whole - each a meditation on our metaphysical quests. To be sure, Wickström's pseudo-narrative experiments with this lack of overt meaning, even insertion of meaning - like an empty vessel to be filled, or a vehicle for broader truths in this fast-changing world of ours.

Martin Wickström lives and works in Stockholm and is one of the preeminent living painters in Sweden. His work resides in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, The Gothenburg Art Museum, and the Malmö Museum among others. He shows with Angelika Knäpper at Lars Bohman Gallery in Stockholm.

Lauren Licata, Director
 
 
 

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