Ravels in Review: It's Summer!

I'm thrilled to be writing this when it's actually hot and sunny outside. Summer had to come eventually, I suppose, and it's basically August. So let's see:

• The BBC updated Byron's image with a music video, to odd effect, but I appreciate the effort.

• Then I read the collected poems of E.E. Cummings in one sitting, but figured I'd spare you and hunt up the one I really liked.

• I saw In & Out of Amsterdam at MoMA. More intellectually apppealing than visually, and I might just be more visual.

• I found out a bit about rust used in art, specifically rust paints. (Thanks all!)

• For something absolutely delightful and cheering on your Friday, check out this artist dress code.

• Artists do not own Mickey Mouse, and more illegal art due to copyright.

Also, I'm trying out the twitter thing. If you're on there, come find me at linnea_west. Have a great weekend!

k

Ravels in Review: 4th of July Weekend!

Thank god it's finally here. I mean, aside from some techincal snafoos, it's been a good week-- but I rather be off on a long weekend. Jasper John's Three Flags, above, is as close to patriotic as I get. I've been on a mental vacation everywhere but NYC USA this week.

There was a video post about the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, and then there was Hungarian art past (Tamas St. Auby) and present (Peter Forgacs) plus the current cool festivities at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest.

There was a crazy sky last weekend, which led to some good sailing weather, and hopefully there'll be more of it for this upcoming weekend: we're sailing over to Fire Island. It'll be nice to have some good ol' Americana in my life. Enjoy the long weekend!

Ravels in Review

...huff...puff...sigh--repeat--huff...puff

Oh, is it time for Ravels in Review again? Great, well, in my disordered placement of life's task I'll put this on the top of the heap while simultaneously making coffee with one hand and juggling oranges with the other. Priorities are amazing things, no?

But to the ravels we're reviewing:

Things were junking up the floor of MoMA's atrium, ala Song Dong this time, and I started rethinking my Conceptual art prejudice.

Richard Misrach's large-format photographs are either either calming or unsettling, and I rather think the latter.

Words straight from the art dealer Betty Parson's mouth.

Vanished poet Rosemary Tonks is one of the most exciting things I've come across in a while. She's on my reading list for the weekend.

And then, of course, there was the beautifully-titled OUCH. My hand is fine, by the way. To sum up my thoughts on the newest film version of Easy Virtue--something went wrong when they tried to make it into a movie and Jessica Beil is only the obvious thing.

Stuff happened in other places, and yet no one had any suggestions for me about contemporary Hungarian art? Any links or vague, unformed thoughts?

I'll get the ball rolling: these images are from Peter Forgacs multimedia installation Col Tempo at the Hungarian Pavilion at this year's Venice Biennial.

Ravels in Review Friday: Atlanta Edition

Well, my dreams of travel have taken me somewhere after all: home to Georgia for a long weekend. And guess what? It's hot and humid, just the way I like it. (As opposed to cold and rainy New York).

Georgia O'Keefe's Peach and Glass [Georgia...Peach. Get it? The humidity makes me punny]

I felt like Santa Claus comig down with my backpack full of presents yesterday. It's my mom's birthday Saturday, Father's Day Sunday, and my sister's birthday Wednesday. Most of my old friends are here somewhere, and hopefully I'll be able to see some of them athough it looks like I have a pretty jam-packed schedule AND I want to go the High Museum of Art. But we'll see.

As to the ravels in review, we covered our cultural bases this week. We started with poetry, ala the life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, then got a dose of theater, with the Public Theater's production of Twelfth Night, and rounding us off we talked about art old (nude Mona Lisa old, that is) and new (with Clay Ketter's most recent work) with a dab of the wistful travelogue I mentioned.

Happy Friday!

Ravels in Review Friday

Here we are again, two weeks into June and no sign of the rain letting up. Rain, rain, rain....

Anyhow, what did we talk about this week? Looks like we were all over the place.

• I gave a lone bad review of Summer Hours.

• No consensus was reached over a top 200 artist list by the Times. (No Surprise there).

• My idiocy became prominent at Stars Like Fleas on MoMA Monday Nights.

• Some old lady stole a notebook of Picasso drawings in Paris, or something like that.

• My formula for how to destroy a cocktail party or create change looks like art critic Jerry Saltz's Facebook page.

This constant rain is especially annoying as I was going to go get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park this morning. Now I have a conundrum. Not only if I should wait in the rain, but is the performance going to get rained out? Alas, our frailty is the cause of such concern, as Viola would say, and I think I'm go find an anarok and trudge out there.

Friday Ravels in Review

Image via Wooster Collective

For a weekly recap, I'll start with the best: the video I made about Whole in the Wall, a street art exhibit, although I did have to correct something I said in the video by noting some great street art blogs. In second place, inspired by a discussion about Francis Bacon, I was excited to see and write about his retrospective at the Met. Then yesterday I tried to explain why the film The Queen put me off with it mix of fact and fiction.

And then a long time ago, when it was May, we touched on some Vermeer forgeries via Errol Morris's series of articles Bamboozling Ourselves. All 7 are now published, if you want to check out the full tale. I also got on my high horse about a poetry scandal in Britain. But that was long ago in May.

Now it's June, and so I expect the weather will cease and desist with this dreary, cold rain. I keep giving it stern glances out the window.

f

Ravels in Review

This week will no doubt go down in your minds and blogger history as being that of my birthday. Good--please remember that next May 26.

• As I learned in doing historical research, historically few great things have happened on May 26 aside from my birth.

• I wrote about my experience buying art (none) and some of the difficulties of buying art on a budget. Just a note: the gallery called my boyfriend back yesterday to say that the work in particular that I had liked was available.

• The Hernan Bas show at Lehman Maupin predicts the future to be lush and lonely, and that says a small part of how much one could say about the artist's most recent paintings.

• Lastly, I was so struck by an old book that accidentally came into my hands that I had to share the artist/author Eugene Fromentin's extremely dated travel book of Dutch painters with you. He is in rapture over Rubens and Rembrandt. Hero worship like his doesn't exist anymore in criticism, maybe to our loss.

On the other hand, Fromentin is not so kind to his contemporary (1870s) art scene in France. The Impressionists, apparently, have no sense of value or line or color, and only Corot and Delacroix are worthy of respect. In fact, let me leave you with a few more of his words;

Landscapes make every day more proselytes than progress. Those who practise it exclusively are not more skillfull in that account, but there are more painters who try it. Open air, diffused light, the real sunlight, take today in painting, and in all paintings, an importance which has never before been recognized, and which, let us say it frankly, they do not deserve.

Photographic studies as to the effects of light have changed the greater proportion of ways of seeing, feeling, and painting. At the present time, painting is never sufficiently clear, sharp, formal, and crude.

The abuse of useless roundness has driven into excess flat surface, and bodies without thickness. Modelling disappeared the very day when the means of expression seemed best, and ought to have rendered it more intelligent, so that what was progress among the Hollanders is for us a step backward; and after issuing from archaic art, under pretext of new innovation, we return thither.

Ah, Ravels in Review

My fingers are relieved to take a bit of a break this week (perhaps you're relieved not to be presented with a long, involved post ; ) . I've gotten into some topics I find super interesting.

We kicked off the week with a proposal against taking photographs of artwork in museums, which got some agreement, certainly some disagreement, and a lot of mixed feelings. It stuck in my mind, and I revised my opinion to allow that instead of being evil and stupid is was perhaps a sign of engagement with an artwork.

We played a game matching the artwork to its auction house estimate. Nobody won, so I'm keeping the $1M prize. In fact, even the auction houses didn't win; they still have their two biggest works by Picasso and Giacometti.

I had the pleasure of seeing the musical South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and then having the song Honey Bun in my head for the whole week.

In fact, that annoying song is probably why I got a little contentious in my post on the Affordable Art Fair, contributing to my backhanded praise of the store Urban Outfitters for so cleverly following the pluralistic trends evident at the fair.



And my personal pick of the week was on the use of writing in painting, especially as it evolved during Modernism. Anyways, thanks for a fun week guys, and have a good weekend!

Ravels in Review May Day!

It is the first of May, which means many beginnings, Spring, outdoor activities, my 26 day birthday countdown, and last but not least--that my parents are visiting me this weekend! Their visit came off to a good start, with the 10 course tasting menu at Degustation last night, or if not, they were too stuffed and pickled to complain. Despite vowing last night not to eat for the rest of the month (luckily last night was the last day of April), we have more eatings planned, some museum goings, and some theater. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile what were we talking about this past week? Aside from a rather lame Monday, when I suffered from some of the less innocuous effects of summer, I talked about two gallery shows in Chelsea, Picasso at Gagosian being absolutely requisite (I hope to bring my mom tomorrow) and Louise Fishman being well-worth seeing, especially if you like textured, thickly-painted abstract canvases. I do. While you can't actually go see the recent installation in the atrium of the Guggenheim by Ann Hamilton, you can see my video of her Human Carriage and the applause it generates.

We've also had some fun discussing the huge, new ArtPrize being offered and the populist way it's being decided and a billboard takeover in New York City. This street warfare between advertisers and artists wasn't entirely successful; I hear that most of the billboards have already been reclaimed and painted over by companies.

Ravels in Review Friday

You'll be happy to know that dinner last night was delicious: tilapia, brussel sprouts, and potatoes; and a good time was had be all. (I know you were anxious about my entertaining abilities.)

As it is finally Friday, it's time for a Ravels in Review post. I think the week certainly started out on a good note with a long-overdue introduction.

• So if you had any lingering questions about yours truly, check out the video post in which I formally introduce myself.
  
• In another video post, I give you a glimpse into Nearly Ninety at BAM, at which Merce Cunningham, Sonic Youth, and John Paul Jones created an interesting collaboration.
  
• The performance inspired me to learn more about experimental composer John Cage.
  
• I discussed the Pulitzer Prize process (say that 3 times fast..) and Holland Cotter's win for Criticism.
  
• I shared some of my recent reading with a poem by Emiliy Dickinson.
  
• Yesterday, I left you with a To Do list of great gallery openings.

If anybody had a chance to check things out in Chelsea, let us know. Hopefully I'll follow that gallery list myself! Today is 70 degrees and sunny--what could be better?

Happy Friday all!

Ravels in Review Friday

It's been a long time since I did a Ravels in Review post between my trip to Costa Rica and skipping last week because there was very little that needed to be summed up. It's so nice to be swinging these art ravels in full force, you won't even here me rail on the weather. Especially as it is supposed to be a fantastic 71 degrees in NYC today.

But as to these past ravels, you'll see we have some interesting debates raised as to beauty, what it is and whether society values it, tales of rapscallions both old and new, a review of MoMA's photography exhibition Into the Sunset, and we even poked our nose across the pond to check out happenings at the Louvre and the situation for art recovery in L'Aquila.
Whew--time to take a breath. I also am excited by the idea of a public cafe cum art studio. So read, enjoy, comment: I always like to hear from people.

If you're wondering why I've said so little about Costa Rica, it's not that it was a cultural black hole per se. Watching a soccer match between Costa Rica and Mexico proved to be quite the cultural experience, and Costa Rica possesses great natural beauty. Not to mention surfing, zip lining, sloths (like the cute one above), toucans and tons of monkeys. It makes for a wonderful vacation, just not so artsy.



I surfed! (the smallest waves). Anyhow, happy Friday to you all! Enjoy the warm weekend!

Ravels in Review and GOODBYE

Click "Se Flimklippet" to see another video I made, that you can make too! The ModernaMuseet, or Modern Museum, in Stockholm has a fun program that lets you create videos on your keyboard, and then they are posted at the museum during an upcoming exhibition.

I said another video earlier because, as you might have seen, this week was the premiere of another Ravels In Motion production, of a recent visit to Chelsea to see painter Anne Neely's latest works. I think they're well-worth seeing if you have the chance. (Both my videos and her works.

For more great art, check out Melissa Meyer's dancing paintings and some intersting examples of what can be done in clay. If you feel a little tired of life during these dreary March days, see Doug Aitken's Sleepwalkers film and read about how it was installed at MoMA.

In addition to the good times, we've also had some disappointing times here during our ravels, and this week proved to be full of them. Not only was favorite author Milan Kundera shown to be a communist sell out and Shakespeare unattractive, but Alessandro Twombly showed some works recently that are distrubingly similar to his father's, painter Cy Twombly.

All these disaapointments in one week were too much for me! So goodbye, dear reader, and farewell!

I'm going to go drown my sorrows in the Costa Rican surf and chilly cervecas. (Because if you have to drown your sorrows, Costa Rica is the place to do it, no?) But fear not for I shall return to you in good time, specifically, April 6. Adios!

Ravels in Review Friday

Hello bloggy reader! And welcome to another installment of Ravels in Review Friday. Although stupefied that on this Spring day snow is falling, I shall persevere. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor internet connection problems shall keep the blogger away.


We really were well-rounded artworld citizens this week, as we jumped from an informative post on Albrecht Durer's painting, which drew some admiring glances of the basest kind from readers, to current topics such as how fashion is (not!) art and whether public art becomes part of the landscape. (If art needs to be on a gallery or museum wall to be recognized as art, what does that say about the nature of art?) Then we had some laughs with the stellar cast of Blithe Spirit, currently playing at the Shubert Theater.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, we have a video of Art Ravels on a trip to MoMA for the Martin Kippenberger exhibition! It's very exciting: there's music; there's lights; there's my voiceover; there's some shaky camera work. Let me know how you think it ranks next to another Martin Kippenberger at MoMA video.

Also, I would like to do another art video adventure. Does anyone have suggestions on where I should go?

Ravels in Review Friday

We've hop-skipped-and-jumped around this week, leaping off cultural juggernauts to cultural lows with some harmless light entertainment in between. I expected this week to be more about the art fairs New York had last weekend, but I was underwhelmed by a lot of what I saw and there'll be no dearth of opinions elsewhere, I'm sure.

Peak: Shakespeare, who's apparently a babe
Trough: Paying for ersatz art of yourself. No one has yet risen to my bait of 'why, in this post-Warhol age, the things I mentioned are not art?' Hint: I do believe there is a reason why.
Middling organisms of cultural evolution: Noel Coward singing and my guilty pleasure reads, art heist books. Suggestions welcome.

Ravels in (mid) Review

Yes, Ravels in Review is a weekly Friday round up, but with the art fairs going on, it seems unfair to cut off the week like that. Things are just beginning to get interesting...

but alas, one must trudge on.

This week was thoughtful, with a review of the excellent Cherry Orchard by Chekhov now at BAM, and not one but two ponderings on aesthetic experience from the strangeness of clapping to suffering for art. If you're in need of some beautiful images to ponder, try the Cy Twombley images I posted that span both style and time. Oh, and my good taste was indubitably confirmed.

And then, just in time for your weekend needs, a quick reference guide to the New York art fairs going on this weekend, and where you'll find me running to now.

Ravels in Review Friday (already!)

Has another week really passed? It seems so here in Art Ravel's land, which has been hopefully busy despite a recurrence of hangovers.

Reasons to be hopeful:

1) Spring has returned to Manhattan and gallery hopping can commence again, as I document here. Sure, in between then and now we had some freezing days, but a thaw is coming. *Could also be a reason to be hungover.

2) YouTube's content gets more fun by the minute. See Richard Serra shovel Vaseline under Mathew Barney's direction. Not to be missed.

3) A new play by Moises Kaufman shows us how to make time stand still, in addition to its other good qualities.

4) In another exorbitant claim, a man has discovered the secret of beauty. *Could also be a reason to be hungover.

5)I said goodbye to Culture Pundits, and hello to cool art magazines.

6) Asking questions about Kara Walker, rather than critique, in a further positive, hopeful effort.

And so what do I think sums up this week, its hopes, its hangovers?

Lobsters, obviously. Why? Ask the Surrealists, or read Signs of Spring.

Ravels in Review Friday

Maybe it was the confluence of Friday the 13th and Valentine's Day, but posts this week veered from sweetly feminine to strongly feminist. Or maybe it was the full moon and hormones. You be the judge.

We went from (egads!) love poems, to an art salon, which, by the way, proved to be quite enjoyable, to a mini-bio of portrait painter Louise-Elisabeth Vigee-Le Brun, who success at the turn of the 19th c. was unprecedented. From Le Brun's Rococo paintings of women in big hats, we skipped forward in time to a fashion week rif, in which some new designs looked rather like Le Brun's paintings, and all this led to the feminist 'fabrics' of painter Nancy Friedmann.

In a gender-neutral moment, I wrote yesterday about BECA's program for emerging artists and how they are supporting it with this amazing $5 raffle. It's a great prize for a good cause, so check it out.

What's next on the agenda? Possibly some L.E.S. gallery reporting and a theater review. Stay tuned.

Ravels in Review Friday

You! No—It’s too late now. I’ve seen you, and now you have a chance to see the workings on a highly critical (or is it high and critical?) mind at work. Read on, for my ravels in review of this week.

There was an artist toeing the line between beautiful and ugly that I discovered through an add, Club Guggenheim did not rock, insight into where to get your art gossip, Reena Spualings confirmed not a fake by said art gossip, and yoga invaded MoMA. Whew--what a busy week!

But most particularly, read my post on painter Marlene Dumas’s retrospective now at MoMA here in New York. This artist is generating reactions that range from rave (LA Times) to snide (he at New York Magazine who shall remain nameless ) to "warm" (New York Times) to tentative (mine). What do you think of her work? Why does she create such ambivalence?

Ravels in Review Friday

Raveling about art has been happening here since October. To keep you up to date, let’s review what was discussed over the past week:

• Politics (yes, of all things…I know); I covered both international and domestic political art, with a spotlight on artists who are bucking North Korean’s propaganda bandwagon, and made a slightly enraged comment on Shepard Fairey. Suffice it to say this will be the last mention of said artist on this blog. {My conclusion is government-endorsed political art, from fascism on, is bad art. Correct me if I’m wrong.}

• New Artist of Note; Dirk Stewen’s elegant watercolors aren’t like your grandmother’s china pattern. Unless you have a really cool grandmother.

• And Boxes; To illuminate you on the inner workings of the great and mysterious (and beautiful and intelligent and funny and kind) Art Ravels, I pictorially described my new living conditions.

Check these out and discuss. If you have an insatiable lust for more ravels, see the most interesting and discussed posts lately:

• Louise Bourgeois’ Spiders- for art that generates a reaction,

• Gorilla Aesthetics- a dash of Darwinism to your aesthetics,

• Absinthe as a Lifestyle- sometimes it's good to be bad, and sometimes it produces / destroys artistic geniuses,

• Cindy Sherman: One Trick Pony?- that’s a question, so don’t get your panties in a bunch just yet.

As always, read, enjoy, and let me know what you think. Ravels in Review is a new idea for a weekly Friday column, so if you love it, and more importantly if you hate it, tell me. Not that this is a democracy or anything, but I'm a benevolent dictator.