January 2010 Archive

More online publishing news

from Tyler Green via Dan Schimmel. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is beginning to publish its show catalogs online in free downloadable pdf form. The museum has several catalogs available online now from exhibits in the 1960s. The Ed Kienholz catalog from the artist’s 1966 exhibit, at 4.17M, downloads easily and quickly with a cable connection just in case you’re wondering.  I saw the Bauhaus show at MoMA recently (more on that soon I hope) and passed on the catalog, which was a hefty $75 — available only in hardcover.  Crazy price.  I love the idea of online ... More » »

New arts money for cities

From our friendly blogging art czar Gary Steuer: NEA has some new money for cities.  Hallelujah!  Projects that could get funded include “planning of arts districts” !! That gets my vote. Grants from $25,000-$250,000. Steuer and his brain trust are brainstorming already, he says.

Unveil at Tiger Strikes Asteroid

When Roberta and I were visiting the January small group show at Tiger Strikes Asteroid (can there be anything but a small group show in that tiny space?), gallery member Nathan Pankratz mentioned to us that the gallery might move to a larger space. That’s welcome news, especially since this small artist-run space continues to mount good shows. The January show, up to the 29th, includes work from Corey Antis, Ben Pranger, Donna Ruff, Adam Parker Smith, and Hunter Stabler.

Raymonde April times four, in Montreal

To experience Raymonde April’s current exhibits is to experience the underpinnings of process, display and the creation of meaning. Equivalences 1-4, a not-so-subtle nod to Alfred Stieglitz’s Equivalent series, showcases four different bodies of work — 3 photo collections and 1 video work — in three different spaces in Montreal. April, who was awarded the 2005 Career Achievement Award for Art Photography from the Ontario Arts Foundation, worked with curator Eduardo Ralickas to mine the photographer’s recent images and archive in order to find sequences. Working with the idea that photos and their perceived meaning are informed by their printing, ... More » »

Print on demand magazines at MagCloud

My buddy, photographer Chuck Patch, wrote to say he has a photo in Issue 1 of Photographs on the Brain magazine. I followed the link he sent found found that I could get a copy printed on demand and sent to me…through a new print-on-demand self-publishing website called MagCloud – $6.99 (plus $1.56 for shipping). The brand new magazine arrived in a week and the 27-page photo spread on satin-finish paper is really nice.  You can preview the entire publication at MagCloud.

Magazine news and magazine mogul news

Art on Paper magazine is folding…to arise again perhaps in digital or print form. From Sharon Butler’s Two Coats of Paint. Quote from AiP’s Shelly Bancroft and Peter Nesbett “It is certainly our hope that six to twelve months from now, when the economy has improved, someone new will come along and revive the publication, either in print or digital form.” Meanwhile, according to NY Times article by David Segal, Peter Brant — paper mill owner, polo player, and publisher of Art in America, The Magazine Antiques, and Interview — gets a little less rich.  No talk of magazines folding.

Maira Kalman at the ICA

The ICA installation of Maira Kalman’s modest drawings of life in New York is the not the bombastic, self-important art-star ego-inflated posturing that calls so much attention to itself that the art world says, all right already, I’ll give you a show. Even though Kalman works in a modest scale, the ICA gave her a show anyway; Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) is the artist’s first major museum survey.

Breadboard turns Esther Klein into a project space

A big shift at the University City Science Center’s Esther Klein Gallery (EKG) begins tomorrow. The shift from an art and science (emphasis on art) space to an art and technology (emphasis on technology) space has been in the works for some time. Tomorrow, EKG shows off it’s new, techie big brother–Breadboard. The art at EKG was made at Breadboard, and showing off Breadboard art is EKG’s new role.  NextFab Studio, which is a high-tech fabrication shop, doubles as Breadboard’s partner, providing its equipment to Breadboard’s projects. And if you’re still confused go on over there tomorrow and talk with ... More » »

Weekly Update – Rage and quietude of Ashley Flynn and Ben Will

This week’s Weekly has my review of Ben Will’s solo show at the Arts League and Ashley Flynn’s solo show at Knapp Gallery. More pictures at flickr – Ben and Ashley. Ben Will’s paintings and sculptures in “The Beast From the Belly of a Boeing” at the University City Arts League feel very familiar. The show is sparse, consisting of only four paintings and three sculptures. Collectively, the work taps into the unconscious and never coalesces into a narrative, although a story is implied.

No Longer Empty at 4th and Broadway – Part 2

When I went past “Never Can Say Goodbye” later on Friday night just before 8 there was a line outside, and half a block down a crowd had formed at the door with people spilling out onto Broadway – looked like a good night was ahead. It was heartwarming to see such a familiar experience and it made me realize what a social scene and life force the Tower Records store had been.