Posts archive: August 2002

It’s not only cowboys and Indians at the Museum of Nebraska Art. Paintings and prints of buffalos on the Nebraskan plains do exist in the main collection along with a bust of Abe Lincoln, however, some fine Robert Henri paintings and a real commitment to contemporary Nebraskan artists and innovative programming also can be seen.

A fascinating survey of important Nebraskan artist, administrator and writer Leonard Thiessen just closed, but “Afro Psalms”, an exhibition pairing poems and prints continues through January 2003. “Nebraska Now”, a program currently in its tenth year, features the work of living Nebraskan artists. MONA supports the contributions of young Nebraskan artists in this excellent exhibition program and by including them in their permanent collection.

For more information on art in the heartland visit Museum of Nebraska Art.

- amy berk [Saturday, August 31st, 2002]

The responses are as intelligent and wonderful to read as the article is- maybe more. Damien Cave and readers discuss decline of CD music sales and debate whether file sharing, or an arrogant, greedy and powerful RIAA is to blame.

- Ella Delaney [Friday, August 30th, 2002]

We’ve just posted three new reviews: Eva Hesse at the SFMOMA by Marcia Tanner, Openings at the San Francisco Arts Commission by Berin Golonu, and a timely re-posting of Yes Yoko Ono by Dore Bowen. To find them, use the “reviews” pull-down menu or simply scroll around Stretcher.

- Ella Delaney [Wednesday, August 28th, 2002]

“Beauford Delaney: The Color Yellow”, a traveling exhibition organized by the High Museum, shines with incandescent abstractions and riveting portraits by this enigmatic nomadic artist. The charged works, mostly from the 50’s and 60’s, are linked by the color yellow and an intensity of vision. “Edgar Arceneaux: Drawings of Removal” presents a behind the scenes look at an art installation in progress/process. And, the engaging loaded work of 2001-2002 Artists-in-Residence: Kira Lynn Harris, Adia Millett and Kehinde Wiley is featured in “Ironic/Iconic”. This 30 year-old program, central to the heart of the Studio Museum, provides studios and stipends to promising artists of African descent. Also of note is “Expanding the Walls: Making Connections between Photography, History, and Community”, encompassing photographs taken by participants in this intergenerational program and images from the James VanDerZee Archives which inspired them.

For more information on these exhibitions which close throughout September, and other fine programs, visit The Studio Museum in Harlem.

- amy berk [Wednesday, August 28th, 2002]

If you haven’t seen enough altars to last a lifetime, you weren’t looking at art in the ‘80s. But Peter Hopkins’ new works make the form fresh. The tripartite panel paintings are hinged like medieval icons. If, seduced by the glamorous exterior, you swing one open, you’re hit with retina-blasting color. Divine energy, indeed. Only one more week to see them at Christopher Grimes Gallery in Santa Monica through August 31.

- Meredith Tromble [Saturday, August 24th, 2002]

Ever wondered why other peer-to-peer networks like Gnutella and Kazaa are still operating, while the record industry successfully shut down Napster? Or what new strategies the RIAA is cooking up to fight them? Read this explanation, and description of the new bill introduced by CA Rep. Howard Berman that would give record companies a “license to hack”.

- Ella Delaney [Wednesday, August 21st, 2002]

Check out the most recent travesties from the withering world of Bio-Arts in Wired. Fooie!

- Dale Hoyt [Monday, August 19th, 2002]

A favorite underappreciated art venue in New York that consistently produces exciting exhibitions is the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris. This space, located at 120 Park Avenue at 42nd Street, is free to the public. Besides the actual gallery, there is an indoor sculpture court where many Philip Morris employees and other mid-town workers eat their lunch. The sculpture court is open early and late and provides an evocative environment for contemplation. Currently appearing in this space is “Outer City, Inner Space: Teresita Fernandez, Stephen Hendee, and Ester Partegas”. Hendee’s glowing “War Gems” fills the middle area with pastel colors strangely akin to the shop pushing Southwestern goods across the way. Integrating more successfully in the space is Fernandez’s “Sky (plane)” gently undulating above the entryway. Least successful aesthetically but most interactive with the space is Partegas’s “Moving About Matters” which features a giant brown bag lunch and invites the viewer to pick up a free postcard of people eating lunch in other urban spaces and think about the nature of public space. This exhibition will run through January 3, 2003.

In the gallery is “Paul Henry Ramirez: Space Addiction”, a hot, hot, hot installation with reds, pinks, maroons and purples painted on the walls and as fabric for the bench cushions. Neon splashes, swirls and nipples, curlicues and blobs are found on the walls themselves and on the paintings then integrated onto the walls. Here as in other shows Ramirez utilizes the architecture of the space (this time including a sound element) to create a full on stimulating sensory environment. “Paul Henry Ramirez: Space Addiction” runs through October 11, 2002.

For more information on either of these exhibitions visit http://www.whitney.org

- amy berk [Monday, August 19th, 2002]

Cool Times, a slick summer group show opened last week at Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, a tony gallery on the edge of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Eight international photographers provided a respite of visual cool in the middle of a steamy heat wave. Warm Budweisers did not do justice to an exhibition begging for ice cold vodka or Curacao or some sort of themed libation to enhance the Antarctic ice floes of Dan Asher, the sterile car parks and office buildings of Daniel Mirer and the fictional moons of Wiebke Maria Wachmann. These mostly affordable offerings can be viewed until the end of August at 97 North 9th Street (Berry and Wythe Ave) or here.

- amy berk [Saturday, August 17th, 2002]

to the International section.
————

- David Lawrence [Friday, August 16th, 2002]

Goodbye Larry Rivers (This obituary is from the New York Times, which requires free registration to visit their site.)

- Meredith Tromble [Friday, August 16th, 2002]

to the East Coast section.

- David Lawrence [Thursday, August 15th, 2002]

a long overdue update from one of the stretcher crew on the move, Amy Berk…

From London, Tate Modern: Elija-Liisa Ahtila- real characters, invented worlds April 30-July 28. Ahtila, a Finnish video artist, (who i hear was also a standout at documenta) displayed her fictional dark narratives in 10 multi-set room installations. Some rooms were over the top with supersized sets in often surprising arrangements competing with the compelling and commanding psychodramas onscreen. Photographs from an earlier woman in dog pose project were puerile and unfortunate. More info and images here.

- Ella Delaney [Thursday, August 15th, 2002]

You may already know that the upcoming Bay Area Now includes work by Keith Boadwee, Thomas Chang, Anne Collier, Carolyn Cooley, Felipe Dulzaides, Amy Ellingson, Kota Ezawa, Jona Frank, Christopher Garrett, Linda Geary, Mark Gonzales, Frank Haines, Midori Harima, Desiree Arlette Holman, Kenneth Hung, Jo Jackson, Eamon Ore-Giron, Bob Linder, Jim Melchert, Leah Modigliani, Abner Nolan, Shaun O’Dell, Kumau Amu Patton, Aaron Plant, Alena Rudolph, Jon Santos, Katherine Sherwood, Allison Shields, William Swanson and Sara Thustra. But you may not know that energy beats for the opening will be provided by Tussle, the hot young band driven by drums constructed in the sculpture studios at SFAI.

- Meredith Tromble [Wednesday, August 14th, 2002]

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which is normally closed on Wednesdays, will open its doors to the community at no charge on Wednesday, September 11, welcoming anyone who wishes to seek solace, find hope and inspiration, or simply desires a quiet place in which to contemplate the many emotions and events of the past year.

- Meredith Tromble [Wednesday, August 14th, 2002]

to the West Coast section.

- David Lawrence [Tuesday, August 13th, 2002]

This year’s Eureka Fellows awards, from the Fleishhacker Foundation, amount to a cool $25,000 each for Kim Anno, John Bankston, Castaneda/Reiman (collaborators Charlie Castaneda and Brody Reiman), May Chan, Jim Christensen, Chris Finley, Tom Marioni, Hector Dio Mendoza, Rachel Neubauer, Shaun O’Dell, Robert Ortbal, and Michael Temperio. Their work will be presented in an exhibition, with catalog, in 2005. The Foundation is ditching the San Jose Museum of Art in favor of the Berkeley Art Museum.

- Meredith Tromble [Tuesday, August 13th, 2002]

Chris Johanson holds his own at Matthew Marks in the wildly eclectic Something, Anything, amidst the likes of Christian Marclay, Saul Steinberg, and contributing curator Nayland Blake’s record collection. And Alicia McCarthy’s paintings sit just right on the walls at Rare, along with a cluster of small works by her Bay Area friends.

- Tucker Nichols [Wednesday, August 7th, 2002]

If you do, and you haven’t been paying attention to developments in copyright law - get a grip. Siva Vaidhyanathan explains exactly why you should care - and complain to your Congressperson—NOW.

- Meredith Tromble [Friday, August 2nd, 2002]

has on view a “group video project for two channels.” Six artists, Fil Kuting, Terri Phillips, Jim Ovelmen, Alice Konitz, John Williams, and Sharon Ben-Joseph are presented. At the opening two screens were set up - one outside, the other inside - creating a split that would, I imagine, keep people moving back and forth in order to get the complete picture. I didn’t see it in this format. Instead, sitting comfortably (I can’t emphasize that enough) I watched a little monitor to my right and the big screen directly in front. It worked well. The program was enjoyable. Alice Konitz’s short video, Lifeguards at Rockaway Beach, features lifeguards and their stands - structures of curious design that look like source material for Konitz’s sculptural work. The two videos zero in on lifeguards getting ready for duty, basically preparing for a long day in the sun. In contrast to Konitz’s simple observance video, Jim Ovelmen’s Her Majestic Azimuth is highly structured and orchestrated with one video shot from a helicopter and the other from the ground. Three subjects - a helicopter, two sailors with a flag-like signal cloth, and the Queen Mary cruiser ship - form a contingency triangle that is grounded by the ship’s presence. Sitting on a comfortable easy chair watching one artist video after another is a great way to spend an hour or so on a hot afternoon.

—Julie Deamer

- Meredith Tromble [Friday, August 2nd, 2002]

A must read for samplers of all stripes: technology’s democratization effect is creating a dialog with popular culture like never before - and a new underground.

- Ella Delaney [Thursday, August 1st, 2002]

Located deep in the heart of Uusikaupunki, Finland, the Bonk Museum chronicles the history of a company (Bonk Industries) that never existed. Among the inventions documented there are an electromagnetic air balloon, a system for turning bad feelings into charcoal briquettes, an electricity generator that runs on anchovies, and a local-area black hole generator. Highly recommended, runs indefinitely.

- Ed Osborn [Thursday, August 1st, 2002]

From the editors