Phantasmaphile

Amir H. Fallah

Amir H. Fallah  "An Altar For Your Life, For your Death"  2008

Amir H. Fallah's mixed media work is chromatic, ecstatic, and laden with imagery to the point of near-collapse.  Working mainly with the idea of altars or pedestals, his totemic painted towers are stacked with collage elements and icons in a teetering frenzy.  You can see examples of Fallah's unique vision in person right now at SF's Catherine Clark Gallery, where he has pieces in the group show "Remix" up through August 15th.

Shana Robbins

Shana Robbins  "I Found My Aura"  2005

Once again, I find myself poaching from Lori Field's tumblr page.  Shana Robbins is a painter and a performance artist who plays with ideas of ritual and transformation.  Her work feels really fresh to me: magical, humorous at times, and emotionally nuanced.

Florine Stettheimer

 
Florine Stettheimer  "Family Portrait II" 1933

Every now and again, I'll discover an incredible new (though long deceased) artist who seems entirely and tragically absent from art history.  I stumbled upon the dreamy fauvist painting "Heat" by Florine Stettheimer during a trip to the Brooklyn Museum this weekend, and rushed to my computer to find out more about her as soon as I got home.  Sadly not much is written about her, and I came across only a handful of examples of her flowing, fantastically color-drenched work - and virtually all of them are washed out in jpeg form.  I did learn however, in a delicious twist of synchronicity, that Kenneth Anger was a fan as well, and his short film "Puce Moment" was inspired by her paintings.  Florine Stettheimer, I love your name, I love your art, and I will find out more about you, I promise.

My Dinner with Andre

One of my favorite films, My Dinner with Andre, just got rereleased on DVD by the ever-supreme Criterion.  For those who haven't seen it, virtually the entire film is one very long scene, that takes place in a restaurant.  It is one entire, rambling, anecdotally packed conversation between two reuniting theatre friends, Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory (both playing themselves), who have very different attitudes about art and life.  Andre is the quintessential seeker, looking for new and mystical ways to transform his consciousness and access a higher level of living and creating.  Wally is the pragmatist - a "grounded" New Yorker just trying to live his life and make ends meet while attempting to succeed at acting and playwriting.  Though the plot is simple (or rather, almost nonexistent), their conversation is fascinating to witness: touching, hilarious, inspiring, and very human.  This is storytelling and philosophy at its finest, and I'm thrilled it is now preserved for posterity in this handsome 2-disc edition.

Yinka Shonibare MBE show!

Yinka Shonibare MBE  "Leisure Lady (with Ocelots)"  2001

I've written about Yinka Shonibare MBE's work here before, so you can imagine my excitement when I found out about his mid-career retrospective opening tomorrow at the Brooklyn Museum.  I can't wait to be in a room filled with his headless wonders.  They are so smart - surreal and politically charged at once.  The show is up until September 20th, so plenty of time in which to make a plan to see it. 

As a side note, I must say I am so impressed with the Brooklyn Museum's choices these past couple of years.  The Hernan Bas, the Ron Mueck, permanently acquiring Judy Chicago's miraculous Dinner Party, and so on.  It has become one of my very favorite museums in the world.  Come to think of it, why aren't I a member already?

I Still Live by Annie Murphy

I just finished reading I Still Live: Biography of a Spiritualist by Annie Murphy.  It is a 60 page graphic novella, though the format is a bit more like a beautiful picture book for adults (in other words, lots of full-page images).  It is an homage to Achsa Sprague, a heretofore little known spiritualist who lived in 19th century Vermont.  The book consists of several threads, all woven together to form a sensitive celebration of this woman's life, as well as the profound effect she's had on the book's creator.  Sprague's own diary entries and poetry excerpts are scrawled throughout in script, while historical facts and Murphy's personal, modern-day accounts give the story both context and shape.  The overall effect is one of getting a glimpse into the minds of two very gifted and quietly powerful women.  It feels like a genuine privilege to get to read this mystic dialogue between them. 

Ask your local comics shop to stock this book if they don't already!  And in the meantime, you can contact Annie Murphy directly for purchase.  (Also, if you check her blog, you'll see pages from her forthcoming illustrated esoteric alphabet book, for which I am of course chomping at the bit!)

Trance, Chance, Dreams, & the Unconscious

Jesse Bransford  "The Door (Atu 18)"  2009

The amazing Jesse Bransford told me about a group show he is in that sounds utterly divine.  Trance, Chance, Dreams, & the Unconscious opens at SOUTHFIRST on Thursday, June 26th, and is up until August 2nd.  It is described thusly:

"...an exhibition of painting, drawings, dance, poetry, anthropology, sound work, architectural intervention and video, stars four methods for subverting mimetic composition and liner narrative: trance, chance, and the use of dreams and the unconscious."

I am so there.

Catherine Benedict

Catherine Benedict "The Bride" 

I don't know much about Catherine Benedict, the artist who calls herself Widgit.  I know she has a blog, and I know her work is absolutely exquisite.  Whether working in ink, felt, or embossed paper, her mythic creatures are as beautiful and lovingly crafted as they come.  Please click on the above image, so you can see it in all of its obsessively detailed glory.

Via

TONIGHT at Observatory!

Come see this lecture tonight at Observatory, our event space in Gowanus, Brooklyn:

An Iconography of the Industrial Body: Fritz Kahn, Popular Medical Illustration and the Visual Rhetoric of  Modernity

A presentation by Michael Sappol, author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies

Friday June 19th

7:30 PM

Free

This talk focuses on the publications of Fritz Kahn (1888-1968), a German-Jewish physician. Between 1920 and 1950, Kahn was a widely-read author of books and articles for the general public on medicine, health and science. His principal works, Das Leben des Menschen [The Life of Man] (5 vols.; Stuttgart, 1922-31) and Der Mensch: Gesund und Krank [Man: In Health and Sickness] (2 vols.; Zürich, 1939) feature thousands of illustrations. Influenced by Dada, neue Sachlichkeit, surrealism, futurism, Bauhaus, constructivism, Art Deco, neo-classicism, comic strips, photomontage, and advertising graphics, Kahn, and the artists working under his direction, visually explained how the human body works, based on the findings of modern biological science. At the same time, the images refer back to the chaos, violence, impasses, pleasures, dreams, and technological and sociocultural ambitions of early and mid-20th-century Germany. Kahn deployed a visual vocabulary of modernism to figure industrial modernity within the body and the body within industrial modernity. The result was a corpus of images and tropes which imagined a new body for the modern age. 

Image: Fritz Kahn, Das Leben des Menschen 5 (1931): 53. 

Retinal imaging and halftone printing compared.

Artist: Roman Rechn.

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Directions:

Observatory is located at 543 Union Street at Nevins.

Enter Observatory via Proteus Gowanus Gallery

R or M

 train to Union Street in Brooklyn: Walk two long blocks on Union (towards the Gowanus Canal) to Nevins Street. 543 Union Street is the large red brick building on right. Go right on Nevins and left down alley through large black gates. Gallery is the second door on the left.

F or G train to Carroll Street: Walk one block to Union. Turn right, walk two long blocks on Union towards the Gowanus Canal, cross the bridge, take left on Nevins, go down the alley to the second door on the left.

More information here: http://observatoryroom.org/

See you there!

Triple Header at Billy Shire

Carrie Ann Baade  "The Bride Stripping the Bachelors Bare"  2009

West coast folks, you need to get yourself to Billy Shire Fine Arts ASAP to check out the incredible show that's up now.  KS Rives, Christopher Ulrich, and my dear friend Carrie Ann Baade are exhibiting new work, and it is all thrillingly gorgeous.  I especially love the above piece by Ms. Baade - a very clever, femininely-charged reinterpretation of Duchamp's similarly titled work.  The show is up until July 4th.

Theo Ellsworth

I just finished reading one of the most precious books I have ever encountered.  Capacity by Theo Ellsworth is a collection of Ellsworth's comics, all woven together with another sort of meta-story about his process of creating the work (as well as the reader's experience reading it).  There is so much to love about these stories, it's tough to know what to focus on.  I suppose first, I'll say that the art is some of the most intricate, imaginative, exuberant (etc.!) I have ever seen.  Each panel is teeming with monsters, patterns, textures, architectural details, cosmic ornamentation, silly sacredness, and eye boggling whimsy.  Stylistically, it reminds me a bit of a more psychedelic Mark Alan Stamaty.  Narrative-wise, Ellsworth explores such topics as dreams, creativity, the unconscious, and inner visions.  As a storyteller, Ellsworth is tender and truthful, baring both his struggles and his generosity of spirit toward the wondrous world that we live in - and that lives within him.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  I picked it up at (all together now) MoCCA Fest, from the awesome small publisher Secret Acres.

Sara Antoinette Martin

Sara Antoinette Martin  "Apathy"                     

I met Sara Antoinette Martin at - you guessed it - MoCCA Fest.  (Are you sensing a theme here?)  She was there promoting her comic She Skull, Skeleton Warrior, which is super cool.  But it was her fine art which really captured my heart.  It's a bold, beautiful mixture of occult symbols, retro babes, and grotesquerie.  You can order prints and such from her online shop here.

Sandra Mack-Valencia

Sandra Mack-Valencia  "Above You is the Queen"  2008

It took me forever to decide which of Sandra Mack-Valencia's queen paintings to showcase here, and I'm still second guessing myself.  Each one is ornate, graphic, and totally spellbinding.  Here's my new word for them:  Surregal. 

Ken Brown show!

Ken Brown  "Mantis Beauty" postcard  1975

I've written about Ken Brown here before.  He is an exceedingly prolific artist/postcard designer/experimental filmmaker - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.  He has a quirky and imaginative sensibility, and plays with many styles, while still having his own unmistakable stamp.  A show of his postcards will be up at KIOSK from June 11th-20th, with an opening party on the 11th from 7-9pm.  You don't want to miss this.

Lilli Carré

Lilli Carré  excerpt from "The Lagoon"  2008

Another prized MoCCA Fest acquisition was a signed copy of the graphic novella The Lagoon by Lilli Carré.  I've been a fan of her work for a while now, so it was a treat to meet her.  I can't recommend this book highly enough.  It is a story about a family, and the mysterious singing lagoon monster that lives near their house.  In addition to the beautiful black and white art, I am impressed by the general pacing of the story.  There is not much dialog, though moments of onomatopoeia and stillness give the narrative a steady, rhythmic shape.  It's like a visual song, quite unlike anything I've seen before in this medium.

Stavit Allweis

Stavit Allweis  "Hearts in Jeop." cover

One of my dearest discoveries at MoCCA is the artwork and comics of Stavit Allweis.  Her book, Hearts in Jeop., features the trails and tribulations of a heart-headed posse of ladies, and is at once fantastically beautiful and thrillingly perverse.  Her style is equal parts R. Crumb and Melinda Gebbie.  And her fine art is strange and stunning as well - check it out.

This Weekend

Poster by Molly Crabapple

There are two things you must do this weekend if you are in NYC:

 -  MoCCA Festival is my favorite festival ever ever ever.  It features comics and comic art, but is generally way more indie and experimental than the usual comicons.  Loads of small presses and self-published stuff to be found here.  It never fails to introduce me to new books and artists to fall head over heels in love with.  I'll be highlighting some of my acquisitions on the site soon, but for now JUST GO, last day is Sunday, June 7th.

-  Matt Freeman (playwright/boy wonder/beloved rogue) has a new play called GLEE CLUB opening at the Brick Theater's Antidepressant Festival.  The play is twisted, hilarious, and melodic to boot!  First performance is also Sunday, June 7th at 2pm, and are three more, so buy tickets and GO SEE IT!

Jessica Langley

Jessica Langley  "Andrew (Aura)"  2009

I've mentioned here before how much I love the idea of aura photography.  Jessica Langley has a whole new take on it that is rocking my world.  Her "Displaced Auras" series needs, I think, no further explanation.  I find them to be elegantly simple and emotionally complex at once.

Amy Kligman

Amy Kligman  "Imaginary Friends"  2007

Amy Kligman depicts the strange, transformative time that is childhood in such a lovely way.  I am entranced by her candy-colored palette and mesmerizing patterns.  Her most recent work can be seen here.  Delish.

Coral Silverman

Coral Silverman  "The Unicorn Sees Itself" 

Coral Silverman's riffs on the famous Unicorn Tapestries are beyond delightful.  In other pieces in the series, we see a modernized version of the unicorn hunt, with gun-toting, shady fellows in hoodies.  The painting above makes me giddy.  I love its folksiness, tenderness, and curious exploration of identity.  Oddly touching, no?

Ira Cohen

Ira Cohen  "At the court of the Golden Emperor, the Majoon Traveler and Lady Firefly appear in the Hall of Unconscious Magnetism"  1966-70

I am on a bit of an Ira Cohen kick at the moment.  Visionary poet, and psychedelic photographer and filmmaker, he is perhaps best known for his opiate, phantasmagorical film, The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda.  One of his finest visual tricks is shooting via mylar, as evidenced by these gorgeous portraits of his mystic, artistic pals like Jimi Hendrix and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Amy Earles

Amy Earles  "Telepathy"  2009

I learned about Amy Earles from JL Schnabel's scrumptious blog.  She creates paintings (some with moveable hinges!) that feature yougn girls who are not as innocent as they seem.  This piece in particular is rocking my world.  It's the perfect balance of sinister and playful, like so many childhood games.

Kate Street

Kate Street  "Bird in the Hand II"

I was agonizing over whether or not to feature one of Kate Street's fantastic sculptures or one of her exquisite drawings.  And then I thought, it's my blog goshdarnit, I can feature both if I want to!  So here is a drawing as well:

Kate Street  "Orchis Nodulosa"

I can't for the life of me recall where I just encountered her work, so apologies if it was on your site.  Anyway, I think she is a genius at blending the fanciful with the macabre.  Lovely lovely lovely.

Rasputina Super-limited Edition EP

Rasputina's mastermind, Melora Creager, just released a beautiful limited edition 3-song EP called the Willow Tree Triptych.  Each track is a cellofied folk song from a different country - America, England, and Ireland, respectively - and all titled "The Willow Tree."  The songs are beyond lovely, and Melora's voice has never sounded better.  But I would consider this minature album to be as much a collectible work of art as anything else.  Each CD is individually packaged with a one-of-a-kind, autographed collage done by Melora and her daughter Hollis.  As such it is a keepsake to be treasured and enjoyed for centuries to come!  Do order yourself one, as only 100 have been made, and they are going fast.

Clemente @ Deitch

Francesco Clemente  "A History of the Heart in Three Rainbows 3.1"  2009

I finally got to the Clemente show that's up at Deitch right now, and it is a dream.  Called "A History of the Heart in Three Rainbows" it consists of three absolutely giant scrolls which are each cut up into smaller paintings, like the one above.  Each scroll is a rainbow-colored allegory about love, identity, entrapment, and liberation.  In fact, it reminds me a lot of such metamorphic paradigms as Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, and the stages of transmutation in alchemy.  Also, the experience of being surrounded by these giant paintings (allegedly the largest watercolors ever made), is transformative as well.  I hope some institution buys them all, and puts them in their own special room a la Monet's "Water Lilies."  Until then, this show will be up until May 30th, so you've still got a bit of time to visit.