Phantasmaphile

Julie Heffernan

"Self-Portrait as Gorgeous Tumor"  2001  Oil on Canvas

Julie Heffernan paints so sumptuously, I want to sop up her pictures with bread and devour them.  This is magical realism at its finest, blended with the psyche-probing of the surrealists.  I'm counting down the days to her next show here, called "Heaven and Hell," up at the PPOW Gallery on 2/16/06.   

Eric White

"The One"  2004  Oil on Canvas

"Dadsville"  2003  Oil on Canvas

"Divine Mother of Guilt"  2002  Oil on Canvas

I would argue that Eric White is one of the true geniuses painting today.  Some people have perfect technique, others have gargantuan imaginations.  Eric White is blessed with both, and then some.  A lethal combo. 

Timothy Cummings

Timothy Cummings, Owl Girl Lives in the Garden, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 10 x 8 inches

 

Timothy Cummings, The Loved One, 2003,
acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 inches

Timothy Cummings - one of my favorite favorite painters.  Nice collections of his work at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York, and the Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco.

Akino Kondoh

Akino Kondoh is a Japanese artist whose work I adore.  I especially love the animations she's done.  There's so much exciting art that's been coming out of Japan.  More to come.

Love This

"you have to fight every day to stop censoring yourself. and you never have anyone else to blame when you do. what happens to artists is that it's not that somebody's standing in their way, it's that their own selves are standing in their way. the compromise really isn't how or what you do, the techniques you use, or even the content, but really the compromise is beginning to feel a lack of confidence in your innermost thoughts. and if you don't put these innermost thoughts on the screen then you are looking down on not only your audience but the people you work with, and that's what makes so many people working out there unhappy. these innermost thoughts become less and less a part of you and once you lose them then you don't have anything else. so many people have so much to say and there are so many really worthwhile things to say that it seems impossible that we could cut ourselves off from this whole avenue of enormous excitement." 

from cassavetes on cassavetes
edited by raymond carney 

via Mark Romanek's site.  He's an utterly amazing director in his own right, by the way.  He's the genius behind dozens of videos like the Nine Inch Nails video for "Closer," and my personal favorite: Madonna's video for "Bedtime Stories."  There's a new anthology of his work out on DVD which I highly recommend. 

Cabinets of Curiosities

                         

I'm obsessed with Cabinets of Curiosities - also called Wunderkammern.  They preceeded the advent of museums, or rather, eventually evolved into museums.  They were collections of marvels and unusual objects - a bric-a-brac of rare items generally obtained through travel or trade.  Originally maintained by the wealthy and the eccentric (which often go hand in hand), they later became popular among scholars and scientists.  Two great books on the topic are Cabinets of Curiosities by Patrick Mauries, and Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler.  Unfortunately, many of these cabinets were broken up, their items being auctioned off or sold individually to private collections and institutions.  There are some still to be found, however.  Kunstkammer Georg Laue in Germany, Le Chateau d'Oiron in France, The Museum of Jurassic Technology in California, the Mutter Museum in Pennsylvania, The Pitt Rivers Museum, and bits of the Ashmolean Museum - both in Oxford, England.  Sadly, one of my favorites here in New York closed down recently:  Freakatorium.  Some other places here in New York with a Wunderkammern feel:  De Vera, John Derian & Co, Evolution, and Obscura - four gorgeous shops, all downtown.  Currently, the gallery Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts has an exhibit called Children of the Cabinet (on through 1/2/06) - can't wait to see it!