Tagged: brooklyn museum

The Digest. 05.26.10.


Andy Warhol’s self-portrait silkscreen on wallpaper. Part of an installation for the upcoming exhibit, Andy Warhol: The Last Decade, at the Brooklyn Museum, opening in three weeks. (Image courtesy of Marcus Romero and the Brooklyn Museum.)

  • Looking for the most beautiful Tweet ever written. (The Book Bench.)
  • Journalist Charles Bowden says that women in Juárez are killed at the same rate as in the rest of Mexico. The problem, he says, isn’t specifically violence against women, it’s the violence generated by extreme poverty and a failed state.
  • The World Touristiness Map. (Coudal.)
  • A jaw-droppingly wonderful choreography containing crutches, braces and boobies. Has to be seen to be believed.
  • A performance artist on re-performing Abramovic.
  • Where oh where is Carmen San Diego? Er, I mean, where oh where is Eli Broad planning on building his museum? For now, the conjecture points to downtown L.A. More here.
  • The Art Industrial Average is Down: Lay-offs at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Arts Journal.)
  • The Art Industrial Average Is Up: Whitney Museum board okays construction — and a move to — downtown Manhattan space. Boy, was I seriously wrong in thinking it was all conjecture.
  • Well done: An artistic photo essay that takes its cues from the disaster in the Gulf. (The Jonathan Monk piece, #11, is an excellent use of a car hood.)
  • Man Bartlett on what it was like to repeat people’s Tweets for 24 hours, as part of his work, #24Echo. I think this is the first time in my life I’ve been referred to as inspirational. From now on, call me Oprah.
  • Fragments of stolen art come together to form another artwork by Eva and Franco Mattes.
  • Do curators have too much power?
  • Painted typewriters by Tauba Auerbach. (Coudal.)
  • Zombie meat.
  • A digital graffiti wall. (@GOOD.)
  • Today’s Street Art: Lucho and quillo’s wrecked car in Santiago, Chile.
  • Artist Molly Dilworth to turn Times Square into a river.
  • In Paris: A door that leads to nowhere.
  • Not even remotely related: The Champs Elysées is turned into a giant garden. (Cool Green Science.)
  • Best. News Lede. Ever. (@russelltrombone.)
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In Fashion: American High Style at the Brooklyn Museum.


Oh Those Sleeves! A 1969 evening dress by Madame Alix Grès, made from taupe silk paper taffeta. (Photos by C-M.)

I’m not someone who is known for her fashion sense (my entire closet is one long, jazz-like riff on jeans and sneakers). But that doesn’t mean I can’t drool over a beautifully-constructed frock when I see one. And the American High Style exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, dedicated to chronicling the museum’s costume holdings, offered plenty to salivate over: Christian Dior, Elsa Schiaparelli, Cristobal Balenciaga, to name but a few. Of particular interest is the extensive collection of pieces by master cutter Charles James (1906-1978), whose Diamond Evening Dress (shown after the jump), made for heiress/philanthropist Dominique De Menil, is truly a wonder to behold.

Overall, this show is a winner — beautifully and cleanly presented (unlike its sister show at the Met, which is supposed to be a hot mess). The only bummer is that the curators decided to pipe in a lite music soundtrack of operatic ahhhhhs that seem to have been taken from a Disney musical (from the part of the film where the princess wakes up). It not only made me grit my teeth, it made me want to commit random acts of violence on small animals. My advice: if you truly want to enjoy this exhibit: pack an iPod.

The show is up at the Brooklyn Museum through Aug. 1.

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Calendar. 05.06.10.


Butterfly Dress, 1955, by Charles James. Part of the exhibit American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection at the Brooklyn Museum, opens tomorrow. (Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum.)

  • Seattle: Erin Morrison, Patterns of Impermanence: An Exhibition of Landscape Works, at Monarch Contemporary, opens today at 6pm.
  • Seattle: Blake Haygood’s open studio, at the Publix Hotel, all day today until about 8:30pm.
  • Chicago: The Seductiveness of the Interval, at the Renaissance Society, through June 27.
  • Washington, D.C.: One Hour Photo, a group show, at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, opens Saturday.
  • Washington, D.C.: Beat Memories, the Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, at the National Gallery, through Sept. 6.
  • NYC: Edward Kienholz, Roxys, at David Zwirner Gallery, opens today.
  • NYC: The Affordable Art Fair, opens today.
  • NYC: JMR, Of Clouds and Something, at Mighty Tanaka in Brooklyn, opens today. (Part of DUMBO Gallery Walk.)
  • NYC: American ReConstruction: An exhibition of new photography, at Edward Winkleman Gallery, opens Friday at 6pm.
  • NYC: Single Fare, art of the MetroCard, at 224 Grand Street in Williamsburg, open Saturday at 6pm.
  • NYC: Roxy Paine, China Blue, David Opdyke and many others, Nature of the Beast, at HP Garcia Gallery, through May 29.
  • NYC: David Barnett, Sacred Creatures, at Denise Bibro, opens today at 6pm.
  • Newburyport, Mass.: Craig Colorusso, Sun Boxes, at Important Records, this Saturday, from noon to sunset.
  • S.F.: Matthew Paladino, Wonder Box, at Baer Ridgeway, opens Saturday at 4pm.
  • S.F.: Alex Lukas and Matt Leines at Guerrero Gallery, opens Saturday at 7pm.
  • L.A.: Lisi Raskin, Mt. Disappointment, at The Company, opens Saturday at 7pm.
  • L.A.: Keith Haring, Urban Legend, at Carmichael Gallery, opens Saturday at 7pm.
  • L.A.: Marc Johns and Steven Weissman, Butter and Blood, at Giant Robot, opens Saturday at 6:30 pm.
  • Milan: TVBoy, Mash Up, at Art Kitchen, through May. (Thank you, *fab*.)
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Dedicated Follower of Fashion: Yinka Shonibare MBE at the Brooklyn Museum.


The Swing (After Fragonard), 2001. (Photos by C-M.)

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and Yinka Shonibare’s solo show at the Brooklyn Museum is it. Don’t get me wrong. His sculptures are a wonder to look at, skillfully-crafted ensembles that meld African-style Dutch wax fabrics with 18th century and Victorian fashion — all arranged in dramatic dioramas. This is paired with an all-important subtext: the pieces insert representations of African-ness into traditional European art, reminding us that the African experience has long been a part of Western culture, even if it has been barely depicted on canvas. The effect is lush and beautiful and tragic. But, as enjoyable as it the show is to look at (boy, would I looove to rock one of them dresses), after a while, the repetitive imagery, relentlessly bright colors and hyper-hedonistic settings started  to make me feel as if I’d eaten too much candy. Dizzy, disoriented, a little sick to my stomach. But, perhaps, that was the point.

On a side note: The Met’s Costume Institute might do well to study this show. It was wonderfully and elegantly installed — with some pieces incorporated into the museum’s period rooms. Who ever curated the Met’s sloppy cheese-fest otherwise known as Model as Muse (that ’60s fashion room with the lava lamp effects looked as if it was channeling the Woodstock museum) should get over to Brooklyn, stat! And start taking notes…

Yinka Shonibare MBE is at the Brooklyn Museum through Sept. 20.

Looking Around has a very interesting interview with the artist in one and two parts.

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Egyptian mummy at the Brooklyn Museum: Dude looks like a lady.


Mummy scan. (Photo by Adam Husted. Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum.)

Because I’m a serious geek, I spent much of yesterday morning riveted by the Brooklyn Museum’s Twitter feed. Various members of the museum’s staff had taken a batch of mummies to North Shore University Hospital on Long Island for CT scans to check out their innards. Turns out the 2,000-year-old “Lady Hor,” above, was no lady. She was a dude. And from the looks of the scan above, she was swinging some serious pipe.

Read the full story here.

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The Digest. 04.06.09.


Enfolding 280 Hours by Sun K. Kwak, made with three miles of black masking tape. The installation is up at the Brooklyn Museum through July 5. (Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum.)

Hey Folks: I have the perfect tsunami of deadlines this week, which means the blog will be receiving short shrift. In the meantime, here are a few scattered links I managed to round up before reality caught up with me. xox, C.

  • Congrats to Morrison from NYC for winning the C-Mon giveaway extravaganza, Vandal Squad edition.
  • Two worthwhile interviews on Studio 360: One with Mr. Jalopy (maker of the world’s biggest iPod) and the other, with Paul H-O, co-director of Guest of Cindy Sherman (which includes sublime audio of El Schnabel being Schnabel-esque!). Awesome.
  • Speaking of which, El Schnabel to sell his Picasso to cover costs at Palazzo Chupi.
  • Gigantor Frank Stella at SFMOMA. (Modern Art Notes.)
  • Alex Katz, J. Crew model. (Modern Art Notes.)
  • Whoa! The guys at Graffiti Research Lab are working on a tool that draws brush strokes using eye motion. (Grazie, San Suzie!)
  • KFC’s corporate graffiti. (@jackscuache)
  • Today’s Street Art: Calama, in Brazil. Update: The name is Calma! My bad…
  • This architectural discussion tomorrow evening about Lima and L.A., at the MAK Center in SoCal, looks highly interesting.
  • Looks like The Zaha’s Michigan State University museum is in trouble ‘cuz it’s waaaaay too pricey.
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Getting Lushy: Hernan Bas at the Brooklyn Museum.


Can you hear me now? Detail of The Loveliest Song, 2003. (Photos by C-M.)

For a coupla years now, I’ve been seeing Hernan Bas’s work on my regular sojourns to Miami — principally at the frigid concrete warehouses that are home to the Snitzer Gallery and the Rubell Collection, where the artist had a massive solo exhibit in time for Art Basel in late 2007. But last night, I saw the paintings — which marry pop sensibilities with florid 19th century romance — completely anew in the Brooklyn Museum, where the wood floors and deft lighting gave the work an added weight and drama. In addition, someone was bright enough to put a bench in Bas’s room-sized video installation Ocean’s Symphony, which, with its floating mermaids and gently bubbling water, is one exemplary piece of stonerrific distraction.

Hernan Bas: Works from the Rubell Family Collection is up through May 24.

Click on images to supersize. More after the jump.

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