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By Webmaster, December 9, 2011 4:37 pm

MIAMI BASEL (THE BLUR)

November 29^th 9:30am I boarded a Jet Blue Flight to Fort Lauderdale en route to Miami Basel.

On December 2nd 8:30pm my flight from Fort Lauderdale left for New York, I was so happy!

Four days and three nights filled with art, people, art, parties, art, celebrites & tycoons, art, gossip, art, buying & selling, fashion & fun.

As Anthony Haden Guest said “they should forget about the art, it’s a distraction.”

$$$$$ we’re talking $, Occupy Wall Street where are they when you need them.

Highlight; luxurious extravagance the Van Cleef & Arpels party given at the Opa-Locke airport hanger transformed into an enchanted forest, complete with performances by Nick Cave & Vanessa Beecroft, a magical evening had by all.

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By Webmaster, October 13, 2011 5:19 pm

The Collector

Ran across this somewhere online and thought it aptly described my reason for starting Musee Magazine.

“By and large talent is in such short supply, mediocrity can be taken for brilliance rather more than genius can go undiscovered. The great majority of artists around the world don’t have dealers to represent or show their work. It makes it pretty well impossible to get your efforts seen, with most dealers too busy or too lazy to visit studios- and who can blame them. They have probably become a bit disenchanted from seeing acres of slides and transparencies of tragic work foist upon them by desperate artist. In reality, most dealers find new artists to show through recommendations from their existing stable- artists often urge their dealers to look favorably upon the work of their friends; furthermore, dealers usually believe artists are good judges of other artist’s work. All in all then, if you’re not in the right artistic social circles, didn’t go to a hip art school, don’t quite fit in, it can be hell to extract much interest from dealers and collectors”, which is the reason for Musee.

I had the good fortune to interview an art collector with an encyclopedia of contemporary art starting in the early 80′s with minimalists like Carl Andrea, Kiki Smith, Hiroshi Sugimoto, stretching through, Andreas Gursky, Cindy Sherman, Bill Viola, Tony Oursler, through the art stars of now like Kehndi Wiley, John Currin, and Vik Muniz, etc. The way in which the art is hung is equally impressive, salon style. Every room has a different theme; fantasy, aggression, heads, etc. There is art everywhere; the floor,  ceiling, walls, outside, inside, on the couch, a Cindy Sherman above the bed in the master bedroom.

Living with all of that art is an overwhelming experience for the senses almost an assault, one which I would love to have.

Then onto the galleries in Chelsea to see some work.

Impressive was Daniel Gordon at Wallspace which is the next show.

Lisa Yuskavage at David Zwirner

Lisa’s paintings are often considered soft porn. Her new works remind me of some of my photographs which many people also thought of as soft porn. I love this new exhibition.

“Yuskavage has developed her own genre of the female nude. They appear to occupy their own realm  while narcissistically contemplating themselves and their bodies. Rich, atmospheric skies frequently augment the psychologically – charged mood, adding to the impression of theatricality and creative possibility.  For this exhibition, Yuskavage takes her complex narrative to a larger scale, whose sheer vastness adds a cinematic component to the works. This new body of wok appears to merge the genres of landscape, still life and portrait painting.”

“The exhibition includes the three- part Triptych, the first time the artist has worked in this format. The triptych format adds an additional, unknown dimension to the narrative and the individual.”

Triptych Lisa Yuskavage

Boundaries Obscured at Haunch of Venison

“The inaugural exhibition is a group show of artists we work with.” – Emilio Steinberger (International Director)

“Boundaries Obscured respond to the growing trend of globalization and the blurring of cultural and geographical boundaries as use of technology becomes more prevalent. These works highlight the overwhelming difficulties and/ or advantages of being an individual in a relentlessly encroaching mass of information and external pressure. The Balcony,(a video) by Eve Sussman and Simon Lee, takes as its point of departure the prefabricated ‘Khrushchyovka’ built in the 1960′s and common in ex-soviet cities. The geometric purity of the Brutalist buildings has been disrupted as residences blocked in the open spaces that were once balconies, creating an extra room with vernacular architecture that marks the prefabrication with personal expression.”

“Patricia Piccinini, examines humans’ complex relationships with technology and animals in this featured work specifically comments on human impact on other life forms. Artist Joana Vasconcelos, is best known for her readymade sculptures inspired by Nouveau- realism and focuses on identity politics pertaining to gender and nationality.”

Boundaries Obscured

Elger Esser at Sonnabend

“These photographs and heliogravures were made in Giverny, France at the gardens of the Fondation Claude Monet. Esser took the images at night- creating prints in color as well as in shades of gray that make use of the diffuse light to suggest a disordered and abandoned world that is devoid of human presence.”

He writes: “I work quite deliberately with blurred images using long exposure times. The mobile in the picture- the water, the trees, the clouds- do things with the film which i can only influence in part. For me, this use of technology is only a background aspect. I concentrate more strongly on the contents of the images. What does it mean to stand at the water’s edge? What happens if the elements in the picture- trees, sky, or water- interact with symmetreies and surfaces, with harmony and disharmony?”

“I am interested in capturing and preserving subjective memories, time and tranquility.”

Elger Esser

Matthew Barney at Gladstone

“An exhibition of new sculpture. “Ancient Evenings” is a multi- part project structured as a site- specific opera in collaboration with Jonathan Bepler, loosely based in Norman Mailer’s 1983 novelof the same title. Barney enacts recurring cycles of reincarnation through the use of an automobile, creating a temporary allegory of death and rebirth with in the Americn industrial landscape. The sculptures on veiw are both formally and conceptually related to the 1967 Chrysler Crown Imperial from Cremaster 3.”

“Ancient Evenings” continues Barney’s program of the last twenty years, in which narrative sculpture is generated through a complex system of storytelling that intertwines personal, historical, and modern mythologies.

Matthew Barney

Barbara Probst at Murray Guy

Interesting conceptually, quiet and meditative.

Barbara Probst

And then I was invited for a night of wine and tango by my friend Alexandra Cicognani  of  A Cicognani Communications; promoting Argentina’s Malbec wine and tango. It was an unexpected evening of elegance romance and wine, which made me want to get on the next plane to Argentina.

Tango Dancers

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By Webmaster, July 19, 2011 11:31 am

A Steamy Weekend in New York

This past Saturday (which was very hot!), a friend of mine asked if I wanted to join her on a sojourn to Governors Island. One of the women of the group going (an artist), works at Maritime Pier in Chelsea, where she set us up on a Fire Department boat that was supposed to receive a ‘blessing’ from the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Unfortunately, the ‘blessing’ never occurred because of a snafu, but off we went to to Governors Island.

The Island wasn’t what I expected — it was so crowded, there were so many tourists, and all of the buildings have Federal Architecture. The place looked like a penal colony — everything was in brown and yellow! Even the grass was burnt yellow because of the heat — it wasn’t a pretty sight. A saving grace of the trip was seeing Mark di Suvero‘s sculptures on the Island grounds, even though I wasn’t impressed with the Island itself. While I think there is a lot of potential to turn it into an artist’s community — I think a lot of renewel has to go into it first!

On the Island, we did see a good exhibition by Finnish artists at Building 110. Called ‘Bodies, Borders, Crossings’, it conceptualizes human bodies in different ways and surrounds images with different ‘borders’ to show how these individuals are ‘controlled’ by their environment. Here are a few of my favorites:

After Governors Island, I was completely wiped out by the heat, and stayed in for most of Sunday! I did end up making it out to my multimedia class at ICP on Monday night, which I continue to love! The work is so interesting, and the people in the class are fantastic. I just have so much to do in the studio that it’s hard to concentrate on Final Cut Pro right now!

I also stopped in this weekend to the No.10 Gallery on Leonard Street in Tribeca — a cool spot that provides a platform for artists in the fashion and photography industry to show their work. The space is dedicated to ‘emerging’ artists — much like the contributors of my new magazine Museé. I’m excited to see more of their future exhibitions!

Last week’s shooting was conceived around these quirky hats I found at Worth & Worth, this fantastic hat store at 45 W. 57th Street. One model, Lauren from the Click Agency, has been working with me every summer for three years — and she’s one of the most beautiful girls I’ve worked with for many years. Another model, Molly (also from Click) is 15 years old and from Kentucky. Even though she’s 15, she responds to the camera like she’s been modeling for five years or more! I haven’t done a thorough edit of the shoot yet, but photos are coming very soon!

Also, now that August is around the corner, this is one of our last blog posts until September! So stay tuned for this summer’s final posting!

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By Webmaster, July 7, 2011 1:49 pm

How Green Was My Valley

For the Fourth of July weekend, I went upstate to stay with a friend who lives in Earlton — a charming town in the Hudson Valley. I’m very much a city person, but this was the first time that I enjoyed myself as much as I did being in the green. I stayed longer on this trip than I usually spend out in Montauk — because I could.

My friend is a movie producer who originally lived in the city, but now lives upstate full-time when she’s not traveling. She really pampered me while I was there! A yoga instructor came to the house everyday, and even one morning a masseuse came to give us massages! It felt like our own private spa!

Having spent most of the weekend indulging myself, I walked through Hudson’s main street (Warren Street) in search for a manicure. Inside up front, it looked like an old apothocary. But once they took me into the back of the salon where the beauty services actually happen, I really saw the place for what it was — a huge mess! There was paper strewn everywhere, and the stylists stood around having these inane conversations — one of which was about how chewing gum always gets stuck to the roofs of their mouths! It was definitely a case for Bravo’s ‘Tabatha’s Salon Makeover‘!

I was also shocked when my nail stylist said it was against New York State law to have my cuticles cut. I’ve never heard such a thing. I looked it up, and it’s true… but why am I able to have them cut in the city? It doesn’t make sense!

A very chic looking woman was sitting in the salon getting her nails done near me. She must of heard my disbelief over the cuticle situation, because she smiled right at me. I knew right away she was from the city!

That evening, my friend took me to a wonderful dinner party at the home of two ‘ex-pat’ city dwellers — one of which is a photographer. They’re a couple who after moving out of the city now own “the” wine shop in Hudson. They live in a modern house that was originally built by  someone who used to work for Calvin Klein, and its exterior is covered in aluminum sheet metal, and the house has huge wooden barn doors. It was really spectacular looking. Inside, the layout of the house was very modern and simple.

At the party was a very familiar looking woman — the woman from the salon! It turns out she’s an art consultant who lives in the city (I was right!). What a coincidence!

The dinner was fantastic — and aside from the fish we ate, the entire meal was grown in their garden. I found it amazing that the dinner’s salads, string beans, radishes, arugala and onions were completely home-grown. Now they’re considering taking up bee-keeping next!

I didn’t end up coming back to the city until Tuesday, and overall I had a magnificent time eating, drinking, reading, relaxing and taking photos. The whole town seemed like a very nice community, and I really see why my girlfriend loves living there so much. People seem much more low-key upstate than they do in the Hamptons, and I’m genuinely happy over the life my friend made for herself there!

Below are some of the photos I took:

Since I’ve been back in the city, I’ve seen ‘A Better Life‘ about an immigrant family struggling to live in East Los Angeles. I also saw ‘Passione‘, which is a musical celebration of Naples and stars John Turturro. It was so fabulous, and I recommend everyone to go see it!

I’ve also started perusing the website Paddle8. It’s a forum for artists to sell their work, and they have a new ‘guest curator’ every month who puts on an exhibition. Check it out!

Now I’m off to ready myself for a class I’m taking on watercoloring! This summer is a summer of learning… and finishing projects… and launching my magazine!

PS: I’m also looking for new ways to engage more readers in dialogue on my blog. Any ideas are appreciated!

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By Webmaster, June 27, 2011 1:29 pm

Hybrid Photography

I stopped by the Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea last week to see the inspiring exhibit, ‘Intersections: Photography / Painting / Document’. The show brought together sixteen artists who created hybrid images that had been manipulated through stitching together multiple photos, scraping and painting over images and creating collages of photos with newspaper clippings or images from the Internet.

Ultimately, I thought the exhibit was a fresh and exciting example of photography being used to create fine art. The pieces were visually compelling, and much of the exhibit was composed of composite images with political or emotional messages that gave a deeper feel to the work.

I also stopped by the opening reception of ‘Interventions In the Landscape’ at Galerie Lelong. The exhibit took a fresh take on landscape photography, with the photographer shooting subjects engaging with and altering the world around them. In some cases, the environment appears to dominate the subject — showing the dynamic relationship people have with the world around them. Overall, I felt the exhibit was conceptually very stimulating — and took a new look at how we photograph landscapes. Like the Marlborough exhibit, the pieces had a deeper meaning with political and social messages for the viewer.

Embracing new techniques and concepts in photography is Les Rencontres d’Arles in France, a festival that has begun exhibiting new types of digital photography and video. Much of the work shown is documentary, but many of the pieces are also works of fine art. The festival starts on July 4th and runs through September 18th. I hope to attend this year!

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By Webmaster, June 20, 2011 1:06 pm

Weekend Excursions

It was a weekend of culture and parties, and I had a great time soaking it all in!

Before heading out to Montauk for the weekend, I stopped into the David LaChapelle’s exhibit ‘From Darkness to Light‘ at the Lever House on Park Avenue. It was an interesting change from his other work — which was a different take on his usual depictions of naked bodies. One piece had translucent stickers of bodies swimming in circles on a window, and another used collage to make large portraits of different bodies together. But one really interesting piece was a series of paper chains (like the kind you make in elementary school) with each chain a cut-out image of a naked body.

I thought his presentation was very inspiring, and it seemed a lot more subtle than his other work. I think he achieved his goal with this exhibit — to produce fine art.

For the rest of the weekend, I went out to my friend Vincent’s house in Montauk, where we attended God’s Love We Deliver’s Midsummer Night Drinks fundraiser. It was a great event to attend — it’s just amazing that this organization feeds a million people a day, and I was happy to hear all of the money raised goes directly to helping them continue to do so.

The event was hosted by Jeff Pfeifle (former President of J.Crew) at his home in Water Mill. While his home was beautiful, the grounds around his home (where the benefit was held) were absolutely spectacular! They seemed to go on for days and days!

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the great weather, and enjoying the company of good friends. It was really nice to receive some support from Vincent about my upcoming photo magazine, Musée, and get his feedback on where he thinks this project can go in the future.

Vincent also had over a great houseguest the same weekend. She’s been pursuing her dream of traveling around the world with her husband of 15 years. They’ve been around Europe and Asia for the past nine months — and plan on heading to South America next! It’s so inspiring hearing about people’s dreams — and seeing them make it happen!

And here’s a photo of Vincent battling some wisteria vines in his trellis… did you know that some of the best gardens in the country are found in the Hamptons? I had no idea!

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By Webmaster, June 8, 2011 1:42 pm

A Film To See…

The other night, I saw Terrence Malick‘s new film, The Tree of Life, and thought it was incredibly beautiful! The story follows the O’Briens, and the lasting effect the death of a child has on the entire family. The story is non-linear, and changes directions and time frames. But if you’re able to keep up, it makes the film more meditative, and provides some interesting takes on how a family handles and deals with life and grief.

Visually, I thought the movie was exquisite. I thought the camera movements and shot compositions were some of the film’s most interesting aspects. Also, the story relies on a lot of narration, which made it interesting, though at times I wished there would be more dialogue between characters.

The friend who I went with said she believed the whole story felt contrived… but I don’t know if I agree. My only criticism is that the film is lengthy, and there were moments when I wasn’t certain whether I was looking at an art film, a National Geographic documentary or a feature film for theatrical release.

But I did think the actors (Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain) were really great in their roles. Jessica was really incredible — she has such a compelling face — and I would love to photograph her! She is a future star.

Also, a note to all readers: I heard that Chelsea Clearview Cinemas has bedbugs as of last weekend! I’m not one to spread rumors, but I want to make sure all of my friends stay safe!

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By Webmaster, June 6, 2011 11:48 am

Some Art and Culture

Last Thursday, I saw one of the most spectacular shows I’ve ever seen on Broadway — The Book of Mormon!

I heard all the hype around the show, and I just hoped it would live up to it. It completely exceeded my expectations, and was one of the satisfying shows I’ve ever seen, next to King Lear at BAM earlier this summer. The show follows two Mormon missionaries in an African village — it was hysterically funny, smart and sensitive and touched on so many issues. I encourage everyone I know to go and see it! It was such an incredible time!

I also saw quite a few photo exhibits… some were good, others proved to be not as inspiring as I hoped they would be. Maria Antonietta Mameli’s exhibit ‘Long Takes’ at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery was conceptually very interesting. She photographed passersby on the Manhattan Bridge, but completely eliminated their surroundings. You can see people go about their daily lives — carrying balloons or moving a mattress — but they are frozen on a white background. It was really beautiful!

I also visited the Gladstone Gallery to see Jack Smith’s exhibit “Thanks For Explaining Me” that used film, photography and collage to depict an avant-garde look at his life living in downtown New York. To me, the whole thing was just confusing and overwhelming. There was everything from photos of drug use to pornographic videos playing — it was a lot to take in. It’s something that you need half a day to spend looking through everything — because it takes awhile to make sense of all of it.

I was surprised by Laurel Nakadate’s “365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears”, where Nakadate spent everyday for a year looking sad or crying in the camera. The whole thing came off as rather banal — which was disappointing because I’ve been such a big fan of her work since her exhibit last summer at P.S. 1.

In visiting a lot of these galleries, I was concerned to hear a lot of them are tying up their final exhibits in June, and not opening back up until September. I like to get out of the city on weekends, but on the random weekends I am here, I’m hoping there will still be some new shows to see! Let’s hope there’s some places that will be showing some good artists throughout the summer!

Another exciting thing that did happen this weekend — my friend and I were supposed to see a show at Lincoln Square Cinema, but they were all sold out that evening. We decided to skip it and head up to the Red Rooster Restaurant in Harlem. My friend is a big walker, and suggested that we walk the 6 miles up to 125th and Lenox from Lincoln Plaza. I was against it at first, but it turned out to be a fun trek! It helped that our destination had great food! Here’s to a summer of good health!

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By Webmaster, June 1, 2011 5:03 pm

Some Rest and Relaxation

Over the Memorial Day weekend I had a great time getting some rest and relaxation! I spent Saturday and Sunday at a friend’s house in Montauk. It’s a beautiful place on the ‘Golden Coast’ of Long Island — a cliff that overlooks the ocean. The views are absolutely spectacular. On Saturday morning, there was a thick fog under the cliff. It made for a great photo!

Unfortunately, my friend’s cat got sick on Sunday, so I was back in the city on Monday for some cultural sight seeing. I made a stop over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to take a look (for a third time!) of the Alexander McQueen “Savage Beauty” exhibition. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe what a genius that man was — he knew so much about history and science and incorporated all of his knowledge into his work. I believe the MET did a spectacular job exhibiting McQueens’s art — by  using his quotes and clips from his fashion shows to really do the man justice.

I stopped by the Mario Testino affair last Thursday (the one I was supposed to photograph), but unfortunately there was a snafu and I was stuck in the paparazzi pen along the red carpet. I was dressed in my cocktail wear, while everyone else looked like they’ve been on the job all day long! Oh well, tis the life of a photographer!

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By Webmaster, May 23, 2011 12:49 pm

Day at the Musée

Even though this week was a total washout with the weather, I had a spectacular weekend indoors at the New York Public Library. I had RSVPed to attend a workshop put on by The Believer magazine on ‘The Art of the Interview‘. It was a panel of distinguished writers and actors who were able to explain what’s a ‘good’ question when interviewing someone, and what made a ‘good’ response to interview questions. There was a star-studded group on the panel: author and television host Dick Cavett, New York Times writer Claudia Dreifus, author Kenneth Goldsmith and Lorin Stein, editor at The Paris Review.

The panel discussed their own experiences with interviewing, gave out some good interview questions we could use in our own work and even gave us a chance to interview each other in the audience. But perhaps the best part was the performance by Saturday Night Live‘s Paulo Costanzo, who interviewed himself! The script was written by SNL writer Simon Rich. It was fantastic and hysterical!

But one of the biggest surprises of the day was discovering a gem of an exhibition in the Library’s main hall. It was a set of photographs that were printed in an incredibly interesting way — all of which are recent acquisitions of the Library’s Miriam and Ira D Wallach’s Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. The photos were of a huge range of subject — from buildings to people — and were from all over the world and from photographers of different nationalities. But what was fascinating about these photos were the printing techniques these photographers used — many of them that were used decades ago using Lumen negatives and different types of tissue filters.

This one is from Vera Lutter of the Corte Barozzi in Venice. Stunning! It’s so amazing how photographers today are re-using older techniques to create something exciting and mysterious. Other photographers shown in the exhibit included Huma Bhabha, Stefan Kürten, Beatriz Milhazes, Lothar Osterburg and Darren Almond. Go see it! I was so impressed with it!

In other news, I have decided on a name of our new online magazine! Musée will be coming out this Fall! We’ve received so many amazing contributions from emerging photographers, and we’re currently in the process of going through all of them. But we’re still accepting submissions for the next week or so, so keep them coming!

If you would still like to contribute, but haven’t so yet, send your best five fashion or art shots to ab.photosubmissions@gmail.com for consideration.