The Gimme Shelter traveling benefit show hits NYC tomorrow at 193c in Brooklyn. After the show tour the pieces will be up for sale/auction. Proceeds will be going to the National Coalition for the Homeless, based in Washington, DC.
193c Gallery, located behind Cafe Grumpy
193 Meserole Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
Opening Party Friday, 02/16 6-9pm
by Michael McNichols
Chicago, IL 2/10/2007
“Shadows fade, but some things last forever. Do not ask who wears the mask!”
I’m only paraphrasing, but that mere sampling of shitty poetry was what Rogue, lead singer of the Cruxshadows, whined between songs at Metro last Saturday night. I’d expect such verbal diarrhea spurting like a geyser out of a teenaged goth girl’s mouth, not a grown man’s.
Rogue (real name Virgil Roger duPont III, yeah, no wonder he uses a pseudonym) had styled his hair into spiky strings that flailed all over his head like a drunk Madonna had gotten her hands on it. He looked like a retarded anime character come to life up on stage in front of me. And this was the man trying to command my and everyone else’s attention in the entire crowd. Read more »
Did you miss Toy Fair this year? Don’t fret, the Bungalo is bringing the show to you. Click on the screen below to watch the movie. If that doesn’t work, click “play in pop-up” located under the screen. You can also download the movie, but beware: It’s huge.
Toy Fair 2007: The Movie on Vimeo
by Michael McNichols
2/4/07 Chicago, IL
“Jesus is a cunt!”
These words greeted me from the back of a teenager’s t-shirt as I stepped into the lobby of the House of Blues on Superbowl Sunday for the Cradle of Filth show. If you’re Jewish, that really means nothing to you, doesn’t it? It’s the thought that counts I suppose.
Gas masks, surgeon masks, chains, leather, fishnets, I saw it all. Oddly enough, Dani Filth (hey, he wants to be called that) and his Cradle of Filth bandmates were the most normal-looking people at the show. After scraping off some of their makeup, they could have walked into McDonald’s and ordered a Big Mac without much complaint.
I expected to see teenagers at the show, but it really threw me to see so many little kids running around, dragging their parents behind them. Like everyone else, the kids had caked their faces in makeup reminiscent of The Crow though they’re probably too young to have ever seen that movie. Some even dragged long trench coats behind them or wore spike-studded dog collars around their necks. Read more »
“Collecting Contemporary”
by Adam Lindermann
Taschen
This is not your parents’ art book.
With new designers, artists, and painters easily accessible through the World Wide Web, and gallery openings becoming the new places to be seen, the contemporary art movement is both exciting and frustrating. With so many points of entry, how can a newbie collector dive in without hitting some rocks? Taschen and Adam Lindermann have released the perfect handbook for new and old art aficionados. Culling together bite-sized interviews with collectors, gallery owners, artists, and critics, collectors get an inside view on when to purchase art, what to look out for, and how to go about reselling older pieces.
The book is an easy yet substantial read. Insider lingo and jargon is explained in detail, and the editors did a great job ordering the chapter based on the interviewees role in the art community. “Collecting Contemporary” also provides a wealth of art photos. Readers unfamiliar with a particular artist mentioned in the text can usually find one of their works on an opposite page or in a sidebar.
The best advice offered in the book? Buy what you love, not what will appreciate in value. While it’s nice to make a quick buck, adorning your walls with art that you like looking at is what collecting contemporary art is all about.
Jonathan Levine and Choque Cultural Gallery have joined forces to help bring eight Brazilian artists to the United States so that they can attend the opening of their massive group art show on February 17.
Last Wednesday, Levine hosted the first of three events that form the core of a Brazilian arts and culture initiative, called Ruas de Sao Paulo. “We wanted to bring these eight Brazilian street artists and their gallery representatives,” Levine said. “They get to come up here for two weeks, all but one have ever been to the United States, and basically do this community initiative where they paint a school in the Bronx, as well as painting at Five Points in Long Island, and some different locations in New York City.”
Brazilian street and graffiti art has become quite popular in the States, thanks in part to the success of “Graffiti Brazil” a photo retrospective or street art through out the South American Country. The book focuses primarily on character art from artists ranging from Os Gemeos to Pichadores. “We are working with eight of the artists from that book and the people who made that book,” Levine says. “The auction is the first event to help us raise funds, because it’s so expensive to bring the artists here. All the artists that I work with donated work for this event including Shag, Shepard Fairey, and Ron English.”
So why focus on Brazil?
“I went to Brazil for few weeks last year just to explore this new art scene, and I met all these amazing people and had this life affirming experience,” Levine recalls. “So now I want to bring the experience here so that everyone else can have it to.”
A Survey of Brazilian Street Art from Sao Paulo is presented in association with Choque Cultural Gallery. Artists ncluded: Boleta, Fefe, Highraff, Kboco, Onesto, Speto, Titi Freak, and Zezao. The event will run from Feb 17 thru Mar 17, 2007
Opening reception - Saturday, February 17, 6pm-9pm
The Lounge Puppets
Chicago, House of Blues 1/26/07
photos courtesy of The Lounge Puppets
by Michael McNichols
“Fuck you, Pete! Fuck you, Pete!”
The crowd of older rock fans desperately trying to relive their glory days at the downtown Chicago House of Blues repeatedly chanted this at Pete’s joyful insistence. Pete Greco, lead singer for “˜80s hair metal tribute band the Lounge Puppets, bragged readily up on stage about how he’d come here tonight to get loaded. He must have already been looking like that. Read more »
