Jayson’s “Halcyon Days” opens at Salon 94

I was reading all the press and blog reviews of Jayson’s show today compelling me to write.  Now he can put the Journal under his press belt.  I’m sure there will be write ups in every major publication form artforum to the Times about this show.  His first solo in New York!  The show out preformed my expectations as his first Coogi piece was constructed for our thesis show back in 2011 and although the ideas are the same the actual execution of this work for exceeded what he put on the walls back then.  These pieces are simply elegant and a real step forward for the notion of object making for Jayson.  In the past people might have criticized him for making rough punky drawings, I happened to always love them.  I know he views him self as an object maker not a mere performer like many think he is from his Hennessy fame and this is the perfect way to step in the arena.  It might be time to put Henny on hold and simply ride the wave of being Jayson from this point forward.  But I guess he can’t do that and he probably won’t want to as he say’s it was for his online presence he would not be where he is at right now.  I am simply thrilled that my fellow Penn alum are getting such recognition from the art world these days. Jacoby was just featured in the Brooklyn rail and now this for the Pharaoh.  I can’t wait to see what happens next! The only thing that kind of rubs me the wrong way about all of this is a quote from the galleristny where they talk about a conversation between Jayson and William Powhida where Powhida tells Jayson he is now an “insider.”   Honestly where all aware of this notion, he has been an insider since grad school when the Ali G article came out. From that point it was just a matter of time to what major gallery would step up to the plate and give Jayson the shot he totally deserved.   I simply found it in bad taste of the galleristny to publish this in the story about him but Jayson handled it with grace!  … I guess I’m just as bad drawing attention to it.  Now Jayson make those Benjamin’s cause you know he did found our school. And through some of the extra paper my way, help a brother out. (and by brother I mean smallish Jewish man)  

 http://www.salon94.com/

Stop trending up!!!! its bad for art

Yeah we friends and shit at Josee Bienvenu is a perfect example of a gallery show that is trying to ride the hipster wave of coolness. I hate to be this critical of anything but this show is just an example of what not to do.  It looked like a bad grad school thesis show!!! With unimpressive text pieces, paintings off the internet referencing art in the digital age,  black exploitation pieces painted childlike with text trying to be clever and the piece to the left of post-its and spray paint.  This is all derivative of works we have all seen over and over again.  Please stop this non sense as show like this force young talented, and well educated artist to feel this is the kind of work to make if they are to get to show in Chelsea.  They are just recycling old ideas that at one point in history where fresh or challenging to the world.  Now the works seem to calling this time as the end of art.  The only thing worse was the show that opened at David Zwirner, on June 28th Stand Like the Hummingbird.  This show explored the same ideas presented as in the lesser show with notions of objecthood and gender and race politics in art, at least when the works at Zwirner where made they where in fact avant-garde.  There is always a good deal of terrable art in Chelsea, but when shows try to be at the height of critical discourse and falls shot as these two shows did it just leaves a terrible taste in my mouth as to the state of things.  I'm usually am a champion a Zwirner, but this show was a real let down for me for me .  I love many of the artists in the show, and after a year of very strong shows that have mostly been hung very well this one just seemed like a fire sale with very little for thought in its execution.

Beasts of Revelation

DC Moore, like many of the stronger galleries in Chelsea went with a large group show to ring in the summer.  With such a title one would expect a dark show filled with allegory and a true sense of desperation that many including myself often feel about our present paradigm.  The truth is the show is more or less a playful mockery of this religious realty.  Most of the works if not all are self portraits or in there least self referential to the ego of the artist.  Are we in fact as artists these Beasts who are ringing in the end of time?  Truthfully we need to move past this and be the individual saviors of society.  We are the last independent free thinking individuals! We should be coming up with the solutions to the worlds problems.  But the quantitative controllers don't let this happen leaving us on the periphery to struggle and play the commodity fetish game of the art market relying on them as our support.  When in realty they should look to us as leaders or partners.  Matt Freedman's Sculpture above to me says exactly this!  He is Heracles club in hand and can return after exile to ring in a time of great prosperity.  However his power is simply limited by a system way beyond him.  Forcing him to be simply be a bobble head shaking around as the world crumbles.

Mars is no longer on Park

Tom Sachs's  Trip to Mars on Park Ave. has ended but it was an amazing exhibition.  I was very lucky to be asked to stay on and work the show from the inside of the LEM giving talks about the work.  It was simply rad!!!  Some of my highlights where talking with Buzz Aldrin on the "dub version" of the ship that Buzz took to the moon, giving Clair Bishop a shot of Tequila  out of the Tequila gun aboard the ship and meeting one of the artists I admire the most Cai Guo-Qiang.  Lastly becoming closer with Tom and his team is something I am grateful for and I feel very lucky to have been asked to give the LEM tours.  Click on the link if you want to read an article from Space.com about the show there is a little video that I am in briefly as well.

http://www.space.com/16150-tom-sachs-mission-mars-exhibition.html

Highlights from the Tom Sachs's LEM

Buzz Aldrin and Paris Pasternak

Me and Cai Guo-Qiang

a view from my office

Under the Brooklyn Bridge

Something I struggle with daily

      What is the role of the artist in our society?  Ask this question to different people and you will learn about individual ideology, actual intellect, as well as a bit about class and education.  Of course there is “not really a correct answer to the question” although historically groups of artists argued for their ways of thinking as being the only art of the time.  Scholars and critics have come in to attempt to redefine art as the lens of interpretation, and of course the collector or patron who use their money and influence to direct and create their own definitions.     

Why does this even matter as most people I believe view art as something merely decorative created by grand eccentrics or meek introverts who only really have the ability to be an “artist.” This might be true in some ways but this is due to a mass interpretation heavy-handed to us with our historic paradigms of Oligarchic control.  As many know over recent years, probably 40 or so, there has been a real attempt by one side to try to erase thousands of years of history and on the other side to continue pushing the commodity fetish power structure side of things.  With socially engaged and culturally conscious people representing a voice of the avant-garde, where their art is no longer 'art' but something all together different and past the notion of cultural production.  And then there's the other side filled with glitter and jet setting events.

With all of this push and pull it’s more a power struggle of ideology and sadly it’s very often not about the work or what the work is about.  It's more a combination of who fits the profile of the archetype of the projected audience and a moment of social networking perceived to be beneficial by the organizer.  This happens at every level from galley to museum, residency to grant recipient and textbook to blog.  On top of all of this there is the middle ground containing the majority of people and this is an unbelievably gray space.  This is because the taking from both extremes happens here making it very difficult to navigate the real from the fake the truly invested or those merely looking for a sound investment.  What happens is it becomes a popularity contest on both sides of the middle and these people start to define public consciousness of art. 

Mars on Park Ave

Bill Powers grading exams on Mars

Since I started at Creative Time in January the talk of the office has been about the Tom Sachs Mars exhibition we had planned for this May and June at the Park Avenue Armory.  Well it opened on the 15^th and Runs until the middle of June and was in fact the best opening I have ever attended in my life even surpassing my own shows.  His work is easily accessible for all kinds of audiences, there was even a lack  of the horrible pretentious stereotype  of the art world surprisingly present in an opening filled with serious collector and celebrities like Michael Stipe, Kanye West, and Cynthia Rowley. Really the work is simply just fun and every one in the Armory for a brief bit of time let down there guards and believed  in being human for a moment perhaps having a bit of childlike nostalgia during the experience on Mars .  This might be due to the fact the works although some being monumental are clearly created by people, no fancy fabrications just years of hard work by Sachs and his amazing team of skate boarding  whisky drinking assistants.  The truth is the show is self-reflexive of humanity and the youthfulness and joy so often over looked in this city and in our society as a whole as computers and finance define us.  No one exemplified this more then gallerist and TV personality Bill Powers who was the most engaged person on Mars.  Wearing a Nasa Lab coat and grading exams of those  at the testing station on Mars.  His glow was so bright and smile so large I believe for the evening he was simply playing as he did as a 10 year old.  My time at Creative Time is almost over as I was just there for 6-month internship and this was the perfect culmination of my experience working for such a fantastic organization.  I will be kicking it on Mars a few days a week until the expedition  is over and I recommend you come so you can journey to Mars your self.

Hennessy on Grad School

Tom Sachs takes us to Mars

Tom Sachs talking about the role of "Tea Culture on Mars"

Tom Sachs is just simply rad!  Yesterday I was walked through Mars by Tom two days before it opens to the public.  Seeing the final touches go into this journey with years of planning was an experience and a half as an artist exactly a year out of grad school.  Tom skated around Mars explaining in great detail every aspect of life on the planet as he and his studio see it.  This is going to be the exhibition of the year in New York.


 http://tomsachsmars.com/

Racism and Baseball

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A few weeks ago I was in Boston and I went to watch the Yankees play the Red Sox.   

Two gentlemen next to me though got thrown out of the game and although I joke about it saying that it made it a more authentic experience, it was really sad.  I am also unsure how far it could be taken from a criminal perspective as it was at Fenway but clearly an assault based on race.  The men started throwing peanuts at an interracial couple a few rows up from where I was sitting.  They did it a few times before the man they where targeting came up and stated screaming at the wrong group of people. The couple must have gone to security as sure enough the men next to me started throwing peanuts again but this time four or so officers came and pulled them out of their seats.  This happened right before the Yankees really started winning or I could have been a target of this groups harassment.  He already made a Jew remark early on when he learned I was from New York.   I forget racism exists living in New York, I did see it in Princeton as well as in Philly but nothing as direct and uneducated as this.  The people behind me said it isn’t a season if that guy doesn’t get kicked out, but this was more then that.  I believed we had moved way past this in our society I guess the art world is a bit more accepting even with its ridged hierarchical structure. Or perhaps we are more subversive?