hustler of culture

links for 2008-05-11

• How to Pack Everything You Own in One Bag
  Airlines are now charging extra to check a second piece of baggage. I rarely ever check in any luggage, but you might travel differently. Listen to these tips on how to pack lighter.
  (tags: NPR Travel Tips Airlines Transportation Business)

"Only Shallow" by My Bloody Valentine

In honor of the tickets I bought today for My Bloody Valentine's two Santa Monica gigs, I share with you "Only Shallow", classic MBV from the landmark album, Loveless. In 1991, when I was a sophomore at University, this album was on heavy rotation with my suitemates. 17 years later, I can guarantee you, we're all still listening to it.

NYC - "Soft Serve" (05.09.08 - 06.14.08)

Dying to See "Son of Rambow"

There are a few reasons why I'm dying to see 'Son of Rambow':

1) I grew up running around in the woods. Along with my ET posse, we engaged in a lot of similar imaginary activities. I'm sure at one point in your life, you have probably wanted to make a film like this. Big ups to anyone who can actually dig up your old Indiana Jones/Rambo/Predator Betamax home videos!

2) Garth Jennings is brilliant and witty and I want to support all his work, especially an indie flick!

3) "Make Believe. Not War." is the best tag line ever.

4) Nostalgic 80s soundtrack, hair, and wardrobe.

5) I love coming of age stories with boy lead characters. I have always related better to them.

6) Proof that 'Rambo: First Blood' impacted my generation and not just me and my siblings.

This movie couldn't arrive in theaters fast enough!

LA - The Colburn Chamber Orchestra Concert (05.11.08)

Greetings, Friends of Sundays Live!

Please join us at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) at 6:00 PM next Sunday, May 11, 2008 for

The Colburn Chamber Orchestra, Neal Stulberg conductor and piano

Mozart -- Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K 414
Grieg -- Two Elegiac Suites
Bernard Hermann -- Psycho Suite
Gershwin -- Lullaby
Michael Daugherty -- Strut

SM - "The War is Over" (05.10.08 - 06.14.08)

NYC - 'Enclosure Exposure: Data Protection Patterning' Book Event (05.10.08)

Enclosure Exposure:
Data Protection Patterning

By Elizabeth Duffy and Purgatory Pie Press

Book Launch

Saturday, May 10, 2008, 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Printed Matter, Inc. is pleased to announce a launch for Enclosure Exposure: Data Protection Patterning by Elizabeth Duffy. This is the latest publication by Purgatory Pie Press, a New York based press devoted to letterpress and handmade publications. The launch will take place on Saturday, May 10, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM. Printed Matter is located at 195 Tenth Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Street) in New York City.

Purgatory Pie Press and the artist Elizabeth Duffy have collaborated on Enclosure Exposure a book that utilizes as source material everyday ephemeral patterns, specifically the interior security patterns of envelopes and the visual language of analog mail. The result is a page-turner of overlapping patterns and forms. Purgatory and Duffy culled patterns from their junk mail to create this paean to the quotidian.

LIC - "assume vivid astro focus" (05.10.08 - 08.16.08)

SF - Kelsey Brookes + AJ Fosik New Works (05.10.08 - 06.07.08)

LB - ""And When It's Over, Set Aside a Moment to Forget" (05.10.08 - 07.31.08)

SF - "Thick Air Method" (05.10.08 - 05.31.08)

Saskia Leek
Thick Air Method
May 10-31, 2008
Opening reception: Saturday, May 10th, 6-9pm

The Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco is pleased to present a solo exhibition by New Zealand-based painter Saskia Leek.

Saskia Leek began exhibiting her paintings in the early 1990s, her subject matter being drawn from real and imagined memories of growing up in Christchurch. Her naïve, almost childlike style established her reputation as an artist who was willing to question accepted principles of ‘good painting’. Initially the works appear crude and amateurish; her naïve style is often absent of scale and perspective. Leek’s choice of media, acrylic on board, as well as the flatness with which she depicts her subject matter evokes a second-hand quality.

LA - "Reading" (05.10.08)

Reading
(a Reading)
with Susan Gevirtz and Steve Dickison
Saturday, May 10 at 7:30pm

I have been able to catch up on some reading lately. Finished __________ by __________–I really like it but __________ does get a bit technical in talking about the brain and how it functions in the role of the emotion life. Have had the Winter 2007 issue of __________ sitting around to finish–title is “__________.” It is about the rise, of __________–one article talks about “monastic groupies,” people who connected themselves to a monastery, practiced some of the disciplines but lived outside in the world. I have tended to go to different monasteries, three I think at this point but was a regular at a retreat center for about a year.

Also Just finished reading __________ on “__________.” They have excellent material in that __________, maybe I need to re-subscribe? Of course, I have had this one lying around for 6 months and only now finished it. One article talked about the problem of __________ and how so many __________.

I am moving slowly through __________ but hope I can sustain my concentration enough to finish it this time–likely will take a few months. Re-reading __________ and the book that __________ says had a significant impact on him (in the __________ I just finished). I should finish __________ by the __________ of my recently completed _________–hmmm, if I am saying should, that is not a good sign. Also have a couple of chapters to finish in __________–that is one that started out very promising but couldn’t sustain itself and so I put it aside–maybe having two __________ to finish had something to do with it. What is next? A couple on my desk that I am looking at longingly—__________ by__________, __________ by __________and __________by __________. I do want to head back and finish __________ that I started last summer.

LA - "Pop Pollution" (05.10.08 - 06.11.08)

The LAB 101 Space presents;

'Pop Pollution'

small artworks by
Isaac Bushkin, Matt Stallings & Jacob Arden McClure

MAY 10 - JUNE 11, 2008
Opens Saturday May 10th, 2pm / Artists Reception 6 -10pm

New Location: 8539 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232

T. 310 945 5974 http://www.thelab101.com
hours. wed - sat 12 - 6pm & opening saturdays 2 - 10pm

LA - "Visions of Europe" + "Convince Me I'm on Fire" (05.10.08 - 06.07.08)

CERASOLI gallery Presents;

Gallery One
Andy J. Simmons 'Visions of Europe'

Gallery Two
Joshua Krause 'Convince Me I'm on Fire'

May 10 - June 7 , 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday May 10, 6-9 pm

CERASOLI gallery
8530-B Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
T. 310 558 0911 E. info@cerasoligallery.com

LA - "INSTALLATION 4: It’s A Beautiful World" (05.10.08 - 06.01.08)

NYC - "The New People Are Already Here" (05.09.08 - 06.14.08)

LA - "Plaits and Fringe" (05.09.08 - 06.06.08)

NYC - "No Greater Solitude" (05.09.08 - 06.08.08)

no greater solitude
Jonathan Hartshorn and Joyce Kim

May 9 - June 8, 2008
opening Friday, May 9, 6-8
gallery hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 11-6

THIERRY GOLDBERG PROJECTS
5 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002 ph: 212.967.2260

LA - "Your Mom's in my Business" (05.09.08 - 06.15.08)

Printed Ephemera and New Works
by Kevin Lyons

Opening Friday, May 9th, 6 - 10 pm,
Show runs May 10th - June 15th

HVW8 Art +Design Gallery
661 N. Spaulding Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Gallery open: Wed - Sat, 1- 5pm
Or by appointment: 323 655 4898

NYC - "Speechcraft" (05.09.08)

SPEECHCRAFT: CAREY YOUNG
MAY 9, 6:30PM, 42 WEST 44TH STREET, 2ND FLOOR

In Speechcraft, London-based Carey Young’s debut public performance in the U.S., the artist will collaborate with local branches of Toastmasters International—a group dedicated to the development of public speaking skills. Young’s performance will be modeled on a typical Toastmasters meeting (in which club members practice and critique impromptu and prepared speeches), but in Speechcraft, Toastmasters members will be challenged to speak about objects that Young finds artistically inspiring.

Click HERE to reserve tickets for Speechcraft

NYC - "The Masterworks" (05.09.08 - 06.14.08)

Todd Norsten
The Masterworks

May 9 - June 14, 2008

Opening Reception:
Friday, May 9 from 6 to 8pm

www.cohanandleslie.com

We are pleased to announce Todd Norsten's second exhibition at the gallery which includes a series of 7 new paintings and a suite of 10 works on paper.

NYC - "Watchman" (05.09.08 - 06.14.08)

Ryan Johnson
Watchman

May 9 – June 14, 2008
Opening Reception Friday, May 9th, 6-8pm

For his first solo exhibition in New York, Ryan Johnson presents six large sculptures that explore the psychological and imaginative narratives built in and around the subject of a Watchman. The Watchman’s solitary endless night shift erodes the distinction between the real and the imagined creating a hallucinatory space where functional objects are appendages, racing clocks stare back, and his own anxieties materialize a self-image that is nightmarishly distorted and disfigured.

LA - "Caleb Neelon Is Working On It" (05.09.08 - 06.01.08)

Carmichael Gallery Presents -

Caleb Neelon Is Working On It
Solo Exhibit by Caleb Neelon
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 10, 2008, 8 PM - Midnight
Exhibition Dates: May 10 - June 1, 2008

1257 N. La Brea Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90038
(Fountain and La Brea)

NYC - Mika Rottenberg New Works (05.09.08 - 06.07.08)

Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery is pleased to present its second solo exhibition by Mika Rottenberg. The exhibition is on view from May 9 to June 7, 2008. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 9, from 6 to 8 p.m.

In Mika Rottenberg's drawings, the artist's body serves as markmaking tool, creating painterly, expressive graphic elements that both anchor and disrupt microcosmic tableaux. Expressive yet systematic, the drawings start with a vocabulary of marks which the artist continually deploys and reworks. These frenetic symbols flirt with legibility and, like worker bees, organize into structures suggestive of factories or Rube Goldberg machines. In an almost biological process, the density of drawing accumulates to a point of fullness, seemingly ingesting and regurgitating itself in each variation. Acid bursts of color and dense, congested elements are balanced by expanses of space and opaque areas that resemble pooled liquids or holes. The visceral handling of graphite, paper, and paint dynamically connects the artist’s body and the act of drawing in a process that is both formal and personal.

NYC - "Fields" (05.09.08 - 06.07.08)

Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery is pleased to present Fields, its second solo exhibition by Alona Harpaz. The exhibition is on view from May 9 to June 7, 2008. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 9, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Alona Harpaz’ seductive surfaces negotiate the rift between figural and abstract through implied, dramatic shifts of scale. Like fractals revealing the intricately repetitive structures of organic forms, the compositions unify portraiture and ornamentation by fluidly transitioning between micro and macro views. As Christoph Tannert writes, “this kind of painting ... lets the cosmic particles around the figures gleam in psychedelic colors that sound like inwardness with no minor key.”

SF - Gina Borg New Works (05.09.08 - 05.31.08)

Gina Borg
Jancar Jones Gallery

May 9 - 31, 2008
Opening Friday, May 9th, 5-8pm

The Jancar Jones Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibit of paintings by Bay Area artist, Gina Borg. The exhibit will include abstract works on both canvas and paper.

NYC - "Deluxe" (05.08.08 - 06.07.08)

Zach Feuer Gallery
530 W. 24th Street
New York, NY 10011
Tel: +1 212 989 7700
info@zachfeuer.com

Exhibition dates: May 8-June 7, 2008
Opening reception: May 8, 6-8 pm

NYC - "La Passion des images" (05.08.08 - 06.04.08)

Peter Knapp: La Passion des images

Thursday, May 8– Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The name Peter Knapp instantly brings to mind the glossy pages of Elle magazine, as the publication’s legendary Artistic Director from 1960 to 1964 and then again from 1974 to 1978. As Knapp brilliantly showcased the works of celebrated photographers in the pages of Elle, he was simultaneously crafting a personal oeuvre of photographs that shed light on the controversial world of fashion and modeling.

NYC - Lee Bul New Works (05.08.08 - 06.14.08)

Lee Bul

8 May - 14 June 2008
Opening Reception, Thursday, 8 May, 6-8 pm

Lehmann Maupin
540 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
Telephone 212 255 2923
info@lehmannmaupin.com

LA - "Desert Interventions" (05.08.08 - 06.29.08)

Jeff Gillette: Desert Interventions
Valérie Jacobs: New Paintings, Drawings and Prints
May 8 - June 29, 2008

Opening Reception Thursday, May 8, 2008 from 6 - 9 pm
During the monthly Downtown Art Walk

On Display in the Project Windows:
Megan Geckler: "Set a course for wayward schemes"
Richard Ankrom "Untitled Tripod"
through December 31, 2008

LA - Jakob Dylan Free Concert (05.08.08)

Attention Southern California Jakob Dylan fans!! Want to be a part of an exclusive major internet event with Jakob?

Yahoo! Music and Columbia Records want you to join us when Jakob Dylan takes the stage for Nissan Live Sets in West Los Angeles, CA.

May 8, 2008, 7 pm (subject to change, you need to arrive two hours before)
Location: West Los Angeles

The first 200 fans to email us at Invite@YahooLiveSets.com (until the day before the show) will get in the doors for this exclusive taping. Plus you get to bring a friend. Just email us your name and your location, and we will contact you if you are chosen to attend.

Mitsuwa Market Dinner

May 3, 2008 - 6:33 p.m. - Los Angeles, CA

Fast food at the Mitsuwa Market Food Court is still better than most peep's home cooked meals.

Brooklyn - Eddie Martinez and Chuck Webster Book Event (05.07.08)

Chicago - Gallery Talk: Exhibiting Artists Terence Gower and Josef Schulz (05.07.08)

Gallery Talk: Exhibiting Artists Terence Gower and Josef Schulz
Wednesday May 7, 6pm at the MoCP

Exhibiting artists Terence Gower and Josef Schulz will discuss their work on view. Both artists explore the effects of color in the experience of architecture as photographic documentation. In Gower’s case, he creates an installation based on Luis Barragan’s home using a large red wall and a graphic, black-and-white picture. Schulz transforms generic industrial buildings into otherwordly, often colorful images using digital tools.

Calico Horse Riding High

After a long weekend at the Coachella Valley Music Festival, I thought I'd tire of hearing any more music. I'm a fuddy duddy and to me, all the new stuff sounds the same. My persistent pal Meredith sent me a few songs by Calico Horse to check out and lucky for me, she was right that I'd like them. I'm a sucker for female-fronted indie rock bands.

As I listened to front lady Emily Neveu's endearing cover of Radiohead's "Idioteque" I decided that they were good enough for me. That said, this ain't no cover band. Sample "Father Feed Me" from their upcoming album, "Mirror" and judge for yourself. I hate writing music reviews cause you have to use metaphors to say what you feel and it doesn't really make sense. So maybe if I had to describe them to my buddies, I'd say, "Check out Calico Horse, they're like Feist's softer and sadder cousin but with more earnestness than most of the bands out today."