Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Museum of Censored Art

I keep forgetting to post on this blog... One of my news years resolutions is to make my monthly post.



I am sure you all have heard about the uproar of the smithsonian and the removal of the David Wojnarowicz's A Fire on my Belly

If you haven't heard on October 30, 2010, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery opened Hide/Seek, one of the first exhibitions of gay and lesbian art to appear in a major American museum. The exhibition caused no complaints from museum visitors, but did gain attention of unhappy anti-gay activists who wrongly portrayed the exhibit as Anti-Christian.

One work in particular that got the anti-gay activists going was a 4-minute video by David Wojnarowicz that criticizes society’s indifference toward AIDS. The video includes about 11 seconds of an ant-covered crucifix and this caused some upheaval from these anti-gay groups.

A good friend of mine, Mike Iacovone and his friend Mike Blasenstein protested the removal of the video and the censorship of art. Their protest was quiet. The gist of it goes like this : Iacovone filmed Blasenstein wearing an ipad around his neck showing A Fire in My Belly inside of the Hide/Seek exhibiton. Their protest came to a sudden end when security guards and police halted their statement.

The two Mikes have come back with an even bigger protest this time. They have rented a trailor through the closing of the show and have also rented two parking spaces outside of the museum. They have called this trailor the Museum of Censored Art, and they are parked on the 700 block of F Street NW outside of the southern entrance of the museum. Blasenstein, Iacovone and volunteers will work the trailer everyday from 11 am to 7 pm until the Hide/Seek exhibit closes on Feb. 13.

This whole situation raises really interesting questions and brings really interesting debates to the censorship of art.

To contact the Museum of Censored Art and learn more about the project visit
http://dontcensor.us/?page_id=128

Saturday, January 8, 2011

THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT





































I have been working on The SketchBook Project on and off for the last 3 months. This is a unique show of artist's sketchbooks provided by Art House Co-Op, affliated with Brooklyn Museum of Art, NYC. Check out sketchbookproject.com for more details. I thought I would post some of my pages. My assigned theme is: "I'm a Savenger". The pages are collaged bits and pieces from old magazines and snippets of items that I have saved. The sketchbook is autobiographical. The most astonishing aspect of the work is how closely my life story relates to the 1949/50 SECRETS magazine's "sensational" stories written for the ladies of the day. WOW!.......I guess I should have taken those stores seriously....could have saved myself alot of heartache!!!!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

films about art/artists

Reflecting on the past year has sent me on a vision quest.
Well, it sent me on a lapse of time watching movies either about art or with an art theme.
Does anyone remember the documentary about the Vogel's? The couple in NY with the postman's salary and apartment crammed with hundreds of pieces of minimalist and conceptual art?
Here is what has happened since then:
Vogel 50x50 - the Vogel story and an archive of their collection.
Some people/critics have noted that their collection is not that great....it looks pretty phenomenal to me.

I recommend also The Art of the Steal
A telling documentary of civic deception and the things that people do to acquire art...


The other day I saw this little funny film with William H. Macy and Christopher Walken...they are so good in it "The Maiden Heist":


"Strange Culture" about Steven Kurtz who was detained for terrorism because he was working on art pertaining to GMO food, something the government and food industry is not obligated to inform us about...not to mention the ridiculous freedom of speech, information and expression rights that are suppressed - this is a good one to watch, too.


And in light of some personal undertakings, I was reminded of this:
Then there was "Basquiat" I saw in '96 when it came out - and I want to see the new documentary, too "The Radiant Child"....another '80's artist affiliated with Warhol was Brigid Berlin documentary "Pie in the Sky". But watch out, it is kind of depressing, yet darkly funny, too.
There are tons more, but this is enough for now. Enjoy.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Russian Ark

to keep with last months theme. here is a clip from Aleksandr Sokurov's film Russian Ark, which is a single 96 mintue shot. You can watch the complete film on youtube...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

beginning my new year...

So..the past month of my life has been one of thte most challenging..but I'm hoping that this new year will bring great opportunities. I finished moving into my new studio today and I'm getting prepared to begin a new chapter with my work. My new years resolution is to use this blog to keep me motivated and share with other artists what I'm working on. My new year...and I'm hopeful. Jen