SXSWerly shindig @ MoMA: Department of Eagles premiers their video for "No One Does It Like You" directed by Patrick Daughters and Dzama

....

Well, we love Dzama, and we also LOVE Poprally's program @ MoMA, but the enjoyment factor? Tough call. It was o.k.

To be fair, we'd come off of a late lunch after a stressful day - the last 45 mins or so of which was spent with our friend trying to convince us it was going to be a drag - even though heading to this thing was the whole purpose of our lunch:

"it's going to be like a mini SXSW.Layyme."

"you know like, what? ONE song by Department of Eagles?"

"the vid will be on youtube by midnight, and you can get the poster in the shop tomorrow."

"$50 says Patrick Daughters will have come and gone in the time it takes us to catch a cab."

"I don't feel like going."

                                  *Be that way, raincloud.

So, we went alone. Solely for the love of Dzama. We love Dzama - was this mentioned already?

Our day was kind of rubbish so free cocktails & a quickie concert? It felt prescribed, and also kind of perfect that we could hit it solo, just in case we wanted to grab a drink, our free poster, and bounce. 

 

Pooper Lunch Buddy's assessment was about %60 correct.

The DoE set was quite SXSW-y.    

*do you like this shade? the colour is "Not Surprised."

 The Grolsch was beer-y. The water was flask-y. The Q&A was drag-y. Patrick Daughters  was indeed absent and kicked it via satelite - but he was quick witt-y. The poster was poster-y, and the video was kook-y.

Fin.

                                 *all in all? Cool set, we loved the vid, the scene was waste of time-y and Marcel Dzama? Kinda dream-y.

[*yli]

Photo Source: moma.org

                                      

Faces/Recent Works Aimé Mpané

Our first introduction to Aimé Mpané was about 2 years ago. We'd seen his first US show "Bach to Congo" at Skoto Gallery back in '07 and were completely and irreversibly affected by his work. One piece in particular, a woodcut print 

*this one

from his "Woodpecker Series" left us so brokenhearted we flaked on our plans the rest of that day and spent the night researching organizations that help the children of the Congo *conflict.

*it's not a "conflict." We only use the term Congo conflict because it is google searchable and we're providing a link to an organization dedicated to helping these kids. Fundamentally, this is a war and these children need as much help as they can get.

So, we'd been looking forward to seeing more from him for quite some time and we were more than ready to return to Skoto - we'd only been there twice before coming to see "Faces", once being to see Mpané's "Bach to Congo" and once before that for Obiora Udechuwu's  solo show (where we were honoured to have meet Chinua Achebe *!!!!!!!!) so Skoto has a very special place in our hearts. Each time we've gone, we've left feeling deeply touched and re-connected.

"Faces" was haunting. Haunting. 

The matchstick installations were again incredible. The series that kept our breath in particular, was the "Face" series in which he's used an adze to mine the faces of children out of wood panels - some are chipped gently into the wood and painted with detail, some so savagely hacked that there was no face left to paint. Some sad, some tragic, some serene, all powerful.  The show will be up until the 21st, it is not. to. be. missed.

Skoto Gallery:

529 West 20th Street

5th floor

212.352.8079

[*yli]

Photo Source: skotogallery.com

"Untitled I, 2008"

Aimé Mpané 2008

mixed media on wood panel, 32cmx78cm

"Holy Hip Hop!" Alex Melamid

Can't lie, we were in a serious "mood" when we caught this showing.

We were feeling bratty due to some meetings that had gone nowhere and were probably not in the best headspace to take in what Melamid was trying to do with this show. It... it was a great show...

*howeverrrr

It's just that, well, we remember the heavy handed "People's Choice" series of  (Vitaly)Komar & Melamid from high school. We were "meh" about it.

*a) we were young, b) at that age, if we wanted our socialist realism diverted in any way, we wanted it done by Malevich.

So, when we heard this show was coming to NYC in January and that it was a solo exhibition by Alex Melamid only, AND that he was doing these life-sized portraits of hip hop greats? We were so there. But it just fell short for us somehow...

Firstly, these portraits were supposed to portray a series of "hip-hop icons... the wealthiest and most influential individuals of our time" with this roster:

Russell Simmons

Easy Mo Bee

Snoop 

MC Duke

Kanye West

Reverend Run

Whoo Kid

Lil Jon

Marc Ecko

50 Cent

Common

L.T. Hutton

Don "Magic" Juanuhhhhhmm...

Yes, according to Melamid (or rather his music video director son "Dan the Man" Melamid, who facilitated the introductions for his father) Don "Magic" Juan is a hip hop icon.

*....'kay.

Secondly, the portraits were done in the impressionist style, heavy heavy on the Monet brush stroke to the point where it seemed more cliche than testimonial. Again, we got the intent: these are men whose lives are larger than life - the portraits are life sized, these men are celebrities - the portraits are grandiose, and in the style of 19th century royal portraiture, these men are ambitious and pioneering - the portraits are rendered in the technique of old masters. But, it could all just as easily be construed as cheesy  mall art once you throw a pimp into the mix.

*jussayin'.

It is still worth checking out...

[ *yli ]

Photo Source: antiquesandthearts.com

"Don Magic Juan"

Alex Melamid 2005

oil on canvas

Jeremy Kost's "After the Party" @ the Dactyl Foundation

                                                                                                                                    aye candy.

Yes, that Jeremy Kost. The scene-y "polaroid artist." 

We were completely into this show. Seven *wait for it... "rectangular tessellations" *yESssss narrating beautiful male models in varied stages of pursuit, dissatisfaction and savage destruction of his desires. The emptiness and consequences of instant gratification translated through his relationships with a cape, a stuffed tiger, a doll, his own clothes... and Elmo - captured with the brutally honest, instantly devastating, instantly gratifying medium that is the polaroid, natch. It will be at the Dactyl Foundation until the 21st of March, make a point to go see this one, kids.

*on a shallow note we could watch eye candy destroy stuffed animals all day...

[ *yli ]

Photo Source: jeremykost.com

"Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now"

This took us back to our gradeschool days when we used to fill photo albums with collages of pretty things from fashion mags (we'd go to town on a Haprper's Bazaar, but NEVER cut up a Vogue ::wink::)

The ICP is currently running a series of four exhibitions celebrating 2009 as the ::swoon:: "Year of Fashion" and is up until the 3rd of May.

*oh ICP, you couldn't have made us happier if you tried.

Of the four exhibitions, undeniably the man event is "Weird Beauty."

Essentially a montage of tear sheets from the last two years of significant fashion photography, the most notable of course being from European mags like Numero, Doingbird, and French and italian Vogues. The US standouts being W and V magazines - go figure ;-) A collection of about 40 or so distinguished fashion photogs vandalising beauty's status quo. Knight, Lagerfeld, Klein, diCorcia, oh my! 

*naturally, we were in heaven.

[ *yli ]

Photo Source: icp.org

"Spot the Fake" by Miles Aldridge

copyright Miles Aldridge 2006