It is a particular thrill for me to announce that the Art Museum of Thurgau in Switzerland has just acquired 20 paintings of mine! They comprise a representative cross-section of several years of my series titled "Covers." I am very pleased that they will be in such a great institution and under the care of its eminent director Markus Landert and curator Dorothee Messmer!
Silent Pictures, running from September 1 through October 11 in the James Gallery in NYC focuses on aspects of comic book structure that do not depend on words to advance an image sequence. The exhibition is inspired by artist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Art Spiegelman's personal collection of wordless comics and graphic novels -- mostly black and white rare artist books from the 1930s. The show will feature a selection of these books, as well as more recent "abstract comics," and a related film program -- all of which investigate essential qualities and aesthetics of this hugely popular medium.
The abstract comics, compiled by art historian and artist Andrei Molotiu for a just released anthology, Abstract Comics Fantagraphics Books, 2009), call attention to the formal mechanisms that underlie all comics. The art gathered by Molotiu emphasizes the dynamic graphics that lead the eye and mind from panel to panel, suggesting that these structural elements are fundamental to the emotional register of the medium. This section of the exhibition features an old-fashioned wire magazine stand ("spinner rack"), which hosts a collection of paintings by Mark Staff Brandl called A History of Composition in Abstract Comic Covers. Done in oil, acrylic and collage on canvas panels, the 30 pieces in this series unite comics, pop art and Pollock-related abstraction with his actual interpretation of the history of composition in painting from Prehistoric times until now.
The James Gallery is located off the lobby of the Graduate Center at 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th & 35th Streets). Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, 12-8 pm, and 12-6 pm on Saturdays & Sundays. Admission is free; for more information call 212-817-7138 or visit http://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/art_gallery.htm An opening reception for Silent Pictures will be held on Thursday, September 10, 6-8 pm.
"Philosophy Bites" is a website which features "podcasts of top philosophers interviewed on bite-sized topics." Dave Edmunds and Nigel Warburton seek out expert philosophers and interview them on significant topics in very short, understandable, even entertaining, --- yet scholarly --- , podcasts. Well worth listening to is this one, Derek Matravers on the background to abd problems with the current definition of art.
You are invited to the "und09" exhibition and opening
Opening: Friday 4. September 2009, 7 pm
Fabrikhallen Heer & Co., Wiesentalstrasse 39, 9240 Oberuzwil
(Weg ist signalisiert; direkt bei Bahnviadukt Bahnhof Uzwil)
The "und09 - aktuelle Kunst" exhibits in an area of about 1000 m2 recent art by Ghislaine Ayer, Mark Staff Brandl, André Büchi, Karin Bühler, Peter Dew, Liliane Eberle, Reto Jung, Jérôme Keller, Herbert Kopainig, Alex Meszmer/Reto Müller, Jürg Rohr and Harlis Schweizer.
I, MSB, have a 15 meter long, 4 meter high "Panels" Painting-Installation in the exhibition.
I have yet another idea for a new term I would like to add to the artworld discourse. After CC (Consensus Correct), PoPoMo, Pintophobia, Feeble Painting and the others, I now suggest "Art Circus Fleas." This is a term for all those perennial members of every huge artworld spectaclist event: Maurizio Cattelan, Ugo Rondinone, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Wolfgang Tillmanns, etc. etc. etc. The top o' the pops "every show's gotta have em," well-trained purveyors of cute ideas for trendy consumption. The artworld's equivalent of a minor sideshow attraction asking for great attention. Feel free to add names of your choosing to the list of Art Circus Fleas!
A 16 minute video wherein I, (the artist Mark Staff Brandl), as an action figure, deliver a TV evangelistic "sermon" calling the artworld back to inspiration, away from hypocrisy and sophistry.
Love to read the irrascible Matthew Collings on art, but don't get an English newspaper, hate Modern Painters magazine (as you well should) and don't get English TV? Well, now you can read his "PUT DOWNS & SUCK UPS: MATTHEW COLLINGS' WEEKLY VENTINGS ABOUT THE ARTWORLD" articles on Saatchi online. Don't know who he is? Get to know him. Matthew Collings is an artist and writer who lives in London. He studied painting at the Byam Shaw School in the 1970s and at Goldsmith's in the early 1990s. He has written several books including 'Blimey!' and 'This Is Modern Art'. He has written and presented many TV programs, including the series, 'This Is Modern Art,' which received several awards including a BAFTA. His most recent series, 'This Is Civilisation,' was on Channel 4 in November 2007. A book to accompany the series has been published by 21. Collaborative paintings by Matthew Collings and Emma Biggs can be seen at the Fine Art Society, London
A video about what is probably the last full comic to be done by my mentor and art master, comic artist Gene Colan. A comic done in uninked pencils. Amazing from an 80-plus year-old genius.
Tom and Pauline of BALCONYTV.COM interview Little Steven (Van Zandt), the American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who is best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and his smash hit radio and podcast program The Underground Garage. They discuss his record label Wicked Cool Records, his program, the crisis of craft in music and the future of Rock.
Recent Comments