ten visual artists i have been thinking about

also thinking about willem de kooning and why i dont really like him

oh no hes good

have now seen 'under the big black sun' at MoCA twice, it really is an outstanding show

why don't you like de kooning, max?

the de kooning exhibition at moma was fascinating. like it was so much a better exhibition than he was a painter, bc it was so amazing to see how he grew and changed & eventually pared down, through necessity, almost as something apart from how much i liked his work.

This summer I realized that I think I like de koonings black and white paintings more than his colour ones, which is kind of shocking since I'm a huge chromophile.

i dont know why i dont like de kooning! i am trying to articulate it because i dont really have a good reason. partly its a general distaste for the macho-artist abstract expressionism THING but that feels like such a boring reason to count him out. really i went to the moma show the other weekend and left like completely unmoved.

THOUGH -- funny enough edb my favorite stuff was a collection of like 5 paintings and lithographs hed done in black and white, gorgeous stuff

2nded on 'Big Black Sun'-- alot of that was work I wouldn't have gone out of my way to see, but I was in LA to see the PST shows and heard how good it was. Very well researched and presented, with an immense amount of work.

As for who I've been thinking about: everybody in the "Phenomenal" show down at MCASD, which I also saw and loved last weekend.

i think the other reason i dont like de kooning is that i find most of his stuff kind of ugly and not even in an interesting way. thats shallow, i know. if he seemed like a more interesting person i might have a better "in"

what maria nordman is in that show does anyone know? i've been really obsessing on her after finding a piece about her in an artforum from 1979 at the library.

it's a film installation she did called 'smoke' from the late '60s i think? v 'warholian'

the two artists i've been thinking about a ton from the moca show are ilene segalove and now paul mccarthy of all ppl. and speaking of him i am really excited to see this show:

http://blogs.artinfo.com/lacmonfire/2012/01/23/l-a-raw-abject-expressionism-in-pasadena/

i never know which of the zillion art threads to bump but apparently mike kelley is dead:

http://www.galleristny.com/2012/02/mike-kelley-has-died/

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6428/birchesenvelopediii39x5.jpg

Today I've come with full force to Alessandro Mendini's work. A lot of concepts I've been thinking about with regards to my own work I'm finding he has explored extensively through his.

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0qvyfdaaT1qz6av7o1_500.jpg

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0qszbyhrT1qz6av7o1_500.jpg

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0ql2tCqxo1qz6av7o1_500.jpg

I'm interpreting these as symbols of everyday objects—their usefulness denied; their forms scaled, gilded, burned as effigies. Especially interesting to me is that in spite of this these are still products, Mendini is the head of a design house, all these object/sculptures are still useful. This isn't straight up Claus Oldenburg erecting giant monuments to the everyday; but a play with both form and function that, I feel, speaks poignantly about both. I also find them extremely beautiful!

Oh my god my mind is reeling from watching an hour and a half of Gillian Wearing confession videos (on top of another hour and a half of other G Wearing work that wasn't exactly emotionally lightweight either). Most depressing art exhibition I've probably ever seen.

William Leavitt
http://culturalcocktailhour.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/leavitt_-ca-patio.jpg
Lewis Klahr
http://www.whitelightcinema.com/PharaohsBelt.jpg
Song Dong
http://thebigredapple.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/DSC05740-1024x768.jpg

three visual artists whose names I am dropping on a message board

but I've been thinking about them too, as in "I like that"

they're showing some klahr films later this month at EPFC (don't think i've seen any)

frans zwartjes is a dude i am thinking about now

http://www.filmbank.nl/stills/zwartjes-living2.jpg

and wondering if possibly david lynch saw his work (super-cliche to call anything "lynchian" at this point but i think there are actual affinities there)

Franz Zwartjes is great! You should go to the EPFC screening, my friend Laida's films are showing that night too.

RIP Franz West

tania bruguera
public movement
elizabeth price
hito steyerl
wochenklauser
group material
ryan gander
marlon riggs
todd haynes
pablo picasso

did anybody go to documenta or the berlin biennial this year?

http://koikoikoi.com/2010/08/portraits-of-women-by-ikenaga-yasunari/

just saw one of this guy's portraits, then all the others, they seem very nice, thought oh no what if he is a sex pervert, chances are good