Kenneth Anger

Spring’s here, so let me tell you about Kenneth Anger, because he really gets me going, if you know what I mean. I just realized his P.S.1 exhibition opened a while ago in New York City -and thankfully the show’s up until September 14, so it’s an extra-fitting time to write about him. According to its press release, this exhibition is “the first major survey of the filmmaker’s body of work at a U.S. museum in over a decade.” Emergency to go to NYC, much?

Anger has been producing dazzlingly seductive and abstruse films since the forties. His aesthetic of extravagant glamour and grandiose occult is remarkable, as is his ability to gracefully walk the fine line between camp and decadent romanticism. I have especially fond feelings for Scorpio Rising, which I find exemplifies best Anger’s talent at translating pop culture into mythology (and vice versa).  Revolving around desirable and untameable Gods of Death (Dean, Brando and sexy queer bikers) and their evocative Thing that Goes (sparkly glammed-up motorcycles), Anger’s mythopoeic narrative challenges notions of sin and desire with its rebellious heroes that piss on Adolf Hitler and fuck Jesus Christ to the sound of catchy 50’s songs.

In Lucifer Rising or Rabbit’s Moon for example, Anger shows his more spiritualistic tendencies with fantasy-based universes where rituals are more “magic” and less metaphorical. The inspiring and elaborate mise en scène featured in these films serves dramatic and subversive otherworldly subject matters. Fun fact of the day, the soundtrack of Lucifer Rising by Bobby Beausoleil is the only movie soundtrack in history recorded inside a prison. (Thanks wikipedia).

Kenneth Anger’s persona and personal history, as well as his two best-selling Hollywood Babylon books (look for the gorgeous hard-copy edition at the Webster Library), all rely on alluring mythicalness rooted in decadence, drama and insurgence. His fascination with the flipside of the glamour coin, where the glorious falls deep down into the morbid pits of excess and perversion, definitely plays out in his films. Saturated by the turmoil of life, sex and death, his art is striking and outlandish, a histrionic and occult fantasy fuelled by rumours and rituals. Anger’s body and richness of work is larger than life, which is why I urge you to head to the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center before the exhibition is over. And make sure you don’t forget to take a look at the other artists showcased in the building, as there is nothing but quality art in there.

Anger’s iconic work is also available on dvd, thanks to Fantoma Films who recently commercially released two compilations of HD transfered Anger films, complete with bonuses, audio commentaries and lovely booklets. As Mondo Digital puts it after an insightful review: “easily one of the most essential DVD releases of this or any other year.” Hopefully, newer films like Mouse Heaven (2005), Elliott’s Suicide (2007), Ich Will! (2008), I’ll Be Watching You (2007) or Foreplay (2008) will soon be released in a third volume.

Paper and Pine Open House

Paperandpine.com is having an open house. We’ve transformed a room at P&PHQ into a ’shop’ and Jenny and I invite you to come drink wine and eat snacks while checking out the beautifully made items. You’ll get to touch real live items with your real live hands (please use a napkin after eating the tasty snacks). Some great local artists and crafty peeps (Pinpals, LittleHouses, HoneyFlower) sell on our site so come give them a little pocket change by taking home something special. Out of towner Vancouver based PoodleBreath is going to be coming and bringing some of her amazing ceramic pieces like the brooch below.

The Facebook event is here.

Saturday April 4th from 3-6pm

email paperandpine@gmail.com for the address (it’s in the Mile-End).

Lukewarm-old photos, but not in a bad way.

You know, when things are from the 80s (at this point) they’re RETRO, and when they’re from this morning, they’re FRESH….and if they’re from, say, mid-february 2009, they’re a wee….lukewarm? 

I still think these photos of the Galerie Pangeé Nuit Blanche extravaganza hold their own despite the awkwardness in terms of TIMING that I have decided to post them. Maybe you’ll recognize some of the peeps in them. Or people.

The whole gallery was transformed into one gianormous, collaborative mural and the results were pretty spectacular. The illustrators included folks such as Jason Botkin, Osvaldo Ramirez and Tyler Rauman.

Pretty cool stuff, even one odd-month later…..

Caitlin Gallupe & Eric Shaw

Just a quick note to let you know that there is a nice little show up at Drawn and Quarterly (211 Bernard) right now. Victoria-based/ Montreal part-timer/ traveling gypsy Caitlin Gallupe, who we have featured in the past, and Brooklyn-based Eric Shaw have a collection of drawings and paintings up for your viewing pleasure. I suggest you go view them.

Sophie Jodoin will terrify you…hopefully tonight.

There’s a new contemporary gallery in town, Battat Contemporary and it’s, in one word, awesome. The guy who runs it has the best taste ever. I went to the very talented painter John Ancheta’s closing there a while back (interview to come) and noticed originals by Betty Goodwin and Thérèse Mastroiacovo hanging out like they were at some after-dinner drink get together. An impressive component of the gallery’s focus is up-and-coming talents. Plus, uh, the cheese plate and wine selection the last time I went was pretty killer. Not in the food poisoning kind-of-a-way, either….

Tonight you should go check it out for yourself. The amazing and terrifying and wondrous and confusing and complicated work of Sopie Jodoin graces its walls with one of the series she’s currently working on, Headgames: hoods, helmets & gasmasks. 

It’s really breathtaking, intense work and it’ll be up until the 25th of April. But tonight is the OPENING, my friends, (6pm) which means, well, the work will be there WITH the good cheese and wine I noted above. I can’t guarantee that for any of you for the upcoming days, unless you wanna try some sort of BYOB, which may or may not go over so well.

The gallery address is 7245, rue Alexandra, #100 which is close to Il Motore and the de Castlenau Metro and the Atlas Building. I would suggest perhaps google-mapping it, though. If you don’t make it tonight, check out the Battat website for opening hours so you and your bottle of red in a flask can see her pieces one way or another….

Store 1026 Now Open!

In a post about Expozine 2008, I briefly mentioned the awesome Philadelphia-based art studio/community Space 1026. Well, they just opened an online store and it’s fabulous. Picture the Expozine booth of your (my?) dreams that makes you really cream your pants, but bigger and open 24/7. I’ve already got my eyes set on this great Mr. ET print by Andrew Jeffrey Wright (pictured above), as well as colorful rainbowy Wu Tang logo print by Crystal Stokowski (pictured below). I’m sure you’ll find something of your liking over there, so shop around and encourage a sweet bunch of artists!

Of all the weekends…

Argh. I am going out of town this weekend, and while I am not unhappy about it, I am sad I will miss this:

http://interdisciplinarycartographies.wordpress.com/

I know there isn’t a pretty image to alongside this link but click it, dear reader, click it!  It’s a conference that’s happening at Concordia entitled Interdisciplinary Cartographies: Space, Architecture and Politics. The line-up looks interesting and includes workshops/keynotes by Gina Badger and Cynthia Hammond.

It runs from March 19th-21, 2009. The workshops still have a few spaces available so email n_himada@live.concordia.ca to register for those. The one thing I can’t find out anywhere is if it’s free or not. Anyone, anyone know? I’m getting the *vibe* that it’s free, but just in case someone out there can verify that for me…..

Fun stuff at the CCA

There’s been an exposition on at the Canadian Center for Architecture for some time that I’ve been meaning to go to called Actions: What You Can Do With the City.  Here’s what the CCA has to say about it;

An exploration of how everyday human actions can animate and influence the perception and experience of contemporary cities. Seemingly common activities such as gardening, recycling, playing, and walking are pushed beyond their usual definition by the international architects, artists, and collectives featured in the exhibition. Their experimental interactions with the urban environment show the potential of a new level of participation by city residents.

You should have a look at the exposition’s website as it will give you a better idea of what to expect. I was drawn to these kids from Toronto calling themselves the Urban Repair Squad who are creating DIY bike lanes dressed as city workers. They’ve painted over 6 kilometers over the past few years (most of which gets undone by the city) in an attempt to make Toronto’s streets safer for bike riders. Here’s a nerdy but sweet video they made about their project.

This show runs until April 19th.

Canadian Centre for Architecture
1920, rue Baile

My 3 Nuit Blanche Pictures

Nuit Blanche was fun and exciting, and certainly the most enjoyable way to catch a disease from so many different people in just one night (the flu). Fun enough for me to get my old and heavy camera out of the house! And exciting enough for me to only manage to take 3 shots in total :-(

First up is what I understand to be the remnants of a performance I missed at the Art Matters show that took place at Les Territoires, in the Belgo building. The ‘I don’t give a shit and I rip my art up’ vibe of this is nice. There was a lot of other cool art around too - not seen on this picture: furniture that looked like it was made of cake+icing, a replica of the stargate (I think this one was part of a performance I missed too) and various gross and moldy-looking cakes that were actually edible-ish. Also cool and not in the picture, the Christian Marclay exhibition at DHC/ART, En Masse at Galerie Pangée and Jean-Maxime Dufresne at SKOL.

After the belgo sweat party, no time was left for either Usine C or the UQAM headquarters, so my two buds and I went straight for the Eaton center for YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN which was really swell. Props to them for their props, skills and various animu & vidya game references. The Red Bird Studios was the last stop of the night, endless fun was had with self-illuminated artworks. I don’t have a single shot of the art though, not even one of the drawing I was showing there. I do have a picture of my aforementioned two buds drinking beer at the Red Bird, but I’m censoring their faces off because they’re models. Enjoy?

We LOVE peace signs :-)

Jean-Philippe Harvey Just Changed My Life

Not alot going on but sick-ness, (flu is abounding, no?) other than my discovery of a very young, very talented artist who is indeed a Quebec resident of some sort.

Presenting Jean-Philippe Harvey. Words do not describe how great his work is, so I am going to full-stop, now.