Nao Bustamante Puts Her Own Spin on Nightlife Memorials in “Brown Disco” at OCDChinatown
Art

Nao Bustamante Puts Her Own Spin on Nightlife Memorials in “Brown Disco” at OCDChinatown

All I need is a disco ball. In life and in art. Spotting its sparkling exterior with a cursory glance toward the ceiling at any bar, concert venue, or tchotchke-covered restaurant brings a relieving, comforting sense of home. Similarly, any artwork that includes a mirror ball is immediately a favorite. Just search around this very … Continue reading

Pimply Crackers and Mayo Sammies: King Cobra’s “White Meat” Roasts Whiteness at JTT
Art

Pimply Crackers and Mayo Sammies: King Cobra’s “White Meat” Roasts Whiteness at JTT

Inches upon inches of slopping creamy mayonnaise leak out of a sandwich. These towering tiers of Hellmann’s are slathered in queasy quantity as if splattered on by a particularly enthusiastic deli worker. Oozing drips of the substance fall in layers onto a bed of Astroturf like eggy discharge. This mayo sandwich’s revolting recipe is not … Continue reading

Buck Ellison’s “Little Brother” Gave Me an Erik Prince Fetish (Just Like America’s)
America Is Doomed / Art

Buck Ellison’s “Little Brother” Gave Me an Erik Prince Fetish (Just Like America’s)

Erik Prince is hot. Yes, I mean that Erik Prince, Blackwater founder, guru of mercenary contractors committing war crimes during the War on Terror largely outside the bounds of human rights laws, and more recently, Trump buddy who allowed Project Veritas goons to scamper all over his Wyoming ranch. The Erik Prince who never met … Continue reading

The John Waters Collection Doesn’t Hate You, but Contemporary Art Still Might
Art / Camp / Filthy Dreams On Location / Trash

The John Waters Collection Doesn’t Hate You, but Contemporary Art Still Might

Someone was taking a dump in The John Waters Restrooms at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Was it an art-inspired intestinal emergency or a dedicated tribute to the filmmaker whose major public stink involved Divine sampling some doggy-doo in the filthy finale of Pink Flamingos? Or perhaps, this intrepid museum-goer previously devoured John’s chapter “Act … Continue reading

A Session of Porn Therapy in Dean Sameshima’s “Being Alone” at Queer Thoughts
Art

A Session of Porn Therapy in Dean Sameshima’s “Being Alone” at Queer Thoughts

Can you write an essay about porn theaters that doesn’t cite Samuel R. Delany’s Times Square Red, Times Square Blue? Similarly, can you look at photographs of queer spaces and not immediately start flipping through Jose Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia to find a relevant quote? These two texts have done a number on criticism and critical … Continue reading

Having a Moment in André Leon Talley’s Collection at Christie’s: A (Mostly) Photo Essay
Art / Decadence / Fashion

Having a Moment in André Leon Talley’s Collection at Christie’s: A (Mostly) Photo Essay

In Hilton Als’s at once heroic and damning 1994 portrait of then-Creative Director of Vogue Magazine André Leon Talley in The New Yorker, entitled “The Only One,” Als details Talley’s unwavering attachment to having “a moment.” “He finds moments in other people’s impulses (‘I can tell you were about to have a moment’), work (‘What Mr. … Continue reading

Boy, Don’t You Know You Can’t Escape Me?: Carrie Schneider’s “I don’t know her” at CHART
Art

Boy, Don’t You Know You Can’t Escape Me?: Carrie Schneider’s “I don’t know her” at CHART

Emily Colucci, Filthy Dreams. That’s how I signed the guestbook for Carrie Schneider’s exhibition I don’t know her at CHART. I don’t usually bother to write in exhibition guestbooks. The only major exception is the book for Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition in which a placard assured us fanatics that he would receive it. … Continue reading

To Be Gorgeous: A Conversation on Thierry Mugler and Jimmy DeSana at the Brooklyn Museum
Art / Fashion

To Be Gorgeous: A Conversation on Thierry Mugler and Jimmy DeSana at the Brooklyn Museum

“To be Gorgeous, strictly speaking, is something in itself. To be Gorgeous therefore is admirable, to be Absolutely Gorgeous most desired.” So begins an essay in one of the many zines in the Brooklyn Museum’s Jimmy DeSana: Submission exhibition, which is joined by the museum’s concurrent Thierry Mugler: Couturissime show in advocating for skin-deep/skin-tight beauty. … Continue reading

Puppy Love (But No Doggystyle) In Vassilis H.’s “Must Love Dogs” at The Hole
Art

Puppy Love (But No Doggystyle) In Vassilis H.’s “Must Love Dogs” at The Hole

I once saw Mary Boone make out with her dog. I should preface that I’m not a puppy hater, doggie-spit phobic, or even an anti-face- or lip-licker. Bring on the slobber! However, there was something alarming about voyeuristically staring at the typically stoic stalwart gallerist, the woman who fostered the careers of mega-art stars, was … Continue reading