Hello, faithful Filthy Dreams readers, and welcome back to Drag Them To Filth. What’s that noise? Is that your blood boiling? Ours too. It’s time for this month’s wrap-up of the most extensive sigh-inducing arts-related reading on the Internet. So grab a cocktail or five and let’s start hate-reading: 1. Artnet News, Gallery Hopping: ‘Harumi’s … Continue reading
Well, hello there dearest Filthy Dreams readers! What’s that? Are you ready to fume? Us too. Why, we find ourselves so horrified, enraged and just a bit amused by the nonsense editors dare publish these days that we’re starting a new series here on Filthy Dreams–Drag Them To Filth. Here we’ll provide a monthly wrap-up … Continue reading
Park Chanwook’s latest masterpiece The Handmaiden is a wonderfully claustrophobic, seductive thriller set in 1930s Korea, without any white persons appearing to save the day or infiltrating the plot. The film has received resounding praise from critics and audiences alike, proving once and for all that despite having no literal projection of themselves within the storyline, white audiences can find an all-Asian movie both entertaining and valuable. The film’s lucrative success condemns any excuses for whitewashing in order to appeal to Western audiences, which was most recently used by Chinese director Zhang Yimou in his film The Great Wall. Continue reading
Despite being hailed as the most “diverse” Whitney Biennal yet, the most famous works to captivate the nation’s attention managed to continue to be white artists and their struggle. We’re speaking, of course, about Jordan Wolfson’s Real Violence (2017) and Dana Schutz’s Open Casket (2016)–two shocking portrayals of sensationalized violence that centralized white suffering in … Continue reading
The Metrograph just wrapped up a two-week-long film series that showcased over three decades of films starring Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung (張曼玉, Zhang Manyu). When asked why highlight this actress in particular, Aliza Ma, Head of Programming at the Metrograph, explained, “Not many people understand how well Maggie Cheung curated her own career.” Cheung’s … Continue reading
Like Smoke, on view now through December 4, 2016 at Equity Gallery, is a response to the perceived lack of institutional visibility for art about the queer experience without explicitly focusing on queer bodies and their erotic potential. Curated by Filthy Dreams’ contributor Osman Can Yerebakan, the exhibition is a sensitive and nuanced take on LGBTQ identity … Continue reading
Ren Hang (任航), one of the most recognizable burgeoning contemporary photographers, passed away this week at just 29 years old. Known for his evocative photographs with simple compositions and singular odd elements — exotic animals, unabashed nudity, repetitious visual slips — Ren made desire and openness the forefront of his photographs. Though highly staged, performed … Continue reading
You can tell a whole lot about a film’s impact by the GIFs that remain peppered throughout the Internet even years after its release. For Lee Daniels’s gloriously trashy The Paperboy, its afterlife is preserved in slow-as-molasses, steamy grabs of heartthrob Zac Efron’s Jack Jansen languishing in itty bitty, tighty whities, flexing his tautly muscled … Continue reading
