In her 1994 essay The Body in Pieces: The Fragment as a Metaphor of Modernity, art historian Linda Nochlin ties the genesis of modernism to the French Revolution, framing the guillotine as a symbol of the severing of inherited dynastic power ushering in an era of radical politics, creativity, and culture. The guillotine becomes representative … Continue reading
Nobody expects to be confronted by a cat’s butthole on the wall of a flower shop. But, that’s exactly the startling sight in a photograph by Res hung prominently in the hallway connecting the two sections of the lush greenery-filled flower shop at 89 Eldridge Street. The photograph Reaching (Butthole) features a cat’s ass on … Continue reading
In the essay collection After Sex?: On Writing Since Queer Theory, the numerous contributors grapple with queer theory leaving identity and sexuality in the dust. Heather Love’s essay “Queers _____ This” begins with her admitting her own hesitation to giving up her connection with her lesbian identity. Discussing the universalizing impulse in queer theory, Love provides … Continue reading
Why hello there, dearest Filthy Dreams patriots! Come on in and grab yourself a cold one. What’s that? Oh don’t get snotty, queens, it’s July 4th so we only have shitty domestic beer tall-boys. Just a few of those and you’ll be singing at the top of your lungs about amber waves of grain in … Continue reading
“My mother is dead. My father is dead. I’m gay. I’d like to be a poet. This is my house,” unsettlingly proclaims artist Jordan Wolfson’s haunting creation, (Female figure), during both the introduction and conclusion of its seven-minute cycle in Wolfson’s solo exhibition at the David Zwirner Gallery. And it certainly is her house now as she conjures … Continue reading
Like one of artist Hans Bellmer’s dolls or photographer Pierre Molinier’s nightmarish, mannequin self-portraits come to life, Brooklyn-based performance artist Narcissister walks the line between the erotic, the alluring, the absurd and the abject, a confrontational melange of female sexuality and manipulation of the viewer’s gaze. Continue reading