There is something existentially terrifying about American big-box grocery stores. Maybe it’s just me. Shamefully, I have melted down in more than a few ginormous supermarkets across the country, sniping at family members over muffins and abandoning shopping baskets in the cereal aisle in a panic. I know I’ve fashioned myself as a supporter of … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Painting
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
The Class Divide As A Threshold In The Paintings Of Late Artist Noah Davis
I really can’t decide what’s more shocking: that Noah Davis painted the beautifully macabre images adorning the walls of his posthumous retrospective at David Zwirner before the artist was 33 years old, or that these gorgeous works were painted by someone who ever lived at all. So saturated with ghastly resignation and mourning, Davis’s paintings … Continue reading
Weeping At The Seeping Beauty Of Band-Aids At David Lynch’s “Squeaky Flies In The Mud”
Can Band-Aids be beautiful? Yes, those uncannily flesh-colored, rubbery, sticky and potentially slimy strips that cover any number of sores, scratches, abrasions and ruptures. When singular, Band-Aids are startling, but bunched together, they coagulate into a congealed mass, yellowing with slough, dead skin, sweat, and scabs. Physically repulsive, tactically terrible, sure. But, aren’t they just … Continue reading
Brett Kavanaugh as a Mythological Embodiment of White Man Whining: The Paintings of Sedrick Chisom
Musician, writer, cultural theorist and lead singer of rock n’ roll bands including Nation of Ulysses and The Make-Up Ian Svenonius recently posited his belief that all the best rock n’ roll is “funny and provocative.” I think Svenonius is spot-on here. However, the only aspect of this statement that I would amend is that … Continue reading
Vincent Tiley: A Body Without Organization
ALERT! On Friday, December 16, 2022, the author of this article, Efrem Zelony-Mindell, was arrested and charged by the FBI for the attempted enticement of one minor boy in Manhattan, New York, and possession and distribution of child pornography. I mean, Jesus Christ. The case is so viscerally revolting that we can barely read it … Continue reading
You Really Got A Hold On Me: Louis Fratino
ALERT! On Friday, December 16, 2022, the author of this article, Efrem Zelony-Mindell, was arrested and charged by the FBI for the attempted enticement of one minor boy in Manhattan, New York, and possession and distribution of child pornography. I mean, Jesus Christ. The case is so viscerally revolting that we can barely read it … Continue reading
Progress, Real and Imagined: Nicole Eisenman’s Temporal Drag in ‘Al-ugh-ories’
In the catalogue for her current exhibition Al-ugh-ories at the New Museum, artist Nicole Eisenman responds to a question on her employment of painting by the Museum’s Artistic Director Massimiliano Gioni who asks, “Did you feel that you were taking on a slightly anachronistic medium?” Eisenman replies, “That never occurred to me. Maybe it had … Continue reading
Artistic Feast: Man’s Two Never-Ending Endeavors
Since art and food carry such a strong bond for me, I realized I have already put them into an incestuous relationship in my mind. Some artists are like some types of food for me. I was surprised to see how, like I do my favorites foods, I code some artists in my mind with certain flavors they evoke in my head. Continue reading