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Republicans

Tuesday Links: Biennale Puts Good Art on Doomed Island, Trump Puts Bad Art in Doomed Office

by Michael Anthony Farley on January 24, 2017

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Biennale de La Biche exists on a tiny island which will be swallowed up by sea level rise, along with all of the artworks. This place looks so, so beautiful. [artnet News]
Thank you Obama! On his last day in office, Obama’s U.S. Department of Transportation began an investigation into racist infrastructure spending practices by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. This follows a suit filed by the NAACP, ACLU, and others alleging the Republican administration violated Title VI by cancelling the Baltimore Red Line. That critical subway-to-surface rail line would’ve served predominantly Black (and Leftist) neighborhoods that didn’t vote for Hogan. He instead distributed those funds to highway expansion projects in the sparsely-populated Republican areas that voted for him. [The Baltimore Sun]
Can we talk about how terrifying/surreal it is that Republicans are pushing legislation to criminalize protests, and that Teen Vogue is now a more trusted policy news source than a substantial chunk of non-print media? [Teen Vogue]
Citizens of Trump’s America and recipients of our 24/7 barrage of “alternative facts” and commentary, perhaps you have heard about the White House’s bust of Churchill, and its various locations? Why the fuck this is a news story is beyond me, but apparently most of the news outlets covering this non-news item have gotten its provenance wrong. You see, there is not one hideous bust by the late English sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein, but two. Two ugly busts of Winston Churchill. One that was sent to be repaired, and one that was lent by the British embassy while said bust was being repaired. Apparently Obama put one on a table somewhere (scandalous!) and Trump put it in the Oval Office. Now, Trump wants both of these sculptures for some reason that is utterly unbeknownst to me, but of great importance to most American internet users, apparently. 9/11 even gets brought up in here. [The Washington Post]
The Saatchi Gallery’s upcoming From Selfie to Self-Expression will be “the world’s first exhibition exploring the history of the selfie from the old masters to the present day.” It’s a show about selfies, at a gallery founded by an advertising magnate, sponsored by a cell phone company. If I took a selfie right now, you’d see the world’s biggest eye-roll. [The Art Newspaper]
After more than 10 years in Gowanus, Brooklyn Art Space is shuttering. The silver lining (for you): they’re having a huge sale of art supplies, studio furniture, books, and more! [Facebook]
The new home of the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami—a splinter institution born from board members fleeing the troubled MOCA North Miami—should be open before ABMB. Expect one helluva party (or at least one helluva fight for tickets, drunks in heels crying outside a velvet rope, etc…) [Miami Herald]
OMA has completed a new headquarters for the Qatar Foundation in Doha. I’m a huge OMA fan, but can’t shake the feeling that the architects were just building a film set out of the dystopian love story Code 46. [Dezeen]

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The 10 Weirdest AFC Stories of 2016

by Michael Anthony Farley on December 30, 2016

Equal parts surreal and horrifying, 2016 was basically an Hieronymus Bosch painting come to life. Given how apocalyptic and strange every headline from the mainstream news media has been this past year, it’s easy to overlook all the weird shit that went down in the art world.

But this year was chock-full of crazy art world stories, often that intersected with politics. (Remember a few weeks ago, when Madonna charged Art Basel visitors thousands of dollars to watch her grind on a chair while dressed as a clown, covering Britney Spears’ “Toxic” in front of a giant projection of Donald Trump?) It’s hard to even pick a “top 10”, but here’s our best effort to round-up the weirdest art stories we reported on in 2016:

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An Artist’s Guide to the Republican Primaries

by Michael Anthony Farley on April 8, 2016

Just how bad would one of the Republican candidates be for the arts in America? Ahead of the upcoming New York primaries, I decided to find out. It’s looking pretty bleak in the GOP, but at least this race has been as surreal and entertaining as a Ryan Trecartin tribute to Hieronymus Bosch. Below, I’ve researched each of the candidates’ histories and policies on the arts and affordable housing. If I’ve missed something, feel free to contribute in the comments, but keep it a little more civil than a Trump rally.

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Friday Links: “The Fucked-up-ness of American Culture”

by Michael Anthony Farley and Rea McNamara on April 8, 2016

Barkley Hendricks, “In the Crosshairs of the States”

Iggy Pop was at the MoCA Detroit for the opening of American Valhalla: The Art of Post Pop Depression. The exhibition features photography from Andreas Neumann and Matt Helders, and will be tour the same cities as Iggy Pop’s concerts this year. [Billboard]

Could the German baugruppe model work here? German would-be homeowners can form LLCs to act as their own developers, building themselves custom, cheaper housing as opposed to buying off-the-rack condos. [Curbed]

Many in Toronto’s Downtown East are concerned that a new LGBTQ-focused sports center development in Toronto’s Moss Park may not serve the area’s large community of homeless people, sex workers and drug users. The Center is promising to “de-institutionalize” the neighborhood by having all community services under one roof, but the development coincides with an Edmonton developer buying up ten properties across the street to turn into three large condo towers. And so far, the condo development’s language—around “safety” and working “closely” with police “to advance law and order”—is raising concern and fears of displacement for the very community the sports center is supposed to serve. [NOW Magazine]

Barkley L. Hendricks has a new show of paintings at Jack Shainman, and in an interview with Lee Ann Norman, speaks to about his return to portraiture and “the fucked-up-ness of American culture”. [Hyperallergic]

The latest art world revelation from the Panama Papers? Turns out billionaire currency trader Joe Lewis bought the Ganz collection before the record-breaking 1997 Christie’s auction with the support of an offshore firm. Lewis bought 100 works from the collection six months before for $168 million, and then set up the Christie’s sale, which then fetched $206 million. [The Guardian]

James R. Miller is suing the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Sean Kelly Gallery, Skarstedt, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Guggenheim for copyright infringement. Miller claims he actually staged and shot four iconic Mapplethorpe “self portraits” and is seeking tens of millions in damages. [Hyperallergic]

Dushko Petrovich’s profile of Jerry Saltz is sadly only available in the latest print issue of Tablet, but M.H. Miller provides some highlights here, along with commentary: “Saltz, as one of the few remaining staff art critics in the country, has a lot of power in the art world. He is also a widely known public figure (uncommon for critics of any genre). Negative criticism of him is rare and largely kept private. I’m sure Saltz’s followers would happily—or, more likely, angrily—debate the profile on social media, though in a strange bit of irony for a subject whose persona is so entwined with his presence online, Petrovich’s piece is only available in print.” [ART News]

Earlier this week, I (Michael) asked “Is a graphic diamond a symbol we can attach whatever symbolic associations we want to?” Apparently, yes. Olafur Eliasson’s “Green Light” looks very much like the project “Diamonds Light Baltimore”, but this time, the diamond is about the refugee crisis, not police brutality. [artnet News]

“Any New Yorker who even thinks of voting for Ted Cruz should have their head examined, Really, here’s a guy who refused to sign onto the 9/11 health care act for the cops and fireman. Here’s a guy who talks about New York values.” Even conservatives in New York can’t stand Cruz. That quote’s from Long Island Republican Peter King, who also mocks the Texan’s cowboy boots. [New York Daily News]

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Friday Links: RNC LOLs

by Michael Anthony Farley on March 25, 2016

Won’t you please support the rights of these people to bring automatic weapons to their convention?

Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to tell if something is authentically right-wing or just an exceptionally skilled parody. Case and point: someone started a petition to allow “open carry” at the Republican National Convention. After reading the body of text, I think this is an idea many people across the political spectrum can get behind for different reasons. [change.org]

Ellen Salpeter is the new director of the ICA Miami, the institution that grew out of a disastrous split between the board members of MoCA North Miami and the city government. Now, she claims the museum and it’s pricey new building are going to operate entirely on private sector support, which she claims is more “sustainable”. That’s an understandable sentiment, considering the board’s past dealings with the public sector. But how does that strategy work when there’s another huge market crash in a city where so much of the wealth comes from real estate empires? [Ocean Drive]

Julius’ Bar in the West Village, site of a 1966 “sip-in” to protest discriminatory liquor laws targeted at gay nightlife, has been named a historic site. [New York Daily News]

The amazing, idiosyncratic Mummers Theater in Oklahoma City was demolished to make way for an office park designed by master-of-blandness Robert A.M. Stern. Now that project isn’t moving forward. This should be a cautionary tale to cities thinking of trading in irreplaceable 20th century architectural landmarks for the promise of economic development (I’m looking at you, Baltimore) Dear civic leaders, MILLENNIALS LIKE BRUTALISM! Stop demolishing it, because we’re the people who have to live with the ugly crap that replaces it (or not) when you’re all dead in a few decades. [The Architect’s Newspaper]

Belgian artist Dries Depoorter uses publicly-available surveillance camera feeds to grant viewers a front-row seat to crimes as they happen, or the opportunity to report jaywalkers to police in municipalities across the globe. These are so good, but also, if you actually report the jaywalkers, you’re probably an asshole. [WIRED]

Here’s a not-super-well-kept secret among writers: sometimes, towards the end of an art fair week, you kind of have a break down where most of what you write is incoherent and you kinda don’t care. This usually happens to me by day 5 or 6 of Miami Art Week after I’ve seen countless shows and lose touch with the real world and forget why I even like art in the first place and just want a drink and nap. But here’s Alex Frew McMillan’s report from Hong Kong and this is what all fair reporting would look like if Art Basel was a month-long affair and you had a deadline at the end of week three. What’s truly remarkable is this crushing art fair delirium/apathy set in after visiting just one art fair, Art Central. He hasn’t even made it to Art Basel yet. I await that piece with baited breath. And kudos for a piece in a financial magazine that is the only piece of reporting out of Hong Kong not obsessing over the markets. [Forbes]

Renaissance perspective never seemed so relevant! Saumya Pandya Thakkar and Shakuntala Pandya of India have designed trompe l’oeil crosswalks that trick drivers into slowing down for pedestrians. [ScoopWhoop]

In what comes as a surprise to only the extremely naive, de Blasio’s “affordable” housing plan is going to be great for developers and really, really shitty for the poorest residents of New York’s poorest neighborhoods. [Gothamist]

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Friday Links: Cowboys, Furries, and the Short-Fingered Vulgarian’s Micropenis

by Paddy Johnson Michael Anthony Farley Rea McNamara on March 11, 2016

Jannis Varelas, “The Cowboy,” 2016 at Athen’s The Breeder.

Last week, Molly Rhinestones and I noticed a trend of cowboy art at The Armory Show. Apparently we missed this one, which was included in a round-up of works that performed well sales-wise. [artnet News]

More Facebook censorship drama: artist Ilma Gore has been banned after posting a drawing of Donald Trump with a micropenis. [Motherboard]

Speaking of body-shaming Trump, meet the Spy Magazine editors who started it all. He still sends them outlines of his hands (in gold Sharpie) to prove he isn’t a “short-fingered vulgarian”. [NPR]

A rare scroll of Edo-era Japanese gay shunga illustrations is going to auction next week in New York City at Bonham’s. If you want to procure some old-timey homoerotica, it’s expected to fetch between $35,000 and $45,0000. [Hyperallergic]

Speaking of auctions, a new report confesses that the global art market is in the midst of a serious “correction”, a.k.a. decline. New Yorkers needn’t worry as much though, the market here actually expanded by 4%, even as sales have plummeted in Europe and Asia. [POLITICO New York]

Crumbs, the new film from Addis Ababa-based Spanish director Miguel Llansó is being described as “the first ever Ethiopian Sci-Fi Feature Film”. It features a protagonist navigating a post-apocalyptic landscape populated by neo-Nazis and maybe aliens. [African Digital Art]

Somehow, Syrian refugees were housed in the same Vancouver hotel as a furry convention. The children were overjoyed. Did anyone explain what furries are all about to their parents? [The Independent]

This reminds us of the 2014 incident in Chicago that prompted headlines such as: Furries Evacuate Hotel After ‘Intentional’ Chlorine Gas Leak. [NY Post]

Nita Ambani, India’s wealthiest woman, is perhaps best known for her eccentric skyscraper private home that towers over Mumbai. Recently, she’s become a patron of the arts—sponsoring travelling exhibitions at The Met, The Art Institute of Chicago, and in Mumbai. Now she’s building a museum to host “blockbuster” shows as part of a convention center developed by her husband’s company. [The Wall Street Journal]

Attention bloggers: Curbed NY is hiring a full-time nights and weekends editor. [Curbed]

After 35 years on Toronto’s Queen West, Queen Video is shuttering its doors. I know it’s been a couple years now we’ve been calling “the end of an era” on the independent video store, but it’s still depressing for cinephiles whose tastes were shaped by clerks who’d point your way to a dusty out of print videotape. Even though Queen Video is still holding onto its Annex location — and yes, they are selling their library so get ready — the Queen location was considered the best. [blogTO]

Internet, honestly, is this the best Obama/Trudeau slash you can come up with? A GIF of Obama moving in to make out with Trudeau isn’t enough. This shipping needs a name. Like, Trubama. Or, Obamdeau. And let’s open up the genre possibilities for fanworks here: a BDSM AU that spins out of an intense meeting on the softwood lumber dispute. An anthropomorphic where Justin is a panda. (I have no clue what animal Obama could be.) Whatever! The possibilities are endless. We can’t let this fandom die! [@joetoenails]

As mosquito season nears in the US, everyone is freaking out about the zika virus. Well, almost everyone. Republican lawmakers have been dragging their feet in regards to releasing funding for prevention and treatment measures. This, despite the fact that Puerto Rico (population 3.5 million) may face over 100,000 cases this year. [The Washington Post]

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FOX News Attempted to Troll Me at ABMB

by Michael Anthony Farley on December 11, 2015

Last week, FOX News personality Jesse Watters visited Art Basel Miami Beach to troll the art world. The segment aired last night, after heavy redaction and blooper clips being used as filler. This is how I remember our conversation transpiring.

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Fourth of July GIF Commission: Carrie Rennolds

by The AFC Staff on July 3, 2015

Our 2015 Fourth of July GIF Commission recipient, artist and designer Carrie Rennolds, hails from Baltimore. She’s making a red and blue state have some sort of sexual relations. This is a lesson for us all: No matter where you live, no matter if you swing left or right (or top or bottom), if you find a hot dude at a grill-out this weekend, don’t let his politics sway you into going home alone. Just do him.

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Wednesday Links: Fleeing the Country to Follow Our Pool-Aquarium Dreams

by Corinna Kirsch and Whitney Kimball on November 5, 2014

Image via imgur

Spend time daydreaming about floating around in this pool-aquarium. [Reddit]
Well, the Republicans were victorious last night. [Politico]
One of them is an 18-year-old. Either people have gone crazy, or there is some serious gerrymandering going on. [Mother Jones]
Pot makes headway as the legal drug of choice in Oregon and Washington, DC! [Mother Jones]
If the confused state of our nation makes you want to flee the country, try applying for a paid professional fellowship to Germany! Editor’s note: Art F City is not a partisan organization and views expressed by writers are their own. [Emerging Leaders of New York Arts]
This comic’s for the language nerds. [XKCD]
“They’re pushing prices and eliminating 99 percent of their audience,” said dealer Robert Landau, in attendance at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern evening sale in New York last night. [New York Times]
The Hirshhorn Museum replaced their docent program with interns. [Washington Post Letters to the Editor]
Ooohh. The story behind the CIA funding the animated-film version of Animal Farm. [The Telegraph]
Just when you thought public art couldn’t get any worse, celebrities have designed Paddington Bear sculptures on display throughout London. Kate Moss decked out the bear in an all-gold ensemble. [The Guardian]
AFC’s Whitney Kimball was lucky enough to sit down with Suzanne Seesman at Philadelphia’s artist-run magazine The Nicola Midnight St. Claire. We talk about whether seriousness, and separating art into medium-specific categories, help art (I think mostly not) and art world elitism. What would make the art world a better place? More artist-critics like the ones at The St. Claire. [The Nicola Midnight St. Claire]
The ULTIMATE sinister gentrification story: The developer G&M Realty, who are in the process of tearing down the historic graffiti landmark 5Pointz, want to piggyback on the historic significance of that site by trademarking the name “5Pointz.” Oh, but guess what, community? They’re throwing in a developer-sanctioned graffiti wall! [Hyperallergic via DNAinfo]

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