Cleveland Rocks!! And so does performance ART!

For reference – old school

I came up to Cleveland (more specifically Peninsula, OH) to visit my cousin and partner-in-crime Stephanie (aka Stephalou, Ludas, Stebby, Steve…) and her sweet man, Nathan. The point of the visit was to hang out, catch up, drink wine and eat good food together.  We succeeded on all points.  Along with visiting SPACES Gallery, West Side Market, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we ate at two fantastic restaurants – Taki’s Greek Kitchen and Taza Lebanese Grill.

Here I want to talk about an exhibition I saw….and how I love to see women artists doing great performance-based work.

MOCA Cleveland

When we visited MOCA today, one of the current exhibitions was Kate Gilmore: Body of Works.  I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition.  The remnants of a performance were what made up the exhibition along with video documentation of other past performance works.

Kate Gilmore at MOCA

In her performances, Gilmore appears “dolled-up” in obviously feminine clothing – sequin dresses, panty hose, heels, etc.  While dressed this way, she puts herself in physically challenging situations forcing us to think about feminist issues and the difficulties that women have gone through and still do.  It’s a bit literal at times, but I think that is ok….I still really liked the work.  The exhibition surveys 10 years of Gilmore’s performance-based works.  She has a pretty impressive exhibition history including her inclusion in the Whitney Biennial in 2010.

The exhibition also made me think of two other artists.  First – Ana Mendieta.  This reference is obvious in that Mendieta’s work is autobiographical and she uses her own body in most of the work.  I looked at her work quite a bit when I was in graduate school so it was nice to be reminded of her today.  The Hirshhorn Museum always had her work out — it was a favorite stop of mine whenever I visited DC.

Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta

The other artist that Gilmore’s exhibition made me think of is Vanessa Beecroft.  For one, I have been working Vanessa and her team on an upcoming exhibition at Dallas Contemporary in September.  The exhibition at DC will be made up mostly of the remnants of a live performance – imagine 20 female models completely painted in white which look like classical marble sculptures sitting in the space.  Her performance are beautiful, sensual and with references to feminist issues. It’s going to be kiiiillllller.  Mark your calendars for Saturday September 21.

Vanessa Beecroft

Vanessa Beecrofit

Vanessa Beecroft

So…..FINALLY…..it’s almost time for me to board the plane.  Love you.  Bye bye Cleveland!!

My Amazing Miami Mane…

Miamiiiiiii

This weekend I stopped over in Washington DC to see two of my favorite people get married.  As I write this I am on the plane heading back to Dallas.  I hear it is cold in Dallas!  And there was snow earlier today??  What the??

Last week in Miami it was go-go-go and my amazing Miami mane was big-big-big (not enough hair product in this world to tame it).  One of the highlights from the trip was visiting the De La Cruz Collection.

Me, my hair and Rob Sparrow Jones

Me with Rudolf Stingel at De La Cruz Collection, Miami

In 2009, collectors Rosa and Carla De La Cruz opened up a 30,000 square foot space in Miami’s Design District to house their collection and serve as an extension of their home.  They rotate exhibitions a couple times a year and they have learning programs – artists and curator talks, workshops, school tours, etc.

Sculpture garden at De La Cruz Collection, Miami.

Rob Pruitt at De La Cruz Collection, Miami.

Tuesday morning we visited the collection.  The space itself is one of those buildings that reminds you that good architecture can make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  It’s white walls and large open spaces are the perfect home for Rudolf Stingel paintings, Aaron Curry installations, major works by Gabriel Orozco and others.  We wandered the three floors and then went out for lunch at the very popular Michael’s in the Design District.  The weather was beautiful and the food was tasty.

Gabriel Orozco installation and photographs at De La Cruz Collection, Miami.

From there we stopped at the Bass Museum for a quick preview of their current exhibition “The Endless Renaissance” – an exhibition with 6 solo projects by artists including Walead Beshty, Hans-Peter Feldman, Barry X Ball and others.

Barry X Ball sculpture at the Bass Museum (hermaphrodite)

After walking the length of the Bass Museum’s courtyard, we walked over to see the project by Cuban artist duo Los Carpinteros.  This was an impressive structure built as a bar in conjunction with Absolut Art Bureau. One of the Absolut art people spoke to our group about the project and then we had the privilege of meeting one of the artists (unfortunately the other one did not make it through customs…I will not comment on how fucked up I think this is).

Los Carpinteros bar project in conjunction with Absolut Art Bureau

Los Carpinteros at night

Drinks being served at the Los Carpinteros bar…carrot juice, vodka, cilantro deliciousness

From there we stopped at the Cisneros Foundation and got a preview and a tour from the collaborating curators Moacir dos Anjos and José Roca.

Our last stop of the day and one of the super highlights was visiting Rosa and Carlos De la Cruz’s home.  Rosa opened up her home for our group and gave us a personal tour of her collection.  Essentially the home was built for the collection.  Somewhere around 15,000 square feet, the house only has 1 bedroom.  We were served champagne and yummy little bites as Rosa walked us through rooms of Sigmar Polke paintings, Frank Gehry furniture, German paintings and most impressive an entire second floor dedicated to an installation by Assume Vivid Astro Focus – a collaborative comprised of artists Eli Sudbrack and Christopher Hamaide-Pierson.

Rosa De La Cruz giving us a tour of her collection (in front of a Sigmar Polke painting)

Assume Vivid Astro Focus installation at the De La Cruz home in Key Biscayne

 

The group enjoying the AVAF installation

AVAF installation

We ended this action-packed day with a cold beer and sushi.

Felix Gonzalez Torres at De La Cruz Collection, Miami.

Love you…bye bye.

GRAFFITI in MIAMI – Retna and The Wynwood Walls

We are in Miami and had a great day.  After a really nice tour of a collector’s home (including De Kooning, Rothko, Lichtenstein, Miro, Twombly, Stella, Guston and others) we went over to the Louis Vuitton store in Wynwood – Miami’s Design District.

They have recently commissioned Los Angeles-based graffiti artist RETNA to paint a mural on the outside of the building as well as design scarves.  RETNA was there to talk with us about the project, his process and his path from doing illegal graffiti to being commissioned by stores like Louis Vuitton.

RETNA

RETNA with a scarf that he designed

RETNA’s project at Louis Vuitton, Miami

Then we drove over to see The Wynwood Walls.  This was a project that was started in 2009 by a developer named Tony Goldman (who recently passed away in September).  He had the vision to turn the warehouse walls into public art during a time when the neighborhood was not the hip, bustling place it is today.  Over the course of a couple of years, he brought street artists in from all over the world to paint murals.

Os Gemeos wall – Brazilian brothers

It is interesting for us (Dallas people) to see a place like the Design District of Miami.  The neighborhood is full of interesting retail, restaurants, people and art.  This is what the Dallas Design District will be one day!!  We just have to believe in it and think outside the box.

Kenny Scharf

Shepard Fairey

RETNA

I’ll post more about Miami along the way.  Love you.  Bye bye. xoxo

**If you know any of the artists in the images where I did not include captions, let me know and I will add them.  Thanks!!

COOL SHOPPING at Dallas Contemporary

As you know, I work for Dallas Contemporary – the contemporary art museum in Dallas.  We are putting together a pretty effing cool shop for the holidays.  It will be open for 3 days ONLY – December 7th, 8th and 9th from 11:00am – 3:00pm each day.

There will be art, limited edition prints, art books, furniture and some design & fashion objects.  **Word has it that there are even a few Shepard Fairey prints.**

If you have seen what we do (amazing exhibitions, stimulating chit chats with artists, street art camps for teens, artist-focused performances), then you know that we can’t do it without the support of the community and people like you.  So mark your calendar…..come shop…..and support a very cool place in Dallas.

Love you.  Bye bye.  xoxoxo

Zuzu Fridays z09 – Linder at Goss Michael Foundation

Linder at Goss Michael Foundation.

Last Friday, I went to the opening of Linder at the Goss Michael Foundation in Dallas. First of all, if you have not been to the GMF, put it on your list of places to go…immediately! It is one of the places in Dallas that we, as a city, are SO lucky to have.

GMF is a non-profit contemporary art center with a focus on British contemporary art. They show new commissioned works by artists but what I often love the most are the works that they show from the stellar collection which belongs to the namesake – Kenny Goss and George Michael (yes, that George Michael).

Regardless of the conceptual side of Linder’s work (feminist perspective on the way the female body is portrayed commercially and in the media….which I love), the pieces are constructed beautifully; both through the elements of their design and collage to the physical construction of the light boxes.  Sexxxxxy all the way around.

The exhibition is up through 31 January 2013.  When you plan your visit, come see us at Dallas Contemporary as well….we are in the same hood.  And if you haven’t heard we also have a couple of spectacular exhibitions up as well.  K8 Hardy: September Issues and Inez & Vinoodh: Pretty Much Everything.

More info below straight from the GMF website.

Love you.  Bye bye.  xxxxoooo

Linder at Goss Michael Foundation. Photo: Kevin Todora.

Linder at Goss Michael Foundation. Photo: Kevin Todora.

Linder at Goss Michael Foundation. Photo: Kevin Todora.

Linder at Goss Michael Foundation. Photo: Kevin Todora.

Linder at Goss Michael Foundation. Photo: Kevin Todora.

Linder at Goss Michael Foundation. Photo: Kevin Todora.

From the Goss Michael Foundation website:

Linder’s show at The Goss-Michael Foundation will consist of a large group of her characteristic collages and new large-scale photographs displayed in light-boxes, each of  which are part of the private collection of George Michael and Kenny Goss.  Working in all mediums from music, to collage to performance and film to theatre and two dimensional art, Linder became known in 1976 as one of the main players in the Manchester punk scene.

In the late 1970’s Linder started using collage to juxtapose porn images with images of house appliances, or other desired objects, sharing the subversive practices of the punk movement.  By mixing up fractured signals and messages out of context, Linder exposed the way social images are constructed.  Her Buzzcocks ‘Orgasm Addict’ single sleeve which depicts a nude female body with mouths at the nipples and a household iron in place of the head is now considered an iconic symbol of the punk movement.

Since the 1970’s, Linder has consistently and uncompromisingly embraced radical feminist perspectives and explored the media treatment of the female body in particular.  In the collages, photomontages and performances Linder has made since this time, she sets about recasting and colliding the ideals of commercially and culturally rendered expectations of gender-specificity and identity.

A major part of the show at the Goss-Michael Foundation consists of large-scale light-boxes with new montages, originally hand-spliced as before and then re-photographed.  The use of the light-box gives these works the lush and tantalizing characteristics of advertising light-boxes, the emblems of our consumerist world that came to dominate the media and the landscape of the western world in recent years.  Linder takes over this powerful tool of mass media and turns it to itself to expose socially and culturally reinforced norms and expectations of gender identity, sexual commodification and representations of desire.

 

Zuzu Fridays is a weekly post about all things sexy, pervy, vampy, weird…or just plain effed up.

Carolina Herrera + Dallas Contemporary = LOVE

Today I attended a fashion show/luncheon at the Carolina Herrera store in Highland Park Village.  One of our awesome board members, Maxine Trowbridge, was co-hosting the event along with Catherine Carpenter Cox and Dallas Contemporary was the benefitting charity.

Upon arrival, wine and water were served while a stunning group of women (and a few men) from Dallas mingled and perused the racks.  Then we all sat at a long table inside the store and waited to see the Spring 2013 collection.

Caroline Herrera luncheon

The looks I like the best were those that seemed to reference painting.  Constructed with layers of sheer fabrics and color blocks, the dresses were stunning.  I found this image online that showed a grouping of the pieces that I liked.

Spring 2013 Collection

 

Carolina Herrera luncheon Dallas from Erin Cluley on Vimeo.

After the show, we ate a delicious meal and I sat next to and got to chat with some really amazing Dallas women (and one from Tyler!).

Dallas loves fashion.  Fashion loves art.  Art loves fashion back.  We are all one big happy family.

Thanks to all involved that helped make this come together….the Carolina Herrera, Town & Country and DC teams.

Love you.  Bye bye.  xoxoxo

hi·a·tus

hi·a·tus

[hahy-ey-tuhs]

noun, plural  hi-a-tus-es, hi-a-tus.

1.  a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

2.  a missing part; gap or lacuna:  Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the amazing Zuzu Bluebottom blog entries. 

3.  any gap or opening.

4.  Grammar, Prosody.  the coming together, with or without break or slight pause, and without contraction, of tow vowels in successive words or syllables, as in see easily.

5.  Anatomy.  a natural fissure, cleft, or foramen in a bone or other structure.

In Zurich last month….definitely a highlight of my trip to Europe.

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus for the last month and a half.  But Zuzu will be back in action…..starting today.

A couple of recent pics…..a little bit of travel….a little bit of the Dallas pool and lake scene.

See you soon…love you.  xoxoxoxoxo

Marina Abramovic installation at Art Basel.

pool party (thank you Chris).

out on the lake (thank you Bill).

pool party (thank you John and Wendy)

I heart NY.

ARTFORUM May 2012

I was in New York last week.  The Frieze Art Fair was going on so we made the most of a few days…

This was the first time for Frieze to be stateside so there was quite a bit of hype (it’s held annually in London, and will continue to be, every October).

With the fair going on, many of the galleries were opening new exhibitions.  We definitely made the rounds and saw some great exhibitions.

Today over lunch (in Dallas), I perused the May 2012 ARTFORUM magazine.  I decided it would be a good way to illustrate my trip….pics of the ads of the exhibitions.  Just another layer, I suppose.

I won’t go into too much commentary about the exhibitions.  I will say that I edited the list here.  There were more shows that I saw but not necessarily worth mentioning.  So I offer this as a “if you go to New York in the next month, go see these exhibitions” guide.

Also a topic of discussion among my friends and colleagues was the program of exhibitions at Gagosian right now.  Picasso, Lucio Fontana and Richard Avedon…..extensive (and I mean extensive) museum-type exhibitions with art historical context – but in a commercial gallery…not a museum.  Something to think about….

I linked each image with the gallery’s website.  Enjoy.  I heart New York.

Richard Avedon and Lucio Fontana at Gagosian

Picasso at Gagosian

Anish Kapoor at Gladstone Gallery

Cindy Sherman at Metro Pictures

Loris Greaud at Pace

Ryan McGinley at TEAM

Sherry Levine at Paula Cooper

Sturtevant at Gavin Brown’s enterprise

Alice Neel at David Zwirner

 

 

 

 

Zuzu Fridays z05 – The Prince of Puke

I made a trip down to Houston for a couple of days for work.  It’s warm and weird down here in H town.

Last night I decided to get a little taste of Baltimore via McClain Gallery.  I saw that Baltimore’s darling, John Waters, was opening an exhibition there.

I walked in and the show looked really great.  I even saw “Chesty” – a piece that I spent a lot of time with in Baltimore at C. Grimaldis Gallery.  Oh, Chesty!  How I have missed you!

After taking a look around and mingling with people who had drawn on pencil thin mustaches (yes….there were a lot of them), I saw the gallery director who shares my name.  Said a quick hello to her and then was out the door.

Lucky enough, as I was walking out, so was Mr. Waters.  I said hello, introduced myself and told him that I used to work for Costas Grimaldis.  His eyes lit up and then he said, “God bless him.  He’s still there.”

Not a question, but a statement.  Yep, the ol’ Greek is still there in Baltimore doing his thing.  That city is lucky to have him.

So cheers to John Waters who has made some of the most effed up films I have ever seen (he was way before his time….and it hasn’t lost it’s luster either).  And cheers to Costas who was showing John’s work before he was picked up by the big players in New York and LA.

And cheers to my old (adopted) hometown.  I miss you Baltimore.  xoxo

Zuzu Fridays z04 (Spain edition)

For this Zuzu Friday, I decided to share some images from an exhibition that I saw in Madrid at a contemporary art space called La Casa Encendida.  This was one of the better contemporary art venues I saw while in Spain.  Apparently they do exhibitions but also have a variety of classes that they host.

One of the exhibitions they had up was called Generation 12.  This was an exhibition of young, emerging artists.  One of my favorite projects from the exhibition was a collaboration between Almudena Lobera and Isabel Martínez Abascal.  Delicate line drawings were made, then tattooed on people.  The original drawings then were destroyed and all that is left is the drawing tattooed on the body.

Portadores.  La imagen en el campo ampliado del cuerpo.  (Carriers.  The image on the expanded field of the body.)

This is an excerpt from an essay written by Fernando Castro Flórez

“…Portadores is a playful modulation of that index-conditioned practice that calls into question both the responsibility as well as the conventional notion of the “owner” of a work of art. Destroyed, the original drawing only remains with a skin tattooed and documents of an action that hybridizes, with tremendous clarity, the drawing, the tattoo, the performative dimension, but also the photograph and documentation, proposing a dynamic that has to do with the relational aesthetic.  The drawings-tattoos of Almudena Lobera and Isabel Martínez Abascal do not produce a “perverse space” in some voyeuristic sense, nor a kind of singular extimacy. Rather, they have “certified” the incarnations (never so well described) of the arte hipertélico6: the tatooed bodies outline another idea of architecture in which desire set adrift is crucial, a kind of longing where anything possessed is an illusion.”

Enjoy the photos – even though they are from my iPhone (not the best quality).  More about the rest of my Spanish adventures will come this Sunday.  Te quiero.  xo