{ Monthly Archives }
January 2010
Gary Taxali: The Taxali 300
If you’re looking for a way to kill the last few hours of the work day, or the first few hours of the non-work day (for those of you not in PST), then consider them dead and gone because Narwhal Projects has a giant preview of Gary Taxali’s new show, “The Taxali 300,” available for your viewing pleasure. That’s right, 300 paintings/drawings from the prolific and amazing Gary Taxali, the Canadian wonder. You can also buy them, but I don’t want to pressure you into something like that. You haven’t even had dinner yet. Get comfortable, relax, get out of those work clothes, and then maybe we’ll talk about buying some art.
Benoit Paillé
Photography is all about the nouns; all photographs are of a person, place, or thing. Sure, you can hint around at intangibles (adjectives and verbs) with mood and everything, but that interpretation is the audience’s, and what you’re really taking a picture of is just a noun. Maybe it’s my frame of reference from being a person, but it seems to me that the most difficult noun to capture in an image is a person. Places are dynamic, but generally on a much longer scale, and Things are pretty much static, whereas people are changing second to second in millions of very visible ways. How can you capture a still image of something like that? I’m asking seriously, because I certainly never figured it out. The best I can manage is to take cute photos of my dog before she can wander off to lick her butthole on my pillow.
So I am always impressed by those that have managed to photograph people beautifully, like Benoit Paillé, a French Canadian portrait master. His series of portraits of strangers especially surprised and delighted me, and led to me ponder if the subjects were still strangers after he shot them. Don’t you need to empathize with someone to capture their essence? And the best way to empathize is to learn about that person, their life and times, the story they’re in. Or maybe I’ve got it all wrong, and it’s better if you know nothing. I wouldn’t be surprised, since I’ve never managed to shoot a decent portrait in my life. Not even of myself. Whatever that means psychologically.
Alex Varanese
Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the world’s foremost authority on warm colors and cranking out new typefaces like a coked up Hoefler & Frere-Jones, Mr. Alex Varanese. Varanese’s work embodies San Francisco’s strange combination of cutting edge industry and old-as-dirt architecture, shuffled up with Autumn’s palette, and hammered from each side into multidimensional masterworks. And if sentence structure like that doesn’t show you just how talented he is, well, anyone who wants a time machine that badly can’t be all evil.
Graham Robinson
How have you not been on my radar before, Graham Robinson? With your birches, boats, and beards, it seems like we should’ve been acquainted a while ago. Well, it’s nice to meet you now. You keep that good shit coming, and I’ll make sure you’ll always have free beer when you’re in San Francisco. That’s what friends are for.
Videos
Wake up your porkmonster
Doze Green @ Jonathan Levine
I don’t even have the right words to describe how much of a kick in the feelings the new Doze Green paintings are. Do yourself a solid and check them all out, and if you’re in New York, see them in person. Maybe send me some pictures of them in giant size. Oh, and buy me a small Doze painting while you’re at it. It’s only my dream come true, so no big deal if you don’t get around to it.
Audrey Kawasaki Print Sale
If you’re like me and the only way you can afford to buy actual paintings is to perform unspeakable acts in an alley behind the bus station, then you probably buy a lot of prints. Or hopefully visit your doctor very often. Print buyers rejoice, because this Saturday, January 23rd, Audrey Kawasaki will be selling two, count them two, different prints. Now, let’s break it down by the numbers. Each print sells for $100, but you can only buy one, not one of each, just one, so choose wisely. You can buy the print framed for $250. The sale starts at 3:00pm PST and goes until 4pm PST, and everyone that buys in that hour gets a print. The edition size is however many people that is. Show up with your money, get a signed Audrey Kawasaki print. If you’ve been around the block, you know that her prints usually sell out within minutes of being available. Now’s the time to seize an opportunity by the balls and squeeze until it begs you to stop like that guy behind the bus station. I’ve said too much. Go to http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com/sale/ at the right time on the right date to achieve a victory that might wash away your alleyway shame.