Art: Whitney Museum: Jenny Holzer: PROTECT PROTECT

Jenny Holzer's new exhibit at the Whitney Museum titled PROTECT PROTECT is a powerfully political group of works, that combine electronic LED signs with redaction paintings and 'lustmord'-- a bare wooden table covered with various human bones tagged by metal bands that are inscribed with phrases detailing the rape and murder of women during the 1992-95 war in the former Yugoslavia. War and Words are thus the two pillars on which Holzer's current work stands tall. Iraq takes center stage, starring the CIA and the Bush administration's bloody hands. Verbiage and words are the vehicles on which Holzer's art transport us: phrases are appropriated from pop-culture, government agencies, and news reels disseminated on 8 colorful, Time Square-like LED signs that silently and emotionlessly pound phrases of personal reflections with universal implication.

Holzer's probing themes are not new to art history. Her scathing critic of authority, state brutality, and infamous butchery have been recycled and re-painted since the time of Caravaggio. Holzer's art does not console-- it is not a plea for redemption or purification, it merely states, projects blatantly, silently and persistently. Man's inhumanity to man, an age-old theme.

Two works stand out in PROTECT PROTECT: "Purple" and "HAND." Both from 2008 are displayed opposite to each other and are to be appreciated together. "HAND" represents 36 oil on linen black and white images of (surprise) hands--both left and right-- redacted in varying degrees and accompanied by texts appropriated from U.S government documents. These hands, we learn, are not of victims, but are from U.S soldiers accused of war crimes. Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse comes to mind. The hands are positioned according to the varying degrees of redaction-- all I.D's, and finger-prints have been 'blacked-out', erased-- some fully, some partially-- as if saying that some secrets--some crimes, perhaps-- are larger than others. "Purple" on the other side of the room is an arching, curving 33 panelled LED with flashing phrases, also appropriated from U.S government documents. "Purple" denotes and displays the accusations made against U.S soldiers, the work literally highlights the crimes committed by the facing "HANDS".

Although we float through the rooms, and immerse ourselves in the penetrating environments of the flashing LED's we are impotent observers on state atrocity, but as voters aware that we have given the authority for cold blooded murder. All you can do is look and shame becomes a tactile component brought to the exhibit by the audience to dance along with Holzer's work. Death in the form of documented autopsies, and torture testaments; statements that have been redacted and declassified, but leaves enough of a hint at the callous cruelty.

It is ruthlessly honest --an incredibly modern work of art and if we are to have a chance at redemption for our own conscience, it must begin with acknowledgment.

Sign of the Times: "On the Money: Cartoons from The New Yorker" @ Morgan Library & Museum

Classic! Recession-specials.


"No, Thursday's out. How about never--is never good for you?"
--Robert Mankoff


"Winning is crucial to my retirement plans."

-Al Ross

"It's up to you now, Miller. The only thing that can save us is an accounting breakthrough."
-Robert Webber


"Oh, that three billion dollars."
- David Sipress


"I was spreading some risk around, an apparently it all wound up in your portfolio."
- Leo Cullum

And much, much more at the Morgan...check it out!

Culture: Kentucky Derby Party in Bklyn

Race horsing will never redeem itself after the tragedy of Barbaro and Eight Bells (along with so many other steroid-pumped, over-bred fillies and boys.) It is a brutal, barbaric sport--a slender line between it and dog fighting.

In any case, the social je ne sais quoi of the event is wonderfully fun--best for of people watching. So, bring out your sun hats and wear sun dresses. Today is the Kentucky Derby and only in Brooklyn NY do they know how to party like a race horse owner. Michael Boyd a Kentucky native started an annual Derby party in his apartment in Cobble Hill Brooklyn, which has now relocated to the Bell House club nearing Park Slope. The race starts at 6PM. Be there for the mint juleps cocktails; my money is on Friesan Fire...or maybe Chocolate Candy!

Art: Sadie Benning: Play Pause @ Whitney

Play Pause (2006), a two channel thirty-minute video projection of works on gouache paper spanning from 2001-2006, is Sadie Benning's first solo museum exhibit in New York. Directed in collaboration with Solveig Nelson, Play Pause is laced with base-pounding electronic house music (of her own creation) that spews out from a pitch-black room. With poignant childlike-colorful animations Benning captures a harsh city, sexual awakening, loss and glimpses of the everyday life and world that she finds herself in; the New York Times describes her new work as "animating the everyday sublime." Although, not marked by virtuosity in basic artistic technique (and thankfully so!) Benning's work is daring and experimental, and seeks to wrestle with complex issues--mostly autobiographical-- such as identity, as well as finding the evanescent glimpses of beauty in the ordinary.

Film: Louis Garrel of Les Chanson d'Amour (2007)

While many of you will have seen this 26 year old heart-throb strip down to nothing in the erotic film, The Dreamers directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, Louis Garrel reveals something else in the French film Les Chanson d'Amour: his singing voice. This musical, written and directed by Christophe Honoré, is about love, life and loss through death. It was nominated for the 2007 Golden Palm at Cannes, and stars a brilliant cast including the always sensual Ludivine Sagnier (think, Swimming Pool, 2003 with Charlotte Rampling) and Chiara Mastroianni (Catherine Deneuve's daughter). Honoré skillfully weaves together a playful three-part musical about the youthful relationship between Ismaël (Garrel) and Julie (Sagnier). The relationship's fragility is tested through the oddities of a threesome (with Alice, played by Clotilde Hesme) and senseless death all wimsically portrayed through little bursts of poems set to music. While the film is earnest and authentic in its emotional quality, it does take real guts to create a musical that can be realistic enough and engaging enough for this generation. Solely for its musical quality, Les Chanson d'Amour bears a resemblance to Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) staring Deneuve. Nothing, however, can trump the technicolor umbrellas and Geneviève's naive glamour in Les Parapluies. Although the songs are charming and surprisingly well sung (well done Louis!), Les Chanson d'Amour feels more like an experiment with slightly distracting sexual comedy.

And, on another note: unfortunately ladies, Louis is already taken by the 44 year old cougar: Valeri Bruni-Tedeschi, whose brother-in-law is 'le Bling-Bling Président' Nicholas Sarkozy.
Oh Louis!....

Film: Man on Wire (2008) "The artistic crime of the century"

Philippe Petit, performing a poetic dance across the WTC towers, NYC 1974

Far above the New York City skyline on a hazy August 1974 morning, a diminutive, flamboyant and quixotic Frenchman daringly dances across the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Crazy and delusional as it may sound, Philippe Petit's 45 minute performance, his gracious ballet conducted in thin air, comes across as a destined, rational, well-orchestrated stunt in the documentary 'Man on Wire' (2008) by director James Marsh. In a series of interviews, real footage and recreated scenes, Marsh captures the thrilling achievement more as a break-in heist where logistical nightmares of transporting equipment up the 107 floors of the two towers, security guards, and false ID's stand in the way of one man's ambition. "It's impossible, that's sure. So let's start working," says Petit of the challenge. This heartfelt documentary captures, without grandiose intentions, the wonder, delight and awe of one man's unbelievable dream brought to reality through the trust, solidarity and dedication of a handful of friends. If nothing else, Petit challenges us to join him metaphorically on the wire: "To me, it's really so simple, that life should be lived on the edge. You have to exercise rebellion. To refuse to tape yourself to the rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge. Then you will live your life on the tightrope." The irony of it all, is that Petit survives to tell his tale...and yet the buildings do not.

Art: The Met: Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors

"When Bonnard paints a sky, perhaps he first paints it in blue, more or less the way it looks. Then he looks a little longer and sees some mauve in it, so he adds a touch or two of mauve, just to hedge. Then he decides that maybe it's a little pink too,so there's no reason not to add some pink. The result is a potpourri of indecision... Painting can't be done that way." -Picasso

The eighty or so works by Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) featured at the Metropolitan Museum offer a respectable glimpse at an artist's last decade of work titled, "The Late Interiors" and succeeds relatively well at reappraising Bonnard's reputation. It might well have been the exhibit's slightly confusing layout at the Robert Lehman Wing that took away from Bonnard's overall masterworks, but the attempt at renewing the case for Bonnard's place as a significant modernist of the early twentieth century art scene, was a noble one.

"Purple in the grays, vermilion in the orange, on a cold, fine day." - Bonnard

Bonnard's immensely vivid palette and disturbed perspectival stance calls into mind the contemporary master, Henri Matisse. But unlike the flamboyant and grandiose Matisse, Bonnard was known as a quiet, pensive man-- a character and quality that transcends into his paintings. Though his quotidian themes: scenes of kitchen tables and early breakfast mornings are brought to life through his vibrant bursts of color, there is an unsettling nature about his compositions; a disquietude that Bonnard transmits through the often isolated, motionless objects and his preoccupied subjects. His figures often appear and disappear from the peripheries, only to reappear elsewhere across the room, or fade away and blend into the potpourri of paint. Bonnard's late interiors are true testaments to his immense talent at capturing color, distorting our vision and pushing us to question what we percieve and recognize around us.

Of course, no one can say it better than the New Yorker....

Fashion: Museum of the City of New York: Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity

"Fit the century, forget the year.'' - Valentina

Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a wonderful little jewel located beyond the traditional boundaries of what is consider Fifth Avenue's "Museum Mile." Many don't traverse farther than the Guggenheim at 89th street, and for this reason it is a pleasant (relatively) tourist-free experience.

Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity at MCNY is a rather small exhibit, but significantly one of the first to explore the life and legacy of Mrs. Valentina Nicholaevna Sanina Schlee (1899-1989, known simply as Valentina) whose couture designs blossomed from the roaring 20's through to the fabulous 50's, clothing celebrities such as Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Cornell, and Mrs. Randolph Hearst, as well as many society women from the Whitney and Vanderbilt families. Valentina's life story is one that epitomizes the 'American Dream.' Born in Kiev in 1899, she immigrated to New York in 1923, and through careful public-image crafting she reinvented herself to become a pioneer in the American couture fashion industry. In New York, Valentina and her husband, financier George Schlee, were prominent members of the 'Cafe Society' (think Evelyn Waugh's "Bright Young Things") where Valentina stood out for her always impeccably chic simple designs. In her large and bravado persona Valentina is often remembered for her aphorisms, such as: "Simplicity survives the changes of fashion," as well as "Mink is for football,'' and "Ermine is for bathrobes.'' Ha!

Art: MoMa: Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective

"The Happy End of Franz Kafka's 'Amerika'" (1994)

"We don't have problems with mozzarella and basilikum, because we pay back with mousse au chocolat!"- Kippenberger

Martin Kippenberger is widely known as the preeminent contemporary German artist who lived a life of immense excess: alcohol, drugs, art production and culture consumption and, as a consequence died tragically young. His work lives and breathes a sense of over-drive fueled by themes of failure, absurdity, humor, and social critic captured with such conceptual finesse. The Problem Perspective, Kippenberger's appropriately titled retrospective at the Moma, brilliantly explores the artist's complex views on pop-culture, the material-world and society through a lens of his vast cache of works and accomplishments. Of course, much like Andy Warhol, the extraordinary amount of art that Kippenberger produced was not so much impudence (such as a rusting Ford Capri on display-- can this really be art?) as pushing the limits of what he could get away with.

Absurdity and humor are paramount to Kippenberger. In a series of declarations, titled "No Problem" (co-written with Oehlen,) the artist explores the paradoxical world of "problems" created by our faulty society. He proclaims in this manifesto, among other things: "We don't have problems with shoe cleaners, we step in shit." Or, "We don't have problems with fools, because they speak our language." Hand in hand with this witty world view, Kippenberger was keenly aware of social hierarchies and ranks that pester society. In his largest installation featured at the Moma, "The Happy End of Franz Kafka's 'Amerika'" (1994) Kippenberger set up a series of random seats and desks--the kind of treasures and trash that one would find at a flea market or a trash dump. The functional objects are positioned on a vast green field, a football field of sorts, and we the audience are to sit on the bleachers watching the motionless spectacle of opponenets confronting each other while 'Funky Town' a 1980's Lipps Inc. single blares on the TV. (You've all heard it before: "Well, I talk about it/ Talk about it/Talk about it/Talk about it/Talk about,/Talk about/Talk about movin.") The piece reflects society as well as the system that define and structure social relations: this is a competitive match between the functional yet shabby flea market treasures, against the highly impractical design conscious seating. It is a rivalry and a struggle between the two layers of society: rich and poor, privileged and underprivileged, as denoted by what we sit on.

Failure is another theme that Kippenberger explores in his work. "The House with Slits" depicts a series of three modern, architectural structures. Each canvas depicts a different 'institution'-- The Betty Ford Clinic-- for the treatment of alcohol and substance abuse, Stammhein,-- a German high security prison and the Jewish Elementary School . The structures are failures in many respects, two obvious ones: they are failures as architectural oeuvres and failures of Utopian ideals on discipline and punish. Foucault anyone?

"Every picture I see belongs to me the instant I understand it," Kippenberger once said and his art, in its rudimentary form seeks to challenge notions of authorship and originality. In the series "Dear Painter, Paint for Me" (1981), the artist hired the sign painter, Mr. Werner, who is credited for actually painting the works of art. This series, depicts Kippenberger in a performance; here the artist as actor, as impersonator, as (once again) humorist shines through. The recurring motif of a deluded fried egg finds its way into many of his works. Always "sunny-side-up," the egg acts as Kippenberger's alter ego-- supposedly he used the egg only because, "Warhol already had the banana."

Dear Painter, Paint for Me" (1981)

Mini-series delight: North and South

Based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novel the critically acclaimed BBC mini-series North and South (2004) is an absolute favorite of mine! It is an immensely romantic, slightly clichéd, wonderfully historical drama starring the darling Richard Armitage as Mr. John Thornton and Daniela Denby-Ashe as the lovely Ms. Margret Hale. The series bears a superficial resemblance to Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, but in my opinion trumps it on all accounts.

Watch out Mr. Darcy, Mr. Thornton is makin' moves! Ha!

Film: Entre Les Murs (2008)

Entre Les Murs, or The Class as its known State-side, is a film that follows the lives of Monsieur Marin, (François Bégaudeau) the stubborn and sincere French language teacher and his rowdy, impish, multi-ethnic class just outside the bourgeoisie walls of Paris. This 2006 Palm d'Or winner at Cannes Film Festival is based on Bégaudeau's book and chronicles in a pseudo-documentary style a year in the life of a teacher's struggles with the Parisian public school system. The movie effectively highlights the clashes of culture, and the ever-present racial tensions in a "post-colonial" France; although many of the students are essentially French by birth, their identity remains that of their ancestors--mostly from Africa and the Caribbean. The themes of assimilation and integration versus the quest for independent identity and diversity are all too familiar in Europe today, and this movie highlights with destructive consequences its cost.

At the start of the movie, Monsieur Marin exudes a steady, patient, and witty demeanor-- clearly revealing his ability to challenge and engage the class through stimulating debates. As the year progresses, however, his shortcomings as an educator become more apparent and are agonizing to watch as his gentle commanding voice and his witty, jovial character betray him as he navigates through the testing waters of the pubescent and defiant classroom. Frayed by the constant rebelliousness, Marin seeks refuge behind the disengaged and disdainful Principal and public school system-- a cowardly act in the eyes an audience, but most importantly, in the eyes of his own pupils.

Despite all good intentions by Marin and others, Entre Les Murs reveals without pretense the imperfections of a teacher, the flawed nature of a school system and a fractured society.

Film: A Triumphant Community Organizer: (no...not Obama...) Harvey Milk

Thankfully, the Academy Awards got something right this year! Sean Penn is brilliant. He captures with subtle nuances the mannerisms, humor, sarcasm, and defiance of Harvey Milk. The year is 1970, its New York City and Harvey, a closeted insurance executive has yet to traverse cross-country to San Fransisco to realize his forthcoming role as the remarkable neighborhood and (human) rights activist-come-first openly gay politician on the American political stage. Milk (2008) directed by the immensely talented Gus van Sant, tells the story of Harvey's political and personal struggle towards an effective voice for the gay community. Starring a supurb cast including the always exceptional Sean Penn and Josh Brolin as well as James Franco, Diego Luna, Emile Hirsch. A must see!

Theater: Chehkov's Uncle Vanya

Suffering, tension, destruction and idleness are the basis for many of Chekhov's simple yet masterful comedy-combined-tragedies, and Uncle Vanya is no exception. It is a story about an Uncle (Vanya) and a niece (Sonya) and their frustrated longings (unrequited love) and wasted lives, made apparent by the idle summer months and the arrival of Yelena's (Sonya's step-mother) charm and infectious indolence. 

But, a play's potential drifts far beyond the pages of the author's script and lies in the hands of the director, actors and stage designers. Unfortunately the New York production of Uncle Vanya, performed at the intimate Classic Stage Company (CSC), fails on two fronts-- or perhaps even two and a half. The bounty of talents performing inculding, Denis O'Hare (as Uncle Vanya), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Yelena), Peter Sarsgaard (Dr. Astov) and Mammie Gummer (Meryl Streep's daughter who plays Sonya) did their best to keep this performance afloat. But the issue was not so much the actors as their misdirection by Austin Pedelton. While Mammie Gummer was a little jewel (thanks, more to her mother's direction than Mr. Pedelton!) as she subtly captures with immense humor and emotion the anguish and distress of Sonya's love-perdicatment, the competition was fierce between Denis O'Hare, Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The three indisputably talented actors never seemed to find their 'place' in the larger framework of the production--something that Pedelton could have easily put to rest with greater direction. From the very first scene where Dr. Astov enters languidly strumming a guitar, a discomforting tension hangs above the stage and production that is never fully resolved-- a pressure created by the exceedingly large and imposing stage design, not suitable at all for the small, intimate space of CSC. This could have been a brilliant production...but falls short.

Art: The Armory Show March 5-8th, 2009

For a brief four days in mid-March, the New York art scene takes a ride uptown from its home in Chelsea to the make-shift bungalow on the Hudson River: Pier 92 & 94 in Mid-town West. The New York Armory show is the hub of the art scene this time of year. Here art dealers, gallery owners, patrons, art-students, and critics alike gather to be a part of the scene, and above all, gauge the year's art market. As the DOW slid 300 points while I was aimlessly wandering the gallery stalls-- I could almost feel the art-balloon of the past decade rapidly deflate, as the hushed tones of anxious gallerists and persistent patrons negotiated prices. The word on the street is that many galleries were willing to offer deals of up to 30% off..unheard of just a year ago.

Indeed, if there was any inkling of an economic depression, it was written on the crisp white walls at The Armory. Massimo De Carlo, hung a slab of marble engraved in gold, "Everyone is Broke"; the small work on paper blatantly reading in red ink: "Keep Calm and Carry On," as if saying: "don't open your Fidelity envelopes, or your 401-K statements, and for God's sake don't sell." Another work, vast in both scale and price, (reportedly going for 100k !!) was a black and white portrait of ponzi schemer Bernard L. Madoff by the Chinese artist Yan Pei-Ming. It went unsold, supposedly.

Despite the depressing economic back-drop, all works considered, from the Botero's, Picasso's and Lucian Freud to the psychic-apothecary by Christine Hill, the mood was one of resilience at The Armory this year. Jack Pierson's "Believe" sums it up.

Best Latte in the city: Everymanespresso

136 East 13th Street
(Between 3rd and 4th Ave)
OPEN 8am-8pm EVERY DAY

To get a real caffine-induced wake-up call don't go to Starbucks...THIS is THE place for a delicious smooth soynofoamextrashotlatte, and to top it off (if you are the beauty conscious type) presentation matches taste! Rumor has it that this is where Tom-Kat go for not only their delicious lattes but also their entertainment, the play house: Classic Stage Company is in the same building. Enjoy!