Observations from the Window 3.31

Sometimes I read my horoscope in the morning, sometimes. I don't often mention it because there people out there that think the habit is just another nail in the coffin of my sanity. The thing is I read it yesterday morning and it said that I was in need of an attitude adjustment. Well actually it said an attitude adjustment could change everything, what everything it could change was not specified.

Google Chrome and I have been at war as I tried to sync my bookmarks on two comps and I thought maybe that's where my attitude needed adjusting because I was totally geek pissed. As the day went on I found I actually was adjusting but not in the way the stars seemed to mean. I fell into one of those death spirals of emo arrogance that Ash so subtly describes as being bitchy. I have no idea what the lesson to be learned is here but I'm sure there is one. Maybe it's just that sometimes the stars are wrong even when they are right.

But anyway I'll just dwell on those little bits of happiness that make the mood go away. Page 280 in the new issue of Vogue. The dress on the back cover of the Express flyer that came in the mail today, a must have even though I don't wear dresses. The buy three and get three free sale at one of my fav stores. Paris Amour, Coconut Lime Breeze, Black Raspberry Vanilla, Midnight Pomegranate, Black Amethyst, and Into The Wild. You can guess the store.

Finally, as I look at my print of "Almond Branches In Bloom" hanging on the wall, I want to wish Vincent a belated Happy Birthday. Wherever he is I'm sure he is creating a masterpiece. The man may have been insane but he was a total genius.

And the rain begins to fall.

Observations from the Edge 3.29

With the warm temperatures of March, unreal, the Occupy crowds have been getting larger and the main center of operations has moved uptown to Union Square. This move is very helpful to me as I can check on things and go the the Green Market in one trip. All roads seem to lead to the May 1^st general strike and the summer political conventions beyond.

Spring is here so one can't be totally serious though the video
does get serious towards the end.

link

Observations from the Window 3.28

Every now and than I read something I just have to post here in its entirety because it's just so totally perfect. Perfect for the moment or just perfect in my warped state of mind. This is just such a thing from one of my fav blogs, Wonkette.

"Nice Mississippi Republican Has Black Representative
Escorted From House Floor,
Because ‘Rules’

Oh look, this African American Congressman from Illinois, Bobby Rush, would like to make a speech for the House commending the young people for speaking out against racial profiling in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s shooting while donning a hood himself, to show solidarity: ““I applaud the young people, all across the land who are making a statement about hoodies, about the real hoodlums in this nation, specifically those who tread on our law wearing official or quasi-official cloaks.” Very good. Now, is there a white Mississippi Republican around to order him thrown out of the chamber? There is? Great!

Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS) had Rush escorted from the chamber, because “no hats allowed in Congress.” Of course, a hoodie is not so much as a “hat” as a “head covering,” and know what else is a head covering? A toupee! Are those banned from Congress? Not that anyone needed to, since of course no one in Congress wears a toupee. What if it were a yarmulke? Can you wear a yarmulke in Congress? Probably, right, because First Amendment? (Not just for K-Lo anymore!) Anyway, good job, Gregg Harper, worrying about the decorum of the House (hoodies) as the Republic burns."

A little background on Bobby Rush. Rush, 65, is a former Black Panther who has been a Congressman from Illinois since 1983. The district he represents has the highest percentage of African American voters in the nation. In 2004 he was only the second sitting member of Congress to be arrested while protesting human rights violations outside the Sudanese Embassy. He is also a good friend of former President Bill Clinton.

Gregg Harper has been a Congressman from Mississippi since 2009.
He has done nothing else of note in his life.

Way to go Gregg.

Observations

During the early morning hours of March 11^th , two weeks ago today, United States Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales killed, no murdered, seventeen civilians in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. Bales has been described as deranged or insane, three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan had taken an awful toll. If Bales had been an Afghan who had known nothing but war his entire life only one word would have been used to describe him. Terrorist.

It is long past time to end America's longest war.

An anonymous footnote to all the talk of what the murders have done to American relations in the region is the fact that these were living breathing innocent people. Four men, four women,
two boys, and seven girls.

Mohamed Dawood son of Abdullah
Khudaydad son of Mohamed Juma
Nazar Mohamed
Payendo
Robeena
Shatarina daughter of Sultan Mohamed
Zahra daughter of Abdul Hamid
Nazia daughter of Dost Mohamed
Masooma daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Farida daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Palwasha daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Nabia daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Esmatullah daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Faizullah son of Mohamed Wazir
Essa Mohamed son of Mohamed Hussain
Akhtar Mohamed son of Murrad Ali
(one name has yet to be released)

May they all rest in peace and be remembered.

Observations from the Gallery 3.24

This is never going to morph into some sort of travel blog but I wanted to mention a few stops I made yesterday. I'll start with a bit art history for you and finish with cocktails. Pretty much a normal day for me.

The Luxembourg & Dayan Gallery will soon be showing 15 of the absorbed and abstract paintings of Italian realist painter Domenico Gnoli. I went to see them yesterday not because I'm a fan, I'm far from it, but because his work is so rarely seen in public. Gnoli didn't create a large body of work, only some 80 paintings, of which most is held in private collections.

Born in 1933 to an art historian father and artist mother Gnoli was a successful illustrator and set designer who turned to painting full time late in life. He created large canvases that featured close-up details of dress and hairstyles, pearl buttons on a woman’s chemise, the pocket of a man’s trouser, long raven locks. He also made black & white renderings of chimerical beasts in everyday settings such as sitting on a sofa, or in the back of a limo. His work vaguely reminds one of Pop Art, but the feeling is still mostly surreal. Gnoli passed away in 1970 just months after his first solo show at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York. This is the first show of his work since than and officially begins later this month.

Later my bar tour of the island continued as Ash and I played Soviet for the night and stopped at the Vlada Lounge in Hell's Kitchen. The bar, owned by Russian expat Vlada von Shats, has a mix of gay, lesbian, drag, and hopelessly outnumbered straight clientele. The main draws here, besides the self proclaimed 'nice guy' von Shats, are the DJs, the thirty foot ice bar, and most of all the house infused vodkas. I was told the menu changes with the season but always has well over a dozen flavors and last night they ranged from plum to garlic. Personally I had a few too many sips of the pomegranate version, just awesome.

You haven't lived till you have heard Lady Gaga dubbed in Russian.

Observations from the Edge 3.23

The world we live in ....

AFP photographer Patricia Melo was covering a general strike in Lisbon yesterday when she was attacked by Police for no other reason than that she was a photographer. The photo was taken by Hugo Correia for Reuters.

Such A Waste

link

Observations from the Coffee Shop 3.19

My notes, along with my mind, are such a clutter right now that I find myself trying to remember what I did last week and failing. I thought I would dump some thoughts here in a sort of spring mind cleaning post. Perfect time as I'm sitting outside, it feels like a summer day, and I can see tulips blooming. First a few belated messages starting with Happy St. Patrick's Day. Than a happy six month anniversary to Occupy, though I would't use the word happy to describe one having one's head smashed and being thrown in jail, which is what happened Saturday night.

In no particular order some non-art related memories from art week. The Crosby Street Bar is a spot I have to remember, huge bar, gorgeous garden, and a patio to die for when it's finally summer. A proverbial oasis in the city. My first ever taste of absinthe at the same bar, quite possibly my last. The visiting freckle faced vq and her amazing knowledge of German vampire movies. My new unofficial gallery title, the reveur.

To my utter amazement I found myself agreeing with Ann Coulter a few days ago. “I think our party, and particularly our movement, the conservative movement, does have more of a problem with con men and charlatans than the Democratic party,” Coulter told a crowd in Florida. Nobody in the Republican Party is running for President for love of country but simply for themselves. Willard, who turned 65 a few days ago, has all the money a man could ever want but is just bored with it. Willard is running because he has nothing better to do. It seems Santorum is running for god and church, Santorum isn't running for President of the United States but to be Pope. I won't even bother with the other two.

For that matter what does the GOP stand for today? Not for voter rights, gay rights, women's rights, minority rights, or even the right to be healthy. Seems it's now not even for the Violence Against Women Act  if that violence is committed against women who happen to be in the country illegally. All I can think of that they actually stand for is the right of the wealthy to get wealthier. Maybe you can help me out with that.

Final note, In April J&J CEO William Weldon plans on retiring at the old age of 63. The value of his retirement package? $143.5 million.

Observations from the Road 3.18

The official beginning of spring is still a week away but yesterday I decided to declare the season early with a spur of the night before Saint Patrick's Day road trip to my dad's. I hadn't seen my sis since she left for her new school and with her spring break coming to an end I thought it would be a good time to catch up. That and sometimes I just have the urge, hell the need, to get out of the City if only for a couple days. I feel it in my blood, just climb in Foxy and drive before I totally lose it.

Now I find myself in Rick Santorum's Pennsylvania, or is it Governor Tom Corbett's now? The Tom Corbett of "just close your eyes" during your pre-abortion ultrasound. I swear between the two of them it's getting to be so embarrassing to admit at all you're from Pennsylvania. Yes the state that gave you Gertrude Stein, Grace Kelly, and Governor Ed Rendell now gives you Santorum and Corbett. Sad to say the very least but this isn't a political trip so fuck em.

I've missed spending time with my family and what's fun is as we get older the news seems to get more interesting. Over a dinner of barbecue we all discovered that the baby of the family has, unlike the beer drinking rest of us, developed a taste for red wine. At times I might be accused of acting like the baby of the family but for now that title still belongs to my sister. The sis likes her new school, her political science major, and it seems now her red wine. I still think the girl has the brightest future of all of us but I have to get that camera back in her hands sometime soon.

Than you have my environmentalist brother who spends his days mapping wetlands in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania. He loves what he is doing but in the end he is paid by a contract with Shell Oil and it's fracking operations in the state which he doesn't love at all. I know, a total contradiction, but he is doing something he wanted to do and I'm happy as hell for him. Before I leave the kid promises to show me why he is so totally into HBO's Game of Thrones. We might need to have two TVs on because my dad has some NCAA basketball watching planned too.

As luck, or karma, would have it Occupy returned to Liberty Square last night a thousand strong. Sadly NYPD returned too.

Spring is in the air.

Observations on the 2012 Election

Before we get too deep into this election year I best post a small disclaimer. When it comes to this presidential election I'm far from an impartial observer. I was an Obama volunteer in 2008 and one just never knows what I'll be doing this time around. Stay tuned.


link

"Five years ago, we started a movement for change."
Donate © 2012 Obama for America

Observations

link

Observations from the Coffee Shop 3.14

With the closing of all the major fairs on Sunday, and our little Salon on Monday, art week came to an end. I have yet to write about anything I saw during the week but I did get some well needed venting out of the way. That's always a plus, from my side anyway. I still have some posts started that I want to finish and hopefully I'll get to them over the next few days.

One thing I was excited about was the number of women artists having prominent places this year shows and not just at the Salon. The number of solo shows by women hopefully is a trend that will lead to women artists finally catching up with the men in the art market. When I first moved here I was amazed at the number of buyers, men and women alike, who would say point blank that they wouldn't buy a work by a women. At that point Ash normally took over the discussion. I'm seeing less of that now and actually more interest in female artists. Gwenolee Zürcher, who thought up and organized the Salon, said she did so because in her opinion there are too many good artists who don't get enough the attention they deserve simply because they are women. This is one of the topics I want to get back to.

This was the third Art Week since I moved to the Village. The first I barely noticed at all but I had just moved and was busy getting myself settled into my new world. Last year I was more into it all and even though I had been at the Armory Show before it still felt a bit new. I felt more like I was a part of something rather than just a visitor. This year's edition at times felt more like work than play, it was hectic, I was busy, but it was still totally fun. It's something that shouldn't be missed if you love art and happen to be in the city.

One thing I have learned over the years is I'm no big fan of neon in art, maybe I should say neon as art. I still have nightmares about last year's glowing neon fence by Ivan Navarro. This year it seemed every gallery at the Armory Show had a neon sign glowing and humming somewhere in their booth like some kind of psychedelic humming birds from a Tim Burton movie gone terribly wrong. I've never been to Vegas so it all just reminded me of a bad night on the Wildwood boardwalk. Maybe that's been my problem with the neon all along.

And one final thing, iPad art. If Rick Santorum isn't enough of a sign of the coming apocalypse iPad art surely is. 

Observations on Art 3.11

Even with all the art in town this week, all the shows and fairs, people still seem enthralled with the few Damien Hirst pieces at the Armory Show. The man is everywhere these days. Three hundred of Hirst's, and his 100 plus assistants', spot paintings are currently being shown in now extended shows at 11 Gagosian Galleries around the world. This summer also brings another Hirst exhibition at the Tate Modern in London and 2014 will bring us Hirst's own gallery also in London. Talk about overexposed, somewhere Andy Warhol is jealous as hell.

For some reason I have always had a problem with installation art. Maybe my background, education, I'm not sure why. On the other hand an artist's art is their own, hopefully showing what they feel inside. In 2007, as the worl'd economy began its long crash, Hirst created a $100 million diamond encrusted skull and called it For The Love Of God. If this is what he was feeling inside, well, for the love of god indeed. 

British painter David Hockney has said when discussing Hirst and his assistants, “It’s a little insulting to craftsmen, skilful craftsmen. I used to point out at art school, you can teach the craft, it’s the poetry you can’t teach. Now they try to teach the poetry and not the craft.”

I suppose if I got myself a paintball gun, stood back fifty feet, and fired randomly at the side of an old Pennsylvania barn I could call it art and than I would understand.

No, even than I don't think I would get it at all.

I honestly do have some thoughts to share on Art Week and some of what I have seen. Something awesome to see was the large number of women artists represented this year, even beyond the Salon doors.

For what it's worth I saw this quote yesterday that is a good addition to my last post on Occupy Museums. Video artist Yvonne Guzman said that there’s a feeling among younger artists that “the mega-rich collectors and artists are all hanging out together on a different universe somewhere. But the vast majority of artists aren’t a part of that, we’re just getting on with our art.”

Observations on Art 3.9

With all the art fairs going on it's been a hectic, crazy, fun week in the Village. I think I have started five art posts so far but have yet to finish one of them so I guess I'll be spending the next week catching up. This post is more a vent than anything else so I think I'll get it out of the way first.

Over the winter the Occupy movement seems to have gone quiet at times as the non-existent leaders spend their time discussing relevancy or the lack of it. The thing they don't seem to have learned is you can't plan relevancy, you have to go out and make it. Much of what happened in the fall was spontaneous with some help from the NYPD. The return of warm temperatures and the NYPD's continuing problems with hubris should cure all that so it should be an interesting summer leading into the fall election. My vent isn't directed at the movement as a whole but once again at that fringe element of occupy, Occupy Art or Occupy Museums.

Now I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of the mainly sociopolitical Occupy so it doesn't thrill me when some of them pretend to understand the art world. Occupy Museums founder Noah Fischer is a graduate of the Columbia School of Art and should know better but also has a well known chip on his shoulder. The money being thrown around this week does tend to confirm some of Occupy Museum's arguments as there is too much money in art and it does put the ability to own works by known artists out of the reach most people. But, as I wrote before, Occupy's campaign is directed in the totally wrong direction. To call for an end to the "elitist" Whitney Biennial and never once mention the Gagosian Galleries is just ignorant because the museums simply show art, they don't sell it, they don't set the price. Occupy could better spend its time protesting at Sotheby's or Gagosian instead of the Whitney and Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Than again Gagosian has some security guards that would make NYPD cry with envy, that might explain a lot.

Granted MOMA has always been a very special place for me, you can call me biased if you want, but sports is also special so here is a little comparison. A 12 game ticket plan for the New York Yankees will cost you anywhere from $90 to $1350 and the games are all weekdays. A single game in the nose bleed level will run you at least $20 and in the 'champagne' section $525. A one day ticket into MOMA is $22.50, $16 for seniors, $12 for students, and children under 16 are free. Try getting your kids into Yankee Stadium for free. There are ten different ways to join MOMA or I guess you could say get a season ticket. For $85 you get admission for a year, weekends included, and your guests can purchase tickets for $5. Skip up to $360 and you can even pull four people of your choice off the street to accompany you every time you visit, for free of course.

All I'm trying to say is this. Sure in a perfect world museums would be publicly supported and admission would be free. But we live in a far from perfect world today so don't fault the museums their admission fees, they don't come close to covering operating costs, and don't expect the government to turn more tax dollars over to the museums anytime soon. Your representatives are too busy spending those dollars building stadiums. It is estimated that the deals to build Yankee stadium cost New York City a combined $362 million to start and, including waived tax revenue, could top over $4 billion during the 40 year run of the deals.

Occupy sports instead of museums.

Observations from the Edge 3.8

I've been saying for some time that it's going to be an interesting year and spring with its warm weather isn't that far off now. Just an update, or a warning, however you want to take it.

link

Observations from the Salon 3.7

Ash and I long ago came to an agreement on music in the gallery, first one in picks the tunes. Obviously when only one of is she is the one who picks. Ash leans towards dance and pop while I take the rock and metal, somehow the middle ground is Lady Gaga which I'll never understand. It always has worked perfectly and people have commented they know who is there before they even see anybody.

Now and than Nicole decides that in her official capacity as assistant she should make important decisions and Monday was such a day. Nicole decided she would pick the soundtrack for the opening of Salon Zürcher and what was it she picked? Yes that would be Carrie Underwood. The geek in me came up with a solution which I borrowed from a radio station back in State College. I linked Ash and Nicole's iPods with my netbook and created one huge shuffle. Metallica faded into Keisha into something called country and all was right in the world.

At this point Bernard Z asked for Jazz.

The best laid plans.

Observations on the 2012 Election

Today is Super Tuesday in the GOP nominating race and I have no clue what is going to happen. The leading polls and pundits point to a big Willard win and the beginning of the end of this pathetic race. All that means is watch carefully tonight because something totally unexpected is going to happen.

Meanwhile President Obama seems to have slipped back into his campaign form of four years ago. During a press conference today he scolded the GOP for its easy talk about war with Iran. It seems two wars weren't enough to completely bankrupt the country so they would like a third while at the same time they bellow about the price of gas and how it's all Obama's fault while ignoring what a war with Iran would do to the that same price. The President said of the Republican hopefuls and their casual talk of war, "Those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities."

A new NBC/WSJ poll finds President Obama leading Willard 55-37 among women and another poll has unmarried women backing him 65-30. Which brings me to somebody I always referred to as America's tard in chief, Rush Limbaugh. As I write this 30 sponsors have now left his radio show after his verbal attack on 30 year old Georgetown student Sandra Fluke whose only crime was testifying before Congress. I won't get into what he said here but I will say I am totally enjoying his spectacular fall, even if he himself doesn't realize how fast the end is approaching. The man who once called Chelsea Clinton the family dog finally went to far. In personally attacking Sandra Fluke over and over again he attacked everybody. Men and women alike see her as their daughter, sister, or lover. He attacked us all and for that deserves whatever cesspool history chooses to drop him into.

Which brings this all back to Super Tuesday. President Obama, who personally called Sandra Fluke, said he did so because he thought of his daughters. If they ever chose to speak out on a topic he didn't want them to be "humiliated in this way." In comparison all the Republican candidates, these men who would be President and are so ready to bomb Iran, cower at the mere thought of condemning Limbaugh's calling a young law student a prostitute and a slut. When Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner was asked today if the GOP was afraid of Limbaugh he answered, "I think his words were inappropriate. Next."

I'll finish with parts of an email sent to all the faculty members of Georgetown University by its President John J. DeGioria.

"In recent days, a law student of Georgetown, Sandra Fluke, offered her testimony regarding the proposed regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services before a group of members of Congress. She was respectful, sincere, and spoke with conviction. She provided a model of civil discourse. And yet, some of those who disagreed with her position, including Rush Limbaugh and commentators throughout the blogosphere and in various other media channels, responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student....

If we allow coarseness, anger, even hatred, to stand for civil discourse in America, we violate the sacred trust that has been handed down through the generations beginning with our Founders.  The values that hold us together as a people require nothing less than eternal vigilance.  This is our moment to stand for the values of civility in our engagement with one another."

Observations on Art 3.5

(Originally posted on March 3, 2011 during last year's Armory Show.)

The Modern Art era is said to have begun during the American Civil War period, the 1860s, even more precisely in 1863 with the work of Manet. Modern art is characterized by the attempt to capture the essence of a subject rather than the resemblance of it. For just this reason it moved more and more towards abstract as time went by.

The major painters of the early modern period include Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, and Claude Monet, or the Impressionists and Post-impressionists. The early 20th century was dominated by the rivalry between the Cubism of Pablo Picasso and the Fauvism of Henri Matisse. The interwar period saw the rise of Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and the Bauhaus of Wassily Kandinsky.

Finally the post war years saw the birth of Abstract Expressionism which the first American movement to dominate art worldwide. For the first time New York City, and not Paris, was the center of the art world. Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, James Brooks, and many others define this period.

My personal opinion is that the Modern Art period began to end with the death of Jackson Pollock who pioneered the 'drip painting' method in which he laid a canvas on the floor and threw paint on it. But technically the period was extended into the 1960s and even the 70s by the rise of Lyrical Abstraction which was a movement once again dominated by Europeans as the United States struggled with the Vietnam War and it's aftermath.

Either way the era had ended before I ever set eyes on my first brush.

The idea here was to explain the difference between the Modern and Contemporary eras but I seem to have gotten a little carried away so I think I'll make two posts out of this. Hope this was easy enough to understand.

Observations from the Gallery 3.3

A rather unusual late night at the gallery or I guess what I should call the Salon for now. Some random thoughts from the beginning of my personal Art Week.

During the recently ended Fashion Week the Village seemed just slightly more vivid than normal. The cafes, coffee shops and bars were filled with colorful fashionistas in town for the shows. As Art Week begins everything has turned just a bit darker because black, as always, is the color of choice of artists and all their associates.

A little known fact, or a well kept secret, I just discovered is that the Air France lounge at JFK has one hell of a wine selection. In all my years of bartending I don't remember ever having made a french 75 but if you are at the Air France Lounge and not French it's the drink to order. I have no idea why cause they taste like crap.

Here is a bit of conversation in the car back from JFK today. Bernard Z, "So is everybody excited?" Nicole, "Kate forgot all about it." Ash, *rolls eyes. Me, "well". Gwen Z, "Katelyn is a reveur, they forget everything. It is allowed." So from this day forward my excuse for my pathetic short term memory is I am a reveur. It may be true, it may be not be true, but it does have a certain cultured ring to it.

There is nothing quite like listening to French, Dutch, and Swiss individuals arguing over what Chinese food to order from the Szechuan restaurant down the street. One thing you learn quick about Euros is that gestures are as important as words in a conversation and omg they have plenty of them and use them with abandon.

I know a little German to go with my French but I'm keeping that fact to myself. It seems the gallerists from Amsterdam don't especially like the Parisian variety and vice versa and I prefer they didn't know I understood what they were saying. I'm just evil to the end.

This should be a very interesting week at the Salon. 

Observations on Art 3.3

A change of topic here as, Rush Limbaugh be damned, politics takes a much overdue back seat to art. I was chatting with a friend a couple nights ago when a 'holy shit' alarm went off in my head as she mentioned it was March. Suddenly I realized Art Week and all that goes with it had snuck up on me. Honestly you would think the stack of show catalogs somebody had conveniently left on my window seat would have given it away but you would be wrong. Sometimes I just get so wrapped up in politics I forget everything else but how I forgot this is beyond me. Highlights of the week ahead.

Brucennial 2012, Circle in the Square Theater, 159 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village. March 1 - April 20.

Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of Modern Art, 945 Madison Avenue. March 1 - May 27.

Salon Zurcher, 33 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village. The ultimate in missed clues. Really the owners flying in later today should have given this one away but sometimes my head is just is off in another world. Galleries from Amsterdam and Paris are setting up this weekend so it should be fascinating.
March 5 - March 12.

ADAA (Art Dealers Association of America) Art Show, Park Avenue Armory. This is the 50^th edition of the longest running art fair in America. A must see here will be an all-women booth at Galerie LeLong, featuring works by Louise Bourgeois, Petah Coyne, Jane Hammond, Ana Mendieta, Yoko Ono, Nancy Spero, Ursula von Rydingsvard and others.
March 7 - March 11.

Scope New York, the so called Scope Pavilion, 57^th Street and 12^th Avenue. Scope benefits the Chashama Foundation which converts vacant properties into art spaces.
March 7 - March 11.

Volta New York, 7 West 34^th Street. The New York edition of the Basel art fair calls itself a platform for challenging, often complementary, sometimes competing ideas about contemporary art.
March 8 - March 11.

The Armory Show, Piers 92 & 94, Manhattan. This year the huge contemporary and modern art fair has fewer dealers with larger areas, hopefully no neon fences, and an opening night party at the Museum of Modern Art.
March 8 - March 11.

You can add to these the Independent, Moving Image Video Art Fair, Korean Art Show, Fountain Art Fair, PooL Art Fair, New City Art Fair, the Cindy Sherman exhibit at MOMA, and the John Chamberlain exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum.

That should give you a pretty good idea of Art Week 2012.

Observations

"I've never wished another man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." Mark Twain.

Arch conservative commentator, film maker, and total ass Andrew Breitbart died today. His website reported Breitbart, just 43, collapsed while walking near his home just after midnight. The best I can say is I would never wish anybody dead, especially that young, and I'll leave it at that. To put my feelings in better perspective this is what Breitbart wrote on twitter upon hearing Senator Edward Kennedy had passed away, "Rest in Chappaquiddick."

The official twitter account of Occupy Congress posted this video today along with these words, "Andrew Breitbart spoke strong words against us, but at the end the day, we're all one people." That works as well as anything I could say.


link