No, this isn’t a political post. Democracy Forever is the name of the current exhibit at Plum Blossoms, a gallery specializing in Asian art on 25th Street. We visited it for the first time last night, for a reception related to Asian Contemporary Art Week. The people at the gallery had used their connections well: there was a huge crowd of people from all around the New York art world and elsewhere.

It’s a strong show, and there are more images on the web site, but I wanted to point out a couple of artists whose work I really liked. The first is Ji Dachun, who creates acrylic works on canvas of communist icons such as Mao and Stalin.

JI DACHUN
Zhong Nan-hai 0.8
Acrylic on canvas, 2004
43 × 43 inches (110 × 110 cm)

Zhong Nan-hai is the “Chinese Kremlin,” a set of buildings once part of the Imperial Court that now serves as the headquarters of the Communist Party.

The other work is by an amazing collective called UNMASK, which creates domed sculptures featuring items of war and industrial devastation. I was told by Andrew Maerkle at the gallery that their “day jobs” are working on sculptures for public monuments. The image below is one of four globes. It appears to be mounted on a wall in the photograph, but they are on separate pedestals at the gallery.

UNMASK
The Shadowless
Installation of Four Units
plastic, stainless steel, fluorescent lights, 2004
4 pcs. each 26 × 26 × 53 inches
(4 pcs. each 65 × 65 × 135 cm)

The show is up through November 27.

On a related note, The Guardian has an interesting article on the state of contemporary art in China, particularly in Shanghai. We know a gallerist, Lothar Albrecht, who has a gallery in Beijing, but we haven’t had a chance to talk to him about his adventures there.

From MyDD.

LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2004 – At 7:50 PM two armored tanks showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood. The tanks circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered. Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the tanks, but police quickly cleared the street. The people continued to protest the presence of the tanks, but about ten minutes the tanks drove off. It is unclear as to why the tanks were deployed to this location.

So who ordered that? If it was a local decision, shouldn’t people be concerned that a local official has the authority to order tanks onto the streets of LA?

There is a video.

MIX, the queer experimental film/video festival, is having a benefit on November 21, featuring various ticket levels, including silent and live art auctions, and a cabaret featuring Linda Simpson (creator of the My Comrade zine).

Artists, if you’re interested in donating work, they would love to have it. James and I have discovered a number of new artists at such benefits. Here is the PDF donation form.

Sean Bonner points me to an article at America For Sale on the fact that Bush did way better than expected in Diebold voting machine counties in Florida. In Cuyahoga Country in Ohio, there were 93,000 more votes than voters. Suspicious?

See also Mac at pesky’apostrophe on the subject.

Queens International 2004 opens tomorrow at the Queens Museum, 3-6pm. We plan to be there.

All are invited as the Museum celebrates the opening of Queens International 2004 with an afternoon of music, dance and delectable fare that echoes the unique artistic flavor of Queens. Also, take advantage of the QMA book sale, a chance to purchase great books at a tremendous discount.

The second installment of Queens International attempts to take the pulse of the artistic climate of the nation’s most ethnically diverse locale. Featuring 52 artists and two collaboratives, Queens International 2004 presents a dazzling array of work produced by artists working or living in the borough. Established and emerging artists working in a broad spectrum of tradtional and unorthodox media represent a vital artistic community that is evolving on a daily basis.

Check out the list of artists on the web page. There are a number of people that James and I have mentioned before, including Rosemarie Fiore and Shin il Kim.

The exhibition runs through February 6, 2005.

Ah, yes, the city hardest hit by 9/11 has posters in the subway asking us to send donations to Florida, to a hurricane relief fund set up by Jeb Bush. I’m surprised it was so pristine. It must have just been put up. James took the photo, as I didn’t have a camera with me, but I spotted it.

Fuck him and Hilary. They don’t think gay people should get married, but they’re fine taking the advantages of marriage while Bill messes around on the side.

From The Advocate

According to the latest issue of Newsweek, “Looking for a way to pick up swing voters in the red states, former president Bill Clinton, in a phone call with Kerry, urged the senator to back local bans on gay marriage. Kerry respectfully listened, then told his aides, ’I’m not going to ever do that.’”

The advice is not inconsistent with Clinton’s record: He is the chief executive who signed the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, which forbids the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and leaves gay and lesbian couples legally married in Massachusetts since May 17 in legal limbo. The federal DOMA also prevents those couples from acquiring access to the Social Security and other benefits that other legally married couples have.

Actually, this article is nicer to Kerry than it should be. He and Edward expressed their support for Missouri’s anti-gay marriage amendment while campaigning there.

Culture Kitchen is always worth a read, and she has been doing a roundup of her favorite responses to the takeover of our country by stupid bigots. Some highlights: 1, 2.

Also, go read Philo’s rant on Queer Day. Barney Frank needs some therapy if he thinks the problem is gay people getting rights too quickly.

Looking at the map, it looks pretty easy for the good people to join Canada. I think we should secede, now that the majority of Americans have voted for the

• pro-torture
• prevent blacks from voting
• trust in God to tell us what to do
• pro-war
• anti-gay
• anti-abortion

party.

Isn’t it interesting that it’s mainly the more highly-educated states that voted for Kerry?

I think the gay marriage thing is what put them over the top. Way to move in the opposite direction of every other democracy, America.

Related:

• Good Hunter S. Thompson quote