“concrete liberty hurdles” at Madison Square Garden
August 31, 2004
photo by James Wagner

From today’s New York Times:

City Fights Efforts to Release 2004 Convention Arrest Records

Faced with lawsuits from hundreds of people arrested during the 2004 Republican National Convention, the Bloomberg administration is fighting to keep secret a vast array of records, testimony and videotapes collected that week.

The city contends the materials could be embarrassing to people who were arrested, disclose police intelligence, or reveal environmental conditions that may hurt commercial development on the West Side waterfront or be useful to terrorists.

In addition, the city lawyers said that medical reports from police officers who complained of getting sick after working at a temporary holding pen were “unreliable” and “likely to contain misinformation.”

They’re just throwing out excuses hoping one will stick. Given that a huge number of people were arrested just for walking down neighborhood streets at the wrong time (many of them not protesters), the city has big payouts coming. Perhaps someone can ask Bloomberg to donate some of his money instead of making the taxpayers of New York pay for his attempt to cozy up to the Republicans and their convention.

Nancy Baker
Waiting For My Prince, 2006
Oil on Wood Panel
36 × 36 inches

Nancy Baker, who is represented by Winkleman / Plus Ultra Gallery, is the newest artist to sign up for my ArtCat hosting service. Click on her name or the image to see her new website.

Leave it to an Indian-owned phone store to have the best holiday window on my block.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about this disturbs me.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is buying the Hard Rock business,
including its massive collection of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia, in a $965 million deal with British casino and hotel company Rank Group PLC, the tribe announced Thursday.

Seminole Tribe of Fla. buying Hard Rock – Yahoo! News

John Smith
The Girl Chewing Gum, 1976
12mins
Black & White 16mm

The more I see of older art works, the more I worry that very few things are truly new. The latest incident? When I saw John Smith’s Girl Chewing Gum (1976) in Artists Space’s In the Poem About Love You Don’t Write The Word Love. One watches a street scene and listens to a voice appearing to direct the action on the screen. It doesn’t hurt that he sounds a bit like a Monty Python narrator.

I had never heard of this piece when I first saw Noah Klersfeld’s work Pay Roll. Todd Gibson describes it here. Maybe it doesn’t really matter, since I knew nothing of John Smith’s work, and probably Todd and Mr. Klersfeld didn’t either.

luxonline has a page describing the work and a short video excerpt.

Related: 2003 interview with John Smith in Millenium Film Journal.

[image above from luxonline]

Last week we visited Gasser & Grunert to see Ann Craven’s show of moon paintings. Here are a few shots paired with a real moon photo taken on our block.

Via Blentwell.com’s podcast I found this great mix by Don Rimini. Here is their description:

Don Rimini – Absolutely Dangerous

Wow this is some shit right here! Don Rimini stalks les rues de Paris in search of freshly tweaked beats. And with a DJ bag filled with butter cuts from Lily Allen, Uffie, Does it Offend you, 2 live crew and others this set is certain to get your ass werkin’ An awesome blend of electro, techno, booty & bastard pop!

Download (55MB, 1 hour)

Joshua Johnson’s excellent blog has been a little quiet of late, as he was preparing for a solo exhibition in Williamsburg. It opens tomorrow night at Riviera. We plan to drop by and see his new paintings.

[image grabbed from Riviera’s website]

Dark (Davis), 2006
Acrylic and paper on digital print
24 × 27 inches

I really love James Hyde‘s work. You really can’t tell, without standing up close to this and looking at it from different angles, which part is painted and which is part of the digital print. The “(Davis)” in the title refers to Stuart Davis.

This is one of a couple of works by James Hyde in The Thaw, the second exhibition at Lital Mehr’s new gallery on 18th Street.

Art benefits are a great way to do good, add to your collection, and discover new artists. We have met a lot of artists by first buying a work of theirs at a benefit. Good things happening over the next few weeks:

White Box Toy Box Holiday Benefit Auction: Thursday, November 30, 6 – 9 pm

We’ve found a lot of great work at their benefits. Unfortunately their site is down at the moment. Joy Garnett has some more details.

Visual AIDS Postcards From The Edge Benefit 2006

Friday, December 1 from 6-8PM:

Preview Party on World AIDS Day
Sneak peek only — NO POSTCARD SALES. $75 admission includes one raffle ticket. One Lucky Winner will select any postcard that evening! Additional Raffle Tickets $25. Other prizes donated by Twin Palm Press, Steidldangin, PowerHouse Books, Printed Matter and more. Participating artists attend free.

SILENT AUCTION of specially selected artworks by Jenny Holtzer, Barton Lidice Benes, Richard Renaldi and others.

Saturday, December 2 from 12-6 PM:

Benefit Sale (Opens)
Over 1000 original postcard-size works of art! ONLY $75 EACH. Buy four cards and get one free. First come, first served. CASH and CHECK ONLY — sorry no credit cards. $5 Suggested Admission.

Sunday, December 3 from 12-4 PM:

Benefit Sale (Last chance)
Less crowds, but still plenty of great art! Still only $75 EACH – same as above.

Hosted by:
Sikkema, Jenkins & Co.
530 West 22nd Street, NYC

d.u.m.b.o. arts center (dac) Winter Auction 2006

Preview reception: Monday, November 27, 6 – 9 pm
Preview and silent bidding: November 27 – December 2, 10 am – 6 pm

Live Auction: Saturday, December 2 at 8 pm
Auctioneer: Christopher Gaillard of Sotheby’s
Pre-auction reception: 6 – 8 pm
Silent Auction closes after Live Auction

Location:
d.u.m.b.o. arts center (dac) Gallery
30 Washington Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
mail@dumboartscenter.org

View works online: from November 27 at www.dumboartscenter.org
All major credit cards accepted.

vertextList benefit: Thursday, Dec 14th, 2006 7-10pm

This vitally important gallery focused on new media is having a benefit to raise money to help pay their rent over the next year. You can still attend the party without buying raffle ticket. Raffle tickets are $200 ($150 for participating artists). All tickets guarantee a piece of art.

Aidan Savoy Gallery

Annual Holiday Benefit Party
Thursday, December 14th, 9pm
With live music by Kate Diamond
Proceeds to benefit Habitat for Humanity

Artists donating work to be raffled: Lee Bakofsky, Jud Bergeron, Terry Ekasala, Matt Hansel, Pamela Henderson, Jordin Isip, Julia Marchand, Jennifer Perlmutter, Martha Rich, Paul Richard, Jean-Pierre Roy, Nina Savill, Amy Shawley, Jill Simonsen, Aaron Smith, Wendy Weston, Eric White and more artists TBA!

Raffle tickets are $10 each. Even if you can’t come to the party, you can still purchase raffle tickets. Images and details will be posted online soon.

The Second Annual WAGMAG Benefit Art Show

Admission is free, Tickets for artwork drawing are $150
Tickets can be purchased at the gallery or online

Advanced Viewing: December 2nd-December 16th
Reception and Raffle of work Saturday Dec. 16th, 7-9
Viewing hours: Fri-Sun 1-6

WAGMAG (Williamsburg and Greenpoint Monthly Art Guide) is pleased to present it’s Second annual benefit to support it’s mission to promote the over fifty galleries throughout Williamsburg and Greenpoint, to enlighten gallery goers as to art events and give recognition to the exhibiting artists through current listings and reviews.

All galleries included in WAGMAG are have been invited to participate in this exhibition, as well as some prominent artists from the neighborhood. The resulting show will not only generate funding for WAGMAG but also reflect the spirit and personality of the Williamsburg art community.

Works will be on view from Saturday, December 2nd through Saturday, December 16th. Tickets available during viewing and on the benefit evening. A ticket for $150 guarantees a work of art, a drawing decides the order in which ticketholders select an artwork. Benefit evening, Saturday December 16th 7-9, drawing begins at 8:00.