Modern Art Obsession

Interesting Contemporary Art Content on YouTube.. Slim Pickings.. But Getting Better?

Contemporary Art Content on YouTube.. ???  Is there anything worth while??

Given all the amazing potential of YouTube.com, there remains in MAO's not sohumble opinion, VERY Slim Pickings. Most arer a total waste of time.. armature type stuff.

But maybe things are getting getting a little better?

There are sadly only... 3 YouTubers that come to mind.. which we think are well worth checking out.

1. The Madness of Art by Jim Kempner Fine Art.. Tt's totally funny and true..

This one is a must watch for any NYC Contemporary Art junkie enthusiast.

Bravo Jim.. for such a wonderful effort.

We can't say enough good things about this video blog. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMadness0fArt

2. The Two Percent Tube by David Behringer. A regular New Yorkers take on Contemporary Art in NYC... It's not exactly ArtForum.. but then again, who would want to be...? 

The Two Percent is a website that gives contemporary art recommendations in New York City. This week, a very special "10th EPISODE SPECIAL", "SECOND HELPING" talks about a show of abstract expressionist work at Cheim & Read running concurrently with the AbEx show at the Moma, "TRIPLE THREATS" include Tony Oursler @ Lehmann Maupin, Robert Rauschenberg @ Gagosian, and Roxy Paine @ James Cohan Gallery. If you're in New York, give the new podcast audio tour a try! Check out www.thetwopercent.com for more.

http://www.youtube.com/user/thetwopercentTube

3. The Terence Koh Show... OK..well.. You my not like his artwork.. but maybe he just happens to be the most active attempt by a completely self promotionalin-the-know uber successful NYC contemporary artist.. He's not done an update for 4 months, but hopefully we will see more on YouTube from Mr. Koh.

http://www.youtube.com/user/terencekohshow#p/u

Oh.. and how bad can this YouTube Channel be.. if this World Renown Art Blogger..ArtFagCity has told the world..that Terence Koh is the most important Contempory artist working today in NYC..

If you missed this.. you have to check this out to believe it:

http://nymag.com/news/features/establishments/68509/

ahem.. Like can you say totally out of her mind or just taken out of context?

Well.. it's a sad little list of YouTube Contemporary Art Content providers on YouTube..

Has video blogging totally died for the Contemporary Art World? What do you thinK?

BUT, If any MAO readers have a any other important ones we missed.. please send them our way!

 

 

Photography Portfolio Review x3 ...and an Opportunity to get your Photographs in a Gallery Show.

If you're an aspiring art photographer, and looking for honest feedback from experienced eyes,  there are several emerging photography portfolio reviews going on this fall art season in NYC.

These review session can be a great and efficient way to get some honest,and very valuable feedback to take your art career to the next level.

FYI.. Some portfolio reviews are  perhaps borderline extortion, a total rip off,very expensive more affordable and useful than others.... so you need to choose wisely.  (photo: This painting from the 19th century depicts Italian scientist Galileo at the Vatican in Rome in the 17th century inquisition)

But there's one (actually 3 reviews) for only $150 which actually gives you the chance to get your work immediately into a NYC and LA gallery show.

Here's the press release.... for the Hous Projects Gallery.. Portfolio Review... Space is almost filled up.. so you need to call now if you're interested.

Time	Saturday, October 9 · 10:00am - 6:00pm and Saturday, October 16  10:00am - 6:00pm
Location	hous projects Gallery Address: 31 Howard Street , Second Floor,SoHo, New York NY 10013 212-965-1238
Created By	Elizabeth Houston, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, and Mike Mao
More Info	Fall Portfolio Review- Manhattan, New York City ...Location: hous projects Gallery Address: 31 Howard Street , Second Floor,SoHo, New York NY and the number is 212-965-1238 Phone number is 212-965-1238 or 212 -965-1251 Please call to schedule an appointment

 

We cordially invite you to be a part of a new Fall Portfolio Review in NYC at the SOHO branch of the hous projects gallery.  This is an opportunity to have your portfolio reviewed by 3 prominent figures in the Manhattan Photo Art World.

This is an exploratory portfolio review focused mostly on FINE ART Photography but, we will also consider FINE ART painting, video and sculpture. The main objective is to find new talent on the East Coast for an upcoming bi coastal portraiture show opening simultaneously in hous projects NYC and Los Angeles galleries during January 2011.

The show will be titled "EAST MEETS WEST".

The administrative fee for the portfolio review is only $150.00 and it will guarantee time with each of our three experts : Michael, Elizabeth and Ruben. They will consider work to be inclued in the portraiture show at hous projects gallery if applicable. This is a great opportunity to have your work reviewed by three experienced NYC contemporary art enthusiasts coming from three completely different points of view.. The Collector, the Curator, and the Art Dealer.

1. Micheal MAO- Art Collector, Curator, Member of the Guggenheim Photo-Acquisition Committee, Editor in Chief of this award winning Modern Art Obsession Blog and Co-Chair of the Aperture Foundation 2010 Fall Photo Auction.


2. Ruben Natal-San Miguel-Curator /Art Collector /Photographer/ Photolucida Critical Mass judge and pre screener/ARTmostfierce Art Blog Editor in Chief

3 Elizabeth Houston- hous projects gallery owner/Gallerist/ Art Collector/ Photolucida's Critical Mass Judge.

 

Friday May 7th...A Great new Photography Show Opens in Chelsea, Save the Date!

Friday May 7th... A Great new Photography Group Show, American ReConstruction, Opens up in Chelsea at the super art bloggers run amuck hot and innovative Winkleman Gallery, So

Save the Date! This opening is one not to be missed!! People will probably call this "THE Art Event of the Spring 2010 Season!." 

Plus, A big MAO congratulations go out to the 6 lucky new young talented artists which have been chosen for this show. Trust MAO, your careers in the Art World will never be the same!

More details to follow. (Photo below by Mark Lyon, Landscape For The People Series, "Ford F150 Tailgate", 2009, 24" x 60", C-Print) 

Welcome BACK!! Aperture SNAP Out of Winter Party !!

OK.. We've been away from blogging for way too long!
MAO is looking forward to getting back into the schwing of this blog again.
There's just Sooo much to bitch about say...

But we'll start with pointing out some amazing events that we'll be attending the next few weeks...

First... if the long cold winter has got you down.. it's time to SNAP out of Winter.. with Aperture!
Yes.. my little MAO-ettes.. Aperture is having a hot new party focused on young photo collectors. (yes.. that includes MAO too!! We're not dead yet!)

PARTY!! Live Jazz Music.. Friday, March 19th, 9pm until Midnight!! 

So the tickets are only $250..

WOW.. what a deal!

 For a $250 donation.. y

ou get 2 party tickets (think open BAR..and hanging out with MAO!!)..

PLUS a cool limited edition signed photo by

DAN WINTERS
Movie Theater, Midland, Texas, March 25, 1995

Exclusively produced for Aperture’s SNAP! Out of Winter party
Archival pigment ink print on Crane Museo
Image size: 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" in.
Paper size: 8 x 10 in.
Edition: 100 and 10 artist’s proofs
Printed, signed, and numbered by the artist
Presented in a foil stamped folio

DAN WINTERS (born in Ventura, California, 1962) lives in Austin and Los Angeles. He is the recipient of more than one hundred awards, including the Alfred Eisenstadt Award for Magazine Photography and a World Press Photo Award. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Austin, Texas.

AND.... if that wasn't enough for $250 you also get a 1 year subscription to the great...

Aperture Magazine!

OK.. MAO readers.. buy your tickets here..soon..cause this event will sell out!

http://www.aperture.org/snapoutofwinter/winters.php

They also have cheaper tickets.. at $150 for 2.. and $100 for one. Details here...

OH.. And come back tomorrow.. cause MAO is BACK!!

 

Some Very Sad News.. Gawker is reporting Dash Snow has died.

Some Very Sad News.. Gawker is reporting Young Artist, Dash Snow has died.

Here's the story from Gawker. http://gawker.com/5314284/dash-snow-downtown-artist-said-to-be-dead-of-overdose.. The story is also on the New York Times Website..

We at MAO loved his work.. particularly his totally brilliant artist books.

He is a NY artist we at MAO will certainly miss. RIP.

It's not just Art.. Hamptons Real Estate Prices Fell 19%!

Just proving all these luxury products are crashing highly correlated.. With US Stocks down 37% this year, home prices out in the Hamptons were just reported down 19% in one year.

Here's todays story by Kathleen Howley of Bloomberg News.

(Photo from the book, American Prospects, MacLean, Virginia, 1978 by Joel Sternfeld)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hamptons Home Prices Plunge as Wall Street Upheaval Cools Sales

Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices in the Hamptons, the summer resort of Wall Street bankers and Hollywood celebrities, plunged a record 19 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier as stocks tumbled and the financial industry shed jobs.

The median price for a home on the eastern tip of New York's Long Island fell to $830,000 from $1.03 million, the biggest drop in at least five years, according to a report today by New York based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

Prices in the summer retreat of director Steven Spielberg and billionaire investor Thomas H. Lee reached an all-time high with a $1.1 million median in the second quarter of 2007, before losses in U.S. subprime mortgages spawned the credit crisis.

Upheaval in global financial markets has dashed the confidence of wealthy buyers, even those who spurn mortgages and pay cash for waterfront mansions, said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel.

``The Hamptons market is driven by Wall Street,'' Miller said in an interview. ``There's so much financial turmoil right now that even the most affluent people are putting plans on hold.''

The number of home sales fell 29 percent to 257 during the quarter from 361 a year earlier, and the inventory of properties on the market rose to 1,561 from 1,422, Miller said. The difference between the listing price and selling price was 11 percent, he said. A year ago, it was 7 percent.

Slump

The slump in prices and sales is likely to be outdone in the current period, Miller said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 778 points on Sept. 29, two days before the end of the third quarter, in what was then the biggest drop on record.

The following week was worse. The Dow plummeted 1,874 points, its worst weekly decline on a point and percentage basis.

``When the stock market crashed everybody put the brakes on,'' said Judi Desiderio, owner of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton. ``It's just emotion. It's not even logical anymore.''

More than third of the deals that were scheduled to close in the last week of September and the first week of October were put on hold, she said. While most of the transactions were rescheduled and eventually closed, about one in seven of them were called off, she said. ``It doesn't matter if you are buying a piece of jewelry or a car or a vacation home -- people go into survival mode,'' Desiderio said.

North Fork Rises

The weakening economy may have boosted demand for homes in the North Fork area, where the median home price is about a third less than the Hamptons, Miller said. The eastern tip of Long Island is shaped like two tines of a fork, with the Hamptons on the South Fork and the North Fork above it.

The area that includes Shelter Island, which sits between the two forks and is reachable only by ferry, saw a 10 percent gain as buyers snapped up properties at a median price of $575,000. Sales rose to 98, a 49 percent increase from a year earlier.

Whether North or South Fork, prices in that area of Long Island dwarf those paid by most homebuyers in the U.S. The median price of a new house in September was $191,600, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In Honor of Today's Westminster Dog Show..some Dog Art!

To celebrate the 2008 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show here in NYC.. Wow..you can't believe how many crazy dog people are in NYC today.. Yikes..  Here's A few great dog art photos.

FYI.. MAO's money was on Dreamer, the Chow Chow ! , But it looks like Uno, the 2 year old Beagle, who was the first in 69 years to win the Hound Category, is now the favorite to take it all!

Oh..and by the way..in case you were wondering.. there are some really obsessive, crazy, enthusiastic, impressive Dog Art blogs out there..

• Art Dog Blog
• Dog Art Today
• Best Dog Art Blog oh.. and we can't forget...
• The pembroke welsh corgi dog art blog

Download Westminster_chow_chow.txt

Here are 3 of MAO's favorite

Dogie Photos..

Photo #1 :

Daido Moriyama,

stray dog  Misawa,

Aomori Prefecture,

1971

But, Almost no photographer ever did B & W animal photos as well ad

Peter Hujar.

Photo #2 :

Peter Hujar,

Will (Char Pei)

1985

And then in his

homage to Peter Hujar,

Artist,

David Wojnarowicz

created this three photo montage..

Photo #3,

David Wojnarowicz, 

Fever, 1988-89

3 silver gelatin prints,

30 3/4 x 25 inches

The Lower East Side and the New, New Museum...

Well.. NYC is only just a few days away from the Dawn of a New Era in Contemporary Art.. And NO..we don't mean the pending fall in contemporary art prices! Actually a Contemporary sale went very well last night at Christies... surprise ..surprise... the art sky isn't falling... YET!!!

We're talking about a significant shift of the NYC contemporary art world energy from the over hyped Chelsea to the fun Lower East Side. Yes..!! get your NYC maps out, my little MAO-Ettes.. and familiarize yourself with Orchard, Ludlow, Rivington, Bowery and Stanton streets....Cause you'll be prowling these streets all too soon looking for that next contemporary art gallery treasure! Actually you can't believe how many new lemmings galleries and fun restaurants are opening up on the lower east side.

This all new art energy will be anchored by the New Museum's stunning new 6 story building on the Bowery. Those SANAA people... have really outdone themselves!! WOW..

We at MAO were lucky enough to take a 6 person, full building tour of the New home of the New Museum Of Contemporary Art...

actually we got a personalized hour tour by none other than Lisa Phillips their head honcho herself!

This new building does not disappoint..

from the first moment you step inside.. it's sheer modern elegance..

We predict this building will become the new standard by which all contemporary museums will be measured against.

It shimmers inside and out.. with amazing light. A large but intimate space..

It's new gallery floors literally float, and the buildings innovative exterior skin will sure to be the discussion of everyone who walks by.

We can't wait to see how it's curators fill this beautiful art shell.. But you'll have to check it out for yourself.. the museum opens up to the public on Dec 1st.

Also... there's a very impressive New Museum benefit auction taking place at Phillips tomorrow night with many must haves exceptional items generously donated by some of the super stars of the art world.

The auction includes amazing works by Jasper, Cindy, Jack, Vik, Richard, etc, and a totally horny funny can of Frank and Beans by Tim and Sue!!

So get those checkbooks out rich MAO readers!!

(Photo #1 & #2..by MAO.. one taken before and one after our hard hat ego boosting director's tour... )

Danny Lyon Talks at the Whitney This Friday

So.. as they say.. some of the best things in life are free.

Well.. this Friday, 7pm at The Whitney.. Danny Lyon will give a gallery talk.. on Danny Lyon!! Montage, Film and Still Photography.

This Friday is "Pay-What-you-wish" night at the Whitney.. aka..free if you'd like not to donate.. from 6 to 9pm.

MAO will be there!

We just love Danny's The Bikeriders book!

But's he's also done a few other great ones as well.. here's a list!

And, for those of you who are totally photo clueless not familiar with Danny Lyon and his work.. here's his Wikipedia page. Does every artist now have to have a Wikipedia page??

(Danny Lyon photo, Route 12, Wisconsin 1963)

Here's a brief on the talk.

Known for an exceptional degree of involvement with his subjects, photographer and filmmaker Danny Lyon has captured portraits of people and places that convey the singularity of their time. This evening, Lyon reads from his latest work, Like a Thief's Dream (2007), in the gallery

Some Good can come from a Republican President

The MAO editorial Staff was off today...Thank You Mr. President, All Americans are grateful for your many years of devoted government service. May you rest in peace.

President Ford:  Although a 12-handicap golfer for much of his career and one of the most athletic President's ever, ironically, President Ford is remembered most for a ski accident, falling down the stairs of Air Force One, SNL skits, and numerous hit golf spectators. 

Here are some memorable Ford quotes we found :

• "Government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
• "I am a Ford, not a Lincoln."
• "I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I ask you to confirm me with your prayers."
• "I had pro offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, who were pretty hard up for linemen in those days.  If I had gone into professional football, the name Jerry Ford might have been a household word today."
• "I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators."
• "If Lincoln were alive today, he'd be turning over in his grave."
• "Things are more like today than they have ever been before." 

The ModernArtObsession Blog Birthday!

Today.. marks the one year birthday of this here silly blog... MAO WOW !!

A Big Thanks go out to all those who've participated, read, linked, laughed with and Laughed At this here blog thing along the way !!

There's been 191 posts and over 1000 comments this year..OMG!! Time flies when you're goofing off at work art blogging!  XO -Mike

Looking forward to year number 2 !

5 Years of Healing

For many years, I walked through these halls almost everyday.

At times like these, I prefer to remember the beauty and majesty that was the New York City, World Trade Center.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who perished in the towers, may God bless their souls.

Photo by Andre Kertesz, New York City, 1979.

Big News..Edvard Munch, The Scream has been Recovered!!

YEA! The story just came across the tape...from Bloomberg News..here it is..

Download BBNews_The_Scream_Found.txt

Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and "Madonna" have been recovered by the Norwegian police! You'd think in Norway, such a small county.. how hard could it have been for the police to find? No?

FYI... Be sure to come back tomorrow.. it's already September 1st..  time for our next Quiz!!

Happy 40th Birthday to Ms Kitty!

If you  haven't read Secondary Art Dealer Extraordinaire, Carole Lieff's August Art Advisor Newsletter..

Download carole_lieff_newsletter_august.htm

you've really missed out! I look forward to laughing with it reading it every month! She's witty, wise, and always well a head of the pack! This month Carole wisely hearts Vik Muniz... Great choice Carole! But, now, how do I get an application to be your muse??? Dr. Quiz wants to apply!

So, last night was the 40th birthday celebration of our Fire Island whore house-mate Ms. Kitty at The Harrison.

As expected, it was a simply tragic fabulous affair.. Ma, Pa, Dr. Quiz, Chop, Pearl, Missy, Boo, Mini-Boo, Frenchie, Frienchie's Young Hottie (yum!), and several others that were just too old, drunk, slutty, dull, tired, quiet to remember.

We laughed, we cried...we had way too much good food and wine! So, pass the aspirin please, everything is looking a little bit blurry today.. OMG.. I'm getting too old for these events! But at least I'm not 40 yet.

And no bitches this is not a photo of Ms. Kitty, it's the great Diane Arbus Transvestite Birthday Party photo. A MAO favorite!  Plus, Ms. Kitty still has a full set of teeth! XOXO

MAO Viewer Fan Mail?

It's August..

It's way too hot..

So, not much going on in the NYC Art World this week.

Here's another fun Monkey Portrait

by Jill Greenberg.

Plus here's a piece of crap viewer mail received yesterday from a big MAO fan! NOT!

Thanks for sharing Jeremiah..

What a big surprise, you live in Texas.

It's so nice to be loved!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From : "Jeremiah McNichols"

Subject : blogged about your Jill Greenberg post re: artist's net worth via controversy

Didn't want to join the dogpile of comments, but thought you might like to know I'm reacting to your Jill Greenberg post. A failed eBay auction proved a good opportunity to comment on your assumptions re: the prima facie value of controversy to an artist's career. For good artists, I'm sure it helps.

Here's a direct link:

http://thinkingpictures.blogspot.com/2006/08/worried-monkey-stays-home.html

If you have thoughts on this matter, share them there or on your own blog! I enjoy yours when you aren't being a complete ass, which is easily 70% of the time.
XO,
Jeremiah McNichols
Think In Pictures

My Broker, My Therapist ??

A Small Digression... Hopefully you didn't miss possibly the most stupid! funniest story I've seen written in the Sunday Times this year, "My Broker, My Therapist."Download my_broker_my_therapist_new_york_times.txt

All I can say.. I don't know who's more fucked up nuts.. the NYC real estate Markets, the real estate brokers or their crazy NY clients!

And FYI.. for all those bitch queens who emailed me to ask..

No!!  It wasn't Dr. Quiz who was quoted as the East Hampton frustrated wife..

"Public fighting is the worst," said Diane Saatchi, a senior vice president of the Corcoran Group East End in East Hampton. She described the frustrated wife, shopping for a $3 million summer home, who turned to her husband and uttered one line that said it all: "I wish you had a good job so we didn't have to live like this." 

Artists Selling out to RETAIL, and MAO Does Fashionista!

A MAO confession....

Last night was possibly the most wretched ostentatious "Un-MAO" event of my life, actually I'm embarrassed to say I even went to "MADISON AVENUE WHERE FASHION MEETS ART" sponsored by the Whitney Museum.  It was simultaneous cocktail receptions at 33 of Madison Avenues most fowl Elitist Shopping Boutiques.. including Calvin Klein, Cartier, DKNY, Le Frankfurter, Dolce & Gabbana, Carbonara, Givenchy, Rigatoni, etc, who knows, like who cares about this fashion crap..all I know, it was several EuroFag/Italian sounding named places I've never could afford heard of ...

So basically, it was all the USE pretentious posh places you'd rather be dead wearing than seen in.. So..Anyway.. there I was..surrounded by the NYC "IN Crowd", and MAO in my geeky frumpy conservative bland dark blue Wall Street wear feeling 100% uncomfortable..ick!! As expected the shops were filled with bland snappy chatter, champagne sipping, little black dress wearing, air kissing fashionistas.  One idiot  brilliant fashionista even told us he loved my grey hair! Dope! And if I hear the words DAAAAARRLING or FABULOUS one more time I going to slit my wrist..

I subjected myself to this torture, for really just one reason, to satisfy my crazed Art Addiction, and to see the launch of Eli Sudbrack's (aka.. AVAF - assume vivid astro focus) new fashion project. 

An entire Artist collection for LeSportsac.

AVAF's psychedelic design (photo #1) consists of layers of inspiration ranging from pop-culture to medieval tapestries to graffiti art.

Each LeSportsac is an original artwork, using different parts of the design, where no two items will be identical. 

Anyway.. most of the items look pretty cool and are reasonably priced.

So as expected the night was a total social disaster, I'm use to that!!  But I came away from seeing the cool artist installation at the Madison Avenue shop as such a huge sellout.  Very sad.

It was actually a bit depressed seeing an Emerging Modern Artist who's work I've loved and collected, go so quickly into retail! I'm not sure why, but it some how affects the way I think about the artist and his work. But in the long run, does this help or hurt an artists career? Any ideas or thoughts on this issue out there?

But, at least we now know what to get my fashionista partner, Dr. Quiz, for Christmas.. NOT!!

FYI.. Monday is May 1st!! Time for another MAO Art Quiz!!

NYC & The Art Market Set to Crash??

NO WAY!!

But, I have to admit... As I've watched the prices of Modern Art continue to sky rocket appreciate every year... At every auction I attend with my paddle in the air in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking.. DOPE Someday it's all going to come crashing down, so you better love what you're chasing trying to buy, cause you're getting ripped off never getting your money back!

Just like Internet stocks.. can Art values fall again like they did in early 1990's? 

See the roller coaster ride attached color chart, A Big MAO thanks to our super smart friends at Fernwood Art Investments for this cool historic art value chart.

Well.. given the ludicrous, Huge Piles of cash that just got paid out on Wall Street the last few weeks to the lucky, spoiled, greedy NYC bankers, an Art Crash sure isn't going to happen this year.

In a story released on Bloomberg News Today, Download 2005WallStBonuses.txt,  Wall Street firms will pay out a record $21.5 BILLION in bonuses for 2005! For the 174,000 NYC people working for Wall Street firms, the average year end bonus will rise 10% to an all time high of $125,500. More stories are sure to follow.  You can expect to see Hedge Fund Managers like, art buying machine, Steven A Cohen taking home Billions and Billions as well. So what does this mean... ??

My guess.. art prices continue to go up.  The sound of Doe-Rae-Mee $$$$ from Wall Street will continue to rain down upon NYC Real Estate,  Weekend Beach Communities, plus the absolutely "necessary to impress" luxury bling-bling items like Cartier, Botox, Gucci, Big Buxom Blond Second Wives, Fancy cars, AND Expensive Art.  So you can expect to see all these well greased masters of the universe executives rushing out to spend their newly found earned riches.

So, look out Chelsea Gallerinas here they come!! It's probably also not a bad idea for Museum, Foundation, and worthy Charity Fund raising type people to get a move on it.  Start asking for that extra donation, pledge drive, renovation grant, or acquisition fund, so strike while the coffers are full! And Boy are they going to be full!!

25 Peaces - An Art Controversy

You might expect to see this on FOX News!! But in Europe, The land of Nude Beaches??

The BBC reported the other day of a public outrage over an Austrian Public Art project.  Starting on Dec 27th, the project called 25 Peaces included 150 Roadside Billboards by artists celebrating 60 years of the Austrian Republic, and 10 years as members of the EU.  (one Additional Story from Spiegel)

Needless to say... The EU has it's own version of Archie Bunker "Jesse Helms", Austria's right-wing Freedom Party Heinz-Christian Strache, who's obtuse strong objections have unwittingly just catapulted helped the careers of 2 artists into the public eye.  It sounds like some public tax payer money, 500,000 Euro, was spent on this project.  It's the political Holy Trinity.. sex, art and tax money... a right-wing lightning rod!

Spanish Artist Carlos Aires Produced this poster!

A Billboard showing Queen Elizabeth II, George Bush, and Jacques Chirac  masked participants partaking in a little menage-a-trois. Hmmm.. is that our bush on top? No?

The second Artist is Tonja Ostojic from Serbia (who?).  Her Billboard shows a topless woman wearing a pair of Euro Blue panties sporting the EU Flag's golden star circle insignia in a highly suggestive location.

Both are provocative statements of the success of the EU, and a european view of The UK and US.   I the guess such roadside hanky panky may be just a bit too much for the dull conservative Austrian public.. Both Vienna Sandwich Billboards are to be taken down. Too Bad...I thought it might actually get those Austrian AutoBahn drivers to slow down for once!

       But you just have to wonder.. does narrow minded political attention still bring the doe-rae-mee, bling  notoriety artists like Andreas Serrano, Chris Ofili, and Mapplethorpe received?  Are the careers of artists Carlos Aires, and Tonja Ostojic going to rise significantly worldwide from this???  Or has the Modern Art world become fat, dumb & happy, comfortably numb less sensitive to the joy of a good old fashion Conservative Backlash?