Robert Rauschenberg: Anagrams (A Pun)- But No Joke

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

11 days after being here for the final day of the Chuck Close: Recent Works, I returned to Pace’s 534 West 25th Street Gallery to see Robert Rauschenberg: Anagrams, Arcadian Retreats, Anagrams (A Pun), on view until January 16, 2016. Up a few steps to the back office area where the show continues, a short video of Rauschenberg at work in on view. As the camera looks down from slightly above, I noticed that surrounding him all over his studio were numerous works consisting of seemingly chaotic collages of images. I couldn’t help wondering about the effect on a visitor’s brain of spending 8 hours in that studio, and what it would  feel like to then walk outside. I wondered what they said about the images playing inside of Rauschenberg’s mind all the time. Day in. Day out, for the 82 years he lived. It might be why there’s so much to see in even one of his works. This new show makes clear that it may be a long time yet until everything that brain, and he, created in his professional life from the 1950’s until he passed in 2008 is seen, fully appreciated and assimilated.

These works are dated 1996 and 97. Visually, his work presaged the visual chaos of the internet age, and the graphic print style of David Carson and others. Seen in 2015 it fits right in with the everyday chaos of NYC, both on the physical level, where pedestrians have to face a never ending life, death or injury battle with bikes, cars, buses, trucks and lord knows whatever else, simply to get from point A to point B, while being bombarded with every square inch plastered with ads, images or graffiti on the visual level.

The modern world makes me try to make sense out of its visual chaos- like Rauschenberg did so masterfully.

Visual chaos, 2015. Without the “Art.” By the way? Times Square was better before

Anagrams, Arcadian Retreats, Anagrams (A Pun) is a bit different from any Rauschenberg show I’ve yet seen. It’s concise yet catholic, coherent and sharply focused on these three series of works, which share working methods, making it very hard to tell which work is from which series. As such, it’s a rare opportunity to see a selection of late works. Pace’s release states the images are from Rauschenberg’s own photos, which continues a trend in recent shows of artists using, or basing their work on their own photographs (Richard Estes, Chuck Close). Rauschenberg appears to have been at the forefront of image manipulation, made possible by software like Photoshop, while adding “painterly elements.” Regarding exactly what these pieces are and how they were made, Pace’s press release says- to create these works, “he developed and perfected a powerful new technique combing dye transfer with novel supports including plaster, large-scale paper and polylaminate panels…The process produced an aqueous and fluid appearance, blurring the crisp edges of his photographs…The inkjet dye process also liberated Rauschenberg from the mechanical production of printing screens, allowing him to produce sheets exclusively from his own photography on an in-studio printer. In addition to a more painterly effect, these works reflect a more nimble and freer approach to image-making than earlier works which were bound by the limitations of the mechanical process.”

 

It’s tempting to “read into” the resulting images, some of which are repeated verbatim in other works, and take them as a visual language, to be deciphered for “messages,” even hidden meanings. That will take a lot of looking to compile. Though “anagram” is a word about words, I don’t think I’ll be taking it that literally. I prefer to let the images speak, and this show is an orgy for the eye.

The works range from very large to large and a few of medium size. Two, including the largest, (one, I felt to be the most impactful piece in the show), are owned by the Whitney. Most of the others are not titled, detailed or described. Many feature images from different cultures around the world from the Sphinx and the Pyramids to traditional costumes, apparently from trips he had taken shortly before, which are juxtaposed with images from the western world, like construction equipment, firefighters, store fronts, junked cars, bicycles and soda bottles. Despite being combined, layered, even processed, the results don’t look like images produced in Photoshop. They look more like paintings, which I find somewhat remarkable, probably because I am so used to seeing Photoshopped Photographs. While he anticipated digital image processing and manipulation in works gong back to the late 1950’s, he continued doing things entirely his own way, and only selectively using technology when it suited his aims.

I previously saw some works from these series in the 1977 Guggenheim Rauschenberg Retrospective, but these were new to me. Seeing only works from these series brought home how wonderful they are. They’re different from what he had done earlier in his career, yet they have that undeniable “Rauschenberg” feel. In spite of being Photo based, they retain a “painterly” look, which I think is remarkable, and one of the things that sets his work apart from all those doing these types of works today. For me, Rauschenberg is kind of an American Picasso of the 2nd half of the 20th Century- his creativity and inventiveness knew no bounds. Like Picasso, he never stopped innovating and trying new things and techniques. Even 7 years after his passing, we continue to discover new facets of this work, which seems as fresh and contemporary as anything else around today. That will, no doubt, continue at the first full scale retrospective of his work since the Guggenheim’s 1997 blockbuster to be held next year at the Tate Modern, London.

These are wonderful works that reward repeated looks from a period of the Artist’s career that strikes me as being under appreciated. They seem so of the moment, it’s hard to think they’re going on 20 years old. In that sense, like their creator, they are ahead of their time, even now. I’m continuing to try and get the modern world to look like a Rauschenberg to me, to make that kind of sense, possibly even find the “Art” in it…that is when I’m not dodging bikes, cars, and the rest to actually feel safe enough in it to look around. That danger is what’s missing in these Rauschenbergs. Probably because he seems to be focused on the bigger picture, the dangers of the modern world to ancient cultures and ancient creatures. Including man.

On a bigger scale, like that bike I don’t see coming the wrong way on a one way street, the modern world is obliterating all that came before.

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*-Soundtrack for this post is “Crosstown Traffic,” by Jimi Hendrix.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

Why I’m Not Going To See “Steve Jobs”

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava (*- unless otherwise credited)

Back cover of MacWorld UK for it’s Steve Jobs tribute after he passed in 2011. I’ve never been able to find out if it was a real Apple Ad or not.

One. Mrs. Steve Jobs calls it “fiction.”

Two. Walt Mossberg says the Jobs he knew “isn’t in the film.”

Three. As people who know me know, I’ve been an Apple guy since 1990, so I lived through much of this by watching the Apple Keynotes & Media events (which you can still watch free on iTunes), by following Apple, and yes, through the media. The real danger in the film “Steve Jobs” I fear, even as a hard core supporter of artistic license and free speech, is that people who don’t know anything about Steve Jobs will make their minds up solely on the basis of this, and other Jobs films, the way Oliver Stone’s “JFK” has influenced the minds of so many that Oswald didn’t act alone. (Sorry. I think he did.) I was hoping “Steve Jobs” would be a kind of outright fantasy like the wonderful “I’m Not There” is “about” Bob Dylan. It gives a sense of him without attempting the impossible and trying to recreate him. For me, that is the best course to take. Even the “documentaries” released on Jobs thus far strike me as being messes.

It’s a real shame. Jobs though, by his own admission, was not a perfect human being, is an important enough one to deserve much better. Society, especially the young who may become “the next Steve Jobs,” deserves much better. If you really want to read something that catches the real Steve better, read “Becoming Steve Jobs,” by Brent Schlender & Rick Tetzeli. No less than Apple guru John Gruber calls it “remarkable,” and says it is “the book about Steve Jobs the world deserves.”

When you start seeing really mild mannered people like Tim Cook, who offered Mr. Jobs his own liver, get his dander up, you know it’s taken a lot. I feel for him, Mrs. Jobs, and those who actually knew Steve Jobs. I can’t even imagine their frustration.

“Yes, she’s gone like the rainbow that shined yesterday
But now she’s home beside me and I’d like her here to stay
She’s a lone forsaken beauty and it’s don’t trust anyone
I wish I was beside her but I’m not there, I’m gone”*

Cast your vote with your wallet and STAY AWAY.

*Soundtrack for this post is “I’m Not There” by Bob Dylan, Steve Jobs favorite musician, which appears on the “Basement Tapes” (Bootleg Series, Vol  11), and was written by Bob Dylan and published by Dwarf Music.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

Picasso Sculpts The Next Dimension

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava (*- unless otherwise credited)

In the summer of 1980 I made 2 trips to New York specifically to see the Picasso Retrospective at Moma. Consisting of over 350 works (including the masterpiece “Guernica” in its farewell before being returned to Spain as Picasso requested in his will), it filled the entire building. I remember walking around the show in a daze. After the first floor, my brain had glossed over the way it does during mind-blowing sex. I staggered back out into the sunlight utterly overwhelmed…

Here it ALL was. ALL of what “Modern Art” was, and is. What else did you need to see?

Being a working musician at the time, I didn’t give any thought to what it must have been like to have been an artist seeing it. It must have felt like I did the first time I heard Jaco Pastorius a few years before. As a bassist, I almost threw my Rickenbacker 4001 electric bass into Miami’s Biscayne Bay that night (for real)- there was almost nothing left to play on the bass. I sold my Rick and started playing the upright bass, double bass or bass violin as it’s variously known. Can you imagine being an artist and seeing this show? You must have left it feeling like I did after hearing Jaco-

“Now what? What’s left to do that he didn’t do?”

I was reminded of all of this while attending another Picasso blockbuster show at Moma today, 35 years after that one- Picasso Sculpture.

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“Do not attempt to adjust the horizontal…the vertical…” or, your Absinthe Spoon.

Like many artists in all realms of the arts, and many “other” people (I’ll be there, too), Picasso may not be high on the list awaiting canonization as a saint. Yet, as an artist, his legacy is likely to astound and influence artists and art lovers alike for centuries to come. Had he “only” been a sculptor people would be talking about him being among the greatest, both in terms of his work and how many unique styles he invented or co-invented.

Hmmm…kinda like that Spanish painter. What’s his name? Oh yeah. Picasso.

It’s the name that stands like the gigantic monolith in “2001” in the middle of the road to the future of art, where everything that is or will be is built on the shoulders of what was.

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“Open the Pod Bay Doors, Pablo Ruiz.”

I feel for the artists of today, or tomorrow, who’s life and work lie along that road. What’s left? Indeed.

Even only viewing his work in one medium (if you can call it one)- sculpture, his achievement is almost beyond comparison. Amazingly, though his dad was an artist (a painter) AND an art teacher, Picasso had no training in sculpture. Perhaps this is why, after he found his footing in it, his work quickly achieved a freedom that had never been seen before. He had nothing to “unlearn.”

Then, he began his journey towards freeing his vision. That is what we see here.

Whether working in “traditional” materials (especially bronze- more on that in a moment), or using things that had never been used in sculpture before, what’s now called “found” materials, his endless creativity, often in this show in interpreting the human form, astounds. In spite of the fact that there may be more monographs on Picasso than any other artist of the 20th Century much of what’s on view was new to my eye. Unlike any art monograph yet published (Coco Rocha’s app “Study of Pose” possibly excepted), you can get a full 360 degree view by walking around almost all of the pieces on display on Moma’s 5th Floor. As much as anything else it is, sculpture is a 360 degree medium.

Scale makes no difference to the impact these works have, either. Some are a few inches tall, moquettes (models) for what became very large/monumental public sculptures, like the one in the Daley Center, Chicago. Thought startlingly tiny for those who have seen the monumental versions, they have a different effect, yet one that is every bit as compelling. They reminded me of the amazing show of Bernini’s original small clay models of many of his monumental masterpieces at TM a couple years ago. Like architects creating architectural models (and there happens to be an interesting show of them on the 2nd Floor in the drawings galleries), Picasso, also, proves to be a master of scale.

What would Michelangelo think?

The first thing Picasso changed was the definition of the word “sculpture.” Truth be told, a number of these pieces are not “sculpture,” in the traditional sense. Some are collages (an art form he co-invented), multi-media works, a few are constructions, plastic arts, and yes, some are traditional sculptures. But, as they are 3 dimensional works, they are being called sculpture under a broader than traditional definition.

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Click, to enter another dimension.

The second thing he changed was the materials that could be used (including every day things like gloves, sand, upholstery fringe, absinthe spoons, nails, tin plate, and wire – all by 1930).

Most compelling for me among the traditional materials were the bronzes Picasso made while living in Paris during the Nazi occupation. They constricted bronze to military use only, but Picasso brazenly managed to get enough of it to  continue to work in it during the occupation. He, and his collaborators, no doubt risked death making these works in, of course, a style of art the Nazis had already branded “degenerate.” For me, the examples displayed are among the highlights of the show. (Since my posts to this point have been about shows that have ended, or were about to, and this one recently opened and runs until February 7, 2016, I’m not posting pics of the work to allow you to see it for yourself, which you should. Photos are allowed, and I’ll probably post some later.)

But, of course, the changes Picasso made didn’t end there. His creativity knew no bounds, and no one “style” could hold him for long.

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Cubism, which he co-founded, the style of painting that plays with dimensional perception, in 2 dimensions, has to rely on different techniques as sculpture. This may be why this section of the show is more interesting than it is filled with his best work. In the case of the work on view, it’s more an appendage to the paintings.

As we move to the next chronological gallery, it seems that as Picasso moved ahead from Cubism, he moved past dimension to dismantling the human body in ways no one- not even the surrealists had considered. In these works, starting with his wire figures, a whole nother world suddenly opens.

It’s as if Picasso had finally achieved the goal he was after when he (Braque, Gris and Leger) started Cubism- to achieve an entirely new way of seeing that existed beyond the 3 dimensions he was “bending” with Cubism, one that existed only in the dimension of his imagination.

After this breakthrough, Picasso was finally free. He then proceeded to dip in and out of the styles he had created, or elements of them, as parts of the larger language he had compiled over all these years by the time of his oft misunderstood later works, and often in the service of depicting his current muse in ways that only he could see her.

And then? We could, too.

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Soundtrack for this post- “Kind Of Blue” by Miles Davis- the whole album, released in August, 1959. I’ve often called Miles “the Picasso of Jazz.” The similarities in their careers, personalities, bodies of work are fascinating and compelling.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

Welcome To New York, Pope Francis!

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

“See me,
feel me,
touch me,
heal me”*

10 foot high security fencing lined both sides of Fifth Avenue for blocks leading to St Patrick’s for the Pope’s visit tonite, seen here from the corner of West 53rd & 5th-

Pope’s eye view. Standing in 5th Avenue, looking towards the sidewalk, approximating the view the Pope will have when he passes here. Of course, the public will be on the other side of the fence.

 

 

5th Avenue at West 53td Street. MoMA is 1,000 or so feet to the left.

When did it come to THIS?

*-Soundtrack for this post- “See Me, Feel Me” By The Who written by Peter Townshend, published by Spirit One Music OBO Towser Tunes.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Named World’s Top Museum…

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava (*- unless otherwise credited)

in TripAdvisor.

Or? You could have just gotten that idea here, or here.

Here’s my bouquet as well.

*Soundtrack for this post- “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” By Stevie Wonder. EMI Publishing.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

We Will Never Forget

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

…Neither will I.

This is the view from my window tonite during this year’s “Tribute In Light,” which I’ve always felt to be a wonderful idea. I used to be able to see the World Trade Center from here, and this is the view I had I saw it on fire shortly after the first plane hit the morning of 9/11.

 

I took this from Jersey City, NJ tonite  You can see that the lights are actually a bit south of where the Towers stood. The new “Freedom Tower” is directly west of where the North Tower stood (it would be directly behind it in this photo, to the left of it in the first pic).

“How I wish, how I wish you were here.”*

*Soundtrack to this post- “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd written by Roger Waters & David Gilmour, published by Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

From America, It’s The “Late Show”

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

Denizen of all things late at night that I am, of course I’m watching the first episode of the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert”  as we speak and I’m struck by the feeling that one of the biggest changes from “Late Night with David Letterman” is the New York-Centric attitude is apparently being left behind for a more national approach. One look at the show’s intro seemed to make this clear right “off the bat”, with Colbert singing the National Anthem, first at a baseball field in Central Park, and then at different spots all around the country.

Well, if this is indeed his approach, it’s his choice. I wish him good luck. Really.

Behind the famous awning David Letterman is taping his final “Late Night” as the media scrums on Broadway, 5:30pm, May 20.

It gave me pause to reflect on what Dave meant to New York.

Yes, I am a “Letterman guy” of long standing, going all the way back to the early days of “Late Night.” It’s hard to explain why, and what he means to me. Maybe one day I’ll try. He was on the air here beginning in 1982 and throughout all the changes, and the renaissance NYC underwent right up to his final Show this past May 20. The City was as much a part of his show as it was for any local TV News show. Who will forget his opening monologue when his show come back on the air after 9/11, one of the first shows to return. It remains one of his finest moments. Watching it again, almost exactly 14 years later, I was taken by the many levels on which he expressed how he felt about New York.

Then it struck me that David Letterman was here when we needed him, from the early ’80’s through the dot com boom and 9/11…to make us laugh in face of what life was like here at the time, to remind us why we were here, why we stayed here no matter the danger, hardships, absurdity of life here at times, and to show us parts of what is, eternally, even in bad times, great about New York City. Now? The whole world wants to come here, and many want to live here at seemingly any cost.

He played a part in that.

Dave would point out things from the most banal to the most extraordinary about NYC and life in it, then he’d go out to the street and do the most outrageous things that none of us could ever get away with (or get someone like Rupert Gee or Larry “Bud” Melman to). He gave you the feeling that he not only knew what we were all going through, he also knew the way to over come it- by laughing at it, or the absurdity of it. You had the feeling he saw through everything- no matter what. He also would do magical things. Things that you could only see in NYC, right there on 53rd Street, like play tennis with Serena Williams or take a stroll down it with Lady GaGa and Billy Murray (you can see both on youtube). It all spoke of “other possibilities” for our lives, and our lives in NYC. You never know- ANYTHING could happen, around any corner, at any moment! Dave reminded you that THAT is one of the greatest things about being in NYC.

Maybe now we in NYC don’t “need” Dave as much as we did then- I don’t know. I’ll miss him.

A little piece of New York left when Dave drove by me after that last May 20th Show. I’m not sure how many others who live here felt it. It’s one of those small changes life brings every day that’ll hit us one day in the future. But, one by one, as they happen, the place changes. A small piece of it is gone. The question becomes…”What’s next?”

I was standing there in the midst of that very large crowd one minute,

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A tiny part of the crowd on May 20, 2015. It extends 200 feet to the right.

and as soon as that van went past, I remember feeling that an era ended and then there was this space, this hole, for whatever the next thing would be that would be part of New, New York.

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Change happens in a New York Minute. Dave leaves for the last time as he is driven past me and hundreds of fans. West 53rd Street, May 20th.

Only it wasn’t here yet. (Or, is it?)

I wondered about the effect Dave leaving will have on those “little” New Yorkers he thrust into the national spotlight…Rupert Gee of the Hello Deli, right there on 53rd, downstairs at the Ed Sullivan Theater, and the others. You can still go into Hello Deli every day (except Sunday) and Rupert will take your order. He’s a very down to earth, salt of New York kinda guy. Good luck to him and all of them.

We all leave, eventually, whether it’s after a day, a year, 20 years in Derek Jeter’s case, 32 years in Letterman’s, or after our whole life. Not many become a piece of the fabric of New York City, and a reason to be proud to live here.

David Letterman was one of both, and one of those who had a role in making New York City what it is today. I hope the City doesn’t forget that.

As one New Yorker? I say, “From New York, to wherever you are, Thanks, Dave.”

*-Soundtrack for this post, “Late Night with David Letterman Theme” by Paul Shaffer. I loved the old opening to the show, like the “Nighthawk in flight,” which changed many times.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

China: Through The Looking Glass…That Looks Back

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

China: Through The Looking Glass is finally over, and now I can look back on it. Extended an additional 3 weeks through Labor Day, it went out with a bang like those heard on Chinese New Year. Like New Year’s Eve, The Met was open until Midnight on Friday and Saturday, September 4 & 5. Of course, the Nighthawk was there. Of course, he had to mention to staff members what a great idea being open to Midnight was, one that should immediately be adopted 7/365! A bit to my surprise the show was quite crowded even late Saturday night. Maybe those visitors agree.

Chairman Mao & Chairman Andy

 

Yes, It’s a “hat.” Tie your shoes BEFORE putting it on! Extraordinary, and not by Stephen Jones.

The Perfume Gallery featured 2 unsynchronized video screens, behind a selection of antique bottles. that evoked the visual essence of fragrance.

What would Buddha think?

Wandering the galleries for the fifth and final time, I started to focus on the “other” big question, besides midnight hours for The Met- China: Through The Looking Glass drew about 814,000 visitors 1. The hugely popular Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty drew 661,500 2. This show drew over 150,000 more!!! As I said, I’m not going to compare them. The McQueen had a shorter run, and The Met was only open 6 days a week back then.

The one and only Alexander McQueen back at The Met.

Still, no matter how you slice it, the turnout was was astounding and unexpected-

How to explain the overwhelming success of this show?

Before getting to that, since I am replacing my previous brief post about the show with this one, some overall thoughts. China: Through The Looking Glass (or, C:TTLG) was a winner on every count, one of the best big shows in NYC in 2015 (I’m not going to say, “the best.” Comparing Artists, Art, shows, Films, Music or anything creative, or athletes for that matter, serves no purpose.) C:TTLG was that rare spectacle that illuminates.

 

It casts light on how the west fantasizes China, Chinese fashion, and Chinese culture and Art (how it fantasizes Chinese women, briefly touched on through Anna May Wong, is too complex for this show, or any other), while showing us the difference between how western designers have mirrored Chinese fashion, out of context & tradition, of course, to suit their own purposes, and the possible influences of particular antique items, superbly selected and displayed, often side-by-side, using mirrors in differing ways as the show moves along.

“These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)…” plays as Anna May Wong looks down on the very gown she’s immortalizing.

On both sides of the mirror the colors will pop your eyes right out of your skull, a miraculous thing for very old garments, which hold every bit of their own no matter what they are shown with, even Alexander McQueen (represented by at least 4 ensembles I saw, and a pair of Chopines), and this impact was spectacularly enhanced by yet another ground breaking Costume Institute installation (something I’ve admired about every one of their shows I’ve seen) and every element of it- the mirrors, the “mood lighting,” the extensive use of music and video.

A close up of one of the countless mirrors on display, this one used to frame a brilliantly colored antique garment.

It seems they pulled out the stops this year, bringing no less than an internationally renown film maker in as Artistic director and bringing in the brilliant milliner Stephen Jones to created hundreds(?) of “hats,” which somehow managed to almost steal the show, an incredible achievement.

My hat is off to the endlessly creative Milliner Stephen Jones.

Though I am very queasy when it comes to “big names” from the world of commerce being on view in The Met, and there are many “big names” represented, just about everything on display deserved to be included. Well, it’s The Met. They have the best curators in the world, in my opinion. I expect nothing less.

I could have, however, done without the section on the development of the perfume “Opium,” which, yes, was also on sale in the gift shop for 92.00…dollars.

C:TTLG was the first collaboration between the Costume Institute and the Department of Asian Art, which celebrates it’s 100th Anniversary this year. Beyond the combination of both world-class collections, the pairing was most fortuitous for visitors to this largest show in Met history as even though it was spread out over 3 floors, the galleries happen to be located right on top of each other, making them easily accessible by centrally located stairs and elevators, something that was a problem for Costume Institute shows in the past.

Ok…so, about getting over 800,000 visitors….?

People want an experience these days, and C:TTLG was that. Walking into this show was a bit like going to a movie- most of the galleries are dark or darkened, which gives a “theater-like” experience. This was enhanced through the use of video screens playing excepts from films in many galleries (acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai, who I’m a big fan of, known for his “unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work” 3 was the show’s artistic director), the use of mirrors, and curated music set the mood in every gallery. The Costume Institute has been at the forefront of creating “experiences’ with their installations- unforgettably for “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” and no less than “recreating” CBGB’s infamous bathroom for their “Punk” show. (Ok, they omitted the filth, but it’s something I STILL can’t believe I saw at The Met! I’ll always wonder what CB’s owner Hilly Krystal would have thought…)

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“The Red Boudoir” as I call it.

Yet, there was almost no “sex appeal” to the antique garments on display. It made me wonder how China ever became the most populous country in history! In fact, the “Red Boudoir” as I came to call Gallery 218, featuring Valentino’s 2013 evening wear, (which he debuted in Beijing, and which was kept quite dark so as to play down the fact that the clothes are see-through), was the only instance of “sexy” even among the western pieces, save for a lone mini dress, by someone unknown- their name, on the outside of the case had worn off (something that needs to be fixed going forward, as does the fact that many of these glass case labels were almost impossible to read in the dark.) There was no Lady GaGa-type figure (who had been famously wearing McQueen’s now immortal “Armadillo” Shoes at the MTV VMA’s before AMcQ:SB, which took place only a year after his tragic death. There was no seeming cultural “tie in” at all to push the box office to record heights. Yes, it’s The Met. Yes, there is the more-famous-every-year Met Fashion Gala that kicks off the show each year, but that’s been going on for a long time now. Yes, there are more Chinese than anybody else, and there are many Chinese tourists here and many Chinese living in NYC. Yet, I think the result, in this case, was more than the sum of those parts.

Also, unlike most special exhibitions at The Met, and though the signs read to the contrary, photography WAS permitted! I think this was a very shrewd idea as it allowed for something perhaps better than word of mouth- “Word of Sight,” as I call it. This show is very hard to describe (as you can tell by reading this!), but easy to “get” by seeing a picture (hopefully), which equals 1,000 words as they say.

It also seems to me it’s the same forces at work that make a movie hugely successful. There are the initial batch of folks who go and have a look see after it opens. My guess is that many of them reacted like I did- “OMG! You HAVE to see this.” And so, others go, and it feeds on itself from there. The show was so big that many went back time and time again to see the rest of it, or to see parts of it again. I think the press, which was very positive as far as I heard (I don’t read reviews until I’ve made up my own mind), play a relatively minor role in drawing a crowd like this, especially after a show has been open for a while. The press reminds that it’s still open, but nothing more is generally written about it after their initial review. It also seemed that this show drew women in huge numbers, above and beyond what the “fashion” oriented shows I’ve seen at The Met or F.I.T’s Museum. I can’t remember seeing so many single women at a show. I also saw a lot of women with a male partner who looked hopelessly “Please, Dear God…Get me through this.” lost. And yes, there were tons of tourists. Overall, while though there were many, though not a predominance of, Asians, the crowd was extremely diverse in my visits, though lacking the very young. Interestingly, there was no fashion on display for babies or children, which is actually consistent with every Costume Institute show I’ve seen.

In the final analysis, since I knew nothing of “real” Chinese fashion going in, I was careful to be mindful of whether I was seeing something old or new. Though there weren’t as many antique Chinese pieces as I hoped, I came away having seen another concept of femininity. The shapes of the garments, especially, stood out to me and I was continually reminded of Scholars’ Rocks, (a few of which were on display in the Astor Court where John Galliano’s Chinese Opera pieces were on view in a section entitled “”Moon In The Water”), and sculpture. The effect of the design is almost architectural, ala Frank Gehry, who has been on my mind since the new Whitney Museum opened. (Perhaps you can guess why. If not, I’ll come clean soon.) Beyond shape and it’s effect on style, the colors of both the antique and modern clothes, both in numbers of and combinations of, were absolutely exhilarating, especially in the dark. The west has a problem with color, something that can be seen taken to it’s furthest extreme here in NYC. Color is so powerful that wearing it tends to make one stand out in a bad way here. People wonder what you’re about. But if EVERYONE is wearing color the effect must be completely different, unimaginable to my eyes- I’ve never seen it. Of course the antique clothes on display at C:TTLG were exclusively garments of the upper class, so it remains unknown to me what the “common” person wore, and if there was THAT much color in those garments. Probably not. But, I’m going to hold on to my fantasy about everyone wearing color regardless.

It also made me think about western painting, where only briefly has anything like this amount of color been seen. Van Gogh may be first to mind. Though he was so incredibly prolific- about 900 paintings, it’s often forgotten that he only painted for NINE YEARS (1881-1890), and his early years were characterized by dark brown earth tone works influenced by Millet. Seurat, who I consider a genius of color, died at 31, leaving, perhaps, Matisse and Monet as the longest standing masters of color in western art. Though surely all of the Impressionists were influenced by Asian art, it was primarily Japanese art, which was more known in the west at the time, Monet even building a “Japanese” style bridge in his incomparable Giverny garden. I digress.) The point is that the color will linger in my mind as much as the shapes.

Not sure why Mr. Jones chose the rabbit, but I love it.

I should also mention that the catalog for the show is an experience in itself. It’s exceptionally well done, even for The Met, and features stylized photos of the clothes by Platon as well as quite informative essays from the curators. Since these shows take so long to install, a feat unto itself in an open 7 days a week Museum like The Met, the clothes are photographed in a studio setting and not as they appear in the show. This is good, and not so good. The good is you get to see things like the back of Anna May Wong’s amazing Dragon dress (depicted above) in the book, one of the few dresses without a mirror allowing that view in the show, though you may miss the view of a piece you liked as it is in the show.

Alexander McQueen, again, and Stephen Jones, bid us farewell…until next time.

So, yes, the show does beg the inevitable big question- “Ok, Mr. Bolton (newly minted Head of the Costume Institute)…What’s NEXT?” My mind pondered something never mentioned anywhere in this show- what was worn UNDER? There was no “underwear.” No Stockings. No gloves, even. Then I thought- Perhaps THIS will be addressed in a future, no doubt, blockbuster show, “Underwear- Exposed!” You heard it here, first. Finally, at 11:45pm Saturday,  I started to wonder if C:TTLG begins a “worldwide fashion tour.” After all, The Met is, possibly, the world’s greatest repository of art from all cultures and all times- what would be more appropriate? Perhaps Africa is next, a subject that might very well draw as many, or maybe even more fashionistas to The Met.

?

In the meantime, if you were one of the 800 thousand, I wonder if it will effect your personal style, or, if you missed it, visit The Met’s website for the show, and stay tuned to see what’s next.

Oh, and, in the meantime, don’t use too much opium.

Soundtrack for this post- “These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)” written for Anna May Wong by Eric Maschwitz, who was in love with her, and as performed by Billie Holiday.

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  1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/arts/design/andrew-bolton-chosen-to-lead-the-mets-costume-institute.html?_r=1 ↩
  2. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/fashion/nyc-museum-met-exhibition-china-and-fashion-proves-golden.html?_r=2 ↩
  3. imdb.com ↩

Morrissey’s 2015 “Message” For America…Is From 2005 

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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

Text a friend sent me after Moz @ MSG

Text a friend sent me after Moz @ MSG

Morrissey @ Madison Square Garden June 27, 2015. Click to enlarge.

Morrissey @ Madison Square Garden June 27, 2015. Click to enlarge.

Those who love Morrissey’s music are almost certain to have a favorite anthem the man has written since the early 1980s.  The term is thrown around quite a bit in non-nationalistic contexts, so what, exactly, is an anthem you ask? The Dictionary defines an anthem 1 as “a usually rousing popular song that typifies or is identified with a particular subculture, movement, or point of view.” Hmmm….not sure that covers my idea of it, but the “identify with” part definitely does. Going from there here are some of Morrissey’s that a lot of people, including myself, seem to identify with-

“How Soon Is Now?”
“There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”

“Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me”

“Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before”

“I Have Forgiven Jesus”

“That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”

“Shoplifters Of The World Unite”

“Suedehead”

“This Charming Man”

“Every Day Is Just Like Sunday”

“Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”

“Ask”

“Reel Around The Fountain”…

Add yours here.

The list is long.

I bet VERY few would include the 2005 song “Ganglord.” Yet, Moz chose it as the 4th song during his return to NYC June 27 Madison Square Garden concert. Its lyrics include-

“Ganglord, the police are
Kicking their way into my house
And haunting me, taunting me
Wanting me to break their laws…
Ganglord, the police are
Grinding me into the ground
The headless pack are back
Small boy jokes and loaded guns
And I’m turning to you
To save me
And I’m turning to you
To save me, save me, save me, save me…
They say, ‘To protect and to serve’
But what they really mean to say is
Get back to the ghetto, the ghetto
Get yourself back to the ghetto, the ghetto”*
Can you imagine a more timely song? I sat wondering how many people had heard it before and how many thought it was a new song inspired by tragic recent events.

The amazing, and sad, truth is that “Ganglord” was the B-side to the single “The Youngest Was The Most Loved” from 2005! Written about the LAPD, it finally appeared on an album in 2009, the collection of B-Sides, “Swords,” which is only known to die-hard fans. That it very well could have been written in 2015 is just another example of the durability of Morrissey’s writing. From the beginning of The Smiths in 1982 to 2015… 33 years, it’s hard to think of a single song that’s a throwaway. (Maybe “Journalists Who Lie”? “Get Off The Stage”?)

At MSG, he performed it with an intensity and power, that’s only hinted at on the record (which you can hear on the years’ old official music video for it here-),

aided by his continually improving, now stellar current band, giving every bit the aural vitriol the lyrics scream while the backing video screen at the rear of the stage showed a never ending montage of every horrific constabulary related violent event, with no holds barred- literally.

Pretty powerful, intense stuff for a rock concert at MSG. I note a few have posted bootleg videos of his performance of it on youtube. Unfortunately, they lack the power and in your face presence of the sound, so offer only a pale document of what I experienced live. But, you can get an idea of the experience as you can see parts of the backing video here-

Upping the intensity even more, the dramatic highlight of his show was, undoubtedly, “Meat Is Murder,” the ever-hard-to-listen-to Smith’s title track that thanks to the graphic video presentation, was also hard-to watch. Towards its end, Moz knelt with his back to the crowd, facing the video screen behind the band. I could still see him, being one of the few with seats on the side of the stage, and shot this-

IMG_0762PNH

Say what you like about him- his ongoing passion and dedication for this issue is hard not to admire, whichever side of the coin you’re on. “Meat Is Murder” was released 30 years ago, in 1985.

For me, though, the choice of performing “Ganglord” made it hard not to think of it as his non-too-subtle “message” that there is still plenty of work to be done on this ongoing problem. Everywhere.

Since I saw him last in 2013, there have been numerous illnesses forcing gig and tour cancellations, (a good friend booked a hotel for a Moz gig in Atlantic City which then got cancelled. They went anyway cause they had paid for the hotel! Their anthem that weekend could have been “Seasick, Yet Still Docked“), along with rumors of multiple treatments for cancer, which he confirmed, again, on Larry King this week. I thought I’d never seen him perform again.

But, there he was, “back in the center of the world,” as he said, in excellent voice and full effect, and still “True To You,” as his website is called, making the most of the moment, life and health to continue his mission and reinforce his message(s). Morrissey @ MSG left his soul behind, in deeds, performance and word, as few performers can, or have the guts to do, when he left the stage, after the fitting encore “Now My Heart Is Full.”

I also took it as a not too subtle reminder that like the songs on that list above, and others, “Ganglord” proves Morrissey remains one of the best writers of “anthems” of our times. The Dictionary failed to mention something that Francis Scott Key would find surprising if he had lived another hundred years-  anthems have a life of their own.

Let’s hope this one doesn’t prove as timely ever again.

*-Soundtrack for this post is“Ganglord” by Morrissey and Alain Whyte, published by Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

NighthawkNYC.com has been entirely self-funded & ad-free for over 8 years, during which 300 full-length pieces have been published! If you’ve found it worthwhile, PLEASE donate to allow me to continue below. Thank you, Kenn.

You can also support it by buying Art, Art & Photography books, and Music from my collection! Art & Books may be found here. Music here and here.

Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited. To send comments, thoughts, feedback or propositions click here. Click the white box on the upper right for the archives or to search them. Subscribe to be notified of new Posts below. Your information will be used for no other purpose.

Hold The Flowers- Ai Weiwei Gets His Passport Back…FINALLY! Then Uses It.

Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

Each day for the past 600+ days flowers have been left in the basket of the bicycle outside of No. 258 Coachangdi, Beijing, China, the address of Ai Weiwei’s studio, by his fans and followers in solidarity with the great Chinese Artist & Activist until his passport, which was confiscated during his April 3, 2011 arrest on charges of “tax evasion,” is returned to him. Ai spent the next 81 days in prison (more on that coming up) until finally being released on bail on June 22, 2011, after he agreed not to leave Beijing for a year. Year up, he continued to be forbidden to travel to other countries…until…

Late last month Ai posted a pic on Instagram announcing the return of his passport, a great shot too long in coming, it can be seen, along with more details here.

At last…He doesn’t look particularly happy, though he looks well. I’d say he looks hopeful. Ai then quickly took a trip to Germany to rejoin his family, sparking rumors of his accepting a university post there.

Still, it’s Wonderful news that’s also a sad reminder that during the past 4(!) years Ai missed the many shows of his work held outside of China, the 2014 Brooklyn Museum Show Ai Weiwei: According to What? among them. Would what we experienced have been changed, modified or altered simply by his larger than life presence? We’ll never know, and we are all undoubtedly poorer for the lack of him. For me, though, it was still a rare chance to explore the many sides of Ai’s boundless creative spirit. Here are some pics I took of the show, in case you, like Ai, missed it.

Stacked 2014. The card refers to the minimalist approach to the bike- no handlebars or seat, suggests “that in China the individual is often undervalued and seen only as part of the whole.”

Map of China

I’ve been to bars that look like this at 3:45am. Grapes, Qing Dynasty Stools

It featured a selection of his work from the past 20 years, above, and a central gallery that included 2 monumental works, the 73 ton Straight, and Sichuan Name List Ai created in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake which killed over 69,000 and left another 18,000 missing 1.

Ai’s Straight (on the floor) and Sichuan Name List (on the wall, left) are works about the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake that may have killed 90,000.

For me, the “showstopper” was the 2013 work S.A.C.R.E.D. (S-supper, A-accusers, C-cleaning, R-ritual, E-entropy, and D-doubt) which consists of six 2 and a half ton iron boxes, each one shoulder height and measuring 5 feet wide and 12 feet long, one for each of the title’s letters. As you approach one, you notice a door near one exterior corner, then you notice slits in the iron that allow a glimpse of what’s inside. Yes, each box contains a diorama of a scene from his life during his 81 day incarceration after that 2011 arrest, while he was awaiting trial(!). Inside, we see TWO guards watching him sleep in one, eat in another, shower in another, and do his business in yet another(!)(not pictured)…It’s a chilling, unforgettable and shocking experience that gives the rest of us a little insight into the risks Ai takes every day, with every new work, and in just “being Ai.” It also reminds that many, many people, some of them Artists, take incalculable risks every day in the name of freedom, and Artistic freedom, or in just living their lives. Many admire athletes, and other so-called “role models.” I admire Ai Weiwei, and those like him.

Thinking about it on the F Train home, I couldn’t recall a more powerful recent work on this topic. My mind seeking an Art historical reference, of which there are, unfortunately, too many, kept turning to Goya. First, for the absurdity depicted in his Caprichos, and then of the power and oppression of the state shown in his The Third of May. In the end, the lesson may be that, in spite of hundreds of millions of deaths in the intervening almost exactly 200 years, tragically, not much has changed in the world .

For more info on and other’s pics of  S.A.C.R.E.D. go here and here. An interview with Ai about it is here.

I consider Ai a New Yorker since he lived here for 10 years. Here’s hoping he comes and visits us, again, soon…and often!

 

For Ai’s story, I highly recommend the 2012 documentary Never Sorry, which has appeared on PBS.

*-Soundtrack for this post- “Freedom” by Paul McCartney published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

“I will fight, for the right
To live in freedom.”*

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