Pascal Alexander: Glory Days

On a recent visit to the bookstore at Yvon Lambert in Paris, I discovered a beautiful publication titled Glory Days by Swiss artist Pascal Alexander. The zine is a compilation of vintage photos that document the thrills and spills of a cycling competition. However, these images do not focus on the typical rivalry between athletes. Instead, Alexander turns his lens towards the emotional bonds developed between the cyclists and their deep sense of camaraderie. 

Glory Days (2008) 

48 pages

laser print

black-and-white

staple bound

hand numbered (edition of 95)

Alexander is also publisher and editor of Für Immer.

YOU MAKE ME FEEL [MIGHTY REAL]: Robert Blanchon

Don't miss an extraordinary exhibit of Robert Blanchon's work titled YOU MAKE ME FEEL [MIGHTY REAL], organized by Visual AIDS

November 19, 2009-February 26, 2010

Tracey/Barry Gallery, Fales Library and Special Collections
Bobst Library
New York University
70 Washington Square South


Curated by Sasha Archibald, Tania Duvergne and Bethany Martin-Breen, the exhibit features photographs, drawings, sculptures, writings, video, mail art, and ephemera (including bandanas used for flagging sexual proclivities, syllabi from courses he taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, business cards, academic journals, and vintage muscle magazines).

Also, mark your calendars for the event and panel on Robert Blanchon organized by Visual AIDS in January and February:

* “‘You are Cordially Invited’: The Art and Influence of Robert Blanchon,” Tuesday, January 26, 2010, at 6:30-8:30 p.m. This event will be a discussion of Blanchon as a conceptual artist whose work expands and reiterates many of the themes of 1990s art. Through brief presentations and “interviews” with panelists we will explore Blanchon’s connection to artists as well as emerging trends in contemporary art. Throughout his career, from parodies of the art world to AIDS agit-prop to cerebral, minimalist photography, Blanchon gleaned from art history in order to make his own crucial intervention, and taught his students to do the same.

* “Art or Archive? What Matters To Artists’ Estates,” Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 6:30 -8:30 p.m., a panel discussion on the nature of artists’ estates, their placement in archival repositories, copyright issues, and other concerns about the disposition of artists’ papers. A discussion among professionals representing legal, artistic, and academic, and other institutional concerns, the evening will explore both the theoretical aspects of how an artistic legacy is maintained and offer practical advice on securing an artist’s oeuvre.

Robert Blanchon catalogues are available through Visual AIDS

Sister Corita @ Zach Feuer

SISTER CORITA KENT

the cry that will be heard, 1969

Serigraph

22.5 x 11.5 inches

57.2 x 29.2 cm

© Corita Art Center

Sister Corita Kent's vibrant prints fuse text and image and reflect her deep-rooted hope for world peace and commitment to social justice. Corita Kent, a Roman Catholic Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, lived and worked in Los Angeles and Boston. Her art gained particular resonance in the politically turbulent late-1960s and early-1970s.

The exhibition at Zach Feuer features serigraphs, books, magazines, memorabilia, and films by Baylis Glascock documenting Corita's projects and teaching.

October 23-December 5, 2009

Zach Feuer Gallery

530 West 24th Street, NYC

212-989-7700

Form more information on Sister Corita and her work, check out the Corita Art Center site. They also have a lovely "gift shop" where you can purchase books, DVDs, cards, and tee shirts.

Quentin Crisp and Patric Angus @ opening of "Strip Show"

This photograph was taken on April 8, 1992 at the opening of Patrick Angus' solo exhibit "Strip Show" at Leslie- Lohman's Prince Street Gallery in New York.

See interview with Charles Leslie by Bill DeNoyelles in The Archive 10 (2003).

Patrick Angus. Strippers, Saunas, and Johns in Art

Patrick Angus (1953-1992)

In the 1980s and early '90s, when the mainstream art world still blushed at the sight of realistic representations of homo anonymous sex, tweaked-out male strippers, gay saunas, and rent boys, gallerists and critics blackballed the oeuvre of Patrick Angus, claiming that the subject matter was taboo and unshowable. This may seem hard to believe now, in the age of glory hole-themed art exhibitions in Terence Koh's A.S.S., Slava Mogutin's photographic paean to New York City go-go boys, and Bruce LaBruce's zombie porn projects. However, thirty years ago, as gay men hungrily searched for positive representations of themselves in popular culture, it was difficult for them to accept (or embrace) the vision of an artist, like Angus, who captured the dark, raunchy, often lonely demimonde of gay sexual desire.

Angus lived and worked in obscurity. He sold just a few paintings to a small network of enthusiasts of his art. It was not until the last months of his life that his work began to receive the recognition it deserved. David Hockney bought five major paintings. Three solo shows were mounted shortly before his death. The first, at the University of California at Santa Barbara (January 27-Feburaury 5, 1992); the second, titled "Strip Show" was organized by the Leslie-Lohman Gallery in New York (April 8-May 2, 1992); the third, also in New York, was at the Ganymede Gallery (May 3-29, 1992).

In 1992, on his deathbed at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, after reviewing the proofs for a monographic book of his paintings, Strip Show (Edited by Douglas Blair Turnbaugh), Angus purportedly smiled and uttered, "This is the happiest day of my life."

Recent Exhibits:

Ft. Smith Art Center, Ft. Smith, Arkansas (in Polly Crews and Tilles Galleries), April 1-May 30, 2009.

Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, New York, "Slave to the Rhythm: Patrick Angus and the Gay 80s", January 6- February 14, 2004.

Image: Hanky Panky, 1990, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 54 inches

Unconditionally Sparky

I just attended this beautiful one-day exhibition/memorial at Envoy Enterprises.

The Sparky Project is a collection of portraits of Sparky and Nelson Santos by over 100 artists. For more images and information, visit The Sparky Project.

Sally Cellophane: Beef Cake

Beef Cake, video

Since 1989, Sally Cellophane has worn many hats (and wigs) in Milan's queer underground art scene. In addition to his work in live performance and video, Sally Cellophane has collaborated on several queer zine projects including Speed Demon, Marquise Zine di Neolibertinaggio Ludico, Fuck Block, and Colour and Doubt. He is also founder and attivissimo member of the Pornflakes Queer Crew.

Sally Cellophane

Pornflakes Queer Crew