Kaiser Permanente sends me generic nature stock photos, accompanied by recommendations for something called “forest bathing.” In a blur of communication and advertising, image and text are flattened, co-opted, coded, re-coded, and ultimately digested, leaving behind traces of mutated half-meanings. The eye’s focus oscillates between looking through, and looking at: a scattering of sight and attention, a breaking apart of the singular. When I saw an ad stating that the Behr Paint color of the year is a green hue called Back to Nature, all I could think was, damn the 90’s really are back. Sometimes, I want to yell emojis across the room. Bears do supposedly still shit in the woods, though. Tongue Tied is on view through November 9 at Ochi Projects 3301 W Washington Blvd Los Angeles. Images by Josh Schaedel courtesy of Ochi Projects
Marilyn Minter's Tongue Tied Billboard In Houston for Her Retrospective
"Tongue Tied" billboard for Marilyn Minter's retrospective, entitled "Pretty/Dirty," which is on view now at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston until August. For over three decades Marilyn Minter has produced lush paintings, photographs, and videos that vividly manifest our culture’s complex and contradictory emotions around the feminine body and beauty. Her unique works—from the oversized paintings of makeup-laden lips and eyes to soiled designer shoes—bring into sharp, critical focus the power of desire. As an artist Minter has always made seductive visual statements that demand our attention while never shirking her equally crucial roles as provocateur, critic, and humorist. "Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty" features over 25 paintings made between 1976 and 2013, three video works, and several photographs that show Minter’s work in depth.