Banks Violette at Blum & Poe

Blum & Poe gallery in Los Angeles presents an exhibition of new work by Banks Violette, his first one-person exhibition in Los Angeles. Simultaneously rooted in Minimalist form and contemporary in its use of industrial materials, Violette’s artistic practice freely employs diverse media, such as neon tubing, powder-coated steel, glass, salt, resin, and aluminum. Violette draws inspiration from a variety of subcultural communities, including hardcore punk and drone metal bands like Sunn O))), political conspiracy theorists, both left and right-wing religious fanatics, and most recently NASCAR and the iconography which populates the sport’s predominantly southern fan base. As if arrested in time, Violette’s sculptural objects and installations function as elegant reminders of darker moments past and present. On view until February 11, Blum and Poe, 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

Oliviero Toscani Launches New Calender

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Italian shock photographer Oliviero Toscani has released a new calendar at an unveiling in Florence, Italy -- a calendar featuring 12 penis close-ups in an ad for a group of companies that make naturally-tanned leather. The flamboyant photographer launched the calendar at an event in Florence also attended by famously well-endowed Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi, who said that people should "de-dramatise" sex and put an end to "bigotry". Toscani last year focused on women's genitalia for a calendar for the same Vera Pelle consortium, which brought censure from Italy's advertising watchdog.  Toscani is best known for his controversial ad campaigns for the Italian clothes maker Benetton, which itself courted controversy last year with a series of photo montages of rival world leaders kissing each other.

Ai Weiwei: Interlacing

Ai Weiwei – Interlacing is the first major exhibition of photographs and videos by Ai Weiwei. It foregrounds Ai Weiwei the communicator – the documenting, analyzing, interweaving artist who communicates via many channels. Ai Weiwei already used photography in his New York years, but especially since his return to Beijing, he has incessantly documented the everyday urban and social realities in China, discussing it over blogs and Twitter. Photographs of radical urban transformation, of the search for earthquake victims, and the destruction of his Shanghai studio are presented together with his art photography projects, the Documenta project Fairytale, the countless blog and cell phone photographs. A comprehensive book accompanies this exhibition. Ai Weiwei – Interlacing is on view at the Jeu de Paume in Paris from February 21, 2012 to April 29, 2012.

Collage Culture

One of the coolest new publications of late–Collage Culture: Examining the 21st Century's Identity Crisis is a new book written by Aaron Rose and Mandy Kahn and designed by Brian Roettinger. Sure to spark debate, a pair of writers examines our century's identity crisis via two separate essays. In "The Death of Subculture," Aaron Rose (director of Beautiful Losers and co-curator of MoCA's record-smashing exhibit Art in the Streets) makes an impassioned call to arms, urging the next generation of artists to end the collage era by adopting a philosophy of creative innovation. And in her essay "Living in the Mess," Mandy Kahn (columnist, Foam magazine) considers whether the collage of references that surrounds us might negatively affect the way we feel. A companion recording of this incendiary work of non-fiction contains readings of the book's texts with an original score created by No Age. A box set edition of 100 is available which contains a cassette tape of a recording of a discuss between the two authors, books, postcards, an LP, and signed photographs by Autumne de Wilde. [Find a copy here]

Experimental Film in Los Angeles

Los Angeles Film Forum presents Alternative Projections: Experimental Film in Los Angeles 1945 - 1980, an exploration of the community of filmmakers, artists, curators and programmers who contributed to the creation and presentation of experimental film and video in Southern California in the postwar era. This website is the culmination of three years of research into the archives of film venues and organizations, the recording of 35 oral histories, and the creation of a database, the first of its kind, which catalogs the films, exhibitions, organization, and people active during this prolific era in experimental film and video making. Alternative Projections is part of Los Angeles' sweeping exhibition of art in Los Angeles called Pacific Standard Time. Upcoming screenings of note include Strange Notes and Nervous Breakdowns: Punk and Media Art, 1974-1981, a collection of rarely screened performances by punk bands of the era, performance art, and D.I.Y. works by the Screamers, X, Suburban Lawns, Black Flag, Los Plugz, Johanna Went, and more (MOCA Ahmanson Theater, MOCA, 250 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012) on view January 12 at 7 p.m.

Photo50 at London Art Fair

Found photograph by Julie Cockburn

London Art Fair presents Photo50, its  annual showcase of contemporary photography at the  Business Design Centre, Islington, from 18–22 January 2012. With the title The New Alchemists: contemporary  photographers transcending the print, curator Sue Steward  has selected 50 works by contemporary artists whose practice sees them adorn, transform, subvert or deface the  photographic print. They are: Veronica Bailey, David Birkin, Aliki Braine, Julie Cockburn, Melinda Gibson, Noemie Goudal, Joy Gregory, Walter Hugo, Lesley Parkinson, Jorma Puranen, Esther Teichmann and Michael Wolf.  This exhibition focuses on new techniques and approaches to re-presenting the photographic image and how artists are involving other media. Whether reclaiming traditional techniques, exploiting digital developments or employing other forms of craft and media, the work presented in Photo50 challenges our assumptions about what a photograph is, or can be. London Art Fair is on view at the Design Center in Islington, London, January 18 to January 22, 

NORMA MARKLEY: Yes No

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Y Gallery presents an exhibition of Norma Markley’s recent work—neon, silkscreen prints, and sewn drawings—inspired by the rhythm and language from literary sources and images from a film to explore the notions of sex, on the one hand, and the concept of answering questions with a yes or no, on the other hand. Yes, No is on view until February 5 2012.

Funeral Songs

What song do you want played at your funeral? Daniel Mudie Cunningham has been asking that question of artists and art workers since 2007. Hundreds of people answered it in all manner of ways that ranged from the profound to the playful. The idea for Funeral Songs is based in personal experience. Weeks before the artist’s brother unexpectedly died in 2001, he’d mentioned what song should be played at his funeral. Amid the grief, the song choice was forgotten. Now recalled several years on, the song features in the Cunningham’s jukebox archive of music you can live or die to. Funeral Songs will be on view at the MONA (Museum of Old New Art) in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia,from January 13 to February 13, 2011 – the exhibition will also be a part of the annual MONA FOMA event (curated by Brian Ritchie, bass player for the Violent Femmes) which includes performances, art, and the like.

Jacque Katmor is Wishing You a Good Death

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Sex, eroticism and Judaism – Israeli artist Jacque Katmor, who is all but forgotten today, is the subject of a retrospective of sorts at the Nachum Gutman Museum of Art in Tel Aviv starting January 13. Katmor, who died in 2001, will undoubtably be an artist posthumously appreciated for his genius.  Somewhat of a Kenneth Anger of the Israeli unground cinema movement in the 1960s, Katmor was a leader of the artist collective Third Eye. Erotically charged, drug induced, and psychedelic, Katmor's art and films dealt with not only a rapidly changing zeitgeist, but also Jewish identity and Kabbalistic mysticism. "Jacque Katmor is Wishing You a Good Death" is on view at the Nachum Gutman Museum of Art from January 13 to May 19, Shimon Rokach st 21, Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv.

Marina Abramović: An Artist's Life Manifesto

On Saturday, November 12, renowned performance artist Marina Abramović brought her manifesto to Grand Avenue, as the artistic director of MOCA’s 2011 gala, An Artist’s Life Manifesto. Abramović arrived with 85 performers to serve as human centerpieces on dinner tables and enough white lab coats, her prescribed gala-tent attire, to outfit the 750 guests who attended.

The Syphilis of Sisyphus

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Fredericks & Freiser gallery in New York presents The Syphilis of Sisyphus,  a new short film by Mary Reid Kelley with artist Patrick Kelley. The exhibition includes a wall-sized projection with costumes and drawings used in the film’s creation. Reid Kelley’s second solo exhibition at Fredericks & Freiser encompasses a heightened level of visual complexity as it continues her exploration of language, history, anomie and sexual politics. On view until January 7.

Comics Stripped

Comics Stripped, an ongoing exhibition at the museum of sex in New York, examines the history and cultural significance of the illustrators, icons and images that have entertained and educated (as well as equally misinformed) the basics of sex. From the coquettish to the most explicit “dirty drawings,” the exhibit presents the ultimate homage to sexual fantasy uninhibited by the constraints of reality. From simple titillation to hardcore representations, comics have a long history of incorporating humor, scandal, fantasy and fun with sex. Originally used as a form of amusement and satire intended for adults, the societal perception of comics as wholesome entertainment geared toward children has made the inclusion of sexual content particularly jarring. Comics Stripped is on view at the Museum Of Sex until January 8, 2012, 233 5th Avenue, New York

In the Picture: Self-Portraits by Lee Friedlander

Lee Friedlander (b. 1934) has been tackling the challenge of self-portraiture throughout his prolific career. What began as an unorthodox investigation of the genre has become a masterful engagement spanning five decades. A new book of self portraits, entitled In The Picture: Self Portraits, 1958-2011, includes hundreds of previously unpublished pictures.  Produced to the highest production standards and featuring over 400 duotone images—from his first self-portraits, taken with cable release in hand, to recent images of the photographer with his family and extended network of friends—In the Picture explores Friedlander’s various guises throughout a rich and colorful life.