Read Our Intimate Text Interview With Exhibitionist and Performance Artist Alexandra Marzella

Alexandra Marzella is an exhibitionist in the purist form – zits, bodily fluids, and armpit hair are all on full display. She is also beautiful, but eschews many of the expectations that society has for women: she rarely wears makeup, her eyebrows are unkempt and her selfies are the opposite of the countless duck face tragedies that bombard most social media feeds. Basically, she lets her freak flag fly and doesn’t give a fuck what you think. I first saw her perform at the Standard Hotel Miami back in December – in a little poolside bungalow – as part of an exhibition by Petra Collins presented by nightlife impresario André Saraiva. In a small, cramped room she writhed as she stripped naked, while getting water poured on her from friend, collaborator, and fellow artist India Menuez – Wet’s “Don’t Want to Be Your Girl” played in the background. It was exciting, erotic, strange and captivating – Marzella was not only stripping off her clothes, she was also stripping off parts of her soul and the audience was too close not to get splashed, which felt intrusive, but also incredibly viscerally engaging. It’s almost like Marzella has created a new form of art out of stripping. Indeed, Marzella, who is based in New York, is part of a new wave of young female artists that are using their youth, bodies, and femininity to say fuck you to the jock rapist culture that dominates the culture. Whatever she is doing, she should keep doing it. In the following text interview Marzella talks about her initial inclination to shun art, her time as a cheerleader and her take on nudity in performance art. Click here to read the interview. 

"Tiger Tiger" Group Show At Salon 94 in New York

Salon 94 presents Tiger Tiger, a summer group exhibition. Tiger Tiger features work from Michael Assiff, Jules de Balincourt, Brian Belott, Katherine Bernhardt, Karin Gulbran, Shara Hughes, Marc Hundley, Misaki Kawai, Makiko Kudo, Nikki Maloof, Ryan Mrozowski, David Benjamin Sherry, Yutaka Sone, and Paul Swenbeck. The exhibition includes plastic on canvas works by Michael Assiff, counterfeit children’s art by Brian Belott, ceramics by Karin Gulbran and Paul Swenbeck, metal sculpture by Yutaka Sone, and more. The exhibition will be on view until August 21, 2015 at Salon 94 Bowery in New York. 

Go See Artist Dan Graham's "Observatory / Playground" Atop Le Corbusier's Radiant City In Marseille

On view now, atop Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse (Radiant City) in Marseille, France you will be able to find a stunning presentation of works by iconic conceptual sculptor Dan Graham. Curated by French designer Ora Ito, who purchased the rooftop of Corbusier's stunning apartment complex in 2013 and named it MAMO, or MArseille MOdulor. The space has become an outdoor gallery of sorts - set against the masterful surrounding architecture. Presented here are two of Graham's classic pavilions, seven maquettes, as well as a selection of films. "Observatory / Playground" will be on view until September 20, 2015 at MAMO, in Marseille, France. 

"Queer Fantasy" Group Show Opening at OHWOW Gallery In Los Angeles

OHWOW Gallery presents Queer Fantasy, a group exhibition curated by William J. Simmons. Featuring work by ten artists – A.K. Burns, Leidy Churchman, Jimmy DeSana, Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, Mariah Garnett, Jacolby Satterwhite, David Benjamin Sherry, Jack Smith, A.L. Steiner, and John Waters – this show seeks to recount and preserve a frequently marginalized history of queer voices within contemporary art. Queer Fantasy will be on view until August 15, 2015 at OHWOW Gallery in Los Angeles. 

Go See Joe Sola's Live Painted Horse On View At Tif Sigfrids Gallery in Los Angeles

Tif Sigfrids presents A Painted Horse by Joe Sola (with Matthew Chambers, Sayre Gomez, Rudy K. Slobeck, and others). This is Joe Sola’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. For this show, Sola explores the use of everyday materials and techniques common to contemporary animal grooming practices and presents us with a painted miniature horse. Originally bred as pets for nobility in the 17th century and known to be amongst the rare species of animals in King Louis XIV’s menagerie at Versailles, Sola embraces the animal’s potential for visual pleasure and transposes an abstract language onto this rather unconventional painting surface. With palatial images in mind, the artist will transform the gallery to resemble the dining room of a prosperous collector of contemporary art. Surrounded by walls adorned with new works by Matthew Chambers. Sayre Gomez, and Rudy K. Slobeck, Riba, the painted horse, will roam freely as if at home. Don't worry, the horse is very well taken care of. Only four visitors at a time will be permitted into the gallery to view the exhibition. Visit the Tif Sigfrids website to learn how to make an appointment. 

Melike Kara “Lunch” Salon Kennedy in Frankfurt, Germany

Salon Kennedy presents Melike Kara “Lunch” – her first solo exhibition in Frankfurt. In her work, Melike Kara first and foremost allows the being to emerge without any evaluation. She questions the notion of duality between form and formlessness, incurrence and dissolution, focusing on the correspondence between groups and singular figures. Attitude, gesture and facial expression visualize social constellation, transmitting undefined content without ever being specific. Yet, by reflecting common, everyday social encounters, the figures seem utterly familiar. Emanating from the being, the artist allows the canvas to react upon all these emotions. The color however, is deliberately selected to provide a form and frame to the painting´s inner life. Melike Kara “Lunch” will be on view until July 31, 2015 at Salon Kennedy, Cultural Avenue HQ Frankfurt am Main 

Bad Boys Bail Bonds Adopt A Highway Group Exhibition at Team Gallery In New York

Team (gallery, inc.) is pleased to announce Bad Boys Bail Bonds Adopt A Highway, a group exhibition of sculpture, drawings, photographs, paintings, and video by fourteen Los Angeles based artists and practitioners. The exhibition will take place in both gallery spaces and run from 28 June through 31 July, 2015. Team Gallery is located at 83 Grand Street, cross streets Wooster and Greene, and at 47 Wooster Street, cross streets Grand and Broome.

'Russian Doll' Group Exhibition Opening @ M+B Gallery In Los Angeles

Russian Doll, a group exhibition that is on view now at M+B Gallery, presents a broad view of contemporary art strategies, using the conceit of nesting dolls to explore how others' ideas are transmuted into one's own work. Rather than attempting to draw direct relationships between practices, the show deals in variations and multitudes, in the unexpected connections and overlaps found in the work of M+B artists and the artists they have each invited to participate. From video animations that question the indexical nature of photography, to sculptures that navigate the shifting relationship between form and image; in photographs that investigate subjectivity and visual pleasure, and paintings where the mark is translated through multiple processes, the show explores the various approaches and commonalities that can arise in current practices and in relation to art historical precedents. Russian Doll offers the opportunity to consider generative possibilities - of the way in which relationships between artists can allow for an embeddedness of works within works. Artists in the exhibition include Roe Ethridge, Anthony Lepore, Alex Prager, Hannah Whitaker, Jon Rafman and more. 'Russian Doll' will be on view until August 20, 2015 at M+B, 612 North Almont Drive, Los Angeles, California

The Flamboyant Life & Forbidden Art of George Quaintance @ The Taschen Gallery in Los Angeles

George Quaintance lived and worked during an era when homosexuality was repressed, when his joyful paintings and physique photos could not depict a penis. In an era before Stonewall, the sexual revolution, gay rights and the AIDS crisis, Quaintance and his high-camp erotic art existed in a demi-monde of borderline legality. Currently, Taschen Gallery is presenting The Flamboyant Life & Forbidden Art of George Quaintance, the first public show of works by this culturally significant artist. Seventy years since the creation of his first physique painting, discover Quaintance's masculine fantasy world, populated by Greek gods, Latin lovers, lusty cowboys and chiseled ranch hands. Accompanying pieces from photographer and gay magazine pioneer Bob Mizer, as well as from the legendary Tom of Finland, show Quaintance’s leading influence on the gay publishing and art scene. The exhibition will be on view until August 31, 2015 at Taschen Gallery, 8070 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA

Petra Cortright First Solo Exhibition 'Niki,Lucy,Lola,Viola' Opening @ The Depart Foundation in Los Angeles

Depart Foundation presents the first solo exhibition of works by Los Angeles based artist Petra Cortright. Curated by Paul Young, the exhibition will present an immersive viewing experience that features large-scale flash animations, new video works and animated digital paintings. 'Niki,Lucy,Lola,Viola' will feature a series of new video works and animations by Cortright, compiled from open-source, screensaver software, and purchased virtual strippers. “Niki”, “Lucy”, “Lola” and “Viola”, are the virtual erotic dancers purchased by Cortright, from readily available online software, to populate her own synthetic and painterly landscapes and green screen voids. Presented within an immersive installation environment, which will include atmospheric audio components, these works self-consciously offer an infinite virtual redundancy in their repetition and absence of real-time. The exhibition will be on view until September 12, 2015 at the Depart Foundation Project Space9105 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper

Lawrence Weiner "Within Grasp" Is On View Now At the Mai 36 Pop Up Gallery In Zurich

Within Grasp will include both old and new work, as well as a Wunderkammer view of Lawrence Weiner’s work over the years, in the new temporary Pop-Up-Showroom of Mai 36 Galerie. It is in the context of their presentation that his works come into their own. They are notions and associations that take shape in the mind, in the multiple references that any person viewing the work chooses it to be. The works are forged in the relationship between the sense of place and the eye and mind of the beholder. As he puts it, "ART IS AND MUST BE AN EMPIRICAL REALITY CONCERNED WITH THE RELATIONSHIPS OF HUMAN BEINGS TO OBJECTS AND OBJECTS TO OBJECTS IN RELATION TO HUMAN BEINGS." Within Grasp will be on view until July 31, 2015 at Mai 36 Galerie, Rämistrasse 37 CH-8001 Zürich. photos courtesy of Mai 36 Galerie

"California Fantasy" Figure Drawing Night @ New Image Art in Los Angeles

"California Fantasy," an exhibition that just ended at New Image Art gallery in Los Angeles, explored "the myth, sparkle, and sensuality that exist within the California environs" and evoked "feelings of psychedelia and euphoria with and aim to awaken a perceived Californian paradise as manifested through vibrant paintings, ethereal drawings, and transcendental sculptures." The group exhibition presented the work of Lola Rose Thompson, Elena Stonaker, Meagan Boyd, Peter Makela, Meegan Barnes, Raul de Nieves, and Mymo. Last week, artists Stonaker and Boyd held a special one night only experimental life drawing class that verged on bohemian, erotic performance art. all photographs by Natalie Yang  

Last Few Days To Check Out Chloe Wise's Exhibition 'That's Something Else, My Sweet' @ Galerie Sébastien Bertrand in Geneva

For her first solo exhibition in Switzerland, Galerie Sébastien Bertrand in Geneva was transformed into a studio/work residency for a few weeks, during which Chloe Wise produced new artworks in the gallery space, creating sculptures and paintings of food (a subject she is already known for) and more precisely, producing works centered around what one might find at a picnic. In this case, Wise's picnic is an erotic and sumptuous one, boasting fake food, where cheese is placed alongside high-end brand logos, jam, models basking in the great outdoors, and nudes in fields, in a gratuitous combination of painting, sculpture and installation. That’s something else, my sweet is taken from E.E. Cummings’ poem If I. The tone of the passage is simultaneously condescending yet affectionate, as though spoken by someone who would console you after having tricked you moments before. Chloe Wise's 'That's Something Else, My Sweet' ends on July 4, 2015 at Galerie Sébastien Bertrand in Geneva. photographs by Annik Wetter.

Actress Jessica Lange at Her Photography Exhibit "Unseen" in Barcelona, Spain

After her ex-boyfriend, the actor Sam Shepard, gave her a Leica M6 as a gift, she embarked on a photographic journey throughout Mexico and the United States. Last month, Arts Santa Mònica in Barcelona, Spain presented 150 examples of her work. Today, The Eye of Photography published as a fascinating interview with the actress and lenswoman. You can also purchase a monograph of Lange's photographs herephotograph by Ieva Bluma

Go See Tattoo Artist Scott Campbell's Customized Crown Victoria On View Now @ Martos Gallery in New York

For "Crown Victorious," an exhibition on view now at Martos Gallery In New York, tattoo artist Scott Campbell decks out a Ford Crown Victoria police car with 24-carat-gold body paint - the windows are also etched. The exhibition will be on display until July 25, 2015 at Martos Gallery, 540 W 29th St New York. 

Alex Israel Emits Summertime Vibes in His Second Solo Exhibition at Galerie Almine Rech in Paris

For his second solo exhibition at Galerie Almine Rech in Paris, Alex Israel presents a series of recent works, entitled "Lenses," which are essentially large scale renditions of sunglass lenses that look as if they have been removed from the frame and propped against the wall. It is a nod to the easy breezy lifestyle of Los Angeles - a city that the artist romanticizes through multiple conceptualizations and mediums that range from sculpture to set backdrops to self portraiture to found objects and even a talk show. The show, entitled "As It Lays," features the artist in dark sunglasses asking off the cuff questions to the likes of Bret Easton Ellis, Larry Flynt, Vidal Sassoon, Rosanna Arquette and more - all against a backdrop of canvases painted with bright shades of orange in a depiction of a California in the throes of a permanent Summer sunset.  In fact, the "Lenses" in this exhibition are the same color as some of the backdrop paintings, for which Israel is known, that are also included in this presentation. You will also be able to find a miniaturized prop car - a Chevy Corvette - parked next to a tiny cactus; set against the fire orange backdrop painting, it gives the sense that you are riding off into the sunset in a classic Hollywood movie. Alex Israel "Summer" will be on view until July 27, 2015 at Galerie Almine Rech in Paris.

Artist James Georgopoulos Releases a Limited Edition Half Tone Pixilated Print Inspired by Astronauts and Aliens

"I chose to make this in iridescent green and black after reading a quote where Gordon Cooper talks about UFO spotting, which is rare for an astronaut to admit. So the green pearl color in the print is actually an homage toward Cooper and his belief in the iconic green martian." Click here to purchase a limited edition print by James Georgopoulos entitled "Space Race," silkscreened iridescent half tones, acrylic polymer, coventry rag paper.

Pathos and Vulnerability at "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" Group Exhibition On View Now @ Fraenkel Gallery In San Francisco

Fraenkel Gallery presents "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," curated by Katy Grannan. This group exhibition will present photographs and other objects by 18 artists, all of whom are being shown at the gallery for the first time. The title of the exhibition refers to Carson McCullers’ novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and the poem that inspired it, The Lonely Hunter, written by Fiona MacLeod (aka William Sharp). The works selected for the exhibition resonate with pathos, obsession, and vulnerability, and speak to a fundamental source of artistic inspiration: the heart’s private longing. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter will be on view until August 22, 2015 at Fraenkel Gallery, 49 Geary Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco. 

Go See Jannis Kounellis' Recreated Live Horse Installation on View Now At Gavin Brown's Enterprise

Italian based artist Jannis Kounellis first installed "Untitled (12 Horses)" in a garage in Rome, in 1969. From now until Saturday, you can catch the installation at Gavin Brown's Enterprise in Greenwich Village. It is the last exhibition in this location before the gallery moves to Harlem. Other artists on view include Rirkrit Tiravanija and Elaine Sturtevant. Jannis Kounellis’s “Untitled (12 Horses)” will be on view until June 27, 2015 at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise