Fingerbanging Amelia Earheart

If there was anything in the world to denote the end of artistic sanctity, it would be the work of photographer Jason Levins. Using old point and shoot cameras and disposable film has been done a million times. In the bleary eyed dystopic fantasy Jason Levins captures through his lens there is a sense of irony that peers through, like light through cracks in a pitch black church. And in the columns of  light we  find illuminated our youth like rats scurrying in the putrid rot of some alternate zeitgeist: pulling their balls out under tables, drinking pabst blue ribbon, breasts, diy tattoos, camping.  But this raises a serious question: was there ever sanctity in art in the first place?  I have grappled for a little while now on how to fairly criticize Levins' photography, because, not only are his photographs deserving of questions, they are also worthy of analytical review.  If we look close enough we can find small, dazzling gems of humanity peering back out through the cracks, in small private moments of a youth grappling with their identity in an age of war and catastrophe.  In this light, Jasons Levins works become a highly critical essay on the condition of youth in our post modern society. We must fuck all to get us through the strange and frightening condition of the world, but fuck all with love - and that just might be the moral of the story.  www.staticonthebrain.com

"Vicissitude of Water" by Dustin Lynn

Vicissitude of Water by Dustin Lynn

The Vicissitude Of Water (Tennis Court No. 2) Minneapolis, USA Photo Dustin Lynn

Vicissitude of Water by Dustin Lynn

The Vicissitude Of Water (Goal Post) Minneapolis, USA Photo Dustin Lynn

New photographs by artist, filmmaker, traveler Dustin Lynn.  To elucidate the hidden meaning behind these haunting, frigid images, in Dustin Lynn's own words: "[The] highest level of ascension in water is when it becomes snow - then it can take other forms like the branches of a tree, an alfa romeo, or a playing field." Isolated and glamorous with overwhelming quietude, these images are still-frames of a morbid, parallel nirvana in Middle America.

UNSEEN: NEVER BEFORE PRINTED WORKS OF HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Mexico (girl with braids), 1934. Peter Fetterman Gallery.

The 16th Annual Los Angeles Art Show, taking place January 19-23 at the Los Angeles Convention Center will debut a special exhibit of never before seen works by master photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Titled “Rarely/Unseen” the exhibit is curated by Peter Fetterman, owner of Peter Fetterman Gallery and will feature more than 35 photographs that have never been printed before. www.laartshow.com

Not in Fashion: Photography and Fashion in the 90s

MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt/Main is showing how fashion changes our view of the world. In the 1990s, the fashion scene fundamentally reinvented specifically the medium of photography. That decade gave rise to a new generation for whom personal identity, individualism and a self-defined style were of crucial importance. Back then, the joie de vivre of the generation of 20-30 year-old creative minds thrived on music, subculture, intimacy and fashion. A new notion of corporeality was being celebrated in the major capitals of the world, such as London, New York, Tokyo, Berlin and Paris. The protagonists of this era sought to distinguish themselves from the established art and fashion scenes, and develop an alternative, lived counter-culture. They felt that the overly artificial images of prêt-à-porter, haute couture and glossy fashion magazines needed to be overcome and replaced with “real life” pictures instead Youth-Culture. They thus collectively dismissed the notion of the beautiful, and tried to elide gender differences and other social conventions.  Catch the last few days of this show - more info here.

Elvis at 21

Alfred Wertheimer, "Elvis and Barbara Hearn."

"After having taken a shower, and still bare-chested, Elvis has his high school sweetheart, Barbara Hearn, listen on the phonograph to the acetate disc with cuts of his songs from the New York recording session."  Beautiful images of a young hopeful Elvis by photographer Alfred Wertheimer now on view at the National Portrait Gallery in London. "In 1956, 26-year old Alfred Wertheimer was asked to photograph a rising 21-year-old-star named Elvis Presley. When Presley walked on stage that year, he altered the beat of everyday life. The world changed. Wertheimer captured the singer’s transit to superstardom and the cultural transformation he helped launch. Elvis at 21 offers viewers an intimate look at the public and private life of one of the world’s most famous figures, and documents classic American life—from the diners to the train stops—in 1956." On view until January 23 2011. www.npg.si.edu

Coney Island in Blue

Adarsha Benjamin 'Electric Tickle Machine in Cony Island' © 2010

Today is the first day of the Rock n' Roll Circus at Lincoln Center. Exhibiting in the VIP lounge are new polaroid photographs by Adarsha Benjamin, who is also organizing the event which includes two full days of music.  See previous post for more info.

Greetings From Lake Champlain

Ice forms on the banks of Lake Champlain in Northern Vermont.  A walk along the the old Island Line Causeway, an old abandoned railroad track that used to stretch from Colchester, Vermont to South Hero, Vermont. Trains crossed the causeway from 1901 ro 1961.  Ice forms in mysterious machinations over  marble and sleeping winter trees.  Photography by Oliver Maxwell Kupper © 2011