Rebel on Certosa Island

As part of the Venice Biennale in Italy, James Franco's site–specific film installation, entitled Rebel, will open on the island of Certosa.  Rebel is a collaboration with artists Douglas Gordon, Harmony Korine, Paul McCarthy, Ed Ruscha, Aaron Young that "unites the myth-making allure of cinema and contemporary art, and acts as interrogative ode to Hollywood iconography." Rebel will be on view on Certosa Island from September 4 to November 27. Photo by Adarsha Benjamin

Appropriated Imagery: Richard Prince + Jackson Pollock

Guild Hall of East Hampton presents Richard Prince “Covering Pollock” featuring 27 new works that are focused on Jackson Pollock, a leader of the Abstract Expressionist group. Richard Prince uses appropriation to distill and disrupt America’s compulsive fascination with iconic brands, fame, and lifestyle. This is the first public viewing of “Covering Pollock” and the first museum exhibition of Richard Prince’s work on Long Island. On view until October 17. 

[SERBIAN DIARY] Waiting for Autumn

I am so tired. I need to rest for a while. I have to keep quiet. I have to think. I need to get some sleep. I can't wait for the yellow Autumn days to come. Photo and text by Marija Mandic who is a photographer based in Novi Sad, Serbia - we're hoping Pas Un Autre might see regular dispatches by Marija for a series entitled Serbian Diary. 

 

[EXHIBITION] Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

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The two most famous artists to have come from Mexico, the lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera have attained a mythological status. A major touring exhibition, which comes first to Chichester from Istanbul and Dublin, brings together works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera for the first time ever in the UK. On view now until October 9 at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, U.K. 

Pornography and Motherhood

Madison Young isn't your average pornstar – she's an artist, a feminist, and a sexual educator. Young, born Tina Butcher, caused uproar when she exhibited a show, entitled Becoming Milf, at her gallery Femina Potens Art Gallery, that explored her own new found motherhood, as well as the societal myths and stereotypes of motherhood.  The above photograph caused such a controversy that some accused Young of pedophilia. "I’m brand new to motherhood.  My little girl is only eight weeks old right now.  I’m sure that sharing my life with my daughter will inspire, influence and affect my work in different ways as she gets older.  Right now, as the mother of a newborn, one of my greatest challenges is time.  I’ve always tried to balance more than is humanly possible in a day but now I have a tiny little being who needs and demands my attention 24/7.  I’ve had to really prioritize what areas of my life I need to be giving my energy to right now.  I’ll be working mostly local for at least Emma’s first year, and if I decide to take out of state or country gigs next year then it will be a family affair.  I take Emma along with me whenever I can, such as to university speaking engagements and to the art gallery, and Daddy watches Emma during the more adult-oriented work experiences."

Serum Versus Venom: Zero Surplus Garb

Left: White snow camo jacket with a multi-function convertible pocket. Right: Organic white cotton shirt and vintage military mechanic pant.

Serum Versus Venom continues its pursuit of Futurecraft© by aggressively colliding vintage military fabrics and workers' garb with modern, functional designs. The utilized vintage fabrics span 90 years of global military history. "We are not looking to re-use the old fabrics for the sake of nostalgia. Rather, we are simply looking for the best fabrics on earth. These vintage fabrics were built to last and the quality is unrivaled." - David Gensler

Room Editions

Los Angeles based photographer Patrick Hoelck's solo exhibition entitled “Room Editions” will open in Los Angeles this Thursday. “Room Editions” will showcase limited edition prints that have been hand picked from Hoelck's self-published book "Polaroid Hotel". The exhibition is curated by Daniel Salin and hosted by Stephen Webster. The opening will take place on August 25th between 7pm and 10pm at 202 N Rodeo Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90210. The show will run through September 18th at Stephen Webster's private gallery in Beverly Hills.

[Excerpt] An Interview with Bruce LaBruce

Bruce LaBruce is a filmmaker, an artist, and a pornographer, and underneath the blood soaked sheets and layers of half rotting flesh of the undead he is one of the greatest auteurs and romantics of the last few decades. I was able to ask Bruce a few questions and we talked about important topics such as his childhood in rural Canada, the alternative gay movement, sex in art, and a few of his current and upcoming projects, including his film L.A. Zombie Hardcore, a documentary on the artist himself entitled The Advocate for Fagdom by French filmmaker Angelique Bosio, and a short film involving two female to male transexuals which will premier at the Berlin Porn Festival this October.

You wrote a memoir called the reluctant pornographer – what does pornography mean to you? Well, lately I've been saying, which has sort of gotten me in trouble, because lately I've been calling myself a pornographer and saying I express solidarity with pornographers – that all pornography is art, really, because its a form of creative expression, its the mediation of reality, its made by people who use the tools of cinema, or making art, so why shouldn't it be considered art as well? There's good art and there's bad art and there's good pornography and there's bad pornography, but its all sort of an artistic expression as far as I'm concerned.

How important is sexuality in art or expressing sexuality through art? For me personally, sex has always been an engine behind my work, both in terms of representing and in terms of making it, on a personal level, but I think the sexual and the creative drives are very much linked, but on the other hand I know people who are relatively, or fairly, or completely a-sexual who have very strong artistic drives, so I don't think that's necessarily the case for everyone. Certainly with the gay movement was always based on that kind of sexual engine as well, which for me is yet another reason why, for me, the assimilation movement, which tends to be more domesticated and kind of based on ideals of monogamy borrowed from straight culture - it kind of dissipates the energy of the gay movement in my opinion. Yeah, sex is so ubiquitous in pop culture and advertising that its kind of hard to ignore it as an artist.

Do you think its more ubiquitous now than it has been? Well, I think that whats been happening in the last ten to fifteen years is that violence supplanted sex as the main driving force of popular fetish and popular advertising and certainly the media news sells violence and death in a very titillating kind of sexualized way - which is kind of creepy.

Full article and interview coming soon.....

Text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper for Pas Un Autre

[PHOTO DIARY] Postcard from Padova

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"Why did they make birds so delicate and fine as those sea swallows when the ocean can be so cruel?" -- E.H.

We have finished filming and now holiday has officially begun ... I've been laying by the pool revisiting The Old Man and the Sea, as the drum of essential relaxation kicks, cloaked in reverberation.  In two daisies we will drive south to the heal, where the land smells of mafioso. Photo and text by Dustin Lynn who is in Italy shooting another short fashion film for Corto Moltedo.