Mike Kelley Dead From Apparent Suicide

Pictured above, Abbey Meaker photographs a piece by Mike Kelley at Art Basel Miami last December. Mike Kelley, who has reportedly ended his own life at 57 years old, was an artist with an outsider spirit who found himself not only on the inside of the art world, but on the top, and found it too hard a cross to bear. Kelley's work involved found objects, textile banners, drawings, assemblage, collage, performance and video. He often worked collaboratively and had done projects with artists Paul McCarthy, Tony Oursler and John Miller. Kelley was often associated with the concept of abjection, "the state of being cast off." Photograph by Natalia Vuley.

No Death Can Tear Us Apart, Introducing Mirel Wagner

Maybe its her haunting refrains - no death can tear us apart – or maybe its her spiritually profound lyrics, but I'm almost certain her music can only come from a soul that has traveled a myriad universes, and loved and lost a myriad times, only to resurface, like a wave from an opposite and infinite shore, through the voice of Mirel Wagner. Wagner, who was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Espoo, Finland, has certainly been to the crossroads. At 7, Wagner, who's record label biography alludes to the fact that her family name goes back the famous composer, was given violin lessons, and at 16 she was already writing songs and shyly performing them at open mics nights in Helsinki. She was subsequently discovered by Jean Ramsay, an American music journalist living in Finland who was impressed by her talent, and the next thing she knew she was recording an album. The recordings, financed by photographer and friend of Ramsay, Aki Roukala, were completed over two days, 12 songs straight – 9 of which can be found on her upcoming debut album which was recently released in Europe on  Bone Voyage Recordings, and will see its American release this March 27 on Friendly Fire Records. One of those tracks, No Death, is a tragic murder ballad in the same vein as Leadbelly's In The Pines or Townes Van Zandt's Waitin' Around to Die. It is a song about love and tragedy, but tragedy with a brilliant and dark solution. Only when you listen closer do you realize that it is a song about necromancy and never has fucking the dead seemed so romantic: well its gonna get colder/ but my love will ignite/ what was left to smoulder/ I move my hips/ in her I am home/ I’ll keep on loving/ till the marrow dries from her bones. But maybe its the dead that will love us the most – without controversy and without conditions – no death can tear us apart. 

Eve Arnold Memorial Exhibition

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Anthony Quinn and Anna Karina on the set of Guy Green's "The Magus," in Mallorca, Spain. 1976

Pioneering photographer, Eve Arnold, who died last month, age 99, is the subject of a memorial exhibition of her work, mounted in London, her adoptive home. Art Sensus will present over 100 unique photographs and a new book of the work of American photographer Eve Arnold (1912-2012). Curated by Brigitte Lardinois, All About Eve will offer a spectrum of incredible works, both vintage and modern, all drawn from Arnold’s personal archive. The only solo exhibition to feature Arnold’s work in the UK this year thus far All About Eve has been selected from a private collection, which also loaned some of the prints for the book. Of the works in the book, almost half have been little exhibited and rarely published, if at all. The book, published by Thames & Hudson, entitled Eve Arnold's People,  includes texts by Angelica Huston and Isabella Rossellini, but is currently completely sold out and not available for purchase. All About Eve will be on view at Art Sensus March 2 through April 27, 2012, 7 Howick Place, London.

Flesh & Film

A new book, entitled Francesca Woodman: The Roman Years Between Skin and Film (Contrasto), takes a new look at the life and work of Francesca Woodman through a fresh analysis of the photographs and writings from her Roman sojourn. A precocious artist and a figure caught between two cultures –American and Italian– Francesca Woodman reached the acme of her artistic parable in Rome, where she fully defined her aesthetic and stylistic sensibilities. The book is available here.

John Cage Turns 100

Art by Daniel B. Sierra

American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist John Cage, who died in 1992, would have been 100 this year and there are a slew of events to celebrate the centenary – including EVERYDAYJOHNCAGE in the city of Rimini, Italy where every single day of 2012 from January 1st to December 31st a viral system distributes publicly and privately, fragments and materials related to John Cage, and  an exhibition entitled Things Not Seen Before: A Tribute to John Cage, a visual art exhibition at Tempus Projects, organized by Independent Curator Jade Dellinger. Inspired by a line from a letter the curator (as a student – in the late 1980’s) received from the late, great composer concerning the work of Marcel Duchamp, Cage noted: “I am not interested in the names of movements but rather in seeing and making things not seen before.” Visit www.johncage.org to see all events.

Julian Gilbert's Public Displays of Affection

Julian Gilbert's photographs of random couples kissing, in a series entitled PDA, are voyeuristic, but could also be images taken by some kind of secret-agent alien to prove to a distant planet how strange the human species and mankind truly is. In fact almost all his photographs have that feeling – like you've unlocked some kind of private file. Julian Gilbert, a 24 year old New York native, photographs other aliens too – artists, musicians, actors – and they look more at home on camera and less like some kind of endangered species caught in the cross hairs of Gilbert's viewfinder.  All and all, his photographs are undeniably full of fervent and vibrant life. Gilbert is now offering his photography outside the gallery: just send him a self addressed stamped envelope and five bucks and you get one random, unique 4X6 or 4X5 print. A pretty sweet deal.

Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s

Richard Prince, 1980

The art produced during the 1980s veered between radical and conservative, capricious and political, socially engaged and art historically aware. This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, an exhibition on view this month at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chigacago, provides viewers with an overview of the artistic production of these heady days, as well as impart the decade’s sense of political and aesthetic urgency by placing many of the decade’s competing factions in close proximity to one another. On view February 11, 2012 to June 3, 2012 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago IL

Russell Young Retrospective

Perhaps Russel Young's most famous series, entitled Dirty Pretty Things, which includes the diamond dusted, silk-screened images of Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe crying, James Dean, Elvis, amongst others – along with his Helter Skelter series, painted after a near death experience after contracting the H1N1 virus – will be on view this March at the Goss-Michael Foundation Gallery in Dallas, Texas.  Russel Young Retrospective will be on view at a retrospective at the Goss-Michael Foundation Gallery from March 7 to March 31, 2012. Goss-Michael Foundation, 405 Turtle Creek Boulevard Dallas ,TX.

Universe of Desire Opens @ the Museum of Sex In New York

“Universe of Desire,” an exhibition about human desire as seen through the lens of digital behaviors, opens at the Museum of Sex on February 8th. Type. Swipe. Search. Upload. Download. Post. Stream. These are the new verbs of desire. Our most intimate thoughts, fantasies, and urges are now transmitted via electronic devices to rapt audiences all over the world. These transmissions—from sexts to private webcam feeds—are anonymous yet personal, individual yet collective, everywhere and nowhere, and they are contributing to the largest sexual record to date. In short, desire has gone viral. The exhibition “Universe of Desire,” opening at the Museum of Sex on February 8th, examines human desire as seen through the lens of digital behaviors. Museum of Sex, 233 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Lips of Blood: The Cinema of Jean Rollin

Revered by enthusiasts of fantasy and horror films, but largely overlooked by the critical mainstream, French filmmaker Jean Rollin (1938-2010) is finally being given the recognition he deserves. His surreal, dreamlike films are grounded in traditional gothic imagery but are flavored with 1970s-era eroticism, resulting in a body of work that is as eerie as it is outrageous. Though constrained by low budgets, Rollin managed to drench his films in atmosphere and used them as unvarnished expressions of his own personal fears and desires. As Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog has written, Rollin’s films represent “the very heart and soul of ‘le fantastique’—its flamboyance, its melodrama, its sense of the impossible made possible. They do not scare us; they were designed to delight us, to arouse our imagination, to move us.” For the first time, the films have been carefully mastered in HD from the original 35mm negatives and will be released with an array of special features, including interviews with Rollin and his collaborators, documentaries, and trailers. Available here.

Juergen Teller in New York

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Presented in three parts, an upcoming exhibition at Lehman Maupin Gallery in New York, highlights three recent series, demonstrating Teller’s dynamic and diverse oeuvre. Featuring the controversial photographs of Kristen McMenamy and seductive portraits of Vivienne Westwood, juxtaposed with intimate portraits of his family and close friends, this exhibition displays an amalgam of subjects and personalities. The exhibition starts with Teller’s controversial series of photographs featuring Kristen McMenamy, shot in the home of Carlos Mollino. Drawing inspiration from the eccentric architect, Teller recalls Mollino’s fascination with the erotic, capturing McMenamy in provocative poses. Although the series garnered controversy for its alleged “pornographic” nature, it demonstrates Teller’s skilled storytelling and fearless approach to his medium. On view from February 10 to March 17, 2012 at the Lehman Maupin Gallery, 201 Chrystie Street, New York.

Homesick For The Earth

Jules Supervielle (1884-1960) was born to French parents in Montevideo, orphaned within a year of his birth, and grew up in Uruguay and France. He spent the Second World War exiled in Uruguay, afflicted by ill health and financial ruin. His poems are dreamlike, often gently fantastical, imbued with an appealing surface clarity. His work stands apart from much 20th-century French poetry, and he has been characterized as a writer of Basque descent who wrote in French but in the Spanish tradition, with a strong affinity for the open spaces of his South American childhood and nostalgia for a cosmic brotherhood of men. In many respects he seems our contemporary, a writer of highly personal poems as well as poems concerned with war and the environment. A new collection of Supervielle's poems have been collected in a new book published by Bloodaxe Books entitled Homesick for the Earth. Purchase here.

Painkiller

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Painkiller is an original exhibition of 48 Polaroid images by groundbreaking photographer Robert Frank taken from the 1970s through the present. Blue Sky  gallery in Portland closely collaborated with Frank in selecting photographs to be reproduced in a special series of enlarged prints for this show. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of photography, Frank has redefined the aesthetic of both the still and the moving image via his pictures and films. Blue Sky presents Frank’s work again in Portland, having first shown his photographs in 1981. Painkiller closes this week at the Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon.

Barrel of a Gun

Diane Pernet's A Shaded View on Fashion Film (ASVOFF) Barcelona comes to a close today and the winners have been announced. Barrel of a Gun, by Jason Last, has won the Mobile Fashion Film prize. The film features models Mikhael Ayoub, Christoph Ribbe, & Mikey Wydra in Comme des Garçons.