Nick Haymes' Unflinching Portrait of Teenage Angst

Selections from the book - email correspondence between Gabe Nevins and Harmony Korine

Nick Haymes first met Gabe Nevins on an editorial assignment in the summer of 2007. Gabe had just wrapped up his lead role in Gus Van Sant'sΒ Paranoid Park, in which he had played a teenage skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard. Gabe had never acted prior to starring in the film; he had heard about Van Sant's casting call from a skateboard store and initially auditioned as an extra. Meeting the teenager, Haymes recalls: "Initially, Gabe was fairly shy, but it quickly transpired that he had seen some of my skateboarding images online and an instant friendship was struck. When the assignment was over, I approached Gabe about the possibility of working on more photographs as there was something entirely captivating about him and his energy." A new volume, published by Damiani Editore, tracks the highs and lows of Gabe's teen years, from stardom to emotional breakdown and homelessness.Β On Wednesday, March 1st, from 6.00 to 8.00 pm, Haymes will be signing the volume at Dashwood Books in NYC.

Everyone Loves A Good Trainwreck

Why can’t we look away? Whether we admit it or not, we’re fascinated by evil. Dark fantasies, morbid curiosities, Schadenfreude: As conventional wisdom has it, these are the symptoms of our wicked side, and we succumb to them at our own peril. But we’re still compelled to look whenever we pass a grisly accident on the highway, and there’s no slaking our thirst for gory entertainments like horror movies and police procedurals. What makes these spectacles so irresistible? In a new book,Β Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck: Why We Can't Look Away, the scholar Eric G. Wilson sets out to discover the source of our attraction to the caustic, drawing on the findings of biologists, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers, theologians, and artists. A professor of English literature and a lifelong student of the macabre, Wilson believes there’s something nourishing in darkness. β€œTo repress death is to lose the feeling of life,” he writes. β€œA closeness to death discloses our most fertile energies.”

Patti Smith by Judy Linn

Linn's images of Patti Smith range from the vulnerable to the iconic, focusing on shifting influences and relationships with artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Sam Shepard.Β  The black-and-white photographs capture Smith in the intimate and grainy atmosphere of a bygone New York when Smith--a struggling poet, pre-rock'n'roll--agreed to pose for Linn. A new exhibition, entitled Patti Smith: 1969-1976, Β of photographs by Linn opens at LUAG (Lehigh University Art Galleries) February 20 and runs until May 25, 2012.Β 420 E. Packer AvenueΒ Bethlehem, PA

These Days

Nina Ljeti as Krist Novoselic, by Adarsha Benjamin

Eras end, Begin again. Money, lovers, Promises are pretend. 30 is old age -- You plan to kill yourself, Or be far away by then. Try so hard To make a name, But they forget Again and again. Change your mind, Change your style, Your politics, philosophy. A punk, a hippie, A model on the cover of a magazine. Alone or lonely, '91 or '65 A better story. Your Gods are dead, And Jesus ain’t your friend. No one calls. Connection's gone. Looking for the other, Floating past each other, Duck and cover. Empty-headed, absent-minded Lost forever, we are blinded. What it means to hold a hand, What it means to be free,

What it is to see beyond The illusion of reality.

These Days, by Nina Ljeti

The Aesthetics of The Photobooth

cindy_sherman_2011_MUSÉE_DE_L'ÉLYSÉE_LAUSANNE_photobooth_automaton

When the first photobooths were set up in Paris in 1928, the Surrealists used them heavily and compulsively. In a few minutes, and for a small price, the machine offered them, through a portrait, an experience similar to automatic writing. Since then, generations of artists have been fascinated by the concept of the photobooth. From Andy Warhol to Arnulf Rainer, Thomas Ruff, Cindy Sherman and Gillian Wearing, many used it to play with their identity, tell stories, or simply create worlds. Behind the Curtain - the Aesthetics of the Photobooth, an exhibition created by the MusΓ©e de l’ElysΓ©e, is the first to focus on the aesthetics of the photobooth. It is divided into six major themes: the booth, the automated process, the strip, who am I ?, who are you ?, who are we ?. Provider of standardized legal portraits, it is the ideal tool for introspection and reflection on others, whether individually or in groups. By bringing together over 600 pieces made on different media (photographs, paintings, lithographs and videos) from sixty international artists, the exhibition reveals the influence of the photobooth within the artistic community, from its inception to the present day.

Art of Elysium's PIECES OF HEAVEN Auction

Chris Heads, UNTITLED 11, 2011

The Art of Elysium, which bridges philanthropy with contemporary art, will be holding an auction, in partnership with Christies, on February 23 entitled Pieces of Heaven, featuring an amazing array of artists from Andy Warhol to Pas Un Autre's very own Adarsha Benjamin. February 23, Smashbox Studios,Β 1011 N. Fuller Avenue Hollywood, California 90046

Fando y Lis

Fando y Lis, Alejandro Jodorowsky's first feature film, tells the tale of Fando and his paraplegic girlfriend Lis through a barren, post-apocalyptic wasteland in search of the mythical city of Tar, where legend has it all wishes come true. Purchase the complete film of Jodorowsky here.

Worn to be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket

A notable upcoming travelling exhibit has just been announced at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which pays tribute to the black leather jacket. The exhibit, entitled Worn to be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket,Β will explore its roots from being worn by aviators during WWI, to bikers, to its modern-day designs from fashion houses such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace. The exhibition will run June 16 to September 3, 2012 at the Harley Davidson Museum.