Jeff Koons in SWITZERLAND

jeff_koons_bears_SWITZERLAND_bayeler_foundation

The Fondation Beyeler is presenting the first exhibition ever devoted by a Swiss museum to the American artist Jeff Koons. This extensive presentation focuses on three central series of works – The New,Banality and Celebration – which represent crucial stages in Koons’s development and lead to the nucleus of his thinking and creative activity. Koons’s equally spectacular and subtle works are repeatedly concerned with themes such as innocence, beauty, sexuality and happiness. These reflect his conception of an art that is accessible to every viewer. Koons will be on view at The Foundation Beyeler until September 2, 2012.

Bob Carlos Clarke: One-Offs

Described as "one of the great photographic image-makers of the last few decades" by Terence Pepper, Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, a new exhibition at The Little Black Gallery in London gives the public and collectors a rare opportunity to view and buy unique Bob Carlos Clarke photographs. All the pictures have been chosen by his widow Lindsey Carlos Clarke from the extensive archives. Many are handcoloured, distressed, or were printed once and then left forgotten until now. Bob Carlos Clarke was born in Cork, Ireland in 1950. He worked in almost every sphere of photography, winning numerous awards for his high-profile advertising campaigns, recognition for his photojournalism and portraits of celebrities, and international acclaim from collectors of fine prints. Suffering from depression Clarke stepped in front of train and died in 2006. One-Offs will be on view from May 28 to June 30, 2012 at The Little Black Gallery, 13A Park Walk, London SW10 0AJ

KON TRUBKOVICH: Leap Second

KON_TRUBKOVICH_Leap_Second_oh_wow

With his Los Angeles debut, Moscow born New York based artist Kon Trubkovich reveals his most personal work to date. A new series of paintings, works on paper, and a sound piece translate psychological underpinnings through elegantly complex methods. The television static, weak transmissions, and tenuous connections he depicts suggest that somewhere behind all the noise and disruption there is a broadcast confirming our existence and interconnection. Prominent in the exhibition are a group of large-scale portraits of the artist’s mother, culled from just one second of home video, which documented the final party she threw in the U.S.S.R before the family immigrated to the U.S. Defining a transitional moment of flux, these works illuminate the difficultly of tracing the past and express our elusive connection to the concept of origin. Through oil on linen, Trubkovich visually describes the sensation of relating to a person or physical location that no longer exists, or at least not as remembered, and aims to parse latent recall into a tangible codex. Leap Second is on view at OHWOW Gallery in Los Angeles, with an opening reception tonight and will be open until June 23, 937 North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

The Color Wheel

The much hyped about film The Color Wheel, which opens tonight in New York, is the story of JR, an increasingly transient aspiring news-anchor, forcing her disappointing younger brother Colin to embark on a road trip to move her belongings out of her professor-turned-lover's apartment. Problem is these grown up kids do not get along and are both too obnoxious to know better. Chaos and calamity are not far behind her beat up Honda Accord. Too bad that nobody else in the world can stand either of them. Not Colin's neglectful girlfriend, nor JR's former high school friends, nor strangers they clash with at pretty much every step of their hopeless and increasingly infuriating voyage of frustration, failure and jerks. It can only be a matter of time before JR and Colin arrive at the strangest and most unsettling of resolutions and put to rest their decades of animosity, half-baked sibling rivalry and endless bickering. Resting uncomfortably somewhere between the solipsistic, unrepressed id of late Jerry Lewis, the confrontational pseudo-sexual self-loathing of Philip Roth and the black and white motels, diners and loners of Robert Frank's America, The Color Wheel is a familial comedy of disappointment and forgiveness. The film opens tonight at BAMcinématek in New York and runs until May 24.

[BOOKS] Motel Fetish

Taschen is releasing the second edition of erotic photographer Chas Ray Krider's Motel Fetish. The first edition has been long out of print and includes photographs in the vein of 1950s erotic set in classic seedy motels. Editor Eric Kroll says, "A number of years ago I began to see distinctive layouts in Hustler's Leg World that got me nervous. The photographs were that good. Whoever it was had style and made the women his women. Krider women. Women I began to desire on a monthly basis. In the world of professional golf there is an expression 'the world's greatest golfer not to win a major tournament. Chas Ray Krider was the world's greatest erotic photographer not to have a book."  You can find editions of the book here.

MV & EE's Space Homestead

Hailing from Vermont, Matt Valentine and Erika Elder are MV & EE, a folky, psychedelic outfit whose amazing new albumSpace Homestead is full of rough-around-the-edges, yet beautiful lo-fi gems that remind you an eternal country summer.  Listen below to the great track Sweet Sure Gone, which has been on loop for the past few days, and you can purchase the full album which came out a few days ago on the Woodsist label. Text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper for Pas Un Autre


Dreamscapes

Looking through the archives....a photograph of Adarsha Benjamin pondering her next shot for a fashion story at a John Lautner house for the first issue of AUTRE almost one year ago today. Adarsha will be having her first solo exhibition, entitled Dreamscapes, next week in Los Angeles.  Along side the series of photographs & moving images there will be Soundscapes by Rocco Deluca and tunes DJ'd by the Ana Calderon. Dreamscapes will be on view as part of The Rooftop Sessions artist series at Siren Studios, May 17th 6-10pm. RSVP by Wednesday May 16th at rsvp@sirenstudios.com.

Yayoi Kusama: Hong Kong Blooms in My Mind

Yayoi-Kusama-Polka-Dots-Madness-12_hong_kong_sothebys

Sotheby’s announces an exclusive selling exhibition of works by Yayoi Kusama in their brand new gallery space in Hong Kong. The exhibition, entitled Hong Kong Blooms In My Mind, showcases seminal works in a variety of mediums and from a range of important dates in the artist’s oeuvre. On view from May 19 to  May 30, 2012

James Franco's Rebel Opening This Weekend in Los Angeles

MOCA presents Rebel, conceived by James Franco with Douglas Gordon, Harmony Korine, Damon McCarthy, Paul McCarthy, Terry Richardson, Ed Ruscha, Aaron Young and more. Rebel will be on view from May 15 through June 23, 2012, at JF Chen, a newly emerging contemporary art and design space, located at 941 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038. Photograph by Adarsha Benjamin