PICASSO AND FRANÇOISE GILOT

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Gagosian Gallery is presents Picasso and Françoise Gilot: Paris–Vallauris 1943–1953, the fourth major exhibition in an ongoing series on the life and work of Pablo Picasso at the gallery. This exhibition is a departure from its precedents in that it has been conceived as a visual and conceptual dialogue between the art of Picasso and the art of Françoise Gilot, his young muse and lover during the period 1943–53. The result of an active collaboration between Gilot and Picasso’s biographer John Richardson, assisted by Gagosian director Valentina Castellani, Picasso and Françoise Gilot celebrates the full breadth and energy of Picasso’s innovations during these post-war years. On view until June 30, 980 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10075

Ari Marcopoulos: Wherever you go

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Marlborough Chelsea is pleased to present Wherever You Go, a solo exhibition of new work by Ari Marcopoulos. Often atmospheric and abstracted, the works comprising Wherever You Go by renowned photographer, filmmaker and artist Ari Marcopoulos include grandly-scaled pigment prints and smaller photographs on rice paper that, through the processes of multiple printings of the same image, result in lush surfaces of densely textured black and white. On view until June 15, 2012. Marlborough Chelsea, 545 West 25th Street. Photograph by Austin McManus

Beauty Is Embarrassing

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Beauty Is Embarrassing is a funny, irreverent, joyful and inspiring documentary featuring the life and current times of one of America’s most important artists, Wayne White. Raised in the mountains of Tennessee, Wayne White started his career as a cartoonist in New York City. He quickly found success as one of the creators of the TV show, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which led to more work designing some of the most arresting and iconic images in pop culture. Most recently, his word paintings, which feature pithy and often sarcastic text statements crafted onto vintage landscape paintings, have made him a darling of the fine art world. Beauty Is Embarrassingis currently screening is select cities.

Silhouettes by The Julliene Brothers

"Play it loud & enjoy." The Jullien Brothers have released a new video featuring the music of Niwouinwouin, aka Nicolas Jullien. The video is directed by Jean Jullien and his brother Nicolas who together make up the creative duo. The video features illustrations from Jean Jullien's book Silhouettes published by Lendroit.

Entre Nous: The Art of Claude Cahun

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These are the last few days to catch Claude Cahun's firs retrospective in the states. Born Lucy Schwob to a family of French intellectuals and writers, Claude Cahun (who adopted the pseudonym at age 22) is best known for the staged self-portraiture, photomontages, and prose texts she made principally between 1920 and 1940. Rediscovered in the late 1980s, her work has not only expanded our understanding of the Surrealist era but also serves as an important touchstone to later feminist explorations of gender and identity politics. In her self-portraits, which she began creating around 1913, Cahun dismantled and questioned preexisting notions of self and sexuality. From her university years until her death, Cahun was accompanied by her partner and artistic collaborator, Suzanne Malherbe, a childhood friend and stepsister. They surrounded themselves with members of the Surrealist movement and created work that embraced leftist politics. Cahun, with assistance from Malherbe (under the pseudonym Marcel Moore), produced photographs, assemblages, and publications from the 1920s on. The photograph Entre Nous (Between Us), featuring a pair of masks embedded in sand, gives the title to this show and is emblematic of their multifaceted relationship. The first retrospective exhibition in the United States of Cahun’s work, Entre Nous: The Art of Claude Cahun, is on view now at the Art Institue of Chicago, brings together over 80 photographs and published material by Cahun and Moore, including several photomontages from their 1930 collaborative publication Aveux non avenus (Disavowals), and the only surviving object by Cahun, which is in the Art Institute’s permanent collection. On view until June 3, 2012.

Dollywood

As part of SHOWstudio's Fashion Fetish film season, Liberty Ross collaborates with photographer Polly Borland to create Dollywood, a subversively sinister view of eroticism. Liberty explains, 'I wanted to make a film that blurred the line of primitive sexual fetishism with naive and childlike play. To me the act of dressing up, tying up and fetishism has its primal urges in childhood.' Inspired by Borland's current artwork, the provocative work tackles the taboos surrounding fetish, questioning the extent to which sexual acts have their basic roots in youthful urges.

David Armstrong's Night & Day

Night & Day brings together a selection of iconic Kodachrome pictures from David Armstrong’s archive of the late 70’s and early 80’s New York scene. The images illuminate an intimate and carefree epoch of innocent-bohemian wilderness -a time just before the tumultuos 80’s. Dispersed through out the series are images of generation of youngsters which changed culture - including Rene Ricard, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Jean-Michel Basquait, John Waters to mention a few. Vernacular yet with a undeniable ability to capture and create timeless images, David Armstrong’s Night & Day tells tales of a bygone era.  Night & Day is out now by Morel books with 110 images and an original poem typed out in 1979 by Rene Ricard who also designed an amazing cover. You can order the book here. 

Hisaji Hara's Photographic Renditions of Balthus

Using medium-format film and meticulous in-camera methods, Hisaji Hara reinvents the legendary and provocative paintings of highly revered 20th century figurative painter, Balthus (1908-2001). In his staged tableaux, Hara appropriates the adolescent subjects featured in Balthus’ canvases, paying particular attention to details in posture and expression. The setting as well as the costuming, however, are uniquely Japanese. Thus, the artist culls from the suggestive vocabulary of the originals – paintings simultaneously youthful and erotic – while playing with strict architectural formalism and Lolitaesque obsessions that anchor the work in Japanese cultural traditions. On view now at the Rose Gallery in Los Angeles, the American debut of Hisaji Hara’s "A photographic portrayal of the paintings of Balthus.” Black and white prints from this acclaimed series will be on view until July 7, 2012.

Kohei Yoshiyuki's Park @ The Liverpool Biennial

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Kohei Yoshiyuki's famous series showing couples having sex in a park will be on view as part of the Liverpool Biennial 2012. The images caused controversy the first time they were shown in Japan 30 years ago where viewers were forced to view the photographs, which were printed small, in the dark with a torch.  The Biennial will be recreating the same experience, turning the viewer into voyeur. Yoshiyuki used a 35mm camera, infrared film, and flash to document the people who gathered there at night for clandestine trysts, as well as the many spectators lurking in the bushes who watched—and sometimes participated in—these couplings. The Liverpool Biennial 2012 will be on view from September 15 to November 25.

[REVIEW] Me @ The Zoo

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Me @ The Zoo is the first feature film from the visionary directors, Valerie Veatch and Chris Moukarbel, it made its New York City premiere at MoMA PS1 last week. Zoo mirrors the perilous journey of Chris Crocker to stardom with the initiation of our digital obsession, from the first YouTube video ever posted (from which the documentary gets its title), to the monthly checks paid to the creators of viral videos. This film is more than just a bio-pic about the world's favorite Britney Spears fan, it is also a reflection on our human desire to connect and extend our roots past the original pot we were placed in. Chris is from Bristol, Tennessee which Veatch and Moukarbel captured perfectly with poetic shots of Chris in drag, strolling down main street during the fourth of July parade. The viewer gets a feel for this restrictive environment, and can draw the connections between the spastic personality who honestly wanted us to "leave Britney ALONE" and the sensitive artist that loves his family but desires for something more. As Chris shares with us every bit of his kaleidescope sexuality, from Britney look-alike to male hunk star, he proves that at any point in time you can be whoever you want, as long as you get it on camera. Me @ the Zoo will make its U.S. premiere on HBO Documentaries. Text by Angelina Dreem