FAILE in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

While in town for the unveiling of a new permanent sculpture in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Brooklyn-based artistic collective FAILE worked with local Mongolian artists on a mural. They stenciled an image of a young girl clutching a skateboard – a nod to the quickly modernizing nature of Mongolia contrasted by its vast unpaved landscape – on the wall of an archway located in the central university district of Ulan Bator. Each Mongolian artist worked on customizing the girl’s dress in their own style. The emerging Mongolian artists are recent finalists of the Tiger Translate Festival and were selected by a prestigious panel of judges that included the National Arts Council. 

Rene Ricard Exhibition @ Highlight Gallery in San Francisco

Highlight Galleryin San Francisco presents “new paintings and not so new” by the American poet and painter Rene Ricard. On view are numerous works created over the past decade by Ricard are presented. The paintings consist of oil on linen with hand-painted poems in Ricard’s signature font over “poison green” canvasses and over figurative paintings taking inspiraton from various photographic sources. Ricard has served as mentor, muse, inspiration and critic for the New York City art scene for the past four decades. He was also a seminal figure in Andy Warhol's factory appearing in many of his films. In 1981, he wrote the cover article “Radiant Child” in Art Forum magazine, and he since then has been credited in helping Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring transform from underground figures to art stars. The exhibition will be on view until December 9 at Highlight Gallery, 17 Kearny Street  San Francisco, CA. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper

Joseph Beuys Iphigenie @ Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

One of Joseph Beuys' most powerful action events was Titus Andronicus/Iphigenie, performed on 30 May 1969 in the Theater am Turm in Frankfurt, for Experimenta 3. Wearing a fur coat, Beuys appeared on a darkened stage with a shining white horse. He used the myth and the drama of Iphigenia to draw attention to the freedom and the creativity of the individual. Here, William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (1589-92), with its excessive violence and cruelty, reminiscent (in the context of this performance) of Nazi crimes, is linked with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris (1779), in which Iphigenia – the personification of humanity – redeems her brother Orestes through her love and her forgiveness. Joseph Beuys Iphigenie is on view now until January 27, 2013 at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, 69 avenue du Général Leclerc 93500 Pantin

Nippon-ismes @ Galerie Da-End in Paris

From 
the 
10th of 
November
 to 
the 
28th 

of
 December 
2012,
to 
mark
 the 
month
 of
 photography,
 the 
Da‐End
 Gallery 
is
 showing ‘NIPPON‐ISMES’ an
 exhibition 
which 
brings 
together
 seven 
photographers
 from 
different
 generations
 whose 
works, 
from 
either 
a 
journalistic
 or
 visual 
approach
 to 
the
 medium,
 all 
question 
contemporary 
Japanese
 identity
 and 
culture.

[FASHION FILM] Blow by Adi Hitchcock

Presenting Rylee Jean Ebsen and Shelly Carmel's fashion film for jewelry designer Adi Hitchcock's BLOW collection which consists of full octave harmonicas made of stainless steel, silver, gold and diamond and crystal paved. The collection has garnered attention from the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Marc Jacobs, and model Bar Rafaeli. The film is based on a old black and white photograph that was brought to life. 

Torbjørn Rødland's Vanilla Partner

Torbjørn Rødland's photography is direct but idiosyncratic, pushing at the boundaries of aesthetic and social norms. His fifth book, Vanilla Partner, continues in this vein, combining images of fetishized isolation in a layout that rejects the linear structure of thematic photography books. Rødland’s practice navigates through the problematic and seemingly unchanging heart of popular photography. Accepting neither the humanist realism of most photographic portraiture nor the postmodern role-play, Vanilla Partner explores the cultural complexities and archaic foundation of contemporary image-making. Reconstructed scenes of ultrasoft BDSM read like twisted metaphors for photography’s ability to freeze or capture. The book title, dripping in innuendo, also poses a question about the ambiguity of the relationship between the artist and his medium. Is Rødland acknowledging the medium’s straight foundation or does he see himself dominated by it? Many of the images also have explicit political references, often linked to the 1980 US Presidential election. Vanilla Partner brings together works made in Oslo, Tokyo, Beijing and Rødland’s current home, Los Angeles. Torbjørn Rødland was born in 1970 in Hafrsfjord, Norway. Since the mid-90s his photographs have been exhibited widely. Vanilla Partner is available to purchase here.

Grey Area for Helmut Lang

Fashion label Helmut Lang has teamed up with online shop and gallery Grey Area in collaboration with artist Shelter Serra (nephew of sculptor Richard Serra) for a series of installations called Engine Blocks which will be on view at Helmut Lang boutiques November 1 to January 17. Stores will also offer several gift items curated by Grey Area, which specializes in artist-designed objects including James DeWoody’s note cards, Michelle Lopez’s Band-Aid rings and Serra’s Fake Roley bracelets.

[FIRST LOOK] Louis Vuitton Presents Luxury Bike Polo

To introduce the launch of the new bike polo, Louis Vuitton presents an new action packed short film starring Jonathan Leder and starring Britany Nola (Playboy's Miss November 2012) as a sexy referee during a bike polo match. One of Louis Vuitton’s ongoing projects is the “sport objects” series, represented here with an elegant fixed gear, polo bike made up of elements of steel, aluminium, leather, canvas, and high-density plastic (the front wheel is closed with damier graphite canvas to prevent the ball from passing through or to get a mallet mingled in the wheel). These state of the art - not for sale - unique pieces are also highly functional equipment, designed by Louis Vuitton and produced in collaboration with the most renowned craftsmen in their respective field. Faithful to its innovator origins, this luxury Bike Polo perfectly embodies the exclusive sport objects produced by the House. With the film, director Jonathan Leder introduces his highly aesthetic vision of bike polo, an elegant back-lit choreography where all the players glide into a film noir scenery; a hazy staging featuring the “Louis Vuitton Boys”, not without a touch of irony.

Adarsha Benjamin's Kurt Premiers at Art Basel Miami

kurt_cobain_adarsha_benjamin_gusman_theater_art_basel_miami_2

Adarsha Benjamin's experimental short film, entitled Kurt, which is an abstract portrayal of the myth and personality of the late Kurt Cobain, featuring different actors and performers including Henry Hopper, will see its premier at the historic Gusman Theater as part of Art Basel Miami 2012.  There will also be a performance by Ryan Heffington and music by Guy Blakeslee and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth). Kurt will premier on December 6, 2012 at 7 P.M at the Gusman Theater, 174 E. Flagler Street, Miami, FL