"HA HA! BUSINESS!" Group Show Tries to Make Sense of the Hyper Connected Digitial World With Humor @ Luis De Jesus Los Angeles

"The art world is now a global business, of course, as is just about everything else. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Skype have become our new living room, our church, our megaphone—and, some would argue, our toilet, too. And, it seems everyone wants to sit on the throne and be heard. Life is now "all news, all the time" and humor is the unifying force that allows us to look in the mirror, if for no other reason than to get a quick reality check and, hopefully, a little truth. HA HA! BUSINESS! continues my quixotic interest in making sense of it all. Yes, this is definitely a funny business! Ha ha." Text by Luis De Jesus on his group show on view now featuring the likes of Valerie Blass, Lex Brown, Josh Remes, and more. HA HA! BUSINESS! will be be on view until August 15, 2015 at Luis De Jesus gallery in Los Angeles. Photographs by Sara Clarken 

Read Our Conversation With Woolmark Prizewinning Designer Siki Im on Freedom in Fashion, Punk and the Meaning of Elevated Streetwear →

Growing up in Germany, New York-based designer Siki Im was passionate about skateboarding, punk rock, hip-hop, art, graffiti, and unwittingly, fashion. Luckily for his rabid fans that pick up every single one of his pieces released under his Siki Im or Den Im brands, Im has never abandoned those passions. In fact, his influences live and breathe within the materials found in every single one of his collections. Autre's fashion editor-at-large, Adam Lehrer, sat down to speak with Im for a fascinating chat. Click here to read the full conversation. 

Follow The Incredible Journey of Amaury and Chloé On Their Magical Journey Through South America

The story of Parisian couple Amaury and Chloé is a real life choose-your-own adventure story. At the end of 2014 they graduated from university. At that moment, the realization that they had to get a real job began to sink in, deeper and deeper, like quicksand. That’s when they decided to drop everything and travel to South America, to discover “…The beautiful, the weird and the funny in this world.” Both extremely appreciative of handicrafts and anyone that who works with his or her hands, Amaury Laparra and Chloé Chausson decided to not only travel, but also to seek out those craftspeople in the deep jungles and mountain climes – “to discover their ‘savoir-faire’ and philosophy of life.” To document the trip, they created a blog – called Holy Patte, which is a combination of “patte de l’artiste” (a French expression that translates to ‘the artist’s hand’) and “holy moly.” Holly Patte a hybridization of cultural colloquialisms that would perfectly sum up their entire four-month trip – yes, four months! Fortunately, Autre discovered their blog and decided to collaborate with Holy Patte to reach a broader audience for their incredible and rare photographic journey that started in Costa Rica and ended in Chile. It should be noted that Amaury is the firestarter, driver and photographer and Chloé is in charge of getting lost, translation and writing. Their documentation is an astounding record of some of the rarest and strangest landscapes in the world. Click here to see the first leg of their trip in Costa Rica. 

22 Days In Costa Rica

Take a magical, strange and exotic journey to Costa Rica, Holy Patte's first stop in their four month long journey through South America, where they spent a total of 22 days. 22 days of lush tropical landscapes, volcanoes, thorny trees, camping on the beach, smiling cows and more. Near their outpost in Huacas, which is not far from Tamarindo, they witness the nightly controlled burns that light up the night sky. People set their gardens on fire as a method of cleansing: "The rainy season here is so strong that every tree once destroyed by the fire grows back." 48 hours was also spent deep in the Northern National Parks with "white-throated monkeys, huge dramatic trees, burning sun, some shade and very little drinkable water." Another two days was spent amongst the volcanoes in Arenal where they crashed in a tent and awoke to a number of curious cows on a farm that produces fresh milk (click here to see Holy Patte's in depth tour of the fresh milk farm deep in the Costa Rican mountains). Holy Patte's second handicraft discovery was made at the studio and home of ceramicist and artist Pefi (click here to see an in-depth tour of her home and studio). Their last stop was the Osa Peninsula where they hiked and camped among the snakes, spiders and dolphins and the extreme biodiversity that exists in the area's thick jungles. Click here to see more from their journey the Osa Peninsula and learn more about their tour guide Tico who is currently photographing the last of the area's rare jaguars. Follow Holy Patte on Instagram (@HolyPatte) to stay up to date with their adventures and incredible handicrafts discoveries. Every week, Autre will be presenting highlights from their incredible journey. 

"Take It Easy" Is Georgian Artist Tamuna Sirbiladze's First Solo Show In The United States @ Half Gallery In New York

"Take It Easy" is Georgian artist Tamuna Sirbiladze's first solo show in the United States. A new set of unstretched banners teetering between the figurative and the gestural include oil stick pigeons, elongated noses and Matisse vases. These vibrant works hang over jungle-green walls mirroring the murals of Balthus at the Villa Medici in Rome. Earlier this year, Tamuna presented larger oil stick paintings from this same series in a group show at Secession in Vienna, curated by Ugo Rondinone. Tamuna is based in Vienna and was married to the late Austrian artist Franz West. Take It Easy will be on view until September 3, 2015 at Half Gallery in New York. photographs by Adam Lehrer

A Trip to the Seaside Fishing Village of Essaouira in Morocco

Essaouira was known in the time of 11th-century geographer al-Bakri and, as he reported, was called Sidi Megdoul. In the 16th-century, a corruption of this name became known to the Portuguese as Mogador or Mogadore. The Berber and Arabic names mean the wall, a reference to the fortress walls that originally enclosed the city. photographs by Mathias Thomsen

"Hot in Here" All Girls Summer Group Show At Sunday Gallery In Los Angeles

Adi Rajkovic curates a week long exhibition called Hot In Here, a group show featuring 40 female artists, such as Molly Matalon, Arvida Bystrom, Logan White and more, at Sunday Gallery in Los Angeles. Hot In Here will be on view until August 6th, 2015 at Sunday Gallery, 4308 Burns Avenue. photographs by Natalie Yang

Read Luke Goebel's Comprehensive, Madcap and Free Associative 8,000 Word Essay on the History of Marfa, Texas →

Fiction writer and nonfiction essayist Luke B. Goebel – author of Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours – gives a history lesson like no other in this 8,000-word essay (separated into four parts) on the artist colony haven known as Marfa, Texas. From the Nazi prisoner of war camps of the 1940s to the great minimalist Donald Judd planting his roots here, Goebel brilliantly weaves his own historical narrative with art history’s narrative – he also combines his fears, his hopes, his aspirations and his yearnings for this art Shangri-La in the Texas badlands that is still hinged on the neon Americana of yesteryear’s no vacancy sign. It is a romantic, madcap, delirious tale that takes you on a romping ride through the hellish landscape of Goebel’s free associative wax poetics that at times gets caught up with the rolling tumble weeds and amber colored dust of the desert, but never leaves you lost and begging for water. Click here to read the full essay. 

Austere: A One Night Only Exhibition Held At A Former Accounting Office In Los Angeles

Austere, a one night exhibition curated by Shyan Rahimi and Cedric Aurelle, took place in a former accounting agency located on the 20th floor of the only office tower along Santa Monica’s Ocean Ave, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the city of Los Angeles. Alongside aerial views and unique sunsets, the vacant office provided the starting point to an exhibition that addressed a contemporary world whose reality proceeds from the economic speculation of global players and political decisions of supra-powers. With the background of a fictional reinterpretation of this reality by the media, the exhibition convoked images, texts and stories that present a critical approach to contemporary narratives of a post-capitalist world stuck between global fears and dream-industry.  Artists included were William Cordova, Zoe Crosher, Lauren Elder, Sam Kenswil, Bradley Michael Kronz and more. photographs by Sara Clarken

A Preview of “It’s Only Rock and Roll” Opening This Week @ Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco

Scott Nichols Gallery will be presenting a delicious display of rock n' roll photography from the likes of Ebet Robert. Michael Zagaris, Jim Marshall, Baron Wolman, Linda McCartney, Bob Gruen, Brad Temkin, William Coupon, and more. A highlight from this exhibition is Bob Seidemann's controversial, banned photo artwork for Blind Faith's 1969 self-titled EP. Opening reception for It's Only Rock and Roll will be held on August 6th and the exhibition will run until September 16, at Scott Nichols Gallery. 49 Geary St # 415, San Francisco, CA

Mark Flood Gives An Obscene and Depraved Lesson On How To Become An Artist @ The SFAQ [Project] Space

It’s clear that Houston based artist Mark Flood has a love/hate relationship with the art world – with the scales often leaning toward the latter. It feeds him, clothes him and allows him to make his work, but what he hates is the politics, the obsequiousness of collectors, the hyperbole of the press, the endless “bad” art, and the rusty, death defying latter good artists put themselves through to get to the top. These are allow things Flood is exploring in Some Frequently Assked Questions – a show that is on view now at the exciting SFAQ [Project] Space in the gritty Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. A perfect place to stage Flood’s vitriol, but nonetheless it’s a brilliant, must-see show that may be one of the best of the year. Some pieces of note are two triptychs smattered with memes that read as a how-to-guide for making it to the top of the art food chain – the images are gruesome, pornographic, horrifying tidbits plucked from the netherweb – stand back and it spells out LOL and KEK, which is a World of Warcraft translation of the former. Some Frequently Assked Questions will be on view until August 15, 2015 at the SFAQ [Project] Space, O'Farrell, 441 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA. Text and photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper

Douglas Gordon and Tobias Rehberger "After the After" @ MACE In Ibiza

Museu d'Art Contemporani d’Eivissa (MACE) present a collaborative exhibition of works by Scottish artist Douglas Gordon and German sculpture Tobias Rehberger - this is not the first time they have shown together. At the centre of After the After is a work comprising two parts based on the same section of film of two men engaging in sexual intercourse. Rehberger has constructed a large ‘tile painting’ depicting the upper half of the men, their faces and torsos, displayed on the terrace wall on the exterior of the museum. In the interior space of the museum, Gordon and Rehberger present directly collaborative sculptures and film works, many of which suggest feelings of abandonment and neglect. The exhibition title, After the After, considers Ibiza’s status as an iconic place of hedonism, parties and decadence while examining the ‘after-point’ that occurs when this ultimately comes to an end, a time of emptiness and paranoia when one should not be left alone. After the After will be on view until October 4th, 2015 at MACE. 

Read Our Interview With Interdisciplinary Artist Eric Parren on Genetically Manipulating E. Coli For the Sake of Art and How Rave Culture Inspired His Practice →

Eric Parren on the swell of a new wave of artists that are borrowing from the forces of science to create major artistic statements. Parren, an interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, combines facets of art, science, technology and investigates the human connection with deeply complex notions about the technologies that shape our future – often without our knowing – such as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and space exploration. The works are often deeply sensory experiences dealing with modes of perception and the physics of light and sound. For instance, Parren has genetically manipulated the e. coli bacteria, which are naturally occurring in the intestine, to light up red, green and cyan – he then filmed them with a time-lapse laser-scanning confocal microscope. With the visuals of dancing bacteria, like microscopic ballerinas, he played an algorithmically composed composition based on the biosynthetic pathways of the e. coli’s genome. Click here to read the full interview. 

Marcel Breuer's Gorgeous Stillman House Hits the Auction Block This November

On November 19th Wright presents The Stillman House by Marcel Breuer at auction. A masterpiece of modern architecture and art—with murals designed by Alexander Calder and Xanti Schawinsky—this sale represents a rare opportunity to own a house by one of the world’s most important modernists. Estimate: $2,000,000–3,000,000. Click here to learn more. 

Silicon Premiers New Music Video from A Track Off Debut Album

On August 28th, Silicon, aka Kody Nielson, will release his debut album Personal Computer on Weird World. This week, he has released a new video for single “Burning Sugar.” Directed by both Nielson and Ralph Brown, “Burning Sugar's” hallucinatory dreamland boasts everything from Silicon's musical world in vibrant color, as analogue and digital merge together to balance perfectly in Silicon's vision. Click here to preorder. 

Photographer Rita Lino Explores Ten Years of Uninhibited and Unabashed Sexuality In A New Photo Book of Self Portraiture

Rita Lino is a photographer that Autre has been following for a little over five years now. The first picture she ever sent us is a photograph of her reading a National Geographic atlas with a hand down her panties. We've also featured editorials and an exclusive short video feature. What we didn't know is that Lino was in the process of a decade long photographic exploration of her own sexuality and femininity through a series of self portraits that are captured in a gorgeous and provocative new monograph called Entartete (German for Degenerate) – published by Éditions du LIC. "Despite their raw unselfconsciousness, Lino’s images are more than mere snapshots; touching simultaneously on voyeurism, loneliness, the manipulative power of the camera, and the urge to connect with others, through, within, and apart from technology and media. Repeatedly concealing their message, necessarily strange and ambiguous, Lino´s images construct a self that is mutable and elusive." With Entartete, it is proof that this emerging Portugese photographer is moving to a newer, more mature chapter of her artistic career. Click here to purchase.