Art In the Age of Afrogallonism: Read Our Interview With Ghanaian Artist Serge Attukwei Clottey On Turning Refuse Into A Symbol of Reclaimed Idenity for the People Of Africa →

There are not a lot of artists willing to get dragged by a noose through the streets of Accra, the capital of Ghana, in the name of social justice. Gallon by gallon, Ghanaian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey is returning your used plastic refuse in the form of beautiful masks and mask-like sculptures that take on haunting human expressions. In the artist’s native Ghana, yellow canisters are ubiquitous and have become a seamless part of the country’s landscape. Where these containers come from has become a source of plight for the people of Ghana and central to Clottey’s artistic practice. Click here to read the full interview. 

6 Things You Must See & Do During FIAC Art Fair Week in Paris

1. Palais de Tokyo presents two exhibitions for FIAC 2015. "I <3 John Giorno" presents a retrospective on the life and work of John Giorno. "Seul celui qui connait le désir" features new work by Ragnar Kjartansson (pictured above). Visit Palais de Tokyo Tuesday through Sunday from noon to midnight. 2.  Sterling Ruby's first solo exhibition are being shown at Gagosian across its two Paris galleries. See the artist's new "YARD" paintings (pictured above) at Gagosian Rue de Ponthieu. 3. Galerie Perrotin presents "Paulin, Paulin, Paulin" featuring the work of designer Pierre Paulin next to contemporary artists. 4. See Robert Montgomery's newest installation aptly entitled  'CHAPTER SIX IN WHICH WE SIT LIKE DOCILE CATTLE WHILE YOU USE THE AESTHETICS OF PUNK ROCK TO SELL CREDIT CARDS BACK TO US." The exhibition, presented by Galerie Nuke and ISTANBUL '74, explores the Montgomery's fascination with ecological and social concerns. 5. "Jack Climbed Up the Beanstalk to the Sky of Illimitableness Where Everything Went Backwards" at Almine Rech Gallery is a mini-retrospective of 12 works by painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel. 6. Galerie des Galeries hosts the first solo exhibition of artist and filmmaker Alex Prager, best know for her photographs that draw on the drama of Golden Age Hollywood films. The exhibition features her most recent works, including her latest film, "Face in the Crowd."

For This Week's Friday Playlist, Jam to the Deliciously Sweet Sounds of Motown Soul and Funk →

Whenever I get the proverbial gun to the head and am asked if I could only listen to one genre of music forever, I go with soul and funk. Why? Because it's everything: amazing lyrics, amazing singing, political, emotional, makes you dance, makes you cry, makes you sex. Click here to listen to the playlist.

When Savage Culture Was The Norm: Smiler Captures The Wayward Visages Of London's Squatters

An exhibition of unseen photographs by Smiler (aka Mark Cawson) of London squats from the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s is currently on view at the ICA in London. The content of the exhibition focuses on a body of work that Smiler mainly shot between West London and Kings Cross. The exhibition consists of black and white images taken on an analogue camera. “I used the camera like a storm anchor helping me to navigate and freeze a spinning world of change and flux.” Smiler Against the backdrop of social and political upheaval, young people across the city were drawn to squats by the prospect of a place to live, but also by an identity and a sense of community. Smiler’s photographs document the people who lived in squats across the city, at a time when salvage culture was the norm. Smiler: Photographs of London by Mark Cawson will be on view at the ICA until November 29, 2015, 12 Carlton House Terrace London

Continuous Surfaces: Sara Cwynar, Lukas Geronimas, Josh Reames, Cole Sayer @ Andrea Rosen Gallery

Andrea Rosen Gallery presents Continuous Surfaces. The exhibition features new work by Sara Cwynar, Lukas Geronimas, Josh Reames, and Cole Sayer. Writing in Artforum, Alexander Provan proposed that “every era has its interface, and every interface determines how we relate to the world.” If the late 20th century was defined by the graphical user interface made popular by personal computers, the early 21st century is marked by the proliferation of touch screens, which mediate increasingly broad swaths of everyday life. Touch screen devices like phones and tablet computers represent a radically new kind of surface, one that is both physically flat and thin, but experientially depthless. Continuous Surfaces will be on view until October 24 at Andrea Rosen Gallery, 544 West 24th Street, New York. 

The Kid Stays In the Picture: Read Our Convo With The Illuminating Star Of Jake Hoffman's First Film, Asthma, Which Premiers Today In New York City →

In the following interview, Autre has a casual conversation with Benedict Samuel – star of Jake Hoffman's first film Asthma – over the phone while on his way to a cemetery in Australia to have his portraits taken for this feature. We talk about the weather, his acting style, how he prepares for an intense role like that of Gus, working with Iggy Pop, and why redemption and hope are precious things in which to hold on. Click here to read the interview and see our amazing exclusive editorial featuring photographs by Elvis Di Fazio shot in a cemetery in Sydney, Australia. 

Opening Of "Present Conditional" Group Show @ Mier Gallery in Los Angeles

Mier Gallery presents Present Conditional, the first group exhibition of the gallery. With eight major contemporary female painting positions, Present Conditional will form a powerful, heterogeneous and intergenerational exhibition as a visual and contextual snap-shot. Artists included: Rita Ackermann, Amy Bessone, Ida Ekblad, Sophie von Hellermann, Joyce Pensato, Jana Schröder, Odessa Straub, Anke Weyer. Present Conditional will be on view until November 27, 2015 at Mier Gallery, 1107 Greenacre Ave West Hollywood, CA

Mark Grotjahn "Painted Sculpture" @ Anton Kern Gallery In New York

In his fourth solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery, painter and sculptor Mark Grotjahn presents a new body of painted bronzes. In a radical act of transformation, Grotjahn takes the most casual throwaway material, the cardboard box, and turns it into the most solid and noble of art mediums: the pedestal-mounted bronze sculpture. With their rough cutouts for eyes and mouths, glued-on cardboard tubes and toilet paper rolls for pipe-like noses, and ripped cardboard surfaces for texture and definition, these assemblages resemble primitive, child-like masks. Cast in bronze, Grotjahn paints them in decisive hues of green, purple, and red, inflected with smaller doses of other colors that are applied in gestural, expressionistic trails of paint and chromatic networks. Elevated on pinewood pedestals, the masks function simultaneously as paintings and as three-dimensional objects. Mark Grotjahn "Painted Sculpture" will be on view until October 29, 2015 at Anton Kern Gallery, 532 West 20th Street New York, NY

“Paulin, Paulin, Paulin" Features The Work Of Designer Pierre Paulin Next To Contemporary Artists @ Galerie Perrotin In Paris

On view now: “Paulin, Paulin, Paulin,” at Galerie Perrotin, Paris offers a dialogue between Pierre Paulin designs produced in limited editions by Paulin, Paulin, Paulin (in particular the “Déclive” from 1966, plus the “Jardin à la française” armchairs, tables and rugs made specially for the Palais d’Iéna in 1985; “Dune” and “Tapis-Siège” designed for the Herman Miller project in 1970, etc.), with works by contemporary artists such as Mike Bouchet, César, John De Andrea, Tara Donovan, Elmgreen & Dragset, Laurent Grasso, Candida Höfer, KAWS, Bertrand Lavier, Heinz Mack, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Jesús Rafael Soto and Xavier Veilhan. A number of these artists have used Paulin designs in their own work (Bertrand Lavier, Elmgreen & Dragset, Candida Höfer) while others have created pieces that suggest loose formal affinities or evoke Paulin’s universe. Paulin, Paulin, Paulin opens today and will be on view until December 19, 2015 at Galerie Perrotin, 76 Rue de Turenne, Paris  

Read Our Conversation and Step Into the Residence Of Claressinka Anderson Who Has Turned Her Los Angeles Home Into An Art Gallery →

Step into Claressinka Anderson’s beautiful, but modest-by-comparison, contemporary home on the border between Santa Monica and Venice Beach in Los Angeles and you are stepping into a new breed of art gallery: part home, part gallery, and part breeding ground for ideas. Lately, there is a trend amongst gallerists ­­– from Los Angeles to New York to Miami – who are eschewing the traditional white-walled platform and exposing art in a much more organic environment; one that is conducive to conversing, socializing, and yes, collecting. Click here to read the full interview and see a house tour. 

Read Audra Wist's Essay On the Demystification Of Sexual Urges And Why Men Need To Be Touched More →

“I love to be caressed,” he said to me, my hand on his chest. Color me impressed. As I get older, I continually notice the need for men to be touched. I’ve been a long time proponent of strip clubs, sex work, and so forth – physical sites designed for and marketed to men for sexual pleasure – even before I could really justify it legally or intellectually. I always had a hunch that something was going on there that was good for women and for sex, and that the usual bad mouthing on the grounds that men were sniveling tit-obsessed cretons was ill considered and lacked any constructive thought about the potential of these venues for sexual progress. Click here to read the full essay. 

A Visit To Musician and Artist Brandon Boyd's Studio in Venice Beach

When you visit Brandon Boyd’s home in Venice Beach, his French bulldog Bruce may lead you to his back studio like a furry, grunting, waddling valet.  Boyd’s studio is neat and organized – a creative perch where the artist and musician has been using watercolor and ink as a medium to create beautifully sensual, at times erotic, works that are inspired by photographs he takes of his subjects, mostly beautiful women. About his subjects, he remarks: “I have very cooperative friends.” One recent work is a painting inspired by a naughty selfie his partner sent him while he was on tour. Most people know Boyd as the lead singer of the band Incubus, but many people don’t know that he is also a fine artist who has published many books of his works and has shown his work in shows internationally. In our chat, he mentions that part of the joy of making art is that the work can be the center of attention. Like a lot of brilliant musicians, Boyd is shy in personal social interactions. However, on this particularly hot and muggy day in Los Angeles, with his dog splayed out on the floor, Boyd seems comfortable and opened up to us about his art and his practice. He also mentioned some of his earliest inspirations – his mother being one of them, as well as psychedelic poster artist Stanley Mouse, Art Nouveau artist Aubrey Beardsley, and Egon Schiele, an artist with whom he is obsessed. Coming up in December, you can see Boyd’s work in person at the Scope Art Fair in Miami. You can also visit his online shop to purchase limited edition prints and books. Text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper and photographs by Sara Clarken. Follow Autre on Instagram: @AUTREMAGAZINE

Enigmatic Art Collective Grupo Anan Opens "Trader Joe's Lounge" @ Sade Gallery In Los Angeles

Mysterious art collective, or duo, Grupo Anan, whose Instagram bio says it is based either in London, or Bolivia or Los Angeles – who really knows – presents Trader Joe's Lounge at Sade Gallery In Los Angeles. The exhibition explores the Polynesian myth of Tiki, or the first man, who saw his reflection in a puddle of water. Thinking that the reflection was another person, he throws dirt on to what is really his reflection and the first woman is born. The show explores the commercialization and reapprropraion of these cultures and myths in a post-war America, especially with the "TIki fad" of the 1950s. You can stop by Trader Joe's Lounge until November 1st and explore the exhibition - Mai Tai's will be served – at Sade Gallery, 204 S Ave 19, Los Angeles, CA. photographs by Sara Clarken

Tit Paintings, High Society And The New York Underground: Here Are Ten Things You Need To Know About Former Warhol Superstar Brigid Berlin →

Brigid Berlin is an American legend. Deranged and beautiful, her life is a head on collision between high society decadence, urine soaked carpet fibers and methamphetamine filled veins, forming a beautiful bouquet of rebelliousness. On view now at Invisible Exports, an exhibition explores the life and ephemera of this strange specimen, from her polaroid’s of Andy Warhol’s factory and the New York avant garde to her obsessive audio recordings to her wonderful tit paintings that make for fine framed prints on any discernable gentleman or gentlewoman’s desk. Just who is Brigid Berlin? – She is a rebel in the purest form. She is an artist and a documentarian. She was once a part of Andy Warhol’s circle and entourage. Today, Berlin is alive and well and, no doubt, as weird as ever. Click here to read ten things you need to know about Brigid Berlin. 

There's A Lesbian Haunted House Happening In Los Angeles And It's Amazing

Watch out for the pussy juice, literally. Last Friday night marked the triumphant opening of Killjoy’s Kastle, a sex positive, trans inclusive, lesbian-feminist haunted house organized by ONE Archives in West Hollywood and created by Toronto based artist Allyson Mitchell. This performer-based installation is inspired by the radical, evangelical hell houses that go up each year aiming to both entertain and terrify god-fearing Christians with a glimpse into the fiery furnace that awaits the sinners of the world. What a killjoy, right? Well there’s only one kind of killjoy more dreaded than radical evangelicals, and that’s the lesbian feminists of the world. Armed with their moral and politically correct criticisms of every aspect of the western zeitgeist, these hairy-bushed (on full view), diva-cup-wearing witches aim to lay out all of their titillatingly contradictory tropes in an educational tour led by demented women’s studies professors. Packed with a series of hilarious installations that are both thought provoking and giggle inducing, these mistresses of the night seem equally inspired by the spirit of righteousness as they are by self mockery. KillJoy’s Kastle continues from 6:30-9:30pm Saturday and Sunday, October 17 & 18; Thursday-Sunda, October 22-25; and Wednesday-Friday, October 28-30. Be sure to arrive by 8:30 to ensure time for the full, guided tour. Tours last approximately 30 minutes and it's free. 

Last Week To Check Out Dana Schutz's "Fight in an Elevator" @ Petzel Gallery In New York

This is your last chance to check out Fight in an Elevator at Petzel Gallery—a solo exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Dana Schutz. As Fight in an Elevator, the title of Dana Schutz’s second exhibition at Petzel Gallery suggests, Schutz’s figures are placed within compressed interiors where they are forced to struggle against the boundaries of their painted environments and up onto the physical edge of the canvas. Her characters find themselves helpless in the mouth of a lion, exchanging blows in a mirrored elevator, or somnambulating down a narrow staircase. These highly structured spaces, which are both intensely public and utterly private, point to how Schutz tackles the subject of interiority—rather than offering a voyeuristic view, her frontal facing subjects stare directly back at the viewer, seemingly with the desire to extend outside of themselves. Fight in an Elevator will be on view until October 24, 2015 at Petzel Gallery, 456 W. 18th Street, in New York. photographs by Tenlie Mourning

Jon Rafman's Insane Ultra-Futuristic Major Solo Exhibition At the Zabludowicz Collection in London

For his first major solo exhibition in the UK, Canadian artist Jon Rafman has transformed the spaces of the Zabludowicz Collection into a playful series of new installations that immerse visitors within his video and sculptural works. Emerging from his interest in the relationship between technology and human consciousness, Rafman’s works examine ideas of desire – its simulation and enactment. The exhibition will be on view at the Zabludowicz Collection until December 20, 2015. photographs by Thierry Bal