Never Before Seen Photographs From The Set of Asthma on The Occasion of The Late Rene Ricard’s 70th Birthday

Rene was quite proud to have been cast as a dope dealer in Jake Hoffman’s film “Asthma." The moment he got the script he had plenty of ideas on how to tweak the language to turn his character even more real. This was a world he knew only too well. As far as outfits go, he had already thought it all out, so when the stylists came to the apartment he pulled out a gold embroidered cashmere jacket, mixed it with his usual black jeans, a little Hermes neck scarf, a black t-shirt and wore what he called his money shoes: loafers with big gold embroidered dollar signs. It was perfect. He knew how to look fabulous with just a few things. It was agreed on the spot that he had nailed it. The only thing missing was the bling. "A dope dealer has to have bling," he said., so he went about gathering as much bling as he could. The flashy look was important. "Did you ever see a proper dealer without bling?” he insisted. On the day of the shoot he called me a number of times, "You have to come down to the set. It’s so much fun, such nice people." When I got there, a loft in SoHo, Rene was having such a ball, flashing his jewels, showing the white convertible Rolls Royce with red leather seats parked on the sidewalk, telling funny stories and making the actors and crew laugh. And then there were the toy guns, which of course he had to play with, so Jake got to be "arrested" by Rene. Text and photographs by Rita Barros. Rene Ricard was an art critic, poet, artist and legend in New York. He wrote the first major article on Jean-Michel Basquiat, entitled "The Radiant Child." Shortly before his passing in 2014, Ricard played an extravagantly over-the-top drug dealer named Juan in Jake Hoffman's directorial debut Asthma, which is available to watch on Netflix and Amazon. This Saturday, July 23, 2016 would have been Ricard's 70th birthday. 

Ed Ruscha and the Great American West @ De Young Museum In San Francisco

Ed Ruscha and the Great American West includes 99 works that reveal the artist’s engagement with the American West and its starring role in our national mythology. This exclusive exhibition has been organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and celebrates the career of one of the world’s most influential and critically acclaimed artists. The exhibition will be on view until October 9, 2016 at De Young Museum in San Francisco. photographs by Bradley Golden

"Shapeshifters" Group Show Curated by Tim Goossens @ Shulamit Nazarian Gallery in Los Angeles

Curated by Tim Goossens, Shapeshifters is an intergenerational exhibition that features the work of artists, activists, and musicians who use alter egos as tools for change and survival. The artists included in this exhibition have created personas in their visual or performative practices in order to discuss feminism and the making of difference beyond anthropocentric or gender politics. Shapeshifters focuses on contemporary production alongside a selection of influential historical works. Shapeshifters will be on view until July 29, 2016 at Shulamit Nazarian Gallery in Los Angeles. 

William Eggleston Rare Book Signing @ David Zwirner On The Occasion Of His Exhibition At The National Portrait Gallery in London

On the occasion of the exhibition 'William Eggleston Portraits' at the National Portrait Gallery, David Zwirner hosted a rare book signing with William Eggleston at the London gallery, in partnership with The Photographers' Gallery. Eggleston is a pioneering American photographer renowned for his vivid, poetic and mysterious images. This exhibition of 100 works surveys Eggleston’s full career from the 1960s to the present day and is the most comprehensive display of his portrait photography ever. Eggleston is celebrated for his experimental use of color and his solo show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1976 is considered a pivotal moment in the recognition of color photography as a contemporary art form. William Eggleston 'Portraits' will be on view from July 21 to October 23 at National Portrait Gallery in London. photographs by Flo Kohl

Betty Tompkins "Sex Works / WOMEN Words, Phrases, and Stories" @ Gavlak Gallery in Los Angeles

Gavlak Los Angeles presents Sex Works / WOMEN Words, Phrases, and Stories, Betty Tompkins’ second solo exhibition with the gallery and her first in Los Angeles. This exhibition includes Betty’s recent series of WOMEN Words paintings, along with a survey of her early works on paper, and large-scale Cunt, Fuck, and Pussy paintings. Sex Works / WOMEN Words, Phrases, and Stories put pieces from the beginning of Tompkins’ career in conversation with her most recent paintings, showcasing the artist’s trajectory from subtly political works to more overt statements. The exhibition will be on view until September 3, 2016 at Gavlak Los Angeles. photographs by Sara Clarken

Happy Endings: Read Our Interview With The Enigmatic Alex Cameron On His Upcoming Album And Surviving Failure →

These days, being an indie musician is harder than ever and no one knows that better than Aussie based Alex Cameron and his “business partner” and saxophonist Roy Molloy who have been on tour for three years supporting Cameron’s various releases. Next month, Cameron will release his official debut album, entitled Jumping The Shark on Secretly Canadian. The album is very much a collage of disillusionment – disillusionment with the music industry, love and life in general. It’s a raw album that howls with the sentiment of an artist that has been raked over the coals more than once. But it’s not all doom and gloom – these “four minute tales” of failed ambition and self-destruction that comprise the upcoming album are really relatable, listenable and offer a sense of catharsis akin to copping a fix. Click here to read more. 

Activating The Vehicle of Ascension: An Interview of Filmmaker Floria Sigismondi On Working With Rihanna and David Bowie →

Floria Sigismondi’s work, like her music videos for Marilyn Manson, David Bowie or Leonard Cohen, is a perfect amalgamation of her unique upbringing. Spending her early years in the coastal town of Pescara, Italy and her formative years in the rough steel manufacturing town of Hamilton, Ontario – with opera singers for parents – Sigismondi has developed a unique aesthetic that blends classicalism with a certain darkness that harkens 1970s Giallo films and the nightmarish tableau vivants of Joel Peter Witkin. As a music video director, Sigismondi brings a distinctive world to life with an unsettling and jarring pastiche of imagery that flickers as if each scene was shot with a camera perched on the wing of a hummingbird. Lately, though, her work has taken a turn for the meditative and ethereal, like her most recent music video for Rihanna’s track Sledgehammer – made for the newest Star Trek film. Click here to read more. 

Praying Mantis Disco Queen: Read Our Interview of Artist Joyce Pensato →

Walking into Joyce Pensato's vast studio in Bushwick I’m first greeted by Elizabeth Ferry, an artist and Pensato's studio assistant, as well as Charlie, an eerie looking, sweet dog whose right eye is blind by cataracts. Pensato herself is short, but tall in personality. Her shoes, feel more stylish, remnants perhaps of days in Paris, but still they’re perfectly covered in her signature paint drippings. As we sit, Ferry is busily packing up the space because they leave the next day for the closing of Pensato’s recent show, “The Fizz,” which as has been on display at Grice Bench Gallery in Los Angeles. After this, they come back briefly to prepare and work for upcoming exhibitions in Chicago, and then Austria. Click here to read more.