Hot Photo Friday – Lars Tunbjörk

Lars Tunbjörk, 'Ransater',1991

Ryan Trecartin leaving Elizabeth Dee

According to the Huffington Post, Ryan Trecartin is leaving his New York dealer Elizabeth Dee.  Trecartin began working with the gallerist in 2007 when he screened what turned out to be his break-through feature-length film I-Be-Area (above).  Dee went on to produce a number of Trecartin’s films.

Trecartin still shows with Paris gallery, New Galerie but there’s no word yet on his new representation in New York.

Andy – not fluent in Japanese

Double Rainbow

Balamohan Shingade performing Hindustani classical vocal music at the opening of 'Double Rainbow'

Tiffany Singh’s latest installation ‘Preserve’ is  currently double-billed alongside the Tessa Laird show ‘Post-post-poster’ as part of the 2011 Southside Arts Festival in Auckland.  Sitting under the umbrella title ‘Double Rainbow’, the shows use a 2010 video clip that went viral on YouTube as a point of departure.  Posted by hungrybear9562, it features a man marvelling at the magnificence of a double rainbow in the Yosemite Valley.  He sobs and exclaims; ‘What does it mean?”.

'Preserve', installation detail: hand cast beeswax deities by Tiffany Singh

In the exhibition’s accompanying catalogue essay, Laird and Singh interpret hungrybear’s unbridled passion for nature as a symptom of a ‘spiritual hunger’. Singh’s response to this yearning for enlightenment with her installation ‘Preserve’ is two-fold.  She conflates the divisions between East and West, presenting exquisite hand-modelled deities of all distinctions – Ganesha, Mary, Buddha.  They sit upon a single shelf that runs along the length of the gallery. The gods are cast from beeswax, and the smell upon entering the room is exquisite. The scent, combined with the sacred, multicoloured figures and the room’s spectral colours evokes a heady exoticism.

'Preserve', installation detail

But as is so often the case with Singh’s installations, the work will only remain untouched for a set period of time.  Come October 28^th, visitors are invited to bring something handmade to the gallery and swap it for one of the little wax gods.  Thus the work enters a period of modification and exchange fuelled by the altruism that typifies Singh’s practice.  At the conclusion of the exhibition, the resulting offerings will be divided between local community groups, thus effecting a ‘double rainbow’ of exchange – audiences can satiate their spiritual hunger and, in turn, provide practical sustenance for those in need.

Double Rainbow, Papakura Art Gallery, 10 Averill Street, Papakura, Auckland, until November 4^th.

Bryan in his heyday

Bryan Ferry, photographer

Bryan Ferry, ‘Tender is the Night’, 2010

Leg of Lamb’s favourite gentleman Bryan Ferry is an avid photographer as well as a musician.  Ferry’s responsible for a number of his own album covers, and recently photographed Kate Moss (above) for his latest record, Olympia.  The results of this shoot, along with a selection of earlier works, are currently on display at Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles.

Bryan Ferry, ‘Siren’, 1975

Ferry was once taught by English pop-artist Richard Hamilton and owns an art collection of some repute, so it’s no surprise that his shoot with Moss had high art overtones.  Riffing on Manet’s Olympia, Ferry selected Moss as his “modern muse”, describing her as “…the ‘femme fatale’ of our age, as controversial as she is beautiful, and the most glamorous female icon since Marilyn Monroe”.  Leg of Lamb begs to differ.  Roxy Music’s previous cast of glamazons (also included in the show and featuring Ferry’s former squeeze Jerry Hall – above) would eat Moss for breakfast.

Bryan Ferry, Olympia, Michael Kohn Gallery, 8071 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, until November 5th.

Cullen Charged for Gun Possession

Some works from Adam Cullen's recent 'Independent Judiciary (Mother's Milk)' series

Adam Cullen has been charged for drink driving and gun possession following a run-in with Goulburn police in July.  The former Archibald prize winner is looking at up to 14 years jail time for possession of a taser and a slingshot, a Wesson .357 calibre revolver, a single-barrel shotgun, a Ruger .22 self-loading rifle and a US carbine M1 .30 self-loading rifle.

At the time of his arrest, Cullen was preparing for his exhibition Independent Judiciary (Mother’s Milk) (exhibited in August at Chalk Horse, Sydney).  Cullen created the works for the show by firing guns at aerosol cans that then spattered onto the canvases he’d set up behind them.  ”All I was doing was making art,” Cullen said when he was pulled over.  ”I know it’s a very eccentric thing to be doing, but it was a great show.”

He’ll appear in Downing Centre Court on Thursday.

Hot Photo Friday – Grete Stern

Grete Stern, 'Dream 28', 1951

Martin Parr visits WA

Magnum photographer Martin Parr was down under recently photographing the Western Australian cities of Fremantle, Broome and Port Hedland for the City of Freemantle’s biennial photography festival, FotoFreo (that runs from March 17th until April 15th next year).  The footage above features Parr reflecting on his Aussie experience, the role of Magnum and the tricky ground between art photography and photojournalism.

Some recent work by Francis Upritchard

'John', modelling material, foil, wire, paint 42 x 18 x 21 cm, 2011

'Untitled Bowl', modelling material, wire mesh, paint 8.8 cm diameter, 2011

'Mervyn Alrick', modelling material, foil, wire, paint, ring, 56 x 26 x 23 cm, 2011

'Untitled (Triangle Bowl)', modelling material, wire mesh, paint 10.4 x diameter 19.5 cm, 2011

All works from Echo at Kate MacGarry, London (closed October 16th)