Hot Photo Friday – Ed Templeton

Ed Templeton, 'Untitled', n.d.

More on Mike D’s MOCA show

The Classic

Mike D, Curator

Mike D., a.k.a. Michael Diamond

Beastie Boys member Mike D is trying his hand at curating thanks to LA MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch, who has invited the rapper to curate an exhibition called Transmission L.A.: AV Club as part of a larger cultural festival at MOCA this April.  And who is Mike D keen on showing?  Word has it that he’ll be working with Swedish artist Klara Liden and the Brooklyn-based collective Still House, with further inclusions to be announced.  One thing’s certain for the hip hopper: “I want a place where people can come and hang out” he says.  ”Not some button-up white walls gallery with people to match”.

Maurizio’s Dirty Cover

Maurizio Cattelan's offending Vice cover

The cover of Vice Magazine’s forthcoming Holy Trinity issue has been censored. Featuring a plunger, a stapler and a dildo, the questionable image was created by Maurizio Cattelan in collaboration with photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari.  The offending member on the front of each magazine has been replaced by a large ‘dildo’ sticker in order to comply with the United States postal service’s censorship policy.  Needless to say, the stickers have been materialising in strange places across America. Vice have posted their favourite dildo branded locations here.

Show with Hennessy

Henessy Youngman has launched an open call for submissions for his forthcoming exhibition at Family Business, a non profit space in NYC run by ‘retired’ artist Maurizio Cattelan and next year’s Venice Biennale curator Massimiliano Gioni.  Youngman was originally invited to participate in the space’s inaugural exhibition guest curated by artist Marilyn Minter but decided he’d rather not make work of his own, instead delivering an open invitation for “big ass paintings, sh*t ass instagram photos and embarrassing poems” for his upcoming curated exhibition It’s a small, small world.  All submissions will be accepted on site by Hennessy between March 30th and April 1st, with the resulting “shitshow” on display from April 3rd.

Hot Photo Friday – Daniel Gordon

Daniel Gordon, 'Man in Grass', from the series 'Thin Skin II', 2007

More Haring

Page from one of Keith Haring's journals (1978-82)

Next week Brooklyn Museum will launch Keith Haring: 1978–1982, the first large-scale exhibition to explore the  artist’s early career. To mark the occasion, the Keith Haring Foundation are posting page-a-day scans from the artist’s workbooks that feature in the  show.  Watch new scans materialise over the course of the exhibition here.

‘Cezanne of the Subway’

Last chance for Haring mural

Melbourne's Keith Haring mural in its current state

On a trip to Melbourne in 1984, Keith Haring painted an outdoor mural on what was then the Collingwood Technical College.  Since then – and despite being in the ‘care’ of the Victorian government – the work has fallen into a state of serious disrepair.  With a proposed redevelopment of the site pending, the Victorian Government and Arts Victoria has implemented a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) that calls for the stabilisation of the mural in its current neglected state.

This initiative goes directly against the wishes of the late artist and his estate, who have publicly stated that they would rather see the mural repainted completely, thus restoring its colour and vibrancy (at considerably less cost to Victorian taxpayers than the proposed CMP).  What doesn’t the Victorian Government understand here?  Do they know better than the artist?  His estate?  His peers?  To stabilise the work, Arts Vic must first have a permit approved by the Victorian Heritage Council.  This process begins shortly and will offer the public one last opportunity to object to Arts Victoria’s plans.  A petition has been started here and will be presented to the Arts Minister, Arts Victoria and the Heritage Council of Victoria - please sign it to stop the CMP.