Let Observation, with extensive view,
Survey Mankind, from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife,
And watch the busy scenes of crowded life;
Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate
O’erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wavering man, betrayed by venturous pride
To tread the dreary paths without a guide,
As treacherous phantoms in the mist delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good...
— Samuel Johnson

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
— Oscar Wilde

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
— W. Somerset Maugham

Like its politicians and its wars, society has the teenagers it deserves.
— J. B. Priestley


Gabba Gabba Hey!

Someone emailed me recently and chastised me for my "hate-talk" toward local antiquities expert and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Carl Dennis. I had primarily complained that the Buffalo News perpetually went to Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Dennis when they needed a handy anti-deaccession screed to butt up against any Albright deaccession news—most recently, the mega millions recently forked over for Artemis and the Stag. True to form, Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Dennis delivered the goods.

Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Dennis stated that the Albright "betrayed the children of the future who will never be able to see a classical sculpture like 'Artemis and the Stag' and the way it influenced sculpture of the 19th and 20th centuries. It's just disgusting." I thought, well, that's pretty hateful, not to mention melodramatic and exaggerated, so I noted it. And this person emailed me to spank me for it and I had to trot out another wordy articulation in response to the wordy spanking.

In the midst of responding, tired of rehashing all the deaccession rationales and defenses (yet unwilling to let untruths stand idly and comfortably in front of me), I felt like deleting my entire reply and simply responding with an emphatic non sequitor:

"Gabba gabba hey!" or maybe "Yabba dabba doo!"

At this point, either of those seem to work equally well, given that many who were against the Albright's deaccession remain solidly against it and will likely always treat it as a form of cultural betrayal. It's not, it never was.

Anyway, if you're pining for those halcyon days of Buffalo's latest local culture war, I've added some past postings to this hallwalls and elsewhere blog, which are all listed to the left. Beginning in December 2006, there are 12 postings added with content and news about the Albright's deaccession, the opposition to it, the hysteria, my remarks, observations and rebuttals. Good times.

These have been extracted from the pre-blog days when I was sending out emails and I've retained them verbatim (with the exception of three spelling errors corrected). In each of these postings, I've included the original images used in the emails and have retained all the links—regrettably, the Buffalo News does not offer linked articles for much longer than a week, so apologies if those don't work. I have not included the local listings, calls for work and other non-deaccession items, but I have included the quotations that opened and concluded each posting/email.

The only new twist is a vague color-coding system in which anti-deaccession quotations appear in a kind of pasty mustard and pro-Albright quotations appear in a bright verdant green. The color coding is useful in seeing just how much play I gave the opposing viewpoint.

I've re-read them all and I stand by everything I wrote. Gabba gabba hey!


For additional information on upcoming Hallwalls programs and events, go to
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center

Hallwalls exhibitions continuing thru July 21

KIRSTEN REYNOLDS • The Other Last Moment
a Hallwalls Artist in Residence Project (HARP)



ALICIA ROSS • Samplers

Alicia Ross Homepage

Excavaciones: The Films of Jesse Lerner

Sat., July 7, 8:00 pm @ HW
Hallwalls proudly presents Los Angeles based documentary film and video maker, Jesse Lerner. An award winning filmmaker, Lerner also is accomplished curator and writer, who has contributed to journals and magazines such as Wide Angle and Cabinet. Lerner will present a survey of recent experimental 16mm films that investigate and explore Mexican/American cultural exchange, including his feature film Ruins/Ruinas.

Opening Elsewhere
• Matthew Saemenes at Cosmopolitan Gallery opening Sat June 30 5-7pm
• Terresa Ford at Unity Gallery/Church opening Thurs July 5 7-9pm

Continuing Elsewhere
(last week/see em now)
• Francis Bacon at the Albright-Knox through July 29
• Starlight Studio's Spring Break Show thru Aug 3
• Ken Heyman at CEPA thru Aug 26 Buffalo News
• Mark D'Agostino at Squeaky Wheel thru Aug 5
• Linda Gale Gelman at Studio Hart thru July 14
• Buffalo Niagara Arts Association Annual Spring Exhibition at Market St. Gallery (Lockport) thru July 7
• Beyond the Barrel and Open House at Niagara Arts & Cultural Center thru Aug 26
• Geraldine Liquidano at redFish (E. Aurora) thru July 31
• George Morlock at Stuyvesant Gallery (Elmwood) thru Aug 22
• Paul Mercalski at College Street Gallery thru June 30
• Jerome Greenberg at Artsphere thru July 7
• Lukia Costello at Betty's thru Aug 12
• Buffalo Society of Artists 2007, gut-renovation plans for BAS and the 15 South Putnam Project opening at Buffalo Arts Studio thru July 14
• MIchael Vincent McLean at St. Luke's United Church (Richmond/Utica) thru June 30
• Carl Lee and Brendan Bannon at the BPAC thru July 8
• John Mielcarek at the BPAC thru July 8
• Buffalo Society of Artists Spring Show at Buffalo Art Studio thru July 14
• Joshua Marks at the Tang Museum in Sarasota Springs thru August 12
• Rob Lynch at the Castellani Art Museum thru Sept 16 Artvoice
• Mary Begley at Delish on Elmwood thru May and Brodo Restaurant thru July
• Insoon Ha: The Island at Big Orbit thru July 1 ARtvoice


Intern Watch

They work so hard, I thought I'd give them some blog-props, so for the next few weeks, you'll learn a bit about the people who do all the heavy lifting at Hallwalls. We've never quite succeeded at training them to feed us grapes and fan us with palm fronds, but they seem to pick up painting, spackling, and various administrative chores like they were born to it. This summer has been a key intern summer at Hallwalls as everyone began their internships just in time to help with Artists&Models. We let them catch their breath, then it was on to the gallery and helping resident artist Kirsten Reynolds realize her installation.

This is Cassandra Couch, an intern who is taking studio art at Cazenovia College.
Book: Dry by Augusten Burroughs
Music: Radiohead, Battles, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tool, The Clash, The Cranberries, Sinead O'Connor, Atmosphere, A Tribe Called Quest, Nine INch Nails, Secret Machines, Arctic Monkeys, The Format, Gorillaz, Say Anything, Man Man, Modest Mouse.
Artists: Petah Coyne, Richard Serra, Lee Bontecou, Kiki Smith, Francis Bacon, Henri Matisse, Cy Twombly, Dave McKean, Keith haring, Rachel Whiteread, Eva Hesse, Sue Coe, Ann Hamilton, Janine Antoni.

Cassandra has been keeping a blog about her internship here: Summer Internship
She also has a blog about herself and her artwork: Smirkingherkin


Everybody wants that dirty, dirty money...

Tracey Emin’s I’ve Got It All (2000) at Saatchi Gallery, London
Artnet


That's roughly $3,150 per pill...

"Damien Hirst became, for the moment, the world’s most expensive living artist on Thursday [June 21/07], when Sotheby’s sold his “Lullaby Spring” pill cabinet for £9.6 million ($19.3 million) in London, Reuters reported. The sale came just 24 hours after Lucian Freud had taken the title when his portrait “Bruce Bernard” sold at Christie’s for £7.9 million. The London auctions, which ended yesterday, took in a total expected to be near $1 billion. Christie’s said its auctions set records for 23 artists, including Joan Miró and Mr. Freud. Sotheby’s said it set records for artists including, Henri Matisse, Tracey Emin and Frank Auerbach." (Peter Edidin, NY Times, June 23/07)
Art Sales Put London in the Catbird Seat


Something I listened to this week...



Uhh, Will Ferrell is insane—beautifully, beautifully insane







top blog image: the Hong Kong subway as photographed by my friend Katarina Wong Katarina Wong Homepage


You have to forget about what other people say; when you're supposed to die, when you're supposed to be lovin'. You have to forget about all these things. You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven.
— Jimi Hendrix

If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.
— Lewis Carroll

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.
— W. H. Auden

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
— Helen Keller

To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in.
— Henry Miller

For additional information on upcoming Hallwalls programs and events, go to
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center

Hallwalls exhibitions continuing thru July 21

KIRSTEN REYNOLDS • The Other Last Moment
a Hallwalls Artist in Residence Project (HARP)



ALICIA ROSS • Samplers

Alicia Ross

The Guatemalan Handshake

(Todd Rohal, 2006, 96min)
Sat., June 23, 8 pm @ HW
A power failure sets in motion a bizarre chain of events in a small mountain town. The sun rises sideways, a woman attends her own funeral, cars drive circles in the dirt, and Donald Turnupseed, an awkward demolition derby driver (played by musician Will Oldham, aka Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and the recent star of Old Joy) disappears. His vanishing affects the film’s eccentric characters, which includes a pack of wild boy scouts, a lactose intolerant roller rink employee, and a ten-year-old girl named Turkeylegs. Rohal’s debut feature "suggests what Jacques Tati may have done with rural America" (Variety). Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival.

Fred Lonberg-Holm's Valentine Trio

Tuesday, June 26 @ 8:00 pm @ HW

FREE ADMISSION!

Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello)
Jason Roebke (bass)
Frank Rosaly (drums)

Opening Elsewhere

• Beyond the Barrel and Open House at Niagara Arts & Cultural Center opening Fri June 22, 5:30—9pm
• George Morlock at Stuyvesant Gallery (Elmwood) opening Fri June 22 6—9pm

Continuing Elsewhere
(last week/see em now)
• Francis Bacon at the Albright-Knox through July 29
• Starlight Studio's Spring Break Show thru Aug 3
• Ken Heyman at CEPA thru Aug 26
• Coni Minneci: A-Z Women Artists; My Artistic Interpretation of Their Lives Using the Pear as a Metaphor at partners in Art Gallery (Tonawanda) thru June 22
• Mark D'Agostino at Squeaky Wheel thru Aug 5
• Linda Gale Gelman at Studio Hart thru July 14
• David Kibuuka at Gallery 51 thru July 21
• Buffalo Niagara Arts Association Annual Spring Exhibition at Market St. Gallery (Lockport) thru July 7
• Geraldine Liquidano at redFish (E. Aurora) thru July 31
• Paul Mercalski at College Street Gallery thru June 30
• Jerome Greenberg at Artsphere thru July 7
• Lukia Costello at Betty's thru Aug 12
• Buffalo Society of Artists 2007, gut-renovation plans for BAS and the 15 South Putnam Project opening at Buffalo Arts Studio thru July 14
• MIchael Vincent McLean at St. Luke's United Church (Richmond/Utica) thru June 30
• Carl Lee and Brendan Bannon at the BPAC thru July 8
• John Mielcarek at the BPAC thru July 8
• Buffalo Society of Artists Spring Show at Buffalo Art Studio thru July 14
• Joshua Marks at the Tang Museum in Sarasota Springs thru August 12
• Robert John Holland opening at the JCC Amherst and on Delaware thru June 25
• Rob Lynch at the Castellani Art Museum thru Sept 16 Artvoice
• Mary Begley at Delish on Elmwood thru May and Brodo Restaurant thru July
• Selections from the Ann Cravens ceramics collection (thru June 22), Adele Cohen (thru Aug 2), all at the Burchfield
• Milton Rogovin at the Castellani though June 24 Artvoice
• Insoon Ha: The Island at Big Orbit thru July 1 ARtvoice


Claire Needs You
Actually, I think it would be more of a draw if Jax Deluca were doing an open-mike stand-up routine, but this sounds good too...

Claire IV: The Scarlet Letter, the last in a series of independent films by Brian Milbrand, is shooting in Buffalo this July. This Saturday three bands will perform to raise money for this ambitious project.
tentet/octet is a loose composition/free improvisational music collective featuring Kyle Price, Tristan Trump and Brian Milbrand. The performance features a score to a video piece that will, in turn, have a live reaction to the music, thus creating an inter-media feedback loop.
Jax Deluca is a solo acoustic musician whose performances range from songs of haunting sadness to joyful pop tunes. Jax Deluca
Pam Swarts will be performing her unique blend of ambient electronic synth-pop. Pam will perform with a video backdrop, using her plethora of samplers, keyboards, flutes and vocals to create dreamy multimedia. Pam Swarts
The Claire series follows the life of Claire, a character inspired by Brian's dreams. The previous three films dealt with the nature of the dreams by depicting the horrors in Claire's life: rape, abortion and murder. In this final film, an adaptation of The Scarlet Letter, Claire's life is dramatically and forever changed. Come, enjoy the music and help support independent film in Buffalo.

Extras needed for CLAIRE IV
(okay, it's pretty amusing that a casting call for extras actually ends with the question "are you interested in a larger role?")
Claire IV, the last in a series of independent films by Brian Milbrand, is shooting in Buffalo this July. The Claire series follows the life of Claire, a character inspired by Brian's dreams. The previous three films dealt with the nature of the dreams by depicting the horrors in Claire's life: rape, abortion and murder. In this final film, an adaptation of The Scarlett Letter, Claire's life is dramatically and forever changed. Several extras are needed for filming coming up the second weekend in July. Volunteer your time and work with a stellar cast and crew. See details below...
WHAT: Extras needed for crowd and church scenes. If you're interested in a larger role, we will also need some shopkeepers and members of the church choir - if you can't sing that's okay, if you can sing off key that's even better! We are also looking for some children between the ages of 5 - 12.
WHEN: Filming will take place on Saturday, July 7th and Sunday, July 8th between the hours of 9 am and midnight. Depending on your role, you don't necessarily need to be present the entire day. We will shoot in two shifts, the first shift beginning at 9 am and the second shift beginning at 6 pm. Children's scenes will be shot early on Saturday, July 7th. Meals will be provided for everyone.
WHERE: UB North campus.
COSTUMES: Limited costumes and accessories could be available, but for best results you can design and bring your own (provided there is NO red or black anywhere in your costume). You can outfit yourself in clothing from any time period - from puritan dresses to business suits, and cross dressing is welcome too.Depending on your role(s), you'll need: 2 plain costumes - white, tan, grey, khaki, or other muted colors 2 colorful costumes - the more bedazzled, the better Female characters will wear "Tammy Faye Baker" style makeup.
If you have questions or are interested in signing up please contact Lynn at lynnlasota@gmail.com by June 30th and provide your: name, age, gender, email, phone, day(s) you are available (July 7th / 8th), time(s) you are available (9 am - Midnight), and: are you interested in a larger role?

Mark Freeland 1957—2007

Artvoice

Hank Medress 1939—2007:
a wimoweh, a wimoweh, a wimoweh...

Until I read th is obit, I didn't know that The Lion Sleeps Tonight was an updating of a Zulu song from South Africa. Still a great song. Way back in 1981, I saw REM play the old Masonic Temple in Toronto. Their opening song was Pale Blue Eyes, their encore song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. I'll bet they play the song at his funeral, you could almost imagine the pall bearers moving in step to the rhythm...
NY Times obit
Background on the song





Had I been drinking, it would have come out my nose...
Toronto artist Jennifer McMackon runs a blog page called Simpleposie where she posts daily art-questions and sometimes has guest-questions submitted by others. Last week, Milena Placentile asked 10 questions, one of which was "Do you go to art openings to hook up?" The always brilliant LM posted this answer:
"I don't find that people are very attractive just standing around at openings, however, I think people are insanely hot when they are moving my art around for me."


Something I listened to this week...

Always a good idea not to let too much time pass before listening to this again.
Wikipedia entry
Enoweb
Enoshop
Eno's TIME essay



Smoke em if you got em...









Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase...that's what wild geese are for.
— Unknown

I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.
— Dorothy Parker

A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if one's life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
— Louis L'Amour

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
— Kahlil Gibran

I'm still an atheist, thank God.
— Luis Bunuel

Mmmm...nest egg...

In a town where folks often bewail a lack of leadership, new intiatives, and progressive thinking, how about a few cheers for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery which, through the bold move of selling off select antiquities tangential to their core mission has managed to triple its endowment for purchasing new works. Could you triple your personal endowment in a year? Good luck.

Tom Buckham's piece in The Buffalo News New Nest Egg clearly states the importance—and underscores the savvy—of the Albright's moves these last several months. With annual withdrawals from the purchasing endowment limited to 5% and sensible investment averaging the growth of that endowment at 12% a year, AND the amount of that fund now being tripled...well, I'm a curator, not a bean counter, YOU do the math. In even just a few years, that purchasing endowment is going to grow significantly.

Buckham's article also places thes details in the broader context of the museum, both compared to other venues and compared to its own internal, operating expenses. AK Board President Charles Banta sums it up interestingly: "Of course, if we could raise another $100 million for the unrestricted endowment [that which pays for capital and other operating expenses], then we wouldn't have to fundraise."

Regrettably, we are forced to say JEERS JEERS JEERS to Buckham and the News in their willingness to let Crazy "Carl Dennis" McGillicutty fart out another ill-informed opinion. Carl Dennis—who, in case you don't know, has won a Pulitzer Prize—is quoted as suggesting that the leaders of the Albright have "betrayed the children of the future who will never be able to see a classical sculpture like 'Artemis and the Stag' and the way it influenced sculpture of the 19th and 20th centuries. It's just disgusting."

Now that's a t-shirt..."The Albright Knox Art Gallery: Betraying the Children of the Future." Save me one in medium. Yeah, the kids just go apeshit for ancient bronze. Forget ecstasy and "friends with benefits," they are just jonesing for those antiquities. ("I need some Artemis, man, and a whole lot more stag...") But I kid. I kid the crotchety the old man. But what is disgusting is the willingness of the News to continue to turn, again and again, to Buffalo leading cultural crank for a dissenting quote. Neither an artist, curator or (so far as I know) art collector, Dennis is riding that Pulitzer hard into ignominy. And the Buffalo News should know better than to perpetually feed this man's wide streak of self-righteous indignation. Why is he always in the paper? He's retired, seemingly very opinionated, and I hear he's a writer....let's encourage him to start a blog.

For additional information on upcoming Hallwalls programs and events, go to
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center

NEXT Hallwalls Exhibitions
OPEN TOMORROW NIGHT
SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 8—11pm

preview in the Buffalo News:
Samples of Tension

KIRSTEN REYNOLDS • The Other Last Moment
a Hallwalls Artist in Residence Project (HARP)

(model pic)

ALICIA ROSS • Samplers


Opening Elsewhere
• Ken Heyman at CEPA opening Sat June 16, 7-10pm (thru Aug 26)
• tonight at the Albright Ken Heyman: Pop Portraits, guided tour at 6pm. artist's talk at 7pm
• Framing Faces, Finding Families at the Carnegie Art Center opening Sat June 16 noon—4pm
• Ken Heyman: Being Human at CEPA opening Sat June 16 noon—4pm
• Buffalo Niagara Arts Association Annual Spring Exhibition at Market St. Gallery (Lockport) opening Fri June 15 5-8pm

Continuing Elsewhere
(last week/see em now)
• Francis Bacon at the Albright-Knox through July 29
• Starlight Studio's Spring Break Show thru Aug 3
• Coni Minneci: A-Z Women Artists; My Artistic Interpretation of Their Lives Using the Pear as a Metaphor at partners in Art Gallery (Tonawanda) thru June 22
• Mark D'Agostino at Squeaky Wheel thru Aug 5
• Linda Gale Gelman at Studio Hart thru July 14
• David Kibuuka at Gallery 51 thru July 21
• Geraldine Liquidano at redFish (E. Aurora) thru July 31
• Paul Mercalski at College Street Gallery thru June 30
• Jerome Greenberg at Artsphere thru July 7
• Lukia Costello at Betty's thru Aug 12)
• Buffalo Society of Artists 2007, gut-renovation plans for BAS and the 15 South Putnam Project opening at Buffalo Arts Studio thru July 14
• MIchael Vincent McLean at St. Luke's United Church (Richmond/Utica) thru June 30
• Carl Lee and Brendan Bannon at the BPAC thru July 8
• John Mielcarek at the BPAC thru July 8
• Amanda Besl at Artspace Witzenhausen thru June 16
• Buffalo Society of Artists Spring Show at Buffalo Art Studio thru July 14
• Joshua Marks at the Tang Museum in Sarasota Springs thru August 12
• Robert John Holland opening at the JCC Amherst and on Delaware thru June 25
• Rob Lynch at the Castellani Art Museum thru Sept 16 Artvoice
• Mary Begley at Delish on Elmwood thru May and Brodo Restaurant thru July
• Selections from the Ann Cravens ceramics collection (thru June 22), Adele Cohen (thru Aug 2), all at the Burchfield
• Milton Rogovin at the Castellani though June 24 Artvoice
• Insoon Ha: The Island at Big Orbit thru July 1

Who's Got the Juice?

In the June 9 Arts section of the NY times, the following was noted:
"The German painter Gerhard Richter, enjoys the highest reputation of any living artist, followed by the American installation artist Bruce Nauman, according to an index compiled by the German magazine Capital, Bloomberg News reported. Art Compass (Kunstkompass), which the magazine has published annually since 1970, asks museum curators, critics and others to rank artists according to prestige; the index doesn’t measure sales or prices. The German painter Sigmar Polke took third place, followed by the conceptual artist Rosemarie Trockel, the sculptor Louise Bourgeois and the photographer Cindy Sherman. The biggest gainer in this year’s survey was Isa Genzken, a sculptor and installation artist living in Berlin who is responsible for this year’s German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She jumped 69 slots to move into 90th place."

Schnabel wins in Cannes

I was fairly indifferent to Julian Schnabel's first directorial effort, Basquiat, but was more than a little bowled over by his sophmore effort When Night Falls, which I found an affecting and visually-beautiful film. But kudos to Schnabel for garnering Best Director at the recent Cannes Film Festival for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The news item about the win on artnet was interesting, quoting one reviewer as writing "Schnabel’s visual sense is masterful. . . .the sense of space and place profound. . . The Diving Bell and the Butterfly may be avant-garde and bold, but it’s also plainspoken and real—a movie well worth seeing."

artnet then goes on to (quite rightly) mock the superficial criticisms of Schnabel coming from Time magazine:

"Of course, not all critics agreed. Time Magazine writers Richard and Mary Corliss focused on the trivial, mocking Schnabel for "lumbering" across the stage at the award ceremony to shake the hands of all ten jury members; for mispronouncing the name of his lead actor, Mathieu Amalric, and that of supporting actor Max Von Sydow; and insulting his female actors by calling them "girls." They even suggest that the jury wanted to "retract the prize." Those Corlisses, what a class act."
artnet

Mark Freeland 1957—2007

Mark Freeland obit

Rudolf Arnheim 1904—2007

Rudolf Arnheim obit

Mr. Wizard 1918—2007

Mr. Wizard obit

Lee Nagrin 1929—2007

Lee nagrin obit
Lee Nagrin obit
Lee Nagrin homepage

Something I listened to this week...

Official Damned Website

Arrivederci Jersey

Make no mistake, I loved The Sopranos. A brilliant show, but it's always irritated me a bit that some folks have always treated the show as though it was inventing or re-inventing the tv wheel. Its beautiful denouement this past week—David Chase leaving narrative threads unresolved and literally ending the show with a terrific abruptness—has caused all sorts of hand-wringing, as though television hadn't been invented til Chase cobbled together this Dallas-In-New Jersey potboiler. It was absolutely a great ending (whereby the hero does NOT get his come-uppance), but it was by no means the greatest final episode ever. What was? Here are my 4 favorite television series finales:

Number One • The Mac Daddy • The One That Still Gives Me Chills
TWIN PEAKS...if you weren't watching it, you won't understand it when I say that, at the time, there was nothing remotely like Twin Peaks on network television. You think David Chase likes ambiguity and unhappy endings? Go back and watch the final episode of TP and you'll see one of the grandest, most hellish endings/non-endings ever. How to encapsulate it....Kyle McLaughlin's FBI Agent Dale Cooper has gone to the netherworld of the Red Lodge and has encountered the evil doppelgangers of several characters in the show, including his own, which chases him and eventually catches him. All appears well as Sheriff Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean) finds Cooper and the love of his life Annie (Heather Graham) unconscious in the woods, seemingly free of danger. A little later, Cooper awakens in his hotel room with Truman and Dr. Hayward attending to him. Cooper asks about Annie, who is apparently in the hospital but will be fine. Cooper quietly goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and we see that his reflection is that of Bob, evil incarnate, who has taken over Cooper as his new vessel. Cooper rams his head into the mirror and begins cackling: "How's Annie? How's Annie? HOW'S ANNIE...?" Best fucked up ending ever. Home run. Outta the park.


Number Two • The One I Didn't See Coming
ST. ELSEWHERE...dig this: the final episode of St. Elsewhere—in a brilliant maneuver that's never quite been matched—revealed that the WHOLE series, all the characters, doctors, patients, and drama in this beleagered Boston hospital took place in the mind of a young autistic boy who was playing with a snow globe with a replica of the hospital inside.



Number Three • The One that Was Both Droll and Hysterical
BOB NEWHART...at the conclusion of his second series, the final episode revealed that series to be a dream of the Bob from the first Newhart series, as he awoke in bed beside 1st series wife Suzanne Pleshette. Utterly unexpected and brilliant.


Number Four • The One Where Everything Literally Imploded
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER...the town of Sunnydale, having survived every manner of threat and danger and demon for seven years, including the sacrificial death and forced resurrection of our heroine, finally gets swallowed by the Hellmouth, implodes on itself, and leaves a gaping maw of a crater in the ground.


Open Call for Actors/2007 Buffalo Infringement Festival
The Buffalo Infringement Festival announces open auditions for multiple productions (from original scripts to classics) that will be part of this summer’s festival. This unique casting call is designed to bring together several local directors with potential performers. Actors of all ages, ethnicities, and genders are asked to prepare a 2-5-minute monologue of their choice. Auditions will take place at Rust Belt Books, 242 Allen Street, on Saturday, June 23, 2007, from noon to 3 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, but to schedule a specific audition time, contact Matthew LaChiusa at 716-884-4858 or MORPHINEHEART@msn.com with your name and the time you would like to come in. The 2007 Buffalo Infringement Festival runs from July 26th to August 5. For more information on the festival, e-mail info@infringebuffalo.org or visit
Buffalo Infringement



Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering...and it's all over much too soon.
— Woody Allen

Summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language.
— Henry James

A day will come when a cannon will be exhibited in museums, just as instruments of torture are now, and the people will be astonished that such a thing could have been.
— Victor Hugo

Doubt 'til thou canst doubt no more...doubt is thought and thought is life. Systems which end doubt are devices for drugging thought.
— Albert Guerard

I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
— Mae West


If you weren't here last Saturday, where the hell were you?

Actually, I suspect you were here because it was quite the mob that poured into the Central Terminal for NOCTURMINAL, Hallwalls' 20th Artists & Models Affair. It did seem like folks were ready for the summer to begin and they made the most of it. Lots of happy mingling, people calling friends on their cell phones to tell them to get down to the Terminal, long line-ups for Ike's barbecue, happy happy joy joy all around. From our point of view, we were pleased to see so many people and we appreciate the hard work of all the participating artists and musicians (and models!), many of whom were taking part in their first event of this kind. The photo above is by renownwed rock photographer Bob Mussell.
Bob Mussell

Former Hallwalls' Board member and media raconteur Richard Wicka posted a series of photos and some interviews with artists on his web page:
Think Twice Radio

Strangely (and rarely), there was actually a morning-after news story in last Sunday's Buffalo News about the event: Hallwalls Goes Nocturminal


Carlene Petersen relaxes as one of the live models in Sean McGarry's gallery/lounge installation.
(photo by Richard Wicka)


Nocturminal patrons commune with Micheal Bosworth's beautiful bulbous sculptural projections.
(photo by Jeannine Swallow)


Vincent Van Gogh (Mark Lavatelli) and Paul Gaughin (Dana Hatchett) were knocking out portraits all night long.
(photo by Richard Wicka)


Some body painting by Mark Madden and Madd Grafix.
(photo by Richard Wicka)


Summer interns Lucy Sears (l) and Corey Mansfield (r) were two of our many volunteers for the night.
(photo by Jeannine Swallow)


One of the many inflatables by Pat Oleszko that were very at home in the nocturminal craziness.
(photo by Richard Wicka)
Pat Oleszko Homepage


Samantha Harmon shares the stage of Cole Ritter's 1356 Cubic Inch Modified Supercharger.


Dave Pape was rocking the ceiling with a mash-up of night sky projections, from old star maps to Hubble telescope imagery. (photo by Dave Pape)


Knife Crazy was one of the local acts kicking out the nocturmijams.
(photo by Jeannine Swallow)
KC's MySpace page


Seth Wochensky's installation with audio, video projection, and two tons of grain in a makeshift silo was an extremely popular piece of Nocturminal property. (photo by Nancy J. Parisi)


Curtis Erlinger cast ice owl loomed quietly in the Nocturminal darkness, slowly melting and re-freezing into mice-cubes...


Nancy Parisi and gal pal demonstrating Nancy's photo booth installation.(photo by Richard Wicka)
Go here Everything Perfect in Nancy's World to read her blog entry on the event.

The next day we cleaned up and the trains kept rolling by the station, without stopping...



For additional information on upcoming Hallwalls programs and events, go to
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center

NEXT Hallwalls Exhibitions
OPENING SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 8—11pm

KIRSTEN REYNOLDS • The Other Last Moment
a Hallwalls Artist in Residence Project (HARP)


ALICIA ROSS • Samplers


Billy Bang & Kahil El Zabar Duo
Friday, June 8, TONIGHT, 8pm @ HW

$15 general admission• $10 members/students/seniors
The ever-prolific 'Renaissance Man' and Chicago master percussionist Kahil El 'Zabar and NYC virtuoso violin legend Billy Bang will perform together in Buffalo for the first time since 1999, this time pared down to an intimate and hauntingly powerful duo setting—simply an essential concert experience.
Hallwalls Music Info

Anker/Taborn/Cleaver Trio
Monday, June 11, 8pm @ HW

$12 general admission, $10 members/students/seniors
ANKER/TABORN/CLEAVER had its premiere in May 2003, where the band did a small, but successful tour in France, Germany and Denmark. Since then ATC has been performing at festivals, clubs and concert spaces in Scandinavia, Europe, USA and Canada and also released the critically acclaimed CD ”Triptych” (Leo Records). ”Pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver are close allies on the New York scene, and this encounter with Danish saxist Lotte Anker affirms their simpatico. Anker, a fount of sinewy yet lyrical abstraction on both of her horns, seems to bring out the best in her collaborators. While Triptych is every inch a free session, with seven collectively composed pieces, the trio covers a wide swath of sonic territory.” Jazzwise UK 2006.
Lotte Anker Website

Opening Elsewhere
• the Allentown Arts Festival runs Saturday and Sunday 11am to 7pm
• Lukia Costello at Betty's opening Mon June 11 6-9pm (thru Aug 12)
• Jerome Greenberg at Artsphere opening Fri June 8 6:30—9:30pm
• Student Work Exhibit at CEPA opening Fri June 8, 5-9pm
• Paul Mercalski at College Street Gallery opening Friday June 8, 5-10pm
• El Museo Invitational opening weekend Fri 8-11pm Sat 11am—6pm Sun 11am—5pm
• Tammy Weyzel, Dan Martina, Gene Witkowski, Marie Wonch, Chris McGee, Jimi Baudin at Gallery 141B opening Sat June 9 12noon—8pm
• David Kibuuka at Gallery 51 opening Sat June 9 5—8pm
Buffalo News preview
• Allentown Sneak Peek show at Kepa#, one night only, Fri June 8 6—9pm
• Jim Reed and Cheryl Wnuk-Klinck at Redfish Studios (E. Aurora) opening Fri June 8, 7—10pm

Continuing Elsewhere
(last week/see em now)
• Francis Bacon at the Albright-Knox through July 29
• Starlight Studio's Spring Break Show thru Aug 3
• Coni Minneci: A-Z Women Artists; My Artistic Interpretation of Their Lives Using the Pear as a Metaphor at partners in Art Gallery (Tonawanda) thru June 22
• Mark D'Agostino at Squeaky Wheel thru Aug 5
• Linda Gale Gelman at Studio Hart thru July 14
• Buffalo Society of Artists 2007, gut-renovation plans for BAS and the 15 South Putnam Project opening at Buffalo Arts Studio thru July 14
• MIchael Vincent McLean at St. Luke's United Church (Richmond/Utica) thru June 30
• Carl Lee and Brendan Bannon at the BPAC thru July 8
• John Mielcarek at the BPAC thru July 8
• Amanda Besl at Artspace Witzenhausen thru June 16
• Buffalo Society of Artists Spring Show at Buffalo Art Studio thru July 14
• Joshua Marks at the Tang Museum in Sarasota Springs thru August 12
• Assembling the Best: Nancy Belfer, Joyce Hill, Gerald Mead, Russell Ram at the Carnegie Art Center through June 9
• Polly Little, Mark Lavatelli, Monica Angle, Sam Magavern, Jackie Felix, AE Felix, Barbara Rowe, Peter Sowiski, Olga Bajusova, Josef Bajus, Kathi Roussel, Peter Fowler, Bonnie Gordon, John Pfahl, Linda Collingnon, Robert Collingnon, Ilania Kaplan, Christopher Stangler, Trudy Stern, Michael Morgulis at Insite Gallery thru June 17
• Peter Fowler at Kepa3 thru June 15
• Robert John Holland opening at the JCC Amherst and on Delaware thru June 25
• Impact Artists Gallery annual members' show thru June 15
• Rob Lynch at the Castellani Art Museum thru Sept 16
• Mary Begley at Delish on Elmwood thru May and Brodo Restaurant thru July
• Carol Vacanti at Flickinger/Nichols School through June 15
• Selections from the Ann Cravens ceramics collection (thru June 22), Adele Cohen (thru Aug 2), all at the Burchfield
• Milton Rogovin at the Castellani though June 24
• Dave Buck at Betty’s thru June 10
• Insoon Ha: The Island at Big Orbit thru July 1

Jeers to the Buffalo News, Cheers to the Albright Knox
I picked up the Buffalo News this morning to read about yesterday's Artemis auction and couldn't help but notice that the story alongside the auction news on the front page was a piece about celebrity wafflebrain Paris Hilton and her recent brushes with the law. Thinking it was an AP wire report, I was actually stunned to see the piece written by a News staff reporter.

QUESTION FOR THE BUFFALO NEWS: So, we don't merit theater or art critics in this town any longer, but you're paying someone to cover this shit? Explain.

We'll reserve our kudos for the Albright-Knox, which was brave enough to stick by its decision to deaccession a selection of antiquities to bulk up their purchasing coffers for the present and the future. They showed leadership, foresight, and the guts (sometimes in short supply in the museum world) to weather the onslaught of irrational sentimentality and scurrilous bile hurled their way. This past winter for Louis Grachos, his Board and staff must have felt like Washington at Vallery Forge but it paid off yesterday as the infamous Artemis and the Stag was sold for $25.5 million, bringing profits from the recent deaccession sales to a heady $64 million. Buffalo News Artemis

We won't rehash that issue now. At some point this summer, I'll repost old emails regarding the deaccession controversy into this new format.

And actually, I guess we have to add some minor cheers to the Buffalo News—perhaps more accurately, Colin Dabkowski—because the piece in today's paper did not include a perfunctory rebuttal remark from Carl "Crazy McGillicutty" Dennis or any other member of the local cultural doom patrol who call themselves the Buffalo Art Keepers and who many of us remember more fondly as the Buffalo Art Fascists. (My coffee cup does not lie.)




Serra at MOMA

Man of Steel
Wikipedia

Charlie Finch trippin' down memory lane, man

Vernon Panton’s Phantasy Landscape Visiona II, 1970/2000 "Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era" at the Whitney Museum of American Art
artnet

Tough Art With a Candy Center

NY Times

Guest of Cindy Sherman trailer


Something I listened to this week...

It's terrifically self-deprecating that the cover of the album notes "another record by Ry Cooder," as though there was nothing special in that. I can't actually think of any Ry Cooder that I've ever disliked. Ry's always had the goods, the chops, the smarts...and he still does. I like starting the summer off with Ry. In 2005, it was Chavez Ravine and that album just hummed in my head all summer long. My Name Is Buddy is an astute album, using animals as metaphors (not always subtly, as there is a pig named J. Edgar) and the Depression as an analogy for the desultoriness of our own era—describing a situation where, as one reviewer put it, "the past is looking at the future looking back at itself as in some dirty mirror uncovered in a corner of a forgotten closet." Sounds depressing, but it's just Ry's human touch. Deliriously great music throughout. No way to pick a best song, they're all winners.



Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
— Confucius