On The Road Again

I'm on the road getting a first look at The Norton Museum's exhibition of Paul Fusco's "RFK Funeral Train" pictures and then moving on to do some business in Miami, so forgive me if there's a slight hiatus in posting.

As regular readers of this blog know, I never tire of these Fusco pictures and in addition to the set of 20 I originally published, the Norton requested some extra prints to help fill the space it was going in, so I had the pleasure of selecting 6 additional images to add to the set. The Norton layout is sensitive and stately, and with the pictures positioned close together like railroad cars it's also quite dynamic - as you can hopefully see from the iPhone shot below. So if you're anywhere near Palm Beach (and I know that sounds la-de-dah), be sure to catch the show which runs through May 2.

Viviane Sassen

DNA

Last month, I mentioned how much I was looking forward to the Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen’s forthcoming show at my gallery. In the cycle of gallery life, we’ve now posted the press release, uploaded the pictures on the gallery website, designed the invitation card, and the prints are at the framer’s. So now it’s time for my blog preview.

I met Viviane Sassen when we were fellow judges at the 2007 Hyeres Photo Festival, but as sometimes happens on these large panels, we barely got to know each other. I lost track of her for a while and then in November of 2008, a show of new work she had done in Africa opened at FOAM (Photo Museum of Amsterdam). A kind of collaborative portrait, these pictures were on one level connected to Sassen’s childhood experience of living in Kenya, and on another level dealt with everything from photography’s depiction of race to an exploration of color, light, and shade. But most importantly these pictures were stunningly alive and they blew my mind for their freshness, power, and complexity. I was also not alone in my appreciation. Sassen’s photographs won the prestigious Prix De Rome and were snapped up by museums and collectors all across Europe.

Then last year Sassen published a book of her African work titled “Flamboya” and after getting the book I immediately e-mailed her to offer her a show. I then had to go through the nail-biting process of persuasion and waiting for her to decide whether to do the show with me. (It’s certainly not always a given.) However, after flying to Paris to meet with her this past fall, we agreed to do a show that will now open on March 4. So mark your calendars – it’s going to be a hot night!

In addition to the pictures above and below, you can see more here and here, and read a little more here.

Entebbe

CMYK

Elvis

Traveler

Valentine Weekend Video - Part 2 of 2

Who has the number one album on the Billboard 200? You’re forgiven if you don’t know the answer. It’s “Need You Now” by the country trio Lady Antebellum. I’ve always been a big country music fan, but somehow Lady A. escaped me until this year’s Grammy Awards where they won Best New Artist and performed the album’s title song with its memorable refrain:

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now

I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now

And I don't know how I can do without

I just need you now.

I’m puttin’ it on up there with my two other country favorites, “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me” (by The Bellamy Brothers) and “If You Ever Leave Me I’m Going With You.”

Good ol’ country lyrics and the stuff of real-life romance.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine Weekend Video - Part 1 of 2

I've been saving this for Valentine's weekend. It's the final scene of "Cinema Paradiso" when Salvatore, the protagonist and childhood assistant of the projectionist Alfredo, screens the reel that Alfredo had left for him - and finds a veritable history of cinema in censored clips. Set to Ennio Morricone's romantic score, it's a bittersweet valentine to love and an unconditional valentine to cinema.

FYI - If you haven't seen the film, I would strongly recommend the extended Director's Cut, over the original version.

Random Shots From All Over

This photograph by Sean Doerr, used by the New York Times to illustrate the decline of Detroit, shows the once glamorous Michigan Theater, now used as parking garage.

This picture from TMZ.com purports to show a young John Kennedy on a wild cruise. It's a fun pic, but it sure looks fake to me.

From The New York Public Library's current show on Eugene Smith - one of a series of pictures shot from Smith's New York apartment.

And leading off our street fashion round-up - a golden glow from Garance Dore in Brazil

One of The Sartorialist's favorite subjects, Lapo Elkann. You either love or hate his style, but I think it's pretty cool.

A sassy moment (and costume) in Paris caught by Tommy Ton.

And lastly, from a series of pictures by Aaron Gustafson shot with a large format helmet-camera while freefalling from over 10,000 feet!

Corinne Bailey Rae

Just over three years ago, Corinne Bailey Rae breezed onto the scene with catchy singles like "Put Your Records On" and “Like a Star” - another blast of fresh air coming from the English music scene.

Not long after her initial success, however, Rae’s husband – a jazz musician and a recovering addict - died of a methadone overdose, and Rae’s follow up to her eponymous debut went on hold. Now two years later, Rae’s second album – titled “The Sea” has just come out.

Not surprisingly, it’s a deeper, less bouncy sound, and it takes some repeated listening to get fully into it, but the experience is worth the minor effort and the record is more moving than mournful. The title track, “The Sea”, particularly stands out for me. According to what I’ve read it was written before Rae’s husband’s death and is as much a song about recovery as loss.

There isn’t a video for it yet, so I’m thankful to "kdc21" for recording this performance at New York’s Hiro Ballroom. While the camera work could best be described as “impressionistic", the sound is pretty good. And if you don't know what she looks like, here she is in a recent picture:

Tasteless (but funny)!

I wouldn't call this tasteful, but it's so well done and so inside art that when critic Charlie Finch passed it on to me, I felt it was worth sharing.

For those not in the loop, this parody deals with the surprising news last month that in a move masterminded by L. A. philanthropist Eli Broad, Jeffrey Deitch, the flamboyant super-trendy New York dealer, had been appointed as the new director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and was closing his galleries. Many candidates fort he job were disappointed ....