The Image is Magic

my photography: jimmy lepore hagan

2011-02-23T14:23:00.002-05:00

unable to amaze, vip - the world first international art fair exclusively online - introduces a few interesting emerging artists

2011-01-31T01:32:00.001-05:00

Florian Meigenberg

Alan Reid

Annie Kevans

Flavia Da Rin

Carter Mull

David Zink Yi

Owen Maseko (work banned by Mugabe)

Helen Verhoeven

Henning Bohl

Hope Gangloff

Ishmael Randall Weeks

Jennifer Dalton

Joep Van Liefland

Kang Hong Goo

Leslie Thornton

Michael Lin

Miri Segal

Nick Relph

Ruby Neri (my personal favorite)

Shane Hope

Sangbia Im

Olivo Barbieri

Trenton Doyle Hancock

Steve Mumford

Ruby Neri Sculpture

saturday gallery walk-about: nyc

2011-01-22T18:22:00.001-05:00

McDermott & McGough

Christian Vincent

Jeff Baker

Todd Hido

Nathan Harger

James Reilly

Josh Bronaugh

Kohei Yoshiyuki

Patricia Nix

two asian things

2010-08-17T16:03:00.003-04:00

two images that define monday and tuesday by spuring me into video exchanges with a pc. in each case the pictures expose how slamming asian cultures into western visual architecture (alain renais style french cinema modernism and a sardonic late 70's disillusioned disco-protohipster album cover) can be moderately exciting.

1. the first turning into a video that prada paid " "avant-garde" " - their quotes initially - video artist yang fudong five million grains of rice and a $35 gift card for to make them look great. the idea was that this year is somehow supposed to be a lucky for the company according to the chinese calender.

2. kimono themed album cover for something that has nothing to do with kimonos, japan, - or earth. this is "the number 1 song all over heaven".

my visual weekend - thursday friday

2010-08-16T00:36:00.002-04:00

work was about finding paintings of english horses and fox hunts for the new Nanette Lepore website magazine page. Lots of red and rich girls.

so the first and third were by george stubbs. this next image took me in two devastating directions. it was the leopard.

this eventually reminded me of the sensational victorian suicidal mammals of walton ford.

the tiger gets revenge


	the second was to cats, reclining nudes, and corot. which eventually just became corot and then just nudes.

juco for the moment

2010-08-11T19:34:00.005-04:00

today was about my budding potential affair with the young photography team. Flirting dangerously with seriousness, JUCO somehow manage to avoid annoying their rambunctious, mythological side.

juco - making it hot to like elves again. frodo had slaves.

other juco work is strikingly reminiscent of the recent art basel phenom, and purveyor of the spectacularly right on, alex prager.

both share that retro 70esque coloring and minimalist suburban spaces and interiors as well as casting heightened attention to women in the throws of mediocre middle class malaise. when form and content begin to emerge in the works of multiple artists simulataneously it used to mean that a new movement may be under way. now, it could just mean they don't have to travel anywhere or even buy a magazine to copy someone else's vibe. hopefully i'm wrong about that.

these two small ones are alex prager

the violent and the sexual tuesday

2010-08-10T19:10:00.003-04:00

im not sure what the intentions are in contemporary fashion photography, but these three photo editorials struck me as the most demanding and powerful - perhaps for all the wrong reasons / perhaps that what makes it oh so right. my aunt told me at dinner last night that an you should always revisit an image or a look that immediately repulses you. here you may find that long sought after cutting edge. thus, rape, fascistic sexual domination, forced oral sex, violently cropped chests, and sweaty feeble arms combine to form the most problematic and glamorous visions of the day.

steven klein - coming up with the most fantastic image of the day. his series for vogue italia follows

marcus gaab for ten. sweaty, slippery, and improper... no? jessica craig martin is not thinking about mess, blood, pedophilia, and oral sex lola (here)

new way forward

2010-08-09T18:16:00.003-04:00

i've decided to change direction on this blog. i'm no longer only putting up concept posts based around individual artists or trends. now i'm going to display the array of visuals i encounter each day to establish a sense of my visual world and to create an evolving dictionary of the sights that move me.

on lia's computer at work. her brother sent it. glen luchford from AnOther magazine

anders krisar kimiko yoshida allen jones

2010-07-29T17:42:00.002-04:00

press and post show

Shout Youngstown

Valley 24

Downforce: Tony Nicholas

Vindicator

Governor Ted Strickland enjoying the show

jaime martinez asks to be heir apparent

2010-07-18T12:16:00.000-04:00

jaime martinez declares the boldest and most definitive blur of video and photo of the digital age and proposes a new way forward for the image. will anyone listen? maybe they shouldn't. martinez has teamed up with m.i.a. and is intent on being the musician's visual priest. while martinez work is surely stunning and boundary shaking, he risks falling into/ capitalizes on a strengthening trend - female pop stars moving into the realm of high art. martinez is trying to link m.i.a. with a groundbreaking technical manipulation and a potentially potential new artistic medium in the hopes that the star herself can be the piece of art. in such a process, "the artist" is the designer, the celebrity and even the innovative technique. the goal is to replicate andy warhol, jeff koons, and damian hirst's trademark move in reverse. whereas these artists moved from gallery success and art world acclaim to pop culture celebrity, the likes of m.i.a. and gaga seem determined to come in the back door. it is not so unfathomable to imagine martinez's moving pictures and gaga installations against the white walls of berlin and chelsea very soon.

this blog can't support this type of work. only checking out the link will bring you these amuse bouches

http://www.thefader.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/3.gif

http://fuckyoudraculas.tumblr.com/

http://www.brightlightbrightlight.com/series/2009-animated-gif/

http://fuckyoudraculas.tumblr.com/post/110228100

http://fuckyoudraculas.tumblr.com/post/133372068

check out the animated gif series on brightbrightbrightlight.com for the best collection of martinez's non-mia work.

Rust__ Rococo

2010-07-12T20:28:00.001-04:00

My show this Friday at the Lemon Grove in Downtown Youngstown.

The Lemon Grove Café will be unveiling a new space inside the establishment dedicated to the display of rotating art exhibitions. The Gallery Lemon Grove’s first show, Rust__Rococo, will feature the work of seven local artists who undress a sensual aesthetic from the ruin around us.

Their work unearths the lush, the curvaceous, the vibrant, the smooth, the solid, and the sexual from apparent barrenness. They indulge. What these artists create is a new aesthetic of abandon. Rejecting the macabre pantomime of aimless nostalgia and refusing to be overcome by the heavy shadow of memory and doubt, these artists invigorate and reconquer how we understand our wasted landscape. By doing so, they expose how our rust can empower, not suffocate, our future.

Jimmy Hagan and Leslie Cusano

Steve Poullas

Don Attenberger

event poster

jason van hoose at the lemon grove

2010-06-14T18:19:00.002-04:00

new job downtown as the manager of a budding art gallery provides intimate access to some truly spectacular stuff. to me, one of the most sensational artists is jason van hoose. a self-proclaimed "country boy", jason enjoys the benefits of a cosmic imagination and rustic charm. his paintings are technically brilliant, yet unpretentious and folksy. rural life reappears time and again in the form of tornadoes, animals, and fields of grain. in these implicitly american icons lurks fiery passion and hints of psychosis. it is pastoral work that avoids the bear traps of norman rockwell and "american gothic" and falls somewhere closer to the dreamscapes of david hockney. Then, on top of all of this, van hoose introduces us to otherworldly symbols, mystical signs, and the possibility of aliens. Swirls, eyeballs, creatures and disasters fuse with the hefty simplicity of their "americana" vibe. Religious in its treatment of its subjects, van hoose's paintings act almost as Byzantine icons. they present us, in flat frontal views, with the gloriously divine and give us reason for veneration.

arriving in istanbul

2010-05-20T14:09:00.000-04:00

at about 4 am we crossed the border into turkey. by 8:30 we were lost in the outskirts. mysterious and largely undiscussed, the art of turkey has yet to reveal itself. here are some slices from last year istanbul biennale. more to come on turkish art when i figure some of it out.

the ladies of the night. siberia style

2010-05-12T22:01:00.002-04:00

Weird yes. problematic maybe. Interesting for sure. Despite the confusion here. there is one undeniable fact, elana chernyak confuses us. Looking at these pictures, my first thought is heavy irony. but then, strangely enough, her name pulls me away from thinking of them the product of post-millennial malaise. these pictures are many things, but it seems like they are at least valid interpretations about the complex life of prostitution in the coldest and most depressing area on the planet. sad and funny, the lives of these women remind us that the slave industry deliverers nether rain nor shine nor sleet nor twelve feet of snow.

alex prager serves up an ice cold glass of delicately poisoned lemon aid

2010-05-11T08:49:00.005-04:00

prager's work combines a thrilling and consistent color palette with a spectacular abilityto access the iconic. she ties me up with nylonstockings and makes me look at what i've been seeing in dreams. only somehow the images are sabotaged, riddled with landmines that make me sweat and shift in my seat. perfect for summer, prager serves up an ice cold glass of delicately poisoned lemon aid.

excerpt from juxtapoz interview.

"I’m documenting a world that exists and doesn’t exist at the same time; the world in which these girls live in is made up, but the illusion they’ve created is so constant that it became more real to them than the world they actually live in...

I saw a theme of apathy and impending death running through these pictures -- the death of and dreams."

very rarely do i become so invested in a photographer so quickly, but that seems to be happening to a lot of people. in just three years she has had three incredibly sucessful gallery shows. her newest work, "week-end", made her an undisputed darling at pulse in miami this past december. currenly on display in tokyo, prager's exhibit is due to open in london in june and she has already hit la and new york. they is something undeniably exciting about her that makes me wonder if we won't all know her name soon enough. too bad she's good enough to drink.

more excerpts from juxtapoz magazine interview

"Los Angeles is a beautiful place. The magic is still here. Everything is possible, but there is a very dark element here too. I think that’s what makes Los Angeles so inspiring. You can feel it when you’ve been here for a few months at a time. The sky is always blue, the birds are always singing -- it’s a strange picture of perfection -- but there is this eerie monotony that creeps in after a while. I think it can slowly drive people crazy -- that sense of unease under the surface of all this beauty and promise.

I stage my pictures with this place in mind -- a place where dreams die quietly."

what are men putting on - eclectic style

2010-05-09T09:00:00.003-04:00

i think i'm getting closer to what the fuck is going on, but perhaps not. people have been arguing that contemporary pop culture is boring because it it only rehashing the 80's or whatever. but come on, this is more interesting. when the 80's rediscovered shoulder pads from the 40's it was because the culture was becoming more "business" based as a fashion sense. of course, the 40's were the time when more women then ever before and long time after entered the male dominated workplace. Everyone knows that shoulders are the definition of masculinity anyway. can we fit our brand of pop style into a similar scenario? the history of american pop music at least has largely been a history of appropriating black music. but now, i would say that the hip hop regime of top notch black producers run the industry. Although we all loved daft punk since like 3rd grade, you can't deny that they never became more influential than after kayne west stole the duo from beardless hip kids and french coke addicts and gave it to the masses.

pixelization and a cushy softness in benjamin gurell

2010-05-09T08:29:00.002-04:00

as gurell moves from images of nature to scenes a little more man-made, he identifies the essential tie between pattern in the wild and the pixelization of the digital life. our experience of both is routed through the same sensory overload. no longer can looking at a field be different than looking at a screen. but the way out that gurell expertly shows us is fun. perhaps that field will never be the same, but our experience of the screen is better then ever. at the very least, it's new and lush. gurell gives us the chance to make this connection because his pictures are so soft you could just lie down and forget that it was a mediated experience.

looking at one

2010-05-08T08:33:00.006-04:00

notice how the outline on the floor is ambigiuous. it could be a stain, an area covered by furniture. klich's wink here is that he wipes away the dust from the red drawer bringing a deep blood red into the composition and allowing us to believe that shape must have been made from a body bleeding out on the floor.

kent klich shows us gaza with a sly grin

2010-05-08T08:00:00.007-04:00

taken amid the still smoldering ruins of homes in gaza, klich's work is overwhelmed with a sense of absence and destruction that is perhaps becoming cliche for contemporary photographers. but side glances and underhanded winks in the direction of death distinguish the images from other works in the same genre. the subtle elevation of well executed executions to a level of simple beauty is uncomfortable and yet enticing. because death is only hinted and pointed to with a sly nod of the head, we are compelled to search for it. by partaking in this, we parallel the agents of violence instead of the victims. a situation that is highly interesting given the silent hand of american complacency in isreal's actions.

fire and marble

2010-05-06T09:00:00.005-04:00

the persians have inflamed the city. people are always asking if athens is in chaos. it wasn't before. something really snapped here. it must have been a predetermined heightening of the intensity. more protests in 2 hours. we'll see if the deaths in the bank cool their jets.

tashes

2010-05-04T10:08:00.003-04:00

proof that that nothing is classic. what was once that is now this.

by alan powdrill

Strangely Renaissance

2010-03-16T22:18:00.003-04:00

I took this picture at the ancient site of Sparta. The field was overgrown and no sign pointed the way. The tall grass was blowing against of knees and there were snow-top mountains all around us. The sun had gone down behind them. It was an akwardly timeless 16 mintues.

Something I took from Tiffany's blog

2010-03-16T22:14:00.004-04:00

This is without a doubt one of the most stunning works I've ever seen. Dripping with sex and bursting with a nostalgic classy tinted gloss.

I think it's selling shoes.

dirty cities make me think of cleanliness

2010-03-16T22:09:00.002-04:00

Incredible pictures of people that look good.

It's just smooth and sexy.

Sounion

2010-02-06T12:33:00.001-05:00

At the very edge of the attic peninsula, there is a temple to poseidon.
It's pretty dope.

on decay

2010-02-01T16:39:00.007-05:00

there are some places that are dead and other that aren't. Athens died years ago. Festering among those ruins was something else. Bustling energy, angry decay, scattered trash, needles and human shit in alleys, grease, sweat, and sex. Socrates is dead.

welcome to the good life.

my new pad in greece

2010-01-20T04:39:00.002-05:00

I actually love it a lot.

super!

2010-01-13T19:31:00.004-05:00

I can't tell if i like the photography (it works i guess), but look at these fucking clothes. I reminds me of what I imagine the feigned rebirth of modernism in the 80's would have looked like if a nouveau mondrian made outfits. The yellow tights seal the deal.

my work: boy with crayons, girl with candy on her

2010-01-08T22:00:00.002-05:00

My work: the fair in Canfield

2010-01-08T21:36:00.006-05:00

Hope Gangloff: egon schiele moves to williamsburg

2009-11-17T11:07:00.006-05:00

Joseph Cartright

2009-11-11T17:11:00.001-05:00

Beautify and childlike. Sexy and fashionable.

2009-11-11T16:43:00.000-05:00

Benjamin Krain

2009-11-11T11:07:00.000-05:00

The bizarre and the political seem uncomfortably confused and without a cutting subversive edge (i.e. it's not detached enough to be cool). Yet, the work remains strangely magnetic.

Haus of Gaga: paparazzi

2009-10-27T00:35:00.001-04:00

Haus of Gaga

2009-10-27T00:33:00.002-04:00

2009-10-26T23:54:00.001-04:00

2009-10-26T23:50:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:48:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:42:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:40:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:36:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:34:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:31:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:29:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:27:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:19:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:18:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:16:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:14:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:12:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:10:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:09:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T23:07:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:59:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:56:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:54:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:48:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:38:00.002-04:00

2009-10-26T22:38:00.001-04:00

2009-10-26T22:36:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:35:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:33:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:30:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:28:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:26:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:16:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:13:00.000-04:00

2009-10-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

Kristin Lucas: Before and After her name change

2009-10-26T21:47:00.001-04:00

Calvin Klein Redux

2009-10-26T20:27:00.001-04:00

Larry Towell Retrospective in Youngstown

2009-10-26T19:43:00.002-04:00

5 photo websites

2009-09-10T18:54:00.000-04:00

PS1 on FlickR http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifotog/3131223350/

Wallpaper http://www.wallpaper.com/

William Eggleston http://www.egglestontrust.com/

Lamography http://www.lomography.com/

The Photograph as Contemporary Art http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/galleries/0511142023.php

2009-09-08T00:14:00.000-04:00

Week Eleven (Matta Clark's Spaces)

2008-12-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

Gordon Matta Clark spent his short career making strange and poetic environments. He examined the processes of demolition and creation, choosing mostly on abandoned and unused building to construct temporary installations. These photos are documentations.

Personna - Pixelated Self

2008-12-02T11:37:00.000-05:00

Mapping - The Belt Buckle View

2008-12-02T11:34:00.000-05:00

Week Ten (Smithson)

2008-12-02T00:43:00.000-05:00

Robert Smithson was inspiration for the emulation project. I've compiled a range of photographs that represent the breadth of his work in order to emphasize the non spiral jetty Smithson. Smithson's fans (like any true Nirvana supporter who knows smells like teen spirit is a good song but not their best) recognize the importance of Spiral Jetty should not outshine these other artistic moves.

Week nine (Narratives)

2008-12-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

Jeff Wall

Interestingly, the Allen has a large print of this photograph

Charlie White

Louise Lawler

Others

I didn't know this was yours Pipo until after I first published it.

Week Eight - Somali Pirates

2008-11-24T17:13:00.000-05:00

causing widespread chaos off the coast of eastern Africa, Somali pirates are robbing from the rich to bring millions of dollars for new schools and hospitals, the likes of which the impoverished nation has never before had access to.

week 7 images

2008-11-18T11:32:00.001-05:00

Some interesting work from the blogs of others

2008-11-18T11:32:00.000-05:00

week 6 images (Hank Willis Thomas)

2008-11-18T11:06:00.001-05:00

week 5 images (Gerhard Richter)

2008-11-18T10:51:00.000-05:00

(

week 4 images (center for land use interpretation)

2008-11-11T09:35:00.000-05:00

Week Three Images (Film Inspiration)

2008-10-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

People I know/would like to know/don't know

2008-09-30T01:08:00.000-04:00

3 people I know

3 people I would like to know

3 strangers

Week Two Images

2008-09-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

Week One Images

2008-09-10T21:53:00.000-04:00

Favorite Photo

2008-09-09T00:29:00.000-04:00

This title may be a little misleading, considering that my tastes have changed with my age. Yet, I remember first seeing this image when I was about 10 or so. I guess I wasn't as impressed with the shot as I was with the young girl in it. I declared to my mother that she was the most beautiful human I had ever seen. That I would find her and marry her. Save her. It is telling that my majestic first impression of those eyes, that convey such a profound desperation and beauty, has lessened with every viewing. I chose this image because it is a memory. It remains a snapshot of a 10 year younger me looking at a girl photographed over 20 years ago.

10 Photographers

2008-09-09T00:13:00.000-04:00

Cindy Sherman
Kevin Bubriski

Bruce Conner

Paul Wolff Otto Umbehr

Weegee

Eugene Thiebault

Bill Daniel

Steve McCurry