Bare Hands

Just found out that this photograph of mine was published in Bare Hands literary Journal in January. Nice to be told.

http://barehandsissuefour.tumblr.com/#16655675479

Last notebook drawing of February 2012. Paint, ink and collage on notebook paper

Three paintings from the early 1980's recently photographed

up the staircase quarterly

 up the staircase has just posted their latest issue with the cover photo by yours truly.

http://upthestaircase.org/

Ken Price 1935-2012

American Folk Art Museum

After viewing the silent film promo show at Lincoln Center yesterday I went across the street to the American Folk Art Museum, which really isn't much of a museum if one goes by the size of the place. I'm really appalled that this wonderful resource lost it's building on 53rd st. recently and is going to taken over by the Behemoth MOMA which seems to be swallowing up blocks of the city left and right. This is a shame that this museum is no longer there and now only exists in its original cramped space near Lincoln Center. That being said, there is a lovely show up there now picked from their amazing collection called "Jubilation, Rumination Life: Real and imagined with works by many favorites of mine including Henry Darger, Martin Raminez, Bill Traylor whose work can make me cry, Joseph Yokum (I once had two of his great drawings), William Hawkins and many others. So yes I'm pissed that this great museum can only show a small part of its collection but glad that at least we this space for them to wow us. This exhibit is on view until Sept 2, and admission is free of charge.

The Birth Of Promotion. Inventing Film Publicity in The Silent Film Era

Got to this show at The New York Public Library For The Performing Arts just under the wire as it's closing very soon. Its a very lovely installation as you could tell from the photos I've posted and the show was  full of posters, lobby cards, pressbooks, sheet music, photos and programs, and some really nice star promo material like the Colleen Moore cosmetics and the Chaplin doll. Some of the matting of the pieces was odd, and annoying as they cut off some of the images, it was as if they had the mats laying around and used the material to fit into the mats, a small annoyance considering the thought and curatorial finesse that went into the show. They do really nice shows at the Lincoln Center Library For The Performing arts, and I was the only one viewing the exhibition. They always do nice fold over programs which they give out for free, and the one for this show was no exception. It was a large 4pg. foldover that imitated the pressbooks of the period. I also stopped in at the American Folk Art Museum but I'll save that for another day, however, both shows were free.

Spudgun OUT NOW

This is a very nice literary journal from England that has just posted their first issue with 5 collages of mine including one for the cover.

http://www.cccpress.net/

Late February Collage. Paint, ink and collage on paper

Point Blank 2011

No this is not a remake of the 1967 John Boorman classic, but a trim fast and furious French thriller that comes in at a sparse 84 minutes  and is without a dull moment. The film is about a nice youngish couple, he’s a nurse’s aid in a big Paris hospital and she’s a stay at home wife who is pregnant with the couple’s first child. Suddenly they find themselves in a very dangerous situation that fuels the film, and that’s all I’m going to say about the plot.  Well directed by Fred Cavaye with smooth camerawork by Alain Duplantier, and a good cast of actors, most of whom are unknown to me, there is also a nice sly little homage to Diva near the end of the film that brought a smile to my face. The film is violent, tough and tangy and full of twists and surprises, this is the kind of thriller that Hollywood should be making.  One  of the best films of 2011.

Happenings. The Pace Gallery

The Pace Gallery in Chelsea has just mounted another one of their wonderful museum quality exhibitions, this one documenting the Happenings movement that occurred in the young downtown art scene of the late 1950’s and early 60’s.  These were free and loose theatrical events that had the impression of just “happening” but of course a lot of planning and time went into these performances and events that had their roots not only in theatre and dance but also in the surreal and dada movements.   The exhibition is big and loaded with great stuff including photographs (some in color), videos, rare documents, sculptures, paintings and drawings by then unknown artists such as Claes Oldenberg, Jim Dine, Lucas Samaras, Red Grooms and many others.  I kept thinking to myself how did I miss seeing these works when they were originally done, well of course I was only 8 or 9 at the time, so that's how come I missed them, but later on I would meet some of these marvelous artists who made up this brief moment in American Art that would lead to Pop Art, and influence dance, music and poetry. The show is spiffy and the installation is very impressive, looking like a million bucks, which I'm sure it came close to costing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/arts/design/recalling-happenings-events-on-eve-of-pace-exhibition.html?pagewanted=all

Zina Bethune 1945–2012

A Handful Of Dust

 A Handful Of Dust has just posted their latest issue on line with my lithograph from 1976 as their cover. You can view the issue at this link.

http://hofd.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/hodissue6final.pdf

Media Virus

Media Virus has just posted three works by me in their latest on line journal, including this piece that I did when I was around 19. You can view all the works at this link.



http://mediavirusmagazine.wordpress.com/art/

New February Notebook drawing. 2012. Paint, and collage on notebook paper

Peter Breck 1929-2012

New February Notebook drawing. 2012. Paint, ink and collage on notebook paper

Lily Literary Review

 By accident I discovered that Lily Literary Review used one of my photos in their Oct issue, but didn't let me know.

http://freewebs.com/lilylitreview/5_6Obrero.html

Night and Day 1946

I remember seeing this film on my black and white TV back in the 60’s so it came as quite a shock to discover that this very fictionalized movie bio of Cole porter was filmed in bright and pretty Technicolor.  Seeing it on dvd the other night affected me the same way Judy Garland felt in The Wizard Oz when she opened the door after her house landed and she was hit in the face with glorious color and realized that she wasn’t in Kansas anymore. The same can be said for this film, we definitely are not in Kansas, in fact we might be in Bizzaroland better known as  Hollywood. This film looks like it was put together in some intensive care unit out in the Hollywood hills by some very drugged out patients, that’s how far fetched it is. The movie as I said is supposed to be based on the life of Cole Porter, (the credits read based on the career of Cole Porter which kinda lets them off the hook).  Some of the basic facts are here but his homosexuality is of course gone. There are some coded references for those in the know that are dropped throughout the film having to do with Cary Grant (who plays Cole) being uninterested in any of the attractive ladies who are constantly after him including a perky Jane Wyman, a toothy Ginny Simms, and a cold and removed Alexis Smith who plays Linda his neglected wife. In real life Porter was indeed married to Linda, but this was a marriage of convenience, a ruse, a beard, a sham. In the film directed as well as could be expected by the Warner Bros. Jack of all genres Michael Curtiz, Cole (Cary) is more interested in writing musicals and hanging out with his buddy Monty Wooley than spending time with his boring wife. Wooley who plays himself and who in real life was actually a close friend and traveling companion of Porter’s was also gay. In the film however he’s required to make silly passes at all the leggy showgirls, when in real life Mony was more interested in rough trade, while Cole liked the chorus boys. The movie does include his terrible accident where a horse fell on him crushing both legs, but Grant plays it as if it was just a mere inconvenience. The movie is full of gays, bi’s and lesbians in front of and behind the camera, and for sure some of the film is fun, especially a few of the garish musical numbers, and of course Porter’s music is glorious.  One of the best numbers features a  wonderful Mary Martin, young and attractive doing My Heart Belongs To Daddy from “Leave It To Me”  her big breakthrough show that she did with Porter.  This is not one of Grant’s best performance, he seems to be sleep walking through it, and looks like he would rather be somewhere else, I had that feeling myself. 

Lit n Image

Lit N Image the poetry and art journal has posted 9 of my works. You can view them at this link

http://www.litnimage.com/haber.htm

New February Notebook drawing. Paint, ink and collage on notebook paper

Cuchi cuchi coo

They Met In Bombay 1941

Total ludicrousness. Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell play competing  British  jewel thieves who meet cute in Bombay Hollywood in order to steal a fabulous jewel necklace off the neck off Jessie Ralph who plays a rich duchess who drinks way too much. Popping up along the way is Peter Lorre in a small bit as a Chinese freighter captain, and it all gets the M.G.M high production gloss that this lowly programmer did not deserve. Russell is pushed in this film as a romantic lead, (Lana Turner was originally announced to do the part), and to my mind she is miscast. She was always good especially when playing strong women and scene stealing supporting roles, but in this film she isn’t really handled well and is not convincingly as a dame who Gable would fall for, however she does look attractive and is dressed to the hilt by Adrian. This is a very silly and unbelievable movie in which the thieves come clean and Gable posing as a British officer (don’t ask) single handedly takes out an entire Japanese army platoon getting wounded in the process and winning himself a Victoria Cross right before he’s shuttled off to prison. With lush photography by the great William Daniels and so so direction by the decent Clarence Brown. The screenplay was co-written by Anita Loos, who should have known better than to get involved in this.