Hustler of Culture

NYC - SPICE OPENING (01/27/05)

SPICE OPENING TONIGHT @ 7pm

ABC No Rio Gallery
156 Rivington Street, New York, NY

A Photography Exhibition and Auction for the Architecture for Humanity/WorldChanging.com Tsunami Reconstruction Appeal opens tonight.

One month after the Indian Ocean tsunami, an exhibition and auction of photography of South East Asia opens on New York's Lower East Side to raise funds for reconstruction projects in countries affected by the disaster.

Spice, named to evoke the diversity of cultures and the variety of contributors involved, is hosted at the art and activism collective, ABC No Rio, to raise money for Architecture for Humanity. Architecture for Humanity is the registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings design services to communities in need.

japan stock climbing.

i'm not much of a shopper. but you already know that. i just can't bear to pay retail having worked that industry at one time or another. and besides, free anything spoils you until the end of your days. you know how happy you are when someone picks up the dinner check? multiply that feeling by 100 when a package of comped clothes are sent your way.

i left new york city six weeks ago. since then, two japanese shops have made their north american debut. both in manhattan. i was curious to scope them out.

after much hooloomooloo, a bathing ape has finally opened stateside. a what? nevermind. i dropped in on the bape boutique on a cold winter's day. several feet of snow kept locals inside and tourists away. whatever happened to their infamous queues? the shop clerks easily outnumbered consumers. for a select shop, the staff is pretty friendly. the space itself is sweet -- stark and simple. i love the conveyer belt shoecase display. clever. however the store feels a little sterile with very few items showcased for sale. nobody bought anything. but that doesn't matter to nigo. when was the last time you paid $300 for a sweatshirt? yeah, me too.

a bathing ape
91 greene street
new york ny 10013
212 925 0222

ironically the second shop of interest is the very antithesis of a bathing ape. muji (short for mujirushi ryohin or "no-brand goods") -- the ikea slash gap of japan is now a shop within a store. debuting inside the moma design store, muji stationery, knick knacks and housewares are now available for consumption. however, buying muji products inside a museum shop defeats it's very purpose of exisiting. generic and affordable objects for living is now a fuss! the dollar conversion makes purchasing a bit pricey and i miss, what to me, makes muji fantastic (soaps and clothing). still, there's lots to pick through. for the full experience, visit muji abroad.

moma design store (soho)
81 spring street
new york, ny 10012
646 613 1367
Monday through Saturday, 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday, 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

for a taste of japanese wares and digs, drop in the next time you're rocking the big A. bring money. you'll need it.

OC - Beautiful Losers @ Orange County Museum of Art (02/06/05 - 05/15/05)

Beautiful Losers opens at the Orange County Museum of Art

Beautiful Losers opens at the Orange County Museum of Art on February 6th and runs through May 15th. The opening night party is on Saturday the 5th. Also running concurrently is an installation at OCMA's Orange Lounge located at the South Coast Plaza in Newport Beach. The Orange Lounge will be featuring the entire Film & Video portion of Beautiful Losers as well as a major collaborative installation entitled "You Are Here" by the infamous collective The Art Dump of Girl Skateboards. More info available at www.ocma.net and www.ocma.net/orangelounge.

Iconoclast website set to launch mid February

The Iconoclast website will be launching in about 3 weeks. The site will feature a wealth of resource information on its illustrious roster of artists. Exclusive Iconoclast Editions will also be available directly on the site. Be sure to bookmark www.iconoclastusa.com. Later this spring a limited number of only 30 complete Beautiful Losers Silkscreen Portfolios will be available on the site. Each Portfolio will include over 30 silkscreens by Beautiful Losers artists packaged in a custom box with numbered title page.

agnes b. reception for The Beautiful Losers Silkscreen Portfolio

On Sunday February 6th, the agnes b. store located at 100 North Robertson in Los Angeles will be hosting a reception for the Beautiful Losers Silkscreen Portfolio including several newly available prints. There will be a special guest DJ as well as the premier screening of Cheryl Dunn's new short film entitled "Tokyo Hands". Call 310.271.9643 for more information.

warm inside.

i'm rarely surprised. smart girl chicago got me good. merci beaucoup robin. your love and support is mucho appreciated. as always, you rock!

SF - LIVE MUSIC @ LOW GALLERY (01/22/05)

LIVE MUSIC @ LOW GALLERY
saturday, 1/22/05 // 9pm

Tres Ferocious
&
Koozito

*Check Low Gallery for MP3 samples. www.lowgallery.com

Tres Ferocious: solo guitar from Petey Dammit (Big Techno Werewolves). Sounds like John Fahey/ finger picking excellence.

Koozito: quiet 2 piece drums and guitar. Think Fuck/ Yo La Tengo/ Elliot Smith/ Calexico

FREE!

Y MUCHO MAS!

----
Low Gallery
contact@lowgallery.com
http://www.lowgallery.com
Wednesday - Sunday 12pm - 7pm
487 14th St.
San Francisco, Ca.
94103

Texas - Kozyndan (01/22/05 - 02/21/05)

ART PROSTITUTE PROUDLY PRESENTS
Hidden Characters: JANUARY 22 - FEBRUARY 21
FEATURING THE WORK OF: KOZYNDAN
http://www.kozyndan.com

ARTIST'S RECEPTION SAT. JANUARY 22 (7-11 PM)
ART PROSTITUTE GALLERY
210 E. HICKORY
DENTON, TX 76201
940.381.1526
http://www.artprostitute.com
Regular Hours: Mon-Sat 12-8 (or by appointment)
After party will be at Hailey's (122 Mulberry St. Denton, TX)

ARTIST'S BOOK SIGNING FRIDAY JANUARY 21 (7-10 PM)
GRAY MATTERS GALLERY
113 N. HASKELL
DALLAS, TX 75226
214.824.7108
http://www.graymattersgallery.com

a brand new start of it.

i've been playing a lot of karaoke revolution volume 3 recently. aside from "under pressure" and "killing me softly", the only other song i like to belt aloud over and over again is sinatra's "new york, new york". it makes me nostalgic.

as luck would have it, a few things came up. a tiny gig. the closing of the sale of our home. friends missed. yesterday, i bought a ticket for new york city for today. so i'm here, back in the big apple. i only left six weeks ago. it feels odd and nice to be here as a visitor. i still love it. going to spend the next five days running around. amigos, let's grab some grub!

NYC - Beatrice Caracciolo Exhibition (01/20/05 - 02/26/05)

More Info: Charles Cowles Gallery

NYC - Kim Krans (01/20/05 - 02/26/05)

No Name Ocean, 2004, oil, acrylic, ink, graphite, synthetic fur, glitter, sequins, gold leaf, and glue on paper, 48 x 89”

Kim Krans

…but whatever it was, it came out of the trees.

January 20 • February 26, 2005

Reception for the artist: Friday January 21 6 • 8 pm

537 WEST 24TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10011 (212) 741-9955 WWW.DCKTCONTEMPORARY.COM

NYC - Paul Ramirez Jonas' Heavier Than Air at Printed Matter (01/22/05)

Heavier Than Air

By Paul Ramirez Jonas

Book Launch at Printed Matter, Inc.

Saturday, January, 22, 2005 from 5 to 7 PM

Printed Matter is pleased to announce a book launch for Paul Ramirez Jonas' latest publication, Heavier Than Air. Please join us for a reception for the artist on Saturday, January 22, 2005 from 5 to 7 PM. Printed Matter is located at 535 West 22nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.

Published on the occasion of the traveling exhibition, Heavier than Air: Paul Ramirez Jonas, the book surveys Ramirez Jonas' work from the last ten years, offering insight into his artistic practice - one that is pervaded by a sense of futile endeavor and an almost perverse celebration of failure. The unwritten history of technology provides the basis for the artist's meditations on much broader concerns, in particular, loss, memory, and the passage of time.

philly - memory document (02/04/05 - 03/25/05)

more info: jose parla / ease / www.222gallery.com

NYC - Cory Arcangel (Beige), Welcome to my Homepage Artshow (01/13/05 - 02/12/05)

Cory Arcangel (Beige), Welcome to my Homepage Artshow
13 January - 12 February 2005

Team will present new work by Cory Arcangel from the 13th of January through the 12th of February 2005. The gallery is located at 527 West 26th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, on the ground floor.

This exhibition, entitled Welcome to my Homepage Artshow, is the first solo show in New York by Arcangel, a founding member of the Beige Programming Ensemble. The show includes a number of new hacked Nintendo game cartridges - the work that Arcangel has become known for - and a number of new works in the medium of video. In the former group are a fully interactive Ipod® programmed for the Nintendo® system and an absurdly slowed down version of Tetris®. In the latter group are Sans Simon, a video of Simon and Garfunkel in which the artist uses his hand to hide Simon's presence, and Geto Boys/Beach Boys in which videos by the two eponymous bands are played side by side creating an oddly harmonic synchronicity.

LA - Political Minded 4 (01/14/05 - 01/16/05)

Political Minded 4, Los Angeles

Cold Water Flat, HVW8.com and PUMA presents :
Political Minded 4, Los Angeles

125 W 4th Street Ste 103 LosAngeles, CA 90013
www.thespacela.com

Dates:
Opening: Friday, Jan 14th, 2004, 9pm - 2am
Closing: Sunday, Jan16th, 2004, 5pm – 9pm

Afterparties at Situation Normal
120 West 4th Street

During Gallery opening hours more art will be on display at Situation Normal.

For press inquires please email Jamaal Layne coldwaterflat@gmail.com

SM - The PreHistoric Lizard Dancers Peep Show (01/22/05)

O N E N I G H T O N L Y

BUSHWICK FARMS PRESENTS...

The PreHistoric Lizard Dancers Peep Show

Saturday January 22nd, 2005 5pm - 8 pm

At Bergamot Station

Building G Courtyard

In front of Bergamot Books, 2525 Michigan Avenue Santa Monica, CA

12 - 4pm Come and meet The Managers, Joe Rotto and Violet Gray at the Bushwick Farms Pumpkin Butter stand

5 - 8pm PreHistoric Lizard Dancers Peep Show inside the highly acclaimed travel trailer

7.15pm DONT MISS JAM SELLERS

please visit us at http://www.bushwickfarms.com/

NYC - New Works by Koa (01/13/05)

NYC - NUEVOS RICOS = USA (01/27/05)

CREATIVE TIME PRESENTS: NUEVOS RICOS = USA

Organized by Carlos Amorales and Featuring Aux Raus, Silverio, and Sonido Lasser Drakar

THURSDAY JANUARY 27, 2005

PASSERBY, 436 West 15th Street, NYC, 10 P.M. - 2 A.M.
Image by Carlos Amorales

To attend please RSVP to rsvp@creativetime.org.

Dance the night away! Creative Time and Carlos Amorales present the U.S. premiere of the independent record label Nuevos Ricos. NUEVOS RICOS = USA is a rare and electrifying combination of music, visual art, performance, and spectacle featuring bands that use rock and electronic music as a jumping point for their outlandish and interactive performances.

Nuevos Ricos = USA is presented in conjunction with Carlos Amorales' artwork, The Forest, on Creative Time's The 59th Minute: Video Art on the NBC Astrovision by Panasonic in Times Square through February 28, 2005. For more information.

Visit nuevosricos.com to download music and videos!

Special thanks to Yvon Lambert Gallery, Rita Ackermann, Agathe Snow from feedthetroops-onthemove.com, and Gavin Brown.

Nuevos Ricos = USA has been made possible with funds from the Mondriaan Foundation and the Consulate General of the Netherlands.

NYC - Pretend Friendly (01/14/05 - 02/15/05)

Pretend Friendly
Curated by Alfredo Martinez

January 14-February 15, 2005

Opening reception: January 14, 2005, 6-9 pm

New York, December 23, 2004—the:artist:network is pleased to present Pretend Friendly, a group exhibition of 20 emerging artists, curated by Alfredo Martinez. Pretend Friendly is the dynamic synthesis of increasingly subversive attitudes by a younger generation of New York-based artists exploring the tension between aesthetic sensibilities and a darkening global vision.

The exhibition provides an intimate setting for these artists to express their idiosyncratic voices freely as they investigate a creeping uneasiness in American society. Despite their varied artistic backgrounds their works share the ambiguity of apparent beauty laced with a sinister mood; the often attractive and skillfully rendered artwork at second sight reveals an insurgent edge.

having a ball.

kozyndan recently played a lot of katamari damacy over here. read about their side effects of playing in this wired news story by daniel. katamari damacy is the most innovative and original videogame title on the market. and it's tetris-addictive, if you know what i mean. robin's blog, gewgaw, is a great resource for what kind of crack-like powers this game has. i know i'm not the only one waiting for the sequel!

boulder dash.

AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

as you already know, it's storming crazy here in california. this photograph is so beautiful i just had to post it. i always enjoy the man versus nature shots. because the team i'm rooting for always wins (temporarily). upon viewing this shot, i automatically thought it's nature's way of saying, "give peace a chance." immediately after this thought, i was reminded of the canyon level in mario kart 64. dodging a boulder in real life is no game. man, thank buddha nobody got hurt. it's also miraculous the boulder didn't roll down any further and smash a house. can you imagine the noise the 25 feet high boulder made when it landed? probably, magnificent. topanga canyon road is a pretty road to travel on. i think it just got a little prettier. hello mother nature, i hear you. peace.

npr report on the record-breaking rains and the boulder.

welcome. we love you.

love heart and international love by alexander girard

ej once ragged on me for obsessing about and starting the home design process at the front door. the welcome mat we had in southern california had succumbed to beach weather and erosion and was not transferable. it took me over six months to find the perfect doormat to welcome guests into our manhattan home. i wanted something simple; pretty to wipe my feet on, but sturdy. i found the perfect mondrian-patterned round mat and have brought it here with us. it's very new york.

i recently found a new doormat for the interior of our home. nothing says hello and welcome like the folk-inspired modernist doormats by textile artist alexander girard. reissued by maximo, this hand-tufted, 100% natural coir fiber welcome mat can be yours for $40.00. it's very california. 24L x24W 1-1/2H”.

maximo offers more designs.