Practicing the Art of the Selfie / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — How many selfies is too many? From teenagers with cadavers and selfie-snappin’ toddlers to couples taking “couplies“ (just one type of group selfie), the selfie’s possibilities seem as inexhaustible as a history of portraiture. Is it narcissistic to...
Waxing and Waning with the Stars in Hollywood / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — President Barack Obama stands fully formed in wax towards the exit of the entertaining, kitschy tourist trap that is the Hollywood Wax Museum. Celebrity gazing is a thoroughly American tradition, and as such, the Hollywood Wax Museum has three other...
Peeking into the LA Art Book Fair’s Queer Zine Show / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — The LA Art Book Fair is for those who cannot afford to buy art. That includes everyone from recent MFAs to working artists, writers and curators, and collectors who like objects that take up space on the coffee table — not the wall. Miranda July and...
Selfies Reflected in Your Eyes / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — Your selfies are a visual wonderland. This week’s images touch on boredom, mother-daughter relationships, photo booth self-portraits as predecessors of the selfie, webcam-induced mirror reflections, and plain old internet “weirdness” that borders on...
Daydreaming of a Star You’ve Never Seen / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — Once in awhile, we all think about it, though some of us admittedly more than others: What’s it like to be a movie star? How would I look on the cover of a magazine, on a movie poster, on celluloid, in the tabloids, as a doll, as a picture to hang on the...
In on the Art Joke: Scott Reeder at 356 Mission / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — In Scott Reeder’s latest show, he’s made sure to drop in an almost unnoticeable banana that, upon recognition of the fruit, appears as just another prop in an alternate parody universe. Reeder’s work goes deeper because the jokes offer a one-two punch...
Geopolitics Through the Lens of the Beatles / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — Iraqi-American conceptual artist Michael Rakowitz works in a liminal space between fantasy and reality, much like an artist who makes fan art. This is a compliment and a reality, for it’s impossible to think about the artist without thinking about fandom;...
A Journal for Art That’s Purely Digital / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — Artists who work in the digital realm — making GIFs, glitch art, web collage, short videos about ways to Google-Image search California — are increasingly gaining recognition with exhibitions, auctions, and biennials. A new artist/writer-led online...
Revisiting a Time When You Could Look but Not Touch / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — It was 1950, and the men were hot, greased up, and posing as if they were the original “David.” Then they were photographed and choreographed by Chuck Renslow, who founded Kris Studios for male physique photography, at a time when gay male sexuality operated...
Selfie Companionship / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — Whether you like your selfies singular and meditative or coupled and cozy, there’s always an opportunity to see yourselfie anew. This week’s post examines a particular breed of companion selfies — or group selfies, if you prefer — that consist of two...
Over 200 Years of Portraiture in One Exhibition / Hyperallergic
There’s never a bad time to take a selfie, although bathroom stalls are the ideal location. The self-portrait takes more planning, posing, and consideration, but, like the selfie, it will forever serve as a mirrored reflection of its moment. Striking Resemblance: The...
Selfie Reflections / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — There are selfies for every occasion, outfit, haircut, new pair of glasses, and reflective work of art, and then there are accidental selfies in Craigslist mirrors. Are these windows onto the soul or just portals-for-sale that happen to end up on a smartly...
Waiting for Faith Wilding on the Internet / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — It was the second wave of feminism. I wasn’t alive yet, but I like to daydream about what it would have been like to attend those women’s consciousness-raising meetings, female-centric spiritual get-togethers, heated strategic battles over how to win...
Stitching Not Bitching / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — John Chaich’s exhibition Queer Threads considers artworks that use craft aesthetics to reclaim, reimagine, and renegotiate previously accepted hierarchies of visual culture. Much like Chicago-based curator Danny Orendorff’s exhibition All Good Things Become...
The Art of 3D Printing / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — For artist Tom Burtonwood, the transition into 3D scanning and printing was as natural as popping food into a microwave rather than settling for cold leftovers. It happened in the heat of a New York City summer in 2012, when Burtonwood participated in...
10 Chicago Art Exhibitions to See This Winter / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — There will be hundreds of exhibitions between now and the end of March, when the weather starts to warm up around these Middle West parts. Culled from this group are 10 not-to-miss shows opening during this period that ask questions about climate change,...
Watching the Selfie Olympics / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, will begin on February 7, but theselfie olympics have already gone viral. These gold-, silver- and bronze-winning selfies show individuals displaying amazing agility in relation to the mirror. These competitors...
You’re Just Some Weirdo / Hyperallergic
LOS ANGELES — Every day, a weirdo is born. Some people feel as if they have the word terminally painted across their foreheads and need no reminders of their weirdness. Others visit artist Kristin Calabrese’s studio — as I did right after getting off a plane in Los...
Transcending the Surface of Warhol and Marisol / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — In his book The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, the famous pop artist considered the surface nature of his life and art in a very deadpan manner. He gives equal importance to acts of throwing out gay porn magazines, flushing things...
Hot Internet TVs on Frozen Winter Days / Hyperallergic
CHICAGO — Media theorist Marshall McLuhan once said that television is cool and radio is hot. This isn’t a temperature thing, but rather a classification of media based on the participation it involves from viewers — TV watchers can be more detached, whereas radio...