An evening with HIDE/SEEK

Nights like tonight are sort of magical for emerging artists and art lovers like myself. Tonight I joined a handful of other folks at a collector's home for a private presentation of HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, by curators Jonathan Katz and David C. Ward. Katz is an associate professor at the University of Buffalo, where he chairs the visual studies doctoral program. Ward is a historian at the National Portrait Gallery. The show has been in the news ever since right-wing activists threatened the Smithsonian over the exhibition and especially since Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough removed David Wojnarowicz’s video A Fire in My Belly (1987) from the show.

Minor White

Alright, let's get real, we're talking a dozen people on a couch with these two amazing trailblazers in contemporary curatorial and queer academia. We watched as they explained their research, process and thesis behind this amazing show. Then we engaged in a great discourse about issues surrounding museums and institutions, their duties as educators and role models and the surprising reluctancy to address the immense presence of queer art and artists in history (did you know that in a recent museum exhibition Robert Rauschenberg was listed as just "having married," when in reality he divorced a year later and went on to date Cy Twombly and Jasper Johns? When Jonathan Katz brought this up during a museum tour, he was escorted out by security!).

Robert Rauschenberg

HIDE/SEEK is one of the single most controversial exhibitions of our time, surprisingly enough the first time LGBTQ presence in art has ever been addressed head on in the public art arena in America. This is also one of the first controversial cases of art censorship to come around in a long long time. Tonight I learned that next to banking, the art (museum) world is one of the most homophobe and conservative environments in America, most have harshly rejected queer art to protect their sponsorships and endowments from conservative sources. 

Thomas Eakins

(Fun fact: when the curator pulled that stunning Eakins painting (above) out of the crate, the label on the back of the fram read "Seattle's World's Fair, 1962," it was framed and exhibited in Seattle 50 years ago for the World's Fair!)

Kudos to the Tacoma Art Museum for taking a huge risk on this amazing exhibit and bringing it to the Pacific Northwest. This is the ONLY and last stop on the west coast after the National Portrait Gallery and Brooklyn Art Museum for this exhibition, which will go down as one of the most important displays of art in American history. If you don't go see this show then... you're really missing out on something special!! 

The show opens this weekend, click here to check out all the awesome programming around this exhibition! I'm going to be in Portland and San Francisco in the next week, but when I get back I am heading over to the Tacoma Art Museum to view this show and will share more about my thoughts on the show.

 untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA) by Félix González-Torres 

P.S. This piece above blew my mind! Ross was Felix Gonzalez-Torres' partner, who died of AIDS. Ross weighted 160 lbs, and about half that by the time he died. This piece is made up of 160lbs of candy, it represents Ross, it represents his virus, AIDS, his killer. The interesting part though, is that visitors are invited to take a piece of candy and eat it. By doing so you are not only "consuming the virus," you're also contributing to the lessening of the pile and the weight. You are consuming the infected body and also becoming the virus yourself by destroying the integrity of the pile and slowly eating away at it. Much like Catholics do so in communion, you consume the body. There are so many dimensions and aspects to this piece, from the formal aspects of it, to it's endurance and presence in history (will it every disappear?). Can't wait to see it in person!

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Whitney Biennial Apologized to Participating Artists

2012 WHITNEY BIENNIAL TO OPEN MARCH 1;
MUSEUM BREAKS WITH TWO CORPORATE SPONSORS,
APOLOGIZES TO PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Sculpture, painting, installations, and photography—as well as dance, theater, music, and film—will fill the galleries of the Whitney Museum of American Art in the latest edition of the Whitney Biennial. With a roster of artists at all points in their careers the Biennial provides a look at the current state of contemporary art in America. This is the seventy-sixth in the ongoing series of Biennials and Annuals presented by the Whitney since 1932, two years after the Museum was founded.

The Biennial will open on March 1 despite the Whitney's recent action to return money provided by two major sponsors of the Biennial—Sotheby's and Deutsche Bank—whose recent corporate conduct has made it impossible for the Museum to maintain a partnership with them.

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

The Whitney will find a way to open the 2012 Biennial in spite of the Museum's difficult decision to break with the two major corporate sponsors of the Biennial. Regretfully, the Whitney entered into a sponsor agreement with Sotheby's before the auction house locked out forty-three of its unionized art handlers once their contract expired in July 2011. Last year saw record-breaking sales with profits over $100 million for Sotheby's; the pay of the CEO alone doubled to $6 million. Yet Sotheby's has sought to break organized labor by starving their workers into submission—locked out of their jobs and without wages since August, these workers and their families lost their health care benefits at the end of 2011.

The Whitney recognizes that the financial speculation on art taking place in secondary sales of works benefits wealthy investors far more than the artists who created the works, let alone the workers who craft, move, install, maintain, or guard them. The Museum understands the importance of providing working people—including artists who must work second jobs to support their careers—with the livable wages and healthcare for which the Sotheby's art handlers are fighting. Sotheby's actions are a direct attack on the Museum's mission to support and collect the work of living artists. For these reasons, the Whitney cannot allow Sotheby's to tarnish the image of the Biennial any longer.

The Whitney also announces its break with major sponsor Deutsche Bank, which is facing numerous lawsuits and accusations of fraud from both investors and the U.S. government. Deutsche Bank and its subsidiary Mortgage IT profited from selling and insuring mortgages, and are currently in litigation with the U.S. government over a $1 billion claim for fraudulently obtained federal mortgage insurance; because of their dealings in mortgage-based collateralized debt obligations, they have also been sued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association. The reckless and even fraudulent financial speculation by banks like Deutsche Bank has created enormous social costs in terms of lost jobs, savings, and homes. The Whitney does not want the bank's sponsorship of the Biennial to distract from these serious matters or to reflect poorly on the Museum, and so must end the sponsorship agreement.

AN APOLOGY TO THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

The Whitney is proud to be able to redistribute resources from major corporate donors and super-wealthy individuals to deserving artists, especially within a political and economic system that concentrates wealth for a tiny minority while the majority grows poorer, suffers without healthcare, is forced from their homes, or goes without food. However, the Whitney also recognizes that some donors and sponsors may seek to use their partnership with the Museum to whitewash their image and to hide the social costs of unchecked capital accumulation behind a façade of charity. These sponsors seek to capitalize on the creativity, intelligence, and culture brought into the world by contemporary artists even as the sponsors make that world unlivable. The Whitney recognizes that many emerging artists cannot refuse to participate in a major museum show without endangering their careers, and so apologizes deeply to the participating artists for allowing them to be exploited by the former sponsors in this manner. The Museum hopes the participating artists will join us in denouncing the wrongs committed by our former sponsors and trusts the artists will use the resources provided to them to foster a more vibrant, livable, just, and sustainable world.

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Inspiration: Thinking About Micaela

Last year Karen Irvine from the MoCP was in Seattle and we looked through some of my work together.  It's so interesting to understand what others see in your work in relation to what you see in it. She liked my Micaela Maria project and encouraged to me to pursue it. Since then I've been thinking a lot about that work, the last five years of making it and how it was never conceived as such, but slowly and eventually has become 'something.' I've become interested in this adult-child relationship and have found other artists who have embraced it as well.

Rafael Soldi

Last week Jesse Burke was in town and over dinner he shared having a similar 'holy shit!' moment, when he realized that the photographs he had been making of his daughter, Clover, had suddenly become a a fine art portfolio, a body of work in progress. He talked about it at the lecture he delivered alongside Clover, and also talks about it in his blog. The collaborative relationship they are building is fascinating to me and it got my mind racing again about my relationship with my sister and how picture making-fits in.

Jesse Burke

Jesse Burke

Talking to Jesse immediately got me thinking of Timothy Archibald and his [photographic/collaborative] relationship with his son, their partnership as makers and kinsfolk as they develop his series Echolilia. I don't know that my sister is interested in being part of the process, as she is now in her teens and is more of subject than a collaborator... I think mostly she is just annoyed that I'm taking her picture, but she never says no and her discomfort is very much an important part of documenting her coming of age.

Timothy Archibald 

Timothy Archibald

With that in mind, today I stumbled upon the work of Hideaki Hamada, who has been documenting his two small sons. He has a Flickr page that I strongly suggest browsing through. It was actually fun seeing that we use the same camera, same lens and same film... but damn this guy has an amazing sense of light.... I don't know if he carries a fill flash around, but if I could find light in the places he finds light in I'd be a happy man! Anyhow, his portraits of his sons are heartwarming and kind of amazing.

Can anyone suggest other adult/child, parent/child or sibling relationships in photography? I'd love to learn more about how others have navigated this process.

Hideaki Hamada

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As of late...

I've become very very bad at updating the blog. This Monday I will be sending out a newsletter sharing some good news, if you're not on my mailing list make sure to sign up.

In the meantime I've been getting ready for the National SPE Conference in San Francisco. Who's going? I'd love to meet up with anyone who will be attending! Last year I was extremely unprepared and did not bring enough postcards, business cards or even a printed portfolio, so this year I've been printing like a madman and putting small portfolios together.

 As Spring nears, First Days of Spring by Noah and The Whale is on my mind...






And once it gets warmer warmer out... this is my plan:

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Seattle Weekly by Bryan

If you picked up last week's copy of the Seattle Weekly, hold on to it because my awesome boyfriend Bryan Carle styled the cover, photographed by John Keatley.

Spring Arts 2012 issue of Seattle Weekly

Bryan on set

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Micaela Maria Updates

Some of you may know that I've been documenting my younger sister for about five years now. She is now 15 going on 16 and I'm still captivated by her coming of age. I've watched her put on her first contact lenses, develop relationships with her friends and change her style as she grows up.

I've made it my mission lately to catch up on 2+ years worth of film that has gone unscanned. I've been pretty busy at work these past few weeks so I've been enjoying taking it easy on the weekends and devoting some time to sorting, scanning, organizing and updating my work. I feel like I'm finally starting to catch up and get a handle on where things are. I haven't shared work in a long time, even though I've been shooting lots. Here are some images from the past year from my Micaela Maria project... I will do a website update soon, I promise... I just have 48 more scans to edit.

All Images by Rafael Soldi

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Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography

Hasselblad Foundation
	Hasselblad Award Winner 2012 Announcement March 8 www.hasselbladfoundation.org
	The winner of the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography will be announced at www.hasselbladfoundation.org on March 8 beginning at 9am Central European Time (CET). Between 2 and 3pm CET the same day the winner will be available for questions and comments on a live chat at the same web address. Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography is granted for exceptional photographic achievement and amounts to SEK 1,000,000 (approximately EUR 105,000). On October 26, 2012 an exhibition of the award winner's work will open at the Foundations' exhibition hall Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg Museum of Art. In connection therewith one or more seminars will be arranged with the award winner Hasselblad Foundation For more information: Jenny Blixt | T: +46 31 778 2154 | jenny.blixt@hasselbladfoundation.orgwww.hasselbladfoundation.org | info@hasselbladfoundation.org Ekmansg 8, 41256 Göteborg, SWEDEN     The Hasselblad Foundation is an independent non-profit entity, created to promote research and academic teaching in the natural sciences and photography. This aim is achieved by means of donations and grants for scientific research, through the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography, as well as several scholarships and grants for research projects in photography. Victor Hasselblad (1906–1978), the pioneering Swedish photographer and industrialist, manufactured a camera which has become world famous, not least in connection with the manned trips to the moon. After his death, the Hasselblad Foundation was established in 1979 under the terms of the last will and testament of Dr. Victor Hasselblad and his wife Erna.

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La Confesion

A few years ago I saw this image in a catalog and it absolutely possessed me. I don't know why, but today it just made its way into my head again and I still find it just as affecting as I did back then.

Cristina Garcia Rodero

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Art Dubai 2012

Art Dubai
	Study for "Oil and Water," James Clar and UBIK, 2012, Courtesy of the artists and Art Dubai.
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	ART DUBAI PROJECTSOver 40 international and UAE-based artists included in a dynamic programme of new artists' and curator's residencies, commissioned performances, site-specific works and live radio broadcasts  March 21–24, 2012 artdubai.ae/projects
	Art Dubai Projects is a programme of new works that explores the fabric and economy of an art fair, embracing the theatrical nature of such an event. In 2012, this critically-acclaimed, interactive programme at Art Dubai (21–24 March 2012) features dynamic new initiatives: artists' residencies and site-specific projects are joined by live, city-wide radio transmissions; a new Performance Night staged at the fair; plus a unique artist's project for children. Artists commissioned to produce new site-specific and performative works for Art Dubai Projects includeFayçal Baghriche, Yto Barrada, Carlos Celdran, James Clar, Koken Ergun, Rami Farook, Setu Legi,Magdi Mostafa, UBIK and Deniz Üster. In partnership with The Pavilion Downtown Dubai, The Curatorial Delegation—a collective consisting of writer and curator Juan A. Gaitán and Rabat's L'Appartement 22 founder Abdellah Karroum—presentsRadio for Example (R22-Dubai), a live transmission of mobile conversations with leading artistic practitioners, recorded on the move, around Dubai. These interviews will be streamed on Radio Appartement 22 and presented at Art Dubai and The Pavilion. In keeping with the spirit of collaboration, Art Dubai hosts its inaugural Performance Night on March 22, in partnership with not-for-profit artspace Traffic, Dubai. This special event features artists, poets, musicians, academics, curators, and collectors—most of whom are based in the UAE—including Hala Al Ali, Isak Berbic, Jennifer & Kevin McCoy, Anahita Razmi, Lantian Xie and WolfPakistan, a self-styled "native-born Emirati Indian Slash Mexican dance rap group." Art Dubai Projects also presents an ambitious series of commissioned interactive performances. In 2012, selected artists include Manila-based Carlos Celdran, who will perform seven acts in seven different parts of Art Dubai, offering commentary about issues surrounding geopolitics, arts and culture, and Koken Ergun, from Istanbul, whose new project involves surprise performances throughout the fair, employing musicality as a means of communication.  Created by renowned Tangier-based artist Yto Barrada with designers Zid Zid Kids, Morocco to the Moon is an interactive, educational installation for families and children. Inspired by 1950s sci-fi, this trilingual space takes visitors on a whimsical trip to outer space and beyond. Other major, site-specific installations include Pseudophobia, an interactive fortress (or refuge)-like structure made from sandbags, textiles, pins and mirrors, by Jogjakarta-based artist Setu Legi. In 2012, Art Dubai, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Tashkeel launched a new, three-month residency programme, for six artists and a curator. As part of their residency, artists FayçalBaghriche (Paris), Magdi Mostafa (Cairo) and Deniz Üster (Istanbul, Glasgow) have been commissioned to make new site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects. Also part of its special commissions programme, Art Dubai Projects features Prototype for a Dubai Commune by Rami Farook and Oil and Water, a collaboration between artists James Clar and UBIK: both projects use architectural models of Dubai landmarks as a point of creative departure. Dubai-based UBIK will also present Portrait of an Artist through his Statements, an edible project that documents the precarious and symbolic relationship artists share with their bank balance on a daily basis. This year Art Dubai debuts The Hatch, an ordinary stairwell given new life as a screening room. This intimate, innovative space features video programmes curated by Bidoun, plus artists' talks and presentations. The sixth edition of Art Dubai takes place 21–24 March 2012 and features 75 galleries from 32 countries, plus a dynamic projects programme, the unveiling of works by Abraaj Capital Art Prize winners, and the critically acclaimed, six-day Global Art Forum. Art Dubai is held in partnership with Abraaj Capital and sponsored by Cartier. Madinat Jumeirah, on Dubai's beachfront, is home to the event. artdubai.ae via e-flux

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