José Parlá’s Solo Exhibition “In Medias Res” Continues through Saturday at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

Hot Gowanus 2014
"Continuing through Saturday at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, José Parlá’s solo exhibition, 'In Medias Res,' features a range of exquisitely richly-layered, abstract works focusing on the artist’s personal interactions with particular places. Here is a small sampling..."
Street Art NYC
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery
José Parlá
NY Times
vimeo: Wrinkles of The City - Havana, Cuba by JR & José Parla
NOWNESS: José Parlá: Off the Wall

2012 December: The Wrinkles of the City / La Havana / 2012, 2013 February: José Parlá

Typed Portraits of Literary Legends: Kerouac, Saramago, Bukowski & More

"Artists have used all sorts of odd media to create portraits, everything from guitar picks to dice to wooden eggs. Add to this list Brazilian type artist Álvaro Franca, who uses the typewriter. Instead of composing literary portraits of his heroes, Franca types out literal portraits. The principle of the pictures are the same grey-scale printing used in newspapers or, if you spent time in the computer lab in the 1990s, those dot matrix images that were such the rage among computer nerds. Using a computer, Franca breaks the image down into discrete pixels and adds one or more keystrokes to that pixel. ‘I’ and ‘O’ seem to work for lighter greys while visually dense letters like ‘x’ and 'm' are used for the darker end of the spectrum. ..."
Open Culture (Video)

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentleman (2012)

"When a state subsidy is suddenly eviscerated, what’s an enterprising filmmaker to do? In the case of Hungarian helmer Gyorgy Palfi, a leftover post-production grant provided seed money for his delightful montage film Final Cut — Ladies & Gentleman. The product of three years in the editing room, the playful pic consists of quick cuts from more than 450 classics of world cinema, artfully collaged to tell a love story. ... Repping a master class in both film history and editing, the story is told via clips that last just a few seconds yet cleverly move the action forward. Men and women meet cute, take in a show, fall in love, have great sex, marry and honeymoon. With the arrival of domesticity, women cook and clean, and men spend long hours at the office. Misunderstandings surface; men turn paranoid, women dissolve in tears. War tears couples apart, but reconciliation — and a baby — lies in the cards."
Variety
Final cut - Ladies and Gentlemen
vimeo: Everything Is Festival: "Final Cut - Ladies & Gentlemen" (trailer)
YouTube: Final Cut - Hölgyeim es Uraim

Le Jour se lève - Marcel Carné (1939)

Wikipedia - "Le Jour se lève ... is a 1939 French film directed by Marcel Carné and written by Jacques Prévert, based on a story by Jacques Viot. It is considered one of the principal examples of the French film movement known as poetic realism. ... The film begins with foundry worker François (Jean Gabin) shooting and killing Valentin (Jules Berry). François then locks himself in his room in a guest house at the top of many flights of stairs. He is soon besieged by the police, who fail in an attempt to shoot their way into the room, as François barricades himself in. ... Le Jour se lève was released in France in June 1939 and shown in the US the following year. In France, however, the film was banned in 1940 by the Vichy government on the grounds it was demoralizing. After the war's end, the film was shown again to wide acclaim."
Wikipedia
Film Reference - 1952, Sight and Sound
Cinema of the World
Critical Commons: Le Jour se Leve - Love scene between Francois and Francine (Video)
TCM: Beat It Or I'll Shoot! (Video)
YouTube: 75th Anniversary Trailer

How Brooklyn Has Changed on Screen

"We have all heard a great deal at this point about the changes that have come to Brooklyn over the last several decades. In truth, those changes are more complicated than much of the media coverage suggests. But the borough has changed, of course, and its depiction on screen has changed along with it. 'Brooklyn: Through the Lens' shows how filmmakers and TV showrunners have imagined Brooklyn’s past and present, sometimes from right up close, and sometimes from the distance of Hollywood (or Manhattan), from the days of Jackie Robinson and It Happened in Brooklyn to Bored to Death and Lena Dunham, and all the decades in between."
Slate: How Brooklyn Has Changed on Screen (Video)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Live at Monterey (1967)

"The Jimi Hendrix Experience's breakthrough appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival on June 18, 1967, has been committed to disc, in whole or in part, before, starting with the split LP Monterey International Pop Festival, which featured four tracks by Hendrix on one side and performances by Otis Redding on the other. That album was released scant weeks before Hendrix's death in September 1970. In 1986, Jimi Plays Monterey, containing the full ten-song set, appeared. Both those albums were released on Hendrix's original U.S. label, the Reprise imprint of Warner Bros. Records. Experience Hendrix, the company formed to reissue the guitarist's work after his recordings were acquired by his family, has put out its own versions of many of his discs, and Live at Monterey is its take on the Monterey show."
allmusic
W - Live at Monterey
dailymotion: Jimi Hendrix Live at Monterey 1967

2010 September: Jimi Hendrix, 2013 November: Watch Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’, the New PBS Documentary, 2014 July: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock: The Complete Performance in Video & Audio (1969).

Palais Schaumburg

Wikipedia - "Palais Schaumburg was a new wave band from Hamburg, Germany. The style was classified as Neue Deutsche Welle, and strongly characterized by their avant garde music and dadaistic attitude. The band was originally formed in 1980, featuring Timo Blunck, Holger Hiller, Thomas Fehlmann, and percussionist F.M. Einheit. The group's name stands for Das Palais Schaumburg in Bonn, the former residence of German chancellor. ... The group made several singles and albums throughout early 80's, where their avant garde sounds were heavily influenced by funk, especially in albums Lupa and Parlez-Vous Schaumburg."
Wikipedia
allmusic
YouTube: Kinder der Tod, Wir bauen eine neue Stadt, Deutschland kommt gebräunt zurück, Beat of Two 12inch, Easy Go (12 inch extended single version), Ahoi, nicht traurig sein, Telefon, Europa

Émile Henri Bernard

Après-midi à Saint-Briac, 1887
Wikipedia - "Émile Henri Bernard (28 April 1868 – 16 April 1941) was a French Post-Impressionist painter who had artistic friendships with Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Eugène Boch, and at a later time, Paul Cézanne. Most of his notable work was accomplished at a young age, in the years 1886 through 1897. He is also associated with Cloisonnism and Synthetism, two late 19th-century art movements. Less known is Bernard's literary work, comprising plays, poetry, and art criticism as well as art historical statements that contain first hand information on the crucial period of modern art to which Bernard had contributed."
Wikipedia
Musée d'Orsay: Emile Bernard (1868–1941)
MoMA
Google
YouTube: Emile Bernard

Train Kept A-Rollin'

Wikipedia - "'Train Kept A-Rollin' (or 'The Train Kept A-Rollin') is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, it has been reworked into a 'classic guitar riff song for the ages'. Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier song and set them to an upbeat shuffle arrangement that inspired other musicians to perform and record it. Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio made an important contribution in 1956 by adding a prominent three-note minor key repeating guitar line to the song. Although the actual guitar player has been questioned, his contribution has been seen as one of the first uses of an intentionally distorted guitar in rock music. In 1965, the Yardbirds popularized the song as an early psychedelic blues rock song, due largely to Jeff Beck's fuzz-toned guitar work."
Wikipedia
Train Kept A-Rollin'
YouTube: The Train Kept A-Rollin' - Tiny Bradshaw, Johnny Burnette, The Yardbirds

Sigmar Polke: a life of defying convention

Untitled (Quetta, Pakistan) 1974–1978
"Sigmar Polke (1941-2010) is one of the most experimental artists of recent times. Alongside Gerhard Richter and Blinky Palermo, Polke was a key figure in the generation of German artists who first emerged in the 1960s. This autumn Tate Modern presents the first full retrospective of Polke’s career, bringing together paintings, films, sculptures, notebooks, slide projections and photocopies from across five decades, and including works which have never before been exhibited. "
TATE
TATE - Sigmar Polke: a life of defying convention
Walker Art

2009 September: Sigmar Polke, 2014 April: Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963–2010

Fania at Fifty

"Fania Records, the legendary Latin music label, has been celebrating its fiftieth anniversary with a series of events in New York and Los Angeles, its opening salvo a Central Park show last June spotlighting salsero Roberto Roena. It felt, indeed, like a party. Hundreds of dancers flooded the area in front of the stage. Those present merely to spectate were forced backward. ... In its sixties and seventies heyday, Fania was the most powerful force in the Latin music industry, and salsa was the most powerful force in Latin music. The depth of the connection between label and genre is pronounced. Ask die-hard fans to list their favorite figures from salsa’s golden age, and nine out of ten answers will be artists whose résumés include Fania for at least a record or two (Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente), if not for significant stretches of their careers (Celia Cruz, Willie Colón)."
The Paris Review
NPR: On Fania Records And The Music That Made It Matter (Video)
Fania Records: Fifty Years Of Sabor (Video)
W - Fania Records
Digital Salsa: The Surprising Rebirth Of Legendary Latin-Music Label Fania Records (Video)
YouTube: Descarga Fania LIVE - Fania All Stars with Bobby Valentin, Celia Cruz & The Fania All Stars - Quimbara - Zaire, Africa 1974, Fania All Stars - Siento, Fania All Stars - Pueblo latino (versión inédita), Vuela la Paloma- Fania All Star

2011 November: Charlie Palmieri, 2014 March: Harlem River Drive - Harlem River Drive (1971)

Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn - William Hogarth (1738)

Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn, William Hogarth
Wikipedia - "Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn is a painting from 1738 by British artist William Hogarth. It was reproduced as an engraving and issued with Four Times of the Day as a five print set in the same year. The painting depicts a company of actresses preparing for their final performance before the troupe is disbanded as a result of the Licensing Act 1737. Brought in as a result of John Gay's Beggar's Opera of 1728, which had linked Robert Walpole with the notorious criminal Jonathan Wild, the Licensing Act made it compulsory for new plays to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain, and, more importantly for the characters depicted, closed any non-patent theatres. The majority of the painting was completed before the Act was passed in 1737, but its passing into law was no surprise and it was the work of a moment for Hogarth to insert a reference to the Act itself into the picture."
Wikipedia
W - Barn

Sun Ra And His Arkestra - In The Orbit Of Ra

"As one of the most prolific musicians to have ever lived (releasing over 150 albums, 180 of which can be found listed here), Sun Ra is an artist for whom compilations offer a necessary gateway for potential fans otherwise put off by the bewildering diversity of his recorded output. Many are already available –Greatest Hits: Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel on Evidence, Out There A Minute put out by Blast First and Mute, and more recently the three disc A Space Odyssey: From Birmingham To The Big Apple on Fantastic Voyage Music, to name but three."
The Quietus
allmusic
Pitchfork
YouTube: In The Orbit Of Ra: Arkestra Reflections On Sun Ra 17:11
Soundcloud: "Plutonian Nights" (Original Tape Master)
YouTube: Sun Ra And His Myth Science Arkestra - Somewhere In Space, "Angels And Demons At Play" [Original Tape Master], Somewhere In Space

Blondie - "Rip Her to Shreds", "In the Flesh", "X Offender" (1977)

Wikipedia - "'Rip Her to Shreds' is a song by American new wave band Blondie, which features on the band's self-titled debut album. 'Rip Her To Shreds' was Blondie's first UK single, released on Chrysalis Records in the UK in late 1977, though it did not chart. The B-sides to this single were 'In the Flesh' and 'X Offender', both previously issued as A-side singles by Private Stock Records, and both moderately successful in certain territories. As a promotional gimmick the song was also released as a 12" single (at that time a relative rarity), selling for 99p."
Wikipedia
YouTube: Rip Her To Shreds, In The Flesh, X Offender

Naeem Mohaiemen

Rankin Street, Blueprint
Wikipedia - "Naeem Mohaiemen (born 1969) is a writer and visual artist, working in Dhaka and New York. He uses essays, photography, film, and mixed media, to research histories of the international left, and the failure of utopia projects. He is a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow., and the projects have been supported by Creative Time, Creative Capital, Sharjah Art Foundation, Rhizome, Franklin Furnace, and Puffin Foundation."
Wikipedia
Naeem Mohaiemen
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
vimeo: Naeem Mohaiemen
In Focus: Naeem Mohaiemen’s “The Young Man Was” (Video)
Conversation with Naeem Mohaiemen, moderated by Murtaza Vali

I Ain't Marching Anymore - Phil Ochs (1965)

Wikipedia - "I Ain't Marching Anymore was Phil Ochs' second LP, released on Elektra Records in 1965 ... Of the twelve originals, probably the most noted was the title track, with its distinctive trilling guitar part, that spoke of a soldier sick of fighting. Also of note was the album closer, 'Here's to the State of Mississippi', a biting criticism of that state's lack of civil rights and general bigoted attitude."
Wikipedia
allmusic
Liner Notes for Phil Ochs's "I Ain't Marching Anymore"
YouTube: I Ain't Marching Anymore, Draft Dodger Rag, Heat of the Summer, That's What I Want to Hear, That Was the President, Iron Lady, Here's to the State of Mississippi

2010 July: Draft dodger, Conscientious objector, War resister, 2008 September: Phil Ochs, 2011 December: All the News That's Fit to Sing, 2012 February: There but for Fortune, 2013 February: Pleasures of the Harbor, 2014 March: "Draft Dodger Rag" (1965), 2014 August: Phil Ochs in Concert (1966).

Viva La Pizza! The Art of the Pizza Box (NYC)

"Since the origins of to-go pizza, pizzerias and pizza chains have taken great pride in covering take-out boxes with captivating designs. They've also wrestled with the best way to manufacture a box that can keep a pizza both hot and stable. Here the world's expert on pizza boxes collects 100 weird and wild box designs and explores the curious history of the pizza box. Included are international designs, corporate designs, and dozens of quirky images produced by and for mom-and-pop pizzerias."
Viva La Pizza! - Scott's Pizza Tours: Book
amazon
Juliana's Pizza
W - Grimaldi's Pizzeria
W - Di Fara Pizza
W - Lombardi's Pizza
W - Patsy's Pizzeria
W - Ray's Pizza
YouTube: PIZZA: The Brooklyn Story (lecture by Scott Wiener) 1:19:16
YouTube: Ben Aaron And A Guiness World Record Holder...You'll Never Guess What For...

2014 June: Pizza

East Village Eye

"This website has been created to tell the story of the East Village Eye magazine and present as much archival material as possible. Currently, while we work on the East Village Eye Book, our plan is to present a revolving selection of PDFs of issues from the archive. ... From May 1979 to January of 1987, the East Village Eye, a monthly magazine of popular and avant garde culture, exerted a profound influence that eventually reached across the entire world. Coverage in the Eye resulted in development of several key 'scenes' that eventually evolved into movements felt all over the planet. ..."
East Village Eye: ABOUT US
East Village Eye
East Village Eye: Six Most Wearable Eyes
Peep This! Original Copies of East Village Eye Up For Sale
98Bowery

Ballet Mécanique

Wikipedia - "Ballet Mécanique (1923–24) is a Dadaist post-Cubist art film conceived, written, and co-directed by the artist Fernand Léger in collaboration with the filmmaker Dudley Murphy (with cinematographic input from Man Ray). It has a musical score by the American composer George Antheil. However, the film premiered in silent version on 24 September 1924 at the Internationale Ausstellung neuer Theatertechnik (International Exposition for New Theater Technique) in Vienna presented by Frederick Kiesler. It is considered one of the masterpieces of early experimental filmmaking."
Wikipedia
Le Ballet Mécanique: The Historic Cinematic Collaboration Between Fernand Legér and George Antheil
Film Reference
Antheil, Léger, Murphy, Man Ray: The “Ballet Mécanique” (Video)
YouTube: Fernand Leger - Ballet mecanique (1924) 16:10
YouTube: Fernand Léger - Topic
YouTube: Univers Zéro at the Cineteca Nacional, Mexico City on April 20, 2013

Beautiful sailing ships at the South Ferry station

"If you’ve ever taken the 1 train to its last, lovely, looping stop at the South Ferry/Whitehall Street station, you’ve probably seen them—15 beautiful terra cotta plaques depicting a sailing ship on the water. The officials in charge of building the first New York City subway line in 1904 did a lot of things right. Not only did they hire brilliant engineers and planners, but they brought in designers to create inspiring decorative features on platforms. Ceramic plaques like these were installed in the earliest stations. Each plaque reflects something about the station’s neighborhood or history: a sloop for South Ferry, a beaver at Astor Place, a steamboat at Fulton Street."
Ephemeral New York
W - South Ferry – Whitehall Street (New York City Subway)
Google
YouTube: IRT Subway Special! Re-Opened Old South Ferry (1) Station [w/ Minor Tour], New York City's Abandoned Old South Ferry Loop Subway Station to Reopen

Luaka Bop 10th Anniversary: Zero Accidents on the Job (2000)

"Luaka Bop 10th Anniversary: Zero Accidents on the Job celebrates a decade of releases from David Byrne's innovative global music label. The album features Byrne's own 'God's Child,' and includes songs from world music luminaries like Irakere, Paulo Braganca, Vijaya Anand, Lenine, and Amigos Invisibles. ... Tracks from King Chango, Susana Baca, Jorge Ben, and many others round out this extensive, affectionate look at Luaka Bop's impressive roster."
allmusic
Discogs
W - Luaka Bop
YouTube: Luaka Bop 10th Anniversary: Zero Accidents on the Job

Slaperoo Percussion Intros The Electric Spring Doorstop

"Slaperoo Percussion, creators of the Slaperoo Electric Tuned Percussion Instrument, released this video demo of the Electric Spring Doorstop. The Electric Spring Doorstop is built around a standard spring doorstop, modified with a custom SlapStick S-100 pickup. At this point, it’s an experiement, but Slaperoo says that they may turn it into a product, if there’s a demand."
Synthtopia (Video)
YouTube: Slaperoo Percussion - The Electric Spring Doorstop

Art on Screen: A Conversation with Agnès Varda

"For over 50 years, Agnès Varda, the grandmother of the French New Wave, has reimagined the possibilities of cinema. Using her personal history, relationships, and travels as inspiration, Varda expands the documentary genre beyond the screen to the gallery and museum. Join this extraordinary artist for a rare and intimate conversation about her films and latest installations. In recent years, Varda has created a series of exhibitions that combine photography, film, and media installation to explore memory, tactility, and the passage of time."
Getty (Video) 1:38:26

August 2010: Agnès Varda, May 2011: The Beaches of Agnès, 2011 December: Interview - Agnès Varda, 2013 February: The Gleaners and I (2000), 2013 September: Cinévardaphoto (2004), 2014 July: Black Panthers (1968 doc.).

Cave paintings change ideas about the origin of art

"The artworks are in a rural area on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi. Until now, paintings this old had been confirmed in caves only in Western Europe. Researchers tell the journal Nature that the Indonesian discovery transforms ideas about how humans first developed the ability to produce art. Australian and Indonesian scientists have dated layers of stalactite-like growths that have formed over coloured outlines of human hands. Early artists made them by carefully blowing paint around hands that were pressed tightly against the cave walls and ceilings. The oldest is at least 40,000 years old."
BBC

Jackson Pollock's Mural

"... Mural came to the Getty in July 2012 for study and conservation, providing a rare opportunity to look closely at the painting's material structure, and to explore the paints Pollock used and how they were applied. The study reveals an artist who combined traditional materials and methods of application with more-unconventional ones. It is one of the artist's largest paintings, and the scale of Mural allowed Pollock to develop innovative methods of paint application that would later become the hallmark of his style."
Getty (Video)
Mural - University of Iowa Museum of Art
LA Times: Rebirth of Jackson Pollock's 'Mural'
CBS: Jackson Pollock's painting, "Mural," emerges from restoration brighter, more colorful
YouTube: See The Getty Restore Jackson Pollock's "Mural", Jackson Pollock's "Mural"

Outward Bound - Eric Dolphy (1960)

"The late multi-reed player/composer Eric Dolphy, one of the most pivotal figures in jazz, was a fiercely lyrical, imaginative musician at the forefront of the changes the music underwent in the 1960s. Dolphy, unlike some of his contemporaries, never totally abandoned the bebop approach of soloing over chord changes, but instead took his solos to fresh, expressive heights. Outward Bound, a quintet session from 1960, shows Dolphy in a somewhat transitional phase, his music closer to the hard bop of the late '50s than the free jazz of the '60s."
allmusic
W - Outward Bound
all about jazz
popmatters
YouTube: Outward Bound (1960)

Marianne Faithfull - Broken English short film by Derek Jarman (1979)

"... Along with the original studio album, the reissue will also includethe original 'lost' band sessions recording, a selection of bonus tracks and the Derek Jarman directed short film of 'Witches Song', 'The Ballad of Lucy Jordan' and 'Broken English'. We were sent the following background information: On its release in late '79 'Broken English' was an instant critical and commercial success bringing Marianne a new image, an international following, a Grammy nomination and the confidence to record more of her own compositions. The beautiful blonde muse, the wistful teenager who whispered of tears going by, was reborn. The Marianne who roared out of the traps on 'Broken English' was a different animal altogether: wild, and feral, with a voice ravaged by experience and betrayal."
Antimusic
YouTube: Marianne Faithfull - Broken English short film by Derek Jarman

2008 June: Marianne Faithfull, 2010 November: Marianne Faithfull - 1, 2013 January: Broken English: Deluxe Edition, 2013 November: Before the Poison (2005), 2014 August: Kissin' Time (2002).

Pop International Galleries Showcases UR New York’s New Works in “Product of UR Environment”

Intersection
"UR New York has fashioned an amazing array of works in a range of media for their newest exhibit, Product of UR Environment, that opened this past Thursday evening. On view at Pop International Galleries at 473 West Broadway in SoHo,  Mike Baca’s (aka 2Esae) and Fernando Romero’s (aka Ski) pieces on a range of surfaces — from spray cans to found objects to canvases — brilliantly reflect NYC’s distinct grit and the passion that it rouses. Here are a few more..."
Street Art NYC
Pop International Galleries

The Hermit - John Renbourn (1976)

"John Renbourn's first post-Pentangle (or nearly post-Pentangle) solo album, joined briefly by fellow guitarist Dominique Trepeau and featuring further contributions by John James, is one of his most beautiful recordings, and also among his most spare guitar instrumentals. ... The mood of much -- though not all -- of Hermit is one of serious introspection, as Renbourn stays generally within a classical guitar mode. He has fun with the material, and the CD booklet also includes musical transcriptions of some of the tunes on the record, for the benefit of Renbourn's fellow guitarists."
allmusic
YouTube: The hermit, Three Pieces By O'Carolan, Faro's Rag, Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home, Goat Island, Bicycle Tune

2011 September: Faro Annie, 2011 April: Cruel Sister (1970) - Pentangle, 2012 November: John Renbourn - Sir John Alot, 2013 May: The Lady and the Unicorn, 2014 February: Bert & John (1966).

Electric Guitars Made from the Detritus of Detroit

"When Frank Norris plays a guitar made by Wallace Detroit Guitars, he says it 'feels like home.' And maybe that’s because Wallace Detroit Guitars are made with reclaimed wood from abandoned Detroit homes. Following the financial crisis of 2008, perhaps no American city fared worse than Detroit. The city found itself with 10,000 vacant homes. And eventually the city purchased entire blocks and razed the houses to the ground. According to the Detroit web site Model D, a lot of the wood [from these structures] hasn’t gone to waste."
Open Culture (Video)