| Radically visual
Two years ago, Ricardo Viera embraced the idea of an exhibition of snapshots with the typical gusto of a Cuban Falstaff. The director/curator of Lehigh University's galleries and museum operation relished the notion of a show of everything from family pictures to experimental collages. He knew it would neon-light his belief that photography is a level field, that a photograph is a flat world.
Viera made just one major proposal to the exhibit's proponents, Donald Lokuta and Robert Yoskowitz, arts professors and owners of large collections of snapshots. Why not, he suggested, pair pictures by amateurs with pictures of similar subjects by renowned photographers represented in Lehigh's collection? Why not invite visitors to debate who takes, and what makes, a better photo?
Organized by Viera, Lokuta and Yoskowitz, ''Vernacular to the Masters'' is a visual, intellectual hornet's nest.
Kara Walker pushes boundaries
New York — It's the day before Kara Walker's solo show opens at her gallery in the heart of Chelsea's art district. Passers-by hoping for a sneak peek stoop to peer beneath the half-lowered shades. Callers inquire whether she will be present at the reception — people who want to meet her, or even, the gallery owner suggests, touch her, as groupies would a rock star. The 37-year-old Walker is not just a star. In today's art world, she is a supernova. And this is the former Atlantan's moment: A triumphant retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, one of three exhibits in New York alone. She's on magazine covers, in bookstores. Critics suggest comparisons to Goya, the venerated Spanish Old Master. .
Dallas Seitz: Hunted - the cannibalism of colonial collectorexia
Pump House Gallery is pleased to present Dallas Seitz's first solo show in a UK public gallery, which will include a number of significant new commissioned works. Moving between the mediums of video, sculpture, drawing and photography Seitz investigates the processes of hunting and collecting as a form of colonization and obsession. Though the artist's practice is largely conceptual, much of his work originates from the personal. Often drawing on his own family, upbringing, and memories Seitz moves towards psychological and political terrains - exploring the wider motivations, intentions and implications behind the act of collecting. HUNTED (the cannibalism of colonial collectorexia) features a variety of artworks in a number of different media including films, images, handmade objects and bronze and glass sculptures.
Les Savy Fav: indiedom's best-kept secret
A visit to Les Savy Fav's Web site reveals this proud motto: "Missing out on cashing in for over a decade." It's been the Brooklyn-based band's curse–or blessing–to be slightly ahead of the curve without ever quite benefiting from it. "We're not really a career band," acknowledges bassist Syd Butler, reached in Washington, D.C., where he and his family are visiting his mom for Thanksgiving weekend. "We never signed to a major label, we never took advantage of the Brooklyn hype or whatever the trend was. We just kept putting along, like the Little Engine That Could. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Liars, they're amazing bands, but signing to a major label wasn't something Les Savy Fav was interested in." Known for singer Tim Harrington's unpredictable live shenanigans–kissing audience members, dangling from the rafters–as much as for clever art-rock records like The Cat and the Cobra, Les Savy Fav has been one of indiedom's best-kept secrets for over 10 years.
MySpace makes deal with states to protect young users
The social networking Web site MySpace will work with officials from 49 states and the District of Columbia to implement new measures to shield young users from sexual predators, authorities announced Monday.
The Web site has agreed to implement design and policy changes to protect users from harmful images and contact from adults, according to a statement from state Attorney General Bill McCollum. Some new policies include creating a closed section reserved for high school users under 18 and creating a registry in which parents can submit their child's e-mail address to prevent children from signing in or registering a profile.
MySpace will also work with the attorneys general to develop an Internet Safety Technical Task Force to develop an identity authentication system.
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