Finally We Can Listen To Bogue

Bogue was a band I played drums for a few years ago that broke up due to unfortunate circumstances. We were really good together but we were troubled. One of the many problems we had was not having any music released to the public. There is a studio recording they made before I joined the group that was really exceptional and supposed to be released but we were on a brand new label that never put it out. I found a live recording the other day and said damn I wish I could just release it myself. Of course it would be a losing buisness since the band no longer exists. I mentioned this to a friend and he suggested myspace, its free. So I threw up five songs on the myspace for all the ears that never heard Bogue and of course for the people that would like to hear Bogue again. Things are getting a little easier now but I really miss Danny.

If anybody wants a tape of a couple of live shows let me know. Click at the top.

Flying under the radar is where you find the avant-garde

"We Who Live On Land" by the Scavenger Quartet on the Acidsoxx Musiks label was released last year and I now have the honor to review it. The album features exotic instruments and is centered around Frank Pahl's compositions. The music weaves sound with textures that rise and fall through the surface. In songs like Crimson Jellyfish and Elegant Mermaiden, the piano is wonderfully extended by the high bells and low horns and accompanied by the warm tones of the marimba. The Quartet's songs can be meditative in delivery, like the musicians are under a spell yet are in full control of the atmosphere they create.

The Scavenger Duo, Joel Peterson on stand up bass and percussion and Frank Paul playing the Farfisa, a cello made into a guitar and a steel guitar ukulele, played last night at Slows. Frank Pahl makes many of his own instruments and the unique sound of the Scavenger Duo at times resembles music like the Residents but it really defies categorization. In the live setting the duo plays with an ease that can only be described as beatific.

The album "We Who Live On Land" is fantastic. The Scavenger Quartet renders Pahl's compositions beautifully and the entire album is played with great skill and feeling. Available through www.frankpahl.com.

On a side note, Joel Peterson is becoming Detroit's Cultural Center, bringing us music in all varieties at The Bohemian National Home and on Monday nights at Slows.

More Pictures From Davin and Sarah's Vacation

1. Oliver Babin work at a contemporary museum in Paris (oop's I can't
remember the name). It's really a bronze sculpture??? It looks like
a perfect watermelon!!!

2. Oliver Babin also painted this very nice watermelon slice.

3. Look at all of those paintings!!! Daniel Buren needs a lot of
room to stretch out.

4. Yves Klein really knows the color blue. I can't remember the name
of this Museum either.

5. Richard Serra must have used about 1,000 pencils on this
drawing!!! While I was at the Pompidou I realized that Richard Serra
made some drawings that are way cooler than those dumb rusty sculptures.

6. Roy Litchenstein in the LE MOUVEMENTS DES IMAGES show at the
Pompidou.

7. Frank Stella "Mas O Menos"

8. Hans Bellmer had a show at the Pompidou too.

9. The great minimalist Charlemagne Palestine played live in
Oostende, Belgium. That's Phil Niblock in the background!!! You can
watch a short video clip here: click here
10. Charlemagne Palestine spent a lot of time setting up the stuffed
animals. He brought them in a suitcase and took them out one by
one. He does the same thing every show.

Thanks for sharing your pictures Davin and Sarah!

Human Eye and Thallem McDonnas

Last Friday I witnessed a culture clash at a punk show when Human Eye performed with the SubHumans (an English punk band from the eighties)at the Magic Stick.The place was sold out, teenagers were there to see the SubHumans and the other bands they knew about. Tim Vulgar brought an Eye out and tried to put it on his head. This was very difficult to watch especially when the eye broke to reveal the black hoses that looked like snakes eating his head. All of this accompanied by a freakout climax. Human Eye played five songs and ended in a cloud of white dust. The event was reminiscent of the eighties punk revival vs. the seventies punk which moved into the electronic and experimental genres in the eighties. I wish I had a picture.

Sunday night I went to the Bohemian National Home to see a piano concert by Thollem McDonnas. Thollem played the entire set straight through and the polyphonic and polyrhythmical music was like some heard in Carnegie Hall or some other famous venue. Using the pedals of the instrument Thollem created a loud ocean of sound that could be heard throughout the entire Bohemian National Home. Check out Thollem McDonnas's record, if you can find it. The comprovisational piano music is a soothing revelation.

Davin Brainard/ Sarah Blakeman Comparison

Davin's version has hair.

Sarah Burger Orange #9

Sarah Burger has been working with felt. The felt is all the same color but there are still subtle variations. This piece suggests a topographic map. Sarah has shown this work at the DAM and Cranbrook.

Davin and Sarah show us art from Rotterdam

Here are some sculptures by artist Franz West by the side of a canal. Are they poop's??? Doobies??? Nobody knows!!!

We saw this art installation by artist Madeleine Berkheimer at the gallery TENT. in Rotterdam. Oops!!! (Please note: the period after the word TENT is supposed to be there. It's just like Detroit's own "ADULT.").

Dutch artist David Bade made this sculpture located in a busy city intersection. Some people don't like it because it looks just like garbage. It does look a little like garbage but it's still great!!!

This is what the TIME STEREO video installation at NIGHTTOWN looked like. It was a part of the MOTEL MOZAIQUE festival. We showed movies like THE CLOUD, ABOUT FROG, THE MAGIC MINING KNOMES, CAMBODIA & THE PEOPLES ARMY, and a lot more.

They have a lot of funny buildings in Rotterdam, Holland!!!

COMING SOON: A visit to Paris including works by Hans Bellmer, Frank Stella, Richard Serra and a bunch more!!!

John Egner's Park Shelton Mural

w/new garage
w/old garage

The John Egner mural is not what it used to be. The mural has survived but it has suffered significant damage from neglect and disregard. Outdoor murals can last a long time if they are cared for. There are many downtown murals that are looking beat up and are fading away.
There are three colors left on the John Egner mural. Early in the mural's life there were more colors. I have never talked to John about this but I wonder how he feels about the fate of this important work.
Even if a conservator were to restore it, the Park Shelton mural will never be the same again due to the new garage building covering half of it.

The Bohemian Opening

The Bohemian National Home: Opening Night Dance Party
April 21, 2006, 10pm

Opening Night Dance Party with DJs Brad Hales, Scott Zacharias and an appearance by Odu Afrobeat Orchestra. Two of Detroit's heaviest record collectors get the party started right, spining crazy dance records late into the night. The 14 piece Odu Afrobeat Orchestra supplies live dance music; lead by Adeboye Adegbenro, it's a driving heap of polyrhythms with Detroit music greats like Faruq Z Bey, Kenny Green, Michael Carey and Marko Novachcoff lead their voices to the deep rhythms. Music at 10 PM, $5.

The Bohemian National Home Gallery will be showing artwork by local painters Maria Antonia Castro and William Hafer.

VENUE IMFORMATION
The Bohemian National Home
3009 Tillman St.
On corner of Butternut St.
Detroit, MI .
PHONE: 313-737-6606

Davin and Sarah write to us from Holland

Sarah and Davin are on a working vacation; making art, going to museums, collaborating with other artists. Here they send us a picture postcard from Holland.

"There is a Urs Fisher show at Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam. He made a really big bear in the front!!!


This Paul Mcarthy sculpture was supposed to be installed in a public space in Rotterdam but it was moved to Boijmans because people didn't like the butt plug. It looks like an ice cream cone to me!!!


While in Rotterdam we are staying with famous Dutch artist Ronald Cornelissen. Here's one of his latest drawings.


He made us clean up his studio when we were supposed to be on vacation!!!



The studio looked nice when we finished. Ronald made these sculptures.


We made some cardboard grass and leaves.



Ronald made a bunny that spins around.

On Friday we will use the cardboard grass and leaves and spinning bunny to decorate our video installation at Nighttown. It's a part of the MOTEL MOZAIQUE festival April 14, 15, 16 in Rotterdam."

Thanks Sarah and Davin! We wish we could see your video installation at Nighttown.

Sara Blakeman

Sara Blakeman has been preparing a new body of work. Sara will be showing her artwork in the upcoming critique. The critique is not happening this Saturday, but it will happen soon. To see more of Sara Blakeman's work click on her name at the top of this post.

The Future of the Blog

If you are making art and want a little feedback I will post images of your work for people to leave comments. I would like the art section of this blog to become more of a critique service for anybody who needs it. Send me your images and any additional writing, my email is haferwd@aol.com.

In addition to the music section of the blog we plan to have interviews and record reviews coming soon.

Knife Skills, No Things, Timmy & Billy at the Painted Lady

It was Sunday night, a hand full of people showed up at the Painted Lady to see the New York bands No Things and Knife Skills. Both of the bands were impressive in their aggressive musical delivery. The Knife Skills were very loud, energetic and crazy.



No Things have a polyrhythmical approach, they even played in a five/four time signature at one point. Their rhythm section were previously in a band called the Liars.




Timmy called me about playing last minute on Sunday night. Unrehearsed we barreled through about seven mostly brand new songs some rough drafts of future Human Eye songs, and one or two Clone Defects songs.

Black Lips at the Magic Stick with the Dirtbombs

The Black Lips. They sounded like a different band since the last time I saw them in Milwaukee last year. Extensive European touring really tightens up a band. They sound like a 60's punk outfit only more mod, more punk, less throw-up. Think Small Faces or the Stones. Good rockin show, less antics than usual. Catch them next time.


The Dirtbombs awesome as always. Mick's voice keeps getting better and better. 2 drum kits 2 bass guitars. How can you not like it?

Michael Bizon

Michael Bizon came over last weekend and he brought one of his own modified sound devices. This particular piece is a simple tape recorder modified to modulate playback speed and has added noise options. In addition to being interesting to look at, Michael's pieces invite exploration with sound and recording. I am looking forward to working with him in the short time he'll be around in the city before continuing his education elsewhere in the fall.

Peter Williams

Everything is Everything at Paul Kotula Projects in Ferndale is a collection of new work by the artist Peter Williams. The work describes the artist's connection to Detroit and is filled with imagery recalling his Detroit influences, like painter Robert Wilbert in "Emeritus". The deconstruction of faces and the familiar into the realm of abstraction twists depth into the work. Some of the watercolor works convey meaningful commentaries on urban life while the portraits seemingly pose existential questions about identity.
Peter Williams is a greatly missed Detroit artist who I hope will continue to visit and bring along his new "mind-blowing" art. (see above)

The Gris Gris at the Magic Stick

We got a special treat last night at the Magic Stick with a line-up that included Brian Glaze backed by the Gris Gris and then another set by the Gris Gris. The best band around today, the Gris Gris plays music that freaks out and elates at the same time. Their records, "For the Season" (2006) and "The Gris Gris" (2004) are both exceptional. Both records and Brian Glaze's great new record "Let's go to the sea" (2006) can be found at your local record store or ordered directly from the label, Birdman Records.
When they come around again, hopefully with Brian, don't miss it. You'll hate yourself in the morning.

The Gris Gris and Brian Glaze play tonight at Kraftbrau in Kalamazoo.

Human Eye at the Magic Stick

Did anybody see this show? What did you think?

Open Critique Next Saturday

Next Saturday, April 15th, there will be a critique of my new work at my studio. There will be one or two other artists at the critique as well. We will start at three in the afternoon on Saturday. For directions or more information send an email to haferwd@aol.com.

Tim Vulgar

Tim's dynamic paintings suggest eyes, aliens, botanicals, monsters, and space creature forms in fine detail and strong colors. Come out to the Magic Stick Thursday night and see Tim perform with our band Human Eye.

Kristin Beaver featured in the Metrotimes

 


As they strut, sulk, preen, pose, glower, pout, stare or hide behind sunglasses, Kristin Beaver's "sitters" do anything but sit or stand decorously in the manner of classic portraiture. Her show of more than two dozen oils at Meadow Brook Art Gallery, though certainly dashing, eschews the grand manner and to-the-manner-born subjects of Sargent, Boldini, Whistler or Shinkler, portrayers of the high, classy and dressy. Nor are they much like the cool, sober images of area artists Leman Lambert, Richard Lewis, Nancy Mitter or Robert Wilbert.

Instead, the gallery is thronged with young people painted by a young artist, both artist and subjects twentysomething scenesters. Recently graduated from Wayne State University's MFA program, Beaver's figurative art fits more comfortably with that of some of the New York hotties of the moment, the somewhat elder, now mainstream Lisa Yuskavage, John Currin, Elizabeth Peyton or her equally youthful Gotham peer, Livonia-born and -bred Dana Schutz. Like Peyton (and photographer Nan Goldin), Beaver is immersed in the world of her friends and acquaintances who figure prominently in her oeuvre. "My muses," Beaver says, "are definitely my friends."

Though the show presents many memorable portraits of individuals — including the dark, big-haired Morticia in "Hocus Pocus" and "Big Gulp," the two visages of "Jo Beth," the cool stance of local painter and rocker Bill Hafer and the unnamed man in "C-Rocket" with "Ooh la la" scripted on his T-shirt — the real tours de force of the exhibition are her up-to-8–feet-tall, larger-than-life dynamic duos. These couples, a man and a woman or two women — so far no male and male pairings — strike poses in shallow spaces, attired in clothing chosen by Beaver (either their own or thrift shop finds by the artist). The theatrical poses, combined with palettes both candied and acidic and wardrobes that play pattern against pattern — matchy-matchy versus mismatched, or retro kitsch jostling sleek contemporary — produce scene-stealing performances.

Their posed and poised acting-out and eclectic getups, stage-managed and photographed by Beaver as she works toward a definitive image, exude a spirited joie de vivre as well as complicity among the participants. Heightening the sense of collusion is the sharp, studio-lamp illumination of the simple compositions. Directed from outside the frame, the lamps create overlapping shadows that shimmy between the figures, suggesting an intermingling of their spirits in spite of their seeming aloofness. Beaver, in fact, suggests that one of her abiding interests is her fascination with the kindred-spirit relationships of "partners, pairs or sidekicks." Though at first glance the duos may seem to be unlikely compatriots, their complementary roles and sense of self-possession implies otherwise.

"Two Sarahs" and "Sassy Sarahs" are portraits of the same pair, local fashion designers-cum-artists Sarah Lapinski and Sarah Lurtz. The tall, red-haired Lapinski and the short, blonde Lurtz strike poses and sport costumes that shout "Look at me!" Though neither actually looks at the other — exemplars as they seem to be of idiosyncratic style and feisty independence — the layered, darkling shadows between them link their portraits and attest to the complex layers of their personae.

Conversely, in "Body Language," an earlier painting, the nameless man and woman, posed as if in a police lineup, adopt similar upraised arm poses, but their clothing, or lack thereof, and the relative assertiveness of full-frontal stances, emphasize difference rather than consanguinity.

And in her own "Self-Portrait with Dilettante," Beaver wraps herself in a body-hugging sheath swarming with screaming skulls (think Edvard Munch) and carries a vintage white purse, while her companion, facing the opposite direction, is garbed in a chic, faux Courreges acid-green sheath and holds a pinkish drink (perhaps a cosmopolitan?) in a black fingernailed hand. Both dilettante and artist affect expression-obscuring shades, of course.

So, one might well ask, to what extent are these bold, colorful effigies of friends, muses and models functioning as portraits or figure studies? What are the parameters, if any, here? If they are moldable, suggestible models, why do the pictures, despite their artificialities, not feel false and strained, but vivacious and empathetic? Perhaps it's the evident rapport one senses between subjects and artist, the vibrancy she confers on each, the kicky brio of her technique and brisk application of pigment to canvas, the conspiratorial edge and palpable good faith between all these dancers of the dance.

Certainly, there is as well more than a modicum of implicit heroizing of these denizens of the decade who seem to be giving the performance of a lifetime. I, for one, am captivated.

Through April 16 at Meadow Brook Art Gallery, 208 Wilson Hall, Oakland University, Rochester; 248-370-3005.

Dennis Alan Nawrocki teaches art history and writes about art in metro Detroit. Send comments to letters@metrotimes.com.

Noise Night in Kalamazoo

Davin's band Metal Dungeon played in the basement of a house in Kalamazoo last Saturday. Following them was Jamie Easter, his dad couldn't make it.

Davin Brainard's Razzle Dazzle Ice Cream Show

Here are a couple shots of the Razzle Dazzle Ice Cream Show thats on view at the Detroit Design Lab. Davin Brainard's latest works involve space and puddles of melted ice cream. The Razzle Dazzle idea comes from the black and white photography of the battle ships designed to confuse with their crazy stripe patterns.

the Gypsy Strings of Detroit

The Gypsy Strings were playing at Slows last night. Old timey jazz, fun stuff. Slows has live music every Monday night.

Paul Simmons

Saturday night was the opening for the school of the Art Institute of Chicago's BFA show. Paul Simmons exibited about 30 new works. Paul put together a strong and unified body of work. Wild shaped paintings with color and simple patterns that are quite appealing.

Human Eye

Human Eye is finishing up their second record at Ryan's studio. There will be a concert on Thursday night at the Magic Stick. Human Eye will be performing their new material including a song entitled "the Poison Frog People." Thursday will be an extra special night including performances by the Gris Gris from Oakland, Califorina.

Maria Antonia Castro

Here are a couple of Maria's paintings that recently sold. Maria has additional images on view at the galeriaMA webpage.

ODU Afrobeat Orchestra

Odu played two sets at the all night funky dance party at CAID. Both sets were energetic and solid. There are a lot of layers interwoven into ODU's music. Crispy, Chad and Joel handled the complicated guitar and bass work with precision. Steve and Terrible Chris took the pictures. I had my hands full with the woodblock playing the essential afto beat, co-co co-co co-co co-co. ODU's name refers to African Science. For example when you are planning to leave you ask the ODU when is the best time to travel, the ODU might say
"stay here don't go there."