Brothers: The Art of Film Vs. The Art of War

That should be some sort of outlawed nomenclature: The Art of War, but director Jim Sheridan has done an amazing job showing the devastating effects of war on an American family through the art of filmmaking. It is the highest form of art when he is able to propel the wonderful actors - Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhal and Tobey Maguire among others - to create such a wrenching experience of war. Wars that were promoted by the last administration as a means of protecting the American family in fact destroy it from within.

A question and answer session after the preview with two of the actors, Natalie and Tobey, the director and a producer of the film, moderated by the Chief Curator of the Museum of the Moving Image, David Schwartz, was quite fun and informative.

Go see Brothers.

Images by Ji Lee and Words by Clarina Bezzola

Dear Nico!!

It's us who want to thank you for this LOVELY party!!!!!!! So, so, so,so much fun we had!!!!!! The most glorious event of the year!!!!

Yes, let's catch up! I would love to sit down and have a chat! This week is hard though, as I have something every night. How is next week? Are you going to Miami? I am afraid, I am still too wobbly on my legs to withstand an event like that! So I am here!

Ji took some pictures and I send them to you via yousendit.com Perhaps you find some good ones?

So, so much fun this was!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!

I send you a big kiss!!!

Clarina

- Clarina Bezzola, Artist

Clarina is the perfect person to attend my parties. She gets so into the spirit and is always dressed to the nines! These are Ji's pics and you can see Clarina's art here.

Haimon's Photos of the 20ies Party

Uri Dotan's in a couple shots with some of his prints.

20ies Party Pics at the 24th Street Loft

Thanks to everyone who showed up at my, Dirk's, Al's and Charlotta's birthday party. Cool how people went all out with their 20ies get ups! VJ Pixalot rocked with his vintage video footage. We did the party in the same space as last year. Thanks to Heike and her beautiful 24th Street Loft.

Wired: The Art of Technology

If you have friends who are all about technology, well this is the place to find holiday stuff for them. The Wired Store launch had a crew of djs spinning, including Moby. Kapitall is featured on a touch screen there.

Mass + + +

My friend Stephan Walter along with James Ramsey and Tracey Ryans put this exhibition on. Art of the motorcycle 2?

Spotted

The Spotted Pig has been on everyone's radar for years but when you're invited to a party with Jay Z, Jack White, Alicia Keys and a bunch of other cool music cats, well, it takes on a whole new personality. Too much fun for words, and pictures were just not what one takes away from such an experience...Shout out to ever lovely,always beautiful AB girl, J and super pastry chef, Catsy; hope I spelled her name right!




Image Credit: southernconnecticutcommunity.com

Artinfo Article About LA's Art Weekend

This writer would qualify as what my girlfriend Ginger calls an "athletic name dropper".

Dasha, Gaga, and Gago Party for MOCA
Published: November 16, 2009

LOS ANGELES—About a year ago, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) appeared to be on the verge of death, as its endowment was bled dry by epic exhibitions and the formidable economic crisis. As the institution celebrated its 30th anniversary with a plush gala on Saturday night, though, it had never looked so stable — thanks to a hefty bailout from philanthropist Eli Broad — or so hip — thanks to a powerhouse group of celebrities and art world wonders.

Hosted by Russian art wunderkind Dasha Zhukova and super-dealer Larry Gagosian at the museum, the event featured an unusual collaborative performance by the irrepressible Italian provocateur Francesco Vezzoli and Lady Gaga. Accompanied by a coterie of dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet, Lady Gaga debuted her song “Speechless” at a violently pink piano decorated with butterflies courtesy of Damien Hirst. The piano was auctioned off after the performance for a boisterous $450,000, a good portion of the total $4 million the gala raised for the museum.

See photos and read more here.

An Ancient Art Form: Tarot Card Reading!

My friend Ginger reads tarot cards at Employees Only. The photo is of the "gang" at EO. Not a bad bunch I guess since they encourage these ancient art forms like Tarot and the alchemist's mixology that creates those mind-bending beverages at the bar!
Image: Copyright © 2006 Employees Only

Jeff Koons: New Paintings at Gagosian Beverly Hills

If you ask me, this is much more exciting art than an inflatable crocodile!


JEFF KOONS Girl Woods (Dots), 2008 Oil on canvas 108 x 146 1/8 inches (174.3 x 371.2 cm)











JEFF KOONS
New Paintings

Nov 14, 2009 - Jan 9, 2010

Gagosian Gallery
Beverly Hills
456 North Camden Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
T. 310.271.9400
F. 310.271.9420
losangeles@gagosian.com
Hours: Tue-Sat 10-5:30


Opening reception for the artist: Saturday, November 14th, from 3 to 5 pm


The gesture that you end up making in the world happens through instinct and all these desires for procreation. The greatest beauty is the acceptance of nature and how things function.
--Jeff Koons

Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present a series of recent paintings by Jeff Koons.

Koons' new paintings are ambitious in their breadth. They engage in a dialogue with cultural history that is at once visual, intellectual, biological, and philosophical, as well as with art history, from the Venus of Willendorf to Gustave Courbet and Salvador Dali. At first glance the works may seem abstract and gestural, but at the same time they are embedded in the traditions of figurative painting. The brush strokes, which are photorealistic in their application, are actually fake brush strokes in the style of Roy Lichtenstein -- but at the same time they support the totality of gesture and action in life itself. The visual quality of Cy Twombly's work is a reference as is its embodiment of the existential issues of what it means to be an artist. The depth in these paintings is figurative depth; the painted dots create holograms, giving an illusion of depth of field that is similar to that which exists between the viewer's plane and the figure in Courbet's L'Origine du Monde. The dot overlay represents past technologies, like color television, to remind the viewer of change and mortality. Through his ongoing exploration of cultural history and sexuality, Koons draws attention to time past, present, and future.

From the outset of his controversial career, Koons turned the traditional notion of the work of art and its context inside out. Focusing on unexpected yet banal objects as models for his work, from vacuum cleaners and inflatable flowers to novelty drink caddies, china figurines, and children's toys, he eschewed typical standards of 'good taste' in art, instead embracing what he perceives as conventional middle-class values in order to expose the vulnerabilities of aesthetic hierarchies and value systems. Koons' declared strategies are to make art beautiful, to strive for objectivity, to give back the familiar, and to reflect -- and thus empower -- the viewer. Moving through various conceptual constructs including the new, the banal and the heavenly, his work has evolved from its literal, deadpan beginnings into visceral manifestations that dazzle the eye and confound the senses.

Jeff Koons was born in 1955 in York, Pennsylvania. He received his B.F.A. at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been widely exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions. Recent solo shows include the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (2003), the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo (2004), which traveled to the Helsinki City Art Museum (2005); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2008); "Jeff Koons: Versailles", Chateâu de Versailles, France (2008); and the Neuer Nationalgalerie Berlin (2008-9). Koons lives and works in New York City.

For further inquiries please contact Domenica Stagno at domenica@gagosian.com or at 310.271.9400.

Wael Noureddine: The Passage-Beirut, Paris, New York. A series of film essays curated by Nicollette Ramirez

Join us Thursday November 12, 8:30 pm
BoneFilms Loft: 330 W 38 St, Btw 8 and 9 Aves.

For the screening of Wael Noureddine's movies:
Ca Sera Beau From Beirut With Love
A film Far Beyond a God
and
The History of Drugs



Born in Beirut in 1978, writer, poet and director Wael Noureddine began his professional career as a journalist. His films describe actual situations in ways that are litterary and critical. They try to capture the physical and mental scars of conflict while resisting subjugation and defeat.

In 2002, he directed and produced the documentary "Chez nous à Beyrouth" (Our home in Beirut).

In 2005, he directed an experimental documentary entitled “Ça sera beau (From Beyrouth With Love)” It will be Beautiful(From Beirut with Love)

In July 2006, at start of the war, he returned to Beirut to film "July Trip".

He directed his fourth film "A Film Far Beyond a God" in Yemen in 2007.

In 2008, Wael found himself homeless for several months and thus nearly ready to return to Yemen to raise crocodiles. But he was forced to put that project on hold. Instead, he was hired to work on films in New York City as DP and actor.

In 2009, Wael abandons dreams of crocodile farming and instead starts his own production company Bird of Prey Productions and he shot his first feature film "Rivieres Souterraines du Banditisme", also directed and produced his fifth short film entitled "l'Histore de la Drogue" (The History of Drugs).

www.waelnoureddine.com

Our short film was made with François Truffaut's Camera!

This camera makes a lot of whirring and clicking noises. It's super old, but imbued with all that old French New Wave energy. You can click the title of this post to learn more about François Truffaut, French New Wave cinema and Les Quatre Cents Coups (The 400 Blows)
Here are some pics from behind the scenes...

Who were the Flappers? Just in case you're wondering what to wear to the 1920s party

"In the 1920s, the word "flapper" described a young woman who rebelled against convention. Like jazz music, the gangster, and the speakeasy, the rebellious and fun-loving flapper was a product of 1920s urban America. Most American women were not flappers, but the flapper's shocking behavior set a tone that helped many women explore Jazz Age freedoms without fear." ~ Chicago Historical Society

Click the title to get to the website created by Kristin McCormack and more random images from the 2004 Black and White Spider Awards Winners Gallery.

You can thank Jackie and Lara too, for their Great Gatsby 1920s clothing wesbite.

My 1920s Golden Era of Art Birthday Party

You can also hit the link to go to youtube if you like. Don't forget to RSVP to get the address i.e. if you don't understand German ;)
Be there and don't be square; dress like the roaring 20ies!

The De Voldere Party during FIAC

This was a lovely party, with champagne, art, music, dancing and views of the Seine. The title takes you to the gallery Virgil de Voldere.