Child's Play

My trusty Vulture feed informed me today that there is a three-year-old named Ruby Ellenby with her own gallery show in San Francisco (profiled here in the San Francisco Chronicle; above photo by Ms. Ellenby herself). And I screamed (internally, of course): Where is my frickin' gallery show? I'm 28! And my photos are so much better than hers!

Also, my assessment is that these pictures could have been taken by practically anyone with a medium quality digital camera. Come on, Ruby Ellenby, weak sauce. If you're going to have a retrospective at the age of eleven, you've gotta step up your game.

In all seriousness though, more children should be exposed to art-making at home, because goodness knows they aren't always going to have the opportunity at school. And thanks to her photographer parents, this little gal has a heck of a head start.

But again, where is my frickin' gallery show? Because taking pictures makes me feel like a princess, too.

Dim Sum

This week's roundup of art news I happen to find interesting:

-The Boston Ballet has announced that it is cutting nearly 20% of the dancers in its company. Times are tough, sure. I get that. But, boo. Just, boo.
-Isaac thinks redneck sports in Maine are kind of like Dadaism. I think he has a point, but a true redneck would probably call him an "overeducated owta-stateah" and send him down the river in one of those giant pumpkins.
-As promised, here are some images from Mikhail Baryshnikov's current photography show, Merce My Way, at 401 Projects. They're not as groundbreaking as everyone's making them out to be (they show movement, while dance photography has traditionally stuck to showing form), but I admit they've grown on me. Even though I think they ought to have been done in film, not digital. What can I say; film is just better.
-Joss Whedon has co-written, and is currently filming, a limited Internet musical series called "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," starring a couple of my favorite actors, presumably in tights. Joss is clearly very good at writing musicals, and I can't wait for his next go. And look, Mom! No producers!
-Zach took me to Northeastern University last weekend to see Anthony Rapp sing and speak, and it was my favorite thing I did during Spring Break. Rapp sang some some of his own songs, some songs from Rent, some songs from other musicals, and some unexpected covers, of which my favorite by far was Courtney Love's "Miss World." And check out this bit of exciting news. Two original cast members? Hells yeah.

Mikhail Baryshnikov is taking over the art world...but being nice about it.

This recent article in the New York Observer officially begs the question: Great Muppity Odin, is there any kind of art Mikhail Baryshnikov doesn't do? Dancing, of course...then acting, and now guitar and photography? Apparently once he masters one art form, he simply moves on to another, all the while acting pleasantly self-deprecating about his abilities. As if he could fool us into thinking he's somehow no good.

His photography show, which features images of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, opens March 15th at 401 Projects in the West Village. I'll try to get some images up when they become available.

Maine art goes to the dogs

Renowned Photographer Unveils Mural at Rest Stop

My first thought when I heard about this was: leave it to Maine to take a $100,000 art appropriation and spend it on pictures of funny-looking dogs. But I've mulled over it for a while, and I've decided that this isn't entirely bad.

First of all, the art is appropriate to the venue. At least the Maine Arts Commission has a sense of irony, and it knows you can't really slap a bunch of Winslow Homers on a rest stop wall. They would be out of place. Nor did they choose any of the voraciously overused symbols of Maine culture: lighthouses, clipper ships, moose, lobster, loons, black bears, blueberries, or pine trees. They chose something accessible that people will enjoy looking at. And you know what, dogs are funny.

I'm still a little bit skeptical, though, because of this quote offered by Donna McNeil of the Maine Arts Commission:

"It was about creating an icon. ... New York has the Statue of Liberty. Paris has the Eiffel Tower. This was about creating a visual icon that speaks about Maine as a place of culture."

...So, Maine's culture should be represented by Weimaraners? I'm not sure this is right.

The opposite of landscape photography?

She Calls It 'Phenomena.' Everyone Else Calls It Art.

What an awesome job Felice Frankel has. It's too bad nobody buys her stuff (though I'll bet she'll get a few interested people after being featured in the NY Times). Probably people think her work makes better desktop wallpaper than wall art. I'd love to be appointed the artist in residence for something random, like a science department, though I think the closest I'll ever get is artist in residence of my parents' basement.

Maine is pretty.

Figured I'd put in a pitch for my boss, who photographs the Maine landscape. This one's called Mistake Island, Moose Peak Light Panorama.

http://www.jackledbetterphotography.com

These are not your typical tourist images. Jack's photos of Mount Desert Island and the surrounding area are large, full-color, highly detailed Cibachrome and Fuji Flex prints. He photographs like Ansel Adams used to, with an antique large-format view camera on 8x10 negatives or larger. Also, he's a wicked cool guy and has been nice enough to give me a job for the past couple of summers. Drop by the gallery and see us sometime if you're around MDI.