James Kalm slips into Williamsburg under cover of night to bring viewers a look and an extended interview with one of Chicago’s preeminent contemporary artists, Tony Fitzpatrick. Obsessively worked and fabricated from the cast off refuge of down home culture, Fitzpatrick weaves a narrative of tragic heroics recording a poetic portrait of one of the last of the great Native American leaders Crazy Horse. With simple scraps and elementary colors these collage paintings transcend their small size to express a sense of monumental mourning. Includes an extended interview with Tony Fitzpatrick.

James Kalm makes a must see stop for this double bill during the 2009 season opening night in Chelsea. Both Kara Walker and Mark Bradford have gained recognition for their work with paper, cut silhouettes for the former and grand scaled collage for the latter. Walker weaves a narrative derived from the history of slavery and repression, while Bradford imbues his work with an abject elegance capturing the essence and life of contemporary urban neighborhoods. Includes an interview with Kara Walker discussing her views on the painterly direction of some recent work.

James Kalm returns for the 2009 season opener on the LES (Lower East Side). This sampler features run-throughs of five openings that give viewers an idea of the tastes and trends we likely to see more of as the year unwinds. Beginning with the zippy tape stripes of Franklin Evans at Sue Scott, we dash up Freeman Alley to take a peek at the work of one name wonder Carter at Salon 94. From there we visit Khalif Kelly’s “Metamorphosis” at Thierry Goldberg Projects, and take a glance at the video installation of Adam Shecter at Eleven Rivington. Finally it’s up to East 2nd Street to check out the most recent offering at Museum 52.

Sleep: Joseph Nechvatal: Sleep: Sound of Pig Music cassette release 1983

Joseph Nechvatal: Sound of Pig Music cassette release 1983
no wave audio art noise collage cassette released in 1983 on Sound of Pig Music (SOP 140)
http://www.archive.org/details/JosephNechvatalSleepSoundOfPigMusicCasset...

A response to the Jerry Saltz review in New York Magazine.

Martha Rosler has typically been too pat and jejune in her politics, and in her assumption that it makes for good art, and Jerry Saltz correctly nails the rehash aspects of the current Mitchell-Innes & Nash show. The word "on the street" (in this case West 26th) is that Rosler is breaking no new ground, merely updating and enhancing both the scale and production values of her familiar collaging of images. Once they were taken from the Vietnam battlefield and conflated with magazine clippings from the home front: fashion models, washing machines, living room sofas and credenzas, Playboy nudes. Now they include some "relevant" Iraqi/Afghani footage - burkas and amputees - and benefit from Photoshop. Rosler might have succeeded in "bringing the war home" in 1968, but as Thomas Wolfe said, "You Can't Go Home Again". The epithet "pretty war porn" might be a bit harsh, but it is not that far from the mark.