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Friday, April 13, 2012

HEIL SCHICKLGRUBER!
A cute emug from my former collegue the multi-talented and simply ravishing Ms. Alice Bag of the late great LA punk band The Bags but who also participated with me in my crazy art/performance/music schemes The Afro Sisters and Cholita the Female Menudo over the many centuries we have both been alive:

Hello My Sweet Little Pudding Cup,

'tis me, Sad Girl checking in with you. I received an interview request from one
of your fans. She is interviewing me about Afro Sisters and Cholita because she
doesn't know how to get a hold of you. May I pease give her your email address?
I'm sure that the answers would be much more accurate (and deliciously
embellished) if they came straight from the horse's mouth (not to call you a
horse mouth, or anything).

I miss you Graciela. I've been saying nice things about you lately, I hope your
ears are burning.

Xoxox,
Alice

P.S. Fertile and Yadi had a baby boy and the bitch didn't name him Clarence!


***
Judy on Judy-Judy LaBruce on Judy Garland please read below it is important Ferdinand:

This is in the New York Times? it seems more appropriate for the gay section of the Huffingtonpost. so stupid on so many levels. first of all, why does everyone reduce Judy Garland to her most tragic moments near the end of her career? have they seen Judgment at Nuremberg, A Child is Waiting, The Clock, A Star is Born, Meet Me in St. Louis, Ziegfeld Girl... an astonishing body of work. Secondly, she was an incredible performer - what about talking about the quality of her voice, her phrasing, how she sold a song, her relationship to black signifying and minstrely - there's no analysis of her actual singing, body of work, historical context. etc. The writing in the article is so lazy. Thirdly, she was married to Vincente Minnelli, one of the most important directors of classic Hollywood. who was Britney Spears married to - Kevin Federline? Fourthly, she's the mother of Liza, who made incredibly important films with some of the best directors of her generation, like Cabaret, New York, New York, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, The Sterile Cuckoo. that's part of Judy's legacy too. Fifthly, who says you can't like both Judy Garland and Joni Mitchell? I certainly do. It's not an either/or proposition. Sixthly, obviously the young generation of gays does fetishize the tragedies of modern pop stars, witness Britney and her ilk. the only difference is, Britney has never done anything of lasting value - just pure pop puree. it's not even her talent or body of work they're interested in - just the train wreck itself. seventhly, Rufus Wainwright did an entire concert at Radio City Music Hall that was an exact copy, down to the program, of a Judy Garland performance. obviously some gays of a younger generation appreciate her, and a lot of young gays like Rupert. why was there no mention of that? (even though I think that concert was questionable). lastly, it's just another instance of the new generation, and not just gays, being proud of their ignorance of history and cultural history because they are arrogant, uneducated, and so distracted by technology that they can't be bothered. i listen to all the modern music of their generation and keep up with it and play it when I DJ. Why can't they extend the same courtesy to older generations. Fools. some of the same issues come up about The Boys in the Band here: http://gawker.com/5899549/lets-discuss-the-gay-classics xxx Blab
***
That pretty Italian troublemaker Janez Jansa has really done it this time in his adopted homeland of Slovenia. Please read the message below and contribute to the art madness. It will be well worth your time, energies and funds. Skandal Skandal down to the Panhandle!
My Name Is Janez Janša: The crowdfunding is open!

It all started five years ago when three artists joined the conservative SDS party and changed their names to Janez Janša, which is the name of the leader of that party and Prime Minister of Slovenia. The rest is history or, better said, the documentary My Name Is Janez Janša, which is coming to the cinemas soon. Focusing on the most scandalous name change in the history of Slovenia, the film juxtaposes different views on the meaning and purpose of one’s name and reasons for changing it.
Before you google your name, visit http://www.verkami.com/projects/1752 and help to finish the film and to reach its audiences all over the world.
Keep up with the film at www.mynameisjanezjansa.com.
This year, the documentary film My Name Is Janez Janša, directed by Janez Janša, will find its way to the big screens. The film shows the host Dražen Dragojević lead us through the various opinions, viewpoints and views offered by individuals, artists and academics from around the world as they discuss the meaning and purpose of the given name as seen from the perspective of the individual and society.
The reasons and motives behind changing one’s given name are shown through picturesque examples taken from history, popular culture and everyday life, leading the viewer to the most widely resounding name change in the history of Slovenia: in 2007, three artists enlisted into the Slovenian Democrat Party (SDS) and got their names officially changed to Janez Janša, the leader of that party and Prime Minister of Slovenia. While they renamed themselves for personal reasons, this gesture was marked as an artistic act and triggered an array of interpretations in Slovenian and foreign art circles, as well as amongst reporters, commentators and the general public. The film reveals the various views and responses to this renaming, which resounded in Slovenia and abroad.
The documentary film My Name Is Janez Janša was filmed in English and Slovenian; however, we can also hear Italian, Spanish, French and Croatian. In the film, a host of internationally acclaimed artists and intellectuals appear, including UBERMORGEN.COM, Franco and Eva Mattes, Vuk Ćosić, Jan Fabre, Stephen Kovats, Tim Etchells, Vaginal Davis, Mladen Dolar, Miroslav Košuta, and, of course, Janez Janša, Janez Janša and Janez Janša.
Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art is the producer of the film, which was created in cooperation with Institute Maska, TV Slovenija, POPCult and Emotionfilm, and with the financial support of the Slovenian Film Centre and film studio Viba Film.
In the final post-production phase, the creators of the film resorted to an innovative way of financing their project: crowdfunding, or funding by the masses. In this way, a high number of individuals financially support creative projects by offering small or large amounts, and thus ensure that good ideas are realized. The film creators wish to rise € 6000 in the next 40 days (starting on April 11th) and use these funds to finish the film and present it to the broadest possible public worldwide. Most of the funds, which will be collected through the crowdfunding platform Verkami, will be used for the post-production of the international cinema and shorter television versions of the film and their worldwide distribution. Individuals can support the documentary film My Name Is Janez Janša via the webpage www.verkami.com/projects/1752. As a ‘thank you’ for their support, the film creators will give out interesting rewards – ranging from mentioning individuals’ names in the end credits to works of art.

Contact:
Marcela Okretič, Producer
Aksioma | Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana
Neubergerjeva 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
e-mail: aksioma4@siol.net
www.aksioma.org
***
And if that isn’t enough and it isn’t her imperial highness the Duchess Kaucyila Brooke is having her first big solo show in Germany. See info below:
Badischer Kunstverein is pleased to present American artist Kaucyila Brooke
in her first comprehensive solo exhibition in Germany. The selection ranges
from early works from the 1980s to new works that Brooke has conceived
especially for this exhibition. Brooke's central medium is photography, which
she also uses in collages of text and images. She also works with installations,
drawings, and videos.

Kaucyila Brooke's work is concerned with the mechanisms of power and rep-
resentation and asks what possibilities exist for the individual to interrupt the
dominant cultural codes. In a group of works from the 1980s and 90s, the
determining principle is a montage of photos and text juxtaposing the patterns
of traditional historiography with a formal language from popular and media
culture, as in the expansive photo collage "Tit for Twat" (1993, ongoing).
Stylistically, these panels of images and text take their lead from the narrative
strategies of popular photo novellas and early cartoon strips. At the same
time, it reveals the influence of the film and media theories that have shaped
the artist's work, as have feminist and queer approaches and analyses of bi-
ology and gender based on cultural theory. Brooke has conceived nine new
panels for "Tit for Twat" that are being premiered at Badischer Kunstverein.

A second group of works is dedicated to photographic series and addresses
issues of documentation and archiving. Brooke employs the format of the
photographic document as an open form that incorporates rifts, voids, and
omissions and questions the boundaries of a conventional transmission of
knowledge. For "Kathy Acker's Clothes" (1999-2004), Brooke photo-
graphed 154 different pieces of clothing that belonged to the American writer,
who died in 1997. They capture the author's succinct style and her mise-en-
scène of her sexual identity. The photo series "Family Group, After Morandi
and After GLH" (2012), conceived especially for this exhibition, similarly
runs through the possibilities of a private matter in absence of the subject.
The artist's own collection of vases is staged as still lifes in the style of the
Italian painter Giorgio Morandi and presented in new arrangements.

In the Kunstverein's so-called Waldstrassensaal, a selection from the artist's
working archive is being presented for the first time. Many of these materials
relate to Brooke's early works of the 1980s and illuminate her interest in structure
and dialogue. In a series of drawings titled "Do You Want Me to Draw You a
Diagram?" (2004-2006), the artist playfully analyzes in diagrams the thematic
and formal connections between her works. These drawings delineate the archi-
tectural structure of the projects and the code to access the artistic practice of
Kaucyila Brooke.
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Kaucyila Brooke (b. 1952 in Oregon City, USA) lives and works in Los Angeles.
Solo shows (selection): 2010 Dry Kisses Only, Xcèntric – The CCCB´s Cinema,
Barcelona; Tit for Twat: The Release, Commonwealth & Council, Los Angeles /
2009 Where does the Venus come from, Silberkuppe, Berlin / 2008 Vitrinen in
Arbeit, Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung, Cologne / 2007 Viewing Platforms, Michael Dawson
Gallery, Los Angeles / 2006 Vitrinen in Arbeit, Galerie Andreas Huber, Vienna / 2005
Viewing Platforms, Kunstverein Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen; Kathy Acker’s Clothes,
Neuer Aachener Kunstverein / 2004 The Boy Mechanic, Plattform, Berlin.
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TALKS & EVENTS
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tuesday, 17 April, 7 pm
Talk
Kaucyila Brooke
Location: State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe,
Reinhold-Frank-Str. 67
(in English)

Friday, 4 May, 8.30 pm
Concert/Performance
Crazy Bitch in a Cave (comfortzone, Vienna)
with the latest album "Particles"

Wednesday, 13 June, 7 pm
Film screening
Dry Kisses Only (Kaucyila Brooke and Jane Cottis, 1990, video, 75')
(in English)
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OPENING HOURS
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Tuesday to Friday 11 am – 7 pm
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays 11 am – 5 pm
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

For more information and press images please contact:
Nadja Quante/Badischer Kunstverein, t +49 (0) 721 28226
presse@badischer-kunstverein.de
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
--
Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Press work and Public Relations
Badischer Kunstverein
Waldstraße 3
D-76133 Karlsruhe
t + 49 (0)721 28226
f + 49 (0)721 29773
presse@badischer-kunstverein.de
www.badischer-kunstverein.de
***
And one of my favorite NYU student art shtars who is all grown up and ready to take over and claim it the lovely Joey Tang is joining forces with Exile Gallery and Christian Siekmeier for a special project:
Art Brussels/First Call
Jo-ey Tang and Stuart Brisley
(click on image for further information)
April 19 - 22, 2012
Opening: Wednesday, April 18, 4 - 10pm
Booth 3C-08FC. (click to view floorplan)
To preview all works by Stuart Brisley and Jo-ey Tang at Art Brussels please end an email to Olga Sureda Guasch: info@thisisexile.com
***
Stream it now!
In the April episode, Expatriarch offers a survey of camp, transgression and intersectionality in music, doubling as a guide to what’s happening in Berlin right now: Joey Hansom presents tunes from Vaginal Davis and The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black (both part of the Camp/Anti-Camp festival April 19-21 at HAU2), NYC’s Lady Miss Kier and Gio Black Peter (both in town for PUSSY FAGGOT! May 2 at Monster Ronson’s), as well as the currently touring Chelsea Wolfe, Those Darlins and STLS.
Playlist:
Ray Mang feat. Lady Miss Kier – Bulletproof
Gio Black Peter – Pope Sex
Näd Mika – Diskoromance
Zebra Katz feat. Njena Reddd Foxxx – Ima Read (Mike Q & B. Ames Remix)
Death Grips – The Fever (Aye Aye)
THEEsatisfaction – Enchantruss
GODMOTHER – MTFTM
Pedro, Muriel & Esther – Cherries in the Snow
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black – Feeling Stronger
Permaculture – Silent Service
STLS – Drumcore
Those Darlins – Pet You and Hold You
Chelsea Wolfe – Friedrichshain
Mirel Wagner – The Road
Colin Self – Queens on Top (2 NICKI <3 SNICKI)
M. Lamar – Swinging Low
***
Girl Gang Zine and La Moustache present:
Female Drum Fest. Live: STLS (US) + Dark Times (NO) +DJs
Saturday, April 14
at bei roy, Ziegrastraße 13, S Sonnenallee
doors open at 9 pm
Girl Gang Zine and La Moustache proudly present a Female Drum Fest with STLS (US) and Dark Times (NO) plus Girl Gang Zine DJ set and DJ Itty Minchesta. Supported by Tom Tom Mag, the magazine about female drummers.
plus Emancipunx distro as well as a Ruby Tuesday Girls Rock Camp info table!
LIVE!
* STLS (Portland, Oregon, US)
You need more than two girls and two drumsets to be a band? STLS from Portland, Oregon prove you wrong. When Lisa Schonberg’s old band Explode into Colors broke up after a handful of singles, right when she had drummed them to the status “Portland Band to watch”, she did not wait until her drumsticks gathered dust. STLS is just one of her current projects. Along with STS, Lisa plays a genre called drumcore. STS played in the queercore legend two-piece Haggard, The Lookers and along Corin Tucker (Heavens to Betsy, Sleater-Kinney) and Sarah Dougher (The Lookers, The Crabs) in the all-time favorite Cadallaca. STLS play standing up, facing each other, on two drum sets and manage to recreate the dynamic structure of pop songs by utilizing the tones and textures of the drums merged into melodic patterns. They are easily identified by their huge sound and their rhythmically energizing syncopations. In 2010, Kill rock stars released their debut 7” drumcore. Come watch them play and then get your hands on a copy of Lisas’s “DIY Guide to Drums”, a hand-drawn book that shows the basics of drumming: drum beats, fills, hi-hat tricks, accents, and even some jazz rhythms.
* DARK TIMES (Oslo, Norway)
We don’t care how obvious it is for a band from Oslo, Norway to call themselves DARK TIMES as long as they sound as mind-blowing as AK (guitar/vocals), Sebastian (bass) and Rikke (drums). Lately praised by our favourite writers at Maximum RocknRoll by saying “..and um a touch of the ’82 flag demo (no lie) and of course they rule” and compared to early SONIC YOUTH, SWANS and hardcore bands like VOID and FLIPPER by Tiger records. Their punksongs are about your everyday life: alienation, resentment of posers and general pain. The usual. In early 2011 they released a demo-tape on Ormeyngel Records (Norway) and Sacred Tapes (US). Later that year, Sheep Chase Records released their first 7”. You were probably not lucky enough to catch them on their early 2012 tour with Brooklyn-based THE MEN, so come see them now!
DJanes!
* ITTY MINCHESTA (Bei Roy)
* GIRL GANG ZINE DJ set (Girl Gang Zine)
SUPPORTED BY:
* TOM TOM MAG
As a female drummer, Mindy Abovitz was sick of male drummers getting all the fame. She started the webpage that later became TOM TOM MAGAZINE, the only magazine in the world dedicated to female drummers. It serves as the ultimate go-to guide for the latest and hottest info on lady drummers and beatmakers. Tom Tom seeks to raise awareness about female percussionists from all over the world and hopes to inspire women and girls of all ages to drum, all while strengthening and building the community of otherwise fragmented female musicians. Visit the Tom Tom Mag table at the show to get the latest and back issues!
http://www.myspace.com/stls
http://darktimes.bandcamp.com
http://tomtommag.com
http://www.beiroy.de
http://ittyminchesta.blogspot.de
http://girlgangzine.com
http://www.lamoustache.org
***
This new message from Ms. Elly Clarke who will be on Vaginal Davis is Speaking From the Diaphragm Saturday April 19,2012 at HAU2 as part of Camp/Anti-Camp: The Queer Guide to Everyday Life.

Birmingham, 12th April 2012
Dear All,
This weekend, Clarke Gallery's showcase at mac birmingham turns from BERLIN / into BIRMINGHAM / . Part two of BERLIN / BIRMINGHAM / BEYOND / launches both in the gallery and online on Saturday 14th April (12-3pm in the gallery) and runs until 3rd June.
Artists of BIRMINGHAM / are:
Dan Auluk /
Elly Clarke /
Jeanette Dean /
Jo Gane /
Cathy Wade /
Barbara Walker /
Mo White /
The first work is Louder than Words: "I can pain a picture with a pin", by Barbara Walker. This is a key work from the artist; larger-scale, scanned versions of these originals gained wide acclaim when they were exhibited at East International in 2009. When putting this show together, I was keen to find work that talked about, or illustrated, Birmingham in some way. This work was made as a direct response to events taking place in the city during the last decade - in particular the stop and search orders by the police. Walker has written about the work here. The work is for sale for £500. You can also access her CV here.
Other work in BIRMINGHAM / includes photography, painting & sculpture; a total of 19 works. As with the previous show, the work will be rolled out piece by piece as it is sold; s/he who buys the work on display gets to select the next one to be exhibited. If you buy online, you will be sent a pdf of the catalogue of the other works to choose from. If you are within reach of Birmingham you will be invited to view the portfolio in person.
I am happy to announce that Own Art have become involved with the project, making it therefore more possible for more people to consider buying work. You can see an article Own Art wrote about this project, featuring Lisa Jugert's work from BERLIN / here.
Official exhibition text follows. I will be in the gallery this Saturday from 12-3, along with some of the artists. It would be fabulous, as always, to see you there.
If you are not in Birmingham, however, but wish keep up to date with the works as they change (and potentially to get your hands on one of them), you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook or simply by checking the BIRMINGHAM / page on the Clarke Gallery website. If you wish to buy a work, please telephone mac Sales on +44 (0)121 446 3232 - or send an email to mail@clarkegallery.de.
I am actually off to Melbourne next month, for a solo show at Techno Park Studios, so the on-the-ground aspect of this project will be looked after during this time by Charlie Levine.
Thanks for reading. I hope to see you in Berlin, Birmingham - or beyond! - before too long.
Best wishes,
Elly

BERLIN / BIRMINGHAM / BEYOND / at mac birmingham as part of Allotment 10 plots

Clarke Gallery presents one work at a time in its Allotment. This work is for sale and when it is sold, its buyer will choose the next piece to be exhibited.

The works for this project have been selected by Elly Clarke and come from artists working in Berlin and Birmingham - and elsewhere. Over six months the project will unfold through three consecutive exhibitions: BERLIN / (18.02 - 08.04) BIRMINGHAM / (14.04 - 03.06) and BEYOND / (09.06 - 09.09).

Whatever is in the gallery is mirrored online, via the Clarke Gallery website, Facebook, blog and Twitter feeds. Only following a financial transaction will new work be revealed. Purchases can be made either in person or remotely. Work ranges in price from £150-£500. mac birmingham takes 33% plus 20% VAT; the remainder is split between the artist and Clarke Gallery.

This project has been conceived in response to the limited opportunities to sell work within Birmingham, and, more broadly, to the general state of arts funding today.

Follow the action:
Online www.clarkegallery.de
Twitter @ClarkeGallery #allotment
Be part of the action:
If you would like to purchase or enquire about the work on display please get in touch at mail@clarkegallery.de or call mac Sales on +44 (0)121 446 3232

‘With Arts funding becoming more and more difficult to come by, we have to think ever more creatively about ways of producing, funding, exhibiting and selling work. While some artists in this show are more than ten years out of art school, others are fresher on the scene. In any case, your purchase will be great investment - not only for aesthetic (and hopefully also financial!) reasons but, crucially, will support visual artists to continue making their work. We hope you enjoy the exhibition.’

Elly Clarke
--
mail@clarkegallery.de / www.clarkegallery.de / www.ellyclarke.com

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A CATALOGUE OF JILTS
Dagmar Hopfisterei the teenage lead singer of Tenderloin seems to be holding up very well under pressure during rehearsals. She has only OD’s three times in the last month. In less then ten days is the Camp/Anti-Camp festival where the band will open up for Kembra Pfahler and the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. Thanks to Ms. Kembra, Antony Hegerty of Antony and the Johnsons wants Tenderloin to perform in London in the summer for the Meltdown Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre that Antony is curating. Let’s hope Ms. Hopfisterei doesn’t pull an Amy Winehouse or Whitney From Huston number as August is still a long ways away.
Before going to Tenderloin rehearsal on Sunday I met with beautiful Felix Knoke at Sud Block to discuss the soundscapes for VD is Speaking From the Diaphragm. Saw Yusi Etiman the guru of Basso collective in the courtyard of Basso, and also ran into Senol Senturk and his gorgeous new girlfriend. Senol is designing the C/A-C set with Jonathan Berger from New York, and I know it will be spectacular. I ordered the lunch buffet and it was pretty good. After rehearsing with Tenderloin where I play the Zylophone we had dinner at Santa Maria Mexican boite which was packed to the rafters, and it took forever to get our grub on. We had a pretty large group that consisted of Ms. Hopfisterie her famous mother, Christian F. of the Kinder of the Banhoff Zoo, Felix, Andreas, Joel Gibb baby diaper of the Hidden Cameras, Landgraf Klesse and his lovely girlfriend Marie.
Yesterday I rode my bike for the first time now that it is Spring. I am so out of shape. I was huffing and puffing all the way to Daniel Hendrickson’s house as we were having a meeting to deal with camp/anti-camp and Rising Stars business. I even had a late night meeting with Christian Weber that went from 10pm to 1:30 am. Christian was returning from his Easter Holiday in Bavaria and stopped by the Cheese Endique Trifecta to work on Speaking From the Diaphragm talk/show installation with me. Christian is so devoted to the project. I couldn’t do it without him. All morning I had a round of emails to returns and another meeting to rush out to, barely got a sliver of food to eat, which I don’t mind because maybe it will be my insentive for losing weight. Have another big meeting tomorrow with Uli, Christian, Nanna and Empress Stefanie.