Wednesday, May 09, 2012

DER DIENER ZWEIER HERREN So thrilled after almost seven years living in Berlin I think I have found a breakfast place to eat at on a regular basis that has the feel of an old fashion diner or greasy spoon. The café is called East London-God Save Brit Food, and its an all-day eating establishment serving the finest in British cooking combining fresh produce, imported delicacies and classic recipes. They are located at Mehringdamm 33 10961 Berlin info@eastlondon.de tel +49(0)30 69 53 32 05 hours Mon-Thu 8-10pm Fri 8-11pm Sat & sun 10-11pm so you can go from breakfast to dinner. They have been open for a year. How I missed them is beyond me. The place is cute with a décor that is clever but doesn’t try too hard like restaurants and shops in Mitte, and I have been there now twice once for breakfast where I had the classic but without sweet baked beans, thank god it doesn’t come with blood pudding, but the fried tomatoes & mushrooms are just what Doctor Faustus ordered. For dinner I had a most delish Fish&Chips with sticky peas & a pert lemonade. The staff is also friendly and accommodating which is a rarety in glum Berlina. Last night I went to Berghain to see Gossip perform. Its been a while since I’ve seen the band and they were of course in top form with Miss Beth looking ravishing in a gold sequined frock that she quickly took off to sport a chic Marc Jacobs little black dress. Their new album on Sony is called A Joyful Noize. The bands super hot baby dyke drummer Hannah Blilie is one of the best punk skin pounders short of my cousin Carla Duplantier of the legendary LA punk outfit The Controllers. Of course the place was packed to capacity and then some. I came with my Tenderloin boys Felix Knoke, Landgraf Klesse & Baby Diaper Joel Gibb. Tenderloin’s 17 year old lead singer Dagmar Hopfisterei with Tiffany Middlesex the bands Minister of DisIdentification DisInformation exchanged make-up tips with Ms. Ditto and her major ms. gorgeous manager Tara aka: Annie Oakley of the Sex Workers Art Show. Also seen backstage: Javier Peres of Peres Projects looking good and healthy now that he is completely clean & sober with his lovesexy trusty right hand man at his side. Ran into cutie pie Jasmin who worked on the ZacKary Drucker film that I made last summer where I starred as my Whoracle et Delphi persona. ZacKary is in need of funds to complete the film so please donate to the cause. More info on that at the end of this posting. Also saw in major schmooze mode La Negressa as she use to be called in the 90s when I first ran into her in New York on the fringes of the post queer core scene. Someone whispered to me that she is still working the same Klaus Nomi counter tenor shtick only now she has added Diamanda Galas and a bit of Antebellum identity politiks posturing to the mix and goes under the name of M. Lamar, and was in town for the badly named Earl Dax party Pussy Faggot. M. Lamar and Earl Dax seem like they are perfect to work with each other. I would change the name of the party from Pussy Faggot to Eve Harrington. I guess Earl has latched on to Zvonko of Queer Zagreb in a big way. Lord Love a Duck and more power to them! Thank you Love Camel aka: Andrea Novarin for sending me the book The World and its Double--The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara. It’s a great springtime read, and while you’re at it please send me a copy of Dropped Names-Famous Men and Women as I Knew Them by Frank Langella and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. This Monday I am going to see Claudia Gonson and Stephin Merritt and their band The Magnetic Fields play at the Passion Chuch at 8pm. Claudia was kind enough to contact me that she was coming to town and put me on the guest list. *** Wasn't able to catch the opening but here is a group show recommended to me by my former Arts Editor boss when I wrote regularly at the LA Weekly Mr.Tom Christie: Unblinking Eye Adrian Buschmann - Aaron GM - Sonja Gerdes - Fabian Hartmann Eric Legris - Maeghan Reid - Jason Starr April 27th until June 24th 2012 Opening reception - April 27th from 6 to 9PM 'It is not the slumber of reason that engenders monsters, but vigilant and insomniac rationality.' Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1972) Kavi Gupta BERLIN is proud to present Unblinking Eye, a group exhibition including the work of Adrian Buschmann, Aaron GM, Sonja Gerdes, Fabian Hartmann, Eric Legris, Maeghan Reid, and Jason Starr. Drawing from the histories of surrealism and symbolism in contemporary art, the exhibition is an acknowledgment of the value of quixotic folly, a nod to Shandyistic strategy, and a critique of the arrogance of rationalism. Adrian Buschmann (b. 1976 in Kattowitz, PL) lives and works in Berlin. Recent exhibitions include Schimmeliges Brot (2010) at Schlectriem Brothers in Berlin, Adrian Buschmann (2010) at Kunstgarten in Graz, Austria, and Say Hello To Palmtreeman (2009) at Galerie Fiebach & Minninger in Cologne. Buschman graduated from Berlin's Universität der Künste in 2002, studying under Prof. Daniel Richter. Aaron GM (b. 1978 in Washington D.C.) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent exhibitions include IMOM-M (2011) at Green Gallery in Milwaukee, capezio (2010) at ltd los angeles in Los Angeles, and Timeshares (2009) at Parker Jones Gallery in Los Angeles. Sonja Gerdes (b. 1979 in Clarholz, DE) lives and works in Berlin. Recent exhibitions include Pie Of Trouble. Let's Hang. The Energy Plan (2012) at Elephant in Los Angeles, Gyre and Gimble (with Lucy Teasdale) (2011) at Galerie Gebr. Lehmann in Berlin, and XXXL Die Schmiede featuring Talisman for Oxygenenergizer (2011) at Galerie Lena Brüning in Berlin. Sonja Gerdes' performance 'Pie of Trouble, Let's hang. Breathe. Air is free' will begin at 8PM. Fabian Hartmann (b. 1986 in Bottrop, DE) lives and works in Düsseldorf. Recent exhibitions include Aurum (2011) at Gallery Artary in Stuttgart and Peppi Bottrop - Arm der Cunst (2011) at Sammlung Helene Zimmerman in Hamburg. Hartmann currently attends the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, studying under Prof. Albert Oehlen. Eric Legris (b. 1981 in Lubec, Maine) lives and works in New York. Legris attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine from 1999 until 2003 and received his Master's of Fine Arts from Bard College's Milton Avery Graduate School of The Arts in 2011. Recent exhibitions of Legris' work include Jellyfish (2011) at Kavi Gupta BERLIN, New American Values (2010) at Atelierhof Kreuzberg in Berlin, Ich Habe Stimmen Gehört (2009) at Galerie Im Regierungsviertel in Berlin, and It's not the sandwich we enjoy, it's the pickle (2009) at Objectiv Gallery in Prague. Maeghan Reid (b. 1980 in California) lives and works in Berlin. Recent exhibitions include Splint (2011) at Kunstverein Heppenheim in Heppenheim, DE, The Great Lumbering (2011) at Jack Hanley Gallery in New York, and Dorothea (2011) at Ancient & Modern in London. Jason Starr (b. 1975 in Los Angeles, USA) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent exhibitions include Adult Contemporary (2011) Kavi Gupta BERLIN, Fresh Silent Auction (2009) at Los Angeles Museum Of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Inevitable Continuum (2009) at Locust Projects in Miami. Starr received his Masters of Fine Arts from The University of Southern California in 2007. For further information and/or images please contact the gallery at info@kavigupta.com or call +49 030 544 65010 ON VIEW IN CHICAGO: ARI MARCOPOULUS - MIDWAY CHICAGO 835 West Washington Blvd. Chicago, IL 60607 312.432.0708 Tuesday - Friday, 10-6PM Saturday, 11-5PM BERLIN Kluckstraße 31 10785 Berlin Germany +49 030 544 65010 Wednesday - Saturday, 12-6PM *** ZacKary Drucker projects info to donate and support: Dear Everyone who is Everyone, As you may know, I'm close to finishing my largest and most ambitious project to date. She Gone Rogue is a fantastical narrative short film shot across the US and in Europe that features legendary performers Holly Woodlawn, Vaginal Davis, and Flawless Sabrina. My collaborator Rhys Ernst and I have been hard at work over the last 12 months on the film and it is truly a labor of love. It will be premiering in June at the first ever Los Angeles Biennial, and will play for three months on a continuos loop at the Hammer Museum-- a prestigious opportunity indeed. We need your help for the final push. Filmmaking has hard costs and we're still $2,000 away from our goal. If we don't reach the Kickstarter goal we receive nothing and have no way to pay for the finishing costs of the film (with our premiere only weeks away)! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO AND DONATE For those of you who have already donated, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!! If you haven't gotten around to it yet, please consider donating to our Kickstarter. There are amazing perks available and if you haven't seen it already, check out our Kickstarter cooking concept video featuring Rhys and I as rodeo clowns. Thank you so much for you support. Raising awareness about it also really helps. Reposting, sending an email on our behalf, tweeting about it, anything you can do to spread the word is much appreciated. THANK YOU, i love you more than ever, Z