art etc

bravo bella!

Marvelous to see Felix Gonzalez-Torres has been selected to fill the US pavilion at the Venice Biennale next year. Gonzalez-Torres died ten years ago at the age of 38, leaving behind a body of elegant conceptual works that are profoundly poignant and heartbreakingly personal.

One of his most exciting pieces, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) is an allegorical portrait of the artist's partner, Ross Laycock, consisting of 175 lbs of candy piled into a corner on the gallery floor. The piece quietly disappears overtime, giving itself up to gallery patrons as they take a piece of candy, savoring a moment of sweetness and a little sugar rush as they walk away. The work leaves me almost dizzy with sentimentality, bringing to mind moments of profound connection between my partner and myself, or sometimes moments of generosity between strangers; all wrapped up in the understated elegance of a pile of candy on the floor.

Contemporary art is BIG business in the US right now and I'm sure the curators considered some exciting work for Venice. As a result, it is incredibly exciting to see they chose an artist of such conceptual and emotional sophistication. Bravo bella!

posted by mia nielsen @ 6:40 AM 0 comments

the beastles

My new favourite thing is The Beastles - a series of brilliant mashes combining the Beastie Boys and The Beatles.

There are countless people out there who can provide syntilating and informed commentary, open deur for instance, but I am not one of them. So listen and decide for yourself. As for me, I am now dying for a road trip (mmmm Manhattan) to provide an excuse for hours of uninterrupted listening (and then New York). Instead, I'll curl up with my laptop and use this as an accompaniment to mash some photos.



ps. 10,000 thanks to my friend Megan at The New Pollution, who also moonlights as a cultural atachee

posted by mia nielsen @ 7:01 PM 0 comments