"Under Vladimir Putin’s rule, Russia has reclaimed its position among the superpowers of the world in the past eight years, the economic recession and the tumultuous nineties seemingly all but forgotten. Thanks to the country’s huge abundance of raw materials such oil and natural gas, the Russian economy is flourishing as never before. After a mere 18 years of capitalism, the January 2008 issue of Finans Magazine reported that there are currently 101 billionaires in Russia. It is difficult to detect much prosperity in the book “101 Billionaires”, which portrays an entirely different segment of the Russian population. Far away from the glitter and glamour of Moscow, the world’s most expensive city, we find the impoverished Russians, victims of the ‘tough-as-nails’ capitalism with which Russia made its name immediately after the fall of Communism. "
Ladies, Tips on How to Avoid Recession Bandits
With nearly a decade of public exhibitions behind him, renowned undercover photographer JR this week launched his newest public exhibit in one of Africa’s largest and poorest slums, Kibera, Kenya. Famous for transforming his photos into posters and using them to make “open space galleries out of our streets,” JR’s latest exhibit is not only his most ambitious to date, but also has no set end-date scheduled.
Covering 2,000 square feet of rooftops and train cars with the eyes and faces of Kibera women, JR’s latest action is visible from space and can be seen on Google Earth. The posters were printed on waterproof material, so in addition to beautifying the rooftops they will also protect inhabitants from the brutal downpours expected in the upcoming rainy season.
The exhibit is part of a multi-action project called Women Are Heros, which aims to highlight the dignity, courage and noble struggle of women around the world.
So far, Women has exhibited in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya and Belgium, and plans for installations in various other Western countries are underway. In the coming year, JR also plans to develop Women Are Heros in India, Cambodia and Laos. He is currently in Brazil putting together another action for the project.
Women is itself a part of a larger project, 28 Millimeters, which includes 2007’s Face 2 Face and 2006’s Portrait of a Generation.
Eggleston: Stranded in Canton
from digressions: a photography blog by dshea
Author: saareman from Toronto, Canada
"Stranded in Canton" had its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 14, 2005 in a paired screening with Michael Almereyda's new documentary "William Eggleston in the Real World". There may have been several other previous screenings but the only other one that I easily found on the internet was when it opened the 6th annual Memphis International Film Festival on April 21, 2005.
Eggleston filmed about 30 hours of footage in the years 1973-74 and this has been recently edited down to 76 minutes for this final production which Eggleston said was now finished. Director Robert Gordon and film editor John Olivio assisted Eggleston with this final distillation and Eggleston himself provides an occasional commentary right in the film itself as shown. Perhaps the eventual DVD release will have a more complete commentary, but with the laconic Eggleston, this might very well be it. The little that Eggleston said was usually humorous and gave some comic relief.
The film left me feeling nostalgic for various hell-raising drunken friends from my own youth because the vibe here was as if William Eggleston had traveled back in time to secretly film these people in the early seventies. Most of them seem quite oblivious to the camera and with the infra-red lens some of this may have been filmed almost in pitch darkness so people were even more likely to act uninhibited. The video technology itself was so new that many may not have even understood that a movie camera was in fact being used. Eggleston films various colorful family friends and sometimes strangers in bars and on the streets. One interesting historical note is the informal performance footage of Memphis based blues guitarist/musician Furry Lewis (1899-1981) performing at a private house party (Lewis is the musician name-checked in the Joni Mitchell song "Furry Sings The Blues" on the 1976 Hejira album).
A word of warning for those with modern day PETA sympathies: one scene here captures the old-time carnival act of geeking chickens, although it is filmed at a night time street scene. In the days before such TV shows as Fear Factor, you could go to carnivals/circuses where a low-ranked performer would perform acts such as biting the heads of chickens or snakes or eating worms whole etc. for the entertainment of the paying crowds. The low-brow level of this "entertainment" caused the other carnies to disassociate themselves from the "geeks" or "geek men" which has gradually led to the word's modern day connotation of socially inept individuals."
Advice for Artists Seeking Gallery Representation
Post covers
1. Selling solo vs. working with a gallery
2. Tailoring your resume for an art dealer
3. Studio visit strategies
4. Getting your foot in the door
5. Mistakes to avoid in finding the gallery right for you (the one-size-fits-all myth)
6. My very best advice for approaching a gallery
7. The logic behind the 50/50 split
8. Communicating with your dealer
9. Dealing with over-protective dealers
10. Notes on ending a gallery-artist relationship
Satellite Pictures and Earth Defying Foxes
