Bless Your Neighbor
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Your life ought to be as one long prayer that God's Spirit may work through all your thinking and acting to bless your neighbor.
Peter Reisch
trans. from German by Br. David Steindl-Rast
Peter Reisch
trans. from German by Br. David Steindl-Rast
Via Gratefulness.org
Local Crit - Wed, Nov. 27th 2013
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LOCAL CRIT
Presented by:
MICHAEL MARGULIES ARTIST AGENCY
FRANCIE BISCHOP GOOD
JEN STARK
CAROL PRUSA
JILL HOTCHKISS
NATALIA REPARAZ
SHEILA ELIAS
JESSY NITE
NICOLE BURKO
JESSIE LAINO
MARIANA MONTEAGUDO
MarguliesAgency.com
Carol Prusa - "Optic Nerve" - 2013
W E D N E S D A Y , N O V E M B E R 2 7 T H 2 0 1 3
Jessy Nite: The Overdose
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JESSY NITE LIVES IT DAY AND NITE
How did you get into incorporating pills into your work?most of my work is about my relationship with drugs and behaviors/people that surround them. Whether they lean toward molly or prescriptions, pills speak to a certain kind of high and dependency that I like to play with. They are the friendliest and most fun drug to use. (in my art or real life haha)I use it seamlessly throughout my process these days. I use all of my own content throughout my pieces (all type styles are my creation and all illustration is done byYou have a strong connection with graphic design, how much does it play into your art practice in the studio?
JESSY NITE IS AN ARTIST AND DESIGNER ORIGINALLY FROM NEW YORK BUT NOW CALLS MIAMI HOME. HER WORK TAKES YOU ON A CRAZY TRIP THROUGH COLOR FIELD INSTALLATIONS AND HER SIGNUATURE SYSTEMATIC PILL CALLIGRAPHy PIECES will MAKE EVEN THE SOBER O.D.
All Photos by David Cabrera. View all photoshere.
hand to start off) so everything begins with my technical drawing skills. My graphic design skills allow me to work on a larger scale and with variety of mediums, and influence my concepts and aesthetic.I've always been a party animal and was exposed to nightlife culture when I was young. I work my ass of these days so I don't get out as much as I used to, but every now and then I love to get totally wasted and go to the mega clubs like LIV, Story or The Wall. I love the whole show…the music, lights, performers and even the hilarity within the crowd. Its such a bizzaro world with two very contrasting realities. In-the-moment is one thing but the reality of it all is another. That South Beach club world is really not my scene but its fun to visit for sure!!!Are you really into nightlife? Where are some places you like to hang out that may inspire your work?
(Interview continues below)
(Interview continues below)
Tell us a little bit about your current show right now at the Hollywood Art and Culture Center.Behavioral Patterns is a group of new works that reflect a lot of personal experiences. Its a survey of the bad behaviors that I continue to repeat and struggle with. The stories are personal and reflect my feelings toward a very specific area of my life. One piece reads "Tried & True" in one direction, and "Tired & Thru" in the other….that is about relationships and the kind of people I always choose to be with. "Roll Model" is the duality of the party girl in-the-moment and after. Although, those serious undertones are clouded by the sentimental nature of the sayings and the colorful and clean presentation.Working on anything currently?This November is going to be so busy! First up I am releasing a dope new print and a very limited edition of pill jewelry that matches my "Roll Model" piece, then a large installation going up in the Filling Station in Wynwood, a new building takeover on Calle Ocho, a giant rainbow vortex for a show in Ft Lauderdale, and perhaps a little surprise for Basel…I gotta keep you posted on that last one!No low points…I keep it positive!Lowest point in your art career was when?I get higher everyday...Highest point in your art career at this point has been?
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Learn more about Jessy Nite right here.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF THE ROSE BOWL FLEA
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SO. Where were we? Ah yes... In my last post I was saying "YES" and venturing out into the world of the small business owner. And now, it's October, and many months have gone by since the paperwork was filed, and the fee's were paid, and now I find myself $3k in debt, to...uh...myself.
There are various expenses incurred when starting your own business, even if you are doing virtually all the work alone. I even built my own garment rails to save money...(pictured below) and I STILL had to lay out 4K total just to get my little store off the ground.
I decided to sell at the the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea, and also online. Easy you say... buy some vintage clothing, pack up your car, set up shop and have a lovely old time. I said the same thing... And now I laugh in my own face.
Just to get going I needed garment rails, shopping bags, tents for shade. I pay $120 per month space rental, $120 per month uhaul rental, and at least $75 in lunch and gas. I needed labels, label guns ,tissue paper, office supplies, a book keeper and jewelry displays, and non of this actually includes the cost of stock for resale.
Let's talk about stock. Where do you think your vintage clothing comes from? We'd all like to think our one of a kind finds have been hanging in the back of some sweet old biddy's closet for the last 50 years, until one day she pops off and they emerge in a glory of lost treasure now found but... News flash: That is not the case. I buy my vintage wholesale from rag houses. Enormous warehouses in the unloved parts of Los Angeles that require a dust mask, a strong back, and an even stronger will. I spend the better part of a day knee deep in the ugliest clothing you have ever seen, desperateley hoping that under the hundreds of pounds of 80's shoulder pads there will be a miracle. One piece of vintage clothing that not only is beautiful enough to save, but somehow not stained, or torn, or shredded. The number of incredible damaged finds I have had to throw back into the vast ocean of vintage crap is devastating. The simple fact is, true chic vintage is rare, because it rarely makes it this far.
So we have our stock, our rails and our tents, we've loaded our truck for 4 hours on a Saturday afternoon, packed our lunch and picked our outfit for the following day (something that says "I'm cool so my taste in vintage must be" ) now what? Well, you hit the sack around 7pm on Saturday night. No more SNL for you. Wake up around 2:30 / 3am on Sunday morning, eat some breakfast, hit the shower, hit the road. You arrive at the rose bowl around 3:30am, where you're greeted with a line of trucks a mile long, all waiting to gain entry to the gates of second hand goods. In the veil of darkness, you find your way to your 18ft x 20ft space, and you join your fellow vendors. Your comrades. The only other people in the world who know what its like to have joined this circus, and you each make your little slice of home. In a few hours an empty lot becomes the valley of the lost and found, and for one day only, we are the people of the Rose Bowl Flea.
WE ARE STRANGE FOLK, all trying to get by without committing to the 9 - 5 lifestyle we just weren't made for, and you never tire of the stories and personalities behind the facade of the ever smiling vendor. My neighbor was making a sale last week when a gentleman asked him "Are you big?" to which he obviously was a little confused, until the afore mentioned gentleman went on to ask if he "gave good head". There are two ladies selling jewelry across from me who make for fascinating people watching, every week one of the ladies bosses the other around in the most patronizing way, scolding her for not performing some menial task to her high standards, and then a customer will stop by and she'll flip on a dime. There are a couple odd balls who walk around in white gloves and face masks, a lovely old fellow who turned his motorized assistance scooter into a steam train, sound effects and all, and wears the cap and scarf to match. There's one vendor who won't let you buy anything... never understood that one. But despite our quirks and strange little habits, we are a community. We are a family. If your engine dies somebody's ready with a jump lead. If your stock blows away, somebody gives chase and brings it home safely. If its 100 degrees and you can't quite hold up, somebody shares their water, and shares their shade. And when the sun starts setting and the crowd thins out, we all celebrate or commiserate the days takings together.
As much as I love the Rose Bowl Flea and all its quirks I'm afraid I'm on my way out. I never intended for this to be a profession, I always saw it as more of a hobby, and for me the benefits just don't out weigh the work. It's hard, It's really hard. And more than anything I miss being able to peruse the thousands of stalls myself. But, never one to give up lightly, I'm committed to staying in the game until I break even.
So, If you find yourself Pasadena way on the second Sunday of the month, you might just see me, or, I might be already gone. Either way, I hope the next time you buy anything from a flea, you don't bargain quite as hard as you did. The people of the Rose Bowl Flea kill themselves to be there, and they deserve every penny they get.
FLEA MARKET STYLE
J
U
N
K
RAG HOUSE
VINTAGE
we are the people
OF THE ROSE BOWL FLEA
Every ______ Stay Rich Within My Cypher
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The first time THEillUZiON's Salomon Faye beamed through the threshold of Cypher League's Dojo in Bed Stuy, it became manifestly apparent that the guy standing in front of me was an alchemist -- no, not the sort that could turn a hunk of lead into silver or gold by some passive act of sorcery, but the type that could inevitably turn a book of rhymes into a platinum record.
As I've gotten to know Salo, however, I've realized that his alchemical quest is about much more than status and the metallic luster emblematic of wealth (the "Fool's Gold" he and his collaborator Enasni Leber ostensibly refer to in their debut music video). Salomon doesn't feel the need to posture in chains in order to shine, because his natural confidence and polished verses radiate just as brightly without them, as they do in the Dakota Blue Harper directed video for "Alchemy", the first single, produced byBlack Mack, off Salomon's solo project, Book of Salomon Faye.
"And I dont just talk shit; I walk this. Being present is a Gods gift, I represent the light in the darkness. Which one of you is a starving artist, forced to sleep on a couch or a carpet? Me. Which one of you recognized your hardships as piece of the price to Godship? Me."
Unlike other rappers who lord their (feigned) wealth over others without it, Salomon rises above that. Because materialism isn't what matters to him. Instead, he sees himself as a custodian of knowledge, a role that he believes is reaffirmed by the inscription on the Wisdom sculpture at Rockefeller Center, which reads:
"WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE SHALL BE THE STABILITY OF THY TIMES"
Whether he's meditating on the Cypher League roof, holding it down in Harlem, or commanding an audience at Apostrophe alongside his collaborators Enasni Leber,Vader the Villin, and Alan South in THEILLUZION, Salomon consistently exhibits a degree of mental discipline that surpasses that of most young emcees, and most people in general. Rising above the negativity and greed that consumes most of mankind, Salo is grateful for the gifts he's already been blessed with: a forceful presence, a powerful mind, and a positive message. After all, isn't that what hip hop was founded on anyways -- making something out of nothing, using the resources you've already got in order to make something special? There's the real gold.
Mastery in Contemplation
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Gradually one's mastery in contemplation extends from the primal atom to the greatest magnitude.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1.40
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1.40
Via Gratefulness.org
OUR FIRST EDITION
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From Martha's Vineyard To The World
NEWS
SPORTS
FILM
BOOKS
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Image of God
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"Many people excuse their own faults but judge other persons harshly. We should reverse this attitude by excusing others' shortcomings and by harshly examining our own.
Learn to see God in all persons, of whatever race or creed. You will know what divine love is when you begin to feel your oneness with every human being, not before.
In mutual service, we forget the little self, and glimpse the one measureless Self, the Spirit that unifies all men." Paramahansa Yogananda, The Law of Success.
Sometimes it is necessary to analyze other people; in that case the important thing to remember is to keep the mind unprejudiced. An unbiased mind is like a clear mirror, held steady, not oscillating with hasty judgements. Any person reflected within that mirror will present an undistorted image.
Learn to see God in all persons, of whatever race or creed. You will know what divine love is when you begin to feel your oneness with every human being, not before.
In mutual service, we forget the little self, and glimpse the one measureless Self, the Spirit that unifies all men." Paramahansa Yogananda, The Law of Success.
Post title...
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Nuevas Fundaciones - Installation Photos
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NUEVAS FUNDACIONES/NEW FOUNDATIONS
In NUEVAS FUNDACIONES, artists Jel Martinez, Kiki Valdes, and Mariana Monteagudo each demonstrate degrees of creating physical embodiments of their own practices. Each communicates through their prime foundations of painting, sculpture, surface layering and color. Beyond various art making differences, there is an underlying aesthetic value each artist possesses that unifies their work in the white box.
INSTALLATION
SHOTS
Nuevas Fundaciones - Kiki Valdes, Jel Martinez, Mariana Monteagudo
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In NUEVAS FUNDACIONES, artists Jel Martinez, Kiki Valdes, and Mariana Monteagudo each demonstrate degrees of creating physical embodiments of their own practices. Each communicates through their prime foundations of painting, sculpture, surface layering and color. Beyond various art making differences, there is an underlying aesthetic value each artist possesses that unifies their work in the white box.
Jel Martinez examines the buff, where different methods in which graffiti and tags are covered over imbue his paintings with everyday visual realities from the street. Working on wood panels in his studio he instinctively replicates what happens over the history of a public wall. The result is a figureless expressionism that communicates through a multilayered use of texture, color, and shape that both obscures and highlights his use of surfaces.
Kiki Valdes uses cartoon imagery as both a visual lure and guide, taking the viewer deeper into abstraction and communicating through overlapping colors and a transformative array of forms that reconcile recognizable popular imagery with post contemporary painting.
Mariana Monteagudo’s dolls evoke images of childhood innocence and horror films, while channeling her obsessive vision through an intelligent use of color and meticulous detail. The illusionist landscape created by her dolls is one in which color moves us from one doll to another. In doing so, the viewer absorbs abstracted images of dolls, with colorful familiar bodies, topped by expressive and invitingly disturbing heads.
Jel Martinez examines the buff, where different methods in which graffiti and tags are covered over imbue his paintings with everyday visual realities from the street. Working on wood panels in his studio he instinctively replicates what happens over the history of a public wall. The result is a figureless expressionism that communicates through a multilayered use of texture, color, and shape that both obscures and highlights his use of surfaces.
Kiki Valdes uses cartoon imagery as both a visual lure and guide, taking the viewer deeper into abstraction and communicating through overlapping colors and a transformative array of forms that reconcile recognizable popular imagery with post contemporary painting.
Mariana Monteagudo’s dolls evoke images of childhood innocence and horror films, while channeling her obsessive vision through an intelligent use of color and meticulous detail. The illusionist landscape created by her dolls is one in which color moves us from one doll to another. In doing so, the viewer absorbs abstracted images of dolls, with colorful familiar bodies, topped by expressive and invitingly disturbing heads.
Photos by Heike and Robert Dempster besides photo 1 and photo 14, which were provided by Mariana Monteagudo
GIRL POWER
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GIRL POWER
Love of Technology at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
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Ego-reduction
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"Ego-reduction requires intelligence and the grace
of God right from the beginning. Courage and willingness to suffer are
needed, but they are not enough.
You have to learn how to work along with it as the job is being done.
It is a skilled operation, and the skill can only be acquired slowly, by actual experience, by trial and error.
You have to learn how to work along with it as the job is being done.
It is a skilled operation, and the skill can only be acquired slowly, by actual experience, by trial and error.
The practice of the presence
of God and the practice of ego-reduction are complementary and mutually
interdependent experiences.
If you practice the presence you will find ,as a corollary, that your ego has been reduced. If you work at dissolving the ego, you will find that the presence of God consequently becomes more real to you."
If you practice the presence you will find ,as a corollary, that your ego has been reduced. If you work at dissolving the ego, you will find that the presence of God consequently becomes more real to you."
Thomas E. Powers, "First Questions on the Life of the Spirit," 1987, Self-Realization Fellowship Magazine