John Lurie, the musician? I enjoy the smeared tactility of the paint and the simplified schematics for clouds and grass, like children's drawings. With all that's going on in the world, this kind of work seems irrelevant and indulgent. It has no tension, no pull. I feel similarly about Richard Prince's joke paintings. If the content must be emblazoned on the surface of the painting, what is the purpose.
Checked the Roebling site, thanks NWM. There is a fresh and open quality to the paint, a sweet fizz in the color. But no tension. The paintings conjure the insularity of the international art market: look at what this untrammeled, outsider artist can tap into without the constraints of formal training! There's basis in that, all we have to do is think of Darger. But outside of the taut, fetishistic compositions oif Darger, Rodriguez, et al outsiderism doesn't produce a high level of quality or do anything new with paint.
yes laughter! at ps1 people were laughing out loud (i heard). how many times have you been to a gallery and heard genuine laughter? tension? why must art have tension. i find luries work refreshing. what if lurie isnt trying to tap into any "outsider style", what if this is as good as he can do?
i read it as an extention of his punk, jazz theatricality - sure its not a 'painters, painting' but that does not mean it is not hot Art, - however i also seriously enjoy David Shrigley,
I love John Lurrie's work in movies and music. It seems to me that these have a similar look to some of the paintings of David Lynch, sort of a interest in the narrative quality of objects. Possibly just a coincidence, but off the top of my head, a lot of musicians/film makers that turn to art seem to have a similar way of working. David Byrne and Vincent Gallo also often work in this way too. Text + Image paintings, almost like comic or storyboarding. I guess working with film long enough just sets your mind in a certain way of thinking that comes out when you paint.
this makes me feel sick and depressed and frustrated and angry. not funny, not good, not even bad-good. it is horrible, maybe the worst thing on paintersnyc yet. has there been anything less deserving of attention? i can't remember. doesn't seem possible.
I saw the show at PS 1 and i thought it was refreshing. Yes it was hilarious (and i was laughing out loud in the gallery) but the text and drawing is decisively awkward and confident at the same time - not self-consciously constructed or faux naive but fresh and surprising. Like a first draft that somehow works, but just not how you expected it..
luries work IS just as witty as shrigleys. there are over 100 drawings at ps1...something for everyone. the sophmoric humor (which does not mean it isnt informed and smart) couples nicely with the sophmoric drawings...this one isnt my favorite but i like the "bear surprise" drawing a lot.
jim torok comes to mind, another great artist. leaves pretention at the door in favor of communication, intelegence, wit, message and entertainment.
I don't know why this cracks me up. I think it is the horse's nose and the "okay". I probably wouldn't want to own one or a Richard Prince either though.
wow, just read the Zak Sabbath, thats harsh! i really apprechate his work as well as Lurie's i am not going to try convince you to like either of these guys - but would like to share with you y. when i ever i see something in a museum or gallery that makes me feel really mad or disappointed in the system, or confused, or i enjoy but wonder what makes THIS so special, i ask myself "y y is this here - who put it here? who is this Artist? how could the rest of there lives contribute to these pieces? are these a part of another "conversation" that i may not have heard yet or understand? i have learned a great deal doing this. these Artists are both very "punk" not in the sense that they are in hamburg 77' jobless... (well that had its elements of fashion as well) but in there relationship to the system i don't think either are really "studio artists" or concerned with "arty" lines of questioning into there work or having much of a conversation with the Art World at large, - rather these 'drawings' if you will are windows into the rest of there lives, - which may be more the nexus of there work. further they both strike me as allot of fun. fun in a witty not a 'get over' way. i am sure they are both happy to see there work canonized but i get the feeling that if it didn't happen they would still be perfectly happy living full lives doing what they love and making some paintings - some of that joy comes thru. the world could use more of that now if you ask me.
sorry if that "alienated people" people anon who dug oddly far down into my blog to tell me off and not answer me back - some of the comments on this blog "alienate me" and i feel the need to say something about it - wow - i don't feel alienated anymore.
lurie once tried to tell me that basquiat copied his style in the 80s..........?!! the only reason any of us have seen this work is his connections....... For cryin out loud if painter posts vincent gallo's works next Im gonna boycott this site..but not until after reading a bunch of you guys laud them for their artistry. This dude gets slaps on the back and you guys rip open Hernan Bas??????
Lurie's schtick has been done, and been done better. But i'd argue that most stuff has "been done" so that paintings become more like phrases or even just words. I'd argue that Art and Language was the last real cool breeze. Dig?
Zac Smith has been done too. I learned to draw the Marvel Way, same as everyone else. THen I graduated High School (not Laguardia or FAME or whatever) and I started usig Conte Crayon and shit.
After that I pretty much blew out the crotch in my underoos.
lets not rip on what has or has not been done because dude, its all been done to some length...sure maybe lurie hasnt taken anything further, and yes maybe i like him as an actor...but these still ring the funny bell.
bada, good post but seeing humor as only being 'funny' is an incomplete understanding of the power of humor. i admit, my imediate reaction to these is ha ha. however, humor isnt only 'ha ha', humor is a form of intelect. it is when we begin to disect why we laugh that we begin to see the structure, and the ugliness that is too often the foundation of this humor. i think your critical read is correct....why is it funny that this horse wants to have sex with my wife, he must know it is wrong?...we know it is wrong.
if we laugh at this, if only the laughs we got were out of a greater inspection of ourselves, our society.
yes.
i guess i challenge you in that i think lurie IS a serious artist and to say thast his work detracts from the merit of "serious" artists...i say, dont take yourself too seriously or youll lay waste to yourself.
Lurie's work is like a hipster hallmark card. It's not funny because it ISNT MEAN ENOUGH.
Whether you like it or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, we are in a war against the forces of repression. Any ammunition we have must be used. Be above it all and produce life affirming work -- fabulous. Get down in the ring and punch away at the fuckers --great. We have to do it all.
Watching Steven Colbert rip Bush another asshole, and watching Bush have to sit thru it and squirm made this week bearable.
i do not think bush is dumb. i do not think bush is smart.
getting back to lurie not being a 'serious' artist...have you seen his movies??? have you seen him in a hollywood movie??? he does what he likes and he does it in a serious way.
In fact I'm talking about the human race You're trying to cover up the big disgrace I said yeah yeah yeah, Oh C'mon C'mon C'mon
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah Well I may think that this whole scene is just a Too appalling for me Or I may be the type who's just a mad about Every little thing that I see Well I can color that with mystery Or make it just what I want it to be While I'm blowing my change on the fan magazines With all the Hollywood refugees, screaming Yeah yeah, oh yeah
And If I'm acting like a king I said well, I'm a human being And if I want too many things don't you know that I'm a human being And if I've got to dream Baby baby, I'm a human being And when it gets a bit obscene (OR MEAN) (wooah) I'm a human being And I've got to go around With my head hung down Just like a human being We're all just human being And I can hold my head so high Cause I'm a human, a first class human being
I'm a human being I'm a human being I'm a human being I'm a human being
John Lurie@
ReplyDeleteP.S.1
John Lurie, the musician?
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the smeared tactility of the paint and the simplified schematics for clouds and grass, like children's drawings. With all that's going on in the world, this kind of work seems irrelevant and indulgent. It has no tension, no pull. I feel similarly about Richard Prince's joke paintings. If the content must be emblazoned on the surface of the painting, what is the purpose.
loved the show at Robeling steve buscemi was at the opening, he is so cute.
ReplyDeleteChecked the Roebling site, thanks NWM. There is a fresh and open quality to the paint, a sweet fizz in the color. But no tension. The paintings conjure the insularity of the international art market: look at what this untrammeled, outsider artist can tap into without the constraints of formal training! There's basis in that, all we have to do is think of Darger. But outside of the taut, fetishistic compositions oif Darger, Rodriguez, et al outsiderism doesn't produce a high level of quality or do anything new with paint.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, I should add.
ReplyDeleteThe show at Roebling Hall made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteyes laughter! at ps1 people were laughing out loud (i heard). how many times have you been to a gallery and heard genuine laughter? tension? why must art have tension. i find luries work refreshing.
ReplyDeletewhat if lurie isnt trying to tap into any "outsider style", what if this is as good as he can do?
makes me want to go ice fishing...with willem dafoe
ReplyDeleteor do anything with willem dafoe actually
Yeah, this is a little embarrassing. Nothing going on formally, and nothing going on conceptually.
ReplyDeletei read it as an extention of his punk, jazz theatricality - sure its not a 'painters, painting' but that does not mean it is not hot Art, - however i also seriously enjoy David Shrigley,
ReplyDeleteand a bit more academic, DS is still wrapped in alot of 'Art' questions - how about David Kramer, david byrne.
ReplyDelete"Fishing With John" the TV series (cable, out on video) is funnier.
ReplyDeleteDavid Shrigley is funnier - and more profound, at times.
Dudes didnt invent humor though.
Andy Kaufman rules.
I love John Lurrie's work in movies and music. It seems to me that these have a similar look to some of the paintings of David Lynch, sort of a interest in the narrative quality of objects. Possibly just a coincidence, but off the top of my head, a lot of musicians/film makers that turn to art seem to have a similar way of working. David Byrne and Vincent Gallo also often work in this way too. Text + Image paintings, almost like comic or storyboarding. I guess working with film long enough just sets your mind in a certain way of thinking that comes out when you paint.
ReplyDeleteI had a horse named skinny once.
ReplyDeleteI renamed it shithead.
this makes me feel sick and depressed and frustrated and angry.
ReplyDeletenot funny, not good, not even bad-good. it is horrible, maybe the worst thing on paintersnyc yet. has there been anything less deserving of attention? i can't remember. doesn't seem possible.
and i like david shrigley.
I saw the show at PS 1 and i thought it was refreshing. Yes it was hilarious (and i was laughing out loud in the gallery) but the text and drawing is decisively awkward and confident at the same time - not self-consciously constructed or faux naive but fresh and surprising. Like a first draft that somehow works, but just not how you expected it..
ReplyDeleteluries work IS just as witty as shrigleys. there are over 100 drawings at ps1...something for everyone. the sophmoric humor (which does not mean it isnt informed and smart) couples nicely with the sophmoric drawings...this one isnt my favorite but i like the "bear surprise" drawing a lot.
ReplyDeletejim torok comes to mind, another great artist. leaves pretention at the door in favor of communication, intelegence, wit, message and entertainment.
I don't know why this cracks me up. I think it is the horse's nose and the "okay". I probably wouldn't want to own one or a Richard Prince either though.
ReplyDeleteThe pony has a nice smile. Like I've seen on some art critics. :-}
ReplyDeletei am going to go eat some hay
ReplyDeleteeat shit and grin
ReplyDeleteor we could just sit quietly and cry
or we could melt-down our mental furnace trying to wrap our mind around some grand context challenging instalation (so moch intelectual pleasure)
or we could genuflect at a miro
or we can just be amused
or we can participate by reclining in hammocks in Oiticican extacy
or we can simply enjoy the met.
or we can complain on blogs
{continue list}
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteor we can suck it up and disco.
ReplyDeletewow, just read the Zak Sabbath, thats harsh! i really apprechate his work as well as Lurie's i am not going to try convince you to like either of these guys - but would like to share with you y. when i ever i see something in a museum or gallery that makes me feel really mad or disappointed in the system, or confused, or i enjoy but wonder what makes THIS so special, i ask myself "y y is this here - who put it here? who is this Artist? how could the rest of there lives contribute to these pieces? are these a part of another "conversation" that i may not have heard yet or understand? i have learned a great deal doing this. these Artists are both very "punk" not in the sense that they are in hamburg 77' jobless... (well that had its elements of fashion as well) but in there relationship to the system i don't think either are really "studio artists" or concerned with "arty" lines of questioning into there work or having much of a conversation with the Art World at large, - rather these 'drawings' if you will are windows into the rest of there lives, - which may be more the nexus of there work. further they both strike me as allot of fun. fun in a witty not a 'get over' way. i am sure they are both happy to see there work canonized but i get the feeling that if it didn't happen they would still be perfectly happy living full lives doing what they love and making some paintings - some of that joy comes thru. the world could use more of that now if you ask me.
sorry if that "alienated people" people anon who dug oddly far down into my blog to tell me off and not answer me back - some of the comments on this blog "alienate me" and i feel the need to say something about it - wow - i don't feel alienated anymore.
lurie once tried to tell me that basquiat copied his style in the 80s..........?!!
ReplyDeletethe only reason any of us have seen this work is his connections.......
For cryin out loud if painter posts vincent gallo's works next Im gonna boycott this site..but not until after reading a bunch of you guys laud them for their artistry.
This dude gets slaps on the back and you guys rip open Hernan Bas??????
Lurie's schtick has been done, and been done better. But i'd argue that most stuff has "been done" so that paintings become more like phrases or even just words. I'd argue that Art and Language was the last real cool breeze. Dig?
ReplyDeleteZac Smith has been done too. I learned to draw the Marvel Way, same as everyone else. THen I graduated High School (not Laguardia or FAME or whatever) and I started usig Conte Crayon and shit.
After that I pretty much blew out the crotch in my underoos.
If Lurie is toxic I'm CHUD.
lets not rip on what has or has not been done because dude, its all been done to some length...sure maybe lurie hasnt taken anything further, and yes maybe i like him as an actor...but these still ring the funny bell.
ReplyDeleteBada... I solute you. Excelent post.
ReplyDeletebada, good post but seeing humor as only being 'funny' is an incomplete understanding of the power of humor. i admit, my imediate reaction to these is ha ha. however, humor isnt only 'ha ha', humor is a form of intelect. it is when we begin to disect why we laugh that we begin to see the structure, and the ugliness that is too often the foundation of this humor. i think your critical read is correct....why is it funny that this horse wants to have sex with my wife, he must know it is wrong?...we know it is wrong.
ReplyDeleteif we laugh at this, if only the laughs we got were out of a greater inspection of ourselves, our society.
yes.
i guess i challenge you in that i think lurie IS a serious artist and to say thast his work detracts from the merit of "serious" artists...i say, dont take yourself too seriously or youll lay waste to yourself.
I think you're way wrong bada.
ReplyDeleteLurie's work is like a hipster hallmark card. It's not funny because it ISNT MEAN ENOUGH.
Whether you like it or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, we are in a war against the forces of repression. Any ammunition we have must be used. Be above it all and produce life affirming work -- fabulous. Get down in the ring and punch away at the fuckers --great. We have to do it all.
Watching Steven Colbert rip Bush another asshole, and watching Bush have to sit thru it and squirm made this week bearable.
mean is easy.
ReplyDeletesteven colbert wasnt mean, he was smart and subtle, which was much more effective.
all praise st. steven colbert
He cant have been THAT subtle. Bush understood he was being visciously mocked. And he didnt look too happy about it (isnt that mean?)
ReplyDeleteOr maybe, do ya think, Bush isnt really that dumb?
mean is not clever...st. colbert was clever.
ReplyDeletei do not think bush is dumb.
i do not think bush is smart.
getting back to lurie not being a 'serious' artist...have you seen his movies??? have you seen him in a hollywood movie??? he does what he likes and he does it in a serious way.
In fact I'm talking about the human race
ReplyDeleteYou're trying to cover up the big disgrace
I said yeah yeah yeah,
Oh C'mon C'mon C'mon
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah
Well I may think that this whole scene is just a
Too appalling for me
Or I may be the type who's just a mad about
Every little thing that I see
Well I can color that with mystery
Or make it just what I want it to be
While I'm blowing my change on the fan magazines
With all the Hollywood refugees, screaming
Yeah yeah, oh yeah
And If I'm acting like a king
I said well, I'm a human being
And if I want too many things
don't you know that
I'm a human being
And if I've got to dream
Baby baby, I'm a human being
And when it gets a bit obscene (OR MEAN)
(wooah) I'm a human being
And I've got to go around
With my head hung down
Just like a human being
We're all just human being
And I can hold my head so high
Cause I'm a human, a first class human being
I'm a human being
I'm a human being
I'm a human being
I'm a human being
Some people paint paintings good and/or bad.
ReplyDeleteOther people wax pretentious on web-blogs.
The end.