1/05/2007

Simon Henwood

96 comments:

Painter said...

Simon Henwood @
Envoy
535 West 22nd Street 6 floor
New York, NY 10011

zipthwung said...

If she was 12-13 this painting would be worth 30 grand. Maybe she is.
Totally looks like the sort of photo studio lighting shot you might get for your senior picture without the smaller double exposure in the BG - then it would be ironic. I mean avendon doesnt do it...

Rembrandt
Vermeer
I like young hot chicks and
beer

Mark Barry said...

your average teen, medicated.

zipthwung said...

In the gallery people come and go ...speaking of photography

Anonymous said...

edited version

heidi said...

Working from photos is not bad in and of itself, but imitating the cameras colors of washed out to bright yellow to red to dark brown on the skin tones is.

Anonymous said...

the arms disturb me. they seem strange and wooden. why do people put so much effort into finding complexities in a face and then skimp on the rest of the body? is it because we're too focused on the face?

Anonymous said...

aye aye, bennet--see my edited version

Anonymous said...

edited vrsn 2

Anonymous said...

edited vrsn final

triple diesel said...

We love this gallery, but what does this painting really say? Light bounces off hair.

Anonymous said...

just googled this guy. what a dipshit.

Anonymous said...

no wonder he can't paint arms

Anonymous said...

i have no idea really. and hate this kind of work. but i think you could build a narrative around it at least:

maybe it's about what she's looking at. or just the reverie/stonedness of her gaze. something kind of teenage, bored with the county fair, but put on my nice dress for it anyway, about it. reminds me of some old bradbury story.

clearly i'm trying too hard.

Anonymous said...

i have no idea really. and hate this kind of work. but i think you could build a narrative around it at least:

maybe it's about what she's looking at. or just the reverie/stonedness of her gaze. something kind of teenage, bored with the county fair, but put on my nice dress for it anyway, about it. reminds me of some old bradbury story.

clearly i'm trying too hard.

Anonymous said...

all you americans are leetle deep sheets really

ad3pt said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
zipthwung said...

If you have trouble seeing theis as pop, take a gander at my rough mockup

here

arebours said...

first time i laughed all day-

heidi said...

That made me smile , very cute! You're hired, Zip.

Sven said...

this whole gallery's a snore .only one or two decent artists. rest book covers as per zip

Anonymous said...

Interesting, each part of the body has its unique treatment.
Zip, while I laughed I think you have blurred just how much this unique treatment stands out!
This is what I would do.
I'd collect all the like-minded parts and calculate them into proportional squares. Once I had all the squares worked out, I'd drop the content into each square. Each square then could be set from big to small next to each other. I would bring in some simple math to discover what lay beneath this painting. I'm sure the result would be interesting.
Just got to dig a little deeper.
It was a little exercise I had to do first year art college. It was rigorous, but the results were astounding.

zipthwung said...

all growed up!

triple diesel said...

Zip enters.

Hilarity ensues.

zipthwung said...

THis work and the gallery are a lot like Mixed Greens.

I just think the subject matter-composition is lame.here

Figures in boring composition. Maybe if I wasn't a misanthropist I'd be into it more. But I want some sign of ego - of personality.

If you look at the artists other (video) work its pop - the artist some roots and shoots in illustration and cartooning The craft is technical, and I dont find fault with it, other than its tame predictabiity.

What separates this from the artists in the illustration annuals? From VH1? Rolling Stone?

Make a counter argument. Tell me pop will win out over elitist intellectual countercultures.
Circle your stagecoaches.

Anonymous said...

i think she turns tricks at hotel hotel across the street from me ;) i like it... (jpg of course i don't like going above the 2nd floor feel traped) but i don't see y it should be painted. Ill take Josephine Meckseper anyday....

Anonymous said...

oops link to this

zipthwung said...

no love for nagel

Nagel illustrated for playboy...and I guess his stuff goes to the auction house...every adolescent in some places (not where I grew up) had to have one in the eighties. Framed. Expensive. Prints.
What rimes with status? Class?

Anonymous said...

what u up 2 these days zip - how bout a link? Class? Class indeed. CLEARLY you can show us all das way.

Anonymous said...

the new art cannot be seen in a link, it has retreated from the designated places, it has stayed to the bitter end under a certain arrangment with us, but finding the relationship no longer sustainable, has retreated to darker and less obvious quarters, within society, within ourselves.

For a time, art came to us like an angel of comfort, to offer us a safe place to toy with hints and predilections we knew not how to categorize. It offered an escape valve for the misgivings of turbulent times of change among our species. It made no judgements and turned away no one. Nor did it offer solutions to our uneasiness or prod us towards naming its causes. But there is a threshold across which an escape valve ceases to be benificial to a system and begins to leak where once it vented.

The current system of temples and priests which hums atop our acropolis ringed by soldiers is no longer worthy of Athena. She has taken taken a disguise and passed through the crowds unnoticed. Even as she left the city gates she was not recognized.

She has taken up with the remotest village people, sharing their life and becoming one of their members. Here she finds sustainence where there was none.

Too much blood was poured in temple sacrifices, and the gold objects heaped there were no longer in the service of Her but of extravagance. Even the city itself's foundations were unsteady, sending tremors that would wake her from her sleep in the temple at night.

She found herself dreaming of a bed of straw in a house of river stones, of fields and rough clothes and tired hands. And being a goddess, she left.

Anonymous said...

the "New Art" seems a little bitter about successful productive painters.

Anonymous said...

that sounds intellegent (pause) NOT!

Anonymous said...

You guys seem like bitter, white, artschool liberals. The banter and self accolades given to each other is so childish, it's almost as if you were in little clicks in high school.
Every artist whose work is shown here, has been accepted and represented by a gallery and in one way or another they are doing what any artist aspires to do.
They are showing their art to people other than friends and relatives, and they are making a living, in some way or another with their art!!!
How crazy is that?!!!
Whether they change or impact the artworld in the future is yet to be seen.
Criticism is warranted by all, and will help everyone if it is constructive, but stupid song lyrics, self proclaimed intellectual discussion, and "finishing" other artists work is so pathethic, it has ruined a sight that was once a pleasure to go view.
If you guys represent the future of art in new york, then the future is bleak indeed.

Anonymous said...

i don't know about the rest of you white, bitter, art school guys, but does this painting look like it needs something in the upper left corner like a thought bubble with some song lyrics in it?

Anonymous said...

bleak like global warming? and the never ending war? bleak! bleak! bleak! bleak!bleak! bleak!bleak! bleak!bleak! bleak!bleak! bleak!bleak! bleak!

Moving Arts
Power, professionalism, and perversity: Looking back at the 2006 art scene

yey!

my dear, showing chelsea ! that pay to play trustfund MFA playground/property scheme - (that often has riveting quailty work peppered) circle jerk alone is not an accomplishment. and no one is "playing nice".

zipthwung said...

You cant finish an artist work? What a bunch of sanctimonous bullshit. Im not drawing on their work. I didnt burn it. In fact I offered some constructive critique. To recap:

The composition is "boring" read:

Theres a reason Avendon (a pop portraitist) and Annie Lebovits (more pop) are at the top of the charts.

Like if this is pubescent Chloe Sevigne then make it a brown bunny moment!

Painting is not photography, you say. i say, yeah, yeah, I guess you're right. THen you say,what are you saying then? ANd I say - what you said. Then you say, well thats what i said! Then I say, well yeah, yeah, yes you did. Then Judge Judy tells me to get to work. THen I say...then JJ says no, no, you arent working. Thne In the interview I say - well maybe i am a god. Maybe JJ is a sanctimonious old biddy, a walking cliche and a gear within a gear all rolled up into one battered in poo and deepfried in snake oil.

Derix brings critique that critiques my critique, where BA brings nothing but a shrug.

Being and nothing. being there. Achilles heel and all.
You could just make a post that includes the normal reponses from the drone - "I like it" or "the space is nice" or "the colors are/arent working for me" and then you could fill it out and I could have my monologue and you could pretend you are not living in my world.

zipthwung said...

Empty prayer, empty mouths, combien reaction
Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion
Not everyone can carry the weight of the world
Not everyone can carry the weight of the world

Talk about the passion
Talk about the passion

Empty prayer, empty mouths, combien reaction
Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion
Combien, combien, combien de temps?

Not everyone can carry the weight of the world
Not everyone can carry the weight of the world
Combien, combien, combien de temps?

Talk about the passion
Talk about the passion

zipthwung said...

The reason there is no art owrld is no one is willing to influence eachother beyond small cliques. Thats why TEXT rules. Get it? GOt it? Good.

zipthwung said...

roduct differentiation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

In marketing, product differentiation is the modification of a product to make it more attractive to the target market. This involves differentiating it from competitors' products as well as one's own product offerings. In economics, successful product differentiation leads to monopolistic competition and is inconsistent with the conditions for perfect competition, which include the requirement that the products of competing firms should be perfect substitutes.

The changes are usually minor; they can be merely a change in packaging or also include a change in advertising theme. The physical product need not change, but it could. The major sources of product differentiation are as follows.

* Differences in quality or design among output (product)
* Ignorance of buyers regarding the essential characteristics and qualities of goods they are purchasing
* Pervasive sales promotion activities of sellers and, in particular, advertising
* Possibility of developing significant product differentiation through advertising is greatly enhanced for so called “gift goods” or “prestige goods”
* Differentiation in the locations of sellers of the same good where the product fills no technical function but rather can satisfy many different sort of personal needs or uses (psychological or physical).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_differentiation

zipthwung said...

oh yeah, in case thats unclea - I am elitist and small cliques with semi-permiable layers are good. May the best cancer win.

Anonymous said...

the glowing warmth of liberality and respect for opinion. the new face of yuppy emerges. Since when was "bleak!" valid basis for an argument? accolades accepted here. If I'm part of any clique here someone clue me in, I am utterly unaware (and doubtful), but would be glad for it.

zipthwung said...

Ah a vegan!
Welcome! I too am vegan!
Not because I dont eat meat, but because I want to tell you not to and ruin a perfectly good turkey day.
Bullocks.

Anonymous said...

I had a tremendous turkey for thanksgiving! You should have seen it. I lit the room all up in primary colors and put a burmese tapestry on the table as a tablecloth! The bird was debonair and delectable...in fact, I may have had a spot too much(!) That's ok, I'll work it off in my rooftop lap pool. Toodloo!
JS

Sven said...

ben edwards at greenberg van doren till 1/13

http://www.artnet.com/Galleries/Artwork_Detail.asp?G=&gid=79&cid=110618&which=&aid=5688&wid=424777711&source=exhibitions&rta=http://www.artnet.com

work based off of zip's fav childhood book, "We".

zipthwung said...

Be one with the

integral

Anonymous said...

for my part you can keep your insomniac city with its buzzing infrastructure and deathbed art scene funded by stupidity. Till I have something positive to say, adios. Maybe just adios. I'll certainly use up my word quota here anyway:

"Whatever the words and melody, the song of the sirens must have had this meaning: "You shall enjoy beauty without the toil of winning it, if you will forsake your ship and dwell with us." It was an alluring promise, and few of those who yielded thought of the condition on which it was made. They were attracted by the first clause and forgot the second, which implied, yet revealed not that alien shore where the bones of victims littered the rocks."

"Industrialism makes the promise of the sirens, though of course with no real malignancy--rather with a mild innocence which we could forgive if it were not so stupid. Industrialism wants to take a shortcut to art."


(early 20th century modernism esp.)

"The takers of this bargain (artist with industrial society)...are likely to be equally unconscious of what is happening to them, except as they are vaguely aware of being somehow betrayed. Hence results a situation that might be put into a dialogue: "Incompetent wretch," says the industrialist, "is this sorry product what I bargained for? Have I not endowed you with leisure and comfort in which to produce your masterpieces? Do I not reward you with great wealth and provide you with all the proper facilities in all manner of institutions? Yet you perform no great works, but oddly prefer to indulge in maudlin ravings that no sensible person can understand or in obscene scoldings that no rightminded citizen can approve...."

(late 20th century sees the bargain shift toward more co-dependent, cynical mutual acceptance)

"Through his command over nature the modern man can move his art about at will. Literary masterpieces, chosen by the best critics that can be hired, can be distributed once a month to hundreds of thousands of disciples of culture....Through the power of accumulated wealth he can bring precious canvasses and sculptures together for multitudes to stare at. He can build immense libraries or put little libraries on wheels--the flying library may be looked for eventually. The millionaire can retain an expert to buy his gallery of Corots--or of the newest, surest masters declared by modern dealers...."

"In short, the artist is to have a freer and fuller opportunity than he has ever known before. With leisure to enjoy art, with command over the materials of art, with remarkable schemes for communicating, distributing, manufacturing, and inculcating art--how can the creative spirit fail to respond to the challenge? Why not a golden age of the arts, wherein ideal cities, grandiosely designed, shelter a race of super-beings who spend all their unemployed moments (destined to be numerous, when production is finally regulated) in visiting art museums, reading immortal works and dwelling in beautiful homes adorned with designs approved by the best interior decorators? What a shame if, with all this tremendous array of compulsions, the stubborn pig still refuses to get over the stile! Yet that is what happens. The arts behave with a piggish contrariness. They will not budge, or they run crazily of into briar patches and mud puddles, squealing hideously."

"It is common knowledge that, wherever it can be said to exist at all, the kind of leisure provided by industrialism is a dubious benifit. It helps nobody but merchants and manufacturers, who have taught us to use it in industriously consuming the products they make in great excess over the demand....We do not have the free mind and easy temper that should characterize true leisure....The arts will not easily survive a condition under which we work and play at cross-purposes."

"The product of a humanistic education in an industrial age is most likely to be an exotic, unrelated creature--a disillusionist or a dilettante."

"What is a picture for, if not to put on one's own wall? But the principle of an art gallery requires me to think that a picture has some occult quality in itself and for itself that can only be appreciated on a quiet anonymous wall, utterly removed from the tumult of my private affairs."

"The final evidence of the false promise of industrialism is in the condition of the arts themselves. That they have in our time a real excellence as arts I should be the last to deny....(and yet) those who study the modern arts seriously and disinterestedly are obliged to note that their excellence is maintained somewhat desperately and defiantly. It has a back-against-the-wall heroism. It has the fierce courage that flares up when one is cornered by an overwhelming adversary, or it has the malaise of defeat."

Donald Davidson, 1930

I would argue that almost all remnants of the "fierce courage" and any accompanying excellence are gone and given way to this "malaise of defeat", and maybe more so in visual art (in general and judged by the correct scenes and mags) than in any other of the arts.

Anonymous said...

i love u JS alias! your films paintings and design are all heroic for me..! when ever vid. of you comes up at work i get to watch it and your a sexy little teddy bear :) i heard someone is trying to sell love letters you wrote them... watch out!

arebours said...

Everybody,let's welcome Billy-Billy,what would you like to say about this painting?

zipthwung said...

thanks for the Southern Agrarian quotes derix. I prefer the Unabomber, myself, but to each their own and from each, their own. Hail Satan, who art our father, piss on his grave.

"3. If the system breaks down the consequences will still be very
painful. But the bigger the system grows the more disastrous the
results of its breakdown will be, so if it is to break down it had
best break down sooner rather than later.


9. The two psychological tendencies that underlie modern leftism we
call "feelings of inferiority" and "oversocialization." Feelings of
inferiority are characteristic of modern leftism as a whole, while
oversocialization is characteristic only of a certain segment of
modern leftism; but this segment is highly influential.


10. By "feelings of inferiority" we mean not only inferiority feelings
in the strictest sense but a whole spectrum of related traits: low
self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, depressive tendencies,
defeatism, guilt, self-hatred, etc. We argue that modern leftists tend
to have such feelings (possibly more or less repressed) and that these
feelings are decisive in determining the direction of modern leftism.

here

Sorry Simon, you are the enemy.

zipthwung said...

17. Art forms that appeal to modern leftist intellectuals tend to
focus on sordidness, defeat and despair, or else they take an
orgiastic tone, throwing off rational control as if there were no hope
of accomplishing anything through rational calculation and all that
was left was to immerse oneself in the sensations of the moment.

zipthwung said...

t cost the Court a wonderful deal of Trouble, to hear the Testimonies of the Sufferers; for when they were going to give in their Depositions, they would for a long time be taken with fitts, that made them uncapable of saying any thing. The Chief Judge asked the prisoner, who he thought hindred these witnesses from giving their testimonies? and he answered, He supposed it was the Divel. That Honourable person then reply'd, How comes the Divel so loathe to have any Testimony born against you? Which cast him into very great confusion.

zipthwung said...

No. I write better.

Anonymous said...

shine on, you flippant diamond, you're the man.

zipthwung said...

world of warcraft

pick a realm

zipthwung said...

goache

Anonymous said...

still no link? call me when yr links r up on auction...

zipthwung said...

Still no link.

aution this

Anonymous said...

hmmmm, i wonder if zipthwung spent more time painting or whatever it is that he supposedly does, rather than posting quotes, passages, and song lyrics(?) maybe his work would be on this blog as an artist.

zipthwung said...

Thank you, thats a good idea.

Right now I'd rather just poke my poop with a stick to see if I've been eating right.

Anonymous said...

rather then make Art? gee... i feel like such a sucker.

Sven said...

let him live

Anonymous said...

Dam Zip: if you weren't double-jointed you'd starve to death

zipthwung said...

Im making art right now. Yep, I just drew a shit eating grin.
sheep. Whatever.

zipthwung said...

Im installing sorenson squeeze right now. Its a crack. Dont tell anyone.

Anonymous said...

crap-tacular

Anonymous said...

poop-ship destroyer

zipthwung said...

I see youre not a fan of the Commodore 64. Too bad.

Anonymous said...

squeeze is old news with out the right plug ins.

i still like this image.

zipthwung said...

its a nice image. But it is what it is, as they say in China.

On2 VP6

I still rmemeber my Flash skilz. thats so deck, as my hipster handbook says.

zipthwung said...

customer satisfaction

Anonymous said...

good google! yup thats it... s.s. is a bit on the outs you'll find out! and u tube is all bout what u upload... but your better then video. you always told me that... ah collage. your really a painter.

otay. nite. never going to bring it up again..

zipthwung said...

I dint know flash 8 had the codec in it. Awesome!

I am not better than video. Did you see apocalypto? Fucking great movie shot on video - you dont need to google to see that.

Panavision genesis. Doesnt look as good aqs film though. Never will.

zipthwung said...

re my lighting statment - lighting


you know Mel Gibson beats Later Bill Viola hands down. Bill just doesnt have the skills a Post House has...neither does mel.

poppy said...

so what is the consensus on this painting? too many posts to read,..
her arms are like baloney...and thats no baloney..

Sven said...

bill's always good for a few chuckles, i never get a belly laugh from him though

pinkandlacepony said...

Gas Leak?

Anonymous said...

ya - our building was evacuated (Midtown).

Anonymous said...

I walked by this girl in the painting on Sunday
She was sitting on the steps of the student union
with her crew
Youll find her in every city town suburb

She's the wild child
beauty with a bad attitude

You say she's stupid or an undercover athena?
She is some kind of paradox godess archetype

and if you dont love and revere her
I dont get You.

Anonymous said...

masstige (mas.TEEZH) n. A retail category that includes relatively low priced goods that come with a relatively prestigious brand name; goods and services priced between low-end, mass market items and high-end, prestigious items. Also: mass-tige.

zipthwung said...

statues for everyone

comng to a printer near you.

zipthwung said...

Ownlife refers to the tendency to enjoy being solitary, which is considered subversive. Winston Smith comments that even to go for a walk by oneself can be regarded as suspicious.

Anonymous said...

Happy 60th Birthday David Bowie. I love you!

zipthwung said...

Whiskey bottles, and brand new cars
Oak tree you're in my way
There's too much coke and too much smoke
Look what's going on inside you
Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Angel of darkness is upon you
Stuck a needle in your arm
So take another toke, have a blow for your nose
One more drink fool, will drown you
Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Now they call you Prince Charming
Can't speak a word when you're full of 'ludes
Say you'll be all right come tomorrow
But tomorrow might not be here for you
Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Hey, you're a fool you
Stick them needles in your arm
I know I been there before

One little problem that confronts you
Got a monkey on your back
Just one more fix, Lord might do the trick
One hell of a price for you to get your kicks
Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you
Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

zipthwung said...

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

jpegCritic said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
jpegCritic said...

oh geez his video work sucks!
...i wish i were just being a bitter WAL,
but it just burns me up when artists
rip off their exemplars, and his
“Sow into you” is so Chris Cunningham
in a very very bad and mediochre way.
SH, don't quit your day job (painting)!

jeff said...

I have a New Year resolution.
Not to look a banal stuff like this.

jpegCritic said...

oh and z, if you're interested,
check out Motion 2 (apple).

It's the Bob Ross of video FX.
And trippy if you're into gold lamé.

zipthwung said...

All hail gold Lame.

In the latest Tokion Corey Arcangel says in an interview with several artists - "you have to lower the bar".

Like painting is a four second deal - thats the way video should be - the video portraits that Viola sells at art fairs are pretty funny - I laugh (inside) when I see them. THey are like Wegman's dogs, which also make me laugh inside and sometimes smile. Then I wonder what their real work is like.

Otherwise its like the heavy "look of art" which is fine (take your medicine baby), but one time I had to look at some lady's video where she sucks her own breasts, no kidding - - very formal stuff you know? Licking jam off a pice of glass - you tell me who her influences are. Marina Abramovic? The spit bubble lady? I'd rather rationalize erotica, but thats the point In a way - i guess its too personal to create any esthetic distance. Maybe thats good. Maybe esthetic distance is morally wrong.

The thing is I would laugh but its hard to tell if its serious or not, without actually talking to the artist and testing their mojo. I gues thats where you get after a point - if its all a joke then either you are jaded or enlightened. Well this guys work reads as a joke to me in the sense that if you contextualized it in an art setting its art but then art becomes portraiture. Thats not my game, and I would have gone to a different school if it was.

You see the sensibility in the videos more - this guy isnt reading Burroughs or listening to Einsterzende Neubauten or first generation punk or even Gavin Bryars -maybe Brian Eno? If he is, then Im a monkeys uncle. To each their own.

The software leaves a BIG BLAND COMMERCIAL THUMBRINT. Its like when theres no real questioning behind the production - other than for the eye candy. I prefer the old school MTV videos to the by now formulaic emo core band in a fun house low budget thing. If you dont have the money, use it to buy donuts and film the band eating donuts. DOnt make lame polished turds.

You are only as good as your effectz.

I saw in one of the videos this guy is using sound to change the scale in time to the beat. - thats part of my "vocabulary" now and its fun but really, you have to go further than that or you cant make the bar go much lower.

zipthwung said...

gondry drumming

gondry piano

but look...whos this guy?

some snot nosed kid

jpegCritic said...

That's my point. My guess is if he didn't have commerical 'clients' or any interest in them, he'd probably be producing some nasty ass shit more in line with larry clark, than cunningham (granted cunningham is a visual prodigy, who outclasses both clark and henwood).

But instead, we get shit that's so eager-to-please ... turds so near-to-void of any intention whatsoever... surfaces devoid of surface... only refraction without reflection.

gold Lame.

jpegCritic said...

yeah. THAT guy is a video editor. Case in point.

zipthwung said...

what massters is the lighting

zipthwung said...

then the style

Mark Barry said...

Next

zipthwung said...

i'll keep the light on for ya!