Saturday, April 29, 2006

It's been almost a week since i logged an entry, and the week was filled with stuff. Press screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival; some gallery events; some events on television; the week was bracketed (for me) by art: the Lee Mullican retrospective at the Grey Art Gallery, and (finally) a viewing of the Whitney Biennial.

Monday, April 24: the last pre-festival press screening at Tribeca (it had been scheduled for Friday, but was cancelled at the last minute), "Another Gay Movie" by Todd Stephens; then to the Grey Art Gallery for the Lee Mullican opening (when we got the invite in the mail, i thought the name sounded familiar, but couldn't place it; turns out that Lee Mullican was Matt Mullican's father; the show is another superb entry in the Grey Art Gallery's roster of highlighting artists who should be better known, as in the case of Atsuko Tanaka); then to the 2xist party in Tribeca (Larry says that it is pronounced "to exist"), a party that's supposed to highlight the work of Robert Sturman, but is really a plug for the three (male) underwear models - when we get to the gallery, assistants come up to get us to sign a release, because the models are represented by Janice Dickerson (i.e., the self-proclaimed "first supermodel" who was the bitch character on "America's Next Top Model" but is now launching her own reality show about her own modelling agency), some of the boys look awfully familiar, where have i seen them before but i can't remember (there are now so many spreads in magazines like Details or Interview or Esquire... or even the New York Times); then we rush to the Austrian Cultural Forum for an event that is part of the "Freud and Contemporary Art" exhibit, which rounds up the usual (post-conceptual) subjects, e.g., Sherrie Levine, Clegg and Guttman, etc. Then onto a screening of "Art World Confidential". It all ties up: "Another Gay Movie" is like a prelude to the 2xist party; the "Freud and Contemporary Art" show is like an illustration of the satire of "Art School Confidential". The only thing that is anomalous is the Lee Mullican show, and that's the most revelatory event of the evening. Larry and i had a lot of fun at these things, but can't wait to rush home to see our Monday night block of old TV detective shows. I was alerted by Ira Hozinsky that the "77 Sunset Strip" episode will star Tuesday Weld. Yes, indeed: the 16 year old Ms. Weld plays a famous teenage novelist, whose books represent the philosophy of Transcendentalism. Her opening scene, with Weld swathed in mink, with her pouty-mouthed babyface, as she displays an absolute bonecrushing confidence....

Friday, April 28, began with the press screening of the documentary "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis", then the press screening of "Voices of Bam"... then the evening, took Brett (he did get to NYC) to see the Whitney Biennial. Well: the idea of a press screening of anything to do with Jack Smith at 10 AM in the morning is just too hilarious for words. (On Thursday, i ran into - of all people - Agosto Machado, and he asked if i had gone to the "premiere" screening of "Jack Smith" because he didn't see me there, and i explained that i was going to the press screening in the morning, and we both laughed about the absurdity of Jack Smith being the first press screening in the morning! Midnight, maybe, but 10 AM?) Well, turns out "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis" was the perfect prelude to this deition of the Whitney Biennial, i.e., a memento mori! So it's been a week of all sorts of interconnections, and very interesting. Will have to comment more....

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