From the SF Chronicle obit: Associates credited Mr. Bogart, who had a taste for parties and the art of the deal, with being the driving force behind the museum's (Asian Art Museum of San Francisco) successful move in March 2003 from an annex without its own entrance at the de Young Museum to a $170 million home in the refurbished Main Library on Civic Center Plaza.
"It would not have happened without him," said Ed Berkowitz, a former business associate who went on to serve with of Mr. Bogart on both the Asian Art Commission and the Asian Art Museum Foundation, the museum's governing boards. "If you had taken him out of the equation, I don't think it would have happened."
"Jack had a real zest for life. He loved people and parties and cocktails," said son-in-law Bill Dagley. "If there was a three-martini lunch in the old days, he got his money's worth."
1. Sale at Lisa Solomon’s online store. Now. 2. Allen B. Stone at SF Camerawork. Thru Aug. 23 3. Social Club at little tree gallery. Thru Aug. 23 (From the release: “A closed club, it will be off limits to all except friends and associates of the artist, the curator, and the gallery owners. The casual viewer or passerby may feel free to stop by, as long as they understand where they stand: outside. What services do exclusion offer the artist and the mobster? Can socializing be seen as an integral and effective part of the artistic endeavor? Does the comparison of organized crime with artistic production, presentation and reception offer any insight into either activity?” Personally, I think this idea is obnoxious. The art world is already clubby enough. So is the Mission. Plus, if emulating and/or thuggery is hip, why doesn’t Little Tree host a crackhouse next month – where they can capture the dynamics of a black market economy, as well as group emotional escape) 4. Radialvedic at Johansson Projects. Thru Aug. 30. 5. Insight OUT at SoEx. Thru Aug. 29. 6. William Steig at Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco. Thru Sept. 7. 7. Chris Ashley at David Cunningham Projects. With Alan Disparte thru Sept 13. 8. Shaker arts and crafts at Museum of Craft and Folk Art. Thru Nov. 2 9. Peter Voulkos (online only) at Braunstein/Quay. Ongoing.
Yep, folks are speaking out against Don Fisher's presidio-based CAMP idea. And best of all, they are siding with reason (or at least the side of the fence on which I am sitting):
As a follow up to their 2006 book “Death Disco,” Andrea Heller and Paul Harper asked a clairvoyant contact ten dead people who were associated with the music industry. His mission? To find out each of their current top ten albums.
In “Death Jukebox” Nicos’ choices are not very surprising. Serge Gainsborough, Brigitte Fountaine, and Marianne Faithful all make the bill. On the other hand, who knew that Martin Hannett liked The Doors? Maybe Hannett ended up in hell.
Also offering playlists in this hilarious tome are Lester Bangs, William Burroughs (a Frank Zappa fan, of all things), Hansruedi Jaggi, John Cage, June Carter Cash, Syd Barrett, James Brown, and CBGB’s Hilly Kistal (an Emmylou Harris admirer).
1. In yesterday's SF Chornicle, Kenneth Baker reported that, thankfully, David Ireland's fabled art house has been purchased. It goes al ittle bit like this: "Carlie Wilmans, granddaughter of arts benefactor Phyllis Wattis...,
personally bought the 1886 Victorian for $895,000 to ensure that San
Francisco would not lose a cultural treasure.
The art public knows 500 Capp St., at least by reputation, as a
repository of Ireland's art in many media and as an evolving
environmental artwork in its own right.
In early January, The Chronicle reported that the house was soon to
be offered for sale. Health problems had forced the 77-year-old Ireland
to move out nearly three years before, and he needed to sell quickly to
secure a one-time tax advantage.
Various plans to preserve the house, including its possible
annexation by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, had already
failed."
Certainly the amount seems paltry for a house in SF full of Ireland's art, but that judgment is super premature since no specific details of the deal are mentioned.
Jonathan Knapp emails this about his recent music selection post: "Ununsurprisingly (knowing my restlessness), I'm now obsessed with
something else entirely. I've been listening incessantly to Swell
Maps' Jane From Occupied Europe--and specifically the song "The
Helicopter Spies."
Well, he was right. I certainly had seen it. As a kid, in the mid-70s, I used to watch Channel 17 after school everyday. The station was home to Spiderman, Ultraman and a host of other tossed away projects. When they ran short on a show they would stuff in odds and ends – like Gerald McBoing-Boing and Flebus -- to fill up the airtime.
I would also obsessively watch the Looney Tunes on Saturday morning, hoping to catch a short done by Chuck Jones. Wiley Coyote – with his faulty products, unfettered id and minimal landscapes -- was my favorite.
After art school, it took me a while to sort out and transmogrify what it was that had soaked my childhood brain. My first series of paintings were a nod to the sleek and seemingly simple design of those classics. But after while I figured out what really got me was the subtle nods to adult emotions that were encased in the plots.
Or as Macfeat wrote, “I specifically remember watching that Flebus cartoon when I was a teenager, stoned out of my gourd, because several of us walked around repeating the "I'm neurotic...I'm neurotic, too!" for some time. The message probably holds true now.”
Here's the eighth installment in the ongoing series that explores songs being
listened to by some of my friends, acquaintances and people I don't
know all that well (but whose taste I greatly respect):
Jonathan Knapp, publicist (BAM/PFA) Even in the iPod age, I remain committed to full-length albums. However, certain songs leap out at me at certain times, and simply beg to be repeated--album flow be damned.
"From a Whisper to a Scream" Allen Toussaint I first discovered Toussaint through his amazing writing and production work from the 60s. His 70s work is a bit different--less grit and more sheen. "From a Whisper to a Scream" opens his first solo album of the 70s--and there's no better song to usher in Toussaint's more reserved phase two. It's all about the sinewy bass and drums, which are perfectly off-kilter--keeping this firmly in New Orleans R&B territory, while nodding to smooth 70s soul and funk. Delicate guitar, organ, and sax. And those falsetto "ooooohs." Gorgeous.
"Will He Be Waiting?" Dolly Parton Parton may have more celebrated songs--but this is one of the best from her classic early 70s era. The final track on 1972's Touch Your Woman, "Will He Be Waiting" uses a simple melody and arrangement--focusing on that unbelievable voice, which harmonizes beautifully with the backing vocalists. What I love most, though, is the way she repeats herself: "Will he be waiting for me? He will be, won't he?" She knows better, but is trying to convince herself he'll be there all the same--and it's heartbreaking. Suzanne Stein, poet and SFMOMA community producer I was obsessed for weeks with Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc” but I can’t find any language to say properly why that wouldn’t destroy the way I felt about it. There’s a youtube video (many actually) but to watch them is to ruin the song.
My other recent obsession has been with all things Britney Spears (for which there is never any ‘song’ to ruin and it’s all about the video).
I got in an argument with a friend at a party over the “Piece of Me” video—my friend was claiming it was this great articulation on the part of Britney the human being, defending herself, fighting back in some way the media’s rapaciousness of her person, and I was arguing that there was no Britney anywhere to be found or to sophisticatedly fight back via her “Piece of Me” song and dance.
This led me on a Britney YouTube odyssey and the discovery of what the rest of the Britney-loving world has already known forever: the videos are dazzlingly addictive and gloriously re-watchable junk-production of a fantastically surfeited and declining empire.
Some of my favorite iterations are the fan remixes, for example, the official “Break the Ice” video is anime, no soft-porn lingering on the (now post-pregnancies) belly of Britney the hot teen sexpot, and one fan remixed a “should have been” version of “Break the Ice” from all her other videos, it’s awesome:
David McCreath, web developer for Mule Design Studio "Wátina" Andy Palacio
It's been a pretty good non-rock year for me. My best discovery, though, was Belizean guitarist Andy Palacio and specifically his album with the Garifuna Collective. The music and language drift around cultures picking up bits and pieces as they go; a little African, a little Caribbean, a little Spanish.
It's hard to pick a single song, but the title track is a good one, and there's a video for it as well. On the surface, the song is about the difficulty of getting a ride while walking along the road, but it goes much deeper than that, simultaneously plaintive and hopeful about the way people treat each other.
This is one of those albums that I can listen to while working or just sitting in the living room.
Three business days after photographer Thomas Hawk complained about his treatment at the hands of SFMOMA employees, the museum has finally released a response in support of their own actions.
A deluge of disparaging comments is now hitting the net. You know the usual blatherings: civil rights bruhaha and bitchiness about irresponsible institutions. My only comment is: how could it have taken SFMOMA three days to craft this:
"Last Friday an incident occurred in our museum in which a visitor was asked to leave the building. We stand firmly behind the actions of our director of visitor services, who acted appropriately to ensure the safety of the museum’s admissions staff. He took measures to protect another staff member who according to witnesses on our staff and among the general public was being photographed in an inappropriate and harassing manner. SFMOMA welcomes over 600,000 visitors annually; disputes and disagreements between our guests and our staff very rarely occur….
We have heard the concerns that have been expressed, and we hope that online discussion concerning SFMOMA can now return to focus on the terrific exhibitions we currently have on view and the many exciting public programs that we are offering to support them. We thank you for your comments."
Have they employed a pack or tortoises to manage damage control?
Based on the last sentence of their statement, though, it seems more likely Bartles & Jaymes are now doing SFMOMA's communications.
Here's the seventh installment in the ongoing series that explores songs being
listened to by some of my friends, acquaintances and people I don't
know all that well (but whose taste I greatly respect):
Brian Stechschulte,artist and gallerist (NIAD) “Chinese Translation” M. Ward To be honest I'm obsessed with the whole "Post-War" album by M. Ward featuring this song. Maybe its the sentimentality, the mood, the twang, or the breathe easy melody? The whole package just simply feels good.
Dean Smith, artist "D-moll" Tosca "5 a.m." Edith Progue (AKA Bernie Swell) Tosca's and Progue's piano-based instrumentals of the school of glitch electronica find each indebted to the proto-minimalist stylings of Eric Satie. Quiet, supple melodies of expansive atmosphere and lyricism, despite their brevity of arrangement and compactness in duration.
Chris Ashley,artist and blogger “Love Vigilantes” Landscape Paperweight Ever since I saw the video of Douglas Witmer's old high school band, Landscape Paperweight, singing New Order's "Love Vigilantes" at their recent reunion gig I can't get that song out of my head, even playing it on guitar myself the last few nights: I hadn't heard that song in a long time, and the band does an admirable cover.
Douglas Witmer, artist "Today is the Day" Yo La Tengo
The title
of my exhibition this fall comes from this song. "Today is the Day" is
on Yo La Tengo's "Summer Sun" album from 2003. It was released just
before our daughter was born and I always associate it with that time.
Georgia sings this one. I kind of doze through it, riding the lazy
guitar playing, fixing on the reverb-y tambourine hits, and then waking
up for the final sets of lyrics where the title phrase is finally
introduced and repeated.
3. Don Fisher’s CAMP may have hit a snag. Presidio Trust reports sez museum is too much, whole plan may be hurtful: interrupts the rhythm, hurts the park’s integrity, and changes the area's character. Related: best banner image of Fisher so far.
4. Ignacio DelRio, ambitious full-time burglar (more than 1,000) and part-time art thief (a Degas painting) gets a sentence reduction for helping LAPD find the loot and doing a training video.
7. Tyler Green continues his coverage of the University of Iowa Museum of Art’s possible deaccessioning of Jackson Pollock’s Mural. If you’ve missed the controversy, get up to speed.
