Eye Candy: Tim Etchells

Tim Etchells, Art Flavours (2008), video still. Photo: Tim Etchells.

Art Flavours, a video project by artist Tim Etchells, involves the creation of new gelato flavors inspired by concepts and terms from contemporary art. Produced for Manifesta 7, the piece documents a meeting that Etchells organized between the Italian critic and curator Roberto Pinto and the ice-cream maker Osvaldo Castellari. Pinto was entrusted with summarizing art historical practice through four main categories: The Body, Memory, Spectacle and The Archive. Castellari's role was to translate the concepts into four flavors. In the conversation between the two men "the critic/curator attempts to convey the art historical themes to the ice-cream master, who for his own part grows more and more skeptical, anxious and daunted by the task ahead of him."

On view at Gasworks in a London through March 28.

Gastro-Vision: Stomachache

Christina Mazzalupo, Countdown: Week 1, 2009. Ink and watercolor on paper, 22 1/2 x 30 in.
Courtesy Mixed Greens.

Gastro-Vision is my monthly column dedicated to all things food. This month I've written about a suite of drawings that are currently on view at Mixed Greens Gallery in New York. An excerpt:

Food diaries — daily records of everything one eats and drinks — are strange and fascinating objects. For nutritionists and dietitians, they are useful tools in determining a person’s eating habits and caloric intake. Taken out of a medical context, however, a blow-by-blow report of one’s ingestion seems trivial and neurotic. I’ll admit that I’ve kept my own food diary off and on over the years, repeatedly tucking it away once it became too tedious a task. When I stumbled upon one of my old journals a few years ago, I made a startling discovery: in logging teaspoons, cups, ounces and calories I had sketched a picture of my subconscious self. Bits and pieces of my life that were before unclear were laid out in my diet and notes. I was reminded of this epiphanic moment when I saw a new body of work by artist Christina Mazzalupo that takes her food diary as its starting point.

Jump over to the Art21 blog to continue reading.

Looks Good: Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

Courtesy Handle the Heat.

Ingredients
42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped*
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Go to Handle the Heat for instructions.

*You might try using homemade oreos instead. Adjust baking time and temp accordingly.

Strange, I've Seen That Face Before

Rihanna, "Rude Boy" video still, 2010.

Rihanna's new music video for "Rude Boy" is chock full of references to art history and popular culture. Flavorpill, examining the video scene-by-scene, pointed out traces of Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and MIA. Vulture also took notice, saying, "It's like Haring, Warhol, and M.C. Hammer visited the Caribbean in the seventies and made a music video about it in the nineties." I'm somewhat surprised that both publications failed to cite an obvious influence: Grace Jones.

Robert Mapplethorpe, Grace Jones, 1984. © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

Jones was one of the most important black performers of the 1980s. At the height of her career -- 1978 to 1986 -- her modeling, acting and singing pursuits merged into a distinct androgynous persona. Joining forces with the French image-maker, Jean Paul-Goude, Jones crossed over from disco diva to prominent avant-garde performance artist. Her success coincided with an important period of production for artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Francesco Clemente, and the fashion designer Patrick Kelly. Jones was repeatedly the subject of their work. Examples include Warhol’s screen print, Grace Jones (1986); Clemente’s painting, Skin (1986); and Kelly’s Eiffel Tower headdress made especially for Jones to wear on the catwalk. She has made an indelible mark on visual culture.

Keith Haring and Grace Jones, circa 1985.

Rihanna (probably with the help of creative advisers) began to adopt the "Jones aesthetic" with the release of her current album Rated R. The soft and sweet girl who came on the scene with "Pon de Replay" now appears as an edgy, or "hard," vixen wrapped in barbed-wire. Jones is of course known for her bad-ass attitude and matching sense of style. With each new music video, fashion shoot, television and off-stage appearance, Rihanna's affinity to Jones grows more apparent. It is of note that both singers hail from the Caribbean.

Jones painted in a Masai-inspired pattern and outfitted by Keith Haring, Paradise Garage, 1985.

By now you can see that the scene from "Rude Boy" pictured atop is not just any nod to Haring, but specifically refers to his collaboration with Jones at the legendary New York City nightclub, Paradise Garage. In addition to painting her body, Haring dressed Jones in a costume made of chains, topped her head with a 3-foot handmade headpiece, and sculpted wire coils to emphasized her breasts. Scholars believe the latter was a direct reference to Alexander Calder's wire sculpture of Josephine Baker. It is no coincidence that, 2 minutes and 57 seconds into "Rude Boy," the camera zooms in on Rihanna's chest, which is adorned with black painted spirals.

Grace Jones, Vamp, 1986

Finally, the layering of patterns in Rihanna's music video calls to mind an unforgettable scene from Jones's 1986 b-movie, Vamp. In her role as a vampire exotic dancer, Jones, again painted by Haring, performs using a similarly decorated stage prop as her...well...pole. Trust me, you want to press play.

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*The title of this post was inspired by Jones's 1988 song "Strange" on the Frantic soundtrack. **I wrote a portion of the above text for an exhibition about Jones that I am curating (dates TBD).

A Mixed Bag: The Bay Area Edition

Christina Seely, Metropolis 40° 25'N 3° 41'W. Courtesy San Francisco Art Commission Gallery.

Lux: Bay Area artist Christina Seely has documented the artificial glow produced by the three brightest regions on NASA’s map of the Earth at night -- the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. This series, presented on large-scale photographic banners, is on view at San Francisco City Hall through June 18.

Loma Prieta: 7.1 magnitude. Death toll 63. / Haiti: 7.0 magnitude. Death toll 212,000 and rising.

Marina/Cow Hollow yogis seek used yoga mats for Haiti. Eyebrows rise and skepticism ensues.

Claims to Fame: The Martini was invented in the Bay Area in 1860. Irish Coffee was developed at San Francisco's Buena Vista Cafe in 1952. Oakland's Frank Epperson invented the Popsicle in 1905.

Cha, Cha, Changes: The Berkeley Art Museum is relocating. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is expanding.

No. 1: SFMoMA tops Juxtapoz Magazine's list of 100 museums and galleries.

San Francisco in pictures and print. (via @hragv and @cmonstah)

The Art of Richard Mayhew: A retrospective exhibition of work by the Aptos-based painter who co-founded Spiral, the legendary group of Black artists -- including Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, and Hale Woodruff -- organized in 1963 to address issues of civil rights and racial equality through their art. On view at the Museum of the African Diaspora through March 7.

Has San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom been kidnapped by one-eyed aliens from Pluto?

How to be a hella cool tourist in the sucka free Yay Area.

Wayne Thiebaud: Seventy Years of Painting: The 89-year old dessert man gets another solo show, this time at the San Jose Museum of Art.

Waste of Ink: Geek graffiti in Berkeley.

Artisan Sweets: Kara's Cupcakes introduces gluten-free cupcakes in vanilla, coconut, and chocolate velvet at their Marina store. (via @cupcakeblog)

Produce to the People: A panel discussion about local produce distribution. Tues., March 2 at the San Francisco Ferry Building.

Feed Them Right: Talking food reform in Oakland schools.

Keepin' It Reed: Oak Town's Ishmael Reed on the film Precious. (via @joygarnett)

We Love to Watch: Oakland-based artist April Banks and writer, lyricist and former NFL player DeQawn Mobley have teamed up on this photo-installation and collection of essays inspired by Melvin Van Peebles's 1970s political comedy Watermelon Man.

20 Seasons, 208 Touchdowns: 49ers receiver Jerry Rice will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Lineup: Rachel Cole of the San Francisco cultural space 18 Reasons shares her favorite cookbooks.

2 x 2 Solos: A series of solo exhibitions at Pro Arts Gallery that showcase artists living and working in the Oakland/Bay Area. Works by Nadim Sabella and Imin Yeh are on view through February 26.

The Definitive Guide to Oakland/East Bay arts (PDF).

Passion in a Pot: 23-year old Karen Rogers arrived in Berkeley with the food movement in tow.

Food Rules: A new book from UC Berkeley professor Michael Pollan.

Wine is high art in the Bay Area.

Cali wine might be too expensive for the times.

Jews on Vinyl: Contemporary Jewish Museum guest curators Roger Bennett and Josh Kun have collected thousands of vinyl LPs to piece together a story of Jews in America through music. Closes Spring 2010.

Hateful Hallelujahs: Westboro Baptist Church rolls through the Bay Area. San Francisco humorously responds. (via @naylandblake)

On the Tube: The Prop 8 trial re-enacted.

Icons of Attention: Bay Area-based video and performance artist Kamau Patton presents a multi-media installation modeled after 1930s science fiction broadcasts and underground 1980s music shows. On view at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts through March 7.

1975: The Incredible San Francisco Artists' Soapbox Derby.

Follow the Bay: Art @alexiskmanheim. Food @bayareabites.

Looks Good: Peanut Butter Pie with Cookie Crust

Courtesy Bake or Break

Ingredients
Crust:
30 chocolate wafer cookies (about 6 ounces)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 & 1/2 cups heavy cream

Hot Fudge Sauce:
6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
6 ounces dark chocolate (64% cacao), finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup

Go to Bake or Break for instructions.

Eye Candy: iona rozeal brown

iona rozeal brown, king kata #4: resist (after Yoshitosh's, 2007. Mixed media on framed panel, 51 x 62 in. Courtesy Sandorni Rey, Los Angeles. (via MoCA Cleveland)

iona rozeal brown: all falls down, on view at at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, features fifteen new paintings by Brown that examine the pressures and obstacles facing young women today. This series continues the artist's signature fusion of African American hip hop culture and Japanese art history.

iona rozeal brown: all falls down received the 2009 Joyce Award in Visual Art that supports new commissions for artists of color. As part of the award, MoCA Clevland commissioned Brown to create new paintings based in part on Japanese Ukiyo-e prints from the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, as well as to complete a residency with Cleveland-area high school students. This is the first museum presentation of her new work.

Continues through May 9.