NewCityMovement

Power, Corruption & Lies

New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies (Reissue 2008) artwork by Peter Saville used a reprint of a painting from the National Gallery in London by Henri Fantin-Latour called A Basked of Roses.

Existence Is Finite

Amazing, spooky Edgar Allen Poe book illustrations at Flickr. [Thanks James]

Four Egg Cartons

Love the texture of these Four Egg Cartons, oil on linen mounted on panel, 12 x 24", 2007 by Chris Wright (via my new favorite design porn source The Strange Attractor). Speaking of eggs, I think we all know who's ga-ga for hens and chickens.

Big Fun / Easy Keeper & Farmers Market

Check out my work buddy Whitney and Ryan's letterpress tent called BIG FUN & EASY KEEPER at the Farmers Market this Summer. They are offering exquisite hand screenprinted and letterpressed treasures for a limited time. Give them your money!

Soft n' Strange

Hansigurumi '"knits the paculiar" at hansigurumi.etsy.com

Spring Fashion & Gallery Stroll Friday April 17th

Press Release 04/16/09:

Can you believe it? After half a year of hibernation, the SLC Fashion Stroll is back tomorrow night for our semi-annual street festival celebration of local fashion, funk and flavor. We're back with more vendors, bands and runway shows than ever, and are whipping up a very special, very free, very local night of spring-themed razzle-dazzle, and we're doing it all for you, local shopper, tomorrow night from 6-10pm along Broadway between 200-300 East.

Wanna sneak a peek on the TV first? Tune in today at 12noon - 12:20 on KUTV Channel 2 for a chance to preview a few brief looks as our awesome models from UTG display some of the best of what's new on the streets of SLC for Spring 2009.

For those of you that haven't done the Fashion Stroll yet - come out tomorrow. Mother Nature is promising us good weather, we have performers from Transfusion Hype, stilt-walkers, runway shows at 7,8, and 9pm, and the band lineup is looking dancetastic with appearances from sexontherun at 7:30 and Same As It Never Was (one of my new local faves), a Talking Heads cover band with a lot of sexy band members. Not to mention all the great shopping and art to be had on Broadway as Fashion Stroll & Gallery Stroll join forces for one epic night out on the town.

- Matt Monson | Owner, Model Citizen | SLC Fashion Stroll Coordinator

Surfaces

I can't say I've supported enough modern dance in my day. Recently I met one of the new directors at Rire Woodbury and she is so cool that I am making a point to see her show on the 23rd. Originally from Denmark, Charlotte Boye-Christensen received her formal training in London and completed her MFA Degree at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Her work has been commissioned in places as far as Milwaukee, Singapore and Cuba.

April 23-25 at 7:30pm
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center

SURFACES wraps up Ririe-Woodbury's 45th Season with works by three compelling contemporary choreographers, including a poetic piece by award-winning New York choreographer Susan Marshall. Recipient of three "Bessies" and the MacArthur "Genius" Award, this will be Susan's first work presented in Utah.  The Company will also re-stage Doug Varone's musical and witty 1994 work "Strict Love," performed to a CBS memory-lane broadcast of the 1970s, which shows a world from which certainty and uncompromised strength have vanished.  The last work of the program is by award winning artistic director Charlotte Boye-Christensen.  Her "Degrees of Separation" is an emotionally charged piece about connection and loss. The score by Steve Reich, with haunting human voices, serves as the architecture for this piece.

Ticket Prices:
» Adults: $30
» Students/Seniors: $15
Call 355-ARTS or visit www.ririewoodbury.com

New Dark Age

New Dark Age by Ben Jones, 1/3 of art collective PAPER RAD. [Via ArtSauce]

SpyHop Turns 10 Today!

Spy Hop's Annual Benefit A Decade of Empowering Youth Through Multimedia
Thursday, April 30th 2009; 6:00-9:30pm
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center

Join us for an evening of live musical and radio performances, new youth media, a look back on Spy Hop's first decade, and an auction you won't forget.

SPECIAL GUEST
Tony & Emmy Award Winning Actor, Edward Herrmann

EVENING EMCEES
Carter & The Coach from 103.5 The Arrow

Admission: $60.00
Alumni (any former core student 21+ years old): $40.00
RSVP by April 22nd
Purchase tickets here »

Enjoy TASTE OF SALT LAKE CITY and learn about Spy Hop's core programs. Chat with alumni, enjoy live student performances and watch new youth media. Live auction and prize giveaway.

Food from Salt Lake's finest restaurants, including: Bambara . Carlucci's Bakery . Cucina Toscana . Em's Restaurant/Liberty Heights Fresh . Metropolitan Restaurant . Oasis Cafe . Sage's Cafe and So Cupcake.

Beer & Wine provided by:
Red Rock Brewing Company. Vine Lore, Inc.M

More info, contact John Boyack at (801) 532-7500 or email.

The Spy Hop Annual Benefit & Auction is specifically designed to raise funds for the organization's four core programs including the Pitch-Nic Young Writer and Director program, Multimedia Apprenticeship program, Youth Documentary Arts program, and Loud and Clear Youth Radio program.

Lego Greenwich Village

Painstakingly recreated Lego version of Greenwich Village, NYC. The model, built with nearly 50,000 LEGO pieces, is inspired by the bustle of the famed trendy historic district, took six months to complete and contains 18 detailed buildings with scores of details... from taxicabs and tourists to parking meters and authentic signage. [Thanks Scott]

My friend Davey made this 20 minute art journalism video that profiles 3 local artists called Slingshot Out the Valley. [Dada Factory on Vimeo]

Fer Cute

This is the cutest gallery show postcard for Donna Wilson's whimsical creations at The Lighthouse. More amusement at DonnaWilson.com.

Space Fantasy

Ever wondered what it's like to try a powerful psychedelic substance? I bet Alwin Nikolais's THE CRYSTAL AND THE SPHERE could give you an idea and possibly even put you in touch with your inner power animal. This dance piece by Rire-Woodbury company "involves an array of strange and humorous characters woven into a colorful Space Fantasy against vibrant light projections and magical black light images. With such delightful titles as "Waddle Birds," "Outer Space Clown," and "Chess Skaters,"

...Originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center for its Imagination Celebration, this dance was praised by Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times noting, "The work was intended for children, but the playful abstractions that make up the Nikolais signature might, in this case, appeal even more to adults."

The Crystal and the Sphere
January 30-31, 2009 at 7:00pm
January 31, 2009 at 2:00pm
Capitol Theater
buy tickets »

Liberties Under Fire

In celebration of and in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Utah, in honor of their 50 years of advocacy in defending civil liberties, the Salt Lake Art Center has organized Liberties Under Fire featuring artwork by five artists who depict or suggest pivotal civil liberties issues identified by the ACLU of Utah including: Abuse of Power, Church and State, LGBT issues, Racial Justice and Torture, Imprisonment, and War. (Above: Kara Walker, Crest of Pine Mountain, Where General Polk Fell, Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War, 2005) At the Salt Lake Art Center through Jan 18th.

Come Together Right Now

The Salt Lake Gallery Stroll continues to morph and energize the city each month. This is a photo of my bow-tie wearing drunk ass from last Fridays event at FICE, which like the other shops around the 2nd South & Broadway block were brimming with youthful energy. A wonderful sight indeed.

Pricey Flashy Objects

The Times reports on Zaha Hadid's commissioned work for British private club House & Home which had some people feeling very uncomfortable, even angry (see the comments section of NYtimes article). All the fuss resulted in this statement from the Zaha Hadid architectural team, which I love:

Translation of Architecture gibberish:
1.“We wanted to create an environment where the bar completely dominates the space…” WE WANTED TO MAKE A HUMONGOUS PRICEY FLASHY OBJECT.
2.”Using a dynamic vertical gesture of fluidity, we were able generate an exciting dichotomy with the Cartesian arrangement of the Georgian space…” SO WE STUCK A ROUND BAR IN A RECTANGULAR ROOM
3.”As with our architecture, where have created inhabited structure, members and guests occupy the bar at Home House instead of simply standing in front of it…”UNLIKE THE GODDAMN DRUNKS AT YOUR LOCAL BAR, THESE PEOPLE DO MINGLE.
4.”They become part of the experience.” PRETENTIOUS PEOPLE AT PRETENTIOUS BAR. PERFECT MATCH.

(Thanks Rodney)

Rise Of The Airbrush

Overspray is the conclusive account of the rise of airbrush art, and of the equally bright and glossy Los Angeles culture alongside which it came to prominence in the 1970s. Inspired by surf graphics, psychedelia and the slick shine of Hollywood, a generation of young artists began to make every lip and palm tree glisten, and every record cover shine. Fueled by a combination of intense demand, sleepless nights and brutal competition, the four men at the center of L.A.’s airbrush art market–Charles E. White III, Peter Palombi, Dave Willardson and Peter Lloyd–embarked on careers encompassing work for Playboy, Levi’s, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and major studio films including American Graffiti and Tron.

Together, their work came to define the look of illustrative graphics for a generation of viewers. This book tells the story of these four artists for the first time through hundreds of images of the artists’ best and best-known work, unseen production roughs, documentary photographs and other ephemera.

Viewed now, their surreal, funny and utterly slick imagery seems all the more fantastic–combining technical precision with wild flights of imagination that bring to mind the work of some of today’s top artists. Essay by Mike Salisbury, acclaimed designer of everything from Disney logos to Jurassic Park ad campaigns to Sassy magazine.

Conceived, edited and designed by Norman Hathaway. Official site here. [Thanks Stewf]

Vulgar Picture

An illustrated discography of The Smiths and Morrissey including high quality scans and a pleasing interface. [TMN]

Grrranimals

Cute letterpress poster with animals by InkAndWit.com