The Myth of Progress (Moonwalk)
Klara Lidén, Bodies of Society

New Museum, New York, May 6, 11:15 a.m.

Since the Gorilla Girls called out the Met and MoMA in 1985, critic Jerry Saltz has been one of the few people to speak out about the lack of visibility given to female artists. And he’s right; a New York magazine survey showed big museums, big galleries and big shows often break down as inequitably as 85% men and 15% women. The Gorilla Girl found that the Met was even worse; only 5% of the artists were women and a whopping 83% of the females depicted were naked.

Which makes this current season so exciting. Along with MoMA’s major Cindy Sherman retrospective, a brand-new slate of shows has opened around the city, featuring a range of women, some emerging as major new voices and some whose work has gone overlooked for years. While I’m excited to see MoMA’s Taryn Simon show, it’s the New Museum that’s making the biggest feminist statement, with five new shows featuring five female artists.

The artists range from Phyllida Barlow, a longtime fixture on the London scene, as both an artist and educator, who makes her New York debut with a colossal structure of fabric and felt; to Hugo Boss Prize winner Tacita Dean, who profiles four American artists and one famous critic in a series of films and photos; to Ellen Altfest’s delicate watercolor studies of the male body; to Nathalie Djurberg’s wonderland of 80 bird sculptures and claymation videos next door at Studio 231. And they’re all great. I loved the scope of Barlow’s work and felt a tinge of sadness when I realized that three of Dean’s subjects have since passed away.

But for me at least, the museum can do away with all of those shows and still be one of the season’s biggest must-see destinations based simply on the work of Swedish artist Klara Lidén. In her first time getting the large-scale solo museum show treatment in America, Lidén cuts apart the gallery space with a series of carboard-box rooms, each hosting deceptively simple videos of the artist performing. Here she is flailing and stripping on the Stockholm Metro; see her smash a bike indoors. Sit down and stay a while—I could have watched her Moonwalk along the highway for hours.

Like her videos, Lidén’s Poster Paintings seem really basic at first—just a plain white plane. But what about the curled edges and that layered texture? It almost looks like paper that’s been wet and left to dry. Turns out they are actually street posters, “liberated” by the artist and used as a minimalist art object. Such simple gestures allow Lidén’s work to resonate long after the viewer has left the gallery, bringing a bit of magic to the city streets.

Ryan McGinley, Animals
Team Gallery, NYC, May 2, 2012, 7:36 p.m.

Hester Street, NYC, April 23, 2012, 8:33

Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya, Tuesday, April 24, 12:23 a.m.

P.S. I’ve recently started using Instagram (@thisisheatherc), and while I’m loving itsphoto-sharing capabilities, I HATE HATE HATE having to crop shots into that little square. So there will be double posts. Sorry.

It’s only April, but it’s already feeling like summer here in NYC. And there’s absolutely nothing I love more than that. So last night when I caught The Endless Summer, I only got more excited for the best season of the year, in which I plan on spending as much time at the beach as humanly possible.

The classic 1966 surf doc follows two young surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, as they travel around the world in search of the perfect swell. And while their perspective on destinations such as Accra, Ghana, and Lagos, Nigeria, is a little dated to say the least, the thrill that these guys find when discovering the perfect set in Cape St. Francis, South Africa, will make you feel like an absolute moron for sitting at a computer when you could be out, traveling the world with your friends and looking for fun.

ROE ETHRIDGE
Curated by Anne Pontégnie
April 21 - September 2, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, April 20, 6 - 8 pm
Le Consortium
Dijion, France

*Alright, on closer inspection I guess it looks like falls, but still. SUN!!!

Apple and Cigarettes, 2004 - 2006, C-print, 40 x 32 1/2 inches (101.6 x 82.55 cm)

The 1995 movie “Party Girl” is full of really great party inspiration and kooky clothes–plus cameos from long-gone landmarks like Keith Haring’s Pop Shop–but for me its all about the tunes. The film stars Parker Posey as Mary, a ditz who balances palling around with her buds, wooing the local falafel guy, screwing up her job, and generally being a bitch to everyone in her life. Along for the ride is best bud slash roommate Leo, a house and disco-loving DJ (played by the fabu Guillermo Diaz, star of such classics as Half Baked and High School High). When Mary reorganizes Leo’s records (according to the Dewey Decimal System) right before a make-or-break gig he rifles off a rapid-fire setlist of epic proportions. And let’s just he had me at Sylvester.

Thankfully, Discogs user bitonti has captured the set in all its glory, from Sylvester to Gang Starr. And here it is:

Bonus fun fact: Party Girl was the first film streamed on the internet. The more you know™.

I swear…this woman is ALWAYS staring at me.

Diamond District, March 26, 2012, 6:30 P.M.