Fly the // Art Flag

Had a meeting with one of the nicest and most visionary artists I know (also my birthday twin), and he told me that I “inspire” him and am the “voice of kindness,” one that “deserves to be loud.” Being kind is underrated, so my soul is blushing. (Get excited for an ambitious project by Nathan “Bam” Stanton—who participated in my interactive exhibition I CAN DO THAT—in 2017!)

Vote! (What I did after the above.)

(And before said meeting, my new favorite author, Ken Liu—everyone go read The Paper Menagerie short story collection [and cry in public] please—replied to me on Twitter. Yesterday was a good day.)

Hope you had a happy Halloween! (Mine included your weekly dose of silliness. And here’s something that came out over Halloweekend that all artists / art history buffs / art lovers should check out: The music video for Jane Zhang’s “Dust My Shoulders Off.” Those visuals!) Now that another month has begun, I have a new post on Time Out Chicago: 9 art gallery exhibitions to see in November.

And if you haven’t watched it yet, a video that includes my two-minute presentation at 20x2Chi is in the previous post.

I love you, Chicago.*

*[Edit: And an update…]

O Pioneers

Gapers Block interviewed me about Dreams of a City. Check it. A million thanks to Caitlin Bergh!

From 108th St. & Broadway. New York City, May 2009.

Happy May, everyone. Here. Have some Beyoncé Art History. (Also relevant: this.)

2 weeks ‘til Hong Kong!

Not about The Armory Show // We are all jelly doughnuts

"They deftly represent one of the many valuable functions of Art and its necessity to the human experience: these paintings possess the ability to transcend fear and oppression, to make whole again through emotional, visual communication."

Such is the role of art.

East Side Gallery, Berlin. June 2012.

The quote is from ArtSlant’s “The Art of the Wall and the Spirit of Berlin” (emphasis mine), calling for the preservation of the paintings that run the length of the East Side Gallery, which I visited over the summer. One of the last remaining sections of the Berlin Wall, the Gallery is a 1.3 kilometer-long memorial to freedom and peace. Now, part of this landmark is under threat of demolition to make way for a luxury condominium complex’s access road. So far, protesters have succeeded in stalling deconstruction, and an online petition has, as of this writing, nearly 75,000 signatures.

And announcements:

Thank you to the artblog for mentioning me in a news post! (Scroll down to “Artist News.”) Added the link to the press page.

I’ve received a VIP invitation to Hong Kong Contemporary art fair. My third VIP invite for May! (One being the inaugural Art Basel Hong Kong and two being the Asia Contemporary Art Show.) This will be quite the trip of contrasts; when I’m not at the fairs, I’ll be hitting up artist studios hidden within industrial buildings on the outskirts of town, visiting my grandma in the projects, hoarding more plastic red watches from the market and turning down stateside people who offer to buy one off me for more than ten times its original price (this really did happen) because it’s become an extension of my soul, etc.

Outside the 7-Eleven

So I’m walking down Milwaukee Avenue late at night and this guy stops me. “Excuse me, darling. Do you like Ghetto Art?” He’s wearing a newsboy cap, a suit jacket, and a rosary. (I’ll later learn that he goes by Sir Gerald, and he hails from Las Vegas, and he’s here with his mom. She’s standing a few feet away with a flower in her hair, and later she’ll tell me I’m “too cute” and ask me if I’m Korean. Nope.) “Yes!” I answer enthusiastically (because that’s the only way you should answer a question like that). He shuffles through a stack of illustrations he’s made. The first one is allegedly a drawing of Beyoncé, captioned with “Bootylicious,” except bootylicious is, like, totally spelled wrong (there’s definitely at least one extra “s” in there). “You can make a donation of any amount,” he begins, but I cut him off and go, “Actually, how about we trade? I’ll give you my art for your art.” He hesitates at first, but I hand him a piece of a large interactive project I’m starting and will continue for one year. He takes it, looks at it, and, although he was already amicable before, his demeanor changes. He’s beaming. He looks me in the eye and, smiling, says, “This… is powerful. Thank you.”

Art, guys. Art.