Peddlers of Death

Detail from Peddlers of Death by David Stoupakis

I've been meaning to write a glowing review about the current exhibit of David Stoupakis' and Tom Bagshaw's work at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. Since it's closing on August 27, I figured it was now or never. So although there is only one week left for this show, I think it is excellent enough to merit my writing time and your viewing time.

I've got a fascination with morbid topics, such as death, ghosts, horror stories, and most sorts of Gothic styling. Both of the artists on exhibit deliver on the dark imagery, albeit in different manners. David Stoupakis presents a haunting set of serious imagery in his show "Walking Within These Shadows" in which ghostly young women or girls drift wraithlike within a gloom-filled, Stygian environment. These images hint at an underlying narrative of death and sorrow.



The Choice by David Stoupakis


The milky eyes and pale flesh of his figures imbue even the robust images with an enervating sensation of undeath. They are animated by a mysterious, umbral energy.

Jump 'N' Stomp

Count Basie from the album cover of Straight Ahead (1969)

We can't let the birth date of Count Basie go by without a celebration. Born on this date in 1904, Basie was an influential figure in the formation of jazz, especially during the Swing era.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia concerning Basie's legacy:

Count Basie introduced several generations of listeners to the Big Band sound and left an influential catalog. Basie is remembered by many who worked for him as being considerate of musicians and their opinions, modest, relaxed, fun-loving, dryly witty, and always enthusiastic about his music. As he summed up the key to his understated style, in his autobiography, "I think the band can really swing when it swings easy, when it can just play along like you are cutting butter".

Let's get to the music after the jump.

Bad Moon Rising

John Landis directed An American Werewolf in London, released on August 21, 1981.

Well, we have a nice cinema note to start our Spooky Sunday. Thirty years ago, An American Werewolf in London was released. Directed by John Landis, this horror comedy went on to become a box office hit and cult classic.

Werewolf films are notably horrible, but not in a good way. In general, they fail in terms of production quality and lack of talent. However, by taking these failures as a given and approaching the subject with humor, Landis creates a fun and exciting story. This movie is one of the few werewolf films that I can enjoy watching.

This movie had such an impact that Michael Jackson had Landis direct the Thriller video, including a classic werewolf bit.



Michael Jackson transforming into a werewolf in Thriller (1983)


Fun stuff!!!

Oh Snap, It's DABS MYLA!!!

"Just Breath" installation at Thinkspace Galley by DABS MYLA (2011).

It's a rare threat when a gallery and the artists put on a full installation display of the artworks. Well, Thinkspace Gallery has such an exhibition showing for "DABS MYLA: The Best of Times." It really is an exciting presentation.

Personally, I was not a big fan of DABS MYLA's pieces. Their work was a bit too glib for my tastes, although I can endlessly admire their composition and technique. This show changed my feelings. Yes, in terms of depth of expression, I still feel that their cartoonish imagery doesn't pack a core emotionally resonant potency. However, it entices the viewer's imagination into a playfully subversive fantastic environment where gleeful images subtly morph into disturbing forms. The gloss of childlike joy hides underlying darkness.



Milk and Honey (2011) by DABS MYLA


When looking at their pieces on-line, it's easy to see only happy faces, hot dogs, and donuts. But the installation environment brings out the crazy. With these overly gleeful figures arranged in front of and around the paintings, you can't help but feel that the joy is an insane facade, covering a disturbing mystery.

Friday Flowers: Sunflowers for a Gloomy August

Sunflower at the South Coast Botanic Garden

Dark August
(By Derek Walcott)

So much rain, so much life like the swollen sun
of this black August. My sister, the sun,
broods in her yellow room and won't come out.

Everything goes to hell; the mountains fume
like a kettle, rivers overrun; still,
she will not rise and turn off the rain.

She is in her room, fondling old things,
my poems, turning her album. Even if thunder falls
like a crash of plates from the sky,

she does not come out.
Don't you know I love you but am hopeless
at fixing the rain ? But I am learning slowly

to love the dark days, the steaming hills,
the air with gossiping mosquitoes,
and to sip the medicine of bitterness,

so that when you emerge, my sister,
parting the beads of the rain,
with your forehead of flowers and eyes of forgiveness,

all with not be as it was, but it will be true
(you see they will not let me love
as I want), because, my sister, then

I would have learnt to love black days like bright ones,
The black rain, the white hills, when once
I loved only my happiness and you.


Here in the South Bay of Los Angeles, we have a local weather system called June Gloom. Towards the end of May and persisting until around the Summer Solstice, this region is blanketed by a thick marine layer that gives us a month of grey skies and mild humid weather. This year, June Gloom started in early May and has been with us ever since.

It's freakin' annoying!!!

Shot Through the Heart and You're to Blame

Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet (1986) originally had this planned for the cover art.

Ah, the power of nostalgia. I used to despise Bon Jovi's music back in the day, but, listening it to now, I actually am charmed by the enthusiasm and forthright style of performance and composition. For instance, Livin' on a Prayer has a rich authenticity underlying the cheesiness of Bon Jovi's lyrics. It's an engaging bit of music.

Maybe it's a function of not having to hear it being played on the radio or MTV a zillion times per day. Maybe it's that the "Pop Metal" sound of the late '80s carries positive associations with my youth. Maybe it's because I've grown more sophisticated in appreciating the positive qualities of music regardless of genre or style.

Whatever the case, here's celebrating 25 years of Slippery When Wet.



You Give Love a Bad Name!!!


Killer, Dude!!!

Weekly Wrap: Wednesday Night #5

Mr. T was the spokesman for Snicker's "Get Some Nuts" ad campaign.

It's that time of week again. I've haven't been feeling so good recently, but I was able to post acceptable numbers this week. That's mainly because I did a few quickie posts, but I'm cool with that if you readers are. I didn't slack much on the longer form articles, delivering on six decent posts. I'm not happy with that production, but I'm satisfied.

I really fell off the horse on doing my contemporary art posts, especially as regards gallery visits. I hope to fix that situation this week. I saw a few really good shows last weekend, but I haven't had the time to give them a good write up. Fingers crossed!!!

In any case, here's the Weekly Wrap.



The goddess Parvati at the Norton Simon Museum


The theme of this week was music. We celebrated the music of the baroque composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. Then we commemorated the 20th anniversary of Metallica's Black Album. The birth date of Leon Theremin give us the opportunity to listen to his weird invention and imagine invasions from space. Finally, the great jazz record, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, was the focus of the final post of the week.

Flower Friday was dedicated to the Hibiscus and to the Hindu goddess Kali. On Spooky Sunday, we enjoyed a classic of gothic literature, "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Although we didn't visit any art galleries in this week's posts, we did take a look at the various Hindu goddesses of the exquisite collection of Southern Asian art at the Norton Simon Museum. Good stuff!

Our advertising feature of the week was the various Snickers campaigns over the decades. It was really satisfying. ;-)

And then we had three quickie posts to fill out the posts per day. We expressed sorrow for the sad plight of wild gorillas. We remembered the wonderfully skating of Midori Ito. Then we looked at a couple cool covers from the early years of Amazing Stories, the original science fiction magazine.

It was fun. I hope you all enjoyed the diverse offerings. Since it has become our tradition to end the Wrap with a disturbing image, we turn to the classic covers of Frank R. Paul to meet our demands.



Amazing Stories, September 1927 (Illustration by Frank R. Paul)


Enjoy!!!

Pinnacle of Modal Jazz

Kind of Blue (1959) by Miles Davis

It's been 52 years since the release of Miles Davis' great album, Kind of Blue. We can't let the anniversary of such a Jazz classic go uncelebrated. Although it isn't my favorite record, it certainly is one of my favorites. Kind of Blue has often been called the greatest jazz album ever. I think that is a fair claim.

For those jazz enthusiasts who like dividing up the genre into "Ages", Kind of Blue and the modal style that it represents marks the twilight years of the "Silver Age" which started with the development of Bebop in the mid-'40s and ends with the passing of John Coltrane in 1967. I see jazz history as a smoother continuity than the "Ages" paradigm suggests. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the modal style is a distinct part of the post-Swing jazz dialectic and Kind of Blue makes an early and powerful aesthetic statement that fully initiates this era of jazz experimentation.



Miles Davis' So What is the opening track to Kind of Blue


So let's listen to some music. ;-)

Father of Science Fiction

Amazing Stories, April 1926 (Illustration by Frank R. Paul)

A quick hit to celebrate the birthdate of Hugo Gernsback, born August 16, 1884. Here are a couple covers to the original Science Fiction magazine, Amazing Stories.



Amazing Stories, Febuary 1929 (Illustration by Frank R. Paul)


Enjoy!!!

Music for Aliens and Oddities

Flying Saucers from Mars Attacks! (1996)

We can't let the birth date of Leon Theremin pass without celebrating his great invention, the Theremin! An electronic instrument, the theremin is played without being touched by the performer. Here's Wikipedia's description of how it is played:

The theremin is almost unique among musical instruments in that it is played without physical contact. The musician stands in front of the instrument and moves his or her hands in the proximity of two metal antennas. The distance from one antenna determines frequency (pitch), and the distance from the other controls amplitude (volume). Most frequently, the right hand controls the pitch and the left controls the volume, although some performers reverse this arrangement. Some low-cost theremins use a conventional, knob operated volume control and have only the pitch antenna. While commonly called antennas, they are not used for receiving or broadcasting radio frequency, but act as plates in a capacitor.

The sound is weird and unearthly, yet with a distinct and authentic quality. It has been featured in science fiction soundtracks ever since the '50s, most notably in Bernard Herrmann's score for The Day the Earth Stood Still.



Leon Theremin demonstrating his electronic invention.


Let's listen to some examples.

Ominous Bird of Yore

The Raven by Edouard Manet (1875)

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore —
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —
            Only this and nothing more."

That's the opening stanza to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", first published in 1845. Over the past few weeks, I've been discussing ghost stories. This poem isn't exactly a ghost story, but it plays off a related trope, the obsessive sorrow of the bereaved turning into madness. Although the story holds no supernatural occurrences, the protagonist is still "haunted" by their memory and desire for the departed. Later authors, such as Henry James or Edith Wharton, will follow in Poe's footsteps addressing this trope in their own style.



The Raven by John Tenniel (1858)


I'm a big fan of Poe's work. It's hard to say which of his works is my favorite. But "The Raven" is certainly a contender. ;-)

Mahadevi on My Mind

Vishnu flanked by Sridevi (left) and Bhudevi (right)

Ever since our Friday Flowers celebrated the Hindu goddess Kali, I've been wanting to go see some classic Indian sculpture. Perhaps the finest collection of such work in the Los Angeles area is at the Norton Simon Museum. So a quick trip to Pasadena was in order.

The collection is very extensive and impressive. Therefore, I'm limiting this post to focusing on my favorite goddess statues. The Norton Simon website has brief audio tour lectures for some of these statues. I'll provide the links after at image.



Vishnu embracing Lakshmi


Here's the link to the Norton Simon page with the audio information. ;-)