Tuesday, 17 May 2011 14:23 Written by Jesse Pollock
Earlier this year I packed up a small bag and headed down to Miami in order to board a giant cruise ship. While this would normally be a horrifying proposition, I was comforted by the fact that Ian Svenonius and Jonathan Toubin would be along for the ride as well, along with The Strange Boys, Black Lips, Vivian Girls, Surfer Blood, Thee Oh Sees, Quintron And Miss Pussycat, Ty Segall, Turbo Fruits and Jacuzzi Boys. The first ever Bruise Cruise music festival set sail down to the Bahamas on February 25th and to be honest, I'm not even going to try and review it. John Norris, Spin, VBS and a slew of other media outlets did a bang up job already saying everything there is to say about it in the months since it took place. However, just so you get the idea, the cruise included one bass guitar being launched into the Atlantic, one successful marriage proposal during a Ty Segall set, one couple meeting, falling in love, and getting engaged, one Black Lips video being made, and two documentaries being filmed. Not to mention all the free pizza and ice cream that I ate.
This is either the most fun you have ever had for 3 days straight or probably your worst nightmare.
I have had many people (most of whom stayed on dry land) tell me their varying opinions on the cruise and the fact is; either you get it or you don't. Either way it's miles away from the same old song and dance, which is a feat in itself these days. The photos below back that story up in the sense that normally I document everything relentlessly, but this time around I barley remembered to pick up a camera. Those are the times that you can tell something worthwhile has occurred.
If you don't who Lee "Scratch" Perry is or what his music is about, you need to start with the Lee Perry station on Pandora for a quick education (it's a good one). He basically began reggae music defining its sound in the late '60s. He began the career of a young Bob Marley producing many of his biggest hits. Perry's prolific career includes beginning the sound of DUB music and could argue much electronic music and hip hop as well. He's an energetic creative force that at times during the 70s, in his home studio "Black Ark Studios", produced an astonishing 20 songs a week.
The film isn't your traditional VH1's Behind the Music where other musicians and critics rant and rave about Perry's genius and his importance in modern music history. Instead, the film takes you inside the mind of Perry (or attempts to) by focusing a lot of screen time to Perry's long winded monologues where his stream of conscious religious/ poetry rants are intriguing in illustrating his talent at word play and musical mastery. Some may find the film focuses too much on Perry's ramblings, but I found it refreshing and a way to get inside Perry's head and thought it helped to truly illustrate how creative and interesting the man is. Scrawling words and phrases spray painted on his home walls. Burning gasoline in his snowy driveway. Dancing and seemingly truly being himself, it's nice to see someone so mentally free of any self restriction or those imposed by society. He lives within the space of his own mind.
The film follows Perry's rise through the music scene in Jamaica to the present day where he lives in Switzerland with his wife and children. It tracks him at his highest peaks to the lowest of lows of an artist refusing to compromise- pushing those around him away for what Perry calls parasites reeling about his consciousness sucking his energy and creativity for profit and fame. At times Perry's a self described Mad Man, as those believed he was, but he pondered if it was too many years with the smoke (he's since stopped smoking ganja). He is no mad man but a creative force who deserves not only this spotlight on him and his music but so much more. Following a life of true creativity and focusing his energy on his music rather than a chase at fame and money, it's this reason why Lee Scratch Perry will be remembered in musical history while those around him seeking rich and fame will be enjoyably forgotten.
Monday, 16 May 2011 16:01 Written by Bryan Derballa
I ended up in East London on the day Kate and Wills got married. I never cared much about the Royal Family but being among the British made it pretty infectious. Street parties, sunshine, celebration and stripper poles. All my best to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. -Bryan Derballa
I live in Milwaukee, I'm 23. I'll be 24 in 3 hours. I received a bachelor's degree in painting from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. My website is www.hueycrowley.com.
How would you describe your work to someone?
I would say that "They are dirty-Disney colored paintings from a tingling, nintendo-influenced dimension." I would mention that they speak to some 70's warped, screwball, acid-shit. Ominous things have always attracted me, and they show up in my work often.
Inevitably, I paint a lot of the Midwest too, but in a way like you'd discover a rained-on, muddy care-bear in someone's backyard that their Doberman was chewing on. Mystical and disturbing things attract me and I try to harness them with paint.
Influences?
Some artists- Allison Schulnik, Jose Lerma, Kim Dorland, Chris Johanson, Matthew Barney, Christopher Wool, Carroll Dunham, Luis Galvez, Santiago Cucullu, Terence Koh, Basquiat, George Condo…and many more....
Musically-Salem, Juiceboxxx, Liars, Aids Wolf, The Coughs, MTV Riff Raff...
Any artist really, especially ignorant ones because I believe that ignorance is bliss and fun.
Mike Shine
DER WILDEN MANN THUS SPRACH FLOTSAM;
METAMORPHOSIS 3
April 16 - May 7
@Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Better late than never. We have a lot of content that we're a bit behind with as we play ctach up here at Fecal Face. Keep checking back as we add mucho art-ness. ---->
Check a studio visit we did with Mike back in '08... Shit, that was 3 years ago?! Oh how time flies when you're having artistical fun.
Friday, 13 May 2011 15:48 Written by Ashley Taylor
So yes, the voting will remain the same. You need to login in order for your vote to count, but as many of you have suggested, it seems that some of the votes are less than honest. A solution suggested by many of you is to start a discussion within the comments throughout the week, and in the end, Fecal Face should choose the winner considering your votes and comments. Sound good? Is Free Fridayz still totally Stupid? You decide.
Pantónio and 4ink altered some poster ads in a street of Lisboa. The next day however came with a surprise, when Amnesty International replaced them with their series of posters but left one of them untouched, which played very well with their message. Props to the paste-up guy on this one. -4zero
Nathan Brown is a Montreal based artist who's currently showing at Brooklyn's Rouge 58 with 3 other Montreal artists.
"Nervous Breakdown"is a 100% paper, 21in x 24in life-size (wearable) vest, Silkscreen, digital print, and Ink on paper.
The start of a 10 piece series which represents the archived ritual vests of No-Valleys inhabitants. Screen Printed denim vest pattern on paper, cut-out, and assembled. Original drawings collaged and drawn directly onto the surface. Inkjet on rice paper linings unique to each vest.
These are life size and wearable.
"Deths of Adonis!" is a 4ft x 6ft ink on paper drawing.
6ft x 6ft, Ink on Paper. A reprise of this Giuseppe Mazzuoli sculpture that I enjoyed in person at the Hermitage last summer.
William Emmert, who we interviewed last year, emailed over a few of his newer works we wanted to share with you. William moved down to San Francisco last year from Seattle and has shown his work around town. These works are remakes of posters or other items from his childhood bedroom.
I don't think at this point it needs to be written since the last update to Fecal Face was a long time ago, but...
I, John Trippe, have put this baby Fecal Face to bed. I'm now focusing my efforts on running ECommerce at DLX which I'm very excited about... I guess you can't take skateboarding out of a skateboarder.
It was a great 15 years, and most of that effort can still be found within the site. Click around. There's a lot of content to explore.
Hit me up if you have any ECommerce related questions. - trippe.io
I'm not sure how many people are lucky enough to have The San Francisco Giants 3 World Series trophies put on display at their work for the company's employees to enjoy during their lunch break, but that's what happened the other day at Deluxe. So great.
SF skateboarding icons Jake Phelps, Mickey Reyes, and Tommy Guerrero with the 3 SF Giants World Series Trophies
When works of art become commodities and nothing else, when every endeavor becomes “creative” and everybody “a creative,” then art sinks back to craft and artists back to artisans—a word that, in its adjectival form, at least, is newly popular again. Artisanal pickles, artisanal poems: what’s the difference, after all? So “art” itself may disappear: art as Art, that old high thing. Which—unless, like me, you think we need a vessel for our inner life—is nothing much to mourn.
Hard-working artisan, solitary genius, credentialed professional—the image of the artist has changed radically over the centuries. What if the latest model to emerge means the end of art as we have known it? --continue reading
"Six Degrees" opens tonight, Friday Jan 16th (7-10pm) at FFDG in San Francisco. ~Group show featuring: Brett Amory, John Felix Arnold III, Mario Ayala, Mariel Bayona, Ryan Beavers, Jud Bergeron, Chris Burch, Ryan De La Hoz, Martin Machado, Jess Mudgett, Meryl Pataky, Lucien Shapiro, Mike Shine, Minka Sicklinger, Nicomi Nix Turner, and Alex Ziv.
"[Satire] is important because it brings out the flaws we all have and throws them up on the screen of another person," said Turner. “How they react sort of shows how important that really is.” Later, he added, "Charlie took a hit for everybody." -read on
As we work on our changes, we're leaving Squarespace and coming back to the old server. Updates are en route.
The content that was on the site between May '14 and today is history... Whatever, wasn't interesting anyway. All the good stuff from the last 10 years is here anyway.
Opening tonight, Friday May 23rd (7-10pm) at Park Life in the Inner Richmond (220 Clement St) is Again Home Again featuring works from the duo Jacob Mcgraw-Mikelson & Rachell Sumpter who split time living in Sacramento and a tiny island at the top of Pudget Sound with their children.
Jacob Magraw will be showing embroidery pieces on cloth along with painted, gouache works on paper --- Rachell Sumpter paints scenes of colored splendor dropped into scenes of desolate wilderness. ~show details
NYC --- A new graffiti abatement program put forth by the police commissioner has beat cops carrying cans of spray paint to fill in and cover graffiti artists work in an effort to clean up the city --> Many cops are thinking it's a waste of resources, but we're waiting to see someone make a project of it. Maybe instructions for the cops on where to fill-in?
The NYPD is arming its cops with cans of spray paint and giving them art-class-style lessons to tackle the scourge of urban graffiti, The Post has learned.
Shootings are on the rise across the city, but the directive from Police Headquarters is to hunt down street art and cover it with black, red and white spray paint, sources said... READ ON
Los Angeles based Alison Blickle who showed here in San Francisco at Eleanor Harwood last year (PHOTOS) recently showed new paintings in New York at Kravets Wehby Gallery. Lovely works.
We haven't been featuring many interviews as of late. Let's change that up as we check in with a few local San Francisco artists like Kevin Earl Taylor here whom we studio visited back in 2009 (PHOTOS & VIDEO). It's been awhile, Kevin...
If you like guns and boobs, head on over to the Shooting Gallery; just don't expect the work to be all cheap ploys and hot chicks. With Make Stuff by Peter Gronquist (Portland) in the main space and Morgan Slade's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in the project space, there is plenty spectacle to be had, but if you look just beyond it, you might actually get something out of the shows.
Fifty24SF opened Street Anatomy, a new solo show by Austrian artist Nychos a week ago last Friday night. He's been steadily filling our city with murals over the last year, with one downtown on Geary St. last summer, and new ones both in the Haight and in Oakland within the last few weeks, but it was really great to see his work up close and in such detail.
Nate Milton emailed over this great short Gator Skater which is a follow-up to his Dog Skateboard he emailed to us back in 2011... Any relation to this Gator Skater?
Congrats on our buddies at Needles and Pens on being open and rad for 11 years now. Mission Local did this little short video featuring Breezy giving a little heads up on what Needles and Pens is all about.
In a filmmaker's thinking, we wish more videos were done in this style. Too much editing and music with a lacking in actual content. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Matt Wagner recently emailed over some photos from The Hellion Gallery in Tokyo, who recently put together a show with AJ Fosik (Portland) called Beast From a Foreign Land. The gallery gave twelve of Fosik's sculptures to twelve Japanese artists (including Hiro Kurata who is currently showing in our group show Salt the Skies) to paint, burn, or build upon.
FFDG is pleased to announce an exclusive online show with San Francisco based Ferris Plock opening on Friday, April 25th (12pm Pacific Time) featuring 5 new medium sized acrylic paintings on wood.
Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne played host to a huge group exhibition a couple of weeks back, with "Gold Blood, Magic Weirdos" Curated by Melbourne artist Sean Morris. Gold Blood brought together 25 talented painters, illustrators and comic artists from Australia, the US, Singapore, England, France and Spain - and marked the end of the Magic Weirdos trilogy, following shows in Perth in 2012 and London in 2013.
San Francisco based Fecal Pal Jeremy Fish opened his latest solo show Hunting Trophies at LA's Mark Moore Gallery last week to massive crowds and cabin walls lined with imagery pertaining to modern conquest and obsession.
Well, John Felix Arnold III is at it again. This time, he and Carolyn LeBourgios packed an entire show into the back of a Prius and drove across the country to install it at Superchief Gallery in NYC. I met with him last week as he told me about the trip over delicious burritos at Taqueria Cancun (which is right across the street from FFDG and serves what I think is the best burrito in the city) as the self proclaimed "Only overweight artist in the game" spilled all the details.
Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.
The paintings in the show are each influenced by a musician, ranging from Freddy Mercury, to Madonna, to A Tribe Called Quest and they are so stylistically consistent with each musician's persona that they read as a cohesive body of work with incredible variation. If you told me they were each painted by a different person, I would not hesitate to believe you and it's really great to see a solo show with so much variety. The show is fun, poppy, very well done, and absolutely worth a look and maybe even a listen.
With rising rent in SF and knowing mostly other young artists without capitol, I desired a way to live rent free, have a space to do my craft, and get to see more of the world. Inspired by the many historical artists who have longed similar longings I discovered the beauty of artist residencies. Lilo runs Adhoc Collective in Vienna which not only has a fully equipped artists creative studio, but an indoor halfpipe, and private artist quarters. It was like a modern day castle or skate cathedral. It exists in almost a utopic state, totally free to those that apply and come with a real passion for both art and skateboarding
I just wanted to share with you a piece I recently finished which took me 4 years to complete. Titled "How To Lose Yourself Completely (The September Issue)", it consists of a copy of the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine (the issue they made the documentary about) with all faces masked with a sharpie, and everything else entirely whited out. 840 pages of fun. -Bryan Schnelle
While walking our way across San Francisco on Saturday we swung through the opening receptions for Kirk Maxson and Alexis Mackenzie at Eleanor Harwood Gallery in the Mission.
Jeremy Fish opens Hunting Trophies tonight, Saturday April 5th, at the Los Angeles based Mark Moore Gallery. The show features new work from Fish inside the "hunting lodge" where viewers climb inside the head of the hunter and explore the history of all the animals he's killed.
Beautiful piece entitled "The Albatross and the Shipping Container", Ink on Paper, Mounted to Panel, 47" Diameter, by San Francisco based Martin Machado now on display at FFDG. Stop in Saturday (1-6pm) to view the group show "Salt the Skies" now running through April 19th. 2277 Mission St. at 19th.
For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job, move out of my house, leave everything and travel again. So on August 21, 2013 I pushed a canoe packed full of gear into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, along with four of my best friends. Exactly 100 days later, I arrived at a marina near the Gulf of Mexico in a sailboat.
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