The Non-Political Implications (and Motives) of Wolfgang Tillmans’ ‘Abstract Pictures’
A simpler question is, if this is what political art looks like, what does non-political art look like?
Author Archive: Owen Campbell
Thomas Roma @ Steven Kasher Gallery: A 1970’s Cruising Spot in Brooklyn, Public Sex Handled with Care
Roma’s images disappoint any prudish or salacious imagination of the cruising spot; there’s no sense of anything sordid, much less anything lewd happening.
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s ‘Seascapes’: Measuring Time in Repetition
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s, ‘Seascapes’ is a meditation on time examined through repetition and constancy…
Raymond Depardon: ‘Manhattan Out’ and ‘Adieu Saigon’
from Manhattan Out @ Raymond Depardon and courtesy Steidl What exists of the sensual atmosphere is counterbalanced by scenes like street-side school for teaching the newly-blind how to walk and the mangled bodies, living and dead, just hanging around. By Owen Campbell, ASX, September 2015 2015’s Adieu Saigon is a collection of images shot in […]
Born-Again Ward of the State, Dennis McGrath’s ‘Heaven’
Dennis McGrath’s Heaven approaches the life of Lynwood “Lennie” Kirk, a former professional skateboarder, current born-again Christian and ward of the state of California. Dennis McGrath’s Heaven approaches the life of Lynwood “Lennie” Kirk, a former professional skateboarder, current born-again Christian and ward of the state of California. Heaven is largely comprised of old photographs […]
Paris, Texas, Distance and Almost No Humans in Wim Wender’s ‘Written in the West’
There are almost no humans in Wender’s photos. I almost forget there’s a human behind the camera in a way that would never happen with other road trip photographers.
Modern Day Racial Segregation and White on Black Murder: Gillian Laub’s ‘Southern Rites’
The words, “Southern Rites”, are at once a pun on the American ritual of prom… and an echo of the infamous canard, “state’s rights”.
True Romance – Both Sides of Sunset: Photographing Los Angeles
Romance is inescapable; the L.A. river is maybe the most romantic strip of concrete in the world, the light in the window of a Todd Hido exterior is romantic, just the name “Dennis Hopper” is romantic; romance is inherent to the image. By Owen Campbell, ASX, July 2015 Both Sides of Sunset: Photographing Los Angeles […]
Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty Glossy/Dangerous
Blue Poles, 2007. Enamel on metal, 60 x 72 inches Medusa was in various forms of legend alternately beautiful and hideous; a telling difference, in that it suggests either extreme is equally liable to turn a man to stone. The words Pretty/Dirty, the title of Marilyn Minter’s current exhibition at Contemporary Arts Museum […]
Raymond Pettibon – The Art of Black Flag (1980s)
Pettibon’s drawings say: sure, I’ll suck dick for cigarettes.
Upstairs at Eric’s – Game Recognize Game.
“If there’re gonna be 100 people in my apartment, there are gonna be twenty or so who want to be exhibitionists and expose themselves to express themselves…”
Dis ’ Selfie Shtick – An Exercise in Brand Promotion
A short history of the selfie would trace the transformation from tawdriness for all to kitsch, for some. By Owen Campbell, ASX, May 2015 Dis, #artselfie, is a fun book that only half-bears the scrutiny it invites. The premise, that the collection of selfies taken in art spaces points toward a new method of […]