leontinemay

Here's a sneak peek of my work for the New Moon show at myplasticheart in SoHo. If you're in the New York area, please stop by and check it out. 25 artists are going to be interpreting the chinese zodiac, and I can't wait to see what they all come up with! The sneak peeks I've seen look fantastic.

I'll be at the opening on April 10th from 6-9 p.m.

myplasticheart
210 Forsyth St.
New York, NY



Patrick Gannon made that wonderful collage for the postcard.

"Asked why he did not give 'credit' to God, Attenborough [said]: 'They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator.'"

(From this article in the Guardian)

There are SO many things I want to blog about, such as New Years Testimonials (aka things you should have made it your new years' resolution to do), and cool Flickr trends (such as reenacting Alice's tea party. Why does the sexiest friend always get to be the Mad Hatter?). But. I have been busy vomiting in public and molding young minds.

Nonetheless, I simply must tell you about the awesomeness that is James Jean's show at Jonathan Levine Gallery. Well, really, there's nothing I can say except that here are some of the paintings, and in real life they are bigger and brighter and deeper and scarier than the internet can convey. I looked at them for about 45 minutes, and then I had to leave because my eyeballs were full, and I was starting to get a bit dizzy from desire and jealousy and the terrifying subject matter. But I wish I could have stayed for more.


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Markus Hofko's "Cartoon Particles" reminds me of this creepy Disney logo, in which Goofy has apparently devolved into some kind of blind subterranean worm thing:



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A charming Belgian named Geert interviewed me last month for the third issue of his online magazine Gizmag (no relation to the gadget reviewing blog). You can download the magazine as a .pdf here, or in .jpg form here.


(The cover art for the issue is by Camilla D'Errico)

It might seem not-so-modest to say so, but Geert has great taste in art and design. So I highly recommend checking out his weekly picks at gizmag.eu.

The first Miyazaki-eque thing I will be blogging about today is Hiyao Miyazaki's new movie which is supposed to be released in the US next summer. I watched a cam bootleg with a weird frame rate and no English subtitles, and it was TOTALLY EXCELLENT.

It's called Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, and it sort of falls in between Totoro (since the protagonists are toddlers) and Sprited Away (with all sorts of things morphing into other things, plus lots of interesting modes of transportation). Anyway, Miyazaki says (again) that this is his last film, and I hope (again) that he is lying.


Please, Disney, don't change a thing about that theme song.

Miyazaki-esque item number two is the trailer for Pixar's next feature, "Up".


Apparently houses in the sky make me think of Miyazaki, even though I can't actually think of a Miyazaki movie where there *are* houses in the sky. Well, here are some paintings of houses in the sky by Amy Casey who sent me a super-nice response to some fan mail I sent her...



I totally saved the best for last! Miyazaki-esque item number four is (are) Theo Jansen's Strandbeesten...



(Excellent TED talk with Theo Jansen here.)

I must confess to being rather excited about J.J.Abrams's new Star Trek movie, because #1, I am a geek and #2 I *heart* Zachary Quinto (because I am a geek).



However, I find these publicity images for the new movie rather alarming!


(click for larger image with sparkly transporter effect)

WTF, stylists and photographer? Are Z.Q. and the new Captain Kirk really carved out of some sort of spamlike substance? And what is up with the excessive use of the fill flash? Were those noirish shadows in the original photo just entirely too homorerotic for you? It also cracks me up that their costumes are just as un-wrinkly and flawless as their perfect porcelain skin.


(is this a Zachary Quinto blow-up doll?)

Seriously, are men now being held up to the same impossible beauty ideals as women, with attendant airbrushing and botoxing and filling in of little wrinkles with cow collagen? (I found this New York Magazine article about the "New New Face" quite educational.)

And here's a scary article from Discover magazine about the emotional effect of Botox on it's victims users. The article authors seem to think it's super great that Botox numbs people's emotions, because who wants to be sad, anyway? I think the idea that the rich and powerful of the world are making themselves less able to empathize with other people's negative emotions is horrifying.

My coffee table:



This made me cry:



Sascha called out CNN today on their hologram nonsense.



And finally...



GO-BAMA!!!

My dad! Wrote a book! If you like science and stuff, you should totally buy it.



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I really loved some of the other pieces in the Cover Band show, and I thought it would be cool to blog them with the original artwork so you can see exactly what the artists did. Oh, and click on their names to check out more of each person's art!

Andrew Hem (Abbey Road)




Brooke Reidt (Siamese Dream)



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When I'm posting my paintings on etsy, it is quite impossible to resist doing a little shopping, and also a little bookmarking of items that are impossibly exquisite, but utterly inappropriate for my rather low-rent, rumpled and coffee-spill-prone lifestyle.

I hereby present them to you, dear reader, in case you are someone much more fabulous than I am who has loads of ready cash and needs something new to wear. Or just to look at.

Please let my next life include multiple social occasions which call for a custom made victorian peacock corset:



With which this would go quite nicely if anonymity is desired:



( continue shopping )

I'm posti​ng some work in my etsy shop this weeke​nd,​ inclu​ding three​ new jack-​o-​lante​rn theme​d piece​s for hallo​ween.​



If you'​re in the LA area this month​,​ don'​t forge​t to check​ out the Cover​ Band show at Galle​ry 1988 (it opens​ on Octob​er 7th)​.​ I have a piece​ in this show,​ as do some of my favor​ite artis​ts,​ inclu​ding Krist​a Huot and the alway​s-​amazi​ng Allis​on Somme​rs.

If it wasn't so rainy, I would be trekking to the river right now to check out this amazing project organized by wheatpaste genius Swoon.



Like tree houses! But with water instead of trees! Plus! performance art!

( Read and see more! )

I'm packing up one of my favorite things I've ever done: this Tom Waits-inspired piece for the upcoming Cover Band show at Gallery 1988.



The title of the piece is "Burn your mansion to the ground".

( Lots more pictures and inspiration here )

These two portraits are on my bulletin board right now, and I just love looking at them. I don't know what it means; they're just great.

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( If you love them, click here )

Manifest Hope: August 24-28, Denver, CO

Here's the official invitation for the Manifest Hope show, which opens tomorrow to coincide with the Democratic National Convention.



It looks like it is going to be fairly amazing. So if you are there and don't have anything better to do (like giving a speech or caucusing and whatever else they are doing out there) you should check it out!

Oh yes, I have a piece in the show. woot.

(click here for my entire photostream)

I'm moving some posts over from MySpace. How could I possibly have left this one behind?

( Click for Star Wars exquisiteness. )

I saw this book in my friend's bathroom, and of course I had to have it.



( More Treehouses Here )