Thursday, September 13, 2018

the witch hunt rages on here and I'm hoping this could be the beginning of the anti-art, pro-gentrification (despite claims to the exact opposite) in the politically righteous politburo pogrom that became intolerable with the last presidential campaign and got fully out of hand purely hysterical when trump won it. The level of conversation has stooped so, so low. Artforum, a magazine that was boring and out of touch but at least in touch with a generation that had once been in touch.. (john waters, bruce hainley, occasional others maybe?) is now an official organ of social eugenists who want (this is a direct quote from David Velasco's first editorial when he took over Michelle and it's something that would have been sure to amuse mike kelley) "free clinics to treat technobaroque masculinity", where men like Trump and Knight Landesman (one and the same, of course) could go and get "reprogrammed". Dr. Mengele looms large, but as Richard Spencer would say about identity politics, "this time, done right". Who holds power, how do they use it, who is abusing who, who is represented how and in what quantity and who profits from who's body and most importantly, who grieves more and what does this say about their identity. Well, Adrian Piper is 6.5% black, is anyone protesting the fact that her solo retrospective at MoMA is 93.5% white? Not Isabelle Graw, who is busy mourning the demise of the culturally vibrant art scene of midtown manhattan, where she worries "young artists" won't be able to afford studios any longer because Trump green-lighted all those high rises when he took office in 2016. Trump is also responsible for the ambulances who make so much noise on Torstrasse in Mitte in Berlin, ruining what was once a peaceful, non-bourgeois neighborhood to live in. If anyone ever had any doubt that Isabelle Graw's "marxism" was anything but a meaningless badge by which to telegraph solidarity for working classes or "young artists" she has nothing to do with and generally nothing but contempt for, this is a great read: https://www.textezurkunst.de/111/graw-letter-friend-new-york/
Reading it provides an exclusive insight in the abyssal delusion of an intellectually derelict, terminally authoritarian, Adornian pearl-clutching Tussi who's slid so far to the right (not unlike uhm, Margaret Lee and uhm, Wolfgang Tillmans), that she accuses her own friends of being "neoliberal artist celebrities"  But more than anything, especially the part when she compares herself to Hannah Arendt, reading "letter to a friend in new york" provides the sensation of drowning in a river of shit.

So, to complete the first sentence of this email about the 47 canal program, they seem to be freaking out. For a second they put out a statement on their website claiming that they never moved to cancel the boyd rice show and that there are "false narratives" circulating about their artists' involvement in this. It turns out that both are lies, easily debunked by looking at the emails posted on instagram by Darja, the other artist in the show. Maybe they realized that and deleted it to avoid further embarrassment.
Now, in the name of fighting white supremacy, they're working policing every single instagram "like" anyone related to the gallery (and beyond, I'm sure) does, screenshots are passed around. Megan Marrin, who shows at David Lewis gallery, heard from her gallerist that a collector was no longer interested in a purchase and asking why he supports artists that like Boyd Rice posts, this post, which Margaret Lee claims is a threat to her person:


I don't know nazi history that well and I'm not sure if this is"night of the long knives" for them or the famous meme'd scene in Der Untergang when Hitler freaks out in the bunker for 5 full minutes. hopefully that happens this week!

this is a fun Boyd Rice record, actually the only one I know.. It's with the girl from Strawberry Switchblade who was also involved with Current 93 at some point. All love songs. The production is really cool.

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