i dragged silvio, dennis, and brian to downtown los angeles today. chilling with art seemed like a nice way to kick off the weekend. we started out at the moca to torture ourselves. no, i mean, to scope the basquiat exhibit. and i found the show to be a bit overwhelming -- so much of basquiat's work exudes A.D.H.D. energy. i'm sure it's all very thoughtful, but after i tried to actually read everything he wrote on over a dozen paintings, i started feeling stressed out. the piece i enjoyed the most was titled "now's the time". it is an homage to charlie parker and it is in fact, nothing fancy. just a big ole record.
it was a relief to end our art day across the street with margaret kilgallen's work. her colors are muted and the typography is well, really charming. it was a nice change of pace. much of the art i'd already seen at the philly ICA in 2001 and at the deitch projects in manhattan. nevertheless, it was a treat to see it all again. "in the sweet bye & bye" is closing in two days at the redcat gallery (located inside the beautiful walt disney concert hall by frank gehry). go now. run.
p.s. if you live too far away to check out "in the sweet bye & bye", you can now purchase the exhibition catalog online. $40.
