Grey Oceans

I'm loving Cocorosie's new album, Grey Oceans. And I especially love it because Matt shot the covers for the CD and LP. There was a lot of feltcraft and blue-grey paint happening back when those photo shoots took place. Cocorosie will be touring the US soon, and I hope people enjoy how much fire they've got right now cooking their looks and sounds. It's not all grey and watery; as with everything they do, it's an elemental brew. Here's a sweet little movie they made about how art is "polishing god's shoes."

http://subpop-public.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/video/7085.mov

Homunculi vs. Fruiting Bodies

It was a shame that Brian Chippendale's Fruiting Bodies opening collided with our Homunculi opening at CANADA, but it's not a competition. Matt and I stopped by Cinders yesterday before heading back to LA to see Chippendale's wicked and very pinkish new body of collaged silkscreen/paintings:

http://blog.cindersgallery.com/

Best of all, Matt and Brian came face to face to taint each other further with mushroom madness. How many mushrooms can two men paint? I see a fungi collaboration in the future...

If you're in NYC Chinatown, please check out Homunculi, a chunky set of paintings and sculptures by four stellar artists, starring gnomes, a fox, shadow puppets, eye-shaped cloaks, hobo clowns, fuschia trannies, and some witchy, green-handed women. I think CANADA will post more photos as time allows:

http://www.canadanewyork.com/

Here's a video tour someone made that I just found trolling on-line:

http://www.artreview.com/video/homunculi-curated-by-trinie?xg_source=activity

Report from Portland

I *love* Powell's; I wish I could overnight it to rove the shelves for a good twelve hours by candlelight. Last time I was there I dropped major cash after I raided their mushroom field guide section. An artist I admire, Wendy Given, snapped this at Powell's and made my day. I just wrote an essay about her lovely new body of witch-related artwork, for an exhibition of hers that opened at Wieden + Kennedy gallery called How To Explain Magic to A Dead Rabbit:

http://blog.wk.com/

The black cat photograph, titled The Tutelary, is Given's exhibition poster...

Good time for a bear dance...