Damn.

Via, Wooster Collective

“My current body of work is an allegory about memory’s power to hold us back or move us forward. The central character in this parable is a 6 x 10 foot linocut of an Everyman, who has lost it all and wanders the plains with all his belongings strapped to his back. He navigates a world in crisis by learning from his past. The remainder of the characters that he encounters are individuals lost in regret. I have developed these paintings and prints during the American housing and credit crisis of the past year. In contemplating where we are and where we might be, I have found myself looking back at history, remembering the Great Depression, and considering what effects it had on the American psyche. The uncertainty that existed then is present now, and I am addressing the kind of escapism through nostalgia that can occur in the midst of calamity. Every character that the Everyman sees is gripped by this need to escape their present circumstance. They are people lost in a memory at the very point when they should be paying attention to what lies ahead. Many different artists have inspired the flavor of this world including the photography of Walker Evans, the films of the Cohen brothers, the music of Tom Waits and the theatre of Robert Wilson. For more info on the title http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96654742.. ElbowToe

Ed Templeton has a show opening at Roberts & Tilton this Saturday. Matt Leines is in the project room there too! Anthem went over to his spot for a studio visit.

Erik Foss’ latest show Smokem if you Gotem opens at San Francisco’s Gallery Three this Saturday.

Gallery Three is pleased to present the first West Coast solo exhibition of New York based artist Erik Foss. A deftly crafted mixed-media mélange of painting, collage, drawing, photography, assemblage and sculptural installation components, Smokem If You Gotem lays bare the personal demonology of Foss’ visual obsessions along with the greater social pathology of our culture on the brink. At once eminently seductive and deeply disquieting, Foss iconography of cultural critique collapses the perceptual boundaries between pornography, poverty and politics to underscore the collective anxiety and violence of our time.
[Read more]

These Birds Walk subscription series 2 contains four artists books by photographers Todd Hido, Marianne Mueller, Abner Nolan, and Alex Soth.  For the small price of $100 (the more expensive signed edition of 50 is sold out), one of the unsigned/hand-numbered edition of 650 books will be delivered to you every 3 months. A gift that keeps on giving. While you’re at it, think about picking up the first series as well which features Mike Brodie, Jim Goldberg, Ari Marcopoulos, and Paul Schiek.

More information here

A nice breakdown of the most relevant television shows this week.

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