2013 January : EXIT

JAIMIE WARREN – THE WHOAS OF FEMALE TRAGEDY II

Posted on 2013-01-21

In photographs that explore different female stereotypes from both art history and celebrity culture, distorted through the internet’s bizarre juxtapositions, disposable imagery and memes, this new body of work features the artist and her friends in roles as diverse as Zsa Zsa Gabor, Easy E, The Virgin Mary, Lana Del Rey or Picasso’s Demoiselles D’Avignon.

Like a digital age, Midwestern Cindy Sherman, Warren camouflages herself in handmade costumes, sets and extensive makeup to impersonate internet-distorted celebrities, including a section of “food-lebrities” which you can perhaps imagine (“Lasagna Del Rey”). Unlike self-portrait artist Nikki Lee who aims to “pass” in various subcultures, Warren with her Rubenesque body, big blonde hair and rosy cheeks never quite fits in anywhere, perhaps best as her idol Roseanne Barr. The juxtaposition of her non-celebrity appearance with the sculpted and contrived publicity shots of Lil Kim or Madonna bring the unreachably idealized form back to its much funner corporeal reality.

Exhibition runs through till February 9th, 2013

The Hole NYC
312 Bowery
New York
NY
10012

theholenyc.com

YAAKOV ISRAEL

Posted on 2013-01-21

The exhibition’s title, The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey, was inspired by a chance encounter with a Palestinian man who rode past whilst Yaakov was photographing near the Dead Sea. The photographer says, ‘It was only after developing the photographic plate that I realised I had encountered my ‘Messiah’: in Orthodox Jewish tradition, the Messiah (the Prophet) will arrive riding on a white donkey’.

Yaakov’s large scale meticulously detailed images encourage us to appreciate the multi-faceted political and social state of this contested region, offering us a highly personal insight into spaces often overlooked by the world’s media. His images evoke an incomplete utopia: an abandoned, overgrown swimming pool in the Northern Judean Desert indicates long standing neglect, whilst a disconcerting armed presence at the Dead Sea Hilton reveals the tension now commonplace in this landscape of uncertainty. Yaakov’s images are filled with allusions to barriers, both physical and metaphoric, which serve as a constant reminder of the unsettled and indeterminate nature of the country itself.

Elsewhere, Yaakov reveals the peace and tranquility that also exists, with images of everyday occurances such as gathering herbs in Haifa, or a moment of solitude bathing in the Sea of Galilee. These sights appear so idyllic one would be forgiven for not realising that beyond the frame, a deep-seated conflict rages on.

Opposite – Eman, South-Western Negev, 2011

Exhibition runs through till April 13th, 2013

Impressions Gallery
Centenary Square
Bradford
BD1 1SD

www.impressions-gallery.com

THE KING OF PIGS

Posted on 2013-01-21

Kyung-min, a businessman, and Jong-suk, a failed writer, are former schoolmates. During a reunion dinner they look back on their school days, when a particularly cruel group of students, “the dogs”, exercised a reign of terror by hazing and bullying part of the other students, the “pigs”. One day, Kim Chul, one of their mates, stood up to the “dogs”, becoming the only hope of ending their tyranny. Fifteen years on, he remains a hero. But behind this figure, the two men recall the murky story of their bond.

In theaters January 25th, 2013

www.koreanfilm.or.kr

FLIGHT

Posted on 2013-01-21

Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?

In theaters February 1st, 2013

flight

LINCOLN

Posted on 2013-01-21

Steven Spielberg directs Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln,” a revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President’s tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.

In theaters January 25th, 2013

thelincolnmovie.com

DINOSAUR JR. – PIERCE THE MORNING RAIN

Posted on 2013-01-21

The new video for Dinosaur Jr.’s “Pierce the Morning Rain”, from last year’s I Bet on Sky, stars actor James Urbaniak (American Splendor) as an audiophile/bass-obsessed family man whose hobbies get him into some trouble. Comedian Maria Bamford plays his wife, and Henry Rollins!!!. The video was directed by Scott Jacobson.