St. Sebastian, Exquisite Pain

Damien Hirst, St. Sebastian, Exquisite Pain

wild. absolutely wild. 

Caravaggio's Lost Painting

i saw this today and i am a little mad at myself for opting to wait on it.

its jonathan harr's book, the lost painting, chronicling the search for a lost Caravaggio called the taking of christ...

oh Caravaggio, the things you do to me.

Operation: Black 'til Graduation

"shayne, you look like the uni bomber!" - maria

"what is this? all this space and clean air?...i'm allergic to things like picnics and Frisbee throwing and the like!" - shayne and maria

quotes from our class venture to Fordham-Rose Hill that became catalysts to the proposed vow (which i have taken) to wear nothing but black until graduation. yeah, if we didn't scream "city" by the way we already looked, i don't know what else could.

Terry Richardson for Rolling Stone

god, terry. 

in the words of justin timberlake: "you're freaky, but i like it."

For All This, Nature Is Never Spent

banerjee - caribou migration

this is one of the works that will be in the art show (opening tonight) which i have been helping curate for my class. i'm pretty sure this is my favorite piece in the entire show.

weee!! happy opening!! 

maybe now i can have some of my life back!

Alice Tully Hall

i forgot to make a post when they took the scaffolding off, but that is neither here nor there.

the point is... its amazing!

i live just five blocks down and i am so excited that it is finally finished. snaps to diller scofidio + renfro on the design. the first time i walked by and saw it without the scaffolding, i could barely contain myself. i'm really going to miss living in the area come may. 

Francis Bacon

i saw this at MOMA today and i had totally forgotten how amazingly psychotic Francis Bacon is...

"Painting 1946"

he's so horrifying that he's exciting - and i love it! here's another one of his more famous works...

"Study After Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X" 1953

oh Francis, you're such a creep.

Terry Richardson

after getting shit on my way to MoMA, i worked on my project and then headed to the book section on my way out. i decided to flip through the terry richardson book. i still don't know if that was such a good idea. here, one of his more "modest" photographs from (i believe) a tom ford campaign...

Frida Kahlo

As an art history major, I am consistently inundated with different artists and their work.

But Frida Kahlo has always remained a favorite with me. 

Not just of her work, but of her as a person and everything she embodied. 

Through all of her physical and emotional strife, she remained a strong, brave and beautiful woman - and also knew how to rock the unibrow.

In my opinion, her work is far superior than that of her husband, Diego Rivera, and it is a shame how she was overshadowed by him for so long while she was alive.

Powerful, painful and hopeful - I'm glad her work is finally getting the credit it deserves.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces that I have been fortunate enough to see in person. 

If you missed the show that traveled to San Fran, Philly and Minneapolis...

well, you really really missed out.

"The Two Fridas" 1939

The scale of this is absolutely incredible and I cannot even begin to explain it.

"Self-Portrait with Chopped Hair" 1940

The inscription reads: "Look, if I loved you it was because of your hair. Now that you are without hair, I don't love you anymore."

They are lyrics from a Mexican folk song - I absolutely love it.

"The Dream" 1940

I have been trying to find a print of this for my room. I had never seen it up until attending the show in Philly. And though I love all her work, I may go as far in saying this is my favorite thing she's done.

Louise Bourgeois

On Friday, I went to the Louise Bourgeois show at the Guggenheim for my Advanced Seminar in Modern Art class.

I was...errrr...shall I say...uneasy about it?

I have a pretty darn open mind when it comes to art, but I don't know...

I have never seen Ms. Bourgeois' work before and I can't say that I enjoyed it very much.

I found it to be rather violent, overtly sexual and at many times, grotesque.

Which is funny because now that I look at images online, it might be growing on me.

Maybe not.

I was going to say something, 

and now I am not even going to go there.

Modern Wing

Yesterday, I hit up the Modern wing of the Met for my Advanced Seminar in Modern Art class that I'm taking.

I have never really gone through the Modern wing and I'm really glad I did. 

I finally got to see some things I've been meaning to see.

Like this...

Jeff Koons "On the Roof" show

This picture doesn't really do the colors of the pieces justice.

His work is just so fun and playful to see.

And if I had a rooftop apt, I totally would want a "Balloon Dog" to go on it.

Damien Hirst "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living"

I am obsessed with sharks.

So obsessed that I basically live for Shark Week on the Discovery Channel and I have told my parents to not be surprised if I call them one day, at 45 years old, and tell them, "Family, I am quitting my job and leaving for the Caribbean to study sharks in their natural state."

So naturally, the Hirst shark has been something on my list of things to see.

And MAN, shit is WILD! 

My mouth literally dropped when I walked into the room where it was installed. 

It is SO cool, yet SO creepy that I felt as excited as a 5 year old on Christmas day mixed with the hee-bee-gee-bees.

I really didn't know what to do with myself.

I finally looked more into his work last night and it is just...out there.

So eerie. And I'm fascinated by it.

Tara Donovan's Untitled (Mylar) Installation

I really enjoyed this.

Donovan is known for using ordinary products to make something, well, extraordinary.

Here, she used silver Mylar tape that she made into connecting ringlets.

It reminds me of a pattern you see on crisp, clean, white, modern linens.

Yeah yeah, I know this isn't ultra Modern, but its Manet - who's work is said to mark the beginning of the Modern period. 

This hangs in the 19th Century galleries of the Met.

Its called, "Mademoiselle V...in the costume of an espada"

It dawned on me yesterday how much I enjoy Manet and large scale 19th cen. paintings.

Especially portraiture.

The day I can have a house full of these...

boy, that will be the day.