924COLLECTIVE

SAGITTARIUS SHOWS US THE PHILOSOPHER, THE HEALER, & MENTOR.  SAGITTARIUS IS DEPICTED AS AN ARCHER, A WISE CENTAUR WHO IS HALF-MAN & HALF-HORSE, AND IN THE SAME WAY, THE PHILOSOPHER IN SAGITTARIUS MAY BE SEEN AS AN EVOLUTIONARY STAGE BETWEEN SCORPIO & CAPRICORN THAT TRANSMUTES FIXED, POWERFUL & CONTROLLING ENERGIES INTO ASPIRING,EARTHY & PRAGMATIC ONES. SAGITTARIANS ARE ETERNAL STUDENTS, CONSTANTLY SEEKING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE WORLD.  SAGITTARIUS 1S ARE THE EMBODIMENT OF SELF-RELIANCE, BELIEVING THAT LIFE ITSELF IS THE GREAT TEACHER, & CONSIDER EXPERIENCE  THE BOOKS & LESSONS.SAGITTARIUS II’S ARE THE ORIGINATORS.  THEY ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO CATEGORIZE SINCE EACH IS SO INDIVIDUAL, AND IN MANY WAYS THEIR INTRICATE PERSONALITIES DEFY DESCRIPTION.THE SAGITTARIUS III’S ARE THE TITANS, THAT TEND TO BE HIGH MINDED, EXPANSIVE PERSONALITIES.  RULED BY JUPITER, WHICH LENDS OPTIMISM AND A DESIRE TO SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE.  MANY SAGITTARIANS GO SO FAR AS TO ULTIMATELY REJECT MANY OF SOCIETY’S VALUES IN FAVOR OF A HIGHER TRUTH.  THE SAGITTARIAN LOVE OF MOVEMENT AND TRAVEL IS LEGENDARY, CONSTANTLY SEEKING OUT NEW WAYS IN WHICH THEY CAN EXPRESS THEMSELVES.

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY

LIKE A LEGEND FROM THE NIGHT, DANIEL RICHTER ARRIVES IN FIRST PLACE.  THE ELDER STATESMAN OF OUR COUNTDOWN, HERR RICHTER GRADUATED FROM THE SCHOOL OF DIY PUNK BEFORE HE GRAVITATED TO THE FINE ART GAME.  THIS ENERGY IS APPARENT IN HIS UNCANNY ABILITY TO CAPTURE THE TENSION OF UNREST & SOCIAL UPHEAVAL. RITES OF PASSAGE INTO MANHOOD ARE FIRMLY ESTABLISHED & REPEATED, AS YOUTH GRADUATE FROM DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR TO MORE LETHAL EXPLOITS, THE NERVOUS ENERGY THAT PERMEATES THE ZEITGEIST YET CAN BE INVISIBLE TO THE OBLIVIOUS.  JUST AS HOW THE YOUTH OF TODAY HAVE BEEN DE-SENSITIZED TO VIOLENCE, THREAT ARE VERY REAL, EVEN IF IT SEEMS ABSTRACT. CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS GOES FROM PLAYTIME TO REAL TIME OVERNIGHT. HISTORY IS PERVASIVE, DO WE TRUST OUR OWN TRUTH, OR GET SOLD ON PROPAGANDA AND ROSE COLORED HISTORY LESSONS.  WHEN THE YOUTH FIGHT WARS THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND UNDER THE GUISE OF PATRIOTISM: BETRAYAL, CONFUSION, POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, & UNEMPLOYMENT ARE OFTEN THE HARSH REALITIES AWAITING THE HERO UPON HOMECOMING.  BUT THE IDEA OF NOBLE SACRIFICE WILL ALWAYS BE A SELLING FEATURE TO CANNON FODDER.WHEN LIFE HANGS IN THE BALANCE, SURVIVAL INSTINCTS TAKE OVER, & THE THIN VEIL OF CIVILITY VANISHES.  WHAT IS LEFT IS AN EGO STRIPPED BARE, THE REAL STRUGGLE FOR LIFE AND DEATH BEGINSPOSTMODERN WARFARE, HIGH TECH, BLACK OPS, SUPER SOLDIERS, WHAT COMES NEXT?  WHO POLICES THE POLICE? WHEN VIGILANTE JUSTICE AND MILITIAS BECOME MORE COMMON EVERY DAY, WHAT KIND OF REALITY DO YOU CHOSE TO ENFORCE? MILITARIZE THE PEACETHE FUTURE IS VIVID, IT IS BOLD, IT IS SCARY. IT IS EVERYTHING YOU HAVE COME TO EXPECT, AND NOTHING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE, WHO WILL YOU LET CONTROL YOUR DESTINY?  THE IDEAS OF THE CONTROLLER, OR THE IDEAS OF THE LIBERATOR? COME WITH USTHE ROAD IS LONG & DARK, BUT TOGETHER WE WILL PREVAIL, WE WILL BE VICTORS OF THESE REPETITIOUS BATTLES. #YOUTHINREVOLT

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY

IF YOU ARE ROLLING WITH HERNAN BAS, YOU ARE FAR FROM STUPID.  THE 305S FAVORITE SON HELPED WIN HIS GALLERIA BEST BOOTH AT ABMB.  SO HOW DO YOU SAY SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK (OR PAINTBRUSH) IN SPANISH? BECAUSE THATS EXACTLY WHATS UPHERNAN BAS PAINTINGS EVOKE A STRONG SENSE OF HALLUCINATION.  BUT TALKING ABOUT HALLUCINATION IS DISMISSIVE, AS IT IMPLIES YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING NOT REAL,  WHEN YOU CAN BE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING HYPER REAL. TEENAGE EMOTIONAL STATES EVOKE A SIMILAR SENSE OF HYPER REALITY & PSYCHODRAMA.  NOW IMAGINE BEING TRAPPED IN THAT STATE FOREVER.  ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER,  THE FEELINGS OF ADOLESCENT AWKWARDNESS & ANXIETY REPLACED BY SOMETHING FAR MORE TEMPERED & RESILIENT.  YET THOSE VIVID MEMORIES WILL REMAIN.SOMEWHERE IN AN ENCLAVE IN THE EVERGLADES A PREPARATION IS BEING MADE.  IN SECRET FRIENDS CONVENE TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN, ANIMALS WATCH PENSIVELY AS OUTSIDERS ENACT STRANGE RITUALS.  AT AN AGE WHERE RELATIONSHIPS VERGE ON TELEPATHIC, WHEN SNEAKING OUT WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND IS MORE PARAMOUNT THAN ANYTHING ELSE.  THE GLOW OF IPHONE SCREENS ATTRACT FLYING INSECTS IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, WHERE THE SOUNDTRACK THAT PLAYS IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SONG.

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY

THE WORLD STAGE GOT FLIPPED. FOR CENTURIES A PORTRAIT WAS A PRIVILEGE OF STATUS.  TODAY THE PORTRAIT OF THE OTHER HAS TAKEN CENTER STAGE.  KEHINDE WILEYS WORLD STAGE SERIES HAS STOPPED IN NUMBEROUS NATIONS SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2008.STREET CASTING OCCUR IN INTERNATIONAL LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD, RANDERSON ROMUALDO CORDEIRO IS CATAPULTED FROM UNKNOWN YOUTH TO ARTISTS MUSE RE-PRESENTED.  REMOVED FROM THE GRITTY STREETS, THE GLOW OF FRESH THREADS & RECAST IN OIL

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY

EMPIRES RISE AND FALL, YET THE WILD LIFE REMAINS.  THE WORLD OF RAQIB SHAW IN ONE OF OPULENCE, AS HE MASTERFULLY CRAFTS ART HISTORY WITH LUSH PERSONAL MYTHOLOGIES  TO CREATE ORNATELY GUILDED WORKS OF ART.  NO ONE DANCES THE LINE BETWEEN DESTRUCTION & DECADENCE BETTER THAN SHAW. ARRIVING @#4. “CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE RAQIB SHAW WORK?”  “ITS $40,000.”   THE WHITE CUBE ATTACHE RESPONDED INSTINCTIVELY.  THIS WAS OPENING NIGHT AFTER ALL, GET THAT MONEY HONEY.  THIS WAS IN 2010 FOR THE 4″ X 6″ WORK ON PAPER ABOVE, EXTRAPOLATE, THAT WITH THE SCALE AND DETAIL OF HIS SUCCESSIVE WORKS, AND YOU ONLY IMAGINE.  LOOKING BACK THE EXPERIENCE WAS QUITE JARRING, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME SPEAKING TO AN ENGLISHMAN WHO WAS SO BRAZEN & STRAIGHT TO THE BOTTOM LINE, WELCOME TO BASEL.IMAGES DO NOT CAPTURE THE SENSUOUS UNDERTONES PERMEATING FROM THE WORKS LIKE PHEROMONES, LURING YOU IN LONG BEFORE YOU REALIZE IT IS TOO LATE! CAPTURED BY THE WESTERNIZED AESTHETICS OF BLING! BLING! & EXCESSIVE DISPLAYS OF WEALTH.    WALKING THE LINE BETWEEN VULGARITY & PURE HEDONISM UNASHAMED,  HIS ANTHROPOMORPHIC CREATURES DANCE BETWEEN ART HISTORY MUSES & KAMA SUTRA YOGIS.  THIS INTERPLAY BETWEEN MATERIALISM & MYSTICISM CREATES THIS DYNAMIC & ROMANTIC DANCE, A FLIRTATION WITH THE IDEALIZED FORMS FOUND IN PARADISE & HARBINGERS OF SOMETHING MUCH MORE OMINOUS.

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG ENTERS THE LIST AT NUMBER FIVE PRESENTING AN INTERESTING MIDPOINT. HIS PRESENCE ON THE LIST ATTESTS TO HIS ARTISTIC LEGACY, & UNDENIABLE INFLUENCE TODAY.  THE MORE YOU LOOK AT THE CONTEMPORARY ART LANDSCAPE, SO MANY ARTISTS ARE STILL RE-HASHING IDEAS HE PROPAGATED OVER 50 YEARS AGO!  FROM COMBINES TO ASSEMBLAGE, TO APPROPRIATION, & THE INCORPORATION OF COMMERCIAL PROCESSES IN FINE ART MAKING, HE WAS YEARS AHEAD OF HIS TIME NOT JUST CREATIVELY, BUT HIS SENSE OF CONSTANT EXPLORATION MAKE IT CLEAR WHY HE IS STILL HELD IN SUCH HIGH REGARD TODAY. “I USUALLY WORK IN A DIRECTION UNTIL I KNOW HOW TO DO IT, THEN I STOP.  AT THE TIME THAT I AM BORED OR UNDERSTAND- I USE THOSE WORDS INTERCHANGEABLY – ANOTHER APPETITE HAS FORMED.  A LOT OF PEOPLE TRY TO THINK UP IDEAS.  I’M NOT ONE.  I’D RATHER ACCEPT THE IRRESISTIBLE POSSIBILITIES OF WHAT I CAN’T IGNORE” x X A LOT ABOUT INNOVATION IS ABOUT BEING ABLE TO SEE SOMETHING THAT ISN’T CURRENTLY THERE, SOMETIMES BY COMBINING DISPARATE IDEAS, FROM DIVINE INSPIRATION, OR MAYBE FROM A CHEROKEE BIRTHRIGHT?  IT IS NO SECRET THAT SOME PEOPLE ACCESS NEW PARADIGMS GENERATIONS BEFORE THEY BECOME ZEITGEIST, IT IS THEIR JOB TO CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO, OFTEN WITH BACKLASH, BUT THIS FRICTION IS INEVITABLE WHEN PRESENTING FORMS PEOPLE ARE NOT ACCUSTOMED TO, & THEIR TASTES HAVE YET TO PROCESS.  RAUSCHENBERG IS A TRAILBLAZER & TRUE AMERICAN MASTER #ROB

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY

STEVEN SHEARER HAS BEEN MAKING WORK SINCE THE EARLY 90S, BUT HIS MULTI-DISCIPLINARY WORK FOCUSES ON A TIME NOT SO LONG BEFORE THE 90S.  HIS UNCANNY USE OF ARCHIVAL AND FOUND IMAGERY OPENS A WINDOW INTO TEENAGE SUBCULTURES PAST AND THEIR CONSUMPTION OF MUSIC, FREEDOM, YOUTH & REBELLION. SHEARER BREAKS DOWN THE RAFT OF THE MEDUSA & REFORMS IT AS YOUTH PERFORMANCE, RIVAL TEAMS PRESENT IN FORMATION.  THE DISPLAY FORCES VIEWERS TO STOP  & MARVEL AT THE SPECTACLE.  REVEALING AN AGGRESSIVE ENERGY LURKING JUST BELOW THE SURFACE OF PRESENTATION & PAGEANTRY, & FRIENDLY RIVALRIES.BEING THE SUBJECT OF TEENAGE OBSESSION MUST BE JUST AS OVERWHELMING, BUT SHEARER EXPLORES THE DARKER SIDE OF CHILD CELEBRITY, & WITH IT THE DOWNFALL, IN MUSE LEIF GARRETT, A RECURRING FIGURE IN SHEARERS WORK. THE IMAGES CAPTURE A YOUTH COERCED BY HOLLYWOOD, THE EXHIBIT WALL BECOMES A RAREFIED VERSION OF A TEENAGERS BEDROOM SANCTUARY WHERE POSTERS ARE REPLACED WITH NEON SCREEN PRINTS. THE POSTER SUCH A POWERFUL SYMBOL OF ESCAPE FOR A TEENAGER, LONG BEFORE THE LURES OF VICE BECOME REALITIES, FOR SOME THAT IS.

Tags: 2014, 924COLLECTIVE, ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHY