Bowery Videos

James Kalm is slumming on the Lower East Side when he comes across this opening.

James Kalm braves fall showers and trains his way to the Bowery s New Museum for the first major museum exhibition by Urs Fischer.

James Kalm returns for the 2009 season opener on the LES (Lower East Side).

James Kalm combines a couple of exhibitions that have yet to find a slot in the roster. Dennis Oppenheim is a stalwart of the Soho art community, a participant in Land and Body Art. This show at Janos Gat Gallery features proposals for large scale public works that hover somewhere between sculpture and architecture. Mitchell-Inness Arcangelo Paintings 1962 1982. D Arcangelo (1930-1998) is one of the greatest if under recognized Pop masters. This is his first New York retrospective since 1979. Employing images from everyday life and the media, D Arcangelo melded a simplified directness with an abstract sensibility that achieves the quality of high-speed American icons. The pictures often depicting highways signage combined with pinup cheesecake.

James Kalm visits the Lafayette House, a loft on the Bowery and a newly painted mural on Houston and the Bowery as well as the memorial exhibition at Deitch Projects in and attempt to document some of the important final locations in the short life of Dash Snow. Since the 2007 cover story in New York Magazine that launched him to the pinnacle of bohemian chic, Dash snow was seen as an avatar of hip. Long standing drug and alcohol problems and a tumultuous family life (Snow was the scion of the incredibly wealthy de Menil family) no doubt added to the stress that contributed to this tragic loss.

James Kalm, in his cruising, has been collecting footage to document the closings of galleries as a result of the current economic recession. With this video, viewers see the buildings left vacant by the departures of over twenty five galleries. While some are replaced with new businesses, the devastation is the worst seen locally since the collapse of the late eighties. And unfortunately, this may only be the beginning.

Reina Terror performs her burlesque dance in Bettie s leopard skin outfit Bad Ass Burlesque s Tribute to Bettie Page at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC. Filmed for Bettie Page Reveals All. the authorized Bettie Page documentary is in its final stages of shooting/editing before completion. Made with Bettie's participation, it will provide answers about previously unknown aspects of her life.... with something for everyone: from her career as an underground pinup phenomenon.... to "finding God"..... to love found and lost... to descents into depression and psychosis.... to discovery that she'd become a cult celebrity... and her impact on contemporary culture. Talk about being a survivor! If any of these notions appeal to you, you can follow the film's progress here: bettiepagemovie.com

The boys in Pela discuss growing up on MTV, the arc their music takes listener on, and life on the road. Watch the interview at http://www.baeblemusic.com/artistinterviews/Pela/Pela. Distributed by Tubemogul.

IT WENT VIRAL! Due to popular demand, James Kalm is releasing Was the New Museum Punked into general circulation. After it appearance on facebook (site of its exclusive debut) Hrag Vartanian, scooped a flurry of local bloggers who ran the story, many of whom, without properly crediting their source. Its description at facebook is: A banner stating "Please New Museum Show My Work" was hanging from the buildings facade at the press preview for Younger than Jesus . It was soon removed, but across the street a painting with the same plea was seen on the ground. Was this a successful scam?

James Kalm brings viewers this brief preview of what will, no doubt, be one of the most controversial exhibitions of the Spring season. Featuring fifty artists from twenty-five countries, this is the first edition of Generational the New Museums entry into the international mega show territory. Organized by Lauren Cornell, Massimilano Gioni, and Laura Hoptman, much of the curatorial process involved an informational-sharing group of more than 150 curators, writers, teachers artists, critics and bloggers world wide (though not me). This methodology was intended to expand the curatorial process and challenge the traditional single-source method of creating an exhibition.

James Kalm guides viewers through a Bowery studio visit with artist Fred Gutzeit, through the development of his Lee Wall mural, to the installation and the work s debut at Pocket Utopia in Brooklyn s cutting edge neighborhood MoJo. The enigmatic persona of Lee Lozano (1930-1999) is the inspiration and muse, which inspired Gutzeit s project. Lozano was a ubiquitous force in the burgeoning early era of Soho. In a brief career spanning barely a decade Lozano moved through all the major art movements of the period, collecting eminent friendships among a broad cross section of the New York art world. Her pioneering actions are seen as provocative achievements in conceptual art, and led to her eventual expatriation from the New York scene.

James Kalm slinks back to the Bowery to report on the first retrospective exhibition of Mary Heilmann. Presenting over forty years of work, this show gives viewers a chance to examine the themes, mediums and developments that Heilmann has consistently worked with. From her earliest pieces Heilmann s taken an insightful understanding of modern formalist conventions and tweaked them with a whimsical nonchalance that is nonetheless elegant and innovative. Richard Flood, Chief Curator organized this exhibitions presentation at the New Museum. Featuring comments by Julian Dashper