tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52714711271909079732012-01-26T22:06:53.961-08:00From a Los Angeles-based displaced Frenchy, public musings about art and anything else that happens to strike my fancy. Whimsically irregular poll at the bottom of this pageFrenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.comBlogger5171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-18283051717555802582012-01-20T11:53:00.000-08:002012-01-20T11:53:10.870-08:00

Hello, beloved and thinning readership.  Hope you had a great holiday season last month, and greetings from yours truly for the New Year. I know it's almost the end of January, but in France you can say "Happy New Year" until  the 31st, so please bear with me. Here's to hopping 2012 will be better for everyone, with crossed fingers no nation will be earthquaked, tsunamied, nuked, engaged in war,

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-74000034350725992332011-12-17T16:15:00.000-08:002011-12-17T17:58:57.786-08:00

Among the many things to look forward to in 2012, aside from the incredibly shrinking, dwindling numbers of posts on FBC!, and  the upcoming mega-meta-recession-depression-explosion-implosion-end-of the world-we're-so fucked-and-maybe-the-plague-if-we're-lucky [just kidding. I wrote this to see if someone here was following], here are a few coming to my mind: - some reflections on the Pacific

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-88369572188541217132011-12-17T13:27:00.000-08:002011-12-17T18:08:51.657-08:00

John Cale's EP Extra Playful has been out for a couple of months now, and in November the US has been graced with a Black Friday edition containing a couple of bonus tracks. Of course we had to procure one copy at the FBC! headquarters, with a bit of trepidation since I wasn't really fond of the new songs when I heard them live or on YouTube. Lesson learned, one shouldn't rely on live videos

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-84138098639756420452011-12-17T12:07:00.000-08:002011-12-17T15:35:08.456-08:00

 Stripsody, cartoon onomatopeas sung by Cathy Berberian This Fall in Los Angeles, there's the mammoth series of exhibitions organized under the aegis of the Getty for Pacific Standard Times (PST), and there are all the other shows loosely disarranged under the imaginary heading "life continues". A pretty remarkable one such show right now, A Is For Zebra, was organized by José-Luis Blondet for

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-27192946165876934042011-12-17T11:27:00.000-08:002011-12-17T11:27:53.550-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure to see Mark Dutcher's very intelligent exhibition at Dental Rasta spelled backwards + umlaut (Latned Astär for those of you who, like me, would prefer if the place was really called Dental Rasta).  It's over now, so here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.  Mark Dutcher likes his surfaces rough and doesn't care for the preciousness of

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-74854693907909634122011-11-18T12:48:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:36:25.322-08:00

above, John Cale, Catastrofuk Hello, beloved and cherished and thinning readership! I hope you had a great time during FBC!'s latest hiatus. I've been asked yesterday what was going on with FBC! (Hi Jennifer!) to which I answered "nothing". Basically yours truly has been on a lot of deadlines over the last few months, then traveling a lot, then getting rather sick. The "meeting deadlines" and

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-55989395665352527012011-09-15T15:12:00.000-07:002011-09-15T15:12:30.441-07:00

Howdy readers! I know it's been a while and this year has been spottier than usual in regard to FBC!'s posting  regularity. And it will keep on that way, as I've had a few more deadlines to meet, all of the writing kind, and a few more coming up, in addition to tons of travel.  So, until early November at best there won't be too many "Your Social Life" postings even, also because we're very

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-24794875098948115162011-08-21T20:02:00.000-07:002011-08-21T20:02:32.500-07:00

Howdy,  beloved readers! I bet you were anxiously awaiting the next installment of our The Fall series, you know, to occupy agreeably the Summer? Like John Cale, it's hard to pick up a song as there are so many good ones (and let's be fair, a few duds, exactly like Cale). One of my favorite The Fall album is I Am Kurious Oranj, and I was hesitating between the quasi eponymous song, Kurious

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-83955320158695290282011-08-13T16:14:00.000-07:002011-08-13T16:14:28.463-07:00

Howdy, beloved readership! Yes. I know. I'm only here intermittently. What can I say? It's the Summer. The world is going batshit crazy (and that's the understatement of the week) and as you should have noticed by now, art isn't going to change it. If you seriously believe that art is going to change the world, I strongly suggest you go try and apply those world-changing art skills to abet the

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-9140937758616801362011-08-03T16:11:00.000-07:002011-08-03T16:11:06.321-07:00

Let's continue our The Fall Summer series  with Hit The North! One of my favorite Fall songs, from 1987 (I think). Not much more to say these days, I'm busy elsewhere AND the internet connection here at the FBC! Worldwide Headquarters keeps on breaking up. So, enjoy your Summer and Hit The North!

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-60283947483239300442011-07-17T13:25:00.000-07:002011-07-17T13:25:41.714-07:00

Latest in our weekly summer music series, The Fall's cover of the Kinks classic, Victoria. The Kinks were certainly the greatest British band of the 1960s that ever was (not the Beatles, not the Rolling Stones, not the Who... tho I like all of them!) and it's pretty much foolproof for any band to cover them. The Fall's video is really fun, and their cover doesn't depart much from the original (

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-40772029726237999362011-07-14T18:05:00.000-07:002011-07-14T18:05:11.786-07:00

This being a French holiday and yours truly just about to have some champagne with a friend, FBC! won't give you suggestions about what to do or where to go on this Carmageddon weekend. Just wanted to let you know most Culver City galleries are having an opening while Regen Projects and Steve Turner are opening tonight. No linkage as I have no time for this today. If you're stuck at home, I

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-73797720687448158662011-07-06T17:54:00.000-07:002011-07-06T17:56:00.180-07:00

Starting with our continuing tradition of posting monograph videos of 1 singer or  band every Summer, this week, Mark. E. Smith from The Fall shares his views about art*. His own views, not mine, but he's MARK E. SMITH for God's sake, so whatever he says is always wildly entertaining. Now, some LA concert promoter, please bring him and The Fall to play here soon, thanks. Now, speaking of art,

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-46492257722470086712011-06-30T15:57:00.000-07:002011-06-30T15:57:44.291-07:00

More precisely, if you go tonight to LAXart there will be the kickoff  of a year-long event curated by Warren Neidich and Elena Bajo, "Art In The Parking Space". Yours truly is going to another private art event tonight, or else I'd been there to see Anita Pace, Jonathan Monk and Pierre Bismuth performing. Aside from this, I'm sure you are all aware it is 4th of July weekend and as such many

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-70206669886982455522011-06-23T17:04:00.000-07:002011-06-23T17:20:46.435-07:00

Hello, hello, dear readers, it is a time of wonderment and joy in Los Angeles, as summer is finally upon us, for a long, long time that may stretch into fire season, and also because this Saturday, at 8.30 at the Ford, Sparks are having the world premiere of The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, with no less than Guy Maddin giving stage directions to quite a few people, including veteran performance

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-83618250979201099072011-06-16T18:50:00.000-07:002011-06-16T18:50:13.282-07:00

 Virginia Fields. Credit: LACMA (via the Los Angeles Times website) I've just learned via a LACMA tweet and a LAT obituary that Virginia Fields, the lovely Senior Curator of Pre-Columbian Art at LACMA has passed away last night. She was truly a wonderful woman and I'm very saddened to hear of her passing. I hope there will be a memorial for her at LACMA and I'm sending my condolences to her

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-25996064010496473382011-06-16T18:41:00.000-07:002011-06-16T18:41:16.999-07:00

Jeff Cain, El Camino Real, 3 channel video installation, 2011, from the LACE website While the entire art world and their uncle were cavorting in Europe to network in Venice and witness latter day Capitalism in action in Basel, yours truly was very busy neglecting the blog and meeting deadlines.  Also going to the Harry Partch concert last week at REDCAT, which was immensely enjoyable, capped

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-24291076143274221352011-05-31T10:25:00.000-07:002011-05-31T10:25:50.264-07:00

The tickets for the Sparks operetta "The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman", featuring Ann Magnuson and Guy Maddin, just went on sale this morning at 10 AM. Tickets are only $18, they're going to go FAST, and I can't see a better way to spend your June 25 evening.

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-29207651468458951732011-05-31T10:21:00.000-07:002011-05-31T10:21:12.008-07:00

A bit before the weekend, FBC! discovered a London-based band called The Dustaphonics, and really, really liked them.  They're not going to tour the US yet because, as they say, they need to build a fan base here before this happens. So I'm doing my best to start it by showing you their homage to Tura Satana (of Russ Meyer fame) who left us I think last year (?). Please befriend them on

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-15685370842432950692011-05-26T17:52:00.000-07:002011-05-26T17:52:39.493-07:00

If that calamity was to befall you, I'd suggest you check this really great website for the exhibition The Mourners at LACMA because you can see every single statue from every angle. It's beautiful and it will make you want to see the show as soon as you can. And you can prepare for the exhibition by reading all the information about the tomb, the sculpture, etc. It's up until July 31st.

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-54232135178007313062011-05-26T15:15:00.000-07:002011-05-26T15:20:16.926-07:00

America is getting ready to barbecue this holiday weekend, and hopefully will also remember its veterans. But if you thought there was going to be a dearth of art openings,  fear not, intrepid reader! For a few art events are actually happening. Starting tonight with openings at the Pacific Design Center where anotheryearinla presents some new paintings by Joe Amrhein, from 5 PM on, whereas

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-43617311963148681612011-05-19T15:50:00.000-07:002011-05-19T15:50:45.502-07:00

As you may know, at least if you live in the US, the Rapture is supposed to happen this coming Saturday, whoozah! I say, if you live in the US, because curiously, no mention of the phenomenon has arisen abroad, and I do read a ton of foreign media. Apparently they don't have the same Christians overseas, so Jesus does discriminate after all, even though his message was supposed to be one of

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-58714776953298756902011-05-16T19:11:00.000-07:002011-05-16T19:11:34.411-07:00

Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. (Edgar in King Lear). This morning at 11 AM, LACMA has started the projection of The Clock, its recent acquisition of a Christian Marclay video that was all the hype in NYC a few weeks back. It's free, the projection lasts 24 hours, and you can drop it pretty much anytime you want. Since last week, the event has been hyped all over LA, to the point

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-24338229124713883292011-05-13T13:22:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:22:54.262-07:00

Yesterday, FBC! had the good fortune to be invited to Cold Cave's free concert at Space 15Twenty (thanks, Jeff and Mimi!), a band I knew nothing about because 1) I'm old, 2) I'm old and 3) I'm old. Musically I've been caught in a time warp between 1965 (birth of the Velvet Underground) and the early 1990s (birth of that crapshit thing "grunge" and the moment when electronica invaded the

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-87484393654136988002011-05-13T12:54:00.000-07:002011-05-13T12:54:20.472-07:00

Howdy, readers! Blogger was down for about 48 hours, hence the lateness of our weekly installment detailing the fabulous social life you will enjoy this weekend. There are about 3 things yours truly really recommend this weekend, starting with the annual garden party and fundraiser for Los Angeles avant-garde publisher Les Figues Press. $15 at the door, a hat fashion show(yay!) and artist

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-23751191134158624332011-05-05T16:38:00.000-07:002011-05-05T16:38:30.708-07:00

Howdy, readers! Whatever is left of you after I abandoned you to meet other deadlines and then go on a vacation in NYC and Philadelphia. Also, I crossed the Delaware where Washington did. Not being American, my feeling was "oh, that is indeed a large river. Who made that mediocre painting, by the way? You know the one". I came back from this trip really liking the Arts Museum in Philadelphia,

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-62698936025918110202011-03-22T15:38:00.000-07:002011-03-22T15:38:24.772-07:00

FBC! interrupts her writing session to let you know April 16 is Record Store Day, when you can do the unthinkable, that is walk into a record store, see what's out there, talk to some real human beings who are also knowledgeable about their wares and buy vinyls, or, if you really insist, CDs. Beats soulless mp3 any day, no? It's all very well, you'll say, but are there still record stores

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-31765144350707236002011-03-14T12:05:00.000-07:002011-03-14T12:05:02.513-07:00

The Japanese are as we all know  currently undergoing the triple whammy of an earthquake, a tsunami and the eminent likelihood of a series of nuclear meltdown. if you wish to help, FBC! would like to point you out toward two charities that, unlike, say, the Red Cross (whether the American one or the International one), don't spend the majority of your donations on their overheads, but really to

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-11094005228990532982011-03-08T22:57:00.000-08:002011-03-08T22:57:46.088-08:00

March 9, 1942, saw the birth of the immense John Cale in Garnant, Wales, the son of a coal miner and a school teacher. The world without John Cale would have been a helluvah lot different and very boring, indeed. Whereas the world could very well continue without Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, the Black Eyed Peas and the Jonases, you know, the prepubescent siblings whose name rhymes with "asses"?

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-4213070163384858212011-02-24T18:13:00.000-08:002011-02-24T18:13:14.584-08:00

It's the 500 post on FBC! and as such, I don't know, I should mark the occasion somehow, but instead of writing something about, ah, the state of the art scene/world in Los Angeles or posting yet another Your Social Life listing, I'm going to leave you with a lame "see you in April!". FBC! will be on hiatus until then. Yours truly just got a massive writing assignment of the kind that comes

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-29551993875489174992011-02-17T11:58:00.000-08:002011-02-17T11:58:59.793-08:00

Full disclosure, Ivan Morley is an old pal of FBC!, I have written about his work a while ago, but even if it weren't the case, he would still be in my top 3 LA painters (the others being Mark Bradford and Will Fowler. Fowler has 3 exquisite paintings that are currently hanging on a wall at Kordansky, in the office. Don't miss them). All of his to say that among the myriad of openings this

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-86680775400808595972011-02-11T17:04:00.000-08:002011-02-11T17:04:44.328-08:00

I almost forgot to update FBC! this week (oops) so engrossed I was with the current revolution going on in Egypt. Congrats to the Egyptian people for getting rid off their dictator, and let's wish them the very best of luck in accessing  a true, egalitarian democracy with full civil and legal rights for all genders, religions, and sexual orientations. This noise you're hearing? It's the West

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-33853112125862316262011-02-03T14:05:00.000-08:002011-02-03T14:14:22.616-08:00

As I'm sure many of you were aware, last weekend saw the opening and going of one of the many LA art fairs, as well as the opening of the "invitational" exhibition at the Hammer, plus a gazillion other events. Which yours truly didn't attend because I managed to get mightily sick, so I've spent the weekend in bed with a fever, cabin fever and my cat. Plus several boxes of tissues. So, whoever

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-76960070151562442552011-01-27T12:23:00.000-08:002011-01-27T12:23:07.620-08:00

Sorry for the absence of posting last week, and for the lightweight one that's coming up. I'm trying to focus on my other writing and on the preparation of the small show I'm curating in NYC at the end of April (yay!). That, plus the jetlag when I came back and the unavoidable cold I've gotten this week = not too much focus on what's going on in LA. The show I've missed going to the opening of

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-20228747379686082252011-01-16T19:54:00.000-08:002011-01-16T19:54:24.625-08:00

FBC! is just discovering avant-garde composer Fausto Romitelli, thanks to my friend Patrice. This is so incredibly awesome I'm wondering how I can have lived so long without it. Please listen to Gilbert Imperial interpreting this piece live.

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-41625877140811977672011-01-14T15:26:00.000-08:002011-01-14T15:26:53.027-08:00

FBC! is back, albeit still a little bit jet-lagged and about to go hibernating, not that winter is very present here in SoCal, but I'd like to concentrate on my other writing for a while. I have to update a couple of things relative to my last post. First of all, Ivan Morley's opening & exhibition at Richard Telles are tentatively postponed until February. Then, my friend GW told me that

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-85029294721525468042011-01-03T02:38:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:57:48.155-08:00

With the radical music of Suicide to greet the New Year, he he he... This was made more than 30 years ago and it's still much fresher, experimental and cutting-edge than most music made today. Fresh, experimental, radical and cutting-edge art is everything I wish you all for 2011, along with fantastic health, great job prospects and money aplenty, love  and friendship in the same quantity. FBC

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-82288720717315252512010-12-21T18:15:00.000-08:002010-12-21T18:40:50.877-08:00

I said I wasn't going to do it, and then I changed my mind just because. I'm going to list them in no particular order whatsoever,  the shows I've liked in Los Angeles this year. I'm not giving you any reason why I liked them because I'm packing up and a bit busy, also I'm sure it's a fragmentary list because I haven't really sat down to reminisce. So here they are. West of Rome: Mike Kelley &

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-73823891137556532852010-12-21T17:40:00.000-08:002010-12-21T17:40:56.767-08:00

To conclude our mini-series of non-sucky Pagan holiday songs, the Committee For The Improvement of Christmas Music wishes to end up with some pre-Matthew Barney but better than Matthew Barney fireworks, the wonderful Monty Python's Christmas In Heaven song (from The Meaning of Life, I believe). From a time when comedy was truly funny and often offensive - therefore funny, ladies, Gentlemen and

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-2108635390140055122010-12-20T21:40:00.000-08:002010-12-20T21:40:55.392-08:00

The Committee for the Improvement of Christmas Music continues its charity work by offering you today The Spotnicks and Here Comes Santa Claus. Thanks to my friend Olivier for bringing this to my attention. The Spotnicks also did a cover of Jingle Bells, but the original is too fucking unbearable overplayed to my liking, so here you are. Ladies and Gentlemen, Transgendered readers, enjoy the

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-5285094775369151722010-12-17T11:03:00.000-08:002010-12-17T11:03:47.516-08:00

You really didn't think I wasn't going to post any more John Cale this year, did you? The Committee For The Improvement Of Christmas Music continues its evangelical work with a song that has "Christmas" in its title, more as a homage to Dylan Thomas than as a *real* Christmas song. This song famously begins the Paris 1919 album, which Cale beautifully played in its entirety at Royce Hall's

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-81656195993493542152010-12-16T17:55:00.000-08:002010-12-16T17:55:12.863-08:00

While yours truly is busy wrapping up the year, art events continue in Los Angeles! One opening I've missed was yesterday's Hanne Darboven at Regen Projects, complete with a live performance. No idea how it went, so if anybody has feedback, I'll take it. Continuing at Regen is the Doug Aitken show. Tomorrow Friday Las Cienegas Projects will present Simon Leung, Yvonne Rainer, Nils Schirrmacher

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-62123328896955794822010-12-15T18:26:00.000-08:002010-12-15T18:26:08.532-08:00

The Committee For the Improvement Of Christmas Music continues its campaign with a song that isn't, in fact, about Christmas *at all*, or only tangentially as in "my worse breakup occurred over the Holiday". Because all that chipper, syrupy Christmas music is too nauseating. Ladies and gentlemen and transgendered people, from the FBC! Headquarters, behold The Wedding Present and No Christmas.

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-47453819740527364512010-12-14T08:32:00.000-08:002010-12-14T08:32:21.482-08:00

FBC! continues with the Committee for the Improvement of Christmas Music with the late, regretted Eazy-E's masterpiece, Merry Muthaphukkin Christmas, one of the few hip hop songs your truly really enjoys. Have fuuuuuuuun!

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-36585478023969567142010-12-13T19:51:00.000-08:002010-12-13T19:52:10.024-08:00

The one-person Committee for the Improvement Of Christmas Music continues its charity work here at the FBC! Headquarters with the cover by Siouxsie and the Banshees of Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant ("He Is Born The Divine Child"). I discovered this one very recently thanks to the very fine LA writer Harold Abramowitz whom I am very grateful to. Thanks, Harold! This so totally cracks me up. Merry

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-74107055803304361212010-12-12T20:34:00.000-08:002010-12-12T20:34:03.533-08:00

I don't know about you, but the Christmas music that is being blasted all over shopping malls at this time of the year makes me slightly nauseous. So I thought I could, as a perfect antidote, post two or three videos of counter-Xmas music, you know, just to keep occupied. Ladies and gentlemen and transgendered reading me, please enjoy the one and only Grace Jones!

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-39923102725218481502010-12-09T19:15:00.000-08:002010-12-09T19:15:05.650-08:00

Casino-Luxembourg Forum d'Art Contemporain, "Aquarium". Photo: Jessica Theis – Blue Box Design, 2009. As I warned my beloved readership recently, the posting here at FBC! will be very light until mid-January, as I'm busy preparing a trip to the old homeland. I haven't paid attention at all to whatever was going on in town this week, so quickly: 1) A few galleries in LA are showing David

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-17588627338198244962010-12-01T12:41:00.000-08:002010-12-01T16:23:23.025-08:00

When the Republican Party ignited the Culture Wars in the late 1980s, it was after the failure of the Ronald Reagan and then George Bush governments to lead the country out of the economic crisis that followed the 1987 stock market crash. Now that two decades have passed and that out-of-control deregulation (it's the point of deregulation to be out of control, isn't it?) and the ferocious greed

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-5160581253270372912010-11-26T12:20:00.000-08:002010-11-26T12:20:10.595-08:00

Einstürzende Neubauten, Ein Seltener Vogel It's Thanksgiving holiday, most galleries are closed, and next week they will all be going en force to Miami (for Art Basel, Pulse, etc.) so there's not much going on in Los Angeles until the week after next. FBC! takes advantage of the hiatus to let you know that rather than go spend the money you don't have on items you don't need on Black Friday,

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-78639325235982479722010-11-18T15:07:00.000-08:002010-11-18T15:07:08.044-08:00

Sorry for the absence of posting last week, yours truly was drowning in French paperwork, grading students papers and having badass allergies, so I had no time to look up what was going on. This week (and the next few ones until early next year) I won't be able to attend much art social stuff, so the posting will likely remain spotty. Let's start with tonight, at Frank Pictures Gallery in

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-10132008453542639082010-11-04T20:04:00.000-07:002010-11-04T20:04:29.673-07:00

FBC! is still marveling at the awesomeness of last week when the Blinky Palermo and the Matthew Brannon exhibitions illuminated what is otherwise a really trying period of my life, so I can only encourage my beloved readership to run see these shows as fast as they can, and to see the Kaltenbach exhibition at anotheryearinla before it closes (on the 10, I think). There are a few openings in

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-83154638310880724082010-11-02T12:57:00.000-07:002010-11-02T12:57:55.344-07:00

Today is the Day of The Deads, of whom I have plenty to remember, thank you Grim Reaper, for harvesting my family first and foremost (we're so distinguished, you have no idea); and  today is also the day where America is poised to welcome back into power the same vociferating fascists who got 8 years to put us in the crap we are in presently, but couldn't let the spineless, pussyfooting

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-70906928391662223612010-10-27T21:58:00.000-07:002010-10-27T21:58:08.919-07:00

 Stephanie Taylor, Wiffles, 2010, fiber print, 8 x 10 inches Quickly, lots of things are happening this week, with LACMA's opening a Blinky Palermo retrospective and a William Eggleston one. The opening is tomorrow evening, the show opens to the public on Sunday. On Friday there is the finissage of the inaugural show at Greene Park gallery in Chinatown, with FBC! pal Peter Wu in the show while on

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-12787857710806113232010-10-21T16:14:00.000-07:002010-10-21T16:14:36.363-07:00

FBC! this weeks encourages you to go behind the Orange Curtain and drive down the dreaded 405 to Newport Beach where OCMA opens its new edition of the California Biennial, featuring FBC! pals and super fave artists Juan Capistran and Vishal Jugdeo, and lots, lots of other artists. Tonight you can rush to festivities in Chinatown for the Zoe Crosher series of event at Dan Graham and Charlie

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-46428795151555267902010-10-14T21:51:00.000-07:002010-10-14T21:51:57.731-07:00

Everybody's in London for Frieze this week, meaning we're having a peaceful moment to go see exhibitions in Los Angeles. That is, if your  vehicle doesn't keep on dying on you every two days or so, and that, unlike me, you don't spend precious time and elusive cash dealing with it. This explains, among other things, why your truly is being very absent-minded these days, to the point I totally

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-75711480260830110172010-10-07T13:01:00.000-07:002010-10-08T09:05:11.926-07:00

Your Social Life is back in semi-hibernating mode, which have more to do with FBC! being behind in doing the underpaid work that (sort of) pay part of the rent, than with whatever isn't going in on art-wise in LA. Though I doubt anything can top up seeing John Cale last week, art-wise. I hear our Welsh genius is playing Paris 1919 next week in Melbourne, as well as participating in something

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-35150627062425574772010-10-01T11:45:00.000-07:002010-10-01T14:11:40.977-07:00

Last night's concert was every bit as magical as FBC! had anticipated, with only one caveat: Royce Hall wasn't sold out. Which might have been due to some unfortunate scheduling snafu, since John Cale was playing on the same night as Pavement/Sonic Youth/No Age at the Hollywood Bowl, and they share the same type of audience. *Of course* the smarter, wiser, savvier crowd was at Royce Hall, while

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-49856832036113453742010-09-30T12:12:00.000-07:002010-09-30T12:12:10.453-07:00

Just a few more hours to wait before the John Cale concert at Royce Hall tonight, which isn't even sold out, unlike his European concerts earlier this month. Los Angeles, you're so lame. Well, FBC! had done her part to, you know, get you excited about the performance (and lost a shitload of art people readers in the wake of all the John Cale posts, bye-bye, shitload of former readers!), so this

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-4531316986031864262010-09-26T16:01:00.000-07:002010-09-26T16:01:31.145-07:00

On Thursday, John Cale will grace the stage of Royce Hall and play his mythical record Paris 1919 in its entirety, with the UCLA Philarmonia and with his band. I never had the chance to see the band before but, according to musicians Pat Fish (of Jazz Butcher fame) and Tom Watson (The Red Krayola, Mike Watt and the Missingmen) they are absolutely wonderful. I've been told to pay particular

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-89454339175182484222010-09-23T16:57:00.000-07:002010-09-23T16:57:47.257-07:00

Hello, beloved readers, Your Social Life is getting out of semi-hibernation/strike/doing something else to first of all remind you that Thursday next week, September 30th, is the day of John Cale's event at Royce Hall/UCLA "When Past And Future Collide" where he will, along with his band and the UCLA  Philharmonic Orchestra, play his masterpiece Paris 1919 in its entirety. If by now you don't

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-65377455976438676332010-09-19T15:38:00.000-07:002010-09-19T15:38:38.828-07:00

11 more days to wait, and we'll all be able to see John Cale redoing Paris 1919 at Royce Hall! Tickets are still available, hurry, hurry, as Italian friends who saw the gig in Brescia  (and are not, in fact,  particularly fans of Cale) said it was "intense and magical". In the meantime, enjoy this week's installment in our ongoing series,  The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy.

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-70669898484070020732010-09-17T17:10:00.000-07:002010-09-17T17:10:25.422-07:00

Or, not totally here. Not that I necessarily want to comply with the always excellent Doug Harvey's hope (demands ?) that I totally kick off the art stuff (see comment on the latest John Cale Song Of The Week), but I have other fish to fry this week, and there's too much stuff going on, dammit. So, quickly, if I have to recommend something this week, it's that amidst the shitloads of openings

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-16995696285755305192010-09-11T22:02:00.000-07:002010-09-11T22:02:13.248-07:00

Hello happy readers, Hope you're having a swell time in Los Angeles,  post-openings. Yours truly only went to Ruben Ochoa (very good, as always) and Lari Pittman (ditto, but overwhelming, love the very early works on paper) and that will be it for this week, as I have too much work to do to go out tomorrow. In passing, I think I screwed up re: Steve Roden opening date at the Pasadena Armory

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-48777892210861259242010-09-08T12:07:00.000-07:002010-09-08T12:07:43.439-07:00

 Alberto Burri, Composition (Composizione), 1953, Oil, gold paint, and glue on burlap and canvas, 33 7/8 x 39 1/2 in (86 x 100.4 cm), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, courtesy SMMOA  Hello, hello, beloved, adored, meager but faithful readership, rejoice and warm your hearts for Your Social Life is  finally back.  Well, I sure hope it didn't totally disappear while yours truly was

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-8034188101453723132010-09-05T18:33:00.000-07:002010-09-05T18:33:58.809-07:00

This is the last week during which FBC! will be entirely devoted to John Cale, as we'll be resuming our regular "Your Social Life" column mid-week, what with the trabzillion openings scheduled for pretty much every weekend in September. The John Cale Song Of The Week series will continue until September 30th, when God Cale will give his concert at Royce Hall, and after that, hopefully you

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-84525212687473128122010-08-28T20:52:00.000-07:002010-08-28T20:52:06.677-07:00

That's right, beloved readership (or whatever's left of you after the onslaught of John Cale posts here), this week's installment of our Summer series isn't a John Cale song at all, but his cover of The King's hit. Or, more accurately, John Cale's covers as the man has the good grace and genius to significantly alter, modify or experiment each time he performs. So today, instead of posting only

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-20529870556364427272010-08-23T17:19:00.000-07:002010-08-23T17:23:00.986-07:00

Hello, hello, sorry for being a bit late in posting this week's installment in our Summer series, The John Cale Song Of The Week. Been a bit partying this weekend, with predictable results. Now you know. Now the thing with John Cale is, the man has produced something like 40 albums, so it's sometimes difficult to make a choice, week in, week out. I was discussing with somebody (hi Olivier!)

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-62942893288705379532010-08-14T21:33:00.000-07:002010-08-14T21:33:08.888-07:00

That's right, you among the huge Goth sub-category within my immense readership, you had no idea this song was a John Cale original, right? In 1980, the B-Side of Mercenaries, the most kick-ass single that was ever released. Most likely, you discovered it through Bauhaus (piece of trivia: do you know that David J. too, lives in Los Angeles? And that he did a cameo appearance at the Jazz Butcher

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-45962034670317517632010-08-12T15:36:00.000-07:002010-08-12T15:36:19.772-07:00

Individual tickets for the John Cale, Sept. 30 gig at Royce Hall have been on sale since Monday.  It's his only North American concert this year, so... see you there en masse!

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-12623071356351310402010-08-08T14:21:00.000-07:002010-08-08T14:21:21.114-07:00

It's Summer, FBC! is taking a small vacation away from art-related posts, but continuing with the John Cale Song Of The Week. This week,  his collaboration with his frenemmy Lou Reed on the Songs For Drella project they did as a homage to Andy Warhol (first performed in 1989, then released in 1990), and the song Forever Changed. I always thought of this song as the national anthem of art

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-65561067527807819542010-08-01T18:12:00.000-07:002010-08-01T19:02:01.436-07:00

To continue with our Summer ongoing series, anticipating the Welsh genius's concert at Royce Hall on September 30, today's song is "I Keep A Close Watch", the song that should have given Cale an interplanetary hit. I never understood why he never got famous with this one (or with Big White Cloud). Here's a live version,  but my all time favorite is the shortened titled "Close Watch" on Music

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-35122704801311612202010-07-29T16:12:00.000-07:002010-07-29T16:12:44.195-07:00

Hello, hello, dear beloved readers, It has just occurred to me that FBC! was born about 3 years ago, after the first in a series of car accidents that screwed up my life and my body big time; hence the "I can't stand up, I can't hold my neck, my back is killing me, I cannot move my shoulder, I have a mofo of a migraine" litanies spread out from post to post. Initially not mainly an art blog, FBC

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-18492835505680844422010-07-25T19:34:00.000-07:002010-07-25T19:34:53.428-07:00

In today's installment of the "John Cale Song Of The Week", E Is Missing. I chose this one because it is a somewhat recent (2003) song, in contrast to all the goodies oldies and oldies goodies I have posted so far. As you can see (and hear) Mr Cale is still at the top of his form, no matter what. How cool and sexy is that? Tremendously cool and sexy. I also chose E Is Missing because it

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-27197148729040333452010-07-22T12:20:00.000-07:002010-07-22T12:20:06.156-07:00

 And now back to our usual programming (can't wait to post the next John Cale Song Of The Week). Your social life will be richly enhanced tonight if you swing by the Pacific Design Center, the new home of anotheryearinla, and get to see the show where FBC!'s über-fave, Stephen Kaltenbach is in. Saturday, if you happen to be in Riverside, don't miss the reading by A.W. Hill at Riverside

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-44424564512778244372010-07-22T11:51:00.000-07:002010-07-22T11:51:48.259-07:00

I'm interrupting the usual FBC! drivel to point you out to this article published by the Art Newspaper (incidentally, the best art publication in the English language). I'm not going to repeat poorly what the excellent writer explained: from who Warburg was to the crucial role his library plays in the constitution of art history as a living discipline (and not a tool to advance  the

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-75621758101305283252010-07-19T16:57:00.000-07:002010-07-19T16:57:55.289-07:00

FBC! continues with the "John Cale Song Of The Week" series, in anticipation of his September 30th concert at Royce Hall, where he will play the integral of the Paris 1919 record, and a medley of older and newer songs. Today, Dying On The Vine, an interpretation he gave for a BBC TV program with Chrissie Hynde and Nick Cave. I particularly like this version, with the piano accompaniment going

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-73339435037997888852010-07-14T13:45:00.000-07:002010-07-14T13:45:35.879-07:00

This week will be a happy one, my friends, let me tell you. First of all, Amir Zaki and John Divola both open at LAXart. Two immense smart photographs united in the same space, what's not to like? 6 to 9 PM on Saturday. Same evening , at Regen Projects is the opening of the Walead Beshty-curated Summer Show, and it's chock-full of artists I really love, Pictures Industry (Goodbye to all

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-86376547367597873962010-07-11T19:44:00.000-07:002010-07-11T20:19:18.168-07:00

I was talking recently with a friend (hi, Stephanie!) about how John Cale is the most awesome, terrific, fabulous genius in the entire musical universe, and that's discounting the faraway galaxies we know nothing about. And maybe even there, they wonder why, why he never really met with the planetary success that is his due? Listen to the song above, isn't that freaking beautiful?After talking to

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-11218863061733134382010-07-11T19:15:00.000-07:002010-07-11T19:34:03.780-07:00

FBC!, despite having been born and brought up in France, is in fact half-Spanish, a welcome and practical identity when, you know, the French football teams confuses South Africa with the stage of a soap opera. So my Spanish half is very happy and proud of Spain's victory today in the World Cup, and a bit teary-eyed too because my proudly Spanish grandma passed away two months ago and didn't get

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-78006857041036543542010-07-08T12:16:00.000-07:002010-07-08T14:10:33.587-07:00

These two upcoming weekends will be all about Juan Capistran, FBC!'s favorite emerging artist who should become big, big, big, his work is so good. Juan is currently flying to Mexico for a show is in, so I'm not sure he will be back on time to attend the opening of Bubble and Squeak on Saturday at Happy Lion in Chinatown, 6 to 8 PM. He's going to be in 2 other group things between July 17 and

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-9185059251417974052010-07-01T18:03:00.000-07:002010-07-01T18:22:38.570-07:00

Hello, beloved readers, and apologies for posting this installment of YSL kinda late, but AT&T let us down again today and we were unable to connect to the internet for several hours.So, quickly, if you are downtown tonight and somehow get this, swing by POST for the kickoff of 31 Kamikaze shows in July. 7 to 9 tonight.Tomorrow Friday, China Art Objects says goodbye to Chinatown to move to Culver

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-6491209105697254522010-06-25T11:28:00.001-07:002010-06-25T12:08:47.478-07:00

It's Summer, 4th of July is around the corner, everywhere in the transglobal art world galleries and museums are installing bland group shows before taking off for a long vac, and here in LA, we have more and more stuff happening. Summer in LA means there's always some opening somewhere. Being on a few deadlines that unexpectedly piled up recently, FBC! will likely miss most of the

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-89244710514854044632010-06-23T22:01:00.000-07:002010-06-24T09:32:01.437-07:00

I just came back from the John Baldessari retrospective at LACMA, curated by the lovely Leslie Jones for LACMA (hi, Leslie!) and the no less lovely Jessica Morgan for the Tate in London. I wish I could say something really *intelligent* about the exhibition, but alas I got to see too little of it. It's the type of opening where the entire LA art world and then some more (meaning, moneyed people

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-45450496940944374692010-06-20T17:53:00.000-07:002010-06-20T18:07:30.657-07:00

The 5-month old Theodore Art Gallery in NYC has recently come under my radar when they exhibited one of my favorite French photographers ever, Eric Poitevin (the other one being Sophie Ristelhueber). Following this exhibition that, alas, I didn't have a chance to see, the owner of the gallery and I started a very enjoyable correspondence. In addition to having impeccable visual taste, she also

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-86652909231147043322010-06-19T20:29:00.000-07:002010-06-19T20:35:00.083-07:00

In the series "FBC! has been way too tame and nice and gentle recently, what with announcing well meaning but totally not radical exhibitions", let's have a total change and present you one of the most amazing song of all time.Ladies and gentlemen, the Welsh genius John Cale, with "Mercenaries" from the album "Sabotage Live".Let's forget our friend Tony Hayward for one moment (hi Tony! thanks for

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-59707321940343552812010-06-17T15:34:00.000-07:002010-06-17T16:25:17.711-07:00

In LA this time, though if you are in Santa Fe this weekend you're in for a treat.There are a few things in Los Angeles to attend this weekend, starting tonight with the book launch of Too Many Billboards at the MAK/Schindler House (scroll down to the bottom of the page for tonight's event information)This Saturday, don't miss Shana Lutker at Susanne Vielmetter, as well as Andrea

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-77947477585753099712010-06-17T09:03:00.000-07:002010-06-17T16:29:00.941-07:00

While the rest of the art world is anxiously waiting for the results of the über-blue chip Basel art fair, and another part of it gets excited at the sycophantic reality show on Bravo featuring a well-known NYC art critic basking in his 5' of fame, The Dissolve opens at Site Sante Fe this weekend. Of all the 3 events I've just mentioned, The Dissolve is the only real art one that I find exciting

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-82922287792673469732010-05-27T12:11:00.000-07:002010-05-27T13:07:09.938-07:00

FBC! is back, but aside from yesterday's outing, not feeling very social (I find schmoozing excruciatingly difficult), so I haven't paid much attention to recent openings. This week it's Memorial Day weekend, where everybody is BBQ-ing something or other, so there aren't that many openings this Saturday. The two worthwhile ones being the group show curated by Michael Ned Holte at Tom Solomon/

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-4946282710667619812010-05-27T10:57:00.000-07:002010-05-27T17:51:23.686-07:00

Last night was the opening of the West Coast incarnation of Mike Kelley and Michael Smith's A Voyage of Growth and Discovery, initially presented at the Long Island Sculpture Center in NY last year.Being a big fan of both artists, FBC! couldn't miss Kelley's first big solo show in LA since 2001, and Michael Smith's first ever (? not sure about that one, couldn't somebody bring his

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-13173042016132095642010-05-05T15:18:00.000-07:002010-05-05T15:24:20.720-07:00

There has been an unexpected death in my family this week. I will be flying back for the funeral, therefore FBC! will be closed until after I get back.Please attend Meight Day at LAXart on Saturday, and have a thought for me. Thanks.

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-10682513533206175622010-04-30T23:03:00.000-07:002010-04-30T23:38:51.652-07:00

Hello, hello beloved, adored readership,Sorry for posting late. I was sick as a dog last week, better this week but wiped out. So I haven't really paid attention to your social life yet.Which should be greatly enriched if you attend the opening at Las Cienegas tomorrow with CANNON HUDSON / ALEX KLEIN / VISHAL JUGDEO. Where you will see the Frenchy, likely on the early side. I'm a big fan of Vish

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-69015832859156664872010-04-19T20:42:00.000-07:002010-04-19T20:47:26.407-07:00

FBC! came back from a super top secret trip (also known in other circles as the World Domination™ Tour) with a horrible, nasty cold. As in, my voice is gone, I've gone through 2 huge boxes of tissues already, and I'm dozing out all the time. So, not much writing (my spelling goes totally South when I'm sick), but to make you patient a little bit, this video by Soma Holiday. I adored this song

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-8104452623146139072010-04-07T19:35:00.000-07:002010-04-07T20:46:15.270-07:00

This week I've just become aware of this gallery in NYC, where you should go this Saturday because French photographer Eric Poitevin will be in the show. Poitevin is one of my favorite French photo artists (the others being Sophie Ristelhueber and Jean-Luc Moulène), and in real life an extraordinarily nice guy. I haven't seen him in well over a decade, and I'm a bit sad I can't be in NYC to see

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-75834750548112923392010-04-02T21:49:00.000-07:002010-04-02T21:51:46.854-07:00

There's a new poll at the bottom of the page! Scroll down, down, down, and vote, you only have a few days left!

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-58184816004961867972010-04-01T11:10:00.000-07:002010-04-01T11:38:16.533-07:00

Today I'm glad to have a functioning shoulder again, thanks to the truly awesome therapist I've seen last week (really, I want to adopt that man and take him everywhere with me), so I can type, yeepee!Now the bad news is there's super loud construction going on next door (FBC! lives/works in a duplex, so next door is literally in the house) AND our internet connection works one second out of

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-41768104460417386342010-03-25T15:22:00.000-07:002010-03-26T14:44:22.799-07:00

Hello, awesome readership of mine,today the Frenchy has one arm in a sling, the unforeseen consequence of that year ago car accident. Pinched nerve and all that, I'm getting therapy and taking meds (not sure they work, the meds, but make me feel super drowsy). Yesterday I couldn't even hold my phone, so the typing with one hand is a marked improvement, thanks to my awesome therapist Mario.Anyway,

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-55055031452525114312010-03-20T18:45:00.000-07:002010-03-20T18:56:59.138-07:00

I don't know if my connection will allow me to post, but I wanted the world (hello, few readers!) to get a chance to discover a Belgian pearl, Waylon, with his hit Crème de la Crème.I'm re-posting the lyrics below in their entirety (promise, I'll take them down if it ends up being a copyright problem) so my nerdy readers can see how they might refer to Chantal Akerman's movie, Jeanne Dielman, 23

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-74974363017931173802010-03-19T20:19:00.000-07:002010-03-19T20:27:01.846-07:00

We apologize for the dearth of postings here at the FBC! Headquarters: the connection at our place is so spotty I cannot upload anything (especially not pictures). It's been too frustrating for words, so sorry for not posting anything. If all goes well maybe next week I'll finally put up my reactions to that populist Roberta Smith article, and a review of the American Stories show at LACMA (to be

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-6719835338827049052010-03-12T21:22:00.000-08:002010-03-12T22:08:29.886-08:00

No, not an exotic dancer, and neither an artist from Poland. Rather, FBC! Gal pal Nancy Popp will be executing one of her celebrated streetpost climbing South of the border, in conjunction with the exhibition Performing Public Spaces. The action will take place across from the Santiago Arguello (Alley of the Musicians) near the Reloj Monumental (the giant silver arch) at the intersection of

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5271471127190907973.post-74985577725458103592010-03-08T16:03:00.000-08:002010-03-08T22:23:30.061-08:00

What makes the greatness of a museum isn't its dynamic exhibition policy, nor its forward education practices, or its leading public programs.All of these are fantastic contributions, certainly, but first and foremost it's the collection that is here for years, decades, and even centuries to come, as a testimony to the culture that mattered and shaped an era. A great exhibition policy generally

Frenchy but Chic!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02373786513886748195noreply@blogger.com1