Your Social Life in Watts, DTLA and even Bakersfield!

The first show I want to post about is opening tomorrow Friday at the Center For Experimental Art and Architecture. Find all the information here.

The second thing is the all-day inauguration of Edgar Arceneaux Watts House Project, click on the link to find all the information you need. You can volunteer for the house renovation too, if you are not as clumsy as my Frenchy self (seriously, I need a dude buddy to help each time I need to drive a nail to my wall).

It's also the closing day for my friend Nadege Monchera-Baer's show at El Nopal 109 W 5 th St, Los Angeles Ca 90013.from 11AM to 5 PM.

You can also spend your Sunday at the Martin Kippenberger retrospective at MoCA, which happens a bit late in the US (seriously) but is really good. It includes some of FBC!'s favorite artworks, such as the lamppost for drunks, Krieg Boese, The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s ‘Amerika’, a very imaginary portrait of Beuys' mother, the crucified frog that scandalized Italy and the Pope, and one installation the title of which escapes me, but that includes a real Gerhard Richter Gray Painting made into a tabletop. FBC! was fortunate to see the show with Doris Krystof, who co-curated the 2006 retrospective (with Jessica Morgan for the Tate). I've learned a lot, and I'm a Kippy fan.
You can also go to LACMA see the Francis Alÿs show, a dazzling gathering of many painting of Saint Fabiola. Alas, no pictures were allowed in the exhibition, I'm sad.

Lastly, this Saturday is Museum Day all over America. I'm sure after all those talks about the financial bailout, the takeover of WaMu (my bank) by JP Morgan Chase, The Debate-Or-Not-Tomorrow, you may want some time off and have a nice, cultural day. Unfortunately the only big museum participating this year in LA is the Getty (seriously, why LACMA the family institution isn't in it???) so it gives you an incentive to visit smaller museums. You need to download the admission card from the site, and voila! You can a guest can freely roam the often overlooked Fowler Museum, the CAFAM, go to Bakersfield and have Basque food before or after your trip (yes, there is a museum in Bakerfield!), etc. Find the complete list here.

FBC! blatantly appropriated the pics from the Watts House Project and the LACMA websites.

Eloge Of The Banal and Thursday Links

While I'm at it, I wanted to provide a few links today. Last week I attended a wedding where I saw Australian native, Los Angeles-based artist Ricky Swallow. He happens to have a website, and also a blog!
Make sure to visit both, his website has a cool list of links. Ricky has a show opening in LA (next week I think?) at Marc Foxx, who's still renovating his space at 6150 Wilshire, now that Roberts & Tilton have moved to Culver City.
Another link I wanted to provide is if you are on Facebook. There's a new group called In Appreciation Of Banal Photography thats the coolest thing ever. Your truly contributes, but even if I didn't I'd love to see a show with all the pictures. To be honest, most everybody in that group is an art professional, artists, critics, curators and art consultants alike, so even though everyone is striving for the utmost banal, the results are anything but.
And speaking of Facebook, I've just listed FBC! on one of the blogs applications. I'm not sure what it's for, but I'm there.
Lastly, if you want to befriend me on Facebook, please send me a short message explaining you're an FBC! reader. Thanks!
I'll post Your Social Life much later tonight, after the outage.

Scheduled outage today at 4PM PST

So wait a bit for the latest installment of Your Social Life, and a few more links.

Because Dogs Deserve Art, Too.

Yesterday I told you about that dishonest offer I got through my mailbox. I found it pretty funny (and lame, it gos without saying), though if I keep on receiving offers like this I'm going to find someone to help me make my blog pro and figure out how to put advertisement on it, that old-fashioned way of promoting content without having to write about it.
I found it funny because so far FBC! isn't a lifestyles blog, it's my little amateurish take on the world, where I link to things I find interesting, things I want to talk about without any prompting or solicitation.
Such as my friend Matthew Betcher new venture, "Chienchien" (en endearing word French people use on their four-legged canine friends. "toutou" is another one). Matt never asked to be promoted on FBC! so it's my pleasure to introduce his work without feeling pressured to do so.

In a few sentences, Matt's new business is about taking beautiful, luxurious photographs of man's best friend for their owners to proudly frame and hang in the place of honor in their homes.
When he first told me of his project, I was a bit skeptical: for one thing, as you may know, I'm strictly a cat person, and secondly I was wondering how his studio portraits of dogs could attract clients. Because what I had in mind were those cheesy pet portraits advertised on craigslist, not the quality, old-fashioned, large format silver-gelatin prints Matt was taking. One glance at his website convinced me: I'd hang one of his B&W above my desk in a jiffy, especially Ella and Ned (look at this tooth!), even though I don't own dogs and don't like them that much.

If you need a bit of convincing, click on the link and have a look at the portfolio). The prices may seem expensive, but are in fact cheap if you consider you are getting several hours of studio time and high quality prints, and are a bargain if you realize the end result is an art piece, not a simple picture of your doggie.

In passing I'd consider the whole endeavor (starting the business, focusing on dogs, etc.) a conceptual art piece if I were Matt. Who is a talented photographer, and I'd love to be able to show you some of his non-canine work: he made a beautiful artist book about the Arroyo Secco with prints on transparencies and gold leaf backing, and some larger-than-large-scale pictures of empty lit billboards in the desert that are beautiful. But I don't know where to link, so I'll let you check his website and contact him to either have a beautiful artwork made about your dog, or have a studio visit with him.
It's too bad my own little Pomme is so skittish, because I'd love for Matt to make a beautiful picture of her.

FBC! Is Incorruptible...almost

Unlike politicians, real estate developers, construction businesses, insurance companies and subprime mortgage specialists, FBC! is incorruptible!
FBC! was her usual morning grumpy self when checking out her mailbox this morning (I haven't had my espresso yet) and really amused when seeing the email integrally copied below. The html was slightly messed up after I pasted the email, but you get the gist of it. Eh ... how are you supposed to write an "unbiased review" if you get paid or receive a "product sample" (pearl bracelet, anyone?).
If I wasn't so busy I would probably write a post about the difference between journalists (not supposed to accept bribes) and bloggers who are not held liable to the same high standards (heck, it's a non-paid occupation!). But I have no time for that, so I'm just linking to a previous post about how to get featured on FBC! Which, for the records, isn't a lifestyle blog. It's funny, usually I receive tons of press releases about, I don't know, furniture stores grand openings on Melrose, design fests, art events obviously, the occasional food-related item, but it's the first time ever I get something about a jewelry site. Even if I was corruptible, I wouldn't review this type of site because you know what? FBC! neither owns nor wear any jewelry! I'm fully disqualified to write about it. Meanwhile, because this made me laugh, I'm going to advise the "pearl necklace" to donate the value of that "product sample" to a food bank. It would be a nice, redeeming gesture.

Lastly, before you get your fun reading the email, in case you admire my innate probity, as I'm sure you are, I'd like to state for the record I am not utterly and integrally incorruptible. For example, if you want to give me a nice 1920s Spanish-style house (hardwood floors throughout) in Los Angeles (metro) and a sweet annuity to help me maintain it, heck! I'd review websites about dog food or tampons.




"Hello,
I'm the webmaster of http://www.pearl-necklace-jewelry.com
I wanted to know if by any chance you would be interested in doing an unbiased review of our site http://www.pearl-necklace-jewelry.com on your blog http://frenchybutchic.blogspot.com/
If you agree you can choose between receiving a product sample or receiving a payment.
If you choose the product sample instead of the payment the sample is yours to keep and you don’t need to send it back.
The product sample that you can get is a pearl bracelet and you can see it there: http://www.pearl-necklace-jewelry.com/pearl_bracelets.htm
Please let me know if you are interested.
Thank you
G. G
If you want to receive more paid review proposals, just click the following link:
http://www.seoblogreviews.com/subscribe.py?param=54dbc5e9450e0d79868f750e8482d922
If you don't want to ever receive mails from us, just click the following link:
http://www.seoblogreviews.com/unsubscribe.py?param=54dbc5e9450e0d79868f750e8482d922

Why Isn't Paul Cadmus More Famous?

FBC! is blessed with a great friend who also happens to be a curator of American Art (hi Austen!). Austen taught me more about American Art than anybody else. She's a goldmine of information, but always fun and engaging. In one word, she's not a pedantic academic, but a lively and personable source of knowledge. She recently took me on a rapid tour of the newly reinstalled galleries of American Art at LACMA (in passing, all the re-installed permanent collections in the Ahmanson, Hammer and Art of The Americas buildings there are fabulous to visit, and that includes the Jorge Pardo-designed vitrines).
On this visit with Austen I became totally engrossed in a painting by Paul Cadmus, an artist I was aware of and always thought really interesting, but I never spent more than 5 minutes looking at it.
I'm going to present some details of this painting in 2 separate posts. Meanwhile, I'd like to propose for some future exhibition somewhere in a daring institution something with a large choice of Cadmus paintings, along with some Robert Crumb drawings, Peter Saul paintings, Tom of Finland's paintings, and I'd add some drawings by the French draftsman and caricaturist Albert Dubout (in addition, some caricatures by the Carracci brothers and by Leonardo, but I doubt the loans would be forthcoming). Georg Grosz is too obvious in this context. You found the idea on FBC! first.

Your Social Life In Kippyland

Good evening my dear beloved readership,

This installment of YSL (not to be confused with the logo of a late famous French fashion designer) is a bit late, as FBC! has been away from her laptop all day long. I'm so unused to be outside I almost got pulverized into dust by the sunlight.
The reason I got out this week is we're deep into the wonderland of Kippenberger, as the opening of his retrospective at MoCA is going to occupy both the Grand Avenue location AND the Geffen, which along with the California Conceptualists show (drawn from the permanent collection) will house the mega-installation "The Happy End Of Franz Kafka's Amerika".
FBC! has been awaiting this show for a long, long time, and is delighted it will eventually go to MoMA to show those retarded NYers how Los Angeles curators can originate shows before them.
Oh, oopsie, there already was a Kippenberger retrospective in Europe a couple of years ago, co-curated by Jessica Morgan for the Tate and Doris Krystof for the K21. What can I say? They're always late to catch up in America. And I'm not speaking (only) about the stock market.
Along with Doris a bunch of people are in town, a bunch of German-speaking ones at that. It's a great reminder of how most of the great Los Angeles artists have found a welcoming reception to their works in Europe through the German and Austrian gateways: galleries, kunsthallen, museums, collectors, journals and critics. Speaking of which, Diederich Diederichsen is giving a talk at MoCA on Sunday.

So you've guessed, if you have managed to wrestle an invitation or are simply on the mailing list, the Kippenberger Saturday opening is the one to be.
Now, if for some reason you haven't gotten one, fear not! You can always go to the Andrew Berardini-curated Dave Muller Musical Library at the Armory in Pasadena (and also see the Craig Kauffman drawing show, while you're at it).
There's also an opening at LAXart that promises to be extraordinary boring, and extraordinary also in the sense that I think it's the first time EVER there's a show there I truly, truly have no desire to see. I'm very surprised they are getting Silvia Kolbowski, I mean, it's the type of stuff only Grad students being force-fed the stiff, dogmatic theoricritical™ magma oozing out of the pages of October would maybe dream of organizing. Me, it gives me nightmares. I'd rather go see Resnais's original movie again (and even re-read the Duras book) than sit through an after Alain Resnais "post-structuralist deconstructed take" or whatever they call it. Oh well, only one boring show over more than 2 years of existence, it's not bad, everyone is entitled to a mistake.

And speaking of October, I see Thierry de Duve has an essay in the last one (you can download the pdf for free), and is also one of the scholars in residence at the GRI. Hopefully we'll see him sauntering around town at various openings. As far as theorists go, he's a cool one, and he's also Belgian (you know how much I like Belgium). Welcome Thierry de Duve! Have fun in LA!
De Duve has written about some of FBC!'s private Gods, such as Jeff Wall and Dan Graham, and you see that fabulous transition I'm using just to announce you that finally, finally the Dan Graham retrospective will come to MoCA in February 2009! Save the date!!!!!

Picture from the Kunsthaus Graz website (hi Adam Budak!)