Blog entries from Cheree Franco

Thanks for the tapes, Alex Chilton

chereefranco@gmail.com — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:46:54 +0100

Thanks for the tapes, and for the tapes of the bands you influenced. You did well, Alex Chilton.

From Citypages.com:

"Without Chilton no Jayhawks/REM/Mats/Huskers/db's/Rain Parade/Game Theory/Posies/Teenage Fanclub," wrote Twin Cities musician and producer Ed Ackerson. The mind reels... Not to mention no Cramps, Panther Burns, Let's Active. Chilton showed us how to write pop songs with teeth and anguish. Blurred beauty. Mangled melodicism. Proved guitar pop wasn't for Read More...

Mention in NY Times

chereefranco@gmail.com — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:42:21 +0100

Juxtapoz & Jonathan Levine Gallery in the New York Times! Read it here.

*update: so Jonathan Levine tells me this article was actually published on Sunday, and I'm the one who's late to the party...but didn't (questionably) wise man once say, "Every day is like Sunday?"

2010 at the Whitney

chereefranco@gmail.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:35:59 +0100

I’ve been back in New York for the past few weeks—essentially from Fashion Week to Armory Week, with the Whitney Biennial sandwiched between—and I’ve seen so much art that I’m not sure where to begin. To make things more interesting, my camera started giving random error messages, and I haven’t had time to have it serviced, rendering void my usual tactic of posting tons of pics rather than taking the time to politely woRead More...

Robbo vs Banksy in Wall Street Journal

chereefranco@gmail.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:49:14 +0100

The feud continues--and the most unlikely publications are paying attention...

Weekly Art News, Biennial Scooped

chereefranco@gmail.com — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:45:40 +0100

Recently I've been writing weekly art news synops (something I sometimes did anyway, so hey!) for ArtWeLove.com. They're published every Monday, and you can subscribe for free via email. It's mostly institutional/market stuff with a bit of gossip, but sometimes I try to slip in underground info. This week's headlines include reviews of the Whitney Biennial, an Austrian art club that doubles as a sex club, and violent artists evictions in China.

And this is just kind of awesome--even thoRead More...

Shaq Attack!

chereefranco@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:40:23 +0100

Seven-foot-tall NBA star Shaquille O'Neal made his curatorial debut Friday at Chelsea's Flag Art Foundation, playfully asserting that "Size Does Matter." Several exhibiting artists were in attendance, including Chuck Close and Richard Pettibon, but Shaq Attack missed his coming out party due to a previous engagement with the Charlotte Bobcats. I'm not sure I buy it--does Shaq even collect art? Does he have the time, between his reality tv stints and a burgeoning rap career? But if you're in NRead More...

Greely Myatt Takes On Memphis

chereefranco@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:28:26 +0100

In mid-September, Greely Myatt was the focus of a citywide, 8-venue exhibit celebrating his twenty years of service teaching sculpture at the University of Memphis. More recently Myatt exhibited at Mississippi State University, a school he briefly attended on athletic scholarship in the 70’s. After the accompanying panel discussion, I had a brRead More...

State of the Arts

chereefranco@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:29:04 +0100

Sometimes I like to poke around and see what the world-at-large thinks is "newsworthy" art. This was something I did often in grad school, but I'm way too lazy to do it regularly now. But occasionally, I do geek out, and I think Obama's State of the Union speech kind of inspired reflection...or something.

Anyhow, a summary of last week's art news, minus the Met's Rose Period Picasso fiasco, because that's hardly news at this point...

Recently I interviewed five of the seven agents of the London Yarn Corps over at Knit the City. It would have been all seven except that Knitting Ninja has taken a 1000-year vow of silence and, apparently Shorn-a the Dead has been at the “sheep dip” again, which is fine with Knitshade—“More cake for us!”

While I’m on the subject of graffiti, let me mention another offering from Dokument and Hello Press… Like Lipstick Traces is a coffee-table collection of 600 polaroids taken specifically for this project over the course of two years by 13 mostly European graffiti artists. “We want to emphasize the artists’ surroundings, theirRead More...

European Graffiti

chereefranco@gmail.com — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:28:49 +0100

Street art could be considered a reversion to primitive communication. You could take it even further, employing the cliché “made necessary by this woeful, chaotic modern life” argument. Cave paintings are the oldest form of wall-art and possibly the first form of narrative and political commentary—if you want to term them “graffiti,” and consider them a forerunner, go ahead. Or spring forward a few millenniums and consider the early twenRead More...

Brandon Riesgo's Word Sculptures

chereefranco@gmail.com — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:08:56 +0100

Brandon Reisgo is a double major in sculpture and graphic design at Mississippi State University. There was debate among his fellow students over these word sculptures—are they valid? Was there enough work involved? In my mind, debate is an excellent reaction to spark. Brandon’s pieces are unique and conceptually sophisticated, even though they’re ultimately accessible and easily constructed. Brandon taps into a collective suburban experience. He knows exacRead More...

Spectre of Death Part 2

chereefranco@gmail.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:00:02 +0100

This is Part 2 of my interview with Mississippi State University BFA candidate Taylor Shaw.

How has your work evolved during your time in school?

I was introduced to Banksy when I was in Orlando. One of my friends just told me about him. I had always Read More...

Taylor Shaw's Spectre of Death

chereefranco@gmail.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:03:06 +0100

Recently I spoke with a few Mississippi State University BFA candidates about their thesis exhibits. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting interviews and images.

Upon encountering Taylor Shaw’s jigsaw wooden skulls (31 x 37 inches,$450) a few things come to mind: poison, danger, hot-rods, Harleys, sexRead More...

American Artifact: the Rise of the American Rock Poster

chereefranco@gmail.com — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:24:19 +0100

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNYQScvrDY0 425x344]

So I watched the documentary American Artifact: the Rise of the American Rock Poster (as yet unreleased on DVD) at a special screening at Mississippi State University Thursday night. Merle Becker, our director-cum-narrator, apparently quit some staid, high-paid 9-5 to travel the country talking to poster artists. In itself, this requires slight suspension of disbelief, but when shRead More...

Minute to Mention

chereefranco@gmail.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:08:36 +0100

1. Danny Robert's Blogger Portraits

2. Artist Allison Schulnik’s collaborations with Grizzly Bear

Ready, Able Music Video

[vidRead More...

Ming Donkey's Worker Art

chereefranco@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:29:53 +0100

In Southern California, Ming Donkey is better known as Jay Grumpy of the former Recess Records punk band The Grumpies. Now a one-man rockabilly show, Ming spends his days perfecting the washtub bass, teaching drawing at Mississippi State University and making (very affordable, somewhat political) Worker Art, which is on display at Echo Park’s L’Keg Gallery through November 20.