Still Life

Artist and teacher Julie Green paints the Last Supper menus of death row inmates, originally as published in Oklahoma newspapers, a state where the per capita execution rate is higher than Texas. Via Open Culture.

To the left: Arkansas, 1990,  Barbecue chicken, rice & gravy, pinto bean, fresh early June peas, fresh squash, peaches, hot rolls, tea.

More here showing plates of many states.

"My long term hopes for the project," concludes the artist in the video short below,  "are that we'd stop having capital punishment .. and that I'd stop painting plates."  Amen.




The artist narrates a fuller Last Supper slide show below:

the confessions of robert crumb (1987)

Simply heartbroken by the #jesuischarlie cartoonist news.  Me too ... in honor of satiric artists everywhere, free thought & speech, and the eternal (French, s'il vous plaît ) spirit of résistance ... posting The Confessions of Robert Crumb (1987) ...



More at Paris Review with American cartoonist Robert Crumb, last seen about the south of France (shhhh!)  ..

Below, another Cheap Suit Serenaders chanson, Crying My Blues Away:




Oh, here is the cover, if you're still searching ... (pricey though) along with more no one is showing you ...

For sale in Chicago, though.
 

*crossposted at Old Sauk River, amongst the many fondly regarded contributors, with that Hunter-Gatherer news site.  As for the curiosity shop, it is still out for the time being.  We are still working on that coming back, reincarnated better than ever before, soon (we hope)  ...

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1.21.2015 crossposted Editor's Note.  The satiric comment about a pricey Ebay Charlie Hebdo copy was made with the writer's off-the-cuff perception (and possible misunderstanding) that an unknown individual was selling theirs (in the Charlie Hebdo magazine-deprived U.S.A.) for something like 30,000 dollars .. and the way others, say, have Ebay or amazon-posted their favorite 10.00 dollar novel or CD for similar profits with a "Hey, ya never know," "might as well." 

It has since come to our attention that the magazine is donating proceeds to the families of the victims and that may be a genuine fundraising attempt.  We, of course, fully support such fundraising on behalf of the families of the  victims;  however, we do not research these channels one way or the other.  Therefore, if you wish to donate funds for the Charlie Hebdo families of the victims, we recommend contacting the newspaper directly for further information as to where and how you can do that over the internet.

americana

Amy LaVere and Will Sexton in Last Rock N Roll Boy To Dance. ..

big yellow

A new book by Swiss photographer Catherine Leutenegger, Kodak City, "chronicles the decline of Kodak and Rochester, NY, the city built by Big Yellow." 

Also see these motel photographs.

americana

Photography by James Brodribb.

spring nyc

Couldn't resist this little charmer for NYC's Louie and Chan's at 303 Broome Street between Forsyth & Elizabeth in Chinatown/ Lower East Side.  Great menu selections, too.

balloon fiesta

Via Huffpost, a time lapse youtube of 700 hot air balloons taking flight at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  Held over a period of 9 days last month, it's the largest hot air balloon festival in the world.

strange museums

Bananas, bad art, barbed wire, and the delightfully weird.

#daydetroit

The internet rallies to save the Detroit Art Institute.  As I joined in the virtual "march" - which you can view on twitter at #DayDetroit (and better yet, also participate), I couldn't take my eyes off the museum's Paul McPharlin Puppetry Collection (example, photo left), "one of the most significant collections of historical puppets in the United States."

Check out more here, here,  here, and here.

Ouch, the DIA also houses Howdy.

 What has become of us when our nation's most prized art collections are scattered to the winds?

Here are some of my picks from among the more traditionally smitten favorites;  a detail from Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry;  Bourguereau's hazelnut gatherers;  Paul Cézanne's bathers.


More news on this sad state of affairs from Rachel Maddow:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

be nice or leave

A short documentary about "Dr. Bob" Schaffer, a New Orleans folk artist whose work is well known and displayed throughout the city.  Dr. Bob has been featured in many newspapers and magazines including the Smithsonian, the Times-Picayune, and Big City Rhythm and Blues-- and purchased by notables like Emmy Lou Harris and Mariah Carey.  Dr. Bob works in a 6,000 square foot Chartres Street warehouse often visited by other artists -- and where you can peruse a rich collection of signs, paintings, assemblages, found objects, and now charmed witticisms (like his familiar, "Be nice or leave.")

el paso

Hoofing it in El Paso.  Some cool Americana, signs, and places.

miami

Photostream of a new art district in Miami.  And, 1939 Miami Beach in color.