Untitled #100 (Fantasia)
Josh Azzarella has made a name for himself visually rewriting history by removing key elements and traces of life from iconic images from Tienanmen Square to Abu Ghraib to the World Trade Center. Azzarella now turns himself from politics to pop culture with Untitled #100 (Fantasia), which removes the late King of Pop from “Thriller.”
Azzarella has been working on the piece for over two years, painstakingly removing all traces of life and music from each frame, save for the lonely ticket attendant and an eerie-ambient soundscape. Leaving behind a ghostly trail of memories, it simultaneously affirms the importance and impact of this masterful music video and destabilizes the relationship between what we see and what we remember. While this sounds and is quite unsettling, it also re-purposes the pop culture landscape to remind us of how we project ourselves onto the subject matter. Stripped of M. Jackson and his zombie back-up dancers, the stunning, surreal landscape takes center stage. In that way, Untitled #100 (Fantasia) creates a visual space for our own fantasies.
View it online at www.funkof40000years.com. –Jenna Glass
Mel Kadel
Currently showing at Fecal Face, Mel Kadel’s Echo Test features a female figure pushing, pulling, twirling, battling through a world of washed out red, blues, golds and greens on vintage paper. The viewer comes upon her struggle in media res, but it seems like the girl might win. You can’t help but root for her with her Karen O hair cut, knobby knees and little beer belly. When she rides a harlequin beast in “Bedroom Ride,” it’s clear she’s one bad ass lady. Arranged like patchwork on the wall, the small pen-and-ink drawings create a greater narrative of struggle and resilience.
I wanted to buy it all. Instead, I bought the latest EP from ((Sounder)), Stop That Dreaming, which features her album art and back up vocals on the track “Oh Darkness Looming.” The tracks are quiet gems of disheveled pop and artsy Americana.
Kadel is no stranger to the rock biz. She’s done album art for the Silversun Pickups, Megapuss among others. I imagine her life is a bit like endless art camp. When she’s not making in-demand zines or creating album art for the Silversun Pickups or Megapuss, you can find her in her log cabin in Echo Park with Travis Millard where she spends afternoons, creating those detailed repetitions that steep the works with tension while she soaks up the energy of neighborhood legacies like Ernest Hemingway and Steely Dan.
Wish you had something in common with Shepard Fairey, Harrison Ford, Sheryl Crow, Mick Fleetwood and Jason Lee? Buy Kadel’s work here. If you aren’t quite at the art-owning level yet, drown your sorrows with Strong Arms Shiraz whose labels feature her work while you listen to ((Sounder)).-JG
Links and Listen:
www.melkadel.com
www.myspace.com/thesounder
