Scott McCarney – PopWars

May 19, 2012August 17, 2019

Robert Frank’s Shoes

Scott McCarney "Bible For Terry Jones" at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York — Scott McCarney “Bible For Terry Jones” at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York

Scott McCarney’s beautiful new show, “Reversing the Catastrophe of Fixed Meaning,” opened last night a Visual Studies Workshop. An ambitious title that for me actually succeeds in the incendiary piece, “Bible For Terry Jones.” There is something of a “Boy’s Life” nostalgia in Scott’s work but he manages to shatter the stereotypes. His “book art” rewrites the museum tags on this dying medium.

And then there is Robert Frank’s shoes, the ones he wore while shooting photos for “The Americans.” He donated them to Visual Studies after a workshop here in the seventies. I had heard they were here but I wasn’t prepared for their dandyness. It puts a whole new spin on these classic images.

Tribal Ritual

Scott McCarney and Skuta at Visual Studies opening for 52/52+ in Rochester, NY

The lawns were going brown in May and now the golf course is flooded. Not that I’m golfer but we do cut across one of the holes when we walk and I am always on the lookout for balls. I have about ten gallons of them in the garage. I’m fairly certain of the quantity because I have stuffed them down the throat of those five gallon, bottled water jugs that are made of the toxic plastic. We had bottled water delivered when we were on trade but those days are gone and we are probably a lot healthier for it. We drink water straight from the tap now. Is that dangerous? I guess we could filter it but I wonder if you lose the minerals when you do that? Sometimes you get a chlorine hit but it usually tastes pretty good.

The path in the woods across the street was covered with tulip petals. Not the flower, they’re long gone. These are the blossoms of the tulip trees and we have a lot of them down here. I don’t remember ever seeing a tulip tree in the city. I think the rain filled the flowers and broke them off. We had a lot wind too so maybe that was a factor. The petals are green and orange and yellow. They look edible and are scattered on the path as if in preparation for some tribal ritual.

Artist’s books are a funny thing. They don’t always make for a good book. They are often something only an artist could love. Scott McCarney, though, is one of the best. He’s curated the current show at Visual Studies Workshop for his roommate from 26 years ago, when they were both students at VSW. Skuta who now lives in Iceland, created a book a week for a full year and 52 of them are on display here.

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June 8, 2009August 24, 2019

Maximum Security

Paul Dodd Crime Face at Schweinfurth Art Center

We drove to Auburn yesterday for the Artist’s Reception for the “Made In NY 2009” show at the Shweinfurth Art Center. One of my favorite Crime Faces was accepted in this show and it was given a prime spot in the center room. They have good taste in Auburn or maybe it’s just that they have the maximum security State Correctional Facility here and they recognized one of their own.

Sarah Palin was there yesterday with the first dude celebrating William Seward’s decision to purchase Alaska. Seward, radical opponent of slavery, practiced law in Auburn, became governor of New York and then Secretary of State under Lincoln before returning to Auburn. He made the decision to purchase Alaska from the Russians, a call that was ridiculed as “Seward’s Folly”.

We were delighted to see our friends, Alice and Julio, at the opening and the four of us darted around the room picking our favorites. We were the last ones to leave. Peggi, Alice and Julio can be seen studying Scott McCarney’s piece in the background of the blowup of this photo. Auburn, like so many small cities in New York, saw it’s heyday about a century ago and has settled in as a beautiful town.

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