400 Bad request

December, 14, 2011 – February 4, 2012
Opening reception: Wednesday, December 14, 7-10pm

www.castillocorrales.fr

“NOTORIOUS (CHRISTIAN LEIGH)” is a Christmas Mystery in the form of an exhibition, a jigsaw puzzle which is not that simple to put together. The central character in the story is Christian Leigh, once a teenage American fashion designer prodigy in the early eighties, then a maverick exhibition curator who mesmerized the art world during a handful of years at the turn of the nineties, and today a self-proclaimed prolific (but extremely elusive) filmmaker, performance artist and book editor operating somewhere, somehow, in Europe.

Leigh has made a habit of burning bridges, of vanishing overnight, and of reinventing himself anew in a different milieu under a slightly modified name each time: the 13-year old designer who was profiled in People magazine in 1983 was known as Kristian; the curator who, in 1989, authored the bombastic exhibition “The Silent Baroque” that put Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac on the map, signed as Christian; whereas the filmmaker who managed to band together Béatrice Dalle, Guillaume Depardieu, Leos Carax, John Cale, Dinosaur Jr., Guillaume Dustan, and Dominique Reymond in “Process”, his first feature film released in 2003, goes by CS.

For each new life, for each new career, Leigh set no ceiling to his ambitions. But every time, it ended badly. Trails of unpaid bills, angry creditors, ripped-off artists, bamboozled collaborators, and perplexed actors are woven throughout Leigh’s biographies. And yet, this is not enough to explain why he disappears time and again. There’s clearly more to it than just being uncovered at some point as a con man, a pathological liar, a huckster, and having to be constantly on the run.

Something else is being articulated and enacted in this regular pattern of hard work leading to a disappearing act, although no one can say for sure what it is exactly. Most people who have been in touch with Leigh over all these years, and eventually been duped by him (btw, this includes us when, a couple of years ago, he came knocking at our door to shoot a scene for one of his films in our exhibition space), always remember Leigh also for his brilliant, erudite, untiring, infectious and entertaining personality, and finally don’t hold his broken promises against him that much. It is proof enough that, in spite of everything, there is something genuinely compelling in what it is he does, and how he does it.

The exhibition NOTORIOUS (CHRISTIAN LEIGH) at castillo/corrales assembles a documentation of Leigh’s years as one of the most inventive and original exhibition-makers of his time, the definitive curator-as-author. It also brings to light what happened next: a decade of extensive filming, writing, editing books and magazines, where film, art, fashion and politics collide in a highly idiosyncratic, far-reaching and opinionated way. Well… maybe, as in most cases, such films, books and projects only exist as announcements of things that are either to come, or are already past, no longer available, unverifiable, missing. NOTORIOUS is a portrait of a genius inventor of his self as an oeuvre, or vice versa. It is also a portrait of the art world seen by one astute observer and exploiter of the weaknesses, rifts and self-complacencies which are some of the wheels that make the art world spin like it does.

This video was produced by Gluekit in occasion of their “A Product of Design” exhibition at Scion Installation LA.

Gluekit is the moniker of American designers Christopher Sleboda and Kathleen Sleboda used for their collaborative projects. Since 2002, Gluekit’s award-winning work has been featured in hundreds of magazines around the world and more than a dozen books about design and illustration. The duo was featured on the cover of Print magazine in 2008, and in addition to creating art for the covers of dozens of magazines, the pair have produced graphics for book covers, theatre productions, and television. Their self-initiated projects are an important part of their practice; these range from experimental photo collages and typographic explorations to the creation and curation of various product lines. In 2007, Gluekit launched Part of It, an online boutique which offers a curated selection of products with proceeds going towards artist-selected charities. More recently, the pair designed steel bookends that mark Gluekit’s foray into metal fabrication. Gluekit’s work has appeared in exhibitions in Japan, Sweden, the UK, New York and Los Angeles.

It’s Nice That No.7 features profiles of celebrated photographer Martin Parr and the brilliant Taryn Simon; interviews with i-D founder Terry Jones, Nieves editor-in-chief Benjamin Sommerhalder and hyper-cool duo Lernert & Sander; a free comic by the very talented illustrator Sophy Hollington, and much, much more.

Out now.
£9.00

PWR PAPER #6, a paperback book of 152 pages (12 € + Shipping), collects material by these cultural producers:

2029, Aaron Graham, Andreas Banderas, Anonymous, Ben Schumacher, Brad Troemel, Carson Fisk-Vittori, Deterretorial Support Group, Energy:Pangea, FAUX/real, Goodiepal, Ingo Niermann, Inka Lindergård & Niclas Holmström, Jaakko Pallasvuo, Johannes Thumfart, Jon Rafman, Juliette Bonneviot, Kareem Lotfy, Katja Novitskova, Martin Kohout, Nathalie du Pasquier, Oregon Painting Society, Rachel de Joode, Sarah Hartnett, Shawn C. Smith & Travess Smalley.

The book is available for purchase from a number of locations worldwide: Printed Matter in New York, Motto in Berlin, OMMU in Greece, Malmö Konsthall in Sweden and more to be announced soon.

It can also be ordered directly on http://www.pwrpaper.com

After years in the making ‘Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design‘ will be available next month.

This long awaited title on one of the greatest American designers of the 20th century has been written by distinguished design historian Pat Kirkham, who knew Bass personally, and is designed by his daughter, Jennifer Bass. As well as hundreds of images of Bass’ life and work, some of which are previously unpublished, there is a foreword by Martin Scorsese.

The release of the book is also being marked by a special event at MoMA on November 14th, featuring the New York premiere of Saul and Elaine Bass’ Academy Award-winning short ‘Why Man Creates’, 1968 (newly preserved by the Academy Film Archive). Among the evening’s guest presenters are the book’s author, Pat Kirkham, a distinguished design historian; Chip Kidd, the award-winning contemporary graphic designer and writer noted for his brilliant book covers; and Kyle Cooper, a legendary graphic designer in his own right, with such unforgettable film title sequences as Se7en, X-Men: First Class, the Spider Man trilogy, and countless others.

For more information please visit: http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/film_screenings/13752

Sign up to be notified when the book is available here:
http://www.laurenceking.com/product/Saul+Bass%3A+A+Life+in+Film+—+Design.htm

Offprint Paris 10-13 Nov. 2011, is a platform dedicated to contemporary photography and image making. A meeting place for artists, photographers, graphic designers, curators, artistic directors a.o. Offprint Paris focuses on high-end and emerging practices, offering a unique selection of artists (photo) books, magazines, prints and zines.

For this second edition, a series of lectures, book signings and a workshop will take place during the fair.

Photography by Jamie Hawkesworth / Adam Murray / Robert Parkinson
Tabloid Size Newspaper / 11.5 x 15 inches
12 pages
Individually numbered limited edition of 1000
£4 + £4 P&P (UK) / £4 + £7 P&P (Elsewhere)
Preston is my Paris Publishing

Public Works Gallery
1539 N Damen Ave, 2nd Floor (map)
Chicago, IL 60622

opening
Friday, September 9, 2011 – 7-11pm

Public Works 3 is the latest installment of the celebrated Chicago annual art series featuring graphic artists at the hinge of contemporary culture and fine art expression.

EVAN HECOX’s inked drawings capture urban dwellings and their dwellers from New York to Mexico with a snapshot style that’s at once hyper-real and romantic. His work has been featured across record covers and art galleries alike, from Chocolate Industries vinyl to white walls in Tokyo, London and Los Angeles.

ANDY JENKINS began his art career with buddy Spike Jonze. Tinkers by habit, the pair stormed the scene as editors, illustrators, writers and designers for Freesylin’, BMX Magazine, Warp, Raygun – the list goes on. Andy currently heads the art department at Girl Skateboards and holds the reins of the infamous Art Dump.

MICHAEL CINA is an abstract painter known globally for originating YouWorkForThem, a graphic design boutique, and its sister company, WeWorkForThem, an award-winning design studio. Some of his freshest, darkest creations adorn the covers of Ghostly International releases, where his position as art director has created a signature Ghostly style reminiscent of the glory days of Factory Records.

Since the late 90’s CHRIS STRONG has taken the same austere eye with which he photographs solemn, quiet landscapes to music and fashion icons in and around Chicago – Wilco, Joan of Arc, Kid Sister, Metric, Califone and Billy Corgan are just a handful of the artists adorning his record covers and magazine spreads.

Designed by Joseph Hales and edited by Carianne Whitworth, Playground Magazine is pleased to present The Exchange Issue. Its features include interviews with IFS, Ltd, the Yale graduates whose collaborative publication was bartered for during the New York Art Book Fair; artist Rebecca Lennon, who covertly records the confused conversations between debt collection agencies after she has placed them on the phone to one another; and – skyping from the Miami Poetry Festival – illustrator Sam Winston, who reworks and exchanges the visual structures of archetypal texts. Further highlights include an essay on the Dutch tulip bubble, an explanation of how Karl Marx’s overcoat contributed to the creation of his seminal text Capital, and a currency created exclusively for this issue of Playground by designer Fraser Muggeridge.

Issues can be exchanged for a mere five pounds from the stockists listed on www.playgroundmag.co.uk, or from our online shop: www.playgroundmagazine.bigcartel.com

Edition of 200
44 pages
240mm x165mm
Printed by Ditto Press on Munken Pure and Popset Lime

TEAM is a self-published journal that was made possible through collaboration. Although the submissions are varied, they are tied together by a shared sentiment, the willingness to contribute to creating an intellectually stimulating yet accessible platform for young artists, photographers, writers, and their projects. This diverse content is kept cohesive by the design of Joseph Hales. Issue One includes an interview with sound artists Variable 4, artwork by Katie Scott, a collaboration between poet Sam Riviere and illustrator Martha Ellen Smith, as well as a pull-out, riso-printed comic by Joe Kessler.

TEAM is 52 pages and printed in an edition of 200