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In this work, titled “What You See Might Not Be Real,” Chinese artist Chen Wenling critiques the global financial crisis.  The bull is supposed to represent Wall Street, pinning a devil figure (Bernard Madoff) to the wall.  Since being sent the image, i’ve stared at it often, considering what I find more disturbing, the fact that a Jew is so interconnected to the global financial crisis, which let’s all face it, just plain sucks, or the fact that this Jewish character has the stereotypical horns that have so often been attributed to “money loving Jews.”   Thanks again for setting us back a few decades, Bernie.

Artist Erika Iris Simmons recreated the classic Clash album cover of “London Calling” with… a Clash cassette tape. You can see some of her other amazing pieces at her flickr page.

To her discredit, Simmons destroyed a copy of one of the greatest recordings of all time. Then again it was just a cassette. Original “London Calling” cover is below. 

• Wanted full

The Video above was completely hand drawn.  Not one computer effect was used!  Below is how they did it.

My friend Jonathan Melber who practices art law, represents artists on a pro bono basis for Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and is generally just a sweet dude, co-wrote an AMAZING (!) DIY guide to being a successful visual artist. It’s appropriately titled ART/WORK and it is in stores and on Amazon today! In paperback no less - what a deal - go buy it!

Even though I’m in the music/non-profit biz, I enjoy all parts of the starving artist scene, and to my eyes ART/WORK is the most comprehensive guide of its kind. Unlike other creative professionals (ahem…musicians), visual artists don’t generally have agents or managers, and until you find a gallery/dealer, you have to go it alone. Even after you find one, it’s such a competitive world that the joke du jour is the art world is like the Sopranos, except nobody gets killed. So check it out, pick up a copy for your artistic friends, your cousins, or simply quit your job and start painting.

A number of people wandered into Six Points Fellow Alina Bliumis’s show at the new Black and White Project Space in Williamsburg this weekend, lured by the huge astroturf installation on the back wall of the garden and the buzz of drinking artsy folks. They wandered around and slowly realized this wasn’t your average show of art on the walls, but a slowly growing installation exploring the Russian-Jewish emigre experience, and the feelings of coming to a new country. The show is up until June, and will accumulate more pieces, just as we grow into a new home and place, picking up experiences, aquaintances, and objects along the way. My favorite part was when I took a short break, and wandered into the slightly hidden bathroom. I slowly noticed a lone mysterious voice coming from the shower stall, singing as if she was alone. It was haunting and funny, and I stayed in the bathroom to hear the end of Like a Virgin.

Alina is looking for more singing to build this piece throughout the show, and I thought there must be some shower pop stars out there who’d love to share their favorite tune with the world. So please, share the joy of your watery melodiousness, and send Alina an email Fido dvd . Let the fame begin!

• Mother of Tears: The Third Mother film

For those of you with even one toe in the art world, you know this weekend in New York City is a big one. The big shows, and the smaller ones, along with auxiliary exhibitions, parties, etc. There is a lot happening, which means there is both more great work and tragic art, increased proportionally. So here is a bit of guidance, with a Jewish lens. We begin with a plug for our own Six Points Fellows Andrea Dezso, who is showing puppets, sets and animations from her project, The Demon Bridegroom as in “EXTREMELY HISTORY” a part of EXTREMELY HUNGARY, showing at The Bridge Art Fair. Or you could check out the show very descriptively titled, On the Contrary: Recent Artist Videos Concerning War in the Middle East at the Scope Art fair. And if you want to go totally into the alternative sphere this weekend, we’re heading over to the multi-media performance/installation by Tobaron Waxman at harvestworks, a work that integrates the artist’s brainwaves and images of water issues in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

This photo of Black Style by Avishai Mekonen captures the group of three young Ethiopians living in Israel becoming celebrities in their small community of Binyamina as they use hip-hop to try to express with their own desires to be free of judgment and oppression. It’s a familiar trope in the hip-hop cannon, but coming from the unique perspective of a Jewish African diaspora community rapidly assimilating (and not only giving up injera) into Israeli culture. If you want to check out some of their music, and learn more about the distance between the elders and the youth culture of this community, artist Avishai Mekonen (a Six Points Fellow) is presenting a photo and video show at the JCC in Manhattan. In one of the videos you can hear the US premiere of the music of Black Style, and find out more about the contemporary assimilation story of the Ethiopian-Israeli community.

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, commonly known as Salvador Dali; the artfully mustached perfectionist, master of surrealism and a strong follower of the estranged Dada Movement, has been called an ant-semite, a communist, an anarchist and a genius. But was he Jewish? Well, although the facts say no, his rare “Aliyah: Rebirth of Israel” Suite lends to an opposing opinion.

Check out the hits from Dali’s Aliyah Suite after the jump

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Sexy Talmud. That’s a good combination, I think. Ofri Cnaani has been working on her video installation, The Sota Project for years (including as part of The Six Points Fellowship), and soon we’ll have the chance to experience it in a huge production this spring. Ofri studied and researched the ancient story from the Talmud about a women suspected of adultery who is put on trial. It’s a pretty gory ritual, and a part of the text that often causes discomfort in liberal/feminist/self-aware circles. In the Sota ritual, a suspected wife is evaluated by the High Priest in the temple; she is forced to stand naked before God and the priest and drink “bitter” water. If she was guilty, her stomach would rupture – and if innocent, she would become pregnant. Pretty intense, but not so far from some of the stories we’ve read recently in the news about the punishment for adulterous women. Ofri takes a short Sota text that describes a specific instance of betrayal and sisterhood, and reworks it into a modern narrative, “weaving the yarns of classic Jewish verse into a tapestry of intricate patterns.” Those are her words, and have a look at the trailer above.