Movie Review: "American Beauty" (1999)

[Still from American Beauty]

Sam Mendes's "American Beauty" is a film that always leaves me in awe.  Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening give captivating performances, depicting character's that speak of their generation's lost motives and obsession with climbing the corporate ladders and reaching some illusive pentacle of success in the 90's Middle Class society.  

The still above from "American Beauty" shows the main character, Lester Burnham at work in an advertising firm in middle America. You see a sticker on his cubicle wall that reads, "look closer"-a Kubrick-esque motif instructing the audience to indeed take a closer look. "Looking Closer" is in essence the film's over all message, which suggests that people in this day and age are either not paying attention to what they see or are projecting their own ideas and definitions onto the world around us.  In doing so, we completely misinterpret truths in matters and fail to experience the beauty in the world around us.

"Jelly Loves Lipstick" Photo Recap

Thanks again to everyone who came! xo

Press Release for "Jelly Loves Lipstick"

Below is the Press Release I wrote and designed for my first curatorial project in NY, Jelly Loves Lipstick.  It was a pleasure to work with the actress Julia Morrison (see her website here), who created this wonderful body of work.  Thank you to all the wonderful and inspiring people from all over New York (and some out-of-towners) who attend the show.  Hope to see you all again at my next event.<3

-Ashlee 

Jelly Loves Lipstick

Curated by Ashlee Jewel

Thursday, October 24, 2013

ONE NIGHT ONLY: 6pm to 12am 199 Cook Street, 3^rd FL, Brooklyn, 11206

Jelly Loves Lipstick is an exhibition comprising rarely seen video works by NYC actress, Julia Morrison. Together these videos project a feeling of carnal ambiguity and being astray, yet essentially aim to challenge customary ideas of feminine roles and public conduct. Morrison visually dissects widely practiced norms by recording herself performing guerilla style in public venues in New York City, and uploading the videos to social media sites through her iPhone.

These performances were inspired by Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1979-1990), whom was known not only for her infamous “Iron Lady” image in the UK, but also for applying her “pristine” lipstick in cabinet meetings among her male counterparts. This exhibition of feminism was considered illicit over the course of Thatcher’s career, yet continued due to Thatcher’s mission to redress gender conventions in a male dominated field.  

Although today’s public venues in NYC are far from being male dominated political cabinets, modern social norms continue to be contradictive by demanding high expectations for women and their appearances.  Society expects the transition from “dressed down” to “dress up” to be seamless, and want to see the finished product of women’s efforts to be a stunning beauty, yet feel uncomfortable at the sight of a female openly asserting her physical attractiveness.  Furthermore, women in power are expected to be plain and mannish, and are considered less qualified to hold powerful positions in a competitive work force if she chooses to dress femininely.  In the case of Margaret Thatcher, however, it is shown that one can be the “head of state,” be seen as an “Iron Lady” and still use femininity to her advantage.  As the French President Francois Mitterrand said about Thatcher: “She had the eyes of Caligula and the lips of Marilyn Monroe.”  A woman of power indeed.  

In Jelly Loves Lipstick, each video is created with the audience in mind.  Julia demands the audience’s attention by making something taboo (applying her lipstick in public), seductive.  Also referencing human evolution, Morrison uses a variety of red lipsticks to tap into the male primal instinct:  red glossy lips are a visual subconscious reminder of a human female’s vagina as she’s about to reach a sexual climax.  Thus, Morrison combines the notions of power, femininity, evolution, and primal instincts simultaneously. 

These perennial ideas are brought to the foreground in “Jelly Loves Lipstick” by addressing them through contemporary mediums and outlets.  As social media continues to grow in popularity, so does the proliferation of the “selfie”: a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a Smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media.  OxfordDictionaries.com. 2013. http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/…(2 October 2013).  In Jelly Loves Lipstick, the “lipstick ritual” (repetitively applying her lipstick in public) performances disguise themselves as “video self-portraits” or “video selfies,” and thus touches upon the tendency for modern people to excessively self-promote and express one-dimensional sensuality through a manufactured “digital” gaze.  All these ideas are tied into one well-rounded body of video work and can be seen along side the artist for one night only in Brooklyn, NY.  

Julia Morrison studied Biology at William & Mary University, and Acting at the Maggie Flanigan Studio in NYC.  She currently lives and works in New York.

About the Curator: Ashlee Jewel is an Independent Curator based in New York City.  She studied Visual and Critical Studies at The School of the Arts Institute Chicago and Philosophy at the University of Missouri St. Louis.  “Jelly Loves Lipstick” is her first curatorial project to be presented in New York. 

 For information on her future projects, email Ashleeletter@gmail.com.

 Jelly Loves Lipstick Videos

"Jelly Loves Lipstick at La Zarza Lounge" by Julia Morrison

"Jelly Loves Lipstick at Union Pool" by Julia Morrison

ANNOUNCEMENT: My First Curatorial Project to Premier in Bushwick, NY Oct. 24th

I am pleased to announce I will be curating my first New York show on Thursday, October 24th, 2013.  The exhibition will comprise of video work made by talented New York City based actress, Julia Morrison, and will be on display for one night only.  If you are in the New York City area next Thursday, make it a point to stop by and see the show!!

Abstract Review: Random International's "Rain Room" at MoMa, Expo 1: New York

[Installation view of Rain Room//source]

Darkness engulfs the rain source. The black backdrop surrounding the rain adds to the drama of the experience. People are practicing interpretive dance within the simulated weather. A woman is holding a baby and a man is taking photos with a digital camera.  The rain emits a cooling sensation.  Heavy storm sounds with consistent thudding of rain drops resonate.  The chatter of visitors peppers the room.  One bright spotlight from a white light bulb casts shadows.  The mix of man-made rain and electric light creates a small rainbow in one of the room's corners, yet it goes virtually unnoticed.  All in all, Rain Room promises something magical, but its technical innovation is more impressive than the actual rain experience. 

Museum Visit: James Turrell's "Aten Reign" at Guggenheim

[Installation view of Aten Reign//source]

There is an appreciated quality in the engulfing disseminated light that Turrell has harnessed in his new installation at the Guggenheim.  Turrell provides an experience for his audience that is unlike any other in New York's current art scene.  By transforming the Museum's famous inner structural frame work (the swirling rotunda) into a capsule of natural and simulated light,  Turrell extracts us viewers from our bustling city lives and catapults us into his serene and quiet wish for reality.   

Museum Visit: "Dark and Deadpan: Pop in TV and the Movies" at The Whitney

                     The Andy Warhol Eating a Hamburger scene from Jorgen Leth's 1981 film, "66 Scenes from America" 

"Dark and Deadpan: Pop in TV and the Movies" was held in the Kaufman Astoria Studios Film & Video Gallery of the Whitney Museum and curated by Chrissie Iles and Jay Sanders.  In this installation of video projectors and television screens juxtaposed with audio, visitors entered a dark room with dim light flickering from each video screen.  Each screen is approachable and seductive.  They display "hip" and intriguing characters who performing unusual tasks and/or play out disorienting scenes which highlight the curiosities and experimentation of artists and "hipsters" of the Pop era of the 1950s and 60s. 
 
One of the most recognizable characters seen in this exhibition is Andy Warhol.  In a clip from the feature length film, 66 Scenes from America (1981) Warhol is seen sitting at a table (adorned in his trademark bleach-blond asymmetrical haircut)where a Burger King Whopper and glass bottle of Heinz ketchup accompanies him.  Warhol unwraps his greasy sandwich from it's iconic paper wrapper, issuing a rather profound indifference towards his imminent meal.  He displays an open agitation that the ketchup won't come out of the bottler, and appears neither excited nor dejected by his Whopper-eating experience.  

To watch him eat, one feels almost as bored as he looks.  Yet the magic of Warhol is that the viewer is interested in him no matter what he does.  Thus, one continues watching.  There is this silent anticipation as you observe Warhol chew.  One hopes some ironic seductive visually tantalizing experience is in store and will be presented to us as an award for making the commitment to keep watching.  Yet, nothing significant happens.  Perhaps, this segment (appropriately titled "Andy Warhol Eating a Hamburger") is a commentary of how most Americans consume their food passively, with an anti-climax. 

  

"Hold Me While I'm Naked" (1966) Directed by George Kuchar

One of the most suspenseful films chosen for this exhibition is George Kuchar's 1966 film, Hold Me While I'm Naked.  A story unfolds here, though staggeringly, about an aspiring film maker who directs erotic scenes in his low budget films.  He faces conflicts with himself, his personal relationships, as well as with the cast of his films.  While watching, the audiences is given visual information which is contradictory and difficult to decipher which scenes represent the main character's "real life" and what represents scenes within his films.

Overall, "Dark and Deadpan" is a fantastic look into the creative video output of pop artists during the 1950s and 60s.  America's history certainly is dark and full of contradiction, fictitious lust, and mass produced stimuli.