Keckin' It

Not Rigby

You may recognize the above. It's the first piece of art I purchased (as in, not a poster from Ikea or a writing/drawing trade from a college friend kind of thing.) It's this blog's mascot, and those of you who know me in the real world also know that its framed, fatter twin hangs near the staircase in my home. 

What you may not recognize is the artist, Michel Keck.  I have been following her growth for about two years now and cannot wait to see where it takes her in the future.  What's coincidental is I just mentioned/praised her a week or so ago in a post about art at the day job with no intention of doing a post just about her just yet. I'm in her "fanclub" or whatever, and have intended on sitting down to showcase her for quite some time. Today, I got notice she is debuting Michel Keck Fine Art in Lowell, IN this weekend. If I could make it, I'd be there in two shakes.

She's totally insane, you know. She does mixed media collages like the dog stuff, as well as other ones. Here's a favorite of mine (click here to see it blown up, it's so, so rad):

Hard Knock Life

She has a way of mixing colors and ideas in ways that make complete sense to me and I definitely plan on buying more of her stuff when I finally strike it rich. Perhaps I relate more to the above examples because I also collage or am more of a pop culture type versus an old school (or even art-educated) type. However, that doesn't mean she isn't talented in more formal or traditional ways.

She's equally, if not more, well-known and talented in the medium of abstract painting. I've read praise (and agree with it) stating most young artists are in some way representatives of their influences, whereas Keck is truly original. It's like you're seeing her pretty, organized, deranged mind with each new piece. She's American, she's pop art, and she's abstract expressionism, yet she's not Warhol or Pollack. 

In fact, she isn't even represented by an agent or gallery. She's considered one of the world's most successful self-repped artists in the world today. From 2003-06, she sold original pieces on Ebay, where she regularly broke records (her high being $42,000 in one flipping month!) From there she opened her online store and her gallery. Now she's moving on up to her newer, better location and I hope to visit in person at some point. In the meantime, if you can't afford her multi-thousand dollar pieces, that's okay. She's got everything from mid-priced giclee prints (with original signatures) to postcards and iPhone skins. Girl's got skill, people. 

FCUK

The photography and set-up of the latest French Connection collection was born in my dreams.

Dimlit reminiscing of a long ago Guatemalan summer...My toes, too, feel those keys.

First rate third world beauty.

I've been the girl on the right once or twice.

Staging this, then pulling it off, real friendships must live within.

Models.

The Favorite Frida

The Suicide of Dorothy Hale

I got in a conversation about Frida Kahlo a few days ago. Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks she's a killer costume. Two of my friends are planning on going as her this year (without having seen my blog.) Also turns out, even after decades and movies and all the rest of it that have happened since her lifetime, she's still overpowered by her husband, Diego Rivera's reputation.

The above painting, "The Suicide of Dorothy Hale" is my favorite Frida, yet most mentions of it are met with blank stares from my pals. The last time I broached it, the "New York" in this work was re-routed to a conversation about Diego's infamous 1933 Rockefellar Center mural debacle. Since most art fans (or Selma Hayek fans for that matter) know about the Riveras and communism, etc., I'm not rehashing it here. The story of a painting that somehow missed out on becoming a macabre, yet legendary, tale of American high society and woe is much more fascinating anyway.

Dorothy Hale

Dorothy Hale was an American socialite of the 1920s and 30s, who, after becoming widowed, spent the last several years of her life struggling with her place. She had extremely wealthy and powerful friends (and lovers), including the JP Morgans and members of the Roosevelt administration. She was beautiful and dreamed of being an actress, though sadly her talent was not as massive as her ambition. Perhaps more sadly, it was also further unbalanced against the successes of her good girlfriends Clare Booth Luce and Kahlo herself.

In 1938, Dorothy threw an informal "farewell dinner party", then went to the theater, then to a club with a large group of friends. She told everyone she was leaving, keeping specifics vague. She returned home around 1:15 am, wrote various suicide notes until dawn, and threw herself out the 16th floor window.

Luce, the editor, diplomat, wife of Time and Vanity Fair publisher, socialite, etc etc, was devasted by the loss of her good friend and almost immediately commissioned Kahlo to paint her portrait.

As you see above, a portrait wasn't exactly what she ended up with. Kahlo went as far as to smear "blood spatter" on the frame itself. Luce was horrified and refused to accept the painting, disregarding both her friendship and fandom of Kahlo. She commissioned the famous sculptor Isamu Noguchi to remove mention of her name from the work (Kahlo had written a little narrative regarding the whole scenario) and then had the painting hidden away for decades.

Eventually, she annonymously donated to the Phoenix Art Museum, where it still resides. I hear it frequently tours, though, and would love to see it in person one day.

Clare Luce Booth

For followers of Kahlo's work, "The Suicide of Dorothy Hale" is a vast departure from the angry or depressed self-portraiture often depicting Kahlo as ill, masculine, or broken. She sees flaws in herself and exaggerates them onto the canvas for all of us to admonish and admire. She's in vibrant, bright-yet-dark hues and often costumed and adorned with jewels or flowers. 

Here, the Kahlo face is gone, but not the attitude. Hale is in her fine evening gown. Blood runs from underneath her but her dress and face are still beautiful and unbroken. The colors are lighter and brighter, with heavenly clouds that take on an angelic or bird-like presence. Unlike Kahlo's representation of herself, however, Hale is deceaded, morte, no more. Perhaps that's why (to me) it stands so far to the left of everything else in Kahlo's canon: it's prettier in its depiction of someone else's utter defeat and thus, it's rare presentation of Kahlo's strength of self, almost to the point of gloating.