Happy Haring Day!

Ever have one of those days where several seemingly random things happen that make you think life is more than a series of coincidences? Today is one of those days for me.

Last week, I was lucky enough to catch my first Keith Haring exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. It was absolutely amazing. Beyond being up close and personal with the intricate connections of shapes Haring so overtly mastered, the show had never-before-seen clips of some of his home movies. My personal favorite was a video shot at a party where Klaus Noni sang "Lightning Striking" for 4 hours. What a beautiful man...

Klaus Nomi

There was also the entire "Painting Myself Into A Corner", Haring's very first piece of video art. In his videos, he not only paints, but he does so on the beat, taking the idea of performance to another realm and also giving fans a visualization of just how in the zone an artist can get. Haring himself often stated how music was like his third arm and that he often didn't know where he was moving next but he could depend on the songs to guide him in the right direction.

Clip from "Painting Myself Into A Corner" 

Long story short, I was stoked to be there and had a fabulous time seeing all the famous and not-so-famous art and artifacts. Today I log on for work and open Google to see this: 

Google had created its ever-awesome Doodle today in honor of Haring's 54th birthday. I didn't know it was his birthday at first and just had a little happy jolt from seeing the page. Clicking on into his biography just reaffirmed how much I respect his art and how much he really did to bring art to the regular person.

A wall in the exhibit was painted with the tagline "Art is for Everyone" and a Haring quote stating: 

The public needs art and it is the responsibility of a "self-proclaimed artist" to realize the public needs art, and not to make bourgeois art for a few and ignore the masses...If the public is afraid of art, should we [artists] be afraid of what we have done to make the public afraid of art?

I work for the website Airbnb--where people rent out their personal space to travelers and later in my day today, I got a client in Rome who had a regular question about a regular situation. Looking through the rental, I get to the page showing off the kitchen only to find this: 

Another Haring fan out there finding me across an ocean to discuss a benign work-related situation turned into me settling into an interesting mental space. How did I go from being just a fan one week ago to being someone who's seen rare and special pieces up close and personal, and having the whole shebang come full circle (and worldwide) on his birthday?

A Scream Dream

Almost exactly two years ago, I blogged about how Pablo Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust" became the most expensive painting ever sold for $106.5 million dollars. 

Today, that record is shattered as Edvard Munch's iconic "The Scream" has now been auctioned by Sotheby's for an astronomical $119.9 million. What a figure! 

This version of "The Scream" (there are 4) was created in 1895 in Norway. It differs from its three counterparts in that it's been privately owned by a Munch family friend for many decades, and that it has the following poem handwritten by Munch on the frame:

I was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

I wonder what record breaking art sale we'll see on this blog in May 2014? Anyone placing bets?

We Are All Yellow

The Beatles' 1968 trippy cartoon Yellow Submarine is coming to DVD after a few dormant decades spent missing from any self-respecting music fan's DVD/VHS collection. In fact, I've had a VHS copy of this on my Amazon wishlist for a couple of years but no one was interested in dropping $250 on it for me.

It'll be remastered and all that fun stuff. The best part, however, is the prelude to the release: A string of dates at cinemas over the rest of May!!! Click here to see a nationwide schedule and find a showing in your market. It's playing here May 7 in Chesapeake and I am so there. 

I'm at the age where my friends are starting to have kids and I never know what to buy them. I don't really do pink, fluffy, or expensive which leaves me with limited options sometimes. I think my go-to toddler birthday gift will henceforth be a copy of this film. Auntie jESiO cool-points coming my way!