Kevin Miyazki and the Whitney Biennial
The March 24, 2008 issue of The New Yorker Magazine has a cover illustration depicting a mug shot of a guy caught with his pants down. His jacket is brown, his tie is striped in red and white, and even though the image ends at his shoulders and ankles, just enough is revealed so you get the drift. The biggest clue is the blue boxer shorts emblazoned with multiple images of “The Great Seal Of The State Of NewYork.” The guy’s legs are hairy, his knees are knobby and his black and white socks are held in place by black garters. It’s all the crafty work of artist Mark Ulriksen, a regular contributor to the magazine, who will be part of a group exhibition opening March 29th in San Francisco. Another regular, artist Bruce McCall, focuses on images of Americans and their mania for automobiles. His work will open on April 1, with an exhibition at the James Goodman gallery in New York. The magazine’s sensational art critic, Peter Schjeldahl, will launch a collection of art criticism in May, aptly titled “Let’s See.” If you want to read his take on the 2008 Whitney Biennial, visit The New Yorker online. My friend, photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki, jump-started his career by taking assignments from Milwaukee Magazine. He was at the Whitney Biennial, but found it lacking and instead took a great photograph of a ceiling fixture in the building. His new website gives rise to hope for website design. It’s sparse and elegant as the work of Miyazaki is sparse and elegant. You can visit him online, too. Recently, he won a Nohl Fellowship award in the “emerging” artists category. What a laugh. From a standpoint of competence, he’s way beyond “emerging,” but I guess because he’s still relatively young, he was more or less pigeon-holed. That said, $5,000 is no small potatoes, though he should have been bumped up to the “established” artist slot and the $15,000 bonanza. You’ll be able to view more of his work in the Fall of 2008 when Inova showcases the work of the award recipients. Miyazaki’s work will shine.
