Recap, Recall, Retrace and Reform June, 2010 To all my dear friends and email list. Tonight, Toomey Tourell Projects -- an extension of Toomey Tourell Gallery where I launched my career and with whom have had three solo shows to date -- opens its doors at 575 Sutter. Their inaugural exhibition, Clinton Fein: Recap will draw selections from a decade of my work, or as they expressed it so well, "the artist's prismatic political output, reinvigorating his (seemingly) temporally bound bodies of work by a pointed recontextualization." If you can make it tonight, it would be great to see you. But first, an apology. I have neglected you horribly. Many of you thought I had either ceased to exist or had taken you off my email list for some reason. Many of you have even missed these emails! Although quite a bit has happened, (including why the image above is not of me as I usually do, but of BP's CEO, Tony Hayward) I have been working on my next exhibition, Full Disclosure, which will be my first major exhibition since Torture, which was back in 2007. As an artist, there is pressure to show as frequently as possible and artists usually jump at the opportunity to show their latest work. Although Toomey Tourell and Michael Petronko Gallery have been extremely gracious and willing to give me the space and opportunities necessary, I have elected not to exhibit because I haven't been as compelled to present as I have been to observe. Twice, I have postponed exhibitions, not because I am a diva, but because I did not feel I was ready to communicate what I wanted to say, and was having a difficult time translating my thinking into artistic expression and output. Annoy.com, which has always been a valuable vehicle of expression for me has also suffered somewhat from my unwillingness to pontificate on anything and everything happening, as has been my history. And yet I have toyed with other social media outlets, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pandora, Amplify and others as I have tested to see what they offer and what they take. As well as the rapidity with which they have grown, developed and become mainstream. For the most part, participation in social media seems free, but it comes at a considerable cost. A cost to our privacy. And a cost to our appreciation of what that privacy is and why it remains so vital. My upcoming show, Full Disclosure, tackles these issues head on. It is a dark, nightmarish multimedia journey that explores the rise of social media and the extent to which it has obliterated our understanding and sense of privacy, catering to the most shallow, insecure and narcissistic instincts of our nature. The sharp yin and yang of it. How it helps as much as it hurts and connects as much as it isolates and pleases as much as it disappoints. But in the interim, Clinton Fein: Recap will draw selections from a decade of my work, with a few new pieces and snippets from what's next. I am very fortunate. Recap is an opportunity for me to recontextualize the three shows from Toomey Tourell. Although there have been other shows and exhibitions, notably WARning! at Axis Gallery in New York, the exhibiting of Torture in Beijing with Michael Petronko Gallery, and The Wall for Hanna Regev's curatorial powerhouse, Banned and Recovered: Artists Respond to Censorship (currently on the road through the California Exhibition Resources Alliance [CERA] ), the three shows -- Clinton Fein's Annoy.com, Numb & Number and Torture -- serve as pivotal evolution points in my artistic direction, and allow me, and now you -- should you choose to engage, to recalibrate things slightly. I know that in previous emails I kept making promises to write more frequently that I then immediately broke. As I have engaged on Facebook, Twitter etc. it seemed there was way too much to say and to way too many people. As I write this, and review the names of those on you on this list that existed long before Facebook, I realize I can write more personally and more profoundly than I can or do on any of those social networks, because I know you (almost every one of you). I tried doing the same on Facebook, and in fact ended up having to create a distinct public vs private persona so that keeping up to date with friends really was that. Below are my Facebook details and Twitter etc. These services have definitely made it easier to spout off things quickly and easily without the effort and energy it takes to put together the emails I have been sending you for years. But something is lost in the translation. And I would tell you to join, or follow me, or befriend me, but I'm not sure you should. And I'm not sure I want to be the one to prompt you to whore your privacy for quicker access to my pearls of wisdom, because no matter how much it may benefit you, there is an unequivocal cost. And like real whoring, once you do it, you can't undo it. Even though these emails are sporadic, and are sent to a whole bunch of you, they truly are to you. No one else. That in and of itself, is becoming quite remarkably unique. And I will continue to write them. Would be great to see you tonight if you're in the Bay Area, and apologies for the delayed response. For now. Clinton Recapping - Recap - Annoy.com - Numb & Number - Torture Same Persona, Different Locations - Facebook: Clinton Fein: Artist/Photographer - Twitter: @clintonfein - Amplify: Clinton Fein: Amp'd - Other Social Networks... Recent Solo and Group Exhibitions - Banned and Recovered - The Other Mainstream II - NOISE - Face It - Torture in the 21st Century - Peace Billboards: Artists Collaborate with the United Nations - Clinton Fein at Southern Oregon University Same Persona, Different Locations Facebook: Clinton Fein: Artist/Photographer My public persona on Facebook. I have rejected countless friend requests, because with one or two exceptions, I know everyone I have friended, and actually enjoy staying in touch and reading updates. But in so doing, I have isolated and distanced myself from people who don't know me, but know my work and want to keep abreast of what I am doing. As I prepare for my next exhibition, all about online privacy, I need to use Facebook as a vehicle, and don't want to communicate to and with my friends in the same way. So, please, if so inclined, join my public persona, which is focused on my work and the media, controversies and criticism around it. >>Clinton Fein: Artist/Photographer Twitter: @clintonfein Pearls of wisdom in 140 characters or less. AKA microblogging. Followers are people who follow you. With a few exceptions I don't know most of the people who follow my "tweets." Followers supposedly represent popularity which supposedly equals influence. I'm about as influential as a mute cow. The big unanswered question about Twitter is whether it is better to influence a few, and trust a few, or communicate to thousands without being heard at all. There is no such thing as reputation managment in this Twitterverse and there are as many twats as there are tweets. If it were to crash tomorrow, I wouldn't shed any tears. The hopelessly self-absorbed among you should definitely join. You have the potential to tell hundreds of thousands of people that you're waiting for your luggage. Or that the baby crying is annoying you. >>http://twitter.com/clintonfein Amplify: Clinton Fein: Amp'd Less known than Facebook and Twitter, this social network site is technologically smooth and functional and appears to be populated by people who are smart and literate. It allows you to easily capture and excerpt information from any site you chance upon, and comment on what you found interesting or relevant about it. Aside from a few minor issues relating to their newsfeed which can make it a bit too much (same as Facebook's news feed and Twitter in general) the guys who run the site are active participants and it shows. It allows you to aggregate content in ways that cause the likes of Rupert Murdoch to have apoplectic fits, but that's a good thing in my books. If they play their cards right, they're worth watching, and if you like sharing stuff you encounter on the Interwebs, this is a great way to show it and engage it. >>http://clintonfein.amplify.com/ Other social networks There are still my old places of communication that continue to grow organically as time passes. My blog, Pointing Fingers is a quicker, easier way for me to comment than the editorials on Annoy.com. And I continue to blog for SF Gate and my favorite of all, Redroom, which is run by their remarkable CEO, Ivory Madison, who I will be writing about more in the future, as she is unique in her approach to online content and privacy. We could use more of her type -- online and off. Of course there's my YouTube channel, and my much-ignored MySpace presence. Last, but not least, the definitive Clinton Fein repository, www.clintonfein.com, which is surpassed perhaps only by my Wikipedia page, but that one's for you to manage and enhance, not me! More on all of these in my next update. Soon, I promise... >>http://clintonfein.com/ Recent Solo and Group Exhibitions Banned and Recovered: Artists Respond to Censorship The Wall (Detail) 2008 Clinton Fein African American Library and Museum at Oakland Sept. 5 - Dec. 31, 2008 In a first-time collaboration, the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) and the San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB) are presenting an exhibit, curated by the ubiquitous and unstoppable Hanna Regev, which features work from more than 50 artists working in a variety of media. Participating artists interpret a censored text of their choice. The project provides a unique forum for visual artists to respond to the suppression of literary art. An exhibition of art inspired by banned books -- or in my case -- inspired by Pink Floyd's unforgettable film and album, The Wall. In Oakland, works by the following artists are on display: Jody Alexander * Michael Bartalos * Milton Bowens * David Broom Victor Cartagena * Mitchell Confer * Luis Delgado * Jordan Essoe Rodney Ewing * Clinton Fein * Liz Hager * Charles Hobson Justin Hoover * Richard Kamler * Lisa Kokin * Naomie Kremer Pat Lenz * Jose Ramon Lerma * Malcolm Lubliner * Kara Maria Mary V. Marsh * Barbara Milman * Douglas Minkler * Eileen Moderbacher Sasha Mosalov * Daniel Newman * Penny Nii * Priscilla Otani Anne Hicks Siberell * Elizabeth Sher * Sandra Ortiz Taylor Bryan Keith Thomas * Kathleen Walkup * Kazuko Watanabe Tanya Wilkinson * Noah Wilson * Jan Wurm >>Banned & Recovered: Artists Respond to Censorship The Other Mainstream II: Selections From the Collection of Mikke and Stanley Weithorn Condoleezza Antoinette, 2003 (Detail) Clinton Fein The Arizona State University Art Museum Sept. 27, 2008 - January 4, 2009 The Arizona State University Art Museum presents The Other Mainstream II: Selections From the Collection of Mikke and Stanley Weithorn, on view through January 4, 2009. The Other Mainstream II is the second exhibition at the ASU Art Museum that focuses on the adventurous contemporary art collection of Valley residents Mikki and Stanley Weithorn. True to its name, the exhibition reflects the dominance in the contemporary art world of artists from diverse backgrounds working with new issues of identity - a new mainstream. With most of the works in the exhibition created since 9/11, the collection is bold in its commentary on global concerns and in its figurative imagery. The paintings, drawings and sculptures reach beyond simply examining the assigned powers in politics, gender, and race, and move to a broader examination of our humanity through humor or fantasy or blunt honesty. Artists include: Emma Amos, Sanford Biggers, Iona Rozeal Brown, Gordon Cheung, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Edward del Rosario, Tjorg Douglas Beer, Tom Duncan, Nekisha Durrett, Edouard Duval-Carrie, Marcel Dzama, Clinton Fein, Luiz Flavio, Chitra Ganesh, Amiee Garcia, Deborah Grant, Elizabeth Huey, John Jodzio, Ai Kijima, Min Kim, Machida Kumi, Marcia Kure, Carter Kustera, Maximillian Lawrence, Dinh Qa, Monika JM Lin, Whitfield Lovell, Paul Marcus, Bradley McCallum, Dominic McGill, Vik Muniz, Brett Murray, Chris Ofili, Lamar Peterson, Moritz Schleime, Claudette Schreuders, Rachell Sumpter, Jacqueline Tarry, Masami Teraoka, Mickalene Thomas, Jamie Vasta, Tran Trong Vu, Roy Wasson Valle, Caleb Weintraub, Amy Wilson, Su-en Wong, Zhang Xiaogang, Steve Yazzie. >>The Arizona State University Art Museum NOISE Burn, Baby Burn, 2007 (Detail) Clinton Fein Anton Gallery, 701 Hawthorne St., Monterey October 15, 2008 - November 4, 2008 A culture full of noise...political, environmental, social, personal...is the topic of an exhibition curated by Patrick Frank and presented by the Anton Gallery in Monterey, opening October 16 as part of the national Art of Democracy movement (http://artofdemocracy.org/). Eight artists: Jesus Aguilar, Anthony Discenza, Clinton Fein, Richard James, Patrick Jennings, Tony Sheeder, Lisa Solomon, and Heather Wilcoxon work with issues as diverse as the use of torture at Abu Ghraib (Fein), horror of firearms (Solomon), environmental destruction (Wilcoxon), abuses of the internet (Aguilar) and moribund urban design (Jennings). Coming from Sacramento, Sausalito, San Jose. San Franciso and Oakland, the NOISE artists share only a willingness to confront the issues that most concern them. I come from South Africa. I was aware from the time I came into adulthood of apartheid and its implications...When I left the country, you could be arrested for quoting Nelson Mandela. So the First Amendment is very important to me, that it be real. You have to work to make sure free speech is protected, and the people's right to know...And that led to the Annoy.com lawsuit, Apollo Media vs Reno...I don't think that artists have to do work that deals with issues. I do think that artists can bring issues to the table in a unique and powerful way. (My quote from the program.) >>NOISE, Anton Gallery Face It - Torture in the 21st Century Clinton Fein, Downfall (Detail) 2007 Clinton Fein Highways 1651 18th St Santa Monica October 19 and October 20, 2008 Created by artist-educator Robert Adanto, this unique evening of theatre, art and discussion will examine the use of torture by the US armed forces and the CIA, and the Bush administration's redefining of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The evening's program begins with a performance of Harold Pinter's 1984 award-winning "One for the Road." Set in a police state, it is a chilling study of power and powerlessness. The production will feature photographs from "Torture," a recent series by the controversial South African artist-activist Clinton Fein, known for his notable Supreme Court victory against Janet Reno, challenging the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act in 1997, where Fein's right to disseminate his art was upheld in a landmark victory for First Amendment rights. Following the performance, Michael Rapkin, an ACLU attorney who has sued both the President and the Secretary of State while representing his client, a suspected enemy combatant held in Guantanamo Bay, will lead a discussion concerning torture in the 21st century and various legal avenues pursued by the Bush administration to justify and maintain its coercive interrogation program, and the response by Congress and the courts. In addition, noted documentary filmmaker Nonny de la Pena and digital media artist, Peggy Weil, who will share their latest creation, Gone Gitmo, an installation of Guantanamo Prison Prison in the virtual reality environment, Second Life. >>Face It - Torture in the 21st Century Peace Billboards: Artists Collaborate with the United Nations Seeing Peace Billboard, 2008 (Detail) Clinton Fein Peace Billboards: Artists Collaborate with the United Nations May 26, 2008 - Jun 22, 2008 The University of San Francisco (USF), under the direction of Associate Professor of Visual Arts, Richard Kamler, presented Peace Billboards -- a project of Seeing Peace: Artists Collaborate with the United Nations, an innovative public art installation project. Seeing Peace is a visionary international initiative that seeks to bring the imagination of the artist to bear on the most pressing global issue of our time, peace. Peace Billboards brought the imagination of 10 visual artists, one each from a member state of the United Nations to engage in a dialogue of international peace through the creation of culturally construed images as to what peace looks like on full size outdoor advertising spaces, billboards, in San Francisco. The images of peace created by the participating multinational artists were intended to engage the publics' imagination by being showcased on 10 different highly visible billboards in San Francisco. The artists are from South Africa (Clinton Fein), Iran (Taraneh Hemami), Burma (Kyi Win), El Salvador (Victor Cartagena) , U.S. (Richard Kamler), Puerto Rico (Rafael Tesseles), Cuba (Tonel), Ukraine (Igor Gustevev), Japan (Betty Nobue Kano) and Uzi Broshi (Israel). "This public installation of 10 distinct images on different billboards in San Francisco will press members of our community to reflect on peace and challenge their own vision of peace. I am convinced that if we do not have a vision, a complex, multi-national vision, as to what peace looks like, we might never get there," said Richard Kamler. The project has the potential for a significant impact on our community as it will not be confined to the walls of a museum but will be in public space for any and all to see. There is a rational explanation as to why I used an image from my Torture series.. Here are some conversations on my billboard taken by members of the public and uploaded to YouTube: Peacebillboards.org-Clinton Fein Dialog By thisisthenewmovement Peacebillboards.org-Clinton Fein Dialog Artist Clinton Fein's billboard for the Peace Billboards Project By thisisthenewmovement Peacebillboards.org-Clinton Fein Dialog Artist Clinton Fein's billboard for the Peace Billboards Project By thisisthenewmovement >>Seeing Peace Billboard Project Clinton Fein at Southern Oregon University Clinton Fein Dick Cheney (Detail) 2001 Controversial Art at SOU Apri 17, 2008 - May 2008 The Department of Art and Art History at Southern Oregon University (SOU) is presenting an exhibition of the politically controversial work of Clinton Fein in the Thorndike Gallery of the Art Building. His political images have been immersed in controversy and dissent for a number of years. Fein is a native of South Africa who lives in San Francisco. He left South Africa at the height of the harsh climate of apartheid and censorship, hoping to find free expression in the United States. The exhibition at SOU harshly criticizes the foreign policy of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Horrifying high-resolution images of carefully staged photographic reenactments of the torture of prisoners by the American military at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq set the tone for the exhibition. Fein felt that the photographs shown in the press that were taken by American soldiers who participated in the Abu Ghraib abuses veiled the actual horror of the events. He concluded that only sharp, high-resolution images could convey the full impact of the humiliating atrocities and expose the policies of torture that the Bush administration routinely endorsed. The images are horrifying, but Fein would argue, not as horrifying as torturing other human beings or tolerating it as a national policy. Another image depicts George W. Bush crucified on a cross with the caption "Who would Jesus Torture?" A phallic missile wrapped in an American flag emerges from his loin cloth. Other derisive images portray Dick Cheney and other members of the Bush administration in similarly scathing situations. In 1997, Fein filed suit against Attorney General Janet Reno to challenge flaws in the application of the First Amendment of the Constitution. He maintained that the First Amendment protected the right of an individual to annoy. Furthermore, he asserted that indecency was one of the most effective tools to counter public apathy. The suit made it to the Supreme Court, and Fein won the case. The exhibition was organized as a senior capstone project by Phoebe Peterson, a graduating art history student. She noted that Fein's work "deliberately provokes reaction and is meant to make people think about what is really happening in the political world." Peterson added, "[Fein] wants us to be disgusted and horrified, as the current state of American foreign policy should make us feel." She also noted that the exhibition was suitable only for mature audiences with open minds. The exhibition continues through May 16. Fein has accepted an invitation to present a lecture on his work in early May. The date, place, and time will be announced. >>Clinton Fein at Southern Oregon University This is a monthly (more like quarterly) online newsletter by Clinton Fein. You receive it because we're friends, family, know one another, or you have requested to be on this list in order to keep up with what I am up to. If for any reason, you don't want to receive this, please just hit your reply button and enter the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line, and your name will automatically be removed from the list. Clinton Fein Email: I try and send out updates about once a month, but am not alway able to be so fastidious. I will respond to all and any emails I get from anyone, so please respond when you can. Feedback is not just welcome, it's encouraged.