Passionately devoted to contemporary art and artists, Dorothy and Herb Vogel—a New York City postal clerk and a librarian—began, in 1962, to build what would become a legendary art collection. They collected the art of their time and got to know the artists and their work, eventually bringing together some 5,000 artworks. In 1991, the Vogels donated most of their collection to the National Gallery in Washington. In addition, they selected 50 works for one museum in each of the 50 U.S. states. The Seattle Art Museum is the beneficiary in the state of Washington and will exhibit the Vogel gift in the spring of 2013, which will be contextualized by works from the museum’s collection.

– Catharina Manchanda, Jon & Mary Shirley Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art

The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection : Fifty Works for Fifty States
Seattle Art Museum, Third Floor Galleries, through October 27, 2013

“In loving him, I saw a cigarette between the fingers of a hand, smoke blowing backwards into the room and sputtering planes diving low through the clouds. In loving him, I saw men encouraging each other to lay down their arms. In loving him, I saw small-town laborers creating excavations that other men spend their lives trying to fill. In loving him, I saw moving films of stone buildings; I saw a hand in prison dragging snow in from the sill. In loving him, I saw great houses being erected that would soon slide into the waiting and stirring seas. I saw him freeing me from the silences of the interior life.” 

― David Wojnarowicz, Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration

Wojnarowicz’s journals have been digitized by the Fales Library at NYU. They, like he, are things of beauty.

The thrill and excitement that destruction invokes is common to us all. We experience this everywhere in our daily lives. Even though destruction itself may be the opposite of creation, in this age, the boundary between the two no longer exists…. Despite our refusal to empathize with destruction, we must consider it as a constructive site in order to move forward.

— Shozo Shimamoto in “Material Destruction,” Gutai Issue #7, 1957.

Today is the penultimate chance to experience Gutai: Splendid Playground at the Guggenheim — a celebration of one of the most influential and disruptive creative collectives the world has seen.

Grace Jones gets painted by Keith Haring — both are May babies, and creatures from a better planet who’ve blessed us with a spell here on Earth. Happy birthday.

Los Angeles’ Various Small Fires is currently host to Home Office, a solo exhibition by Anna Sew Hoy. Anna taught a workshop and lectured at Snow in the Desert, our gathering for women in the arts at Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs last summer. The show is up through the 18th of May. See David Pagel’s review in the LA Times and see more about Anna’s vision.

Alia Penner created this twenty-foot-wide backdrop for Father John Misty’s Coachella show this year. There’s a lot going on here — kind of like a mashup of John Ford movies, Monty Python and the Care Bears — the perfect visual alchemy for this year’s circus in the Bermuda Triangle of post-industrial America that happens to be our Southwest home and the site of Desert Gold. Stop by any time.

Erin Garcia action shot by Kim Anh — new mural on the Commune wall at Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs. More updates to come.

Stuff we saw at The Armory Show 2013 included neon interventions in the out-there by Jung Lee, like this one entitled Tell Me the Truth.