Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A Book About Death: Palumbo Picasso


Only Louise Millmann could rope me into a performance piece. The latest A Book About Death Exhibition installment will be at CW Post University's gallery, in November and my submission is in the mail today. The opening on November 3rd, will include performance pieces as a tribute to Ray Johnson's work as a conceptual and performance artist. Johnson, whose 'happenings' were actually called 'nothings', staged everything from ladder carrying, clothing cutting parties, art protests, and fan club meetings as part of his performances, but it was his 'foot-long' hot dog drop over Long Island that captured our fancy. Millmann's dramatic alter-ego Viv Maudlin, is at the ready to serve up a creative event, so it was time for me to introduce Palumbo Picasso, my riff on Paloma, whom Johnson deified through the Paloma Picasso Fan Club and incorporated into many of his portraits. As to what Maudlin and Picasso do, you'll just have to show up and find out.