Patti Smith Alert!

I received a Patti Smith alert about her US summer concert tour. The closest show to me is Philly, standing room only at Tracadero, but I can't seem to get an invitation. I was checking out the Santa Monica Twilight Series where she is appearing on August 16 (you, in LA, and you know who you are, you should get your tush to this show), I saw this funny show note offered by the Santa Monica Pier promoters:

"NEW bike valet! So successful, so appreciated at the City's Farmer's Markets and other local events, we are pleased to offer free valet bike parking to our patrons at the western entrance to the shows."

I don't believe bike valet service has hit critical mass here on the east coast, yet. Bike valet service! I just see this big concert with thousands of people in garish spandex. All those big rubber butts swaying. Water bottles sloshing. Reflective vests shining. Helmet safety lights blinking maddly...Patti Smith grining.

Something is Really Going On

Galerie Lelong, down on 26th Street, NYC, has just opened this show. Yet another important show of feminist art at a renown gallery. What could be happening! This exhibition, opening on the Ides of March, Role Play: Feminist Art Revisited 1960-1980,investigates women's shifting and constructed identities. Lord knows, we've got 'um. I've had at least three just today.

Then, there is Global Feminisms, organized by Linda Nochlin and Maura Reilly for the Brooklyn Museum. In this show, the curators "contrast seminal feminist artists of the last 40 years and their influence on younger female artists, many of whom do not identify with the term." The show features young women artists and mid-career emerging women artists.

These shows along with Wack! at MoCA in LA, make my heart tap dance. I wonder if there is some kind of crone convergence, emanation polarity, curator infusion plot going on? If you are anywhere near these shows, let me know what you think. Ok? I am waylaid here in Baltimore, "Hon" city, as in, "Hey, Hon, ya wannanother cuppa coffee." The little city that is home to big-hair feminism. Yessss!

Photo:Boryana Rossa (Bulgarian, b. 1972). Celebrating the Next Twinkling (Praznuvane na sledvascia mig), 1999. Single-channel video, Edition of 2, 2 min. 45 sec. Private collection. Photograph courtesy of the artist