Traps PS- Peer Review
This song is from LA band Traps PS‘s 2025 album, Abstractor.
They will be playing at The Smell in Los Angeles on Friday 6/20/25, with The Two Seasons and Practice. The show is a benefit for Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
“Adam”, 1963, Tempera on panel
“Adam”, 1963, Tempera on panel (detail)
The Brandywine Museum of Art is currently showing Human Nature, a selection of work by Andrew Wyeth focused on the human form. The museum has an extensive collection of the artist’s paintings and often has shows focused on him and his artistic family.
From the museum about this exhibition-
One of the artist Andrew Wyeth’s enduring legacies is his highly original response to the subject of the human body. Alongside his iconic landscapes and visionary responses to buildings, botany, and beyond, his figure paintings and drawings offer particular insight into how this unique creative journey took shape, and how he was connected to the history of art.
The rarely seen paintings and drawings on view in Human Nature reveal an artist who was steeped in the tradition of Western art, engaged in a diligent study of the human form via the long-tested methods of sketching from live models and plaster casts, and who found in his portrait subjects ways of evoking enigmatic narratives and inner lives.
The works in this exhibition, drawn from the Brandywine and Wyeth Foundation collections as well as one exciting loan from a private collection, present a unique opportunity to understand Wyeth’s eye. Case studies include early figure drawings made in his father’s studio, self-portraits, intimate depictions of close family members, a little known and fascinating body of commissioned portraits, a broad representation of his mature practice including many major figural temperas and watercolors, and a final section on how he approached the nude figure. One highlight is the loan of Wyeth’s portrait of Professor Joyce Hill Stoner, a leading art conservator who shares in the exhibition’s wall texts some firsthand reflection on the process of being painted by Wyeth. Visitors will come away with new understanding of a remarkable lifelong practice that clarifies the operations and values at work across his art.
The painting above is of Adam Johnson who raised chickens and pigs a short walk from Wyeth’s studio in Chadds Ford. When this was painted, Wyeth had already known him for thirty years. Other interesting paintings in the show include the two very different portraits of Wyeth’s sister Ann, from earlier in his career, pictured below.
“Ann Wyeth in White”, 1936, Oil on canvas
“Ann”, 1939, Egg tempera on panel
From the museum about these two works-
As a young artist, Wyeth made a few dozen works in oil on canvas before abandoning this medium for good. There is a stark difference between the two portraits of pianist and composer Ann Wyeth, the artist’s sister, made three years apart. This depiction is handled very freely, in contrast to the more tightly painted tempera to the right, in which the artist and, by extension, the viewer loom over the subject in a most unsettling way while Ann Wyeth ignores our gaze in her peripheral vision.
This exhibition closes 6/15/25. A new exhibition of Wyeth works, Andrew Wyeth at Kuerner Farm: The Eye of the Earth, will open on 6/22.
This mural was created in 2019 by Tomokazu “Matzu” Matsuyama as a commission for The Houston Bowery Wall in NYC.
Matsuyama recently completed the painting Morning Sun Dance, inspired by Edward Hopper’s 1952 painting, Morning Sun. An exhibition of his paintings and works on paper centered around this new work opens at Edward Hopper House Museum in Nyack, New York, on Friday, 6/20/25.
From the museum about the exhibition-
The exhibition centers around Matsu’s new large-scale painting Morning Sun Dance. Of the work that inspired his painting, Matsu says, “While Hopper’s Morning Sun captures a moment of introspective stillness within the psychological landscape of mid-century urban life, his treatment of solitude, light, and constructed space continues to influence my own approach to thinking about isolation as well as my approach to painting.”
In Morning Sun, Hopper depicts a woman sitting on her bed in the sun, alone in an empty room, wearing a plain orange dress and a simple, contemplative expression. In Morning Sun Dance, Matsu paints a solitary woman with a similarly meditative demeanor. However, her environment is far more richly layered: the room is filled with personal artifacts—dogs, magazines, and a luxurious couch—reflecting contemporary material life. Notably, the presence of dogs, while suggesting companionship, also references historical depictions such as Toutou, le bien aimé by Rosa Bonheur (1885) and A Nurse and a Child in an Elegant Foyer by Jacob Ochtervelt (1663), in which dogs symbolized wealth and ownership. In Matsu’s work, these animals subtly underscore solitude rather than alleviate it—suggesting not connection, but the heightened self-awareness of being alone.
Her clothing fuses Western and Japanese motifs—a William Morris textile layered with traditional patterns—while a Sports Illustrated poster of Muhammad Ali nods to her alignment with diversity, strength, and modern identity. In contrast to Hopper’s figure, who gazes outward toward the cityscape, Matsu’s subject turns inward, facing her domestic space. This shift in gaze implies a broader narrative: solitude, once externalized and meditative, is now negotiated through personal space and cultural consumption.
The exhibition will also feature Matsu’s process drawings, which reveal how the artist engaged with Hopper’s use of light, figuration, and abstraction. Two additional smaller paintings by Matsu also reinterpret Hopper’s iconic figure in the orange dress—one from Hopper’s original perspective, and the other from an external vantage point, as if observing the figure from the outside.
“This exhibition offers a fascinating dialogue between two artists from different eras, both grappling with the complexities of modern life and the experience of solitude,” says Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, Executive Director of the Edward Hopper House Museum. “Matsu’s vibrant and layered response to Hopper’s work invites us to reconsider themes of isolation and introspection through a contemporary lens, highlighting the enduring relevance of Hopper’s vision while embracing new perspectives.”
The Beach Boys- Good Vibrations
Brian Wilson, musician, singer, songwriter and producer passed away today at 82. As a member of The Beach Boys he helped create some of the most famous music of 1960s America, and also arguably one of the best and most influential albums ever made, Pet Sounds.
Good Vibrations was released as a single the same year as Pet Sounds but was left off the album. It is one of the songs that best exemplifies Wilson’s unique production style.
A little more on the song from Wikipedia–
Promoted as a “pocket symphony” for its complexity and episodic structure, the record had an unprecedented production and expanded the boundaries of popular music, elevating its recognition as an art form and revolutionizing standard practices in studio recording. It is considered one of the greatest works of rock, pop, and psychedelia.
Wilson was inspired by the concept of extrasensory perception, Phil Spector‘s production of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’“, and recreational drugs, possibly including LSD, in creating the song. He produced dozens of music fragments (or “modules”) with his bandmates and over 30 session musicians across four Hollywood studios from February to September 1966. Over 90 hours of tape was consumed, with production costs estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars, making it the costliest and longest-to-record pop single at the time. The resulting track subverted traditional songwriting conventions through its use of development, a process normally associated with classical music, and abrupt shifts in texture and mood.
One of the most influential pop recordings in history, “Good Vibrations” advanced the role of the studio as an instrument and effectively launched the progressive pop genre, heralding a wave of pop experimentation and the onset of psychedelic and progressive rock. The track incorporated a novel mix of instruments, including cello and Electro-Theremin; although the latter is not a true theremin, the song’s use of the instrument spurred renewed interest in theremins and synthesizers. The flower power-inspired lyrics reinforced the Beach Boys’ association with the 1960s counterculture, while the phrase “good vibes”, originally a niche slang term, entered mainstream usage.
Rest in Peace.
In 2016, Taylor Mac performed his immersive 24-Decade History of Popular Music in a theater in Brooklyn for a full twenty four hours. Normally performed in sections, this was the first and only time this had been done. Decade by decade, from 1776-2016, the history of popular music and the history of America merge, with a decidedly queer slant.
The documentary, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, includes footage from the show combined with interviews with Mac, his incredible costume designer Machine Dazzle, his musical director Matt Ray, and his co-director Niegel Smith. Although Mac is the main performer, the show includes a stage full of musicians, additional singers, and his “Dandy Minions” who can often be found offstage interacting with the audience. Mac’s desire to draw people together and build community is highlighted during several moments focused on the audience’s participation.
Throughout the many hours, performers leave the stage for good leaving only Mac by the end of the show. This is meant to mirror the losses from the AIDS epidemic. Even with only a small selection of these moments, you can feel the effect this creates.
Inventive, beautiful, funny, and often moving, this documentary provides a small taste of the performance and will leave you wanting more.
Mac’s costume for the 1980s
Taylor Mac and Machine Dazzle
Mac’s costume photo shoot for the 1950s
Mac with an audience member
Panchiko- Honeycomb
This song is from Panchiko‘s 2025 album, Ginkgo.
The band is playing at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on Saturday, 6/14/25 with Kitty Craft.
Breaking Free by Rhys Meatyard for the 2023 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
From the artist about the mural-
For my mural, I wanted to do something hopeful and bright, and the color palette reflects that intent. I took inspiration primarily from classical art and 70s prog rock album covers. I am a big fan of Roger Dean – the artist behind covers for bands such as Yes and Uriah Heep – and borrowed some of his themes for this piece. In the foreground, you see two statues in a colonnade, and as your eye moves across the piece into the mid and background, you become aware that the land and temple are breaking apart, with parts floating off into the sun. The furthest statue has awakened and is stepping off of her base, gazing into the sun. Although the context – the solid ground she has been standing upon is breaking apart – should be frightening, she is looking into the light and moving towards her new existence. This is a metaphor for the process of being reborn in the breaking we all face in our lives, for waking up to the beautiful and terrifying reality of self, and becoming another thing and venturing into the unknown.
Spatially, the piece unfolds for you as you round the corner approaching it. Your first view is of the static statues, and as you come closer, the rays of sunlight draw you in to the rest of the scene. There is not much room to stand back from the piece, so you are forced to confront its magnitude up-close, pulling you into the world in which it exists.
Pictured above is All that Glitters is Gold (for Liberace), 2000, from the portfolio 1989. A Portfolio of 11 Images Honoring Artists Lost to AIDS, by Lari Pittman. It was on view last year as part of Cleveland Museum of Art’s group exhibition, New Narratives: Contemporary Works on Paper.
From the museum about the work-
Lari Pittman made this print as part of a portfolio honoring visual and performing artists lost to the AIDS epidemic. Dedicated to pianist and singer Liberace (1919-1987), Pittman referenced the performer’s renowned love for glitz and glamour through what he calls over-decoration. The male profile (perhaps representing a young Liberace), diamonds, sunbursts, and undefined architectural elements in layers of bright, complementary colors celebrate artificiality, or in the artist’s words, “frippery” that defines both Pittman’s practice and Liberace’s public persona.
Art21 also has several videos of Pittman discussing his work worth checking out.
The newsletter returns– this week I’m talking about AI and tying in some posts from the website- check it out and subscribe!
Currently on view on the High Line in NYC is Teresa Solar-Abboud‘s colorful sculpture, Birth of Islands.
From the High Line’s website about the commission-
Teresa Solar-Abboud creates sculptures, drawings, and videos characterized by an interest in fiction, storytelling, natural history, ecology, and anatomy. In her work, she alludes to material entities in states of transformation and the tension between the organic and synthetic, interior and exterior, gestation and birth, and embryonic and advanced. Solar-Abboud wields these tensions as a tool, not to draw binary juxtapositions, but rather to suggest that they co-exist in a quantum world, in a constant flow state of evolution. This is articulated in her work through an interest in and re-imagination of life’s diverse and sophisticated networks—cultural, geological, industrial, and anatomical—and how these systems overlap or sometimes clash.
For the High Line, Solar-Abboud presents Birth of Islands, a new sculpture in her series of zoomorphic shapes inspired by animals and prehistoric life forms. Birth of Islands, is composed of slick, blade-like foam-coated resin elements that emanate outward from the pores of a muddy, gray ceramic stump. When visiting New York, Solar-Abboud was struck by the landscape—building after building rising from the soil in a fight for prominence, just as vegetation in the forest combats for sunlight in order to survive. Birth of Islands refers to this competitive ecosystem, while also evoking human anatomy: two yellow, tongue-like emanations have seemingly tunneled their way from underground onto the High Line. The forms are spoon-like in their appearance, concave or convex, depending on one’s vantage point. The result appears simultaneously post-human and primordial, sophisticated and elementary—a representation of our own unending transformation alongside nature’s ever-evolving state.
This sculpture will be on view through July 2025.