Tag: art

DUCHAMP CLEARS THE AIR!

Ahh, a breath of French air!

Marcel Duchamp‘s exile in New York, in 1915-1917, brought him sudden fame and changed the course of his career. Corinne Taunay’s lively and witty study describes the scandals of “Nude Descending a Staircase” and “Fountain,” the creation of the first readymades, and the evolution of Duchamp’s artistic strategies. With 19 illustrations in black and white and in color.

Corinne Taunay is a visual artist and art historian who has contributed to many publications in Europe and the US.

MARCEL DUCHAMP: Paris Air in New York
Corinne Taunay
Translated from the French by Doug Skinner
Paper; 50 pp., 15.24 cm x 19.05 cm; illustrated; color; $14
nonfiction
ISBN 979-8-9869224-4-7

Shocking and Scandalous!

THIS POST WAS UPDATED 4.30.22

Black Scat author Caroline Crépiat poses with her edition of LE CHAT NOIR EXPOSED at the recent exposition of Incohérents art at the l’Olympia in Paris. A true funhouse of exhibits and quite a scandal still, just as the early exposition in 1893 shocked the city. The Incoherents were irrational, satirical, iconoclastic and absurdist, but were they artists asked the public? “Mais oui,” exclaimed Jules Lévy, the founder of the Incoherent Art movement, “but these artists don’t know how to draw.” (haha)

Imagine the gasps of attendees when they spied Alphonse Allais‘s green cab curtain, titled Des souteneurs, encore dans la force de l’âge et le ventre dans l’herbe, boivent de l’absinthe (Pimps still in the prime of life and lying face down in the grass drink absinthe)—one of the earliest monochromes in the history of art!—shocking indeed.

Most of the original Incoherent’s artworks & ephemera did not survive, and could only be seen in 19th century illustrations. But then, in 2021, came a remarkable discovery in France — a large trunk with 17 examples of art by Incoherents, including Allais’s monochrome.

But wait…were these artworks real, or fakes and forgeries? And why was the show limited to only 4 hours of viewing?? (What next? A drive-thru exhibition?)

Experts, such as our friend, artist and critic, Corinne Taunay, have been investigating and discovered that several items (including Allais’s curtain!) aren’t authentic. Mon dieu! — another scandal rocks the Parisienne artworld! This brazen scam appears designed to reap enormous profit (10 million euros, anyone?) off the memory of dead avant-garde rebels.

Meanwhile, here in America where everything is branded “fake” today, we remain respectfully silent on the controversy. However, what we can guarantee is the authenticity of Ms. Crépiat’s LE CHAT NOIR EXPOSED. Indeed, her book is the real deal — translated from the French by the great Doug Skinner — an extraordinary work of scholarship that ‘exposes’ the liveliest fin-de-siècle bohemian cabaret and journal in Paris.

CLICK HERE and see for yourself.

In case you missed it…

…now’s the time for a dose of Allais.

MASKS  is quintessential Allais — a pataphysical text admired by the Surrealists (André Breton included it in his seminal Anthologie de l’humour noir). It was celebrated by the French group Oulipo, and has been the subject of scholarly studies by the writer and semiotician Umberto Eco, Francis Corblin, and others. Originally published in France under the title “Un drame bien parisien,” this Black Scat chapbook third edition has been adapted and illustrated by artist Norman Conquest, and includes an introduction and notes on the text by Allaisian scholar Doug Skinner.

This edition is out of print. An expanded, deluxe special edition
is available for order HERE

ECSTASY… NOW MORE THAN EVER

Amid the pain of pandemic, we hope this issue of BLACK SCAT REVIEW provides some welcome relief while sheltering in place.

In Plato’s Dialogue Phaedrus, ecstasy is characterized as divine madness or divine possession, and is considered to be a gift to humanity from the gods. However, we may choose to channel our erotic energies into sexual pleasure or the cultivation and worship of erotic beauty. A transcendent state expressed in poetry, a text, or images. This issue is devoted to the fleeting power of ecstasy in its myriad forms, subtle, unequivocal, or unabashedly palpable.

Contributors include: Peter Ruric, Yuriy Tarnawsky, Eurydice, Catherine D’Avis, Galya Kerns, Doug Skinner, Tom Whalen, Bob McNeil, Nicole Scherer, Tom Bussmann, Paul Rosheim, William Minor, Norman Conquest, Adam Matson, Dynamic Wang, Alexandr Ivanov, Jim McMenamin, Rhys Hughes, Amy Kurman, and Emiliano Vittoriosi.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

Welcome to America, Henry!

Descended from a long line of scribbles, Henry has arrived from the UK in time to accept the role of “Everyman” — a stick figure for our times. Although not fully formed (some might even say “crudely drawn”), he, like the rest of us, scrawls through life in wonder and confusion. He is sagebrush blown down a lonesome highway, a cloned cartoon at the mercy of fickle Fate. Henry doesn’t have answers, he dropped out of Doodle U. and the side effects of Nietzschian philosophy and post-Hegelian dualism have taken their toll. How else to explain that Czechoslovakian pimple on the end of his nose. We try not to laugh at his flubs and flaws, his Hollywood dreams and Kafkaesque nightmares, but it’s impossible. And that’s a good reason to grab this book.

THE ACCIDENTAL MOUSTACHE
Drawings by Peter McAdam
Chapbook, illustrated,
88 pp., $12
ISBN 13: 978-1-7331656-5-5

THIS TITLE IS OUT-OF-PRINT

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

A special issue, featuring Mark Axelrod, Angela Buck, Peter Cherches,  Catherine D’Avis, Farewell Debut, Eckhard Gerdes, Bob Heman, Charles Holdefer, Rhys Hughes, Esteban Isnardi, Harold Jaffe, Alexander Krivitskiy, Olchar E. Lindsann, Joel Lipman, Laura Mazzenga, Jim McMenamin, Peter McAdam, Doug Rice, Jason E. Rolfe, Paul Rosheim, Doug Skinner,Gregory Wallace, and Tom Whalen.

PLUS works in translation by
ALFRED JARRY, CHARLES CROS, THEOPHILE GAUTIER, JULES JOUY, PAUL VERLAINE, and LAURENT TAILHADE.

Sublime art & literature guaranteed.

BLACK SCAT REVIEW #18
edited by Norman Conquest
122 pp., trade paperback, $20
Available worldwide on Amazon

CLICK HERE TO ORDER ON AMAZON USA

WARNING: It’s Not The Sound of Music

LIVE ON PAGE!!!

Doug Skinner‘s delightfully absurd musical instruments appeared each month in the pages of our journal, Le Scat Noir. The artist has now rounded up all these drawings (along with previously unpublished specimens) for his new collection Instrumentarium: A Book of Curious Musical Instruments. Even if you’re  tone deaf,  this book will have you humming along, snapping your fingers, tapping your feet and laughing out loud.

Jam-packed with 180 drawings in blaring black and white, this trade paperback edition is available worldwide on Amazon for only $12.95.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER 

Green is the New Black

Have you seen The Book With the Green Cover?

It’s a collection of verbo-visual treats by Norman Conquest. It features posters, charts, mock book & magazine covers, rectified readymades, typographic diversions, found novels, and other detritus. It’s profusely illustrated with color plates and silverware.

Available now, just in time for summer. Be the first kid on the block to take this coffee table chapbook to the beach!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY