CREATIVE SuGAR

issue debut

sabrina scotteditor/graphic Designer Brian Pangilinanphotographer christopher greenwriter clarence singletonStylist Katarina smirnovawriter Kenneth Lundquist, Jr. writer Marilyn rechtwriter gavin reaphotographer
tiffany atkinsphotographer Laura Bluherphotographer & writer sherah JonesStylist Kendrick Zach cabeywriter
f r o n t c o v e r & B a c K c o v e r p h o t o s By g av i n r e a s t y L e d By s h e r a h J o n e s
creative-sugar.net & facebook.com/creativesugarmagazine & twitter.com/creative_sugar

CONTACT uS

2012 Creative Sugar Magazine. all rights to art, writing , photos, designs and copyrights are the property of the artist. all images in this publication may not be used without the artist s consent.

i n f o @ c r e at i v e - s u g a r . n e t

a lway S S e e k i n g w r i t e r S , p h o t o g r a p h e r S , StyliStS, DeSignerS, pr & aD folkS

Summer 2012 CREATIVE SuGAR

EdITOR
welcome to the Summer 2012 issue debut of Creative Sugar magazine! we have had a blast coming together and working on this issue. Simply put, i hope this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship formed in the name of art, its process and its inspiration. Creative Sugar is a magazine created by artists for artists and supporters. it celebrates edgy creativity in all of its forms be cause really, it s what we want. Creative Sugar is a publication where you can get your fix on a collection of sweet creative genius. it pays tribute to the tangible ambiance of the print magazine experience we all remember, as we evolve in a digital age. we have a core group of Contributors inside this issue, but are also seeking creative talent to help us out. Send an email to me at Sabrina@creative-sugar.net and be sure to like us on our facebook.com/creativesugarmagazine page in order to get updates on exciting developments. as we progress and grow, we would like to create and give a broader reach, creating dialoque among the audience. and we want to include music features and as well as our current mix of fashion and commentary with spotlights on some very inspired artistic talent. please. Join us on this exciting platform for emerging artists and vehicle for creative expression! Creative Sugar...you know you want it.

from the

Sabrina Scott editor/graphic Designer

CREATIVE SuGAR Summer 2012

theCONTRIBuTORS
albert Brian pangilinan, photographer - Jersey City, nJ
from a young age i was groomed and trained by my father to be a photographer. My earliest memories as a child are of the darkroom and developing along side my father. i was given a camera before i even understood the process. Many years later, Im still learning to capture light and the fleeting moments of life with my camera. His work can be seen at: http://delaobscura.com and http://brianpangilinan.500px.com

christopher green, Writer - london, england

Christopher is an abstract painter, photographer, graphic designer living and working in london but originally from Manchester. He does live painting, an experience on Facebook where conversations and comments flow among friends as he paints and develops his work. His work can be seen at: http://artgallery.co.uk/artist/ christopher_green

clarence singleton, stylist - Patterson, NJ

I started out in the fashion scene in 2004 as an assistant to a Fashion Editor. Later, after a couple of classes at F.I.T., I began styling musicians for music videos and promotional purposes. In 2008 I worked backstage for Mercedes Benz fashion week. i prepared looks for oscar de la rental, phillip lim, Joseph altuzarra and others. i am truly thankful. My philosophy in life is never stop inspiring to grow. the moon is the limit! http://clarencestylist.tumblr.com

Gavin spent much of his youth on Sydneys beaches, surfing and skateboarding. After completing school, Gavin made adventures by travelling to Europe, Mexico and North America. There, he first began using an old film SLR camera to document his travels, and his interest in photography flourished. Upon returning to Australia, Gavin continued his studies in Advertising and Fine Art photography. During this time, Gavin assisted some of Sydneys best fashion photographers. With time, he began to take his own jobs shooting, and his formal introduction as a fashion photographer came after editorials for acclaimed large-format magazines, Oyster and ELLE. Today, Gavin resides in New York City but continues to document his travel and surfing adventures in between jobs for clients including TESLA MOTORS, SONY MUSIC and REVLON. hi! im katarina. Currently i am residing in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden up north in europe. i was born Moscow, Russia and Ive also spent close to a decade in the USA. My foremost passion is art, but the way I inject this drug of mine, I like to vary. I have done painting, collage, theater and now Im into film. What stays sustained through my various flames of desire is the essence of story, and I do also have an affinity for language and the art of words. Shortly telling a story or hearing one is what i burn for, be it through music, on stage, in a painting or to a friend, I feel this is what makes life astounding!

gavin rea, photographer - new york, ny

Katarina sminova, Writer - Stockholm, Sweden

Kenneth aka KLJ, is a professional actor, model, performance artist, music composer, film & stage director, published poet, and galleried artist. His short film and music video Ohayoo Ohio won the Coolest Flick award from the Silk City flick fest in 2010 of which he produced, and was the lead actor; it was screened regionally, and became an internet sensation. He has been a featured canvas & sculpture artist at Real Art Ways, and ArtSpace. Creativity is his Universe. http://www.facebook.com/kljinc

Kenneth Lundquist Jr., Writer - new york, ny

Summer 2012 CREATIVE SuGAR

Laura Bluher, Writer & photographer - Brooklyn, ny

Laura Bluher is a Brooklyn-based artist and a recent graduate of the Photography & Imaging Department of New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts. Her latest creative endeavor, Tierra familiar, a photographic project about family and farming rituals in Pinar del Ro, Cuba, has been exhibited at the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba and the Calumet Gallery in New York City. She is currently working on several photographic and research projects based in Latin America. Contact her at lbluher@gmail.com

Marilyn recht, Writer - new york, ny

Marilyn earned several prizes at Queens College for her poetry and drama. She participated in the East Village performance art scene during the 80s and 90s, while contributing to local arts publications. In 1988 she produced a short play entitled Cowboys and in 1996 her poetry book She Must Have Been a Giant was published. Marilyn has worked for corporate and private interests as a ghost writer, copywriter, editor, proofreader, digital production artist, and studio manager. She is currently a senior medical editor. Marilyn can be reached at: mazrecht@gmail.com. her work can be seen at: http://fictioncollective.blogspot.com/2010/08/manleys-and-me-by-marilyn and http://nycfoto.com/index.php. http://examiner.com/coffeeshop-in-new-york/marilyn-recht

sherah Jones, stylist - Brooklyn, ny

Sherah is a fashion stylist/blogger/merchandiser living in Brooklyn, ny. originally from Miami, fl Sherah has worked with celebrity models, stylists, designers and talent including Jil Sander (+J), ginta lapina (women Model Management), Jacquelyn Jablonski (Supreme Management), Jason Sudeikis, Sabina Schreder and Katie Burnett. Check out her work at http://sherahstylist.tumblr.com and http://sherahstylistport.tumblr.com

tiffany atkins, photographer - Brooklyn, ny

I was born in the Deep South and raised by diplomatic gypsies. Ive traveled the world and landed in NYC. Im currently an art student at Pratt Institute studying Communications Design and Graphic Design. I live in Brooklyn.

Kenrick i Like Zach cabey, Writer - Brooklyn, ny

Kenrick Zachary Cabey studied at NYUs Steinhardt School. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, as the sixth child of immigrant parents from Montserrat. Kenricks became committed to exploring emerging and undiscovered artists after receiving sage advice from Gil-Scott Heron, who told Kenrick to go out and share with people the beautiful things happening in this world. The memory of his late mother, Sonia, a performance poet, and visual artist based in the Bronx, has also strongly influenced this position. Kenrick has served as a producer and host for The Traveling Wild Show, a live recurring exhibition of new music, poetry and visual art by New York artists. In 2011, curated his first group art show entitled Like Me Now and produces art, music, and literary exhibitions around the city. He can be reached at: ilikezach@yahoo.com

issue dEBuT
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Summer 2012 CREATIVE SuGAR

INSIdE

WhATS

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art & SweDen B Y K ATA R I N A S M I R N O VA E T H A N B O I S V E R T, A B S T R A C T PA I N T E R B Y K E N N E T H L U N D Q U I S T, J R . MeliSSa roBinS photography JeSSiCa Slagle a.k.a Slagletron By SaBrina SCot t BaD aSS p h o t o g r a p h e r B r i a n pa n g i l i n a n S t y l e D B y C l a r e n C e S i n g e lt o n lonDon Calling By ChriS green g e n e r at i o n w h y ? B y M a r i ly n r e C h t ARTIST DEVIN KYLE CUTHBERTSON By i like zaCh N O T YO U R S A M O, S A M O P H O T O G R A P H E R G AV I N R E A StyleD By Sherah JoneS B E YO N D T O U R I S M I N C U B A BY LAURA BLUHER

l e v i tat e , p h o t o By M e l i S S a r o B i n

CREATIVE SuGAR Summer 2012

, the capital. and Sweden is really neat, as in clean - not cool, although it is cool too, as in cold - not happening. i shouldnt be saying that, that its not happening, there are things happening in Sweden, i guess.
we did have that one scandal in the art world i found pretty amusing, and as often times these days in the media - very misconstrued. The artist is Makode Linde and the location was World art Day at the Moderna Museet here in Stockholm. The theme was fighting against censorship and for freedom of expression, it was arranged by Swedish Artists National Organisation who requested a number of Swedish artists to bake cakes for a party held in its connection. Now this is what I know of Makode linde afore hand (besides the fact that he already has a hella cool name); hes hot as hell, i mean really cute and hot and cutyou get the point. I saw him at this really neat (as in cool this time) New York - but still Euro-type artsy party with an young fashionable international crowd where drinks, which was beer cans, were sold via a ticket at the entrance due to the fact that they didnt have a liquor license. this is the epitome of cool in Stockholm, it is then called a black party, meaning that it is illegal and therefore, yeah you guessed it, really cool! i have heard it been said that its only for people in the know. i dont know how that is or what they know, all i know is that everyone seems to know of them, maybe because as most everything else these days it is advertised through Facebook. either way, i was standing there talking with a rather clich looking italian fellow, lanky suave and at that particular moment pleasingly and appropriately so spoony. But, then appears Makode. he had that familiar effect on me where for the moment, time stood still and the man seemed to be exuding a light, a form

ok so i live in sweden now, in Stockholm to be precise

of glow, like he was an angel sent to me from god. as soon as he had passed and i was back at that same party and i saw my italian friend for what he really was, a euro trash whos luster had been shadowed. immediately, i interrogated my bestie Andy on all info on the man, where upon andy blatantly stated, hes gay. imagine my shock - i cannot have? it was intolerable and infuriating, much like the reaction a lot of folks had to this latest art stunt he had. later on, i heard of him in the realm of art, although not really art-related. you see, he with company of some others was accused of animal cruelty. at a nightclub he dressed as a magician, staged a performance involving fish, hens and chicken. A couple of nightclub patrons felt for the animals and enthralled with concern they called the police, who by the time they got there, found the hens and chickens running around the night club likeyou knowcrazy hens and chickens and so forth. and while i understand the concern, i couldnt help but to be amused, but in the name of world news, this was an outrage. apparently, this was not an outrage that would be his last. So back to the cake episode. Makode linde created a cake in the shape of Venus of willendorf in black, essentially a naked black female body, and he insertArtist Makode Linde ed his face through a photo by Viceworld.com box from underneath. he painted on a blackface and as the first guest cut herself a piece, Makode took off screaming a scream of pain that went on for an hour, through several cuts of cake, by several guests. incidentally or not, the Minister of Culture in Sweden made the first cut. the outrage began, and as accustomed hither thou, accel-

Summer 2012 CREATIVE SuGAR

Art & Sweden

by Katarina Smirnova
Swedish Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth feeding Artist Makode Linde. Photos by Jorge Rivas, found on colorlines.com

erated. everything was discussed in terms of in rage over the artist complicit with the Minister. But, what no one ever talks about is what do we do about the issues recognized in the act. Something as basic as racism--something Makode can neither claim to have caused nor expect to cure. what happened to art being a free space?

CREATIVE SuGAR Summer 2012

E than Boisvert

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An Abstract Painter in a structured Age

By kenneth lundquist, Jr.

n a particularly auspicious New Years Eve, 2009, I met the most extraordinary artist Ive yet come to know. ethan Boisvert introduced himself and we chatted into the next year. he informed me that he was an abstract painter. Since im a huge fan of anything abstract, I was intrigued to see his work. Little did I know that the first painting he showed me would change my life forever. fast forward to april, 2012: ethan and i are riding the train into grand Central, on our way to tribeca where Ethan is featured in a gallery for an opening reception. I take the 80-minute opportunity to chat with him about the history of why he became a painter. Ethan graduated from the University of Hartford with a Bachelors degree in sculpture in 2002. i asked him why he went into painting instead. The truth is that I was indecisive about my major. I actually enjoyed all forms of art. I chose sculpture by

default because it had the most electives. It offered me a conceptual approach to art to which i really liked. In the real world there is little opportunity to show conceptual or installation art. Through painting I found an outlet that provided the opportunity to approach art conceptually and apply it to installation, with much less havoc than the sculpture world had. its more versatile because it can be large or small, stored with ease, and still contain magnanimous ideas. I really love it. its perfect for my vision to create something fresh and new. though the real world inspires my work, i never look at it directly to create it. there is no formula that i use, i want every piece to have its own story. Each painting for me is like a biography of a moment. playfully, i put myself into the role of hipster and asked him what his favorite colors are. although he said he had no favorite, his top five were: Hot Pink, Cadmium Orange, Windsor Blue, Ultramarine Blue, and Viridian green. continued on next page...

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e than boisvert - Abstract Artist

I tend to use bright colors, and offset them with muted colors to create the balance im looking for. i use neutral colors to bring more depth into the painting. Its very present in nature, this balance of color. when the sun hits a bright pink flower, the shades bring out its neutral pigments. its that hierarchy that brings forward the full spectrum of life. I asked Ethan which artists bring him inspiration. what inspires me most is great artwork and how artists articulate what they see in life. So naturally I enjoy artists of all ages, cultures, and forms. im attracted most to the modernists. My favorite artists are Leger, Pollock, de kooning, nancy graves, and rauschemberg. But the artist that inspired me the most is picasso because he is vast in all the works that he did: his painting, structure, color, form, medium, and his drive. howard hotchkins inspires me in his use of color that has a power that Ive never seen by any other artist anywhere. i asked if he had any mentors that he worked with. countered on his personal road of creativity. to make successful work, that is strong and moving, that can engage an audience. the stress of selling work can be overwhelming. I find its dangerous because I dont want the work to be complacent or cater to the masses. The competition is crazy. Art schools are churning out artists by the thousands. The small classes of people that support real artists choose from a small circle. trends, personal tastes, the agendas of gallery owners and collectors limits possible exposure. grants, competitions, juried shows are so overloaded, sometimes poorly managed, and block really great artists that may be lesser known. Budgeting your time, life, and money can be like a free fall. you have to create personal structure to be successful. Improvisation in an artists life is essential, though maddening at times. But it makes things interesting, and always fresh. In essence, im living my life like my paintings.

Whatme inspires

most is great artwork and how artists articulate what they see in life...

Ben lifson. he is the most worldly person i know in regards to the arts. hes knowledgeable in all the disciplines. we met as friends, because of our mutual disagreement on a Dali painting. We are both searching for the essence of great art: timeless art, that isnt bound by constraints of society or personal taste. he has shared the best in art with me. we discuss the dramas of great artists, and how their stories never change, its the environments that do. The characters are the same for artists in the human condition - what it means to make honest work that is a reflection of the human spirit. He encourages me to do the work i believe in. he refuses to take things at face value. He always examines the possibilities of the unknown. he looks for dynamics, expression, realness; always searching for works that are immortal. i asked ethan what are some of the challenges he has en-

An artist living his art, fantastic! I asked, what are some of the goals you have for yourself in the coming years of your creation?

Theyre a little abstract. I want to move to a city that has more energy based around the arts. im looking for more stability. to be able to reach more new ground in my work, and have it be my sole attention. I would like to experiment in different mediums. Im very interested in installations and would like to approach representational work again. Collaborative work with other artists is awesome! When you find the right people, you feel inspired and more relaxed to create. You find a new part of yourself to break new ideas. I asked Ethan if he had any advice for other artists. he peered out the window of the train. we were now in Harlem, just minutes away from Grand Central station. He said, You better be really serious about what

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pepperMint wiSH liSt BY ETHAN BOISVERT

youre doing. You better be able to accept real hardship. Maybe you make a great body of work, maybe its the most important work to the discourse of the art world; but that doesnt mean that youll be accepted, shown, or bought. there are a lot of trends, and creating in trend does not make great art. You better work really, really hard and find a great mentor. Thats what is going to get you to your groundbreaking work. you have to know, not think, that youre an artist. youve got to be tough, and be as extroverted as you are introverted. they need to see you. ethan Boisvert is not only an amazingly grounded and centered person but also a humble artist. He creates simply to create: a principle that, in my opinion, many artists forget. there is no grand message, no ideology, no morality to his work. it truly is art for arts sake. im honored to know ethan, and call him a friend. He continues to wow me and the rest of his audience with his work. He creates tirelessly, and without hesitation. He is a true artist. Visit Ethans website for more: www.ethanboisvert.com

niGara, BY ETHAN BOISVERT

azteC weddinG, BY ETHAN BOISVERT

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Melissa robin's photography illustrates Dreams

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ForeSt nyMpH, By MeliSSa roBin

My name is Melissa robin, based out of Brooklyn, ny. how do you describe yourself? everything in my life revolves around art; i am extremely passionate and driven to express myself through photography. What medium do you use to create? as of late, i use a Canon 5D Mark II with a variety of Canon lenses. My favorite is prime 85 f/1.2 and ultra-wide zoom 17-40 f/4. i also shoot with my back up bodies: Canon 1D Mark II, Canon 30D and Canon AE-1 for film. describe your work i would say my work is emotional and cinematic. I attempt to shed light, uncover and make known the beauty in subject matters, normally deemed ugly by societal standards. What inspires you? I am inspired by human emotions. Whether outwardly projected or the ones we harbor inside, emotion connects us all. Empathy and understanding others only comes from our own experiences with each feeling. it is this way we connect and how we silently share ourselves with one another that challenge and rouse me. What motivates you when you may not be inspired? i am motivated by my surroundings: light, nature and people. I might see an interesting shadow while walking to the subway or hear a child laughing and become unexpectedly motivated to find my camera. Everything has the potential to motivate me.

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BalanCe, By MeliSSa roBin

Why do you create? i create because i must. i dream of these images and am not satisfied until it has been visualized outside of my head. these images heal me and release my energies- negative and positive. I want nothing more than to open eyes; show each person how beautiful they are as well as unveil the unseen beauty in the world, around them. describe any elaborate activities, rituals you may have done while seeking inspiration. At times, Ill be so immersed in an idea or so inspired by a feeling, i wont mind or even notice the crazy risks I take: climbing onto a ledge, two stories up and balancing unsteadily on a four inch wide rail to get the perfect shot; exploring abandoned buildings or even photographing during a flood. If even one shot comes out, it is worth it. When did you know you wanted to be an artist? i have loved art since I can remember, the ultimate form of selfexpression. as far as being a professional photographer, the moment i hit the darkroom in Junior high, i knew. photography captured my soul. What do you hope to accomplish in 5 years? i would be happy if, in the next 5 years, my photography reached people all over the world; I plan to continually submit my work to magazines, contests and galleries and i hope to have at least one of my series published in a book. im excited to see how my photography will be influenced by the future, creative people Im going to meet; collaborations I will embark on; and with the additional element of underwater photography Im starting to explore, I am beside myself with anticipation and enthusiasm. Which is your own favorite piece or body of work? right now I am in the middle of a 366 self-portrait project. Sometimes I hate it because creating a new idea per day can be really exhausting or take too much time in an already busy day! however, the unbelievable way it has pushed and taught me so much about photography and who i am presently, keeps me engulfed. Who is your favorite artist? I have an entire electronic folder on my computer, full of favorite artists. If I have to choose one, it would be Salvador Dali. he was a dreamer who told his unconscious stories through painting. On the level of being inspired by dreams, i completely relate. any words to live by for an artist starting out? never give up and do what you love.

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t o p - F Lo w Bot toM - AbAndoned Right - down the RAbbit hoLe By MeliSSa roBin melissarobinphoto.com

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of these images and am not satisfied until it has been visualized outside of my head.
CREATIVE SuGAR Summer 2012 19

I dream

ShES AlSO kNOWN AS

By Sabrina Scott

essica Slagles friends call her Slagletron and several people describe her work as high fashion on acid as well as neo-pop art. She describes her work as a fusion between beautiful photography and digital collage. each piece is a day dream captured in a single moment, she said. She enjoys using tons of bright saturated colors and subtle layers of pattern in her work. i saw her work online and was impressed with her talent. When I met her for the firt time at a group art show at the Empire Hotel, the first thing that came to mind was how much she looks like a model with her tall frame, long red hair and flawless makeup. Shes quite a nice package of art, personality and style all wrapped up in a girl originally from St. paul Minnesota. Shes been living and working in new york for just a year now and by her energy and enthusiasm; I would say shes well on her way to big things in the big city. I was smoking a cigarette in the open air of the rooftop of the empire hotel that night at the show. By chance i met one of Jessicas friends. She was as enthusiastic about Jessica and her work as I was, and mentioned Jessicas senior thesis project was about art as a tool for meditation. Jessica later elaborated on the project and described that she made seven chakra meditation posters and while making each one, would open that particular chakra and infuse the piece with her own energy. She has done similar in her recent work. the recent digital collages she made are all portraits of various meditation visualizations shes had while living in New York City. Jessica said that New York is a magical place and it has drastically influenced her work. Music is another huge influence. Most of her pieces are titled after the song they were inspired from, she said. I often find that music helps create a siren-like quality in my workand helps to create a rhythmic progression throughout each piece. Within the next five years, Slagletron hopes to be showing her work in solo shows around new york as well as selling her work on a regular basis.

website: slagletron.com

TOP - HouSe JaM CENTER - in tHiS world B O T T O M - lu C i d

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SlAGlETRON

ABOVE - GnoSiS

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Badass
p h o t o g r a p h e r : B r i a n pa n g i l i n a n wa r D r o B e : C l a r e n C e S i n g l e t o n M O D E L : KO R E Y S H R U M - A D A M M O D E L M A N A G E M E N T
the badass is an uncommon man of supreme style. he does what he wants, when he wants, where he wants. you won't find him on facebook and Myspace because he is probably out being cool somewhere. traditionally, he will smoke, but it's not necessary at all. he feels no obligation whatsoever to justify his beliefs, values, convictions, morals et cetera with anyone. He likes his music because it sounds cool to him. you won't find him if you look for him because there is no sure way to identify him. one does not think that he is badass; he knowS it and that's that. alternatively, a badass is the complete opposite of a douchebag. likely to be found in a popular pub taking your money on the pool table then buying you a beer with it, you won't identify him by his clothing because there is no badass uniform. He's probably not sporting the latest fad, he's not wearing $200 jeans, and he doesn't have frosted hair. he's always up for a challenge, he'll probably succeed and he seems to be good at everything. But at the same time, the badass attitude is like: "ok well i don't give a shit". -from Urban dictionary.com

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Faux leather biker jacket with black barbwire shoulder trim-DUNBAR, Black tank - american apparel Black body rise straight leg jeans -Levis

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floral printed shirt - andrea palombini stealth indigo blue ultra skinny jeans - seven 4 all Mankind Western belt with detachable buckle - american vintage Brown & black lady killer sunglasses - tcB

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paisley silk shirt - Wissam fringed unisex suede cape - dunBar denim cut off shorts - gap

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Yoke collar western pearl snap shirt - Kenny Rogers Genuine leather straight leg pants - DKNY Silk paisley print pocket square - Etro Blue with brown leather piping belt - Tommy Hilfiger

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Citrus yellow button shirt - Fayshire Forest green corduroy blazer - Doublure Green acid washed jeans - Levis Paisley pocket square - Etro

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White and red short sleeve button shirt - Award Group Suede fringe jacket - American Vintage Jeans - Levis

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lONdON CAllING
i sit here on a rainy day, in my almost comfortable one bed flat, in an average South East London town. Im possibly the most out of place person where I live. I am an artist, I dont think like the majority of society. When that very society is what your survival depends on, despite how much you suffer because of this societys structure, it makes you think about society a hell of a lot. in terms of my artwork, a lot of people ask me about the style of my work. To me, it is an illogical question. My style is not real so it is surreal but it is not surreal style to me, as Dali was surreal. Dali took you into that world and made it very real! Technically, he was one of the greatest artists to have walked amongst us; he was a blessing to us all! he was an artist! An artist is their art, it is all they know, and it is their living.... a funny word that eh... living? i dont see many of us making the living we rightly deserve! we put our heart and soul into our artwork while society is programmed to totally devalue that fact! people can go to ikea and get a ten-foot canvas and a cactus to replace the one that died from being watered too muchall for 20! what happened to culture? what happened to community? if more people bought original and local art, we could produce work faster and lower our prices! But then most people would rather spend 100 of their payday loan on drink and drugs and getting off their tits to forget about their hell of a life working all week in some robotic-like, mindless, soulless computer controlling device. Society seemingly does not want individual people doing their individual tasks, in individual societies because this does not generate big tax and certainly is less controllable! I dont remember when I last sold a painting. I have a possible commission, but that is just bread and water money. Sometimes I really see no way out of everything because the

by Chris Green

economy is a total mess, the government is corrupt and greedy, and the people totally demoralised! So i smile as much as i can, and paint as much as i can i make an honest living when there is not much choice. So, I paint... and think.... and feel... and just about survive, with a smile because they cannot hold me down! i am an artist! I deserve respect for that! Did Dali beg of governments? no, he painted his mind, a big scoop of socially deformed brain cells, smeared on a big canvas for all unworthy people to see! Artists suffer a subliminal oppression because we do not think like the majority, so I think we are automatically labeled as mad! The difference between myself and a madman, is i am not mad, or something along those lines. obviously, i feel that governments try to limit free thought and opinion, of which art does encourage. Such things can only be counter productive to society running smoothly to generate tax to keep them rich and us all struggling to attain some form of social status that well not likely achieve, certainly not as an artist! Being an artist doesnt even seem to qualify as an acceptable form of employment. and graphic design and photography are both lost arts with all these digital cameras and photoshop nonsense! (Sorry photographers, email me if you disagree.) Anyway, that is just a little window into life as an artist in london. feel free to drop me a line on my email: chrisgreenart@yahoo.co.uk oh, and check out a band from Manchester called Buddhist anarchist. heavy punk tunes with a natch Manny swag! ave it! peace.

i am an artist, i dont think like the majority of society.

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GENERATION Why?

by Marilyn Recht

es children, its true. Once upon a time we were uncomputerized. if you were driving on a highway at night and your car stalled, you had to walk to the nearest phone booth to call aaa. when a paper was due, you had to go to the library and look things up in an encyclopedia. and then you had to clack clack clack for hours on a typewriter that did not self-correctand just hope you didnt lose your only copy. If you needed cash after-hours you had to wait with everyone else for the bank to open in the morning. if you were dying to talk to your best friend, you used a real phone and hoped they were home because there were no answering machines, no email, and no texting. Can you imagine? the new computo-sapiens brain has been rewired for instant contact. Socializing is elusive, which i guess is why bars will never go out of business. i remember when printed personal ads were the rage and you had to wait by the mailbox for results. then when the missives arrived you waited by the phone. now thanks to match.com, Cupid, harmony, etc., its easy to have a fantasy relationship. If youre scared of actual dating, extended email is perfect. Or if one lives in Zimbabwe and the other in new york, the lovers can remain idealized forever. Unfortunately, dating sites also lead to callous rudeness; its too easy to drop a candidate once another more attractive one swims into view.

president palin succeeded. thanks to facebook and youTube, the possibilities of networking and self-promotion are endless. Twitter, the epitome of ADHD, streams seductively with celebrity sound bites. But as one who has posted earnest tweets to alec Baldwin and alexandra wentworth with no response, i know that access is delusional. I have to respect those who reject being jacked up and plugged into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. these people are usually baby boomers or older who cherish the old-fashioned values of quiet, privacy, and selective friendship. (Others just dont want to be found.) the encouragement of a wall post rings cheerless, as does Im sorry ring false. A real emotion necessitates real contact. Is it possible that the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, circa 1990, marked a new era? After all, if there is nothing to divide us, there is nothing to hide. Look at all the reality TV shows that have popped up since then. Its a glut of tell-all, not just by celebs but by common folk who think that being on camera makes them fascinating and enviable. And years of unpacked accumulated guilt have led to cooking shows that offer escape from eating wisely, while the many channels of judges punish us for our excesses. We Americans are not keen on growing up. Unruly and amoral, we rush into fads, gulp down panaceas, and invest in looking and feeling forever young. we worship the continuous present, as if the past has no bearing and the future is irrelevantwhile the world wide web, our omnipotent god, feeds our bottomless hunger to be everpresent and ever-immersed, yet safe from the ravages of reality.

and bien sur, facebook. true, you can keep track of loved ones without too much effort. And you can contact a longlost friend or lover in an instantbut youre also defenseless against being found. I used to enjoy keeping certain people as distant memories, but now the jig is up, the playing field is leveled. at best, important knowledge can be posted and shared; at worst, fB is a free-for-all of banal confessions, boasts and complaints. i dont mean to oversimplify. it was in large part thanks to his savvy of social media that obama was able to boost his popularity and win the election. Otherwise we may have had an international revolution when McCain died in office and

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devin kyle Cuthbertson Pharaoh Artist of Bushwick,Brooklyn

by iLikeZach
Like Rah, Im a Ras/ And a prince in my Black ass/ Nigga, pass on that/ Nigga pass on gas psychoegyptianaryan Boy, Bounce to this freestyle, coon carnival its friday night. Bushwick new york. youre in what my girlfriend (and hugh grant) would call the dodgy end of the New York art community. You get off the l train and swing a right on Johnson ave in search of youth group gallery. in search of Devin kyle Cuthbertson and the opening of his latest solo art show now That all The Riff Raff is Gone. fuck that. too surreal sounding... start again: Dont you hate that annoying text on a Saturday morning? you wake up, punch in the code to unlock your phone. Fuck it up because youre too tired. Punch it in again and finally read a single short message, marking you immediately as this weekends unofficial damn fool. It reads: Yo! Whyd you go home? The after-party was AMAZING! Congratulations. You just played yourself. you thought you saw Devin kyle Cuthbertsons solo art show but you missed an awesome music set by the Good Kids. Not to mention a live performance by Devin in the form of his musical alter-ego Psychoegyptianaryan Boy. Verbose a little too condescending. One more tryHere, at the end of an age that may be defined by war, recession, and a western identity still reckoning with its grandest hopes deferred, Brooklyn native Devin kyle Cuthbertson has done something truly amazing at youth group gallery. he has found a way to reach into the greasy innards of the new york, perhaps the american zeitgeist and pull out the dirty truth. By way of his own individual brilliance he has denied artistic convention with the fiercely intelligent, yet unashamedly derogatory esthetic that courses through his art and, inevitably, all those who view it. Yeah that sounds better now, ill admit that trial and error isnt always the best path to genius. But i think thats what you have to do when you want to wrap you brain around the new, the unexpected, the places and moments that you simply havent seen before. the artwork on display at Cuthbertsons now That All the Riff Raff is Gone show was no exception. His work was severe at some moments, whimsical at others. The freestyle cypher was pretty laid back but when Devin himself held the mic, the crowd watched him gyrate with a weird intensity. Streaks of brown and yellow paint in a particular piece remind the viewer of dirt and mess but a deliberate and cohesive brushstroke pattern always belied a careful plan. Devins social network is more than a melting pot. Its the stuff of legends. Hes the man with a million friends. One moment hes dishing with Venus X, a powerful member of new yorks new DJ royalty. another moment hes spotted doing video modeling work with Mykki Blanco, or modeling clothing for ale et ange. the next thing we know, hes discussing the future of Black art with Rasheed Johnson and the Artist elite. with respect to Cuthbertsons herculean task of shattering misconceptions of his being the second coming of Samo, it must be said that if the cast and characters of the new york art elite today could be paralleled to that of the Studio 54-era 1980s scene, one could place Devin Kyle

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PA I N T I N G S B Y D E V I N K Y L E C U T H B E R T S O N
p h o t o S B y t i f fa n y at k i n S

a G i n G e r B r e a d B o y i n n a z i S pa C e

F ly B o y S H o o t S H i S l a d d e r

MarS=venuS

Cuthbertson in the role of Jean-Michael Basquiat. Some art critics already do. The reasons are pass and obvious. isnt this again, the work of a young Black artist trying to redefine the art world in new york? isnt he also beloved by the scenesters of his day but forced to carve his unique place among them from the inside out like Jean-Michel? and when all else fails one is tempted to ask, Doesnt Devin look just like Basquiat? These superficial parallels are of course ridiculous. Devin is something other, perhaps something more than a Jean-Michel Basquiat or the scene itself for that matter. He, for one, would never settle for the title neo-primitive artist, the way Basquiat was forced to. He wouldnt settle for any title at all, other than one of his own choosing of course. his exploration of Black guilt and morality, tragedy and power, help to carve a kind of new black righteousness out of the ether with what can only be defined as an outright personal tyranny on the part of the artist. Through his musical persona, Psychoegyptianaryan Boy, he has bred for himself a self-contained tyrant-child, discarding Samos crown for the ornate headdress of a pan-african phaSiSter nanCyS

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raoh, a wayward but dangerous product of the ghetto with no place to go but within himself to attain the power to impress his own agency onto his surroundings. as a painter, he is tragedys champion, planting a flag of beauty in the most grotesque places of the viewers psyche, smoothing out the kinks of his experience by appropriating them as functionaries of his own eccentric palette. We have yet to see the product of his foray into film art, but his Daryl Michael Basquiat feature promises to appear soon for our criticism and praise. i sat down to an interview with Devin because i wanted to unpack some of the puzzle. here he was at the cusp of a new kind of success. a solo art show that brought forth the whos who of the Brooklyn art scene in droves. what was going on in the mind of the man at the center of this firestorm? ilikezach: answer however you want. Devin kyle Cuthbertson: okay iLZ: if you had to answer the question, who is devin Kyle Cuthbertson what would you say? DKC: Im just a nigga from the hood son. [laughs] nah, Devin kyle Cuthbertson is a person who is actually still trying to sort things out. Just trying to make sense of his life, how he was raised, the people he was raised by, the environment he was raised in. But also trying to make sense of how all that got him to where he is now. iLZ: where are you from? DkC: im from Bushwick, Brooklyn. i come from a house of mostly women, where i learned a lot about how fucked up men are. where i had to contend with men being fucked up and how I therefore might be a potential fuck-up. I come from a place ARTIST DEVIN KYLE CUTHBERTSON
pa i n t i n g : new JaCK SwinG 1 p h o t o B y t i f fa n y at k i n S

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where every Sunday my aunt was straightening her hair with a boombox blasting R&B out her window. Real slow, deep shit. I come from a neighborhood stigmatized as being a ghetto when it was always way more complicated than that for me. iLZ: what do you seek to destroy? DKC: What do I seek to destroy? Suffering. If I can do it, yeah, suffering. I seek to destroy the values and systems of thinking that keep people at a disadvantage and that keep people from being able to be creative, like jail. Jail is one [thing I seek to destroy]. iLZ: what do you seek to build? DKC: The opposite of jail. Just a world for myself and my people where we are able to realize ourselves and our abilities so that we can materialize our lives in a way that aligns with a future where we can provide a legacy for our children, for whoever comes after us, so that they can feel a greater sense of freedom and also so that they can have something to destroy in us, in case they want to destroy our legacies. iLZ: on the subject of freedom, talk to me about your experience on Rikers island DkC: yeah. i was arrested on night when, on a whim, i got this idea to [graffiti] write Jay-Z throughout New York and to [graffiti] write different passages from songs that he made. i got caught in the act of doing that in my neighborhood half a block from where I live. And I had to do time because of that and a warrant that I just kinda forgot about. iLZ: what was that experience like from the perspective of an artist? DKC: I was scared. Rightfully so. I was this skinny fucking artist dude going into prison and i had bright-ass blonde hair. i just started to drawing in jail cause I was bored. Immediately people picked up on it and were just like, oh can you draw this design for me for valentines day for my girl for my mom, for my tattoo. It was moving for me to see how what I did was valuable, not just within the confines of the art-buying

elite, but among people just trying to get through some shit. It just gave me a different sense of how art could function. In my warped mind that had been taught that theres only a certain group of people who can appreciate art, I just learned that was not true. It also impressed me to see how beautiful, and smart and ingenious people in there were, the amount of inventiveness there is in jail without having the resources. Things like inventing ways to smoke a cigarette and not get caught. Im just really into that. Finding alternatives. iLZ: who are your artistic influences? DKC: I really like artists who tread the line of acceptability and troublesomeness to the point of it being illogical. i like the playwright antonin artaud. i like a gay artist named David Wojnarowicz, who dealt with life on the lower east side in the 80s. I like the futurists. I mean, now, we can call them problematic because they were fascist in particular regards but I really like what they were doing. Who else? I like an artist who I am friends with, who made me rethink how art can be and how I could inject myself as a black man into 2012 america, post racial america, whatever you want to call it. his name is rasheed Johnson. the man with plans to start a grassroots artist collective to support the creative development of people of color. the man who released a trailer for a feature length film he wants to produce about Daryl Michael Basquiat, the supposed lost heir to the Basquiat estate. I think he also mentioned a desire to do performance art with dom-porn, Skin Diamond sometime in the near future. The riff raff is gone indeed. Devin kyle Cuthbertson is here.

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not your

SAMO, SAMO
I N S P I R E D B Y A R T I S T J E A N - M I C H E L B A S Q U I AT
Model: amira - new york Models photographer: gavin rea Stylist: Sherah Jones hair: aleksandra Sasha nesterchuk Makeup: Colleen runne photo assistant: yves francois Stylist assistant: Jade ford
Cardigan: Handkerchief Shorts: American Apparel Shoes: Jeffery Campbell Necklace: Philippe Audibert Paris Makeup: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, Lip Tar Colors

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SAMO AS A neO Art fOrM

- BASq uiAt

Jacket: Vintage Vinyl Trench Bodysuit: American Apparel Shoes: Alexander Wang Necklace: Forever 21 Bracelet: Philippe Audibert Paris Makeup: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, Lip Tar Colors

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SAMO AS An en d tO plAy ing Art

- BASq uiAt
Jacket: handkerchief denim: Buffalo david Bitton Belt/shoes: stylist s own

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Hand beaded Romper: Eredappa Shoes: Rag and Bone Hat: Uniqlo

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Jacket: Vintage Leather Motorcycle Jumpsuit: Buffalo David Bitton Shoes: Jeffery Campbell Belt/Glasses: Stylist's own

SAMO AS An end tO MindwASh religiOn...

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...nOwhere pOliticS And BOguS philOSOphy -BASq uiAt

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B eyond tourism in cuba: photographs from the other side

photo essay by Laura Bluher
Of my most vivid memories of Cuba, my first bus ride remains striking. a tangle of limbs swallowed me as i climbed aboard the sputtering guagua. There seemed to be more than a hundred people crammed into the decrepit bus, an import sent to Cuba from the Soviet Union not long before its dissolution in the early 1990s. I was pushed to the center of the chaos, unable to move or see the outside street. i forced myself to breathe deeply, grating against the claustrophobia that crept up inside my throat, a phenomenon that occurs even as i recollect this moment. I can still hear Cuban Spanish spilling from unseen mouths and shooting around through the humid air. Cmo est tu mam? Tengo una mujer embarazada ac, muvanse pa que pueda salir! it sounded nothing like i had ever heard in a Spanish class or in the streets where i live in new york. the ends of words disappear and sentences blend together, an accent that still often confuses me even after studying, practicing, living it. the thrill and intensity of this memory and ones like it are what keep me coming back to Cuba. I first arrived in Cuba in 2010 for a four-month study abroad program in conjunction with an arts institution, the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba. For the first few weeks the other students and I were shuttled around to various famous Cuban sites, such as the Baroque cathedral in old havana or the Museum of guanabacoa to learn about the history and practice of the syncretic religion santera in Cuba. While these excursions were interesting and well rounded, i never felt as if i were experiencing other aspects of the Cuban reality apart from the tourism industry. the stories i heard were well rehearsed and politically correct, never controversial. I was there studying photography and i was not taking any photographs. These activities had to be crowd-pleaserseasily digestible, concise glimpses of Cuban culture that would keep tourists coming back for more. tourism accounts for the majority of Cubas revenue. It only made sense that cultural institutions and hotels would charge large sums of money to provide a luxury tourist experience in order to rake in more money for the state. however, instead of placing emphasis on tourism that would involve a broad spectrum of the countrys citizens and that would overlap with their quotidian lives, it seemed that the state-run tourism industry aimed to divide the foreigners vision of an ideal Cuba from the way things actually are. Activities that were a part of state-run tours were based in fact, but were so oversimplified that they showed none of the layers of complexity that are present in every aspect of life in Cuba. So, allowing my camera to be my guide, i diverged from the tourist path that had been cut out for me and created an itinerary based on my own wanderings. On one of my first walks alone through Havana, I came across a barbershop in the Vedado neighborhood. I spent the afternoon photographing there, watching the flux of regular clients as they came and went. the barbers were cheerful and completed their work with speed and precision. the clientele ranged from university-aged young men, to old men who came in only for a shave (a barbera usually just serves men while a peluquera serves women). At first glance, it seemed like a normal Latin American barbershop. With further observation, my eyes wandered from the people to the space itself. the barbera embodied Cuba in a way that i had not seen in any of the staterun tours. i could only see two power outlets in the room. there were cracks in the mirrors nailed to the peeling walls, and the tools the barbers used were all but falling apart. A two-liter water bottle existed in place of a sink with running water to dampen the mens hair before cutting it. The barbera hardly ever received new equipment or a maintenance budget to keep it afloat. The barbers were constantly reinventing ways to keep their power outlets functioning and their hair dryers running. Innately Cuban, their reality was attempting to fill this empty space using only fragments of functional things. As workers they were assigned a job and no matter what, they had to do it. One night in a bar called Fresa y Chocolate, named after the popular 1994 film, I began talking to a musician named yuliano. Cubans in general are amiable and like to socialize with travelers, so I mentioned to him that I wanted to

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a woMan PA U S E D O N H E R BalCony in in O L D H AVA N A

StrangerS riDe together in a CrowDeD TA X I I N H AVA N A go west to photograph in the province of pinar del ro, famous as the best tobacco-growing region of Cuba. Coincidentally, he had family in pinar del ro and said that he and his friends could take me there so he could visit his relatives and I could photograph. two days later, yuliano, his friends tata and leo, and i were on the road to pinar del ro. with public transit, as is with almost everything else in Cuba, there is a hierarchy of modes and fares geared towards separating Cubans from tourists so that tourists must pay exponentially more. Had I been alone, I would have traveled west with the Viazul bus company. C O N T I N U E D O N N E X T PA G E

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A C L I E N T WA I T S O U T S I D E of the BarBeria in the VEDADO NEIGHBORHOOD

TRIUMPH OF THE TOWN AND THE t o w n S p e o p l e S i D e a S . p o l i t i C a l GRAFFITI FROM THE COUNTRYSIDE.

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A Viazul ticket to Pinar del Ro costs 12 CUC, about 15 USD. the average monthly salary of a Cuban worker is about 15 Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC), roughly 18 USD, which he works for in addition to his meager monthly ration of food. To travel on Viazul would have been impossible for my friends. we hitchhiked. to catch a ride on a maquina, or livestock truck filled with human passengers, we took the guagua to the outskirts of havana. we waited by the side of the westbound road for a truck that would pick us up, along with the other passengers that arrived at the unofficial transportation spot. In addition to public transport, there are grocery stores, housing accommodations, and restaurants with price points that attract either Cubans or foreigners, almost never both. By emphasizing this duality in the economic system and enforcing the divide between Cubans and tourists, outsiders are made to have one type of experience and are expected to pay a high price for it. ironically, with yuliano and his friends, i was spending next to no money, and I was having the most informative and grounding experience of my life. We arrived at Yulianos familys house late at night after a long, slow ride to pinar del ro. his familys house had concrete floors and no furniture other than lumpy mattresses in the corner and a few kitchen chairs around a crooked table. In the flickering fluorescent lights we ate leftover arroz moro and drank orange soda from the bottle. Yulianos family had very little and yet the children went to school each morning clothed in red and white uniforms that made them look no different than all the other children in the town. his family welcomed me with open arms and showed me the Cuba not meant to be seen by tourists, a Cuba just as vibrant as the one the state wanted me to see, but that was also tinged with the dark social implications of the countrys complicated political reality. Who can say if Cuba continues to fulfill its utopian foundation or is flawed by the inevitable partitions that arise from being a communist state caught in the turmoil of a world that is dominated by capitalism? even with universal healthcare and high standards for literacy on the island, there are still gaping holes in its infrastructure, as well as contradictions between town and country, various levels of bureaucracy, and the disparities that are forced between Cubans and tourists.

But Cuba is rapidly changing. in my last visit to the island i saw people managing their own businesses and simultaneously heard of many failures in trying to do so. i heard of people selling their cars now that it is legal under ral Castros new, liberalized administration of the Communist Party. These tiny changes could lead to a society that looks more and more like capitalism and, for better or for worse; radically alter the physical, social, and cultural topography of the island. the Cuba of today is wrapped in a conundrum. the peasant labor-based society that followed the triumph of the Revolution ultimately failed in the current global environment, and now liberalization isnt really working either. My fascination with Cuba stems from the fact that the situation warrants such overwhelming pessimism, but Cubans are optimistic about their own reality. The majority of Cubans I have met in the last two years have been generous, resourceful, and intensely creative people. I plan to return as much as possible to continue to witness firsthand how Mr. Castros liberal changes visually manifest in Cuban society.

finCa alfreDo hernanDez r o J a S , a t o B a C C o fa r M i n VINALES, PINAR DEL RIO

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