August 19, 2003
At the art show.
Last night I went to the opening of a Keith Haring/Andy Warhol exhibit last night at the Bank of Brazil Cultural Center.
The Warhol exhibit was really great, nothing but 77 polaroids. Most of them were of celebrities, but some of them were of objects. They were all very simple, but the presentation made them so interesting. The walls were also lined with quotes from Warhol about celebrity and his ego. I like that guy; I was really impressed with what he had to say.
I've been a fan of Haring for a long time and it was great to finally see some of his original works. The collection was rather small, but I didn't expect too much. They had several large very pop art works and a small collection of paintings of men that looked a bit more like sketches that had been painted instead of drawn with a pencil.
The program had an interesting little bio on Haring that said that nothing was taboo for him: sex, AIDS, nuclear war, politics, gay lifestyles, drugs, community...Well, I can think of something that was very taboo for Haring: family. Some friends of mine have been discussing this idea for some time. Here is some discussion fodder from my man who calls himself Red:
Country music is all about fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, children, death, and God. In fact, of the big mysteries in life - birth, death, sex, and God - country music tackles, albeit artlessly, three head on, and at least approaches the fourth (to quote another song from yesterday, "I know what I was feelin', but what was I thinkin'?").In contrast, in rock these themes are taboo. (Am I wrong about this? Have I missed all the rock songs about marriage and children?) Rock seems populated with characters disconnected to person or place, except for the boy/girl relationship. Also, marriage, which is pretty common in real life, is strictly off limits, except perhaps as the object of irony. In short, rock seems stuck in arrested adolescence.
It strikes me as ironic that a genre which has kind of specialized in breaking rules should be bound by such iron-clad taboos. What do you think? Is it because rock is fundamentally a revolt against authority and these things represent authority? What do you think?
OK, so Red is comparing country and rock music, but I'm intrigued by the fact that the author of the bio doesn't even come close to mentioning something like family in the list of things that Haring wasn't afraid of. What about work? A steady job? I'm just saying that Haring never had anything to do with any of those things. He devoted his life to other things and that's fine. I think he's a marvelous artist and I love what he did, but I wouldn't try to pretend that his perspective was all encompassing.
Does my head look oversized?
The real highlight of the evening, however was meeting the people in the picture above. They are the actress Catarina Accioly, the stunningly beautiful Tina, Brazil's very own version of Betty Boop, and Anderson (aka My Lord or Milords). As Haring was a big fan of hip hop, there was a hip hop DJ in the house and I got to dance the night away with these people who quickly proved to be some of the coolest cats in town.
Milords is one of the funniest people I have ever met throughout my 25 years on this planet. Just as Yor Hunter from the Future, Milords is "not like other men." He had me cracking up all night. Tina, however, has got eyes that make my head spin, hair that makes my heart skip a beat, and a smile that...hits me like a ton of heavenly bricks. Ka-POW! It was a great evening.
We all ditched the art show sometime around 1:00 and drove around the city in search of food. We ended up being the last customers at one of the oldest restaurants in Brasília. We sat in the middle of the barren florescent-lit room sharing pizza, Swiss lemonade, and onion soup as terrible muzak played in the background. What an evening! Dang! I love this place! The people here are so open and it's great.
Milords was eager to discuss our zodiac signs last night and the analysis of my nature as a Gemini became a hot topic. People who know me can't believe it, but I'm a pretty shy person. In fact, the fact that I record my life on the internet might disprove my claim to shyness, but it's true. I have a hard time approaching people that I don't know. Once I do, however, I'm quick to make friends. The great thing about Brasília is that there are tons of cool people that aren't afraid to approach me. I know many of my readers are thinking that my enthusiasm to embrace these friendly strangers will shortly land me in a bathtub full of ice with a missing kidney, but I'm pretty sure that these Brazilians are legitimately cool people.
Monday nights are sooooooo awesome!