the following is from my comment on the karen kilimnik retrospective at the ica (runs til aug 5 2007 dont miss it!) via roberta and libby's artblog check out the review i responded to here http://fallonandrosof.blogspot.com/2007/04/obscure-object-of-desire-karen-kilimnik.html also i am going to connect the dots more to follow california nancy pelosi al gore ohio the pippettes carl andre etc etc everything else i stay up late thinking about.
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"Obscure object of desire: Karen Kilimnik at the ICA"
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anthony said...
Great, great show. Hellfire Club, Pink Panther, and Brigette Bardot wearing shorts are among my favorites. I had seen many of the paintings before at 303 so the pleasure really lies in viewing the early work. A surprise and perhaps my personal highlight was Bananarama Guilty, a video dated 1990-92. You put headphones on and hear Bananarama's smash hit 'Love in the First Degree':

"Only you can set me free

'Cause I'm guilty - guilty - guilty as a girl can be.
Come on
baby
can't you see

I stand accused of love in the first degree.

Guilty of love in the first degree.
Only you can set me free
. ..
Guilty of love in the first degree.
Cuilty - of love - guilty of love in -
Guilty - of love - guilty of love in -
Guilty - of love in the first degree."

The video is so blown out-just black and white blocks and dots. You can see hands waving, clapping back and forth, and then you can start to see the girls deep center of the frame. Top of the Pops formation choreography. The song plays out and the video abruptly cuts to better quality footage of Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna dancing in her underwear-Get into the Groove. Then another cut - a snippet from MTV's late House of Style. Then a short bit from some horror movie starring Daphne Zuigna. Then short blue screen. Then repeat. "...only you can set me free.."

Watching this video is like getting a chance to take a nap in the bed Matisse made his cut-outs in. It's all there-dancing in front of the tv, trying to memorize Bananarama's routine. The video played so many times to get the dance moves right, to remember the words, to hear the crowd cheering. The snippets at the end of tape marked Bananarama Guilty previous interests. 1980's downtown new york cool. You're in new york now so naturally all you can think of is London.

I first read about Karen when I was at St. Joe's Prep. I was fourteen and I worked in the library for work study. The second floor of the library had this great book Vogue in the Sixties a big great picture book full bleed images beautiful. They also had New York Magazine and I remember reading in the Intelligencer section about this artist from Philadelphia making a ruckus in New York with "scatter" art. Sounded great, it looks great. I have the blue pinstriped Karen sketchbook with the full bleed images. It's a handmade Vogue in the Nineties. I still have a crush on Karen Kilimnik in the first degree. It hasn't waned a bit. -anthony campuzano

2:53 PM