"Corky McCoy's my best friend. I just called him up and told him what to do. In fact, he was afraid to do it, and I... you know, look at those covers, man. He just lives it. Black life! It's different from white life, Chinese life, whatever. My life's different from yours." So said Miles Davis, and if you know anything about the Jazz legend in the 1970s, tumultuous and visionary come to mind. “On the Corner” remains one of his greatest, a fusion of jazz, funk and rock that would heavily influence hip-hop and electronica in years to come. Yes, Davis was at a creative height in the early 1970s, but his releases were being reviewed poorly even as he was pioneering sounds. Looking back that seems incredible, but we often don't understand what we have artistically until we have years of reflection to see the groundwork and vision that was happening. Miles Davis from 1972-76 falls into that category.
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Corky McCoy illustrated the covers for Davis in this era, cartoon-like works that didn't contain the typical photo portrait of the artist, as much of his 1950s-60s output featured. The works look similar to the blaxploitation film images that one was seeing in the era. This is a great tidbit from Davis on the “On the Corner” release. He refused to list the musicians from the sessions in the liner sleeve, "leading to ongoing confusion about which musicians appeared on the album. Davis later admitted to doing this intentionally: 'I didn't put those names on On the Corner specially for that reason, so now the critics have to say, 'What's this instrument, and what's this ... I'm not even gonna put my picture on albums anymore. Pictures are dead, man. You close your eyes and you're there'."
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McCoy would go on to illustrate the covers of In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall (1973), Big Fun (1974), and Water Babies (1976), and in 2007, when Columbia released a box-set The Complete On the Corner Sessions, McCoy added new artwork. Davis had always claimed that On the Corner was an attempt to reach a younger audience, and perhaps the cartoon works was an obvious connection... #juxtapozsoundandvision
“Banquet,” by Zofia Oraczewska, 1976. "Humorous and metaphorical, ‘Banquet’ exemplifies consumerist attitudes. Ever more guests arrive at the party, and the food is laid out on a long table – but here, the roles of consumer and consumption are reversed. The film was awarded at festivals in Melbourne and Chicago." -Culture.PL #ZofiaOraczewska via the research of @chicojefferson for #juxsaturdayschool
2019-09-13 16:52
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#RZA by @tdoteric • We sat down with T. Eric to talk about documented 1990’s hip-hop on the site today ahead of his show at @njskateshop tonight!
“So I'll use the analogy of how, at a crowded opening, when you're just kind of peaking over people to see the paintings, you can immediately get what it is. You don't have to walk up close. You'll just get the image. And I like that my paintings can be like that. I like that you can just be like, boom, astronaut, even if you just silhouette the figure in most of my things. Boom, rocket! I like that they are kind of these static quick snapshots, but then you can really get in and see a flurry of strokes that, if cut into a little three-by-three-inch section, would be like a little abstract painting...” — @mrkagan from our Fall 2019 issue. •
“Michael Kagan: I Was There When It Happened” will be on view at Virginia MOCA from September 21, 2019–February 16, 2020. @virginiamoca
2019-09-11 19:11
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#SkateonArt ... @fortmasoncenter have teamed with @assumevividastrofocus on a special (and psychedelic) pop-up roller skating rink installation from September 13—October 6th. #SkateonArt and enjoy San Francisco’s version of summer...
