‘The Industrial Revolution did many things, not least of which was to make room for an abundance of tchotchkes. Across Europe and the United States, wage- laborers allayed the drudgery of their workaday regimens by collecting cheap trinkets and handcrafting singular mementos.
‘Liz Craft’s sculptures – usually in bronze, yarn and fiberglass – slam together the impersonal nature of industrial production with the touchy- feely uniqueness of specially made treasures. Her work is a volatile cocktail that plays fast and loose with distinctions between individuals and industries. It makes a place for contemporary art in a post-industrial world in which it’s hard to tell the difference between public and private, sincerity and sarcasm, intimacy and anonymity.
‘Perhaps, Craft’s work is more a “return to a fantasy” than a “return of the real” since the activities she is returning to (specifically, the home-spun world of tween-age girls doing handicrafts in their rooms) are not known so much as a critical avant-garde (admittedly, baking “Shirnky-Dinks” in an oven was in no way like the aesthetic movement of minimalism, the socio- political movement of feminism or even the oppositional culture of the Punk movement). While I think Craft’s intent is more celebratory – a looking back with a sense of nostalgia – I am satisfied that her work comes across more as a requiem. It begs the questions: can we, should we, pick up where a generation of idealists left off? Are they’re cultural remnants merely kitsch? Or should we simply start all over again?
‘Craft’s multilayered sculptures never let viewers rest with first impressions. The more time you spend with them, the stranger they get, taking your imagination on a surreal trip that melds Egyptian sarcophagi, William Morris decor, grandmotherly crafts and Jonathan Borofsky high jinks. All the while, you never leave Craft’s astute loopiness behind.’ — David Pagel, Calvin Phelps
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Further
Liz Craft @ Truth and Consequences
Liz Craft: The Princess and the (Decapitated) Frog
Liz Craft’s Top Ten @ Artforum
And I Stop and I Turn and I Go for a Ride: Stanya Kahn and Liz Craft
Artist of the month Liz Craft
Liz Craft @ Patrick Painter
Liz Craft at Real Fine Arts
Book: Liz Craft: New York & Beyond, 2017-2019
Book: LIZ CRAFT: …MY LIFE IN THE SUNSHINE
Book: Liz Craft
Liz Craft and Pentti Monkkonen’s ‘Neue Welt’
Liz Craft and Alex Freedman on Paramount Ranch / Los Angeles
Death of a Clown
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Extras
Otis MFA Graphic Design Lecture: Liz Craft
Liz Craft: Death Of A Clown
The Afghan Carpet Project
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Interview
Numéro: What’s your background?
Liz Craft: I’m from California. I had hippyish parents, with a sense of humour, who were young and somewhat reckless. I had a varied collection of grandparents with a lot of eccen- tricities. I studied art in Los Angeles at Otis Parsons and then UCLA. I thought I would go into fashion, but realized I was more of an artist than a designer.
How did your background shape your identity and taste?
I guess my family was kind of weird. And not really con- cerned with taste, except in music. I think I sought out friend- ships with similar people as I got older, and they were often artistic people. Really I had very little exposure to art, it’s something I got into on my own.
Who inspired you? What were your references in art?
When I was 17, I took a road trip with my uncle across the country to see my childhood friend in Washington D.C. I saw David Smith sculptures and Joseph Cornell assemblages in the Hirshhorn Museum that made me curious about art. Then I found out about Eva Hesse in art school – she was another major influence. Also Mike Kelley, John Baldessari…And in grad school, I studied with Charles Ray, who was important to my developement.
You’re mainly known for your sculptures. Do you consider yourself a sculptor in the classic sense?
I guess if you think the main thrust of classical sculpture is a reflection of the natural world, then yes. But I’m including the mind, rationality, psychological subtexts and dream states, which I think are also part of the natural world.
There is an important element of craft in your work, for example with the ceramics. Do you produce all your pieces yourself?
I’m a studio artist and I make discoveries by making my own work. I don’t think of myself as being very technical, cer- tainly not with ceramics. I just don’t make anything that’s too difficult. If it’s difficult or too labour intensive, like bronze casting, someone helps me do it. I have always been into materials and combining them, but I think that’s more of an interest than a technique.
Why are animals a recurrent theme in your work?
I use things from the world, so I suppose animals just make their way in. They’re just around, like cats and spiders. I like the way they look and move. I’m also very aware that they have certain connotations, and that’s something. I like to let into the work as well.
With Pentti Monkkonen you’re running a gallery space called Paradise Garage. What’s behind that?
Well I think we needed to re-establish a position that we
felt was lacking in L.A., and create a context for ourselves that made sense. Now it seems the momentum is going, and there are a lot of cool things around. I’m not sure in what form we will continue at this point.
You’re also a founding member of the Paramount Ranch art fair. How did that come about?
It was initially an extension of the Paradise Garage idea. Then we partnered up with Freedman Fitzpatrick, who had similar desires to us. And they could actually make it happen because they knew many people internationally and had the energy.
Do you feel you’re part of a group of artists? How would you describe it?
Yes I do. When you’re in school you have your peers, but this kind of falls apart as school gets further in the distance. I think starting the gallery made me think about this again: who do I respect and want to hang out with, who do I want to associate with?
Art is actually a social activity, despite all the time alone it requires.
Who is your audience? And is there anything you want to make people conscious of through your work?
I think artists usually think of other artists looking at their work, or people who can really see it. But I also make art that has a certain level of understanding that I think anyone can appreciate. What would I like to make people conscious of? Rules are made to be broken? [Laughs.] I don’t know.
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Show
Death Rider (Leo), 2002
Hairy Guy (with flower basket), 2005
The Pony, 2004
Witch, 2003
Wendy and Lisa, 2016
Lo Schiaccianoci, 2017
Dancing Skeletons, 2008
Table Guy, 2004
Mushroom Bubble (Black), 2016
Web bubble 11, 2016
Baby Carriage, 2008
Untitled, 2007
Tree lady, 2008
Me Princess, 2012
Deflated (Hairy Guy), 2005
Old Maid, 2004
Watching You Watching Me, 2018
Large Rose II, 2007
The Spare, 2004
Poop with Flying Flies, 2003
Hairy Guy (With Thought Balloon), 2005
Weed Couch, 2008
Cavern, 2018
Spider Woman Black Dress, 2015
Mermaid (cameo by Monkkonen), 2008–2015
Bonedalier, 2002
LYING DOWN CLOWN, 2010
Nicole Couch (Pink, Fuchsia, Orange), 2010
Hanging Plant, 2004
Checkerboard Mountains, 2010/2014
My Lovely Assistant, 2011
Hide Out, 2017
The Living Edge, 1998
Sherman, 2003
A Real Mother For Ya, 2002
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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Yes, so everyone says. Very cool that you got to meet him, and thank you a lot for the inside scoop and insight. ** Golnoosh, Hi! Cool, I thought you might be. I need to read his fiction. I’ve never tried it. I’m surprised that I’m not into his films myself. His films just don’t speak to me, as they say. Definitely my problem. I think it’s just some kind of clash between his temperament and mine. The things that bug me (how extroverted they are, how rough and crude-seeming their editing is, how blatant the dialogues are) are some of the same things people admire them for. The only film of his I’ve seen that I kind of like is ‘Porcile’, but I think that’s partly because Pierre Clementi, who’s a big hero of mine, is in it. I don’t know. I keep waiting for a moment of enlightenment to happen where I finally get his thing, but it hasn’t yet. But, yes, my ambivalence about his work is strange even to me. I like the poetry of his that I’ve read. I have no issues with it at all. I think I have that book you mentioned in my LA pad. Being not a Pasolini guy, I don’t have any thoughts about his death. I don’t know enough. I haven’t seen the Abel Ferrara film, no, but I want to. I’m very appreciative of your comment. I’m always really interested to hear or read people who love Pasolini talk about him. I’m always looking for an ‘ah ha!’ moment. Hugs! ** Sypha, Yes, that story was what I was referring to, and oh well. I would say I’ll just have to imagine what an experimental Champagne story would be like, but I can’t imagine. I hope you don’t get cancelled. Well, unless you deserve it, ha ha. ** Bill, Hi. Oh, I’m not a Pasolini fan, so I have no suggestions. I can say my least favorites are probably ‘Arabian Nights’ and ‘The Canterbury Tales’. That collage looks good, yeah. He’s pretty hit or miss of late: Marclay. ‘The Clock’ is so astounding that I think it’s hard for him to live up to doing work at that level. ** Tosh Berman, Morning, Tosh. I was just saying I need to try/read his novels, as I haven’t. Thanks, T. ** Steve Erickson, I know little about Pasolini, but you don’t think he’d find those bastardisations of his work sexy or fun or something? I didn’t think much of that Lil Nas X video. It’s kind of fun, but it’s also very standard fare, and the song is borderline nothing, it seems to me. Still, it has created a little social media tempest and consequently garnered a bunch of press, and I assume that was its goal, so mission accomplished. I wish it was Yves Tumor or serpentwithfeet or Moor Mother getting queer-made music that kind attention and reach, but that won’t happen. They’re too good and full of integrity. We’re supposed to go full on spring weather-wise here this week too. ** Dominik, Hi, D!!!! Exactly. Stay true to exactly what you want to do and let whatever level of popularity that results happen because it is happening and will continue and grow. That way you’ll get respect and a kind of success that you can believe in and accept with pride. I’ve never understood the desire for rushed success and excessive popularity. It should be about inspiring passion that has meaning inside it. So many people seek buzz, but buzz has no staying power. Or something. I didn’t get to the bookstore this weekend, so no Louis yet, but it’s coming. You haven’t seen Anita in a year! That’s terrible. This fucking pandemic, Jesus. Did you get have your hoped for long lasting cyber face-to-face? My weekend drifted by. Nothing too exciting to report. Life should pick up this week, though. I want to go to a Yaoi con! I wonder if they have them here. Paris has tons of manga and anime cons all the time, so maybe. Love saying “abracadabra” and magically merging the bodies of all yaoi boys and yuri girls into a single master race, G. ** Brian, Hi, Brian! Great to see you, bud. I was hoping you’d enjoy it. The post, I mean. Everything you say about why you like Pasolini’s films makes absolute sense to me, which only reinforces my confusion at my lack of passion for them. ‘Porcile’ is the film of his that I have the least problems with, but, as I said to Golnoosh, Clementi being in it is surely a factor. Like I also said to her, I think it’s a personality clash kind of thing. His films really bug me and irritate me. I can’t relate to them either aesthetically or content-wise. I don’t know. It’s kind of a mystery. It’s not like, say, Von Trier whose films I despise for reasons that I completely understanding can justify. With Pasolini, I can objectively see what’s so admirable about his films, but I just don’t like them. Odd. Great about your free upcoming week! Work it, man, or, well, don’t work it maybe. My week? Some materials about home haunts needs to be gathered and sent to the animator who’s going to design our walk-through online home haunt. Zoom meeting with the film producers. My favorite piece I’ve made with Gisele, ‘Kindertotenlieder’, is being revived for performances in Amsterdam and Paris this fall, and this week will involve rebuilding/rehearsing it since it hasn’t been performed in more than a year and has two new cast members. That might be fun. Stuff like that. Have a good week’s start, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. ** Right. Please wander through today’s galerie exhibition by one of my favorite artists, Liz Craft, who was also a student of mine way back when I was a visiting professor sort of figure at UCLA. I think she’s great, and I hope you enjoy. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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Dennis, We’ve got the spring weather in effect now. First thunderstorm yesterday evening!
Saturday night was pleasant. A decent meal and we spent most of the night around the firepit talking shit. My friend’s daughter had a couple friends over too. Kayla enjoyed herself.
This weekend, I’ll be doing taxes. Shouldn’t take long but is still a pain in the ass. Weird thing is that they’ve extended the deadline for federal taxes but state taxes are still due on April 15…and you can’t do state taxes until you’ve done federal taxes, so…what gives? I’ll do them all this weekend, though. Kinda have to because of my job and where I work.
Wonderful weirdness today. Thee spindly figures appear to have great strenght somehow.
Regarding Pasolini, he can be quite off-putting to some people.He doesn’t reach out to the viewer i ways that even such “difficult” filmmakers as Bresson and traub do. Plus there are oter factors. Terence Stamp said that during the shooting of “Teorema” he discovered that Pasolini wanted to take shots of him when he thought tamp wasn’t looking. This surreptitiousness onctrasts sharply with the “blatancy” of his work on so many other levels.
Here’s the sequence Pasolini shot ofr “Amore e Rabbis” (“Love and Anger”) an episode film that began its life with the title “Gospel ’70.” This episode relates to the episode of the fig tree in the Matthew Gospel. Betrand Russel cited it in “Why I Am Not A Christian” for Christ destroys the fig tree as a pure demonstration of power. This Russell regarded as Evil as the Fig Tree committed no sin and did no wrong. Pasolini cassts Ninetto as the Fig tree. It was one shot of him joyously runnig down the street, flirting with girls and simply being happy. The the voice of God (Roland Barthes) speas up and demands who Ninetto is indifferent to the sufferings of the world — which have been shown in superimposed clips throughout. Ninetto pleads ignorance and God kills him. Really someting, no?
Hi!!
So good! Today’s post is so, so good! I didn’t know Liz Craft’s work, and now I’m richer. Thank you!
I couldn’t agree more with your thoughts about popularity. I think today, especially with social media being as accessible and “all-important” as it is, people believe that they can and should become wildly popular for not really doing anything or (and this is even worse, I think) doing something that doesn’t really have a soul. It doesn’t matter as long as they get there. It’s pretty lucky that I’ve never really considered it important to be “cool,” haha.
Yeah, it’s insane, isn’t it? That I haven’t seen her in a year. And I guess you’re in very much the same situation about many of your dear friends. It’s horrible. We did have a nice and long videochat yesterday, though, which was a blessing under the current circumstances.
I proofread and edited (and edited and edited and edited…) a text about Chinese erotic art detailing (among other things) the advantages of eating semen today. So how was your day? And/or what are your plans for the week – you said life should pick up a little?
Oh, is the hacking still going on?
I’d love to go to a YAOI con too! I’m pretty certain Paris has them. I’m also pretty certain that Hungary doesn’t, haha. Huh, wow, this is kind of a godlike love again, and I’m all for it, yes! Love making tiny glasses for myopic hamsters for a living, Od. (What’s with me and tiny things??)
I tried posting here this afternoon, but my comment seem to get eaten and then the blog itself went down, as far as I can tell. I don’t see any new comments since then, so who knows if this will post?
Anyway, yeah, Lil Nas X isn’t exactly adventurous, and I wish “Gospel for a New Century” had a chance of becoming a hit – it got a tiny amount of alt-rock airplay in the US – but I found that video really fun and turned in a piece on it for Gay City News today.
Here’s the song I produced over the weekend, where I used heavily processed samples of myself shaking household objects: https://callinamagician.bandcamp.com/track/digestivo
TEOREMA is my favorite Pasolini film, and all the issues you have with his work are evident even there, but to me they came out messy and complex in a thoughtful and provocative manner. If he could see that Cradle of Filth video, maybe he’d complain that it’s not homoerotic enough!
Merry Monday, Dennis,
Wow, this post is just crazy; crazy amazing, that is. I love how assertive and strange the sculptures are. They’re quite beautiful. Thank you for sharing them.
No, everything you’re saying about Pasolini makes perfect sense to me. Especially what you wrote somewhere above about their “extroversion”, their sort of crudeness and messiness. I get that. That isn’t a style that typically jibes with me either. They are very abrasive and sometimes just clumsy films. I sometimes think Pasolini’s stuff almost functions better for me personally as an oeuvre, a worldview or an expression of his thought, than they do as, like, individual artistic experiences. (Except for “Salò”, lol.) Certainly that was the case for some of them. But yeah, to each their own. I understand why a lot of people dislike his work, moreso than I do for some other directors.
Your week sounds busy and exciting, particularly the “Kindertotenlieder” preparations. I’m sort of obsessed with that show; I read about it often. Fingers crossed that somehow, someday, it comes around to New York and I get to see it. Or something like that. Anyway, good luck with everything. My own week is a bit busy despite the free time. There’s some essay writing I need to do for possible transfer applications, and some relatives visiting for Easter, etc etc etc. But otherwise I plan to watch a bunch of movies, and read (“Story of the Eye” should be arriving in the mail for me sometime soon, yay!), and—for once—I’ve started playing a video game, “Omori”, and it’s very very interesting so far. We’ll see if I can keep it up. That’s me for today. Hats off to your Tuesday, kind sir.