Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Sights and Sounds: Paul Kostabi, 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards®, The Black Keys

Although this post features plenty of big updates about the upcoming 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards® set for Feb. 12, I'll kick things off with an update about artist-musician Paul Kostabi.

From Paul Kostabi with Love
Opening Reception:
Thursday, February 2, 2012
6:00 - 9:00 p.m.


Art is alive in Williamsport; come celebrate with the Grey Art Gallery!

The Grey Art Gallery is pleased to present "From Paul Kostabi with Love" with featured artist and musician Paul Kostabi. The exhibition will be on display from Thursday, Feb. 2, thru Feb. 25, with an opening reception on Thursday, Feb. 2, from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.


Paul Kostabi has built his world around art and music. Born in 1962, Paul grew up in Whittier, California, and later moved to New York City. After college, he traveled across America and has circulated his work in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Canada and France. Some of his pieces remain in the permanent collections of the Paterson Museum in New Jersey, the Guggenheim in New York, the New England Museum of Art in Brooklyn, Connecticut, the Millenium Museum, the Whitney Museum of Art and the Museion in Bolzano, Italy.


Paul's work deals with all types of subject matter. He is a visual explorer who is intimately connected to the environment around him. Many of his paintings have the worked-over look of pictures meant to be worlds in themselves. They grab the eye like a stranger grabbing your lapels. They are paintings that love paint: its infinite variability, its stubbornness, its musicality, the energy it emits in contact with itself, the emotions it unlocks, even when it looks as random as spit and drool, as the record of the passing hand.


We will be showcasing several new paper pieces that Paul has been feverishly working on. Also on display will be some of his paintings that have hung with pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring.

As an added bonus, we will be showcasing some paintings by Paul's brother Mark Kostabi.


Mark is a major player in the art world and was a prominent figure of the East Village art scene. In 1984, he won the "Proliferation Prize" from the East Village Eye for being in more art exhibitions than any other New York Artist.


Retrospective exhibitions of Mark's paintings have been held at the Mitsukoshi Museum in Tokyo (1992) and the Art Museum of Estonia in Tallin (1998.)


Mark's work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Gallery in Washington D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, and the Groninger Museum in Holland.


His permanent public works include a mural in Palazzo dei Priori in Arezzo, Italy, a large bronze sculpture in the central square of San Bernedetto del Tronto, Italy and a bronze portrait of Pope John Paul II in Velletri, Italy.


Mark even designed album covers for Guns 'N' Roses (Use Your Illusion) and The Ramones (!Adios Amigos!).


Other artists with new work on display for this opening include Mike Cockrill, Joshua R. Troxler, Misako Oba, Chad Andrews, Matthew Ryan Sharp, Tyler Cooey, Yosiell Lorenzo, Janelle Whisenant, Danielle Charette, Dean Landry, Matthew Parrish, Phillip Evans, Evan Summer, Joann Landis, and Aaron Meyers.


Musical entertainment will be provided by Michiko "Michi" Egger, and light refreshments will be served.


GRAMMY® NOMINEE KATY PERRY TO PERFORM ON THE 54TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS®

Dierks Bentley, Drake, Miranda Lambert, and Gwyneth Paltrow
are the first presenters announced for the Music Industry's Premier Event

Music's Biggest Night® — Hosted by Rapper/Actor LL COOL J —
Airs Live on CBS Sunday, Feb. 12, 8 ET/PT



Current GRAMMY® nominee Katy Perry has been added to the stellar lineup for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards® (www.grammy.com). Country artist Dierks Bentley, rapper/actor and current four-time nominee Drake, GRAMMY winner Miranda Lambert, and Emmy® and Academy Award® winner Gwyneth Paltrow will appear as presenters. Music's Biggest Night® — hosted by two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J — takes place live on Sunday, Feb. 12 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high definition and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio worldwide via Dial Global, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/thegrammys. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy®'s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.

Katy Perry is up for two awards: Record Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Firework."

Previously announced performers for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards include Adele (in her first live performance since undergoing vocal cord surgery last fall); Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson; Glen Campbell with The Band Perry and Blake Shelton; Coldplay and Rihanna; Foo Fighters; Bruno Mars; Paul McCartney; Nicki Minaj; and Taylor Swift. Aldean, The Band Perry, Minaj, and Shelton will perform on the GRAMMY telecast for the first time, while Adele, Campbell, Clarkson, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Mars, McCartney, Perry, Rihanna, and Swift are returning to the GRAMMY stage. LL COOL J has hosted "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" since its inception in December 2008, and this is his first time hosting the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast.

The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy®. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, Louis J. Horvitz is director, and David Wild and Ken Ehrlich are the writers.

Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music
and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.


MTV to Exclusively Premiere The Black Keys’ New Music Video “Gold on the Ceiling”
during “MTV FIRST: THE BLACK KEYS” on Monday, February 6th at 7:54pm ET on MTV

Band to Introduce New Music Video and Sit for Exclusive 30-minute Interview on MTV.com


On Monday, February 6, 2012, MTV NewsJames Montgomery will sit down for an exclusive interview with Grammy-Award winning rock band The Black Keys to premiere the band’s new music video “Gold on the Ceiling” at 7:54pm ET on MTV during MTV FIRST: THE BLACK KEYS. Following the on-air portion, band mates Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney will stay on for an additional 30-minute interview on MTV.com to discuss their passage from humble beginnings to selling out Madison Square Garden and answer fan-submitted questions.

Immediately following the music video’s premiere on MTV, “Gold on the Ceiling”, which features footage from the band’s album release party that was livestreamed on MTV Hive, will go into rotation on mtvU and MTV Hits, premiere on MTV.com and VH1.com, and hit AMTV the next morning. The video will also debut in MTV2’s 120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield on Friday, Feb. 10 during a special Grammy-themed episode and in VH1’s “Top 20 Countdown” on Saturday, Feb. 11.

“Gold on the Ceiling” is the second single from The Black Keys’ new album, El Camino, released Dec. 6 on Nonesuch Records. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 and has already been certified RIAA Gold. The duo was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine earlier this month, for the first time (January 19 issue). In celebration of the release, the band will embark on the first leg of their North American tour this March, featuring sold-out shows at Chicago’s United Center, DC’s Verizon Center, and two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden followed by a second batch of April dates, including shows at Austin’s Frank Erwin Center and Seattle’s Key Arena. Click here for more info about tour dates: http://www.theblackkeys.com/shows.

In December, MTV supported the release of El Camino across its multiple screens, including “120 Minutes Road to Release The Black Keys” on MTV2, showcasing exclusive content offerings including interviews with the band, and a livestream of the band’s album release concert from New York City’s famed Webster Music Hall as part of MTV Hive’s Live in NYC livestream concert series.

The Black Keys have been a staple of MTV since 2003 when the network began playing their music video for “Set You Free.” In July, 2010, the band was featured as part of MTV’s weekly music initiative, MTV PUSH (Play Until Someone Hears) that showcases emerging artists. The Black Keys won the 2010 Video Music Award for Breakthrough Music Video for “Tighten Up”, and in 2011 were nominated for Best Rock Video and a “2011 mtvU Woodies” Award.

MTV News is the authority for music, movies and pop culture news for the Millennial audience, producing a diverse mix of daily news stories, insider specials, weekly series, live red carpet shows, exclusive music video and movie premieres, as well as exclusive artist and celebrity interviews on-air, online, via mobile and across social media.