Robert Mapplethorpe at Sean Kelly Gallery

Seeing as the summer is coming to a fast close, I've decided to side step the bum rush of fall shows for a moment and cast my glance back to a warmer time in May/June of 2011.

When a friend suggested that I check out a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition at Sean Kelly gallery back in June, I wasn’t too thrilled. I have had my fill of Mapplethorpe over the years and as wonderful as his work is, I asked myself, “What’s the point?”

Damn! I’m glad I asked. Kelly answered with a conceptual exhibition that was nothing short of a resurrection; and it was fifty “every day” people who breathed life into what could be seen as a familiar body of work.

50 Americans, an exhibition that featured fifty works by Robert Mapplethorpe.

The gallery invited a diverse range of Americans one from each state to select a single artwork from 2,000 plus images in Mapplethorpe’s oeuvre.

The participants were instructed to choose a photo that spoke to them. Each image included in the exhibition was supported by personalized text that explained why the participant who selected it found it to be meaningful.

Every day we are bombarded with cheap opinions from blogs and social networking sites, so it is quite refreshing to see this common touch used so eloquently… and an interesting choice in format as well knowing that Mr. Kelly refuses to have anything to do with the likes of mainstream networking.

Art dealer Sean Kelly is a self made man both refined and gritty so I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that the exhibition was his brainchild. I even heard that Kelly had to grapple with the estates rigid overseers regarding the conceptual element of the show; thank god he won!

50 Americans exemplifies the man’s vision and tenacity.

So while I don’t agree with the gallery’s recent acquisition of Kehinde Wiley, in light of this exhibition I’ll forgive the transgression.

This is not about art

“Short people are just the same             
As you and I
(A fool such as I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It's a wonderful world)”    -Randy Newman 1978

The U.S. government is suing Starbucks Coffee Company for firing a dwarfed barista.

Apparently the little lady requested the use of a stool to off set her height disadvantage. Starbucks fired her after three days of training claiming that she could be a danger to customers and workers. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that Starbucks violated federal law by denying reasonable accommodation to the employee.

...Jiminy Crickets!!!

First off, hats off to Starbucks for giving her an equal opportunity to go through the 3 day trial training period to begin with. If I were a manager, I would have assessed the situation upon first sight and simply tossed the application in the stack of considerations with a, “we’ll call you if we have an opening.”

Or better yet they should have kept little queeny on the payroll by creating a new job title: Customer relations.

Just prop her up in a nice big highchair, as she requested, and set her to the task of greeting customers. It wouldn’t last long, as soon as she grows weary of the tedium and starts calling in sick…fire her like any other Joe who just didn't rise to the occasion.

I mean what next, mandatory hiring of Siamese twins? Remember people, these unfortunate little folk get a nice fat check every month from our government just for being them and it pays more than Starbucks. Oh, and for those who feel compelled to speak for others with “They just want to work like everybody else…”, Right. Does anyone really believe that anyone wants to earn peanuts pouring specific coffee for jerk-off customers? Not me, even if I was the size of Tom Thumb or Thumbelina as the case may be, I’d gladly forgo the blue-collar crap and write a novel or something thank you.

I recall the story of the factory worker who looked Ted Kennedy in the eye and said, “You’re a rich kid, you never worked a day in your life.” And before Kennedy could answer, the worker finished with “You know, you ain’t missed a thing.”

Starbucks acted in good faith and got it in the rear by another opportunistic nobody using our sometimes silly system like a dirty little jack knife. It’s ok, Starbucks will survive and I’ll certainly do my small part to support…just add that $1.00 banana to my order.

Have a nice day