Arte Barrato

The Petrol Officer, part sixteen: Why do the Birds go on...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:16:00 -0400

The Petrol Officer, part sixteen: Why do the Birds go on Singing?

In the Final Installment of the Petrol Officer, a somewhat subdued Celebration is depicted to serve as an Illustration for the Clarification of those who yet doubted that the End is in fact Near at Hand, at least for a wasteful Civilization that is centered on the Consumption of Petroleum.

Capitalisms Collapse Again Here are some more paintings on...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:20:00 -0400

Capitalisms Collapse Again

Here are some more paintings on playing cards from Max Schumann’s and my upcoming show at Max Fish at 178 Ludlow on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The show should be going up on the walls around the first week of April 2013.

The Petrol Officer, part fifteen: a Structural Flaw A shabby...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:50:51 -0400

The Petrol Officer, part fifteen: a Structural Flaw

A shabby Journalist, perhaps inhabited by the Spirit of that noble Scavenger, the Crow, is briefly shaken by the Discovery of a Structural Flaw in the Platform, which caused and will continue to cause Disasters of the Sort crudely illustrated in these abject Portraits of Malfeasance. Subsequently a failed Attempt at a forceful Dance of Seduction is performed around the Wreckage by the Petrol Officer, followed, after a brief pseudo-objective Recording of the actual Event as presented by the International Corporate Media, by the usual Patriotic Display.

The Petrol Officer, part fourteen: another Opening An...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:46:01 -0400

The Petrol Officer, part fourteen: another Opening

An Impersonation of Royalty is deemed necessary in order to restore the Illusion of Honesty, Openness and Concern for Public Safety on the Part of the Petroleum Company so that they may continue to operate unimpeded by External Oversight.

The Petrol Officer, part thirteen: a New Platform Despite past...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 02:30:53 -0400

The Petrol Officer, part thirteen: a New Platform

Despite past Disasters both recent and relatively ancient, a new Platform is erected on another pristine Site, not far from the former, after elaborate and rather careless Study with the Assistance of an Heir Apparent to the Business, who is, none the less, Subject to the Bullying of the Petrol Officer.

The Petrol Officer, part twelve: a Pleasure Craft Given his...

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:39:18 -0400

The Petrol Officer, part twelve: a Pleasure Craft

Given his recent Setbacks and Failures, especially those in the Pseudonymous Realm of Public Relations, the Petrol Officer takes Time to recuperate and relax, and to pose in Repose for a Recording, which is self-consciously intended to serve as a Portrait of Power.

Capitalisms Collapse These little paintings on playing cards (a...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:16:00 -0500

Capitalisms Collapse

These little paintings on playing cards (a small selection from the first extended series I’ve done by this method in some twenty years) were made for an upcoming show Max Schumann and I will be doing next month (April 2013) at the bar Max Fish at Ludlow and Houston in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The theme of the show is the collapse of the capitalist system, which is something we’re all in the process of witnessing at the moment. What comes next is something we all may have a say in determining. Of course conscious efforts don’t always bear the results that we aim for.

Samard Nhum, Circa 1995 Seventeen years ago I made a video tape...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:26:00 -0500

Samard Nhum, Circa 1995

Seventeen years ago I made a video tape recording of one of my exploratory sessions on my roommate’s (Mpoy Ngondo’s) web TV (an early internet provider, expensive, archaic and slow) while he was at work (with his permission.) Near the end of this long recording there are a number of photographs of Thai male models, mostly naked (though sometimes the genitals are crudely obscured,) and among these pictures is a group of photographs of a young, very muscular fellow with the false name of Samard Nhum. For many years I searched the internet for further glimpses of this ethereal creature to little avail until recently, at which time I discovered the picture search on Google image, where one is able to upload an image to the engine in order to find various sites where it appears, so that one might find a better copy with higher resolution, or perhaps even the source of the image, and so on…. In order to make this search I went about shooting digital photographs from my television screen and piecing them together (as the web TV browser only presented the upper or lower parts of the photo within its frame.) These then are the fruits of these recent labors: not the new, higher resolution images I searched for, but the composite photographs taken from television screen, which I ended up finding more interesting.

GIRL IN FIRST POSITION These Photographs were shot from Video...

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 03:08:08 -0500

GIRL IN FIRST POSITION

These Photographs were shot from Video Recordings of Two Versions of Tamar Schumann’s Play, Girl in First Position, performed in August of 1986 and February 1987. Pictured are Dale Wittig, Talia Falconi, Amy Trompeter, Susie Dennison, and Maria Schumann. The Backdrops were painted by Mr Wittig. The Tale told was based on La Belle et la Bête by Charles Perrault.

LITTLE DORRIT The film by Christine Edzard, released in two...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:39:00 -0500

LITTLE DORRIT

The film by Christine Edzard, released in two sections, three hours each, titled Nobody’s Fault and Little Dorrit’s Story, made in 1987, is the finest of all adaptations of Dickens’s novels. The settings, costumes, miniature work, photography, script, direction, and, above all, casting, of faces and bodies and voices, create a world on film that is the nearest equivalent so far to that presented by Dickens in his best work. Never forget.

Bottom par Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud La réalité étant trop...

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:28:00 -0500

Reality being too prickly for my lofty character, I found myself nonetheless at my lady's,

a great grey-blue bird soaring towards the moldings of the ceiling and trailing my wings through the shadows of the evening.

At the foot of the baldaquino, supporting her precious gems and her physical masterpieces,

I was a big bear with purple gums and fur hoary with sorrow, my eyes on the crystal and silver of the console.

All became shadow and fiery aquarium.

In the morning - a bellicose June dawn -

I ran through the fields, an ass, braying and brandishing my grievances,

until the Sabines of the suburbs came and hurled themselves upon my chest.

Bottom by Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud

Bless thee Bottom, bless thee, thou art translated.

Bottom par Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud

La réalité étant trop épineuse pour mon grand caractère, -je me trouvai néanmoins chez ma dame, en gros oiseau gris bleu s’essorant vers les moulures du plafond et traînant l’aile dans les ombres de la soirée.
Je fus, au pied du baldaquin supportant ses bijoux adorés et ses chef-d’oeuvre physiques, un gros ours aux gencives violettes et au poil chenu de chagrin, les yeux aux cristaux et aux argents des consoles.
Tout se fit ombre et aquarium ardent. Au matin - aube de juin batailleuse, - je courus aux champs, âne, claironnant et brandissant mon grief, jusqu’à ce que les Sabines de la banlieue vinrent se jeter à mon poitrail.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:25:00 -0500

Act 4 , scene 1

Come, my lord, and in our flight
Tell me how it came this night
That I sleeping here was found
With these mortals on the ground?

FRENCH POSTCARDS SENT 28 YEARS AGO These are some little...

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:18:08 -0500

FRENCH POSTCARDS SENT 28 YEARS AGO

These are some little paintings made as postcards in 1984, depicting the places in France I hitchhiked through, done from memory in the evening after tramping around all day. These are just a small sample.

The Petrol Officer, Part 11: Retaliation of the Slime Folk The...

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 22:14:18 -0400

The Petrol Officer, Part 11: Retaliation of the Slime Folk

The Slime Folk are forced to retaliate against the tiny Humans who were persuaded by Petrochemical Corporate Propaganda to direct their Aggression at these great Refugees whom their Stupidity and Greed have disenfranchised.

The Petrol Officer, Part 10: Escape of the Slime Folk, Section...

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:16:09 -0400

The Petrol Officer, Part 10: Escape of the Slime Folk, Section C

That which for Giants, such as the Slime Folk, is but a minor Inconvenience, for smaller Creatures (like Humans and Corporate Officers) proves here to be a Catastrophe. Earthquakes and Landslides are Nature’s response to Commerce’s relentless Attacks. A premature Celebratory Dance follows.

The Petrol Officer, Part Nine: Escape of the Slime Folk, Section...

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:10:54 -0400

The Petrol Officer, Part Nine: Escape of the Slime Folk, Section B

The Bird Shaman is inhabited in turn by Spirits of Adolescence and Drunkeness and Lust, as the fearful and tiny Humans attempt to cut off the Escape of the Slime Folk.

El Chico Con La Verga Expresiva It’s been a long while...

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 10:58:45 -0400

El Chico Con La Verga Expresiva

It’s been a long while since I’ve added anything to this blog, not because I’ve had nothing to post, but because I’ve been busy with other matters. Now on to more pleasant points of interest like this Peruvian lad’s talking penis. I’ve admired his many posts on one of my source sites for a few years now, despite, or perhaps precisely because of, the crude way he has of expressing himself. He lets his dick do the talking for him and I find a good deal of wit in this visual convention he has established for himself. I’ve seen a few pictures of his face without the sloppy digital scrawls he uses to mask his features and I can safely say it is not unpleasant.Still he’s no great classic beauty. One doesn’t have to possess such qualities of physical perfection in order to attract. I like the space he inhabits in these photographs, the simple white curtain behind him in most of them, the quality of the light, the cheap furniture, the steel framed amber glass panels in the background, the sense of being comfortable at home, yet able to express the need for companionship and the willingness to please. I find him beautiful, whether he wants my appreciation or not.

The Petrol Officer, Part Eight, The Escape of the Slime Folk,...

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 23:13:45 -0400

The Petrol Officer, Part Eight, The Escape of the Slime Folk, Section A

Attempting to escape the Catastrophe of Carcinogenic Pollutants used to contain and sink the Petroleum, the Ancient and Wise Species of Bottom Dwelling Slime Folk make their way to the Beaches to start a New Community, and must be defended from further Petrochemical Corporate Contamination, by a Brujo inhabited by a Bird Spirit.

The Red Puppet I’ve been fooling around with these sorts...

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:55:36 -0400

The Red Puppet

I’ve been fooling around with these sorts of crude Figures made of Masks and empty Clothes since my very first consciously composed Photos. The first Image I printed, when I took that Night School Introductory Photography Class after my Parents bought our first 35mm Pentax Camera, with the Automatic Setting (which was the First Thing I learned to turn off,) that conked out after Ten Years or so of Use, was a Black and White Picture of a Life Cast of my Face made of Latex coupled with a brown Summer Suit, purchased for my older Brother’s Funeral, on a cheap metal Hanger in my Bedroom Window with the Late Afternoon Light creating mysterious Shadows and Highlights on the translucent Materials, seemingly bringing them to Life. It was a kind of Puppet (which was my main Area of Study in College) and its resultant Portrait proved very disturbing and charming to my Classmates. I thus learned an important Lesson in grabbing the Attention of an Audience through the use of Lighting.

Rehearsal For An Assassination Taken with a medium format...

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:16:00 -0400

Rehearsal For An Assassination

Taken with a medium format Rolleicord circa 1950, these photos were shot during the filming of the seventh section of The Petrol Officer and represent a night at the Opera Motezuma by Vivaldi, which depicts the end of the reign of the penultimate Mexica Emperor, Moctezuma II. The elegant painting in the background shows oil washing over a beach on the Gulf of Mexico.