Bash Compactor: Alt Art

A voluptuous woman
blurred out, save for what seems to be a bulbous breast, a patch of
pubic hair and a faint violet on her flesh, channels Picasso. The
painting, by Frank Black, was one of 34 pieces on display by various artists, including musicians like Pete Wentz, Joby J. Ford from The Bronx and Adam Jones of Tool, last week at Sloan Fine Art in celebration of Alternative Press’ 25th anniversary.

Marilyn Manson contributed
a close self-portrait titled “Baby’s On,” a watercolor painting blushed
with a willowy, red-and-orange figure. At $30,000 it was the priciest
of the bunch. Garbage singer Shirley Manson’s “Peking
Noodle,” an ode to Louise Bourgeois, the French artist who passed away
earlier this year, was made of pink yarn and shaped like an eye with the
words “soon you will be sitting on top of the world” scribbled on it. Shepard Fairey’s two pieces, album-cover silk screens, included an “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”-era tribute to Joan Jett and a collage entitled, “Half Face.”

Presidente beer bottles were passed around while scrumptious cupcakes with the AP insignia
atop the frosting were offered to guests. And we couldn’t help but take
a double and triple look around the showcase—the room quickly filled
with featured artists like Lordz of Brooklyn’s Kaves with his canvas “Happiness is a Warm Gun.”

Lines
formed outside, and passersby couldn’t help but press against the glass
to look inside Sloan. In a smaller room in the back, 25 years of AP issues were on display in a mini magazine museum.

“A lot of rock ‘n’ roll culture is based on many forms of art, now more so than ever” said Alternative Press editor Jason Pettigrew. “More
bands are expressing themselves through various art. It’s the perfect
example of the modern band, taking more control over their art.”