An Inclusive Litany

7/21/95

Costa Rica's Supreme Court ruled that the country's hit-and-run driving law was unconstitutional because it punished the driver who caused the accident if he fled. The Court reasoned that, because murderers and other criminals cannot be punished for leaving the scene of a crime—because of their right not to incriminate themselves—hit-and-run drivers can take off as well. A driver involved in an accident but who was not at fault may still be required to stop.

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7/12/95

New York City landlords who subject tenants to substandard facilities and inadequate service can find their tenants' rents rolled back by the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal. However, the DHCR doesn't appear to have any way of distinguishing trivial complaints from substantial ones, such as lack of heat or water. Thus, the DHCR ordered rent rollbacks in cases in which a dust ball was found under a radiator in an outside hallway, a scorch mark was found on a kitchen countertop, and a doorman was caught not wearing a hat. In one case, the DHCR ordered a rollback after tenants complained about the heavy iron front door that had been there for fifty years.

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The Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1995:
Keith Broadwee's body pops up in each body of work he makes. In the past, it has served as a canvas for his juicy, pseudo-Expressionist paintings; as a stage on which finger-puppets frolic; and as a prop in do-it-yourself photographs of modern masterpieces. This time around, Broadwee turns himself into a human spray-gun, squirting colorful streams of paint out of his derriere.

At Ace Contemporary Exhibitions, the largest gallery contains the result: 50 abstract canvases, ranging in size from 2-by-3 feet to 6-feet-square, saturated with gallons of paint in a rainbow of colors and an impressive variety of splatters, stains, stripes and runs. Four giant photos and two videos show the artist hard at work in his studio.

Before you discover how these paintings were made, they appear to be a competent homage to a slew of minor Modernists. Boadwee's abstractions recall Sam Francis' joyous bubbles of color, Morris Louis' snappy peninsulas of pigment and Yves Klein's luxurious monochromes.

Only after you learn that every drop of paint and gestural flourish on Boadwee's canvases was applied via his backside does his art's kick begin to be felt.

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