Underwear: A Brief History opens at the Minneapolis Historical Society

THE 6TH-ANNUAL RetroRama celebration that took place last Thursday at the Minnesota Historical Society Museum in St. Paul was a raving success. According to museum staff, this year’s party broke attendance records with 600 tickets sold, and that’s not counting any tickets sold at the door the day of the event. Could the boost in attendance be a result of the promise of unmentionables? Coinciding with this year’s RetroRama is the opening of the historical society’s newest exhibition “Underwear: A Brief History,” which documents the history of Minnesota’s Munsingwear underwear factory -- at one time employing over 3,000 people.

When the 94-year-old factory shut down in 1980, thousands of the company’s underwear samples were dropped off at the historical society, where they stayed in archival storage, hidden from the public. Historical society employee, and local author and filmmaker, Susan Marks became entranced by the old underthings -- many of which include original patented designs that pioneered the underwear industry -- and eventually got permission to pen a history of the Minnesota company. The finished book entitled, In The Mood for Munsingwear: Minnesota’s Claim to Underwear Fame (which I reviewed for City Pages), is a fantastic read and a few of the samples Marks highlights in her book are on display in the exhibition. (Several weeks ago Susan read exerpts from her book at a reading that I co-hosted). “Underwear: A Brief History” is very brief. One small room has been filled with just a sampling of the 3,500 garments Munsingwear donated, but they are admittedly stellar examples of vintage design spanning several eras, presenting an intriguing look into underwear’s past that is not to be missed.

For those of us at the party who found ourselves wanting more peaks at fancy underwear, RetroRama hosted a fashion show -- as it does every year for the event -- but this year’s fashion show was special in that it had an underwear-theme as well. Susan Marks kicked off each fashion show -- one at 8pm and again at 9pm -- with a quick history and slide show of vintage underwear featured in her book, which lead nicely into the show itself, which began with a truly vintage cover-up: a union suit. A flapper-esque model with perfect bobbed hair strutted the runway clad in a classic Union Suit, one of those one-piece numbers with a drop-seat over the bum that is meant to be worn during cold weather. This style of underwear was an important piece of Munsingwear history, for a long time it’s patented design was the company’s claim to fame. Original pieces were showcased as well, by local designers Danielle Everine, Heather Luca, Sarah White, Samantha Rei, and Chrstopher Straub (you may know him from Season 6 of Project Runway).
The Historical Society building is a grand location for a party, with stories-high windows, marble steps, and grand views of Minnesota’s Capitol city, party-goers danced to live jazz performed by The Southside Aces, drank, and sampled hors d’oeuvres under an plane which hangs dramatically from one of the buildings rotundas. It was only fitting, then, that the signature cocktail of the evening was the Aviation, a classic made with gin, lemon juice, and a dash of maraschino cherry juice. Party-goers could shop in pop-up vintage clothing booths, watch cocktail and baking demos for the perfect party fare, and play around at the make-your-own-souvenir stations designing “retro specs” by embellishing old glasses with bright feathers and glitter. There was even a spot to decorate your own boxer shorts. It was a crowded affair, but not uncomfortably so. After all there are worse deaths to be had than being crushed amongst crinoline.
Visit Underwear: A Brief History, on display through September 11, 2011 at the Minnesota Historical Society. In The Mood for Munsingwear: Minnesota’s Claim to Underwear Fame is available in the museum’s gift shop as well as online.

Partying in my underwear and other kinds of chaos

Underwear: A Brief History at the Minnesota Historical Society

IT WAS A BUSY WEEK FILLED with those delightful doses of chaos I love so much. Crashed the City Pages Best-Of Party at Mancini's on Wednesday. Saw my City Pages editor and demanded she throw chocolate chip cookies at me, Bunny, and a couple of other party people we met. My editor complied for the photo op, but conservatively, only taking a couple of cookies and tossing them at us while a photographer tried to capture the action. Thinking better of being wasteful, I took the tray of cookies and served them to everyone in the place until they were gone. The cookies, I mean. Not the people.

Karrie, one of the party people, then PROMPTLY WHISKED BUNNY AND I OFF TO THE 7TH STREET ENTRY. "You have to promise to yell for one of the performers to take off his clothes," she demanded. Seemed like okay quid pro quo to me.

Phantom Tails

There were two bands performing and we got there in time to grab a drink and watch the first band, Phantom Tails. I bought the top hat-wearing drummer a Corona because I dug how he pounded on the stand of his Roland with drumsticks. The singer sang into a CB, and the drum beats were so loud I think my heart stopped, but the shear force of electronic beats and a guy pounding on a tom-tom drum managed to keep it going. 

Following Phantom Tails was the equally noisy two-person band, G-Biz. The lead singer had a bandana hanging out of his back pocket, which reminded me the movie Cruising, a movie about the gay underground in the '70s starring Al Pacino. Colored bandanas were key in this film, so I asked Karrie if the singer's bandana meant something. "I don't know," she shouted over the music. "I've only ever seen him in his underwear." And sure enough, within a few minutes he was in his underwear, spinning like a dervish on the dance floor while holding a small amp over his head, oblivious to his flailing audience.

It was a wildly entertaining show as he whirled about in his underwear and socks, occassionally hanging from a strong support pipe above the stage, or throwing himself into a huge stage monitor and following through with it as it fell off the stage and onto the dance floor. He landed hard and awkward on the floor, but there were no signs of recognition on his face. Tornado siren-like noises fill the club, but for a moment during this performance there was a lull in sound. A girl quickly filled the silence by shouting "Give me 27!" "We don't have 27!" was the reply. "Then give me 30!" She shouted. I have no idea what this meant, but at that moment the crowd started dancing again to a wall of beats and a tornado siren. A dancer in the audience ended up wrapping himself in an American flag and continued to undulate under the Stars and Stripes for a few songs.

So that was Wednesday.

THURSDAY WAS DEVOTED TO my first RetroRama appearance. This is the 6th year the Minnesota Historical Society has thrown this vintage-themed party, and I was having one hell of a time trying to figure out what to wear. As many of you know, my closet is filled with vintage clothing from just about every decade since the 1920s. In the end, I ended up wearing nothing at all. I simply couldn't make up my mind, so I went in my underwear. Really.

Purge by Tonja Torgerson at Cult Status Gallery

ON FRIDAY, BUNNY AND I made a mad dash to the Cult Status Gallery for the Cult Sisters exhibition and opening reception. The show is devoted to 12 women on the art scene, some of them graffiti artists. The glorious smell of spray paint had cleared by showtime -- I guess that's what happens when an artist actually has the time to create graffiti art and not have to worry about running away at a moment's notice. The show runs through June 14 -- there will be a party then, too.

David Hanbury/Mrs. Smith is a master on electric guitar

Afterward we caught MRS. SMITH'S SHOW AT BRYANT-LAKE BOWL for Mrs. Smith & The Sisters Boil in PUSSY PEN: Death-Row Dykes and Luscious Ladies in Lockup! As you can probably tell from the title, the show is absolute madness, so it was exactly right for Bunny and me. It's a drag-drug-glitter-garter-infused show that has more punchlines than it does wigs -- and that's saying something. Because there are a ton of wigs in this show. Once again, Mrs. Smith has found herself in a bit of trouble, this time in a women-in-prison parody. Oh, and she still hasn't found her cat Carlyle.

David Hanbury as Mrs. Smith

Every now and then I got the sense I accidentally stumbled upon boys playing pretend, as Mrs. Smith would step out of scenes every now and then to make sure the audience was following along. At one point, the lights went blue, and Mrs. Smith shouted, "Oh it's so dark!" Then she stepped forward, making eye contact with the audience to say, "When the lights go blue on stage, that means it's dark because obviously..." and then she would trail off, and the show would begin again. Like kids playing games and making rules up as they go -- in this instance it is quite funny. Catch the next shows this coming weekend: May 20 at 10:00pm; May 21 at 10:00pm; and May 22 at 2:00pm


And if that isn't enough chaos for you, go see the movie Hesher. Best pool scene ever.

The Best & Worst of Frank Gaard

*UPDATE*

Moderated by art and news veteran Robyne Robinson, Gaard will talk about his career and share personal stories behind the work in his current exhibition, The Best & Worst of Frank Gaard. This is a free event and will take place beginning at 7pm on Wednesday, May 25 at CO Exhibitions, 1101 Stinson Blvd.

I BETTER BUST OUT with Coco Goes Out for this week because next week's is going to be a doozy. The parties start on Wednesday and there are no signs of stopping through the weekend.

THIS PAST WEEK I had a chance to meet and talk with local artist Frank Gaard and his wife Pam at a right good opening party for their art show, The Best & Worst of Frank Gaard. "You know how I can tell you're a writer?" Frank asked me. "You speak in complete sentences."

"That's funny," I replied. "I thought you could tell I'm a writer because I have a cocktail in my hand."

Large canvasses covered in florescent colors, busy images, and color combinations that cause eye palpitations surrounded us, along with painted CDs and LPs. Gaard clearly has an interest in Yves Klein, too. Some of the CDs were painted with a base of white and, hand-printed in bright paint, was the French artist's name (Gaard was sure not to miss the Walker's recent Klein exhibition). Because of the title of his show, I wasn't sure if these particular CDs were an homage or a sign of irreverence to Yves Klein. So I asked.

"I love Yves Klein," Gaard said. He spoke then, briefly, about Klein's distinctive colors. "Not just the blue," he said, referring to the famous International Klein Blue. "But the pink, the orange..." Perhaps this partly explains Gaard's own wildly bright palette.

Gaard spoke of his own paintings as well. "People like ponies and swans," he said. And surely, there are a few images of crude pony faces and swans -- however one of the giant florescent paintings is of a severed swan head hanging limp over a branch. Most of his paintings are portraits, though. Additionally, many of his paintings and illustrations are highly -- stratospherically -- sexual. "Everybody is interested in sex," he said. "It's exciting."

Many of his canvasses share gallery space with those his wife Pam painted. This is because, for some projects, Pam and Frank work together, painting portraits of the same person at the exact same time. Their canvasses mirror each other, but only in subject matter; their styles are quite different.

The title of the show is indicative of when Gaard puts brush to canvas. "I paint between those pulses of ups and downs," he said, illustrating his point by making a roller-coaster motion with his arm.

I may have to go back to the show with the mission of trying to figure out which paintings were created during the ups and which were painted during the downs in Gaard's life. The cheery nature of the bright colors he uses can be deceptive, but a severed swan head, well, that's a pretty clear indication of what mood he may have been in.

There was a delicious selection of hors d'oeuvres and cocktails at this party, too. Bunny and I ran into Breck, who was mixing savory cocktails, and happens to be our regular bartender at the Bradstreet Crafthouse. Let me tell you, once I got a looksee into what it might be like having my favorite bartender on hand wherever I may be, it's hard to snap out of it.

 Find out more about Frank Gaard.

See the exhibition at Co Exhibitions through May 28, 2011

BUNNY AND I HEADED TO St. Anthony Main for a movie after the art show, but before we arrived at the movie, we stopped at Surdyk's to purchase some whiskey. I threw a fit when Breck didn't show up to mix me a cocktail when the movie's opening credits started.

Good thing Bunny is real quick-like on opening whiskey bottles -- that snapping sound of the cap twisting open always calms me down. Barring that, a shaker of ice, gin, vermouth, and bitters works, too.  Speaking of which...

The Ultramods Celebrate the Release of Their New eBook

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO made the jaunt over to Kieran's this past Saturday. I think we all agreed that it was a cozy place to be on such a gloomy mid-afternoon. Some time during the reading the clouds parted and the sun came out. Obviously that's no coincidence.

For those of you who weren't there, Bunny and I celebrated the release of our eBook "Bunny and Coco Get Smashed: Stories from Six Years in the Drinking Life" which is a compilation of essays from The Daily Lush, an online magazine we started when we lived in the French Quarter. Naturally, we continued our research when we moved back to Minnesota (which explains the six-years part of the title). We explored many facets of the history and culture of alcohol and dug up plenty of obscure facts we think you'll enjoy.

It's a helluva lot of fun to read and you can buy it this instant through Amazon.com and Smashwords for $4.99.

I'd also like to thank our special guests who also read at our party. Thank you to Susan Marks, who read from her latest book "In the Mood for Munsingwear: Minnesota's Claim to Underwear Fame" (I reviewed it for City Pages). And Steve McPherson, who shared an especially poignant piece of writing about a fight that breaks out over the ignorance of knowing what it takes to make a perfect martini. Personally, I felt like it could have been a page out of my own biography.

But that's a book for another time.

Playing Spy, Getting Smashed, MN Int'l Film Fest

GREAT LOOKING COVER, yeah? Bunny and I are excited about this project, another in The Ultramods' repertoire. Our first book is a collection of essays from six years of consuming, and writing about, alcohol entitled Bunny and Coco Get Smashed, Stories from Six Years in the Drinking Life. It will be out in a week or so. I'll keep you posted.

ON WEDNESDAY I had an exhilarating time playing spy. In fact, I seemed to enjoy the experience in exact opposite degrees as some critics disliked it. I've long suspected these "some critics" don't enjoy much of anything, though, especially if there is the slightest hint at fun involved. So their reviews weren't much of a surprise. It doesn't seem to matter anyway, as the event is currently sold out. (But check in with them in case of cancellations! There may be a chance yet to participate!)

I'm talking about "A Machine To See With," an interactive experience created by London-based Blast Theory, brought to Minnesota through The Walker Art Center. From their description of the event:

Arriving at your appointed street corner, you wait for your cell phone to ring. When it does, your journey through the city begins. Keep your eyes peeled for traps. You are the lead in a heist movie; it’s all about you.

You can read the entire description here.

Obviously this experience can't be a recreation of The Game -- you remember that thriller with Michael Douglas? The one where he gets drugged, kidnapped, and confronted with a creepy camera-faced clown, etc? You've got to build up to an experience like that, honestly. "A Machine To See With" could be that introduction; despite the absence of drugs and flying bullets, it's far from a child's game.

After the first couple of phone calls I no longer had time to Tweet -- I was on the run! Also, I stopped tweeting because I was on a heist, after all. Top secret stuff. My pace quickened the moment I was told I had "better get the fuck out of there as fast as possible." What's not fun about that?

There is an underlying purpose to this project, of course. It wouldn't be a proper heist without one, really. According to an even more in-depth description of "A Machine To See With" on Blast Theory's Web page, the event is not only about cinema, but also the tyranny of choice and consumerism, and the financial crisis.

Just as one often does when attending more traditional theater, I enjoyed suspending my disbelief for this nontraditional experience. Additionally, I enjoy all manner of heist and spy lore and this was, to put it simply, incredibly fun. I had a blast.

The MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL started off in high-style -- and high temperatures! -- on Thursday. A large tent was set up to accommodate the festival's opening night party and whoever was in charge of heating the place, well done! It was a cold, rainy night but everything inside was cheery. Had a great time meeting RT Rybak again. Kieran Folliard insisted I get my photo with Minneapolis' mayor. Thanks for taking our picture, Kieran! I told RT I have been enjoying his tweets -- particularly the ice cream dilemma he had during the recent Twins game.

Saw the documentary Front Page: Inside the New York Times and enjoyed it very much. I always love a good newsroom/journalism story, and this one narrows in on the subject of the New York Times' Media Desk and how it is managing to survive in the shaky world of print newspaper. David Carr, who writes a column for the Times' Monday Business section, participated in a Q&A after the movie along with director Andrew Rossi.

Again we all shuffled out to the party tent where, after discussing the movie, The Ultramods and the Folliards closed the place down. Glad the rain stopped long enough for our walk to the car.

Sweat Stains, Pink Hobo, Urban Arts, Hannah

Drinking at Hotel Monteleone, French Quarter. Photo by Bunny Sparber.

SUSAN MARKS IS RIDICULOUSLY FUN TO drink cocktails with. The author of In The Mood For Munsingwear, Minnesota's Claim to Underwear Fame, was nice enough to get together with Bunny and I at the Bradstreet Crafthouse. It's the only place to get a well-made Sazerac. When Bunny and I drink Sazeracs, we get a little bit teary at the thought of our old place in the French Quarter, so I'd like to take a moment to both apologize to Susan, but also thank her for patiently waiting for me and Bunny to stop crying into each other's shoulders. Really, we're sorry for the awkwardness of that situation, Susan. If there is some way we could make it up to you? Maybe we could go out for drinks? I know a great place that makes a wonderful New Orleans drink called the Sazerac. OH GOD.

To distract us from our maudlin tendencies, Bunny and I switched to The McQueen and were thrilled that Susan was up for trying it as well. I'm pretty sure that drink is partly (or wholly) responsible for the three of us losing track of time. But when the conversation is that fun and interesting, why keep an eye on the clock?

SO IF YOU DIG THE BAR BAND SCENE, the current exhibition at the Stevens Square Center for the Arts gallery will definitely make you want to crack open a cold one and listen to loud music. "Sweat Stains Beer and Cigarettes" is the name of the show, and that pretty much spells it all out. See it. The exhibition shows moments of chaos, in-your-face action shots of performers, and condom machines that have been turned into dispensers of ultra-mini comics (bring quarters). Their closing-night party on April 16 sounds like it's going to be fun, too.


Bunny and I also stopped in to PINK HOBO'S OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION for their newest show, "The Itch That Burns." As I wrote in The Dressing Room last week, "'The Itch That Burns could be the name of a teenage cautionary tale or personal hygiene film from the '50s." But don't worry -- This particular exhibition at this self-proclaimed "geek" art gallery steers clear of VD and BO. It's a fun show where the titles of the pieces are just as fun as the paintings themselves. Be sure to look for Fat Lincoln.


URBAN ARTS THREW A PARTY this weekend, too, and damn it was a big'un. In honor of their first anniversary, this local organization (they advocate for visual, musical, and performance-based art forms) opened the doors to their giant warehouse space in the midway area of St. Paul to display over 300 works of art. Amidst all of the canvasses, there were dance performances, food, drinks, and dance music. Great party, guys!

STOPPED IN AT THE AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE where Swedish artist and cartoonist Jesper Löfvenborg has a wildly colorful exhibition on display. Even better? Sometimes Löfvenborg is smack in the middle of the display, standing on a little black-and-white checkered platform painting a brand new piece. The museum has two fun parties coming up this weekend, "Scandamonium" and "How Swede It Is" on April 15 and 16. They've designed a signature champagne cocktail and specialty dessert for both occasions. Read more about these events here.

SAW THE MOVIE HANNAH this weekend, too. Wow. This movie is ultra-cool. What more can I say? Oh yeah. See it.

Minnesota Naughty, Evidence, and Everybody is an Astronaut

THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING EXCITING GOING ON in the Twin Cities' art scene, and this weekend I found myself viewing some especially unique pieces at the University of Minnesota's Katherine E. Nash gallery and at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Minnesota History Center presented some equally unique imagery in its latest History of Hip lecture, too. So let's start with that.

Entitled "Minnesota Naughty," this lecture focused on Susan Marks' latest book, In the Mood for Munsingwear: Minnesota's Claim to Underwear Fame (I will review it soon), which explores Minnesota's connection to the underwear industry and the surprising ad campaigns that accompanied it. Marks pointed out the many connections ads had to homosexual culture. It's funny how, in this day and age, we may see these ads and think that it looks kind of gay but, since it was from that time, were the ad men just naive? Marks points out that no, it's more likely that back then naive folk would see the ads and think nothing of it, the more in-the-know folks may snicker or get a kick out of the modernity of the ads, but more importantly, the gay community knew who the ads were targeting. And, as Marks pointed out, the ads sold underwear. An intriguing look into the past, for sure.

Sharing the bill with Marks was Sarahjane Blum-Murphy of Grapefruit Moon Gallery, who spoke a bit about the culture of pin-up art and even brought along two gigantic and gorgeous original Gil Elvgren paintings. Did you know that this iconic painter is a Minnesota-native? It was news to me!

AN EERIE EXHIBITION has befallen Gallery 262 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Evidence is the culmination of Angela Strassheim's art background (she's an MCAD grad and received an M.F.A. at Yale University) and her crime scene photography training (between her undergraduate and graduate studies, she earned a living as a forensic photographer). If I remember correctly, I first saw her photography years ago at the Chambers Hotel's Burnett Gallery. Her Left Behind series was on display; a few of the photos in that series seemed just a little too squeaky clean to be completely innocent, if that makes any sense. In the simplest terms, the crisply dressed characters in the familial settings felt, well, creepy. I remember there being an unreal quality about them, making it hard not to gaze at every inch of each large-scale photo. This sense of wanting to look further into her photos, around the corners and in the closets, happens again with Evidence. In this series, she literally exposes the remnants of the gruesome histories that will never truly disappear from some now-happy homes.

The best example of this is her photo entitled "Evidence No. 10." A skinny wall in the center of a bedroom is pictured. On this wall hangs two photos -- the baby pictures of the married couple currently inhabiting the place. But Strassheim's photo, like all of them in the series, is dark. The lights in the room are off, leaving only rogue streaks of light coming in through cracks in the drawn curtains. And then there is another form of light, which is the focal point of the photos. This is the luminescent remnants of DNA, the sprays and spatters from decades-old crime scenes. I couldn't help but wonder what the current residents think about the photos of their homes.

This following short video is part of the exhibition. Strassheim talks about the luminescent spray she used to get the effect in her photos, and the process by which she approaches the people who now live in these homes. Supplementing this exhibition are vintage Minnesota-specific crime scene photos. This exhibition will be on display as part of the New Pictures 4 series at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts through October 11, 2011.


THE MFA THESIS exhibition Everybody is an Astronaut is currently open at the University of Minnesota's Katherine E. Nash Gallery. The show features works by Jennifer Anable, Ben Garthus, Bart Vargas, Sam Hoolihan, and Areca Roe. For the most part, all of these artists are working on a large scale for this show.

I'll mention only a little bit about the show here, but all of the works make up an impressive exhibition.

Jennifer Anable's ceramics creations have a surreal and comforting quality about them. For instance, she has made a pile of ghostly flowers and they are set in the middle of the floor. It's hard to believe these flowers are made out of porcelain; they look like wax and as delicate as real flowers. Squat down for a closer look, but take note -- it will be awfully hard to resist the urge to touch them. Before I gave in, her larger sculptures distracted me, and I quite enjoyed her refashioning of doors, and even how she managed to literally dig a hole in a set of dresser drawers. 

Photographer Areca Roe has a knack for capturing the unrealistic qualities of zoo environments. In the middle of her exhibition she includes mauled toys -- a giant red ball and a sled -- in boxes that may as well be coffins. Those toys have seen lots of aggressive animal teeth. 

And don't miss Sam Hoolihan's Etudes for Penney’s photographic series, either. As far as I can tell, this may be the best use of JC Penneys' photo studio ever.