ART: Jaysom Musson. Review of Gagosian's international Damien Hirst spot paintings show

Today Gagosian launches its 11-gallery exhibition of Damien Hirst’s spot paintings. Philadelphia artist Jayson Musson, in character as art critic Hennesey Youngman, has posted an advance review of what he calls a “perfect storm of banality.” He is clearly not impressed with Hirst, saying, “The only man to ooze this level of Iroc-Z, Axe Body Spray level of douchery is Bono.”

Check out all of Jaysson’s “Art Thoughtz”.

ADVENTURE: Mongol Rally 2012. "Your chances of dying are high."

The Mongol Rally is 10,000 miles of inspiration and risk from Europe to Mongolia across the desert and mountains. Your ride can’t be more than a 1-litre engine, which means it will break down…alot…in Mongolia. Start in Goodwood, West Sussex and cover ⅓ of the planet—taking any route you like—and finish in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Videos of past Rallys and the tone of the website look like a fun adventure awaits, but heed this warning: “Your chances of being seriously injured or dying as a result of taking part are high.” The 2012 Rally benefits the Lotus Children’s Fund.

MUSIC: Authentic Sh*t. Mark Ronson’s weekly radio show

Mark Ronson’s weekly radio show on East Village Radio is accurately described as “Re-jiggered, layered mixes across rock, hip-hop, soul, funk, prog, pop and more, mak[ing] each show the ‘authentic sh*t.’” All the archives are available and the playlists are excellent.

Check out the show.

ART: Shepard Fairey. "Occupy Protester" and Person of the Year prints go on sale

“Occupy Protester” prints of the Time Magazine “Person of the Year” image that Shepard Fairey created will go on sale some time in the morning on January 12th. If you’d like one of the 450 $60 signed prints, you’ll need to sign up for his mailing list, or perhaps just start refreshing your browser obsessively when the 12th rolls around.

All proceeds go to the Occupy Wall Street movement, but there is no question Fairey is a huge commercial success. Good for him.

The print is based upon a photo taken by Ted Soqui of LA Weekly of an LA Occupy protester named Sarah Mason. Rachael Christine created the image comparison above.

MUSIC: Azealia Banks

Azealia Banks is from Harlem, attended LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts (yes, the Fame school.), and performed Off-Broadway as a kid. Listen for her four distinct rapping/singing styles on 212 above. And no, she’s not on Spotify yet as she is still unsigned, recording her first CD, and on tour. (Struggling Artists Fun Fact: Did you know independent artists need over 4 million streams of their song to earn minimum wage based upon Spotify’s compensation model?)