An Autumn Sunday Picnic

 I dug out the gingham painting from last year's installation in Ellenville, NY to play around amidst the jungle gym construction site that's inhabited our yard for the past couple of weeks. 
No intent, no point.  It's just like putting a hat on a baby or cat and photographing it. Just for the joy of it.

Peter Acheson at John Davis Gallery in Hudson NY.

Flag, 2008

I couldn't miss the opening of Peter Acheson's opening at John Davis Gallery on Nov 13.
I've mentioned Peter and his work here on this blog and on maykr many times before.  I've spent a lot of time with him talking about painting - and other things.
These conversations have had a major influence on how I look at painting and how I approach my own painting activity. 

Acheson's work has more often than not challenged my expectations of what a painting can or should be.  More often than not, his work, piece by piece has simply challenged me - directly - about each piece's validity as a work fit for the world.
My struggle to come to terms with the oddest of balls that spring from his hand has been rewarding too.  And even the works which, in the end still flag or fail do so with abandon and ballsy-ness - as should be the case. 

The artist in his formal opening attire.

So, Ok- to separate my relationship with the guy from the stuff he does, I'll say that walking into this show was a thrilling visceral experience, one that triggers a jones to get home and get painting - immediately.  I  relate the experience of entering this exhibit to that of discovering Norbert Prangenberg's work at Betty Cunningham Gallery.  It's funny that the works on the main floor are similar to Prangenberg's work in their slutty application of paint.  Never having done crack or suffered from a debilitating addiction of any kind, I can only guess in my assumption that the sense of walking into either of these two exhibits is like a recovered addict happening upon some den replete with the stuff of his addiction - regained intoxication, but without the torment or guilt.  My response to both these exhibits was the same; reveling in the residue of another's endeavor as if it were my own.
It's funny too that Peter's response to photos of that Prangenberger exhibit mirrored his reflection on his own show just a couple of days ago: "Too conservative."

John Davis' downstairs gallery features a sampling of the different threads of Peter's work, concurrently made, but divergent in intention.  Together they give the impression of a guy that is, at his core, a stick and mud man.

Painting for Ben La Rocco, 2010

So, as I alluded, there are two floors in the gallery, the top floor is predominated by what's been referred to as his vibratory paintings and the bottom being populated with variations of his production.

Martin Bromirski photographing Xochitl

Check out Martin's photos from the opening at anaba.  Also John Davis' website includes a pdf with images of all the works in the exhibit.  The show is up through Dec 5.

Close to Home at Van Brunt Gallery

Some images from the exhibit at Van Brunt Gallery featuring work by Colin Barclay, Peter Iannarelli and Stanford Kay.  The exhibit opened on Nov 6 and runs through Nov 28.
 

Stanford Kay, My Back Pages (The Birth and Death of Pictorial Space)

 

 Two of Iannarelli's plastic forms on the left with Barclay's Twillingate, Newfoundland on the right.

On left, Barclay's Storm on the Barrens, with Kay's Untitled, top right and Iannarelli's Untitled, below - 

another color coordinated grouping.

In what could be a stroke of conceptual brilliance, Colin Barclay has reprised his 2004 (or '05)  Van Brunt gallery exhibit on a slightly diminutive scale. Of course, I could be way off base here and reading more into this than there really is.

Stanford Kay, Mysteries of the Universe, on left, & two Untitled works by Peter Iannarelli.

Stanford Kay has been tweaking the shelved book motif that underpins his abstract works in recent years.  I have found each iteration has pushed the language forward.  This evolution continues on a couple of fronts in this show; both of them potentially interesting, although I prefer the smaller works; I find them to be are more brutal and direct statments in paint.

Peter Iannarelli, Untitled

 Iannarelli's Untitled sculpture with Kay's The Collector in the background.

This "pedestal" sculpture of Peter's steals the show.  It more fully embodies what Peter is interested in than the plastic cutlery pieces.  As with much of his work, this piece incorporates a degree of gravity defied.  Fortunately, Peter manages to escapes the trap of making this "magical" aspect from being the focus of the works; it's just another element, which along with the more tangible components work to support a broader aesthetic and philosophy.

Melissa Tatge's confluence of boot and skirt patterns was the highlight of opening night.

I was treated last week to a delightful and invigorating studio visit by Mark DeLura and Peter Acheson.  I'll be heading north to meet up with those two again to do a visit Mark's studio.  Later in the day, I'll continue on to Hudson to take in the opening reception of Peter's exhibit of new paintings at the John Davis Gallery. 

John Davis Gallery is located at 362 1/2 Warren St. in Hudson, NY.  Peter Acheson: Paintings runs through December 5, 2010. Tomorrow's reception runs from 6 to 8 pm.

John Davis has an awesome three-story carriage house behind the main gallery which is open during warm months.  I was able to catch Martin Bromirski's "Circus on Mars" show there a couple of years ago. I missed Sharon Butler's exhibit of Beacon Paintings last year, but I was pleased to exhibit two pieces from that body of work last month at kork.

Some recent drawings

pastel, 9"x12"

pastel, 9"x12"

pastel, 9"x12"

pastel, 9"x12"

colored pencil, pencil, 9"x12"

colored pencil, 9"x12"

colored pencil, 9"x12"

Something afoot

Preparations for a new yard installation at Kamp Maykr?  

Perhaps...

August in Denver

At the Denver Art Museum: The Big Sweep by Coos van Bruggen and Claus Oldenberg, Lawrence Weiner's 

"As To Be in Plain Sight" across the street and you can just make out the Red Grooms "Shoot Out" to the right, on the roof.

I didn't get around to see much art on my short trip back to Denver in August.

This exhibition is headlining at the Denver Art Museum through Jan 9, 2011.  

I decided to pass.

Locking Piece.

I made a point of checking out the installation of Henry Moore sculptures at the Denver Botanic Gardens.  The nine month long exhibit places 20 of the artist's sizable works throughout the grounds. 
Visiting the Botanic gardens is one of the most urbane experiences Denver has to offer and the presence of these works just piles on that effect.
There are very few vistas in the gardens that belie urban surroundings beyond the perimeter of foliage.  The pervasively visible border between the natural and the constructed enhances the experience of the sculptures - from my view.  In most cases the sculptures, arrayed within the sweep of flora were seen in relation with some other architectural or man made detail within the field of view.  In the few instances, such as in the image directly below, where a work rests in isolation amidst a believably natural setting, the effect feels forced and contrived.  It's a great exhibit made even better by the ability to experience through the procession of seasons.

Large Totem Head

Large Reclining Figure

Reclining Figure: Arch Leg

Knife Edge Two Piece

Hill Arches

Goslar Warrior

Above and below: opposing views of Oval with Points

Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped

And then:

At the time, I puzzled over what this was trying to say - or why it needed to be said. 

Now I just don't know why it's on a bumper sticker.

Open Studio Revue Sept 25 & 26, 2010

A view of Angelika's studio.

By all accounts, this year's Beacon Open Studios was as well attended as last year.  Here at Kamp Maykr traffic was less than last year. Saturday was utterly dead but Sunday saw a steadier flow of people through the space for most of the day.  This year, both Angelika and I opened up our spaces.  She played a couple of her recent videos and showed various elements that were part of her recent MFA thesis project.  Additionally, on Saturday, she video taped Frits Zernike reading her her thesis.

 Frits in the midst of bringing A's academic writing to life.

I had been looking forward to Open Studio since last year, and I was hoping to create a couple of works for outside.  However, a severe bout of sciatica that's been plaguing me for a couple months nixed most of those plans, so I simply brought out some of my recent, in progress works, and pretty much left the space in it's everyday state - with a little less clutter on the floor.

 Remnants, 2010 gouache on drywall.

 a small untitled work outside.

Folded and Stacked, latex paint

Chris Jones with Fendry Ekel at Ana Cristea Gallery in NYC, Oct 14-Nov 13, 2010

                                                (l) Fendry Ekel, Srebrenican Horse #2, 2010, (r) Chris Jones, work in progress (rubbish pile), 2010

I received an email the other day from London based artist Chris Jones informing me about a two person show he's participating in with Fendry Ekel at the Ana Cristea Gallery in Chelsea in NYC. Chris was an artist in residence at HVCCA in 2008 where he turned the upstairs gallery into a mess of books and magazines from which he culls photographic imagery on which his paper sculptures rely for both their structure and their surface character.  Back in 2008 I made a couple of visits to Chris' studio bearing a pile of magazines from folks in Beacon to add to the stash from which his work is created.

A view of Chris Jones' studio floor at HVCCA in 2008.

The exhibit at Ana Cristea Gallery opens with a reception from 6-8pm on Thursday, Oct 14 and runs through Nov 13.