Whitney Day Trip

The Whitney Museum has consistantly been offering most interesting exhibitions in the NY museum circuit for sometime. This past Friday, we visited the Whitney to view the Robert Smithson Retrospective. I found this a fascinating exhibit as I really did not like it, but it was, an interesting biographic endeavor.
The thing that really stuck out for me was the discolored paint remnant from the previous (and far more engaging exhibition) Tim Hawkinson retro that for some reason had not been properly painted and patched.

Also on view currently is "Remote Viewing" an exhibit of contemporary abstract painting by 8 or 9 artists. The content of this show was much more interesting work than what Smithson had to offer. Interesting in the homogeneity of the artists in their use of sci fi, and comic book, and tech allusions in creating their mostly gestural abstract realms in their work. That's all I'll say about it right now, because, I simply don't have the ability to go any further tonight.

back again....

I have three shows' worth of work being brought back into the studio this week, and It's not yet ready to handle all of it. I've been busy with work related tasks, and have not spent much time repairing the studio from the work done to get the bau 6, and via beacon work completed.

I did run out to Iowa two weeks ago for family matters. While there, I stopped in at the Bemis Art Center in Omaha NE. Saw a couple of exhibits there, and spoke with the assistant curator, Jeremy Stern, who's also from Denver. One of the exhibits was an exploration of "Large-format Photography." The thing I was immediately struck by was that several of the pieces actually consisted of small scale images collaged or assembled to create a much larger piece. I did not make any notes on the show, but there was a beautiful Judy Pfaff piece that consisted of 3 images of aprox. 9 x 12 inches or so, and primarily saturated in green. Another piece by an artist I dont recall created a 4 to 6 ft collage of 4x6 prints of images of people sleeping. It seemed that all of these photos had come from a variety of sources as the settings, and individuals were all different. The images were close ups of people in bed, or a car, on a train, or plane, sleeping. I became absorbed in moving from one person to another, and creating this narrative from all of these informal snapshots. After a while, the entire piece became somewhat creepy, and morbid. I started seeing these folks as dead, and the piece as an entity became something like a bulletien board festooned with faces of victims of some random trajedy. Picking up on this sensation of remnants of death was another piece that was a fuzzy digital image of the wreckage of an airliner in a hangar being investigated. The image was printed on a jigsaw puzzle which, for me, played on the large-small scale relationship going on in many of the other pieces. In fact as I remember, there was only one piece, that on the face of it would constitute an actual large scale photograph, all the others had some amalgamation of digital images or actual collage of smaller prints working together on a larger scale.
Afterwards, I found a really great used bookstore around the corner, and had to make a few purchases.

Anyway, I am in the process of getting things back to normal, getting the studio reassembled, and get moving on new work.

Images of bau 6:amalgam

exhibition diagram


Making One's way


PH


Laocoon


Indigenous


Death of Dance


...But with their hands


Relic


Prelude (cocked)


prelude (cocked) as viewed from out side.

A Searing Saturday Night

The weather broke today. Finally. It's been fairly miserable over the past several days.

Second Saturday in Beacon rolled around, and it was the stickiest, most uncomfortable day of all. The weather definitely had an impact on the openings that night. There was a body of folks who braved the heat, but it was considerably down from what would be expected.

It took an hour and a half before anyone really came into my opening at bau. I was wondering if I'd be there by myself, fortified with plenty of beer, all night. As the heat slowly ebbed, folks started filing in. Considering the heat, I think the turnout was respectable.

Over at Spire, the story was much the same. Dana Edelman was playing with a couple of other musicians, and the performance was good. Unfortunately, there just was not a great number of folks to listen. There was a keg of Heineken waiting to greet visitors that went largely unconsumed.

For the open studio, I presented some sketches that were done for my amalgam show, and a shelf of plaster casts, some made over the past year and some made for amalgam that were not used.



Angelika presented digital various digital prints from misc. images taken while she was in Syracuse.



The Day After.



The day after the open studio. Completely clean, thanks to Angelika's efforts. It had been suggested, but not really registered, that I photograph the studio before the cleaning...as the aftermath of preparations for bau 6. It was something to see. Layers of sawdust, plaster dust, styro pellets, tools etc. everywhere.

Now that everything was so tidily put away, I can spend the next couple of weeks looking for the things I will be needing.

Back on Track

My life is about to get a good dose of normalcy, and sensible structure. Angelika is returning today from her month at Light work, and none too soon.

On the Wall

This is the final stage of Navelglazing. And it is on the wall. The Via Beacon exhibit looks good. There are just a couple images of the show on maykr.com. More will be posted later.

I was driving back home from Syracuse last week, and decided what was needed to resolve the piece for me. I just did not know how it would be applied. I added the black stripe in the bottom half. This added a bold structural element that I all but avoid in my work. I felt that the stripe fit in contextually, and it really added an edge to the piece. The other last minute variation I made was to cut off the lighter portion in the upper right corner from the edge.

Monday evening, right after I had finished the stripe, my Studio neighbor, Kathy, who is also in Via Beacon poked her head in to see my painting. After making an exclamatory sound of some sort, she said "come in to my studio." Two days before, she had resolved one of her pieces for the show with a series of black bands.

It was crazy. A device that I would never consider using also shows up in her piece. The proportions of my stripe are similar to Kathy's stripes. The director of the Rockland County Art Center asked if Kathy and I were a couple and produced work that conciously referenced each other. Definitely not....but perhaps we've been spending too much time together...I won't even mention our now closed joint checking account.

Before long, I will post an image of Kathy's striped piece....

But should be in bed currently preparing for a full day of work for my bau show....4 days....nothing is yet resolved.

back to bau

The Garnerville show opened this weekend, and it went well. I will shortly post images of my work in the show, and images of the overall installation.

I will also be posting images and info on the bau 6 work as time allows. This week will be dominated in moving, and installing work at bau.

Via Beacon opens Saturday

The work is in the space. The final cut on artwork will be made Thursday, and then lighting... In its rough state currently, the show looks good. I'm anxious to see what Coulter, the curator will do with the work and the space.

And then, some more.

This is a very poor image of a recent state of this piece. I had reached a point within the last few days where I was really happy with the painting, with just a few modifications to make on the bottom half. The top half, though, I was pleased with. It did not look too different from this image.

Today I was looking at the piece, and realizing that I was satisfied with it, I decided to take it further. There were so many subtle layers emerging and disappearing, and there were some great areas of conte, and pastel drawing. I really liked it, but thought that it looked exactly like a painting I would make. I was satisfied....It is being made to hang in a show that opens in a week and a half. It will be carted down to the location within five days. It was basically marked with the big black DONE stamp.
So I made a mixture of a bright red, and laced it through out the top half, and into the bottom half. What is it if your are really satisfied with a piece? Sometimes it feels that (and this could be a case) there are times when I try to convince myself that something is done. When that happens, usually, I put the piece away, and move on to other work. Later, I dig it out, and see how it feels. I find that generally I will have, by then, reached a point where I can something that will truly inform and complete the piece. That process is unpredictable in terms of time. In this case, I have a time consideration, although, I am prepared to show other work if this one does not work out. So, whatever. I reached a point where I liked the painting, but was it existing as the piece it could really be?
I'll find out in the next couple of days whether it works or not....or if I just added several more days of effort on to this task. Either way, I am anxious to get back in there in the morning, and actually see what I did this afternoon.

In the Studio

Time in the studio this week has been really enjoyable. The tone of the time spent working in recent days is something I have not experienced for a long while. The deadline of upcoming shows is helpful, but there is a sense that the show itself is a bit of a nuisance because it presently stands as an interruption in the flow of work that exists right now. There is a certain state of completion, or at least stasis to be reached in time to install the work, but I am looking forward reaching the point after installation, when I can simply continue along on with the work I've been doing over the past weeks. I'm excited by this because I feel I have tapped into a stream of ideas, that is beginning to carry me along, and the extent of this current stretches beyond the near term reality of an upcoming exhibit. This is new a new sensation for me, and it's thrilling.
Today was a good day, as I was able to stay in the studio for a good seven or eight hours. I have been squeezing in a couple hours here and there recently, and they have been productive moments, but it was a real pleasure to be in there and not have anything drawing me out, or calling my attention as has been the case recently.

Angelika was back this weekend for the reception at Millbrook. Virtually noone was there, which we had expected, but it was fun. The GM of the Winery and his wife were great to talk with, and the evening was pleasant, as was the drive home afterward. There were few cars on the Taconic, and I had the sense of a really enjoyable summer evening cruise. Angelika returned to Syracuse this morning to finish her 2+ weeks of residency at Light Work.

Sell Sell Sell

It's been hectic this week. Trying to squeeze time in the studio while following through on logistical issues, and meetings, and simply being tied to the computer, has been tough. But I find that when things are as busy as they are, and I am pressed for time, I use my time in the studio much more effectively. There is something appealing about this pace I have been moving at, as long as these periods are short. We were asked to sell ads for the festival program that will occur in conjunction with Via Beacon. The advertising drive was successful, and I did the layout of the ads, creating a smaller Beacon section within the guide. I think it turned out well, but it was a lot of time in front of the computer....but that is nothing new these days.

We will be loading work for the Via Beacon show late next week, the opening, in two weeks, and my solo show is in three.

Push and Pull

This is the state of the painting as it was a couple of days ago. It's different now. More cut up, spacially. I added some layers over the past several days, and then began removing layers today. I had to stop, and work on something else. I made progress on parts of a couple of pieces for bau 6.




a

Early Stages

Two early stages of the piece I am doing for a group show of Beacon artists in Garnerville NY, in June. This piece is a 9x6 ft diptych

death of dance, wall drawing 2004.

I've been slowly progressing with the work for my bau 6 show in June, discovering certain things that are not working, and exploring other options. I'm enjoying the machinations of trying things out, rejecting some, hanging on to others. The image above, was a quick note made on the wall of my studio, and has served as the touchstone for the development of my concept for the show, even though there may be no visual reference to this drawing in the installation.

I also helped Angelika hang her pieces for her current show at bau. I really enjoy the results of what she has done. The process was fun to be a part of as well. Her pieces are life size photograms of several of the folks around Spire Studios. In addition to assisting her, I was working on an impromptu series of work with another studio mate, Matt Kinney, on an installation of work at Juicy. I will be organizing some odd visual excercises with various artists that will be installed at juicy over the course of the coming months. This should be fun, I'm looking forward to what may happen with that.

amalgam at b a u, opening in June

I will be having an exhibit of sculpture, and assemblage pieces at b a u in June. Below are some images of things that I'm working on. This is very much an exploratory show, as I am delving into areas that I don't normally explore with drawing and painting. This exhibit is also allowing me to further develop concepts that have been floating around for sometime, but I had not really sought a practical manner of execution for them.


relic


study for jc's pimhand


affection

Spire Recap

I ended up not really taking photos of the open studio last Saturday. It was a long night, and I had my fill of photogging over at bau.

It was another major party, exhausting, but fun.

The exhibit ended up looking good. If I get a chance to take some images, I'll upload them sometime this week.

Another open studio

It's happening again. Our next quarterly art binge is coming up on Saturday. I am really looking forward to this, if I can get my studio cleaned up without too much trouble. Work will be presented by current, and past spire studio tenants.

open

Some recent artwork

repose

I have been working on many varied pieces over the past year, and I am overdue for updating the rest of my sight with new images of artwork. In lieu of that action, I will start posting a sampling of images of things I've been working on recently.
These two pieces are four foot square, oil on masonite.


repose 2

My first carp.....on a plate.

On my trip to Nuremburg Germany in December, I was privileged to experience a local delicacy: Fried Carp.
This fish has a fairly poor reputation in the States, basically, that of a trash fish. We caught many of them in South Dakota, when I was young, and they were good to catch, and they got pretty big, but after we got them off the hook, my cousin would kill them by jumping on their heads. But that was a long time ago.....

Anyway, the fish we ate on this day was farm raised, and It was prepared by a local restaurant, and Angelika's dad brought them home. The fish was gutted, but everything that was left was dipped in batter, and fried, scales, fins and all.
The fins are said to be the best part, and they were good, with plenty of batter. I have to say that batter fried anything tastes pretty good.

b a u happenings

I'm currently in Denver, working on some projects, and will be back in NY in about a week.
Our first b a u opening was enjoyable, and successful, and getting ready for it was exhausting. Two days later, I was on the road, heading west, still battling a little jetlag from returning from Europe. I managed to nap through some heavy weather in the midwest, and dodge what apparantly were some very treacherous conditions. Between the Mississippi, and Des Moines (a distance of about 200 miles,) I counted over 60 cars on the side of the road, 9 jacknived semis, and one large box truck on its side. I was pretty fortunate to have slept for those two hours in that Super 8 parking lot.

So, I have been away from alot of the activity surrounding b a u. I am anxious to get back. Our next show should be very interesting, and exciting. We've invited 2 artists from Beacon, and 2 from across the river to show. All of these artists in one way or another use computer technology to create their work, but their results are very different from one another. There are different things happening within the art communities of each city, and I'm hoping to explore the things that distinguish the two cities with a discussion that will accompany the exhibit. Check out the b a u site for more info. We'll be having a film screening at bau on the fourth of Feb. that unfortunately I'll miss. It'll be good to get back. In the meantime, I'll post somethings I've found interesting out here in Denver...