March viewing excursions

A's skirt, digitally modified to fit the mood of the day.
On two Saturdays in March I made a jaunt down to NYC for some art oriented expeditions. On the 7th, A and I headed down together to Pulse. We then parted ways as she met up with her pal Peggy, and I headed down to SOHO to check in on the Habitat for Artists installation at the recently opened NY outpost of Ecoartspace. After hanging you with the HFA contingent that had made its way down for the opening, I hustled up to Denise Bibro Fine Art to catch the Artbloggers panel that was organized by Olympia Lambert and which included Joanne Mattera, Hrag Vartanian, Libby Rosof and Roberta Fallon , Bill Gusky, and Brent Burket.

Saturday morning soccer action on the pier outside of Pulse.


Habitat for Artists at Ecoartspace.

The blogger panel at Denise Bibro Fine Art.

On the following Saturday, I met up with Peter Acheson to do a late morning run through some galleries.





We started off at Josh Smith's show Currents at Luhring Augustine, where we spent much time debating Smith's intentions. Both of us responded positively to the show. I like straight out stream of production - good and bad- represented in the show. I also respond to the flattening out of the hierarchy of material, presenting paintings on canvas side by side with digital prints of paintings pasted on panel at the very same scale as the works on canvas. In some ways, his work speaks about slaying the sacred in art, but I found a certain structure within the gathered works that he did not betray. Certain types of mark making seemed relegated to the paintings and a particular set of the mixed media painting/collages, but another selection of collages were completely devoid of the same treatment. I'm not sure if this was part of a deep seated aesthetic strategy, or an abiding to some invisible barrier, either way, it served to undercut the entire, balls to the wall approach he seems to want to embody.
The different bodies of work within this entire body were divergent enough that the works themselves seemed to provide a palate cleanser. As some work was more memorable than the rest, the lesser works...or whichever ones appeal to you less take on the role that empty wall space would provide - giving a buffer between the vibration of the pieces that matter. I picked up the exhibition catalog, and if image per dollar cost is any measure of worth, then it's a real value, clocking in at around 600 images for $40. The catalog, showing two images per page with no text equates to a cache of film frames rolling through a barrage of works, some of which I learned from the gal at the counter were not even finished. Knowing this really brought it home for me. I dig the flat, holistic apporoach to his process.
above and below: more Josh Smith.

Dana Schutz at Zach Feuer, through Apr 25.

The highlight of the day was discovering Jim Lee's work at Freight and Volume. This show lacking in the spectacular provided so much of a thrill to both of us. the inventiveness and quietly clear vision of this work forces air in to my lungs. I can't say enough about this show. I certainly don't have any smart words to lend it's description. F&V's website has more detailed images of the work.





A trippy Carroll Dunham at Mary Boone.

Our selection of gallery visits was rounded off with a stop into the Leon Kossoff show at Mitchell Innes and Nash. Really sumptuous, physical work from the '50's that been rarely seen as the artist has stringently guarded these pieces. My favorite piece is in a back room, but all of these works have so much presence, and given the generally muted palette, there's a lot of chromatic life eminating from all of these works.
a detail of Kossoff's oozing layers.

Russell Bay McKlayer

"Render unto Ceasar What is Caesar's: the World Died Screaming"

mixed media on cigar box

Denver artist Russell Bay McKlayer died last month at the age of 48. Russell was one of the founding members of EDGE gallery. His work has always been graphically bold, and editorially direct, loaded social and political content.
Russell's passing is yet another loss to the EDGE family in recent years.  Roger Beltrami died in early 2004. Roger and I exhibited concurrently at EDGE in 2002 just before I ended my six years as an associate member of the gallery and moved to NY.  That occasion gave me an opportunity to get to know Roger better. I didn't have the same opportunity of spending one on one time with  Russell, but I liked him very much, and I appreciated his presence in the group. As it happens, when I was back in Denver last October, I stopped into EDGE on an evening when Russell's most recent opening was being held and we were able to chat briefly. Ken Hamel of denverarts.org posted a few photos of Russell with his work in that exhibit called "I never said that I was brave".  
Here are two images that I snapped of Russell's show:

In my view, both Russell and Roger lent a more pointed, radical nature to the character of EDGE as an entity and the losses of both remarkable individuals in relatively short order is profound.

In 2005 I organized an exchange show between the members of EDGE and a group of artists from Beacon NY. The concept of the show revolved around work that would fit into a standard flat rate USPS priority mailing box. The work of the Denver artists was on exhibit at Spire Studios here in Beacon. The image at the top shows Russell's contribution to the show.  The work is paint and collage on a wooden cigar box which fit into the mailing box in its folded position and when opened, expanded into a vertical diptych.
My thoughts go out to Russell's family and friends.

In Between at Van Brunt Gallery through March 16.

I've got two pieces in a very very brief group exhibit which opened at Van Brunt Gallery yesterday. fandf (sc) and fandf (sg) pictured above are part of the First and Final group I'm working on currently.
Also included in the exhibit are: Emil Alzamora, Ed Benavente, Ryan Cronin, David Morris Cunningham, Kathy Feighery, Bo Gehring, D. Dominick Lombardi, Steve Rossi, Todd Sargood, Ken Vallario and Carl Van Brunt.
Below are additional images of the show.

Another Saturday, another afternoon in the hab.

I spent another couple of hours at Van Brunt Gallery yesterday. I brought in another habitat tile (above)scaled with old cd roms, some still remaining swimming pool remnants and some Thick & Rich lids from cans of Bush's Baked Beans. MmmmMmmmmmMm (though not as good as mom's).

I chatted with Catherine Welshman who was sitting the gallery yesterday...and who'll be headlining the next exhibit at bau, opening on March 7. I handed off elements of a couple collaborative projects, one of which is the Visual Novel, to Catherine. I hope to be posting info on these projects later in the year. I also made two more Demonstrative Drawings, and another chewing gum sculpture (below) to be cast by Steve Rossi.

Today I'll be working on streaming the live feed from a panel discussion that will be taking place at Van Brunt at 3pm today. The feed can be seen over at www.maykr.com.

For The Love of Art, through March 15, 2009

The exhibit For The Love Of Art opened last week at the Hat Factory in Peekskill, NY. A grid of nine Genesis paintings are on view. The participating artists were invited to submit work that was then reviewed by a curatorial panel. Thanks to Michael Anthony Natiello who invited me to show.. Apparantly, prior to the opening, once the work was installed, there was some discussion among the curatorial panel regarding how appropriate the work is for public consumption with some wanting to yank the work. We'll see how it rolls. The exhibit will remain on view through March 15.
Here's a little snippet from a story in the Journal News that I thought was cute:

Christopher Albert, Beacon, creates abstract works in various media. His oil painting "Genesis 18" (2007) brings new meaning to the phrase "biblical knowledge" as it is painted on pages from the adult magazine Genesis.

Demonstrative Drawings

In a manner akin to that in which I was doing the Depletion Drawings in my Habitat over the Summer, I've been doing some drawings with during my time at the Habitat indoors at Van Brunt. I'm limiting myself to two colors of oil pastel on small irregularly shaped pieces of paper, and seeing what comes up. Much of the imagery for these particular drawings comes from watching Obama make his was to all of the balls on Inauguration night. At at least on stop the foreground of the frame I watched on tv was filled with these odd crooked crane like shapes in silhouette, each one with a glowing blue light square at the end. It's how photographs are taken now. Viewfinders are becoming a thing of the past. How odd is this gesture compared to the posture of picture taking in days or yore. At some point in the near future instead of squinting one eye, cradling an invisible form in both hands, jerking one index finger to indicate photographing something, we'll incorporate the same index jerk while holding one hand aloft high over our heads, hand in an articulated claw. That's the initial point of mediation for these drawings. The Demonstrative bit relates to the doing of this in public on a stage set of sorts as is the case when working in the gallery.

For the Love of Art, Feb 15- March 15, 2009 at the Hat Factory, Peekskill, NY.

I'll be exhibiting a number of the Genesis Paintings from Feb 15 to March 15 in a show called For the Love of Art at the Hat Factory in Peekskill. For the Love of Art is a cooperative effort on the part of Yamet Arts Inc, The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Collaborative Concepts, the Peekskill Arts Council and the Hat factory.
The exhibit features 30 artists in the Hudson Valley ranging from Mt Vernon, NY to Hudson, NY.
A healthy number of the selected artists hale from Beacon. There's obviously a lot of us here, but there's an inordinant number of quality artists as well. Here's the total line up:
Chris Albert, Emil Alzamora, Deb Davidovits, Matt Harle, Jill Reynolds, Angelika Rinnhofer, Eleanor White, Beacon; Michael Ricardo Andreev, Mt Vernon; Curt Belshe, Carla Rae Johnson, Peekskill; Dina Bursztyn, Catskill; Erik Odin Cathcart, Leslie Pelino, New Paltz; Mimi Czajka-Graminks, Red Hook; Cristina DeGennaro,Scott Goodman, Mamaroneck; E.Y.E, various locations; Gretchen Kelly, Hudson; Leslie Lew, Mohegan Lake; Nathan Margoni,Alec Spangler Purchase; Lael Morgan, Croton; Laura Moriarty, Kingston; Lori Nozick, Crompond; GeneFree (Gene Panzcenko, Peekskill/Marcy B. Freedman, Croton) Jaanika Peerna, Cold Spring; Bruce Richards, Dobbs Ferry; Camilo Rojas, Millerton; Donna Sharrett, Ossining; Kate Vrijmoet, Pawling.

An opening reception will take place on February 15 from 2-5pm. The Hat Factory is located at 1000 N. Division St in Peekskill, NY. Updated information is being posted on the Yamet Arts website.

Habitats inside, weekend 2

I've spent some time over the past two Saturdays at Van Brunt Gallery working on stuff. I intend to do a series of drawings tied specifically to the experience of working in the gallery - akin to the Depletion Drawings done in my habitat over the Summer. In this new set of drawings I'm using oil pastel, a medium I'm not terribly comfortable with, and I've arbitrarily limited myself to two colors - a brown and a sort of fuschia.
I'm also working on some tiles that are being added to the Habitat mix. The one below is taking a while; layering strips of newspaper. I've really gotten into building up the profile of this piece. Who knows if I'll finish. I'm enjoy seeing certain topographies being telegraphed as new layers are added.

Siamese grapes

There's got to be a culture somewhere in the world that considers an occurrence such as this a portent of fortuitous times to come.
A delicate procedure to separate these conjoined grapes was unsuccessful and both twins succumbed--TO MY TUMMY!

The Perfect Artstorm or When nature calls

Here are some images from phase 2 of the HFA exhibit at Van Brunt. This phase has a name now which is "Matters of Scale." Pictured above is Evangelist flanked on both sides by paintings by Richard Bruce. Below is Todd Sargood's painting.

The gallery space will be in a constant state of flux throughout the run of the project. Above you can see the workspace outfitted in the rear portion of the gallery, which was altered yet again on Sunday to accomodate a presentation given by folks from Solar1 on their efforts on propagating solar energy throughout NYC. Below is another tile I created for the project and is for sale. As with the first tile I created, this one is constituted from material that was on my from last Summer. In this case, I took wedges of a plastic kiddey swimming pool and cut them into "scales" inorder to "skin" the tile. The embossed fish forms give an additional level the scale motif. I'm rather taken by this piece. I think the elements come together in a strong way.
I've held on to these wedges of swimming pool since pulling them out of our neighbor's curbside trash, and have only now, some two or three years later, come upon a suitable and righteous purpose for them. It's a satisfying feeling.
An additional moment of recycling elements is present in the shape of the individual scales and the arrangement in which they're placed, which was inspired directly from the quilted pattern on the toilet paper we currently have in stock here in the house.
All of these ingredients and factors coming together to give one.....at least this artist.....a warm arty feeling. It's like a perfect artstorm, or something. Below, the key that opened the door.

Phase 2 of HFA @ Van Brunt Gallery

I just returned from installing Evangelist (above) at Van Brunt Gallery as part of phase two of the HFA project that is occupying the gallery for the next six weeks. Phase one of the exhibit opened last Saturday. Beginning today, Simon Draper has relegated 2/3 of the gallery space as interim studio/social space. The gallery is now constricted to an approx. 12 ft x 12 ft exhibition space that is dominated by three other large works beside mine; a piece by Todd Sargood and two by Richard Bruce.
Below is an image of a pastel preparatory drawing for Evangelist.

untitled

The Habitat For Artists exhibit/project/fundraiser opened this weekend at Van Brunt Gallery. The gallery will serve as the conduit for the activities at the heart of the project. There will be some screenings, talks, and the space will be partially transformed in to a work space for the duration of the show.
So I'll be spending a portion of the upcoming weekends at the gallery tinkering and cavorting and I'm looking forward to it.
Above is an image of my "insulated tile" which is part of the initial stage of the exhibition. Participating artists created work on 14" tiles which conform to a modular format which can be used as the skin of a shed habitat - or make for a lovely little objey for the den. The colorful striations on the piece are one-by-two's that formed a grid from last Summer's hab at Spire Studios. I used some surplus paint from a few jobs to punch up the wood, then sliced them up and randomly re-gluing the pieces. The packing peanuts are held in place by plastic sheeting stretched over the piece. It's a sketch, really. It's silly, it's colorful, it's stupid. I love it.
As I've discussed before, I'm into the aspect of maximizing resources that is a central component of the project. Not just material, but spacial, and intellectual resources. It's a highly resonant topic, now given the "hard times" we're currently experiencing. I feel moments like this can be rather exciting as they shake up the status quo, imposing another level of resourcefulness from more people.
There's not a lot of bad in that, as I can see. Difficulty, sure, but not bad really. Ok, maybe some bad, but bad goes away. Hell, things are difficult even in times are supposedly good. Change is good too, and difficulty fosters change. So in a way, let's embrace doing things the hard way. That's almost a mantra for me. Throw in a constraint or an obstacle here and there and see what comes up. As Donovan says, you've got to pick up every stitch. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it feels apropos, and it just started running through my head.
I made a trip yesterday down to Brooklyn to attend a salon hosted by Sharon Butler and Austin Thomas at Thomas' place Pocket Utopia. The vibe and the activity at PU parallel that which I hope HFA will engender while at Van Brunt. I spoke briefly with C-Monster on the blessedness of the marginal space (and by extension -in my view- the beauty of the unexceptional), which will undoubtedly see a rise in these uncertain times.A shot of Pocket Utopia as Sharon (seated at table) kicks of the discussion.
Shortly thereafter, the space filled to capacity.
I must have mentioned here, somewhere before, an idea with which I have been fixated with since I don't remember; the thought of using every part of the buffalo (what a weird lookin' word). Somewhere along the way in school, I learned that the Indians Native Americans didn't let any portion of the buffalo go to waste, and it is now a hardwired fascination that I have. In fact, I've absorbed this notion so fully that it's part of my chemistry. It feels less a thought than an instinct, and without a doubt, a compulsion. I've known Peruvians to have the same approach to the pig. I've still got the cacophonous crunching of pigs feet in my head to prove it.
So I appreciate the approach the Pocket Utopia is taking in its sliver of a storefront down in Bushwick. It feels fully occupied.
In this same vein, I was really excited to learn recently (via bad at sports) of spcmkr.com. Nick Lucking and Tim Ivison established this Wiki site to assist "culture producers" to "institutionalize their resources" by sharing what they have in surplus with others in the form of establishing small residencies for other artists. This an exciting concept and it advances the cause of the gift economy while it serves up a sense of shared self sufficiency. I'm trying to see what scenario I can cook up that would fit within then tenets of the concept. The habitats fit right in with the spirit. And although not a living situation, the habs can offer a traveler a residency of a couple of hours to process some thoughts. A commenter on C-Monster's post about the kork project suggested creating a writing residency at DBB's office in addition to the other projects that are going on there. Regardless of whether that would actually work out in this situation, it's a great idea, and the right type of thinking.

Habitat for Artists moves inside

Starting this Saturday and continuing for six weeks thereafter, Van Brunt Gallery in Beacon will be transformed into the equivalent of a thirty six square foot shed - except that it's not that small, and there's even indoor plumbing. Habitat for Artists is moving shop to Van Brunt for an exhibit/project that will take the spirit and concepts behind the project, and transfer them to the gallery. It's the gallery as nest, meeting place creative haven, community hub.....or that's the idea. We'll see how it rolls. Much of the gallery's new space will be transformed into a work space, open to all takers. It's like an uber-mini public residency, a couple of hours at a time.
I plan to be there for some length of time on most Saturday's and Sundays, churning out some magic.
A variety of events are planned throughout the run including talks, screenings and a couple of workshop performances courtesy of Flying Swine.

auld lang syne

When I lived in Denver, my apt/studio was very near one of the city's drunk tanks. The facility sat behind my place, in the same block and offered no shortage of amusements in my six years there. When I first moved in I was puzzled by the human sized dog catcher's truck that constantly pulled into the alley adjacent to my building. Eventually, the truck was upgraded to one that had six or eight individual cells in the cargo box, each with its own private door. In the early days of my residency, there were still relatively few folks who called the neighborhood home, and given its proximity to downtown, the coming of evening saw a mini exodus of peoples from the area. There were nights (particulary Fridays) when the scene took on the semblance of a zombie flick with inebriants making there way from points unknown to this central point as if called by some unknown beacon. One of my initial vivid memories of the area came on a walk to the nearby grocery store. One individual, propped up by a no parking sign had a very apocolyptic character. Bent at the waist (almost at 90 degrees), the top of his shoulder met the sign in such away that body and pole took on the appearance of a lower case 'h'. His arms hung straight to the ground. It was so weird. So very "Dawn of the Dead." He was one of the undead - on his way, but he needed just a wee rest before making it those last two blocks.
Those were good times, there on 11th Ave.
The photo above is from that time and I found it recently, thinking it a suitable New Year's Eve missive. I imagine the dumpster belonged to another apartment building on the block - which in and of itself would seem an excessive amount of beer boxes (not that the dumpster is completely full of Corona boxes. The fact that this dumpster sat in very close proximity to the drunk tank's back door put the scene over the top.
I have not explanation for this occurance. Perhaps it wasn't from some frat house apt, but an assertive hair of the dog treatment for the dt'ers.
Good Times. Happy New Year.

"Art" as poor imitation of life

I'm currently wrapping up my Christmas sojourn in great plains country. Making my way out here last week, I was struck by the proliferation of windmill turbines in western Iowa. I find their presence to be elegant. These turbines were not moving when I passed by. The pairings of these towers share certain characteristics with Jonathan Borofsky's dancers sculpture in Denver; they're towering, slender and white. The shared qualities, however, end with those basic elements. The self concious artsy-ness of Borofsky's representation of dance/movement renders the work lame while the stately and graceful turbines, even when still, speak to the potential of motion, implicating the whole of the Earth's invisible breath in their raison d'etre. These fine, utilitarian forms demonstrate what the Borofsky might have been: strong, rythmic, and profound in their presence.

Oh Christmas Thing 2008

The Christmas season is waning. Though not at home right now, before leaving I snapped a few photos of this year's version of the Christmas Thing(s).

Not particularly adventurous, these quick contraptions were destined for more development......which never happened......exhibit the ad hoc sloppiness inherint in so much of the Christmas aesthetic. I fully expect next year's Christmas Thing to be distinguished in its removal from the typical seasonal look. Studio 360 solicited a proposal for a redesign of xmas which illuminated some of my original, and has me thinking of a much more concious and provocative offering for next year.

Website redux

If you've been directed here looking for my main website, , www.christopheralbert.com, I'm trying out a new platform for it and I expect to have the in-progress site back up later this week.

Stay tuned.

Weather Report

We received the first significant snow of the season this weekend. Matt Hereford's Cairn/barometer indicates the presence of snow.
My crappy nature painting takes on a quaint flocking making it merry.
Peter's sculpture in the present climate above, and back in July when the
lilies made their response.

Synchronous found sculpture

I had to make a quick run into the city on Sunday morning to pick up some paintings, and I found this little cardboard and packing tape 'sculpture' on the street. It didn't smell like urine, so I thought it was good to go. The tape has a funky yellow hue that was just odd enough to catch my eye. It seemed a fortuitous find as for several days prior, I was laminating a stack of cardboard for use in a piece. My laminated stack is sitting in the background.

PS 122 Gallery Benefit Exhibit

Genesis 29, 2007.

Genesis 29 is my contribution to PS 122 Gallery's annual benefit exhibition which opens on December 13. All the work in the exhibit - 150 artists worth - is priced at $122. This should prove to be a

a great opportunity to pick up some artwork and a ridiculously low price. The proceeds will, of course, benefit PS 122 Gallery, which is located at 150 First Ave in NYC.

There will an opening reception on the 13th from 5-7, and the exhbit will be on view for one week, through Dec. 21.