AT World: drawing on the utopic

Drink and Draw with Julie Torres and a Bushwick night out.

2012-02-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

I'm on my way back to DC for a series of talks that I am moderating with the over-arching theme of collaboration, people and art making/enjoying.

Karina Skvirsky Aquilera will first speak about collaborating her practice with other people's blog practices. Karina reads blogs and then reenacts the writings as performative pieces. Then Sharon Butler will talk about writing a blog and the collaborative process between that and her paintings, in her own words: "painter and blogger Sharon Butler will discuss the coincident occurrences, connecting principles, parallelism, and lovetivity that occur between Austin Thomas's work and Butler's paintings

The next day we will draw all day, so if you're in the DC area, please join us for some collaborative drawing fun! From the invite: Julie Torres to host an afternoon Drink 'n Draw, similar to the Collaborative Drawing Parties she organized last year. Next Saturday, February 11th from 12 - 5pm at Heiner Contemporary in DC. Come draw with us!

More description of these talks from the sites out there: In conjunction with the exhibition "Austin Thomas: Studies," Heiner Contemporary is hosting a series of salon-style events that bring members of the artistic community into the gallery for special programs. Please join us next Saturday for an afternoon of drawing and socializing! This low-key gathering encourages thoughtful, experimental collaborations between artists.

If you come, some things you might bring:

1. Stuff you like to draw with that you don't mind sharing: pens, markers, ink, pencils, water-based paints, etc.

2. Half-begun, discarded, or neglected drawings or doodles- these could provide a great starting point for someone else.

We encourage participants to abandon their usual art-making practices for one day and engage in some process-free fun. We hope to see you there! I love it!!

Ok, lastly, out and about in Bushwick, Friday night:

Above from David Schafer - at Studio 10 a visual and sound artist.

February 3 to February 27, 2012

The crowd at Studio 10 and David Schafer's work below:

above David Schafer and below Paul D'Agostino at Norte Maar:

Paul's work above and below:

A crowd shot below, Paul above.

Let's see here there's Josette Urso and the writer Benjamin Sutton and more Paul below.

Paul above and I think this is the piece I bought!

Paul above and below:

A wall of Paul above and below, a Leslie Kerby print below, also on view at Norte Maar:

More Leslie Kerby, in another room, which I'll have to go back and photograph was Kai Vierstra (he has on view painted sculptural pieces that contain a beautifully built backstory).

Leslie Kerby above. That's it.

All this goes together (in a backpack, on the floor and archived)

2012-01-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

This week: a visit to Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson, pictured below.

Weaved panels based on Icelandic landscapes.

And a new monumental weaving of a rock, also Icelandic.

I also stopped off to see Armin Kunz at C.G. Boerner to see a beautiful show of Martin Assig's,

a sampling:

At C.G. Boerner the best things are always on the floor!

Martin Assig, "Jenny"

Martin Assig, "Speil"

Martin Assig, Lilith

Martin Assig.

More Martin.

Finally...I've worked around the corner of the New York Times building, but have never stopped in to see Movable Type by artist Ben Rubin and Mark Hansen,

Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics, University at California at Los Angeles.

Here's a YouTube video of it.

Seeing this differently, edited and processed.

back in business

2012-01-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

I need to get this post done or else I will have been back for a week and won't get to announce that I'm "back home" in New York. I bought 3 new sketchbooks and am out and about and drawing but I want to take this moment and look back over a few things from the past week in DC. DC is an amazing city, and I was so inspired, in particular by 2 artists who have made DC their home.

One: Linn Meyers. She is amazing and I hope this conversation continues! Below are few pictures from a "studio evening with Linn Meyers, moderated by Lisa Gold from the Washington Project for the Arts":

Linn's studio

Linn with Annie from G Fine Arts

Linn's drawings above.

Linn and Lisa Gold talking...

the curls of this guy's hair and the wrinkles in his neck reminded me of Linn's work. It was all coming together, a moment in time...And then at the end another guy apologized for spilling water and I thought, well of course you did. It was a spiritual experience.

Artist of inspiration # two: Maggie Michael, she continues to inspire me, and she did it again on Saturday when she spoke about her mural project where she collaborated with 12 other Romanian artists at the American Embassy in Bucharest.

More to come.

Open for Business

2012-01-20T13:16:00.000-08:00

This is our first visitor, an early arrival for my show that is about to officially open! Below,

Austin Thomas, Studies at Heiner Contemporary

DC

2012-01-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

I arrived here on Saturday, dropped my stuff off at Heiner Contemporary and went off to one of my other favorite galleries, Curator's Office, for an opening of Jonathan Monaghan. Perfect size, big ideas, and run by the amazing Andrea Pollan. Below are a few pictures, shot with my phone, and remember the space is small and you kind a gotta be there...But I love DC and it's great to be here for the week!!

Above the hallway of 1515 14th Street where Curator's Office is located.

One screen and 2 prints by Jonathan Monaghan:

A still from Mushroom Sacrifice.

Screen image above, and in the artist's words..."a bull's journey through my own version of Super Mario's Mushroom Kingdom. The film combines elements from iconic video games with a myriad of references, such as Wall Street, the Metropolitan Club, Bizet's Carmen, and hair products. Taking a comparative mythology approach to certain aspects of contemporary culture, the film aims to mediate basic oppositions such as good and evil, life and death, and reality and fantasy."

Final crowd shot.

Now I must go install my own show! Mike and I started last night by putting together the desk, sneak peak here:

I love this one of Mike!

I love Mike!

xo to all.

DC bound...But first to Bushwick and Ridgewood

2012-01-15T12:51:00.000-08:00

Before going off to DC to install a show at Heiner Contemporary, see above (best laid plans on the wall), I went out Bushwick to visit with Matthew Miller and then we walked the cold 25 minute walk to Valentine to see a show of Rick Briggs and Adam Simon.

At Matthew's above, works in progress

Matthew's drawings below on the floor.

Another drawing by Matthew Miller

Rick Briggs above at Valentine.

Julie Torres striking a nice silhouette above, and Adam Simon's wall of painted silhouettes below.

One of Adam's drawings above, a waiter.

More of Adam's drawings above and below.

A happy Adam above.

His drawing on a painter.

And the one I bought above because real artists buy other artist's artwork!

Back out into the cold, Rick Briggs above.

Camel Art Space, Andrew Zarou, Rob de Oude, Julie, Judith, Brece

2012-01-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

This post in blissfully incomplete and will be filled in, in time....

Enjoy!

Friday night: Camel Art Project Space, the true blue artist-run awesome space!

Featuring the work of Andrew Zarou below:

Andrew Zarou above

The show of Andrew's work was organized by artist Rob de Oude, below:

Rob de Oude's paintings below, he is a studio member is at Camel Art Space

More Rob de Oude above and below

Rob's saved paint above, I think I've seen this before or have I seen him do this somewhere else?

Julie Torres and Judith Braun striking a nice pose. Judith described to me her upcoming exhibition at the Chrysler Museum, in Norfolk, VA in Feb. 2012

Good night Camel Art Space

Brece Honeycutt displays her handmade sketchbook of dyed paper

on the subway platform

Brece below with book.

A quick post on: A Marine’s Guide to Fishing

2012-01-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

I read about this film in today's NYT, and then just copied off the information from the official website. I'm very interested in ways that art-making can help everyone heal from war and understand what our veterans are going through and I have been collecting stories like this one. If anyone out there knows of other veterans that have turned their experiences into art or acting or other forms of bravery and selfless, self-expression, please let me know. Thanks, and please read the details below. The Times article was titled Acting Out War’s Inner Wounds.

Operation: A Marine’s Guide to Fishing aims to kickstart a nation-wide awareness

campaign to reintegrate young veterans struggling to find hope and acceptance

back into society. This is accomplished through the personal speeches of actor and disabled Iraq & Afghanistan veteran Matthew Pennington and the screening of his award-winning short film “A Marine’s Guide to Fishing”.

We have been cleared to share our story in the Veterans Affairs system and have previously presented at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC and within the VA system in Maine, among many other venues across the country.

The film, "A Marine's Guide to Fishing" received a top award from the 2011 GI Film Festival, the preeminent military-oriented film festival in the country. The New York Times wrote that Matthew Pennington’s performance was “reminiscent of Harold Russell’s double Academy Award-winning portrayal of a wounded veteran... in ‘Best Years of Our Lives’” and the Portland Phoenix called it an “understated…moving film.”

Operation: A Marine’s Guide to Fishing is currently seeking operational partners for a

successful launch in early 2012.

http://www.operationamarinesguide.com/ (I cried just watching the trailer.)

to 2012!

2012-01-01T06:47:00.000-08:00

We are looking forward to peering, at a distance, at Julie Torres's show at the Riverside Art Museum! Titled Close Encounters, opens January 5 through April 5, 2012! Today it's off to Norte Maar and Storefront Bushwick.

I love the ever changing scene in Bushwick and am happy to participate. Later this week I'll be attending Narrative Ability curated by Carl Gunhouse (great name) at Camel Art Space. Camel Art Space is the real deal, an artist-run space open to ideas and pushing boundaries.

In the meantime, we are watching the progress of Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass. You can do it! All of you can do it in 2012 and beyond! (And yes I gave to wikipedia's annual request for funds!) I support thinking in a 99% kind of way 100%!

Hard work, love and joy!!

2011-12-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to all those hard working folks, particularly Sara Reisman and Kelly Pajek, from NYC's Dept. of Cultural Affairs and all the vendors that work at Moore Street Market/La Marqueta de Williamsburg, and EVERYONE (ABB) who is working on HWPLZ005K, Humboldt Plaza. I have been so honored to work on this project with THE GUILD and am looking forward to the next steps. Below the steps in pictures over the past year, and looking forward to the coming year.

Seasonal Felicitations!

AIRPLANE 2B Holiday Fete - Sat., 16 Dec. 2011, 6-11pm

2011-12-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

Airplane: 6-11pm: 2B Holiday Fete ($10)
Saturday, December 17, 2011

AIRPLANE will host 2B, a draw-on-the-walls cocktail and hors'dourves party. Signature cocktails, wine, beer and delectable snacks will be offered...plus 2B pencils to draw on available surfaces. $10 cover charge gets you these holiday treats and your first 2 drinks.

Founded and run by Lars Kremer, Liz Atzberger, and Kevin Curran, AIRPLANE is a new Bushwick artspace devoted to an experimental approach towards the engagement of the viewing public through curated shows, food events, seminars and collaborations.

70 Jefferson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206 · 646-345-9394

Tom Scicluna
Miami Line
sandbeach sand

airplanegallery@gmail.com

888 by Brenda Zlamany

2011-12-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

This is a cool project funding by Brenda Zlamany.

Here's the link to watch a the video and below are the portraits as well as a more descriptive summary of the project and request for funds! Good luck Brenda!! I'm sure you'll raise the funds!!

this is my favorite!

From Brenda's request for funding statement: I seek your help as I work to complete part 1 of my ongoing project, The Itinerant Portraitist. In this project, I travel to regions of the globe marked by conflict or by a need for cultural preservation. My goal is to explore the constructive effects of portraiture in such settings.

Part 1 of this project is “888: Creating a Portraiture of the Indigenous Inhabitants of Taiwan.” From July 1 to September 30, 2011, supported by a Fulbright grant, I traveled in Taiwan, primarily to aboriginal villages. I made watercolors of the people, using the camera lucida, a device for drawing that dates back to the Renaissance and that promotes a two-way exchange between artist and subject. The paintings took around ten minutes apiece, and I aimed to make ten a day. Each subject enjoyed signing his or her portrait and being photographed with it. The signature, an important part of the image, stamps the work as a collaboration. As word of the project spread on the island, it unified those I met. People were introduced to one another by flipping through the sketchbooks and following events on my blog and Facebook page. I chose 888 as the final number of paintings because of its significance in Chinese culture.

Each excursion in The Itinerant Portraitist will incorporate aspects of traditional artwork (portraiture; watercolor), performance art (living the production of the work; enlisting strangers to participate; ritually photographing them with the finished portrait), and conceptual art (production according to arbitrary quotas and timetables; the recursive inclusion of the painted portrait in a new portrait when the subject is photographed holding it).

At the end of each excursion, I produce a public work that documents the ambiguities and discoveries of the trip. “888” will be documented with an exhibition in MOCA/Studio, part of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei. Each sketchbook will be displayed on-screen, and viewers will turn pages by swiping the screen. As they leaf through a book, they will use their cell phones to scan a number on a portrait and then listen to a story about the image. A slide show of the 888 photos of subjects posing with their paintings will run in a loop. The original fifteen sketchbooks will be displayed, open, in a long case.

My minimum goal, $3,500, will enable me to travel to Taiwan to create and install the digital portion of the exhibition. If the funds allow, I will remain there during the first week, holding a daily performance workshop in which I make portraits of visitors, which will eventually fill a wall. If the donations reach $8,888.88, I will use the extra amount to finance a short documentary film about “888” by Paul H-O, director of “Guest of Cindy Sherman.”

In part 2 of The Itinerant Portraitist, titled “Portraits for Peace,” I will travel to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. All the portraits I make in The Itinerant Portraitist are respectful and dignifying. By combining painting, performance, a conceptual frame, and a digital presentation, this project challenges schisms in artistic as well as social understanding.

Bushwick last night

2011-12-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

There where so many good things to see last night and here they are:

First up, a "Round-Up group show of folks that have had solos at Storefront:

Crowd shots, above and below,

Hermine Ford below, which was actually hung above it all, and it was lovely, like a "tunnel," commented Kevin Curran, his chin pictured above.

That's Hermine (check and listen to that link, it's her oral history) above with the rainbow scarf and

my piece below.

A Kevin Regan (Two Coats of Paint article, linked, read that too) diptych above.

Norman Jabut wooden sculpture above.

Below, the next stop, Brooklyn Fireproof and a show, "Getting Closer," curated by Rebecca Lit.

Brooklyn Fireproof crowd shot, this is a fun gallery space attached to a bar servin' up extra large buds and pressed sandwiches!

Julie Torres, a detail, above.

Julie Torres in full, below:

I think this beautiful collaged painting is by Jennifer Meanley.

Above, this is Perry Bard at Studio 10!! Studio 10 reminds me of Pocket Utopia (I liked this link by Hrag, one of my favorite art supreme mavens) and I love Studio 10!

Below and above, the double screen of

Man with a Camera: the Global Remake.

Finally a really good show at Momenta's new space at 56 Bogart Street, bravo!!

Titled Broken Homes, features an amazing selection of artists probing the subject. Below an unlabeled mix of the excellent artists in the show:

Final crowd shot of the Momenta show, thanks for looking with me!!

A Pacific Time To Curate

2011-11-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

De Wain Valentine at MoMA (FYI you can follow my MoMA tweets at @MoMAVolunteers)

In Roberta Smith's recommended book gift list, she suggested that museums, libraries and even galleries across the country set up temporary "Pacific Standard Time" reading rooms. Roberta didn't include blogs in the list, but I'm sure she would approve of our attempt to create a reading room here at Drawing on the Utopia, and who knows maybe we'll even do one in a real space somewhere.

First, read Roberta's article on the multi-venue exhibition underwritten (keyword) by the Getty to the tune of 10 million bucks. I love the collaborative efforts of all the involved institutions. Next go to "the Era," on the Getty website and browse, take notes, sketch. Review Roberta Smith's slide show too!

I've found it particularly interesting to rediscover Judy Chicago's Womanhouse, not to mention her piece Car hood! There's a lot to discover here and a lot to rediscover, particularly Gronk and his involvement with ASCO, whom I was at an artist residency with about 15 years ago! I remember he told me about having dinner parties on traffic islands and that really made an impression on me. Enjoy the reading and the discoveries, report in, please! Here's another good slide show from Time. Watch Suzanne Lucy in conversation with Judy Chicago, and here's some more suggested readings; Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond, Richard Neutra and the Search for Modern Architecture, The Legacy of African American Art, an overview from Arttattler, and the exhibition catalog Pacific Standard Time Los Angeles Art, 1945-1980 is available at the library!

Thanks Paddy, James and Barry!

2011-11-23T06:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, that was really sweet (paragraph pasted in below and article linked after that), and I am feeling the love. What would I do without you all!! Particularly artfagcity for keeping me informed, Barry and James together for keeping me on schedule with artcat, and for that matter keeping me alive and thinking with James's blog http://jameswagner.com/.

Thank you.

Augustine’s direction largely seems in keeping with the sensibility of those in the building, a point we were reminded of when we ran into James Wagner and Barry Hoggard during our Sunday tour. Known for their longtime commitment to fostering emerging artist communities, the bloggers and collectors immediately noted the debt owed to the now-defunct artist-run space,Pocket Utopia. Later, over email, Wagner reflected almost wistfully, “While [Founder] Austin Thomas wasn’t the first Bushwick art presence (we were doing artist studio visits in the area before Pocket Utopia)…I can’t think of the building – or of the larger Bushwick art scene – separate from her magical space and its mission”.

for the entire article: http://www.artfagcity.com/2011/11/23/56-bogart-where-manufacturing-fails-artist-communities-will-rise/

Time and space Bushwick - a day of enjoyable art looking

2011-11-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

First stop - Norte Maar, for an installation by Audra Wolowiec with a collaborative writing component between Audra and Christine Shan Shan Hou. The sculpture above was cast from acoustical foam. And the writing component, in a limited book form, fits nicely within the overall typographical arrangement in this front room with Jason in the background.

engaged students...listening to every word.

Students from NY Arts Program looking in the direction of the book project, scanning the landscape between art and words. Next stop Regina Rex, see below sculpture by Lisa Sigal:

Lisa Sigal.

The students arranged amongst the sculptures at Regina Rex.

Ivin Ballen above and below.

Ivin Ballen above.

Below, a studio visit with Natalie Simon:

Natalie in the middle of her studio describing another landscape of art and word, not dissimilar from Audra's specific references to concrete poetry, but a different territory, new landscapes spreading out over her canvases.

Natalie describing her spherical paintings.

Natalie's painted worlds.

Smaller parts with drawings, like maps and notations.

Different views of Natalie's work above on the floor and below on trays:

Natalie's notations.

Natalie holding a notebook of her drawn notations. Visiting Natalie first, made a perfect segue to Factory Fresh for a Ryan Ford exhibition and a special treat, of Ali Ha, showing us her latest work! See her below:

Ali Ha aka Pufferella above with recent work.

Ryan Ford's piece in the background.

Ryan's sculptural workings.

more of the Ryan Ford exhibition.

Ryan Ford.

Ali talking about Factory Fresh.

Ryan Ford's "Don't Play me like an Indoor Sport"

Above and below in Factory Fresh's courtyard.

Group shot of the mural outside Factory Fresh of NY Arts Program in front of Jim Avignon's street mural.

And then on to Storefront:

Kate Wadkins being Kate.

Above Kate's head, Aimee Lusty.

Looking around at Storefront above and below:

Allison Gildersleeve above.

Ceramics by Elizabeth Kley.

And we keep going...to English Kills.

paintings by Steve Harding above and below:

Chris Harding above.

Then on to 56 Bogart street and Studio 10:

Larry Greenberg of Studio 10 talks about his space:

And the light of Studio 10:

In the shadows, Studio 10:

Finally...and a thorough visit with Fred Valentine and the work of Andrew Moszynski

First sketches in the hallway of Valentine below.
Valentine is technically in Ridgewood, Queens, not Bushwick, so and we hopped the L for a 6 minute jaunt from the Bogart entrance of the L train. When we got there, we stayed for awhile, had a couple of beers, and talked art. We will definitely be going back for the art and chocolates!

Fred above gives us a guided tour of Andrew Moszynski's work and the space.

detailed looking.

and constructed paintings.

Fred.

More Andrew above and below (above sky):

A beautiful Andrew Moszynski gouache dwelling below:

More of Andrew Moszynski's architectural paintings below.

and the tour concludes.

This sums it up!

2011-11-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

This basically sums up the Occupy Wall Street/Foley Sq. demonstration last night, pictured above. After showing up for the rally, it was out to Studio 10 for the opening of COPIA CARTACEA, pictured below:

my books running down the walls.

And then to conclude the evening, this is what I saw on the way home, about 4 hours later, going back to Manhattan on the L train:

good night!

Browsing

2011-11-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

Well, the reviews for most of the performances of Performa 11 have been lukewarm, see today's review by Ken Johnson where he questions what is performance art or read Gia Kourlas's review of Mai-Thu Perret's "Love Letters in Ancient Brick. Here's a mention by Linda Yablonsky of the Frances Stark performance I dragged Adam Simon to:

Frances Stark fleshed out her obsession with sex-chat texting, and the aggressively sexual Jamaican dance called daggering, in a sold-out Performa program that required a lot of reading on the part of the audience. Dressed in a billowing “telephone dress,” when she wasn’t in a flesh-toned bodysuit, Stark shared the stage with Mark Leckey’s enormous BigBox speakers and dancehall “hype man” Skerrit Bwoy—a stranger to these parts in one of the strangest, and most disturbing, performances of the week.

But I wouldn't let the thoughts of a few reviewers stop you, for it is interesting to browse and collect data. I would recommend stopping in at Performa's Hub, located in an old Catholic School on Mott Street where there is bookstore complete with a seating arrangement by Sit and Read.

Performa's Hub above

and the bookstore below:

(notice the sign for the architectural sub-committee of Occupy Wall Street, I hear there are a lot of committees in Zuccotti Park.)

Performa 11's schedule on the blackboard like homework (data collection)

And staying on the theme of bookstores, I finally got the chance to stop in at KARMA. This small bookstore, gallery, storefront of art ephemera is on Downing Street and is a way-station for those reading, collaging, curating and writing. Karma sells book, publishes books and now has small exhibitions. An excellent place to data collect and browse.

Random data collecting snapshots (taken by Brece Honeycutt) below:

Peter Blum gallery's Kindred Spirits: Native American Influences on 20th Century Art

and more Peter Blum gallery below:

Below studio pals David Storey and Jane Kent are in a show at Lesley Heller:

David Storey

Jane Kent

next to Lesley Heller, I found Jonathan VanDyke orchestrating a performance for PERFORMA (he loves that dripping paint)!

It was a storefront performance.

Browsing the back room of Lesley Heller with Brece, loving the Loren Munk.

the back cover of the book I'm reading Pep Talk 5, a collection of writings by Bruce Hainley.

Grant and Violet at OWS:

Wackadoodle

2011-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile you have to add some or rather a "wackadoodle" to the mix to bring on a smile. Here's another week in pictures:

Getting lost in a corn maze en route to a pumpkin catapult AND enjoying getting lost, the monochromatic wandering of it all (yellowing brown/blonde to smashed orange)! Really, a calming experience...

a visit to KK Kozik's studio, brushes above, paintings below.

I like this pairing, a painted walk through the woods with a black and white of portrait of Billy Bragg above it, looking above. The portrait accompanies KK's article in this month's Brooklyn Rail, titled "Content Over Style."

A lava lamp, stands in as a beacon in this soulful KK painting.

A detail of a different kind of light, also KK's.

The bigger painted scene above and below in several parts.

Switching scenes below to a more performative 48-hour scene, I follow-up with a report on the aftermath of Julie Torres's most recent collaborative, a time-based art making project at Camel Art Space: All the art was made over a 48-hour time span by 14 artists. The show was open to the public for one day only or rather for 12 hours this past Sunday.

Rebecca Goyette's unoccupied controlled intimacy sacks.

Joey Parlett's portraits of Muybridge, also controlled (an operative word for this 48-hour work session) in that each portrait was drawn by covering up the previous portraits, an appropriate stop and go and stop after 48-hours way of interacting with a subject.

Next up, above another set of rules governed

Chris Mcgee's drawing, with all lines turning 180 degrees with each line drawn smaller than the one before it.

Julie Curtiss pictured above, not governed by a set of rules of engagement but engaging and made a very particular way, by layering and arranging so that there's a re-engaging of how you are looking at something...A

wackadoodle.

Look, I match a painting! (Jamie Powell above and below)

Camel Art Space - the opening and from their mission statement, and they seem to be true to it: an artist-operated exhibition space with a focus on current trends in art within a not-for-profit framework and is affiliated with the studio artists at 722 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. Camel Art Space does not represent artists in the traditional sense, but merely composes shows of their works for the inherent merits of showing art. Situated in one of New York’s artistically richest neighborhoods we strive to provide an accessible exhibition platform and meeting venue for artists, curators and audience alike. In an inclusive spirit, Camel Art Space is open to proposals from independent curators and artists. As an affiliate member of Williamsburg Gallery Association, Camel Art Space participates in 2nd Friday Art Walk. Camel Art Space has been named by New York Magazine as one of the City’s new galleries to watch. (groovey)

Julie Torres above and below! She organized this whole thing, yes real artists curate!

A partial view of a longer painting by Erin Halrup. View the entire piece from her link.

Let's end here again with Rebecca Goyette contained within 48 hours.

Nothing but Happiness as things Descend into Chaos

2011-10-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

Nothing but happiness as things descend into chaos, unease remains under the surface...I read this statement on the back of my notes from my last blog post, so I thought I would start there. I'm behind on posting, but getting ahead in other areas, so here's an update in pictures, all taken on my new phone, since my camera broke.

Most afternoons find me getting down and dirty with my public art piece. How will this thing attach to the ground? The Guild and Ben are helping me, HELP ME!

When I need to be inspired, I hang out with Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, whose new Laundromat Project folds the art-making process in with oral history and the spin cycle. The result of this folding is displayed in a postcard series available at her local laundromat. See below:

I had the best time at the Laundromat's recent $35 a head fundraising dinner, held at the Julia De Burgos Latino Cultural Center in a  beautifully decorated cafeteria with amazing food by Berlin Reed the ethical butcher.

Below is not the $35 fundraiser but last week's very successful NurtureArt's benefit where we drank and auctioned our work to much fanfare! They open a new space November 11, so we're anxious and excited to see what exactly they do...as they say their name is their mission. Nurture me!

And to get away these days, it's to DC for a Maggie Michael show. Love it, more folding, sprayed, painted works on paper and acetate...see below:

above might be a work on canvas

nice folding blue above and more below with black tape:

Then it's back to Bushwick for a meal at my favorite restaurant, Cafe Ghia!! Those shelves look a little bit like the perch trellis (must show this picture to the Guild)

Lots of pictures of one of my favorite artists, Ellen Letcher, she pops up whenever I go out and about.

Here is her's and Kevin's Famous Accountants above with a Scott Hug from their current show below:

Ellen again.

Kevin above. Did I mentioned that Famous Accountants threw me the best birthday party ever!!! Thks!

The back of Ellen's head at Centotto.

Look, it's Ellen again at Norte Maar! Standing next to a Paul, from Centotto, piece.

Above at Norte Maar an Ellie Murphy.

The view from the sidewalk into Norte Maar's living room.

Before Bushwick it was Rico Gatson! At Exit Art! Rico, who was in Bushwick before all of us...

Above, I found a picture from the yummy food at the Laundromat Project's "potluck," which wasn't really a potluck.

That's it, back to work.

Thanks for reading, remember to like us over on facebook, even though I know you already like me!

Raw Creative Energy

2011-10-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

Call it raw creative energy or studio time together, Julie Torres joined me a week ago where she completed the below painting on paper:

Above, Julie at the beginning, and next up for Julie, a 48-hour marathon where she along with 11 other artists will paint, socialize and sleep, a little. The other artists are; Paul Behnke, Brian Bustos, Julie Curtiss, Rebecca Goyette, Katarina Hybenova, Ken Kocses, Geddes Levenson, Rebecca Litt, Chris McGee, Joey Parlett and Jamie Powell. (Hope I got all the links right!)

From the press release: 48 HRS is a celebration and exploration of art-making and socializing in Brooklyn. It is a 48-Hour residency that will culminate in a site-specific group show.

The artists in the show will meet at Camel Art Space for a 24-Hour art-making session. They will then stay/sleep/socialize in the space and exhibit their work the next day. The entire event will take place over a 48-Hour period.

The show will be open to the public for one day only: Sunday, October 23, 12 Noon – Midnight.
Artists will be in attendance at the opening to discuss their work, and the process. Photo and video documentation of the art-making event will as well be exhibited.

The opening will certainly be a time and place experience where we can all look into that creative space where and how art is made. Will they all influence each other, will it be like a school, what mysteries in art production will be revealed? We shall see.

Heiner Contemporary

2011-10-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

After reading an article in this morning's Times titled The Young Gallerists, I was reminded that a week ago, I traveled to Heiner Contemporary in Washington, DC, where a young gallerist, Margaret Heiner, is shaking things up with her relationally keen eye, art historical saviness, and her choice of pink lettering and cheese balls paired with hot dogs as opening snacks!

Below a pictorial essay of of her space with an exhibition of NYC's David Kramer:

above notice the wonderfully refined color palette of pink on black on the building (along with the David Kramer artwork for the window on a blue-painted background) calling to mind the hot-hued and typographically daring silk screens of Sister Mary Corita.

Incredibly prolific artist David Kramer plays with the domestic and the invitation to partake in his debauchery in his center-gallery, living room style install.

Jokes, stories and visual puns on one of the gallery's walls above.

Kramer's lining up pairs nicely with skirts, upholstery, and chairs in the center of the gallery above.

Pieces of advice above.

The most beautifully blue hot dog cart I have ever seen!

A peek at the backroom.

A close-up of a Kramer.

Unboundless in Georgetown and beyond, Margaret Heiner above.

Dada meets cheese-ball and twinkies (and extra reading).

Even though, slightly, ever so slightly PG-13 for my household, I love this piece! Notice the pink again, the message un-Sister Mary Corita, but practical nonetheless!

Gallery view above, and by the way Drawing on the Utopic now has it's own facebook page!

Interacting with David's books and art.

Very rare shot of my spouse Mike, wearing shorts in the background! He loved the space. Full disclosure: my show at Heiner Contemporary opens January 20, 2012.

Above, looking ahead to Wisconsin Ave., I like that brick pattern.

Coming up posts on Julie Torres, the Laundromat Project, and twitter.

Education

2011-09-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

I like to consider myself as a community arts advocate, a buddhist, and a savvy investor. Actually those are my current aspirations and I'm trying them out, writing them down, in order to get used to them. Of course, I'm defining these roles in my own way.

Yesterday, my community arts advocate hat and the savvy investor role came together, when I visited the offices of the Motley Fool and taught some members of the staff an art lesson that drew on elements of surprise. The class was very unstructured and the "Fools" as they call themselves seemed to like it that way! See my students below:

After art and some tips on investing I visited DC Prep for a tour and some ice cream. The schools, and there are 3 campuses located in the Northeast section of DC, are Pre-K through 8th grade with a focus on making brains out of all of us. Many children, and enrollment is open, go to this free school, enter as "low performers" and leave entering Washington D.C.'s premier private high schools. Now to go investigate becoming a buddhist! And latest distraction: wordle .

Join Me for Jane Kent - Opening, Thurs., Sept. 22, 6-8PM at C.G. Boerner

2011-09-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends, Esteemed Art Colleagues, Fellow EFA Studiomates and Bushwick Buddies:

I have been watching my two very good friends, Jane Kent and Armin Kunz get ready for an exhibition of Jane's for the past few months and now the opening date of the exhibition is here! Please come out this Thursday night the 22nd, to the upper east side, details below.
Hope to see you all there!

Thursday 6-8PM at C.G. Boerner - 23 E. 73rd St.,
Sept. 22nd, Jane Kent: 3 Artist's Books:

Privacy

The Orchid Thief Reimagined

Skating

C.G. Boerner is pleased to announce its first exhibition of Jane Kent, on view from
September 19 - October 20, 2011. The exhibition, Jane Kent: Three Artist's
Books Privacy-The Orchid Thief Reimagined and Skating, is held on the occasion of the
publication of her most recent work Skating, a new collaboration by Richard Ford and
Jane Kent. The exhibition will feature Jane Kent's three artist books dating from 1999 to
2011. It will also include preparatory drawings for the newest book, Skating.

Skating, a series of forty-five short, acerbic, sometimes hilarious renderings of how two
lovers argue their way out of love, is an artist's book in which text and image combine to
create an eccentric and irregular structure. The piece is constructed so that the eleven
differently sized unbound sheets fit together as one image when displayed on the wall
in an intended configuration. Text and image are printed variously in letterpress,
drypoint, engraving, mezzotint and silkscreen.

Richard Ford is a novelist and story writer. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and
lives in Maine. He is the author of ten books of fiction, including the trilogy The
Sportswriter, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land, and the short story collection Rock
Springs. His work has been translated into 28 languages. With the artist, Jane Kent, he
has also authored Privacy, published by the Grenfell Press in 1999.

Jane Kent is an artist who works as a painter and printmaker. Her work is in the
collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, the New York Public Library;
Spencer Collection, the Brooklyn Museum and the National Museum for Women in the
Arts, Washington, DC among others. Jane Kent is an Associate Professor of Art at the
University of Vermont.

Draw on the Utopic,

Austin Thomas

Revisiting Rico Gatson

2011-09-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

In 2008 we showed Rico Gatson at Pocket Utopia. Quoting the press release here: "a video reloads and repeats a running sequence revealing the “connection,” and a painted platform becomes a social construction. Gatson shines a light into our collective blackness and reflects a variety of cultural realities where minimalism and the Black Panther Party are on the same plane."

I am reminded of Gatson because one of the sources of his "connection" is playing this week, remastered, at Film Forum. It's the French Connection and it starts tonight and runs through September 22nd. In "THE WEEK AHEAD," the New York Times wrote that the film contains "perhaps the most feverish car-versus-subway chase scene ever shot."

Gatson used a foot chase scene from the film for his video piece titled "If He Hollers." Pictured above. We will all have an opportunity to see this piece again, projected large at a retrospective of Rico Gatson's work opening at Exit Art on September 30th. Gatson has also curated a show of video works at Famous Accountants titled "Per-son-age," and quoting their press release:

"Per-son-age is an exhibition of videos in which the artist is the primary performer. Historically artists such as Bruce Nauman, Adrian Piper, Hannah Wilke and Nayland Blake to name a few, have performed in “person” in their videos. This exhibition presents video where the artist is central to the work, serving as translator or interpreter of the world in which we live. The artist’s actions reveal process, depict rituals, express something profound or abstract and expose systems at work, featuring: Elaine Angelopoulos, Rico Gatson, Dan Herschlein, Lars Kremer, Chris Larson, Ellie Murphy, Clifford Owens, Laura Parnes, Brittany Prater, and Marc A. Robinson."

"Per-son-age," with it's strong grouping of artists, is having a closing this Sunday, September 18th, from 3pm to 6pm, as their invitation states:

"Lot's of toasting will ensue at Famous Accountants from 3 to 6! We will toast Rico Gatson's amazing show, Per-son-age, which closes on this day. And we will toast Austin Thomas. Because it's her birthday! Yay!

Take the M train to Myrtle/Wyckoff. We're a block and a half away. (Avoid the L train. It's messed up again this Sunday.)

I love Rico and Famous Accounts! And after the celebrations, I'm going to go see the French Connection! Yay!