My studio building is having it’s annual open house this coming weekend. See work from over 80 artists right in their studios. Come on out on Friday for live music and food, or Saturday for a lower key family atmosphere.

Raymond James Stutz Artists Open House
Friday, April 27, 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 28, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Stutz Business Center, 1060 N. Capitol Ave., Indianapolis

Enter Bearcat Alley from 10th or 11th streets. (Free event parking in designated lots and free on-street parking on Capitol and Senate avenues and 11th Street.)

You can find me in my studio, B-240. The Stutz Open House is one of the premier art events in Indianapolis. I’ve heard many artists long for a studio in the building just so they can be part of this event. See you there!

Some of you that have known me for awhile know that I grew up playing music. You may not know that I also have a background in the software industry. So, it was just a matter of time before I brought all this together visually in an App.

Shakie is an expressive motion controlled percussion instrument for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Pellets create sounds and rhythms as you move and shake them. Shakie’s built in pellets include maraca, shakers, tambourine, castanet, bells and spoon. Playing it is simple and natural. And, it’s a blast experimenting with it.

You may notice some compositional inspiration from my photo series Little Pieces All Together.

And of course, you can buy Shakie on the App Store.

I have some all new work in two upcoming group exhibits. The first is INvision Casserole 2012. I’m proud to be part of this photography collective. Come out to the opening on Friday. I have three new pieces in the spirit of my Little Pieces All Together series. See new member work and sample some tasty warm casseroles on a cool night.

INvision Casserole 2012
Opening Reception: Jan 20 6-8pm
Bona Thompson Memorial Center, 5350 University Ave, Indianapolis, IN
Jan 17 – Mar 4

Next up is Ten Yards. I’m curating work for this exhibit at the StutzArtSpace gallery. In a twist on the ten yards required to gain a first down in football, Stutz artists will salute the big game with a group exhibit inspired by ten locations or “yards” around Indianapolis. I’ve got a bold new piece from the Fountain Square neighboorhood. I had a studio in Fountain Square for three years. I’m rather fond of that neighborhood.

Ten Yards
Opening Reception: Feb 2 5-9pm
Stutz Art Space, 212 W. 10th St., , Indianapolis, IN
Enter from 10th St via Bearcat Alley
Feb 2 – 24

Q: How do you sustain positive interaction among artists?

A: Creating art is a pretty personal thing. There’s a big risk in how people accept your work, and how confident you feel about your work as you share it. We’re trying to take the whole community into consideration, and some are looking at it from their own needs. We need to figure out how we’re pursuing new things with the gallery, where we need to compromise and where to take a risk.

It’s summertime, which means that art festival season is underway. I can tell that I’m getting older. My body now takes a couple of days to recover after each weekend. One recent show in Chicago provided back to back eighteen hour days of low sales. Drive in on Friday evening. Get up at 5 a.m. to set up in the cold fog. Stand in the chill all day until the show closes at 10 p.m. Get a few hours of sleep and repeat. Tear down the next day at 9 p.m. and arrive back home in the middle of the night. It would have been alright if I had more sales. Sales have a way of warding off the chill and adding energy. Funny how that works. Is there a way to separate money from the appreciation of the experience? After a weekend like that, you spend a few days questioning. Why am I making pictures? Who is it for? What’s the point? I really should find an easier way to make money, like being a waiter.

Then there are the weekends where collectors show me pictures of my photographs hanging in their homes. Or when I get email from a framer complimenting a piece that their customer brought in. I get to be outside on breezy summer days spending hours talking to people about my work. That is really quite alright.

And, I get to have conversations like this. A stranger walks into my booth, looks at my work for 5 seconds and…

Stranger: I’m looking at your work because last weekend I was looking at work by this oriental artist. He had this picture of a bridge with people on it. I was fascinated because it seemed like he would have to be standing in the water to get that picture. I asked him, how were you standing in the water? He said no, there was a piece of land jutting out across from the bridge. I was standing on that land.

Me: I stand in the water for all my pictures.

Stranger: Oh. (walks away)

Wendesday, April 27th 7pm
Andy Chen Artist’s Talk
Kellar Mahaney Gallery
270 South Main Street, Zionsville, IN

I was told that the photos in Andy Chen’s latest series, City Squared, were taken during breaks from his recent downtown “desk job” – he’d walk the Canal to escape the florescent lights and stretch his legs from tight cubicle quarters.

It’s a situation that many of us find ourselves in. Chen used these walks to explore the interplay between the art that we love and the life that we live. Tellingly, Chen’s exploration takes shape in themes involving movement, opportunity and at times, dead ends: Paths, walls, doors and windows are the subjects of his journeys.

Read the Nuvo article here.

And today, the Indianapolis Star profiled me for the Stutz Artists Open house:

“I think there are some really fabulous art communities around town. Where we need more momentum is in patronage,” said Chen.

“It’s still developing, this habit of including art in your everyday life. People aren’t quite sure where that fits in yet. If people find art in a way that changes how they see their day, then it will be shared with the people in their lives.

“So as artists, we have to be aware of that responsibility, to create work and to expose the work in a way that people can be delighted.”

Here’s the Star article.

The Stutz Artists Open House is April 29th and 30th. It’s one of the best art events in Indianapolis. I’m proud to be part of it and it will be well worth your time to attend. Come see me at Studio B240.

My new series, City Squared, is opening this Friday at the Kellar Mananey Gallery. Join me at the reception on April 1st, from 5-9pm.

City Squared : New Work by Andy Chen
Kellar Mahaney Gallery, Zionsville, IN
Opening Reception: Apr 1 5-9pm, continues through Apr 27

ANDY CHEN STATEMENT: City Squared
When I walk the city, I like to think about the journey. When you make photographs about living, they are not about the destination; they are about the moments along the way. The route is not always obvious. We may meander, get lost and find new ways. These photographs capture walking moments in three ways: as paths, walls and openings.

We may have just arrived, but the memories are already there.

How do the photos you post on Facebook affect your social currency? How does the photography reflect your communities and how you interact with them? These are some of the issues fine art photographers will explore in “Social Currency,” an exhibition opening March 4 at STUTZARTSPACE.

Showcasing a range of photography, the exhibit will look at how photographs are used and shared within communities and social networks, both online and offline.

Participating artists include Andy Chen (curator), Paul D’Andrea, Lauren Ditchley, Marg Herder, Ron Kern, Aaron Law, Ginny Taylor Rosner, Satch, John Sherman, Holly Sommers, and Matt Sommers.

Social Currency
StutzArtSpace, 212 W. 10th St., Indianapolis
Opening reception Friday March 4th from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Exhibition open M-F 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment through March 25

The exhibit is getting some good response in the media. NUVO Newsweekly published a nice Q & A:
Andy Chen’s ‘Social Currency’

I’ll also be talking about the exhibit on The Art of The Matter radio show on WFYI 90.1. Catch it this Friday @ 8pm, or Saturday at 4pm.

The StutzArtSpace Gallery is seeking entries for its March photography exhibit, Social Currency. Submissions should explore how photographs are used and shared within communities and social networks, both online and offline. We’re looking for images that have been used as social currency and work that considers the impact of the shared image. Social currency is about increasing one’s sense of community, granting access to information and knowledge, helping to form one’s identity, and providing status and recognition.

Social Currency is curated by Andy Chen, photographer and StutzArtSpace Director.

The entry deadline is February 11th. Check out the entry details.