Jon Manteau-"To A Hammer Everything Looks Like a Nail"

JON MANTEAU 

"To a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail"

LG Tripp Gallery

April 1 – May 14, 2011
Artist Reception, April 2, 5 – 8 pm
First Friday, April 1 and May 6, 6 – 8:30 pm

Lg Tripp Gallery

47-49 North 2nd Street

Philadelphia, PA

Jon Manteau's third solo show with Luella Tripp opens tomorrow and continues through May 14th. Check out the video below to get a sample of Jon woking in his studio preparing for "To a Hammer..."

Jon Manteau - Gumtrees and Ghosts from Woodshop Films on Vimeo.

Woodkid-'Iron'

Woodkid - Iron from WOODKID on Vimeo.

More music/visual goodness, this time from Woodkid for a song titled, "Iron". There's a live video from Woodkid here: Woodkid live

TV On The Radio-'Will Do'

TV ON THE RADIO "WILL DO" from Dugan O'Neal on Vimeo.

TV On The Radio is one of my favorite groups to hit the scene over the past few years. This is the video for their new song, 'Will Do'. There are few music videos that really grab me, but this one works so well with the song. I like that the effects don't overpower the song. The concept remains pretty strong throughout, as well.

Lagoon stretched

Lagoon stretched.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll recall this painting from last year titled, Lagoon. It was the only canvas of this size (70" x 130") that I had painted on that wasn't stretched first. Due to it's size, it was easier for me to paint it unstretched so that I could store it rolled up. Had I stretched it first and left it stretched, I would not have been able to get it out of my studio. Not only that, I would have no place to store it in there. 

Fast forward to this year. I was asked by Bridgette to stretch Lagoon so that it could be included in the Dallas Art Fair next month. Not having had experience with stretching painted canvases previouisly, I was undoubtedly anxious about the prospect. However, I went ahead with it and even managed to finish it in a much quicker time than I had anticipated. I opted to purchase some extra heavy-duty stretchers from French Canvas and am very happy with the results.  

As I mentioned, stretching Lagoon at my studio was highly impractical since there is no way I could have gotten it out of there without a crane or some kind of pully system, which I had not the time nor money to deal with. Luckily, my boss was generous enough to allow me to use some space in the basement to do the stretching. From joining the first two stretcher bars to putting in the final staple, it took me maybe 3 1/2 hours to complete-way faster than I initially thought. The corners were a pain to deal with because of the stiffness of the canvas, but I made it work, as you have to in these situations. 

So ends the latest installment in the life of Lagoon. I say latest because while working on it last year, I documented almost every step in it's evolution on this blog. To follow the progress of Lagoon, see the links below:

Lagoon In progress I
Lagoon in progress II
Lagoon in progress III
Lagoon in progress IV
Lagoon in progress V

Studio: 3.23.11

In progress 3.23.11

This painting has been sitting in my studio for several months now, probably a record for me.  I've been working on it here and there, trying to get a handle on where to go with it. It's a bit different from my other recent paintings in that the image is completely made up of stenciled markings.

I've been taking my time with it and instead of turning it to the wall in a corner of the studio when at a loss as to how to proceed, I've left it out. I've worked on other things and then turn around to this one sometimes grind my teeth in annoyance, but I have refused to let it get the best of me. Doing a number of works on paper in the interim has moved me to a place where I think that I may have a resolution within reach. It's not there yet, but I have the beginnings of that familiar tingling in the pit of my stomach that tells me that I'll be ready to leave it alone soon and possibly send it out into the world.

I sat on my couch today staring at this latest stage and thinking about it for almost an hour. It was one of those days where I felt that much more progress was made by being more cerebral than physical in the studio. The scene was set with the cold, rainy, dark cloudy day outside and my feeling incredibly tired due to a fitful night's sleep. With that mix, it didn't take long before deep studying of the painting turned into deep napping. When I woke up, I still liked where I was with the painting, so I think I may be on the right track.

Palin slams the arts as "frivolous"

So, Sarah Palin is at it again. I don't know why I'm even acknowledging her existence, but Sarah Palin and supporters who think that the arts are "frivolous" can all suck on my big tube of Mars Black. 

The CEO of cable network, Ovation, struck back, saying that, "America's arts sector is a huge driver of our economy and proposed cuts to the NEA don't take into account the substantial return on investment those funds generate in tax revenue to local, state and federal treasuries.  Shame on her for turning the arts into partisan politics.  It doesn't take much creative thinking to work this out".

I usually try to ignore uninformed, ignorant partisan political nonsense like Palin's, but sometimes, its just too fucking diffcult not to. It's tiresome when people continually pounce on low-hanging fruit for their arguments against governmental support for the arts, while completely ignoring the obvious financial benefits from revenue and taxes generated by various sectors of the arts. Not to mention the community good that arts organizations and individuals help to bring about.

Unfortunately, as long as the government does fund art and art-related entities, it will always be a political punching bag. Consequently, the bar for intelligent discourse about art in the public sphere of the U.S. is set even lower, providing an ever-widening ignorance about the value that art and artists bring to society. I think that most people see through this sort of ranting, but the problem is that I'm sure that a lot of people, conservative politicians hoping to remain in office, especially, will seize upon it as another reason to disparage art and artists in this country. 

The idea that cutting out arts funding is good for the country completely escapes me, but I'm sure Palin and her ilk would have some kind of off-the-cuff answer for the people whose jobs will be lost, the museums that might have to close, schools and centers that will no longer be able to provide any sort of arts education, the state and city governments that will lose money and future generations of Americans who will have even fewer connections to art in the United States than they do now, should anything she proposes gains any support from representatives in the Congress and Senate, which I doubt, but you never know what can happen. 

 Ok, I'm done for now. Time to go and be productive in the studio, wash Palin out of my head, and make room for more important things. 

Exhibition trailers-an idea whose time has come?

McNay Art Museum: New Image Sculpture from McNay Art Museum on Vimeo.

Exhibition trailer for New Image Sculpture at the McNay Art Museum (San Antonio, Texas).




Interesting. Putting together a short (2-5 minutes) exhibition preview video, if done right, could create excitement for an exhibition in ways that still photos only touch on. Seeing short glances of the artist's work, an installation in progress, and creative editing can lay the groundwork for more interest in and possibly, better attendance of some exhibitions, especially in today's increasingly video/moving-image information-gathering world.


One of the downsides is that this approach isn't something that can be done for every exhibition, particularly with most gallery shows, many of which turn around every four-five weeks. Exhibition trailers might work better in larger institutions or for special gallery shows with some lead time. Still, the idea can do some good in bringing more attention to art exhibitions and possibly aid in demystifying some of the processes behind contemporary art for people who may not feel connections to what artists are doing today. 

New American Paintings

I'm pleased to announce that my work was juried into the latest edition of New American Paintings-Northeast edition, #92. It's available online and should be available in the art magazine section of your favorite bookstore by next week. In the meantime, there are scans available on the Bridgette Mayer Gallery website.

JR: Using art to turn the world inside out

From TED:

JR, a semi-anonymous French street artist, uses his camera to show the world its true face, by pasting photos of the human face across massive canvases. At TED2011, he makes his audacious TED Prize wish: to use art to turn the world inside out. Learn more about his work and learn how you can join in at insideoutproject.net.

Upcoming shows-heading out west

Some of my work is taking a trip out west and south in April.

The first stop is Richmond, California for  Life of the World to Come: Darkness Falls Upon Us, a group exhibition organized by Timothy Buckwalter at the National Institute of Art & Disabilities (NIAD). "Darkness" is part two of a three part exhibition series, "LIfe of The World to Come" where Buckwalter pairs the works of disabled artists with those of mainstream artists. My painting, "Restless Wandering"(2009) will be shown in this exhibition.

"Life of The World to Come: Darkness Falls Upon Us" will be on view from
April 4 - June 3, 2011.

Reception: Saturday, April 4, 2011, from 2-5pm.

NIAD information:

551 23rd Street
Richmond, CA 94804
Hours: M-F 9-4pm
Tel: (510) 620-0290
Fax: (510) 620-0326

Below is a promotional video for the show.


promo: Darkness Falls Upon Us from timothy buckwalter on Vimeo.

I'm also happy to share with you that the Bridgette Mayer Gallery will be including several works of mine at the Dallas Art Fair, also happening in April. 

Dallas Art Fair 2011 

April 7 - 10, 2011

Booth G4 
 Fashion Industry Gallery, 1807 Ross Avenue, Dallas, TX 75201


Fair Hours: April 8 - 9, 2011, 11am - 7pm / April 10, 2011, 11am - 5pm
Preview Gala: April 7, 2011, 7 - 10pm