All's fair

top four: Views of works from the Bridgette Mayer Gallery at Red Dot this past Friday.
bottom: Allen Bently, Bridgette Mayer, me, and Ivan Stojakovic.

This was my first experience attending one of the smaller hotel fairs. The first thing I noticed is that three or more in a room is a crowd, excepting the larger suites. The limitations on what can be shown are apparent-you won't find any of the apartment-sized installations that are standards at the much larger Armory show, which was also took place this weekend, along with 6 or 7 others. Because of time constraints (I had to work both Saturday and Sunday) there was little time to get to see any of the fairs outside of Red Dot and a quick trip up to MoMA.

What I liked about going around Red Dot was the chance to see a lot of painting and other 2D works. Not only that, but you can walk into a room, turn around and literally have your nose two inches from someone's work you've only seen in magazine articles or books. Being able to examine works this close up is a treat. On the other hand, having various works so close together can be disconcerting and a slight detriment to some works that benefit from more space around them.

Then again, as we well know, the fairs aren't about optimal exhibiting and viewing of works, it's about the money and lots of it. From what I understand, prices for exhibitors at Red Dot paid at least $10,000 to be in the fair. That's not even including transportation of works, lighting, and any number of other incidentals. I'm sure the figures for the bigger fairs are much, much higher. That's the price that has to be paid if a gallery wants to get their artists good exposure to a big audience with lots of money to purchase art. Not to mention the possible contacts with curators, museum people, and future collectors. It's a real high-stakes crap-shoot and with today's economic climate, I'm willing to bet that there was a lot of money lost this weekend. Then again, my limited understanding about how money and art interact at fairs could make my guessing way off-base.

Art fairs might seem like big, three-ring circuses at times, but they are a fact of artistic life these days. There's no getting around that if you're affiliated with a gallery, you'll want your gallerist to be doing all they can to get your work out there and art fairs are another tool to do that. All of your success might not hinge on your work appearing in a fair, to think so would be incredibly naive, but they can have an effect on name and work recognition for the artists and galleries. Like the internet, art fairs are another tool in the artist's arsenal.

oddments

Oddment (n.): something left over; remnant

I've been trying to figure out what to do about the solidified remnants of acrylic paints and acrylic mediums that accumulate when left out, or when lids are not tightened and air gets to the contents *ahem*. Usually its when I'm in the midst of a painting session that I discover a certain color I haven't used in a while has gone hard. Once acrylics solidify, they are next to impossible to use. I'll continue with another color or mix up a new version of the one I wanted and toss the original container to the side.

I don't know what it is, but I love peeling and prying dried paint out of jars and cups. I guess it's a reminder of the joys of peeling glue off of my hands as a kid. I don't particularly like it when I open a container and find that a favorite color has bitten the dust, but it happens.

I like the results that a little air and time can have on acrylic paints and mediums. I've taken to saving wispy thin, translucent skins of polymer medium and chunks of vibrant colors in a studio bucket. I've not known what to do with it all until recently. I thought it might be interesting to set the dried color chunks up in still-life arrangements and photograph them.

I did a few last week and more are on the way:


left- Oddment: Red right-Oddment: Red(close)


left-Oddment: White right- Oddment: Clear


Oddment: Peak

Kityikana

So, hey, my jewelry-making wife has opened an Etsy shop (psst...that's the name of her shop above-it means 'be happy' in the Pitta Pitta language of one of the aboriginal peoples of Queensland, Australia). She makes a variety of unique necklaces, pendants,  and bracelets with silver, copper, brass, various beads, and gemstones like ocean jasper, mookaite and jade.. Perfect pieces for birthdays, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, or 'just because'...

Go check out her stuff and tell her I sent you...
Kityikana

in progress

Some new things happening in the studio. All are in progress- 24" x 24", acrylic on panel.

bubbling up

Studio table top with new things in progress. Working on some mixed-media collages with old photos on paper. In addition to my painting, I've been in the mood to satisfy my other urges in an effort to see where they might lead.

In this case, I'm making use of old photos that have just been sitting around my apartment for the past few years. They're mostly blurry, out of focus shots that I'm not attached to for any sentimental reasons, so why not give them a second life?

There's a lot going on in my head art-wise and it's taking a few different approaches to my materials to accommodate it all. I'll find out what's on the other side of the rabbit hole when I get there...

Photo with notes here

Red Dot New York!

Bridgette Mayer will be participating in the Red Dot-New York Art Fair at the end of March (March 27-30, 2008) in the Park South Hotel, 122 East 28th Street (between Park and Lexington).

I'll have some new and recent works on display, so if you're in the New York area at the end of the month, stop by. I'm planning on going up, but will probably only be able to hang out for part of one day, possibly Thursday or Friday, Marck 27th or 28th, of that week, depending on my schedule and time.

More info:

RED DOT is open to the public March 27 - 30, 2008 at the Park South Hotel, 122 E. 28th Street between Park and Lexington.

FAIR HOURS

Thursday, March 27, 11am - 8pm
Friday, March 28, 11am - 8pm
Saturday, March 29, 11am - 8pm
Sunday, March 30, 11am - 7pm

Tickets may be purchased at the door, general admission is $12.

TRANSPORTATION

Subway: 6 Train to 28th Street Station at Park Avenue.
Driving: parking garage located directly across the street from the hotel entrance.

MAP

Romaniello-Transforming Materials into Meaning, part 1

Vincent Romaiello-Transforming Materials Into Meaning, part 1

In his newest video, Vincent Romaniello talks a little about his working processes and inspiration for the works in his solo exhibition, Deep, currently on view at the Rittenhouse Satellite Gallery of the Philadelphia Art Alliance through May 18th, 2008.

There's a higher quality Quicktime version
on Vincent's blog

'Considerable' opens today

(photos courtesy of Jeffrey Cortland Jones)


Considerable, the show I mentioned a while ago opened today at the University of Dayton and features works by myself, Jeffrey Cortland Jones (exhibition organizer/curator), Chris Ashley, John Tallman, Douglas Witmer, Paige Williams, and more. I'm pretty excited to be in this show since I'm in a lot of good artistic company and it's always good to see my work out in the world in a place it's never been before.

Btw, it's the small, square painting with the purplish 'netting' at the top and reddish semi-circles along the side and bottom.


Considerable
March 3-April 4, 2008
Studio O.Artstreet.University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, Ohio 45469

where's my clone?

58/366: three of me

I managed to split myself into three today for this shot. You wouldn't believe how much I was able to get done in the studio.

Took a bunch of shots in the studio today, three of which were the inspiration for this image. It didn't start off like this, but after looking at the poses, I thought that they belonged together in one shot. I was excited about the prospect of multiple images but my 'shop skills are pretty minimal. So, when I got home, I immediately enlisted the superior photoshopping skills of my wife.

I also shot some video footage of me going from one pose to the other. I haven't done any video stuff in a long time. When I did, I was just starting to learn. I'm going to play around with it and see what I can come up with.

Flasher

Colormeasure


My new online obsession is Flasher.com. Flasher is a site that has video interviews with mostly younger artists, musicians, film makers, fashion designers, video artists, performers, etc...

I don't remember how I stumbled on it, but I'm glad I did. It's a good way to check out what's happening in the today's creative world and get a sense of who's doing what. Defintitely give it a shot and see what you think.

surface tension

Standing Stains

Pretty productive day. The panels I've been using recently are taking some getting used to, but I like them. The best thing is not having to spend much prep time on them. I buy them, seal the surface, wait for it to dry, put another layer of sealant on, wait for that to dry and I'm ready to go. I've taken to buying a couple of them each week so I have a collection ready to paint on.

I was in the Artist and Craftsman store today and discovered that they now have the deep cradled (1.5" wide) panels in addition to the standard ones. Of course I had to get two of the new panels.

I'm going to have to stretch some canvases sometime soon, I think. When I'm working on the panels, I miss the give and feel of canvas, and then I'll miss the take-a-lot-of-punishment surfaces of the panels It's good to have both to work on so both urges can be satisfied.

clashing needs

Wings and Wires

I have to run up to the studio to finish packing a piece to send out and then go to work. There's no time to work on anything else in the studio today. It's days like these when I resent having to rush off to my job when I have a full day of painting inside of me clawing to get out.

I'll have to be satisfied with dashing off a small drawing or something at lunch.

new works

Both: Untitled, 2008, acrylic on paper, 20" x 20"


Integrating old and new ideas and inspired by what I did with Light Veil:


My creative process is never a linear thing. Sometimes ideas might get set aside in favor of exploring new avenues. Frequently, after a certain amount of time has passed, I will have had time to rethink and reconsider older works. Then I'll see if there's some new approach that I can come up with for ideas that I thought had run their course.

It can be difficult letting that process happen because there's a tendency to not want to repeat the past. On the other hand, it's exciting because there's a new road created out of what were thought to be dead ends.

Linn Meyers

Found this time-lapse video of artist Linn Meyers making a wall drawing at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art for the exhibition The Space Between, on view until April 12, 2008 on Douglas Witmer's blog. The video shows Meyers working over the course of 5 days condensed into a few minutes.

Catching a glimpse of how an artwork is made, even if you already have an idea of how it came into being, still makes it intriguing to witness.

'Deep'

Philadelphia painter and videographer, Vincent Romaniello is having a solo exhibition of new works at the Philadelphia Art Alliance's Satellite Gallery, located in the Rittenhouse Hotel, 3rd Floor. The opening reception is this Thursday, Feb. 7th from 5:30-7:30pm.


Vincent Romaniello: DEEP
Solo exhibition
Philadelphia Art Alliance
Reception: Thursday, February 7, 5:30 -7:30
Satellite Gallery
The Rittenhouse Hotel
210 W. Rittenhouse Square, 3rd Floor
open during hotel hours including Sundays
valet parking available
February 7 - May 18, 2008

5 things

Over a month ago, I was 'tagged' by Kesha Bruce to post 5 things you don't know about me. I don't know why it took so long, but here we go...

5 Things You Don't Know About Me


10/366: other worlds

1. Comics were my gateway art drug...and they kept my imagination going since I was an only child. I've been reading them off and on since I was little. Last fall, I returned to reading again after a nearly six year break. A new comic book store opened up near my studio in Old City and I couldn't help help myself. I'd returned to the old neighborhood but didn't recognize the surroundings. Most of the characters I knew were still around, but in the comics world 5 years is like 20 life-times: a lot can happen. I wanted to reacquaint myself with the Marvel universe and started with the Civil War saga, one of those events that affected just about all of the Marvel characters.

I also like a lot of non-hero characters and books from my older collection, like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, the Transmetropolitan series, Lucifer, and Preacher, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and others.

2. No love for mushrooms. Sorry to all the fungi lovers out there, but I can't deal with them much. I can handle the generic 'Button' mushroom that's been cut up, but that's about it. Just the thought of a huge Portobello sandwich makes me want to gag. There's something about the texture and taste that I just don't like.

3. I have a thing for browsing books and magazines about loft spaces. I don't know what it is, but the photos of those pristine, unrealistically neat and expensive open spaces appeal to me.

4. When my parents sent me to the store when I was a kid, I'd always run as fast as I could and pretend that I was The Flash.

5. I'm one of those cooks who will throw anything together to make a meal. I like to cook, but don't respect the boundaries of certain foods like my wife does. For example, she'd be very happy if I didn't combine Italian pastas with tofu, which she associates only with Asian cuisine. That's a mild example. A couple of days ago, I took some leftovers to the studio for my lunch-black beans and rice. The twist is that I added tuna, edamame beans and a few spices to the dish. I cannot describe the look she gave me.

Pressing on

30/366: Watching the World

Checking out the scene on the street below my studio window yesterday afternoon. I like to take breaks here and there to watch people walking by and observe the patterns and interactions of pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, trucks and buses.

I'm beginning to make some headway with new work and returning to a regular studio schedule. So far, It's been for what I call quick bursts of three-four hour sessions in the afternoons. It's good and has kept me from over-thinking what I'm doing too much. At this point, I just need to paint and not worry too much about the results. That's what works best for me when I come back from an extended break (late November through December). I try to not let that much time pass without doing much painting, but around the holidays it's really difficult to keep up my momentum. Unless I have something pressing coming up after the beginning of the new year, like a big show or I have to finish a piece for commission, then December is pretty much a wash-out, creatively.

The break was needed. With having had two big solo shows last year, it's been difficult to jump right back into things. I feel like I reached a point with the painitngs where a shift needed to occur, but how much of one and how to get there? I need to change things up, even if it's not necessarily a noticable one that others will pick up on right away. The thing is, the changes I make usually wind up being bigger than I imagine them to be as I move along with paintings and that's fine as long as I feel like I'm challenging myself and maintaining the integrity of the work I produce.

Anyway, yesterday went well. After getting a few works on panel going I came home, changed and headed out to see a small exhibition curated by a friend of mine, Rebecca Saylor Sack at the University of the Arts, called, Erratic, which features the work of Christopher Davison, Nick Lenker, and Caroline Santa. It's a concentrated show of works that all seem to deal with anxieties of identity and life at a point of intense change in the world and our country, in particular.

I'm trying to get out more often to see what's going on around the city. The art scene has changed a lot in Philly over the past few years and is moving on at full steam. The more challenging work is now being exhibited in spaces that are removed from the more established Old City galleries. It takes some planning these days if you really want to catch a show while it's up. New spaces are popping up in areas that are being gentrified, thus making it a little easier to open and maintain low-cost spaces. Of course, the issues associated with said gentrification (displacement of long-time residents, vastly increased housing costs, etc...) are ever present but an ongoing part of evolving urban life.

considerable

I'm pleased to announce that I'll have work included in a new group exhibition. Considerable is an exhibition of small works curated by Jeffrey Cortland Jones and will be at the University of Dayton from March 3-April 4th, 2008. The show then comes to Philadelphia in April.

Jones will also be in a two-person exhibition with Paige Williams at Green Line Projects| Powelton 3649 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA from February 8-March 28, 2008,

A Kiss for Mayor Nutter

The city's budget is due soon and it seems that newly minted Mayer Michael Nutter has yet to make good on promises that includes that re-opening of the Office of Arts and Culture. As a way of sending Mayor Nutter a message of love Roberta and Libby on artblog in collaboration with Kevin Derrick of Design Philadelphia are hosting an on-going "Kiss for Mayor Nutter" event on their blog.

The idea is for artists in the Philadelphia area to send in a photo of themselves somewhere in the city to send a visual statement to Mr. Nutter about what the 'arts community' looks like in Philly.

From artblog:

Here's the deal. We will create a series of photo posts on the blog called A Kiss for Mayor Nutter that will include images of artists and art lovers throughout the city. These images make the face of the "arts" constituency somehow more real than it seems when people talk about artists and the arts.

So, send us jpeg images of yourselves in the city, one per artist -- at Love Park, at a gallery, at the museums, the zoo, on Broad St....somewhere in Philly--you know you have these photos and we want em! Send medium resolution images (281 height x 375 width is the artblog standard size) with your name and the location of the picture. We will run these images in a stream under the heading "A Kiss for Mayor Nutter" in a continuing series of posts starting today.

Act now and send us your images (one per person, please). Email: libbyandroberta@gmail.com

moving forward

22/366: new resident

Not art-related, but big news, anyway.

Yesterday, my wife, Eva, became a resident of the U.S.

Yesterday morning we went to our interview at the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) office. It had to be the most intense 40 minutes we've ever had together. Intense as in scary; our future in the near term was in the hands of this one person. If there was one thing he didn't like or thought was questionable about the validity of our relationship and marriage, she might have had to leave for a time. Luckily, our paperwork was in order and our answers to his questions consistent.

When the words, "As of today, you are a resident of the United States" came out of his mouth, referring to Eva, a weight the size of the Titanic was lifted from our shoulders. We walked away hysterically numb but elated.