long hall

Long Hall

10:55pm.

The late hour makes this a desolate stretch of the subway concourse between 13th and Market and City Hall.

Johnathan Jones and critics

Today I think there is an opportunity for critics again - and a need. The sheer volume and range of art that we're fed in a culture obsessed with galleries is so vast and confusing that a critic can get stuck in and make a difference. It really is time to stand up for what is good against what is meretricious. And it really is possible to find examples of excellence as well as stupidity. In other words, this is a great time to be a critic - to try to show people what really matters.

Quote from Johnathan Jones in a blog entry for the Guardian. Full text here: What is the point of art criticsm?

There are some valid points in Jone's entry regarding the seeming lack of strong critical voices today. However, the responses from readers bring up a ton of other issues and deserve some time spent on them, as well.

Alan George

Alan George-from the Domesticated series

Hrag Vartanian on Jerry Saltz’s “This is the End…”

This overfed, over-monied art world, Saltz explained, was a self-replicating machine: people think that "the art market is so smart that it only buys the best work...[but in reality]...the art market is so dumb that it buys anything other people are buying." This has led to the dominance of very few styles and of four artists in particular: Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, and Richard Prince, of whom Saltz proceeded to offer up his frank opinions. "Hirst’s art," he said, "looked good with people around it. In an empty gallery, not so much."

-Part of Hrag Vartanian's report on a recent lecture by Jerry Saltz.

Full article on NYFA's site

Drawn in

I stopped by SAGE Projects at 333 South Street yesterday to check out the second group exhibition they have up called titled, Colorevlolution. I was only going to check out the show and take a few shots of the works on exhibit.

It wasn't going to be that simple. Nic Coviello, who was gallery-sitting, roped me into working with him on a large, collaborative painting that has gone through four stages.

Artists at work (photo courtesy of Nic Coviello)

Nic seated

The aftermath

Other artists in Colorevolution included:

David Foss

James Erikson

Henry Bermudez

Vincent Romaniello

Paul Behnke

Michelle Marcuse

Karen Baumeister

Jon Manteau

Rob Solomon

'This Moment' extended

This Moment (northwest corner and floor)

This Moment (upper north wall)

This Moment (entrance)

Above: some images of the final result of This Moment

I'm still wading through a lot of thoughts I have about the project, which is why I haven't posted much about it thus far. Originally, I was going to post entries about my experiences while the piece was in progress, but there was too much to work through mentally. Now that I've completed it, I've begun filtering through some the stuff in my head and putting it into a somewhat coherent form. Stay tuned for more on this.

Tomorrow (April 25th) marks the end of my solo show at Bridgette Mayer, but This Moment, the site-specific piece I worked on during the month, and finished a couple of days ago, will be on view through the month of May. So, gallery visitors who didn't have a chance to see it in progress have another month to view the finished state, alongside the newest works of fellow gallery artist, Elyce Abrams.

I'd also like to acknowledge some fellow bloggers who mentioned the show over the past month, including, Steven Alexander, Jen Bradford, Roberta Fallon at The Artblog, Shauna Lee Lange, Matthew Langley, Rob Matthews, and Vincent Romaniello. I don't think I missed anyone, but if I did, thank you, too!

Caught in the act

Today was one of those days where things flowed nicely. The sun was out and it was warm, two factors that heavily contributed to my good frame of mind for most of the day.

I worked in the vault room at Bridgette Mayer again today and things are moving along nicely. This past Tuesday I started painting on the walls to move myself past the little rut I felt last week. I continued painting today and the work is coming out well, warts and all.

Fellow artist and blogger, Rob Matthews, came by for a bit. We talked about the exhibit and installation piece, This Moment. We talked at length about my processes in regards to the site-specific work what effect(s) it has had on my work habits. Rob was kind enough to blog about the show and our talk on Matthews The Younger. There are some photos of the vault room work there, as well. I've taken a ton of photos to document the piece and experience but I'm having a difficult finding time to deal with them right now. I'll definitely get some up soon.

One thing that has come up for me is negotiating the space so that I can see what I've done-there is little room to step back to see what I've just done. Unlike being in my studio and having several feet to a few yards to step back and observe my work, in the vault room there's just about five feet in any direction. I also have to pay attention to several planes of surface (four walls and the ceiling, plus various places where wood is attached to the walls) at one time.

Because of the space issue, the work becomes somewhat confrontational for me, at times. Particularly since I've begun painting. The marks of the paintbrushes are much different and bolder than the marks I made previously with the Caran D'ache sticks. From the start of this project, I've never felt claustrophobic in the space, but since I've started painting, I've experienced a little discomfort because my nose is constantly in it. The only way to step back is to get just outside the doorway and look in from there and observe.

The room has begun to resemble one of my paintings but on a slightly grander scale than usual. When I first walked in this morning, I thought that it felt like some kind of grotto or lost place, part of an abandoned building, perhaps? I don't know, but that space is beginning to take on some history of its own.

Nature break

The spring rains are the presents that keep on giving and giving and giving. It has been almost a full week of non-stop rain and cold temperatures, but that's the nature April, a month that's big on living up to it's nature, at least according to the old saying, "April showers.... Before those May flowers come the blossoming of trees all over the place. We're fortunate enough to have some Cherry Blossoms (sakura, in Japanese) in Fairmount Park.

Last Friday, I was supposed to work on my piece in the gallery, but chose not to go in because there was too much going on then. A lot of artwork was being moved out of the gallery and there was just chaos, so Bridgette asked if I would consider not going in that afternoon to avoid the craziness. I didn't think twice about it and told her that it was no problem. I needed a day away from it anyway. I'd reached that, "What the f%&k am I doing?" stage where I wasn't sure how to proceed forward. I needed the break and took it. I've since figured that out and things are moving ahead.

I took advantage of the fairly mild, if cloudy, weather and rode out to Kelly Drive to take some photos of the Cherry Blossoms along the Schuylkill River. Here are some of the results:

In Bloom

In Bloom (grove)


In Bloom (bridge)


In Bloom (table)


In Bloom (buds)


In Bloom (white canopy)


In Bloom (pink)

'Right Now' in photos and 'This Moment' in words

left: Little Speaker Groove, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 36"

right: Streaming, 2008, ink on paper, 60" x 50"

left: Gravity's Architecture, 2009, acrylic on panel, 16" x 16"

center: Cycles: Expansion and Cycles: Contraction, both 2009, acrylic on panel, 16" x 16"

right: Restless Wanderer, 2009, acrylic on panel, 16" x 16"

A Promise Kept, 2009, acrylic on panel, 16" x 20"

left: Candy Coated, 2008, acrylic on panel, 24" x 24"

right: Halcyon, 2008, acrylic on panel, 24" x 24"

Set of untitled works on paper. All 2009, water media on paper, 11" x 10"


left: Twist, 2009, acrylic on panel, 24" x 24"

right: Masks, 2009, acrylic on panel, 30" x 40"

right: 'Argo', 2009, acrylic on panel, 20" x 16"

right: Rising, 2009, acrylic on paper, 50" x 50"

The opening went very well last Friday-well attended and good feedback about the work. I even got to meet Pam Farrell in person (thanks for making the journey down!). The night was great until I realized at dinner that I'd lost my wedding ring. I and a few other people tried to find it to no avail. I gave it up for lost until I received a call from Bridgette last night.

It was trash night for the gallery's area and Bridgette's assistant, Sophie, went beyond the call of duty and decided to look once more for the ring. She found it at the bottom of a small trash bag that was from the opening reception, which means the ring slipped off of my finger while I was drying my hands. So, many, many thinks to Sophie!!

This is the second time I've lost and recovered this ring. I think a resizing is in my near future.

It's been a busy, busy week as I've been working in the gallery's vault room on an on-going piece called This Moment. This is the first time I've attempted a site-specific work and so far, it's been just as challenging as any other work except for the fact that I'm going through all of the 'what the f%$k am I doing?' bits in a fairly public space. Actually I just got to that phase yesterday after three previous sessions in here. I spent today trying to find a way forward and I may have. We'll see tomorrow.

What I'm doing is drawing directly on the walls of the space with water-soluable Caran D'ache crayons. I'm operating without much of a plan, except that I have more space to work with, along with all of the particular aspects that come along with said space. The space is roughly 115 inches high, 71 inches across the back wall and 61 inches deep, so not that large. The most frequently asked question from gallery visitors about this project, is "Aren't you claustrophobic in here?" Actually, no, not at all. Of course, if I had to stay in there against my will with no sunlight, well, yeah, I might go a bit mad.

The walls are concrete with enough variances in texture to keep things interesting and a vaulted ceiling that makes for really nice acoustic affects. There's a vaulted ceiling which makes for cool acoustics. It's a great space for working with sound, which is something I might consider in the future, if I get to use this space again. It's interesting listening to music in there because of the way sound waves echo and change when I turn my head one way or the other.

As far as documentation goes, I've taken tons of photos showing the progression of This Moment and have edited a few, so I'll get something visual up soon in another post. I've also done some short videos of me working. Most of them are less than a minute and a few a little longer. Before starting, I thought the visual documentation would get in the way of the actual drawing, but documenting my work has become more of a regular part of my routine than I thought, which has eased the whole process quite a bit.

Looking forward to whatever is going happen in there tomorrow (famous last words, haha).

Ready to go

Spent some time at the gallery yesterday tweaking the layout for the show. It's always tough making choices about what should stay up and what needs to sit on the sidelines, but out of those tough choices often come good results. I think what we came up with works.

Here's info about the show:

Tim McFarlane

Right Now
New paintings and works on paper.

This Moment (vault room)
A temporary, site-specific work that will be done in the vault room project space during the course of the exhibition.

March 31-April 25, 2009

Opening Reception:
First Friday, April 3, 2009
6-8:30pm

Bridgette Mayer Gallery
709 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215.413.8893
bridgetteart@earthlink.net
www.bridgettemayergallery.com

Preview of some works on the Bridgette Mayer website: Tim McFarlane

Jen 11

Jen11 from UPPERCASE gallery on Vimeo.

Jen Bradford, an online artist friend, is included in the traveling exhibition, Jen 11.

studio notes 3.18.09

I don't think I've mentioned it here, but there has been a running drama with my computer over the past few weeks that has been maddening. Back in February, my hard drive crashed and had it replaced. Now, I had a new hard drive with twice the memory than the previous one for a nice price. About a week into using the new drive, it also crashes. This time, I'd saved important stuff to my external drive. This time around, the drive had to be replaced along with the power and data cables. Luckily, the labor was under warranty and all I had to pay for were the cables.

So, I'm up and running again, keeping cautiously optimistic that this time things will keep working like they should.
......

For all intents and purposes, I'm finished with the work for the show. I've been in a whirlwind of finishing pieces and documentation, which is happening this week (Thanks, Mark!). I've also spent a considerable amount of time coming up with titles for the new works. Sometimes, giving a title to a piece comes easily-I'll look at it and something pops up and that's it. At other times, I'm left looking at a painting with the blankest of stares. When it finally happens and seems like a good fit, the work takes on an even greater significance for me.

Although I'm done with the work for Right Now doesn't mean that I stop working, quite the contrary, actually. I'm still in a forward-moving space and have a few projects I want to concentrate on now. This is pretty unusual because with past shows once I've gotten to a point where I feel that the paintings are done, I usually need to take a break from the studio for a bit. Not so much this time around. I'm not going to question it. I'm just going to keep going and ride it out.

Seen last week

I stopped by SAGE Projects shortly after it opened on Wednesday to see what happened when a group of artist friends took over a former retail space on South Street.

Entrance


SAGE members Vincent Romaniello (left) and David Foss (right).

Altar by David Foss


David Foss, Ikea Cow Paisley, 2009, insulation foam, photos, acrylic

Installation by Jon Manteau

1st floor view with works by David Foss and Henry Bermudez.

Second floor view with works by Paul Behnke and Vincent Romaniello

Excavation Tent by Vincent Romaniello

I also managed to get to Fleisher Art Memorial to catch the latest Fleisher Challenge show. I only got shots of one of the artists exhibited, Mark Khaisman who uses common packing tape to make his images. More about Khaisman at Mark Khaisman Studio.com

Studio notes 3.02.09

Two new paintings on paper from the Phenomena series.

Three weeks to go before I have to deliver the new works to the gallery for the show. Last week, I had a good studio visit with Bridgette where we talked about some of the recent works that will be in the exhibition as well as the vault room project.

The title of the exhibition will be Right Now/This Moment and will have two components. In the gallery, I'll be showing new and recent paintings and works on paper and in the vault room, I'll be interacting with the space with temporary drawings and possibly other media. I'm leaving the second aspect open to a more spontaneous interaction with the space.

The scale of most of the works will be smaller than in the past, with the largest paintings on canvas and panels being 36" x 36". Thankfully, I always work in a variety of sizes and going with mostly small paintings right now seems like a good thing to do considering the economic crapstorm we're in. However, I have been working on some larger paintings on paper that measure 50" x 50". Having done the works on paper for the airport, I've gained a liking for using thinned-down acrylic paint on paper. The paper accepts the paint in a way that canvas and wood panels don't and I love the results.

We also talked a little about the vault room project. The vault room is a smallish space in the rear of the Bridgette Mayer Gallery that's used as a project space of sorts. I believe that the space where the gallery is located was used as a jewelry business years ago, but I'm not sure. It's possible that the vault space was used to store jewelry or other valuables. As an exhibition space, the vault room is somewhat difficult, but it has been used to great effect in the past by other artists. One notable installation was done by Susan Brandt (scroll down), who piled various types of fibers along the rear wall.

At this point, I'm going to be doing temporary drawings and whatever else I decide to do during the exhibition. This part of the show is going to be a 'spontaneous interaction' where the objective is to make use of a space that I'm not used to working in. There is no plan for what I'm going to do from day to day, but something will change in there every time I'm present.

Even though I'm just about done with works for the show, I'm going to continue working just as hard over the next couple of weeks on new pieces and putting final touches on others. I'm in a good creative place right now and I want to keep making use of it.

NEXUS extends deadline for call for artists

NEXUS/foundation for today's art has extended their call for artists to Sunday, March 15, 11:59pm

NEXUS is seeking experimental artists in ALL disciplines including but not limited to painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation, video, performance, electronics, digital media, audio, dance or curatorial practices to apply as members of our co-operative. NEXUS values artist members who are dynamic, willing to take risks, dedicated to their work and enjoy being part of a community of artists.

NEXUS members are given the opportunity to exhibit their work once every two years in solo exhibitions, participate in group exhibitions and curate large scale exhibitions. Our next review is March 15, 2009. Applications are due Sunday March 15, 11:59 PM

Click here for more information

Questions? Send an email to: info@nexusphiladelphia.org

NEXUS is located in the Crane Arts Building at 1400 N. American St, Suite 102.
2 blocks north of Girard Ave, between 2nd and 3rd streets.

NEXUS is a registered non-profit organization, incorporated and qualified under Internal Revenue Service Code 501(c)(3), Our exhibitions are made possible through the kind generosity of State, City and Local foundations and by individuals such as yourself. You can help support our unique and valuable programming with a gift in any amount by clicking the link below.

http://www.nexusphiladelphia.org/
info@nexusphiladelphia.org

two new philly arts ventures

Tiger Strikes Asteroid is a new co-op art enterprise formed by five Philly-based artists including, P. Timothy Gierschick II, Alex Paik, and Caroline Santa.


CURRENT EXHIBITION: Getting Ready for the Prom Phillip Adams, Tim Gierschick, Alexis Granwell, Alex Paik, Nathan Pankratz, Caroline Santa

March 6th - 27th
Opening Reception:
Friday, March 6, 6pm - 9pm


Tiger Strikes Asteroid
319A North 11th Street (4th floor, upstairs from Vox Populi)
Philadelphia PA 19107
hours: Friday and Saturday, 12pm-6pm. Other times by appointment
Blog: Tiger Strikes Asteroid
Facebook: Tiger Strikes Asteroid page

Philly's South Street is getting something of an art makeover, so to speak. There has been an arrangement made with building owners where arts groups can apply to use the empty spaces for projects, rent-free with only insurance and utility bills to foot until new tenants are found. I received an email recently from painter, Jim Erickson, announcing the upcoming shows that the group he is a member of, SAGE Projects, are having beginning this week


For the months of March and April, SAGE Projects will take over a recently vacated storefront space at 333 South Street. From the SAGE website:

SAGE will officially open a project space at 333 South Street. There will be a five person exhibition downstairs based on the theme of repurposing and recycling. Because of the dire economic situation a number of stores have become vacant on South Street in Philadelphia. A number of arts groups are taking empty storefronts and repurposing them to showcase their work and bring new energy to the area.

Artists Henry Bermudez, David Foss, Jon Manteau, Vincent Romaniello, and Rob Solomon will use cast-off materials, excavated finds and remnants of the former boutique itself, in the creation of paintings, assemblage, video and installation work. On the upper level these artists will join Karen Baumeister, Paul Behnke, Nic Coviello, Jim Erikson and Michelle Marcuse for a members group exhibition that will change over the March and April programs.

Sage Projects Purpose/Repurpose Opens Wednesday, March 4, 12 - 6pm
Reception Sunday, March 8 2 - 8pm
email: sagewhat@warpmail.net


Also, there are a few more days to catch Martin Bromirski's show at UArts through March 6:

Martin Bromirski
"Paintings"

Gallery 817
Anderson Hall
333 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, Pa

something to chew on

This video comes from a photography viewpoint, but I think any creative person can relate to it...

Click to play

prep work

I stretched my first canvases in months today. I like the prep work. Stretching my own canvases makes me feel that there is more of "me" in the final work. I also get a feeling of accomplishment every time I finish one. The flip side is that stretching canvases can be a huge pain, especially larger ones. I'm constantly having to check the corners to make sure that they are square, especially when the stretcher bar tongue and grooves have too much play, causing there to be too much movement. I have a system for cross-bracing that works...most of the time. 

Today, was one of those days when I had to practice a lot of patience with the larger of the two canvases above. A lot of turning on the edges, checking with an L-square, and taps from a rubber mallet finally got me where I wanted to be. That's part of why I chose to work on wood panels over the past few months. Aside from wanting to work with a different surface, all I have to do with panels is seal the surfaces and paint. There's much less time and work involved. The problem now was that I was getting tired of working only on the wood surfaces and started longing for the feel of canvas again. I also like the absorbent nature and slight give of canvas when it's being painted on.  I'll probably keep going back and forth between the two surfaces for some time to come.

progress

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit panicky about the amount of work that I had ready for the show coming up in April, but I'm a bit farther along than I thought. All it took to ease my mind was a good look at what I had completed already. So far, so good. I still want and need to get a few more pieces done over the next month and-a-half, but I think I'm on a good time line now. Now, I have to get into mild adjustments, attaching hanging hardware, signing the pieces and wrapping them so the chances of wandering paint spatters from things I'm still working don't find their way to completed surfaces. One of my least favorite tasks is having to deal with unwanted surprises and repainting a piece with a show coming up.

All the work for the airport show is done. I still have to go through and select what I consider the best of the lot and that's that. Those works have had a profound effect on the direction that I'm taking some of the paintings and other works I'm preparing for my solo show. 

......

"...we create problems to push the work forward..." In conversation with painter, Keith Crowley last night.