More Studio Turf Wars - Gallery Version

 Blythe Hager self-portrait landscape meets topiary fairie mural from 10 years ago, freshly mounted on board.

There was also a little bit of spraying action, but art was removed from the studio/gallery for that.

Latest Work

I am currently exhibiting a new group of paintings in my gallery space, Dewclaw. The show, "Kinkade Meets Turner Paints Sci-fi With Fanbrush" began as a stylistic riff of sorts. I very soon let go of that, and continued on a rather simple, fast, poetic path. So much of my work is now serial in theme or in formal approach. It was great to go back to some good ole free-meandering. That said, the end results have followed a pseudo monster-based theme, which is fine.

 

 "Leviathan", 8" x 8", oil on wood, 2012

 "Genie", 8" x 11.5", oil on wood, 2012

 "Ogre", 8" x 8", oil on wood, 2012

This is such a great way to work, and one taps into all sorts of imagery and subtle expressions which would never arise from a more deliberate or planned process. I think I need to keep this in the game-plan, a running line of non-linear works.

 

"Night Driving" at Dewclaw

 Anita Giddings' painting show opened at Dewclaw last Friday night, with a really nice flow of guests. "Night Driving" is a group of paintings that were triggered by a drift-driving experience she had had a few years ago. It's a really nice show that works very well in the space. More here and here.

Gallery Sitting Dewclaw

I'm not saying Dewclaw is slow on Saturdays, but....

you don't wanna know how many takes I did. 

Current show is Kamilah Gill's "Hashtag Life". She constructs very interesting painting compositions from her online imagery culls. 

"Hashtag Life" - works by Kamilah Gill at Dewclaw

Kamilah Gill opened a solo show of her work at Dewclaw. I'm excited to have my first guest artist in the space.  "Hashtag Life" is a collection of her paintings, where she uses an online search process to find and build her imagery. Here are some installation shots of the show.

And here is her wonderful drawing from the opening.

New Work

 "Mother", 4' x 4', 2012

Saturday I pulled out an old work that was framed, but that I never really resolved. The size and shape are perfect for the entry view wall in my upcoming "Mounts" show at Dewclaw. I decided to completely paint over and see if I could coax out a Mountsian image by this Saturday. It would have been enough to have a good image happen, but this (newly finished) piece also connected for me personally and fairly directly. That's something I used to experience all the time, but not so much now. I'm a little nervous because this was too easy. That's also something that I used to experience often, fast and effortless moments with meaningful results. So I'm stoked. I'll take a better pic and post once the frame dries and I can move it.

I also decided to augment the Mounts paintings with some new drawings. I've never really worked quite like this before. I used to do large and loose drawings, where charcoal gets smooshed around, much like painting. I've also used drawing to triggers ideas, by making numerous fast, almost autonomous drawings with a sharpie. I'm not real crazy about what these drawings are. They're tightly rendered doodles. I do really like how the process slows me down. It seems to set me at the perfect speed for processing some obsessive tendencies in visual thought. I think their small size also contributes to them being some sort of sweet spot for me, in terms of rendering thoughts as they occur.  They are each 5.5" x 7".

I'll display them on a painted rectangle, I believe just tacked to the wall with some tiny brad nails. I really wanted to have more done for the opening, but I will just work on them and add them to the show as I can. I plan on having a work table in the gallery for this show.

Dewclaw Inaugural Exhibition*

I'm calling my new work and show space Dewclaw. The first show will open next Friday, Dec. 2. There is a lot going on that night around town, so we are also having a preview opening on Wednesday, Nov. 30. 5-9 pm each night. I'm excited to finally show this first group of Lane Markers together and in subdued light.

This space still feels like a chapel. It will be interesting to see if this holds when other work is in there. For now, it's so perfect for this group of work, I could cry.

If you're around for either of these nights, please stop by. Dewclaw is part of the newly opened South Studios at the Complex. We are a few doors south of Wug Laku's area in the Circle City Industrial Complex. 1124 Brookside Ave. I currently plan to have the space open on Saturdays 1-4 pm and by appointment.

* Coincidental acronyms are harmless....really

Gallery Ideas, Part I

I've rented a small space at the Circle City Industrial Compex. It's perfectly intimate, tucked away a bit, no windows, and a nice size for a small gallery. It's been a huge struggle to ignore this space and focus on getting other things done. I've only been in there once since I received my keys, but the ideas are flowing, some good, some whacky. Posting publicly will help me sort out the diff.

Exhibition ideas:
Unstable Art Show - I've been sculpting paint skins while they're still moving (wet), which almost sounds cruel. I'd like to have an invitational one-night only show using in-flux materials. This could be in winter so we'd have the whole snow/ice possibility. It could involve stacking materials. Pretty much anything fragile or ephemeral, as long as it's not fumey or food related. For the exhibition I'd cover the floor in plastic and possibly even display some things in tubs. 

Documented-only shows - I'd like to have a strong online representation and had even considered having the gallery officially be an online gallery, which happened to have a bricks-n-mortar space in Indpls. The space would serve almost as a set for the online activities, and would also be a sort of tourist attraction (at least in concept) for the "real" activities which occurs online....a sort of Precious Moments Chapel for you to pay homage to ;-) , full of momentos (for sale) of online conceptual moments of note. Document-only shows would play into this idea in that I would put up shows in the space, but only present a documentation of them. Not a new idea by any means, but it's still interesting to consider just how and what one could do with it.

Artists You Don't Know - I'd change the title, but this would be either one show or a series of shows featuring local Indiana artists who are making really intriguing and independent work, but who are not really on the radar.

It's Not Gonna Happen - (or Proposals for the Unlikely) -It's a much more positive idea than how it sounds. This will likely be a proposal show, where artists submit very informal representations of projects that simply will not happen, mainly because of context. That same inappropriate context is what makes the idea so fascinating though. For instance, I was making proposals for an area high school, and when I saw the natatorium being contructed, an image popped into my head and I couldn't shake it. Their mascot is a panther. I visualized this image of a panther where the huge scale and the cropped (swimming) shape made it impossible to read correctly on first glance. It actually looks like a loch nest monster or something inexplicable. That moment when you realise it's a panther would be so amazing.....Still, the idea falls so far outside of the norm, as school mascots go.....It's not gonna happen. I may keep this show limited to decorative painting projects, but public art projects are also a great place for "not gonna happen" ideas.

Fantasy Art Finds - (Needs better title) This could be either a proposal show or a theme show for new work. What art would you most want someone else to have made? This really is different from what art you as an artist would like to make, I think. The context could be narrowed. I've always liked to imagine my dream thrift store painting finds. What would I most want to find in a thrift store, or similar place, that some other person had taken the time to make?

Paintings for a Mobile Home - I first had this idea back when I actually lived in a trailer. As campy as the idea is, I was seeking a framework that would encourage sincerity. I've always wanted to keep one foot firmly planted in a non-academic, provincial place of art appreciation. It seems important to always consider what I'd be doing and how I'd be thinking if I were unaware of current art considerations. What paintings would I make if they were intended to be hung in a mobile home? It's almost impossible to conceive without irony, but fascinating to do so. I'm not sure if this would be an invitational show, or just a group I'd do.

I rarely feel inspired by others' theme show ideas, and I am a little chagrined at how much I'm going there myself. Next thing you know, I'll be pushing spectacle art events....

Iron-Artist Assemblage Competition - Timed assemblage of provided materials. Could also have a blind collaboration, where artists work in sequence on one piece. This was actually a side-idea to Sculpt My Yard Offerings - which was originally simply Sculpt My Dumped Tires. I bring in stuff that's been dumped in my yard, you or I make something from it. I though about somehow inviting others to make surreptitious yard offerings that I would try to distinguish from the naturally occurring dumpings. It would be an interesting head-trip, but is just way too insular in scope, even if it's made into a display of some sort.

The Strontium Show - Fun with phosphorescent paint.

I'll end the exhibition ideas here. Gallery Ideas, Part II will be ideas for funding the gallery, and also ideas for setting up the space itself.