2.24.2009
i talk about me.
Who needs Frost/Nixon when you can have Miliate/Marcum? The wondrous Lynelle Miliate has posted an interview with me here. This is only the beginning of our online interminglings; you'll see...
2.01.2009
art morsel
I love Richard Heller's gallery. He always seems to share something that is part whimsy, part sour, part craft, and part just-plain-lovely. You get a different ratio of each, in any given show. I was able to see the current Amy Bennett show during the recent "breakfast receptions" at Bergamot Station. I was with a couple good artist friends, and if I remember correctly, this was the one show all three of us liked.
It was almost exclusively small-ish oil on panel works, save for a single sculpture. The very nice attendant informed me that it was created by the artist as a reference from which to paint, but it was a beautiful object in and of itself. (I could go off on a whole other tangent, talking about how wonderful it is that she paints from miniatures she builds herself. For the sake of my much needed night of sleep, I will not.)
The panels are each finished with a flawless, shellacked sheen, which gives the pictures' color and form an assertive presence. The palette is quietly idyllic and the rendering of light is ethereal. The materiality of the gloss also resonates with the theme of houses on lakes. From image to image, the lake surfaces change from rippling, to unnaturally, eerily, glass-like. The dominant aspect of the images are the rural landscapes and their reflections; yet dwelling within them are minutely rendered people. Their activity is familiar, yet peculiar. Think super-removed/aerial view of Gregory Crewdson at the lakehouse on a spring morning. The paintings are, for lack of a less-clichéd word, captivating. I will say no more. Go see this show. Take your valentine. (It's over after the 14th.)
Vacationland, 2008
22" x 48"
by Amy Bennett, at Richard Heller
It was almost exclusively small-ish oil on panel works, save for a single sculpture. The very nice attendant informed me that it was created by the artist as a reference from which to paint, but it was a beautiful object in and of itself. (I could go off on a whole other tangent, talking about how wonderful it is that she paints from miniatures she builds herself. For the sake of my much needed night of sleep, I will not.)
The panels are each finished with a flawless, shellacked sheen, which gives the pictures' color and form an assertive presence. The palette is quietly idyllic and the rendering of light is ethereal. The materiality of the gloss also resonates with the theme of houses on lakes. From image to image, the lake surfaces change from rippling, to unnaturally, eerily, glass-like. The dominant aspect of the images are the rural landscapes and their reflections; yet dwelling within them are minutely rendered people. Their activity is familiar, yet peculiar. Think super-removed/aerial view of Gregory Crewdson at the lakehouse on a spring morning. The paintings are, for lack of a less-clichéd word, captivating. I will say no more. Go see this show. Take your valentine. (It's over after the 14th.)
Vacationland, 200822" x 48"
by Amy Bennett, at Richard Heller
1.27.2009
They say you should never meet your heroes...
I'm not sure who "they" are, but I am happy to report that meeting Sophie Calle was lovely. It's an honor to be able to thank someone who has been so influential and motivating (especially when they live in Paris).
I was able to meet/thank her earlier this month at an artist talk she gave in La Jolla, at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (in conjunction with a visiting artist program of UCSD's). She presented a slide-show/overview of her career's worth of work, peppered with some really great anecdotes. It was so fun to hear some of the stories that went along with her projects and process. She's an amazing artist, and a pretty funny lady. Here's one of the images she showed of her recent work, made after the passing of her Mother:
I believe this is related to the work wherein she represented plaques inscripted with the maladies claimed to have been cured by the Lourdes fountain's famed healing water. She added a blank plaque, symbolizing the fact that breast cancer, the disease that took Calle's Mother, was not listed as one of the fount's triumphs.
Her Mother was the center of another recent work, "Couldn't Capture Death," wherein Calle continuously videotaped her mother on her deathbed, in an effort to capture her last breath. As the title infers, she couldn't be sure of the exact moment, neither at the time nor via reviewing the film. While the description of this work almost sounded distasteful or sacrilegious, Calle was so loving and sincere when speaking about it. Moreover, she reported that her spirited Mother felt vindicated in finally being featured in Calle's work. (I think you can still find this video on YouTube, if you want to see it for yourself.) As for the issue of the work coming close to some kind of abstract personal boundary, if you know her work, you know this is nothing new. :)
I first learned of Sophie Calle when I was on a trip through Dublin in 2004. She had a retrospective at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and I was enamored. I still am.
I was able to meet/thank her earlier this month at an artist talk she gave in La Jolla, at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (in conjunction with a visiting artist program of UCSD's). She presented a slide-show/overview of her career's worth of work, peppered with some really great anecdotes. It was so fun to hear some of the stories that went along with her projects and process. She's an amazing artist, and a pretty funny lady. Here's one of the images she showed of her recent work, made after the passing of her Mother:
I believe this is related to the work wherein she represented plaques inscripted with the maladies claimed to have been cured by the Lourdes fountain's famed healing water. She added a blank plaque, symbolizing the fact that breast cancer, the disease that took Calle's Mother, was not listed as one of the fount's triumphs.
Her Mother was the center of another recent work, "Couldn't Capture Death," wherein Calle continuously videotaped her mother on her deathbed, in an effort to capture her last breath. As the title infers, she couldn't be sure of the exact moment, neither at the time nor via reviewing the film. While the description of this work almost sounded distasteful or sacrilegious, Calle was so loving and sincere when speaking about it. Moreover, she reported that her spirited Mother felt vindicated in finally being featured in Calle's work. (I think you can still find this video on YouTube, if you want to see it for yourself.) As for the issue of the work coming close to some kind of abstract personal boundary, if you know her work, you know this is nothing new. :)
I first learned of Sophie Calle when I was on a trip through Dublin in 2004. She had a retrospective at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and I was enamored. I still am.
1.15.2009
Stop. (unh!) Hamma-time!
I paid a visit to the Hammer museum on Tuesday, and I really, really wanted to take a photograph of this Warhol photograph in the Oranges and Sardines show. Not because I respect A. W. or love the photograph (and I do, both), but because it was in this intense light atmosphere! Anyhow, the guard said I could not take a photo, so I drew this picture/diagram, instead.
Now, imagine this; Warhol's silver gelatin print of a hammer, sickle, and pizza slice; lit by the tungsteny-yellow bulbs of Felix Gonzalez-Torres' Go-Go dancing platform from the left; and from the right, glowing blue from Dan Flavin's "Diagonal of May 25, 1963." It was crazy!
What an interesting occurence. (Which came out of the circumstance of Gary Garrels' curating and Wade Guyton's contribution to the Oranges and Sardines project.)
Xmas miXchange
This is some of the mix cd cover art made by CSULB MFA candidates at our recent studio-party. We exchanged music mixes as "holiday" gifts. Artists, left to right: Shaden Mousa (untitled mix), Gabi Ferrer (See-Thru), McLean Fahnestock (pLAceness).
12.23.2008
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