Sunday, December 26, 2010

Established Ideas

ONCE THE IDEA OF THE PIECE IS ESTABLISHED IN THE ARTIST'S MIND AND THE FINAL FORM IS DECIDED, THE PROCESS IS CARRIED OUT BLINDLY. Sol Lewitt

Snowy Sunday night in the studio:





Tomorrow will find me on the sledding slopes of Manhattan.

And speaking of Manhattan, on a whim I watched the movie The September Issue, a documentary about Vogue and then after watching it I got on the subway and Grace Coddington sat right next to me. I thought that was really weird. I just saw her in a weird movie! I snapped a picture of her leaving the train.

And while I'm thinking weird fashion, it's time to check in with my friend Bill and his current view of Manhattan.

Wear your snow boots!



Grace exiting the E train

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Following



For today and always:

IRRATIONAL THOUGHTS SHOULD BE FOLLOWED ABSOLUTELY AND LOGICALLY. - Sol Lewitt

Looking at Keltie Ferris, lead me to VVORK and other unknowns.

Merry Christmas!

Keltie Ferris pictured above from Anaba: Social Space blog, a good read...thanks Martin!

I like the font on that Horton Gallery!

Ooo and another discover: Sandy de Lissovoy, both Horton Gallery site and Sandy de Lissovoy's site designed by Silas Dilworth.

work continues in my sketchbook today:

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Believe


For the Artist at the Start of Day

May morning be astir with the harvest of night;
Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,
Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse
That cut right through the surface to a source

May this be a morning of innocent beginning,
When the gift within you slips clear
Of the sticky web of the personal
With its hurt and its hauntings,
And fixed fortress corners,

A morning when you become a pure vessel
For what wants to ascend from silence

May your imagination know
The grace of perfect danger,

Deep into the call of all
The unfinished and unsolved

Until the veil of the unknown yields
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow in your heart

In order to come to birth
In a clean line of form,
That claims from time
A rhythm not yet heard,
That calls space to
A different shape.

May it be its own force field
And dwell uniquely
Between the heart and the light

To surprise the hungry eye
By how deftly it fits
About its secret

John O'Donohue
Drawing by Piet Mondrian.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Terra Cotta, Jesus with Ants and Staring Contests


Photo: Terracotta vase in the form of a phallus, Greek origin, Classical Purchase Fund, 1999; Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I've been home for 3 days with a sinus infection and a fever, maybe it's flu. Two things, I suggest to anyone else interested in art today are linked below, and I'll check in again tomorrow!

One: Hyperallergic's new issue, http://hyperallergic.com/category/news/

Two: When the Art Stared Back and Other Trends by Roberta Smith http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/arts/design/19smith.html

and for extra credit read Jerry Saltz’s Open Letter to the Republicans of the 111th Congress http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/12/jerry_saltzs_open_letter_to_th.html

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Rovin


After only 3 months from having her second child, Amy Smith-Stewart, is roving again. This time she has organized 7 Artists 7 Days 7 Hours, a video program featuring Jen DeNike, Bryan Balla, Kate Gilmore, Alix Pearlstein, Laurel Nakadate, Yui Kugimiya, and Adrian Paci.

The videos are on a continuous loop for a 7-day period at BIG SCREEN PROJECT, a 30 x 16.5 ft. HD format LED screen located at a 10,000 sq. ft. public plaza between 29th and 30th Street in New York City. There's a little cafe called FoodParc, which makes an excellent viewing perch and they serve up delicious dumplings!

Yum, I've been roving too and eating all over town...staying out of the studio and sort of out of the cold.

Matisse's Reverse lithos at Maison Francaise
and

Cafe Henri, lemon tart while I finish, almost ready new website!

Tomorrow it's back out to the Moore Street Market, for more discussions of my public/% for Art Project there and possible collaborations with Lars Kremer and Aron Namenwirth. More art and eating is in my future.

Friday, December 3, 2010

My Miami

Unlikely as it is, I am in Miami Beach and so are the "art fairs." I am actually in a hotel across the water from most of these fairs, except for SEVEN, where I am giving an aforementioned talk on fame or "You're a Legend in your Own Mind." After the salon I hoping to hop a boat to see Shamim's island project where friend Marina Rosenfeld is doing a sound/no sound installation, proper footwear required. Below are some pictures of my Miami. I just ordered room service, I can't believe it!

Marina Rosenfeld en route to car rental attempt...
William Powhida at #Rank, Christopher Ho was discussing "Regionalism," or what sounded like the origin of criticism when I walked in...
A picture of the surrounding SEVEN art, provided for context:
Beautiful pink chalk board for the #Rank
(this is a twitter link because this is a twittering event) overflow thoughts:
The Chadwicks:

Their piece The Genretron:
And last but not least, a huge treat for me was to see Hildur Asgeirsdóttir Jónsson at a private viewing of her work in a beautiful South Beach apartment at it's southern most tip. Hildur is sitting on the left.


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

#Rank at SEVEN in Miami

rank
William Powhida and Jen Dalton's #Rank will take place December 1 - December 4, and will be held at Ed Winkleman's space at SEVEN, in the Wynwood district of Miami.

#Rank Miami, three days of "non-gala events, non-curated performances, and non-hierarchical discussions on the topic of the class structures of the art world, with a super-special focus on the art fair experience.

Dec. 3rd @ 3pm @ #Rank Miami - "You're a Legend in Your Own Mind"
a relational discussion on fame led by Austin Thomas
"Dirty Harrys" (root beer and Jack Daniels) will be served.

http://www.hashtagclass.com/rank/calendar/

See Hyperallergic's list of five #rank projects worth checking out.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Sketching Anew




As I embark on a new series of sketchbooks, I'm filling and stacking them up, I've been grounding elements of my drawing process in the writings of post-structuralist French philosopher Jacques Derrida, particularly his book titled Of Grammatology. In researching Of Grammatology, I came across a great blog by John Weeden, the Executive Director of UrbanArt whose organization's mission is to enhance the cultural vibrancy of Memphis through the development of public art. I thought this was an auspicious discovery as I working in earnest on my first Percent for Art project, creating art for the Humboldt Street Plaza in front of the historic Moore Street Market.

John Weeden's post titled "Art Risk Fun" was where I came across his reference of Derrida and where Weeden's tells us, "So, don't be afraid to depart the stages and take performances to the sidewalks..." This is excellent advice as I research ways to turn a sketchbook drawing into an art piece along a plaza (conceptual model below, proposal stage):


Back to sketching, reading and guiding Maddie on all things real artworld.

The blogging intern explores the art world.

During my excursion to the Upper East Side to see the John Currin Show I saw a few others shows including Joe Colman’s Auto-Portrait Show and Recent paintings by John Zinsser. Among the art I saw, there some pieces that really related to the work I have been doing, which got me excited because it showed that there is an area in the real art world for my own art. For instance, Damien Hirst's Pills piece currently in the entrance to the Gogasian Gallery on Madison Avenue, and Joe Coleman’s new Auto Portrait Show, were he has drawn portraits and surrounded each person with things that describe them. Both Hirst’s and Coleman’s pieces reminded me of the photo I had up for my last blog post, of the pills and the portrait of my dad surrounded by the things in his life. It was incredibly interesting to see pieces of art being now that are of the same nature I am doing now, while still a student, it was very validating.

I also I did studio visit to Rena Teratani's studio. She is going to have a show in June, her first solo show, which is extremely exciting! I truly enjoy her work. She makes abstract drawings of tight lines, small shapes and other lines interrupting already existing filled space. It gives off a great deal of emotion, particularly feelings of stress and frustration. While it is abstract, Rena's work seems to have some city or metropolis feel, as if we are looking down on at New York City; the overwhelming amount of buildings and people in such a small space. It makes you understand the true impact of line and mark makings.

Seeing Rena get all her ideas in place for her first show was crazy, because once you get your first show in a sense you have made it as an artist. You have essentially got over the first hill, but there always so many more things you must do to continue to be a real artist. But after this week, I can finally say confidently it is possible to be an artist, it just takes lots of time, money and commitment.

Friday, November 19, 2010

To eight at home

Carlos Vega's 8th Floor studio filled with drawings and collage in lead.

Read Sang-ah Choi here






I'm home sick, and cleaning up, drinking tea and of course, uploading images from the Elizabeth Foundation's 8th Floor this time.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Last One on Nine

As I slowly move to the 8th floor, here's the last one on nine, Jena Kim:




Sunday, November 14, 2010

James Kalm Video Retrospective, now online, here:


image courtesy Two Coats Of Paint

Presented last night at Outpost, a James Kalm Video Retrospective.

The first video linked in below sums up how I feel. The second one sums up how Loren Munk might feel, the third one sums up how the viewer might feel, the fourth one is for Hrag, although it's one of Loren's favorites. There are so many good ones, and the Rough Cut series is genius. And I included a recent one that folks liked. I did some polling on facebook, looked at the top rated ones and there's a few extras that are good too, all linked below. Of course if you were not there last night you missed Outpost's home brew beer and the #socialgraph show. Worth the interesting trip out there!!

1. Bushwick Season Opener, Austin Thomas and Jim Herbert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7htFdGD6kq8

From: jameskalm | October 03, 2010 |

James Kalm continues his coverage of the new season with this Bushwick doubleheader. Austin Thomas founded Pocket Utopia in 2007, and was one of the first galleries to venture into this, as yet, untested neighborhood. "Drawing on the Utopic" is an installation of work from the last five years that features her collage, drawings and text pieces. Jim Herbert was an art professor at the University of Georgia at Athens while also making several influential independent films. Among those films were music videos for R.E.M. whose front man Michael Stipe had been his student. This exhibition of large scale recent paintings delves into the fantasies of adolescent sexuality, played out against historically influenced backgrounds. Contains interviews with Austin Thomas, Debora Brown and Jim Herbert.

The second sums up how Loren Munk must feel.

2. James Kalm Hit by Car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZm-cFecmB4


The third one sums up how the viewer might feel.

3. Wheelie Over the Brooklyn Bridge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39PRzTtozpQ

From: jameskalm | April 05, 2010 | 951 views
James Kalm, despite his seeming serious demeanor, and passion for reporting on the latest art happening in and around Greater New York, occasionally captures footage that he has to share with his audience. As an almost daily rider on the Brooklyn Bridge, having passed over this iconic structure at every hour and under every condition thousands of times, occasionally Kalm sees the unusual. The legends of "wheelie guys" on the bridge are plentiful, but this time we actually catch one in the act. This balancing routine continues for nearly two minutes and covers about one third of the bridge's length, from the Manhattan anchorage to the West Tower.

4. The fourth video is for Hrag, featuring our man Jeff.
Jeff Koons On The Roof at the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqLtiovAtTE

From: jameskalm | April 21, 2008 | 16,388 views
James Kalm is invited back to the Metropolitan Museum to document this sculptural exhibition by one of America's most recognized artists. Jeff Koons is honored with the placement of three of his highly polished stainless steel works from the "Celebration" series, "Balloon Dog Yellow", "Sacred Heart (Red/Gold)" and "Coloring Book". Jeff Koon also responds to a provocative question from Kalm regarding the art market.

5. And we need a rough cut, those our brilliant!

A Two Minute Roughcut of John Currin Recent Paintings at GAGOSIAN GALLERY -A rough Cut: http://www.youtube.com/user/jameskalmroughcut#p/u/3/qOp8Q5rz6gE

From: jameskalmroughcut | November 04, 2010 | 362 views
James Kalm once agains goes on the "Down Low" challenging a gauntlet of security and a bevy a wannabe model galleristas to bring viewers this unauthorized video clip from this evening's opening of John Currin's recent paintings at Gagosian. Having been posted within minutes of the closing, this preview captures a brief look of one of today's most controversial young painters. Melding old masterly technique with elements of kitsch and soft core porn Currin has established an updated cynical version of the classic reclining nude. Expect a full report at the James Kalm channel.

6. The most recent as of this list:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtLKLKols_g

Kenny Scharf & Dearraindrop at THE HOLE GALLERY
From: jameskalm | November 08, 2010 | 217 views
James Kalm has been visiting shows by Kenny Scharf since the bad old East Village days. Kenny along with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat used the vernacular of old school Graffiti, and street work to infuse a whimsical and fantastic night club inspired spirit into the Downtown art scene. Dearraindrop is a "family" group of artists from Virginia Beach, Virginia consisting of Joe Grillo, Laura Grant, Billy Grant, and Owen Osborn. They collaborated in recreating Scharf's "Cosmic Cavern" at the gallery and work in various media including video and musical performance on hand crafted instruments.

extras:

Clyfford Still Unveiled, at the DENVER ART MUSEUM -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-Wyi067MEM
From: jameskalm | August 28, 2007 | 7,475 views
James Kalm travels to Denver to preview the Clyfford Still Museum with "Unveiled", Selections from the Estate. Twenty-seven years after the artist's death and three years after the agreement with the Denver Art Museum to undertake the Clyfford Still Museum project, the public is at last given an opportunity to view seminal works by this founding member of Abstract Expressionism. Displayed in the new Daniel Libeskind designed Frederic C. Hamilton Building, "Unveiled" provides a brief overview of Still's stylistic development from his early "Regionalist/Social Realism" to the mature abstractions with their signature "flame forms". With holdings of around 2400 works, of which only 10 percent have been seen by the public, the Clyfford Still Museum will no doubt become a must see destination for painting enthusiasts.