Chandler Pritchett

New York Trip

2011-02-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

So I had a fantastic time in the big apple for the CAA conference last week, where I was employed as a projectionist. I was able to attend five panels, visit four museums, and even wear high heels to a gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Here's a list of the panels I attended. I'd like to post my thoughts about each over the course of the next week or two.

New Life for Memorials on the National Mall

Wednesday, February 09, 2:30 PM–5:00 PM

West Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Hilton New York

Chairs: Judy Scott Feldman, National Coalition to Save Our Mall; Kirk Savage, University of Pittsburgh

Sara Hart, design journalist, New York

James P. Clark, National Ideas Competition for the Washington Monument Grounds

The Art of Pranks

Thursday, February 10, 9:30 AM–12:00 PM

Nassau Suite, 2nd Floor, Hilton New York

Chair: Beauvais Lyons, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The Private/Public Joke: Printed Pranks in New York Dada

Sarah Archino, The Graduate Center, City University of New York

Double-Talk: A Case Study of the Fine Arts Symposium "Wroclaw ‘70"

Albert J. Godycki, Jagiellonian University

Fluxpranks: Twelve Big Names

Hannah Higgins, University of Illinois, Chicago

Simon Anderson, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Purposeful Pranks: Artists as Subversive Pranksters

Lisa Sayles, Clark College

New York City Pranksters

Clark Stoeckley, Artivist

Discussant:Andy Bichlbaum, The Yes Men and Parsons The New School For Design

Inspiration and Opportunity: Art History Reflects on Its Past to Determine Its Future

Friday, February 11, 9:30 AM–12:00 PM

Gramercy A, 2nd Floor, Hilton New York

Chair: Elizabeth W. Easton, Center for Curatorial Leadership

Report from the Field: Art Historians Survey of Career Choices

Elizabeth W. Easton, Center for Curatorial Leadership

Malcolm Daniel, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alisa LaGamma, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Patricia Rubin, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Kristina Van Dyke, The Menil Collection

Colin Bailey, The Frick Collection

Mariët Westermann, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Studio Art Open Session: Green and Sustainable Art

Friday, February 11, 2:30 PM–5:00 PM

Sutton Parlor South, 2nd Floor, Hilton New York

Chairs: Anita Cooney, Pratt Institute; Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, Pratt Institute

Garment/Research: A Point of Reference, a Portable System of Investigation and a Tool of Connection

Kelly Cobb, University of Delaware

Transient Interconnection

Rachel Miller, Pratt Institute

Embodied Ecology

Chris Taylor, Texas Tech University

Frames, Balance, and Limitations

Cal Lane

Claiming Authorship: Artists, Patrons, and Strategies of Self-promotion in Medieval and Early Modern Italy, Part II

Saturday, February 12, 2:30 PM–5:00 PM

Concourse A, Concourse Level, Hilton New York

Chairs: Babette Bohn, Texas Christian University; Sheryl Reiss, University of Southern California

Images within Images: Self-Referentiality and Authorship in the Later Middle Ages

David Boffa, Rutgers University

Papal Majesty and Political Propaganda: Image and Meaning in Raphael’s “Grotesques of Leo X”

Lorraine Karafel, Parsons The New School for Design

Competing Identities: Sanctity, Patronage, and Portraiture in Giambologna’s St. Antoninus Chapel

Sally J. Cornelison, University of Kansas

“The Stimulus of Vain Ambition”: Individual Self-Promotion and Corporate Patronage in Early Modern Venice

Meryl Bailey, University of California, Berkeley

Lanfranco and the Rhetoric of Self-Promotion in Early Seicento Italy

Frances Gage, Buffalo State College, State University of New York

Here's a list of the museums I visited. I'd like to post my thoughts about these as well in upcoming weeks.

Tuesday Evening: American Folk Art Museum,
Wednesday: MOMA
Thursday: The Met
Finally: The Whitney

People gave me TONS of restaurant recommendations, but the only meal out worth noting was at La Giocanda. I had the special with a glass of Pigato from Liguria. I have never had Pigato before, but tried it because that's what the owner recommended to go with my tuna steak. It was a very intimate little restaurant with only about eight tables, but one of the tables was asked to leave after two women got into a sad, hysterical screaming match. The other three patrons and I didn't quite know what to make of that.

I filled an entire sketchbook on the first two days of the trip, and then instead of buying a new one I got a bunch of encaustic supplies from the book and supply fair. The people at R and F encaustics and the Hotcakes booth were both very helpful. I cant believe I haven't experimented with this material more in the past.

I met a couple of really interesting artists (and now new friends) while I was at the conference, but I wish I had been a little more outgoing. I was happy to cross paths with Gatsby and Dwayne a few times and to get to have a brief conversation with Dr. Kenneth Haltman, but chickened out when it comes to high-fiving the amazing Faith Ringgold, who was receiving an award from CAA for being a feminist hero and who was wearing a crown (because that's what she does when she wins awards). I really enjoyed her acceptance speech, which was an activists call for a National Museum of African-American Art in New York. She said she didn't think she'd live to see it, which was a little confusing for me--I hadn't realized that there was no such museum.

Encaustic Workshop

2011-01-07T16:15:00.000-08:00

I participated in an encaustic workshop at Flicker Street Studio today, and it was awesome. Here is what I made:

2011 Projects

2011-01-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

My major projects for 2011 (in addition to developing my painting portfolio and building teaching experience) will be documented on two other blogs. The first blog, LINK, documents my goal to work on 52 collaborative projects with one artist a week. The second blog is for the Urban Sketchers Memphis drawing group, which will meet monthly for the year. I will also be attending the FATE conference in St. Louis, where I will be presenting a paper and participating in an Integrative Teaching International Think Tank. I've also been hired to work as a projectionista at the College Art Association conference in New York. Posting will probably be light on this blog for the first part of the year while I work towards meeting these goals.

Thanks for being a supportive ~~audience~~ community and I look forward to sharing another great year with you!

End of the YEAR

2010-12-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

Memphis Urban Sketchers.

2010-11-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

http://urbansketchers-memphis.blogspot.com/

I've joined a group of urban sketchers:) Here's our blog. Can't wait until after our meet up on Saturday to post some drawings. I'm trying to take all of the tricks I've practiced in tiny paintings into larger scale work, so my sketches so far are pretty big. I love this idea and have already met some great people at events at the Farmer's Market and the Metal Museum. I'm really grateful that Elizabeth Alley set this up. I was trying to work through some compositional struggles through figure drawing that are much better suited to this sunshine-filled practice and I am glad to put drawing from the model aside for a while so I can play with perspective and space instead of mass and shadow.

study: birdfeeder

2010-10-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is a mock-up of the next piece I'm working on.

I spent a few hours this morning making sketches and then scanned them into the Gimp, then I layered the crowds and birds over the image. The crowd images are all from the Jimmy Buffett Oil Spill Concert. The birds are ruby-throated hummingbirds. I sketched out a few other feeders, but I like the feminine aspects of this one--she's all curves.

chandle-ing

2010-09-24T07:06:00.001-07:00

This weekend I'll be selling small paintings and earrings at two different exciting events.

Tonight is the Meet Your Maker sale at Jack Robinson Gallery. (Thanks Melissa and Papatya!)

Tomorrow is Harvest Fest at the Memphis Zoo. (Can't wait to work with you Sunny, McGregors, and my favorite zoo-folks!)

Hello big crowds of friendly people; I am ready for you!

I feel like these marketplace events are what I was named for--a chandler is a maker-merchant. At the same time they present some totally unique challenges for displaying artwork. I'm bringing some pieces that I love love love and some that are sweet and cute, but those pieces are usually telling completely different stories. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not quite ready to explain what vikings have to do with butterflies . . . something about whimsy and wish fulfillment maybe. Come out and see me and we can talk about it.

utopia--sir thomas moretris

2010-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sir Thomas More

plus

equals

Quilt

2010-09-13T10:57:00.001-07:00

Title: Finish The Quilt

Artist: Chandler Pritchett

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Scale: 30"x40"

Statement:

My painting of the AIDS Memorial Quilt is a celebration of the work that AIDS activists have been doing and a recognition of how powerful art can be in the fight against disease, discrimination, and despair. My work often deals with protests and parades, and I see the quilt as a little bit of each of those things. My first encounter with the quilt was on the basketball court of my high school gym--when I saw the work, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude and consequence of even this comparatively small collection of quilt panels.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt is important because, as a continually growing monument created by, commemorating and connecting thousands of individuals, it constitutes the largest piece of community folk art in the world. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is not a stage for mourning, but a commemoration of a worldwide effort to cure AIDS and to share our love for the people affected by this disease. The quilt has raised over 1.7 million dollars for AIDS research--and that represents just a small portion of the impact it has had on everyone who encounters it.

messy

2010-09-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

Challenge

2010-09-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a pretty big painting the past couple of weeks, challenging myself to create an image of the AIDS quilt, the largest ongoing community art project in the world. The largest art project in the world--one of the saddest situations of my generation--I feel like I better crank up my efforts on this one. I feel like I'd better talk it through. Right now I've started and trashed one four foot by six foot acrylic on canvas and moved on to something a little smaller, 3 feet by four. I'm still using tiny brushes though--so this is taking some stamina.

I've spent the past five years working on little drawings and little paintings partly because I put a little pain into a lot of my work and putting a little pain on a "big" canvas seemed melodramatic or narcissistic and was embarrassing to talk about. Big paintings made me remember all of the things I didn't like about myself in undergrad. Better to make things small and make a lot of things and show them really quickly to diffuse those feelings.

For the past year I've been challenging myself to make bigger paintings and drawings and compensating for the discomfort that causes me by really focusing on making images that have open interpretations and joyful color schemes. It feels sneaky and fun to paint candy and parrots--like I'm getting away with something.

Working on this AIDS quilt painting is a new path.

Sometimes I feel like I went into my MFA program ten years too early. I'm not ready to settle into anything about my artwork. I know what themes are interesting to me, but I feel like I grow even more through challenges (like this AIDS project) that are external. I am committed to being an artist--I make art every day--but I can't ever seem to settle on what exactly that means. Does that mean that I want to get famous (no) or teach full time (sure, but maybe not now--I still need all the hours I can squeeze out of every day) or start actually making a living? Those are all good things, but I'm not hungry for those things . . . yet.

I want to make paintings that compel others to reflect on emptiness without making empty paintings.

Recent advice has been to make things that are big, things that are showstopping. Things like paintings with brilliant colors that look good in slide shows . . . . . . and why not? Mapping out this AIDS piece is not only an aesthetic experience, it's also life-affirming. It makes me feel like I am doing Important Work. It makes me feel like I'm telling Everyone's Story.

Then again, the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs--those tiny paintings can still break my heart.

goldfinch

2010-08-26T19:29:00.001-07:00

saw this little fellow in my yard yesterday.

birds. fancy ones.

2010-08-23T19:00:00.001-07:00

Studio Day

2010-08-23T07:52:00.001-07:00

This week I get extra studio hours! Hooray! I will be sewing, watching TED, and drawing.

TED for today is

a little like the zoo

2010-08-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

This summer I worked as a zoo camp instructor at the Memphis Zoo, leading groups of 4 and 5 year old children around the world to explore concepts relating to dinosaurs and farms.

It was great practice in the willing suspension of disbelief as I taught them the difference between fact and fiction and spun my own legends--particularly about the magic happens at the highest mountain of the zoo (next to the grizzly bears), the absolute hottest pathway in the zoo (by the ostriches), the magical guardian lions at the gates of china--where the mama lion just sits all day tickling her baby and could really use some help (just east of the pandas). One of my favorite stories this week--our last week--is about the best air conditioning in the zoo. I'll keep that secret to myself.

During my tenure at zoo camp I fell in love with a macaw named Ruby, learned the best way to hold a hissing cockroach from Madagascar, and designed too many craft projects involving paper plates, egg cartons, and construction paper.

I hate construction paper.

I also spent a lot of time in a little pink sketchbook observing the animals up close. It was wonderful to be so closely involved with so many types of life and to spend so much time singing and laughing in the sun. I am bringing this joy with me into my artwork.

Stay tuned.

Vedute lesson plan

2010-03-05T14:34:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a little workshop at the Brooks Museum tomorrow afternoon--here's the plan.

Vedutisti in your city:

Objective

In this lesson, the artist will learn a process of watercolor painting similar to one used by the Venetian artist Canaletto(1697-1768). These paintings, called vedute, are highly detailed cityscapes featuring landmarks from cities, often depicted in one-point or two-point perspective. The artist will

Choose a point-of-view and subject matter for a vedute painting.
Translate their perception of a cityscape to a line drawing.
Organize a palette that mimics that of the artist Canaletto and will discuss how vedutisti would have selected and mixed colors for their paintings and how they would have used different values to create a sense of depth.
Use a variety of watercolor techniques to create their own vedute.
Practice the following vocabulary:

vedute: city-scape paintings, often including major landmarks in the city.
vedutisti: artists who paint vedute
linear perspective: a form of perspective in drawing and painting in which parallel lines are represented as converging so as to give the illusion of depth and distance.
point-of-view: the point from which a scene is observed.
orthogonal line: the name of the line that recedes to a vanishing point in a drawing that uses linear perspective.
vanishing point: the point on the horizon line to which the receding parallel lines diminish.
value: the lightness or darkness of a color
saturation: the amount of pigment in a color

Materials

The artist will need the following materials--

archived images of landmarks (sketches or photographs)
tracing paper
watercolor pencils and a limited palette of watercolors including three primaries and one neutral brown.
water cup, small palette to mix color, tissues, paper towels, sponges, small brushes

Procedures

PREPARATION: The artist will begin by choosing a significant landmark in his or her own city, either by choosing from a small archive of photographic images, or preferably by choosing from a selection of sketches made of that landmark in preparation of this activity. The artist may choose a location that represents his or her city--in Memphis this could be anywhere from Beale Street or South Main to the Brooks Museum. Alternately, the artist may choose a location that represents the cityscape with which he or she is most familiar--for example, a easy to access location on campus.

Select a point-of-view in which streets, paths, buildings, or waterways recede toward a vanishing point along orthogonal lines. Emphasize elements commonly used in compositions that take advantage of linear perspective.
Use images of Canaletto’s work as a guide, pointing out orthogonal lines and vanishing points in each image.

The artist will translate his chosen scene into a line drawing. This can be done by placing a piece of tracing paper over the chosen photograph or sketch and heavily tracing the basic outlines of the composition. Line was one of the most important elements of design used in vedute paintings for many reasons. Many vedute paintings were reproduced in the form of an etching--a printmaking technique in which only line could be used to create a sense of depth in a composition. The artist should transfer his tracing paper drawing to a sheet of paper, either by tracing over the drawing that has been made, or by using a grid-technique (if the student is already familiar with that concept).
Brilliant colors like the ones we find easily today were much more rare before the industrial revolution. Because brilliant pre-mixed colors were very rare, artists like Canaletto relied heavily on line and value to create a lively composition. The artist should use a limited palette of watercolor pencils to lightly indicate where certain colors will be used in their composition. Care should be taken to use the lightest touch of the watercolor pencil at this stage--in watercolor it is always easier to add more color than it is to remove any.
Once a light indication of color has been applied to the composition, the artist can begin using very small drops of water on areas where a moderately large field of local color will be applied. After a small area is wet, the artist can take a little of the pigment from the tube or pan watercolors and use it to create a wash. Go slowly and have a tissue or paper towel ready to erase any rogue drips or unexpected bleeds. This is a process that can require a bit of patience. This is a good time to remind the artist of the difference between the process of creating a shadow by adding a darker value or complementary hue and the process of creating a bright color by layering the same pigment over itself or saturating that pigment.
When the artist is satisfied with his or her painting, lay it flat to dry. Then the artist can create subsequent versions of the veduti using the same tracing paper sketch and trying different color application techniques or different types of watercolor paper.

Experiment with adding figures in different places of your painting, paying attention to how their scale changes depending on where they are standing.
Experiment with how the clouds are drawn and painted or with how the composition changes depending on how much sky is included in the composition.

Oh, hi robots!

2010-01-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

I have the worst time prioritizing.

I have a group of paintings I'm working on right now that I know are going to be absolutely spectacular.
I have at least three dream jobs waiting for me to finish applying for.
And I don't know what to do first.

If I finish these rock star paintings, then I can use them in the applications. But as soon as I finish I know I'll have an idea for The Masterpiece . . . and at that rate I'll never get the cover letters written for these dream jobs.

And as far as I can tell I am a horrible cover-letter writer. Even more horrible than Joey from ASofterWorld. The process of writing every single one is nerve-wracking and takes forever. And the whole time I'm writing them I just really really want to be working on these paintings.

I have this fantasy that once I get the perfect teaching job I'll just be able to crank out artwork and come up with awesome projects all the time while eating bon bons and going on epic leisurely strolls. I cherish this fantasy even though deep down inside I know that even after I get that job I'll still have to write even more cover letters. And they will never be as fun as writing blog posts or tweets or silly narcissistic status updates about bra color. I have this fantasy that if I could figure out this cover letter business the NYTimes would be calling me for interviews just like the artbutcher.

I wonder what the most efficient cover letter to artwork produced ratio is?

I think I'll start beginning cover letters with the phrase "I spent four and a half minutes writing this letter; I have very important paintings to make with the rest of my time." Except that would be a lie -- because I spend hours trying to carve a three page letter down to three paragraphs, wooing some committee of tenured geniuses who write thirteen cover letters for grant proposals before downing a delicious breakfast of light fluffy omelets cooked with shredded seasoned copies of my brief but wordy CV.

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Writing has been light here lately because I've been traveling and making awesome things. Like wooden jewelry--who knew that would be such a lucrative and fun way to avoid the letter or painting dilemma?

Also I had a super-upsetting laptop accident and have been trying to retrieve and organize my haphazardly backed-up life for weeks. Can you believe I had three copies of my thesis on CD but very little useful archive of my favorite pics of my daughter? That definitely made me rethink the amount of time I spend blogging.

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I've been getting a lot of spam comments here and that's discouraging. (Stupid Robots). I'm going to pick up the pace with blogging after the Team SHaG lecture and show this weekend at Rhodes. Team SHaG is a collaborative team made up of New York artists David Humphrey, Elliott Green and Amy Sillman. I'm pretty sure they're going to make it easy for me to write something fun because the images I've seen look intriguing. We'll see.

Tonight--Corner Liquor Store

2010-01-14T06:54:00.000-08:00

Corner Liquor Store Presents the "Niku -n- Hueso Project Part I" at Jones Hall Gallery, January 15-February 25 at the University of Memphis. Reception will begin at 4:30 on Thursday January 14th followed by the performance at 5:30pm and will end at 6:30pm.

Robert J. Sanchez, an internationally exhibited and collected artist and arts educator, and Emiko René Lewis-Sanchez, an intuitive performer and educator, who are the two members of the Corner Liquor Store, will present the “Niku -n- Hueso Project Part I,” in Jones Hall Gallery. The two-part exhibition consists of a performance/installation of “Open Wound of History: The Tale of the Third Ritual” and an exhibition of Painting Documents, which includes of 10 of the 19 rituals from the Niku -n- Hueso archives. During the opening reception on January 14 from 4:30 to 7 p.m., the duo will perform “Open Wound of History: The Tale of the Third Ritual” beginning at 5:30. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition of Painting Documents will be on display until February 25.

Based in Southern California, Corner Liquor Store is a subsidiary of The Infinity Lab, consisting of the two members known as "Rob Y Ko Sanchez." The duo began their collaboration in 2005 with the Museum of Temporary Art (M.O.T.A.) series at the ICE Gallery, in which they created and documented 10 private performance/installations from November 2005 through January 2006. Since then, they have been a part of collaborative teams, Mobile Toy Theatre, and The Infinity Lab, creating numerous exhibitions, performance/installations, and Internet interventions. Corner Liquor Store uses ritual, low-tech aesthetics, misappropriation, and faux marketing strategies to create cultural critiques.

Sanchez, a Chicano born in Austin, Texas, received his BFA from the Memphis College of Art, his MA from The University of New Mexico. His solo and collaborative work includes painting, drawing, text, installations, performances, and video projects. His conceptual base is essentially narrative and the content reflects an ongoing interest in the symbiotic relationship between artistic expression and cultural issues that shape community and society. Sanchez is associate professor of art at San Diego Mesa College.

Lewis-Sanchez received her BA in humanities from New College of California and her MFA in visual arts with an emphasis in performance from the University of California in San Diego. She has studied and practiced live art, installation, new media/video, dance/choreography, theatre/directing, writing, painting, and music. For her master’s thesis, Lewis-Sanchez developed the theory of Intuitive Performance, which reframes traditional notions of performance art by destroying authorship to create solely in collaborative settings. She has performed nationally and internationally with various collaboratives, theatre and dance companies.

Winter Arts

2009-12-02T20:59:00.000-08:00

Downside Up film at the Brooks on December 6 at 2pm

2009-11-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 6 | 2 pm
Downside Up
Can art make an impact on an individual, a community, a city? With the majority of its downtown deserted, many people had given up on North Adams, Massachusetts, until MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) located there and breathed life back into the community. The Brooks Museum collaborates with the Urban Art Commission to present this moving documentary about how art can bring the tentative, dangerous notion of hope to a city widely viewed as hopeless.

Stay afterwards for a discussion on how art makes a difference in Memphis with representatives from the Urban Art and Center City Commissions.

Tickets: Free for members; $5 for non-members.

2009 Crabs

2009-11-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

I have finished painting crabs for this year:

caritas

2009-11-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

Image Swirl

2009-11-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

http://image-swirl.googlelabs.com

Here is a great new tool for digging through source images for your next art piece! So far by using it I came across images of coconut crabs, which grow to be up to 30lbs and climb trees. Yikes. I'm not painting those!

WiiSpray

2009-11-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

seaweed crab

2009-11-18T17:55:00.001-08:00

I look forward to discussing this in class tomorrow

2009-11-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Recently my Foundations classes watched and discussed Persepolis, the 2007 animated film based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novels of the same name. We compared the film to the graphic novel, in which Satrapi translates the important events of her life into a series of narrative images. Many of us concluded that the drawings in Persepolis often communicate ideas about what was going on in Iran at the time more effectively than the translated idioms.

Now we're doing a project called Found in Translation.

In this project you will consider an important event in your life and translate it into a work of art. You are encouraged to use some of the techniques we have practiced in this class to compose your project. To brainstorm, you are encouraged to use mind-mapping (like we used in the Fused Interest Project). To research, try analyzing works of art, music, or literature that are related to your idea (like we did in the Place a Jar Project). To execute your project with superior craftsmanship, use the standards we established in the perfection project.

Part of the restraint in the project will be to share your idea without narrating during the critique.

I hope this TED lecture by Chimamanda Adichie adds another layer of interest to the discussion.

Caritas

2009-11-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

Like Milan Kundera wrote, "How nice to be moved, together with all mankind, by children running on the grass!"

With all of that said, I hope you'll make it out to Caritas Village in the upcoming weeks to see the First Annual Peace Exhibition. The reception is Friday, December 4 and I'll have a couple of little watercolors on the wall.

Fred Stonehouse this Thursday Night

2009-11-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

November 19

A major figure in Wisconsin art, Fred Stonehouse, nationally recognized for his beautifully executed artwork and witty sense of rebellion, will give an artist lecture at the University of Memphis in Meeman Journalism Auditorium on Thursday, November 19 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Born in 1960 in Milwaukee, Stonehouse received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 1982. His style has a sophistication that reflects his diverse, cross-cultural interests, and outsider and folk art influences. Often encompassing religious or surreal contexts, his paintings are a materialization of his nostalgia for the familiar and not so familiar art of the past, blended with his own delicate balance of humor, beauty and derangement. Stonehouse has been featured in many solo and group exhibitions across the country as well as abroad. His exhibitions have been reviewed by publications such as The New York Times, Art in America and Art News, as well as internationally in Die Welt.

Stonehouse’s paintings and prints incorporate haunting portrait heads with antique motifs. His portraits are “transmuted self-portraits.” Often, Stonehouse adds strange characteristics to the faces, an alligator-like snout or a worm-like body. Commenting on Stonehouse’s most recent work, Jessica Baran of the St. Louise Riverfront Times notes: “Borrowing elements of carnival sideshow banner motifs, the iconography of Latino and Northern Renaissance religious iconography, and vestiges of spray-painted street art, this Wisconsin-based artist illustrates a world of self-mythology that is at once wistful and phantasmagoric.” She continues to say that while “whiffs of the flat, crude but essentialist brand of rendering associated with folk artists inform the work, Stonehouse’s paintings and drawings are anything but unstudied or incidentally realized. As a whole they read as a familiar epic long retold with the assurance of maturity, in which the idiosyncratic details merit more patient attention, and the broad strokes of childhood angst are subdued into melancholy lyricism.”

terrifying towels

2009-11-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

Dear lord. I can't get this image out of my head.

I think that means I have to put it into a painting.

Do they look like an army of toy tanks to anyone else?

Sarah and Sunny are having a show!!!

2009-11-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

The Sunny and Sare show features oil painting, drawing, sketchbookery and installation...

Opening reception is on Friday, November 20 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The exhibition will be on display at the Art Museum until January 9, 2010.

AMUM is located in room 142 of the Communication and Fine Arts Building. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except University holidays and between temporary exhibits. AMUM will be closed from December 21, 2009 through January 3, 2010. Admission is free. For
more information call (901) 678-2224 or visit www.amum.org

This is what I look like when I'm teaching:

2009-11-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Kathryn Hicks carved this skull out of basswood for our Foundations I class and caught a picture of me with my teaching face on.

manifest calls for entry: Burb and the Drawing Annual

2009-11-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

B U R B

An International Competitive Exhibit of Works
Exploring Zones of Living

Postmark Deadline for Entry: December 11, 2009
For more info. visit:
http://www.manifestgallery.org/lists/lt.php?id=bUoCVgRRBFkEGlIDUBoDCwRX

Exhibit dates: January 22 - February 19, 2010

By the end of the twentieth century, suburbia became the place where over
half of all Americans live and work. More than just an American phenomena,
however, cities around the world have birthed an “outer ring” of
domesticity, interconnected by nodes of consumer options and web-like
traffic systems. This formational landscape of backyard BBQs, super-size
shopping boxes, mini-vans, and cul-de-sacs is the terrain upon which many
artists work today (while others respond from an urban distance). Through
various contemporary visual art forms, artists are creating work that
documents, explores, celebrates and criticizes these particular zones of
living.

Manifest invites work in any medium that responds – positively, negatively,
or neutrally – to this modern construct: suburbia.

Postmark Deadline for Entry: December 11, 2009
For more info. visit:
http://www.manifestgallery.org/lists/lt.php?id=bUoCVgRRBFkEGlIDUBoDCwRX

______________________________

INTERNATIONAL DRAWING ANNUAL 5

A Competitive Annual Publication of Works of Contemporary Drawing
and Writing about Drawing

Cash awards totaling $1000

Postmark Deadline for Entry: December 31, 2009
For more info. visit:
http://www.manifestgallery.org/lists/lt.php?id=bUoCVgRRBFkCGlIDUBoDCwRX

Hardcover and perfect bound books available: Fall 2010

The International Drawing Annual is an extension of Manifest's Drawing
Center activities. Its goal is to support the recognition, documentation,
and publication of excellent, current, and relevant works of drawing from
around the world.

A natural question will be "what is drawing?" and that is exactly the
question the Annual is meant to investigate from year to year. Therefore
submissions are expected to vary, including a range of drawing types, from
the most academic to the most experimental, but all with some relevance to
the artists' honest understanding of the practice of "drawing."

With the inclusion of a call for writing about drawing Manifest eagerly
pursues a deeper understanding of how drawing is realized, discussed, and
interpreted in contemporary society. Works of writing will be selected to
complement the artwork chosen for inclusion in the publication.
Participants may submit artwork, writing, or both.

To learn more about the Annual series, artists included, and previous prize
winners, visit:
http://www.manifestgallery.org/lists/lt.php?id=bUoCVgRRBFkDGlIDUBoDCwRX

Postmark Deadline for Entry: December 31, 2009
For more info. visit:
http://www.manifestgallery.org/lists/lt.php?id=bUoCVgRRBFkCGlIDUBoDCwRX

Memphis Botanic Garden Sketches

2009-11-10T17:07:00.000-08:00

a little derainged?

The Creative Jar

2009-11-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

Nashvillager Jodi Reeves, who writes The Creative Jar, featured my playground collection on her blog!

Julie Püttgen Lecture Notes

2009-11-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

So you missed the Julie Püttgen lecture last night, but you're going to her opening at Material tonight and you don't want to feel bewildered? Well, I'm sure these notes will really help.

Here's what I was thinking during the lecture:
1. I'm glad I don't have an umlaut in my name.
2. Cloudmapping! I do that! I totally do that! . . . wait, I used to do that. I should do that again!

3. I wonder if she raises chickens . . . she keeps talking about egg tempera. I guess you probably can't travel as much as she does if you have a coop to clean out every day. I wonder if I would rather have chickens or plane tickets to India?

4. I'm definitely going to the Atlanta aquarium during Thanksgiving and they had better have an alive Whale Shark.

5. Is houseboating a verb?
6. This work is really morbid--one second we're talking dead whales, then pancreatic cancer, then brain cancer, then monsters who are hopelessly longing. Why are there so many hopeless monsters in these paintings?
7. How do you spell tanka? Thangka?
8. What kind of a person drags her husband, five ponies, and four staff members around India for the sake of a few paintings.? Could these paintings have been made without the investment in adventure? Maybe--but then this talk would be so much less interesting. Someone should make a movie about Puttgen's life. How can she have done all of this and still look like she's about 25?
9. When she starts talking about collaboration I can't help but think about the tortured metaphors my husband and I use when we talk about how extroverts and introverts are like vampires and batteries. I wonder if Püttgen is a vampire (extrovert) or battery (introvert). She totally intimidates me, so I'm going to guess she's more of a vampire. Then again, she's explaining the ways that "empty space must contribute to collaboration." That's a pretty introverted thing to say. Later, when I ask, she refers to a New Yorker article about robots and refers to herself as a bossy cow.
10. WOW THIS PARADE MOVIE IS AWESOME I WANT TO HAVE IT PLAYING ON A LOOP IN MY STUDIO ALL THE TIME.
11. This work seems totally unaffected by pop culture.
12. I wonder what's in her "current recipes" folder on her desktop. Food or recipes for performance/installation art? Her artist statement describes recipes for artwork, but maybe it's a folder full of veggie lasagna tips and tricks.
13. She uses the title "They say that gold will last" and inside my head a high-school know-it-all poetry student is screaming ROBERT FROST ROBERT FROST NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY OMG SAY SOMETHING ABOUT ROBERT FROST!
14. I wonder if the nun "Perdita" has as much in common with Sister Corita as with Püttgen. I think I need to buy this book.
15. www.unlessanduntil.info. Who uses .info? That's totally awesome.

OK, now that I've looked over these notes I realize they're totally baffling. You'll be much better off preparing for the show by looking at Püttgen's artist statement.

Puttgen's really one of those "universe in a grain of sand, infinity in an hour" kind of artists. I wonder what universe she's building in Material today?

Front Page News!!!

2009-11-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

Marathon Art Night

2009-11-06T03:30:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking about trying to hit all of the shows I've been invited to tonight.

I'll need to start five minutes ago to get to them all before the last one closes:

Mud Molders United: Jones Hall 4:30pm

ANF Art Show: Concepts of Color 5:25pm

Julie Püttgen: "They Say that Gold Will Last" Material 6:00pm

Don Estes and Anne Siems at David Lusk Gallery 6:00pm

Jeri Ledbetter - Mano a Mano II L Ross 6:00pm

Memphis Matters 8:00pm (There's a huge chance that this is past my bedtime).
Playback Memphis invites you to an evening of stories about life and work in our beloved city. In a Playback performance, audience members tell stories from their lives, then watch as actors and musician bring them to life on the spot without script, score, or rehearsal. Playback creates ample opportunity for laughter, reflection, and dialogue. It’s compelling and entertaining theater—as well as an outstanding tool for community building.
All proceeds go towards bringing the Playback experience to communities in need. We are currently partnering with local non-profits MIFA, Porter Leath, and Victims to Victory.
Two shows ONLY. This Friday, November 6th & Saturday, November 7th at 8pm. General admission $15. Students and Seniors with ID $12. TheatreSouth (1000 South Cooper).
ALSO, SATURDAY NIGHT SHOW 2 @ 8PM
FOR RESERVATIONS AND TICKET INFORMATION
264-0841 / INFO@PLAYBACKMEMPHIS.COM
LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE
RESERVATIONS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED
CASH AND CHECK ONLY
Playback Memphis is generously supported by Arts Memphis and the Tennessee Arts Commission and lots of amazing Memphians.

Happy Holiday, skull-a-day!

2009-10-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

I just found skull-a-day.

First Annual Peace Exhibition at Caritas Village

2009-10-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

memphis connect shared this great opportunity:

Last Reminder: Delta Exhibition

2009-10-23T12:09:00.001-07:00

Delta Exhibition call for entries

52^NDANNUAL DELTA EXHIBITION

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER ONE THE LONGEST RUNNING, JURIED CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITIONS OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY, THEDELTA IS OPEN TO ALL ARTISTS LIVING IN OR BORN IN ARKANSAS, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, OKLAHOMA, TENNESSEE OR TEXAS. FOUNDED IN 1956, THE DELTA WAS CREATED TO SHOWCASE CONTEMPORARY WORKS BY ARTISTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA REGION. TODAY, THE ANNUAL DELTA EXHIBITION HAS GROWN TO ENCOMPASS WORKS IN ALL MEDIA AND REFLECTS THE REGION’S STRONG TRADITIONS OF CRAFTSMANSHIP AND OBSERVATION, COMBINED WITH INNOVATIVE USE OF MATERIALS AND AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO SUBJECT MATTER.

To download an entry form for the 52^nd Annual Delta Exhibition,click here .

The Deadline is November 2.

wooden jewelry

2009-10-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

I spent today in the woodshop whipping up a dozen wooden rings. I spent $19 dollars on wood, then I saw this:

New American Paintings FAQ and deadline

2009-10-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Don't forget:
The postmark deadline for the MFA issue of New American Paintings is October 31.
The postmark deadline for the Southeast regional issue of New American Paintings is December 31.

Q: What is New American Paintings?
A: First published in 1993, New American Paintings is bimonthly juried exhibition in print. Each regionally-focused edition features the work of forty painters. Working with curators from the nation’s top museums, we review the work of more than five thousand artists a year and publish the best we find.

Q: Who reads New American Paintings?
A:New American Paintings’ readership is made up of thousands of collectors, art world professionals, artists and art enthusiasts. We also have an international subscriber base of individuals who are interested in discovering emerging American painters.

Q: Where can I find New American Paintings?
A:New American Paintings can be found on newsstands of fine bookstores and museum shops nationwide (Barnes and Noble and Borders are our largest retailers). You can also purchase subscriptions and single editions from our website.

Q: Who is chosen to be featured in New American Paintings?
A: We have split the United States into six regions (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, West and Pacific Coast). For each of these regions, we conduct one competition a year in which artists residing in that region may submit slides of their work to us for consideration. Working with curators from major museums throughout the United States, we review the entries and select 40 artists for each book.

http://www.newamericanpaintings.com/competitions.html

Jonathan Brilliant

2009-10-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

I just had a nice little chat with Jonathan Brilliant, an artist working in the Jones Hall Gallery this week. Brilliant calls himself "The Goldsworthy of the Coffeeshop" and he sold me a purple t-shirt that glows in the dark. Here's his explanation of the project:

For the Goldsworthy of the coffee shop project I make reference to the role of a British artist who gathers materials in his natural environment and uses them to execute a site-specific installation. In my version the natural environment is the coffee shop, and my materials are the to-go coffee cup and all its accoutrements. The resulting work is both ironic and labor intensive with a traditional craft based sensibility. In this ongoing series of work i continue to explore my sense that the coffee shop and related consumer environs are more organic and nurturing than the "real" natural environment. This ongoing cycle of work is realized through the creation of large site-specific, site-responsive sculptural interventions.

The reception for his installation in Jones Hall is tomorrow at 4:30.

Here's a video (of the real Goldsworthy) to get you in the mood.

A Crab (for Grandmary)

2009-10-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

For some reason all the members of my family always ask me if I can paint blue crabs for their houses--so today I did. Crabs for everyone! Woo!

I'm ordering oversize postcard prints of these from Vistaprint and will put them up on etsy when they come in. The original is going to Grandmary for Christmas.

University of Memphis Department of Art Brown Bag Series Screens Season Five of Art:21 – Art in the Twenty-First Century

2009-10-06T09:22:00.001-07:00

In conjunction with National Arts & Humanities Month, the Department of Art will screen season five of Art:21 – Art in the Twenty-First Century, the only prime time national television series that focuses exclusively on contemporary art. The Brown Bag Lunch screening will be followed by discussions led by University of Memphis faculty, graduate students, and guest artists.

The events are scheduled on September 29, October 8, October 15, and October 22, 2009 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Jones Hall room 214; screenings and discussions are free and open to the public.

Carrie Mae Weems.
Production still © Art21, Inc. 2009

The four new episode of the Peabody Award-winning series spans five continents and focuses on 14 of today’s most accomplished artists, such as Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Carrie Mae Weems, and William Kentridge. The audience will observe the artists as they create works that reflect important and timely global issues, tackle complextopics, ask tough questions, and create works that delight, amaze, and sometimes unsettle audiences worldwide.

About Art21
Over the past ten years, Art21 has established itself as the preeminent chronicler of contemporary art and artists through its Peabody Award-winning biennial television series Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century. It has used the power of digital media to expose millions of people of all ages to contemporary art and artists and has created a new paradigm for teaching and learning about the creative process.

In addition to its PBS series and year-round series-based education and public programs efforts, Art21 has expanded its film production and educational efforts in recent years. Several new initiatives have been launched in the past year, including the premiere of the new short-format documentary series Art21–Exclusive on multiple online platforms and expansion of the Art21 Blog. New programs are in the works, including a feature film as well as Art21 Educators, an ongoing professional development program for teachers.

University of Memphis Screening Schedule

Fantasy
September 29, 2009 
This episode presents four artists whose works or personal stories transport viewers to imaginary worlds and altered states of consciousness. With works that seem at times hallucinatory, irreverent, and sublime, each of these artists pursue a vision first held in the mind’s eye. The episode’s featured artists are: Jeff Koons, Mary Heilmann, Florian Maier-Aichen, and Cao Fei.
Discussion led by: Beth Edwards, Chase Malone, Greely Myatt, and Raleigh Rodgers   

Systems  
October 8, 2009
 Artists invent new processes to convey the attitudes of today’s supercharged, information-based society, examining why we find comfort in some systems while rebelling against others. Systems features artists who realize complex projects through acts of appropriation or accumulation. In some instances, they create projects vast in scope, which almost elude comprehension. The episode’s featured artists are: Julie Mehretu, John Baldessari, Kimsooja, and Allan McCollum. Discussion led by: Jonathan Brilliant, Jennifer Hornby, Jed Jackson, and Cedar Nordbye 

Compassion
October 15, 2009 
This episode features artists whose works explore the possibility of understanding and reconciling past and present, while exposing injustice and expressing tolerance for others. The episode’s featured artists are: William Kentridge, Carrie Mae Weems, and Doris Salcedo.
Discussion led by: Chantal Drake, Earnestine Jenkins, Richard Lou, and Wanda Rushing    

Transformation
October 22, 2009 
Whether observing and satirizing society or reinventing icons of literature, art history, and popular culture, the artists featured in Transformation capture sensibilities of our age while at times inhabiting the characters the have created. The episode’s featured artists are: Yinka Shonibare MBE, Cindy Sherman, Paul McCarthy.
Discussion led by: Sarah Boyce, Michael Darough, Leslie Luebbers, Todd Richardson

The Gist: Notes on Patrick DeGuira

2009-10-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

So I went to the lecture at Rhodes for Patrick DeGuira (who is showing at the Medicine Factory this weekend) and took a billion pages of notes. Mostly because I hate trees and love little miniature green sharpie markers. I have scanner fatigue so I decided to just share the most important page with you tonight:

Watercolor on surfboard

2009-10-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Kevin Schmidt,

Watercolor on surfboards is pretty much the best, worst, most beautiful idea ever.

Ever.

Sincerely,

A blogger from Memphis who cannot surf, but used to boogie, skim, and bodyboard like a pro.

P.S. I think these boards would make a great gift. You know?

P.P.S. How do you prepare a surf board so that the watercolor can be absorbed? Very mysterious.

PPPS. Are you related to George and Jacqueline?

Oct 2--Broad Avenue Art Walk

2009-09-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

Cancer Stinks--The Art of Mary Lundberg

2009-09-28T17:12:00.001-07:00

Please take a moment to consider the work of my friend Mary Lundberg.

Mary got her MFA from the University of Memphis and was a great friend to have while she was here. We used to walk our dogs together at Shelby Farms every weekend.

After she left Memphis, Mary's art got political:

Project fifty-two is a series Mary has been working on about pets euthanized at the animal shelter. While living in East TN, she began working with a local animal shelter and in doing so had her eyes opened to the large number of highly adoptable pets that were being put down. She decided to make work about the animals she met who died - to commemorate their lives and to make a statement about the situation. The project has been a difficult one and is far from being completed at this point. From the start of the project, she created a blog to document her progress it can be seen here .

Now Mary is using her training as an artist to deal with another even more difficult issue, her recent experience with breast cancer. Here's what she has to say about the experience:

So as I go through treatment for breast cancer I make art. I am currently working on several drawings and will be doing my first performance piece. I will update this page as things happen... I intend to show the body of work after I finish treatment. It is important to me to make work about my experience as I go through it and not just when I am well and reflect on my experience. I am working on the perspective I have on things now - there will be many years for me to look back and create art using a different perspective. Currently there are many things in the works as far as my art.... As I am struggling with the chemo treatments I am putting most of my other work on hold. I really do hate cancer.

If you'd like to take a moment to support Mary and her work, she has work available for purchase through etsy.com.

Etsy Treasury picks--Softer Silhouettes

2009-09-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

I just curated a new silhouette treasury on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=84174

Sanitzed Figures

2009-09-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've been hosting open figure drawing sessions with model Joshua at the University of Memphis for the past two weeks, and I'm doing it for the next two weeks too. I mostly look at figure drawing as a form of practice--I've never really made this type of drawing central to my work, but I think it's really challenging and it helps me practice some skills (like patience) that I don't practice when I'm kicking ideas around in my sketchbook.

I've decided to revisit some of my figure drawings with a few of my sketchbook tools to see what happens. Right now I'm using watercolor pigments and hand sanitizer and getting some really crazy results:

I like the idea of approaching figure drawing with sanitizing alcohol as a medium. Not only does the sanitizer do some crazy things with the way the color can be layered, but it has a metaphorical resonance.

Now, if I could learn to make music by coughing into my elbow . . .

Screech Owl Designs

2009-09-25T07:47:00.001-07:00

This morning I got a short message from Cedar Lorca Nordbye pointing me to my new favorite artist in the whole wide universe. George Schmidt.

I could spend all day flipping through these images, and mostly because a little narcissistic part of me thinks they're all about my life. I've spent enough of my studio time making paintings of my grandparents' beach house to recognize the perfect specificity of Schmidts' palette. I could make a meal out of the way the salmon stripes butt up against those gorgeous dusty blues. I can taste the salt in those well-considered whites.

Of course once I looked at all of those gorgeous paintings, I wanted to jump in the car and drive south until I hit the Gulf. Since that's not happening today, I decided I would settle for learning more about Schmidt and his work. It turns out that there's more than one painter named George Schmidt--which is intriguing because it means it takes more than two seconds to sort through the search. I found the George I was looking for through a post on a blog called Little Paper Planes. It turns out that Schmidt, along with Mrs. Schmidt, MAKE POSTCARDS!!!!! Deltiology in action!

(swoon!)

I can have 12(!!!!!) postcards with these fabulous colors and beachhouse images for only 15 dollars!!!!! Or I could get an image of a kitchen full of pheasants! Or a bear and his teddy bear!!! All the images are funny and sweet and I think I'm going to swoon again! Oh my!

Oh what, you've already seen this work like a kojillion times on Dwell and Design Sponge? Why didn't you show it to me?! You were probably too busy swooning, I guess.

Here's what their website has to say about the duo:

Jacqueline and George Schmidt, a husband and wife team, founded Screech Owl Design in 2008 in order to combine their interest in illustration, graphic design, and fine art. Their love of traditional craftsmanship is apparent in the rustic design of the cards, which Jacqueline draws by hand. Both Jacqueline and George have exhibited their artwork in galleries in New York City, Chicago, Michigan, Mexico, and in Amsterdam. They reside with their two cats Mister and Pinky near the East River in Brooklyn, New York.

Lecture tonight: Christian Kuras and Duncan MacKenzie

2009-09-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

Material is excited to announce its forty-eighth exhibition: Christian Kuras and Duncan MacKenzie: "Drawings, Graphics and Some Well Laid Plans."

Duncan MacKenzie will be presenting a lecture on his work in Blount Auditorium at Buckman Hall at Rhodes College on Thursday, September 24th at 7 pm.

The exhibition will run for one night only on Friday, September 25, 2009 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

**Please note: the exhibition is at Material and the lecture is at Rhodes.**

Christian Kuras and Duncan MacKenzie have been collaborating on art projects since 2003. Kuras is based in London UK while MacKenzie lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Their practice involves working in diverse media to produce objects, installations and images. For the duo, the work of art is an opportunity to reflect upon aspects of the human experience, upon the lives they live next-to and through each other. They are drawn to reflect on the confusions and conflicts inherent in our everyday engagements. After all, even friendship and our most basic family relationships have their mechanisms and machines.

Duncan MacKenzie is a multi-platform Artist, Critic, founding member and Producer of Bad at Sports Podcast. Bad At Sports is a Chicago-based, weekly podcast and blog about contemporary art. Founded in 2005, the interview series focuses on presenting the practices of artists, curators, critics, dealers and various other arts professionals through an online audio format. Some of his interviewees have included Rodney Graham, Kerry James Marshall, Francesco Bonami, David Robbins, Carol Becker, James Rondeau, Jeff Wall, Hamza Walker, Lane Relyea, James Yood, Michelle Grabner, Gavin Turk, Mary Jane Jacob and Dominic Molon. Duncan has also worked as a correspondent for the Boston-based art journal Big, Red and Shiny, the Los Angeles Critical Studies journal Octopus and Chicago magazines Lumpen, New City, Proximity, Con)Temporary Art Guide:Chicago and Time Out .

As an Artist, Duncan has had exhibited in Canada, Australia, The United States of America, New Zealand, Estonia and England. He has given lectures and participated in panel discussions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College, The University of Illinois Chicago, DePaul, The University of Calgary, The University of Western Sydney, Chicago Public Radio's Third Coast Festival, The Pond Gallery Chicago, Three Walls Gallery Chicago, Articule Gallery Montreal, Gallery 400 Chicago, and The University of Calgary. He has
been written about in Flash Art, Time Out Chicago, New City, the Chicago Reader, F News, Coterie Magazine, Iconoduel.org, Chicagoist.com, Regulator Magazine, The Chicago Reader, absoluteart.com, FFWD Magazine, The Calgary Herald, The Calgary Straight, Where Magazine, and several catalogs published in Canada, Australia, and the United States of America.

For additional information and images please visit their website http://bathosphere.org/kurasmackenzie/ and their documentation of their residency at BANFF http://www.theculturalarchive.com

Material is located at 2553 Broad Avenue. Parking is available on both the north and south sides of Broad Avenue.

About Material: Founded by Hamlett Dobbins and Julie Meiman in late 2004, Material is a 19’ x 16’ exhibition space set in the storefront on Broad Avenue in the Binghamton neighborhood of Memphis. Taking the name from Montessori learning tools, Material was built to provide emerging and established artists with an intimate, clean space in which to share their work with Memphis’ growing arts community. The programming consists of monthly shows as well as artists’ lectures in connection with local colleges and universities. Material has served as a space for young artists to have their first shows, as well as a place for established local and regional artists to test new ideas in a public forum. In addition to serving local artists, Material has hosted artists from Birmingham to Tokyo.

Delta Exhibition call for entries

2009-09-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

52^ndAnnual Delta Exhibition

Don't forget to enter one the longest running, juried contemporary art exhibitions outside New York City, the Delta is open to all artists living in or born in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee or Texas. Founded in 1956, the Delta was created to showcase contemporary works by artists of the Mississippi Delta region. Today, the Annual Delta Exhibition has grown to encompass works in all media and reflects the region’s strong traditions of craftsmanship and observation, combined with innovative use of materials and an experimental approach to subject matter.

To download an entry form for the 52^nd Annual Delta Exhibition, click here.

The Deadline is November 2.

lauren coulson and jason miller: sure to be mindblowing

2009-09-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Clare

2009-09-21T12:52:00.001-07:00

she's a rockstar

etsy treasuries

2009-09-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Curating etsy treasuries is addictively easy--once you get over the idea of having to catch the perfect moment for a spot on the list to open up, usually after midnight for me. The poster sketch tool allows me to curate the treasury before that after-bedtime window of opportunity opens up. Using the poster sketch tool, I have been piecing together selections of silhouette-based work all weekend. The poster sketch tool allows me to lay out the twelve items for the treasury and to add four alternate items that I can rotate into the treasury when other items sell. After being able to publish my first treasury at midnight last night, I started working on a second version of "soft silhouettes" to follow the "sharp silhouettes." Here's my layout so far:

Etsy Treasury picks--Silhouettes

2009-09-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Check out the etsy treasury I curated! It's my first stab at curating and I decided to start with silhouettes. http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=82909

Epistle from Dwayne

2009-09-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

Greelypalooza continues Friday night at the P and H. His work “Talkin” Round” will be featured and is reproduced in the great catalogue that is available.
The show will take place at the P and H Center for the Arts located:

P and H Cafe
1532 Madison Ave
Memphis, TN 38104

Opening Friday, September 18, 2009 8-10PM
We will also be raffling off another Greely Myatt piece as a fundraiser for Number: Inc., an independent arts journal. Each ticket costs $10.00 and there is no limit to the number of tickets you can purchase. The raffle will be at 9:00PM sharp so be sure to get there early to get your tickets. You will also have the chance to win work by Tad Lauritzen Wright, Dwayne Butcher, and others. We will also have other prizes available.

I hope to see everyone at the P and H Friday night to support Greely Myatt and Number: Inc.,

Best,

Dwayne Butcher
901.628.8438

Figure Drawing Open Session at the University of Memphis

2009-09-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Figure Drawing Open Sessions at the University of Memphis start this week in the basement of Jones Hall. I started a facebook group last year to share information about the sessions--like who the models are, where we're setting up, etc and I was googling around to find some great contemporary images to use on fliers when I came upon this nice little slideshow from 2003 published at Slate.com.

What has changed in figure drawing since 2003? Maybe that's a conversation we can have during our drawing session.

Unzipping "and exactly" Greely Myatt

2009-09-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Links:

Greely's Artmemphis.net profile

Fred Koeppel's take on Greelypalooza

Everyone who has ever made art in Memphis has a Greely story to tell. Before I moved here from Tuscaloosa, one of my favorite profs, Brian Bishop, told me about the great discussions that he's had with Greely. I thought it was nice that the two of them got along so well, but didn't realize at the time that almost everyone who sits down to talk about art with Myatt--in a museum, in his office, in his studio, or in the P&H--comes out with a new, unforgettable perspective on art as a verb.

I remember the first piece I saw of Greely's. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of that whirling wooden bird way up in the ceiling of the Brooks Museum rotunda the summer that I moved to Memphis, in 2005. The bird was part of a complicated installation that was being taken down, but I didn't know that--I just thought it was a funny and unexpected treat.

When I mentioned to Greely that I had seen the piece, he sat down with me in the middle of the whirlwind of a crazy college day and took some time to show me some slides. I didn't take any of Greely's sculpture classes--and yet I learned that day that Greely is a person who is willing to take time out of an amazingly busy schedule to spend an hour or so flipping through images and talking about some of the projects he had recently completed and how they related to art history and to our shared experiences living in the South. For an artist I guess nothing is more valuable than time you could spend in the studio finding a way to make all of the crazy things that pop into your head. Greely is generous and not only finds a way to make things, but also to make other people feel like they're worth his time.

Greely's generosity gives him some amazing karmic superpowers. Not only does he laughingly claim to tell lies during every lecture and to have blatently stolen all of his best ideas, but through his work he's managed to take ownership of otherwise mundane aspects of visual culture. Lightbulbs and thought bubbles, zippers and quilts--any artist in Memphis who wants to appropriate one of these symbols finds out quickly that they must be wrestled out of Greely's unique vernacular--just as he is constantly wrestling with legends like Phillip Guston.

During the summer of 2006 I was working for a few weekends as an intern at David Lusk Gallery when Greely's show "Lapses to Kill" was up. That opening was one of top ten all time best nights of my life. I got to wear a special corsage (a tiny, orange, plastic citrus fruit) that matched a boutonniere on a sculpture of a man and woman who, instead of holding hands, were attached by the crowns of their heads. Even though I normally feel ridiculously shy and awkward at art openings, I loved each of the sculptures so much that I felt like a different person talking with strangers about mitotes and comic abstraction. Every detail of the artwork seemed perfectly considered, down to the drawing of a four-leaf-clover made by the electric cords that burst from the incandescent bulbs over our head. To top it off, at the end of the night, my name was attached to my first red dot in a real gallery.

It felt like a rite of passage. A month later I took home one of the speech bubbles from the show, one that combined the green grid of a cutting board with drips of paint that Greely later told me were remainders of one of Larry Edwards' work surfaces. I hung it in a place where you would see it as soon as I opened the front door. I wished for higher ceilings and better lighting and a more perfect wall.

The speech bubble prompted a discussion in my house, of course. Why exactly did we get it? What exactly does it mean? About ten months after that there were other discussions to be had as I sat under that speech bubble holding my newborn daughter. I rocked her to sleep in its shadow.

I never worked as a Greely disciple--there's not a lot a painter of little watercolors can do with little tiny paintbrushes to assist a man who physically alters the architecture of our city through the use of pieced steel quilts and whose sketches look brilliant as billboards. I did get to help him dust off a few sculptures at AMUM last week and take measurements of a few pieces, but really that's nothing compared to the contributions my heroes, friends, and colleagues have made to this extravaganza.

~~and exactly~~, an exhibition in ten venues, proves that there are hundreds of people all over Memphis--and all over the world, who want to celebrate the spectacle of Greelypalooza. For everyone who's worked tirelessly to coordinate these events, there are many more who are glad just to be one of those rescued and reused bulbs, dusted off and bundled up with the bright lights overhead.

Thanks for the palooza, Greely.

Vikings and Conquistadors

2009-09-10T11:55:00.001-07:00

These are three of the drawings I've been working on that are inspired by the Tony Horwitz book A Voyage Long and Strange.

When Horwitz describes his writing he says "When I write about history I like to weave the past and present together." I feel exactly the same way about painting--you can see that in the way these Vikings and Conquistadors are interwoven with the semiotic style of contemporary protestors.

You can imagine how excited I was when I heard that Horwitz's book is being featured in a community reading program at the Gwinnett County Public Library, where one of my good friends, the Amazing Danny Hanbery (Hi Danny!), has been doing all of the things that heroic librarians do, which includes talking to people who make displays for the Gwinnett Reads program. I would very much like for these drawings (or paintings or watercolors or illustrations or whatever you prefer) to be included in the display. Danny and I sent a few quick messages to each other and now the idea is in the hands of the wonderful Sue Calbreath* (Hi Sue!).

The program kicks off on Tuesday September 29 with a panel discussion with a group of professors from Georgia Gwinnet College and there are several other events planned for Gwinnet readers. The grand finale is a reception with Horwitz on the 18th of October at the Red Clay Theater and Arts Center in Duluth, Georgia. Tickets are $10.00 in advance and $12.00 at the door.

*Sue probably would like to know that the drawings are on Arches watercolor paper mounted on sturdy mdf supports and are about 10 inches tall and 12 wide. The wood of the supports has neatly pre-drilled holes in the back which means that the drawings can hang easily on small nail or even a thumbtack, appearing to float off of the wall.

sketchbook bento

2009-09-10T07:10:00.001-07:00

There was a great article in the NYTimes recently talking about the Bento trend of tiny packed lunches that are replacing brown bags in schoolrooms across the country. I've been using the idea of bento in my Foundations of Studio Art classes for a while now, but my food-free method was developed to foster a different set of healthy habits. The point of a Sketchbook Bento is to encourage people to try new things in their sketchbook every single day.

Many art students drag giant tackle boxes full of charcoal, pencils, and erasers all over campus every day--but I've found that you can pack more useful materials into a smaller space if you replace the tackle box with a tiny lunch box and are considerate and creative about what you pack. Students using Sketchbook Bentos filled with non-traditional materials are often more willing to share those materials and the results of their experiments with other members of their class.

SKETCHBOOK BENTO

What is a Bento?

While the Japanese term "bento" roughly translates to "box lunch" in English, this is not your average packed lunch. Designed to be easily portable, the goal with bento is to assemble a meal that is just as appealing to the eyes as it is to the taste buds. It's not uncommon for Japanese mothers to prepare an elaborate, playfully and creatively decorated boxed lunch to entice their children to eat all of their food when they're at school. These lunches may also contain cleverly repackaged leftovers.

What is a Sketchbook?

Designed to be easily portable, a sketchbook is a book or pad with plain pages used by an artist to collect observations, to explore an internal monologue, and to pursue inventive ideas. The goal of a sketchbooker is to assemble a collection of ideas that is just as appealing to the eyes as it is to the brain. Your sketchbook can track the progression of an idea over time and can stand as a testament to your brainstorming efforts.

What is a Sketchbook Bento?

Although it is quite uncommon for University of Memphis Fine Arts instructors to play the role of Japanese mother for their students, these Sketchbook Bento have been packed using the same philosophy that these housewives use to nurture their healthy sons and daughters. As an art educator, I have prepared elaborate and playful containers full of sketchbook supplies to entice Foundations students to use all of their sketchbook pages while they’re at school.

The Sketchbook Bento each contain a different set of supplies. Some of the supplies are traditional sketchbook fodder (paints and brushes, pencils, crayons, stencils and printmaking supplies). Some of the supplies are familiar to most arts and crafts aficionados, but are not often used in a sketchbook (swatches of fabric, needles and thread, sequins, ribbon, yarn). Some of the supplies are more familiar to engineers rather than artists (circuit boards, wire, watch and radio parts). Some materials may be more along the lines of what a naturalist would consider interesting (plant matter, soil and mineral samples). And finally, somewhere in each bento students will find pages torn from Art Forum, Art Papers, or other fine art periodicals.

Students are encouraged to use all of these materials in their sketchbook in some way or another over the course of the semester and to constantly restock their boxes over the course of the semester with the materials that are relevant to their current interests and ideas. At the end of the semester, students are expected to restock their Bentos for the next group of students and present the boxes along with their sketchbooks for their final sketchbook grade.

The following “eating utensils” will need to be provided by each student for each Bento: Scissors, Exacto Knives with fresh blades, adhesives such as tape or glue, and a camera to document “sketches” that are temporary or three-dimensional in nature.

inspiration

2009-09-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

I was googling living history images for a series of drawings I'm working on about conquistadors and vikings, and somehow came across this remix of the movie Hook.

why?

2009-09-01T18:53:00.001-07:00

Trolley Night: August 2009

2009-09-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the night of the firebreathing goldfish in Memphis, with great group exhibits (many featuring little swimming fellows) all over the map.

I managed to make it (in four inch heels--silly me) to several of the shows and took some photos of the night I'd like to share.

First I stopped by Hamlett Dobbins' exhibition space Material, where a show I had been eagerly anticipating was up and open. Your Epidermis is Showing featured several great sculptures and one HILARIOUS figure drawing/fishbowl combo that I will never forget:

After I left Material, I proceeded to drive in increasingly disoriented loops towards downtown Memphis until I finally found my way to Marshall Arts. You would think after the four-billionth time I've tried to make this gallery-leap I would remember to at least pack the GPS, but getting lost between galleries on Friday nights has become a way for me to get a few moments to reflect on what I've seen at one place before I hit another. Someday I'll have to post a drawing of my "lost between Broad and Marshall" map--the most complex drawing I hope to ever make.

It looks a lot like this projection piece by Jennifer Barnett Hensel.

At Marshall Arts there was a great all-girl group exhibit called HEX, curated by two super-talented ladies and featuring works by six more: Hensel, Clare Torina, Anna Kordsmeier, Adair Snow, Raleigh Rodger, and Whitney Schuylar Hubbard. The moment that I walked into Marshall Arts, I was lucky enough to be the only person taking in Hensel's gorgeous shadow-play called "Centered." I always love these projections by Hensel--the shadows cast by mylar and wire make loopy-doodles around the silhouettes of anyone who walks past, reminding me on some nights of viewing the world through champaign bubbles and on others of looking up into the moonlight, Ophelia-like from the bottom of a deep, cool pool. More than anything tonight, I reflected on that lost in-between time, traveling from one amazing space to another.

Coming up for air as I rounded the wall with the projections, I was met with a cooly chaotic arrangement of photos framed in glass punctuated by Kordsmeier's acrylic and plexiglass sculptures.

The photos by Snow, Hubbard, and Rodger had titles like "Unearthly" (Rodger), "Martian" (Snow) and "The Stranger" (Snow) and "Ophelia" (Hubbard). The titles accentuated the poetic distance that photographers used to transform ordinary places into fantasy worlds. Here's a pic of Raleigh next to a photo of a lady removing a goldfish from his bowl. Take from that what you will.

Amid all of these magical photographs, Clare Torina's* amazing paintings stood out. While her three ink drawings on velvet paper are relatively unassuming, the 72"x54" Conversion of St. Paul's Horse is an epic work that deserves deeper and more scholarly analysis than an "aw-shucks y'all" blog like this can handle. Indeed, this piece is so grand in scale and concept that an even bigger and more shockingly transcendent version is being installed in the Jones Hall Gallery at the University of Memphis Campus as we speak. It freaks me out that a seven foot tall painting of a god-struck horse is really just a study for Torina. Someone needs to get her a spare chapel in Vatican City and a cranky pope or two to yank her chain, forget grad school. I was so gobsmacked by this painting that I forgot to take a picture. (doh!)

I did remember to take a picture of the random fire-dancer in the drum circle on the trolley line when I finally left Marshall Arts and hit the arts district on South Main St. See:

The fire-dancing was pretty amazing, but I can honestly say that I spent more time staring at Clare's horse. A few stops past the drummers and fire I got to The Rozelle Artist's Guild's sketchbook show. I love sketchbooks. I was in this show. It was REALLY crowded.

I love sketchbook shows AND I was in this show AND it didn't cost me a dime. Thanks Rozelle Artist Guild. You Rock.

After all of that, would you believe that I rode the trolley to a bunch of other shows on South Main looking for a goldfish sale? I never found it, or the four artists who built a show around the idea. I did get really big blisters as a reward for choosing stupid girly heels with butterflies on them to tramp around town in, but other than those disappointments, I'd say it was a pretty great trolley night.

TONIGHT--seriously this time

2009-08-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Material is excited to announce its forty-seventh exhibition: Amanda McKnight and Rebekah Laurenzi: Your Epidermis Is Showing.

The exhibition will run for one night only on Friday, August 28, 2009 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Valhalla Y'all

2009-08-25T16:37:00.001-07:00

I think I've found a fun subject for the next few months.

I just finished reading Tony Horwitz's A Voyage Long and Strange, a book about pre-Mayflower America and I got excited about all of the different voices that are included in the story.

So now I think I'll make a painting or thirty about conquistadors and vikings and I think I'll replace their halberds and, uh, "viking-whackers" with protest signs. Like this:

And, value-added, if you see these pictures on facebook they'll have extra tagging baggage!

Back to School

2009-08-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

I'm teaching two studio art classes at the University of Memphis this semester and I'm having a great time pouring over old syllabi and looking over some of the project ideas I've come across in the past couple of years. I L O V E* teaching these classes because I get introduced to the newest of new ideas and the most surprising surprises every time we have a critique. Only in Foundations classes am I introduced to disposable camera tasers, spray-tanned inflatable girlfriends, professional drum kits made of professional kitchen supplies, ten-foot tall ping-pong paddles, and any number of surreal photoshop montages.

I'm introducing a new tool to my arsenal this semester--a (hand-me-down) iPod touch. My original plan was to use it just to take attendance, but then I found this great article: 30 Best iPhone Apps for Art Teachers! I'm especially curious about the Life Strips application because the Memphis Reads book this year is a graphic novel, Persepolis.

I'm also planning on bringing in some lo-fi Wallace Stevens jars. To place. In Tennessee.

*did you know that in German, instead of using bold, italics or underlining for emphasis, a space is added between the letters of important words. That means that the word love up there is emphasized in English and G e r m a n and (if you click the hyperlink) Digital-Nativish?

Surf

2009-08-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Surf photography meets Sally Mann--these beautiful photos are worth a second look.

Bok Bok

2009-08-18T19:51:00.001-07:00

tiny houses

2009-08-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

By taking the time to do those little etsy drawings in my sketchbook, I uncovered a new favorite artist! When I started drawing Amy Wilson's tiny felt houses, I kept thinking about "how they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same."

Amy Wilson, who teaches (a class on kitsch among other things) at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, wrote a great post about the success of her little houses project. The project seems simple. Wilson writes: "they’re little houses made out of felt and cotton; each one fits easily in the palm of your hand. The roofs come off and they can be used to store little things like paperclips or safetypins."

It turns out that Wilson's "real" work, documented on

her website and through flickr , includes everything from watercolor sketches out of Second Life to these beautiful, critical, hand-embroidered works that I want to wrap myself in--to touch and discuss and read and revisit. Wilson makes places; from little felt or paper houses to virtual worlds these places are intimate and rich. She has been compared to Henry Darger or Grandma Moses, but part of the work that most appeals to me is the self-conscious "insider" critique found in elements of the text.

Can you read what that says? "There was, I think, a question of sincerity, education, or maybe commitment on the part of the artist -- a sense that there are some objects that remain suspect."

Take some time to get to know this work.

Here are some places to start.

Installation at Hunterdon Art Museum

NYTimes Review: Meet Grandma Moses with an Attitude

NYTimes Review: Working Words Into Images, Artists Become Storytellers

issu

2009-08-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

I just came across an online publication called CREO that has some really interesting ideas for a niche market: not just artists, but specifically art students. CREO is a quarterly, online magazine that explores the collision of art and culture from the student perspective. They are "dedicated to empowering burgeoning artists to interpret their world, cultivate discussions, and inspire others while sharing their art and writing."

CREO is published online through a service called issu. Mashable has a decent write-up of the service here, and this video does a good job of describing the service too.

I can imagine that this would be a fantastic way for artists to provide context for their portfolios by making online catalogs and portfolios available to anyone, simply and easily. CREO has done it--so can you!

The Front Page of Etsy

2009-08-15T21:04:00.001-07:00

I made some drawings tonight of all of the featured items on the front page of etsy.com.

I have a store on etsy and I windowshop there every night, but I can't really buy all of the funny and beautiful things I see there. Where would I keep all of my apple jackets and hand-knit beards?

xlessthan3

wifeofbrian

rochelle's little ones

Making little drawings and tucking them into my sketchbook is much more feasible.

All drawings done with walnut drawing ink in a Strathmore 3.5x5" notebook filled with premium recycled paper.

Premium, man.

Gideon Rubin

2009-08-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

The NYTimes "The Moment" blog features a studio visit with Gideon Rubin--I've never heard of Rubin before, but this work, faceless portraits painted from old photo albums, looks a lot like some paintings I did a year or two ago before I had my daughter. It's interesting to hear about how his experience of having a one-year-old seems to have affected his studio practice.

On his website, Rubin has posted some small gouache on cardboard portraits that are less specifically bound to particular "albums"--like this one of Obama, 8cmx7cm. The "throwaway" cardboard paintings intrigue me. They remind me of one of my favorite paintings from the permanent collection at the Dixon Gallery, a tiny Pissarro landscape done on the top of a cigar box.

We practice where we can.

Memphis Friday

2009-08-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

OK, so here's three things to add to your to-do list today:

First, don't forget to go to Material tonight: (DOH--I mean in a couple of weeks!)

Material is excited to announce its forty-seventh exhibition: Amanda McKnight and Rebekah Laurenzi: Your Epidermis Is Showing.

The exhibition will run for one night only on Friday, August 28, 2009 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Your Epidermis Is Showing is an exhibition of new work by Amanda McKnight and Rebekah Laurenzi that plays with the conventional roles of “insides” and “outsides.” Through sculptural installation, McKnight simultaneously conceals and reveals, exploring ideas of identity and perception. Laurenzi’s sculptures present cross-section views of everyday objects, exposing surprising internal patterns.

Both Amanda McKnight and Rebekah Laurenzi live, work and teach in Memphis, Tennessee. Your Epidermis Is Showing is the first of two collaborations for the artists. On September 3rd they will be showing work in One Night Stand in Oxford, Mississippi. For more information visit: www.amandamcknight.blogspot.com and www.rebekahlaurenzi.com.

Material is located at 2553 Broad Avenue. Parking is available on both the north and south sides of Broad Avenue.

Second:
I'm pretty sure there's an opening tonight at the P&H. Jason Cole.

Third thing:
If you are interested in learning about hidden art gems, mural making, and having a good time meeting new people, all while making Memphis a great place to live by making murals, consider joining the new Paint the Town group! First target: ugly underpasses. Dues of $40/year go to paying for paint and parties. For more information, send an email to info@urbanartcommission.org. If you don't feel like paying dues, at least become a fan on facebook.

Etsy picks for August 2009

2009-08-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is what I love on etsy today:

Etsy
Buy Handmade
chandlerpritchett

dad and me

2009-08-13T17:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a drawing of me with my Dad. Roll Tide!

snuggie

2009-08-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Check out the cut paper collages by Micheal Velliquette. Velliquette is from Madison, Wisconsin. This one's called Snuggie and has furry teeth.

Here's the gallery description of his latest show.

Abundant Creatures

DCKT Contemporary is pleased to present MICHAEL VELLIQUETTE’s second New York solo exhibition.VELLIQUETTE hand cuts and glues paper cardstock into complex dimensional assemblages reminiscent of the interiors of large-scale pop-up books or mosaics in high relief. In his current body of work Velliquette returns once again to garden and jungle settings where humorous and visually dense paper tableaux are populated with animistic spirits, beasts, goons and gods.

GOONS! That is SUCH a GREAT WORD!

Festive Deltiology

2009-08-12T16:24:00.001-07:00

Deltiology can be fun thanks to design sponge. Hooray for postcards!

roosters

2009-08-10T14:37:00.001-07:00

Here's the mess I'm making of that rooster sketch--I always feel a little uncertain when pieces are half-baked. This has a long way to go, but I'm interested in seeing what changes between unfinished and finished work. I'm trying to analyze ways I lay down color, mostly, but also trying to recognize Gee Whiz moments from which other pieces are can be born.

Art Papers take on It Is What It Is

2009-08-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I wrote this post about Jeremy Deller's art project "It is What it is: Conversations about Iraq." The project consists of a trailer-full of "conversation partners." who were there to facilitate conversations about Iraq and the car-bomb they were toting around as a centerpiece.

Vesna Krstich wrote a great essay about the piece for the July/August issue of Art Papers. Krstich writes that "the project aims to fill the alleged 'information gap' between the American public, its grasp of the Iraq War, and the understanding of the customs and traditions of Iraqi citizens." Krstich then goes on to describe installations that include cozy cushioned chairs and hand-stitched banners in which people were "a little too intrigued by the aesthetic properties of the car: the rusted patina and the sculptural nature of the twisted metal."

It sounds to me like the project that Krstich saw was almost on a different planet from the one that I saw--a few gruff men with a folding table and little tent next to a trailer in a parking lot, and makes me wonder if there isn't a great deal of truth to the idea that the most complex and interesting conversations did in fact happen in the parking lot of First Congo as unsuspecting bike-riding dudes paused to find out what this scene was all about. How would the Memphis experience of this project have been different if it had been hosted at a venerable institution like the Brooks or the Dixon? What if the conversation shared on YouTube had been with one of the professorial types who were also in the mix or with the children they met at the Civil Rights Museum or with the sophisticates at the dinner party later that night?

I love the questions that are asked in this article: "How does one document or judge these types of collaborative, research-based or dialogical practices? How do we assess them if we did not participate in the discussions? . . . How will this conversations be framed once they are exhibited in another format? What of the other, off-camera conversations?"

I love the idea that this work is described as "research-based." Of course this is research, but to what end? I look forward to seeing the results.

I love photography!

2009-08-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

My career as a photographer has been pretty short-lived. I worked as a Zap Girl for a while and I shoot a lot for fun and for research, but most of my experience with photography has been as a collector. I'm happy to have works by Yijun "Pixy" Liao, Raleigh Rodger, and Erin Tyner in my collection.

In the meantime, I wish I could add some of these great photographers to my walls:

Memphis Rockstars--

Lea Alexander
Amie Vanderford
Ian Lemmonds
Justin Fox Burks

Study Abroad--
Olli Kartunnen
Christian Chaize
Joseph O Holmes

and while we're making wishes
Sally Mann
Hiroshi Sugimoto

Did you know that if you tweet the phrase "favorite photographer" you get followed by a robot? Yikes.

Shots from today at DLG, Spruce and LRoss

2009-08-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

IF you're in Memphis and you want to see a lot of awesome artwork RIGHT NOW, go here:
View Larger Map

Blogger/photographer Melissa Sweazy at Spruce. Check her out at http://bebedreamblog.blogspot.com/More Sweazy. The card from this show has been sitting on my desk all week. It's a lovely local wearing a couture outfit made entirely of plastic grocery bags. That beautiful bag monster is more lovely than any Azalea Trail Maid--if Sweazy can make trash bags look that good, I need her to take some pics of me in my fancy togs.
Kerri Dugan at Spruce. They also have great home accessories and perfect little pretty gifts.
Clare Torina at l. ross. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these.
Bobby Spillman at l. ross with towers of cake!

Lea Alexander, perfectly placed at l. ross above the front desk. these landscapes/bedsheets are AMAZING. They make me want to go to bed early and sleep late and build tents under my covers. So serene . . . oooh, aaah.

After that, you're going to want to head down the street to David Lusk Gallery:

View Larger Map

Hamlett Dobbins makes me wish I had the winning $750 lottery ticket so I could have this hot pink painting--it's a total steal. Maybe I'll dig through my couch cushions looking for change, because something that wickedly pink deserves a permanent place in my life. I'm sure someone else will beat me to it . . . (Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery)

Tad Lauritzen Wright's silly girls on graph paper with beers and bunny ears made me laugh out loud. (Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery).

Beth Edwards' elegant flowers steal the show. They took my breath away and made me want to feel those silky tissue thin petals. Amazing textures and light and color pull you right into the heart of the blossoms, into the company of a tiny little bee. Metaphors whisper, the images sing. (Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery).

Take time to see this stuff in person. My photos are really quick and casual; the depth and variety of what's up in town until the end of August deserves a thorough look!

Jeff Koons

2009-08-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at a lot of Jeff Koons lately.

I've also been looking at musical balloons, mardi gras loot, and fireworks packages.

I'll show you some next week:)

sketch for three roosters

2009-08-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is what I'm working on right this second.

The Blind Leading

2009-08-05T06:00:00.001-07:00

If you've been to see the waterlillies exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta this month, you're probably already mind-boggled that Monet was going blind as he worked on those amazing paintings. We don't often think of Monet's work as a product of deteriorating vision--blindness was not a part of his marketable identity, however today visually impaired artists are using blindness as an asset. Some of these painters, like Esraf Armagan--a Turkish man who has been blind since birth, have used their familiarity with the tricks of representational art to baffle Harvard neurologists. Others, like Lisa Fittipaldi, have explained the experience of painting as a blind person in books like A Brush With Darkness. Without the written explanation, these paintings seem to deny the condition. Scientists and researchers seek these people out to understand the way vision functions in the brain, but how does a blind artist function within our culture?

Contemporary photographers seem to have found a more multivalent way to investigate the conditions of blindness. Check out the work of the blind photographers featured in this exhibit at the California Museum of Photography called Sight Unseen. You may have heard about this exhibit from ArtSlant or on the npr.org blog called pictureshow or from Time magazine. The photos in this exhibit demonstrate extremely diverse approaches towards contemporary art. Some are made by artists using scanners or laser pointers. Others use the structure and talent found in collectives to make their images happen. Many of these photographs combine text with image in the form of Braille, particularly in the work of Gerardo Nigenda. This composition requires a braille-reader to assist in the interpretation of the photograph, just as a sighted person must assist with interpreting the visual content of the work to someone who is blind. When I saw this, I thought about how we are all experts at some things and in the dark about others--the title of the photo "Hay Enlace . . . Hay Fusion . . . Hay Interaccion (Oaxaca, Mexico)" translates to "There is interconnectedness . . . there is fusion . . . there is interaction."* Consider the ways this image of one hand holding another seems both strange and personal. The double-blind message speaks to our vulnerabilities while revealing the essential strength of humankind. Essentially, we each want to connect in any way we can find--visually, verbally, and authentically.

*Thanks to Richard Lou for the translation

Art 21: Memphis Edition

2009-08-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Check out this great Art 21 blog post about Memphis!

Art21 guest blogger & MCA Art History Professor Adrian Duran had a lot of great things to say about this city.

Drifting Creatives: Memphis Typography

2009-08-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was really inspired by this post about Memphis typography by the itinerant designers at Drifting Creatives. Shocked that there wasn't a single example of a tag by NOSEY, I decided to spend part of my summer camera-out to pick up on the visual language that I walk past on a daily basis. These are from the U of M. More from the neighborhood to follow.

Memphis Mural

2009-08-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it the first time around:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Welcome Back

2009-08-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mid-Summer Drawing Update

2009-07-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

I know I said I wasn't going to post all summer, but I'd really like to share a project I've been working on. It's a series of watercolor drawings based on the campfire song "I love the mountains."

Summer of Silence

2009-05-06T18:51:00.001-07:00

Summer is studio time. Full time. All the time.

Studio time for me means this is going to be quiet time on this blog.

I'll be back in the fall with more interviews, announcements, questions and observations--in the meantime, check my etsy site or follow me on twitter.

Go camping, to the beach, or just out to your front porch and wherever you go, make something!

I've scheduled posts to begin feeding again on August 1st, so be ready Betty.

bling: after an early botticelli

2009-04-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Make your own Glitter Graphics

cornify

2009-04-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder what the "cornify" button at the bottom of this blog does?

dwayne

2009-04-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

Congrats Dwayne:) You've still got nine minutes and thirteen seconds left!

University of Memphis BFA show

2009-04-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

University of Memphis BFA Show

Opening is Saturday, April 25 in Jones Hall and in the

BRAND NEW GALLERY

at Area 47!!!

Michael Aldana: In Katrina's Wake

2009-04-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Michael Aldana's show In Katrina's Wake opens this week in Lulalyn Gallery

In Katrina’s wake, I found myself looking at the culture I love teetering on existence, struggling for survival. The destruction of the wetlands that surround New Orleans by oil and natural gas companies has slowly led to the erosion of these vast wetlands which are New Orleans buffer against hurricane storm surge. Without these wetlands, hurricanes of the future will threaten the city even more. Katrina showed just how vulnerable New Orleans is to hurricane damage and as a consequence we are looking at the possibility of a city that may never revive itself wholly. I see this culture I grew up with vanishing as people would rather move than confront the problem.

What I focus on in my art are the effects of erosion (as metaphor) on culture and family in South Louisiana. I revisit places and things of my youth that are vanishing and apply these things to what I am handing down to my children. This is a slow whittling away of my culture taking place now. As people leave, as the water moves in, as traditions are lost, the soul of a region is being lost. It is my goal, as an artist of this region, of this culture, to point to these losses. I look at my art now as a mourning process.

I liken it to the mourning of someone before they have passed. As if they have a poor diagnosis, and hope is bleak. We begin the process of mourning before the person has passed. However, there is always hope. And I do feel that I address hope in my works as well. The hope exists in the passing down of traditions and histories and the sharing of a love for a place. My art reflects both the fears and hopes of a people who are as a David, facing a Goliath. The odds may be against us, but no task is too tall, and we can overcome.

- Michael Aldana

As an artist, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the way Hurricanes have shaped my life story. I'm intrigued by the way Aldana speaks about the relationship between geological erosion and cultural change. I share his love of the Gulf Coast and can't wait to see the artwork.

In Katrina’s Wake - Selected Works by Michael Aldana, opens Friday, April 17, 6-9 p.m.

at Lulalyn Gallery. The show will run through May 16.

Wonder Monday: Twitchhiking

2009-04-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

I wonder if it's better to use social networking sites to build goodwill in a small local community among people you've met or if it would be more fun to follow people around the world so you could accomplish something like this.

Paul Smith travelled the world relying solely on the goodwill of his fellow twitter-users and raised thousands of dollars for a clean water charity while doing so. I don't know if I'd get very far doing the same thing . . . probably not, most of the people I follow on twitter are in Memphis and it seems like risky business to do something like this as the mother of a two-year-old. Maybe it would be a better idea to attend a local event like this with Memphis social media experts:

The Social Media Expedition will be hosting a tweetup on April 16th. This is the after hours version of our Expedition breakfasts. It's a little more casual, but still packed with information and networking opportunities. There will be plenty of time to catch up with your Memphis social community, as well as some more core conversations to help each other stay on top of our Social Media game. We hope you can all make it out. If you have any questions, call us at 888-5862

Animate!!!!!

2009-04-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

This week in my Drawing 2 class we studied Josh Mosley, Jeff Scher, and William Kentridge. We also watched these videos from YouTube. Now the whole class is working on a 20 second animation piece. I'm REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT. Bold Italic Excited!!!!

Chandler Pritchett

New York Trip

Encaustic Workshop

2011 Projects

End of the YEAR

Memphis Urban Sketchers.

study: birdfeeder

chandle-ing

utopia--sir thomas moretris

Quilt

messy

Challenge

goldfinch

birds. fancy ones.

Studio Day

a little like the zoo

Vedute lesson plan

Oh, hi robots!

Tonight--Corner Liquor Store

Winter Arts

Downside Up film at the Brooks on December 6 at 2pm

2009 Crabs

caritas

Image Swirl

WiiSpray

seaweed crab

I look forward to discussing this in class tomorrow

Caritas

Fred Stonehouse this Thursday Night

terrifying towels

Sarah and Sunny are having a show!!!

This is what I look like when I'm teaching:

manifest calls for entry: Burb and the Drawing Annual

Memphis Botanic Garden Sketches

The Creative Jar

Julie Püttgen Lecture Notes

Front Page News!!!

Marathon Art Night

Happy Holiday, skull-a-day!

First Annual Peace Exhibition at Caritas Village

Last Reminder: Delta Exhibition

Delta Exhibition call for entries

52ND ANNUAL DELTA EXHIBITION

wooden jewelry

New American Paintings FAQ and deadline

Jonathan Brilliant

A Crab (for Grandmary)

University of Memphis Department of Art Brown Bag Series Screens Season Five of Art:21 – Art in the Twenty-First Century

The Gist: Notes on Patrick DeGuira

Watercolor on surfboard

Oct 2--Broad Avenue Art Walk

Cancer Stinks--The Art of Mary Lundberg

Etsy Treasury picks--Softer Silhouettes

I just curated a new silhouette treasury on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=84174

Sanitzed Figures

Screech Owl Designs

Lecture tonight: Christian Kuras and Duncan MacKenzie

Delta Exhibition call for entries

52nd Annual Delta Exhibition

lauren coulson and jason miller: sure to be mindblowing

Clare

etsy treasuries

Etsy Treasury picks--Silhouettes

Epistle from Dwayne

Figure Drawing Open Session at the University of Memphis

Unzipping "and exactly" Greely Myatt

Vikings and Conquistadors

sketchbook bento

inspiration

why?

Trolley Night: August 2009

TONIGHT--seriously this time

Valhalla Y'all

Back to School

Surf

Bok Bok

tiny houses

issu

The Front Page of Etsy

Gideon Rubin

52^NDANNUAL DELTA EXHIBITION

52^ndAnnual Delta Exhibition