Art Rogue Island

Personally, I can’t wait for 2011 to be over, and it’s just a few more hours now.  Even though I have had some great opportunities this year, it was not without many personal pitfalls that at times I thought would be unsurmountable, but I made it through and I start 2012 with a clean slate and with the resolution to not be bullied for saying what I feel is right.  

For the past several weeks, I have had Rebel HQ NYE invite in my Facebook events calendar.  I originally had different plans for tonight, but clearly I’m not at some party and I’m relieved actually.  New Years is always cold and uncomfortable, and even though I was looking forward to meeting new artists and people, I am quite happy to be spending my evening with Sonya and my new laptop.  Knowing that I had no plans, I had been looking at the Rebel invite for most of today and finally decided that I would at least spend the last night of year looking at the work of a local Providence artist.  

http://www.kerimarion.com/

So, I headed over to 536 Hope St and I consider myself pretty brave, but this was a little scary for me.  The party and exhibit was happening inside a house that nowhere said 536 outside.  I awkwardly opened the gate and went up the stairs. There were two people on the front porch and the guy walked me in, but that was it.  I was on my own, and let met tell you this was a scene that made me feel beyond uncomfortable.  In addition to the dozens of eyes sizing me up, the work, which was really interesting, was poorly displayed.  In a house like this, where art and knickknacks are potentially everywhere, how was I supposed to know what was the work of Keri Marion?  If I hadn’t taken a look at her website, then I would never have known.  I may be called snarky again, or attacked and taken out of context on Facebook, but let me just say how if you are going to advertise the party as an open house art gallery and exhibit the work of an artist, wall tags and exhibition lists are important!!  If you are going to use the party to exhibit work, make it somewhat professional and if you still forgo the list, you still needed the tags.  This was not supposed to be a closed house party, but it sure felt like it. 

The work of Keri Marion was described as neo-minimalist and that she was influenced by the dadaist and the fluxist, but from what I could see of it, I couldn’t see any of those elements in her work, though I still liked it, but I definitely felt like I couldn’t really spend any time really looking at anything.  If I were her, I’d actually be kinda pissed, though I’m sure she wasn’t.  I loved her leather work and her sculptural work in the test tubes. Her drawings reminded me of topographic maps, but I really liked her cross-stitched squares.  Because of the thread and the fabric, the piece had texture and the difference of tones was very successful versus the flatness of the drawings. 

Test tubes 

My favorite tubes, I’ve been on an UK royal history kick lately.  That head feels very Anne Boleyn to me.  Again though, there was no wall tag, so I’m assuming this is also by Keri Marion.

My pictures are typically horrible, but tonight they are especially bad because the whole situation was just so awkward.  I normally feel weird taking pictures, but taking them in the middle of someone’s house that I don’t know during a party I feel like I’m crashing, it was too much.  I don’t even think I saw the whole show, but since there were no wall tags I had no idea what I was even looking at.  You invite that many people, you never know whose going to show up, but everyone who seemed like they belonged looked like they were having a good time.  After seeing the drawings blocked behind the door, I had enough and left as awkwardly as I arrived, relieved that the whole ordeal was over with yet still glad I had seen her work.

So, for everyone who followed this blog this past year, I wish you all a very happy new year.  =]

Looks like Santa is missing one of his elves =]  Poor thing….

Happy Holidays!! 

186 Carpenter St is right down the street from The Avery and it really is a very nice space.  Buck Hastings sent me the invite a few days ago for the show with his new work and the work of Caitlin Cali.  After Buck’s crit this summer, I was looking forward to see what was happening with his work.  I was definitely not disappointed.  

Buck has some gorgeous new collage pieces.  I fell in love with a couple of his works including a hidden portrait of Colleen.  Buck tends to stay away from the figurative, but seeing her under a layer of paint was pretty great.  I think the next thing for Buck’s work is to go big.  There is a painting with a vanitas skull head that I thought would look amazing blown up on a massive canvas.  I think his collage work was very successful and unique and it’s a great new body of work.  

Buck’s pride and joy, gorgeous 3x5

detail 

Colleen’s in there I swear

One of my favorite collage works on the salon style wall

The color is so beautiful 

The canvas that I think should be massive, but is still successful regardless of the size.  My favorite part is the shape on the left side of the canvas of the wet paint, like a cut away to another painting.  

I wasn’t very familiar with Caitlin Cali’s work before the opening and suffered a little sticker shock when Andrew Oesch, the show’s coordinator/curator, told me how much her new work was selling for, nothing more than $500, but for unframed prints… I don’t know, it’s just me probably.  She went to MassArt, which I thought was great.  I did like some of her work especially one screenprint that turned out to be in my price range.  It must be a sign.  Screw the rent! 

<3  There are puffy paint dots perfectly placed all over print

Some of Caitlin’s new prints 

I really loved this opening.  Buck assured me that people are reading my blog.  I met Mollie Hosmer-Dillard, a painter who is having a really great year I think.  

I also learned a little more about the space, which I think has a very interesting future ahead as Andrew and Jori start to figure out what they are going to do.  Options are endless, but in terms of hours for this space, they are certainly not regular.  I also sat down next to Andrew after a loop around the space and asked about the absent wall tags.  He, instead of just telling me some bullshit excuse or just telling me no, grabbed a pencil and started initially Caitlin and Buck’s work to differentiate the two bodies of work because they somewhat intermingled.  I really appreciated his effort and he was just so nice to tell me about all the things happening at the Exchange.  I’m very excited for their 2012 plans.   

When I did finally manage to get back to my car, I made a special trip past my street down to Dirt Palace in Olyneyville.  Shawn Gilheeney was at the opening and I asked if the installation that he and his girlfriend, Willa were commissioned to do was completed.  When he said they had finished this past week, I made sure I stopped by to get a picture.

Complete with a chandelier.  Amazeballs.   

Art Rogue Island’s Tribal Terror mascot taking a cat nap =] 

Today was an interesting day.  I initially wasn’t going to go anywhere today, which I felt a little guilty about because I had plans to go to opening last night and events today.  I didn’t change my mind, but I’m trying to conserve a quarter of a tank of gas, the end of year crunch.  I felt last night that I should update my facebook status to read a big old “I’m Sorry” to the art community, not that I think they missed me very much.  

Earlier this week I got a phone call from the gallery manager for Angelnook Gallery.  A couple months ago, when the gallery first opened, I went to see the space.  I spoke to two people who were just helping get the gallery on its feet.  One of them kinda overshared, but that is besides the point.  I was underwhelmed… and that’s putting it nicely.  The space wasn’t warm, the work wasn’t really interesting, and it really lacked something.  I took some pictures, but didn’t write about it here, because after thinking about it, it wasn’t really something I thought was worth noting.  So this week, the phone call asked if I would be interested in writing something about the gallery since they are having their holiday party on Thursday.  I’m never one to just neglect a request, so I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt and go back.  I was even more disappointed the second time around.  It was mostly all the same work I had initially seen, the floors were still tiled, and the entire space was gray.  The gallery manager who has called me was there, but I didn’t introduce myself because I wasn’t brave enough to tell her that I didn’t really like anything.  I understand them wanting coverage, but don’t call a critic… It was like the art at the back of Home Goods exploded all over the gallery.  The manager walked over to me and handed me a xerox small flyer.  I asked if everything that was up would be up for the party.  She said yes and that there would be a seamstress and jeweler coming.  I made a comment about the naked women and she said yes, is there a problem? I said, “just asking” and that was it.  I notice the managers drawings were hung without wall tags and spent some time looking at a painting by the gallery owner’s wife, which is the only real thing I’m slightly attracted to in the space, but it was in the same exact space it was in the first time I went to the gallery.  Sigh.  

Once I was out in the car I looked at the flyer for the party and saw the dreaded works, Silent. Auction. ugh.. major sigh.  

After that I knew the only way to pull me out of that dark place was a trip to Cade Tompkins Projects.  Cade has new signage to point people to the direction of her door.  I ended up arriving right as Cade was selling this gorgeous vase.  I actually fell in love with it, it was this perfect pomegranate.  Sitting right near it was a granny apple.  As the sale was finalized, I was pretty jealous, they would have looked perfect right there next to Uncle Tom’s old Egyptian decanter.  

Cade spent the next hour or so showing me different works that she was featuring for her holiday sale today and next Saturday.  I was curious to see which things she had of Jay Zehngebot, since I wasn’t expecting to see his name on her list.  There are two small photograph prints of space that she was featuring of his.  Other artists that she showed me were Allison Bianco, who made this great screenprint series of sinking ships.  She also showed me the clever sculptural work of Brian Whitney and some gorgeous gouache pieces by Lynn Harlow.   I never leave disappointed, just massively tempted.  Nancy Friese arrived while Cade was showing me work and it was even more fun to see work alongside her.  We looked at small landscape oils by Patrick Malin, which I said Newport would love and watercolor landscape by Anne Patterson.  One of Patterson’s landscapes was abstract and looked like arctic ice.  Gorgeous.  

I also made stops at One Way, but nothing new to me was up and then I went to Craftland expecting a Buy Art exhibition, only to find a wall of 5 works, one from each artist selected to be this year’s button images.  I didn’t make it to the party, but after seeing just one wall, I think I’m alright with missing it.

So that’s it for today… tomorrow I’m going to Buck Hastings’ show at the Print Exchange.  

It’s Thursday and it’s been a little bit since I’ve posted anything.  That’s not to say that I haven’t still be attending openings, but I think I mentioned that I am down a computer.  Things haven’t moved completely into hibernation yet, but sometimes I get so edged out that I don’t want to write anything, after all who really is reading this anyway? 

Last night I read Greg Cook’s review on the NetWorks show.  I find that sometimes I agree with him and other times I feel he lives in a completely isolated universe.  I’m sure people might feel that way about me.  Can’t throw rocks right?  But I thought his reaction to the Chazan project was aligned with mine, but not nearly as opinionated.  When I think of established and respected Rhode Island curators, which is who is Cook suggested to take over the show as well as having RISD being the location for the show vs. Clayton’s studio space, I can only think of Judith Tannenbaum.  Again, to work with Chazan, you have to be of a certain disposition and temperment, so who knows what will happen, most likely nothing.

Other interesting things that have happened is that the Print Exchange is planning to sell/auction off those prints from the Current Events show as a set instead of individually.  I actually think that is pretty great.  I kinda deflate when I think about how much it might cost, but if they do have an auction, I would love to attend, though I don’t know how successful it would be in a town like this.  Silent auctions are painful. 

I also attended the art crit for Kevin Veronneau last week.  I was waiting for Lisa Perez to post the pictures she had taken, but she hasn’t done that yet.  I still somewhat stand on my own at these things, I’m not an artist and I would rather just listen.  I watched Kevin hang one of his pieces and when I asked him how much he was selling it for and felt the death glares on me.  Whatever.  I thought the discussion about his work was interesting.  He is in an ongoing love affair with words and language, which I was really attracted to.  My only contribution to the discussion was saying that I understood what Kevin meant when he talked about how he never stuck with something long enough to master it, but from the looks of his work, I don’t really think he ever appeared to be an amateur.  I got it but it turned into a dissection of semantics and I shut up.  Who wants to swim up Sharon’s stream?  Not me.  I really enjoyed his work and think that all the pieces are just about there, they just need to be pushed one step further which is exactly the purpose of having a crit.  What is interesting though is that the extra step is what could completely rock his world and move him into a whole other medium.  One thing that was clear was his isolation from the rest of the art world, which I hope now will end.  Come join the madness!

Now where to hang it?

That Saturday I had a great talk with S.W. Dinge, who I am featuring in an artist profile for East Side Monthly.  I think Dinge is a great example of a guy who didn’t fall in with any art clique in town and still manages to do just fine.  You don’t need to be a joiner to get somewhere, you just need to be brave and put yourself out there.  His work is at One Way Gallery and he’s been with Chris and Steve from the beginning.  I admit I’m more responsive to Dinge’s latest body of work.  He did this great painting that sold a few weeks ago.  I thought it was a perfect reaction to Twombley’s death, though that was my own reading of it and not really his intention, which I kinda think makes it even better.  I’m not so wild about his older work that looks like Paul Klee and Miro had a baby, but it’s not bad.  I just think the latest work has a refreshing voice. 

F**kLetterWord

Other stuff I’ve been up to is still under wraps a bit but Cade Tompkins pitched my name to Art in America, but she also gave them Martina Windels’ name. I don’t know if I’m ready to send my writing samples to a national magazine.  I still have panic attacks everytime something of mine is published, but I need to make up my mind before time runs out. Maybe I will do that today. 

Here is the link for my latest piece for GoLocalProv, http://www.golocalprov.com/lifestyle/new-curiosities-at-museum-of-natural-history/ I went initially to see Pippi Zornoza’s piece, but was pleasantly surprised.  

And tonight is the reception for I BUY ART.  When I went to the event last year, I ended up catching a fish… who know what this year will bring, lol I don’t think it will have the same outcome though. 

A man that I constantly just refer to as “The Neighbor” thinks 2012 will be a great year.  You know I hope he’s right.