5 days, 8 museums, 4 cities. I heart Germany. Day One:

Over Spring Break I had the opportunity to be a guest artist in Bonn. I jumped on it, canceling out a workshop I had previously signed up for and diverted my professional development funds toward the airfare. Best on-the-fly decision I've ever made. (nice pun, no?) Major thanks to a professional development grant, AIB and a friend for hosting me. It was an intense trip. I will post in installments.

Highlights from Saturday. Day 1: Landed in Dusseldörf.
Julia Stoschek Collection: NUMBER SIX: FLAMING CREATURES.
Video works and installation. Great collection. I have a fairly extensive background in the history of video art thanks to logging hours upon hours of video watching at the Video Data Bank in Chicago, though I lost track of video art after returning to painting full-time in 2000.* Old and new faces here. Some of the new work was a bit shallow and high tech, albeit mesmerizing and fun to watch, while some of the older works were crudely executed with a sense of investigation of video, performance, materiality, and subject matter. Beautiful space. I encourage you to read about Ms. Stoschek and her commitment to new media.

*[Later, I will talk about The Return to Painting, Redux, as a contemporary movement that apparently is unknown outside of the major art boroughs. It came up while writing an essay for a grant app.]

Coffee and a slice of spice cake at a cafe in Dusseldörf.

No photos allowed, but I took my chances with capturing some Mike Kelley. 

Stay tuned for installment # 2.