Yard Work

Save the Date May 26: Solo Show at John Davis Gallery

My solo show in the Carriage House at John Davis Gallery  is within reach. Reception is May 26th.

I'll be leaking some new images between now and then.

Here's the postcard image:

Rapture, 2011-2012

oil on canvas

9 x 7 inches

Lineup round 4, From the Gut, with Heart at SUGAR

Gwendolyn Skaggs reopened SUGAR last weekend with Lineup round 4, From the Gut, with Heart.

I'm posting just a sampling of the images, but please check out SUGAR's website for more. There are so many interesting conversations in this show. 

Art Guerra in the foreground, Becky Kinder in the background.

Reverse shot, looking through Art Guerra's work. Left to Right: Mary Addison Hackett, Christy Singleton, Vincent Como, Carla Knopp. 

I love this shot juxtaposing my painting next to a portion of Christy's

and this shot too.

L-R: Vincent Como, Liv Mette Larsen, Jacqueline Skaggs

Carla's piece. 

 Jacqueline Skaggs and Carla Knopp

A wonderful painting by the late Ed Sanders. 

Lineup

round 4

From the Gut, with Heart

04.21.12 - 06.03.12

This installation focuses on, and gives emphasis to, the give and take/push and pull that develops when positioning artworks together as objects, releasing them from their makers reins, into my own. In round 4 these objects are kin to words. A narrative that begins with Erika Keck's Rosebud, and punctuated with a period by Carla Knopp's Prone. The artworks anchored, and securely suspended, in between are rich with sentiment, weight, implication, complication, and justification bound by my continuous will and determination to "write" a complete sentence defining "relevancy and meaning" (and the art of). The end result is From the Gut, with Heart, an installation at SUGAR, and, what I have recently been told... "A writers dream". -Gwendolyn Skaggs

Erika Keck, Christy Singleton, Alicia McCarthy, Ed Sanders, Mary Addison Hackett, Carla Knopp, Vincent Como, Art Guerra, Nina Meledandri, Jacqueline Skaggs, Becky Kinder, Liv Mette Larsen, David B. Frye

From the Gut with Heart at SUGAR

449 Troutman St. #3-5, third fl.
Brooklyn (Bushwick), NY 
SUGAR is open Noon - 6 Fri - Su, AND by appointment.

Best in Show goes to the Long-haired Art Shepherd for exhibiting outstanding form while working.

The dog intuitively knows what to herd and guard. Good Boy. 

Shipping and packing mode, part III.
Today I made an economical box and shipped the three paintings in the foreground. It wasn't that difficult, but the trick was making the box look nice after amputating two sides and re-attaching them after the surgery. The guy at FedEx was impressed when I told him I made the box.

Only one show left to pack and ship.

I am working on some paintings from the Wall of Shame- paintings from the last few months that by all accounts look hopeless. I am always excited by these. The fact that I have a batch instead of one or two is quite promising.

Things are going well.

Approximately 48 paintings

Selecting paintings is slow work. I can see why people use maquettes. I have two grouping on the floor. Facing south is one solo show; facing north is another. There are approximately 20 to 25 paintings  in each group. I only need 15 paintings in one group and no more than 20, perhaps only 15 in another. I need to cut 15 paintings out completely. I have removed 4- which wasn't much help because I added 2 more from a third group. I have arranged them by size to make writing the checklists easier. I have already removed one painting from the north facing group and placed it in the south facing group, which is no help because the south facing group needs the harshest cut. I am shipping those. The north facing group I am delivering by car. I can edit them after seeing the space. I have not seen the space and in fact it is being remodeled so even if I had seen the space, it would be moot. Floor diagrams are great for maquettes. One day I will make maquettes. They look fun. As it stands now, I like about 6 feet of wall space between my paintings. I'll take a tape measure with me and see if I have pulled that number out of thin air or whether I have an uncanny knack for guestimating space. I'm going with uncanny knack for guestimating space. I'm reluctant to let these go. I know they need to be in the world, but I feel strangely comforted by their presence. I have a 4th group of paintings, but fortunately the director made the final call on that one. In that group, I have 3 paintings ready to be packed and shipped. I feel very lucky. Very broke, too, because I want to attend 2 of the out of town shows. I've cashed in all my miles, but this was the year I promised I would say yes to everything. I'm looking forward to painting again. I've had to halt while I take care of the business side of things. In the studio I have 2 or 3 godawful paintings waiting to get to the next stage, but not this one.

This is a work on paper. It's not going to be in either show. One of these days, I should have a works on paper show. This is not a painting. It is a shelf. Schadenfreude.

Richter Painting

My entry into Richter's work was the inclusive show Gerhard Richter: Paintings at the MCA in the mid-80s. More recently I saw his abstract works from 2005 alongside Caspar David Friedrich's paintings in the epnonymously titled, From Caspar David Friedrich to Gerhard Richter: German Paintings from Dresden at The Getty, and this past fall I finally had a chance to visit the mirror works at Dia. In between, I've been lucky enough to catch the works here and there. 

For a man of many images, Gerhard Richter, Painting, is a man of few words. Die-hard Richter fans will appreciate the film's slightly ironic, almost deadpan simplicity, especially when you consider that behind the paintings are 45 years worth of journal entries, letters and writings, neatly packed into two volumes. Yes, I am a Richter geek. 

Within moments of the film's opening, I wondered if being one of the most celebrated artists of our time would make painting in front of a camera any less daunting. The answer is no; he is, in fact, still mortal. At 80, Richter doesn't need to explain anything in the film—the Sissyphean task of dragging who knows how many psi of wet paint across a canvas says it all— but if you're into Richter's work and want to know more about the man behind the myth, I'd suggest poring through his writings to complement the viewing experience.

Note: The editor in me would cut some of the maquette footage and trim some squeegee action, but on the other hand, I'm no stranger to durée.

Playing at the Belcourt in Nashville through April 19.

Under the weather

Felt like crap today, which made sense seeing as I felt like crap yesterday. The most productive thing I could muster was arranging a FedEX pickup of some art in LA, canceling lunch, and paying 2 bills before sitting down in the office to sketch the rest of the afternoon. Cabins, solitude, what constitutes critical here in Nashville, the death of humor, not to be confused with the death of irony or the attempted assassination of painting, and a few other tangents kept crossing my mind. Luckily, I was absorbed in what I was doing. 

My idea of social practice: coffee and watercolors.

Studio Coffee Break is back. New location.

Originally intended to as a way to break up the isolation of a studio practice, I began Studio Coffee Break at my former studio back in 2008 as a forum for an open discussion, or just an excuse to be social without the commitment. I've added watercolors/drawing to this one, and the man behind the counter makes a great cup of capp.

Join me for coffee or bring a field kit of supplies or whatever if you want to paint or draw. Email for dates, times, and location if you want in.

Lineup round 4, "From the Gut, with Heart" at SUGAR

Thrilled to be included in this show at SUGAR in Bushwick. 

Lineup
round 4
04.21.12 - 06.03.12
opening reception April 21, 6-9pm

From the Gut, with Heart


Erika Keck
Christy Singleton
Alicia McCarthy
Ed Sanders
Mary Addison Hacket
Carla Knopp
Vincent Como
Art Guerra
Nina Meledandri
Jacqueline Skaggs
Becky Kinder
Liv Matte Larsen
David Frye

No Joke: This is my to do list.

1. Mail key to AD for return of work.
2. Pack painting for SUG to arrive on Friday
3. Sched shipping for SUG
4. Title/sign/inventory all the recent work
5. Shoot whatever moves/ new work
6. Upgrade to snow leopard and then lion. 
7. Light candles, create sanctuary, play anonymous 4 in the background. 
8. Back up back up back up. 
9. Cut paper/plastic to wrap paintings for transport (15-20)
10. Inventory and wrap paintings of works going to CHM
11. Plan day for delivery. see if anyone wants to drive up for lunch, if there's room in the car. 
12. See if work fits in car.
13. Get small paintings back from s.d show this week. 
14. Pick up work next week from hh. or this week. Schedule van or ask a favor from someone with a truck. Would offer to trade drawings for this stuff. I have lots of drawings. just putting it out there. 
15. Pay storage rent on time. 
16. Mail list. right. The bane of myeffingexistence. Now Contact quit exporting to labels and went out of business or something. My database is in some ancient version of excel. The merge code is so old that even a twenty-something didn't understand it. 5 hours wasted. Or as a friend once said, "that's your tuition." Live and learn. 
17. Cut paper/buy pockets/ inventory and wrap paintings for JDG. 20?
18. Find local box place and actually drive there to purchase some supplies.
19. Schedule shipping to NYC.
20. Confirm travel and shipping details x 2.
21. Mosquitos. Kill. 
22. Have paintings ready to go for show in LA. 
23. Try to attend show.
24. Schedule weekend to clean out pool. Buy waders from hardware store. Talk to someone about how to keep snapping turtle and bullfrog happy and safe while dredging bottom. Document this event.  
25. Mailing list. Email for everything. and snailmail for JDG. 
26. Do not buy anymore Nutella until June. 
27. Promote Studio Coffee Break THIS WEEK. Consider catchier name. De-consider catchier name. 
28. Promote a drawing and watercolor session on the grounds this summer. Consider catchy name. Invite people to attend. Clean out pond first. 
29. Writing. Pick up writing gigs. Pitch essays and reviews. Consider introducing the review in list form. 
30. Such as. 
31. Pack an ever-ready suitcase. seriously. kind of like an earthquake kit, but for traveling. 

Theoretically, I'm going to keep adding and crossing off from this. Wish me luck.

And if anyone has tips on maintaining your databases, images and writings etc. I am curious. My system is not as streamlined as it could be. Anything from how you organize your files to what software works for you, I am interested.

All in all I've never been happier. Well okay, a couple of times, sure. I still have fond memories of major life events that went well, but in general if I can pull the major threads out of all of this and develop a solid system, I'm good to go.