A little advance press....

“Everything’s Coming Up Roses”

Upcoming Gallery exhibition @ WG News + Arts / 50 – 52 Dobbin Street / Brooklyn, NY 11222

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, May 6, 2011 6-8 pm

Claudine Anrather / Dawn Arrowsmith / Luisa Caldwell / Rebecca Graves / Mary Addison Hackett / David Kramer / Cati LaPorte / Norma Markley / Mery Lynn McCorkle / Marilla Palmer / Gary Petersen / Roland Reiss / Greg Stone /

Curated by Luisa Caldwell and Mery Lynn McCorkle

Gallery Hours: May 7 – May 28: Open Saturdays 12-4 or by appointment: (917) 304-6213 / (917) 656-6048 / (706) 528-2306 /

Flowers have a mixed heritage in the arts. On the one hand, they have represented lofty emotions (Shakespeare’s “rosemary is for remembrance”) and sexuality (O’Keefe). On the other, they are pretty, a suitable subject for Sunday watercolorists. They are a perfect metaphor for the half empty/half full debate: it all depends upon one’s viewpoint.

For contemporary artists, both viewpoints tend to be highlighted simultaneously. Flowers in the 21st century have come to represent consumerism, modernism, environmentalism, to reflect our architecture, our psyche, our utopias, allowing the artists to pry a more positive outlook out of misfortune.

The thirteen artists in this May show expose a wide range of interpretations revolving around the word “flower.” Luisa forms flowers with commercial labels. David shows how they are employed as an advertising tool. Cati miniaturizes them into stamps with a contradictory message. Norma creates them out of dance steps. Rebecca uses them to symbolize the transitory nature of life. Gary explodes them into abstraction. Roland embeds them in modernism. Dawn teases them out of the web of LA street maps. Marilla concocts them from mushroom spores. Claudine explores the dissolution of forms. For Mary Addison, they are a juxtaposition of southern decay and play. Mery Lynn fashions them out of glitter. Greg burns them into being.

***

I'll have two watercolors in this show. I'm titling them now. I did them over the winter. I was going to leave the works on paper untitled, but that doesn't seem right. I revisited Ruskin, my go-to guy for nature and painting.

AND on the other coast, roughly around the same time, I will also have 2 watercolors/gouaches in this show.

INCOGNITO Saturday, April 30, 2011, 7 – 10 pm Doors open at 7 pm sharp Santa Monica Museum of Art's highly anticipated annual art exhibition and benefit, INCOGNITO, will return for its seventh year on Saturday, April 30. INCOGNITO features original works by 500 contemporary artists. (For the list of participating artists, please scroll down.) From sophisticated art patrons to first-time collectors – all guests are encouraged to trust their instincts to guide their selections. Each 8" x 10" work is signed on the back and artist identities are revealed only after purchase. Hundreds of artworks are available for only $300 each.    Food by Lene DJ Set by Enorbito and Ganas of Mas Exitos and a wide range of libations INCOGNITO PARTICIPATING ARTISTS (As of April 20) Luciana Abait, Lillian Abel, Kim Abeles, Lisa Adams, Nick Agid, Cathy Akers, Cynthia Alexander, Terry Allen, Jami Allen-Snyder, Sophia Allison, Melinda Smith Altshuler, Fumiko Amano, Michelle Andrade, Eleanor Antin, Carolyn Applegate, Skip Arnold, Charles Arnoldi, Alejandro Artigas, Joshua Aster, Chad Attie, Donald Baechler, Hilary Baker, John Baldessari, Glen Baldridge, Devendra Banhart, Miyoshi Barosh, Ray Barrie, Kelly Barrie, Lyndon Barrois Jr, Judith Barry, Gary Baseman, Edith Beaucage, Martin Beck, Drew Beckmeyer, Tina Beebe, Quinton Bemiller, Billy Al Bengston, Jodie Berry, Guillermo Bert, Everitt Betsy, Brian Biedul, Joe Biel, Heimir Bjorgulfsson, Dan Bohbot, M.B. Boissonnault, Lauren Bon, Derek Boshier, Janet Bothne, Katy Kristin Bowen, Astrid Bowlby, Mark Bradford, Leonardo Bravo, Brian Bress, Stephanie Brooks, Kimberly Brooks, Calef Brown, Edgar Bryan, Elizabeth Bryant, David Buckingham, Bruce Busby, Nao Bustamante, Kristin Calabrese, Huguette Caland, Jo Ann Callis, Jane Callister, Clayton Campbell, Giorgio Carlevaro, Barbara Carrasco, Karen Carson, Richard Carter, Jamison Carter, Carter Carter, Enrique Castrejon, Xavier Cázares Cortéz, Corinne Chaix, Matthew Chambers, Emilio Chapela, Jeff Charbonneau and Eliza French, Daniel Chavira, Nicole Cherubini, Marc Chiat, Tofer Chin, Maximillian Chow, Mary Christiansen, Greg Colson, Jeff Colson, Brian Cooper, Michael Coughlan, Eileen Cowin, Lori Cozen-Geller, Liz Craft, Steve Craig, Thomas Alan Cronk, Hugo Crosthwaite, Daniel Cummings, Jay Davis, Tony de los Reyes, Mara De Luca, Michael Dee, Steve Degroodt, Tony Delap, Ann Diener, Guy Dill, Tomory Dodge, Mimi Drop, Anna Dusi, Mark Dutcher, Addoley Dzegede, Mari Eastman, JonMarc Edwards, A. McLean Emenegger, Elizabeth  Enders, Noah Erenberg, Sam Erenberg, Timothy Ernst, Merion Estes, Ned Evans, Kirsten Everberg, Bart Exposito, Brian Fahlstrom, Amir H. Fallah, Mollie Favour, Carolyn Fernandez, Bruria Finkel, Chris Finley, Kim Fisher, Ed Flynn, Kianga Ford, Simone Forti, Andrew Foster, Brendan Fowler, Jona Frank, Jonah Freeman, Bryan Freeny, Terri Friedman, Sarah Frost, Gajin Fujita, Caroline Furr, Joe Fyfe, Francesca Gabbiani, Charles Gaines, Steve Galloway, Harry Gamboa Jr., Corina Gamma, Gary Garay, Helen K. Garber, Helen Garber, Rico Gatson, Jordan  Gaunce, Megan Geckler, Alejandro Gehry, Lisa Borgnes Giramonti, Milton Glaser, Shirley Glass, Sayre Gomez, Marcelino Goncalves, Yolanda Gonzalez, Joe Goode, Penelope Gottlieb, Rives Granade, Tim Granlund, Alexandra Grant, Cameron Gray, Phyllis Green, Mark Steven Greenfield, Maria Greenshields-Ziman, Alvin P. Gregorio and Donald Fodness, Margaret  Griffith , Iva Gueorguieva, Mary Addison Hackett, Nancy Jean Hancock, Lynn Hanson, Willie Harris, Kira Lynn Harris, Joseph Hart, Adam Harteau, Karen Harter, Doug Harvey, Michael Hayden, Edgar Heap of Birds, Drew Heitzler, Wendy Heldmann, Matthew Heller, David Hendren, Roger Herman, Pixie Herms, George Herms, Juan Carlos Muñoz Hernandez, Katie Herzog, Gilah Yelin Hirsch, Susan Holcomb, Loren Holland, Violet Hopkins, Channa Horwitz, Brad Howe, Bettina Hubby, Salomón Huerta, Dusadee Huntrakul, Eva Hyam, Alex Israel, Patrick Jackson, Mac James, Max Jansons, Michael Jantzen, Ellen Jantzen, JC Jaress, Carrie Jenkins, Sara Jerome, Butt Johnson, Robert Johnson, Vincent Johnson, Vincent Joliet, Michael Joo, Jow, Sharon Kagan, Cindy Kane, Yoichi Kawamura, Veronika Kellndorfer, Mary Kelly, Brian Kennon, Steve Kim, Soo Kim, Linda King, Bill Kleiman, Patricia Knop, Christof Kolhoffer, Alice Könitz, Olga Koumoundouros, Thomas Kovachevich, Greg Kozaki, Joyce Kozloff, Marcus Kuiland-Nazario, Alan Kupchick, Robert Kushner, Aitor Lajarin, Suzy Lake, Wes Lang, Lauren Lavitt, Tom  Leeser, Rick  Legorreta, Anthony Lepore, Les Levine, Joshua Levine, Robert Levine, Sharon Levy, Won Ju Lim, Clarence Lin, Jed Lind, Martin Linss, Chris Lipomi, Littlewhitehead, Annabel Livermore, Jay Lizo, Karen Lofgren, Peter Lograsso, Caitlin Lonegan, Andrea Longacre-White, William Longhauser, Mara Lonner, Renée Lotenero, Richard Louderback, Jean Lowe, Justin Lowe, John Gilbert Luebtow, Heriberto Luna, Mela M., Kim MacConnel, Nancy Macko, Christina Madans, Constance Mallinson, Daniel Maltzman, Becca Mann, Summer Mann, Mirabelle Marden, Ana Marini-Genzon, Adam Marnie, Amanda Marsalis, Luigia Martelloni, Taras Matla, Jake Kean Mayman, Yassi Mazandi, Kim McCarty, Robin McCauley, Mercedes McDonald, David McDonald, Kelly McLane, Michael C. McMillen, Rodney McMillian, James McNulty, Blue McRight, Jacob Melchi, Robert Mellor, Adrian Meraz, Thom Merrick, Christopher Michlig, Tom  Millea, John Millei, Brad Miller, Allison Miller, Greg Miller, James Miller, Robert Minervini, Robin Mitchell, Ginette Mizraki, Chuck Moffit, Bobbie Moline-Kramer, Nancy Monk, Lester Monzon, Mary More, Jim Morphesis, Joey Lehman Morris, Rebecca Morris, Aaron Morse, Ed Moses, Andy Moses, Brian Moss, Mario M. Muller, Thomas Müller, Manfred Müller, Doug Murphy, Hillary Mushkin, Marcel Nagy, Barbara Nathanson, Chris Natrop, Tucker Neel, Charles Nickila, Jessica Nicol, Leonard Nimoy, Danial Nord, Yarg Noremac, Laurie Nye, Chris Oatey, Matthew Offenbacher, Saelee Oh, Yoshua Okon, Patti Oleon, Chris Oliveria, Pat O'Neill, Catherine Opie, Ed Osborn, Kaz Oshiro, Ruby Osorio, Gina Osterloh, John Outterbridge, Edward Carlo Pacio, Gary Palmer, Liga Pang, Christopher Pate, Izhar Patkin, Joan Perlman, John Pestoni, Renee Petropoulos, Raymond Pettibon, Margaret Pezalla-Granlund, Ave Pildas, Paul Pitsker, Allie Pohl, Bruce Pollock, Vanessa Prager, Lori Precious, Astrid Preston, Stephanie Pryor, Yuval Pudik, Antonio Puleo, Rosamond Purcell, Jonathan Pylypchuk, Michael Queenland, Bill Radawec, Ibojka Radawec, Leta Ramos, Joe Ray, David Reed, Miles Regis, Lucas Reiner, Rob Reynolds, Dan Rider, Ellwood T. Risk, Lynn Robb, John Robertson, Walter Robinson, Steve Roden, Michael A. Rosenfeld, Rachel Rosenthal, Melanie Rothschild, Kathy Rudin, Allen Ruppersberg, Ed Ruscha, Eddie Ruscha, Sharon Ryan, Lezley Saar, Alison Saar, Gwen Samuels, Adrian Sanchez, Ruth Sanpietro, Julião Sarmento, Debra Scacco, Larry Scharf, Lothar Schmitz, Kim  Schoenstadt, Barbara Schwan, Josh Schweitzer, Chloe Sells, Lisa Semler, Shelter Serra, Claudio Sgaravizzi, Tom Shannon, Brian Sharp, Jim Shaw, Peter Shire, Fran Siegel, Elena Mary Siff, Richard David Sigmund, Simmons & Burke, Doni Silver Simons, Kristina M Simonsen, Anna Simson, Alex Slade, Rena Small, Barbara T. Smith, Alexis Smith, Ali Smith, Joe Sola, Mariangeles Soto-Diaz, Brad Spence, Dante Spinotti, Jeni Spota, Zack Stadel, Andréa Stanislav, Randi Malkin Steinberger, Jennifer Steinkamp, Gretel Stephens, Coleen Sterritt, Mary Clare Stevens, Whitney Stolich, Roni Stretch, Dean Styers, Don Suggs, May Sun, Tamara Sussman, Henry Taylor, Ed Templeton, Masami Teraoka, Samantha Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Mark Todd, Timothy Tompkins, Anne Troutman, David Trulli, Brian Tucker, Carrie Ungerman, Kaari Upson, Bob Van Breda, Alison Van Pelt, Jennifer Vanderpool, Vasa, Sage Vaughn, Ariane Vielmetter, Tyler Vlahovich, Catherine Wagner, Keith Walsh, Gary Ward, Esther Pearl Watson, Mary K. Weatherford, Marnie Weber, William Wegman, Roger Weik, Trine Wejp-Olsen, Jennifer West, Brett Westfall, Pae White, Ben White, Brian Wills, Fred Wilson, Lyn Winter, Steven Wolkoff, Eve Wood, Suzan Woodruff, Leslie Yagar, Rosha Yaghmai, Bruce Yonemoto, Liat Yossifor, Kent and Kevin Young, Brenna Youngblood, Buzz Yudell, Robert Rahway Zakanitch, Eric Zammitt, Christine Zelinsky, Jody Zellen, Bari Ziperstein, Pippi Zornoza. INCOGNITO 2011 COMMITTEE Price Latimer Agah (Committee Chair), Claressinka Anderson, Michael Briggs, Charlotte Eyerman, Veronica Fernandez, Alexandra Gaty, François Ghebaly, Justin Gilanyi, Heather Harmon, Karyn Kohl, Bettina Korek, David Montalba, Bruce Samuels, MD, Colette Shelton, Dr. Leigh Silverton, V. Joy Simmons, MD, Lia Trinka-Browne


I will be time-traveling and astral-projecting the next few weeks.

New Works. The Watercolors of 2011. Tentatively titled, "Blades of Grass."

No idea how many will be in this series. Range of size may vary. There is no horizon line. They are neither intentionally landscape nor decidedly portrait. They are an attempt at meditative abstraction, unfettered by the constraints of the secular world. They are clusters, maybe explosions, maybe implosions. They contain no narrative other than a record of their own making. They might be lies. I was going to title the suite, Blades of Grass, because the phrase popped into my head just as I was thinking about how titling them would be like naming individual blades of grass. I also want them to be elusive. Once I finish painting them, it's the viewer's turn. 

I was even move convinced Blades of Grass would be the title of the suite later that evening after my I-Ching reading was, Chun/Difficulty at the Beginning. The literal translation of "chun" is "a blade of grass pushing against an obstacle as it sprouts out of the earth." Quite apropos. These are the small acts of timing that make me think there might be some kind of order to my universe. I still might end up titling them, secretly, just for my own amusement, but on the other hand, I want to pretend I am the viewer too. 

^ Though not part of the series, it was the icebreaker. 

* * *

Introducing the new suite of watercolors.............

More to come.

Two images from this weekend's marathon painting session.

1) I had forgotten how obsessive I can get with watercolor and gouache.

Untitled, watercolor and gouache on paper

Untitled, watercolor and gouache on paper

2) It occurred to me that in a nutshell, my paintings are simply the result of troubleshooting and damage control.

(The images are slightly cropped because my scanner is slightly smaller than my slightly paper.)

A peek inside MY drawers.

I wish I could take credit for that scintillating title, but Tracy came up with it first and I'm not feeling very creative in the post title department today.

A huge part of my oeuvre is works on paper. Oddly enough I haven't exhibited them much and the flat files are stuffed to the gills. Unless it's being held for an exhibit, most everything in the drawers is for sale. Don't be shy. The photos are all iPhone, so forgive the crappy resolution.

First of all, everything in my studio is on casters. I like to move things around. One day, maybe it will all be just so. Until then- casters. Currently the flat files are by my sink with an old dropcloth protecting a piece of white laminate I had cut to size. The white laminate makes a nice top for the files just in case I ever want a clean, unobstructed surface. After I wash my brushes, I lay them on the top to dry. I also have several bottles of water stored on top. Most of the water is flat and one bottle specifically serves as a place to hang my studio keys.

Part of my rock collection is in a tray on top of a small table on top of the flat files. I recently acquired a large paper cutter, so it lives on top of the flat files for now. There's also some crap I need to put away. My seller's permit is framed and displayed conspicuously on the wall above the files. I can't even remember the last time I wore those rubber gloves. Rubber gloves give me the creeps.


The 2009 paintings are small. Most of them are on linen and they live in the top drawer now. I think I can fit one more inside. The rest are on the wall or on a bench. They look gawdawful squished next to each other like that. Talk about a visual cacophony. Jeesh.

The second drawer used to be the first drawer. It contains the smaller watercolors and gouaches on museum board and paper. My scatological drawings on paper live here as well.


The third drawer is where the unframed Tornado Face Drawings hang out, along with miscellaneous works on paper.

The fourth drawer is where the large watercolors live including watercolors from the late 1980's. Some even larger ones live at my storage unit.

But wait there's more! Still in the fourth drawer, we have even more watercolors and works on paper of all sizes. It's a veritable watercolor bonanza in there.

The bottom drawer is where my stockpile of blank paper is. In case all hell breaks loose, my goal is to have enough paper to last through Armageddon so that I don't have to dash to the store in the middle of it. God, I would hate that. Traffic would be a bitch here in L.A. and I'm sure there would be a run on art supplies with people trying to record the end of time and all.


I bought my flat files from a second hand office supply store. I left the former owner's labels on them. By the looks of the handwriting and the contents, I'm guessing NOT a painter. I can't remember if the arrow magnets were already there or if they were an impulse buy I couldn't live without.

And what recent post would be complete without my new obsession, a Brushes animation?

The Burchfield Exhibit

Watercolors have to go into dark storage for a minimum of five years after being on exhibition. I knew they were kept in the dark and not exhibited much for obvious reasons having to do with light, but I did not know the minimum 5-year rule after being on exhibit.

The Burchfield exhibit is beautiful. It also made me sad. They are not happy-go-lucky paintings. They are beautiful, but not light. I attended the lunch talk on Wednesday. I don’t know exactly what it was that made me identify with a man who would be 116 years old if he were still alive today, but there I was, starring at the paintings like I knew some secret. I wasn’t looking so much at how they were painted, which as a painter, I’m wont to d0- I was in his studio or at the breakfast table or whatever, writing “hamburger” on a scrap piece of paper and doodling around it.

Christopher Knight reviewed the exhibit in the L.A. Times, calling it “an artist’s show.” Burchfield’s notes, sketches and journals are on display along with books, catalogs and some magazine profiles of him in his studio. I can’t remember the name of the magazine, but in one there was a rather mundane photograph of his brushes, describing what kind they were and how he used them. It identified them as 3/4 of their actual size. In another image, we learn how he stretched his watercolor paper. Half the exhibit feels like it’s a glimpse into the working process of the artist, and to quantify it as half is silly. The documents, writings and “doodles” room, which is like the brain of the entire exhibit and quite the opposite of "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain," infiltrates the remainder of the exhibit- the exception being the wallpaper room, which is beautifully compartmentalized and shows the work he produced during that period of his life. Maybe this is just my read, but the wallpaper room felt oppressing, intentionally so, like holding down a wallpaper design job and painting fine art was a burden. Working for the man sucks.

After the talk, I asked about the photograph of Burchfield in his pitch-black studio and was told that he was a bit of a loner, didn’t care for the city, didn’t socialize much and didn’t even go to his own opening at MoMA. I can’t remember how that explained his cave-like studio, but apparently it does. I later went to the hardware store and bought another clamp light for my studio. I love the picture of Burchfield in his studio, but I'm also craving light in mine right now.

I didn’t want to leave the gallery. I envied the guards. Sure it was a rainy day here in the city, but knowing the watercolors will hit a couple of venues and then go back into the dark made me want to stay and memorize the works. There is so much symmetry to the exhibition. Here's a clip by Robert Gober describing his curatorial decisions.


Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield
October 4 - January 3, 2010
Currently at the Hammer Museum in collaboration with the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College.

Lesser Bloggers Might have Given Up By Now.

I have been blogging consistently since October 10, 2005. Based on the anonymous info that sitemeter sends me I had three visitors today. One person was looking for the 'Feudal System' and another was looking for 'Banksy'. Usually I would have a fourth visitor hoping to garner information about 'My routine.'


I'm so laughing.

But the big news is that..... ta-da, today marked the first watercolor of 2009. I say first, because I started and finished it today. I've worked on finishing up some 2008, 2007 watercolors thus far in the New Year, but yep, this was the first brand new one, though it doesn't scream 2009. I need to take some time to consider what 2009 should be about.

Mary Addison Hackett, Not yet titled, 2009, 6 x 9in. watercolor and gouache on paper

Also I think I may have done a social networking faux-pax. Someone mis-quoted a Kandinsky quote and then attributed it to Paul Klee. I chimed in that it was a Kandinksy quote. I wasn't trying to be a know-it-all, but it's one of my favorite quotes and I have it on my studio wall. I was pretty much ignored after that, so maybe I shouldn't have been such a quotation cop.

I'm wondering how many people actually understand my sense of humor.