work oases and "Little People"

Survivor Man - found materials, 2007
I started making these mini oasis environments with only the materials I could find at work and in an amount of time that would not take away from daily tasks. I love the process of how and when they are constructed...they become little postcards of escapism. I am not sure if I would want to show them as sculpture of if I like the photos more....but either way I am finding them to be very pleasing and necessary.

Finally I Can Relax - found materials, 2007

This brings me to an artist I just read about this morning - Slinkachu - "Little People - a tiny street art project". The London artist, who tries to remain anonymous like other street artists, assembles tiny figurines in narrative situations and then photographs. He has gained some press recognition lately and has shown at Eleven Gallery and Urbis.
I was actually tricked by the pic above because I saw it posted on another blog and I was scrolling down fast, really only paying attention to what was on the walls...then I saw the far shot and knew I had been fooled!

friday...

artist of the day: erwin wurm

Have you ever seen pieces of an artist's career but not put them together? I had first seen wurm's "fat car" maybe over a year ago and loved it...then I saw his photography using everyday objects to define the space around a person or object....and I saw the last photo I posted in about every art mag about six months ago. While at Art Basel wurm was everywhere too...but it wasn't till now that I put all of his work together and enjoy the connected jumps he takes with photography and staged sculpture and performance.

Kissing the museum director / Be nice to your curators, Museums director carried by the artist 2006
Eames 2005 c-print
Venezianischer Barock 2005 c-print
Convertible Fat Car, Mixed media sculpture Indoor sculpture, CC-Graz C-print

who knew?

It is strange when I learn about a MI museum's new building through reading the NY Times! Well anyway, the story is about the Grand Rapids Art Museum's "green" relocation.

"...In fact, when the museum opens in October, it is expected to receive a gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The council awards LEED ratings (for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) to buildings that meet a list of criteria, which includes using recycled and recyclable materials, minimizing energy consumption and even installing showers to encourage workers to commute by bicycle..."

william hundley

Cloud, 2006

artist website

critic or dealer

IN THE NEWS

windsor biennial

The windsor biennial: I laughed, I cried...I got a little angry... Oh well, maybe next time. As far as the installation goes, I have heard from a couple disgruntled customers. I think that the ropes around sculpture is pretty off-putting if you ask me but seeing an unintentional footstep in steven brown's work was saddening. For any of you that I spoke to at the opening, you know my opinion but for today I am going to play nice. Artists that stood out for me...mira burack, steven brown, melanie manos, zeke moores, sara blakeman, chido johnson. One thing I would have liked to have seen is a more cohesive curation. Most museum shows tend to have themes (whitney biennial) so I would have appreciated an underlying concept and not just picking the best in show (or friends) to participate.





sara blakeman



zeke moores



jack byng

chido johnson





steven brown







matthew blake

mark schwing

mark schwing



dennis jones

melanie manos

mira burack





douglas bedard

mike richison

The museum has some beautiful views of detroit and has been one of those stops that I haven't gotten around to yet so I was pleasantly satisfied visiting canada for the night!

Ted Mineo and art friends...

Happy Sad (above,below) at Deitch by Ted Mineo
A nice feature to have on an artist website is a links page to other artists. I think the best way for artists to get shows is to network with your artist friends. Come on...that's how galleries find new artists! Below are a couple artists I found from Mineo's site:
Mamiko Otsubo Eric Hibit...very Ballenish

Kime Buzzelli

After just making that last post, conjuring up some feminist art thoughts, I ended up at New Image Art Gallery's site looking at Kime Buzzelli's new paintings. I find these paintings hard to look at. They remind me of high school doodles of girls in love, wishing for love or wanting to be desired. I feel like there is something missing in the artist and they feel weak compared to other woman artists that do similar things like Bernhardt (love her work) and Vine. The press release goes on to say, "...They search for hidden spaces of the mind trying to solve feelings of longing, investigating thoughts like evidence by delving deep into daydreams and exploring the sensations of losing yourself in love – vanishing..." So it looks like I wasn't so far off but is it counter-feminist to criticize another woman baring her heart in paintings...or is she poking fun at those girls too? hmmm....

happy spring...

Charles Joseph Grips - Spring Cleaning, 1881
David LaChapelle - Angelina Jolie: Lusty Spring

What a difference in "springs" for these women...

Outpost @ Hilberry

TIM DAVIS
JOHN LEHR
MICHAEL VAHRENWALD

ORGANIZED BY BRIAN D. MAHONEY (click link for better photos...yes, photos under glass are hard to capture during an opening for all you pic critics out there)















It is not normal for susanne to let Ida roam around the gallery but I thought that it somehow made for a more casual way of discussion to happen. It was like the dog broke up the serious opening mentality and was the hot potato for art conversation. I saw as people and children reacted to the dog and then in turn seemed more approachable. I know it sounds corny but could a gallery dog help create a more conversational atmosphere?
I enjoyed the photographs...I am always up for large scale c-prints but I was a little rushed so I can't give a full account of opinion. Photographs are something that I need time with because I feel they tell a story. It isn't about mark making and execution so much as the content and mood of the photograph.



I love this pic...I didn't even ask him to pose but saw him presenting this photograph to his father like he had made the print. What a great moment!

I also love these two men diligently looking at this print...isn't this what it's about?