Now Showing - Jenny Morgan and David Mramor Collaborations

On Friday, the show called Vis-A-Visage opened at Object+Thought. It was a high-quality show overall, but the collaborations of Jenny Morgan and David Mramor were my favorites. The piece called "She's Alive" is quite special. Compared to Morgan's solo works, these collaborations are a great new direction that I personally find much more exciting. I am looking forward to seeing how these collaborations may effect her future solo works. The collaborations loosen up the formality of her solo figurative works and in "She's Alive" especially there is a great play of expressive brush-work and mark-making with delicate well-rendered aspects like individual hairs flying out of place. There is also a contrast of flatness with photo-realistic rendering - seen especially in her red hand. The way Morgan and Mramor have brought the abstracted brush work and spray painted sections around and through the figure (note the blue line on the figure's left shoulder) is so alive and exciting. I really loved this work and I am not often inspired by figurative works. If you get a chance to check out the show - if even just for this work - it is well worth it.

Jenny Morgan and David Mramor, "She's Alive"

Plus Gallery intern Brittany Schall recently started a blog - where you can also read about the show. When writing about the same piece, Brittany stated, "The piece She’s Alive is quite remarkable in the entrancing gaze offered by the portrait and in the placement of dynamic color swatches. The figure gives a soul-penetrating stare with her mouth sensually open as she leans forward as if to speak. Diffused florescent pinks and yellows spread themselves over her hair and neck, giving an odd feeling of paranormal luminosity. The larger color sections appear active as they engulf the lower half of the chest region. Bands of vivid blue paint slip in and out of the forefront leaving resonating afterimages. Vibrantly colored lines oriented in reference to the figure gracefully contour the body and convey a sense of movement. The technical execution of this work in conjunction with the unique subject matter makes it an incredible piece of work."

More Photobooths

Here are a few more photo-booth photos from my collection to accompany the ones I posted last week.

New Drawing

"Forest Fire", Graphite on Paper, 11x15"

Into the Void

Jay Shusters series "Into the Void"

New Aerial Photos

Take-Off

This is a short time-lapse of a take-off yesterday from Centennial airport in Denver, CO (by Nathan Abels)

Matt Siber

Matt Siber: Untitled Project

Untitled #36, 2006
Untitled #35, 2006
Untitled #33, 2006

Siber's Statement about the project,

"The Untitled Project is rooted in an underlying interest in the nature of power. With the removal of all traces of text from the photographs, the project explores the manifestation of power between large groups of people in the form of public and semi-public language. The absence of the printed word not only draws attention to the role text plays in the modern landscape but also simultaneously emphasizes alternative forms of communication such as symbols, colors, architecture and corporate branding. In doing this, it serves to point out the growing number of ways in which public voices communicate without using traditional forms of written language.

The reintroduction of the text takes written language out of the context of its intended viewing environment. The composition of the layouts remain true to the composition of their corresponding photographs in order to draw attention to relative size, location and orientation. The isolation of the text from its original graphic design and accompanying logos, photographs and icons helps to further explore the nature of communication in the urban landscape as a combination of visual and literal signifiers."

New Miniature

photo taken today by Nathan Abels

Free Couch

While browsing craigslist today I found this hilarious photographic gem for a free couch:

Insert witty caption here (leave comments!)

New Work by Jeff Page!

Good friend, and one of the hardest working artists I know - Jeff Page recently put up some new (untitled) work:

Check out his site for lots more.

Experiment

I recently did a five-part spray-painted stencil with some acrylic touch-ups intended as a print edition, but it didn't turn out quite like I planned. Oh well. Here's the best one:

Photobooths

At the aforementioned estate sale I also picked up a few new photo-booth images (first four in first row pictured here). I've scanned a sampling of my collection of photo-booth images for your enjoyment:

this is one of my favorites:If you like these, check out a book by Babbette Hines called "Photobooth"

New Finds

I picked up a couple of nice etchings at an estate sale Friday - they have exceptional line work:

Source Material

In my extensive collection of cut-out book pages and vintage paper material, I found this great photo of and eastern European wedding ceremony. We had it framed up in our living room for awhile. Well last night I bought the new Wolf Parade cd that I had mentioned a couple of days ago - and the packaging art by Matt Moroz and Elizabeth Huey had a great little painting done from the same image:original book page

Collaborative art for Wolf Parade's "At Mount Zoomer" by Matt Moroz and Elizabeth Huey

A Mountain for President

This video is simple, but effective. Music by Principles of Geometry, "A Mountain for President" - starring Sebastien Tellier on vocals. The video was directed by Camille Henrot and first screened for Paris Museum Of Modern Art exhibition "Playback".

Side Note

One of my favorite bands, Wolf Parade, just put a new album out yesterday. It is great, just like all of their stuff. This will surly be on my end-of-the-year list of top albums.


Wolf Parade - Soldier's Grin

Fake Miniatures

Here are a couple of fun fake tilt-shift photographs I made that are meant to look like miniature train sets or highly detailed dioramas models. I created them by some photoshopping a couple of my aerial photographs. You can find instructions on how to do it yourself here.

Photo by Nathan Abels, higher res here
Photo by Nathan Abels, higher res here

This topic reminds me of a few past posts on similar topics: Dioramas, and Built Environments

The End of Cheap Oil as an Opportunity

Car/Bus/Bike (found at theartofwhere)

photo by Nathan Abels

I highly recommend this article by Claude Lewenz at WorldChanging, called "The End of Cheap Oil as an Opportunity". The author outlines how the American economy and habitat changed after the Great Depression and WWII - establishing a period of unprecedented economic growth based on the abundance of cheap fossil fuels.

In a letter quoted in the article, Stuart Udall writes, "As a freshman congressman in 1955, I regrettably voted with my unanimous colleagues for the Interstate Highway Program. All of us acted on the shortsighted assumption that cheap oil was superabundant and would always be available. This illusion began to unravel in the 1970s, and it haunts Americans today.

Oil lies at the epicenter of a critical energy crisis. Petroleum is a finite resource and is the most precious, versatile resource on the planet. Cheap oil played a crucial role in the development of American power and prosperity, and sustains the military machine that dominates the world today. Oil is now nearing a historic transition that will alter the civilization Americans have come to take for granted."

The article does not only specify the problem, but has an interesting proposal for building communities (referred to as "villages") that do not rely on the automobile. In fact, Lewenz expresses great positivity about the possibilities of the future, writing, "if cheap oil is a thing of the past, change will come. We can either suffer it, or realize it as a great opportunity."

Similar to James Howard Kunstler, this article's writer, Claude Lewenz points out how problematic the suburban environment truly is in the long term; "In simple terms, it is time to stop building new developments that are based on the shortsighted assumption that cheap oil would be abundant and would always be available. It makes absolutely no sense to build another suburb, another shopping mall or another office or industrial park where people must drive distances to get there."

I could quote nearly the entire article, but you should read it yourself. If you are curious about Peak Oil, gas prices, and the suburban environment, this is a great place to start.

Jarred De Palo at Newspeak

On a walk yesterday, I stumbled upon a great show of prints titled "Dependency" by Jarred De Palo. It is in the front of a tattoo shop that also sells some art supplies and clothing - called Newspeak (2907 E. Colfax - near the Shoppe and the Fabric Lab). I'm glad I walked in, because this is a show that should not be missed. The hand-pulled and editioned silk screened prints are all very reasonably priced - $30-60 if I recall right. They look like they are printed on high-quality paper with nice little embellishments near the signature. Jarred has composed a lot of clever and interesting silhouette designs, most of which are also being printed on some clothing. Check it out!



T-Shirt designs by Jarred De Palo (these same designs are printed in positive on white paper for the short-run editions).

Bill Admundson

Bill Admundson, "What Our New Home Thinks"

Bill Admundson, "Eight Custom Family Homes"
Bill Admundson, "3 Neighborhoods"

I had a great conversation with the very funny and energetic Bill Admunson yesterday at Sliding Door Gallery. Bill is also an artist who works in what he calls the "Suburban Regionalist mode". His works have a great sense of humor, just like the artist.

New Drawing

"Weight of Chance", Graphite and Colored Pencil on Paper, 11x15", 2008

higher res here

Sip & Slide

TONIGHT.
(this flier has been in my pocket a few days)



FRIDAY JUNE 1 3 6-9 P.M.
Another Fantastic Slide Show Event with a Potluck,
brought to you by the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
Sign in at 6 p.m. and load up your slides (traditional or digital)
At 7p.m. the curtain will rise and the slide show begins.
The idea is simple, and has certainly been done before but we
think it will prove to be an excellent evening of showing and
viewing local creativity of all sorts.
Each artist will be limited to 10 slides.
Call 303-888-2679 for more information
or email taftkatie@gmail.com


Ironton - 3636 Chesnut

DenverArts Review

Norbert Schwontkowski

Norbert Schwontkowski, "FLOS", 2007, oil paint on canvas

40.5 x 61 cm / 15 x 24 1/8 "

Norbert Schwontkowski, "The world on time", 2006, oil paint on canvas

200 x 200.4 x 2.5 cm / 78 3/4 x 78 7/8 x 0 "

Norbert Schwontkowski, "Gestern unterwegs", 2006, oil paint on canvas

50.2 x 40.3 x 2.1 cm / 19 3/4 x 15 7/8 x 0 5/6 "

Norbert Schwontkowski, "DER RAND DER SICHTBAREN WELT", 2007, oil paint on canvas
160.6 x 160.6 cm / 63 1/4 x 63 1/4 "

Three works by Todd Keyser

Todd Keyser
Up Rooted
2006
Acrylic on Canvas
20"x20"
Todd Keyser
Glam
2006
Acrylic on Canvas
20"x20"
Todd Keyser
Corp.
2006
Acrylic on Canvas
50"x50"

The Course of Empire

I've been doing a lot of reading and watching lately about "Peak Oil" - the point at which the demand for oil exceeds the supply. Basically the world's oil supply is a bell-curve and at some point every oil well hits its maximum output. From there on it will produce less and less. The US oil supply peaked in the 1970s, which is why so much of our oil is imported now (and will increase to be so). Some scientists believe the world oil supply has already peaked, others believe it will happen in the next one or two decades.

I watched, "A Crude Awakening" recently, and I'm looking forward to my next netflix dvd called "The End of Suburbia", which more directly relates oil shortage or running out of oil with the collapse or decline of suburbia - an environment organized entirely around the automobile.

In a recent Kunstlercast, author James Howard Kunstler references a painting series by Thomas Cole called "The Course of Empire" in which the rise and fall of a empire is depicted through five paintings. Although our future world without oil may not be this bleak, it will be a much different future.

Thomas Cole's series "The Course of Empire" from 1834-36
The Savage State
Pastoral State
The Consummation of Empire
The Destruction of Empire
Desolation

Images from WikiCommons