"minutiae" by Nathan Abels: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

Down with the Sickness

Opens tonight.

HINTERLAND and TRAVIS EGEDYpresent
"DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS"
featuring the work of JUSTIN BEARD, MILTON CROISSANT III, STERLING CRISPIN, TRAVIS EGEDY and DREW ENGLANDER.

Join us for the opening reception on July 31, Friday, 6pm. The exhibit will also be open for first Friday on August 7th, from 6-10pm. To see the show by appointment - call Sabin Aell at 720-309-1764. Hinterland is located at 3254 Walnut Street in the Rino Art District.

"down with the sickness" is a mystical and transgressive collection of artworks, new media, and performances from a group of Denver's leading up and coming art misfits and radicals.
Explorations of the body, gender, identity, reality, and alternate states of consciousness are all licked and twisted in a fantastic cohesiveness that reflects aspects of our current cultural desires and truths.

"the sickness" has multiple dimensions.
Could the sickness be a viral spreading of new awareness and higher vibrational consciousness? If so, we are "down" with it. Or could "the sickness" be the very sickness that is plaguing and polluting our minds and our earth? The very sickness that forces you to go to work in the morning, or the very sickness that cloaks itself as the real? If so, down with the sickness!

The show will feature, paintings, sculpture, new media, and performance. This is surely not to be missed. Staying true to the unreal.

Art and Film Friday; Vol. 12 - Paris, Texas

This clip is the opening scene from Wim Wender's Paris, Texas. I saw the 1984 movie for the first time last week and loved it. It's a rich and beautifully composed film - it was really fantastic and a visual inspiration.

Still from Paris, Texas

Mark Tansey, Robbe-Grillet Cleansing Every Object in Sight, 1981, 72x72"

Still from Paris, Texas

Luke Barber-Smith, Grace, 2009, 43x34 inches, c-print

Still from Paris, Texas

Jason Stopa, Untitled (Mirror Series) Oil on Canvas. 2009

Still from Paris, Texas

Robert Adams- from What We Bought - The New World, Denver, 1970-74 - from flickr user Jodan Tate

Still from Paris, Texas - this one already looks like a painting.

Still from Paris, Texas

Vija Celmins, Untitled Portfolio: Desert, Lithograph, 16x20", 1975

Still from Paris, Texas

Edward Hopper, Nightwawks, 1942 - photo of the piece in Chicago by flickr user Jing a Ling. I think a lot of the google photos of this work don't show the color accurately - this one is pretty close.

Still from Paris, Texas

Phil Sims, Green Navigator, 2008

Still from Paris, Texas

Damien Loeb, Lolita, 2005, Oil on Linen, 36x84"

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Guest Blogger; Jason Stopa

Agnes Martin, Untitled IX, (detail) 1982 - at the Denver Art Museum - photo by mel brava

My good friend Jason Stopa shares a little about some inspiration from one of his favorite painters, writing, "I've read her writings twice this year. These are some of my favorite quotes of the late painter:

'Beauty and happiness and life are all the same and they are pervasive, unattached and abstract and they are our only concern. They are immeasurable, completely lacking in substance. They are perfect and sublime. This is the subject matter of art.'

'When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection.'

'I don't think the way to succeed is by doing something aggressive. Aggression is weak-minded.' "

Three from the Western Exhibit at the Denver Art Museum

"The Open Range"

"War Bridle" by Frederic Remington

"Stampede"

If you live in Denver and you still haven't checked out the recently reopened 7th floor of the Denver Art Museum you're missing out. It is dedicated to Western art - a genre I've really begun to appreciate since moving West. I shot photos of these three pieces on my visit Tuesday.

While I don't always relate to the subject matter in a lot of Western painting, many of the artists are exceptional painters - especially in their ability to capture different atmospheric and lighting conditions. Take these three for instance;

"The Open Range" displays the clear, often blinding sun that is typical of the West. If you look carefully you'll notice that there are no real dark color values- even the shadows on the ground are bleached by the sun.
Remington's pieces also portrays a high-noon sun gleaming against the backs of the two white shirted cowboys.
The "Stampede" on the other hand carefully composes the work with more detail in the foreground and soft, looser brush-strokes in the background - adding to the action and the depth of the image. It is almost entirely monochrome and his handling of subtle value variations is amazing.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Music for Your Studio; Vol. 23

A while back, I bought a one dollar cd called "The Sea" (pictured above) at the Salvation Army on a total whim. Over time I've played it far more than I ever expected to. I think the joy is in its simplicity - the entire cd consists of field recordings of the sea. There's no ambient soundscapes or soft beats - just waves, seagulls and shifting sand. I love how unadorned it is.

Today's pick for your studio is a recording of a summer thunderstorm in Washington state. It is related to my gem of a find - "The Sea" and equally simple. I don't know about you, but I love falling asleep while its raining. Can't beat it.

If you've been missing out on some nighttime rain or just want to clear your head- Carl Lierman's recording may be just what you need. His description of the recording says that it is a "Extract of a rainstorm in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. The rain is hitting a pavement roadway and surrounding rooftop, with intermittent rips of thunder. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50, Summer, 2009."

Get the free (and legal) audio here - who knows, this might be your new nighttime reading or sleeping music.