Bare Bones

Two of the members of Bare Bones work at the MCA, where I spent my mornings the last couple of days as part of an "Art Appreciation" field trip. I talked with the violinist for Bare Bones about their recent complimentary press in the Westword . You can purchase their new ep on itunes - or pick up a beautifully packaged physical copy at shows or even the MCA gift shop. They have an upcoming concert on May 28th at the Hi-Dive in Denver where they will be playing with the Broken Numbers Band. Take a listen:

Hope & Feather (demo) by Bare Bones

Zine Experiment

Several two-page spreads from a zine I put together based loosely on the life of Claude Dallas. Some of these drawings/paintings were retouched to be made into black and white photocopies, others are new for the zine. The cover is based on a charcoal drawing I did last year. The mountain lion image didn't copy as well as I had hoped, but most of the rest of the images did.

Autism: Unlocking Mireya's World via the Denver Post

My wife works at the Firefly Autism - about which the Denver Post did a long front-page story this Sunday. It also included the film embedded above. The school is currently gathering funds to purchase iPads which are being used as communication tools for students with difficulty communicating. You can donate to Firefly here - a very worthy cause.

Photo of the Day

Today's another most-of-the-day painting binge.

This photo is from the Peak to Peak byway on the way to Estes Park - a very European looking church high on a hill. The photo was edited with the easy to use free online photo editing tool : Rollip. You don't need an iphone to make your digital photos look analog.

Short Slowing

I've got a ton of painting to finish up in the next week and it is also nearing the end of another semester - so posting until the end of the month will be slow/sporadic but I will return. Current studio listening:

1. Hedia
2. Black Swan, "The Quiet Divide"
3. Timber Timbre, "Creep on Creepin' On"
4. Warren Zevon
5. Low, "C'Mon"

On the side

This is a small painting I did this week of Gojira (Godzilla) for my friend and art-collector extraordinaire Dana Cain. Dana has been a great supporter and promoter of my art (as well as the entire Colorado art scene) and I made this small 6x8" painting to go with her extensive Godzilla collection. It was fun to do.

Timber Timbre - Black Water

Timber Timbre - Black Water by Arts & Crafts

Mention in April Art Forum!

As part of the review of Mamma Andersson at the Aspen Art Museum;

..."Andersson's distinctive voice, anchored in dark, Bergmanesque sensibility of her native Scandinavia, perhaps holds a special resonance for Colorado, because of the parallels between its topography and that of Sweden. Certainly, some of the state's artists, such as Nathan Abels of Denver, tread similar physical and emotional landscapes in their work. Abel's painting 'Kairos', 2010, for example, offers a stark enigmatic view of a lonely road cutting through an icy landscape that looks both real and alien."

Kyle MacMillan, Art Forum, April 2011, p. 223

Arcade Fire last night

Fantastic show- and exceptional use of stage set as well as video accompaniment. Photo source: Flickr user aka_zoe. Here's the opening:

More NY Highlights - from the High Line

Sculptural billboard works by Kim Beck

Big Picture

While walking down to the Denver Art Museum yesterday, I passed by the alley of wheat-pasted photocopied photos -a part of the Illiterate gallery Big Picture show (mentioned previously). I have two photos up in the alley by City O City - both look quite a bit better from a distance. In the second photo above, the top and bottom ones are mine.

Painting of the Day

Michaël Borremans, "The Load", 2008, Oil on canvas, 15 3/4 x 19 5/8 x 1 1/4 inches

one of my favorite paintings from his small show at the Denver MCA last year

Eric LoPresti: Studio Visit / New Exhibition

While in New York, I had the opportunity to meet with Eric LoPresti in his studio in Brooklyn. I took some photos and talked with him about his upcoming show, "Different Country", running April 8th - May 8th 2011. The opening reception is at Like the Spice gallery on Friday, April 8th from 6:30-9:00pm. Eric was a guest on this blog back in 2009 - you can read that post here. He was also featured in the part of "Natural Causes" that I curated at Rule gallery last year.

Eric sketching out some of the graphic lines on a recent work with black tape - to be drawn in with black ink for the finished work.

tape

process

more process - the finished work below:

Rattlesnake (with Vectors), Oil and India ink on linen, 2011. 40" x 60"

A corner of the studio where Eric was working on drawings - in the frame is, "Sky Drawing B",
Graphite and India ink on paper, 2011. 11" x 14" - this drawing will be a part of the new exhibition.

on the wall of the studio (left):

Halo (Nez Perce), Oil on linen, 2011. 60" x 40"

From Like the Spice blog, "In his newest body of work, Eric creates beautiful American landscapes in his oil paintings and graphite drawings with; they feature soft hues and color gradients that outline test sites, wastelands, and wide open spaces. 'Maintaining his established focus on the physical and psychological aftermath of the Cold War, LoPresti renders landscapes bearing the scars of nuclear testing and subsequent environmental clean-up campaigns, especially those near where he grew up, in the desert steppe of eastern Washington state, near the Hanford plutonium production site.' His third solo show here at Like the Spice, in "Different Country," Eric pairs spectral color gradients with dark linear elements suggesting a division of territory within each work."

And finally, the view from Eric's studio building roof:

Trevor Paglen

One of my favorite works of the trip - Trevor Paglen: KEYHOLE IMPROVED CRYSTAL from Glacier Point (Optical Reconnaissance Satellite; USA 186), 2008 -depicting the path of classified American satellites over Glacier Point. His work is really fascinating.

Minmal Abstraction - Old and New

I saw a lot of minimal abstraction in New York and the more I see the more I enjoy it. These images don't even come close to the first-hand experience which is part of what made these works so alluring. The black paint on a Reinhardt painting is something that just doesn't translate to photos, prints, reproductions or anything else. I've been a lot more interested in the surfaces of my own paintings lately, so there was a lot to learn while looking at these works:

Malevich's ''White on White"

Malevich's ''White on White" - detail

Ad Reinhardt - Gorgeous black painting - one of the most perfect surfaces I've ever seen. Like a soft, warm, matte black hole - doesn't look like anything in the photo but it was pretty incredible in person.

Rothko paintings

Stella

Donald Judd

Donald Judd

Kate Shepherd

Kate Shepherd

Kate Shepherd - although hard to see in these photos, Shepherd has white geometric line drawings on these shiny surfaces.

Dario Robleto at D'Amelio Terras

Probably my favorite show in NY was Dario Robleto's "The Minor Chords Are Ours" at D’Amelio Terras. While most of the works are aesthetically pleasing without the rich content/back-story, they really come alive after reading through his process. I think you will agree:

Dario Robleto
I Wish The Ocean Sounded More Like Dusty Springfield 1996, 2010
32 x 49 x 1 3/4 inches
81.3 x 124.5 x 4.4 cm
Apple blossom seashells, altered sound of shells, glue
A collection of seashells were grouped into a series of pairs. Each couple was then serenaded with a different Dusty Springfield song for 48 hours at a time. Each seashell’s partner was then returned to the shore

(center) The Remorseless Force 2011
dimensions variable
lithographic and digital prints in 32 parts, a collection of ephemera (posters, flyers, handbills, tickets) from live events of now deceased musicians

(left) Untitled (Don't Decay In The Wrong Arms) 2010
59 1/2 x 45 1/2 x 4 inches
151.1 x 115.6 x 10.2 cm
Silhouettes from grandmother’s and mother’s album cover collections, cut vinyl, polyurethane on wood

(back wall) The Ephemerist's Dilemma 2010
41 x 57 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches
104.1 x 145.4 x 5.7 cm
cut paper, lithographic and digital prints in 28 parts, a collection of ephemera (posters, flyers, handbills, tickets) from live events of now deceased musicians

(in the Ball jars) The Minor Chords Are Ours (detail) 2010
60 x 23 x 23 inches
152.4 x 58.4 x 58.4 cm
Vintage mason jars, vintage wooden spools, stretched audio tape, minor chords, linseed oil, willow
The minor chords from a family’s 60-year record collection were isolated to audio tape, stretched into thread, and spooled.

(image on wall) Dario Robleto
Candles Un-burn, Suns Un-shine, Death Un-dies 2010
46 x 65 1/2 x 2 inches
116.8 x 166.4 x 5.1 cm
Digital C-print mounted on Sintra, a collection of stage lights taken from the album covers of live performances of now-deceased musicians

In Detail

Details of paintings - in no particular order - photos by yours truly:

Courbet

Matisse

Pollock

Seurat

Guston

Bonnard

Inness

Twatchman

Balthus

Close

Johns

Bruegel

Picasso

Manet

Cole

Ryder

Hopper

Vermeer

Velasquez