"Do It" Exhibition Video

RMCAD Do It exhibition from John Roberts on Vimeo.

My work is part of this complex exhibition - featured briefly in the video at the 5:04 minute mark.

New Works for "do it" exhibition

“Ferdinand Demara, Jr., LIFE magazine, January 28, 1955”, Acrylic on Panel, 14x11”

“Locations of the Great Impostor”, Acrylic on Panel, 11x14”

“Ferdinand Demara, Jr., 1966”, Acrylic on Panel, 14x11”

Nathan Abels “Do It”

Working with instructions by Deimantas Narkevicius;

“Remember places you have visited and where you have spent some time, places where you had to make your everyday arrangements, constantly socialize with local people, where you may have been forced to change your habits in order to make the communication seem more natural. While walking, you slowly accustomed to otherwise unusual landscape. Your body was exposed to different weather conditions. Remember the location of these places on the map by observing it from the point where you live now. Use abstract thinking and if you wish -- an exact mathematical calculation to track down a geographical center of places you have visited.

Would you like to travel there?”

Narkevicius describes the many changes that may take place in a person while in the process of adapting to new locations. For some, this process takes a long time. For others, such as the subject of my paintings – Ferdinand Demara, Jr. – it is an integral part of existence. Ferdinand Demara, Jr. was called the “Great Impostor” after making headlines in the mid-twentieth century for his personal history of impersonating a surgeon for the Canadian navy, a teacher, a prison guard, a monk, a college professor, a Baptist minister, and a zoologist. His life was a series of adaptations to not only to a place, but to a profession, and even to a religious tradition. After his exploits were made public in a LIFE magazine in 1955, Demara found it difficult to continue his chameleon-like behavior with the ease he had enjoyed prior to publicity. I believe his body language in the second painting, based on an image from 1966, reflect the changes Demara experienced in his life after becoming an international celebrity.

Opening Friday May 6

I have three new works in the "do it" exhibit. See them Friday night - I'll post them here Friday night for those of you who can't make it to the show.

"do it" Exhibition
May 6 - July 29, Philip J. Steele Gallery

do it is a unique exhibition that centers on the notion of interpretation as an artistic principle. Starting with a manual of written, do-it-yourself instructions compiled from internationally renowned artists, the idea is for other artists to carry out the instructions and re-imagine the procedures from their own individual perspectives. These procedures range from household chores and recipes to random social activities and abstract concepts. They can be as complex as Tacita Dean’s directions for finding a four leaf clover or as simple as Louise Bourgeois’ invitation to smile at a stranger.

In the same way a sheet of music remains static until it is played, the instructions in do it lie dormant until they are once again brought to life by another artist. No two translations of the same instructions are ever identical. At the conclusion of the exhibition, all work must be destroyed. This reinforces the exhibition’s emphasis on interpretation rather than consumerism.

Originated by Swiss curator Hans Ulrich Obrist in the 1990s, do it has been carried out in cities throughout the world. RMCAD’s do it exhibition will feature a pool of more than 30 regional artists including graphic designers, musicians, museum directors, gallery owners, and several RMCAD alumni.

Interpreted and curated by Cortney Stell, Gallery Director.

Opening Reception
Friday, May 6, 6 - 9 pm
Philip J. Steele Gallery

The following is a list of participating artists and the artists whose instructions they have chosen to interpret:

Participating artist:	Following the instructions of:
Xi Zhang	Jay Chung
Yumi Roth	Rirkrit Tiravanija or Maria Eichhorn
Brandon Bultman	Elmgreen & Dragset
Mario Zoots	Jonas Mekas
Nathan Abels	Deimantas Narkevicius
Rian Kerrane	Louise Bourgeois
Tsehai Johnson	Febrice Hybart
Gregory Hayes	Lygia Pape
Bill Amundson	Febrice Hybart
Amanda Gordon Dunn	John Baldessari
Virginia Folkestad	Tobias Rehberger
Homare Ikeda	Carten Holler or Mona Hatoum
Viviane LeCourtois	Rirkrit Tiravanija
Laleh Mehran	Deimantas Narkevicius
Nick Silici	Bruce Nauman
Duncan Malashock	Elmgreen & Dragset
Jon Rafman	Pablo Azul
Michelle Baldwin	Joan Brossa
Adam Lerner	Christian Marclay
Ryder Ripps	John Baldessari
Colin Ward	Maria Eichhorn
Rori Knudtson	Carsten Holler
Travis Egedy	undecided
Alicia Ordal	Hassan Khan
Phil Bender	Jonathan Horowitz
Daniel Hipólito	Marjetica Potrc
Rick Griffith	Yoko Ono
Mondo Guerra	undecided
Isaac Linder	Tino Sehgal or Soo Ja Kim
Fernando Arambul	Paul McCarthy
David Fodel & Paco Proano	Yoko Ono

To learn more, please visit the do it website.

New Work

here's the painting I just finished titled, "Left". Acrylic on Panel, 24x36", 2008.

for a little background on the progress of this piece, check out this post. You can also get a bit of an idea of the editing process I go through from photo to painting. This piece will be a part of the RMCAD "Paralleled III" exhibition opening September 5th.

Next Up

The next exhibition I will be a part of opens September 5th at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design’s Steele Gallery, called “Paralleled III”. The West Gallery showcases images of contemporary American landscapes. Artworks depict images of sublime mountains, deserted roads, suburban landscapes, and the kitschy west.

The East Gallery is devoted to French Street Art, art that reacts to the urban streets of France. Artworks in this gallery include cardboard stencils, works on canvas, futuristic sculpture and vinyl banners.
French Street Artists:

* Jef Aerosol
* Supakitch
* Fafi
* 36 Recyclab
* Koralie
* Zevs

American Landscape Artists:

* Patti Hallock
* Nathan Abels
* Richard Wieth
* Daniel Sprick
* Christopher Leavery

pdf of flier here.