Guest Blogger - Bill Amundson

Bill with his piece the "Nervous Patriot" at the Denver Art Museum

work in progress (two days in)
Working title-TEEN EXCAVATION

work in progress (two days in)
Working title-TEEN EXCAVATION

A recent review in the Denver Post said this of Bill, "Bill Amundson is such a familiar figure in the Denver art scene that it's easy to take him and his art for granted. " I've posted his work several times on this blog, and I asked him to share a list of thing he's been influenced by or interested in lately. As with his artwork, Bill did not disappoint:

5 Artist's I look at all the time...

1. Peter Bruegel the Elder.

2. Ivan Albright (The first, perhaps only, artist my parents took me to see.)

3. Roger Brown (along with fellow Chicago icon H.C. Westermann)

4. The great draftsman and mama's boy Achilles G Rizolli

5. Illustrator/humorist Bruce McCall

5 artist's I've been looking at a lot recently...

1. Wayne Thiebaud (based on multiple visits to his current show in Loveland.)

2. Peter Saul (cause it's always good to revisit the real King of Bad Taste.)

3. Frank Magnotta (especially his big, BIG imaginary structures.)

4. Mental patient artist extrordinaire Adolf Wolfli.

5. Glen Brown's recent obsessive abstract paintings.

5 musicians that are really important...

1. All Randy Newman (he's my real hero and role model.)

2. Cleveland's Per Ubu (their first 3 recordings from 75-77, DATAPANIK IN THE YEAR 0, THE MODERN DANCE and DUB HOUSING.)

3. Yo La Tengo (I play their noise rave up I HEARD YOU LOOKING at least once a day.)

4. Steve Reich (especially Music For 18 Musicians. It's perfect for repetitive work. repetitive work.)

5. Any and all George Jones.( aka the non Clapton God.)

I'm also currently streaming the great New Jersey free form station WFMU a lot.

10 Movies that I must like cause I've seen them 5 times or more...

1. Jacques Tati's Playtime l967. (The best art film ever made, and one of the great social satires to boot!)

2. Gates of Heaven 1978. (The first, and still the best, of Errol Morris' documentaries. Everyday life is god's weirdest invention.)

3. Robocop 1987. (The original one. The other best social satire. Oh, besides Doctor Strangelove.)

4. Roadhouse 1989. (Swayze teaches us men what it means to be a MAN.)

5. Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory 1957. (Kirk Douglas teaches us how to be men in war!!)

6. Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries l957. (Victor Sjostrom teaches us what men should think about before they die.)

7. Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity 1944. (Fred MacMurray teaches men about women that should really be avoided.)

8. Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr 1928. (Buster teaches us how to survive a hurricane with artistry and aplomb.)

9. Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched Trains 1966. (Male coming of age during war, Czech style.)

10. Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures 1994. (The downside of being creative and imaginative.)

Some Television?

I'm obsessed with AMC's Breaking Bad (The only show I've been obsessed with since Deadwood.)

I also enjoy the Marty Stuart Show on RFD, Johnny Qwest reruns wherever I can find them, and local Fox News broadcasts, especially Libby Weaver's aztec sundial jewelry and Leland Vitter's beloved hair and laptop.

The best novel I've read recently (on Cd, of course) is Jonathan Miles Dear American Airlines, which is really funny and also terribly moving..Non fiction book (not on Cd). Umberto Eco's On Ugliness.

And finally, I also tune in to KHOW radio's Dan Caplis almost every afternoon so I have something to direct my substantial hatred towards. Keeps a fellow young and vital!

New Works by Bill Amundson

New works from Denver's own Bill Amundson (not even on his website yet!). Bill shared these pieces with me recently and I'm happy to be able pass on the sarcasm, wit and visual pleasure of these drawings with you. Be sure to click on the images - the details are great on these works:

SIGNS WITH HOMES, 18"h by 36"w

HOME WITH BRAD PITT BILLBOARD, 27"h by 26"

TREE WITH HOMES, 18"h by 40"w

SELF PORTRAIT WITH PRICEY MOUNTAIN HOMES, 44"h by 40"w

LANDSCAPE WITH STORE, 32"w by 26"h

Bill Amundson's Christoph Heinrich portrait

My good friend Bill Amundson did the above portrait of Christoph Heinrich for this Sunday's Denver Post. Read the accompanying article here.

New Work by Bill Amundson

LANDSCAPE WITH STUMP. BAG AND SIGNS 20"h by 36"w
LANDSCAPE WITH WALL, FENCE AND TANKS 18"h by 40"wLANDSCAPE WITH VANITY DEVELOPMENT (LOIS THORN) 25"H BY 24"W
LANDSCAPE WITH VANITY DEVELOPMENT (LORENZO'S TOWER OF FUN) 27"h BY 24"w
SELF PORTRAIT WITH BUILT IN CRITICISM (43"H by 40"w)

Bill sent over a few new images of what he's been working on recently. If you've been out to the new Plus gallery you may have seen the "Self Portrait with Built in Criticism" - humor, social commentary, and great draftsmanship all in one!

Opening tonight!

Objectophilia opens tonight from 7-10pm featuring 44 artists - many from Denver including some of my favorite local artists like Bill Amundson, Justin Beard, Patti Hallock, and Sarah McKenzie. It is partnered with the Biennial of the Americas and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver on Delgany St. Read more about it on their facebook site and their blog.

Recent Inspiration and Denver Updates

My posting has been a lot more sporadic lately, but those of you still checking in should know I haven't abandoned this blog. I'm working on a lot of new paintings (5 in progress right now), preparing for a new job and in general, just juggling my usual balance (or imbalance) of work and art.

My good friend Bill Amundson will be giving a talk at Plus Gallery tomorrow night, November 4th - don't miss it. The talk is at 7, and will definitely be crowded, so I might recommend coming a little and enjoying some beverages sponsored by Colorado Cider Company. It will be entertaining for sure. To prep yourself, check out his recent Untitled Art Show podcast.


Also, this Saturday is Night at the Museums with many local museums participating in free special events and extended hours.

As for recent inspiration:

Kubrick films (recently enjoying the Killing from 1956):

Caspar David Friedrich-esque paintings by Seamus Conley:

"Dusty" 2011 36x60 oil on canvas

Abstraction by Thomas Nozkowski, Zak Prekop (pictured below), Keltie Ferris (of course) and the recent exhibition of Motherwell paintings at the Denver Art Museum.


I've been playing the beautiful choral music of Juliana Barwick in my studio a lot lately:



If that wasn't enough - here's a new mix you can stream;

A. G. Rizzoli

These images c/o Giornale Nuovo.

Bill Amundson recommended the work of A. G. Rizzoli (1896-1981) to me last week and it is fascinating stuff. Similar to Henry Darger's highly personal and elaborate mythology, Rizzoli would come home from working his day job and explore an alternative world interpreted primarily through utopian and (as he understood it) heavenly-inspired architecture. His elaborate drawings of friends and acquaintances depicted them as gothic inspired buildings - meticulously drafted and often combining colored ink drawing with prose and other text. You can read more about his story online here. I'd highly recommend this book about his work.

Architectural Stutter

by Léon Krier - found at gemeinschaft

see also:

Bill Amundson, "What Our New Home Thinks"

Memorable Art of 2008 - A Look Back

A month ago (where did that month go?) I put up my music list of the year and it got me thinking about my favorite art or artists experiences/pieces of the year...here it goes...

• In person:

Damien Hirst at the Denver MCA:



Daniel Richter at the Denver Art Museum:



Jenny Morgan collaborative pieces at Object+Thought in Denver:



The "Manifest Hope" exhibition of Obama art in Denver (Shepherd Fairey and other great Juxtapoz artists):

• Found online this year:

Digitally composed photographs by Beate Gütschown after landscape paintings.



Kaye Donachie, "Your untold dreams I love to see", 2005, oil on canvas



Amy Stein "Howl"




There were many more (Romanticism, Tonalism, etc)- but these stood out to me when I went through my blog posts for the year.

2008 was also a year of many blogging experiments - some of which I would like to revisit this year, including:

• Artist Interviews (Leah Giberson, Ane Graff, and Julian Lee)
• Exclusive Art (Bill Amundson, and Jason Stopa)
• How-to
• Inspiration Walls
• Simulacra

Anything you'd like to see more of in 2009? Leave comments please...

Big Openings Tonight

Rex Ray - Public Reception

The Promenade Space · 6 pm at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art

Step into the multi-hued world of Rex Ray to experience a fresh breeze of color and organic shapes with a nod to mid-century modern art and design..

PLUS GALLERY RE-OPENS AT 2501 LARIMER; PUBLIC GRAND OPENING AND

ARTIST'S RECEPTION FOR KAREN McCLANAHAN FRIDAY, MARCH 13TH AT 6PM

My friend Bill Amundson will have new work at Plus as one of the gallery's most recent additions.

also RMCAD's student show opens tonight, and loads more art/openings of can be found at the always-great denverarts.org.

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.