Upcoming Exhibition

West with the Night

New work by Nathan Abels

Public Reception, Friday, June 13, 6-9pm
June 13 - July 4, 2014

Rule Gallery Pop-up exhibition being held at
Hinterland Gallery
3254 Walnut St, Denver, Colorado

Two Openings This Weekend

 I will be showing some abstraction at Denver's Groundswell gallery among some very talented company and at Eastern Oregon University - the Nightingale Gallery will have three of my small paintings in a show called, "Quietude" opening Friday February 8th from 6-8 pm.

One of the works being shown in Oregon is this 18x24" painting of mine called, "Light through a Monastery Window".

New work by Ane Graff

 Your Groundwater. Ane Graff

Opening Saturday February 2 at 14.00 p.m.
The exhibition will be opened by Karin Hindsbo, dir. Sørlandets Kunstmuseum,
and will be on display until April 28th 2013. A new essay by Norwegian writer Johanne Nordby Wernø on Ane Graff's art will be published especially for this exhibition.

You can view more of her work on my blog here - including a short interview she did with me way back in 2008.

Tonight

Andrew Speer, "Confluence,"at Pattern Shop Studio, opening First Friday December 7th.

and in Fort Collins:

more info here and the Patient Sounds website - M. Sage has been one of my favorite ambient musicians of late, so this is highly recommended.

A few more from Ravi Zupa

Ravi Zupa's show at Black Book Gallery right now is excellent - don't miss it. If you are in Denver, you need to see this show. 

Ravi Zupa | Kitchen Stuff | Watercolor, colored ink, colored pencil, India ink, graphite, silkscreen, collaged paper, etching and traffic cone relief printing on wood panel | 24 x 32 Inches

Ravi Zupa | Feed, Stifle | Watercolor, colored ink, colored pencil, India ink, graphite, silkscreen, collaged paper, etching and traffic cone relief printing on wood panel | 24 x 32 Inches

New Ravi Zupa

This is the promotional image for Ravi Zupa's new show at Black Book gallery (opening November 2nd) - this guy is definitely one of Denver's absolute finest.

Opening Friday

Opening February 24, 2012 at Hinterland
1st Friday March 2
running through March 16

Saturday - Alan Kitchen

I helped install this show yesterday and it looks great - don't miss the opening on Saturday!

"This Is What It's Like"

Opening and Talk tonight in Grand Junction

The Art Center - 1803 N. 7th Street, Grand Junction, CO 81501

2011 National Contemporary Exhibition
May 13 – June 25, 2011

Opening June 3, 2011

7pm - 9pm

Juror Michael Chavez & Exhibiting Artist Nathan Abels to talk at 6pm

Michael Chavez is the Curator of Exhibitions and Education at Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado. He has a BFA in sculpture from the University of Wyoming and an MFA in printmaking from the University of Kansas. Over the past 16 years he has worked at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Spencer Museum of Art and the University of Wyoming Art Museum. In addition to curatorial duties, Chavez is active in the Colorado art community serving on public art committees and judging several exhibitions for Colorado’s cultural institutions.

Invited artists exhibiting are Nathan Abels, Theresa Haberkorn, Sharon Feder, Scott Lary,

Collin Parson, Denis Roussel, and Mai Wyn Schantz.

28 artists were selected for the exhibition from the pool of 134 artists submitting. The artists selected to exhibit in this years exhibit were Justine Benedict from Grand Junction, CO; Sara Bielski from Evansville, IN; Thomas Calenberg of Grand Junction, CO; Tirzah Camacho of Durango, CO; Everitt Clark of Alexandria, VA; Andrew DeCaen from Denton, TX; Cynthia Duff of Grand Junction, CO; Nicole Finger of Telluride, CO; Ernie L. Fournet of New Iberia, LA; Lili Francuz from Fort Collins, CO; Samuel Fee of Washington, PA; Danny Gillies from Colorado Spings, CO; Suzie Goodwin from Eliot, ME; Wewer Keohane of Carbondale, CO; Stephinie Kirk from West Chester, PA; Kelly Krusnoski of Grand Junction, CO; John Lintott of Grand Junction, CO; Jim Lively from Dallas, TX; Nancy Myers of Grand Junction, CO; Meredith Nemirov of Ridgway, CO; Lori Reed of Galesburg, IL; Elaine Ricklin of Denver, CO; Georgia Rowswell of Cheyenne, WY; Peggy Shaw from Mahomet, IL; Barry Sparkman of Phoenix, AZ; Emily Stokes of Ann Arbor, MI; Trinity Sullivan of Idaho Falls, ID; and Alessandra Sulpy of Cedar City, UT.

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.

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:

Opening Friday March 11th

Wet plate collodian photograph by Kristen Hatgi

I've got two small paintings in the WWA show, "Feminine Influence" Opening from 6-9 pm- you can read about it here and here.

Upcoming Exhibits + New Drawing

Here's a small drawing (6x8") I did as a demo for a drawing class - sketched with watercolors then drawn over with colored pencils. The spring semester is fully under way now so I'm adjusting to the new schedule and some new classes. I'll have more new works in the coming months in preparation for several group shows mostly around Colorado:

Opening Feb. 4
"In the Flat Field"
Flanders Gallery, Raleigh, NC

March 11-April 23
"Feminine Influence"
Working With Artists Flash Gallery, Lakewood, CO

May 6- July 28
"Do It" @ Philip J. Steele Gallery
Rocky Mtn College of Art and Design, Lakewood, CO

May 13- June 25 Opening June 3
"2011 National Contemporary Exhibition"
Grand Junction Art Center, Grand Junction, CO

This will be a great show - opening tonight.

Habitat: Exploring the Relationship Between Our Natural and Manmade Worlds
Featuring Artists: Ricky Allman, Chris Ballantyne, Molly Dilworth, Christina Empedocles, Gregory Euclide, Evan Hecox, Tat Ito, Paul Jacobsen, Josh Keyes and Jean-Pierre Roy
Foothills Art Center
January 21 - March 13, 2011

• Opening Reception: Friday, January 21, 6:30–8:30pm
• Gallery Talk with Molly Dilworth: Saturday, January 22, 2pm
• In the Gallery with Molly Dilworth: Visit with artist Molly Dilworth while she creates a site-specific painting in our front gallery during regular hours, January 22–24
• Gallery Talk with Paul Jacobsen: Thursday, January 27, 6:30 pm (MEMBERS ONLY EVENT. Space is limited! RSVP to: michael@foothillsartcenter.org by Monday, January 24)
• SCFD Family Free Day: Saturday, February 26, 11am–2 pm; Kids create their own unique habitats

Through the art of 10 nationally-ranked artists working throughout the United States, Habitat will become a tour- de-force presentation of the rapidly evolving world we all live in. Through painting, installation, graphite drawing, found object sculpture and more, these artists conceptually reflect upon how technology, development and consumerism has created a compelling human occupation of the earth’s once rudimentary habitat. A far cry from the “traditional” portrayal of environmental subject matter, Habitat will explosively, yet intelligently, examine the sophistication that is the modern world, and its undeniable effect upon the planet’s natural state. This exhibition becomes a unique opportunity to support a dialogue that is extremely contemporary, relevant and overflowing with passionate opinions and perspectives.

Some of the artists that have come together for this exclusive show have never before exhibited in Colorado, and all are beginning to make signifcant impact on the national and international art scenes, with several showcasing works in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

Foothills Art Center, 809 15th Street, Golden, CO 80401
Mon-Sat: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Sun: 1:00 - 5:00 pm
303.279.3922
michael@foothillsartcenter.org

Sarah McKenzie at Rule Gallery Opening Friday

Sarah McKenzie, a friend and fellow Colorado artist whose work I greatly admire has an opening tomorrow night. As it turns out I will have a few newer works in the group show in the back as well including my recent moon painting and the small mountain painting called "further".

One thing I love about Sarah's work is how varied her paint application can be on one canvas - something that rarely translates well online. There are parts that are thick and pasty, parts that are washy and so thin you can see the weave of the canavs and other parts that are very flat. I took this detail photo today to give you an idea:

Concreate/Abstract is a very solid show - highly recommended. See you tomorrow night.

Opening Tonight at Rule

Gregory Hayes "Primary Array #9 (Triadic Harmony)" acrylic on canvas 12in x 12in 2009
_________________________
Gregory Hayes - re-seeing, Recent Paintings
...Exhibit opens Friday, October 1, 6-9p.
Exhibition runs October 1 - November 13, 2010

New works from Gregory Hayes. Group show "Detention" including: Christine Buchsbaum, Joseph Coniff, Hector Madera Gonzalez, Dmitri Obergfell, Zach Reini.
_________________________

Gregory’s current direction in art is a series of paintings based on the behavior of prime numbers. He is exposing their elusive ability to create shapes and patterns when they are distributed in set ranges on predetermined arrays. There are many unanswered questions about prime numbers and why they behave as they do. In these paintings he is acting as an interpreter of his own vision, but following the set rules of prime numbers in mathematics; to perhaps discover some order in the sequence of prime numbers.

Gregory is also exploring the idea of brush-less painting using a paint drip method. This involves applying paint to the surface of the canvas and allowing it to form natural concave circles. Gravitational force causes the paint to form these circles in a very uniform manner. This also adds a subtle 3 dimensional aspect to the traditional 2 dimensional painting, giving the viewer the ability to engage more in the painting’s viewing space.

Gregory is a graduate of the State University of New York and Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. He is now attending Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York for his MFA in Painting.

(from the press release)

Opening Tonight

It is a busy week for Denver art - a opening last night, a Thursday opening at Rhinoceropolis and then First Friday tomorrow.

Christine Buchsbaum

Katrin Davis

Gretchen Schaefer

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.