Starmaps

A better image of some work I posted a couple months ago.  This triptych was chosen to be in a group show this summer at the NewSpace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon.  More information on the dates of that show later. Each of these images are 16"x20".

new stuff

Some new work.  These are 24"x31" xerox printouts with the yellow area made using a highlighter pen.  Like some of my previous work I'm interested in using very specific materials in a way that is both reflexive of their traditional use as well as ambiguous/cryptic with regard to the subject matter depicted.  These are very much a work in progress.  

Postscript NY

New York was fantastic, really.  I saw more art than I probably will ever see in an eight day period.  To be honest I don't think I could handle seeing that much art that quickly again, but maybe.  Anyway, its been a while since the trip and I'm still getting things out of it.  It has been a long process of unpacking all of that imagery and it has certainly fueled a lot of my own artwork over the past month.  Seeing so much art and such a variety of it really opened my eyes and helped me locate the type of work that I am currently making and the type of work that I would like to make in the future.  My favorite place has to be Dia:Beacon followed closely by Sculpture Center.  Both of these places show considerable, almost religious respect to the artists that they exhibit.  Dia:Beacon is certainly the zen garden of art museums and the train ride up on a late winter morning is a beautiful experience in itself.  Go there!  Lots of other great experiences including fun times with all the kids from the group and a couple of cool french girls too!  

The Armory Show!

Well the Armory show was a hoot!  Such a concentrated view of the contemporary art market is seldom available and it was amazing to see the art-selling machine all greased up and running at full speed.  Gursky, Koons, Hirst, you name they had it and I have to say I liked that.  After running all over the city looking at art it was nice to see a lot of stuff in one place under one roof.  The whole market frenzy side of things didn't really bother me either to be honest.  The booths were well organized and I was able to get a good look at the stuff I liked - which included a solo booth by Martin Creed that was fantastic, a solo booth of Colby Bird and a solo booth of Hans Schabus.  All three of these guys had great stuff that was really interesting and carefully arranged and displayed.  

WACK! at PS1

WACK! is a survey of landmark 60's and 70's feminist art that was recently on view at MOMA's PS1 in Long Island City.  It was a large show made up of many examples artwork that coincided with what is often termed the "first wave" of feminism. The decision to present this work in a large survey format is interesting and there are a number ways to interpret the significance of this decision in light of the developments in feminism over the last four decades.  Personally I think it's important to recognize and acknowledge how revolutionary much of this art was during its time.  Although much of the work seems overly direct compared to feminist art made today - and I am not sure that there are many artists working today that explicitly call themselves "feminist artists" - it forces one to re-examine the idea of art with truly revolutionary goals.  Where is that type of art today?  Have we completely lost the ability to make overtly political works of art?  Certainly many would say yes, or at least that feminist issues are more difficult to identify and combat these days.  Many artists have abandoned the critical-oppositional stance in favor of one that does not pretend to operate outside the systems of oppression that they critique.  Think of the paintings of Lisa Yuskavage, for instance. In any case, it is refreshing to see such direct work today and it reminds me of the importance in acknowledging the powerful political voice that is available to art at certain times in history.