So I just finally got around to finishing the...March issue of Art in America. Yes, March. Weird. I thought I took April and May with me out of one of the crates in the studio currently housing all art-related reading materials in my possession. Nope, I took March and May. Poor April. But I guess I never actually finished the March issue, so it was a good thing I took it becauseeeee (dramatic breath) upon concluding this woebegone issue, I had a rapid succession of recognition spasms:
Spasm 1: The article on Julian Schnabel. OK, so this is sort of a prelude to the real recognition spasms. I do not know Julian Schnabel. However, I do love his paintings, and he's been in my mind a lot recently, so it was really cool/ weird to be confronted with full-page spreads of work that has been flurrying about in my brain for the past few weeks. So it was kind of a, "Hey, I know you!" moment anyway. This article also reaffirmed my certainty that I must stand face-to-face with a Schnabel before I die...Yup, mortality spasm.
Spasm 2: Alison Schulnik was mentioned in the article "Soul Searching in the USA" for her participation in an SBMA exhibition, "Stranger Than Fiction". Here's how my brain reacted to that: "Alison Schulnik!! I know her! Canada! I wanted to eat her paintings, but touched them instead! I fucking love her! That video she did for Grizzly Bear is epic. Oh hey, yeah, that painting! Octopus tattooo!!!" Translation, I saw her work at Canada last summer! I saw the painting mentioned in the article (I also touched it. You would too)! Her delicious frosting blister paint crusts fueled an entire body of work for me. Her work also translates really well into video via claymation in this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puph1hejMQE
And she has an octopus tattoo, which is important because I have one.
Spasm 3: IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE, Dawn Clements is mentioned because she was in the same show. Boom, recognition spasm: "Hey! She rode in my car!!" She did indeed. She came to Brandeis fall semester of this past year to give a talk (during which she gave her own personal perspective on the piece mentioned in the article), and I happened to be the person designated to transport her to and from her hotel. I also bought her lunch. We had a lengthy conversation about gender roles. She asked me my name again before I dropped her off because she said she wanted to "look out for me" (yes, I squeeled inwardly)
Spasm 4: Review of Joe Bradley's shows at Gavin Brown's Enterprise and Canada: "JOE BRADLEY!! CANADA!!!! I know both of those nouns!" Joe Bradley was one of the visiting artists during the program I did at Tyler. He's also one of the main member artists at Canada, which I've already mentioned above (Wallace Whitney, the director of the Tyler program, is also a co-organizer of Canada, so that's how that linkage comes in)
Spasm 5: Review of Odili Donald Odita's show at Jack Shainman gallery: "GAAHHHH, ODILI! Tyler again! We went to his studio! I stood among those paintings! That was such a cool building... 'largest canvas in the show at about 9 by 11 feet'...Duh, he has like 12 foot ceilings..." So yeah, part of the Tyler program involved studio visits and Odili Odita is on the faculty at Tyler, so we got to go to his studio, which was a really awesome space. I think he was preparing for a show in Sweden then...
Spasm 6 (Denouement): Behold! The final page of the magazine is a full-page advertisement for none other than Tyler SPI! "I posted flyer versions of this all over the art building! Woo, go Wallace, taking out an ad in Art in America! I am so personally pleased to have taken part in the first generation of this program!"
And that, friends, is what we call 'blog-worthy' (because I was alone in my kitchen when all of this happened, and even if someone had been there, they would not have had the necessary level of enthusiasm in their reaction. But you will, surely. You will damnit!)
Glad you read this yet?
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