Oh Hey, Things I Made!

So I haven't posted images of my work in a while. I'm gonna make up for that now...

I'll start from where we essentially left off...After making those 3D cutout drawings, I decided to try using panels. I made this one first:




Then I played around with the leftover snippets of paper from tearing the holes:


Then I started making some black, white and gray ones, which I ended up putting in the show. Here's a preliminary grouping:


Here are the 9 gray-scale panels installed for the show:

At the show:


And a closeup of the black one because it's my favorite:


Also in the show were a new piece I made that I titled Come Around. Here it is in the studio:


Some installation shots before the show:








And at the show:




And then of course there was the huge white drawing that I've been complaining about for months. I titled it Come Closer:




During the de-install, we laid it down on the floor, and I got a little camera crazy:

















Whew! That's a relief.

Teaser: I've started a new piece, and I've been collecting shards of glass off the street. Stay tuned...

New York Excursion

I took a brief whirlwind sojourn to NYC on Friday and got back late Saturday night. I saw friends, Andrew Bird in Prospect Park (fo' free), and, of course, more art than was probably sane. Let's try to recall some of that art, shall we?

On Friday my bus got in 2 agonizingly long hours late, so I didn't have time to hit up William Kentridge at Marian Goodman or de Kooning at the Midtown Pace (but that is up through July 11th, so we'll see if I can't make it back in time...). I did get to MoMA (also fo' free) to see the German Expressionism show and a little taste of Cy Twombly sculpture. The German Expressionism show was really great. It confirmed 2 things, primarily: first, that reproductions are for shit (Kirchner's Street, Dresden contains blindingly vibrant orange, pink and acid green, which you would never know unless you are punched in the face by it upon entering the exhibition. In case my word choice is making my position unclear, I fully endorse being punched in the face by it--it's an enlightening experience); secondly, that the German Expressionists were all a bunch of creeps, and I adore them for it. Otto Dix especially. There is an entire wall of his drawings, and my only regret is not being taller so that I could examine the topmost row, which contains the most revolting image of a rotting, wormy skull I have ever glimpsed from below and wished I could stare directly in the eye. Also, I melted in front of a Schiele drawing, as is customary--it was a really simple sketch of a nude prostitute (natch), but her entire body consisted of maybe 3 lines--soul-wrenchingly elegant.

I was really excited about seeing some Cy Twombly sculptures. As you may know from looking at older posts, I'm a fan of his paintings, so the idea of seeing what he does in three dimensions was enticing to say the least. I always get this perverse kick out of seeing some unexpected aspect of an artist's practice--their sketchbook, drawings, anything that acts as a gateway into their mind during their process. There were only seven sculptures in the installation, which was kind of disappointing at first, but it ended up being exactly the kind of intimate glimpse I'd wanted.

Saturday started at the Met. Standing in a line that stretched through Cyprus and Mesopotamia, waiting to see "Savage Beauty", the Alexander McQueen show, was a surreal and mentally straining 30+ minutes of my life. I was basically seeing the show because my friend really wanted to see it, and I was happy to go along. There was also an element of morbid curiosity--I was skeptical, expecting to have a Rococo-level internal struggle about it. Let's see...how do I even begin to explain this...I have very mixed feelings about the seductiveness of opulence in art. I mean, who doesn't want to indulge in the maximum limits of pleasure and decadence? The catch is that indulgence seems to carry with it this element of social irresponsibility, ignorance, lack of deeper thought/ investigation, and I personally think there's a dangerous trap in endorsing the notion that unmitigated pleasure and beauty are what art is for or about. Plus, there was an unsettling level of consumerist energy in the air--standing on line, waiting to be funneled into the rooms that would contain our taste of consumable Culture for the day. But that's more of a treatise on the institutionalization of art than anything--the fashion aspect was just an extra ingredient that made me hyper-sensitive to the systems already at work. That said, I was completely blown away by the show. Everything was exquisite--curatorially and physically. The crafting of the atmosphere was really well done, and the intricate detail and careful craftsmanship that clearly went into each garment is something I couldn't help but admire and respect. I found myself identifying with Alexander McQueen--quotes by him were peppered throughout, interspersed among the labels for the pieces. That was a nice touch--it really gave a sense of his goals and mindset, which made him more relatable as an artist with a vision. My skepticism would make the occasional doubtful noise whenever there was some overarching thematic vein regarding beauty, the defiance of traditional beauty, beauty coming from within, etc. The fact is that he used the fashion industry as his medium. The fashion industry is not one concerned with inner beauty. I'm not really in the mood to get into a diatribe on body image right now, I just feel the need to assert my lack of patience for individuals who like to pretend that they're the exception within the larger machine.

After Alexander McQueen, I wandered next door to the relatively neglected Richard Serra drawing retrospective. I had a similar level of giddiness about seeing Richard Serra's drawings as I'd had about seeing Cy Twombly's sculptures, and I was not remotely disappointed. I was mesmerized the entire time. I was thrilled to look at his sketchbooks, and to read his list of verbs (which I transcribed into my own sketchbook, so that they could mingle with mine). I bought the exhibition catalog for good measure, hoping to figure out how the hell he made those deliciously textural oil stick pieces.

Richard Serra's "Verb List Compilation: Actions to Relate to Oneself"
[1967-1968]

It's really strange to go through and compare them with my words. His are so sculpturally oriented/ practical by comparison. I should compile mine into a cohesive list...

Anyway, after the Met, it was pouring rain outside, so we took a cab down to Chelsea and darned our rain-ready attire. First on the list was Donald Judd at David Zwirner, which was the perfect palate cleanser in a way. Austere, definitely. But I love Minimalism's uncanny ability to focus everything back to the bare essentials (form, color, material, line, space)

There was a surprise Sol Lewitt show at Paula Cooper right next door to Keith Haring at Gladstone. I saw both. Maybe I shouldn't be talking about them in the same paragraph--it places too much pressure on each of them...

OK, so Sol Lewitt at Paula Cooper: I only popped in for a minute because I was on a pretty tight schedule, but it was a classic Sol Lewitt project--the direction was written in the upper right corner of the wall (something like, 'all variations of 2 curved lines in a square') and the variations were methodically listed in corresponding drawings below. I appreciate Sol Lewitt. I feel like we probably have more in common than I think we do.

Keith Haring was a favorite of the day. There were three mural-sized drawings that the press release explained were "created in conjunction with a series of Bill T. Jones performances held in 1982 at The Kitchen...Executed in real time during Jones' dance performances--functioning as active set pieces with the sound of Haring's brushstrokes serving as the only audio accompaniment". My favorite thing about the show though was the display of selections from his early sketchbooks, which included notes, puns, and a whole series of drawings through which he tried to discern the best place in New York to draw penises. I wrote down something that made me feel in good company, mentally. It's like a geometry proof for art-making:

"Composition is defined by form • form is defined by boundaries • boundaries are defined by relationships • relationships are defined by isolated forms • isolated forms are defined by the relationships between boundaries • the relationships between boundaries is realized by composition • composition is realized by isolation • isolation is defined by association • association is realized by observation • observation defines composition • composition is defined by boundaries • boundaries are defined by limitations • limitations are defined by relationships between isolated forms • relationships between isolated forms existing within limitations and realizing boundaries defined by observation defines composition • composition is realized by association/ observation within given limitations/ boundaries"
--Keith Haring, 2/5/79

Next was Jack Smith at the other Gladstone, a really excellent suggestion from one of my professors. My favorite parts were the audio piece that greeted you at the entrance: a diatribe against the institutionalization/ commodification of art, and a text/audio/video piece by A.L. Steiner that underscored Jack Smith's aggressive vision for a more radical world.

Kippenberger at Luhring Augustine made me wish I could have seen the pieces in their original context.

Richard Tuttle at Pace was kind of a let-down actually, in an obscure way that I can't quite articulate. I think I hyped Richard Tuttle up too much in my head and then it wasn’t the work I wanted to see…Maybe if I’d spent more time with the pieces. I did really appreciate the varied textures/materials/colors going on, and the vibe of the show was good--very invitational.

Li Songsong at the other Pace was pretty awesome—it reminded me of what I love about paint, which is something I think I’ve needed to be reminded of lately, so I was happy to have that.

By the time I got to see Louise Bourgeois' fabric works at Cheim & Read, I was running kind of late, so I don’t feel like I gave enough attention/ energy to it. They were mostly smaller pieces with a very quiet presence about them (maybe because they're made of fabric), except for one in the back that had a more violent energy--it was a dark gourd-shaped object being punctured by many sewing pins. I liked that one.

I definitely rushed through Robert Mapplethorpe's “50 Americans” at Sean Kelly. I was stressed about possibly missing my bus. I was aware of thinking about how devastatingly hot Lisa Lyon is, and that the show itself was kind of a cool concept…that’s about it.

Spasms worthy of a blog post

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?

Excuses for my flakiness/ Thoughts on making work for one's heroes (sycophant vs. worthy fellow)

Please pardon my total lack of consideration for the people that apparently do in fact read this. I've been busy graduating (magna cum laude, with highest honors and the Mitchell Siporin Award, for those who care about such things), moving into a new habitat (which involved uhauling things from PA to Waltham like the day after graduation), and generally acclimating to the limbo that is currently my life. I know, I know: excuses, excuses.

Anyway, I'm not going to feed you lies and pretend like I have images to show you. I don't. I have tentative plans to de-install my work from the gallery "early next week" though, so I should really get on that...

Also, the studio is in the process of being renovated right now, which is very exciting. The kitchen's getting a face lift and we're getting a snazzy expanded print shop. That said, I can't exactly work in the studio right now, which is less than ideal. It hasn't been a huge deal yet, what with the spastic, ever-expanding To Do list that has been devouring my focus for the past few weeks, but I can feel the pressure building (my sketchbook feels it too, I'm sure).

SO, I thought now would probably be a good time to relieve some tension in the form of a good ol' fashioned senseless ramble. Let's take a look at the most recent pages of my sketchbook: angsty introspective rant...pretentious quasi-essay on goals/ ambitions...prolonged/overdone metaphor about works of art as children...uggghhhh....OK, here we go--something not so mortifying!

I've been thinking about this concept of artists making work that is inspired by something: a personal hero, a novel, a film, some noun that has inspired them enough for them to create something new, rooted in that experience. OK, here's the back story: Someone who shall remain nameless once suggested that I try making work for the people I admire until I figure out how to make work for me. I didn't really know how to feel about this suggestion at the time, and I still don't. I got to thinking about Emily Roysdon's David Wojnarowicz Project, and how she'd said he made her feel like she could be an artist. Phoebe Washburn was inspired by the work of Dieter Roth, and made an homage to him in the form of Untitled (Cheese). Judy Pfaff made a whole series of work when she moved into Richard Serra's old studio "in order to exorcise him". Basically every artist I've read about or heard speak has made something at some point in their career that they ground in that kind of notion. We all have heros, people who inspire us and make us feel like we could create something worthwhile and be loved for it. I feel that. But somehow this whole idea of making work for one's heroes makes me kind of uncomfortable. Maybe it's the ambiguity of the word 'for'. I think it's probably a totally respectable practice as long as 'for' doesn't mean 'to please'. If you're making something to please someone else--if you think to yourself, "Wow, this person has really inspired me. I want to try to make something that they would like," that feels dangerous to me. I think the thought process has to be something more like, "Wow, this person has really inspired me. I want to try to make something that would inspire them in return." Anything less is just sycophancy. Nobody respects a sycophant. But if you can make something that legitimately inspires your personal hero, then you're a worthy fellow artist. That should be the goal. Because that way, the work is still ultimately coming from you (it's ultimately reflecting your voice), not from some contrived facsimile of what you think your hero would want to see.

Alright, rambling accomplished. Stay tuned...Maybe if I get too bored/ stir crazy, I'll post something mortifying...

The List, Installment 9: Natalie Frank's Suggestions

These are the artists that stood out the most to me from her suggestions (she also mentioned Frank Aurbach, Glenn Brown, Leon Kossoff, and Robert Gober, as well as Elliot Hundley and Matthew Ritchie, both of whom I've already posted about):

Julie Mehretu:










Petah Coyne:





E.V. Day:



These are all deconstructed garments of clothing in tension

Highly Necessary Update

Wow, it's been a while! I've been extremely busy--the final show is fast approaching (May 4th from 5-7; we install on the 2nd!). So I've been cramming for that. I'm making a new piece, plus several auxiliary panels, all of which will be finished within the next week and a half. Yep. Will.

Let's see, what's been going on that's worth sharing...

I "finished" and named the giant white drawing. It's called "Come Closer". I don't have pictures to post really because I've been kind of putting off taking pictures of it. It's a pretty involved piece, and I haven't really felt like tackling it with a camera just yet. But it's ready for the show...sort of. I'm going to have to do this really complicated thing in order to move it from the studio to the gallery (it's too big to fit through any of the doors...). It's going to be a minor nightmare, but I'm kind of excited about it.

I had a studio visit with Natalie Frank! She was so lovely. My favorite moments were when she asked me if I had a background in figure painting, and when I told her yes, she said she could tell because it was like I was painting the body without actually painting a body (!!); and when she said it's like I'm painting with paper (!!!!). I felt like she really understood what I'm doing, which was a really pleasant surprise--I was sort of nervous about the visit because her paintings are so representational/content-oriented and mine aren't very much of either (they're not even really paintings anymore, if you wanna get technical...). But she was great--she gave me a hug after her talk and said she was genuinely excited to see where I take my work. Swoon! Oh yeah, she mentioned Elliot Hundley, Matthew Ritchie, and Donna Nelson during her visit, which was thrilling because I really like all of those people. She gave me many names actually...I'll have to do a List installment just dedicated to her suggestions.

Oh! Judy Pfaff gave a talk at BU! I adore her/ want to be her. Favorite moments include:

• Every time she talked about herself as a painter trying to work her way through/ figure out sculpture (oh the affinity)
• When she talked about color: "Everything alive is full of color. They think they've seen color, they ain't seen nothing yet". This was related to her feelings of being anarchistic/ "on a tear"/ a guerilla fighter without knowing who or what she was necessarily against: "How dare they think color is bad! How dare they think I'm like an explosion in a glitter factory. Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke!"
  
• When she talked about evoking sensation rather than any kind of graphic sensibility, and about learning through her work
  
• When she casually mentioned that she was married to a particle physicist at the age of 16 and said things like, "all glassblowing men are handsome", or, "that guy was so handsome I couldn't look at him for 2 years"
• Her story about buying all of the woks in a kitchen supply warehouse because the cashier told her that Frank Stella worked nearby and she was afraid he'd have the same idea.
• Just her voice

Yeah, she's awesome.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot--I decided to do the Post-bacc program next year, so I'm staying in Waltham. Forever. Hmmm, that would be funny if it weren't so ominously possible...

Well, I'm going to sleep now. I promise another List installment and hopefully some images soon, most likely after the show.