first, a group exhibit featuring the work of Steve Banks, Heidi Hernandez, Jeff Tady, and Terry Rathje. this show runs from october 5th through november 21st, at Quad City Arts in rock island. in a way, this is a thematic presentation - the pieces shown are all part of a quasi- exquisite corpse, meaning that each painting shown is a piece done by two of the artists. steve explained that each artist will pair up twice with one other artist to make paintings (making each artist a part of six paintings). i've seen a few of the pieces in steve's studio, and things look pretty good.
next, there's a group show at Midcoast Fine Arts @ Bucktown. steve, terry, and i will be combining our noggins with Saint Ambrose professor of music Bill Campbell for an oddball idea called Mechanical Advantage.
for this, we're all stepping far, far, FAR outside our comfort zones and making – for lack of better words – kinetic sculpture. it might be more apt to say we're going to make nonsense machines - completely cheap-ass, ridiculous contraptions that – at their heart – are simple machines (levers, wheels, pulleys, etcetera). the only thing i've really constructed to far is a wind-blown paddle wheel that has camshafts coming off of both sides of the axle. these camshafts will make things move and will hit items for musical tones, and also on the end of one side is a painting that gets dipped into a gallon of paint over and over again. yes, i'm completely stealing from Roxy Paine:
Roxy Paine
a finished canvas produced by PMU (Painting Manufacturing Unit)
1999-2000
that exhibit opens at the end of the month. yeah... we're not ready.
last but not least, the group show i've helped organize has indeed been accepted for a two month slot at the Figge Art Museum's Arts Cafe space. all the involved artists are excited about this opportunity. the show runs from october 5th through november 21st, with an opening reception on Halloween. here's the poster i came up with:
click on the image for a larger view, and to read the fine print of the story behind the exhibit.
that's it. it's going to stay a bit quieter around here for a while. little amelia is due to enter our world in early october, and i'm sure i'm going to be head over heels in love with her, not wanting to write much or make much art for a few months.
