blue, gold, and green

ELEMENTAL

2011-12-29T09:22:00.011-05:00

Emily Christenson, Steve Banks, Terry Rathje, and I all just finished the run of our group show ELEMENTAL. The show came about mostly within Steve's mind, as he thought about each of us and our individual interactions with nature. We tended to run the gamut in our group, with Emily and Terry being the most immersed in the natural world (Terry living in a rural area where the Wapsipinicon River actually flows in his backyard; Emily taking trips to Alaska to literally paint in glacier lakes - water-based oils... wha?...) to Steve being the most distant from any natural immersion (he can't even see anything green from his downtown apartment or studio windows).

I showed my most recent paintings and drawings. Same goes for Emily - she showed recent paintings and drawings from her work in the Carribean Ocean. Steve gathered driftwood from the banks of the Mississippi - the only "natural" thing he could see from his window (it's two blocks away) and constructed a passageway made of wood and fired clay totems/masks. Terry gathered willow wood from his back yard and paired it up with 2x2s that had felt the touch of a human hand, creating a construction that was inspired/informed by his recent trip to Istanbul (he had a show there), where he learned about reductive architecture.

All in all, it was a great time, and I always enjoy showing with these locals. We had great attendance at two receptions. We were featured guests for an hour-long interview on Augustana College's public radio show "Art Talks" (mp3 should always be archived here http://www.wvik.org/listings-arttalks.htm look up November 20th 2011). We had some feature coverage in the Quad City Times.

i hope you enjoy the images. click on any of these for a larger view.

the blackest bile

2011-11-29T22:19:00.002-05:00

what it's all about.

yeah, that's right.

december approaches, and i will soon be out on foot in the middle of fields taking a lot of photographs of churned up black earth, fog, blackbird groupings, and ultimately – in january – completely frozen-over hellscapes. can't wait.

i'm back.

2011-09-02T15:21:00.007-04:00

i suppose i'm coming back from a hiatus of sorts - the main reason for my absence is that i'm now a proud father of a 3 month old.

my daughers rock; studio time had to wait for a while.

so... i've finally caught up a bit on some of the work that was started several months ago. I'll be in a group show this November/December, and most of this new work will be shown when that time rolls around. here's a new painting, followed by a new drawing. i'm a little worn out by painting lately, and i'm not sure how to accurately describe it. things seem a little forced to stay within the boundaries of what i've done so far with this "series," but the more i try to push out of that mold, the more things come full-circle back to what's comfortable. the drawings, on the other hand, are not that different from what i've been doing for the last 6 or 7 years, but they still feel fresh. funny, eh?

here you go:

all gossamer, temporary
2011
acrylic on canvas
46 x 34 inches

untitled
2011
pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches

m i d d l e s t a t e s opening reception

2011-01-29T20:16:00.004-05:00

m i d d l e s t a t e s opened this weekend and i had the chance to drive to des moines for the reception. the show looked great, i met a lot of very cool people, and we ate good food and had some good beers.

big thanks to:
Benjamin Gardner, Curator of the exhibit and Professor of Drawing at Drake University (and to his wife Amy as well)
Heather Skeens, Director of Anderson Gallery
Gilbert Vicario, Senior Curator at the Des Moines Art Center
John Fender, designer of the exhibition catalogue and Graphic Design Professor at Drake University

Here are some install shots:

oh no! a 2010 wrap-up...

2011-01-02T15:32:00.005-05:00

hi there; long time no see.

first off, here's the site for "m i d d l e s t a t e s," the group show i'm in this winter:
http://artsci.drake.edu/andersongallery/current.html

i'll be showing five paintings of mine, and i will doing my best to attend the opening reception (everything revolves around what the weather will be like that weekend). some old friends are in the show, as well as some artists i've never met before. it should be a great time catching up on the old and learning about the new.

now then... as you can tell, there have not been many updates here lately. i've been a little bit jaded about social networking or blogging on teh internets as of late, mainly due to the way Facebook has reduced the conversations (well, usually just the one-sided reading of posts) i have with 90% of my friends to really strange, even smug posts such as "so-and-so hates x, y, and z" (x, y, and z being completely ridiculous things to write long-winded, public gripes about). it just seems that 90% of the lengthier, more intelligent dialogue is absent from my life lately.

now that the holidays are over and done with, i hope to soon finish up a painting and a drawing that have been placed on the back burner for a month or two. and then, of course, i hope to get some real momentum moving down in the studio. this usually happens in the dead of winter, so... fingers crossed.

as far as a wrap-up on 2010 goes, i could go on and on about the details of the daily ins and outs, but there's one quick summation that covers everything: i can still count the number of really amazing close friends of mine on one hand. to each of you in the following photographs, thanks. i love you all a lot.

-m

news + new painting

2010-10-19T14:02:00.008-04:00

the news:
i will be included in a group show this coming january and february. the exhibition is called "m i d d l e s t a t e s" and it is curated by Benjamin Gardner. the venue is Drake University's Anderson Gallery in des moines - should be a grand time at the opening. i'm guessing that there will be a web site for the exhibit soon, so sometime soon when i have more time, i'll do a quick post on the other 3 artists in the show.

the new pieces:
i finished a painting and a drawing a couple weeks back, and after promptly updating my main web site, I somehow neglected to put an update here. my bad. here you go:

Bailey and Benji
2010
acrylic on canvas
46 x 34 inches
© matt pulford

spent (one)
2010
pencil, colored pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches

.

2010 Quad City Vintage Rods car show

2010-09-27T22:01:00.014-04:00

an occasional sidebar from the usual art & music posts here...
this past sunday, my dad and i hit up Black Hawk College for our annual man-date - the Quad City Vintage Rods car show. the turnout seemed smaller than years prior, but i overheard that there were still over 300 cars. i took twice as many photos as i did last time; sorry if it's overkill. first off, my dream suite - some of the 55, 56, and 57 chevy cars that were on hand. click on any thumbnail for a larger view...

when i was 15 i worked at an auto body shop as an errand kid who swept up and stuff. that shop painted this car. it's my dream to own a '55 like this in yellow & white:

in my opinion, the goddamn classiest thing in the show. '56 bel air hardtop, all restored original:

a '57 nomad. we have a friend who is almost finished with a '55 nomad. love 'em.

a duo of street rods owned by a married couple whom my dad has known for at least my entire lifetime. husband's:

wife's:

the elusive Willy's Coupe (a '34?...). this was to be my pops' last project, but his 4 back surgeries throughout the last 15 years have halted that. sucks. i had never seen one in person before, and i was really intrigued by the sheetmetal work on the rear of the car - see the spot for the spare tire?

enough of my ramblings; here's the rest of the roll:

JESUS CHRIST!...

2010-07-15T22:12:00.002-04:00

...it's andrew bird doing his thing and impressing the hell out of me.

two lists

2010-06-01T23:29:00.005-04:00

my wife and i always have an ongoing list of projects we'd like to do around the house. the list has been around for a few years now, and it moves around the house - sometimes on top of the computer desk, other times downstairs, and usually within a bedroom night stand drawer.

its current state, with an "XX" indicating the item being crossed off:

XX fix washer and dryer
build bookshelf by computer
move side yard fence 12 feet
XX paint outside brick by porch
XX buy computer desk
fix bedroom outlet
buy living room chair
XX buy computer chair
big project - sun room window installation
XX buy flat screen tv
new shower hardware
recycled rain water kit?
XX paint guest room
sand/refinish master bedroom dresser

as you can see, it's typical stuff you would guess you'd see with a family like ours - people who just bought their home 3 years ago. all of these items are enjoyable "projects," and now we have the money to take care of these things, but i haven't had any free time in the world to do anything lately, because i'm now working a job that demands 6 days a week, at a total of about 54 hours each week. it's absolutely awful.

so now, if i had to write a to-do list, it would be pitiful and look like this:

play guitar
art studio time
video games with the guys
art museum / zoo / children's museum visits
time by myself, doing nothing at effing all
trips to the farms to go fishing and see the family

working is for chumps. my life is flying by too quickly.

installation shots of solo show

2010-04-12T08:20:00.005-04:00

Matt Pulford
Pour Out The Sky
March 5 - April 28, 2010

"Pour Out the Sky"

2010-03-06T08:06:00.002-05:00

the new show is all hung and lit, ready to go. first off, here are two links to a recent sunday Times article on things:

interview/feature with David Burke:
http://www.qctimes.com/lifestyles/leisure/article_1cc9e964-216a-11df-8d0c-001cc4c002e0.html

video piece, where they had me try to give a very condensed description of my background and my work:
http://www.qctimes.com/lifestyles/leisure/article_1cc9e964-216a-11df-8d0c-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=video

and finally, here are the details on location, time, reception, etcetera:

- - - - -
"Pour Out the Sky"
Recent paintings, drawings, and installations by Matt Pulford

March 3 - April 28, 2010
Midcoast Fine Arts @
Bucktown Center for the Arts
225 E. 2nd St., Davenport (2nd Floor)
Hours: Wed. - Sat. 11 am - 6 pm

*****Please join us for a reception for the artist on Friday, March 26, from 6:00-9:00pm. This event is open to the public, so bring your friends and enjoy some free food and drinks.

to view more works by the artist, please visit:
http://www.mattpulford.com

- - - - -

William Elliott Whitmore speaks my language.

2010-02-05T08:59:00.001-05:00

"I live on a farm... in Lee County, Iowa... and this song is about dirt."

new painting, new drawing, ready for the show

2010-01-25T12:38:00.005-05:00

i finally finished up the latest painting. finally? yes; it completely kicked my ass. i took an opportunity to try and re-shoot the new drawing too, and the new pics came out a little better. those drawings are terribly difficult to shoot. here you go:

josephine (four)
2010
pencil, colored pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches
© matt pulford

Amelia and Dandelion
2010
acrylic on canvas
46 x 34 inches
© matt pulford

m i d d l e s t a t e s

2009-12-15T10:14:00.002-05:00

i just received an email from an artist friend that i have been curated into a group exhibition that will run during the first months of 2011. the show is called m i d d l e s t a t e s and is at Drake University's Anderson Gallery. here is the PDF of the exhibition, divided up into two jpgs for you (click on images to see a larger view).

Amelia and Chloe

2009-12-08T10:20:00.004-05:00

this past weekend, the village of east davenport had an event where all the small business owners kept their shops open late for a shin-dig that included santa, reindeer, carolers, free food samples, hot chocolate, fire pits, and artists working on their work in storefront windows. it sounds campy, but it was actually quite fun. steve banks and i were hosted by the Village Corner Deli. we each had a 5-hour stint in "the studio" (rare these days) and they hooked us up with a very delicious dinner for taking residence with them for the night. a win-win situation. during the night, i finished up the painting i've been working on, as well as another one of the Josephine drawings. the drawing is incredibly difficult to photograph, so i've given up on putting it on the site. however, here's the finished painting:

http://www.mattpulford.com/amelia_and_chloe.html

Amelia and Chloe
2009
acrylic on canvas
46 x 34 inches
© matt pulford

by the way, if you have the time, go see Marta Currier's show at the Catich Gallery (at Saint Ambrose University). steve and i left our post for a quick moment and checked it out; it's very good.

http://www.sau.edu/x2696.xml

a little further along...

2009-11-19T11:31:00.005-05:00

the large canvas is moving along decently well:

the small paintings on paper are slower:

i recently received an order of that 20 x 32 inch drawing paper i love, so there will be more "josephine" drawings soon
here are some from the earlier lot:
http://www.mattpulford.com/josephine_1.html
http://www.mattpulford.com/josephine_3.html
i've already started working on one, and it's a lot more dense, and kind of "wind-blown."

solo show next spring

2009-11-03T12:00:00.003-05:00

i recently received word that i will be having a solo show next spring, probably spanning the months of april and may. the gallery is the midcoast space a bucktown — the nice raw-ish, exposed brick gallery on the second floor. i haven't had a solo show in my hometown since my moves around the midwest started back in the late 90s, so this should be very fun. the space is large, and i have decided the show will consist of the pieces from Amelia and Josephine, along with several floor pieces from a few years back, and whatever new work i make between now and then.

and speaking of that, here are some new pieces that i've just barely begun...

Grant App

2009-10-01T09:48:00.002-04:00

i've had a nice break from things during the last month and a half, while Amelia and Josephine has been up on view at the MCAC. but now i think it's time to get back to work, and i figure i'll do something i haven't done yet - apply for individual artist grant funding. i used to work on arts programming grants back in the day, for a former employer. that process was more involved than this, so i'm crossing my fingers that i score well and receive funding. i'm expecting the worst and hoping for the best. i should be starting the application within the next month or so.

some other things going on lately...

- i was asked to do some printmaking programming/demonstrations at the Figge Art Museum's Family Day this past weekend. it went very well, and was a ton of fun.
- i was laid off the day before the opening of Amelia and Josephine. it is not going well, and is not a ton of fun.

opening reception at MCAC

2009-08-30T12:56:00.007-04:00

last weekend we travelled to bloomington, IL for the opening reception of my show. we were pleasantly surprised at how packed it was. we knew that a combo of my work and Gary Justis' show in the adjacent gallery would bring out the ISU peeps, but there were also an awful lot of visitors who didn't have ties to the university. and to top it all off, the Rev Horton Heat had an outdoor concert right across the street from the arts center, so there was a lot of spillover foot traffic from that too.

here are some images from my show:

and some images of Gary Justis' installation, Head On: ReDux

studio sale

2009-08-06T23:22:00.003-04:00

i recently put up a hidden page on my web site, and it contains old work i have for sale for cheap. there is a lot of studio storage downstairs that is being taken up with old paintings, old framed drawings, and boxes of old works on paper, and i have to make room for new work. if anyone is interested in some inexpensive purchases of work from about 8 to 12 years ago, go here:

http://www.mattpulford.com/studio_sale.html

i'll sign off by placing a random assortment of images from the page...

the fall lineup

2009-07-13T20:38:00.013-04:00

after about 10 months of on and off time in the studio, i have finally finished all of the work for my upcoming solo show. as usual, i'm feeling here and there with these new pieces — i'm quite pleased with some, yet still questioning things with others. but it is what it is - a grouping of paintings, drawings, and prints that i made because... well... because i make art. here are the details for the show:

Amelia and Josephine
Recent work by Matt Pulford

August 21 - October 10, 2009
Armstrong Gallery @ The McLean County Arts Center
Bloomington, IL

my usual short and to the point artist's statement will be posted:

There is not a more dominant force behind my work than the open prairie of the Midwestern landscape. It has become an aggrandized mother figure of sorts, a place whose calmness and emptiness is a welcome escape from the everyday. My yearning for this solitude manifests itself in two distinct bodies of work — serene, minimal reflections on the landscape itself, and darker explorations tied to the longing for it.

but a more in-depth explanation will accompany the work via a printed hand out:

This past fall, my wife and I became parents of our first child – a beautiful little girl named Amelia Blue. During the first few months of our lives together, I'd watch her dream as she'd take many mini-naps throughout the day. There would be rapid movement beneath her eyelids, she'd give a little kick here and there, and I would smile as I'd wonder what such a young child could possibly be visualizing in her mind's eye. It wasn't long until doodles of mine began to incorporate fragments of Amelia's quilted blankets — a signifier of her tranquility, comfort, and contentment. As spring awoke from a long winter, these little sketches developed into large paintings that were unlike my minimal landscape works. The bright colors of our flower garden and my peculiar fondness of the rabbits in our backyard (the latter heightened by my re-reading of Watership Down for the nth time) started to make their way into thoughts on new pieces to create. I was in full fantastical, whimsical art-making mode — a place where I imagined my daughter dreaming of flying around on her magic blanket with the neighborhood rabbits as her copilots, laughing it up as they explored the sky.

It was during this same time of birth and growth that my paternal grandmother Josephine's health began to slip away. Out of all my grandparents, Josephine is the one who woke me up and fed me before school, watched me after school, and cared for me when I stayed home sick. She is dear to me, and watching her liveliness fade has been heartbreaking. If the emotions related to Amelia's first months are simple and direct in that they are forever tied to the verdancy of Spring, thoughts related to my grandmother's impending passing are more complex, for they traverse back and forth from warm remembrances of cherry tree blossoms falling to the ground, to the dark days of a bleak, desolate winterscape where nothing grows.

here you go - all the work that will hang on the walls:

Kehaar
2009
acrylic on canvas
27 x 27 inches

Pipkin
2009
acrylic paint & relief print on paper
30 x 22 inches

Amelia and Fiver
2008
acrylic on canvas
20 x 20 inches

Amelia and Hrair-roo
2009
acrylic on canvas
48 x 30 inches

josephine (three)
2008
pencil, colored pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches

bedding
2008
pencil, colored pencil on paper
24 x 16 inches

hyzenthlay
2008
oil on canvas
44 x 44 inches

chloe
2008
oil on canvas
36 x 36 inches

josephine (one)
2008
pencil, colored pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches

josephine (two)
2008
pencil, colored pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches

gold staying (1)
2007
oil on canvas
36 x 36 inches

.

long time coming

2009-06-23T23:41:00.014-04:00

first off, here's a new print/painting hybrid i finished this week. even though it's part of a larger body of work that i'm close to being happy with, but not totally "there" yet, i am pleased with where i'm taking things:

Pipkin
2009
acrylic paint & relief print on paper
30 x 22 inches
© matt pulford

next, after several months of having it on my mind and working on it here and there, i finally finished the piece i mentioned in the latter parts of this post.

it's funny to me because i can see it in two distinct readings. one take never really goes into that ridiculously "evil" realm i once thought it might; rather, it comes about as one of the more dark-yet-respectable pieces (as in, here is someone's ashes — a loved one?... a family member?...). but in another more honest light, it definitely does stem from an intense abhorrence (as in, a title that cues viewers into the act of standing over someone that was purposely incinerated), even if it is a minimal, pulled-back piece. at this point in time, i'm decently happy with it.

your cold death ash
2008 - 2009
painted sawdust, plywood
variable dimensions
© matt pulford

detail

MLB Baseball Park #6 - Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City

2009-06-14T19:25:00.028-04:00

i usually don't share many personal photos on the site, and i'm not sure i've ever included one of myself or family before, but whatever - here you go. (this will be a long post).

The tally:

#1 Wrigley Field, Chicago
#2 (old) Busch Stadium, Saint Louis
#3 Miller Park, Milwaukee
#4 Chase Field, Phoenix*
#5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis

and now,
#6 Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
Royals vs Reds

*toured stadium but did not watch game

the latest stop on our ongoing "MLB ballparks of America" project unfortunately could not be attended by the usual suspects of coach, chad, kevin, and (sometimes) tim. yes, this time around it was just kelly and i, but no worries - we of course had a blast on our own. and besides, the best part of the trip was that kel's sister "Prez" (short for P.O.T.M.P.F.C. — don't ask) lives in downtown kansas city, which meant we had one of our favorite people on the planet to hang out with for 72 hours.

we started off by getting a tour of her downtown apartment building. she lives right in the thick of it, which is something neither kelly nor i did when we lived in chicago. her place is gorgeous — exposed brick, 15 foot high ceilings, a full workout room and lounge in the basement, and access to the rooftop patio. as always, click on any image for a larger view. check it out...

after a general introduction to her neighborhood, we decided it was time for food. of course if you're in kansas city, you have to get bbq at least once during your visit. the last time we were in town, we ate at Jack Stack , which is friggin great, but we wanted to do something less... "structured." not less classy or anything like that, just something more down-home. Prez suggested Gates. she told us to beware that we had better know what we wanted before we stepped inside, because the place was famous for wait staff that yelled at you, or just kind of yelled in general. we weren't sure if we should be expecting the rude-on-purpose style that some famous chicago eateries employ, but we were game, and we headed that way for dinner.

so... for the "review" portion of this entry, i'll just say, holy crap. i'm not especially well-versed when it comes to describing BBQ — dry vs sticky; sweet/tangy/spicy, but it was the best i have ever eaten. damn straight. the place is actually filled by really sweet — not rude — staff, and the yelling is more because of the madness that forms when the line gets up to the place where you order. in other words, it's not rudeness; it's just general loudness and mayhem. but we did well, and they seemed thankful that we paid attention to them and to what they needed to know from us (in contrast of the two folks in front of us). kel and i split a whole rack of ribs, some slaw, and some potato salad. Prez got the chicken dinner with a side of slaw. we all shared a mini sweet potato pie and a pitcher of beer. here are some pics:

Prez and i place our order

the plate my wife and i ordered up

Prez's plate

kel getting into it. messy stuff.

sweet potato pie

it was damn good. one of the staff came over to chat us up, and she was sweet. yes it sounds cheesy, but i love it when food brings people of different backgrounds together.

that took care of the first night in town. saturday was filled with a walk down to the kansas city open-air market. it's filled with vendors on weekend mornings, where you can find everything from fresh, local fruits and veggies, to spices and meats unique to foreign lands. there was also a very packed dog park right next door, so i wandered around saying hi to some dogs and owners while my two cohorts grabbed our breakfast. there was a well-known dog rescue setting up shop in the park, which meant they were showing off three awesome little pups to potential adoptive families. a big "awwwww" moment for me because i have a huge soft spot for dogs.

before i share the pictures, i forgot to mention that we stopped at a downtown antique shop on our way to the market, and i bought an effing amazing find. coach, kev, and tim - you might be into this - i found an old ball glove from the 1940s at the latest (my guess), and a home-made looking catcher's mask from probably the same era. both were very reasonably priced. anyways... some pics of the market and dog park:

now onto the baseball...

Kauffman stadium is gorgeous. the additions to the park really make things nicer. no, i had not visited before they extended the outfield part of the stadium (allowing folks to walk around behind the waterfalls), but when you're there in person, you can't imagine the park without the additions. it was a really nice place. we arrived an hour before first pitch, so this gave us a lot of time to walk around the entire stadium while drinking some beers. the fountains are nice, there is a nice sculptural piece featuring a rendition of George Brett, there is a mini ballpark for kids to play at before the game, and there are plenty of modern bathrooms everywhere.

we took our seats in the 3rd row of the upper deck, and the view was excellent. after one half inning, i noticed that i was sitting next to a father and son duo who were donning Cincinnati ballcaps. i asked if they were from ohio or just local fans of the reds, and they said they drove in from ohio for the entire weekend series. i replied by saying we were from eastern iowa, and although technically neutral for the night's game, i had to root for the home team because we are cubs fans and we need to Reds to lose right now. he was a good sport, and we talked the rest of the night about the beauty of watching a game live versus on television — the nuances that you see going on while runners are on base, the way signs are relayed in via several steps, and other things like that. the gentleman told me he approached Dusty Baker before the game, and actually got Dusty to sign his baseball.

the seventh inning stretch portion of the game is not unlike most parks — they sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." between other innings, they do other fun things like the "kiss cam," a race of three lucky contestants that get to dress up in ketchup, mustard, and relish suits, and a fisheye "woooah, crazy big head" camera that warps the noggins of unsuspecting visitors and flashes their likeness on the jumbo-tron. none of us know why, but the latter item had us cracking up, wiping laughter tears off of our faces. it was probably the booze.

some pics of the park:

kel and Prez outside the main entrance to the park

the George Brett statue that resides beyond right-center field

the famous outfield fountains

the special mini field just for little tykes

the following photos are a general assortment showing the park from several views, a few of which are from our seats

it was awesome. we were sitting in PRIME foul ball territory, and although we saw 4 come our way, none were within reach of me. the furthest was about 30 seats away, and the closest was about 20 seats away. ah well.

i could go on about many other things we did while in town, and share many more photos of food and landmarks, but i'm exhausted and i need to hit the sack.

there you have it. i loves me some baseball more than most anything else in the world.

.

Steve Amos

2009-06-10T12:47:00.001-04:00

an old friend Steve Amos is writing nice blog posts in that "conversation with myself" tone — words about his art and the inner-workings of the world of the artist's studio. in a world filled with horseshit artist statements that are usually far too busy and filled with twenty-five cent word flair, i like reading his thoughts as he writes to figure shit out. it was just this past weekend that my wife and i were saying we enjoy simple, honest discourse when it comes to talking about one's own work. if you enjoy it too, i suggest you check it out:

http://somaevets.blogspot.com/

it's of note that steve is someone i went to school with from 2nd grade until the first two years of college, and it's funny to me that two kids from our neighborhood grew up to be "professional" artists who live or have lived in chicago.

steve's art web site is here:

http://www.somaevets.com/

The Last Five Years

2009-06-07T18:57:00.006-04:00

my wife and i went to see Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years last night. It was presented by Riverbend Theatre Collective, which is run by an old friend of hers from her undergrad days.

i don't think i'm well-versed at talking about theatre. i've seen many of my wife's pieces throughout the years, but they're performance pieces, not what i assume people would call "straight" theatre. with my wife's work, i feel as though i can easily speak about the sounds made on stage, the movement going on, and the cadence / tempo of things. but with musical theatre, i have never felt like i know how to discuss things with my wife, or with other people who come from a theatre background. in the past — in chicago — when i would see what i consider to be a stereotypical musical (with actors on stage accentuating their voices with ridiculously cartoonish whines, and with the songs being about every mundane thing going on on-stage) i would usually tell my wife "that was a pile of shit," subsequently asking her, "what's wrong with me?... what am i missing?..."

fast forward to last night, watching allison and dana on stage as L5Y's Catherine and Jamie, and i have to say i was floored. i loved it. it really moved me, and i was shocked at how much so. i've had it on my mind in the last 24 hours, and i'm not sure what it was. i don't know how to eloquently talk about singing and acting. but i do feel confident talking about the mood of a piece like this. for those of you that don't know, this contemporary (5 years old?... 6?...) musical features only the two characters i just mentioned, and you follow them through 5 years of their life, as they fall in love and fall out of love. for more info on the piece, including the way the time flows in opposite directions for the two characters, hit up wikipedia here.

so, the musical opens up with this number:

i'm not sure what it was — i think it was the lighting, the look on allison's face, and definitely the verse structure of this song (even though i didn't care for the other parts of this particular song) — but i was kind of floored. right away. and it seems like the entire audience was too (my wife would shed some tears several times during the night, and i would hear people around me go "wow" a lot). i guess i love sad "songs" — be them actual songs, or be them poems, films, art, and theatre. i can't really describe it any better without my words seeming incredibly cheesy. i mean, we were watching two people fall apart from one another, and it the situations were very real, not overblown nonsense. it seems that it was easy to come away with a bit of a bittersweet taste in your mouth, happy about how life deals you some sad blows here and there.

one more thing about the music - i also loved this song very much. now, before you check it out, you have to mentally mute the vocals from this particular youtube version of the production, because it sounds like kermit the frog is singing this:

do you hear how the piano barely walks around on that same line during the first couple minutes? it was great live. from my very little experience with musical theatre, it was very stripped-down , and i loved it.

Amelia and Hrair-roo

2009-05-22T00:28:00.006-04:00

finally finished the new piece.

as per usual (well, almost), i'm completely unsure of it. here it is, followed by other images taken throughout the last 6 months. it's really changed quite a bit to become what it is. click on any image for a larger view.

Amelia and Hrair-roo
© matt pulford
2009
acrylic on canvas
48 x 30 inches

some older shots of it, progressing further and further back in time...

chugging along

2009-05-12T00:12:00.004-04:00

i thought i'd post some evidence that i'm harder at work in the studio lately, now that kelly's schedule has freed up a bit. see? almost done, i swear. as always, click on images for a larger view.

photos from Gratuitous Umlaut opening night (Seattle)

2009-05-11T11:04:00.004-04:00

here are shots of Punch Gallery during the opening for Gratuitous Umlaut. for some reason they hung my work really high. i'm not bothered by it; just curious.

a random assortment

2009-05-06T16:06:00.007-04:00

a random assortment:

1. matt pazzol has new work on his site, and even though some of it is unlike his usual style, it still makes a lot of sense to me. i am dead set on buying or trading for one of these two pieces:

if you like them and want to see more, check out his flickr site here. it has images of plenty more work he has made throughout the years.

2. i am taking a class / lecture series at the Figge, and it's excellent. the speaker is Kate Elliott from the university of iowa, and she's good at what she does. i've learned some things i was never taught during my many art history hours from my formal schooling — much more about The Eight and the Ashcan school, and stories about Clement Greenberg, just to name a few. the only problem with the class is having to deal with a certain other student who is horribly obnoxious, ego-tripping, loves to hear himself talk, and who openly calls others "ignorant" despite showing strong traits of that characteristic himself. at last night's session, i actually verbally spoke the words "shut up" to him as he talked over kate. yes, it's actually that maddening sometimes. when the class is over and done with, i might post some thoughts on the more interesting things i learned.

3. i'm completely beside myself as to how difficult it is to balance my life as a parent / husband / 40hr week worker with my life as an artist. i still haven't finished the paintings i said would be done months ago. however, there are new images to share. some look awful at the state they're in, but i'm dead set on spending more time downstairs now. almost done. i swear. here you go:

4. Nowhere Close to Normal is finished traveling. sometime soon i might have some new images from it's road trip, taken from the Hays, Kansas venue.

5. a traveling contemporary drawing exhibition that has been organized by the walker art center is headed this way, to the figge. julie mehretu has work in the show, and she's one of my favorite artists, so i'm excited. here's one of her drawing/paintings:

steve reich: eight lines

2009-04-19T22:01:00.001-04:00

a local music theory instructor turned me onto Steve Reich a couple weeks ago.
i can't stop enjoying this:

mid-break...

2009-04-10T15:45:00.005-04:00

...taking a short break from the studio for a while. the meeting between my artist-friends and i (now a couple weeks back) went extremely well. i think my mind is set on what i'll have on the walls for my solo show this summer.

next week i'm hitting the studio hard to finish some of the work up. check back later for pics of a finished painting and some new drawings/woodcuts.

for now, peep this:

the collection arrives...

2009-03-20T09:37:00.008-04:00

unless your head has been in the sand for a year, you know the horrible flooding that most of Iowa dealt with last summer has lead to a lot of the University of Iowa's Art Museum collection being packed up and shipped from temporary storage in Chicago to a short-term (few years) loan to Davenport's very own Figge Art Museum. i'm stoked to see some of these pieces hang on walls just 5 minutes from my front door.

here's the article:
U of I art on display now

everyone is drooling at the idea of seeing the Pollock. i saw it several years ago and yes, it's historically important, but.. i dunno... i'm more jazzed about the Joan Mitchell and the Yayoi Kusama. there's an amazing Motherwell on display too (saw it several years ago - very nice).

here's the list they've made public:

“Elegy to the Spanish Republic, No. 126,” Robert Motherwell
“Une Chapeau Nori sur une chaise jaune (Black Hat on a Yellow Chair),” Fernand Leger
“Edge,” Adolph Gottlieb
“Golden Enstrata,” Richard Pousette-Dart
“A Drop of Dew Falling from the Wing of a Bird Awakens Rosalie Asleep in the Shade of a Cobweb,” Joan Miro
“In a Village Near Paris (Street in Paris, Pink Sky),” Lyonel Feininger
“Spanierin (Spanish Woman or Spanish Woman with Mantilla),” Alexej von Jawlensky
“Karneval,” Max Beckmann
“The Blue Horse,” Marc Chagall
“Blue Interior with Two Girls,” Henri Matisse
“Flower Vase on a Table,” Pablo Picasso
“Red Painting No. 2,” Joan Mitchell
“Ramp,” Philip Guston
“Ocean Park, No. 17, 1968,” Richard Diebenkorn
“Abstract Painting,” Ad Reinhardt
“Red April,” Sam Gilliam
“Center Columns, Blue Red,” Leon Polk Smith
“Red No. 28,” Yayoi Kusama
“New York to Paris, No. 1, 1931,” Stuart Davis
“E,” Marsden Hartley
“Mural,” Jackson Pollock
“Portrait of H.M.,” Jackson Pollock

here are some images i've nabbed from google, in case you're unfamiliar with any of these:

Yayoi Kusama:

Robert Motherwell:

Joan Mitchell:

Punch Gallery, Seattle

2009-03-16T17:31:00.005-04:00

sometimes nice little gems fall from out of the sky, and into my lap. Punch Gallery in Seattle wants a couple pieces of mine for a group show:

http://www.punchgallery.org/about.html

sounds like a very fun space that runs in the vein of the chicago model i adore - a collaborative DIY effort that happens to come off as quite professional. i hope this goes well, because if so, i may in turn invite some of these artists to future show ideas out here in iowa.

but back to the show... the thematic current throughout everything will be a "reverence of and joy found from heavy metal music." awesome. you can probably imagine what they want me to loan them:

http://www.mattpulford.com/sinworm.html
http://www.mattpulford.com/sabbat.html

well, that's the newest news going around this week. this weekend i am making dinner for a couple artist-friends, and asking them to critique my proposed selections of work for my solo show this summer. should be fun. i'll take pics of things all together, and possibly some individual shots of new pieces - whether finished or not.

local arts writer asks a question...

2009-03-09T14:41:00.019-04:00

some time ago, when Nowhere Close to Normal was getting set to open here at the Figge Art Museum, i was hard at work sending press releases to local newspapers and radio shows. during my email blitz, i received a response from Times columnist David Burke that bothered me. Here it is:

Hey, when you get a larger show up, can you let me know? I'd be interested in doing a bigger story.

i wasn't bothered in a "blow to the ego" way; i was bothered because compared to most arts reporting i see here, this was a big deal. David often writes about any artist he wants to, which is fine. however, sometimes he even writes several articles on the same artist, even if the artist (or theatre group) has nothing going on to to truly report on (kind of that "random studio visit" type of an article). so, things didn't jive within the context of what i knew about his articles. i didn't understand why a wide-reaching project such as ours was getting ignored.

but i digress. fast forward to yesterday, when David writes a column asking "What are we in the Quad Cities still missing from our arts scenes?"

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2009/03/08/opinion/columnists/david_burke/doc49b17de2b3288904781618.txt

i saw this as a welcome opportunity to get a much-needed discussion going, and thought i'd share my letter here on the blog. oh, and by the way, i've decided to not get into my past gripe, except for a mentioning of larger issues with the press.

- - - - -

Hi, David. I read your “Are We in the QC Missing Something?” column Sunday and thought I’d chime in with my two cents about the visual arts scene. I’ll try to focus my words on one main “thing” without going into a long, winding, myriad of other thoughts I’ve had on my mind lately.

To answer your question, I’d say a particular “something” we’re missing is a larger amount of artist-run spaces and shows.

I don’t hold anything against the programming at our local mainstays such as Midcoast Fine Arts or Quad City Arts, but I do think it’s problematic to rely on them as the sole visual arts venues that support our local artists. The work shown at these venues goes through a juried selection process that uses both outside art professionals and inside staff to judge what is best suited for the walls of our spaces. This is not unheard of and is not bad — it’s the way things go with art centers. However, the possibility for the development of an in-crowd comes up, and the process seems to manifest itself via an exhibition calendar that features a very homogenized aesthetic. At the worst, we’re seeing the same artists in and out of the calendar slots like a revolving door, while other strong artists living in the Quad Cities are slighted. At the best, we are seeing some new names on the walls, but the work is still conservative, safe, and focused more on an honing of technique than an exploration of content. I’m not saying we need an influx of Serra-esque performances where people throw molten lead all over the walls of Bucktown, but I would like to see a more dynamic range of work being shown here, and I think more artist autonomy would make this happen.

I understand that places like the Kanga cooperative and the Peanut Gallery have come and gone throughout the years, either due to financial issues, someone moving, or an unfortunate fire, but every time something under the artist-driven, collaborative, and/or DIY model pops up, good things come from it. Some recent examples:

• The Sound & Vision space, downtown Moline (an artist-run hybrid space for art and music)
• The EX-CH-AN-GE and Nowhere Close to Normal shows from this past fall (artists getting together in collaboration, and in the case of the latter, an exhibit that eventually traveled from here to Denver, Los Angeles, and other locales)
• Clear Your Mind –(the handsome glass show curated by Mark Fowler) it culled work from all over, and the Figge actually decided it should be placed within the walls of their formal, main galleries (artist as curator)

I would argue that if an environment existed where artists were better able to take the power into their own hands — doing their own shows with their own resources and own artist-networks — these artists would not only help create a much more dynamic visual arts scene, they would also begin to see themselves as stakeholders in the scene. Heck, we might begin to finally retain the graduates of our local collegiate art programs. By the time some of these students hit their senior year, they have already decided they will move elsewhere, because the younger, “hipper” facets of nearby art scenes happen to be thriving better than they are here. I’m somewhat distanced from this crowd (I’m in my mid 30s), but wouldn’t it be nice for everyone if the next generations of artists stuck around instead of moving to Chicago?

I realize I’m offering a lot of examples of a problem, and not many examples of proposed solutions. The obvious answer to my wishes is for me to get my butt to work on finding my dream space and turning it into a gallery where I exhibit the work of local artists along-side the work of other artists I know from around the country (or hell, I'll bring some Canadian artist friends of mine here). But there is a limited availability of affordable space for these types of ideas, and that is definitely a roadblock towards the success of these endeavors. With all the talk about our downtown revivals, are there nice spaces available for short-term leases, under some sort of a program that sets aside some rentals to these types of arts ideas? Are there city grants that would help supplement the funding of such ideas? I’ve heard East Moline is actually working on this, and I know some businesses in this vein have recently opened up there. I’ve read about the plans ArtSpace and the city of Rock Island have worked on together, and I’m eager to learn more. I suppose I’ll have to keep my ears open and see what transpires.

If you’d ever like to discuss this any further, I’d enjoy more conversation. There are definitely other issues we have in our arts scene, related to peer support and even a cricket-chirping lack of press coverage, but neither of those seemed to fit within the discussion you’re inviting. Let me know if you’d like to talk more.

Thanks David.

pushing the paint around

2009-02-26T23:05:00.007-05:00

just the other day (in the post below) i alluded to the gradual change this painting has been going through. now after tonight's studio session, i finally feel like i have it at a good half way point, or maybe 2/3rds point. like i said, it didn't get there through the addition of painted elements; it got there through the removal of one giant fuckup of a decision. and the neat thing about that is, it's not maddening at all. it's actually quite wonderful. it seems that lately i'd rather be happy with a piece i've slowly crawled through all winter, rather than with one that took merely a few nights to nail.

strange.

so, here are some images taken tonight, showing where things currently are. sometime soon i hope to have it finished. when i do, i'll post (possibly) final images.

one last note - also in the works right now are a series of very sparse, light-as-a-feather woodcuts, with my little grass blades drawn over the top of the printed ink portions. i'm excited about them.

another update on the new work

2009-02-23T09:34:00.005-05:00

i've pushed a recent paining through an awful lot of work this winter. hours and hours of late weeknight sessions, trying to get stuff looking good. and then, this weekend, i took yet another step back to reflect on how things looked, and suddenly realized all the hours i put into certain elements within the painting needed to be erased, forgotten, thrown out. funny how that works. so, unlike i've ever done before, i'm painting over entire areas of what i had going. sometime soon i'll post an image that shows where this is at now. the beginnings of the quiltwork that are pictured somewhat lower-left grew into a monstrous behemoth, and i decided it looked awful and had to go (or at least get pushed back to almost entirely covered up by whisps of atmospheric whites and creams). you'll see what i mean soon.

in a few weeks, i'll be hosting two artists over for dinner and for a critique of this new work. i've been preparing for my solo show in a complete vacuum, and i need some peer feedback on how things will look together in one room. maybe i'll take some pics of things placed near each other, for a contextual "preview" of what i have planned for this july.

"Nowhere Close to Normal" exhibit now in Denver

2009-02-12T16:32:00.006-05:00

the traveling exhibit "Nowhere Close to Normal" is currently up at the Red Delicious Press Gallery in Denver, Colorado. for some old-posts information on this show, go here.

here are images from denver:

In a short amount of time, this exhibit will also travel to Hays, Kansas. I'm being told we're actually going to show in a raw space that is part of a business located in a warehouse-ey district. The business constructed a large white wall for us, and i'm hoping we're surrounded by exposed brick (i always enjoy that feel in an exhibition space). also, , we will be a stop on a city-wide art walk, so that's cool. whenever that leg of the tour gets installed, i'll share more photos.

karin

2009-02-08T12:17:00.008-05:00

it was already shaping up to be a pretty rough 2009.
then we go and get the awful news about a friend.

we'll all miss your snarky sense of humor, karin. chad, we're here for you - anytime, anywhere, with an open ear and our love.

***update 2/16/09: chad has a beautiful post on their site:
http://youcarewhatwethink.blogspot.com/2009/02/some-of-you-may-have-heard-and-some-of.html

from out the window of a car

2009-01-19T21:48:00.015-05:00

a dear old friend and i have been chatting on email lately. i've always considered her someone i'm tremendously close to, and we've been writing about how life goes — how a few years pass, and suddenly we find that we're both parents, homeowners, and tied to jobs, and we haven't hung out and goofed off like the kids we were in days past.

we've made some plans to take some road trips together in the future, joking that our quality time is "on sabbatical" due to geographical distance and our families. this friend is a traveler, and seeing other parts of the country is something my wife and i haven't done much in the last couple years. we miss our road trips terribly, and we're itching for some rugged outdoors stuff. if anyone knows good spots to hike and take in our country's most amazing natural expanses, it's geologist, dinosaur-digging, been on national television, superwoman Merry.

cheers, Mer. looking forward to camping, hiking, and your explanations of the geology all around us.

some images from out of the window of a car...

leaving iowa

rocky mountain national park

the outermost parts of arches national park

arches national park (okay, not shot from the car, but from my own feet... sorry to break theme...)

monument valley

returning to our beloved iowa

solo show - happy surprise; Gary Justis

2009-01-08T17:24:00.005-05:00

some art news to report:

my 2009 solo show that will take place in bloomington has been pushed back from a june—august slot to a august—october slot, and i couldn't be happier.

first off, the curator's reasoning is because she wants me to be seen by a larger audience, so that's awfully kind of her. the art buzz around a town that holds two major universities is somewhat quiet in the summer, so she's pushed back the date to coincide with the first show of the fall semester. she's a sweetheart for doing this. an extra bonus is that i'll be showing during a time that coincides with a Gary Justis show in the main gallery. gary is a well-known chicago sculptor, and an all-around good guy that teaches at Illinois State University. so, i'm quite excited for this opportunity.

the second reason an extension of time rules is because... well... i need extra time. having the adorable little one in our lives means previously open evenings are now filled by time with her — either by choice ("hey, i wanna play with my daughter") or by necessity ("man... she really isn't napping today"). because of this, time in the studio has been very rare. we've actually dealt with this decently enough, though. we've settled into a routine where twice a week (usually a friday night and then a weeknight that feels right) i head downstairs at about 10:30 or 11:00 at night, after my daughter and my wife are fast asleep, where i then paint until 1:00 or so in the morning. sometime soon, i'll have another new painting to post.

i'll leave you with a couple shots borrowed from gary's web site. enjoy.

revamped chloe

2008-12-21T21:52:00.005-05:00

i made some changes to the painting chloe today in the studio. i really thought it was a poor painting, and i hope the things i did make me happier in the days between now and the solo show in the summer. here's a link to the old version, and here is what the painting looks like now:

© matt pulford
chloe
oil on canvas
36 x 36 inches
2008

as you can see, i've pushed it a lot further into this new direction i'm taking, so it now fits in more with the newest body of paintings. conversely, there was a painting i finished earlier this year that i will strip down a bit, and push the opposite way. more on that later.

more new work

2008-12-21T00:02:00.003-05:00

a short while back i posted some finished new pieces, and one of them (amelia and fiver) was a new direction for me. i've decided to work on several new painting that follow its lead, and thought i'd share a very unfinished second piece from that vein.

there's the same dreamlike look to it, where in my head i've laid out this other-worldy, oddball sky scene that has little magic blankets flying in and out of other little ditties in the air. you know - watching my little newborn daughter dream again; imagining her in these traveling scenes. strange. it's about 32" tall by 47" wide. acrylic. it's probably only 20% finished. there are still more elements that will fill the composition, and a lot of finishing up on the quiltwork needs to be done. here's a detail of some of the busy spot in the lower left:

Christmas in Hollis

2008-12-04T19:27:00.007-05:00

best xmas present ever. big thanks to chao & gerd.

let's make my posting of this video an annual tradition.

some new pieces

2008-11-26T09:31:00.012-05:00

here are three of the new pieces i've had brewing in the studio the last month or two. i'm considering these finished. once again, forgive the odd look of the drawings' image quality. these pieces are very delicate line drawings on white paper, and they're nearly impossible to photograph well. they always turn out looking discolored, and even though i've used Photoshop daily for a decade now, i can never get things to look right with any tweaking of levels or color. so, imagine these looking a lot better in person. and click on any image for a larger view; it will help with these.

if anyone has been following this series of drawings and is curious as to what the titles refer to, josephine is the name of my paternal grandmother. she helped raise me during my youth, when my mom and dad worked long days. she's one of the strongest people i know - dealt with a husband of whom my father has told me some bad stories, and raised 7 children in a tiny 2-bedroom home. she seems to be in her last months of life, and i'm going to miss her terribly.

josephine (three)
2008
pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches
© Matt Pulford

a detail of josephine (three)

like many newborns, my daughter dreams quite often and seemingly quite vividly. i smile inwardly as i imagine her floating around a make-believe world of colorful quilts up in the sky, with the rabbit family that lives in our back yard as her co-pilots.

Amelia and Fiver
2008
acrylic on canvas
20 x 20 inches
© Matt Pulford

bedding
2008
pencil on paper
24 x 16 inches

and a detail:

on glass ceilings, high public offices, and internal drive & will

2008-11-21T09:57:00.020-05:00

i've been perusing a lot of the local blogs lately, fixated on the discussion that has ensued following Obama's election as the next president of our united states. no, not the political discussions surrounding policy predictions or whatnot; rather, the fact that we now have our first black president. in particular, i'm interested in the language found in these discussions — the talk centered around the meme of "finally... finally my (black) child can strive to actually become president someday."

i've gone round and round about this with close personal friends of mine lately, and it seems like i should start here by making one thing clear - i am not questioning that children may need "proof in the pudding" when it comes to striving for something they want to become later in life. however, what i am taking issue with is the language that seems to be used across-the-board when it comes to this.

allow me to post something from a recent issue of the Quad City Times. It's a quote of a user's post, within a larger article written by friend Melissa Coulter. here it is:

“My guess is that part of the reaction (of African Americans) has to do with seeing that whites actually accept and support a black man as leader in large numbers,” Anne-Marie Hislop wrote. “Why would a black mom have told her son he could do anything when there are plenty of things he was blocked from doing (just as it is still a lie to say that ‘anyone can grow up to be president’ — not women, not yet, not Muslims, Jews, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Americans). Again, we are making progress, but ...”

i have a fundamental disagreement with this type of language and outlook. the questions Hislop (and others making this argument) raises about the black mom and her son, and the supposed act of "lying" when saying anyone can grow up to be president seem to validate two things points here - one being Hislop's point (and my own, and others as well), and one being the one this post is about.

first, yes... there are a lot of situations where people of certain non-white, non-straight, non-whatever demographics begin to lose hope, because of the way "things still look" right now, in 2008. social institutions and public offices are disproportionately skewed one way or another, and for whatever fucked up reasoning, some people just don't want everyone to have equal rights when it comes to marriage. i can completely see how that can be disconcerting to some folks, causing a loss of hope, will, and inner drive. but the second point - the one i personally want to make - comes from Hislop's questions too. it seems to show a flaw in our collective view of what's going on, and also stretches a simple flaw in logic into a really insulting world view. that's an awfully unclear sentence, so allow me to elaborate...

as i said, i'm not taking issue with the difficulty of people from these demographics to make very high public office positions, because i don't dismiss the undercurrent of nuanced racism in our country. i am taking issue with the language used by some people - that it is a "lie" to tell a child they can't be or do something simply because that thing hasn't been done before. was it a "lie" for Barack Obama or his family to think he could be the first black president, simply because there had not been one before? No. He's going to be President in january. either i am completely missing anne's point (but the responses i've read since making my point on The Times' site leads me to believe otherwise), or she is making a very bad error in simple logic. not to beat a dead horse. but here's an example in the flaw these folks seem to ardently stand by:

say it's 1977, and you have a little boy that is into baseball, and the season has just begun. you're watching his favorite team on television, and a player hits two home runs in one game. your child is in awe, and he starts saying "when i grow up, i want to be a big league player that hits THREE homeruns in a game." (and, while we're talking hypotheticals, let's give me a break on my analogy here, since i'm quite sure that someone like babe ruth or lou gehrig has already hit three in a game, so... say you and your child didn't know that). now then, you tell your child "i can't lie to you, dear... hitting three homeruns in a game is impossible. no one's that good yet." then, at the end of the season, reggie jackson hits three homers in one game of the world series (and even in back-to-back-to-back at bats).

it's not a "lie" to tell anyone their dream can come true - whether it be hitting three homeruns or becoming president - just because it hasn't been done before. that type of thinking/writing is faulty. but the crux of the matter here is, that logic sells the will and drive of us collectively short. it says "well, you can't be 'the first' in anything," you have to wait until someone else becomes X, then and only then you can strive for X." what the hell is that? stating that by and large, black folks, gay & lesbian folks, or whoever else live this way is awfully insulting. did Jackie Robinson not persevere and rise above, saying "F this, this is America, and I belong." (my words, of course)? Did Rosa Parks not have immense character, taking initiative on her own to change our country? i truly do not understand the implied laziness towards certain demographics that i see coming from folks as liberal as i, nor do i understand why they can't understand my point of view on this, and that's why i wanted to post something on the subject.

for one final point on the matter, please check out a good segment that aired on The Daily Show a week or so back. It's titled "black Liberal Guilt" and features comedian/commentator Larry Wilmore. there are a few rim-shot jokes in the beginning, and sure, it's a trumped-up portrayal of the white liberal stereotype, but the latter part ties in with what i'm writing about:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=209423&title=black-liberal-guilthttp://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=209423&title=black-liberal-guilt

this winter in the studio...

2008-11-13T22:42:00.009-05:00

there were some new pieces i alluded to a few posts down, and i wanted to give a quick update to say i haven't finished anything quite yet. there are four new pieces i've begun — one of them being of the unrefined, dark style i mentioned in that post. but, as i've said, things are taking a while. our adjustment to having our newborn with us is making free time a rather scarce commodity for now.

for now, i can only show you one of the lighthearted paintings, still unfinished:

so far just acrylic on canvas, about 15" x 15". somewhat coming from watching my little daughter dream - kind of an imagined carpet ride to far off lands, with little creatures from fairy tales. fun stuff.

allow me to delve into the past for a short bit, as i have to post some paintings from 2005 for some people possibly interested in a purchase:

a break from arts posts...

2008-10-31T12:46:00.004-04:00

two photos of little pumpkins my made by my wife and i...

EX-CH-AN-GE at quad city arts

2008-10-25T11:05:00.013-04:00

the reception/party for EX-CH-AN-GE was last night, and the show looks great. the exhibit is one of those old slightly dada-style collaboration games, kind of like an "Exquisite Corpse." see, the four artists in the show — Steve Banks, Terry Rathje, Heidi Hernandez, and Jeff Tady — all worked on a painting together, but in pairs. i'll let Steve Banks explain it better:

Each of the artists started a total of eight paintings. Then, they gave two of those pieces to each artist to finish (keeping two of their original works to complete from start to finish). In turn, they received two paintings from each artist to complete. The show explores that creative area that an image-maker can only reach with the insights of another artist.

if you'd like a peek at some stand-alone shots of the work, go here:

http://www.theartfeed.com/profile/show/35

otherwise, here are photos from the reception. click on these thumbnails for a larger view...

this is absolutely my favorite piece in the show. Steve Banks & Heidi Hernandez, title unknown:

Heidi Hernandez & Terry Rathje:

Quad City Times' Melissa Coulter & exhibiting artist Steve Banks as Gumby, Dammit! :

Steve Banks & Heidi Hernandez:

Terry Rathje & Jeff Tady:

Terry Rathje & Heidi Hernandez:

pretty decent crowd:

Nowhere Close to Normal at the Figge Art Museum - installation shots

2008-10-23T21:36:00.007-04:00

the show is still up, until November 21st. mid-way reception takes place friday, october 31st from 5-7pm. click on any of the images below for a larger image.

the breadth of artists' bodies of work, or, an important explanation

2008-10-23T12:39:00.008-04:00

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www.mattpulford.com

it's always been somewhat of a concern of mine that on the surface, there seems to be two distinctly different bodies of work i create as an artist — one of a serene nostalgia via landscape pieces of some sort (actual classical-esque landscape paintings; more contemporary-looking sculptural pieces; quiet, calm drawings) and one of a dark, visceral "punch" (the tongue-in-cheek, yet simultaneously serious "heavy metal" routed-out paintings; the old intaglio prints that feature little vignettes of flowers dying, paleontological digs of dinosaurs, and lots of maniacal text).

it has been inferred by some gallery owners in the past that i am an artist that lacks a specific focus in my oeuvre, and that this is somehow extremely problematic, but i often brush that off. it's my opinion that to label someone as a "landscape painter," "printmaker," or "sculptor," and to think that sums up their work, is awfully short-sighted and quite lay. it means you're seeing the artist as an investigator of "X" (one's particular medium), not an investigator of "Y" (that artistic searching that is difficult to explain with words — that emotional exploration — i.e. CONTENT). [sure, good artists often spend periods of time in an intense immersion into working with a medium — really getting into the act of pushing paint around, for example — but i think you know what i'm getting at here].

think of the oft-repeated scenario that either makes artists laugh or drives them batty:
patron of arts: "are you an artist?"
artist: "yes."
patron of arts: "what medium?"
artist: (dumbfounded... grits teeth...)

why am i bringing this up? it's not because of any recent incident that has fueled a fire or anything. it's more just a simple exercise in self-reflection, as i sit and think about the three new pieces i started this week. it seems that during every late fall, and into the winter, my work becomes more dark and brooding. it's definitely a stepping away from what i made this spring and summer, and a return to what i've investigated off and on throughout the last 15 years. however... it's not particularly a departure in content..

see, my vibrant landscape paintings with ebbing & flowing grasses and dust in the atmosphere have never been a plein-air "celebration of the land," they've always been more a longing for an idealized existence that falls short each and every day when one is surrounded by concrete and grime. the delicate grass blade line drawings, complete with titles that bear my niece and nephews' names, are signifiers of another longing for an idealized existence — innocence, youth, and a lack of the woes of adult life (bills, work, death). the key here is that even though those two examples are of the former type of work i described in the first paragraph of this post, the same thing goes for latter type of work i described up there. this part of an artist's mindset may be confusing to some folks, but any ridiculously maniacal piece i make comes from the same emotional pool as any serene, quiet piece. they're just different ways of expressing an artistic thought. to give an example, say a bad day at work - complete with thoughts about the inane people around me and the dim horizons ahead - manifests itself artistically as part of a larger motif of... well, hell... "human suffering." the point i'm making is that sometimes the ensuing work of art will convey a quiet, bittersweet longing, and sometimes it will convey a loud, intense hatred. even though those two pieces will look rather different, they're more similar than one would think.

so, i digress...
throughout the next weeks, stay tuned for some ridiculous, vicious, visceral hate, as well as some stuff that is a bit more refined, yet still dark in tone.

Seein' Red in Japan

2008-10-06T20:00:00.006-04:00

there are a ton of new live videos of Seein' Red on youtube right now. during these last days before the birth of our child, my posts are lazy. so... here you go. videos. huzzah.

this is "Resist" live in Nagoya. one of my favorite songs of theirs.

Seein' Red live in Osaka. lots of audience participation. i don't own the record this song is on, and therefore don't know the name of the song. Jos claims Paul is going to be 50 in one year, and he actually might not be joking. i love old punks.

Mechanical Advantage: Party Time.

2008-09-25T13:42:00.021-04:00

Up above, you can see the flyer for the season opener tomorrow night. Hope those of you in town can make it.

Here are some pics of the finished pieces made by the artists involved in the collaborative creative effort i've spoke of earlier on this site. click on any of the images for a larger view:

matt pulford:

Matt Pulford
The Dutch
Wood, Found Objects, Canvas, Latex House Paint, Fan
2008

Roughly half of the work you see in this show is a collaborative
effort between either three or four artists, depending on which piece you are viewing. Although each of us did our own physical labor required to build the piece(s) that bear our singular names on their title cards, the actual brainstorming and concept development behind the works of kinetic art was a group effort that spanned a time of only about one month. So… what are you seeing in my jalopy-of-an-art-machine, “The Dutch”? You're seeing something completely outside of my normal mode of making art — something foreign to me in terms of my aesthetic and usual artistic media, but… also an art object that is the end result of a process that was ridiculously fun to be a part of. The Dutch… part windmill, part noise- (music?) maker, part painting-dipper.

bill campbell:

Bill Campbell
Clavitube
Musical Instrument
PVC, wood, rubber, felt
2008

As a musician and composer I take advantage of simple machines almost every day in the pistons, valves, triggers, springs, bridges, and keys in so many instruments. The mechanism of the piano is a complex trigger that allows me to strike so many strings and set them in motion as a play. It is a beautiful thing, and a wonder to behold. But the mechanisms are not the end: it is how I use them and apply their benefits that makes them useful.

terry rathje:

Terry Rathje
Six Shi Shi Odoshi
Copper pipe assemblage, water, water pump
2008

Half my time is spent taking things apart and learning about the world; the other half is spent putting things together and learning about myself. My work is roughly equal parts of looking outwardly at the world for ideas and inspiration, and then inwardly to see how I work. Ancient or obsolete ideas couple with new perspectives and make for interesting new directions, especially when the leverage of technology is involved. Something that functions has a more difficult purpose and birthing process than something that merely exists in space, because it has to take into account the range of human behavior, personal differences, idiosyncrasies, propensities, emotion, and the fact that it has to serve people (which is no small undertaking).

steve banks:

Steve Banks
The Machine-Scape Tapestry
Assemblages involving wood, garage door opener, rope, rock, plastic, drawing utensils, fans, etcetera
2008

It is a nearly inescapable fact that we are surrounded by a tapestry of machine-produced sights and sounds. From chugging motors, to the insistent braying of ‘personalized’ cell phone rings, to soulless pre-fabricated mini-mart architecture carved into the verdant landscape, the ubiquity of machines goes nearly without scrutiny. Machines have made our lives longer, fuller and undeniably easier, but often times at the expense of whimsy, play and enthusiastic impracticality. These machines are our humble attempt to temporarily re-weave the machine-scape tapestry.

Two Art Shows

2008-09-19T22:01:00.008-04:00

(i usually do longer, more decently written "reviews" of local art shows, but i'm in a hurry tonight)

...saw two shows tonight - Jeff Tady at Saint Ambrose University's Morrisey Gallery, and Michael Johnson at Saint Ambrose University's Catich Gallery. it's funny that as someone who normally champions an acceptance of raw-er, less traditional art over more traditional artistic endeavor, I enjoyed the latter show much more than the former.

Jeff had some collages of a lot of 60s and 70s popular culture references in print media such as comics and newspapers, intermixed with a bunch of space imagery that even culled from recent missions such as the recent trek to Saturn's moons. It really wasn't my thing at all - lots of extreme repetition; no piece stood out as different in any way to me, and I got bored rather quickly. if anyone out there sees the show and has a different, more positive experience, please post your thoughts to give some balance. unfortunately, i can't find any images to share.

Michael had a lot of large photographs that actually knocked my socks off. i'm not normally a fan of straight photography, but i think the artist's subject matter (person-less landscapes, largely of the Midwest and the Southwest) and approach (old-school 5x7 straight shooting w/ not much, if any at all, darkroom reworking) won me over. a very handsome show. give it a look-see if you get a chance.

here's an image sample for you:

Windmill and Willow, IL, 2007

All Photography ©
Copyright Michael Johnson Photography
1974 -- 2008

Bloom Plantation, SC, 2001

All Photography ©
Copyright Michael Johnson Photography
1974 -- 2008

there you have it.

here's some fugazi.

enjoy your weekend.

you wanted everything
you needed everything
greed.
greed.
greed.

MK Ultra, Chicago Hardcore

2008-09-08T21:44:00.010-04:00

fifteen years ago i was in a hardcore band that wasn't very good, but that didn't affect us having shows with some decent bands from all over the country. one of my favorite hardcore/punk/whatever bands we opened up for wasn't from terribly far away - chicago - and i thought i'd post some new videos of theirs i found on youtube.

MK Ultra did the angry, loud, distorted, screaming, fast, political thing pretty damn well. and, as i sit back and think about their shows, i realize jeff jelen was one of my favorite guitarists to watch. i have only a few friends who enjoy this type of thing, but to us it typifies what we like most out of the punk music we listen to - it's extremely angrily emotive. it never tried to be flashy or had any group-chant choruses; it was more of a visceral purging of sorts — a "jesus christ the world is a mess and i can't effing stand it" vomiting of emotion. songs about self-reflection in one's early/mid twenties, songs about the two-facedness of some of our american policies (versus our stated ideals), even personal songs about an alcoholic parent. i'm sounding like a complete moron trying to explain why i love these guys so much, so i'll stop and post the vids, with lyrics after the link.

MK Ultra (chicago)
at the More Than Music festival somewhere in Ohio, 1998

"MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED"
the fucking student council is climbing the corporate ladder
and the former cheerleading captain is squeezing out kids

but i'm a failure?
and i'm a fuckup?
i refuse to compromise
i won't succumb to normal life

how do you define success? is it a house-wife and kids?
life is more than a paycheck and a clean credit check

i'm a failure
and i'm a fuckup
maybe i am still a little lost
it just seems like it's all passed.. passed me by

fuck your cookie cutter existance
i may never live up to my potential
but i can always say i stood by my convictions
can you say the same?

this video starts with the same song i just posted above, but the two songs afterwards were noteworthy to me.

"¡LLENO DE GUSTO!"
at Fireside Bowl, chicago, probably 1996 or 97 (i honestly may have been at this show... can't remember)

it's just another lie
shoved down your fucking throat
white tan models, tan white teeth,
this is freedom? i want to scream 'Yeeagghh!!!'
you'll never be welcome here
unless you're addicted to the american dream
i want to scream 'Yeeagghh!!!'

Lleno de gusto!

under... control... you'll never pull yourself up your
mind... numbed... you'll never see it coming
body... broken... you'll never even fight it with your
spirit... shackled... you'll never raise your voice in protest

and you'll never quit until your' fucking dead.

"MELT"

once upon a time the irish were the dogs
and so much slag for the melting pot
'their eyes leap with cruelty insanity and crime' ***
alas, the country's memory is cut short
and second and third generations
swallow the same nativist bile that killed their ancestors

i'm sick of this 'wall off the country' shit.
unless you're a native american you're a hypocrite.
a homogenized culture of stolen names
and someone convenient to take the blame.

*** attorney general of the united states A Mitchell Palmer, 1919.

ridiculous wind-blown nonsense machine at Bucktown Arts Raw Space

2008-09-03T19:30:00.004-04:00

well folks, here it is:

the show is not quite open, so Terry and Steve do not have their pieces fully installed yet. I will shoot & upload more video when they are finished.

upcoming art shows in the QCs

2008-08-21T20:25:00.011-04:00

there are some things in the works for both myself and some friends, and i thought i'd give a heads-up on them since some things open in a month or so.

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.

collaborative show in T-minus one month

2008-07-29T23:15:00.006-04:00

throughout the next month, i will be collaborating with several quad city artists and musicians on an installation / environment / event / "happening" that will use a portion of the Bucktown Arts Center as its venue. because this is so last-minute, this run in early september probably going to be a prototype for a more finished environment that we propose a year or so from now.

our little group:

Terry Rathje: sculptor, installation-er, professor at Western Illinois University, all-around good guy and bringer of delicious sweet corn.

Steve Banks: painter. didn't you hear? also, maker of mean flatbread pork fajitas.

Bill Campbell: composer, professor at Saint Ambrose University, film scorer. very musically intelligent. brings nothing but his own gatorade to the party.

i'll keep the small audience here posted as to what transpires. the overall piece might bring in backlit scrims that have low-tech animations of light projections, art-making/musical contraptions that beg for audience involvement, small-motor moving "scenery" and a bunch of other ideas. as you can see, it's difficult to explain, so think Ann Hamilton meets Rube Goldberg meets... a Pink Floyd show. a reception for the exhibit and a one-night special audience-participatory party goes down sometime in September. keep your eyes peeled.

new painting: Hyzenthlay

2008-07-13T17:00:00.005-04:00

well, i think it's finished.
click on either image for a larger 12x9 view.

hyzenthlay
44 x 44 inches
oil on canvas
© Matt Pulford 2008

hyzenthlay (detail)
44 x 44 inches
oil on canvas
© Matt Pulford 2008

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Steve Banks: Artist, Davenport Iowa

2008-07-09T08:50:00.023-04:00

enough about me. let's talk about Steve Banks.

Carnival
66 x 40 inches

(click on any images for a larger view)

i first met steve in downtown davenport a little over a year ago, as i was attending an arts party for a performance festival my wife had a hand in running. we got to chatting about being artists, and he struck me as someone a bit more informed than most other area artists. steve was actually in mid-conversation with one of his buyers, and was preparing to show the gentleman new work at his studio. he offered that i join in, so we all went for a walk of about three blocks to check things out.

the invigorating feeling of walking downtown late at night in the humid air of the late spring was mixing with the alcohol i had been drinking. i was starting to feel like i was back in chicago, meandering from gallery to gallery. i was excited to hang out with these peeps, because it seemed to me like really interesting visual artists had moved to the QCs during the time i was away. that feeling was further strengthened when i walked into steve's studio. steve rents out a space above a downtown business (that might not even be open anymore), and the place looks like what an artist's studio should look like. the stairs that lead up to his space are shoddy and uncomfortable, the walls are peeling paint, and there's shit everywhere. it's perfect.

Babelmundo
70 x 48 inches

Priestess
86 x 65 inches

after spending a good amount of time looking at a lot of work that night, and after having seen even more since then at area shows, i've become a big fan of steve's style. if one must categorize, his oeurve seems to have three different realms:

first, there are pieces that are straight painting. these pieces stand out from others rather easily, because there our obvious physical differences from the rest. simply stated, these would be paintings on canvas - sometimes with wacky, complex, wooden frames (check out "The Priestess" directly above).

next, there are pieces that are conglomerations of found objects, usually placed within some sort of a standard rectangular composition - a fixed frame, if you will. these found objects are almost always toys/remnants from the seventies and eighties — be it GI Joe™ figurines or Muscle Men™ — and they are spray painted to an almost monochromatic oneness. think louise nevelson's organization fetish meeting keith haring's or kenny scharf's sense of play and fun.

finally, there are hybrid painting-sculptural apparatuses. these have a similar look as the first "straight painting" category, but actually have a lot of 3D forms built into the framework. there are sewn bridges being traipsed and goofy puppet heads doing their thing (check out "...Mr Bombastico" at the very bottom of this post).

i tend to be drawn more to the first and third bodies of work, so i'll talk about one of my favorites before i wrap it up. check out "Carnival" - the painting i placed at the very top of this post. the artist has drawn up a narrative that you can almost follow like the page of a novel:

- a totem with a skyscraper headdress offers up a big mac, fries, and a cola ala some sort of magic "what do you want?" machine that Bender would conjure up in his abdomen and serve with the ding of an easy bake oven.

- some sort of many-footed creature marches towards the offering with gusto, and i can't help but think it looks like Ned Flanders (so of course, i think that's fucking cool).

- little ginger-bread fellas teeter back and forth on the roof of a classical-style building, their stylized wangs hanging out for all to see.

- a tiny little observatory watches the entire scene unfold, while hundreds of homogenized, soul-less "people" keep getting churned out by "the machine" (don't ask...).

so... this is what goes on in steve's creative inward eye, and i love it.

what do you think? take a look at the other images i've posted, and really sit and look. pay attention to his use of color. keep an eye out for interesting things going on in his custom, labor-intensive frames. and if you'd like to see more, go here:
Steve banks on The Art Feed.

thanks,
-matt

Ziggurat
66 x 30 inches

Barbarians at the Gate
66 x 48 inches

The Fantastico Mr Bombastico
60 x 35 inches

a little further along...

2008-07-04T12:53:00.004-04:00

i thought i'd go ahead and continue to show in-progress photos of this particular piece, just for the hell of it.

it's probably about half-way done. the usualy roller-coaster ride has happened — i've gone from feeling pretty good about it, to not feeling good about it; lather, rinse, repeat. little changes here and there will probably happen - bringing the hot spots of the clouds back to more of a white instead of a yellow-white; more evening-up of the dispersion of the sky colors around the near horizon; more development of the foreground.

although... see that Turner-esque golden glow in the mid right of the earlier version of this (in the previous post below)? that's kind of nice. maybe i'll bring some of that back.

click on the image for a larger view:

new piece in the works + Magnolia

2008-06-21T00:12:00.006-04:00

i started a new piece tonight. it's kind of fun to watch things change from week to week, so i thought i'd post a pic. here's the very humble beginnings after one night - basic composition and color playing. it's one of the larger paintings i've begin in a long while:

(click on image for a larger view)

i've been spending money on DVDs lately, slowly building a collection of my favorite films. i went to see Magnolia when it first came out, and it hit me in the gut tremendously hard. i actually think i remember crying a slight bit in the theater, with my girlfriend at the time wondering what was wrong. i couldn't believe the reaction the film evoked from me. i suppose it all relates to a pretty strange, introspective self-sequestering i went through after i finished up my BFA.

here's some eye candy. first, the official trailer; then, the famous musical interlude scene.

Quad City State of the Arts, One.

2008-06-12T21:04:00.016-04:00

some friends and I have had a lot of discussions on the state of the local arts scene lately, but I rarely post about that type of thing here, usually sticking to other visual art topics and local reviews. recently, however, something in particular struck me as more peculiar than usual, so I've decided to write a post on the issue.

without going into the minutia of all this, I'll attempt to preface things quickly... the visual art scene here in the Quad Cities is a bit fragmented. on one hand, you have a group of "young" (read: 20 to 39 year old) artists here that have recently graduated from rather strong art programs elsewhere in the country, and/or have lived in our large city art hotspots, and/or have a contemporary style of some sort. on the other hand, you have what I've sometimes referred to as the "old guard" here — artists who make work that either seems to be stuck in the 1970 modernism that revolves around pretty standard figure painting, or seems to be rooted even further back, to the formal concerns of the 1930s. these two worlds usually coexist well — hell, some of the former group's first collegiate professors are from the latter group (faculty at our local academic institutions of Augie, Ambrose, or Blackhawk). the problem has never been two different worlds of style butting heads, it's been the two different senses of what an art community is butting heads.

our local arts galleries offer annual calls for entry for show submissions, but aside from those opportunities, the actual "art world" — as in places to show work — is rather slim. it's because of this that some artists, including myself, have looked into obtaining raw spaces for short term rental leases (to no avail). call it some leftover fondness of the "chicago model" of having professional art shows in one's basement or call it a DIY ethic because of my punk rocker roots. either way, it's something i've seen as being tremendously important. we have to do our own shows, on our own terms, with our own money. we need curatorial independence. we need to bring fresh artists with fresh work to this stagnant scene that shows the same damn work over and over again. the well-known venues i speak of seem to have a tough time letting these younger, emerging artists in on what's going on in the art scene — what opportunities are arising, for example. so, at our luckiest, our scene has recent graduates that make good work making it in their basement, where it sits forever, never being shown. at our luckiest. the worst case scenario would have it that this next generation of artists flat out leaves for greener pastures - to a more nurturing, more exciting art scene of San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, Seattle... you name it. yes, the brain drain... it doesn't only happen with young engineering students of the University of Iowa... it happens with our creative types as well.

SO... here we are, a scene that barely has any progressive art venues, very little post-University discourse (thank heavens for Figge lecture series), and is losing its future artists. And what do we do? Well... this brings me to the main point of my gripe. We build this:

feel free to read some articles that explain what this picture relates to:

http://www.rcreader.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12780&Itemid=42

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=390561&query=dumarche
(yes, the "matt" comments are mine).

Unlike other people who have made comments on newspaper articles involving this, i can't have a problem with the developer, the city grant money given to him, the $1 startup cost, or anything else in those realms because i'm naive to them. but i do have a major problem with the idea. That photo up there? that fucking Wysteria Lane horsehit that belongs north of 53rd street, inhabited by some architect that is sipping a Starbucks latte? That is what is supposedly — if i understand the articles correctly – meant to attract new artists to the quad cities, or to bring current local artists downtown, to a live & work space. and to boot, artists that not only make a living solely off of selling their own work, but make a great living off of selling their own work – enough to be able to afford mortgages on places that are anywhere from $129,000 to $159,000. my head fucking exploded when i read this. holy crap.

what we have here folks, is a severe gap in understanding as to what an artist wants from its community. i know there are local arts advisory councils and think tank-type groups, but it seems as though only one audience – out of many that make our art scene – is invited or is participating. very little communication makes for some rather angry talent, which in turn snowballs into further schism. not good.

well then.
apologies about the F-bombs. they're very rare here. allow me to sign off for the night with some more Antelope, from DC. perhaps some appropriate lyrics and stage candor:

Adam Bender, ballplayer

2008-06-05T09:18:00.003-04:00

i'm going to steer away from the normal content on this for a post – going to stray from art and music for a short bit. those of you that know me personally know i love baseball more than all other recreational past times. i'm not speaking about the juiced-up, slug fest, majors; i'm talking about the game we all grew up playing as kids across this country. baseball rules. and so does adam bender:

adam lost his leg to cancer seven years ago when he was only one year old.

Nowhere Close to Normal & Other Print Works

2008-05-28T21:46:00.015-04:00

after several months of printing and planning, the traveling group show i've mentioned a couple times is coming to fruition. each friend/artist involved is responsible for finding an exhibition venue in his or her hometown. my venue here may well be the Figge Art Museum, which could prove to be very nice. i've been told the committee is excited about my proposal, and might give it a go ahead for the months of October and November, 2008. my fingers will remained crossed for good luck.

the exhibition schedule as of today:

August 2008
Ft Hays State University Art Gallery
Hays, Kansas

September 2008
Perks Coffee House
Athens, Ohio

January 2009
Red Delicious Press Gallery
Denver, Colorado

some work samples of participating artists...
(click on images for larger views)

Goya's Black Paintings

2008-05-21T16:51:00.011-04:00

a month or so back, i took a class (actually a scholarly lecture) at the Figge on Francisco Goya's mysterious "black paintings." the session was titled Interpreting the Dark and Strange and it was led by Emily Alexander (M.A., U Mass). I felt she did a very nice job.

at the time of the talk, and since then, i've realized these "black paintings" have left an impression on me in terms of how they relate to some pieces i've made here and there throughout my life. i wanted to post some images from the body of work and give a very quick paraphrasing of the content of Emily's lecture...

when Goya was 74 years old, sick, and beginning to go mad (throw into that mix the fact that he was already mostly deaf), he began living in a villa outside of Madrid. as i understand it, the only other resident in the home was his servant and lover. soon after taking up residence, he started painting a variety of frescoes on the interior walls of his home. evidently, the manner in which he painted the pieces was both fierce in style and made in haste. the works fell to shit in a short amount of time because Goya failed to correctly apply paint onto wet plaster. after his death, a haphazard attempted to save them was made, but the process didn't go so well. I guess the pieces now exist via a stretched canvas system of some sort, and are in "so-so" shape.

but, back to the content of the work. these murals are insane. large, dark pieces depicting some very eerie scenes. quasi-satanic rituals with a shadowy goat figure. parades of people that look mentally ill. and of course, there's also the famous piece from this body of work - the scene of the god Saturn devouring his children. remember, these were everywhere on the walls of his house. wow.

i'm having a tough time figuring out my favorite work out of the lot. for now, i'll go with Pilgrimage to San Asidro. (as always, click on images for a larger view)

here's The Great He-Goat: Witches Sabbath

Saturn Devouring His Children

Asmodea

and one more, Two Old Men

A Dream in Doubt

2008-05-21T09:01:00.010-04:00

last night, PBS' Independent Lens premiered "A Dream in Doubt." The episode/film tells the story of an extended Sikh family (common thread = 3 brothers) as they deal with extreme hardships during the days immediately after September 11th, 2001. Actually, "hardships" puts the situation lightly... you see, two of the brothers from this Indian immigrant family are murdered basically because of their appearance. Yes, it is a simplification, but two killers — hellbent on an enraged revenge for 9/11 — murdered these two american citizens simply because the socially-loaded turbans and beards worn by the brothers somehow signified "Al-Queda" to the killers. As the film goes on, you learn that more violence came to this group of immigrants — another friend of the family is murdered under similar circumstances, and yet another family friend receives a string of life-threatening phone calls and visits to his home.

i just now typed the words "race relations in america will continue to be very complex and difficult to comprehend for a long time to come," but a more direct comment might be "what the fuck is wrong with our country?"

the worst part for me personally about all this is that i have to deal with this brand of hate and distrust daily. i work with people who frequently use the phrase "towel head" and i've heard a lot of bigotous rhetoric about neighborhood gas station owner/operators. sometimes i feel as if i'm surrounded by a severe lack of intelligence.

links to web sites:

http://www.adreamindoubt.org/

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/dreamindoubt/

.

Sweep the Leg Johnny + Faraquet

2008-05-16T23:35:00.007-04:00

i just realized that this week i've been listening to two defunct "math rock" bands that i never got to see live.

damn.

chao, does kanoo have internet access? send him this way to see if he enjoys this stuff still. i know you guys always wanted to work on a mars volta-ish band.

so... first, chicago's Sweep the Leg Johnny. they had clean vocals, did the weird syncopation timings, sounded dark and doom-ey every once in a while, and stood out from the rest of the genre players by inserting a saxaphone as a major component of their music.

here's "Bloodlines." watch the near-end for the guitar player's epic miscalculation of the strength of a drop ceiling. ouch.

then, washington dc's Faraquet. a little cleaner of a sound; a newer band, but as i said, also defunct. i couldn't decide which video to post, so here are both of them. evidently this is filmed in Brazil somewhere?

Cut Self Not

The Fourth Introduction

solo exhibitions in 2009

2008-05-09T09:19:00.009-04:00

i received notice this week that i will have a solo show in bloomington, illinois next summer. the specific dates will be June 19th - August 8th 2009, at the McLean Arts Center. Curator Alison Hatcher is as kind as ever, and generous thanks to her for pushing me to submit to the formal committee.

there's also news that i am probably in strong consideration for a show at the Catich Gallery at Saint Ambrose University. Curator Heather Lovewell is being very welcoming to me and my proposal, and says it too has to pass the formal submission process via a university committee. I was asked if I preferred a solo show or to be curated into a group show, and I honestly don't mind either way. fingers crossed for some positive news on that once the fall semester begins.

some other things in the works - i decided what the hell, i'll go ahead and propose a solo show for the 2009-10 season at Quad City Arts. i had a solo show there in 2001, so if my proposal is accepted, it will have been a while since people have seen what i've been up to here in my home town. "why not," eh?

aside from all that, the thing i am most involved in lately involves some grumblings amongst a few new art cohorts here and i about the often unorganized, insular quad city visual art scene. i think something i'm pushing for the next few years here is an group-show-only exhibition space operated by artists — something done with our own money, via our own curatorial practices, on our own terms. there are several artists here that seem to stand out from the pack of the traditional, established, rank-and-file quad city arts scene (not against them, just different from them), and we could bring in some rather strong, fresh, interesting work from all over the country. good artists from San Francisco, Denver, Edmonton, Tallahassee, Athens (OH), Peoria, and other locales could be shown amongst the work of my own and the other local artists i speak of. it's a slowly evolving idea, but we're working on it.

anyways... back to the title of the post. the shows that are actually finalized will probably have a mix of the following pieces.

as always, click on any image for a larger view.

two new pieces, finished

2008-04-28T21:34:00.007-04:00

all finished up, methinks.
click on images for a larger view.

© matt pulford
chloe
oil on canvas
36 x 36 inches
2008

here's a detail:

© matt pulford
chloe (Detail)
oil on canvas
36 x 36 inches
2008

and then, the print for the traveling show by illinois state university print alum. i mentioned this project here a month or so back.

© matt pulford
dust of your dust, brother and mother (sandburg)
intalgio print
paper size: 18 x 14 inches image size: 8 x 5 inches
2008

details of print:
blend roll, line etching, aquatint
1/9 through 9/9

GC5 + The Pogues

2008-04-28T20:12:00.004-04:00

some time ago, maybe 7 years or so back, my friend jason gave me a cassette tape (yup) of a band called the GC5. they're definitely in that vein of working-class, street / oi! punk rock, and i don't own a lot of that stuff but i loved it when i got it. i really wore out the tape. a few years after that, i had the privilege of seeing them, along with the Hudson Falcons, live in chicago at the Fireside. fun fun fun. so, here you go - the GC5 and "White Flag."

So let me put up the white flag, let me surrender
Don't you fucking kick me when I'm down
You're so abusive, I'm so reclusive
I'm already beaten to the ground

you can't tell from that video, but the singers actually both have amazing voices. one of them even went on to be in a Pogues cover band. awesome. and hell... speaking of The Pogues, try to watch this and not want to go to your neighborhood pub for a beer:

Cy Twombly

2008-04-18T15:05:00.014-04:00

if you frequent this blog, you know i sporadically insert posts that do nothing more than feature the artwork of friends of mine whose work i respect. but you may forget that back when i posted about Mark Rothko , i mentioned that i would also occasionally post major-league "heavy hitting" artists, or as i also called them, "personal gut-punchers," meaning prominent artists throughout history that evoke a strong, visceral admiration inside me.

it's time for one of those. i'm not going to go on and on about any history, critiques, the myriad of ways he's influenced an awful lot of my friends and myself, the people who think this man is a crock of shit, or anything else, i'm just going to post some images this time. as always, click on images for a larger view.

Cy Twombly. love him.

Cy Twombly
Wilder Shores of Love
oil, crayon, pencil on plywood
about 55" x 47"
1985

Cy Twombly
several panels from 50 Days at Ilium (10 canvases meant to be taken in as one whole)
1977-1978

Cy Twombly
untitled
crayon, house paint on paper
about 28" x 40"
1970

Cy Twombly
the artist poses in front of Say Goodby, Catullus, to the Shores of Asia Minor
1972-1994

Meeting David Wilson

2008-04-14T09:25:00.005-04:00

MSNBC premiered the independent documentary film Meeting David Wilson this past Friday, and it was phenomenal. If you haven't heard about the film, it follows one young black man from New Jersey - David Wilson - to meet a middle-aged white man in North Carolina - David Wilson. See, the elder David's ancestors once owned the younger David's ancestors, as slaves on a tobacco plantation.

the meeting and subsequent conversation between the two men is extremely engaging. questions about the past, forgiveness, anger, and reparations are asked and answered honestly and respectfully. during the day spent together, the two become friends, and as i understand it, that bond is still strong after the making of the film. the piece ends with the flashing of a Martin Luther King quote on the screen:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

The Here's the trailer:

Throughout the main focus of the film, a deeper, overarching question is asked by the younger, black David Wilson. it is, "What is wrong with black people?"

MSNBC hosted an extremely touching roundtable discussion, that lasted 3 hours, after the airing of the film. on the panel were normal faces like one of my faves - Dr Michael Eric Dyson - but also some people I had not yet heard of.

very, very good.
please, check out the trailer.

chicago

2008-04-11T23:55:00.015-04:00

the opening sequence to Wilco's 2002 documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

the first time i lived away from home was when i left the nest, post-community college, in january of 1996. i headed downstate, to illinois state university in order to learn more about fine art and art history. my time down there was certainly like most people's. i had been the transferring junior that lived in the dorms one semester; i had late night study benders; i had binge drinking sessions; i had fallen in love; ate, drank, and slept art; and smashed televisions in the middle of busy streets. but aside from all that maturing, fucking up, and re-maturing, i had actually graduated with a good degree in a solid art program, earned my way into a full time position at a reputable contemporary university art space, and gone to grad school for free. but for some reason, i decided to not tempt some seeming "complacency" and to move on.

in may of 2002, i decided it was time to leave the comforts of bloomington-normal. i had met a girl — a fellow artist — in a far-off part of the country and become smitten, and it turned out she lived in a chicago suburb. after casually dating for quite a while, she decided she was moving to chicago proper — a place that i had a strong aversion to my whole life. so, what did i do? i packed up and followed her. and of course, it quickly fizzled out, for good reasons. so, in the summer of 2002, i was 26, and all by myself in a city of 3 million people, surrounded by a suburban area of another 6 or 7 million. and it was unlike anything i've ever experienced.

it's unbelievably difficult to describe what 5 years with chicago did to me. it's funny, but as i watch the opening sequence to I Am Trying To Break Your Heart — as Jeff Tweedy nervously yet comfortably drives around town — it strikes a chord within me. it illustrates the paradox that my chicago experience proved to be. it brings back a flood of memories, and i'm wrought by tinges of sadness, regret, pride, anger, and joy, all balled up into one overwhelming feeling.

i'm sitting here, as i write, thinking about that time, and an immense number of memories are coming to mind. my first friends that i met at the adler planetarium — the first time going out with people for a social drink. figuring out public transportation by myself. driving through some bad parts of the south side to go see a girl i had a crush on. punching buses and cabs as i rode my bike. being the first-hand witness to an awful car crash on Lower Wacker, and helping out the folks, eventually receiving mail from one victim - a sweet woman who wanted to say thanks. walking along the lakefront and watching strangers' dogs play for hours near Addison or Belmont at that dog park. all these memories in my mind have this little nuanced "flavor" to them - this hint of a common thread, and as pathetic as it might sound, i think that thread is loneliness.

the first year i lived in chicago, i had a $565 studio apartment that literally had no bedroom. the only interior wall was a tiny one that separated my toilet and shower from the rest of the tiny space. i slept right next to my couch, television, and bikes; i painted on my tiny kitchen floor. i recall that first summer, when i worked at a day camp teaching art. i spoke to no one, knew no one, except for these children who i taught art to. very strange. i recall getting home from work at night, and the smells of summer, as i walked around my neighborhood, glancing into windows with lights on, wondering what went on in the world of other folks. it was all so incredibly... strange, what i went through that first year. i recall the liquor store one block away at ashland & montrose, and buying a lot of beer that i'd drink by myself while painting on that kitchen floor. then perhaps, if a weekend, a bike ride at 2 or 3 in the morning, south towards belmont, to see the fellow punk rockers, in some vain hope i'd meet a friend, or a girl.

i don't mean this to sound so damn maudlin, because that is not my intention at all. but... it was a really fucked up, lonely time in my life. and oddly enough, as friends started moving to the city, and as the neighborhoods became more and more familiar, i don't think i ever lost that feeling of being overwhelmed by chicago... the concrete, the hordes of people, the lack of caring for your fellow human being, the dirt and grime, the concrete. everywhere, the concrete.

i could (and may, as time goes by with this blog) write an awful lot of anecdotal stories about my 5 years in the big city. but i suppose the feelings that i wanted to get across tonight, in this journal-ish post, are that aside from how strong of a yearning i had to get out of there, i have to say i'd never change one damn thing about my 5 years in chicago.

it's funny how the visuals and music in that snippet of video above bring back all those memories so perfectly.

Low

2008-04-11T12:39:00.004-04:00

i spent a lot of time listening to Low during my self-sequestered, pensive, college art-making years.

Low, from Duluth MN. (long, dark winters... can you tell?)
Point of Disgust
1995

My Black Ass.

2008-04-10T22:18:00.005-04:00

Shellac of North America:
drummer Todd Trainer – witty interlude during the 25th anniversary get together for Touch & Go Records.

Shellac of North America:
(live) Steve Albini deals with a heckler. then, My Black Ass

The Crinn video

2008-04-02T12:27:00.003-04:00

i mentioned seeing The Crinn live a few weeks back, a couple posts down. the band now has a video up on youtube. it's pretty typical for music of this genre - conceptually kind of silly - but i want to post it to show how amazing the band is musically to me. my favorite parts of this particular song are the last 30 seconds or so.

painting update + Figge article in Reader

2008-03-28T22:39:00.007-04:00

first off, there's an article about/featuring the new Figge Art Museum director in the new River Cities Reader here, with some commentary about what the nature of the collection/exhibition plan should be. i didn't quite see some posters' points of view, so i chimed in a couple times.

i finished up work on the revamped version of "Sandburg: Baltic Fog Notes." i like the work better, but i'm still not convinced it's a great piece. ah well though. it's kind of rough and shoddy; the grass blades feel clumsy and overall it's not very cleanly crafted. it's not really how i originally saw this, but maybe i should embrace that with this one. we'll see how my feelings go.

here's the new image. as always, click on the pic for a larger view. if you are interested in seeing the original version, skip down a few posts.

matt pulford
sandburg: baltic fog notes
latex paint, enamel paint, and polycrlic on routed canvas
2008

Carl Sandburg
Baltic Fog Notes
from Smoke and Steel, 1922

(Bergen) SEVEN days all fog, all mist, and the turbines pounding through high seas.
I was a plaything, a rat’s neck in the teeth of a scuffling mastiff.
Fog and fog and no stars, sun, moon.
Then an afternoon in fjords, low-lying lands scrawled in granite languages on a gray sky,
A night harbor, blue dusk mountain shoulders against a night sky,
And a circle of lights blinking: Ninety thousand people here.
Among the Wednesday night thousands in goloshes and coats slickered for rain,
I learned how hungry I was for streets and people.

I would rather be water than anything else.
I saw a drive of salt fog and mist in the North Atlantic and an iceberg dusky as a cloud in the gray of morning.
And I saw the dream pools of fjords in Norway … and the scarf of dancing water on the rocks and over the edges of
mountain shelves.
Bury me in a mountain graveyard in Norway.
Three tongues of water sing around it with snow from the mountains.

Bury me in the North Atlantic.
A fog there from Iceland will be a murmur in gray over me and a long deep wind sob always.

Bury me in an Illinois cornfield.
The blizzards loosen their pipe organ voluntaries in winter stubble and the spring rains and the fall rains bring letters
from the sea.

.

"Freedom River"

2008-03-23T15:39:00.014-04:00

Freedom River
by Warren H Schmidt, Ph.D.
(Narrated by Orson Welles)
1971

as i've said before, talking and writing about politics is usually somewhat difficult for me. issues that people debate about on television, at the workplace, or even within a circle of friends always seem to be far more complex to me than commonly made out to be. but there is something that's been traversing in and out of my thoughts over the last few years, most often as i read up on a couple religious discussion boards i frequent. i suppose it somewhat relates to the video above — the political issues of xenophobia, greed, etcetera — but i think it's more apt to say it's something more stripped down, pertaining to communication and respect, something more about.. well... "personality," i suppose.

allow me to take a sidestep tangent here for a bit... my wife and I are not church-goers in any sense of the word. i'm an atheist with no belief in an afterlife, and she's someone who is neither here nor there - someone who dislikes the idea of organized religion, but believes in the idea of a creator of everything (that's about as commonly theistic or religious as her mindset gets; it might suffice to say she believes in "The Force," for lack of a better explanation). so... think about us, and about how we will raise our future children. what do you think we'll do? do you think I'll teach them there is no god? think we'll answer questions like "what happens when grandma dies?" with stone-cold answers not fit for a child? conversely, think about a religious couple you know, also in their early 30s. a friend you have that "loves jesus," and is actively involved in his or her church. how do you think they'll raise their children? my guess is that most people would think both my wife and i as well as this other hypothetical couple will both raise their children ardently according to their beliefs, or lack thereof — me, raising my children by telling them belief in god is illogical, and they, raising their children by telling them god created them and everything around them.

and that is where i think most people are mistaken.

you see, the more i learn about the religious right i happen to be around in my daily life at work and at play (and in family circles), the more i realize they have a very peculiar view of our nation, and in turn, how they live their lives — their personalities. it's not very apt to call anyone "close-minded" anymore. it's a phrase that has almost lost its meaning; it's often anymore just a simple, sophomoric retort from a teenager to a parent, because mom or dad don't like pink hair. but these people are completely shut-in, close-minded to the core. the idea that a gay or lesbian teacher is involved in educating their child frightens them. the idea of a mexican-american family speaking spanish in a grocery store infuriates them. the idea that their faith doesn't have a monopoly in our collective lives causes them much grief. somehow, this all relates to this 6 minute animation from 1971.

in short, these people actively denounce the very freedoms this nation stands for. they have also turned a blind eye to the compassion, love, and grace that their religion has told them to embrace. the "go back to russia, you commie lib!" comments you hear from the most ridiculous of this mindset are completely laughable, but are also quite worrying. what is their ideal america? it's a very frightening question to ponder.

they can go ahead and fill their children's minds with black-and-white dogma, passing on their close-mindedness. we on the opposite side of the aisle will continue to let our children make up their own minds about spirituality, politics, and personality.

a minor update

2008-03-21T10:19:00.004-04:00

spring is here, folks, and obviously posting here has slowed down a bit. for those few of you who read this, i might not be writing as often, at least for a little while.

over the last month or so, i've heard from a few old friends whose art i'll be posting sometime soon. Namely, Marilee Salvator and her new paintings & drawings, and Angela Mobley and something really interesting called her "Truth card" public/guerilla art project. Word on the street is Tim Roby gets his MFA from the University of Minnesota this spring, and I should have photos of that show soon.

I've also been busy fixing a recent piece of my own (Sandburg: Baltic Fog Notes), and I'll throw an update with some photos soon.

there you have it. go outside and smell the flowers.

interesting new music

2008-03-10T22:01:00.008-04:00

went to see a show last night. The Crinn headlined, from St Paul, MN. i was really impressed by the guitarist and bassist, and liked that out of all 6 of the bands that played that night, their drummer had the most stripped down kit, yet knew how to play it tenfold over the other bands' drummers. the sound? really technical "neo-prog metal" (labels...) that had metalcore / screamo vocals. the guys had two CDs sold together for five bucks total, so i got both. there is quite a difference between the two; it seems that a different vocalist (and possibly drummer) were involved with one recording, and i don't care for it. it's far too different vocally - i don't care to try to explain how. just isn't my thing. but the latest stuff, with the newer vocalist... man... i've listened to it 3 times all the way through in 24 hours and i'm very impressed. the shit makes me realize just how mediocre of a guitar player i am. i get the same feeling listening to it as i do when i go watch the bmx'ers that are 15 years younger than me at the downtown skatepark. envy.

anyways, nothing online by them is terribly new, but there is some footage of the band practicing. give this a shot - it seems to be "Slaughter, War, and Guillotine" (of course, without any vocals). check out the doom breakdown at about an even 2:00 in. nice... very nice. and hey - if you do happen to click on the similar videos that follow after this one runs completely through, beware the live one - it's of the previous singer i do not care for.

band web site is on myspace here.

Kristen Quinn at Catich Gallery

2008-03-07T21:02:00.013-05:00

i hopped over to Saint Ambrose University's Catich Gallery last friday after work to check out the opening of Kristen Quinn's sabbatical showing of new paintings. here's the info for all interesting in attending:

"Between Sea and Sky"
Feb. 19 - Mar 21
Catich Gallery
Galvin Fine Arts Center Tuesday - Friday, 1–5 p.m.
(Free and open to the public)

perhaps you've already seen the hybrid conversation-review by pal Steve Banks and someone who i inadvertently, "sort of" called old and too set-in-his-ways, Bruce Carter (i still apologize, Bruce; i hope you understand it was a polite disagreement about the purpose of graduate school). If not, their review is in the River Cities Reader here, so check it out.

first off, this happened to be my first time inside the Catich Gallery. i really enjoyed the space a lot and i plan on submitting some show ideas to the gallery curator throughout the next few years. the classic "white box" model always works quite well for 2D pieces, and heck... that large wall you see upon entering, with the halo of natural light from behind? that's some handsome stuff.

now then, on to the work. Kristen makes moderately large (usually 60 x 72, or so) oil paintings on canvas, and the show has about 10 works on view.

these large, colorful abstractions are quite layered, and thus invite a longer observance time than, say, minimal abstraction. scattered amongst vibrant sections of paint were snippets of recognizable information — quasi fleur de lis shapes, hints of masts of ships, and silhouettes of tree branches. you get the sense that the artist was reading epic poems of travel and/or loss, and that she spent a lot of time outdoors, watching otherworldly sunsets that you get on nights where the dust in the air is just right, and decided to take a natural representation of such colorations and "turn it up to eleven" (forgive me).

and that — the artist's use of color — might be where my slight dislike to this body of work began.

i'm not going to sit and say i personally think Quinn's work is bad, because i don't. it's just that it is simply not my thing. as purposeful as her intent may be, i have a problem with juiced-up color that comes right out of the tube and is placed on the canvas, and that happens to be what i saw in her acidic pinks, chartreuses, and violets — steroid paint, right out of the tube.

i also was unsure about the manner in which she pushes paint. many of the silhouetted shapes seemed to be painted in an unsure manner. i noticed this most on a piece that had a section of roses coming up from the bottom of the composition—her silhouetted "shape-making" looked shaky and a bit clumsy. i would probably have liked the paintings better if the execution was one of a looser, more fluid style. again—i've been there myself, as i make my own work, but... i don't know... these just didn't work in such a pristine place.

one last thing i found out of my personal liking - not bad, but just not my thing - was the silkscreen-ish layering of paint, the "add a layer of a color; let dry; add another layer of another color; let dry, etcetera." i wanted to see colors flow into each other more, on layers that were pushed back in space (you know - literally painted first). i saw it in a few pieces, and they actually ended up being the pieces i liked most. take a look at this painting - note the light area a little off of bottom left. see the blending of color? i liked these types of pieces more because of the mixing and blending of paint as she worked.

all in all i had a good time. these things i am bringing up are quite trite, really. i'm a recent re-transpant to the quad cities, and i hope the established artists i've lost touch with or never met over the last ten years can respect both my positive and negative "reviews" on this site as simple "here's my two cents" pieces with absolutely no ill will at all. our locale needs more support for and buzz about its fine arts community. we're all in this together.

so...
if you happen to go to Kristens show and enjoy it, here are a couple other artists you may enjoy - first, google Philip Taaffe:

and also old chicago chum Molly Briggs:

thanks.

more Thoughts of Ionesco

2008-03-05T20:28:00.006-05:00

this may be my first double for a band i've posted yet this far on this blog. the first time i mentioned Thoughts of Ionesco was here.

sean, nathan, and brian. i've never seen an audience as frightened as when at Thoughts of Ionesco shows. i think i saw them three times during their years together - once in davenport, next in iowa city, and once more in chicago. the chicago show was at the fireside. sean ran full speed, head-first, into the wall stage right. evidently, that's nothing; there were usually broken bottles and blood added into the chaos. i got to know sean and nathan a slight bit, because i have done three of their album covers for them:

very smart gentleman, but always a hint of madness. i think the guys got sick of the "pure unleashed emotion" type of reviews, but how else can you describe them? enjoy.

Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)

2008-03-04T21:01:00.004-05:00

-February crawled by with ice upon ice upon ice; March isn't showing much of a difference yet...
-Work is characteristically filled with a bunch of par-for-the-course nonsense, general stupidity, and stress...
-Iowa state House Minority Leader Rep. Rants gets all preachy and tries to pass a ban of same-sex marriage (thankfully it fails again)...
-$300 online furniture purchases from Target show up at our house in 20 shambled pieces instead of the unbroken 10 pieces things were supposed to be shipped as...
-People on my side of the political aisle actually still think Hillary Clinton is worth voting for...

...and so on and so forth.
I need some positive vibes to keep me going.

Black Star.
Mos Def and Talib Kweli.

One, two, three
Mos Def and Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Too much violence in hip-hop, whyyyyy-ooohhhhh

if you're like me, you get a kick out of the joke Mos makes in the middle interlude involving the police officer. I loves me some Mos Def.

two new drawings, one new painting

2008-02-24T12:48:00.013-05:00

as promised, i finished all the new stuff up and photographed things this weekend. these quiet drawings are a huge pain in the ass to photograph. after several attempts with my studio lighting, one stand's halogen burnt out, so what do you do? you go outdoors. there is plenty of snow on the ground, and there isn't a cloud in the sky, so things were perfect for good lighting.

i still feel strongly about my grass blade drawings. but like i said... they're incredibly difficult to shoot. even the professional photographer i work with has had a hard time with these drawings.

i'm not, however, completely nuts about the painting. it's not wonderful by any means, and on top of that, it took painstakingly long to finish because of a huge array of problems. these carved text pieces are extremely difficult to pull off. the only one i feel strongly about throughout the years is this one, if i may link to my main site.

but i digress. here you go. enjoy.
you should probably click on the thumbnails to see larger views with more detail.

matt pulford
josephine (one)
pencil and colored pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches, 2008

matt pulford
josephine (two)
pencil and colored pencil on paper
32 x 20 inches, 2008

matt pulford
Sandburg: Baltic Fog Notes
latex paint on routed wood / canvas
40 x 30 inches, 2008

Three new images this weekend, grandma, Will Oldham

2008-02-20T22:05:00.003-05:00

A minor update... two new drawings plus a new painting will be posted sometime this weekend — here and on the main art site. in the dead of winter i often make work that is minimal and quiet, catalyzed by music or poetry about hard midwestern winters, loss, and life/death. it's at this time that i usually listen to stripped down music by masters such as Nick Drake, Nick Cave, or by the gentleman whose music is below. here's "careless love" by Bonnie Prince Billy (Will Oldham, aka palace Brothers, aka Palace Music). i found this user video version on youtube, enjoyed thoroughly, and wanted to share.

i say sorry
i say bye bye
i say miss you
i say cry cry

it seems the grandmother that partially raised me is now in her final years of life, and the body of drawings i will be posting are all titled after her first name.

art delay; Don Caballero

2008-02-17T21:11:00.006-05:00

finished up a new drawing but i have to wait to photograph it with the good studio lights; you see, things are a hopping and there's barely room to stand down there. actually, the main reason is a painting that's finally almost done, after two months of abuse on the stubborn thing.

for now, don caballero entertains you; damon che's drumming bewilders you:

Don Caballero
Fire Back About Your New Baby's Sex
The Grog Shop, Cleveland, 2007

Don Caballero
You Drink a Lot of Coffee for a Teenager
(fan video)

Gang of Four

2008-02-13T19:31:00.005-05:00

I was just eating some din, watching a DVD of old Gang of Four live footage, and decided to share a couple favorites off the video. the first one is "He'd Send in the Army." Second is "Damaged Goods." Looks like someone recorded the latter with a camcorder facing their television, so... sorry about that. There's nothing better on youtube.

I loves me some Gang of Four. weird political art punk you can shake your ass to. Andy Gill is one of my favorite guitar players.

He'd Send in the Army
live in london
1980

Damaged Goods
live in new york city (Hurrah's)
1980

Intaglio print for an upcoming traveling print exhibition

2008-02-09T15:12:00.000-05:00

today i began work on an intaglio print that will become part of a suite exchange portfolio that will travel the country to at least a couple exhibition sites. my particular print will be at least a 4-plate landscape piece. as of now, it's beginning layer is a blend-rolled flat. on top of that will be three zinc plate etchings, mostly made by removing a simple hard ground with some painterly solvent brushwork and then aquatinting that.

the edition size will be 9. paper size is 18" x 15". any medium at all can be utilized - intaglio, lithography, relief of any sort, collagraph, etcetera. the artists involved are all illinois state university art alumni, and old friends. all seven of us get one of each other's prints; one print gets framed up for the traveling exhibition; and another print gets donated as a portfolio suite that gets auctioned off to help fund our alma mater's printmaking department.

here's the roster. click on the artists' names for their individual web sites:

Amy Schmierbach, Kansas
Melissa Haviland, Ohio
Matt Pazzol, Ohio
Tonia Bonnell, Colorado
Mike Hornyak, California
Erik Waterkotte, Minnesota
and of course, myself, Iowa.

i have to give a hearty thanks to Kat Anderson of Saint Ambrose University for coming up with the "work exchange" arrangement that allows me to print at the university. i truly appreciate it tons.

if you're curious about my piece, i haven't even pulled any proofs yet. i can, however, post a pic of the four plates. click on the image below for a larger view. and in case you're wondering, the order of printing runs clockwise from top left.

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Burn to Shine / Tortoise

2008-02-02T19:27:00.001-05:00

I was talking about the DVD series Burn to Shine the other day, and decided to post a snippet from it here. Burn to Shine is partly the brainchild of Brendan Canty — Fugazi drummer — so when I first heard about it, I was of course interested (Fugazi has pretty much been my favorite band for almost 15 years now).

The concept behind the series goes like this:

As you can see, each episode focuses on the (mostly) independent-label bands of several cities, and a house in selected city that is slated for demolition. A "curator" for each city is chosen to in turn choose which bands will play one song each during the course of one day inside the abandoned house. The curator of the Chicago episode (the only one i own) is Bob Weston — Shellac bass player and all-around nice guy.

basically, the film opens with an introductory story about the home being demolished. then the 8 to 12 bands' sets are shown in order of recording during the day. finally, the film closes with the demolition of the house. Yes... "art film"... but this is some good shit, folks. trust me.

The Chicago episode focuses on a home up near the north end of Lake Shore Drive, in a residential section of the Uptown/Loyola neighborhood. The story of the residence starts off as a sweet one — it being one house out of three built at the same time, many years back, as gifts from a father to his three different daughters. But throughout the years, this one particular house out of the three ages beyond repair, and must be destroyed to make way for new and improved housing.

Shellac, Wilco, and even The Ponys — a band that an old drinking chum from my college days plays guitar for — are featured on this episode. But no one on this DVD blows me away more than Tortoise does. What do you get when a bunch of punk rockers get into their 40s and decide they have always loved Miles Davis?

This:

Tortoise
Salt the Skies

Intense, eh?
One of my favorite drummers, too.

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William Elliott Whitmore, Iowan.

2008-01-28T20:39:00.000-05:00

I first heard about Will some time ago when he was opening up & roadie-ing for Ten Grand, an Iowa City band fronted by someone I knew named Matt Davis. The story goes that after a while of being Ten Grand's roadie, Will was asked to open for their shows with a short set of his songs. I had heard that Will grew up listening to punk rock like Minor Threat and rap like Public Enemy, but was actually a horse farmer somewhere south of my brother's and sister's farms in Iowa. Due to those sort-of similarities between us and a quite probable crossing of other interests, I definitely wanted to learn more and even meet the guy to talk about the land's influence on his music/my art. But back then, which was around 7 or 8 years ago, I never got to see him perform.

Fast forward to about 2004, in Chicago, when I went to see a benefit show for Matt Davis' family (Matt passed away - another post, some other time). A variety of bands were playing to help raise money for funeral costs, and William opened up. Holy fuck was I blown away. There are quite a few videos of Will posted online nowadays, so if you are interested in seeing live footage, look on youtube. I simply wanted to post this 30 second clip of Will singing on top of a roof:

William Elliott Whitmore
dry

There you have it. William Elliott Whitemore. Punk rock Iowan with an otherworldly voice and soul for bluesey folk. Damn straight.

Jessica Benjamin: The American Series (at MCAC)

2008-01-21T13:39:00.001-05:00

The Rapper (Tragedy)
(composite image of a slave child and Method Man)

This past weekend I took the 2 hour trek down to bloomington-normal to see old friend Jessica Benjamin and an exhibit of some of her new artwork. The highly anticipated show is called The American Series, and it runs at the McClean County Arts Center through February 16th.

First off, Jess has become a bit famous since the days we all were students at ISU. We've kept in touch a small bit after she moved to New York City, and a year or so back she had mentioned that her work had just become known to one of the most celebrated jazz musicians of our time - Wynton Marsalis . Wynton evidently expressed an interest in her paintings, and gave her the music and lyrics to a then-unreleased album. And now - time flying by as it does - the project is finished. Yes, Jess' work is now forever coupled with Wynton's music on his newest album, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary. Her paintings adorn the entire CD booklet, including the cover, and play an integral part in the theme of the album. Very nice.

So... back to the show... the gallery was packed with visitors. PACKED. There were probably about a dozen paintings from this new series of work, and I genuinely liked what I saw. Back in school, Jessica and I (among other artists that took print classes) made a lot of quiet, meditative landscape work; but to her credit, Jess always branched out more than the rest of us and did other things - including a lot of figure drawing and painting. The American Series is solely comprised of portrait paintings, sans one painting that stood out because it was a different size than the rest (much larger) and a different type of image (street scene of a march). That said, I got the sense from Jessica that the portrait paintings are the heart of the matter, so I'll focus on those.

Physically, the series is comprised of smaller-than-I-anticipated oils on paper, involving somewhere around a 12 x 12 inch actual image area. Content-wise, I walked away feeling like I saw a very eloquent, honest, and quiet critique of America, and as I edit this before posting, it's proving really difficult to accurately explain what I mean by that. The work doesn't hit you over the head with burning flags or graphic mockeries of "Dubya," rather, it takes a much more heartfelt approach by presenting portraits of our people. However, simply describing the work as "portraits" would sell it short... each of these "portraits" are uniquely interesting because of a tactic employed by the artist. I'll use an example to explain. Say you're looking at the painting in the show called "The Politician."

Upon first glance, you undoubtedly notice the title and begin to search your memory, wondering who exactly is pictured. I did this with many of the pieces and wound up somewhat perplexed until I talked with jessica some more. Upon closer inspection of the artist statement, you realize you're seeing amalgamations of several key figures in each of the paintings. "The Politician" is actually a composite image of both Vice President Cheney and former FEMA director Michael Brown ("heckuva job, Brownie!"). This type of approach to making to portraits was taken with all the paintings on display. To some it might seem gimmicky at first, but I found it very purposeful and well thought-out. See, the act of combining two or more real people —sometimes famous, sometimes not — brings to form an all-encompassing surrogate figure. The power of the pieces isn't found within the boundaries of Jessica's execution/talent/skill; the power is found in the act of viewing this surrogate figure, the visceral reaction one has to the meaning evoked through it as a signifier. And sometimes that meaning is power or anger; sometimes the meaning is loss, or love.

The Katrina Victim
(a composite of several people affected by the New Orleans flood)

The Queen
(composite of a New York socialite and the queen of spades from a standard deck of cards)

This type of social realism is pretty tricky to pull off nowadays in the art world, or in other modes of communication and expression. As each side of the political isle outspins the other's attacks at a seeming hyper-speed, our nation's collective eyes glaze over with a frustration that quickly leads to an uninterest. The subjects' faces in jessica's work, however, boil everything down to a most simple matter — a singular identity that is easy to become interested in and easy to care about.

I left the show thinking about some ties the work had to other artists' work throughout the ages. To continue with the discussion of contrasting an underhanded social critique to a more overt political art, let me draw upon two printmaker/painters from an earlier time - Honore Daumier and Kathe Kollwitz. Both artists created work that I would argue fell on both sides of this coin. Here are two works by Daumier that illustrate the differences in approach I speak of:

Honore Daumier
Gargantua
1831

Honore Daumier
Third Class carriage
1860

...and two pieces by Kollwitz showing the same difference in approach/intent:

Kathe Kollwitz
Outbreak
1903

Kathe Kollwitz
Widows and Orphans
1919

Do you see what I mean? How does one best get people to pay attention to social issues when using art as the medium? There are the direct, in your face, "fuck you"s found in political art, punk rock music, and poetry slam-ish writings, and there are the more underhanded routes that present information in a less raucous, savage manner. Both are equally powerful, necessary, and legitimate, but after Jess' show I started to think the latter tends to get people to pay attention in a more sincere way.

Jessica Benjamin working with local children at the McLean County Arts Center, 2008

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upcoming works + sufjan & arcade fire videos

2008-01-18T16:01:00.000-05:00

lots of studio work going on lately, which means i might have an update of a new painting soon. i'm really happy with the concept and i think it's one of those "one-out-of-ten" pieces that i'll actually think is strong many years from now.

also, St Ambrose's classes started this week, which means the relationship involving my time and classroom assistance being traded for personal facility use (press/ink/materials) has officially begun. the students all seem really cool and the gig should be mutually beneficial. so... you'll probably see new monotypes posted here in the next month or so. sweet.

for now, here's another video that's out of sorts with my normal punk rock postings.

Romulus
after all his works, still my favorite Sufjan song:

and finally, arcade fire live in NYC:

...Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.

...With my lighnin’ bolts a glowin’
I can see where I am goin’ to be
when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

You better look out below.

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