Sweep the Leg Johnny + Faraquet

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

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

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

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

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