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.
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:
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:
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.
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)
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)
