Upcoming show in Los Angeles

                                                              Recovery
                                          acrylic, ink on Dura-lene, 12" x 34"

I will be in a 3-person show:    Patterns, Symbols, Codes 
at the  Platt Gallery
American Jewish University
15600 Mulholland Dr.
Los Angeles, CA
January 13 - May 19, 2013
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 13, 2013, 3-5 PM

The other artists participating will be Edith Hillinger from San Francisco and Bruce Barton from
the Los Angeles area.

Platt/Borstein Gallery American Jewish University

Jennifer Steinkamp projection of "Madame Curie"

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 Jennifer Steinkamp gave an interesting talk at the Bronowski Art and Science Lecture at the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla on Sepember 6.
Below is the record of one visit I made to see her room sized video installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art a in downtown San Diego.  This video just gives a hint of what it is like to be surrounded by the oddly rhythmically moving gigantic flowers.
 Unfortunately the installation is no longer up, but it was a complete knock-out in terms of visual appeal.  The title related the projection to Marie Curie.  The connection is not too strong, but that doesn't dim the appeal.

For more about Steinkamp's work see http://jsteinkamp.com/ .

Solo show: Interchange

To see some of my paintings in person why not go down to the :
Art Institute of California – San Diego

7650 Mission Valley Rd, San Diego, CA - (858) 598-1200

My show “Interchange”  will be up from September 21 through November 3.

The reception will be Friday, October 5, 6-8 PM.  

The painting installation above, almost 12 feet in lenght (or 3.7 meters, for my metric-loving friends) is entitled "so long" and is based on images from Google Earth along the I-5 corridor that extends North from the border of California with Tijuana, Mexico.  This is a continuing project as I march up the coastline.

Other paintings in the show are from two other series. Pointed has some large paintings on polyester film based on interpretations of maps and puzzles. Chromophilia is a group of paintings that take their inspiration from the magic of machines.

Even more Idaho

What could be more fun than finding the fossilized footprint of a camel from about 60,000 years ago on the sand shore of a reservoir in Idaho?  We were led by a bona fide paleontologist so I am not making this up.   When your looking for something and find a perfect specimen it is indeed a thing of beauty - heading towards the sublime.

Gabriele Munter

Tutzing by Gabriele Munter, 1908
This charming painting is currently on view at the San Diego Museum of Art.  Munter was a student and then "companion" of Kandinsky.  His influence is hinted at in the vibrant colors and loose composition in her paintings, but she also brings a lively quality all her own.  There are several of her paintings in this show of expressionist art at the museum.  The exhibition has many gems by very well known artists, but also excellent ones by those with quieter artistic careers.

More from Idaho

I'm always interested in what people consider important and interesting enough to collect and display.
This impulse resonates with much artwork that has to do with repetition and multiples, like that of Tara Donovan.  Anyway, this is from the Power County Historical Society/Museum in American Falls Idaho which tells the story of the town that had to be moved in 1925 to make way for a dam.  In the meantime, there were lots of farms, and lots of land to protect.  This collection of different types of barbed wire, carefully mounted and displayed, is a poignant reminder of that era and before.  According to the labels, the wire dates to the 1870's.

Stumbling on Art - Minerva Teichert

During my recent trip to Idaho, I visited several local museums.

These excursions give me an idea of what the community values.  Often these small museums have exhibits driven by personal collectors and without an overall curatorial vision. This leads a vivacity and surprise to what one can find.   Walking down a narrow stairwell at the Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho I was surprised to see this large painting tucked away at the bottom of the stairs.  It didn’t seem to fit into the Railroad exhibit that was advertised, and could have been easily overlooked but those of us who have to pay attention to the stairs when we go down a flight (me!).

This bad photograph really doesn’t do justice to the feeling of movement and light, and subtle use of color that is captured by this painting by Minerva Teichert (1888 – 1976).  The handling of the paint and the dynamic compact composition transcends her use of this often romanticised subject.

Teichert received some of her training in  Chicago with John Vanderpoel and  New York with Robert Henri, which explains her fluid, semi-impressionistic style.  She spent most of  the rest of her life in Wyoming, far from the changing world of modern art and painted many murals with Western and Religious themes.  For me it was a moment of pure joy to discover this unexpected gem by this dedicated painter. 

the glory of painting

detail from Interior: Green and White Couch

This is an image from the Mickalene Thomas show now on at the Santa Monica Museum of Art at Bergamot Station.  The show is titled “Origin of the Universe” referencing  the well-known painting by Gustave Courbet. Full of vibrant colors and with sometimes startling but effective compositions, these paintings will wake you up and quicken your pulse.  There are many portraits, landscapes and paintings of interiors in the show that are full of glitter and glam, but in a good way.  It is heartening to see an artist so free to express herself with such exuberance.

The show is up until August 19, 2012 and definitely worth a visit.  This is another excellent show from this gem of a museum.
PS:  
This show is now up in an expanded version at the Brooklyn Museum. For more images and a great review by Roberta Smith try this link. Roberta Smith review in the NY Times   (9/28/12)

Believing is Seeing

This is a recent painting of mine on Mylar, 42" x 32".  I am still working with themes about vision, language, data and representation.  The Braille message embedded here adds a different way to think about the image.

Penumbra

detail

This installation by Geoffrey Cunningham based on prints of pants pockets evokes the memory of fallen soldiers.  In a grid format he displays the images of the pockets which are remarkable for their insistence on individuality and diversity.  They are the same yet different.  Together they create a powerful meditative atmosphere.

This is a highly effective use of the small space of the Parker Gallery at the Oceanside Museum of Art.  The exhibit will be up until June 3.

http://www.geoffreycunningham.com/

North County Times 

Oceanside Museum of Art

Dreaming about Art

Dream   by Dorothea Tanning, 1940

If anyone doubts the presence of women artists in the Surrealist art movement in the US, France and Mexico, they should run to the show In Wonderland at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  The show is on until May 6.  Here you can see paintings, drawings and sculpture by a dizzying array of fascinating female artists.  Dorothea Tanning, perhaps one of the most prominent, died at the age of 102 this year.
She had recently turned her interest to poetry and published a new collection in 2011.

There are also many wonderful artists represented that I was not familiar with.  I especially enjoyed the photography of Rose Mandel.  I won't inflict you with the bad photograph I took of her photograph. 

Reception Talk

  I was able to give a talk  at my show "Seeing is Believing" at Waldorf College in Iowa.  The show was organized by art faculty member, and gallery director, Kristi Carlson.  Yes, it was the middle of winter but the reception was warm.  The picture in the background is "Ondine's Message".

Inevitability

There were many showstoppers in the exhibit Children of the Plumed Serpent: The Legacy of Quetzalcoatl in Ancient Mexico at LACMA. This amazing show has wonderful examples of textiles, codices, jewelry, sculpture and pottery from the culture of Southern Mexico. This mesmerizing piece was dated between 1400 and 1521.  There was not much information about its significance in this society but suggests a memorial of some sort. It is indeed a human skull embellished with turquoise, jadite and shell.

Does it remind one of a certain diamond encrusted skull by Damien Hirst?

Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibit

The making of art

                                                       Girl with Goldfish by Henri Matisse

Here's a link to any interesting article by David Galenson (Painting by Proxy ) in the Huffington Post about the practice of creating art by a collection of workers, rather than the hand of an individual artist.  This long standing practice of using "helpers" by many commercially successful contemporary and earlier artists has been questioned by David Hockney, who currently has a hugely popular show at the London's Royal Academy of Arts.  Is art a "white-collar" job or a "blue-collar" job?  What is more important - the conception of the work or its execution?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-galenson/painting-by-proxy_b_1354368.html

Diebenkorn's dried paint

A beautiful show of paintings and works on paper by Diebenkorn is on view at OCMA until May 27.
It is definitely worth a visit to really get a look at how this classic California artist built his work.
So many layers, they have to be seen in the flesh to be appreciated.

"Information Age" in Houston

This is a view from my solo show at the Hannah Bacol Busch Gallery in Houston, Texas

"Seeing is Believing" at Waldorf College, Forest City, IA

Gallery Director Kristi Carlson talks about my show "Seeing is Believing" at Waldorf College

click on the link above

(sorry you have to sit through an 8 second advert. first)