In Pittsburgh? Get on over to GalleriE CHIZ

If you're in Pittsburgh, I would like to encourage you to stop by GalleriE CHIZ, and check out their big holiday group show. I'm delighted to be one of the artists included in the exhibition. It's a wonderful mix of 2-d and 3-d work. Here are a few of my favorites from the show:



Thomas Norulak
Secret Steps
etching


There are several nice etchings by Tom Norulak. Tom pointed me towards approaching the gallery with my work. He's a great printmaker who lives here in Pittsburgh, and I've spent many fine evenings slinging ink with him in the printmaking studio at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.



Mary Culbertson-Stark
Untitled
charcoal on Rives BFK


There are several really beautiful drawings by Mary Culbertson-Stark. She really knows how to attack the page with the pencil. Great stuff.



Stephen Tuomala
Untitled
oil on board


Stephen Tuomala has both paintings and drawings in the exhibition. I like the way he pushes the negative space around in these small interiors - the action is all in the space around the objects. Exciting work.



Priscilla Hollingsworth
Small Chartreuse Bowl with Large Spikes
terra cotta with englobes and glaze fired in oxidation


It was a real surprise to find Priscilla Hollingsworth's energetic and fun sculpture here. Priscilla and I were at Indiana University for grad school at the same time. I'm delighted to share some gallery space with her!



Marc Snyder
24 Poets and 1 Astronaut
linocut


Here's one of the nine linocuts that I've got hanging there now. One of my favorites, and it happens to be the last one from that edition, so that's just another reason to get in to see the show.

GalleriE CHIZ is located in Shadyside at 5831 Ellsworth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232. It's open from 11am to 5:30pm, Tuesday through Friday, and 11am to 5pm on Saturday.

Label the World

Best use of post-it-notes ever.

Kicking Daddy's Butt.

So I'm thinking this one's done:





You saw its beginnings here. I'm calling it "ape or angel", for now.

Then Rachel does this:





and says "Does it look like Rachel with a pretzel nose?".

In a couple of weeks I'm just going to give her the studio, and I'll work on the living room floor.

I'm Not Being Ironic

Well, this month's book just went to the post office. Hopefully the title is self-explanatory - I conducted a search for the honest truth by googling the phrase "I'm not being ironic". The book celebrates six of these small truths. Here's one of the pages:






Now of course there was a lot of sincerity out there that didn't make the book. Here are a few truths that made it to the final round but didn't end up in the book:


I love Cher.

I genuinely dig Lumpy and the rest.

In defense of Lederhosen, I'm sure the Brits would look as grand in them as they do in kilts.

There's good food everywhere.

This one is to me the Star Wars of all love songs.

I always have a shaved head with cut designs into it.

Always fun to talk string gauges and tubes with guitar kids.

I truly dig Hall and Oates.

I'm the kind of lecturer who is very imprecise.

I personally love the idea of slathering my thighs with something the texture of liquid concrete.

All I'm saying is that this is pure fucking Cinema, people.

You most definitely don't give a crap what people think about you.

I wish this show wasn't so boring. . .

trees, buildings, and a chicken

Rachel was building a city this morning, and she started with this border of trees. . .

for Nam June Paik

Play with it. You'll like it.

David Byrne, Jeff Koons, and Sarah Palin

You know how our culture just seems to keep pushing and pushing and pushing those envelopes? At first you think that it's kinda exceptional to hear a toilet flushing in the background of an interview with a couple of pretty famous people:



And then the next thing you know there's a candidate for high office being interviewed with a backdrop of turkeys being slaughtered:



What next, I ask you, what next?

One messed up piece of paper.

So I was wondering what a thoughtful monkey would make of the question of whether man came from apes or angels, and monkey logic lead me to Santa.

You know, it's really hard to make a Santa image that isn't either really jolly or really cynical. I was going for confused-thoughtful-monkey Santa. We'll see how it turns out as we go.

I thought you'd like to see the dirty sock for scale.

A third option for the t-shirt cognoscenti

I decided that in my post below I had perhaps given the potential participant too few options. With the addition of this shirt I think we've got the bases covered. Visit who WOULD wear this? to make it your own.

I'm sure it's old news to you. . .

but the best thing I've seen so far THIS week is the moment Ringo reaches out to his cymbal and grabs some vinyl:

John Cage Lives!

Why did they have to take the piano into custody?

My guess is it was performing an extended dance mix of John Cage's 4'33", with a reference to the old "tree falling in the woods" problem.

Who would actually wear that?

So, with the holiday season almost here, the daily pile of catalogs in the mailbox is measured in pounds. The poor postman - it's as if a couple of Artforums arrived each day.

Invariably, several of these catalogs contain t-shirts that leave me wondering "who in the world would wear that?" You know the kind, shirts with jokes about farts and humping dogs, that kind of thing. I wonder who says "that is JUST the thing I need, perfect for every occasion", or, perhaps, "my friend would just pee herself if she got this for Christmas".

Well, harnessing the power of the internet, I thought I'd find out. I did a little study, making shirts for both the "I gotta have this" and the "wouldn't that just be the best gift" scenarios.

The "couldn't have said it better myself" shirt:





And the "finally, my shopping is finished" shirt:





If you want to participate in this study by owning or giving one of these fine pieces of clothing, you need to visit who WOULD wear this?, the FIMP fashion store.

Talking Chimp

This chimp's talking, and he's talking chimp.




You want the first etching in the edition of 10? Here's where you can bid on it.

DJ Spooky and Marcel Duchamp

Thoughtful Monkey

The thoughtful monkey has an existential crisis wondering if man is an ape or an angel.

Visibly Thinking

Well, I've been making these drawings and prints of speaking and thinking, making use of the cartoon convention of "balloons". And when you're visually pointed towards a certain thing, you start seeing it everywhere. So here are three accidental thought balloons I've come across - visible evidence of politicians thinking.

Car-Pig

Every morning I "reset the stage" in our living room. This involves putting the blocks, legos, cars, animals, dress-up clothes, dinosaurs, Cozy-Coupe, musical instruments, and other odd objects back in their proper places, so that Rachel can come and give them all a good playing with when she gets up. Without fail, there is some beautiful collision between items that wants to be dragged away from the world of play and tossed into the world of art. Toddler-surrealism is a wonderful thing. One of today's themes was animals on cars. Now I have to give her back her pig and mini-cooper.

Altered States Opening Reception Tonight

If you're in Pittsburgh tonight, you might stop by the opening reception for "Altered States" at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. I have three pieces in the show, and I'll be at the opening, sometime towards the end - it would be great to see you there.

You get five shows for one visit tonight, so it's a great time to check out the galleries.

Casting Call

Auditions continue for the FIMP Repertory Theatre's production of "Waiting for Godot". Here we see Robin Hood and Father Bear as Vladimir and Estragon. Their lack of feet may make the action with the boots difficult.

Bird Talk, finished

Well, here's the finished - or at least, to be left behind for something else - version of the image that you can watch evolve in the animation below. . .

Block Snake

Here's the latest from Rachel, titled "Block Snake":





You may remember some of her previous work, which is much more expressionistic. With this piece it seems she's going all Bauhaus on us.

Bird still talking

Bird Talk, part II

Here's the latest state of a drawing that started here.

Fired Up? Ready to Go?

November 4, 2008