life has been a strange complicated beast as of late. But this is what has occurred in my studio...

wonderful woven...

Another show currently in Chelsea is the Sheila Hicks exhibit at Sikkema Jenkins Gallery. There has been a lot of recent attention on Hicks since her successful exhibit in Philly and this work is not very different then that work. In truth a fair amount of it is the same work.


But the installation at Sikkema Jenkins feels better. The work is somehow less jumbled together feeling so that one can really allow an individual reaction to each work. It felt much more quiet and thoughtful.


One of my favorite works was the black piece perched in the corner, Shadow of Oracle from Constantinople. It felt like something living and breathing.


Baby time again felt very different for Hicks with its ripped recognizable fabric. The overall work has much more vulnerability then most of her works and was nice to see in contrast to what is usually shown.


The exhibit is up until the 25th so when you go to see the Ernesto Neto make sure to drop in on this one too.

into the hoop and stuff

Astrid Phillips

Bonnie Peterson

Marie France Cournoyer

Sorry for my lack of posting about the studio as of late but in truth not enough has been happening there. With working on these commissions which will be done by today, teaching in NY and here and getting the small stories stuff in order so that I can curate it time and energy has been short. Not to mention a currently rather messy personal life. My studio has been neglected.
But with that said I am super looking forward to today as I have a LONG day all alone with my work. And though I have some minor "other" work to do I really can jump back in to my neglected hoop. With my solo show creeping up fast that is exactly what I need to do.

Be inspired by some more small stories submissions above.

ending chapter.

some unusual works submitted for small stories... a porcelain work by Nathan Carnes above.

and a unique ring by Julie Anne Danylewich.

Have you submitted your work. If not do it today. The deadline is end of day today. Details here.

crawl inside...

Yesterday I had a great trip to Chelsea perused around the galleries and saw a lot of good work and stopped in to visit a friends studio. By far the highlight of the visit was the current Ernesto Neto exhibit at Tanya Bonakdar. Partially this was the highlight because I love his work and have for a long time, part of it was because it was a really solid exhibition with a gorgeous color palette, and part of it was that T had SO much fun crawling around inside of the work.


I have long loved Neto's work because it simply makes you feel good, it is gorgeous, but it also invites you to discover, explore, chill-out, and laugh. Though his work has complex layers of meaning first and foremost it feels good. You feel safe and secure as you walk, crawl, roll, lay through his installations. He always seems to have a path leading to a space so you have the chance to be playful and discover but then you also have the chance to stop and chill out inside his womb like creations. So all you gallery goers that are too cool to take your shoes off and crawl in, you are missing the whole point.

From the press release:
Ernesto Neto presents a series of vibrantly colored installations of crocheted polypropylene and polyester cord that hang from the ceiling ...

Crochet has become an important part of Neto’s formal vocabulary over the last two years, and the artist has translated this craft traditionally done by women on a small, delicate scale to structures of massive proportions... Like giant paintings that the visitor is invited to climb into and move through, the installations provide an opportunity to experience the gallery space from the inside of the artwork itself... While breaking down the barriers between installation and viewer, these new works simultaneously propose a change in our relationship to time. By lifting us off the ground, to float between the floor and the ceiling, Neto offers us a space in which we can slow down, breathe, and rest.

Although these are spaces meant for relaxation, they are created through a meticulous, labor intensive process. Each element is hand crocheted from multicolored strings that the artist combines from a wide-ranging spectrum of threads. The intense, subtle, and sophisticated juxtapositions of color that Neto chooses are then woven together into a single strand, and knotted into circular units that combine to become the walls of the sculptures.... Here, the inside and the outside universe are represented in the same form, demonstrating the interconnectivity of life...


the installation in the main space upstairs includes, stones, plants, and spices. These natural materials serve as a kind of landscape for the main structure of the installation, which itself resembles an amoeba-like animal floating in space. The fusion of figure and ground, or animal and landscape, is a central part of Neto’s practice. Just as his work blurs the boundary between artwork and viewer, inviting the visitor to inhabit and experience it on a visceral, primal level, it also draws no distinction between types of life—we are all a part of the natural world.

Neto's work is powerful, gorgeous, and a total sensory experience. He seems to invite us into a more thoughtful, contemplative, and playful life. Anyone with kiddos should take their kids as it is also a very unique experience for them to get to interact with art work on such a personal level.


One of my favorite moments in the exhibit was actually a little less like his womb shapes, but more like a hallway canopy. On one side the canopy was lined with small bells, the other side was lined with seed pods that made a beautiful chime sound. The contrast between the 2 sounds was powerful- one so earthy the other so sharp. It was such a pleasure to walk through the canopy and softly hear both sounds mingling together.

GO see it or at least visit it online. Here.

storytime?

LOVE this piece by my wonderful friend Sarah Bahr

some more recent submissions to small stories that I am liking. Man oh man I can tell that as always it will be a hard curatorial process. But I am getting excited to sit down and really look through everything.

Another nice submission by Patricia Reis.

remember you have until Wednesday to submit so take advantage of those extra days and get to it!

All the details here.

I feel like while I have been away that I have gotten nothing done except good conversations with friends. I know that is not true as I have seen plenty of work and am heading to Chelsea tomorrow.
So I am chalking it up to taking time to be inspired.

opulent

Love the collaborative work of team Ghost of a Dream made up of Lauren Was and Adam Eckstrom.

Their creations of spaces, textiles, and environments out of found detritus or discard comment on the opulence and desire in out culture.

They say this about their work:

Our sculpture and installations embody the essence of opulence while being constructed of materials that typically end up in the trash. We mine popular culture searching for discarded materials that people use trying to reach their goals. Whether it is a romance novel that someone reads to enter into a dream reality; a religious track promising the glory of eternal life; or a lottery ticket that gives the possibility of a future full of rich decadence; we use these remnants to re-create people’s dreams.

See more here.

sssssmall stories

Submit, Submit, Submit the deadline for small stories is technically tomorrow. But I am out of town until Wednesday so I am extending the deadline to then. So that gives those of you that need it 4 more days. Officially you have until midnight on May 2nd.

Submit I want to see your work. Above is some of the work submitted by Di Ellis an artist that I have had the pleasure of working with before.

some art in the city.

Looking forward to seeing a ton of art this weekend and then sharing it with all of you. But I am sad that I just missed these 2 shows at SmackMellon looks as if it is very interesting.

Yoko Inoue
Mandala Flea Market Mutants:
Pop Protocol and the Seven
Transformations of Good-luck
National Defense Cats

Jeanne Quinn
LaceMath

But am excited that I will see Sheila Hicks at Sikkema Jenkins.

And Oldenberg and Van Bruggen at Pace.

woven and torn.

I saw the work of Scott Andreson in a show in Chelsea a few months back and was quite attracted to his woven and torn works. They are much like a painting with his approach to formalism and color, which is not surprising since he went to Yale for his MFA. The found everyday materials break down the formality into something familiar and personal, creating an interesting dichotomy in the work.



He says this about his work:

I begin my artistic practice with process, primarily the tradition of quilting. With historic precedents and familial connections quilting allows me to connect personal, political and social concerns in a single work. Using castoff remnants as source material my work focuses on slowness, detail, and labor. In these pieces patterns are severed, borders do not complete their paths, works do not form a perfect rectangle and the partial is never whole. Materials oscillate between the singular and the unified, where their history is never negated, but more importantly, the treatment given to these cast-off remnants is central.

You can see his work currently at the Fleisher Art Memorial Gallery in Philly or visit him at one of the open studio days at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn where he is a current artist in residence.