Everywhere A View Is Found

(For more information about the "Viewfinder Project" click here.)

Last week I was in New York City and went gallery hopping. Toward the end of my visit in the gallery district of Chelsea, I noticed signage (seen below) for an exhibit titled Viewfinder at Artgate Gallery. Though I have been unable to find a statement about the exhibit online, I get the sense that the show has little to do with viewfinder devices. Rather, the title has to do with finding new talent through the Nars Foundation International Artists Residency Program. Although I took a nicely composed picture of the window displaying the exhibit announcement, complete with a reflection of the building across the street, I did not get many pictures of the exhibit (related images can be found in the links provided above).



Even though I know that my ideas are not completely original and feel that originality is finite, I felt something jarring about seeing an exhibit that also borrows the concept of a viewfinder. Am I just writing a series of reviews that present a view of specific artwork or can something conclusive be said about the way artists approach seeing and observation in the twenty-first century? Everywhere there is a potential view. So, what is important and how is this determined? Because I have many more "Viewfinders" to review, I wonder if it is inevitable that I will lose focus? Will I veer too far away from how a view is found and focus too heavily on what is in each unique picture?

Although I know that conclusions are inconclusive and I understand this paradox, I am still determined to make conclusions anyway. If one believes that the universe is an interrelated entity, then conclusions will also be beginnings. Thus, conclusions may be as relative to human interpretation as having an artistic view. However, it seems like it is the boundaries, both mentally and physically, that keeps us from drifting in a sea of random visions. Having a view is a first step toward an artistic conclusion. For me, as a writer, having thirty five to forty "Viewfinders" to review means taking a lot of small steps as I work toward a conclusion to this project. This leads me to know that patience is a requirement in gaining an insightful perspective.


Susanna Bluhm's "Viewfinder", Ink Drawing, 6" by 4 1/4"

The "Viewfinders" featured above and below tap into a kind of randomness. I did not give very many requirements for the "Viewfinders" I mailed out. In the case of the work featured here, I mailed out "Viewfinders" to two artists I knew who both live at the same address. I received back one of the drawings from an addressed artist and the other from an artist I had not solicited (this was fine with me). I suspect both "Viewfinders" were made at the same time and quickly as if they were made as a part of a game. I feel that this mode of working led to a spontaneity and playfulness that a traditional view finding device (the kind typically designed for art making) seems to psychologically inhibit.


Amy Lin's "Viewfinder", Ink Drawing, 6" by 4 1/4"

Two final notes: Susanna Bluhm has a wonderful website and will be exhibiting work at Michael Rosenthal gallery in San Fransisco. Lastly, in the note written on Amy Lin's drawing ("Winnie is a naughty dog"), Lin is ironically and humorously referring to Susanna's lovable pooch.

Chad Andrews: The Daily View

(For more information about the "Viewfinder Project" click here.)

The "Viewfinder" made by Chad Andrews involves a layered reflective approach to daily events and is similar to other collage work he is currently involved with. Andrews begins by tracing over calendars. Then he draws on top of the tracing. Finally, the semitransparent paper is adhered to thicker paper that includes painted elements. The reality implied by the tracing along with the notes about everyday experiences meld with more abstract wanderings. It is as if Andrews is trying to say that everyday can be flexible and that there are guides but ultimately they are not fixed.

Chad Andrews artwork is an unfolding act and there is fluidity about his work from piece to piece. From 2001 through 2004, Andrews focused on meticulously rendered drawings of cardboard boxes that are juxtaposed with abstract marks and personal symbols. In the past couple of years, Andrews has also installed large scale dimensional drawings made of silicone that have the meandering line quality of a pen and ink sketch. In a certain regard the silicone drawings are unlike his work on paper. However, there are connections in terms of imagery and the continuous line of silicone seems akin to the ongoing connected days visualized in the schematic of a calendar.

Chad Andrews "View Finder", Size 4 1/4 inches by 6 inches.


Title: My second hand best Graphite and Gouache on Rives BFK - 8 inches by 16 inches 2009


Detail: Going to Philly (West Side)
Silicone Polymer - 8 feet by 32 feet
2009 - Installed: Eckhaus Gallery, Kutztown, PA

Chad Andrews lives on a farm outside of Williamsport, Pennsylvania and maintains a studio in the Pajama Factory in the heart of town. For more information and images visit the website of Chad Andrews. For more information about the Pajama Factory visit my post from last July.

Spring Travels

In March I flew to St. Louis and then in April I drove from Pennsylvania to Chicago. Between the St. Louis and Chicago trips I also visited New York and Philadelphia. Given this recent movement, I felt it would be worthwhile to organize and show some of the highlights.



Above is a print by St. Louis artists Gina Alvarez and Jana Harper. I was in St. Louis for the Southern Graphics Conference and Alvarez and Harper's collaborative print series was on exhibit at the Sheldon Art Gallery. The prints were inspired by a child's notebook of poems made by a relative of Alvarez. I found it fascinating to see how and when synergy occurred between the artists.



This April, I attended the opening of the Tyler School of Art alumni works on paper exhibit at the Crane Arts building in Philadelphia. The painting/drawing seen above by Mark Mahosky was created on segments of newspaper. Here parts of stories and captions show through the paint. This provides a compelling relationship between the ephemeral nature of the paper and the more permanent associations of painting. I enjoy the lumpy form of greys and muted colors that the painting creates. The lump and its grungy associations in part reminded me of Philip Guston paintings.



As a part of the alumini exhibit Chris Golas created a performance where he draws himself out of a giant paper bag. The performance seemed at once fun, exhausting for the artist, and a daunting challenge. At its heart art is step by step and in a way if broken down into its elements it can seem simple. However, what worked about this installation/performance is that Golas was able to make the simple steps both grand and human. The artist brought vision, and energy to the process. Thus, transforming the simple steps into ideas and feelings that are complex and worthy of lengthy consideration.



Below Chris Golas makes his way out of the bag. Even while choosing a difficult bag, Golas proves, if one is willful, one will make it out of the bag.



Later in April I drove to Chicago. Here I saw the Jim Nutt exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary art. While taking a break at the museum, I noticed the wonderful stone garden (seen below) designed by Sol Lewitt. I enjoyed how either weather, people, or small animals displaced some of the stones making Sol Lewitt's complete system of vertical, horizontal, and diagonals a little bit imperfect.





Above is an early painting by Jim Nutt. Here I learned that he employed a technique used by graphic artists for pinball machines. Nutt would use a detailed sketch and place plexiglass over it. Then he would begin by painting details directly on the glass. Subsequently, he would layer the more general parts. Finally, the painted plexiglass would be mounted in a frame and the non-painted side would face outward.



The work above shows one of Nutt's later paintings. Through a video playing in the gallery, I learned that there was a lot left unseen in the exhibit because Jim Nutt often paints messages and images on the backs of the paintings. The work on the verso side tends to be addressed to the owners or handlers of the painting.



Although I visited New York City twice this spring, I did not take many pictures. A highlight from the first trip was a visit to the exhibit Reconfiguring an African Icon: Odes to the Mask by Modern and Contemporary Artists from Three Continents at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Above is an example of work by Romuald Hazoumé (Beninese, b. 1962. Ear Splitting, 1999. Plastic can, brush, speakers). These masks often present pathos and humor in a way similar to the inventive portraits by Jim Nutt.

A View of Baker's Bomb

(For more information about the "Viewfinder Project" click here.)

When I received a "viewfinder" back from Tom Baker, what I got was a bomb in the mail. As a greeting, Baker's card is a paradox because the image is both menacing and beautiful. The background indicates a elegantly nuanced world of repetitious pattern. It seems unlikely that the world, as depicted in the background, will be shattered. Although we will never know if the bomb depicted will explode (we only know it appears to land in water), it reminds me of nuclear tests where bombs were dropped on the ocean. Ultimately, I do not see Baker's bomb as threatening. Rather, I view the image as a metaphor for explosive questions that have a revelatory quality and I became it's target.


Print by Tom Baker (Size: 6" x 4 1/4")

April 4th

On April 4th, 2008, I quickly made a print using the headlines that were in the paper that day. I considered the headlines as thought bubbles for the day. It was a challenge to make an image quickly in the same hasty manner that newspapers have to shape stories everyday. I thought of my image as a kind of time capsule. Although the news is about current events, it is also partly about remembering. Each year, there is a headline on April 4th about the sorrowful day in 1968 when Martin Luther King was killed. Regardless of how important events appeared, the other news items of April 4th, 2008 now seem like small parts in a stream of information.


Print made by Kip Deeds on April 4, 2008.

Lauren Schiller's Stereoscopic View

(For more information about the "Viewfinder Project" click here.)

Lauren Schiller's "View Finder" depicts a stereoscope and a stereoscopic card. Schiller's work often presents food in a way that creates a sense of longing along with a sense of mild guilt. It is not that sweets like cupcakes or cookies are that bad, it is more that they present temptation. However, it seems that the better a person is (e.g. kinder, more studious, careful, generous, etc.) the more smaller temptations can take on a greater significance. For this reason Schiller's style lends itself to this perspective. Her pencil drawings and prints are rendered in the most precise manner placing the artist in a perfectionistic category. This also makes the drawings and prints richly ironic since they often deal with such seemingly superficial yet psychologically charged flaws (e.g. enjoying sugar).

Promiscuous Experience of Sweetness, Graphite Drawing by Lauren Schiller (Size: 4 1/4" x 6")

In the drawing Schiller sent me (seen above), the viewer's relationship to the couple and cake depicted is explicitly voyeuristic. The viewer is twice removed from the activity. Through the stereoscope the cake and the couple exist as nostalgia for a time when the cake and the gaze of the lovers were pure sweetness. We can only imagine what happens after the couple turn from each other toward the cake. It does not seem like the image would become sweeter if the cake were being devoured.

Detail: Promiscuous Experience of Sweetness, by Lauren Schiller

Below is an etching Lauren schiller made for a 2005 portfolio of prints titled "Guilty Not Guilty". For more images and information visit Lauren Schiller's website.

Etching by Lauren Schiller

Rachel Welling, Viewfinder, and Chance

(For more information about the "Viewfinder Project" click here.)

I met Rachel Welling in 2003 at the Vermont Studio Center's artists' residency program. Rachel is a native of Indiana and at the time was finishing college at Indiana University in Bloomington. While in Vermont, Rachel was struggling to both use the traditional skills in painting she had gained at Indiana University while also breaking free from some of the rules of observation. She was aiming for representations that had more of a metaphorical impact. Later, she attended the M.F.A. program at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. While there, I once met up with her for a studio visit.

Painting by Rachel Welling, Size: 6" x 4 1/4"

What I find most interesting about the "Viewfinder" that Rachel Welling sent me (the painting seen above) is how it emphasizes chance. I am specifically directed to the dice in the picture. What I find compelling about the dice is that they seem to present a paradox. They represent chance yet they are the most grounded and exacting information in the painting. The figure an the surroundings have a gestural unfinished quality. However, because of their detail, the tiny dice stand out with a sense of permanence that is not realized elsewhere in the picture.

Another element I am attracted to is the mysterious circular outline in the upper right part of the picture. It reminds me of the stain from a coffee cup and seems to reaffirm the notion that anything can happen.

Emphasizing the role of chance may have a heightened sense of relevance to artists who have less than stable financial situations. For some artists chance and art making may remain more of a constant than relationships, paychecks, and living arrangements. Although permanence is an ideal, chance may seem more predictable than other factors in an artist's life. One never knows when or if the the "big break" will come or when or if the "other shoe will drop". In the mean time the artist keeps working and keeps rolling the dice.

A detail of Rachel Welling's Painting

Below is another painting by Welling; it also seems to be fraught with fluctuation and variability. This piece seems to be like a compressed play where the various acts have been superimposed and arranged together. Rachel currently lives and works in Chicago. For more images visit Rachel Welling's website.

From the Desperate City, 22 inches by 30, (Media: Ink, Acetone Transfer and collage) 2010