{RYAN TRAVIS CHRISTIAN}

LIVING BY EXAMPLE

2012-01-17T11:22:00.000-06:00

THNX EDRA!

+++RTC+++

RTC 4 AFRICAN APPAREL

2012-01-13T14:04:00.002-06:00

AFRICAN APPAREL FEBRUARY 1st!

Josh Peters Interview>

2011-12-13T16:41:00.002-06:00

I just had a brief chat with Josh Peters about his work... good paintings~read it HERE

+RTC

WEST COLLECTS>

2011-12-07T23:04:00.003-06:00

I'm "competing in the West Collects competition this year. If ya' dig my work, please vote for me HERE (u need an iPhone to do so)

+ u can vote daily! so the more u get me, the better <3

THNX
+RTC+

NAP Review>

2011-12-02T11:15:00.003-06:00

Check out a feature of River Rats/RTC Collaborates on the New American Paintings Blog !

collab w/ Matthew Palladino

Thanks Joshua Landon Reames!

SPREAD THE WORD LA>

2011-12-01T16:12:00.002-06:00

I'll have a piece up for cheap cheap @ the 826LA Art Auction Benefit @ Mark Moore Gallery!

A one-night exhibition held on December 17th, 2011 at Mark Moore Gallery, "Spread the Word" will auction unique works by over 80 contemporary artists starting below $100 – with special emphasis on local talent – to raise funds for 826LA!

Featuring a live set by 88.9fm KCRW 's Jason Bentley, craft beer tasting provided by Brouwerji West , local food truck eats by Holy Aioli and unique artworks for sale from artists such as Gary Baseman , Jessicka Addams, Dave Eggers, GLEE's Dianna Agron, Ryan Travis Christian, Okay Mountain and more!

A $25 ticket gets you an evening of art, music and culinary goodness, plus all proceeds from ticket and art sales benefit 826LA's incredible volunteer-based programming.

Founded by celebrated novelist, Dave Eggers, 826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 years old with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. By providing after-school tutoring, evening and weekend workshops, in-school tutoring, help for English-language learners, and assistance with student publications, 826LA is a pioneering non-profit focused on youth literacy, creativity and fostering unique voices in the arts.

Participating Artists include:
Aaron Kraten, Adam Miller, Adam Tullie, Alex Moore, Ali Smith, Alison Blickle, Alison Rash, Allison Cortson, Amir Fallah, Ana Villarruel, Andrew Schoultz, Angie Lacerenza, April Street, Ariel Erestingcol, Brett Amory, Brion Nuda Rosch, Britton Tolliver, Bryce Oprandi, Bumblebee, Caroline Geys, Carrie McIlwain, Chad Person, Chris Stanton, Chris Trueman, Christopher Davison, Claudia Parducci, Cole James, Colin Roberts, Dani Tull, Dave Deany, Dave Eggers, David Rathman, Deborah Hede, Devon Tsuno, Dimitri Kozyrev, Feodor Voronov, Gary Baseman, Gin Stevens, Ian Trout, Irina Alimanestianu, J.P. Roy, Jade Townsend, Jason Ramos, Jay Erker, Jessicka Addams, John Mills, John Scane, Jon Flack, Jordan Christian, Julie Henson, Keith Schwartz, Kiel Johnson, Kimber Berry, Know Hope, Leora Lutz, Levon Jihanian, Ryan Travis Christian, Mark Mulroney, Matthew McGuinness, Max Presneill, Megan Olson, Mia Taylor, Michael Dopp, Nano Rubio, Nathan Spoor, Nicolas Shake, Noah Thomas, Okay Mountain, P-Jay Fidler, Roni Feldman, Ryan Wallace, Sage Vaughn, Scot Nobles, Shagha Ariannia, Stephanie Washburn, Talley Matthew, Thais Beltrame, Tom Neely, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Travis Millard and Virginia Martinsen

Mark Moore Gallery
5790 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
Telephone 310 453 3031
Fax 310 453 3831

You can get tickets HERE

kisses

MIAD LECTURE- WED> NOV> 30

2011-11-28T13:31:00.004-06:00

Hey, I'll be giving a lecture & doing crits @ MIAD (AGAIN) this Wednesday, the 30th @ 4:30 PM !

Thanks to rad artist- Richard Galling for having me out! Round 2

RIVER RATS PRESS>....

2011-11-26T13:39:00.002-06:00

ARTLTD. MAGAZINE

&

Newcity

&

fancy man Steve Ruiz wrote me a letter about the show on ArtSlant

also, got a t-shirt coming out soon via African Apparel!

<3 RTC

UPDATES>...

2011-11-23T12:20:00.008-06:00

Hey folks! Srry I never update this thing...

Solo show/ Collaborative efforts- RIVER RATS/RTC COLLABORATES... @ Western Exhibitions till' Dec. 3rd

Group show up now at Guerrero Gallery

Group show up now at Double Break SD

Group show up now at Deer Run Artifacts Cambria CA

Also, just came off a VERY successful first comedy noise show @ Synchronicity LA, look out for more in the future!!!

ummmm what else? Oh! I'm pleased to announce that I will now be working with CooperCole Gallery Toronto & Ivory & Black London !!!!!!!!

I will also be giving a lecture @ MIAD on November 30th! That's all for now, I will start updating this thing more regularly. Have a lovely holiday...

DOMESTIC GOODS & LAND AND SEA

2011-05-19T19:10:00.003-05:00

Hey there, not sure if anyone looks at this thing... but here's a few updates...
A) I'll have a piece in this group show coming up the weekend after next, all star lineup, thanks MR Wallace.

+ I also just released a book with LAND AND SEA! -64 pages, black and white, sexy, graphite covered - 30$ ED. of 50, if interested email me @ ciphercircles@yahoo.com or chris@keepsakesociety.com

<3RTC

SOON

2011-02-08T21:37:00.002-06:00

MARCH

2011-01-29T18:45:00.002-06:00

11TH WWW PT.2 @ FFDG SF!!!!!!!
12TH GUERRERO SOLO!!!!!!!!!!
12TH LAND ANS SEE BOOK RELEASE!!!!!!!

CLUB NUTZ TONIGHT!!!!!!!

2010-12-21T18:14:00.002-06:00

me, dj douggpound and lots of other turkeys...club nutz!

POWER OF SELECTION PART 3 THIS FRIDAY!

2010-11-17T16:40:00.001-06:00

Western Exhibitions is thrilled to present the third and final iteration of "The Power of Selection", a densely-packed group show organized by gallery artist Ryan Travis Christian, in our Gallery 2, with an opening reception on Friday, November 19 from 5 to 8pm. The show runs through the month of December. After December 23, the gallery is open by appointment. Regular gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm.

Are you taking Ryan Travis Christian for granted? Do you know what he does for you, yes, you? In addition to making highly charged and acutely rendered drawings, Mr. Christian voraciously sees shows in galleries high and low and scours the internet in search of hot new art. He often presents his findings on his Facebook page as an "artist of the day", publishes interviews with up-and-coming artists on Beautiful/Decay and Fecal Face websites and for you lucky Chicagoans, brings all this hot new art to Western Exhibitions in his three part show "The Power of Selection".

In part one (Jan-Feb 2010), Ryan presented four west coast artists and one Chicago artist in Western Exhibitions main gallery space. Part two this summer, he showed 3 New York artists and one from Oregon in our gallery 2, and for this show, November 19 to December 31, he is cramming Gallery 2 with a salon-style extravaganza featuring artists from across the nation.

Artists included:

Derek Albeck
Mark Arctander
Timothy Bergstrom
Marissa Bero Gerlofs
Samantha Bittman
Michelle Blade
Jaq Chartier
Ryan Travis Christian
Richard Colman
Allison Cortson
Chris Duncan
Julian Duron
Ted Gahl
Andres Guerrero
Joseph Hart
Valerie Hegarty
Maya Hayuk
Matt Irie
Jason Jagel
Kelly Lynn Jones
Michael Krueger
Denise Kupferschmidt
Jose Lerma
Matt Lock
Alex Lukas
Bill McRight
Frankie Martin
Eddie Martinez
Jeremy Mora
Kristine Moran
Erin Morrison
Sarah Mosk
Jeanette Mundt
Aaron Noble
Marcie Oakes
Maggie Otero
Matthew Palladino
Hilary Pecis
Cleon Peterson
Richard Colman
Joe Roberts
Brion Nuda Rosch
Kate Ruggeri
Ryan Schaffer
Jovi Schnell
Andrew Schoultz
Allison Schulnik
Eric Shaw
Sumi Ink Club
Ann Toebbe
Kristen VanDeventer
Ned Vena
Ben Venom
Eric Yahnker
Chuck Webster
Ryan Wallace

Exhibition organizer Ryan Travis Christian is a Chicago based artist who has had solo shows at Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco Ebersmoore in Chicago, and his solo show debut at Western Exhibitions is forthcoming for Fall 2011. He's been included in group show at Baer Ridgway in San Francisco, Space 1026 in Philadelphia and Synchronicty in Los Angeles and has curated exhibitions at many of these same venues. This spring New City named Christian as one of Chicago's "Breakout Artists" for 2010.

Reception 11/19 5-8
WESTERN EXHIBITIONS

TRAVELING AUCTION

2010-10-26T23:03:00.003-05:00

IT"S A GOOD ONE>>> UPDATES REAL SOON>>>> "WELL. TIME MAKES FOOLS OF US ALL" WAS A HIT

WELL, TIME MAKES FOOLS OF US ALL

2010-10-01T19:46:00.001-05:00

OPENING @ GUERRERO GALLERY - OCTOBER 16th

go to work

2010-06-16T00:19:00.002-05:00

new drawing

and many more to come in the very very near future

POWER OF SELECTIONS 2

2010-06-15T10:31:00.001-05:00

OPENS THIS FRIDAY

@ WESTERN EXHIBITIONS

UPCOMING

2010-06-11T15:15:00.001-05:00

@ SPACE 1026

CLUB NUTZ

2010-05-05T23:11:00.003-05:00

so rad. just wait till summer when i rock the NUTZ at the MCA! word

GOOD PRESS

2010-04-28T15:44:00.002-05:00

named one of New City's "Breakout Artists of 2010"
click here

also....

Newcity’s Breakout Artists are on view in booth 12-165 at Art Chicago, floor 12 of the Merchandise Mart, April 29-May 3.

also.....

Ben Stone, Caleb Lyons and Myself will be "performing" @ CLUB NUTZ @ NEXT on Saturday, May 1st 5-7pm.

cheers!

Jose Lerma interview

2010-04-25T11:05:00.005-05:00

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE!

Tell us a bit about yourself Jose?

I was born in Spain, grew up in Puerto Rico in the hospital grounds where my parents worked. Moved to New Orleans for college and then Law School at UW-Madison.   At 27 I took a class with TL Solien (who was an amazing teacher, and a mentor) freaked out completely, dropped out of law school during my last year and decided to study art.

How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it? What are some of the driving inspirations behind your work. What has influenced you in big ways?

I make paintings and works about painting. I try my best to collapse the personal with the art historical and to fit both within a single frame. This is something many artists do, but I just wanted to make it central to my practice. Although the works and paintings change dramatically in terms of material, the common thread is some story I heard my mom say, for instance, or some ugly piece of furniture in their living room or some dorky thing I did in my youth. Then I try to fuse this with some historical event, person or artistic style. This sounds cheesy, but I always say that all art is about other art and about your parents.

As far as artistic influences I like late Picasso, Morandi, Sean Landers, Piero della Francesca,William Anastassi, Phillip Guston,Carl ostendarp, James Hyde, Bruce Nauman, George Condo, Paul Thek, R. Crumb.

The towel pieces really intrigues me. You do some work on shirts and other non traditional painting surfaces as of late too, if I'm not mistaken. Could you talk a little bit about what prompted this experiment?

I think the whole thing is self generating. I was making paintings by removing the paint from an object by applying a solvent or paint stripper. Then I would paint an open flat form of that object, similar to the way a bear rug suggest the open shape the animal. This idea of removing the “skin” of an object, of seeing objects as painting minus sculpture, was reversed by using towels, which wrap around skin and for a moment suggest the object.   So from there I began making the Carlos II portraits which were made with office carpets and were an attempt at enlarging the feel of the towel portraits.

In my own practice, I am very interested in finding balances between figuration and abstraction. This is something you have been investigating for awhile now with your portrait-esque works. How do approach this balance?

It’s simple really. I make something that looks like a portrait but has no likeness.    They are small and done very fast, but they are also goopy and thick…a portrait of paint.   Then I spend weeks enlarging every aspect of it, and make it maybe 9 feet tall. So it becomes about scale too, a big painting that feels very small.   The carpet thing was about walking on a sketch…of a disfigured Spanish king, but It was about being in it.

The way you use your materials is really engaging to me. I see lots of mixed media work and something about how you combine them really stands out to me. What is your process like? How do you approach a blank surface? Do you have an exact idea of what you want or is it more responsive? How do you determine that a piece is finished?

I finish a show when I run out of time, just like when I took test as a kid. I am not an organized person.   As far as the individual pieces I often paint and compose on a very large un-stretched canvas without stepping back and mostly considering the surface. I like surfaces that look great from a foot away.   Then I step back and crop the best parts and run with what they suggest. Often a very large canvas yields a small painting. Other times things are set up ahead of time like doing a painting with only whatever is around, some dirt, cardboard or the paint dissolved from objects, usually cabinets or magazines.

I like that there seems to be no hierarchy of medium in your work. The drawings and paintings seems to be one in the same and equally substantial. Do you agree with this. How do you view your drawing and painting relations?

I never see them as separate practices. My paintings often start with a very busy layer of drawings. Most of those come straight from idea notebooks that I still keep for sculpture and installation work…so nothing is thrown away.   If I can’t afford to execute an idea, I can at least include it in a painting so it can exist. For me there is an arc and if you start getting too skilled its always good to introduce another thing or medium so its interesting.

You bide your time between New York, Puerto Rico and Chicago, to you, what are the pros and cons of the respective places?

Puerto Rico has very interesting scene and I have seen it grow in the past 10 years. The scene there produced the duo Allora and Calzadilla, the painter Enoc Perez and the brilliant Jesus Bubu Negron.   Sadly, I don’t spend too much time there anymore, but when I lived there in 01-03 the art scene was really exciting and intense and many international curators were stopping by the island. It was a little crazy I think they were trying to find in PR what they saw in Mexico city in the early 90s. Most of the work was post studio then.   I think there are more painters now. I also think the curatorial infatuation with PR only lasted about 2 year then they moved on which sucks for some of the younger artists there.

Most people I know in NY are artist…that also makes it a bit boring.   I like Chicago, especially how affordable it is, a lot but I am mostly teaching here and have little time to make work. I find that artists in Chicago wear many hats (often curating, running apartment galleries or starting small publications) and spread themselves a bit thin.   I don’t see that as much in NY.

Being faculty at one of the largest art institutions in the US (SAIC) what are your thoughts/experiences with art and academia?

I feel very lucky to be working with colleagues whose work I admire.   SAIC’s atmosphere is quite relaxed and conducive to experimentation.   I have very bright and ambitious students and that really makes teaching fun.    I like to teach by brainstorming with the students, though sometimes my suggestions are simply moronic.   But I try my best to come up with a series of possibilities, and then let the student decide if any of them are worth pursuing. Those were the teachers I enjoyed as a student.   I find the back and forth helpful to my practice as well. Making art is pretty solitary and teaching gets you out of your solipsism and neurosis.

What's in store for you in the 2010? Any exciting projects or anything coming up?

I have two solo shows coming up this year. One is in Madrid at Galeria Marta Cervera in September and the other one is a small show at Andrea Rosen In NY.   Im teaching at Ox-Bow in the summer.   That should be fun. Also I may be curating an exhibition in New York for SAIC painting grads.

!!!!!!!COMING SOON!!!!!!

2010-04-13T18:02:00.003-05:00

I AM EXCITED TO BRING NEW WORKS TO CHICAGO IN JUNE BY...

DENISE KUPFERSCHMIDT

KEEGAN MCHARGUE

DANA DART- MCLEAN

BEN JONES

POWER OF SELECTION 2
WESTERN EXHIBITIONS

images are examples only

Haiti Relief Art Auction

2010-04-01T13:03:00.004-05:00

April 17th @ LVL3

BID NOW!!!!

CHRIS DUNCAN

2010-03-18T14:11:00.004-05:00

HERE AND THEN THERE AND THERE AND THERE AND THERE AND THERE...

Tyson Reeder Interview

2010-03-15T12:51:00.007-05:00

rtc-You are a man of many projects, first off, tell us about the general store and what kinds of things are happening in Milwaukee?

tyson - General Store was a storefront gallery run by myself, my brother Scott and sister-in-law Elysia. We opened it in '05 and we've been doing shows under that name since, although the actual space is no longer. The front was customized to look like a funky paper-mache cave, with rock furniture and stalactites, and the back was a white cube gallery space. The idea was to lure shoppers in off the street, (consisting of mostly Milwaukee crustypunks with modest crust wardrobe budgets) with the more inviting dimly-lit cave, where you could buy cheap non-essentials like hand-made thongs, ceramic snacks or designer doorstops. Eventually you would check out the art in back, although we realized quickly when given the option, people prefer darkness to light. This idea grew later into Dark Fair, the art fair with no lights. It had it's moments! We showed Laura Owens, Pentti Monkonenn, Cory Arcangel, Nick Lowe and had a monthly teen dance party called " Get Wacky " hosted by Milwaukee rapper Juiceboxxx. Then it became an pet store. Now it's a head shop called Dank's Glass.

rtc - I've heard lots about these strange performances and versions of artfairs that you and your brother are involved in. I love this idea, art fairs always seem so stuffy and redundant. Could you talk about some of them? Why do you guys put these on? Are there any coming up?

tyson - Anyone who has spent some time in the artworld is aware of it's conservatism and looking for ways to reimagine the unexamined rituals we find ourselves mindlessly repeating. Art fairs seemed interesting to us because they are relatively young and unformed. And everyone was doing them for a minute in the mid-00's, motivated by some Burning Man-like hunger for interconnectedness, except instead of ravers with mushrooms it was bald germans with Blackberries.
Milwaukee is not on the contemporary art world map, so in '06 we thought it would be kind of absurd/interesting to try to do an art fair here. We teamed up with local curators John Riepenhoff and Nicholas Frank under the name Milwaukee International, and hosted it at an old Polish beer hall with a bowling alley in the basement called the Polish Falcon. It was insane. 30 galleries from all over the world made the trip, including Gavin Brown's Enterprise and White Columns of NYC, Galeria Comercial for Puerto Rico, Willy Wonka Inc. from Norway and Hiromi Yoshii gallery from Tokyo. Chicago's Roots and Culture were selling giant pretzels. Verne and the Originals, a local polka band, provided the ambiance. Matthew Higgs ended up writing about it at length in Artforum, saying it reminded him more of a music festival in 80's Manchester than an art fair.
Since then we have done three more fairs, one in Milwaukee and two versions of our Dark Fair, at the Swiss Institute in NYC in '08 and as part of Art Cologne in '09. Dark Fair is basically an art fair with the lights turned off and the walls painted black. Participating galleries had to use candles or battery-powered devices to light their "booths", which were designed like restaurant booths with tables and benches. It attracted some great gallerists, including Marianne Boesky, Maureen Paley, and Zach Feuer. In NYC, DJ/artist/club owner Spencer Sweeney sold penis-shaped candles while painting a self-portrait in the dark. There was a pinball arcade from Ara Peterson, a " wordless chorus " conducted with light sticks by Brian Belott and Larissa Valez, and sculptures by Christian Holstad, Mungo Thompson and Justin Sampson. Only one person's hair caught on fire.

This year at Frieze Art Fair in London we tried out our newest art fair intervention, Club Nutz,"the world's smallest comedy club". We were asked to recreate the 10x10' nightclub we run sporadically here in Milwaukee, which features a tiny stage, fake brick wall, DJ booth, bar, bouncer and velvet rope. In London, Spencer Sweeney hosted from the DJ booth, greeting confused art fair crawlers with " welcome to Club Nutz! Tell a joke and get a free beer!" Aspiring Benny Hill-type comedians came out of nowhere to test out their zingers on an art crowd. There was lots of fog, sweat and questionable dance moves.

There's a real joy in throwing yourself into something you don't know how to do. Whether it's " let's do an international art fair! " or " let's open a comedy club! ", I'm always happy to step out of the introspection and calculation that goes with painting alone in the studio. It's also nice to see that spirit infect other people. Stand-up comedy is maybe the most direct way to throw oneself into the unknown. People who have never done it before may get huge laughs, although it might be for something other than their jokes. It might be the silence in between jokes or any number of technical failures.

rtc - Aside from exhibitions, you do music and video and whatnot as well, right?

tyson - Scott and I have hundreds of hours of unreleased and some would argue unlistenable tracks. You might have seen us perform under the names Night School, Sir Willy or Piano Boys. We plan on releasing a boxed set covering 1990 - 2010 around Christmas time. We also have performed several short avant-garde pieces at Daniel Reich Gallery including "Egg Fugue", a rite of spring featuring a hooded 'eggxecutioner' and "Sonata in 2-D" involving a black abstract painting with dancing geometric shapes. Currently we are working on a podcast for Vicious Pop records that will give the world a taste of the new Milwaukee genre people are calling "Comedy Trance". Imagine hours of improvised spoken word with canned laughter over minimal trance beats. Sound good?

rtc - Now on to your solo endeavors. Your paintings were really weird to me when I first saw them. They have an outsider, or dare I say high school student feel to them? But at the same time, they felt really fresh and thougthful. What are your ideas concerning your execution? How did you reach this conclusion?

tyson - I started out showing in Daniel Reich's tiny efficiency apartment in Chelsea in 2002. It was a moment when a lot of young artists were turning away from slick, monumental-scaled artwork that seemed made for the airplane hanger sized galleries that seemed to be popping up everywhere, towards a self-consciously human scale, hand-made aesthetic. I became interested in a kind of experimental, alchemic approach to materials that were themselves very cheap and familiar. Ballpoint pens, fabric dye, nail polish all had real-life applications and I liked how that fed into or sometimes clashed with the content of whatever I was depicting. There is a freedom to working with mixed-media, as opposed to oil paint on canvas, that maybe parallels some of my curatorial projects. It's about temporarily suspending the burden of art history, with it's myriad ways of contextualizing every type of painting move, to let accident and invention come into the process. My patterns and marks eventually became useful in quickly defining some sort of emotionally heightened, frenzied depiction of Milwaukee, maybe like how the Impressionists dab replaced naturalism as a more immediate way to get at some sort of truth about Arles or wherever.

rtc - It's evident that you don't just use a brush, what other kinds of tools are you drawn to? What is your studio/studio practice like?

tyson - I love brushes, but I am also drawn to anything that makes an unusual mysterious mark and gets me out of the preciousness that comes with handling a horse-haired stick for too long. I use my hands a lot, my YMCA card, bleach pens, manicure rhinestones, plastic knives and forks, stencils, flannel and corduroy. I did an entire drawing with my nose once.

rtc - How do you generate your ideas for content? They appear simple and very straightforward, is it that easy? Or is there more than meets the eye?

tyson - I make hundreds of abstract compositions on index cards that help me arrive at weird effects quickly. Sometimes the cards have words on the back like " raccoon " or instructions like " add blue and white dots " that I have to integrate into the abstractions whether I like it or not. This helps me get away from pointless hesitation and bad ideas that I think are genius.

rtc - It's the future, and you are a prestigious art critic. How would define the "movement" or era that is happening right now?

tyson - Post-Good

rtc - Invent something now, what is it?

tyson - A 12" black licorice record that you can eat.

rtc - Anything exciting coming up for you in the near future?

tyson - This spring Club Nutz at NEXT Fair 2010 during Art Chicago, April 30-May 3. Come tell a joke!

rtc - Do you have any advice for young aspiring artists?

tyson - Blog less. Paint outside. Try food sculpture.

f word

2010-03-15T04:32:00.001-05:00

mad delays, been working the west coast for the past two weeks. tyson reeder interview up on wed!!!!!!!

blank

2010-03-01T14:59:00.003-06:00

new

NEON KNOME!

2010-02-24T18:27:00.001-06:00

please vote for ben jones' show......

http://www.adultswim.com/promos/bkbuns2010/index.html

neon knome

INAUGURAL

2010-02-20T09:34:00.001-06:00

GOOD COMPANY

TODAY MILWAUKEE

2010-02-19T17:39:00.001-06:00

weird vibes for sure

I LOVE MY GIRLFRIEND

2010-02-14T22:47:00.003-06:00

LOTS

why?

2010-02-14T22:45:00.002-06:00

it's yourz!

victim of petty east coast quota

2010-02-14T10:46:00.003-06:00

read the interview here dumby

GRANDMAS AND THE GRANDPAS

2010-02-12T11:01:00.001-06:00

COME SEE MY SHOWWWWWWWW

2010-02-09T23:48:00.003-06:00

IT"S IN CHICAGO
THIS FRIDAY!!!
COME SAY HI

info

andreas fischer - ghost town

2010-02-05T12:28:00.003-06:00

click this

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR

2010-02-01T14:43:00.003-06:00

@ BAERRIDGWAY

you aint bustin the grape

2010-01-27T14:39:00.000-06:00

uncle blob rendering western king scrambler

ey/rtc

getting some tron flow

2010-01-23T02:19:00.002-06:00

peek a boo guido

wandering bong rip...

2010-01-21T23:53:00.002-06:00

with Mariah Carey features

me-yahnker collab

new kreuger's. shhhhhh

2010-01-21T12:29:00.001-06:00

awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

new spot!

2010-01-20T14:24:00.003-06:00

public art/ pubic art

2010-01-14T17:24:00.002-06:00

my town (ALGONQUIN IL) has erected a big safety orange vagina sculpture outside of the police station

ANTEXSPAGNA

2010-01-09T22:39:00.003-06:00

ANTEXSPAGNA
2.12-3.13
EBERSMOORE

joseph hart

2010-01-06T03:23:00.002-06:00

super

i post @ BD now too!

!

2010-01-05T20:22:00.008-06:00

CLICK ME
19x22
2009

PAPER!AWESOME!

2010-01-05T09:34:00.002-06:00

POWER OF SELECTION PART 1

2010-01-02T10:45:00.002-06:00

OPENS TODAY!

2009-12-22T18:11:00.001-06:00

wow

2009-12-21T12:32:00.001-06:00

pos1

2009-12-16T01:05:00.002-06:00

drunk on sparxxxx or whatever

2009-12-16T01:01:00.002-06:00

For the past week or so I've been moving stuff out of my apartment in Escondido into a new apartment in San Diego proper. There's a coffee shop across the street and, if I need to get out of the house, I go there to work. Last week I was there with a coworker when some boisterous person came in channeling Muhammad Ali yelling all about how he's the best, the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be - apparently in reference to nothing. The best at nothing in particular. Of yelling randomly in coffee shops I guess.

I think it was this guy. This guy walks down the street "singing" at the top of his lungs. But he does sing pretty good. Today I found out he does something else. I heard yelling in a half yell / half soul-R&B kind of way ("yeaaaaaahhhhhhuhuhuhhhh" / not lil jon) and checked it out through the blinds. So this guy is walking around across the street apparently drunk off of Sparxx or whatever. He was just standing on the side of the road. So I watch for another minute until I figured out what was going on. Check it. He turns and chills with his back to the street when he hears a car coming. Letting the car think he's just a guy standing there. Wrong. Apparently he's a freak R&B talent. When the car drives by they figure that out because he does a spin move, a fully legit spin move, raises his one hand in triumph, let's out a soul/R&B yell ("yeaaaaaahhhhhhuhuhuhhhh"), and then goes into his kind of "gotcha" pose. Photos attached. I took a cell phone video but he sauntered off by the time I could grab my real digital camera. He shocked about 6 drivers while I was watching. Hopefully I see more of this...

Tony

The Power of Selection Part 1

2009-12-14T01:47:00.004-06:00

WESTERN EXHIBITIONS

Gallery 1

"The Power of Selection, Part 1"
curated by Ryan Travis Christian
including Alika Cooper, Mike Rea, Allison Schulnik, Marissa Textor and Eric Yahnker

Gallery 2

"Suitable Video: Works from the Suitable Exhibitions Archive"
curated by Scott Wolniak
featuring work by Charles Irvin, Julia Hechtman, Sterling Ruby, John Neff, Sarah Conaway, Kirsten Stoltmann, Paul Nudd, Miller & Shellabarger, Reed Anderson & Daniel Davidson, Marc Schwartzberg, Ben Stone, and Siebren Versteeg.

January 2 - February 6
(reception on January 30)

simpsons

2009-12-13T20:57:00.002-06:00

this book is neeeat

ghost log

2009-12-08T13:38:00.001-06:00

courtesy of E. Yahnker

BD Book2

2009-12-03T11:59:00.005-06:00

just got this in the mail today! spectacular!

i got a nice spread in there as well as other good people like jose lerma, julian duron , justin b williams, and eric shaw and many others! plus these are books with no real advertising and have bonus swag like a screen print and stickers or something

get one here or here

cheers

it's been awhile, sorry friends, and dana dart-mclean

2009-11-30T18:14:00.008-06:00

Heart Stickers 2009
oil on canvas
26x 20”

Violet 2009
(Illustration from book, Catalogue of Variable Essences by Ashby Collinson and Dana Dart-McLean)
graphite and ink on paper
8”x 11”

So, I saw your work for the first time recently, @ the Vaguely Paperly show here in Chicago. I was immediately drawn to them for a few reasons, but the prime reason being that in "As Moving Mental Blocks" has the word "asmoving" right down the side, that fucking baffled me (in the good sort of way), as did the monstrous gauge of your signature which is far less important.

Anyhow, let's start by talking a bit about your text elements. They're mysterious. They force the viewer to investigate your image further since there is no immediate, obvious connection. There is also the way of linking the words together via their first/last letters that forms this sort of word play or line of association. Or these vague messages like " I Am Okay". Mysterious. Can you tell us about the text components to your work?

I’m into using text for several reasons.Sometimes, I bring in text because the uniformity and clarity of language seems funny combined with the obscure style of my visual rendering. A lot of drawing for me is about the process of failing to accurately render. In words “a” is always “a,” but pictorially what is dice and what is moon? The clarity of the language form is easier to cross-reference.

Text flattens and sits on the surface of paintings, making everything else appear behind it. I wonder if that is a pervasive relationship between langauge and experience. I know I am constantly being tripped up by trying to follow written instructions despite their imperfect accuracy. Just yesterday I was in a bathroom in a bar and there was a sign on the inside of the door that said, “Turn up for Lock. Turn down for Unlock.” The lock was just a button on the doorknob and could only be pushed in. I stared at it for a long time trying to reconcile the words with the visual.
.
In “As Moving Mental Blocks Beautiful Possible,” I tried to frame the picture with words that both are and contradict a picture. Removing spaces between words or forcing words around corners shows the words divorced from meaning but as a visual element. Signatures are tricky. I ended up painting over those big signatures.

Raymond Chandler 2006
Ink, gouache and graphite on paper
24x 20 inches

I like the idea of you taking on the role of "false interior designer". This is an interesting idea, to make work from the vantage point of an unreal character or something your are not. It also seems funny to me that in a world you completely control, you have decided to assume a role that is pretty uncommon for people to fantasize about. Like using wish on something totally obtainable.

I also wonder, how does this role change your approach to a piece? Do you have rules for yourself that you normally wouldn't or a different way of thinking about spaces?

Not sure exactly why I am drawn to taking on a role like false interior designer. In my fetishizing of the role, an interior designer clarifies how we mediate private and public space by deciding what is right for a private space now. Decisions like, “Where should this vase go?” symbolize contemporary aesthetics scaled to comfort or convention, talking about class and taste but also about domestic life and love (as motives for materializing comfort). I painted the first interior designer piece in 2003; a small painting showing the lobby of a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. The levels of concentrated effort and decision that went into making that reactor (and it’s famous malfunction) seemed interesting made into a metaphor about object placement, a picture of a lobby with bouquets and paintings. I wanted to look at uses of energy, on the chemical level of nuclear reaction to create electricity, a political level dealing with the debate on nuclear armament and nuclear power, the social level of energy of lives devoted to occupations and dividing personal and professional spaces, and my own energy as a younger person, thinking about assuming a role of “artist.” I wonder if much of that comes across in the painting.

Tree 2008
acrylic, ink, gouache on paper
14”x10”

Thought Police 2008
Collage, ink, acrylic, gouache, and graphite on paper
50” x 32”

Memory is another important element of you work. You mention that the works are an extension of memory syntax study, with you as the model. Could you elaborate on that some?

My relationship to memory in my work is developing slowly. One reason I’m interested in memory is the psychological narrative of emotion draining from events as time passes. Like something profoundly emotional or traumatic becoming normalized in memory over time. What is left? Imagery and association, clues that add to a picture or story but with parts left out or new parts added. That sounds like a not very sexy description of surrealism. I do love Magritte.

Red 2009
(Illustration from book, Catalogue of Variable Essences by Ashby Collinson and Dana Dart-McLean)
graphite and ink on paper
8”x 11”

How do approach a blank surface? Where does your palette come from? How would you describe your drawing style? Where did it come from?

I start with source imagery or phrases. When I’m working, I look at source images and try to record the experience of looking at source material, maybe as an exercise in trying to generate an emotional memory. Blank surfaces are very pleasing. I always try to work back to how nice the blank surface was, with mixed results. My palette is all over the place. I really need to get it under control. I use a lot of blue because the medieval illuminated manuscript artists did. My drawing style is intimate and poor. I’ve never been very good at drawing so my drawings are about following that into something that might be good, using the activity as a way of seeing. Looking for lines.

Decorator’s Proposal for Interior of LOBBY 2001
Acrylic on paper
8.5 x 11 inches

Can you tell me about your recent medium shift? You are starting to paint. What is prompting this change? How do you think oils will effect/enhance these ideas you are working with?

Yes, I am starting to paint with oils. The diagrammatic and illustrative qualities in my work are well suited to more flat painting mediums and drawings but there is something I’d like to get across that requires a heavier medium. Oil paint on canvas has a specific history and body that make it heavy-- enables a more aggressive intimacy. I’m starting a series of oil paintings about screen depth—the illusion of depth images convey on TV, movie, and computer screen.

Calvin 2009
Ink, gouache and graphite on paper
23 x 27 inches

I am Pattern, You are Chance, 2007
Ink, gouache, acrylic and graphite on paper
19.5 x 23 inches

What kinds of things are influencing your work right now? What is giving you inspiration to create?

Too many things! Artists who live in Portland like Storm Tharp, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Susan Ploetz, Chris Johanson, and Jo Jackson. My boyfriend’s band, Dragging an Ox through Water, practicing next door. The way he combines song and noise gives me ideas about figuration and abstraction. I am working on several paintings illustrating a book my friend, Ashby Collinson wrote. It’s sort of a color theory narrative in list form. She wrote it in response to some collages I made, so the collaborative process has been fun and interesting. Publication Studio, a non-demand publishing venture that also hosts events to support a growing conversation between books and their readers, prints the book. I’m participating in Ashby’s business endeavor, Interested Party. I’m fabricating some paper dumb bells for her.

Wall Clock, 2007
Ink, gouache, acrylic and graphite on paper
101 x 103 inches

7.Say if it was like 100 years from now, and you are an art historian, how would you classify your work? What movement were you a part of?

New Wave of Northwest Hardcore

Vacation, Hag, the Bird, Birds, 2007
Ink, gouache and graphite on paper
23 x 27 inches

Where do you want you work to go? Do you have an idea or visualization of what kinds of things of want to be doing or making down the road?

I’m working on that series of oil paintings and I’m going to keep making works on paper. I want to work with names. I made a painting on paper with the name, “Calvin.” Maybe through names I can figure out signatures as arbitrators of authenticity. I like using names as a fan’s invocation—distancing and drawing near.

Now Against Before, Now With After (2006)
 Acrylic, gouache and ink on paper  56 x 75 in.

Any exciting endeavors in the near future?

Moving into a new studio and going to the Oregon coast for a day.

Haters Drift, Lovers Stay 2006
Ink, gouache and graphite on paper
23x 30 inches

I always ask this and people rarely have one, but I will continue to try.... do you have a really good story to share? Something crazy you saw?

Alright this story doesn’t beat a demon sighting but maybe is interesting? So, 2 years ago I was out singing kareoke with some friends .My friend Megan put in “when I see you smile,” by Bad English. Before she went on stage to sing, she told me that whenever she kareokes this song disasterous things happen. Last time she sang it a guy had a heart attack in the bar and had to be rushed to the hospital. The time before a huge bar fight broke out in the middle of the song. So she sang the song -- very theatrical and great. Later, my boyfriend, Brian, and I went home and about an hour after we fell asleep we were shocked awake by a huge crash. We rushed out side and the entire street is illuminated by red and blue cop lights and there are like 7 cop cars and 20 cops surrounding this dude in the middle of the street. He’s lying on his face in the middle of the road and they all have their guns pointed at him. One of them comes over to us and is like, get the hell out of here. We’re like what’s going on here? The cop tells us the man lying in the middle of the road led the cops on a drunken 40 block car chase until they finally bumped his car into a parked car in front of our house. The parked car they bumped the drunk into is Brian’s car and it’s completely totalled. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged except for his car. He got the city to reimburse him but it took like 6 months. When I told Megan about it she was completely nonplussed, like yeah, I told you fucked up shit always happens when I sing that Bad English song.

Love Rocks 2006
Ink, gouache, and acrylic on paper
7x15 inches

white columns

small a

irie's new piece!

2009-10-30T11:33:00.002-05:00

image taken by james ewing

totally chang

jagel shots

2009-10-22T15:46:00.001-05:00

a few sweets from jason's current show in copenhagen. word

better than brock

2009-10-21T19:40:00.003-05:00

mauve deep

2009-10-21T12:42:00.001-05:00

keegan sent me his tumblr. full of inspiration

http://mauvedeep.tumblr.com/

merger (during)

2009-10-20T02:08:00.002-05:00

44x60

alpha acid

2009-10-10T12:40:00.001-05:00

it's just not fair!

2009-10-02T22:46:00.003-05:00

i will be showing some work at synchronicity's booth hear - Beyond Eden

INFINITY

2009-09-28T18:40:00.002-05:00

new

2009-09-17T10:10:00.000-05:00

"his ride is hot, but the rims are the wackest"

2009-09-13T21:02:00.005-05:00

proof of neil whitacre's existence

hi austin eddy! how are you

2009-09-10T10:42:00.006-05:00

meet austin eddy, 22 years young, chicago painting student, humble, full of promise.......

1. Hey Austin, lets talk about magic. That is one of the first things that sticks out to me in your paintings. Magician gloves, eightball and so forth. What are your thoughts on magic? What does it mean to have magical imagery in some of these works. Has magic been a lifelong interest or has it been renewed?

- My thoughts on magic are always changing. Though I would like to think as an artist I am in a way a magician and in being so I am trying to make people believe in the painting or object much like a magician for hire is trying to convince people to trust in the trick that they are looking at, and letting go enough to lose themselves in what is in front of them. I think iconic magic imagery is a metaphor for the magic found everywhere in the world. At the moment, this imagery has taken the back seat and now is functioning more as an underlying experience in the work.

2. In the last year we also see a distinctive change in figure in your paintings, from these sort of old dark cartoon looking characters to actual people. What prompted this change? What are these mysterious situations communicating to the viewer.

- I think the shift in figure is due to the fact that I finally am trying to face my fear of painting people and willing to have it not work out. Also I felt that the cartoonish representations of the figure would function in a far different way within these spaces and make them more humorous than my initial intentions and potentially change the over all feel of the work. I am not sure what they are communicating to the viewer, I hope that it is different for everyone, but I guess my intent is to try to convey this sense of longing or an underlying sense of sadness that I feel we as people all experience.

3. Can you talk a bit about your materials, there is also a shift in how you are applying paint to accompany the content change. What do you think things like glue and nail polish and puffy paint bring to the canvas.

- The change in application is due to a few things, one being that I am still learning, and feel as though I will always be learning how to paint and also at the same time learning how to fail at it and making those failures function the best that they can. Another reason for the change in application is that I feel as though the much “crisper” or cartoony painting has a different visual association that I am less interested in at this point but am sure will find a way back in when the time is right.

The addition to the types of tools used in making these things has change because they allow for more variation to happen on the surface of the paintings while also adding a wider range in surface value. Plus it just makes it more fun and having the chance to mix and match rather than just working with one type of thing. In the end id like to think that the addition of say: nail polish, glue, and puffy paint gives the work a sense of material play as well as a visual one that may contrast the less light hearted works.

4. I've noticed the newer work takes place exclusively indoors. How are you thinking of these images in terms of space?

- Yeah, a lot of the work takes place in doors, often with windows looking out into the great beyond be it a lawn or some sort of greater landscape. In this case I am thinking about the division of interior and exterior spaces as metaphor for the internal and external space of the mind, where the mental exists only with the awareness of the exterior, but remains isolated from the greater outside realm. The windows act as a place for escape and release within the image for figures depicted as well as the viewer. These exits are made to point at the limitlessness of the outside world, a space removed from the subjects of the painting.

These interior spaces also provide a range of opportunities for play with the flattening of illusionary space and many formal aspects regarding the static qualities there in. These spaces also allow for a lot of manipulation in terms of color and composition that function on a girded structure and make room for some sort of chaos to interjected into this order and have it potentially buzz like a broke down television.

5. Do you use source imagery or you more of an imagination kind of guy? Where is this imagery/composition coming from?

- A lot of these things I am trying to make I am using a lot of stock imagery from art history as well as textiles and other highly patterned objects and images. In regard to the newer work I am also pulling a lot from the compositional tools of Matisse, Avery, and Picasso as well others old and new. That being the foundation or starting point of the works I am also using my personal relationship as well as my experiences of seeing in the world to be combined and tell this sort of ambiguous story. It all really takes place in my head and in order to distill these things I use my imagination in order to attempt to make something interesting if not “new”.

6. These images remind me of Keegan Mchargue, Tyson Reeder, and Sister Gertrude Morgan rolled into one (i mean that in an extremely good way). Who/what has been influential to your work?

- I have defiantly looked at all these people while surfing through the history of painting, and they all have all left their mark on me in one way or another. A lot of this work also makes references not only to contemporary makers it is also heavily influenced by historical figures like Matisse, Avery, Picasso, Rousseau, and many others outside of the “Fine Arts”. I think a lot of this work is dealing with my relationship to painting and its history, and how the ease of information exchange through the use of the Internet has changed the ability to see and use the vastness of its reaches. That is to say that a lot of this work pulls its reference points from other artists of all media, as well as “real life” experiences and objects. I find a lot of excitement in the idea of being able to pick up the pieces and shuffle them together in order to make this work.

7. So you went to SAIC, what are you thoughts on academia and art? I am always interested to hear peoples thoughts on that especially coming from a leviathan school like the institute.

- I think school is good and I think art is good, so it makes sense to me that the combination of the two would be good. School for art at the same time makes little sense in terms of a location for learning how to make “Art”, it seems like a good place to facilitate the making of it but I think the learning really takes place once you figure out what it is you are interested in and how you want to talk about and convey that interest. Institutions like Art Schools work well as places to figure these interests out, and come into contact with as many resources as possible and become more aware of what is going on out there in the art world. That is not to say that you cannot do any of these things on your own. In my experience I found that school has helped me in terms of being able to think more critically about work and helped provide me with a language to talk about and to make the work. Beyond that sort of purpose, I think these sorts of Schools are good because they offer an incredible community of people who are very interested in similar subjects and modes of making. I mean its costing an arm and a leg to be there why not be as involved as possible.

8. Upcoming projects, exhibitions, life endeavors?

- Well as of right now I am working on finishing up and getting my BFA, and going along with that there is an exhibition at the school. So that is the most up and coming project, coming at the end of October. Other than that the “what’s next” is the million dollar question, and I have absolutely no idea what will happen or any idea as far as future plans. I think that my plans often fail, and id like to just take it as it comes. As far as life goals, I am thinking I should live it to its fullest and enjoy every second of it and make as many positive connections as possible. But we will see, again it’s all up in the air.

9. Invent something right now, what is it?

- A phone that can allow me to commune with the dead, so I can ask Aberaham Lincolin what went through his head.

shaan

2009-07-19T21:33:00.000-05:00

i am tree

2009-07-17T09:46:00.002-05:00

bj in this muthafucka, helllllllll yeah

2009-07-09T20:56:00.002-05:00

Invaluable source of inspiration, genius, and drum solos. Meet Ben Jones...

Tell us a bit about where you come from? Who are you? When did you decide you wanted to be an artist? and why?
I grew up in a boring suburb in New England. I remember having tons of zits and no friends. Any lifeforce, or energy I had was focused into drawing, riding freestyle-bmx bikes and/or playing drums. My first band was named "Death From Above." We played the 8th grade field day. As a kid I think I wanted to be an artist because I thought I could be good at it. Somehow that innocent curiosity has turned into a mega-ego and narcissistic complex. I feel like I was never given the chance to be a normal American; somehow I was more scared or less scared of wanting to be happy, playing sports and having pretty girlfriends. I guess I have weird parents, so maybe there was no hope, I am a crazy artist, and their is no denying it. Please kill me.

Could you tell a bit about Paperradio and where that lead you?

The other day I was sitting in a chair I found in the trash, thinking "how did I get here." I traced it back to CF. If it wasn't for the artist CF turning me on to the good art that was going on around me I would be something 100% different. Paper Radio was a zine started by CF and I in 1998. It was the first brick in me creating an personal indenity, voice, and understanding of how my artistic vision could be externalized in a successful way. It was the first brick in me creating a wall around myself and becoming a cold inhuman antisocial aritist. Just kidding, that brick was laid with zits, like I mentioned above.

Paper Radio was just some friends, putting out photocopied pieces of paper, but the process and product had a larger meaning and power. It actualized and communicated ideas that we felt passionate about, not political or socially but almost stylistically. It was a formal method for CF and I to cement what we thought of as our potential ideal style of art. Everything since then has been a complete failure in terms of honestly and clarity, but has been more successful and wider spread; we have been dumbing down our hopes and dreams and trust since Paper Radio, thus a wider patch of humans can relate to the general ideas we output, and thus, this is where we are, and this is where it has lead us. Its almost a more relevant and interesting artistic and cultural story than some famous young artist that just makes wax dog dildo's, but somehow, its not as sexy a story.

Paperad made quite a few waves. There was so much going on with and coming from you guys, it seemed beyond hectic. What was that whole experience like?

Paper Rad isn't a sexy story either. I'd like to be able to talk about it like a young New Yorker might talk about dance parties or graphitti or doing drugs, but when you ask me about Paper Rad I am going to have to tell you about how it was and is just a desperate vital exercise in finding meaning in life. The day to day was about trying not going crazy, about not giving up, it was about being happy. I am sure thats not what people want to hear. They want me to talk about neon jamz, cardboard robots, inflatable bears covering Boston songs, wearing 2 pairs of sunglasses, Volvo's full of trolls, nintendo mind-melts, or the Doo-Man Group, but again, as someone who was creating the content that fueled the expression and celebration that surrounded Paper Rad, for me the experience isn't summed up in a 3rd generation Dan Deconesque youtube video, or any superficial reduction or interpretation, the experience was an attempt at an honest and clear artistic expression. But I guess we package that expression in a candy coated outershell so its fair to react to the shell. But I insist that there is a deeper meaning beyond the clutter and noise and color on the outside. And that deeper meaning was "don't worry, be happy". Also don't forget about the 20 foot Bart Simpson mural at Pace Wildenstien. I don't know, I guess I am sad this week cause I lost my cat.

Borrowing, what are you thoughts on that? With all of the gumby and garfield and so forth, did you guys ever find yourself having legal issues with that? I heard someone riffed you guys and made a faux bj and da dogs 2?

To me our work and the work we inspired was/is almost always coming from ulterior methods and motives. Us creating new content, myths, and ideas using established icons of culture and society (like Garfiled and Gumby) was both legaly and conceptualy very different than when some kids with zits felt that we needed to be accountable for their pain and bad vibes thus they produced a depressing attempt at idenity theft(The fake BJ and the Dogs book). I consider working with Gumby like working with a character like Jesus. There have never been any legal problems with our use popular-creative-capital, because we do it in a respectable way concerning the scale and commerce. We don't claim to be selling the new gumby book, we create satire and parody more like Mad Magazine or a Waynes Bro's film. I feel the fake BJ and Da Dogs book was emotionally akin to a nerd smearing shit on a Jock's locker. So yah, maybe Paper Rad are or were the jocks of putting out a great book like the real BJ and Da Dogs, but I think its important to say that there are some cool jocks, that smoke weed and listen to Stone Temple Pilots, and if you met me, you'd realize I am cool jock, I am not the jock that has orgies or drives drunk...remind me to smear shit on his locker. Actually that would be a good painting for an art jock to paint.

Has paperad come to and end? Your new solo endeavors seem to suggest a departure from that.

No, Paper Rad is having a rebirth, our next project is sort of free-form jazz exploration, but I have been focusing more on solo work. Kind of like Phil Collins's Face Value.

You are proficent in a whole array of mediums, do you have a favorite one to work with?

Drums solos. Once in high school, my band jumped off stage and drove and picked up a pizza and then brought it back and ate it on stage during one of my extend drum solos. If I had one chance to talk to the president, or express my love to some one, or leave a message for the entire universe it would be in the language of the drum solo.

The New Dark Age. How did this idea come to? What does it all mean? We are starting to see lots of religous type imagery and also these recoccuring elements like bricks and ladders and dogs. In these new contexts you are giving them a new purpose or evolving their language?

Totally. I mean, I know there is a more polished and academic way to address this shit, but my work literally is about 3 color neon ladders, bricks and minimalist dogs. Why? It has to do with taking what the artist's of the last generation did, and then doing something slightly different. Then it also has to do with mystical gut dreams that pop in and out of focus when I wake up or sit up too fast. I have visions and ideas that I think are both behind the curtain sneak peaks of reality and simple human responses to our world, and because my job is to be an artist I repackage these visions and ideas as both celebration and investigation. I feel like my modern understanding of the world is like a New Dark Age, in that it is optimistic like New Age views, and also depressing like the Dark Ages. Bricks are in castles, ghettos, and video games. So are ladders. So are dogs.

Is the New Dark Age an abstract narrative, a feeling, a movement, a philosophy, a way of life, none of the above?

Its a narrative constructed with the newest ways of thinking and communicating that I can come up with. Hopefully the narrative points to a movement, causes some cool feelings, and leads to a better way of life for me and humanity. (When reading this answer please picture David Brent from the U.K. version of The Office speaking it, then smiling and looking into the camera at the end awkwardly )

What does it take to be "Ben Jones approved"? As opposed to most artists who don't give away their tricks, you kind of spell it right out.

It takes only the most ballin' original tightest visual shit possible. I don't want to see no fucking European derivative Fort Thunder shit, I don't want to see some fucking lame ass west coast dribbly drop or whatever the cool kids call drawing these days. I want to see fucking mint ass visual shit and then and only then will I approve/steal it.

After having been around the artworld for a hot minute, what are yours thoughts on it? You have made fun of it time and time again, and with just cause. Where is it right now, where do you think its going?

Any really good artist, or just any happy smart person can explain quickly and simply why things like fame, or the art world, or war are essentially meaningless and then also how these things attract young stupid white kids, or people with mental problems, or classic Americans as a result of the of these populations having low consciousness and/or intelligence. If you really are into the art world or TMZ or the Taliband it means you have a type of retardation.

But at the same time, since these populations have such a predictable and simplistic understanding of life, I think it is okay to inject good ideas and good energy into these retarded systems, so that we can help evolve the universe. And to do this you have to sometimes wear the right kind of shoes or try to think up clever answers to questions I guess. I don't know, I think the next big thing in the art world is going to be The Beastie Boys.

You've recently had a solo show @ Deitch (photos), made some hot music videos, had a book come out, and worked on the final issue of the ganzfeld. Any noteworthy projects coming up for you?

I have a great show opening in September at LOYAL gallery in Malmo, Sweeden. Other than that, nothing. Seriously how can I top doing videos for Beck? Like I have to do a video for Velvet Revolver? Seriously, I got nothing, except a million fucking things that I hate talking about cause they all are super important and I am working really hard on them and it feels weird to talk about them in anyway that places speculation or expectations onto them (or me) in that, by doing projects for TV or important galleries there is an inherent status and importance that need not be reinforced by me aggrandizing my own grand attempts. This answer would be a good thing to bring to therapy. I am just trying to be honest. But I guess people need to think I am cool. I might be doing a video for Will Oldham, though he said if I tell anybody the the deal was off.

What has been greatly inspiring/uninspiring to you?

Love, jogging, Pantera, punching the air or bushes, yelling at a cat on the street "why are you looking me!" then coming home and cooking some baked beans and listening to the Adam Carolla podcast and then being like, hmmm, webmd.com...search...depression...hmmmmm oh look its 3 am, time to "go to bed".

My girlfriend and I are constantly debating time travel. Are you one who thinks you can go back and change the future or that that is impossible?

Next time you talk about it with her be like, "how do you think I was able to meet someone as amazing as you..." And then pull out a photograph of a heart, and the heart fades and it's you two underneath the heart with Micheal J Fox between you, but then he fades, and then kiss her and whisper "Doc is in trouble, I am not who you think I am, if you tell anybody about this the world with cease to exist". Then be like "just kidding" and run and smash your head into a mirror and stare at your bloody face laughing.....and hug her and be like, "sorry if I freaked you out" but make the hug just a tad too tight, and then be like "just kidding for real", and be like "look how closer this has made us"...then give her the ring.

The End

gold and stuff

2009-07-03T09:28:00.003-05:00

hmmm

2009-07-02T14:18:00.003-05:00

New York artist Dana Schutz created this prescient painting titled “The Autopsy of Michael Jackson” in 2005. One blogger guesstimates the value of this painting at now around at least $2 million since the events of the past days.

In an interview the artist remarked:

In some ways he’s the most self-made man there is, to the point of it becoming really scary. I was thinking of the painting as a photograph that hasn’t been taken yet. I posited all these question around Michael Jackson’s death: How does he die? How old is he? What shape is he in? What does he look like naked? He ended up looking like just a dead man. Which for me was very strange. I ended up having sympathy for him. There is an immortality about him in life. In the painting there is an autopsy incision alluding to his insides, which is intrusive and contradicts the constant reforming of his external features. In the painting he is very mortal.

control c, control v

2009-06-30T09:32:00.003-05:00

july 17 - august 15
control c, control v
curated by Ryan Travis Christian
artists:
Eric Yahnker
Alexis Mackenzie
Hisham Akira Bharoocha
Brion Nuda Rosch
Tobacco
Matt Irie
Hilary Pecis
Bjorn Copeland

www.ebersb9.com
1359 w. chicago ave, B9
chicago, il 60642

candid photos from naughty teens garbanzo beens!

2009-06-30T09:11:00.006-05:00

Yahnker sent these over....

so, at the beginning of my opening, this dude gets caught grabbing the middle of Cream Corner and giving it a tug. Like Gericho, the whole fucker came down with a crash, and his friends bailed on him. But I love the aftermath photos.

my lady-friend, Ali with Selected Reading pieces.

I just fucking love this shot, with my girlfriend, her Mom and Aunt -- and a large wet, brazilian ass!!

John Wayne Dressed For Tennis
plaster bust, sweater
dimensions variable
2008

Analogous To The Fall of That One Empire (Gap Shirt)
shirt with all threads pulled except pinstripe
dimensions variable
2004-05

Gap Shirt (detail)

The only other mishap, was some dude who was steppin back from Hit It n' Quit It to get a better view, stepped right into the Y's of Moby Dick, almost cross-pollinating them with the Z's (there's the dude, with the man purse behind us)...it only took 10 min. to fix, but I was 3-sheets-to-the-wind, so it was a little difficult.

HA!

check out his interview @ fecalface
ambach and rice

SPORTS!

2009-05-06T10:51:00.013-05:00

please click on photos for full versions. i don't know why they're getting cut in half . i'm not good at internet. i will figure this out and correct it shortly.
my most recent curatorial endeavor.... SPORTS!

DEB SOKOLOW

TOM LONG

TOBACCO (STILL)

MICHAEL KREUGER

SCOTT REEDER

JUSTIN B. WILLIAMS

NICHOLAS VENAGLIA

BEN STONE

HILARY PECIS

ADAM SCOTT

B.C. MACEACHRAN

ASHLEY NASON

FRANK MAGNOTTA

ERIC LEBOFSKY

KATIE AND CHRIS (GALLERISTS)

CAT

MARCIE

if interested in any works please contact either

info@syncspacela.com

or

myself @ ciphercircles@yahoo.com

or 847 529 5219
for further information

word

you are going to die

2009-04-27T13:56:00.004-05:00

it's true

IT'S ALMOST HERE

2009-04-19T21:38:00.001-05:00

SPORTS!

blap!

2009-04-13T13:11:00.003-05:00

wx04/03

2009-04-06T17:49:00.005-05:00

GEOFFREY TODD SMITH IS A FRIEND TO BEAUTY!

GUPTA/RAFACZ/GETTING YELLED AT

2009-03-28T12:46:00.015-05:00

YUCK YUCK YUCK

CHRIS JOHANSON

DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS???????

DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS? (NOT THE BUM, THAT'S MIKE REA)

TONY TASSET

ALASKAN QUARTER, SOME MIGHT SAY IT'S A BEAR AND A SALMON, OTHERS WOULD SAY IT'S A BEAR EATING

INTO ANGELINA GUALDONI'S SHOW - PROPOSALS FOR REMNANTS

ANGELINA GUALDONI-NICE

INTO CHRIS JOHANSON CURATED SHOW

MAX SCHUMANN

DANA DART-McLEAN

ABOVE/BELOW TOM GREENWOOD/RANDY MOORE I FORGET WHO DID WHAT, REST ASSURED I WILL CORRECT THIS

BRENDAN FOWLER

COREY ARNOLD

COREY/ CODY

CODY HUDSON - LOVE THE BLACK ON BLACK STUFF

ANDRE RAFACZ GALLERY

YUMMY

YUCKY

SWEET BERRY WINE!

see you later man

2009-03-27T14:36:00.003-05:00

awwww business

2009-03-24T00:25:00.001-05:00

AG @KG
+ CJ + C(GS) = VP!

CH @ AR

FY

D RIDER/ GOLD

2009-03-23T13:01:00.004-05:00

threewalls

2009-03-21T12:32:00.002-05:00

william cordova

three walls needs your help
they have membership programs now, please help them remain a staple space in the chicago art scene

2009-03-20T21:17:00.002-05:00

GOLDEN AGE
Wednesday March 25, 7PM

Performances by Heavyweights in Conceptual Music and Art.

Tom Greenwood (Jackie-O-Motherfucker)
w/ Ron Burns and Chris Johanson
BARR
Lichens

In conjunction with the exhibition Vaguely Paperly at Kavi Gupta Gallery.

FREE

qu0t35

2009-03-20T21:14:00.001-05:00

"first, it's what you decide to draw and then how you decide to draw it"

"i'm mad @ sex"

CONLON

2009-03-15T23:19:00.002-05:00

CONLON NANCARROW

bright inventive piano, give him a listen

flowers

2009-03-13T01:45:00.001-05:00

CORY ARCANGEL

2009-03-13T00:43:00.002-05:00

CORY WILL BE GIVING A TALK @ THE GENE SISKEL FIL CENTER ON MARCH 19TH. SHOULD BE AWESOME. 10$
YOU CAN GET TICKETS THROUGH TICKETMASTER:( OR ELSEWHERE?

THESE!

2009-03-11T18:43:00.002-05:00

NEIL KRUG

ALEX LUKAS

ALEXIS MACKENZIE @ THREADLESS

2009-03-09T02:56:00.005-05:00

on broadway between wellington and belmont
downstairs t shirt store/ upstairs gallery
60 degrees! say word

ms. mackenzie

work....

work

yeah

the little dots were multiplying

DETAIL

SAD DOG

wavves!

2009-03-09T02:55:00.002-05:00

is fucking awesome
wavves - "wavves"

SOME MORE CHICAGO SHOWS

2009-03-06T10:54:00.010-06:00

STICKER/L /TIP

STOPPED BY PACKER/SCHOPF GALLERY FOR THE FIRST TIME
THEY HAD A PRINT SHOW UP with some other random stuff strewn without

DOMINIC MOORE

i forget this guys name, skeleton made out of melted cassette tapes

TOM HUCK - detail-my camera could not comprehend the massive scope and details of his wood block prints

ASHLEY NASON

RICH LEHL

MICHAEL KRUEGER

MICHAEL KRUEGER

ANNA KUNZ

RAN OVER TO THOMAS ROBERTELLO GALLERY to check out the group show "GRAVITY BUFFS"

TRAVIS LEROY SOUTHWORTH - WRESTLE NEBULA - nice little dvd loop

SCULPTURE? JOHN DELK

MY CUTLER @ THOMAS ROBERTELLO

TOOK A PEEK IN THE FLATFILE - WEIRDO WHIP! NICE. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR "GEOFFREY TODD SMITH IS A FRIEND TO BEAUTY" in APRIL

STICKER ON A DUMPSTER

RAN ACROSS THE STREET TO ROBERT MILLER GALLERY

CASEY JEX SMITH

STAS ORLOVSKI

WILLIAM BETTS

DETAIL

STEVE REBER - rad

MICKALENE THOMAS print outside of RHONA HOFFMAN

do i want to try and crack this nut?

SOME CHICAGO SHOWS

2009-03-06T00:11:00.008-06:00

GALLERY SAT TODAY. HERE ARE SOME IMAGES FROM SOME NEARBY SHOWS.

WX

PEDRO VELEZ

ADRIANE HERMAN in conjunction w/ FRESH HOT PRESS

MILLER & SHELLABERGER w/ FRESH HOT PRESS

JOHN NEFF w/ FRESH HOT PRESS

DETAIL - 840 layers of ink

check out FRESH HOT PRESS

ROGELIO VISIT

across the hall....

LESLIE BAUM @ TONY WIGHT GALLERY

CLAIRE SHERMAN - these and the following were @ KAVI GUPTA

RICHARD PRINCE

ADAM SCOTT

SCOTT ANDERSON

SAYRE GOMEZ - awesome

JULIAN HOEBER

MELANIE SCHIFF

ULF PUDER

MORE TO COME TOMORROW

NEFF @ THE ARMORY SHOW

2009-03-04T14:27:00.003-06:00

IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO IS ATTENDING THE ARMORY AND WHO ALSO READS MY BLOG (DOES SUCH A PERSON EXIST?)
PLEASE PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO MY PAL, JOHN NEFF, WHO IS PRESENTING A SOLO PROJECT THERE WITH WX. BASIC OR BORING PICTURES

FRIDAY

2009-03-04T02:22:00.004-06:00

ALEXIS MACKENZIE
HEREAFTER

@ THREADLESS

also THURSDAY i will be presiding over WESTERN EXHIBITIONS. come in a see the show

or better yet buy something

POUR RUBBER @ ANTENA

2009-03-04T00:24:00.007-06:00

WHILST OUT AND ABOUT THE OTHER DAY> MARCIE AND I STOPPED BY ANTENA TO SEE THIS SHOW @ ANTENA
PAUL NUDD + NICK BLACK : POUR RUBBER

HELLOOOOOOOOO MARCIE

INSTALLATION

INSTALLATION

A FEW SELECT ANONYMOUS CHILDRENS DRAWINGS FROM PAUL'S COLLECTION

THIS IS KIND OF SCARY

BONG?

SALAD FINGERS?

NUDD

NUDD DRAWING + BLACK TOY

SMOKE MACHINE SMOKEY HEADS AND VIDEO INSTALLATION (by far the most smokey exhibition i have ever been to.. err wait)

TOY TOTEM

MUCK OIL + COLLABORATIVE NOISEMAKER MACHINE

DO IT YOURSELF?

NICK BLACK

TOYS

TOYS

TOYS, they are all like the toys you would see at a walgreens, that say or do lame things when you press button. these guys are all mishmoshed so when you hit the button tons of said lame toy actions/sounds happen at once. they are fun

CHANGE

ECSTASY CAT

t.i.t.s

2009-02-25T13:49:00.002-06:00