Sarah Wiseman @Box Heart

Sarah Wiseman: Crawl Inside . Thread, Ink (monotype) Acrylic, Pencil, and Screen print

It's a little late notice, Contemplations on State of Being closes tomorrow (July 16). The only saving factor is that Box Heart will retain works from the exhibit, so if you can't make it in for the solo presentation of Ms. Wiseman's work, you can be assured of seeing them at the gallery.

But that's the great thing about blogging. I didn't get in to see the exhibit until yesterday, but I can still post it up, quick as can be! I am so glad that I did take a moment to view the exhibit.

The works were created on substantial paper substrate, using an impressive range of media, to create richly textured surfaces. The application of thread creates a delicate veil, a final layer over an intricately worked surface. Ms. Wiseman brings considerable thought to her mark making, with considerable restraint and focus. If there are accidents here, they have been carefully integrated into the final works.

The small scale of the works invites intimate examination, and really, it http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifis only on this close examination that the viewer can really appreciate the subtle interplays of the materials. Sarah Wiseman's work requires that close examination, letting it soak through you as you submerge through the layers.

You can view the installation, courtesy of Box Heart.

Sarah Wiseman: Contemplations on State of Being
June 21 - July 16
Box Heart Gallery
4523 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Gallery Hours:
Tuesdays: 11 AM - 6 PM
Wednesdays - Saturday: 10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday: 1 PM - 5 PM

Pittsburgh Weekend Art Events: 7/15-17/11.

c. David Grim (taken 6/21/11)

The seasonal Downtown Art Crawl has come around again, and I don't see any rain in the forecast. That gives me reason to believe it's going to be crowded.

Friday

Robert Raczka is "guest-curating" Drawn in a Day at Space Gallery. For this, Raczka has chosen 12 artists (or teams of same) to create works directly on the walls, right through the opening reception. With the crowds that these crawls attract, this has the potential to get a bit chaotic.

Garfield staple Jason Sauer is poised to roll out new work at 929 Liberty Avenue. The promotional notice I've read says that instead of demolition car parts, Jason has used bicycles to make this latest batch of mixed media works. It's being put together by the Moxie Dada folks, and it's good to see them active once again in the local scene.

Meanwhile the August Wilson Center for African American Culture has print works by dead local hero Romare Bearden and Wood Street Galleries has a collection of work by Icelandic artists. Stephanie Armbruster's paintings are at the 709 Penn Gallery. Plus you can still catch the journalistic work of one-time Pittsburgh Press photographer Alan F. Reiland (1927-96) at the Shaw Galleries (805 Liberty Ave.).

In Lawrenceville at Wildcard (4209 Butler St.), you can visit the opening reception for Insert Coin To Play: Pinball Life (6-9pm). A new neighborhood-themed pinball machine created by Andy Scott will anchor the display of a collection of pinball-themed art. There's supposed to be some kind of tournament too. Proceeds (improbably) benefit Bike Pittsburgh.

Y'now, last time they came around I missed the Pretty Things Peep Show at the Rex Theater. My general aversion to all things South Side kicked in, and I couldn't bring myself to make the trip on a Friday evening... when things in that part of town get as close to unbearable as seems possible. Still this tempts me, especially when I look at these... Anyway, it starts at 9PM and costs $15 to attend. And if you make the effort to brave Carson Street, stop in at the Brew House (2100 Mary Street) too for the opening (7PM) of a show by Jorge Luis Santana.

Or if you love birds (which I don't), go to the Mattress Factory for the "Stray Birds Sunset Full Moon Performance", with "bird musician" Michael Pestel and Butoh dancer Taketeru Kudo. It's almost guaranteed to be better and less silly than it sounds. Or it could be gruelingly pretentious. That would be a shame. I don't know when it starts because the listing I saw omitted that crucial info.

And then, of course, there's always Braddock... with its shabby-chic art offerings. A collective called BrokenDayton Art Machine appears at Unsmoke Systems. Nicholaus Arnold, Ian Breidenbach and Ashley Jonas are included, and the group plans to bury a time capsule at the closing, to be held on July 22... and if you go, you're supposed to bring something to put in there. The Opening Reception is this Friday from 6-10PM.

Saturday

Stop by at Lili Cafe in Polish Hill (3138 Dobson Street) for a rare late night (6-8PM) at the shop, and a reception for "Low Key", featuring the works of a talented pair of local artists, Victoria Cessna and Laura Jean McLaughlin.

Sunday

The Polish Hill Arts festival begins at NOON. There will be authentic Polish food, kids activities, artist tables, and bands... this year they include Timbeleeza (Brazillian samba drumming), The Panther Hollow String Band (old-timey country), Bridgette Perdue (singer-songwriter), Lungs Face Feet (Cumbrian-influenced brass band), FOOD (rock), and Moldies and Monsters (oldies covers).

And if you have the time, you should stop by at Morose & Macabre's House of Oddities and Miss Hush Present: The Return Of Subculture Vulture Counterculture Flea Market (Whew!). This event runs from 2-10PM at 4013 Butler Street. Its organizers are advertising "New & Used clothing and wares, art, crafts, and food from the underground". Plus there will be DJ's.

I Am Immortal Opens Tomorrow Night 6-10 @ Unsmoke Systems

OK, by now you likely know there is a big downtown Pittsburgh Gallery Crawl. If you get the chance this group show involving, "video, performance, sculpture, prints and clay" in Braddock looks worth the trip.

This seems to be by a group of very young artist's in college who have formed an art collective, non of whom have an obvious connection to Pittsburgh called, The Brokendayton Machine.

I Am Immortal

"Ohio-based artists Nicholaus Arnold, Ian Briedenbach, Ren Cummings, Phillip Evans, Ashley Jonas, and Frank Travers will present work in different mediums exploring the resurgence of art and culture in Braddock, PA.

A highlight of the show will be a time capsule available for public participation. Guests are invited to bring items from their lives for inclusion in the piece, which will be buried on site during the closing reception on July 22nd"

One obvious thing off the bat is that Braddock doesn't seem to have a lot of trouble attracting artists from all over who want to show there. Sadly, Pittsburgh itself has few spaces where both local and non local artists can show and interact.

I Am Immortal
July 15-22nd
UnSmoke Art Space
1137 Braddock Ave
Braddock, PA 15104

Pittsburgh Performance Group, Squonk Opera Competes Tonight On America's Got Talent

This unique troupe, is one of only ten acts that skipped the early round and arrived in the quarter finals based upon their first audition alone.

Two judges, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel, loved them while the third, Piers Morgan seemed to think they were just weird. "What does it mean?"

The progressive-rockers-turned-performance-artists feel they're representing Pittsburgh artists and musicians and would like to contribute to invalidating the national belief that Pittsburgh serves as a second-rate scene for the arts. The troupe gladly wears its black-and-gold roots on its sleeves.

"We're very proud to say we're from Pittsburgh," Mr. O'Hearn said. "I think one of the reasons our art is so different is that we make our shows in Pittsburgh, which is inherently different from making them in New York or Los Angeles because we have a freedom and self-reliance that doesn't come with those cities."

For a group who's performances lean so heavily on carefully planned display and technology, the pressure is really on to pull something off-with less than two minutes of set up time.

The PG article also strongly implies that the show is counting on The Burgh's now famously rabid support of hometown heroes to boost ratings.

America's Got Talent, tonight at nine on NBC.

Premier Of "25 Hill" Lifts Hopes For Akron's Soap Box Derby

The movie, largely shot in the Akron area about The Soap Box Derby is finally out, opening to a big crowd.

OK, I am gonna have to say it looks like they laid it on thick. Kid, who's dad was killed in Afghanistan hooks up with bitter old man who's son died in the World Trade Center--and after a long.....barf. I guess, I just can't quite buy that this is a great movie.

Still, I can't help feeling that The Derby itself, is a great event which taps into a very deep American love of fun, invention and can do spirit. The film is also the product of lots of local North East Ohio backers who believed in the project and it's potential to draw more support and attention to a struggling Akron tradition.

IMHO, this is still a greatly under leveraged brand which fits so closely with the recent revival of Do It Yourself culture.

New Pop Up Gallery, The College Inn Project, Open All Summer In Shadyside

Paintings by Brian Brown

A really cool city is often about the unexpected stuff that bubbles to the surface, but I didn't expect a lot of that to happen in the established, expensive real estate of Shadyside.

Don't ask me exactly how this is possible, but this pseudo trendy shopping street has a prime, large empty corner storefront that has sat totally empty for 18 years. Partly, this may date to the time when the area was more depressed-but something is goin on, involving the owner, an estate, back taxes-who knows?

So-I got a shock when Jean told me there was some kind of art opening there on Saturday Night! Seems like someone got the owner to donate or rent the raw space for a Pop Up Gallery, called The College Inn.

We talked to a few of the people helping out and they said there would it would be home to exhibits, screenings and other events all summer.

The College Inn
5851 Ellsworth Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA
15232

collegeinnproject.com

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Debut Novelist Reads in Lawrenceville Tonight

A reminder that tonight Jesus Angel Garcia comes to town on his 32-city book tour with his debut novel, Bad bad bad. His readings are multi-media and lean toward performance, so come out and enjoy the show, which opens with three local writers from Cyberpunk Apocalypse.

Garcia’s novel kind of blew me away, and I wrote a review of it on my small press blog:

Badbadbad draws on styles and themes from familiar stories and older literatures. The novel sustains the straight-talk trashiness of 20th Century pulp, the sex-romp identity games of Kathy Acker, and the dark inevitability of Giovanni's Room. But it considers an absolutely current societal malaise: the twin-headed hydra of selective isolation and social media addiction. In the process, badbadbad reveals a new brand of lust for life and a new kind of lost generation.
Read more: http://karenslibraryblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-bad-bad-bad-by-jesus-angel.html

Event Details:

Cyberpunk Apocalypse Presents:
JESUS ANGEL GARCIA
Monday, July 11th
Belvedere's Ultra Dive Bar
4016 Butler Street near 40th
7:00pm-10:00pm
$1-$5 suggested donation
with Cyberpunk Apocalypse readers:
*Art Noose, amazing zine maker, letterpress whiz, & storyteller
*Nate McDonough, comics king & GRIXLY publisher
*Gunner, exquisitely offbeat fiction writer & absurdist performer

Holy Crap! Cleveland Takes Homegrown Neighborhood Fireworks To a New Level

Rust Wire has some amazing photos taken this year by Frank Lanza, showing some pretty serious informal fireworks on Cleveland's West Side.

On the one hand, it really looks like they shouldn't be doing this and on the other it looks like the most awesome kind of all American good time possible.

New "Wild Style" Graffiti Murals in Braddock

I was unable to see a live painting event last month in Braddock. The mayor, who had been afraid of more conventional graffiti which might contribute to "vandalism" or gang activity-finally relented and allowed an old department store in town to become a canvas for old school spray paint.

In a town in which mostly white, and sometimes famous "street artists" had been celebrated for doing public art-rejecting the expression of many local artists must have created some resentment.

The building now has is a pretty awesome compilation of work by what looks like a solid crew of people--from both Pittsburgh and many other places. Many details, thank and compliment the mayor for allowing this to happen.

I remember this poem by the legendary graffiti artist, Lee Quiñones.

There was once a time

When the Lexington was a beautiful line

When children of the ghetto expressed with art, not with crime.

But then as evolution passed,

The Transit’s buffing did its blast.

Now the trains look like rusted trash.

Now we wonder if graffiti will ever last.

Long live a new Braddock in which the potential creative talents of everybody are used.

Monday July 11th,Reading with Jesus Angel Garcia & Cyberpunk Apocalypse Writers Collective

I wish I wasn't going to miss this.

Monday, July 11 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Belvederes Ultra-Dive
4016 Bulter Street
Pittsburgh, PA

San Francisco author Jesus Angel Garcia comes to Pittsburgh on tour with his new transmedia novel, "Bad bad bad." Cyberpunk Apocalypse writers Art Noose, Nate McDonough, & Gunner will join him for this group reading. Karen Lillis will MC.

Garcia is on a cross-country tour (32 cities) and you can read his tour blog here;
http://electricliterature.​com/blog/2011/06/27/riding​-with-jesus-part-ii-a-badb​adbad-tour-blog

Yale Art Gallery Buys Major Henry Koerner Painting

My extensive trip around NY art galleries last month showed that a staggering number of them, even those dedicated to contemporary art were giving prime place to historic shows of often non living artists.

One positive result is that there's a new interest in talents long forgotten or under recognised. (A big reason is that most of the super famous work is in public collections no longer available for sale)

The 1940's and early 50's was the birthplace of the important, New York School-Pollack, de Kooning, Kline, Rothko -which for many years cast a blaze so large that many forgot or ignored the huge array of artists more closely tied to figuration in all it's forms.

Lately, the art market has taken a serious turn back to recognise this work with the last major London auctions dominated by works by Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Peter Doig, Ron Mueck, Andy Warhol and other non abstract artists.

"Works by Francis Bacon, Peter Doig and Lucian Freud helped Christie’s International raise 78.8 million pounds ($126 million) at an auction in London last night. It was the company’s highest total for a sale of contemporary works in the U.K. capital since June 2008."

One artist who lived and worked in Pittsburgh gaining recent appreciation is Henry Koerner with a major purchase by the Yale University Art Gallery.

"Since his 1991 death at age 75 in a bicycle accident in Vienna, public interest in Koerner's paintings has escalated. His works in photo realism style, known as Magic Realism, sell for six figures. Koerner's "Post War" sold at auction in 2006 for $329,000; in June, "Under the Overpass" sold in California for $252,000.

"He's an important artist. I'm glad he's getting his due," said Gail Stavitsky, curator at Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey and author of a book about Koerner.

Yale's acquisition -- its first Koerner painting -- will become part of the university's permanent collection, said Robin Jaffe Frank, associate curator of American painting and sculpture."

Eric Shiner Named Director Of The Warhol Museum

I'm somewhat conflicted about the news that Eric Shiner, the tireless whirlwind of energy who has had such a big impact on Pittsburgh since he was named The Warhol's Milton Fine Curator of Art, several years ago will now take on the permanent job as head of museum.

From Pop City.

"Hardly one to shirk, since assuming his duties Shiner has mounted some 10 shows, including takes on Playboy bunnies, The End: Analyzing Art in Troubled Times (30 artists looking at the financial collapse), and including model and photographer Bunny Yeager. "We tracked her down," he says, referring to Emily Hetzel of Caliban Books who helped. "It's her first museum show ever."

Speaking of firsts, he also tries to mount first museum shows for young artists, or at least include them in the mix. "That's been quite fun to do as well," he says."

On the one hand, this places a "true believer", with a deep knowledge of the city's emerging artists as head of one of our key institutions. On the other, one worries about his ability to continue playing so active a role in putting together shows here. The city still sorely lacks curators who combine a strong grounding and connection to the wider art world with a serious respect and interest in local artists.

We can only hope, a good replacement curator is found and that they make a great team since Eric is sure keep his hand in the mix.

Paddy Johnson Asks If Google + Is Good for Artists On Hyperallergic

Well, I'm still not on Facebook but now Google is out with the latest data mine to dump your entire social life into.

How is it different from Facebook, and what are the new features that may make it good or bad for artists to use?

Check her thoughts.

Have you checked it out and if so what are your thoughts?

Steve Lambert's Make Capitalism Work For Me: Electronic Sign Project On Kickstarter

Yet an other "is that art?" piece blurring the line between technology, conceptual art and activism will be debuting in Cleveland, in association with Spaces Gallery.

The artist, Steve Lambert is planning to erect a huge sign asking the yes or no question, "does capitalism work for me?", and display real time results.

He's trying to help his planned tour of the sign around the country and pay for some of the other associated costs through Kickstarter.


See the Kickstarter video.

The plan to ask a very simplistic and loaded question and then tour the work around a series of "art world" type locations, where the "answer", is likely to come out the same seems childish and self serving. However, putting the work outside and various other opportunities for deeper engagement like a planned book-make this pretty interesting.

Who knows where all this will lead? That's what I like.

From the artist's website.

"Lambert made international news after the 2008 US election with The New York Times “Special Edition,” a replica of the “paper of record” announcing the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other good news. He has collaborated with groups from the Yes Men to the Graffiti Research Lab and Greenpeace. He is also the founder of the Center for Artistic Activism, the Anti-Advertising Agency, and Add-Art (a Firefox add-on that replaces online advertising with art) and SelfControl (which blocks grownups from distracting websites so they can get work done).

Steve’s projects and art works have won awards from Prix Ars Electronica, Rhizome/The New Museum, the Creative Work Fund, Adbusters Media Foundation, the California Arts Council, and others. His work has been shown at galleries, art spaces, and museums nationally and internationally, and in the collections of The Sheldon Museum, the Progressive Insurance Company, and The United States Library of Congress. Lambert has discussed his work live on NPR, the BBC, and CNN, and been reported on internationally in outlets including Associated Press, the New York Times, the Guardian, Harper’s Magazine, The Believer, Good, Dwell, ARTnews, Punk Planet, and Newsweek."

Latest "Art Project", To Gain National Buzz: The Milk Truck

Jill Miller

Many doubt these "projects", often created by artists connected to CMU, which combine aspects of performance, propaganda and open ended invitations for interaction are "art" at all.

First there was the Waffle Shop, part eatery, part broadcasting facility and talk show, recently called one of the world's weirdest restaurants.

Soon, came Conflict Kitchen a take out place which only served food from countries America was in some type of political or social conflict.

Now comes an idea to create a funny, on call food-(or feeding truck) intended to help nursing mothers who feel embarased or socially harassed in public places that discourage or ban breast feeding.

From Ivillage

"Enter the Milk Truck. The “mobile breastfeeding unit” is artist and mom Jill Miller’s idea for really raising the profile of nursing mothers’ right to breastfeed in public. If you think a nursing mama catches some attention, wait til a giant, nipple-topped van cruises your ’hood. There’s not a nursing cover in town big enough to hide a boob like that!"

The Milk truck will debut outside the Warhol as part of The Pittsburgh Biennial.

The Milk Truck's Kickstarter

On CNET

On Boing Boing

On CBS News

Rust Wire Looks At Highway Socialism's Tragic Impact On Youngstown

Youngstown, Ohio, is a city in many ways struggling with success to revive it's beautiful downtown and create a financially sustainable path for livable urbanism. Residents have overwhelmingly supported a program to more rationally use the city's smaller resource base by shrinking streets and rightsizing neighborhoods--in a region in which not only the city but the surrounding area have lost 6% of their population in the last decade alone.

Meanwhile, the city competes with a county and state bent on socialising wasteful roads which bleed the city's tax base for ever spreading suburban sprawl.

From Rust Wire

"State Route 224 in Boardman is not the type of road that planners or sustainability advocates would delight in seeing replicated. Traffic slogs down this commercial corridor at a snail’s pace most times of day. The local paper, The Vindicator, described driving on the street as everything from “exasperating and near impossible to unbelievable and scary.” (It just underwent widening.)

The entire six-mile commercial stretch of SR 244 lacks a foot of sidewalk space. So as much as a headache as it is to drive on, it’s far worse for pedestrians. Furthermore, stormwater runoff from the acres of parking lots along this route have contributed to a persistent and costly flooding problem in Boardman Township."

People in these often Republican suburbs need to understand the process and ethics behind this for what it is-Socialism.

So how did Western Reserve rocket up the infrastructure priority list in the Youngstown area? Well, again, that’s a matter of public policy in a state that continues to favor growth. Because Boardman and Canfield Townships are unincorporated, they won’t have to pay a dime to widen Western Reserve. It’s a county road — that means the county picks up the bill. Many suburbs, including Boardman Township (population 37,000) benefit from remaining unincorporated, allowing them to foist many of their infrastructure costs onto the county.

The injustice of this whole arrangement is that the costs of widening the road will be shared by all residents of the county — including the people who live in Youngstown. Youngstown’s roads will go unmaintained, and the county will continue to draw money from central city residents and redistribute it into the suburbs and exurbs.

To a large extent this story could have been with a few revisions been about the insane, ugly and destructive sprawl around Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Detroit or an endless number of cities.

A piece by Chuck Banas, titled, "The Sprawl Bubble" might the best succinct description of the problem.

All of this is stupefyingly expensive. These indirect costs constitute the majority of the expense, yet remain invisible to most people—spread-out in the form of local, state, and federal taxes, or camouflaged as municipal bond debt or various other forms of government debt. So in addition to being redundant, this means that suburbia is a doubly expensive living arrangement.

The other point that I’m trying to make is that the migration of wealth to the suburbs has not been a free-market phenomenon. Customer choice is only a small part of the equation, or this wouldn’t have happened in virtually every American city at the exact same time in the exact same way. Which, of course, is exactly how it did happen.

I assert that much of the economic crisis we’re seeing today is simply the end result of decades of bad decisions driven by bad economic, transportation, housing, and land-use policy.

Summer is HERE. Time for Farmer's Markets

Summer is here and there are Lots of Farmer's Markets!! Time to experience the pleasure of buying more than you need...then figuring out some absolutely delicious thing to do with all that produce! A selection:
Pittsburgh Citiparks Farmer's Markets. If you live in the city, there is one near you.This was one of my happiest discoveries when I moved to Pittsburgh over 20 years ago. I am happy to report that they are still going strong.For information see here
Garden Dreams is a small urban farm in Wilkinsburg. I have heard great things about it, and plan to go there soon. They have a farm, a nursery, and sell produce on saturday mornings. They have been certfied as organic. For information see here
OK, this is a year round market, but check out the summer wares in the strip at the Pittsburgh Public Market. For information see here
Oh, how I love summer in Pittsburgh.

A Few Spaces May Still Be Available For Kids This Summer @ The Pittsburgh Young Writers Institute

Acclaimed, local poet Stacey Waite was recently was in Upper Saint Clair with a message that great writing and poetry isn't just something dead people in the past did. She also gave some into the sometimes gritty, competitive and creative local live poetry reading scene.

From The Upper St. Clair Patch.

"Several years ago, Waite was introduced to Slam Poetry, a lively,
expressive art form that combines poetry and dramatic performance. She was soon recruited for Pittsburgh’s “Steel City Slam Team” and travels and competes with the group."

A few of the students liked that Waite and others created poems that were widely relevant and easy to understand. One said, "I would like to read more work like this."

"Waite is also the director of the Pittsburgh Young Writer’s Institute, which will take place this year at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning from July 11-22 for students in grades 4-12. The program runs Monday through Friday during the above dates from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students will have the opportunity to attend workshops on various writing styles or themes, as well as meet with visiting writers, participate in writing groups, and meet individually with adult writing mentors. There may be a few available slots remaining in their Oakland session.

Waite promises a variety of writers and experiences to participants: “If you hate my guts, there will be people there cooler than me,” she said. “If you’d rather cut your arm off than write a poem, this isn’t for you. But I hope you take away from my visit that poetry doesn’t have to boring, that there is something for everyone. Find something fun to read this summer.”

For more info on the Pittsburgh Young Writer’s Institute, contact the Western Pennsylvania Writer’s Project – Young Writer’s Institute at 412-624-6557 or email wpwp@pitt.edu.

Great Article: Regrets of a Former Arts Funder

This might be one of the best essays on the history of American arts funding and it's often deep failures to support viable institutions or more importantly, living creative communities. The author, John Killacky was former arts and culture program officer at the San Francisco Foundation.

There is a crisis here, as arts funding remains disproportionately skewed toward the classical behemoths. With organizations like Philadelphia Orchestra and New York City Opera imploding because of structural deficits, I worry that precious philanthropic resources will be further diverted to maintaining what was, instead of capitalizing a more representative future. By merely preserving the past, we fail as cultural stewards and act irresponsibly.

Finally, my last “philanthro-past” reflection: it is time to give up the false dichotomies and biases between professional/amateur, high/low, esoteric/popular, and contemporary/traditional. Instead, philanthropy should be investing in the cultural interests that allow people who live in our communities to lead more expressive lives.

This would truly be representative arts philanthropy.

Likely will be back with more thoughts.

John Morris @ D'Amelio Terras Gallery in NY

John Morris, Untitled (detail) 2002, ink, acrylic and gel on paper, ink, acrylic and gel on paper


From ArtCat.

Well, my last show for likely a long while at a "big time", NY gallery is up. It's a small show of some old drawings the gallery now owns, which honestly I am not going to see. They are not such bad guys but on a deep level, they just don't believe in my work too much --and they are not interested in what I'm doing now.

Only one image on the site, but just imagine this stuff is really good or check it out. The truth is I am not exactly sure of which exact works are in the show. (There is also a very great looking group show in the main gallery space)

"John Morris is known primarily for creating delicate and compositionally complex works on paper that feature built up surfaces and repetitive forms, reflecting his fascination with systems and patterns. In this series of eight works dated 2002, he explores a larger scale and introduces a subtle use of color: pale blue, purple, yellow and red play against faint marks of ink or graphite. In certain works, droplets of translucent or white acrylic gel create small reliefs and reveal a second composition over the image.

The tension between the decorative and the anatomical has been a constant in John Morris’ works and is heightened in these pieces. Associations with microorganisms lend themselves easily: systems of repetitive shapes grow organically over the page, their fluid combination evokes symbiotic relationships between organisms, life cycles carried by the fusion of two elements. The marks are suggestive of cellular structure. Miniature swirls, concentric fine circles or ellipses, pendant drop shapes, crown formation of globules of acrylic gel proliferate into complex compositions and result in elaborate shapes that seem caught in stages of expansion. As the distinctions between animals and plants were not clearly defined in nature’s early stages of development, the compositions call to both classifications, as if John Morris was studying the structures and reproductive mechanisms of primitive flora and fauna."

D'Amelio Terras
525 West 22nd Street, 212-352-9460
Chelsea
June 30 - August 19, 2011
Opening: Thursday, June 30, 6 - 8 PM