...

.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

results of... CASTLE MASTERS!!!

Last night was the Castle Master Sand Castle Competition, at Nonesuch.


Castle #2, by Team Best Friend's Day. I think this is my favorite castle.


Castle #3, by Team Houseband. They were my picks to win. I'm not actually sure who won, I left before the awards ceremony. Who won???


The Castle Master trophy. Made by Melissa!!!


Castle Master!!!!!!!

Saturday, July 29, 2006

CASTLE MASTERS!!!!!!

Nonesuch will be hosting a sandcastle building competition Saturday, July 29! That is TOMORROW!

starring....

TEAM HOUSEBAND - they did the domeshow! they are geniuses! i think they will win.
vs.
TEAM DRAMA - of... THE DRAMA!!
vs.
TEAM BEST FRIENDS' DAY - i don't know them. they are the sleepers.

they will be working on their castles all day, with votes cast between 7-10pm.

PLUS!!! -
the VCU Summer Studio people will have an opening Saturday, July 29th from 7-9 pm. very close to Nonesuch. YOU CAN DO BOTH!!!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

room of masterpieces


room of masterpieces.

(that is one of my found flowers on the wall, far left).

Millie Greenberg

Yesterday I posted a bunch of photos of the work of Mildred Elfman Greenberg (1912-2003).

I first met Mildred in 1991 or 1992 (in Philadelphia) when she asked me to come to her apartment and help arrange her books. I thought she must have some huge library or something, but it was a pretty normal amount of books. She was too old though to do much lifting and bending and wanted everything to be organized somehow. Mildred was cranky and bossy, but I liked her and we had a shared interest in art; that book job became mostly hanging out with Mildred. Wish I could remember more details or had some photos - I remember she came over for dinner, and that we visited my show at City Hall together. I left Philly for Albuquerque in maybe 1994, then moved a few more times, and pretty much forgot about Mildred.

In 2000 I visited Philadelphia - i think for a wedding? - and at the PMA saw an excellent show, curated by Ann Percy, called When Reason Dreams. There was a big Jess at the entrance, and a ton of other good stuff. I'm slowly enjoying the show, piece by piece, and went from a Goya or Blake to an exciting blue piece by someone and when I looked at the label to see the name it reads Mildred Elfman Greenberg!! I was so surprised! Mildred in the museum next to Blake! She would love that! So I left the museum right away and started walking to her old apartment building wondering if she was even still alive and when I got there the front desk person told me that she and Sam were still there and that she was very sick.

Sam answered the door in his pajamas, and I could see right away that things were not good. I'd never seen Sam in his pajamas before but here it was late afternoon and Sam was answering the door in dirty pajamas. I was afraid at first that he would have forgotten me from six years before, but he soon remembered. All of their cool furniture was gone and all they had in the apartment was a table and a few chairs (and beds in the two bedrooms), with things lying round in open boxes. Mildred was completely gone... completely non-communicative. Poor Sam had sold everything and was taking care of her by himself. He said he hadn't left the apartment in more than a year because he couldn't leave Mildred. It was really sad, but Sam was excited to have company. HE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE MUSEUM SHOW!!! Nobody had told him. I was the first to tell him. We could not believe that nobody attempted to notify Mildred and Sam about that, but Sam was so proud. He had a bunch of Mildred's work piled on and behind the bed that he said he had been trying to sell cheap to the museum to get money to take care of Mildred, but no takers.

Sam was stressed and worried about both Mildred and what would happen with Mildred's work, the stuff he had and all of the other stuff he said he had lost control of. My intention had been to visit the museum that afternoon and take the bus to Albany that evening, but Sam said I could crash at their place. I had to sleep on the living room floor because Sam slept in one bed and Mildred the other.... all night long Mildred called "Sam.... Sam....". She was always dozing, 24 hours a day, and so if she woke up and Sam was not there she would call out for him. Sam spent all night sleeping in fits and starts with Mildred, waking up every hour or so to calm her down.

I expressed interest in a framed work-on-paper, thinking it would be fairly cheap and that I would get a deal anyway - Sam said $1,500. Much more than I had thought it would be, but... I bought it on a shortish installment plan. I was visiting from Japan and he also gave me the binder scrapbook that Mildred had made while Sam was stationed in Japan immediately following WWII, full of his photos and her drawings and some stamps and clippings and things like that. He also gave me a copy of the catalogue of Mildred's 1996 Art Alliance retrospective, from which these photographs of her work have been scanned.

Sam and I exchanged a few letters while I was paying for my piece, but that exchange was brief and the next time I visited Philadelphia in 2oo2 - expecting to find Sam a widower - I learned that Sam had died and Mildred was in a home. I went to the home and Mildred was much better, extremely frail, but lucid. She died not long after.

Mildred is on Artnet! - no images though. i think the electricity one is the one i almost bought instead of the one i got. electricity is in the catalogue, i should scan it.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Mildred Elfman Greenberg

Mildred Elfman Greenberg
s(O)(L)arc(E)(L)I Energy, 1986

Mildred Elfman Greenberg
Pertaining to the Universe II, 1990-91, metal chair, leather, feathers, toy birds....


The Wedding Party, 1990-91, Hub cap and plastic fruit (coated with aluminum paint), toy animals, mica, set on wooden base (aluminum paint), placed on ceramic tile; thirteen plastic glasses containing miscellaneous objects submerged in ultra-flo.

Mildred Elfman Greenberg
Quartet: Ice to Space Age, III, 1990-91


Quagmire, 1990-91 - flags, toy armaments, soldiers and animals, artificial flowers....

Mildred Elfman Greenberg
Mars the Red Planet, 1988

Mildred Elfman Greenberg
Pegasus, 1987

work of Mildred Elfman Greenberg (1912 - 2003), Philadelphia . more info later, maybe tonight.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

someone's photos


Someone's photos on a boarded up window near Chop Suey. The photo DEADLINE is August 1st.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

i can't complain, i guess.

Two local artists got things I applied for (again) and didn't get (again). They are both good, so I can't complain.

Jeannine Harkleroad - will be at Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. I think I've applied six times so far, maybe more. Jeannine is EXCELLENT!

Erling Sjovold - will enter the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Space Program. This was the studio thing Painter commented s/he had a dream that I got. The guy who always gets what I want also applied and also didn't get in, so... maybe he doesn't really always get what I want.

Is Erling leaving? Can I have his job maybe?

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

summer goings on

is that how you say it? goings ons? looks weird.

some goings on of RVA artists, here and elsewhere:

a show at RARE right now has a strong RVA connection. brian basnett is good, he showed at nonesuch. fernando mastrangelo will show at rare in maybe october.

michael lease - death by musette is playing at nancy blum's opening at the Botanical Gardens in brooklyn on July 22nd, 2-4pm.

fiona ross - is in a show at Zone:Chelsea Center for the Arts (by appointment, call 212-255-7264). fiona has also started a blog for 1708 gallery.

eric sall - has a show opening later this summer in indiana.

bruce wilhelm - bad paintings, so funny.

some goings-ons of friends:

seongmin ahn - is having a solo show at Delaware Center For the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington Delaware from July 14 to Sep 3.

kim connerton - has updated her artist's space online page.

bryan zanisnik - is exhibiting a new video as part of a group show at Aljira. chrissy conant, my recent dumbo co-shower, is also included.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Dave Bascom


Dave Bascom at Artspace.

Monday, July 17, 2006

someone strange

Someone strange in Richmond has linked to anaba. He's uploading pages from his sketchbook. I think he is only sixteen?




someone strange.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

strident orange is people!!!


She only talks about orange things with orange people. She's not kidding.


This guy is pushing it, is he really orange? He could easily pass among the yellow people. Does he really know where orange is coming from?


Here the orange people are being asked to leave a nearby Burger King, by a blue person. They were being loud and obnoxious and annoying (typical orange people).


Orange people eviction. There are all types of orange.

Friday, July 14, 2006

photography deadline

The deadline for this year's Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowships is August 1, 2006. This year's categories are photography and fiction.

Below is a partial listing of local photographers, with links to their websites. Please e-mail or comment with all of the names I'm missing, and I can add them later (i know i'm forgetting a lot).

George Allen
Terry Brown
- she is in FEAST!
Sun Tek Chung
Travis Conner - i really liked his Chop Suey show.
Charles Gustina
Michael Lease - he also had a good show at Chop Suey.
FEAST
Travis Fullerton
Aimee Koch
Patricia Lyons
Will May
Monica Palma Narvaez - is she still in town?
Alyssa Salomon - does she have a website?
Michael Seal - he won a VMFA professional grant this year.
H. Jennings Sheffield
Georgianne Stinnett - she is a current Trawick Prize finalist.
Someone Strange
Paul Thulin
Christopher Weideman
Mel Worthington
Sam Worthington

Good Luck!!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

summer at Anderson Gallery

There are two shows up at the Anderson Gallery this summer, or at least until the end of the month. The first floor show features work from a corporate collection, and the second floor show has stuff from the Anderson Gallery's collection that was selected by a museum studies class. Some of the artists featured in the two shows include Julia Jacquette, Elizabeth Peyton, Tom Sachs, Andy Warhol.... I'm forgetting.


T.L. Solien - It was a nice surprise to see this one. I saw his work in two concurrent solo shows in Philadelphia some time ago (at the Print Center and the Esther Klein Art Gallery - neither of which is listed on his resume for some reason) and then completely forgot about him again. He lives in Wisconsin.


Bill Haney - This big painting has a good spot on the second floor. That is Sidney Lewis standing in the doorway/painting. This painting is weird, full of strange overlaps and perspective. Look at the top and bottom of the door Sidney is standing in, or is that a painting of Sidney? Can't tell.

I have never heard of this artist and couldn't find anything about him on-line. The painting is The Right To, from 1973.

07-12-06_1324.jpg
Floating private painting.

i missed it!

i was sitting by my turned-off phone and just saw that i got a nice voice-mail message from William Pope L.!!!

aargh! i missed it! i am a BIG FAN!

The Black Factory
performance will be Thursday July 13th from 1:00-5:00pm. They will be down at the Artspace/Plant Zero/Artworks complex.

You should bring an Object of Blackness for them to photograph, maybe keep, maybe transform.

SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Photos of Recommendation: Thumbs-Up Mandala - CONTINUED!!

It's been a while since I last posted a Photo of Recommendation (George Clinton!), so here are TWO - in front of the same painting at different states of completion.

the Bread and Puppet master!
This is Peter Schumann, the Bread & Puppet Master! He is toasting, not giving a thumbs-up. What do you think is in that cup? He is looking at it with LOVE.

Julie Heffernan
This is Julie Heffernan.

HERE IS THE FINISHED PAINTING.

PREVIOUS THUMBS-UP MANDALA DIETIES:

Pat Adams
William Bailey
Nayland Blake
George Clinton
Carl Dennis
Lois Dodd
Inka Essenhigh
Roberta Fallon
Jonathan Franzen
David Gates
Peter Halley
Wolf Kahn
Ray Kass
Sarah McEneaney
Melissa Meyer
Carl Phillips
Libby Rosof
Sherod Santos
Judith Stein
Kai Vierstra
Larry Woiwode

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Black Factory Time

The Black Factory performance will be Thursday July 13th from 1:00-5:00pm. They will be down at the Artspace/Plant Zero/Artworks complex.

You should bring an Object of Blackness for them to photograph, maybe keep, maybe transform.

Is anything at Solvent Space now?

Friday, July 07, 2006

Roberta Smith on the fear of form

From Roberta Smith's 3/31/2002 NYTimes review of the 2002 Whitney Biennial -

"...the fear of form that is rife in contemporary art today. By form I mean the transformation of materials and subjects into something beyond themselves, something new and strange or wonderful to experience, something that expands our understanding of a medium, something whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

From Roberta Smith's 7/07/2006 NYTimes review of Uncertain States of America: American Art in the 3rd Millennium at Bard College -

"I would call all these strategies fear of form, which can be parsed as fear of materials, of working with the hands in an overt way and of originality. Most of all originality...

....Fear of form above all means fear of compression— of an artistic focus that condenses experiences, ideas and feelings into something whole, committed and visually comprehensible."


RELATED: scroll down a little here to see Roberta's full 2002 review. Always interesting to go back and read these.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Black Factory for Dinner

The Black Factory will be at the Artworks/Artspace/Plant Zero complex for a performance on Thursday, July 13th!

They have a place to stay, but they'll be hungry after the Thursday performance. Do you want to have them over for dinner? Who would like that? Who is a cook and a performance artist? Hmmm... who?

You know who you are! Contact me or Dana at Artspace if you can cook them dinner or take them out. Maybe Wednesday evening also, not sure. They are hoping for bag lunches on performance day.

Don't forget to bring your Objects of Blackness!

"One of the things the Black Factory does during the event is collect objects that represent blackness to the audience. They bring their object, both the donor and object are photographed, and the photos are put onto our website. if the person wants to donate the actual object we add it to our archive. Or they can choose to just have the object photographed but not leave it with the BF. We get lots of great, well thought out objects. But we also get a lot of people who didn't realize this part of the event, or forgot to bring something. For those people we want to give them an opportunity to participate in donating. This is where the Black Object Vendor comes in. A local artist - who? YOU if you're interested! - collects objects between now and the performance day. These should be found objects, things around the house you'd be getting rid of, things you find outside, etc. We'renot asking you to spend money, just to gather objects you think could represent blackness to a variety ofaudience members. Think of blackness in broad terms since anyone in the audience could come to you as a vendor. If someone did not bring an object, we refer then to you to select an object. Which they then donate as their own to the Black Factory."

more info later. please forward this post to people you think might be interested in cooking or black object vendoring.

Kaleidoscope at The Basement Gallery

Kaleidoscope inaugurates Knoxville's The Basement Gallery. The first exhibition opens Friday July 7th and runs through the 28th.

Participating artists include -

Judith Baumann - i never got my present, i wanted a dog show one.
Martin Bromirski - (that's me)
Roy Brooks
Jason Coates - this is his website, but not the newest stuff.
Emily Hall - i think she has some things up at Reynolds Gallery right now.
D. Dominick Lombardi - a recent Q&A with D. on ANIMAL new york.
Bruce New
Brandon Rogers
Bruce Thompson

Good Luck, Mike!!! Very inspiring, making me want to do more.