A few months back I sent one of the Private Message paintings over to Fountain Street for their summer show which was juried by Juniper Rag. That painting was selected best in show, so they invited me back for another exhibition.
I am assuming that they expected me to show up with some more tight realism but, after some gentle persuasion they agreed to host some of the Glitch paintings instead.
(Is this why nobody invites me to show anymore?)
The show will include a selection of paintings that take range approaches to translating corrupted video stills. Alongside the work of Delany Conner and Robert Sullivan.
I’m looking forward to getting some reactions to all my attempts to find beauty within the chaos of the glitches so definitely come out to the opening reception and give me your best/worst critique of the series.
On view at Fountain Street Gallery from November 2nd through the 26th
A little more about the series:
Using traditional painting techniques but relying on heavily manipulated digital image files as reference material, these paintings explore relationships in the social media age, and the complicated connections between our digital and real world lives.
The algorithms that run so much of our lives have a hard time understanding us, just as we have a hard time understanding each other. They operate with the biases of their creators. They tend towards simple solutions when situations demand nuance. They struggle with the unexpected.
To create the montages used for these paintings, people are invited into the studio to collaborate on the creation of series of short video clips that will be layered together into the montages. These videos are digitally broken using a variety of techniques that result in a video that is still playable but will visually degrade and glitch in unpredictable and interesting ways. For instance, to create the image used for the painting, “Glitch Caused By The Word No,” an audio file containing the model speaking the word “no” is cut into the video montage as if it was a piece of video. This creates a momentary disruption in the video playback and the most impactful frames are used as reference material for the paintings.
The images created when these videos of simple human moments are misinterpreted by the playback algorithms are often violent and chaotic, mirroring the pain caused by our own mistakes and misunderstandings.
The Cambridge Art Association puts on a big juried show each year, open to artists from the New England states, centered around a color – RED or BLUE. This year (Blue) the juror was the owner of Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, whose taste I have complete confidence in, so I decided to submit.
I feel like I have been neglecting everyone who is interested in more traditional looking realist paintings while I have been experimenting with the Glitch paintings so, I’m happy to have one of the Dandelion paintings headed out of the studio. This is a huge show, and I see a lot of great artists on the list so, be sure to head over to the Cambridge Art Association and check out the show. I’d love an excuse to make more of these, or to recreate this piece in a larger scale so, if you are a fan of the more traditional looking paintings, speak up and let me know!
We all know the cliché, that young people think they are indestructible. When you are young, you don’t yet have any experience with, any understanding of death, so you are likely to act as though it will never happen to you.
My understanding of it is a little more nuanced. While it is probably true that young people do not fully grasp the possibility that they will die, they also can’t imagine being old.
Because we do not have to experience to understand, we simply exist with two concurrent and opposing feelings; that death is so foreign that it feels impossible yet living to be an old person is so far out that it also feels unlikely.
Humans are complicated creatures; our minds manage to juggle seemingly opposing views like this all the time. Yet we all struggle to grasp things that we have not experienced ourselves, and we frequently misunderstand each other.
The algorithms that run so much of our lives have a hard time understanding us, just as we have a hard time understanding each other. They operate with the biases of their creators. They tend towards simple answers when situations demand intricacy. They have a hard time with unexpected, or new information. The struggles of our machines parallel our own, and that feels like an interesting point of entry for some exploration about the destruction our misunderstandings cause.
The reference image for this painting is, exactly what the title implies. A glitch caused by the word no.
When presented with an unexpected piece of information, the algorithms that create the images you see when watching a video do their best to determine what it means, and what should happen next. In this case, I cut audio of the model speaking the word “no”, as if it was another piece of video. The video player has no experience with this type of information, and the misunderstanding results in this moment of violent chaos.
This is my third or fourth attempt at this composition, and it feels like it is finally working. The secret to making it work for me (which is completely obvious in retrospect), was to spend less energy manipulating the image as I painted, to create a source image that worked, and then just paint it as it is.
Now that it seems to be working, I am looking forward to exploring some other ideas that this approach feels right for. Moments where we struggle to understand each other. Moments where we are pulled in two directions at once. Moments where a small decision creates drastic and unexpected changes. Moments our mind weaves together concurrent opposing ideas.
In the long tradition of painters struggling to find paintings place in a world where photography exists and can make a better image faster, I currently hold two somewhat opposing views:
Photography is currently the most important and influential medium of expression. It defines our aesthetic language, and while some might argue the dominance of video, in most cases our internet driven world seems to be bending video more towards photography every day.
In a world where over a billion photographs are published daily, the simple fact that a human has to labor over a painting for days (or months), commands attention in a way that photography cannot. Creating great photographs is, of course, difficult and time-consuming work. Unfortunately, all that work is hidden in the final image (and likely going un-noticed by most viewers). In a painting, you can see the human touch. Someone thought this image was worth devoting a piece of their life to creating, and that has a unique power to pull us in.
Despite the fact that photography exists, can create a more realistic image faster, and defines the experience of aesthetic expression for most people; tradition dictates that, if we want to create a figurative work, we should be painting from life. Of course, the reality is that most figurative painters are working from photographic references the majority of the time (the rest are die hard traditionalists, working from photo references only some of the time). Because of this tradition, painters treat reference photographs like a dirty secret, shamefully hidden from view in hopes that they will never see the light of day. This makes some sense, if you are trying to paint like Rembrandt. Except, of course, that Rembrandt already painted like Rembrandt, better than you ever could, 400 some years ago, and photography has been invented in the meantime.
So photography exists, models are expensive, landscapes are ever changing and standing outside in the rain isn’t all that fun; we are all using photography as a tool to create paintings. Let’s stop pretending otherwise and embrace all that photography has to offer. Lens distortion is one of photography’s simplest and most powerful tools, yet painters will go to great lengths to eliminate any evidence of it from their work (or risk the embarrassment of admitting the photographic root of their paintings). Why leave such a powerful tool unused for the sake of tradition?
Photography is currently the most important and influential medium of expression. It defines our aesthetic language, and painters should be using that language to make more interesting and relevant work.
With all that in mind, my latest attempt to pair the strengths of photography, with romance of painting. Similar to the Private Message series, this was a bit of a collaborative effort with the model, involving reference photos from multiple sources (eight photographs, two glitched video clips, and a handful of screenshots). In other words, a painting that couldn’t be made without embracing photography.
This series is still evolving and there will be more to come, so feedback is welcome. I have no idea when or where I will be able to show these paintings, but like the Private Message paintings, they feel like the thing I need to make right now, and I have confidence they will eventually find their audience.
The sight of dandelions springing up around my neighborhood, bright yellow against carpets of green grass, evokes such a comforting feeling of nostalgia. A perfectly manicured lawn advises you to keep off. One erupting with dandelions offers a warm welcome.
Dandelions are not too different, and no less charming, than a sunflower or chrysanthemum yet, instead of celebrating their beauty, we set out to eradicate them. Compulsions fueling a multi billion dollar industry. Take a look inside any hardware store and you will find isles of products dedicated to eliminating them. But really, dandelions are lovely little flowers.
The ideal lawn is sterile, kept short and immature. It should only allowed to spread in a disciplined manner, by careful introduction of the right seed. This ensures that the lawn stays pure. Free from invasive weeds, Creeping Charlie, Clover, Crabgrass, and Dandelions. Once these intruders appear, reproducing wildly, they can be hard to control. It only takes one weed to ruin a good lawn.
A good lawn says a lot about its owner. Like the right shoes with a nice suit, a thick green lawn compliments your home. Taking the time, or spending the money, to give your lawn the care it needs demonstrates your virtue to the entire neighborhood.
Not entirely sure I am loving this painting yet and, not exactly sure where I am going to take these paintings but, more to come.
I have been working hard in the studio, trying to put finishing touches on all a bunch of new paintings. That means it’s time to find models for the next round of paintings. I am experimenting with a lot of different ideas and expanding on a few of the older series of paintings, so there is probably something that would work for anyone who is interested and willing to come model for a piece.
Modeling for a painting is generally fairly easy, if you don’t have the time of inclination to sit for extended periods of time, most of the work can be done from reference photos. As a bonus, I will thank you for your time by giving you a small study painting of the piece that you modeled for, or a copy from the next run of screen prints.
With all that in mind, here is what I am working on. If anything catches your interest, get in touch.
Portraits:
This is probably the easiest, and most open ended, type of painting to model for. I have been trying to polish my skills with some more traditional looking portraits, but have some more experimental ideas for those that may be more interested in that.
Sunbathers:
I have always wanted to do more with this series of paintings, and now is the time. I am not sure anyone really gives these paintings much thought beyond being pretty pictures, but I am pretty interested in putting together a bunch of these for a show, and am working on a proper statement that will hopefully elevate them a bit. If you are interested and want to to know more, just ask.
Couples/Relationship studies:
Real couple who want to sit for a portrait together, or just people who are willing to act out relationship struggles.
Finally, the biggest ask:
I am looking for two people act out an argument for the next glitchy painting series. The idea is that this would be an extended series of paintings documenting a relationship coming together and falling apart. The image quality mirrors the mood, starting with some paintings that are quite realistic but, becoming more glitchy and distorted as the scene gets more intense. In my mind, this scene plays out in 10 or 20 individual panels/paintings, which means a lot of reference material will have to be shot.
I have been slacking off a bit lately when it comes to getting my paintings out in the world. Partly because I have been putting most of my energy into working on new pieces but, also because I just needed some time to regroup and figure out what to do next.
If you have been missing me, I will be sending a couple portraits from the Private Message series, along with a couple glitchy studies to The Motherbrook Art Center in Dedham for a show opening up this week. The show is called, Painted Faces and, it features portrait work from some of my favorite Boston area artists.
Lavaughan Jenkins – Untitled
Painted Faces
Artist Reception Thursday September 20th from 7-10pm
On view through October 30th
Mia Cross – Fish Boy and the Case of the Roving Ear
After a bit of a break from the studio, I am back to work on some new sunbather paintings while I plan for the next big glitchy installation. Because the sunbathers are about to make a comeback, I thought it was only fitting to send one of the pieces from the first round of this series out to Arcadia Contemporary in Culver City to spend some time in the California sun.
So, if you are in the Los Angeles area, and want to check out one of these paintings in person (along with some other great realist painting), here is your chance. The piece I sent over is Christine #2. It has always been one of my favorites from the series, and shows off more painterly brushwork than a lot of my recent paintings. Seeing this piece really inspired me to start experimenting with bringing some texture back into the next round of glitch paintings.
CDaniel Maidman “Leah Checking Her Cell Phone in the Studio”
Conor Walton
“The New Religion”
Finally, for those that love the sunbathers, here is your first look at the first in the next round of paintings. Still early in the process, but off to a good start!
I’ve been feeling a bit burnt out after finishing up the last pieces for the show at Thomas Young Gallery. A strange combination of relief that the show is painted and hung, and anxiety about what to do next. Sometimes, a break is in order. So, I have been spending less time in the studio the last couple weeks, trying to catch up with the real world, but allowing thoughts of the next series to evolve.
Before I dive deeper into the next project, let me take a moment to thank everyone who braved the weather to turn up for the opening of Private Message. We decided to keep the gallery open, in hopes that the weather would not be too bad, but clearly that was not the case. The turnout was solid, considering the city was being slammed by a blizzard, so thanks to everyone who made it out. For everyone else, we are going to have a second reception on Thursday March 16th. I will post more details soon, for now you can join (and share) the event on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/events/1744711695842816/
I have already mentioned that the next series is going to use more glitched files as source material, but this time instead of photos, it will be video. I love the way that I can parallel the changing mood in the image, with the degraded quality of the video file, allowing the tone of the painting to darken as the image deteriorates. As a bonus, since this series is not focused on women, I will finally be able to get some guys involved again.
It always takes a few attempts to get these ideas really working, and this is no exception. The first painting, while it ended up looking pretty good, left me with more questions than answers.
Do I really need to include a nice clean hero shot before I let the image break apart? How closely should I recreate the actual source imagery? How far do I need to push things, is simpler better or should I get really detailed?
I have managed to sort out most of these questions (for now), but I am left with one big decision to make. I am left questioning the format of the series, which is generally a secondary concern, but seems oddly important in this case.
I like making multi-paneled paintings for a lot of reasons. Most importantly, I just think it is interesting to have multiple scenes, or multiple viewpoints on a scene. It is nice to have the ability to treat the individual painting like the panel in a comic book, pushing the story further along than a single image can. Beyond that, there is something about repeated forms – weather they imply transcendent rhythm, or insane rambling – that is just interesting to play with.
But they are not without their problems. There is really no way to describe the feeling of walking in to an opening, and finding your triptych hanging in three different rooms of the gallery. And inevitably, even if the piece gets hung together, someone will fall in love with one panel, and have no interest in the rest of the set.
With all that in mind, I have come up with two possible formats for this series of paintings. Two formats, that I think will eliminate the drawbacks of multiple panel paintings, while pushing the benefits even further. I just have to decide which way to go.
The first possibility is to stick with the triptych format, but make it more of a traditional altarpiece style construction. The upside to this is that it would probably look amazing. The downside is that I would probably be stuck with a massive piece that was expensive to create, and difficult to sell.
The second possibility is to create a series of paintings that can be hung together in a sort of film strip style arrangement. Each piece would be a stand along painting, but the series of paintings would be able to hang together to reveal a larger story. The upside to this approach is that they could be mixed and matched into different arrangements, and I might actually be able to sell some of them.
If you have any insight here, I am open to your thoughts, so comment here or send me a message. Also, get in touch if you are interested in modeling for one of these paintings. The concept is more flexible than the last project, which opens things up for a lot of different people, and interpretations on the idea of declining quality and languishing situations. If you make it out to Thomas Young Gallery on the 16th, take a look at my first attempt at this idea and let me know what you think.
I spent yesterday morning over at Thomas Young Gallery shuffling my paintings around the room, trying to find some rhythm to the colors and shapes of the pieces. Working with the guys at the gallery, to get things ready for Thursdays opening reception. Should we start with the pieces with the deepest colors, and allow the pieces to lighten up as you enter the room. Maybe alternate between heavier feeling paintings and airier ones?
In the end, we stumbled into a layout where nothing jumped out as wrong, and accepted it.
After a year of working on these paintings—staring at them individually, focusing on the details on a micro level—I was starting to lose my enthusiasm for the project. When you work on large paintings for an extended period, you inevitably reach a point of diminishing returns. The point where, the painting is finished, and everyone can see it except you. In the case of this show, I reached that point with these paintings a few weeks ago, but I was having trouble stopping myself from making corrections. I think this is true for all artists. If you stare at a painting long enough, you will always find a correction to make.
As I pulled these paintings out to make final preparations for the show, all I could see was hundreds of tiny mistakes that I wanted to correct. All that needed to be done was a final cleaning and varnish, but I was getting stressed out by a bunch of details that nobody else was ever going to notice.
As I pulled them out of the car and arranged them around the gallery, I was still worried about corrections that needed to be made. Once they were all out of the studio, arranged in the gallery, something changed. I looked around the room and saw the pieces as whole paintings, saw the paintings as a complete show.
I know this post is a bit cheesy, but it truly was a moment of clarity for me. An instant flip from stressing about insignificant details, to excitement for the show.
I will resist the temptation to ruin this moment of clarity by worrying about whether people will understand the intent of the paintings, I have written enough about that for anyone interested. Instead, I will just invite you to come out and see the show.
It’s no secret that I am excited about my solo show, opening February 9th, at Thomas Young Gallery.
I have been spending too much time in the studio working on these paintings over the last year, trying to put together the best show that I can. So honestly, I am looking forward to seeing them all hanging together outside the studio, and getting some real feedback on the project. Beyond that, I’ve got a relatively new baby at home, and I just haven’t been getting out as much as I used too.
With all that in mind, I want to get as many people out to the opening as I possibly can. So, I decided to give away a print to help promote the show.
Before a go any further, a little about the print.
It isn’t a giclee print, or a reproduction of one of the paintings. I don’t do those; I only want to put out hand pulled prints. So, what I came up with is a screen print that echoes the series of paintings in the show. It is a 4 color CMYK print that uses one of the source images from the show. Its glitchy, its imperfect, it has a lo-fi look that I am really into, but it doesn’t look anything like the paintings. I made an edition of 50 and each is signed and numbered. Each one is a real, handmade piece or art.
So, how do you get one.
As promised, they are not for sale. If you want one, all you have to do is help me spread the word about the show.
Like I said, I just want to put on the best show possible, and I want to get as many people to see it as I can. I am going to give one of these prints to anyone that helps me promote the show. If you want one, post a link to the show or the FB event to your Facebook wall. Post one of the paintings to your Instagram. Tweet my blog post about the opening. Wherever you are sharing stuff, put up a little something about the show, tag me or email me so I can see it, and I will send you a print.
For those of you that aren’t into glitchy screen prints, don’t let that stop you from sharing the show anyway. Also on the off chance more than 50 people take me up on this, I will come up with a second print to send out, but after the second edition of 50, I will have to cap it cause I can’t spend my whole life making free prints. I doubt this will be an issue, but if you want one, share early just in case!
I have been working on this series for quite a while now, and I’m pretty excited that Thomas Young Gallery has given me a chance to hang them all together as a solo show. For those that don’t know about these paintings, I included a short statement about the work below, for everyone else, here is the information on the opening reception.
This series focuses on the disconnect between our digital, and real world lives. Since more and more of our time is spent interacting online, and our photographs are no longer constrained to a single copy, our images are increasingly subject to misuse by anonymous strangers. This is especially true for young women, who often find their most private digital moments taking on a life of their own.
To create these paintings, I asked volunteers to photograph themselves, to create a sexy image that felt like it was only intended for a significant other to see. Once I receive the image, I crop it so that their face is hidden; so their identity is lost, and the sexual nature of the photograph takes center stage. Next the image file source code is corrupted. For me, the resulting image glitch signifies the end of the useful life of this image. The point where an image that has been shared would no longer be forwarded along again. This version of the image is used as reference for the first panel of the painting.
Once I have started working on this panel, the model is asked to visit the studio to sit for a more traditional portrait, exposing her face so that she can reclaim ownership of the image of her body.
As usual, still refining this painting, but good enough for 1080 pixels. I feel like this composition is finally working with this attempt, third times the charm, I guess. Visually, it feels the most interesting and refined I have managed. Beyond that, the glitchieness is really starting to play an integral role in the piece, which feels important. Source image is just what it sounds like – I cut in some audio of the model saying the word “no” – as if it was another piece of video. That unexpected piece of information confuses the video player and gives us this moment of destructive chaos.
Anyways, let me know what you think, even if (especially if) you think this whole idea is garbage. It feels good to make one of these work, feels even better to finally make an interesting painting while devoting most of my mental energy to organizing a five-year old’s Zoom meeting schedule… More thoughts to come on this painting and the direction of this series as a whole.
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Sidebar
Listening to Andre 3000 talk about battling the same crippling crisis of confidence and creative blocks that we all struggle through is an incredible gift for creative people. Seriously taken off guard by how relatable this is:
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Around Boston
In order for artists to thrive in any particular place, they need three elements. They need to be near institutions on higher learning and culture – museums, universities, theaters – places where they can develop a foundation of history, expand their knowledge, and enjoy the great work that already exists. They need people interested in supporting the arts – collectors, patrons and others that can support the work financially, but also an audience. Finally, they need space to live and do their work. This includes work spaces, but also space to support the sales, performances, and community engagement that is crucial to creation. Small galleries, Artist run collectives, project spaces, performance halls – places that can support and nurture entire networks of artists.
At this point, my city is clearly lacking one of these elements, and it was uplifting to see the Boston City Council stepping up and calling a hearing to discuss affordable housing and work spaces for artists.
You can watch the hearing on YouTube here:
Like a lot of people, I was unable to make it to the hearing but, for reasons that I will assume are obvious, I care about this stuff. Since I couldn’t stand up and speak in the room, I wanted to write my thoughts about these issues here, in hopes that it would encourage some more of you to do the same.
In order for a city to thrive, everyone needs to have an affordable place to live, and the city leadership should really be doing everything they can to make that happen. That means building more houses, as well as developing programs that ensure current residents are able to remain in the places they call home. This city really needs to find ways to encourage both of those things to happen so that everyone that wants to call this city home – including artists – has a place to live. However, allowing private developers to chose to dedicate subsidized housing units to artists, while excluding other people who would otherwise be qualified, creates a system that is ripe for abuse. All that is to say, I am going to focus this on advocating for the other spaces that artists need. While it is not as fundamental as having a place to live, it is the area of this issue that is more intertwined with supporting the arts.
Based on the testimonies at the hearing, it would appear that this issue was brought to the attention of the city council by the artists that have recently received eviction notices from the Boston Center for the Arts. Before I go any further, I think its important to say that my initial reaction was to side with the BCA here. We know that there is a very limited number studio spaces available in this city. At the BCA there is apparently a group of established artists that have testified that they have the resources to pay market rate for work space, and they have instead stayed in highly subsidized spaces for decades. In my view, the BCA’s decision to restructure their studio program to force higher turnover in highly subsidized work spaces is fair in that situation. However, the real issue here is that we should not have to chose between supporting established artists in a way that helps sustain their work, or supporting less established artists in a way that helps them get their career started. There should be opportunities within this city for both to thrive.
There are more galleries in Boston now, than there have been at any other time in the last decade – but fewer project spaces, artist run galleries, spaces dedicated to experimental or difficult to sell work.
This is not a uniquely Boston problem, as cities have boomed, real estate prices have gone up, traditional galleries have struggled. They are able to take less risks, the work they support has become more conservative and easier to sell. We have seen most of the traditional galleries that attempted to support younger and more innovative artists – Samson Projects, Anthony Greaney Gallery, Carroll & Sons – dramatically downsize their efforts, or give up their spaces all together. At the same time, the artist run efforts that support those working even further out on the fringes have all but disappeared (for now, we know that artists always find a way).
I don’t have the solution to this problem, but I do know that without this support network, artists will leave.
I personally do not want to live in a city where there is no space for experimental and innovative art. I want to see new media installations that take on the internet. I want to stumble into performances that make me uncomfortable. I want to listen to local musicians without risking life and limb in some sketchy Allston basement. Obviously, I also want to have space to find some interesting paintings (and maybe even show my own). In short, I want this city to start supporting the sort of artistic conversations that lead to work that will one day find its way into museums, even if it is not quite ready yet. Right now, the kinds of spaces that support this kind of work, and give community to these artists, can not sustain themselves in this city.
Quite frankly, the current plan of giving some zoning relief to developers willing to maybe include some space dedicated for cultural use (that can also be rented by a tech startup) is just not going to cut it.
I am tempted to dig deeper into this but, ultimately I think the best approach is to encourage everyone to weigh in on this and speak up for the kind of art you make and the kinds of spaces you need. There was not a very wide demographic of artists represented at the hearing (and honestly nobody seemed to be pushing for the kind of work that I will miss seeing in this city) so, hopefully I can convince a few more people to join the conversation. Artists need space to work. We need space to come together and see what our peers are working on. We need places to get our work out for larger audiences to see. How to we make sure that Boston has a network of those spaces?
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Not the greatest picture but, full composition of a new one that is nearing completion.
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I intended this to be a quick portrait study but, I got a little carried away. Instead, I am just going to try as hard as I can on this one. Not that I don’t always try as hard as I can when I am painting. Even when a painting turns out looking like utter garbage, I am still working as hard as I can manage to make it right. I am just not always overly concerned with actually making the painting look super realistic. So, for this one I am going all in on the realism. Whenever this is done, it is going to be about as realistic as I can manage (without totally abandoning the way I like to paint). Not sure where this is going to take me but, it seems important to occasionally reset to some kind of baseline, if only to keep from getting too lost when you start off again in a new direction from there. In any case, don’t let me act like I know how to paint any better – in terms of realism – than this one. It actually feels pretty good to just make a nice portrait without worrying too much about some greater artistic mission. Maybe I will try to find some demand for these portraits. Potentially portraits priced on a sliding scale. I spend about 2 weeks making the best portrait I can, charge about what you make in 2 weeks. We will see. I am 4 days in, with a fair amount of painting left to do here. There is still time for this one to get weird.
Lavaughan Jenkins – Untitled
Mia Cross – Fish Boy and the Case of the Roving Ear
Percy Fortini-Wright – Large Professor
