Open studios time is almost here again and it looks like it will be bigger and better than ever. There are plenty of new artists in the Distillery building and more of them are opening their doors than ever. There are also even more great artists right down the street at King Terminal.
So, come on out to South Boston on November 3rd or 4th and say hello. Check out some freaky studios, drink some free beers and maybe even look at a painting or two. The event is free to the public, rain or shine, noon to 6pm each day.
Head over to the official website for a full list of participating artists and locations. southbostonopenstudios.org
People often ask me to participate in group shows with the stipulation that the piece should be small. I can understand that, they want to fit a lot of art into a limited space, it makes sense. Unfortunately, I have found that trying to reproduce the paintings I have been doing in a small scale just doesn’t work. Read the rest of this entry »
I am putting a piece (or maybe 2) into the Summer Vacation show at everyones favorite art space in Boston, The Distillery Gallery. Also included in this show are lots of other Distillery artists and some of our talented Friends (including Caity Veil who, I just bought this great piece from). The openings are always a good time with interesting art (obviously) along with fun people and (best of all) plenty of cold Narragansett beers. So, come out to Southie on Thursday July 12th and join us.
July 12 – August 31, 2012
Opening Reception: Thurs, July 12, 7-9pm
www.gallery.distilleryboston.com
gallery hours: Mon-Fri, 9-5 or by appointment
The Distillery Gallery is pleased to announce a group exhibit of works
depicting or inspired by Summer, warm weather, and/or vacation.
Generally speaking, the gallery scene slows down during the mid-summer
months. Many commercial galleries close up altogether for some or all
of this time. The Distillery Gallery, instead of taking time off, will
exhibit the “Summer Vacation” group show.
It is almost time for South Boston’s annual Spring Open Studios event. My studio will be open for visitors – along with around 50 other artists in The Distillery and down the street in the King Terminal – on Sunday June 3rd from noon to six. For those that have been to The Distillery building before, there are quite a few new artists this year so it is a great time to make another visit.
Next month I am participating in a show over at Lot F Gallery along with two of my favorite Lot F artists, Josh Falk and Sean Flood. I will be showing some of my large paintings along with the next set of mixed media pieces. As always, the art will be good, the people will be interesting and the beer will be free so, be sure to come by the opening.
New works from three Boston artists. Each with strong and distinct styles. A number of large substantial works will be available, as well as a range of other pieces.
Refreshments will be provided
For more information and pre-sale appointments email info@lotFgallery.com
I have been working on a new series of mixed media pieces as a more inexpensive option for those that like my work but can not necessarily afford (or have the wall space) a large painting. They will be a mixture of screen printing and painting on panel and I am sending the first set over to Lot F Gallery for their annual year end group show. The show opens on Friday December 9th (click here to join the event page on Facebook) and if you have ever been to an opening at Lot F, you know it will be a great night so be sure to stop in. Scroll down for more details and complete list of artist below.
SALAD 3.0
Closing out 2011 with a big group show, Salad 3.0 will feature a strong selection of mid-small sized works from artists local to Boston. The third in our series of ‘Salad’ exhibits, this one will have the most range and diversity. Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Glass, Custom Toys, Mixed Media. Come get a taste of the local scene, a preview of what may be to come in 2012 and enjoy some artwork and refreshments.
ADAM O’DAY
DANA WOULFE
DANIEL SHERMAN
DOMENICK CIMINO
ELIZABETH KIRBY SULLIVAN
FELIPE ORTIZ
GUUMON
JAMIE O’NEILL
JOSH FALK
JOSHUA DURANT
KENJI NAKAYAMA
MATHEW GILLIS HALL
NICK WARD
PERCY FORTINI-WRIGHT
SCOTT CHASSE
TODD ROBERTSON
WILLIAM LONG
For more info or pre-sale appointments please email: info@lotfgallery.com
If you are in the Boston area, be sure to stop by The Distillery for Open Studios this weekend. For those that have been in the past, remember to find me in my new studio, #405 (that we are affectionately referring too as “The Tower”). I am the first door on the left, just before the Distillery Gallery when you come in though the main entrance. For those of you on Facebook, if you check in on my artist page during your visit I will give you a free print (until I run out!). I have a few different prints to choose from, all hand pulled signed and numbered screen or block prints.
I have plenty of big new paintings and some beer from Jacks Abbey brewery to share so, be sure to stop by.
Open Studios weekend is almost here in South Boston. As usual The Distillery building (where I live and work) will be open with around 40 artists opening their doors to let you have a peek into their studios and processes. There are a lot of new faces around the building this year so even if you have been around in the past, it is a good time to visit and see some new art.
I have recently moved studios so, be sure to grab a map at the front door if you are trying to find me. I will be in Studio 405 which we are beginning to affectionally refer too as “The Tower”. It was a sad day when we had to break up our dysfunctional Studio 11 family but, I still plan on making my studio worth the trip.
Artists and craftspeople of South Boston will open their doors to the public Saturday and Sunday, November 5 & 6, 2011 as part of the annual South Boston Open Studios event. Visitors will be able to talk to and make purchases directly from the artists while touring the creative environments in which the artwork is produced. The weekend-long event also provides a great opportunity to sample many of this historic neighborhood’s restaurants, cafes, pubs, and retail shops.
Numerous disciplines will be represented throughout the dozens of participants, including: sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, installation, photography, video, jewelry, ceramics, woodworking, fabric and performance art. Much of the work will be in-process and the artists will be on hand for questions and conversations. Participating organizations and galleries include The Distillery artists building (which will showcase two galleries and over 40 artists) located at 516 East 2nd Street, and the studios at King Terminal (just a few blocks away) right next to the intersection of E 1st & Summer Street.
The event is free to the public, rain or shine, noon to 6pm each day. Public transportation is easy, take the Red Line to Broadway and walk East, or take the #7 City Point bus from South Station to Elkins St. (#7 doesn’t run on Sundays).
Generally I have been hesitant to loan paintings out for display in restaurants around town although, it seems like a pretty popular/easy exhibition option in Boston… or maybe it is restaurants around Boston that have been hesitant to hang freaky portraits and morbid nudes? Either way, Voltage is different. Not only is is an awesome coffee shop, it also has a great exhibition space. Pieces actually look good hung and have enough space to command attention. So when Liz of Flux-Boston.com asked me to participate in a show that she was organizing there, I jumped at the chance. It also didn’t hurt that Liz collected such a great group of artists for me to share the walls with. Check out the facebook event page for the opening reception, and keep reading after the image for more details and a complete list of participating artists.
“What better way to kick off the return of fall than with a crash course contemporary art lesson on the who’s who of upcoming Boston visual artists. Come to Voltage Coffee & Art on Friday September 9th for the opening of FLUX. Offline, a brick and mortar curation by digital art reviewer/sweetheart Elizabeth Devlin.
Step away from the glow of the computer screen, get gussied and slough off the work week at the opening reception, Friday September 9th, 7:00-10:00pm for an evening of art, libations, grub, tunes, and delightful conversation.”
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.
In Progress
In Progress
In Progress
In Progress
In Progress
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?
In Progress
In Progress
In Progress
In Progress
In Progress
Not the greatest picture but, full composition of a new one that is nearing completion.
In Progress
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.
