Tree Gallery Project (a happening)

I was thrilled to be selected to have a solo show on Sunday, July 22 at the Tree Gallery Project at 108 Bowery.

The tree, a honey locust, arrived in late November of 2011, which inspired artist/gallerist/designer Kerry Stevens to host art happenings outside on the tree!

My series, "Accumulations" are handmade paper paintings based on direct observation of the landscape—the accumulation of leaves, plants, and algae on the surface of freshwater ponds.

I've been taking photographs of the pond surfaces for the last 2 years, and was wondering how to translate them into artwork. Drawing and painting didn't seem to get the integrity of the work across. Then I had my "aha moment" and I started to make handmade paper (made of plant material and water) to realize the pond formations. I pour handmade paper pulp into a screen in algae patterns, then put black paper pulp (as the surface of the water) on top, and then add more paper pulp to create a 2-sided artwork. Lots of great images and more information here!

Interview with a (very likeable) Smartypants

I am so impressed with this interview of the artist William Powhida by Paddy Johnson (aka the ArtFagCity blogger) that I simply have to repost it. Powhida is known as a bit of an artworld smart-ass, perhaps best known for his "How the New Museum Committed Suicide with Banality" for the November 2009 cover of the Brooklyn Rail. He also co-curated #class with Jennifer Dalton in 2010, which was a fascinating (and fantastically idiosyncratic) freeform event series in Winkleman Gallery in Chelsea (one of the events was one of my colleagues, Zoe Sheehan-Saldaña, gift-wrapping, in her handmade paper, things that gallery visitors randomly brought in).

Discussing everything from struggling to career shame, the interview is smart questions, even smarter answers.

A Lower East Side Day, Transcend with Me.

We had some German friends/family in town who requested a gallery tour of the Lower East Side. A bit tricky, since the galleries are so much more spread out than in Chelsea, but we had a map and a plan. Lots of lovely type and design and art to be found.

Walking along East First Street (between First and Second), there is a lovely little restaurant called Arlo and Esme that sports a great and invitingly friendly sign.

We were on our way to La Mama La Galleria on East First Street to see the "To Believe" show that featured artists whose work reflects the supernatural, spiritual, and paranormal (great for these troubled times). I fell in love with the work (and type) on the work by Spiritual Tours (who are Dave Hardy and Siebren Versteeg).

I loved this piece by Bede Murphy with Unarius, part of a larger installation titled Universal Articulate Inter-Dimensional Understanding of Science.

Nearby, at Participant Gallery on East Houston, the art on view was inspired by the work of actor/director Timothy Carey, who was a pioneer of underground film in the early '60s. I'm thinking that this sign was a prop from his 1992 production of The Insect Trainer aka "Le Pet" from 1992. I am a total sucker for this kind of signage (does it have a name?).

Moving on over to Bowery, as an homage to a beautiful series of Bowery photographs that Beth did, I spotted and shot a picture of this incredibly handmade sign. You could almost miss it:

We kept on: at DCKT on Bowery we saw a fabulous installation by Ryan Humphrey titled Early American (the installation views are worth a click!). The show was a bit lost on the Germans, but the concept and follow through of this install was incredible. The artist had recreated a version of an 18th Century American interior complete with parlor, but totally did a smash up with garage and car culture and heavy metal. Here's a few shots of some of the "art" that was hanging on the wall in the remade interior.

Some very happy Germans at the end of the day!