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Katharina Grosse

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 27, 2008
in Art, Artist, Gallery and Painting
. Closed

After I saw Katharina Grosse’s work for the first time, I thought Dale Frank abstraction meets Sun7 process. All the energy of graffiti combined with a child-like obsession for massive scribbles of color.

I prefer the effect of Katharina Grosse’s work on interior spaces, especially museums. Museum Directors must hold their breath when Grosse gets an exhibition approval … which walls will she flood with color … what walls will remain blank?! What about floors? Probably part of the contract to stay away from certain materials too. And most importantly, how do we de-install this?

I love this stuff.

Official artist site here.
Number of works on canvas at Gow Langsford.

Sam Leach at Nellie Castan

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 27, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Gallery and Painting
. Closed

Sam Leach is exhibiting at Nellie Castan from May 8-31, 2008.

peacock and sputnik
2008
oil on linen
135 x 95cm

paradisaeidae
2008
oil & resin on copper
30 x 20cm

Official artist website here.

Robert Polidori at Edwynn Houk

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 23, 2008
in Art, Artist, Gallery and Photography
. Closed

Robert Polidori exhibition, Versailles, at Edwynn Houk Gallery from April 17 – June 14, 2008.

Robert Polidori, Napoleon Recoit a Finkelstein, Reza Bey, 27 Avril 1807, Ambassadeur de Perse, Peinture de Francois-Henri Mullard, Versailles, Attique du Midi 2005

Robert Polidori, Salles d’Afrique, Painting of Louis XVI by Callet, Versailles

Robert Polidori, Vue of Parterre du Midi, Versailles

Candida Höfer

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 23, 2008
in Art, Artist, Gallery and Photography
. Closed

Images courtesy of Rena Bransten Gallery.

Bill Henson Exhibition Shut Down

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 22, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Gallery, Photography and Sydney
. Closed

“The opening night of an exhibition by the photographer Bill Henson featuring images of naked children was dramatically cancelled after police visited the Paddington gallery to investigate child pornography claims.”

Read the full story at the Sydney Morning Herald website.

The Roslyn Oxley9 website was offline for a number of hours during the gallery shutdown. The site went back online last night without access to the Bill Henson artist portfolio section. Soon afterward they submitted a Media Statement which was sent out via email and available at their website.

——————————

Media Statement

Friday 23 May 2008

Statement on behalf of Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery and Bill Henson

After much consideration we have decided to withdraw a number of works from the current Bill Henson exhibition that have attracted controversy. The current show, without the said works, will be re-opened for viewing in coming days.

Bill Henson is one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists and is internationally respected. His works are held in every leading art institution in Australia and are included in the collections of a number of the world’s most prestigious art museums. The Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Victoria have both recently held a retrospective of 30 years of the artist’s work.

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery will remain closed while the current exhibition is re-hung.

——————————

Simon Obarzanek, 80 Faces

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 21, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Exhibitions, Gallery, Melbourne and Photography
. Closed

Melbourne based photographer Simon Obarzanek’s series of portraits titled 80 Faces was shown at IMA@TCB (The Institute of Modern Art at TCB Building), April 11 – May 11, 2008.

Each black and white image features a portrait of a young persons face, neck and shoulder, similar to a passport photo. At first glance the styling seems minimal, but that changes when you see a number of the images grouped together. All the photographs resonate with an otherness which comes from a stylized process of selecting ‘interesting’ faces and shooting every model in a rigorous manner. The artist’s focus is on shape, scale and proportion of features. Attributes like freckles, lips and ears become isolated and take on a surreal emphasis. Juxtaposition of the images heightens this sublime effect.

Simon Obarzanek is represented by Karen Woodbury Gallery. You can see work from 2007 here, and the images from his 2006 exhibition here.

Bill Henson at Roslyn Oxley9

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 21, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Gallery, Photography and Sydney
. Closed

New Bill Henson exhibition opens at Roslyn Oxley9, May 23, 2008.

Book from Australia, Round Two.1

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 16, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Books, Gallery, Painting, Photography and Sculpture
. Closed

I forgot to add this title to my last Books from Australia post. McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art is the definitive guide to Australia’s visual artists. Touted as both a scholarly reference and an easy browse, the book is a hefty 1200 pages. This will tip the scales at the airport if you try to bring it back in your luggage.

The editors have done a great job listing 1,000s of artists, with concise biographical information for the majority of the artists and elaborated descriptions for well known artists like Boyd, Perceval, Shead, Smart, etc. Believe it or not, this isn’t 100% complete. There are still artists missing from the guide; not just new artists — mid-career too. That’s not a criticism at all. This is a great resource. The art scene is growing rapidly in Australia and it’s difficult for a book of this scale to keep up with the times. Maybe they could publish an annual soft-cover update …

$295 + shipping. Ship this behemoth by boat. Air mail cost would be frightening.

Ryan McGinley – I Know Where The Summer Goes

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 15, 2008
in Art, Artist, Gallery and Photography
. Closed

The Ryan McGinley exhibition, I know Where the Summer Goes, just ended at Team Gallery. This past weekend the exhibition opened at Ratio3 in San Francisco; they started pre-selling quite a while ago so there are only about 3 images left.

Official artist site here.

David Laity – Morning Air

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 15, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Gallery and Painting
. Closed

This is one of my favorite David Laity paintings, titled Morning Air. Laity is represented by Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne. Here is a link to his 2005 exhibition and his 2007 exhibition. His next show will be held late 2009.

David Laity
Morning Air
Oil on linen
40 x 49 in
1998

Bill Henson – 3 Decades of Photography

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 10, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Gallery, Melbourne, Museum, Photography and Sydney
. Closed

Bill Henson is often referred to as one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists. His vision is exacting, the photos are unforgettable. The imagery is painterly, cinematic and raw. Light is always considered and controlled. One of the reoccurring themes in his work is ’sleep’ and many of his figures appear laying down or reclining. The majority of his work features dark black tones, slightly tinted with blue, red or yellow haze. Brighter light is strategically controlled to uncover a detail of a facade, a portion of a face or a section of landscape.

I first saw Henson’s work at the Passages De L’Image exhibition at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio, 1990. The images shown there left a memorable impression on me. The exhibition was curated by Raymond Bellour, Catherine David and Christine Van Assche, at the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, in Paris. Following Paris and Columbus, the exhibition travelled to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Fundacio Caixa de Pensions, Barcelona.

In 2005 The Art Gallery of New South Wales put together the first major survey of Bill Henson’s work titled Bill Henson 3 Decades of Photography.

Bill Henson bus stop

Bus stop featuring advertising for the exhibition, 3 Decades of Photography.

The front facade of the AGNSW featuring banners for the show.

Judy Annear, senior curator of photography at the Art Gallery of New South Wales worked closely with Bill Henson to select more than 350 images from more than a dozen series, which explore the major themes of his work from 1974 until now.

The exhibition detailed a cross-section of Henson’s work from early duotones to the vagabond junkyard wasteland series, the cut and paste series he created for the Venice Biennale to his current Untitled series of images. The earlier works were shown in rooms with plenty of light whereas the later works were exhibited in spaces with increased drama brought about by careful consideration of light, wall color and composition.

Following the AGNSW show, the exhibition moved to Melbourne where it was shown at the National Gallery of Victoria from April 23 to July 10. Henson staged his first solo exhibition at the NGV in 1975 at the age of 19.

Images from the National Gallery of Victoria exhibition, Melbourne.

These are really big spaces. To give you an idea of scale, most of the figures shown in the rectangular works are near 1:1 human scale. Each of the images is 127×180cm with a thick wood frame — not an easy show to install (or de-install). I like the slightly offset stacking of the frames and the groups of five.

Bill Henson
Untitled #52, 2000/2003
LMO SH103 N19
type C photograph
127 x 180cm
Edition of 5

Part of the exhibition included a video (about 27 minutes) in which Henson described some of his creative process and inspiration. I recall how he conceives an idea in his head, then has to get it out in his work. If he’s able to see it in the real world he’ll shoot it there, otherwise he’ll build a set to focus on the image in his mind’s eye. Many of the images featuring the small sparkling lights were controlled environments built within Henson’s studio.

Official artist site here.
AGNSW Film Series titled Bill Henson: Inspirational Cinema.
Henson is represented by Roslyn Oxley9.

Roy McMakin at Matthew Marks

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 9, 2008
in Architecture, Art, Artist, Exhibitions, Furniture and Interiors
. Closed

Roy McMakin’s has a one-person exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York which features a number of the artist’s sculptures and photographs.

Exhibition images.

McMakin continues his familiar vernacular of manipulating mundane objects, or pieces of furniture, by tweaking material, scale, proportion and function. The artist has a knack for taking advantage of the mundane in everyday objects; when a furniture archetype gets a McMakin-remix you know it’s going to have a unique personality, with even more quirks.

Official artist site here.
Roy McMakin: For, at Matthew Marks Gallery.

While I was at the Matthew Marks site, I saw these interesting pieces from the Selected Works section.

Love these patchwork details.

Robert Fornell Ceramic Arts

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 6, 2008
in Art, Artist and Tea
. Closed

Seattle potter Robert Fornell creates a range of Works including Tea Ware, Sake, Ikebana, Table Ware and Objects. The artist cites a variety of influences including Japanese Shigaraki/Iga and Korean Hagi and Karatsu style ware. Throughout the creative process, a ‘truth to materials’ methodology is employed. A variety of clays are used to start; from dark brown, black to buff. Making Tea Ware involves hand thrown clay and an old momentum kick wheel. It’s the wheel that gives every tea bowl a special quality as each lump is coaxed into form. A tea bowl is intimately scaled to fit perfectly in the hands. A number of different ashes are used in the firing process including apple wood, black pine and alder. Subtle color variations and lovely textural qualities are brought out in the surface of the bowls. All of his creations are functional but the unique beauty of these objects can also be enjoyed while displayed as art.

Robert Fornell, Tea Bowl, 2005

Robert Fornell, Tea Bowl, 2005 (detail)

See more of Robert Fornell’s Works at his official website.

Ben Quilty

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on May 2, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Gallery, Painting and Sydney
. Closed

Toranas, budgies, skulls and … hamburgers. Love the thick, jammy surfaces created on these works. Can’t wait to see what’s next. Quilty lives and works in Sydney.

Elwood Torana no.7
Oil on canvas
120×140cm

Beast
Oil on canvas
60×50cm

Hill End Landscape
Oil on linen
150×140cm

The Lot
Oil on canvas
150×160cm

Official artist website here.
Represented by Jan Murphy and Grant Pirrie.
Ben Quilty, Rust in Peace or Youth and young manhood, by Dougal Phillips, Art & Australia vol.45, #1.

Craig Carlisle Interview

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on April 28, 2008
in Art, Artist, Gallery, Painting and interview
. Closed

I recently posted a couple of Craig Carlisle’s earlier works from his New York City / San Francisco studio days. That got me thinking … wouldn’t it be enlightening to connect with him, see what he’s been up to and catch up on his latest series of work.

First, some background. Los Angeles based artist Craig Carlisle produces paintings in a lush, saturated range of colors with a variety of characters. In fact, the continuity in his recent pieces has been a developing cast of charmed creatures: Pink Monsters, Birds, Butterflies, Teddy Birds, Flowers and Figures (always bald with no ears). Some of his works feature the perspective of a solitary creature within a landscape, while other paintings may include multiple subjects. When there is a pairing, we’re able to see personalities unfold and relationships bloom.

Without further ado …

What’s your typical day at work like?

My studio and my live space are one in the same which makes it easy for me to work on a painting for a few hours then break. I typically paint six hours a day unless I am in the final month before a show, then I usually paint eight to ten hours a day. The work usually begins around 9AM and usually ends one hour before sundown. This is because I paint with natural light and rarely at night.

Describe your studio.

I have two studios in my home. The main studio is a small work space which very organized. The table I work from is a vintage aqua blue kitchen table with a formica top. The table is approximately 36″ x 48″. The second studio is a large wall which easily allows me to work on my large canvases. The light in both studios are natural but backed with a light bulb if needed.

Big Head with Chocolate Eyes, 20×25.5in., giclee print, $450

Any rituals you have to perform before starting to work?

I start my work day after I have gone for a walk, usually to my local coffee shop.

What are you passionate about?

Family and Friends, Traveling, Sharing my art with the world, in no certain order.

Where do you find inspiration?

One of my greatest times of inspiration is experienced when I am traveling. There is something in how I am able to capture visuals in my memory and then translate them onto canvas which makes my art unique. These visuals might be how I reflect on a foreign landscape to my home, or the same with a face of a stranger as I walk down a street. Film seen in the theater usually gets my visual mind racing and I quickly want to return to my studio and paint.

How would you describe your artistic style? How has this style developed over time?

I have found my style has greatly been manufactured by the space I work within. Regarding studio space, in Ohio and New York City I had a storefront studio which gave me large space to make large paintings and display them for clients. Once I moved to California, San Francisco first, my space which I called my studio became my home, mostly because of the inflated market during the late 90’s and West Coast. Because of the shift from large storefronts to my home I found that it was important to adapt so my paintings became 16″x20 and smaller unless I received a commission for a large painting, then I would modify the space to complete the work.

Fuzzy Dinosaur in the Big City, 8×10in., Acrylic on Panel, 2007

Favorite Gallery? (could be LA or anywhere)

George Billis Gallery (my agent), Track 16, SixSpace

Favorite Museum? (could be LA or anywhere)

Pretty much any MOCA.

Which artists or creative people are you inspired by?

Some of my favorite artists are Donald Roller Wilson, Allison Schulnik, Esther Pearl Watson, Mark Ryden, Evan B. Harris, Aya Takano, Jeffrey Keith, Monica Canilao, Mark Bodnar, Georg Baselitz, Martha Sue, just among a few.

What’s coming up – what are you looking forward to?

A potential move. The building I live in is being sold and most likely will be leveled. So it’s time to start looking for a new studio. I haven’t decided yet if I will remain in LA or move to a new city

Hide and Seek, 16×20in., Acrylic on Panel, 2006

LA Specific:

Favorite Restaurant?

The Rose Cafe (Venice)

What’s your typical Saturday morning like? (favorite coffee shops, etc.)

I strive to make everyday a Saturday, or at least the feeling of a Saturday morning after working a five day 9-5 work week. Since I pretty much paint everyday when I do give myself a day off I think, “Oh it’s Saturday!!”. Basically, I start the day by going for a walk. I try to get the blood flowing before I start work.

Craig Carlisle is represented by George Billis Gallery. You can see his latest exhibition at Sharon Weiss Gallery, Columbus Ohio.

Joelle Jensen at Wall Space

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on April 28, 2008
in Art, Artist, Interiors and Photography
. Closed

Photographer Joelle Jensen has a solo exhibition at Wall Space.

Untitled (Interiors)
Wall Space Gallery, Seattle, WA
April 8 – May 10, 2008

Official artist website here.

Tyson Grumm at Rovzar Gallery

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on April 28, 2008
in Art, Artist and Gallery
. Closed

Tyson Grumm has a solo exhibition at Rovzar Gallery Seattle in May.

Tyson Grumm

The Folklore of Red Coral Island
May 1, 2008 – June 3, 2008

Gregory Crewdson

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on April 27, 2008
in Art, Artist, Gallery and Photography
. Closed

Gregory Crewdson’s latest exhbition, Beneath the Roses, seems to be everywhere at the moment. Showing at Luhring Augustine until May 3, and at White Cube, and will open at Gagosian May 3, 2008. This latest series continues familiar Crewdson themes; mundane settings collide with a subverted narrative that captures a moment of potential mystery, unease. It’s the viewer who brings the narrative to the image. Interpretation unfolds as you realize something really awful just took place, or could occur, within moments.

Untitled (The Madison)
‘Beneath the Roses’
2007
Edition of 6
Archival pigment print
58 1/2 x 89 1/2 in. (148.6 x 227.3 cm) (incl. frame)

Light has everything to do with Crewdson’s sublime imagery. Dusk bathes an image with an otherness, suspended between day and night. Smoke clouds our perception and hints at more drama laying just beyond what is easily seen in the image.

Gregory Crewdson
Untitled, Summer 2004
Digital C-print
(north by northwest from Beneath the Roses)
64 1/4 X 94 1/4 inches

Cars drift in and out of the images. A door is flung open, or left abandoned.

Untitled (Forest Clearing)
‘Beneath the Roses’
2007
Archival pigment print
58 1/2 x 89 1/2 in. (148.6 x 227.3 cm) (incl. frame)

Intimate. Detached. Horrible. Beautiful. For me, the work is about uncovering contrasts.

How does he do it? There’s a great story online at Aperture that describes his crew, which includes members Rick Sands, Daniel Karp, Carl Sprague and others, and gives insight into their working capacity with Crewdson. Each crew member discusses his or her specialties and contribution to Crewdson’s vision. The scale of Crewdson’s endeavor takes on new meaning while reading this article; you realize the number of people required and the amount of equipment needed to stage a photo.

White Cube has a series of Production Stills available for purchase.

Official artist website here.

So Far The Art of Dale Frank 2005-1980

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on April 24, 2008
in Art, Artist, Australia, Books, Gallery, Painting and Sydney
. Closed

It took me an entire day to find this book. Bit of a saga, but it was so worth it.

I first learned of Dale Frank’s work from Roslyn Oxley9 gallery in Sydney. On a recent trip down under I read a book review in the The Australian which described Frank’s new book titled So Far The Art of Dale Frank 2005-1980. The scope of the book and the production details sounded intriguing. I’d recently become interested in the artist’s work so I thought this title would be a must-have addition to my library.

Itinerary update: locate So Far.

Following my morning coffee at the Illy Cafe, I knew I could probably find this Dale Frank book by visiting his art gallery but I was in the CBD and didn’t feel like taking a cab anywhere. First stop: Art Gallery of New South Wales. The sales person here said they received one of the books but sent it back due to a binding defect. Hearing this got me a little concerned about the overall bindery quality. I knew the book had to be pretty heavy so maybe the damage could have been caused in transit to this one title. The salesperson agreed with that and kindly referred me to Kinokuniya Bookstore located downtown at The Galeries Victoria, level 2. I had lunch at AGNSW and then headed over to Kinokuniya.

Kinokuniya is The Place for all things books, magazines and printed matter. The store is a treasure trove. I asked a sales person whether they had a copy of the Dale Frank book. She searched for it on her computer system and came up with one copy. A-ha! Excellent news and now we simply had to find that one copy in the store. Believe it or not, it took about 60 minutes of hunting back and forth, aisle after aisle, several computer checks, speaking with other co-workers, etc. but we finally found it on their new books shelf. The reason we didn’t immediately see it? Stealth packaging: all white slipcase with a discrete sans serif type style treatment. The kind of thing easily missed amongst 100,000 other titles.

You know the smell of newly printed magazines or marketing collateral – that’s the smell of printer’s inks. If you’re a graphic designer you know what I am referring to. Slipping the book out of its case and a strong aroma wafts out. Smells like it was dunked in ink and paint.

Nice details: the cover has an interesting die-cut and the edges of the book have been gilded in primary yellow.

So Far The Art of Dale Frank 1980-2005
Published by: Black Inc (trading as Schwartz Publishing)
February 2008
Hardback, 432 pages

According to the Anna Schwartz website, “(So Far) … is considered to be a ground-breaking publication that will recontextualise Australian art literature, and further contemporary painting.”

I’d seen Frank’s work a few times over the past five years but I didn’t get it. Honestly, his varnish paintings remained a little too < other > for me. Maybe I thought the painting style was an effect; it was closer to chemistry than painting. Then I read the articles featuring Dale Frank’s work in Art & Australia vol.42, #2, Ticket to Ride written by Jane Ranikin-Reid and Dale Frank written by Ashley Crawford. The work clicked. My next experience with his work was the Sore Throat exhibition at RO9. The deep blacks and darker colors in his canvases were producing a murky evocative depth I hadn’t seen before. I loved each sinewy ribbon of color emerging from the blackness.

Conclusion: Now that I have the book, I think I need a Dale Frank painting in my life …

Represented by Roslyn Oxley9, Anna Schwartz.
So Far… review in The Australian.
Dale Frank, by Ashley Crawford, Art & Australia vol.42, #2.
Ticket to Ride Dale Frank’s Conceptual Abstraction, by Jane Rankin-Reid, Art & Australia vol.42, #2.
Queensland homestead at Shentel’s Blog.

Anthony Lister – Processed

Published
by
Jeffrey Burk
on April 22, 2008
in Art, Artist and Painting
. Closed

A short video showing Anthony Lister’s painting process.

Inside:

Outside:

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