narangkar and painting

The Art I Saw in 2011

2012-01-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

I just finished my tally of all the art I saw last year, which was a lot. Too much for one blog post, frankly.

The year started out with a visit to the uber-packed blockbuster Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne & Beyond at the DeYoung Museum. The stand out for me was the glaringly offensive lack of attention by museum goers to the four or five **amazing** works by Henri Toulouse Lautrec. This was of course in favor of three or four paintings by Van Gogh. Of course. Why the museum decided to group all of Van Gogh's work into one corner is a mystery to me. There were some interesting Symbolism and Les Nabis paintings in the show too. Highlights are on this blog post.

I took my beginning art students to see Eva Hesse Studio Works at Berkeley Art Museum. It was a small show featuring some of the relics from her studio, and revealed a truly honest process. Her work is so corporeal. I'm always intrigued by it. It's also interesting to see how the synthetic materials, like the latex and resins, break down over time. It's even a growing field for conservators!

By FAR, the highlight of last year was Charlotte Salomon's Life or Theatre at CJM! I feel really fortunate to have gotten a chance to see this Magnus Opus in person, especially during a time when I was working on my own personal narrative. Her work, and writings, and story provided a lot of information to draw from. Although the 300 or so paintings in the exhibit only covered about 20% of the entire Opus, it was still amazing and eye-opening.

I got a chance to visit Philadelphia to catch the Barnes Collection in it's original location, before it gets transferred to Museum Row. What can I say about this place, and this work? It's CRAMMED with paintings, furniture and Pennsylvania Dutch metalwork. The highlight for me was the sheer volume of Renoir paintings that alerted me to a level of grotesqueness that I had never realized before, and that caused a nauseating sensation. Also, I felt that many of the truly interesting paintings were placed in obscure places, like in corners or above doorways or friezes. It also reinforced my love for Degas.

While in Philadelphia I also got the chance to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art - specifically to see, for the first time, the amazing Marcel Duchamp installation, Étant donnés: 1° la chute d'eau, 2° le gaz d'éclairage. The word mind-blowing doesn't do it justice. My advice to any travelling to Philly: go in the back entrance of the museum and make a bee-line for Modern Art. Skip it all and head to the last room, where all the Duchamp work is. Tucked in the rear corner is the permanent resting place for Étant donnés: 1° la chute d'eau, 2° le gaz d'éclairage. Stick with the work for a while. One look through the peep-hole isn't enough (that's the amazing genius of this work. It requires us to complete it in our minds). Then, wind your way back through Modern Art, which will take you in a somewhat backwards chronology. The way you will experience the rest of the work in the museum is dependent on seeing Duchamp FIRST.

At the Philadelphia Museum of Art I got a chance to see Whistler's Nocturne painting. It's really small, about 5" x 10". Funny, I just saw another Whistler painting at the Legion that was about 3" x 5" and it was dear!

Back home there were some gallery shows that really stick out in my mind. One was a collection of Jay DeFeo works at Hosfelt Gallery and the other was Lynn Hershman's solo show at Gallery Paule Anglim. Of course, there were dozens of great contemporary art shows, but those were the two that really nailed it for me.

I did see the Stein's Collect show at SFMOMA, and the coinciding Seeing Gertrude Stein show at CJM. Big year for Gerty. Maybe now I'll hear less of "There's no There There". To be clear, I'm not annoyed at what she said, it's actually not important at all. I'm annoyed at the incessant use of it! Anyhow, the work in Steins Collect was very difficult to see through the throngs of people, so I kinda rushed through it. Although, I was glad to see a Balthus painting in person.

I saw two master painting shows: One was the Dutch and Flemish Masterworks at The Legion of Honor, and the other was Masters of Venice at the DeYoung. The similarities were that they were both rather small exhibits, but the museums charged extra to see them anyway. In fact, every "special show" charged extra admission, rendering it impossible to actually go to a museum for free, even on free day. Grrrr... I think that's the way things are going to be from now on. I wrote a piece on Realism in this blog post, sort of a response to SF Chronicles only art critic, Kenneth Baker, using the phrase Realism incorrectly. The Venetian Masters show was, sad to say, a little lackluster - mostly in scope, and not in the works themselves. But well curated shows make a difference for the work.

Oh, also Berkeley Art Museum had a show of etchings by Whistler. This is the stuff to study, study, study, and absorb. ... and there was Create! which I thought was good too.

It's a gift to get to pick and choose to do the things that interest us, and inspire us to put our best foot forward, and to make our best work. With enough planning, we can go on Free Day, or simply visit galleries and see everything for free. It's important for artists to see work in person. Remember that, and get out to see some art!

And on that note, my next trip in the very neart future will be to the San Jose Museum of Art for Joan Brown's show, This Kind of Bird Flies Backwards, and to the Rosicrucian Museum to look at Egyptian Art.

2011-12-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Mrs. White, 2011, oil pastel on paper, 11 x 11 inches

Flash Flood

2011-12-20T18:21:00.001-08:00

study for Flash Flood, 2011, pastel on paper, 22 x 22 inches

2011-12-14T10:24:00.001-08:00

Yesterday's NYT promotional bit on Hirst outlines his plan to showcase only spot paintings at all eleven Gagosian locations. Granted, it's fluff, but it is problematic because Hirst doesn't say much anything about his spot paintings as legitimate works. I mean, he has an eleven-gallery, one-man show, and the best description he has for them is that "they're not easy to look at". All coyness aside, doesn't that essentially mean they amount to Op-Art? And how does that justify their importance? Understandably, a lot of what he does is about making people uneasy, but optical uneasiness is quite different from social unease, the latter being what's hinted here.

Damien Hirst with one of his spot paintings, courtesy of The New York Times

Hirst says this is like "having a Museum Retrospective"... in eleven places. Hirst has a museum retrospective coming up next spring at the Tate Modern already. Gagosian's explanation for what makes this grand showcase worthwhile is that they "have entered into popular culture". Therefore, this Gagosian version is not at all retrospective, but rather Franchise Branding, to a T. The spot paintings are the (really expensive) gift shop accompaniment to the museum show: superfluous yet ubiquitous.

Still, examining it under that lens is more interesting than "they're not easy to look at", and sparks an interesting thought process - one that may lead to questions about art that is fully absorbed into popular culture. But have the spot paintings actually done that, and if so, why?

There is obvious potential for interesting dialogue around this topic, and it IS taking place, just on the margins of art, not in the big box stores. I suggest reading Bourdieu's "The Field of Cultural Production" as a starting point.

I've heard the notion that some day Damien Hirst's spot paintings are going to reveal themselves as a form of subversive art. I believe I read that a while ago in his book On The Way To Work. Personally, I don't see it, and yesterday's article confirms my position. Their potential to reveal themselves as TRULY subversive would have to be in their commercial worth, first. Pictorially, they do not have much significance. So hypothetically, if the paintings did perform some subversive function, Hirst would have to figure out a way to completely DE-value the paintings after his death. The whole would take on the form of an intervention of sorts, or institutional critique, and the joke would be on the Gagosian brand and franchise for once and for all.

"She walked the walk, but she didn't talk the talk." (Jodi Throckmorton on Joan Brown).

2011-12-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

The premise of the discussion in the video is that Joan Brown "walked the walk (of the Women's Movement), but didn't talk the talk".

Throckmorton mentions that Joan Brown held conflicting views of the Women's Movement. What were those conflicting views? Maybe they don't matter in the show over all, but I think they matter, so long as we are discussing an artist's parallels with the movement, or view her work in this context. I could surmise that perhaps one conflict could have been that she shared the goals, yet could not sacrifice studio time in favor of being on the front lines, but that may have meant not having a full voice within the movement? It could have been not wanting to fully conform to any specific gender-role, or the dismantling of ALL gender identity roles, and that perhaps had been painted as a black and white issue?

Perhaps we can examine it by remembering the climate around Women's Liberation at the time, and differentiate it from the climate today. It was a vilified movement in which an individual, especially a woman, could have easily been isolated in her own home for participating. The movement was seen as a threat to what society saw as good and normal, so to be a vocal participant would have meant taking risks among family and household first, then workplace, school, and then social groups. Therefore, the common mantra "I don't label myself a feminist" was something a woman would say, so she could live her life freely and openly, embrace the ideals and goals of feminism, and avoid the very real social stigma of the F-word.

For me, that she "walked the walk" but didn't "talk the talk" is a non-issue, given the complexities of the history of the Women's movement and the social constraints that were palpable to everyone at the time. And while a woman may have had good reason to avoid being labeled, there's a suggestion here that labels are still something to fear today. Throckmorton sort of hints at this with her gesticulating while using the saying "shouting from the rooftop", as if it's something silly or extreme. Is this a necessary discourse for an institution to embark upon?

Maybe Joan Brown didn't "talk the talk", and Joan Mitchell never wanted to be called a "Lady Painter", but that doesn't really mean much, except the desire to avoid being pigeonholed. We all know that transcending marginalization and tokenism takes delicate maneuvering. But let's not forget those who did talk the talk, and with full awareness of the societal factors, because they too have done us a great service. The work of quiet trailblazers wouldn't have gone very far without the loud, vocal call for social change.

Okay, next up: visiting the show!

2011-12-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

And, if you are in Miami for the art fairs, stop by Andrea Schwartz' booth at Red Dot Miami.

Frederick Judd Waugh 1860 - 1940

2011-11-24T10:52:00.001-08:00

Frederick Waugh, At the Base of the Cliff

and here's a link to a blog Marine Oil Paintings

Thanks for the tip about FW, Kathryn!

The Ocean

2011-11-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

What does water do when it's moving?

These breaks - moving really fast, and with many yards of foam - had just the right kind of physics I was looking to study for some new paintings I'm working on. I'm noticing the long shadow cast by these foamy breaks, creating good contrast between the white-white foam and the water getting sucked under it.

I keep hoping (in vain) to commit each wave to memory. I do this with a lot of things I see in the world. Although I often fail, I do find the excercise of trying to be a worthwhile pursuit. And luckily we have snapshots to work with. What in the heck did the maritime painters do before it?

The Gleaners

2011-10-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Jean-François Millet (II) (1814–1875), The Gleaners, 1857, 84 × 111 cm

The Wave

2011-10-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Whoa

Gustave Courbet, The Wave, 1870, 80 x 100 cm, oil on canvas, courtesy of Museum Oskar Reinhart am Stadtgarten

Ella Woodhead, age 7

2011-10-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Seven year old, Ella Woodhead swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge a few days ago. This video captures her final minute or so before she reaches the finish.

I'm working on a lot of water in my paintings lately, and I love the vantage point in this video, and it triggers personal memories for me, although far, far different ones. I'm also just interested in it visually–the grey sky, dark grey choppy water, her green cap popping up above the horizon, which is framed low so the view can imagine being in the water with her.

Here's a link to the article about this fantastic swimmer.

The Mill and The Cross

2011-10-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

The Mill and The Cross is a movie out in theaters that attempts to conceptualize a "moment frozen in time" through the lens of this painting.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Way to Calvary (or The Cross of Christ, or Die Kreuztragung Christi), 1564, oil on wood, 124 × 170 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Also, look at The Triumph of Death:

The Triumph of Death, 1562

2011-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Oakland artist John Casey opens his solo show today: "Tall Tales: Collaborative Projects by John Casey & Friends"

Here's a preview of my contribution to his epic collaboration:

Photos from Altered Ground

2011-09-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

Some images from the show I am participating in:

Altered Ground
Work-Ann Arbor
University of Michigan School of Art + Design

goes until October 7th

Participants:
Robert Platt
Janie Paul
Joel Wellington Fisher
John Ganis
Aaron Bobzien
Virginia Calwell
Monique Jansel-Belitz
Cythia Brinich-Langlois
Sung Rok Choi
Michael Ambron
James Nakagawa
Joe Lingeman
Zane Davis
Simon Mennar
Shelly Given
Ryan Boatright
Anna Collette
Ali Taptik
Jason Nein
David Lefkowits
Autumn Wetli
Mike Shankman
Adam Weir
Naragkar Glover
Osamu Nakagawa
Paola Vezzani

Black

2011-09-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

Black Pigment.

It's on my mind. Heavily. Do you know how many black pigments are manufactured these days? It's hard to say, but here's a comprehensive list of black pigments. That's a website I use to search the index codes for pigments, and comes in handy when looking at mixtures from the tube. Anyway, most of us usually only go out and get Mars Black (PBk11), Ivory Black (PBk9, or Bone Black), or Lamp Black (PBk7 or Carbon Black), and each manufacturer usually makes a black mixture or two. Williamsburg makes about 8, Gamblin about 4 or 5, Old Holland actually only 3, and so on.

Mars Black is opaque and matte and has a high tinting strength. Ivory Black is transparent and shiny with a low tinting strength. Lamp Black is also called Carbon Black, and is derived from, you guessed it, lamp soot (traditionally at least).

So, we have these pigments, that have been available since humans have been able to mix charred carbon material with a binder. But then in art school we are told not to ever use them. If you want to use black, mix chromatic, transparent pigments until you get a black. While a mixed black can be controlled by the painter, therefore it's good to know and understand that technique, a carbon black will have different physical properties all-together, which should be discovered and enjoyed as well.

My hunch is that the rule against black pigment, specifically carbon black, is that it's a more difficult paint to control and to dictate the terms, and that the rule against pure black paint is derived from the school of representational painting, or a foundation course so to speak, and only exists to avoid pitfalls. Bah! An advanced painter must treat painting not in the binaries of representation versus abstraction. My sense is that the old masters didn't even look at it like this. It frees us up for the larger scope of opportunities that lie before us. And since we have been fortunate enough to have living painters like Gerhard Richter spell it out for us, we may as well utilize this information and take advantage of it.

I just saw DEFEO at Hosfelt Gallery, SF. My thoughts on black pigment had already been percolating, and after this became ever more pronounced. Hooray for that! The show has paintings on canvas, on paper, and xerox art (carbon!). This small-ish survey show, that intends to pre-empt a travelling retrospective of Defeo's beginning at SFMOMA next year, exemplifies a serious investigation into black, and black pigment. (Obviously there are many more facets in her investigations, but you can read about all that in the show catalogue). The large painting, titled Bride, struck me in a profound way. What she does in this painting, with so much deftness, is lay different black pigments, some pure, some mixed, some glossy, some matte, over one another to discuss form, both literal and not, and therefore to reveal not deftness, or virtuosity, but a sincere corporeal curiosity.

Jay Defeo, Bride, 1986. Courtesy of Hosfelt Gallery

I think black pigment challenges us to grapple with the physical characteristics of an ancient material, and therefore forces us to forgo a sort of ego driven virtuosity too. To be able to command a material that we are told never to ever use is a remarkable thing. To be up to the challenge of it, and to conquer the so-called pitfalls of it, is something I personally want to embrace, and get better at.

Here's a painting I did months ago, and had in my MFA show. The whole top half has a lot of varying thicknesses of Ivory Black. The bottom half, the yellowish part uses Ivory Black mixed with Dyarlide Yellow.

Shangri-La Girls School: Vincent Hill Dirty Socks, 2010

I'll end the conversation with a painting by Kerry James Marshall, who used pure black pigment in his figures as a rhetorical statement for blackness. I guess I can go into more of that later. Until next time, thanks for reading

Kerry James Marshall, Lost Boys aka Black Johnny, 1995

View of Toledo

2011-09-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

El Greco, View of Toledo, c.1596-1600,121.3 × 108.6 cm (47.8 × 42.8 in), Metropolitan Museum of Art

The New York Times Art & Design section is part of my weekly routine. Today there was an article that recalls a New Yorker profile from 1950 on Ernest Hemingway, in which he visits the Met, and then a list of paintings he picked out. I guess, for some, the list may serve as a window into Hemingway's personality, or psyche. It may lead to more clues to what informed his own artistic process. Or, we could be reading WAY too much into it, in the sense that once someone is a celebrated author or artist, their choices and selections mean something MORE than the next person. I'm not inclined to think of the list a cohesive narrative, symbolic of anything, other than a man's taste.

I think this painting, part of the selection, by El Greco is really interesting. What I like to do in cases like this is to see if there exists a higher-res version on Wikimedia Commons, and usually there is one when it's a major work. Here's the link to it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_Greco_View_of_Toledo.jpg

I like how, in this painting, the tonality is slightly awkward - it weaves its way from bottom right, to center-left, and then to the heaviness in the upper-right. It gives it a challenging pictorial space. And the black sky, just above the fortress, or castle, is so heavy. It feels as though it's suffocating the scene. A lot of El Greco's works are heavy in blacks, or very dark pigments.

Group Show at Andrea Schwartz Gallery, September 14 - October 28

2011-09-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to be in this group show at Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco.

And, if you are in Michigan, I am in a group show called Altered Ground at Work Ann ArborUMich Art & Design

AP photo from 2006

2011-08-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

Painters compete during a facsimile match in Dafen Village, Shenzhen City, south China’s Guangdong Province, Thursday, May 18, 2006. More than 110 contestants make facsimile of portrait or scenery oil painting in the timed game held in the village which is famous for its oil painting facsimile industry. (AP Photo / Xinhua, Feng Ming)

This is such a compelling photo. I think it sums up everything. Everything.

And, who is the bearded person that these factory workers are painting? Is it Leo Tolstoy? I think it is. It must be. Here's a 19th c. painting of Tolstoy:

Portrait of Leo Tolstoy by Ilya Repin

And here's a photograph portrait of Tolstoy:

And look at the upper left margin. All those men are wearing the same clothes.

2011-08-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

This recent NYTimes Motherlode Blog entry, titled Puzzling Gender Roles on Campus or, After Class, Skimpy Equality seems to view the issue of gender roles and equality as a purely behavioral social problem.

My Comment:
Take Back The Night was not a protest about how women behave. It was about the demand for justice for RAPE and SEXUAL ASSAULTS which were not being adequately investigated or prosecuted. In fact is was an argument against the notion that women's behavior is a causality for the brutal crime against them.

To shame women while we supposedly fight for our right to fairness, equality and justice, only perpetuates the silly notion that a women did something to deserve a violent act against her. Instead of attire, what should be being discussed is the staggering numbers of rape and sexual assault on college campuses, the mis-directed and discriminatory justice process, the lack of reporting of sexual assaults, and why that is the case still to this day.

Moreover, it's important to investigate where access and privilege for women is being denied, or pushed to the side. My guess is that if every woman on college campuses began to dress, perhaps in what your eyes is \"more appropriate\" 24-7, there would still be widespread gender discrimination and staggering statistics of sexual assault.

Feminism is the demand for equality and fairness, and not about women's behavior, or how we see ourselves, our self-image that is to say. The way women behave and dress is not a measure of women's progress, nor should it ever be. This sentiment fogs the concrete issues, and warps the criminal justice system. The cascading effect is the under-reporting of these dreadful acts of violence toward women. College women need to be assured that they are allowed to seek justice for crimes against them, and that the clothes they were wearing and alcohol they were consuming does not warrant criminal violence.

Taking a subjective approach to the topic of equality obfuscates. It continues to instill the notion that women are people that must conform to a particular gender norm. The LGBT and Queer politics discourse can serve as a good example for Feminist discourse. It's about rights.

If you'd like to comment on the piece, go here.

My Vadun No. 3

2011-08-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite palette knife. I've had it since 1995 when I had to buy supplies for my first painting class, and have managed to hang on to it through moves, and dry periods in which I didn't paint. Now, it's 2011 and the knife has been worn down so much it's razor thin, and it's even cut my finger once. I think I like it because of the shape of the handle - it's so rounded, it feels good to hold. And the angle from the knife to the handle, the stem I guess, is long enough that I don't mash my fingers against the painting. No art supply stores sell this make any more. It's a Vadun No. 3, made in Japan.

True!

2011-08-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

"Experience has proved that there is no difference between a so-called realist painting – of a landscape, for example – and an abstract painting. They both have more or less the same effect on the observer."

Gerhard Richter in an Interview with Irmeline Lebeer, 1973

RFS shake-it photo essay

2011-08-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

For the last two years I worked in a studio at UC's Richmond Field Station. It's a beautiful and curious place. Even though there are some major labs located there, like the Earthquake Simulator Lab and the Sustainable Transporation Lab, and the Watershed Project, it usually feels like no one is around. There are spaces dedicated to annual nationwide academic competitions, like Civil Engineering's Concrete Canoe, and Mechanical Engineering's Go-Carts. Now again one has to watch out for Go-Carts zipping around!

RFS is situated next to the Bay Trail, just up from Point Isabel. I went for some walks and jogs, but mostly holed up in my studio. Most of my relationship to the landscape, I admit, was gazing from the windows, or sitting at the picnic table. That's okay. By the time my two-year stint was over, this PLACE had seeped well into my consciousness.

Headlands Center for the Arts Summer Open House

2011-07-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Join me Sunday July 24th, from 1pm - 5pm for Headlands Center for the Arts Summer Open House

I'll be showing my MFA work in building 960

This Is Real

2011-07-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

In a recent review of the exhibit Dutch and Flemish Masterworks at the Legion, Ken Baker of the SF Chronicle uses the headline "A Golden Age of Art Realism". Then he says "Doubters of realism have only to see the dazzling (show), to become believers."

And then he says, "Nearly all the pictures in "Golden" have implications beyond the stunning impressions their realism, or stylizations, make."

I suppose it's here that he's letting on, ever so subtly, that Realism has nothing to do with reality, so much as it has to do with presenting a scenario in which the viewer must accept it as real, through the sum of its parts. And that is precisely what painting is. And when one studies individual parts, or portions of a painting, one must conclude that it is absurd and in fact very far from real.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594–1680), Still Life with Glasses and Tobacco, 1633. Oil on panel, 20 x 29 3/4 inches. The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection

When I look at the orange in the foreground of Still Life with Glasses and Tobacco, I notice how its properties have been treated with such an 'exactness' that pushes it into a realm of luxurious romanticism, or even fantasy. It's being passed off as a Still Life–An observation grounded in some kind of humble experience. And the verisimilitude, or the verisimilitude that the treatment and handling of the orange purports, is that we accept it as such, and not as a shrewdly treated subject intended to manipulate our faculties, and therefore our understanding. And, that we accept it as something real is to imply that we are also to accept and celebrate, and even love that the Dutch colonized half the world, and that this must be something good, and not evil. Just by how beautiful this orange is.

In respect to the etymology of the word, my aim is to understand, to truly understand on a philopsophical level, what Realism really is. Even before reading Baker's write-up, these works sparked a debate in my mind: how UNreal the paintings are, yet how one can't get around the real-ness of the painting itself, and then, the bifurcating reality that these paintings serve as props for historical documents, yet are documents unto themselves. That we get the chance to tread all these grounds simultaneously when we look at paintings that are four hundred years old is a very profound thing to me.

In this show there is a portrait of a woman wearing a fur. The fur is painted with such exquisite-ness that when I look at it, I feel as though I am touching it. And if I touch it, what I touch is a flat, painted surface–another experience all-together. It's paint, but then it's fur, but then it's paint again. In this way, Realism is something miraculous!

The painting Wooded Landscape struck me in the same way. These hills are so hard to believe if we look at them from a strictly spatial perspective. Especially the one in the foreground. It was here that I overheard someone say in awe, "it could be a photograph". No, it could NOT be a photograph. It could never be a photograph. Look at it, just look at it for more than five seconds, and you will see why it can't be a photograph. While a photograph can lie to us in a way that this painting can't, this painting can lie to us in ways that a photograph couldn't even come close.

Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-1682), Wooded Landscape, c.1655-1660, The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection

Going back to Baker's line: "doubters of Realism ...". I think he meant to address those who decry this particular style of painting, not so much Realism in the philosophical sense. And while he, as an art critic may not be confusing Realism with Realistic, laypeople, reading his writing in this context will most certainly do so, and on we go.

But we MUST doubt Realism. Because it is the best way we can understand Reality.

Art is a gift in that way. And we begin to accept that gift by looking hard and trying to really understand.

I am trying to really understand.

Art Santa Fe

2011-07-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

I have a few paintings at Art Santa Fe. Runs through this weekend, July 7th - July 10th.

Visit Michael Rosenthal's booth in #201
Santa Fe Convention Center
201 W. Marcy, Santa Fe, NM

Shangri-La Girls School: Garhwali Himalayas, 2010, 60 x 60 inches, oil on canvas

The View From Here

2011-06-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have a small painting as part of a project in a solo show by Castaneda/Reiman at BRX. I was asked to copy one of the landscape paintings among their personal found landscape paintings collection.
The show is up until July 16th.

The View From Here, © Narangkar Glover, 2011, 7 x 14 inches, oil on canvas

To preserve a legacy...

2011-06-24T10:00:00.001-07:00

I recently got the chance to visit the Barnes Foundation in Merion PA. It is a special place, to be sure.

The Barnes Foundation owns a total estimate of around 900 works of art. And among these works are 191 creepy, bulbous and grotesque paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. If you can keep from barfing, the seven hundred and nine other works by Cézanne, Picasso, Mattisse, Demuth, Pippin, Degas, etc etc.. are stunning gems.

I've seen Art of The Steal, and as interesting as it is as a narrative, I am well aware that it is a polemic. Fortunately, the movie piqued my interest. And, unfortunately, after visiting, I felt conflicted about the fight to keep it there–as the phrase "preserving Albert C. Barnes' legacy" was often overheard being used. The reason for my conflict is that amid the discussion to preserve a legacy–a legacy of education for arts, and support of the arts–is a glaring omission. It's the legacy that Barnes supported many living working artists while they were alive, so to "preserve" a legacy like that would realistically mean supporting today's living working contemporary artists - thus continuing the thread of discourse in the arts through the generations.

The Phillips Collection in DC is a good example of a similar organization that carries on the tradition of acquiring works by living artists. The Barnes Foundation should take note. Otherwise the debate simply comes off as righteous indignation over who sits on the mountain of gold.

Artist Kris Chau standing in front of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA.

No Cameras allowed inside!

Philadelphia Museum of Art: "The Source of Life"

2011-06-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

This just creeped us out. It is so ridiculous, I made Oanh stand there for the picture.

Léon Frédéric, The Source of Life, 1890

...and if this one isn't enough, do a Google image search on Léon Frédéric

Philadelphia Museum of Art: Ellsworth Kelly, Jasper Johns

2011-06-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ellsworth Kelly, Tennis Court, 1949

Ellsworth Kelly, Window II, 1949

JASPER JOHNS !!!

and also Jasper Johns (this one and below)

Philadelphia Museum of Art: Thomas Eakins' Agnew Clinic

2011-06-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic

The Gross Clinic was being displayed at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. The two institutions share it on a 6-month timetable

Philadelphia Museum of Art: Some Paintings

2011-06-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

I was SO SO happy to see Nocturne (the painting!) by James Abbott McNeil Whistler

It's grouped together with a bunch of other moody, dreamy paintings

Interior (1868 or 1869) by Edgar Degas. Chau's favorite creepy, odd Degas painting. What the hell is happening in this scene?

❖ ❖ ❖

Always love a good seascape, especially if it has some subtle hints toward a leftist uprising: Edouard Manet's The Steamboat: Seascape with Porpoises, 1868

A rainy painting titled Marine (1866) by Gustave Courbet.

The Life Line, 1884 by Winslow Homer

This building is HUGE! ...and yes, there are many tourists posing like Rocky Balboa here.

Philadelphia Museum of Art: Favorite Etchings

2011-06-19T16:02:00.001-07:00

sorry these are a little blurry, I was just using my phone to capture some of my favorites...

Mary Cassatt, dry point etching

Mart Cassatt, dry point etching

Mary Cassatt, soft ground etching and aquatint

"The Philosopher" by Édouard Manet

"The Old Cottage" by Camille Pissarro

Armpit

2011-06-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

I'm teaching beginning drawing right now at UCB, and including in it a good portion of human anatomy. Those who know me, know that I'm a geek for this stuff, so teaching it is bringing me great joy. My hope is to one day teach a full course on just anatomy for drawing. Meanwhile, here is a wonderful illustration by Barbara D. Cummings

This is the axilla. Have you ever seen a more beautiful image of an armpit?

At the BAM MFA artist talk May 22nd, 2011

2011-05-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

UC Berkeley 2011 MFA Graduate Exhibition

2011-05-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Friday May 20th, 2011

Graduating Class: Corinna Nicole Brewer, Sandie Yi, Narangkar Glover, Merav Tzur, David Wallace, Plinio Hernandez and Chris E. Vargas

New American Paintings #93 MFA Annual

2011-05-10T10:22:00.001-07:00

The Sight of Death

2011-03-26T11:17:00.001-07:00

credit: The Sight of Death is a book written by art historian TJ Clark about two paintings by Nicolas Poussin: Landscape with a Man Killed by a Snake and Landscape with a Calm

When I was seven I witnessed the accidental death of a friend. The details from this day remain in my memory: the color of her swimsuit, her posture, and unfortunately the large welt-like gashes on her arms and legs. In this painting, I worked toward recalling some of those details, and inventing the surrounding landscape so that it would fit the feeling of that intense, chaotic, and unsettling experience:

Nambé Falls: 1981, 2011, 60 x 60 inches, oil on canvas

Before I began the 60 inch canvas, I did a lot of preparation as usual. I did sketches with charcoal, graphite and watercolor, a few small 10 inch paintings, and I did a bunch of gesture drawings of the figure to see which one would fit the composition. Memory is a funny thing. And the more we aim for true accuracy of memory in a painting, the more prep work I did, the further I got from the memory itself. The paintings take on a structure of their own, and really, only stand in lieu of the memory.

detail from nambé falls

another close-up detail from nambé falls

James McNeill Whistler (American 1834 - 1903)

2011-02-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm falling in love with Whistler. And, lucky for me, there's a modest show up right now at Berkeley Art Museum with several dozen of his etchings and lithographs. The piece below, "Nocturne" is my favorite, but by no means is a reflection of everything in the show. In fact, most works are drypoint and etching.

James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne, The Thames at Battersea, 1878, Lithograph
6 3/4 x 10 1/8 inches (17.1 x 25.7 cm)

Indeterminate Stillness: Looking at Whistler
January 26, 2011 - April 10, 2011
bampfa.berkeley.edu

In addition to the Whistler works there are two works by Bay Area painter Robert Bechtle. Bechtle will be giving a talk about Whistler, and how he was influenced by him, on Friday March 11th at 5pm. You should go, because I have to work and will miss it!

Highlights from Impressionism/Post-Impressionism from the Musee D'Orsay at the DeYoung

2011-01-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

Our recent trip to the museum was indeed strange. I had planned ahead and bought evening tickets to the mega-blockbuster impressionism show at the DeYoung, so it'd be less crowded. But we had time to kill yesterday, so we got there early, and I checked in at Will Call for my tickets, only to see a sign saying that the museum was closing at 6pm !! They told us that they had a conflict with another "event" and "didn't you get a phone call"? No, I didn't get a phone call, and besides, don't ALL web ordering databases collect email addresses? pfffshh!

Anyway, we were just glad that we happened to show up early, by mere chance. And after the utterly crowded 3:00pm tour of the show, we headed to Park Chow for some good comfort food. It was almost seven when we headed back toward our car on the other side of the DeYoung, and - it was a ghost town! No "event" in sight.

Well, aside from the bizarre and off-putting experience, here are my highlights:

Paul Gauguin, Seascape With Cow (at the edge of a cliff), 1888

Edgar Degas, Dancers Climbing The Stairs, 1186

Maurice Denis, Homage to Cézanne, 1900

Emile Bernard, Madeleine in the Bois d'Amour, or Portrait of my Sister, 1888

Maurice Denis, Cavalry (Climbing to the Cavalry), 1889

Felix Vallotton, The Ball, or Corner Of The Park with Child Playing With A Ball, 1899

***************

I should mention that there are four paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec which are stunning of course, and easy to spend time looking at because on the opposing walls are the Van Goghs, ie, the crowd-pleasers, the main attraction. At least fifty people at a time crowded around about five Van Gogh paintings, while the other side of the room is empty. I've never seen such a grotesque spectacle!

But, why did the curators of this exhibit choose to put the Van Goghs all in one place? Did they even consider the bottleneck that it would cause, him being pretty much the biggest household name in art, let alone impressionist painting? Sheesh. While I'm at it, I'd like to openly criticize the Legion and DeYoung for their utter addiction to fashion and fashion-related exhibits. At least two per year it seems!

New American Paintings #91 Pacific Coast Edition

2011-01-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

I'm in the current issue of New American Paintings (#91 Pacific Coast) juried by Larry Rinder of the Berkeley Art Museum:

I'm excited to say that I will also be in this year's New American Paintings MFA Annual - so stay tuned!

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

We started celebrating the New Year on the 30th with a cocktail called Otto's Sour

...then on the 31st (after a whole half-mile jog) it was on to sparkling wine and Kushi oysters on the half-shell,

...and for dinner we made Julia Child's moules à la marinière, oven fries and fresh baguette. What a treat!

The broth came out perfectly. I'm a novice at shellfish and meat (having grown up veg only), so I was nervous about making this dish, but it really wasn't difficult at all. I'm now brimming with confidence for 2011! HA!

PS, I love this Etching by Whistler, and kept thinking of it when we were mixing our New Year's cocktails.

The Wine Glass, 1858 by James McNeill Whistler

Here's to a fantastic 2011!
and here are links to the drink recipes we tried out:

The Seelbach - bourbon, cointreau, bitters & champagne - a strong drink! not sure I can handle this one...

The Long Hello - St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, Apple Brandy & champagne - lovely, light and floral, we loved it and will keep making more of these.

Otto's Sour - Aquavit, Port, cinnamon syrup, lemon juice & red wine - this one had the most complex layering of flavors and was yummy, maybe a little on the sugary side, but it was fun to make our own cinnamon syrup.

The French 77 - Elderflower liqueur, lemon juice & champagne - very nice!

oh, and here's the link to moules à la marinière on the smittenkitchen blog

Mamma Andersson

2010-12-22T13:20:00.001-08:00

I was recently introduced to the work of Karin Mamma Andersson, painter from Sweden. She now has a show at the Aspen Art Museum, up until February 6. I'm intrigued by her landscapes, how some parts are simply washes and glazes and other parts are built up. I'm also interested in her color decisions. Another great example of a painter who is creating an ambiguous psychological space by employing these formal elements.

Loiter On The Way Home, 2002

Hallway, 2010

Caspar and Me, 2009

Dead End, 2010

playing rocks

2010-12-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

I've been drawing rocks from life a lot lately. Also I have been making studies and sketches with Sennelier Oil Sticks, after my friend Ako Castuera showed me an amazing piece she did using them. The pastels are really soft, so you can build up thick areas and mix pigments together and kinda just get loose. This is a 5 x 5 in. study on corrugated cardboard.

I'm studying rocks for a lot of reasons: My current paintings have a lot of jutting cliffs and rocks, which are from memory, so studying from life can help me work out the forms better. Also, I'm recalling some of the more mundane elements from growing up at a boarding school in India. Instead of "jacks", we played "rocks"–every kid had a collection of about five or six stones in her pocket all day long, and took breaks to play throughout our tedious days.

Unlike Jacks, you had to throw a rock in the air, grab your two-sies, three-sies or four-sies, and catch your throwing rock, all in one swipe. I think we felt a little bit more badass than American's who had the luxury of a bounce!

Tim Eitel

2010-11-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

Check out German painter Tim Eitel:

Aufstieg, 2010, Oil on canvas, 250 x 210 cm | 98.43 x 82.68 in

Reflektion, 2010, Oil on canvas, 205 x 250 cm | 80.71 x 98.43 in

Nebel, 2010, Oil on canvas, 205 x 250 cm | 80.71 x 98.43 in

love the German painters these days!

(images courtesy Galerie EIGEN+ART)

psycho-space

2010-11-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

Just saw Shutter Island on DVD. I actually wasn't expecting it to be very good, and I should have trusted Scorsese's hand a little bit more. In this movie he deftly captured and conveyed the psychological content of the narrative through the use of the visual landscape, and the score (which reminded me a little of the Cape Fear soundtrack scored by Henry Mancini). Although there were a few plot issues, I am still marveling at the visual impact of this movie:

These cliffs were really dark and slippery - very threatening. Considering the story, I'm impressed with Scorsese's abilities to conjure such a psychological space, and perhaps that's because that is what I am continually working toward with my own work. My paintings draw from personal and real experiences. This is a new painting in which I draw from a real place, where there was a huge hillside, high up in the himalayas that we had to hike up - and the rumor was that there literally were "a thousand stairs". I push the psychological content a little further, exaggerating the cliffs and rocks, and scaling down the figures:

A Thousand Stairs, 2010, 60 x 60 inches

Nathan Oliveira b:1928 - 2010

2010-11-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Rest in Power Nathan Oliveira.

You have been a living example to myself and my fellow artists.

I thank you for your vision and your dedication.

You will be greatly missed.

standing man with hands in belt, 1960

Fall Highlights

2010-11-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

I'm excited about a few upcoming events/things:

Normally UC Berkeley's Department of Art Practice does not host Open Studios, but us grads wanted a way to discuss our work with our friends, colleagues and well-wishers. Join us for:

Cal MFA Informal Open Studios
Saturday November 20th
1pm to 5pm
Richmond Field Station, Building 152
Richmond, CA

click here for a map and directions to RFS
visitors must use the west entrance gate, and let the security guard know you are visiting us at Art Practice

next,

I'm super excited to be a part of the Aqua Art Fair in Miami. Gallerist Michael Rosenthal (booth #116) is bringing several of my new works, including Nalwa House Dorm #3 (below). I think it's awesome that I'll get to have a large painting at the show, considering much of the work in these kinds of things are usually under 40 inches, squared.

and last,

My work will be appearing in the upcoming Pacific Coast Edition of New American Paintings. Look for it at the news stands around December.

but just so we don't forget the exciting month of october in the bay area:

WOO HOOO!

New Paintings

2010-10-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Worked on this painting all summer:

Shangri-La Girls School: Nalwa House Dorm #3, 2010, 60 x 80 inches, oil on canvas

... and here's one that is still in progress:

August Gay 1890-1948

2010-09-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is a small painting by August Gay that sits in the permanent collection at Oakland Museum of California. It's one of my favorite landscape paintings. I don't know why, but I love it, and I love visiting it from time to time at OMCA.

sketches of memories of plates

2010-09-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

Grandma's Macaroni & Cheese, 2010, ink on paper

This is a sketch I did this summer of the plates my Grandma used to use every time we visited her house. She always made Macaroni & Cheese with Peas on the side. I loved the food, but always looked forward to this image on the bottom of the plate - sometimes it would be the girl, sometimes the boy, or sometimes both (like this sketch).

This design, called Lotte-Turi is by a Scandinavian mid-century design house called Figgjo.

Narratives

2010-08-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Narrative work is tricky. It's not the same as illustration. Rather it is work that comes from a singular point-of-view, can reach a broad audience, and with the mark of the hand, can indicate a personal side. A perfectly appropriate balance of subject and mark-making.

Some 20th century narrative works that are serving as a source of inspiration these days:

Miné Okubo, (from Citizen 13660):

Charlotte Salomon, (from Life? or Theatre?):

Henry Darger, (from his epic life's work In the Realm of the Unreal):

James Castle:

Half Dome and CLoud by Wayne Thiebaud

2010-07-23T12:45:00.001-07:00

I had this painting on my mind this whole week while hiking and camping at Yosemite. I was able to witness first-hand the larger than life and frontal view of Half Dome from North Dome, and it all started to make sense.

Half Dome and Cloud, by Wayne Thiebaud

...and here are my snapshots of our camping and hikes:

This is Indian Ridge. The trail climbs up from the right side from a forested ravine, surprising us with the most stunning view of Half Dome. Hike past this to North Dome for an even closer view:

Atop North Dome - a spectacular, impossibly huge frontal view of Half Dome

Base camp along the Lehamite Creek

Trail to Yosemite Falls

Cathedral Peaks (left), and Eagle Peak (right)

cute!

Tenaya Lake - refreshing after hiking out from the North Rim

HIghlights from Birth of Impressionism at deYoung and camera phone pictures from the permanent collection

2010-06-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Caught the Birth of Impressionism show at the DeYoung today. The highlights for me were Henri Léopold Lévy's Sarpedon, 1874; Jules Bastien-Lepage's Haymaking, 1877; Jean Francois Raffaelli's The Family of Jean le Boiteux, 1876; Frederic Bazille's Family Reunion, 1867; James MacNeil Whister's Arrangement in Grey and Black #1 (or Whistler's Mother), 1871; Alfred Sisley's Snow at Louveciennes, 1878; Edgar Degas' At The Stock Exchange, 1878; and Degas' The Dancing Lesson, and ALL of the paintings by Manet.

After the whirlwind we soaked in some of the permanent collection:

Matsusaboro (George) Hibi, Block #9, Topaz, 1945 (I have never seen this painting before!)

DeKooning

Elmer Bischoff

David Park

Richard Diebenkorn

Richard Diebenkorn

Robert Motherwell

Jay DeFeo's The Mountain (A first for me!)

Photos from Poppy(shop)

2010-06-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

June 4th-6th, 2010

Poppy(shop)

Recent Work: May 2010

2010-05-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I just finished my first year of grad school! And in the "school spirit" here are some recent paintings, based on my own childhood girls' school:

Shangri-La Girls School: Ranjit House Clobberfest, 2010, 35 x 35 inches, oil on canvas

Shangri-La Girls School: Nalwa House, Over The Cliffs, 2010, 48 x 48 inches, oil on canvas

Shangri-La Girls School: Attari House Beatdown, 2010, 12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

Shangri-La Girls School: Attari House Plotting Domination, 2010, 48 x 48 inches, oil on canvas

Tree Show

2010-05-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

My 40 x 60" embroidery, which was part of "It's Gonna Be Awesome" will once again see the light of day in:

Tree Show VI
Giant Robot
618 Shrader Street, San Francisco

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, May 15th, 6:30 - 10pm

Balthus

2010-04-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Balthus' Andre Derain, 1936:

it's on

2010-03-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Lately artists who don't paint have been enjoying taking subtle jabs at painting by saying to me "I wish I was a painter, it's just so easy", and "it only takes, like, 20 minutes to install your show", and "all you have to do is make it and people come and buy it from you".

I don't think young artists realize that they may be simply regurgitating the hackneyed rhetoric of an older generation of conceptual artists, and yeah, as a painter, it's getting old. And yeah, these conversattions provide fodder for a less demanding brain, they offer nothing fresh to the discourse, and totally ignore a huge chunk of new and interesting contemporary art, and also display a neglect for the possibilities of the tactile experience that art provides.

Painting Still Lively in the 21st Century, NY Times, March 26th, 2010

The Long Jump by Carl Lewis by Henry Taylor

First Year MFA show: Wednesday February 24th at Worth Ryder Gallery, UC Berkeley

2010-02-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

Join us "first years" for our first year's show:

"Footnote"
First Year MFA Exhibition

Wednesday February 24th, 4pm - 7pm

Worth Ryder Gallery
Kroeber Hall
University of California at Berkeley

Seven Artists:
Narangkar Glover
Plinio Hernandez
Corrina Nicole
Merav Tzur
Chris Vargas
David Wallace
Sandi Yi

MG Window Display Project, at night

2010-02-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

MG Gallery Window Display Project, complete

2010-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

"shangri-la girl's school" at MG Gallerywill be up until January 30th, 2010

MG Window Display Project, January 16th - January 30th

2010-01-16T16:34:00.000-08:00

MG Gallery Window Display Project, day one

2010-01-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

I'm working on an installation this month at MG Gallery (in Oakland at 56th and Shattuck). For this project I installed sheetrock around the perimeters of the space and on it I'm doing a continuous drawing, sort of like a panorama.

The installation will be done on the 16th and will be viewable at night through the windows of the gallery space. We'll have an informal gathering there sometime while it's up - so stay tuned...

"Pocket Money" Gocco Print

2010-01-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

pocket money, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, edition of 40

I've been increasingly interested in re-creating these things from childhood as artifacts, in a sense. Some of them are straight from memory. Some require a little research. For the pocket money print, I had to seek out images of the originals in order to get the details accurate, and I was able to track down a former classmate that preserved some of her old pocket money (a feat unto itself).

the scan of this print is a little off, and the pink in the actual print is a fluorescent pink, which was the closest gocco printing ink i could get my hands on.

Holiday Land

2009-12-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

Had ourselves a good time these past few weekends:

Here we are at Blankspace Gallery's Holidayland, posing with Jason Byers' Babe the Blue Ox installation. What fun!

New Work, Fall 2009

2009-12-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

After a rigorous and productive first semester of graduate school at UC Berkeley, I now have a chance to add some new work to my website.
Here are some highlights from the selected works:

G.N.F.C. Shangri-la: sickroom and lower field, 2009, 42 x 55 inches
©narangkar glover

G.N.F.C. Shangri-la: 52 stairs, 2009, 44 x 60 inches
©narangkar glover

G.N.F.C. Shangri-la: the caffe, 2009, 42 x 52 inches
©narangkar glover

These drawings were created from memories of my childhood boarding school in Mussoorie, India.

In Honor of Plaid Friday

2009-11-21T18:22:00.000-08:00

Bedcover, 2009, oil on canvas, 9 x 9 inches
©Narangkar Glover

Shop Indie on Plaid Friday!

rowanmorrison.com

Bata Chappals

2009-11-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

These shoes, or chappals, painted from memory, were the bathroom sandals issued to us at my childhood school. My paintings, since I've beginning to work with memories, have been primarily greyscale. It's less out of the need to create nostalgia, but more out of the desire to inform mood through the values. In the initial stage of this painting (below), I simply used mars black and flake white ... >>

For the final painting (below) I've mixed my own black, and focused alot on the forms and edges. I'm pleased with the difference between using out-of-the-tube black versus my own mixture (of alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and sap green). There's really no rules for black - if you get a good black that you like, use it!

Bata Chappals, 2009, 8" x 8", oil on canvas
©Narangkar Glover

9.12.09 - Awesome

2009-09-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

the studio right now

2009-08-31T19:31:00.001-07:00

The one on the left is Carry On and the one on the right is Shadowplay.

Upcoming Shows

2009-08-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

September 12th, 2009:

It's Gonna Be Awesome
Solo Show of New Works

Blankspace Gallery
6608 San Pablo Ave, Oakland

Today, 2009, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches

2009-07-15T13:21:00.001-07:00

Eric Fischl: Scenes from Late Paradise, 2006-07

2009-06-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Now these I like:

The Parade, 2006, Oil On Linen. 76 X 108 Inches.

The Drink, 2006, Oil On Linen. 75 X 96 Inches.

Beached, 2007, Oil On Linen. 76 X 120 Inches.

The Welcome, 2007, Oil On Linen. 78 X 86 Inches.

Stupidity, 2007, Oil On Linen. 84 X 108 Inches

Joshua Hagler & Michael Bühler-Rose

2009-06-05T12:19:00.001-07:00

I was introduced to these two artists by local curator Anuradha Vikram. The work blows me away for a lot of reasons. More of my work later this summer.

Joshua Hagler:

courtesy of Frey Norris Gallery

Michael Bühler-Rose:

Ripple

2009-05-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

I will be in a group show this saturday:

Here is a preview of my new drawings in the show:

"Ripple #1", 8" x 8", graphite on paper, 2009

"Ripple #2", 8" x 8", graphite on paper, 2009

"Ripple #3", 8" x 8", graphite on paper, 2009

"Ripple #4", 8" x 8", graphite on paper, 2009

It's Official

2009-05-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm going to the University of California at Berkeley for my MFA starting this fall. So exciting!

I'm really psyched for this opportunity...

Shears

2009-04-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

"Shears", 8" x 8", acrylic, watercolor on paper, 2009.
© narangkar glover. $50

21 Grand 2009 Benefit Art Sale
Proceeds go directly to 21 Grand to help fund projects and exhibitions.

Friday, May 2nd 7pm - 11pm

welcome

2009-04-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

I want to welcome my baby niece to the world: Delilah May Fox, 7lbs 3oz 19", born April 25th 2009.

HUGS and KISSES to you!

Tinsel Tree 12" x 16"

2009-04-16T12:22:00.001-07:00

"Tinsel Tree", 12" x 16", oil on canvas, 2009

Saturday April 18th, 6:30 - 10:00pm at Giant Robot San Francisco
"TREE SHOW V"

painting-painting

2009-04-04T14:37:00.001-07:00

I don't have much of an update this week. I did just finish a painting, but don't have an image for it, so here's a link to a great painter I poached off Keith Boadwee...

Steven Hurd

and here's some more good painting:

Jules de Balincourt

John Copeland

Sunny Taylor

Duncan Knappen

As a painter, I am able to make the distinction between painting and, well, other two-dimensional work (like illustration and decorative geometry). Yet, I've not come across a much better vernacular for good painting other than painting-painting.

A good painter is neither naive, or faux, mechanical or rote. It takes years to develop a sensitivity to the materials, much less a sophistication with the subject matter. I hope that the art community can start using less sloppy definitions for painting, even though a differentiation will have to be acknowledged first.

spring oxalis

2009-03-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

...or shamrocks. Today I get to brag about being 1/8th Irish.

Here are some of the beginning stages of the big embroidery (measuring 40" x 60") that I'm working on for a show in September.

...and my yard that inspires the work. We'll be taking a weed wacker to it this saturday, but it sure is pretty for now.

Tonight we will have roasted fish and potatoes, instead of the traditional corned beef that people have on St. Patrick's day. I'm gonna try this recipe that I saw on Mark Bittman's blog a while back. Although Italian, it still seems a good fit for today.

New Work for "Regime Change"

2009-03-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Two new paintings for the group show April 3rd at Swarm Gallery:

"It's My Life #2 (View of Pond)", 8" x 8", oil on linen, 2009

"It's My Life #3 (View of Pond)", 8" x 8", oil on linen, 2009

SoEx M.D.R.

2009-03-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

Here I am at SoEx's Monster Drawing Rally that was last Friday:

And here is my "completed" piece. I really did think I could fill the whole area with french knots in the one hour (more like 50 minutes) that we were given. Oh well, my idea didn't really pan out as I hoped. Better luck next time. It really did feel like some crazy sporting event - if you wanted to finish your piece your couldn't even really say hi to anyone or talk to them and people are looming over you, scrutinizing your every move. Plus is was hot as hell (literally, I don't think hell could be much hotter) in the Verdi Club, it was loud, and there was no time to drink. Fuck it was crazy, but I hope I can do it again next year - I'll be much better prepared... (yeah right)...

2009-02-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

Join me tonight at the Southern Exposure Monster Drawing Rally at the Verdi Club in San Francisco. I'll be making a small scale embroidery in the one hour that I'm allotted (9 - 10pm), and pete will be making drawings.

All art is priced at $60, and it's $5 to get in.

The Abigail Pett bed hanging

2009-01-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

The work that informs my own embroidery:

Abigail Pett's bed hanging, c. 1700. In the Victoria and Albert Museum permanent collection.

2009-01-15T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've been invited to contribute to a new blog called artopic.org, moderated by Oakland artist Steven Barich. It's all about keeping dialogue going...

new embroidery plans

2009-01-07T13:34:00.001-08:00

Working on plans for my largest embroidery/painting yet. First I decided on the size, 40" x 60", took more photos of the pond, did some sketches (and even some small studies, to your right) and created a layout sheet out of brown paper. Then I just started drawing ideas with charcoal because I can rub it out easily. After I decided on how I wanted the tree, I cut out a bunch of paper leaves so they'd all be uniform and started sticking them on until it became full. Here's how it looked after I put leaves:

And then I was curious to see colors on the pond, and how different shapes alter the composition, so I painted in some blue and yellow and crudely drew in some clover at the base of the tree.

So now I can trace the whole thing and get it ready to transfer on to my fabric. I'm not sure if I'm gonna use jute burlap or coarse belgian linen. Some burlaps have too wide a thread count. That's what I used for all my other embroideries, so I'm really comfortable with it, but I'm really curious to see what it'll look like on the coarse belgian linen. I guess I'll have to do a little sample or something. The most recent studies I did with grey-blue burlap. I kinda like the blue 'cause it a little like sky, but I'm not sure I want to do the big one with it. hmmm... all things to work out before even starting the embroidery. I just ordered this baby from a place in Canada:

I'm an outsider in the world of needlework. It took me a lot of different google searches to find what I was looking for, and I had to poke and prod the needlework shops to clue me in to how to do a big piece. I was just going to build my own stretcher, and got deterred really quick - I'd have to use hard wood, which, after all the rigging and manipulating, I'd wind up in the same place financially. The good thing with this one is that i can make my own scrollbars out of dowels and use it for any size project.

Saint Fabiola

2008-12-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday we were at LACMA to check out the Vanity Fair portraits, and were pleasantly surprised by this cabinet-type exhibit by Belgium born Mexican artist Francis Alÿs. He's amassed an astounding "junk piratey" collection of amateur paintings, needleworks, jewelries, and bean paintings depicting the Saint Fabioloa. They were hung all toghether in a slightly more conceptual format in the Medieval European art wing. These are some snuck photos from my camera phone (we liked the blue walls too):

That, plus Chris Burden's lamp post collection, really make a hoarder's day. Happy New Year!

2008-12-18T13:18:00.001-08:00

I just made an update with new work to my portfolio. Click Here

in the movies...

2008-12-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

I just watched a really weird, avant-gard film about the Italian Renaissance painter, Carravaggio (aptly titled, "Carravaggio"). I love watching biopics about Painters.

The artist in his own biopic is usually reduced to his/her one or two defining qualities and quirks as people, not as artists. Frida Kahlo, with her unibrow and disability, Van Gogh losing his mind, Camille Claudelle losing her mind, Pollock being a douche, etc. The narrative usually plays on a singular theme that the artist has an eccentric personality that deems them some sort of genius.

And have you ever watched a TV show or a movie with a painter where they always have the canvas faced away from the camera, and the viewer never gets to see what they're making? Ooooh that drives me crazy - I just have to see! Or what about the ones where they have to hire an artist to paint what the painter painted and the actor has to pretend he's painting on top of it? Good stuff. Never fails to entertain my imagination.

I found another blog with the same theme here, so I'll try not to overlap. ...and don't forget this quiz from the Guardian UK.

I've seen:
Frida
Pollock
Carravaggio
Camille Claudelle
Love is the Devil
Basquiat
Girl With a Pearl Earring
Moulin Rouge (the 1952 version qualifies more, but I wonder if the 2001 version even counts at all)

I've not seen:
Lust for Life
The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Moon and Sixpence
Surviving Picasso
Rembrandt
Modigliani
Fur (about Diane Arbus)

Six Tubes of Paint

2008-11-28T15:22:00.001-08:00

These are some of the colors I've been using a lot of lately. I cranked these little 6" x 6" numbers out for the holiday shows. Hope they don't disapoint.

...and then this little number is my very own Free Spirit bike.

Happy Holidays!

Fairfield Porter b.1907 - 1975

2008-11-11T18:03:00.001-08:00

I love his landscapes, but when I was flipping through his monograph at my mother-in-law's I saw a lot of compelling portraits. I'm convinced that paintings of people (in one's own surroundings and life) are always relevant and avoid trendy-ness - it's just an expression of who we are where we are. When you're a painter, it's what you do.

Bio

2008-11-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Born: 1974

Education:
University of California Berkeley
2009-2011, MFA Candidate, Department of Art Practice

California College of Arts and Crafts
1996-1999, BFA with Distinction

Statement
I am visual artist and curator living and working in Oakland, California.

In my work I investigate personal narrative, individualism and private space. My most recent series of paintings is about the rejection of the notion of destiny, and quite literally represents where I am today as a result of personal choice.

For narrative work, I treat my memories like abstracted representations, and for each there is an appropriate visual dialogue that I aim to take advantage of. In my work I deliberately make myself aware to avoid fabricating an alternate reality with symbolism, mysticism or iconography, and rather, focus on form as my visual language.

Process-wise, the role of craftsmanship is tantamount to any sort of intellectual pursuit. It allows the pathway for materials to become ideas, and then finally, visual expression. Whatever the medium, it is important for me to keep my own hand in the process – including building supports, stretching and sizing canvas in the traditional fashion, framing my work and hand-stitching my embroideries.

Select Exhibitions

2009
Blankspace Gallery, Oakland - Solo Show, September 2009

Giant Robot, San Francisco - "Pencil Pushers", Group Show, May 2009
Swarm Gallery, Oakland - "Regime Change" Group Show, April 2009
Giant Robot, San Francisco - "Tree Show V", Group Show, April 2009
Arena 1 Studios, Santa Monica - "Fresh stArt LA", February 2009

2008
Blankspace Gallery, Oakland - "Double Exposure", Group Show curated by Kerri Johnson, November 2008
Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland - "We Are California History", Group Show curated by Maria Porges and Jo Ford, September 2008
Cowboys & Angels, San Francisco - "The Adorable Disaster" Group Show, August 2008
Swift Pigeon Studios, Oakland - "What's Up" Group Show, June 2008

2007
Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland - "Paint By Needle", November 2007
Paper Quilt Project, Collaborative Online Group project, October 2007
Tinlark Gallery, Hollywood - Group Show, January 2007

2006
TwentyTwo Shoes, Oakland - Solo Exhibit, September 2006 - March 2007
Harvard University, Cambridge- "Paint Chips Paintings", September 2005 - September 2006
Blankspace Gallery, Oakland - "Holidayland" December 2006

2005
Arena 1 Gallery at the Santa Monica Art Studios - "Fresh stART Los Angeles" February 12th, 2005
OTSU, San Francisco - Solo Exhibit, December 2004 - April 2005
Low Gallery, San Francisco - "The Gravy Train", November 2005
The Richshaw Stop, San Francisco - "The Final Expression!", September 2005
The Attic , Santa Cruz - “Nuevo Abo”, April 2005

2004
Buzz Gallery, Oakland - “De Profundis”, October 2004
Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA - “Go West!” Juried Exhibition, July - August 2004
Modart, San Diego - “Keep A Breast”, July 2004
Subject Matter Gallery, Costa Mesa - “Nuevo Abo”, June 2004
21 Grand, Oakland - Group Show, May 2004
Spanganga Gallery, San Francisco - New Expressions “Spring Break”, April 2004

2003
Mojo’s, Oakland - Solo Exhibit, January-March 2003
Needles and Pens, San Francisco - “To Do List” group show, November 2003
21 Grand, Oakland - Group Show, May 2003

2002
Ardency Gallery, Oakland - “Priced To Sell”, September - October 2002
21 Grand, Oakland - “Symptom”, June 2002
Modart / Triple Five Soul, New York - “Keep A Breast”, October - November 2002

2001
Hey! Gallery, Oakland - “Blue”, March, 2001
Hey! Gallery, Oakland - Group Show, January 2001

1999
Isabel Percy West at CCAC, Oakland - "Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con" May, 1999

Commissions

Touchstone Climbing GWPC, Oakland, 2008: Mural
Emmanuel Canteras, 2007: Portrait

Professional Experience

Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga - "Young Artists in Residence" 2006, Painting Teacher
California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland - T.A. for Animation Art taught by Laurence Arcadias

Bibliography and Publications

East Bay Express, November 2007: Review of "Paint By Needle", Jakki Spicer
San Francisco Chronicle, November 11th, 2007 Photo Credit for "Paint By Needle"
Piedmont Post, November 2007: Review of "Paint By Needle", Isabelle Ringer
Ready made Magazine, December 2007: Paint Chip Wallet feature
Making Stuff - An Alternative Craft Book, 2006: Nara Passport Holder feature
San Francisco Chronicle, December, 2005: "Green Gift Guide" featuring Paint Chip Wallets
East Bay Express, October 2004: write-up for "De Profundis" at Buzz Gallery
Kitchen Sink Magazine, 2002: photo for "Symptom" at 21 Grand
Readymade Magazine, 2003: review of Nara Paint Chip Wallets
Push Skateboard Magazine, 2002: interview with skateboarder Jessie VanRochoudt

"De Profundis" at Buzz Gallery, 2004

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T17:48:00.000-07:00

Last night we launched our new Rowan Morrison book, SCARECROW by Oakland artist John Casey. What fun! I'm proud of Pete and John and Paul, but I'm especially proud of my sparkly banner - the letters are freehand dude.

Mary's shirt matched John's art.

Some chick took a picture of her thighs.

On to last week - the MIND party:

Great sound, double kegger, missed connections...

Old Paul Wonner

New(er) Paul Wonner. Both were at Berggruen for Wonner's memorial show where I shook hands with Theophilus Brown (lucky day, but a bittersweet one too).

The abstraction and paint handling of this carpet is insane!
(name of painting escapes me, but I think it's either 17th or 18th century and is at the Legion of Honor)

my favorite shoe-maker, Twenty Two Shoes, saw the end of days this month. Apocalyptic to say the least. Above is my collection that I've amassed over the last three years will cling to forever.

Now we're off to Boston to celebrate the illustrious nuptuals of Julia Lamenzo (my sister) and James Fox.

Other things on the agenda to keep me away from obsessing over one of the biggest elections in history (o b a m a) include visiting the Ware Collection of Glass Flowers and Marine Invertebrates at the Harvard Natural History Museum, Bard College tour, Elizabeth Peyton and Mary Heilman at the New Museum in Manhattan, visiting my mother-in-Law in CT, and having lots of fun too.

2008-10-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

converging lines of color need to fuck off and DIE!

Painters in the Movies

2008-10-13T09:27:00.001-07:00

This morning, in a quick search for artist biopics I came across this fun quiz at The Guardian UK

I failed the quiz though...

2008-10-04T13:45:00.001-07:00

Sunday news:

2008-09-28T10:44:00.001-07:00

Well, the California History show at OAG is down, and who wound up randomly picking my painting out of the hat? Pete! So what ended up was Julia Shirar wound up taking it home, without even doing the cake walk to boot! I walked away with a nice work on paper by Susan van der Mellen, but can't find a website by her.

Las week, my friend, Carson Bell wrote a really great blog on the SFMOMA site. He is the curator of natural sounds at the Oakland Art Museum - what a cool job! We are all very jealous, Carson...

I'm in a group show today

2008-09-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

"We Are California History" at Oakland Art Gallery

Reception/Event: Sept. 27th 5-8pm
199 Kahn's Alley
Oakand, California 94612

Let's Start a War (said Maggie one day)

2008-09-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Margaret Thatcher was not the first, nor is she the last of her kind. The list of women in politics who tow the conservative line is long and tiresome. So having Sarah Palin show up is no big surprise to me.

But now Sarah Palin has been cowering behind the guise of Feminism, the extremist right, to my dismay, have been crusading to manipulate and frame the Feminist discussion, and the media jumped right on board with them. They are muddling this discussion so severely that I"m afraid it will do permanent damage to the vastness of real issues that face women all over the world. The worst part is that they have equated the saying "We Can Have It All" as the feminist proclamation above all others. As one outraged feminist, I am here to denounce this notion.

Women's equality isn't about "having it all", it's about the right to have a say in one's life, one's work and one's government. Period. Reproductive freedom and health ranks as the single most important right of every woman and man - for life, work and government fall into place when reproductive freedom is made available. For any right-wing extremist to deny that they've ever benefitted from this very same reproductive freedom is an outright lie.

I am also disgusted at at the media's attempt to get us to feel spiteful toward Palin's irrelevant characteristics, pitting woman voters for or against her for pure spectacle. This is sexist bullshit at its diabolical worst. News Flash! I don't care what she looks like, I don't care how many kids she has, or where she went to college - what I care about is her position. And on almost every position she falls on the far right, the side that only takes into consideration the agenda of the over-privileged white upper class at the expense of everything else. That means she maintains the status quo, so that she and her family can reap incredible financial rewards that follow, and continue to lure the public into thinking that "this is what having it all looks like".

If their version of having it all means she is the embodiment of the American feminist success story, then no real woman could ever qualify. It's an immeasurable and therefore unattainable standard that never, in the history of the world, has been expected of any man.