J.T. Kirkland @ University of Phoenix Northern Virginia Campus

J.T. Kirkland, All at Sea, Poplar and Holes, 30" x 48.5", 2004

This coming Monday, May 2, J.T. Kirkland of Thinking About Art is opening his first solo show. I visited his studio a few weeks ago and was impressed by the great stuff he has to show. Details from the press release:

Debut Solo Exhibition Examines “Organic Minimalism”


What: “Studies in Organic Minimalism” – J.T. Kirkland solo art exhibition

Who: Presented by the League of Reston Artists
and the University of Phoenix Northern Virginia Campus

When: May 2 – June 25, 2005
Special Reception for the artist: Friday, May 13, 2005 – 6:00 – 9:00pm

Where: University of Phoenix Northern Virginia Campus
11730 Plaza America Drive, Suite 200
Reston, Virginia
For directions, see the LRA's web site at http://www.leagueofrestonartists.org

Viewing: Exhibition is free and open to the public during regular business hours
Monday – Thursday 9:00am – 10:00pm
Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday 9:00am – 1:00pm

Description: "Studies in Organic Minimalism" will consist of approximately 20 pieces that are emblematic of J.T. Kirkland’s most recent body of work. In this show, Kirkland sets up a dialogue of contradictions; what does the viewer think about art vs. craft, random vs. determined, nature vs. technology, want vs. need? The size, orientation and painterly qualities of the chosen wood reference traditional painting. The material and use of various power tools (drill, belt sander, jig saw, drum sanders, table saw, etc) reference traditional sculptural techniques. The use of implied lines built from closely located holes reference traditional drawing. In sum, Kirkland’s “Organic Minimalism” is about the possibility of being many different things at once, while technically being nothing more than wood with holes drilled in it.


J.T. Kirkland, Lifecycle, Poplar and Holes, 35" x 36", 2004

The holes in Kirkland’s work operate on many different levels. For example, the use of hand-drilled holes recalls the artist’s touch in the same way that a strong graphite line illustrates the confident touch of a draftsman. Additionally, the holes serve as a direct metaphor for the chosen material. Wood grain is fascinating in that it is the material. It moves through the wood and changes at each level. The hole is an unsubtle allusion to the depth of the wood. Just as the grain moves through the wood so do the holes. Lastly, the process of designing the hole pattern or shape is intuitive. Once Kirkland has determined the orientation of the wood panels, he intuitively configures a hole pattern or shape – sometimes geometric and other times gestural – that either works directly with the grain pattern or works directly opposed to the grain pattern. As finished pieces, each of Kirkland’s creations challenge the viewer to see wood grain and holes as equals. When these two elements are successfully balanced, the viewer will inevitably be confronted with the questions proposed above (art vs. craft, random vs. determined, nature vs. technology, want vs. need, etc). The inherent beauty of the work and the provocation of thought about contradictions is the goal of Kirkland’s work and the measure of his success.

Artist: J.T. Kirkland is a 26-year-old artist making his solo debut in the Washington, D.C., metro area. A high-tech consultant by day, Kirkland pursues art making and writing with enthusiastic rigor at any available opportunity. Through his Web site, Thinking About Art, Kirkland has become an integral part of the art community in this region by drawing attention to and prompting discussion about area artists and their work.

Ironically, for most of his life Kirkland had distaste for art. Born and raised in central Kentucky, there was never much of a focus on artistic pursuits and appreciation, and Kirkland has always been forthcoming on his naïve stance that art was a waste of time. However, a semester abroad in France and visit to the Musee d’Orsay, opened his eyes and made Kirkland realize he had to make art. It all made sense to him at that point.

Primarily self taught, Kirkland has focused his attention on experimenting and exploring various art techniques, mediums and inspirations. Influenced strongly by Minimalism and woodworking, Kirkland’s work has naturally evolved to what it has become today.

c'ville roundup

I'm off to NYC this weekend, but here's what I'll be missing:

Thurs 4.28 - John Davis, an expert on American art, lectures on “Real Estate and Artistic Identity in Late 19th-Century New York” at UVA’s Campbell Hall, Room 160. Free, 6pm. Off Rugby Road. 924-6122.

Fri 4.29 - The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection hosts an opening reception for the new exhibit, “The Human Image by Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Artists.” Free, 5:30-7:30pm. 400 Worrell Dr. 244-0234.

Fri 4.29 - Mary Vaccaro speaks on “Drawing in 16th-Century Italy” at UVA’s Campbell Hall, Room 153. Free, 6pm. Off Rugby Road. 924-3492.

And still up:

UVA Art Museum

Masterpieces of European Drawing," an exhibition of 62 works on loan from the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie.

"Aspects of Influence: Lincoln Perry Mines the Collection," an exhibition about artistic influence curated by painter Lincoln Perry

"Punch Line: Six Centuries of the Comic and the Grotesque in Prints, Drawings, and Photographs from the Collection,"

"After Collage," a show of mixed-element work by contemporary artists, including John Baldessari, Katherine Porter, and Frank Stella


McGuffey Art Center

"Visual Textures x 3," an exhibition of work by Carol Grant, Janet Grahame, and Vee Osvalds in the main gallery.

In the first floor hall gallery: photographer Fleming Lunsford's "Analogies," Polaroid emulsion lifts of natural forms and collage artist Suzanne Chitwood's "Pages from Picture Books."


The Off Grounds Gallery
An exhibition of painting, photography, sculpture, and an interactive installation by UVA Art Department "Distinguished Major Program" students Kim Dylla, Patrick Edmunds, Janine Polak and Sean Lennon Salyards

Les Yeux du Monde
"New Paintings" by UVA art professor Dean Dass.

Mudhouse
Monty Montgomery gets personal with "Views," his new exhibition of acrylics on windows and canvas.

CODG
"Recent Works," features mixed-media works and paintings by Carolyn Capps.

Nature Visionary Art
Work of Kristen Myers.

I love everything

from Jefferson Forest

being an artist

Grotesque @ UVA Art Museum

From a book of Hunchbacks

Another good place to see art in Charlottesville is UVA's Art Museum. They have a small permanent collection on display, and have ever-changing shows of both art-historical and contemporary work.

One of the shows up now for a little while longer is “Punch Line: Six Centuries of the Comic and the Grotesque in Prints, Drawings, and Photographs from the Collection". Organized by Matthew Affron, Director of Special Curatorial Projects, the show is a small collection of works on paper from Renaissance engravings to work by Duhrer, Goya, Picasso and Miro.


Odilon Redon, A Mask Tolls The Knell (from Series to Edgar Poe), 1882, lithograph

From the press release:

"Grotesque" is a notoriously unruly category of art and aesthetics. The term, which means “a style of painting, sculpture and ornamentation in which natural forms and monstrous figures are intertwined in bizarre or fanciful combination,” relates to all manner of images which prompt many conflicting emotions, from delight to mirth to horror.

The show follows a strange thread through Western art from weird medical books to high modern art. The grotesque had been used both to "other-ize" and demonize outsiders and as a vehicle for flights of imagination. The show is good - some of the pieces are great on their own, but even more powerful when seen from this perspective.


Picasso, The Dream and Lie of Franco I, 1937, etching

Especially nice is seeing Picasso's "The Dream and Lie of Franco" here - Picasso's cubism in these prints was cranked up specifically to make Franco appear as monstrous in appearance as his actions were during the Spanish Civil War.


Picasso, The Dream and Lie of Franco II, 1937, etching


Cubism itself, when applied to figures, can be seen as a manifestation of the grotesque. In Picasso especially figures are twisted and contorted for all the usual grotesque reasons - to ridicule, to make interesting to the eye and to make desirable.

some postcards

drawings

C'ville roundup

Second Street Gallery (a great alternative art space) is having a benefit auction "New Art2" this Saturday 4/23. It's open for viewing today, with the auction Saturday featuring 50 works by local, national and international artists including William Wegman and Christo and Jean-Claude. Auction $40-$50, 7pm, City Center for Contemporary Arts, Second St NW and Water St, 977-7284.

Today Mark Ledbury of the Clark Art Institute speaks on “Drawing as Drama in 18th-Century France: Greuze and David” at UVA’s Campbell Hall, Room 153. Free, 6pm. Off Rugby Road. 924-3492.

Also today The McGuffey Art Center introduces “Graffiti: Who, Where and What?” with a panel including Max Fenton, Tony Dowell and friends as part of their new “Spotlight Series.” Free, 7pm. 201 Second St. NW 295-7973.

Tomorrow, Friday 04/22, the Off Grounds Gallery opens an exhibition of painting, photography, sculpture, and an interactive installation by UVA students Kim Dylla, Patrick Edmunds, Janine Polak and Sean Lennon Salyards. Meet the artists at an opening reception, 6-9pm. 300 W. Main St. (entrance on Ridge St.). 924-6122.

Also tomorrow UVA’s Art Museum hosts “Expose Yourself,” a Fourth Friday reception featuring models wearing designs created by students from nontraditional materials. Free, 5:30pm. 155 Rugby Rd. 924-3592.

Radius 250, a major art show featuring artists working within a 250-mile radius of Richmond had entries due April 30, next week. The juror, John Ravenal, is the current Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. You can apply online!

Bailey on Botero

Photo Francois Mori - AP

On DC Artnews, James Bailey replies to a Washington Post review of Botero's new paintings of the Abu Ghraib abuses of Iraqis by American soldiers.

Bailey's frequent (and sometimes garagantuan) posts at other blogs have always been amusing, thought-provoking and insightful - almost art pieces in themselves, but on this review we part ways. At it's heart Bailey's review seems to be saying "How dare Botero criticize the US?". He uses all kinds of rhetorical tricks like "Where are the paintings of genocide X or Y?" and "Well, Clinton did Z" and "Saddam was bad too".

Botero owes nobody anything, and for him to do paintings based on something horrifying, that we have vivd and frightening images of, and that was done not in the name of a tyrannical despot, but supposedly n the name of freedom - in OUR name - for him to paint this stuff isn't some kind of left-wing BS - it's art.

Bailey suggests Botero can't comment because of his success as a painter. Well, that shows Bailey's commitment to freedom of speech - I say Botero's success gives him a platform to make a statement. Bailey says that Botero's numbering system for the paintings shows he doesn't really care about the victims - I say it shows how they were treated like numbers, like cyphers, like objects by us, by our military in OUR name. It's not knee-jerk anti-Americanism to be horrified by what happened. I love my country and support ths troops, but I also don't think they're over there for a good reason and am sickened by what some of them have done.



I'm also struck by how Bailey doesn't mention the work itself - are the paintings any good? I never got Botero, but I don't feel ok writing much about them until I see them.

If Bailey is so concerned that left-wing horrors aren't being shown in art, he's perfectly free to depict them. But insisting on some kind of political balance in art is ridiculous.

collage/drawing

Jefferson Estates #21 (tonight we are in love), 2003


detail

Colin Whitlow @ New Art Across The Bridge

Last Friday Colin Whitlow (UVA Aunspaugh Fellow in the McIntire Department of Art) had an opening for his new photo-comic "Lavender and Other Colors" at New Art Across The Bridge here in Charlottesville. I'd never been to the space before, but a year ago I had heard a rumor that an art-friendly businessman owned the building and was willing to rent it out for shows. I'm not sure if that's the deal here - the space was kind of raw, but nice.

Whitlow's work is a comic done with photos instead of drawings, a longtime way of working used everywhere from Euro-art comics to Cracked Magazine. Whitlow in his press release tries to distance himself from comics, calling it a "stylized storyboard" and emphasizing his interest in film. At the show he had framed pages from the work up (all inkjet prints since it was assembled in the computer) and in a back room a documentary about comics and their history.

From his website:

The project’s plot revolves around Wyatt, a young man, who is going through the process of leaving his home in a small, rural town and adapting to the “real world” once he heads off to college. He is forced to reluctantly look at the parallels between the life he has been leading and that which he has always looked toward. The screenplay also focuses on Wyatt’s parents, who find themselves forced into confronting the problems within their marriage and careers after having distracted themselves with raising their son through early life. Throughout the plot’s exploration of what become fairly heavy issues, it maintains a positive, humorous, and even, at times, metaphysical tone.

Whitlow's work, and presentation of it, are professional and well-made. He seems to have taken his role as "Director" seriously, and the work looks thoughtful and carefully constructed. I didn't see a finished piece around so I couldn't read the whole book, but the pages on the wall were good to look at. The only problem was that they were photocomics...



Photocomics are generally not very good. They feel like Frankensteins - the detail oriented photos mashed with the very abstract language of comics. More importantly, when one is drawing a comic one can choose what to emphasize, what to leave out etc, allowing much more control in what the reader sees. In photo-comics, not matter how planned out and careful the lighting and scenery is, the level of detail gets distracting. A lamp in the background that might be a few brushstrokes in a drawn piece is a detail-laden, visually-heavy object in a photocomic. This problem doesn't affect motion-photos like film or TV as much because everything is moving all the time - photocomics feel like that moment at the end of a TV show when they freeze-frame the actors laughing.




Whitlow's work falls prey to this problem, so much so that it's hard to read - or rather hard to slow down and actually read it instead of flying through it. Wordless panels that contain important action are difficult to concentrate on - one is used to reading the word balloons quickly and starts to slide right over the "quiet" moments. Again, as a film he wouldn't face this problem, and the work "reads" a lot better when one thinks of it the way he apparently did - not as comics but at a beefed up storyboard. He also wisely kept the backgrounds simple and spare to minimize visual static, making the best of a difficult form.

Whitlow will have copies of the complete work for sale later this month and will be touring Charlottesville with it in May, details on his website.

"True Stories from the Gallery World"

Lenny has a great story over at DC Art News.

stickers!

"Roar the Bear" stickers in the mail from the UK from Matt Joyce! (and his fotolog here).






Getting fun mail is fun.

Theoretical tongue lashings

Modern Art Notes

Thinking About Art

Artblog.net

Grammar Police

Modern Kicks

Iconoduel

For me theory only matters in how it informs my work-making and my work-viewing, and most of the time language just can't handle art. I've read everything I can get my hands on about Cubism, from Apollinaire to Steinberg to Hockney and I've never read an explanation or "theory" that works nearly as well as just looking. It's irreducible. Theory, history, an artist's personal story - these can all enhance looking at something, but they can't replace it. A lot of art today relies on words to support it, to prop it up and give it the legs it should have by itself. This stuff is championed by curators, who are writers and readers and not always lookers, and too frequently good useful philosophy gets lost in jargon and labyrinthine crap.

That said, I do see a value in theory for those with a taste for it. I've known lots of artists and others with temperaments that fit well with the dense, dry theory laden way of dealing with making and looking at art, and it may be the soggy liberal in me, but if that's their way in, then that's ok with me. What has bothered me is both the reliance on it to pump up boring art, and the use of it a bludgeon for those of us who don't value it as much.

I told this story in the comments at Thinking About Art... Back in the early 90s I was at Skowhegan for the summer and many of my pals were big theory-heads. They could go on and on about the stuff and though they never beat me with it, I felt really dumb because I was so unversed in theory and had a really hard time reading it at all. Near the end of the summer I made a fantastic discovery - my theory-head pals read a lot, but didn't read any literature at all - no Faulkner, no Joyce, no nothing. They even argued with me about whether literature had any value to us today at all. We had different ways in. I didn't feel dumb anymore, I felt lucky.

UPDATE: J.T. Kirkland over at Thinking About Art just posted about this...

I am becoming a real blogger

Art critic Dave Hickey interview in Zing Magazine, via Artblog.

...The art world from the late eighteenth century to the present has worked in a language of generations. Artists worked with their peers and among them to overthrow and supplant the generation in power. Then suddenly in the '70s you have artists who, rather than overthrowing their seniors, are pleasing them in order to get grades and public funding...

and



A very cool thing (NY Times so reg required).

In Pursuit of a Total Art, the Paris Opera Adds Video to 'Tristan und Isolde'
Now, in a daring experiment, the Paris National Opera has invited the American video artist Bill Viola to accompany the work with his own visual commentary.

We have to wait until 2007 to see it in New York or LA...

and


William Wylie, Riverwalk 07

Congrats to Charlottesville photographer (and UVA Professor) William Wylie for getting a Guggenheim grant for his work.

Iron Art Recipes and New Scheme

Unscrew the locks! Drowning!, 5.5 x 5.25, 2005

Ingredients: Old drawing, paint swatch, copy paper, pen, tape, spray glue, ruler.

Cut apart the old failed drawing-collage, pulling off layers until a strange hunk emerges. Spray glue down onto appropriately colored paint swatch taken from a hardware store. Let it sit on your wall for a week alongside other drawings.

Take a pink piece of copy paper, originally cut and placed on another drawing, and with a ruler draw a pink grid on it. Tape it onto the top corner. Let it sit another week where you can see it all day while you work. Take it down for a little bit. Put it up again and decide it's still confusing and it's done.

---

Tom Moody had a post yesterday about the Iron Chef show and how it's aesthetic of mixing and creations can be translated into visual art.

...in fact visual artists lag behind chefs in the eclectic "mixing it up" aesthetic of current haute food prep. Musicians fare somewhat better in this regard because music software and gear matured sooner than imaging software and gear (i.e., it's been "there" longer to jack with), but both music and art improve when practitioners think outside the (software) box, that is, think like Iron Chef Sakai.

He gave "recipes" for 2 of his works and ended with

These recipes are mostly technical. There are content issues arising at various stages of the process, verbalized internally but ultimately best left for the individual to articulate (or not).

I think this is great, both the "recipe" idea (that skirts the tough part of adding content and making aesthetic decisions), and the idea of an Iron Chef like art making practice. Moody is more into the technical crossings and combinations, but I like the idea of recipes and art battle.

New Scheme - Iron Chef Art Battle. Like recent events such as Drinkin' and Drawin' and Monster Drawing Rally this would be an art battle based on Iron Chef. 5 artists get raw materials (general subject, some paper and pencils, some paint and some random things like chicken feathers and beer) and they have an hour to make art with it, which is then judged by the assembed crowd. The winner gets to keep all the art, the losers are beheaded.

hi

Drawing while driving

Drawn Friday eveing going up 29. Trying to figure out how to draw what driving feels like (I think it's part Stuart Davis + part Cy Twombly).

Flyers

Pages from Other People's Schemes, poems by Roger Noyes, pictures by me. Flyered up in Charlottesville, six times so far.

postcards

See a little show of other ones at creativeskin. More here and here.

Ask nice and I'll send you one.