Spot Obsession, Gigantansim, and Round Things, For a Better World

#66 – Tuesday June 19th

Yayoi Kusama, Self-Obliteration by Dots (detail), 1968, performance, documented with black-and-white photographs by Hal Reif.

I have a thing for spots, more accurately  . . . dots. Most recently I attempted to satiate my dot fetish at Damien Hirst’s dot extravaganza at Gagosian Galleries NYC space, and while enveloped by lots and lots of dots, big, small, and all in colors seemingly possible . . . I walked away unsatisfied. Now the good news for us dot aficionados, the Whitney Museum of Art will be exhibiting the work of  Yayoi Kusama , July 12 – September 30, 2012. Now in her 80’s Kusama has used the dot in her work for over five decades.

As an aside to the idea of art extravaganza, the April issue of Art In America featured an excellent essay by Ossian Ward “Scaling Up: Mega Galleries, supersized installations: has gigantism overtaken the art world?”.

SRAM pArt Project returns! The SRAM pART Project equips a group of selected artists with a box of 100 bike parts. These bike parts are utilized in creating a work of art, which is then put up for auction. All auction proceeds go to the support of World Bicycle Relief (WBR). Readers of It Happens Every Tuesday may remember I was one of the participating artists in the inaugural  SRAM pArt Project (raising over 140k for WBR)   This summer’s 2012 pART Project, features twenty-four artists residing on Salt Spring Island off the coast of British Columbia. Salt Spring is home to both an accomplished artistic community and a vibrant bike culture. The Salt Spring pART project sculptures are now on view and the on-line auction is open . . .

Thanks for reading

Charles

Two for Tuesday – Perimeter Galley / A Virtual Exhibition – SRAM pART Project auction

#36 – Tuesday November 22

It’s always good to be back in Chicago. I spent the week wandering around, getting my “Windy City” groove on, and then on Friday the exhibition of my new paintings opened at Perimeter Gallery.  I posted a short video of the exhibition on my Facebook page, but thought I’d put together a “virtual exhibition” for my blog. . .

The SRAM pART Project auction is now underway. All proceeds from the auction go to support World Bicycle Relief, and one can either participate on line (click here), or in person at the SRAM pART Project gala, being held in Chicago on Wednesday, November 30th.

Thanks for reading.

Charles

This Cornucopia Tuesday

#26 – Tuesday September 13th

In conjunction with the premier exhibition of the SRAM pART Project sculptures at InterBike (the main trade show for the bicycle industry), the project website has posted photos of all the sculptures. The SRAM pART Project website homepage, features the project overview, and a link to the artists. Clicking on the individual artist’s image, brings up a brief biography and a photo of their pART sculpture. In many of the bio’s there are links that allow for additional exploration of that specific artists work. After InterBike, the sculptures go to Chicago, home base of  SRAM, where in late October, SRAM will host an additional pART Project exhibition and after, all the works will be put up for  auction (including on-line auction participation). All the auction proceeds will go to support World Bicycle Relief. I’ll post the particulars as they become available.

I’m still working on the words to accompany the new paintings. It seems to take me almost as long to assemble these linguistic partners, as it does to bring a canvas to fruition. At one point I’d just scribble on the back of the paintings, but now my favorite landing strip for capturing my observations are three by five cards, they are easy to tote around, and easier to sort through, but transforming them into form, is a process as challenging and entertaining as the painting.

Speaking of new paintings, here are two of them . . . At this moment, I can’t verbally illuminate just where these canvasses are headed but I’m excited about the journey

Trundling around the radio dial, I caught a delightful interview with Marianne Faithfull. I’ve her CD “Strange Weather”, recorded some 25 years ago, and her languid, husky vocals, seemingly tinged with a world-weary sadness, always resonate when I’m in a certain mood. Her interview was so entertaining, I couldn’t resist checking out her new CD “Horses and High Heels” . Yes, still languid and husky, more late night than early morning and well worth a listen.

Thanks for reading.

Charles