Rick Jacobi - Art Blog

Hidden Currents of the Deep

2011-12-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

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New digital sketch. Click on the image for a larger view.

Jacobi, Hidden Currents of the Deep

Machine Elf

2011-11-11T20:33:00.001-08:00

This is a digital sketch for a possible upcoming painting.

Created w/ Painter 11 and a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet.

Car as Art

2011-09-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

Chuck Redding's Western Flyer Rocket Car

Link to story and video

Chuck Redding built this street-legal car basically for fun and his own enjoyment. It's not for sale. Nor, I imagine, does he think of this car as ART. Now, just ponder for a moment, if someone like Jeff Koons or Damien Hirst had paid someone to make this car and then put their signature on it and declared it to be "their artwork", how much do you think it would be worth? Well actually, the question would more aptly be put, how much do you think some high-end art collector would be willing to pay for it?

I know that there is an artist that has, in at least one case, had people make a custom car(s) for him that he then declares to be his artwork. I can't remember who this is. I think the car I saw was maybe a Dodge Charger or something. If anyone can provide this information, I would appreciate it. (I may have seen it on the Guggenheim Museum website a couple years ago; not sure...)

We know, of course, that artists often have assistants and/or technicians do some/much/all of their work (in terms of creating the final object). The question becomes, at what point can we question the validity of a work as actually being that of the artist?

Of course, "found object art" has been around for almost 100 years, going back to Duchamp's "readymades". But still, having someone make a car for you that then becomes your art, I don't know....

Now, I know that Jeff Koons has designed at least one "art car". Key word here being designed. Okay, I can buy that. However, in the unknown car described above, as best as I can recall, there wasn't really a design on it per se... I think it was basically just your semi-custom type muscle car or something along these lines.

Anyway, I'm not on my soapbox today, really; some of these thoughts just came to mind when I saw the wagon/car.

I think I'll make some art today. I'm going to "appropriate" this car (pictured below).

Thanks to artist friend Sheree Rensel for alerting me to the wagon/car!

Astral Khaleesi

2011-08-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

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This is a digital sketch, painted using Photoshop and a drawing tablet.

Original pencil sketch from my sketchbook.

(Note: you can click on the images for a larger view.)

Damien Hirst is a parody of himself

2011-06-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

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A "gallery cleaner" mistakenly thought an installation piece by Damien Hirst was random trash left over from a party, and threw it away. Happily, the mistake was discovered in time, and the work was re-created from photos that had been taken. The piece is valued at £5,000.

Of course, trash as art is nothing new, decades old in fact. I imagine that Hirst was laughing at the idiots that take this seriously. I hope.

Poster art by RJ

2011-06-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

This is a poster I recently created for my good friend Randy Tessier.

(click on image for a larger view)

Here is last year's poster:

AAW 10th Annual Spring Art Show

2011-05-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

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This show features work by my students-- drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, and jewelry. Also featuring work from Audrey Mantey's students-- Photography and Multimedia. If you are in the Detroit area, come and join us-- you wont' be disappointed!

(click on the image for a larger view)

Map and directions

New Painting: Vesica

2011-05-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Jacobi, Vesica, 18" x 24", acrlylic, 2011

(click on images for larger view)

This painting uses as its inspiration the Vesica Piscis, which is comprised of the intersection of two circles with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. (Wikipedia) The Vesica Piscis has mystical significance in a number of areas-- Christianity, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, "sacred geometry", and more.

This painting has deep meaning for me personally. What exactly that is, I can't really put into words. Much of how I relate to this painting takes place at the subconscious level; in my conscious mind, I'm not sure that I fully understand it. This is what drives me to paint images like this. It's like meditation, therapy, and a search for spiritual and metaphysical understanding all rolled into one.

Below you will find the process I went through to arrive at the final image. The sketches were done in Photoshop with a Wacom Intuos 2 tablet.

If you like this painting, you might enjoy taking a look at my paintings Nava Yoni, and The Opener of the Way.

Student Figure Drawing from my HS class

2011-03-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

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I posted some figure drawings from my high school students over on the student blog. Here is a sample, and a link to that blog (click here).

My back yard, Feb. 13, 2001, 7:18 p.m.

2011-02-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

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(click on the picture to see it at a larger size)

My students srike Gold

2011-01-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

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Three of my high school art students have received Gold Key awards from the Scholastic Art competition. Their full portfolios can be seen over on the AAW 2D Art blog:

Click here to see their portfolios.

Here are a few samples of their work.

Lindsey Burcar

Celia Eddy

Sydney Wright

Chuck Wilkinson: Illustrator, artist, spiritual mentor, friend.

2010-12-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

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Note: please click on the pictures for a larger view!

Sacrificial Lamb

Obituary (partial)

Wilkinson, Charles W., age 78, December 4, 2010. Chuck was born in Detroit, Michigan, and studied art at Pratt Institute in New York. ...his illustrations have been widely used in both publications and advertising as well as limited edition prints and originals. His works have been on exhibit in New York and Detroit and have received numerous awards. His life style paintings, done in egg tempera, evoke an elegance of an earlier era and have become synonymous with American Nostalgia.

Chuck was one of my teachers at College for Creative Studies in Detroit, back in the late 1970s. I was in his Illustration class, of which I have many fond memories. I stayed in touch with Chuck off and on over the years. Withing the last ten years, we were in much closer contact, I'm happy to say.

Chuck enriched my life in so many ways-- as a teacher, an artist, a spiritual mentor, and as a dear friend. You couldn't find a kinder, gentler, more giving person.

Chuck was very successful as an illustrator. He worked out of Detroit, but was also represented by a major artist rep in New York, providing him with a lot of nationally-based work as well. Chuck did his share of advertising illustration over the years, but his work had more of an "editorial" look, and in fact, that is where much of his work appeared-- as illustrations for magazine articles, stories, book covers, etc.

Chuck was a committed Christian; he dedicated his life to Jesus. As the years went on, he did less and less commercial work, and focused on what he referred to as his "parable paintings". This is not your typical saccharine "Christian art". Chuck's allegorical paintings are rich with symbolism and metaphor, filled with deep meaning, and often with a bit of Chuck's subtle sense of humor as well.

Today, any serious working artist has a presence on the Internet-- usually a personal website, sometimes just a blog (ahem). Chuck's years as an illustrator of note were before the Internet came into play. As pretty much an "old school" type of guy, he didn't even have a computer (as far as I know). Thus, there has been little to no work of Chuck's to be found online. I've been meaning to rectify this situation for some time; there is no time like the present.

I shot these photographs of Chuck's works a few years ago. too bad it has taken his passing to get me motivated to post them. Better late than never, I suppose.

Guardian Angel

Son Ship

According to Chuck, the "angel" is actually Lucifer.
Chuck: "Look-- Jesus is wearing a Timex! Hahaha!"

World Prison Systems Inc.

Note the paintings by Impressionist masters on the wall-- Cezanne, Monet, Degas, etc.

Pentecost Junction
(Sorry about the reflections-- this one is under glass.)

God bless Chuck Wilkinson-- he has been a real blessing to many, many people over the years. Chuck's legacy lives not only in his art, but especially in the way he has touched so many of us. God willing, hopefully we can pass at least something of this on to the other people in our lives.

Note: I have done my best to give these paintings their correct titles-- I have probably made some errors.

Vesica Piscis

2010-11-28T17:50:00.001-08:00

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This is a digital sketch for an upcoming painting. The painting will be acrylic, 18" x 24".

Click on the image below for a larger view.

The image is based on a geometric shape known as the Vesica Piscis. This shape is the basis of what is often referred to as "sacred geometry".

This piece was originally designed with the intention of showing the vesica piscis laid on top of the faces. At the present time, I am liking the art without the v.p.

Here it is with the vesica piscis overlay.

Sketch painted in Photoshop with a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet

More info on the vesica piscis:

It's nice when they "get it".

2010-06-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

From one of my Advanced 3D Art students:

"When I entered this class I was pessimistic because my major is 2D Art and it is more what I am natural at. However, my lack of knowledge is what helped me though the class. I learned things about myself as a person and as an artist. Now I know to try new things because everything I did in this class was new to me. The experience was great."

Small Dark Worlds: installation and performance art

2010-03-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

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Last Saturday night I attended Small Dark Worlds, a show of installation and performance art. This show was held on the fifth floor of Detroit's marvelous Russell Industrial Center (a former auto body manufacturing plant). Long out of use as a manufacturing facility, the building is now populated by a good number of artists, along with many other small businesses. Still, the complex is so large, that much of it remains deserted. Even in the areas that are currently in use, you can feel a palpable sense of the ghosts of the past-- this building defines the term "post-industrial", and is something of a metaphor for Detroit in general.

Small Dark Worlds was curated by artists Marianne Audrey Burrows and Amanda Faye Cain. I was introduced to Amanda's work last May, when I attended her photography/installation show Free Alcohol [ism], which was also at the RIC. I have not really been much of a fan of installation and performance art; still, as my artistic interests have been expanding lately, I became interested in this show when my son Jesse and his friend Dan B. told me about it (Amanda is a friend of theirs). So, I attended Free Alcohol [ism], and found it to actually be quite fascinating. I made a blog post about the event, with lots of photos. Click here for a link to that page (you'll have to scroll down a bit once you get there).

I attended Small Dark Worlds with two of my friends, Todd MacIntosh, and Joe Smith. Both are in advertising-- Todd as an art director, and Joe as a writer-- and both are musicians as well. They play together as Me + Joe Smith, and I have played both guitar and drums with them on a number of occasions. Todd and Joe area couple of super-awesome dudes, and really into the whole art and music thing; good people to go to a show like this with.

For the Free Alcohol [ism] show, I took the stairs up to the fifth floor. This equates to essentially ten flights of stairs, and the pitch of the stairs is pretty steep. Needless to say, I was glad that we were able to catch the freight elevator this time.

We followed three long, dark, and cavernous hallways down to where the show was being held.

We quickly came across the location where Amanda's performance piece would be later that evening, and read her artist's statement (see below).

I looked up, and Todd had put on some 3D glasses that were hanging from the ceiling.

The performance pieces were a bit later, so we had time to peruse the rest of the show. Sorry, I don't have names for most of the artists, but here are a few examples of some of their work, most of which was pretty great.

Here is a statement from one of the artists-- I'm pretty sure it was for either the work directly above or directly below.

Left to right: little creepy trailer dude, the author, and Joe Smith.

Conceptual artist Donnie Weldon, featured artist/curator Amanda Faye Cain, artist/musician Jesse Jacobi.

Marianne Audrey Burrows
Destitution: an installation

Regrettably, I forgot to take a photo of her artist's statement, but you will be able to read some of her thoughts that she had written on two large pieces of paper that were part of the installation (see below).

Marianne's installation occupied a fairly large area, sort of a room adjoining the main room. My first impression, seeing the bed on the floor surrounded by empty beer bottles and other detritus, was that one could argue that the piece was pretty derivative of British artist Tracey Emin's famous/infamous signature installation titled My Bed. However, on further inspection, there was really a lot more going on with Marianne's art; not to mention that it ultimately became the set for her performance piece.

Marianne writes:

While waiting for her performance to begin, I wandered off taking another look as some of the other work. Engrossed, I suddenly became aware that the performance was in progress. By that time, dozens of people were crowded around the area where it was taking place. I had some trouble finding a vantage point where I could see what was going on. Live music was provided as part of the piece, performed by a quartet of musicians on trumpet, bass clarinet, electric guitar, and drums, providing some sparse, eerie atonal sounds that seemed to really set the mood. (The music could probably be described as avant garde jazz, for lack of a better term.)

As part of her performance, Marianne shaved off all of her longish hair in front of the audience. Regrettably, I missed most of that part. By the time I got positioned to shoot some photos, she was collecting her hair and affixing it to a dummy/large doll that was now lying on the bed.

When she was done with the hair, she stood up facing the audience, and let loose with a chilling, blood curdling scream, and quickly departed the area. Pretty intense.

We had a chance to have a nice chat with Marianne a bit later on, and she proved to be very friendly, which is always nice to see.

photo by Todd, on Joe's phone

Amanda Faye Cain

Again, wandering around the large space, I missed the beginning of this performance as well, but did manage to see most of it. There were some cardboard boxes on the floor. Amanda pulled some candles out of one of the boxes, set them on the table, and proceeded to pour some kind of goopy liquid onto the table. She got on her hands and knees and crawled around the table, drawing a circle around it on the floor; she then stood up and drew a circle on the wall. Another darker liquid was poured around, and she started to light the candles.

She reached into a box and pulled out a large candle in the shape of a life-size human head, placed it on top of the other candles, and proceeded to light it.

Suddenly, a young man jumped out of the crowd, grabbed her, and wrestled her away from the table. Fortunately, this was not a crazed fan; rather, it was part of the performance. (We later learned that the young man was her boyfriend, and the candle had been cast from his head.)

Amanda then reached into another box, where she found a 9" x 12" envelope containing a number of photographs, which she then nailed to the wall.

The photos were mostly faces/heads, a couple bodies... they looked pretty messed up. I spoke with Amanda later on, and she said that the photos were sent to her by a friend. She knew basically what they would be about, but this was the first time she had actually seen them. The photos are actual crime scene/morgue pics, and are exceptionally gruesome. Creepy as hell.

Blasting the wax head with a propane torch, she looks upward for several seconds, very still. What's going through her mind?

Amanda torched the head right in the eye for a few moments, and then that was it.

I found Amanda's performance piece to be fascinating, very intense. There were a lot of people watching; few left. The audience appeared to be mesmerized, or at least really drawn in to what was going on. Todd told me, "That seemed really ritualistic, like some weird tribal shit or something..." I spoke with Amanda after the performance; she shared with me some of the details about what the piece was about. I'm not sure if her explanation was really to be shared, or if she would prefer to let people derive their own meaning, so I will leave it with that.

*****

Over the last few years, I have been doing a lot of re-assessing of what I think art is really all about. I have always leaned heavily towards art that is very skill-based, but at the same time, have also leaned towards the strange, the surreal, the bizarre. To many art critics and art historians, we are way past the need for or even the presence of any demonstration of skill in works of art. This line of thinking goes back for many decades-- pure abstraction was de rigueur by mid-twentieth century, and the philosophical origins go all the way back into the dawn of the modern era in the nineteenth century. I have written about all of this a number of times on this blog, so I will not rehash that material at the present time. Suffice it to say, even though I still mostly prefer artwork that involves traditional skills (but not necessarily traditional subject matter!), I have to admit that I am becoming increasingly interested in some of these newer forms of art. The Free Alcohol [ism] show was really the first time I felt like I was buying in to installation art, and I think that this is really the first time that I have fully experienced and bought into any performance art. Congratulations and many thanks to Marianne Audrey Burrows and Amanda Faye Cain for putting together a great show, and for giving me the opportunity to increasingly open my eyes and mind to this type of art.

Todd and Joe, on our way out after the show.

One last thought... As a musician who has played a lot of improvisational music over the years, I see definite parallels between performance art and jazz (this would be real improvisational jazz I'm talking about; not some of the commercial non-jazz crap that is unworthy of the name). In both cases, the art is essentially ephemeral, a fleeting moment in time and space. Sure, you can take pictures or make recordings, but folks, trust me-- to get the full impact, you really gotta be there.

All photos are by the author, except where otherwise indicated.

New Student Artwork

2010-02-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

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I just posted a number of pictures of student art over on the AAW 2D Art blog. Here are a couple samples, and a link to the blog .

You can also see some recent student sculpture and ceramics at the AAW 3D Art blog.

Art can change a person's life!

2010-01-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

I have been reading and grading "reflective essay" papers from my Senior Project class. I was moved by this wonderful passage written by a student who just joined us this fall:

My art holds a very special place close and dear to my heart. Without it, I would not be the person I am. Without it, I would be as I was in the past, a lost mind roaming this distant world. A fiend snared in the corruption of my city, as many are. With it, I have a chance to make it, to break the cycle, to be one of the first young men to make it in my family, breaking the chains holding us back.

It's stuff like this that keeps us teachers going!

Photos: Christmas in Naples, Florida

2010-01-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

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These photos were taken on my recent trip to visit my parents in Florida.

Click on images for a larger view

Christmas Lights on Palm Trees

Various other Lights

Nava Yoni

2009-11-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

New painting, just finished. (click on the image to enlarge)

Jacobi, Nava Yoni, 18" x 24", acrylic, 2009

The progression of this painting from original sketch can be seen here.

Interlochen All-Stars poster

2009-11-08T16:19:00.001-08:00

(click on image to view at full size)

This is a poster I created for an upcoming gig I'll be playing in December. Style-wise, it's based on the look of many of the R&B posters from the late 1950s and early 1960s (see below).

Assemblage Art

2009-11-07T20:47:00.001-08:00

This is a piece that I created more or less as a sample piece for the 3D Art class that I am teaching. I have not done assemblage work like this before; it was kind of fun!

I think that one could read all kinds of things into a piece like this. What is it about in my mind? I'm not saying, but I'd be curious to know what people think, if anyone cares to opine.

(click on images to see at a larger size)

Now, something just for fun...

I made a post a while back about the "Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds Barbie". I looked out my back door a recently and this is what I saw:

R. Crumb does the book of Genesis

2009-10-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

That's right, underground comix hero Robert Crumb has illustrated the entire book of Genesis. I just discovered this a couple days ago, and immediately picked up a copy. If you're at all familiar with Crumb's work, this might seem like an unlikely pairing. However, Crumb takes the work seriously. He is not poking fun-- he is, as far as I can tell on quick perusal, quite faithful to the original text.

Of course, the book of Genesis is chock full of sex and violence, and as you might imagine (again, if you know his work), Crumb does not shy away from a relatively graphic portrayal of some of these scenes. No doubt some folks would be offended by some of the images, but hey-- it' in the bible!

*****

If you are not familiar with Crumb, he was one of a group of artists in the 1960s that appeared in Zap comics, often doing the cover art as well. He created many memorable characters such as Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat. Some of this early work was extremely graphic, but his illustrations for Genesis are in good taste as far as I'm concerned.

Keep on Truckin'... yup, this is R. Crumb

Weirdo, Crumb's mag in the 80s

I can't wait to read through this book, it looks absolutely awesome! (In case you haven't gathered, I have always been a big fan of Crumb's work.) Two big thumbs up!!!

My MFA Thesis Show

2009-10-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from my MFA Thesis Show art installation at the Pickman Gallery, Miskatonic University College of Fine Art.

Okay, just kidding, but it could be. All I'm missing is my Artist's Statement and an unpaid student loan.

What this actually is, is an installation I put in a couple showcases at the school where I work, Arts Academy in the Woods, a charter high school for the arts in Fraser, Michigan (suburban Detroit).

I've been teaching 2D Art at AAW for the last eight years, and am now also teaching 3D Art. Having cleared the showcases of last year's work, I didn't have any new student work to show yet as it's still early in the school year. I've been collecting wood from the curbside in my neighborhood the last few weeks on "garbage night", planning to have it available for my students to use in some upcoming "found art" assemblage pieces.

Prior to my taking over the 3D Art class, the students in that class had not been exposed to things like installation art, nor to the concept of postmodernism in general. So, I thought what better way to introduce it than by creating an installation piece with no title or any other explanation for it.

Of course, many students at our school have wondered, What the heck is this?! Where is the student art? After a couple days I put out a poster board on a table with the heading Is This Art? I made three columns, titled Art, Not Art, Not Sure, and left space for people to write their comments. As you might well imagine, there has been a range of reaction from "this is crap" to "anything can be art" (paraphrased).

For those who think that this is not art, I would refer them to the work of M. Pederson (see below), who has a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a MFA from California College for the Arts, as well as an extensive CV with a long list of shows, etc.

If you want to see more about this artist, here is a link: (click here)

*****

So, what do I really think about this? If you have to ask, you'll just never understand.

New painting by Jesse Jacobi

2009-09-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

This is the latest painting by my son Jesse-- I think he hit a home run with this one!

(click on the image for a larger view)

Jesse Jacobi, Mujahidin, 18" x 24", acrylic

Assemblage Art: For the Birds

2009-08-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at some "found object" assemblage art recently, for my students to refer to during an upcoming project in the 3D Art class that I will be teaching this year. One of the things I have been looking at is work that involves dolls in some way. Here are a couple of nice examples:

Then I came across the following image, and at first I thought, Cool-- someone took a Barbie and stuck some birds on it!

I soon realized, however, that this is an official Barbie produced by Mattel in 2008!

Alfred Hitcock's "The Birds" Barbie Doll

I've never bought a Barbie doll, but this one is so cool, I could almost go for it.

Inherent Vice

2009-08-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

The image above came from a review of Thomas Pynchon's new book, Inherent Vice. Sorry, I forgot to bookmark the site, and the artist was not named, as I recall. Anyway, I like the picture, so here it is. BTW, I am currently reading this book.

Inherent Vice at amazon.

It doesn't look good for the Arts in Michigan

2009-08-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

GRANHOLM KILLS HISTORY, ARTS, LIBRARIES. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed Executive Order No. 2009 - 36 officially closing the Department of History, Arts and Libraries. The closure of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries is just another step in Gov. Granholm's plan to get rid of arts and culture and arts education in Michigan for good.

http://metrotimes.com/blog/reckless.asp?perm=812

Work in progress

2009-08-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything lately because I haven't really had anything much to say, plus, I've been out of town a lot and jut generally busy with other things. Anyway, I figured I had better post something so folks wouldn't think I had croaked or something........

The images below show the progression of a painting that has slowly been developing over the last several months. I've been trying to work more out of my subconscious mind lately, and thought that it would be interesting to do a sketch with my eyes closed, using both hands simultaneously, drawing more or less symetrically. Some additional drawing was done with eyes open, after the initial "blind" sketch.

black Prismacolor stick on newsprint, 14" x 17"

Next, my old illustrator tendencies took hold. In other words, I dug up some photo reference for the various facial features. Next step, Photoshop.

Work on the painting began with a black line drawing on canvas board, drawn with a brush.

acrylic, 18" x 24"

More black was added.

Next came a glaze of transparent dark cool red.

Green was added.

I spent a couple hours on it tonight, no photos yet. I'll post again when it's a bit farther along. Hopefully this piece will be completed before the school year starts. Stay tuned......

Two Detroit Art Shows in One Night (5/15/09)

2009-05-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

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College for Creative Studies
Student Exhibition

As an art educator, I get free tickets to attend the opening of the CCS Student Exhibition every year. This year, I took my son Jesse with me. Jesse is a really good artist, largely self-educated (he grew up mostly with his mom, out of town). He's not in art school, but it's one of a number of things that crosses his mind once in a while, I think. Anyway, I thought he would enjoy the show; he agreed to tag along.

After some serious noshing in the art educator's tent, we hit the show. First stop was the illustration department. (I graduated from CCS in 1980 with a major in illustration, and was also on the faculty part-time as an instructor of airbrush illustration from 1988-1992 or thereabouts.) For the uninitiated, CCS is a high-powered private art school with a long tradition and great reputation. The Illustration department is one of the highlights of the school (well, I may be biased, but really, it's a great program-- typically, faculty members are all working professional artitsts). Here are a few samples of some of the work that we saw...

First up, a couple of really disturbing pieces by Matthew Debeul.

A very nice painting by Alonzo Edwards

Moving along to the Fine Art part of the show, we found some strong painting over there as well.
This first piece is by Lisa Poszywak.

The next piece is by Camille LaMontagne.

Sorry, didn't get the name on this next piece. It was really crowded, and we were moving pretty fast so we could get over to the other art show later that evening

This is only a very small sample of the show. CCS also has a major automotive design program, digital media, crafts, etc etc etc. Due to the time factor, we limited ourselves mainly to the illustration and painting areas of the show.

For more information, click here for the CCS website

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Free Alcohol [ism]
Amanda Faye Cain

So I was at the opening of the CPOP show a couple weeks ago... Jesse and friend Dan B showed up. Dan whipped out a postcard and said, "Hey, you should check out this show a friend of ours is putting on." The card said FREE ALCOHOL [ism], a photography installation. At the bottom it read an opportunity of choice. "This friend of ours, Amanda, gives people a bunch of free booze, and takes photographs of them as they become increasingly drunk." It sounded intriguing...

A couple weeks later, after attending the CCS show, Jesse and I went to see Amanda's show. It was a one-night deal, located in Detroit's Russell Industrial Center. The RIC is a very large, old factory complex built between 1915 and 1925. Originally housing an auto body supplier, it is now home to a number of artists, printers, and other businesses. It's definitely old and funky, and very Detroit.

We pulled into the parking lot, and climbed some very steep stairs, all the way up to the fifth floor. We came out of the stairwell into a very wide corridor. This hallway was so wide, you could drive a truck through it. I have been in a number of other parts of the RIC, but this area was pretty dark and deserted. After following the corridor for some distance and through a handful of turns, we arrived at the location for the show.

We entered a large dark room, and as we came in, I saw a young woman, bathed in a red light, writing on the wall. This was the artist, Amanda. She was very intent, focused on her work.

(Amanda, a bit later in the evening)

We walked past the area where she was working, following a long curving path lined with old church pews. They led to a platform, on which was, I don't know what to call it exactly, let's say a pavilion of some sort, with a bright light inside it.

I walked up a few steps, and discovered that there was no entryway. Pulling the curtains aside, I entered the pavilion. In it was a number of tables with different kinds of alcoholic beverages, some people drinking, and a whole lot of photographs affixed to the curtains. The photos (shot by Amanda) were of people drinking and appearing to get increasingly drunk.

The atmosphere was pretty calm, people drinking and conversing. Some people started pouring themselves some pretty hefty drinks!

I wasn't the only one taking photos.

So all in all, I found this whole thing to be very interesting. Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time will probably be aware that I am not the biggest fan of installation art. However, I found this show to be very intriguing on a number of levels-- there I was, walking around in this installation, watching people partake of the free booze, enjoying the photos that were hanging on the curtains (attached with wooden clothespins), taking photos of the people and of the photos and of another guy doing the same thing. It dawned on me that I was not just an observer, but, like everyone else there, was really an active participant, a part of the artwork itself in a sense.

I stayed for about ninety minutes, took a bunch of photos, and talked with several people, and had a pretty good time in general. (I quit drinking twenty years ago, so I was not a participant as a consumer of the free beverages.) By the time I left, things were getting a bit livelier. A few people were definitely showing some signs of having had a few drinks, but overall, the atmosphere was still pretty relaxed.

My original impression of what was going to be happening here was that the artist was going to be taking pictures of people drinking. That she had already done, prior to this show. I spoke with her for a few minutes, and asked her if she would be taking photos of people there that evening. She said, "I don't know, maybe later-- we'll see what happens." Initially, from what Jesse and Dan had told me, I thought that this whole thing was going to be really more of a goof, but after attending the event, and more specifically after reading Amanda's description of the show on a facebook page she had created for the event, I came to realize that there was actually a more serious tone to the event than I had initially been aware of; in fact, I suspect that many of the participants were not really even aware of this. Read her description as follows:

Amanda Faye Cain Friday, May 15, 2009 at 8:00pm Russell Industrial Center 1604 Clay St., Bldg #1, Floor 5 Detroit, MI I have taken photographs of 12 people drinking alcohol in a controlled studio setting. I will be showing 189 of these photographs which are a mix of digital, 35mm and medium format. The mix represents my progression through our technological, fast-paced world. Most of the film was scanned before it was printed. Free alcohol will be self-served, and there will be twelve different kinds to choose from. I have worked on this project for two years and will present a hand-written manuscript of my experiences with alcohol now; over the past two years, and of my experiences with it as a child. I want spectators to think about their actions. I was hoping that by providing viewers with enough examples of psychological distress, the choice to drink might be hindered. I will also photograph the results as they happen, and somewhat feel like a mad scientist. Alcohol is, and has always been part of our culture. Though I have researched the written side of information on the addiction throughout these two years, I did not come across the answer to why this is so. There are multiple reasons, or justifications if you will, why people choose to be intoxicated, but none of them involve facing the reality of a situation. I am not going to be the one to say that something that damages the body is bad for the body, but I will present opportunity for others to reflect on themselves and their relationship with their subconscious desires.

Did any of the participants actually reflect on themselves and their drinking, or were they just drinking? Let's hope that at least a few folks got the point. (I'm not anti-drinking, by the way; it was just something that did not work very well for me personally. Moderation is a good thing.)

Congratulations to Amanda for this show, and kudos to her for putting so much time and energy into sharing with others something that obviously has a lot of meaning for her.

BTW, I recommend that you check out the Russell Industrial Center website-- click here.

* * * * *

(Note: these photos were taken with my new Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS, with no flash or tripod. The "IS" stands for "image stabilization", which seems to work pretty well, for the most part. Nice little camera, smaller than a deck of cards.)

It’s All About ©

2009-04-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

The Opener of the Way, acrylic, 18" x 24", 2008.

I'm pleased to announce that my painting The Opener of the Way will be included in the show “It’s All About ©” at Detroit's CPOP gallery. Details below (click on poster for a larger view).

from CPOP:

CPOP Gallery ©POP, one of the very first galleries inspired by and dedicated solely to the promotion and exhibition of an entirely new aesthetic genre – an art movement based in the visual vocabulary of popular culture – announces, “It’s All About ©”, the final exhibition at its Detroit location, with a gala farewell opening- Saturday, May 2nd, 2009, 6PM until 11PM.

This cultural beacon will celebrate a more than ten year run at its iconic space, which is world renowned for hosting legendary events, with yet another historic showcase. The work by many of the greats who made ©POP an internationally recognized name, as well as many whom the gallery has helped raise to global acclaim, will be presented in an exhibition of unrivaled creative magnitude. Artists include:

Anthony Ausgang
Glenn Barr
Bask
Davin Brainard
Greg Brotherton
Christian Correra
Topher Crowder
Mark Dancey
Chris Dean
Matt Eaton
Tristan Eaton
Shepard Fairey
Matt Gordon
H.R. Giger
Tyree Guyton
Derek Hess
Rick Jacobi
Kevin T. Kelly
Dan Kennedy
Amy Kollar-Anderson
Kymm!
Gary Lee
Liz (Bloodbath) McGrath
Tara McPherson
Camilo Pardo
Lisa Petrucci
The Pizz
Alex Porbe
Niagara
Isabel Samaras
Mijn Schatje
Jose Manuel Schmill
Winston Smith
Jeff Soto
Tes One
Tom Thewes
The Thunderdog Collective
Jerry Vile
Charles White
Eric White
Robert Williams
Ron Zakrin

Many of the artists will be in attendance to show their support of this groundbreaking Detroit institution. It will be a rare opportunity, and possibly the last for a long time, in which local audiences can enjoy first-hand the work of these artists. Their presence bears witness to the truly monumental cultural significance of ©POP for the region and world.

Nevertheless, with the fire of its mission still fiercely burning, the gallery will continue to internationally promote and exhibit what it considers to be the most important global cultural movement in history. By focusing on web and print based resources, alternative exhibition opportunities, and entertainment programming, ©POP will move further forward as the leader of this aesthetic movement, which it considers to be too often misrepresented and misunderstood even by those media and promotional vehicles that seek to promote it. So look forcpop.comto launch later this spring and for more exciting announcements from ©POP later in the year.

"It’s All About ©" runs through mid-June.

©POP Gallery
4160 Woodward
Detroit, MI 48201
(313) 833-9901
www.cpop.com
www.myspace.com/cpopgallery

John McEnroe duped in art scam

2009-03-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

Arshile Gorky, The Pirate I, 1944, Oil on canvas, 74.3 x 101.9 cm

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former tennis champion John McEnroe was duped along with Bank of America, investment firms, art owners and collectors in a sophisticated $88 million art investment scam revealed in New York on Thursday....

...So far, authorities have identified 26 victims... including McEnroe, who lost $2 million after investing a half share in two paintings, Arshile Gorky’s “Pirate I and II.” The share in the paintings was sold at the same time to another collector, and McEnroe never recouped the money, authorities said.

Full story can be found here.

New student artwork at AAW 2D Art Blog

2009-03-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

I just posted a bunch of new student artwork over on the
AAW 2D Art Blog. Here are a couple of samples as a teaser.

More Obama art weirdness-- buttons!

2009-03-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat, there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.

OBEY!*

Oy gevalt.

* (Yes, I know that Obey Giant is Obama poster artist Sheperd Fairey's company, but if you ask me, these buttons are creepy as hell. They are not created by Fairey, by the way, which makes them even creepier!)

Obama and Unicorns

2009-02-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

While searching the web for various types of Obama-related art, I discovered that there is this whole Obama/unicorn thing going on. This is just too weird for words. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Okay, I might have to make a comment or two along the line.

Is this next one for real? Believe it or not, yes.

Happy New Year!!!

Obama tackles Wall Street.

Pancake breakfast. Now this is getting really weird...

This one is just wrong in so many ways.

Hey, at least Obama knows how to have fun: a hot babe, a bunch of skulls, and BEER!

I'm at a total loss for words on this one.

Stay tuned for more Obama art and art-related goodies!

Obama Art: Messiah or Superman?

2009-02-16T21:21:00.000-08:00

Artists seemingly can't get enough of Barack Obama. There is a TON of Obama art floating around the Internet. This is the first of a series of posts I will be making featuring artwork inspired by our new commander-in-chief.

Obama the Messiah

Obama is here to save us! We will no longer have to worry about anything! He is going to see that we get free housing, a free car, free food, free health care, free everything! I say I want some new electric guitars, and I know that Obama is going to give them to me!

Words fail me... like MSNBC's Chris Matthews, I feel a tingling going up my leg. (Matthews actully said this!)

The annointed and most holy one.

Pray to our lord Obama with this magical prayer candle.

Obama-- the spirit in the sky.

Of course, we must be multicultural in our praise.

Many say that Lincoln was the greatest president ever. Move over, Abe.

Messiah, or Superman?

Gee, he looks kinda scrawny, don't you think? I'm not worried, though; what he lacks in brawn, he more than makes up for in brains! Obama is the smartest president EVER!!! He is way smarter than you and me, or anyone else, for that matter.

As the great American hero Rodney King once said, Can't we all just get along?

Stay tuned for more, coming up real soon!

Art as Political Commentary

2009-02-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

In addition to my art classes, I also teach a course called Introduction to the Arts. One of the things we have been discussing recently is using the arts as political or social commentary. Here is a particularly good (and timely) example that I came across the other day.

(Very nice Photoshop work, by the way. Or....... is it real? [ahem])

Work in progress Part II: Nava Yoni

2009-01-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

You knew I was going to have to go green with it. Did a few other minor things as well. Getting close to starting the painting. It will be interesting to see what other changes it goes through once I get into paint.

Work in progress: Nava Yoni

2009-01-09T20:00:00.001-08:00

Nava Yoni (click on image to enlarge)

Nava Yoni is the working title of this piece; it refers to the geometric shape in the middle. This piece started with a sketch drawn with black Prismacolor sticks on newsprint, initially drawn with both hands simultaneously, with my eyes closed. The sketch was then further developed. This image is based on that sketch, and the plan is to use it as a reference for a painting. That's the plan, anyway. I don't have a photo of the sketch at the moment; perhaps it will make an appearance here sometime in the future. For the moment, I thought that this Photoshop sketch was getting far enough along to show it here on my blog. Stay tuned........

Christmas Card Art by my Students

2008-12-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

I teach art to high school students. This is an assignment I give to my 2D Art I class every year. As usual, they did a great job. Here are a few examples. This class typically has a lot of freshmen in it, but some older kids as well.

Carmel L.

Merissa D.

John C.

We don't generally do anime/manga in class, but there are a few times like this project where it's okay.

Corinne G.

This picture is kind of unusual for a Christmas / holiday card, but I like it. Have a creepy holiday!

Eva R.

If you would like to see work from this assignment last year, click here.

Black Friday at Revolution

2008-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

In 2004, working towards my masters degree in art education at Wayne State University in Detroit, I took a class called Art Trends and Art Education. One of the things we had to do was go to some galleries and write reviews of our visits. Today being Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), I was reminded of Black Friday 2004, when I visited the Revolution Gallery in Ferndale, where I reside. The following is my review of that visit.

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

Rick Jacobi
AED 7400 Art Trends
Review #4
November 30, 2004

Black Friday at Revolution: The Evolution of a Gallery
(Plus quick stops at Lemberg and Susanne Hilberry)

First of all, I have to point out that I’m having a little fun with the title of this paper- it’s not as ominous as it may seem. “Black Friday” is the term many retailers use to denote the day after Thanksgiving- the biggest day of the year for many of them, the day that gets them “out of the red” and puts them “into the black”. “Black Friday” was the day I paid a visit to Revolution in Ferndale. I was the only one in the gallery; I guess everyone was doing their Christmas shopping at the mall. Although gallery traffic was slow, it was to my advantage as it gave me an opportunity to have a good conversation with the Gallery Director, Paul Kotula.

The previous papers I have submitted for this class have all taken a close look at a specific artists or works of art. This paper will be a little different: I would like to discuss my perceptions of the evolution of Revolution, and make a few comments on the gallery scene in Ferndale.

Revolution opened in 1994 in Ferndale. I had been living in Ferndale for about five years at that point in time, and continue to reside there. I remember riding my bike down the alleyways on the west side of Woodward Avenue north of Nine Mile one day several years ago, and stopping to take a look at a building that was being renovated. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was to become a new gallery in town- Revolution. Some number of weeks or months later, the gallery opened. I soon paid them a visit.

I don’t have a real clear memory of my first visit to Revolution, but I do recall seeing some teapots. Much of what the gallery then exhibited was work in clay, according to Kotula, who has been Director since the gallery’s inception. I also recall seeing over the next few years, work that was more conceptual and/or minimalist in nature. So much so, in fact, that my visits into the gallery became less frequent- more often than not, I would simply stop and peer through the front window while on my evening bike rides. It was a rare occasion that I would see anything of interest to me. In fact, I recall thinking many times, how do these guys stay open? I can’t believe that they are selling much of this stuff!” One piece I recall was a front window full of old suitcases stacked one on top of another. I asked Kotula about this piece. He recalled it fondly, and made some comments about “what is was about”. I said to him, “So, does anybody ever actually buy a piece like this?” Kotula laughed and said, no, not really for the most part. I asked him the same question about installation pieces and the like. He said no, pieces like that would be hard to sell, but “they exist in our memories”.

Since leaving my job as an illustrator and becoming a high school art teacher, I have figured (even before taking this class) that it would be a good idea to get out and go to some galleries a bit more frequently. Happily, there are several in Ferndale: Susanne Hilberry, Batista, Lemberg, and Revolution among them. All of these galleries feature a lot of strong work, sometimes accessible, sometimes more challenging.

What I have seen within the past couple of years in all of these galleries, is, despite a still fairly healthy dose of art that may be “difficult” for some people (myself included), is a significant amount of art that is leaning more towards going back and re-examining some of the types of art that it seems to me were pretty much “out of style” a few years ago- figurative painting and realism for example.

While I spent most of my time at Revolution on “Black Friday”, I also made quick stops at Lemberg (next door to Revolution) and Susanne Hilberry. Lemberg was featuring the work of photorealist painter Robert Gniewek. Gniewek has created a series of paintings of scenes from around Detroit, ranging from the glitzy Fox Theater to abandoned homes in Brush Park. These paintings show us the “up” and “down” side of Detroit, painted in meticulous detail.
Susanne Hilberry is currently presenting the work of painter Robert Wilbert. His oil paintings, although nowhere near photorealist, would still fall into the realm of realism. Wilbert’s work is divided into two rooms: one room consists largely paintings of floral arrangements. (I noted that a great many of these had been sold.) The other room featured mostly figure paintings. Some were more or less straightforward portraits, while others were more enigmatic, featuring human figures with manikins or a goat. Spheres of various sizes and colors also strangely populate a number of these paintings. I asked Ms. Hilberry about the spheres. She said that the artist claims that they are merely compositional devices, that he just likes spheres. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. I said, “I take it that you think that there is more to it than that.” She replied, “Well, I have known him for thirty years, and he has always maintained that the spheres don’t have any real meaning, but you kind of have to believe that they do in some way.” As I said, enigmatic.

Robert Gniewek, Fox

Robert Wilbert, Self-portrait with Mannequin

Back to Revolution. Revolution is currently featuring the work of two artists: Michael Lucero and Amy Vogel. Lucero (in the front room) has made a number of fairly large (3-4 ft. tall) pieces of figures made of clay, covered with multi-colored yarn, including a unicorn, sheep, elf with kitty, kangaroo, and puppy. The forms of these figures are reminiscent of children’s toys or cartoon characters, while their surface decoration is perhaps more reminiscent of folk art. These pieces are unique, powerful, and beg to be touched, as evidenced by the “do not touch” signs next to each piece.

Michael Lucero, Elf with Kitty

Vogel’s work is in the second room. She has a series of paintings (and a sculpture or two) that, quite frankly, I was not at all drawn to and spent little time looking at.

Amy Vogel, (untitled)

I moved on to the back room, where there were a number of pieces by several different artists. Immediately catching my eye was a table, covered with huge, massive slabs of mainly reddish and whitish paint. I asked Kotula about this piece. He said that it was one of a series of “palette paintings” by Scott Richter, and was titled Hamburg Palette (for Soutine)”. Soutine frequently used red and white in his paintings, and Kotula noted that this piece by Richter specifically references Soutine’s painting Carcass of Beef. Is this piece a painting or a sculpture? It defies categorization (as does much of what Revolution has to offer).

Scott Richter, Paint Slab II

I was also intrigued by a couple of paintings by Peter Williams. Although he was not originally from Detroit, Williams lived here for several years, and taught painting and art history at Wayne State University. Williams’ work deals with racial issues through the use of symbolism and the inclusion of elements of pop culture, such as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Kotula pointed out that many of Williams’ paintings feature a character Williams refers to as “Ratman”, who acts as Williams’ alter ego and is a play on Mickey Mouse. These paintings have a look of stylized realism and are related to surrealism and contemporary pop art as well.

Peter Williams, Opera Bouffe

I also enjoyed a piece called Torso, by “Cass Corridor” artist Jim Chatelain. An assemblage of painted wood, this piece is abstract, but seems to reference an animal of some sort. We can see what appear to be feet, and the brownish colors with a pattern of black marks are suggestive of the markings of some sort of cat or other mammal perhaps.

I said to Kotula that perhaps I was wrong (particularly in light of my admittedly irregular and relatively infrequent visits), but it seemed to me that over the course of the years, I had a sense that there has been a bit of a shift in the kind of work that has been shown at Revolution. I said (as mentioned previously) that my recollection of what was being shown in the earlier years was a pretty healthy amount of work that was more conceptual and/or minimalist in nature; while more recently, it seemed to me, I was seeing more diversity in styles, and in fact had been somewhat surprised, given the gallery’s history, to even see some realistic works there as well. Kotula said that to a fair extent, that what I was saying was true. He said that he had some significant financial backing over the first three years that allowed him to be a bit more freewheeling in his selection of work, and that played a part in it. He did state, however, that he was not ever catering to a specific market, but that he has always brought into the gallery work that he enjoys. He said that what has interested him has changed and evolved over the last ten years, and this is reflected in what he brings into the gallery.

Although Revolution is located in Ferndale, Kotula said that less than five percent of their sales go to Ferndale residents. Many of his customers are from other parts of the metropolitan Detroit area, and he has been able to do a lot of out of town business as well, as the gallery’s visibility
and reputation has increased.

I thanked Kotula for being so generous with his time, and told him that I was glad to have such a vital and committed gallery located in Ferndale.

It should be noted that while he is the Director and to a large extent runs the gallery, he is not the actual owner or sole force behind Revolution:

Kotula shares a collective vision with assistant director Sandra Schemske, owner Meg LaRou and Joanne Park-Foley. The success of Revolution for the past decade is testament to the strength of this group. Kotula says LaRou’s financial commitment is vital, calling her a “patron to the community.” Certainly Revolution would not have its impressive collection without her (Robinson, 2004).

Ferndale is indeed fortunate to have a good selection of fine galleries, and most of them can thank Revolution for boldly leading the way. I will be visiting Revolution and the other Ferndale galleries on a regular basis in the future.

References
Kotula, P. (2004). Director, Revoultion. Conversation at the gallery on Friday, November 27, 2004.
Robinson, P. (2004). The Enduring Revolution. Metro Times, February 2, 2004. Retrieved November 27, 2004, from http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=5921

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

Unfortunately, Revolution closed its doors in 2005. You can read about it here.

Lemberg Gallery

Susanne Hilberry Gallery

Fractal Art

2008-11-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

I have just not had the urge to write anything here lately, but I thought it was about time to at least post some images. If you would like to know what fractals are all about, click here.

Do yourself a favor, and CLICK ON THE IMAGES to view at a larger size!

Thank you to all of the artists for allowing me to share these beautiful images with visitors to my blog. Please check them out:

http://www.enchgallery.com/

http://gusti-boucher.deviantart.com/

http://gandreas.deviantart.com/gallery

http://www.donaldwbacon.com/

(If I missed anyone, let me know, and I will create a link to your website.)

Hope, no. Despair, YES!

2008-11-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!

Anything Can Be Art redux

2008-10-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

As far as I am concerned, the following material speaks for itself.

From BBC News online:

Artist pulls bus with his big toe

An artist who previously pushed a monkey nut along the road with his nose for seven miles has pulled a bus 30m with his toe.

Mark McGowan, 38, dragged the 7.5 tonne vehicle on Wednesday in Camberwell, south London.

The stunt was in protest against bus lanes and mayor Ken Livingstone's "ridiculous traffic strategy".

The Big Toe Bus Pull began at 1000 BST and Mr McGowan made several attempts before completing the task.

In September last year the fine art graduate rolled a monkey nut with his nose from Goldsmiths College in New Cross, south London, to the door of Number 10 Downing Street to protest against student debt.

It took him 12 days to complete his challenge, with him covering about three-quarters of a mile every day.

He has also sat in a bath tub full of baked beans, with two chips up his nose and sausages wrapped around his head for 12 days to celebrate English culture and food.

Speaking about the bus stunt, Mr McGowan from Peckham, south London, said: "This project was a protest against the excessive use of bus lanes and against mayor Ken Livingstone's ridiculous traffic strategy.

"It is stupid that our all ready narrow roads are being carved up, causing endless road nightmares for car drivers."

The bus had a driver for health and safety reasons.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3574586.stm

*****

Again, from BBC News online:

Artist vandalises cars with key

An artist who randomly vandalised nearly 50 cars for a project said the owners should be happy they were part of his "creative process".

Mark McGowan, 37, will exhibit pictures of himself scratching the vehicles' paintwork in London and Glasgow.

He said he had "keyed" 17 cars in Glasgow's West End in March and 30 in Camberwell, south London.

The Met police said the act was criminal damage and if allegations are made they will be investigated.

Mr McGowan added: "I do feel guilty about keying people's cars but if I don't do it, someone else will.

"They should feel glad that they've been involved in the creative process. I pick the cars randomly.

"I got the idea when my sister and brother-in-law's cars were keyed. Is it jealousy that causes someone to key a car? Hatred? Revenge?

"There is a strong creative element in the keying of a car, it's an emotive engagement."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Clearly this would be criminal damage and if we receive any allegations we will take them very seriously and investigate."

Meanwhile, Strathclyde Police said: "We are aware of Mr McGowan and have no comment to make at the moment."

His work will be displayed on Wednesday night in a launch party at The Arches, an exhibition venue in Glasgow.

Monkey nut

It is the latest in a string of bizarre stunts by the postgraduate in history of art from the prestigious Goldsmiths College in London.

Mr McGowan, who has described himself as "the British alternative to David Blaine" nailed his feet to an art gallery last year - in protest against leaves.

In 2003, he attracted the media's attention when he pushed a monkey nut with his nose for seven miles to 10 Downing Street in a protest over student debt.

Michelle Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Scottish Arts Council, said it was unlikely Mr McGowan would receive any funding.

"He is more likely to get a visit from Strathclyde's finest than any funding from us."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4454485.stm

Youtube video of monkey nut—

Here are a couple of Qs & As from an interview with McGowan conducted by Brian Sherman of MYARTSPACE>BLOG

Q. When did you first discover that art would be an important part of your adult life?

A. "When I was an in patient at a mental hospital I started doing art therapy."

Q. Can you share some of your philosophy about art and artistic creation?

A. "Painting is for girls and losers."

Link to complete interview: http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2007/03/art-space-talk-mark-mcgowan.html

Art or Not Art?

2008-09-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

My apologies to anyone who may be a regular or semi-regular visitor to my blog. I have not posted in over a month. I have been 1) very busy with the first few weeks of the school year, and 2) have, for whatever reason, just not been inspired to post anything.

So, what can we talk about today? Hmmm... I know, let's play one of my favorite games... Art or Not Art?

It's easy to play. All you have to do is look at the pairs of images below, and for each pair, determine which piece is not art. Show me (and other readers/viewers of this blog) how artistically sophisticated you are by determining the correct answers and leaving a comment. You may simply answer "A" or "B" for each item, but please feel free to give an explanation for your answers if you wish.

Number 1:

A.

B.

* * * * *

Number 2:

A.

B.

Don't be shy, leave your answers by clicking below on the word "comments".

Down the Rabbit Hole of Visionary Art: Abdul Mati Klarwein, Ernst Fuchs, & Alex Grey

2008-08-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

If you are reading this, you are no doubt aware of the enormous impact the Internet has had in recent years in terms of the accessibility of information in any number of different areas.

In the political arena, the role of the mainstream media is playing an ever-decreasing role, due to the large amount of information online-- whether you lean to the left or the right or to another direction altogether, you'll find a ton of information that is right up your alley. The political action on the blogosphere and other Internet political sites has simply exploded. No longer are people forced to rely on the mainstream media outlets for their news and political information.

In like manner, artists are no longer limited to the mainstream art magazines, such as Art in America, Artforum, etc. The periodical market has seen the rise of alternative art mags like Juxtapoz and New American Paintings, both of which I highly recommend. But again, as in politics, in the world of new and alternative art, the Internet is where the action is.

Anyone who has read this blog to any extent knows that my taste in art is pretty eclectic. In recent years, as I have more or less left the world of commercial illustration behind (my former career), I have been digging increasingly deeper into a wide range of different types of art. One of my favorite artists is the visionary/surrealist painter Abdul Mati Klarwein. I had the good fortune to be introduced to his work in the 1970s, and have previously featured him on this blog (click here to go to that page). Through looking at Klarwein's work on the Internet, and then following one link after another, I have discovered that there is a significant art movement that exists more or less underground-- this movement (for lack of a better term) is generally referred to as visionary art. I have fallen down the rabbit hole.

Klarwein, Astral Body Awake, 1969

Visionary art is actually a fairly broad term; visionary artists find inspiration in a number of ways-- from dreams, meditation, religious/spiritual experience, and sometimes through the use of what are referred to as entheogens, "psychoactive substances used in a religious or shamanic context" (as referred to by wikipedia). Visionary art has been around since humans first started creating images, some 30,000 years ago (much of this art [cave paintings, petroglyphs, etc.] is considered to have possibly been inspired by shamanic visions and/or the use of phychoactive plants). More recent visionary artists include Hieronymous Bosch (15/16c.), William Blake (18/19c.), and in the twentieth century, Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo.

Back to Klarwein... Klarwein's work has led me to an increasingly large number of artists working within the field of visionary art. Two of these artists have already been featured on this blog-- A. Andrew Gonzalez, and Luke Brown. I would now like to feature an introduction to the work of two very influential artists, Ernst Fuchs, and Alex Grey.

You will probably not see either of these artists in the pages of Art in America, but you might see them in Juxtapoz, and both have a significant presence on the Internet. Of the two, Grey, an American artist (1953-) is probably more well known in the U.S. There are a number of books of his art that are readily available, and he has also written an excellent book about his philosophy of art, The Mission of Art .

(click on image to zoom in)
Note: On his website, Grey is very specific about not reproducing his art without permission, so if you would like to see his art, follow the link below near the bottom of this post.

Ernst Fuchs

Fuchs (1930-) is, in a sense, the grand master of contemporary visionary art-- Klarwein and a number of other visionary painters such as Robert Venosa and Philip Rubinov-Jacobson have studied with Fuchs. Unfortunately, however, Fuchs, who is Austrian, has apparently not yet been discovered by any American publishers-- there is virtually nothing of his work in any books that are readily available in English. Happily, however, he has an extensive personal website, where you can see a wide range of his work. Grey also has an excellent and very comprehensive website. (I have recently learned, by the way, that Fuchs was featured in Avant Garde magazine in 1969, but look to drop some serious cash if you are looking for a copy.)

Fuchs working, 2000. Photo by L. Caruana

Fuchs with Dali

Crucification and Self-portrait, with Inge Beside the Cross, 1945

The Wedding of the Unicorn, 1952-1960

The Angel of Death Over the Gate to Purgatory, 1951-1956

Moses Before the Burning Bush, 1962
(click on image to zoom in)

The Transfiguration of the Resurrected, 1961-1982
(click on image to zoom in)

The Angel of History, 1992

In a world where the mainstream art world often has little interest in technical skill, the visionary painters typically are highly skilled artists—pretty refreshing, if you ask me.

Do yourself a favor, and check out the work of these two artists in more detail at their personal websites:

Ernst Fuchs, and Alex Grey.

A word of warning: be careful-- you may find yourself tumbling down the rabbit hole of visionary art!

Paul McCarthy's Dog Poo Creates Havok In Berne

2008-08-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

I really don't know what to say about this, but I thought that it was worth sharing...

GENEVA (AFP) — A giant inflatable dog turd by American artist Paul McCarthy blew away from an exhibition in the garden of a Swiss museum, bringing down a power line and breaking a greenhouse window before it landed again, the museum said Monday.

The art work, titled "Complex Shit", is the size of a house. The wind carried it 200 metres (yards) from the Paul Klee Centre in Berne before it fell back to Earth in the grounds of a children's home, said museum director Juri Steiner.

The inflatable turd broke the window at the children's home when it blew away on the night of July 31, Steiner said. The art work has a safety system which normally makes it deflate when there is a storm, but this did not work when it blew away.

Steiner said McCarthy had not yet been contacted and the museum was not sure if the piece would be put back on display.

Now THIS is a work of art!

2008-08-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Jacobi, Weapons of Mass Destruction, mixed media, 2008

If you don't know what this is, ask a guitar player!

The Opener of the Way

2008-08-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

New painting, just completed (8/8/08).

(click on image to enlarge)

Jacobi, The Opener of the Way, 18" x 24", acrylic, 2008

***

The Opener of the Way

Psycho, Anubis

The Opener of the Way is the title of Robert Bloch’s first book, a collection of horror and fantasy stories, published by Arkham House in 1945. Bloch would be familiar to most people as the author of Psycho, from which Alfred Hitchcock’s movie of the same name was based. Bloch was also a member of the “Lovecraft Circle”. In Bloch’s story, the opener of the way was the jackal-headed Egyptian god of the dead, Anubis.

Robert Johnson at the crossroads, Muddy, and Jimi

The opener of the way; the gatekeeper at the crossroads. Legend has it that bluesman Robert Johnson “made a deal with the devil at the crossroads”. In the voodoo tradition of Haiti and New Orleans, the deity Legba is the gatekeeper of the gates to the spirit world, the opener of the way for the gods to possess their devotees. It is likely that the “devil” that Robert Johnson encountered was actually Legba (so the story goes). Johnson’s song Crossroads was popularized by Eric Clapton with the group Cream on their 1968 double album Wheels of Fire.

Voodoo has not been an uncommon theme in the blues. From Johnson, to Muddy Waters singing "I got a black cat bone, I got a mojo too, I got a John the Conqueror root, I’m gonna mess with you..." in the song Hoochie Coochie Man, to Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile, there is a powerful magic in this music.

The painting

This painting came about in a very spontaneous manner. I had nothing specific in mind when I started it, it just sort of unfolded on its own. (It started with a sketch, which can be seen on a post I made back on May 15.) As it progressed, I looked at it and thought, what is this thing? I pictured myself standing out in a field somewhere, encountering this strange entity that just materialized out of thin air. An apparition, an inter-dimensional being, or what? The legend of Robert Johnson came to mind… the crossroads… Legba, the opener of the way. Somehow, it fit. Legba is often depicted as an as an old man on a crutch or with a cane, wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat and smoking a pipe, or sprinkling water. If this is a picture of Legba, he could be “shape-shifting”, or perhaps this is just one of his many faces.

Then again, this painting could be about something altogether different…

Note: included in this painting you will find the all-seeing eye, the alchemical symbols for fire and for air, and the golden ratio a couple of times (appearing once by chance [to my surprise, when I realized it], and once by intent[inspired by my discovery]).

Mandalas

2008-07-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Tibetan Buddhist Mandalas, c. 1500; Aztec Sun Stone (a.k.a. Aztec Calendar Stone) c. 1500; Navajo sand painting, 20c.; digital mandalas; mandalas from the natural world and the mechanical world; from the atomic to the cosmic.

Note: there are larger versions of many of these images-- click on image for larger view.

cross-section of a twig

tungsten crystal at high magnification

sound vibrational patterns in water

Large Hadron Collider (particle accelerator)

"soft" synthesizer module

Note to creators/owners of these images: thank you for allowing me to share these beautiful pictures with the people that visit this blog.

Hieronymous Bosch Action Figures!

2008-07-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

While engaging in one of my increasingly favorite pastimes, perusing art on the Internet, I recently came across some interesting items: Hieronymous Bosch action figures! More accurately, they would be described as “figurines”, but “action figures” just sounds cooler. (Technically speaking, action figures usually are “pose-able”, have moving parts, and do not stand on a base.)

These figurines are based on two of Bosch’s paintings, as seen below. (click to enlarge)

The Garden of Earthly Delights (center panel), ca. 1500

The Last Judgement (center panel), ca. 1510

(From this point on, all text and images of figurines are from: http://www.3d-mouseion.com/engels/bosch_eng.htm)

Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)
From an artistic point of view, the world famous brilliant forerunner of surrealism was, in his day, unique and radically different. Hieronymus Bosch was born during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in 's-Hertogenbosch, in the Duchy of Brabant [Netherlands]. Bosch places visionary images in a hostile world full of mysticism, with the conviction that the human being, due to its own stupidity and sinfulness has become prey to the devil himself. He holds a mirror to the world with his cerebral irony and magical symbolism, sparing no one. He aims his mocking arrows equally well at the hypocrisy of the clergy as the extravagance of the nobility and the immorality of the people. Hieronymus Bosch’s style arises from the tradition of the book illuminations (manuscript illustrations from the Middle Ages). The caricatural representation of evil tones down its terrifying implications, but also serves as a defiant warning with a theological basis.

Helmeted Bird Monster (from The Garden Of Earthly Delights)
This helmeted bird monster is carrying a pencil box and an inkpot in its beak, in which the nun, decaying into a pig, is dipping her pen. A severed foot is swinging from the bird's helmet referring to the horrible corporal punishments which could be expected in hell. The pig, indeed an indictment against the decay of clergy life, is tempting the man who is sitting beside him and it appears that he is drawing up a contract. Is the man possibly selling his soul?

Devil On Night-Chair (from The Garden Of Earthly Delights)
It is presumed that somehow Bosch had knowledge of the Visio Tungdali, a twelfth century handwriting that describes a vision of a journey through hell. This was possibly the basis for this devil, crowned with a cauldron, symbolising the diabolical inferno fire. He is sat on a night chair, which offers him the possibility of excreting the gorged souls. His curious footwear in the shape of pitchers symbolises dipsomania. (original art below)

Tree Man (from The Garden Of Earthly Delights)
Many recognise a self-portrait in one of Bosch's most famous hybrid creatures. The hollow space in the egg-shaped body offers space for a pub. All breaks adrift through the two boats in which the tree-shaped paws are situated. Music and dance may have lead to licentiousness, symbolised by the bagpipes on the headwear. (original art below)

Ears With Knife (from The Garden Of Earthly Delights)
Two enormous ears, held together by an arrow and a knife jammed in between. Is there an allegorical medieval symbolism behind this, or are the horrible tortures one might expect in hell pictured here once more? Is the monogram on the knife an M of the B of Bosch? Maybe we will never know what Bosch ‘had between his ears’ when he was painting this picture.

The Witches’ Kitchen (from The Last Judgment)
On the left of the central panel of the triptych ‘The Last Judgement’ is a diabolic tavern. People are being cooked, smoked, put through mincing machines, squeezed, fried and roasted on the spit. In this witches’ kitchen, sinners are subjected to the ‘Judicium Extremum’ of the Supreme Judge. The punishment reflects the nature of the sins committed, in this case indulgence and gluttony.

Blue Flutist (from The Last Judgment)
On the left hand side on the middle panel of the triptych The last Judgement a cheerful blue creature adds lustre with his music to the horrifying spectacle. He symbolises the lawlessness, ending in many not being admitted to heaven on Judgement Day.

Freak with Beard (from The Last Judgement)
The middle panel of the triptych The Last Judgement shows a 'rillo' with beard, a freak with merely a head and legs. Furthermore, this creature has been adorned by Bosch with the tail of a reptile. He looks with a frightened expression at the mincer, where sinners are put through on Judgment Day.

Headfooter (from The Last Judgment)
On the foreground of the shocking central panel stands a creature characteristic of Bosch's work, consisting of only one head on two feet. His anatomical imperfections are covered by a headscarf. The painter has embroidered upon a classical Greek form in his own distinctive way. In ancient times, omitting body parts was also considered frightening. The character, amusing to us, seems to be taking a carefree stroll through the bloody scene of the Last Judgement.

To see more of Bosch’s paintings, click here.

Please stay tuned...

2008-07-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

To my regular (and semi-regular) readers:

I have not made any new posts lately because I've been very busy with a number of other things. I do have a number of interesting topics on the back burner, however, so please check back in a while.

Thanks--

RJ

The Art of Arkham House (Part 3)

2008-06-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

1970s - 2000s

Gahan Wilson, 1970

Herb Arnold illustration, Gary Gore design, 1971

Herb Arnold, 1971

Herb Arnold, 1972

Herb Arnold, 1974

Tim Kirk, 1975

Stephen E. Fabian, 1977

Jason Van Hollander, 1980

Raymond Bayless, 1985

Raymond Bayless, 1986

Raymond Bayless, 1986

Raymond Bayless, 1989

Jeffrey K. Potter, 1993

Bob Eggleton, 1995

Allen Koszowski, 1999

Alan Fore, 2002

Keith Minnion, 2004

Colophon for Arkham House designed by Frank Utpatel

The Art of Arkham House (Part 2)

2008-06-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

1950s:

Ronald Clyne, 1952

Ronald Clyne, 1957

Frank Utpatel, 1958

Richard Taylor, 1958

Richard Taylor, 1958

1960s:

Richard Taylor, 1962

Richard Taylor, 1962

Richard Taylor, 1963

Lee Brown Coye, 1963

Lee Brown Coye, 1964

Frank Utpatel, 1964
(what's up with the typography on this one?!)

Lee Brown Coye, 1965

Frank Utpatel, 1966

Frank Utpatel, 1967

Lee Brown Coye, 1969

Coming soon-- Part 3

The Art of Arkham House (Part 1)

2008-06-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

Arkham House is a “small press” publisher of what is sometimes referred to as “weird fiction”. Founded in 1939 by writers August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, Arkham House was created to publish in hardcover the work of H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). Creator of what has come to be known as The Cthulhu Mythos, Lovecraft is today widely recognized as one of the most influential writers of horror fiction, but at the time of his death, his work had mainly been seen only in the pages of pulp magazines such as Weird Tales. Derleth and Wandrei were determined to keep Lovecraft’s work from fading away over time, and in 1939 published a collection of Lovecraft’s work under the title The Outsider and Others. The name Arkham House is derived from Lovecraft’s fictitious town of that name, located somewhere in Massachusetts.

Virgil Finlay, 1939

Since 1939, Arkham House has published over 200 titles: all of Lovecraft’s work (including five volumes of his letters), and that of a number of other writers as well. Many of these writers have also achieved wide recognition and success over the years, in no small part due to the vision and dedication of Derleth and Wandrei. Writers published by Arkham House include Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Robert E. Howard, Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Algernon Blackwood, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, J. G. Ballard, Lucius Shepard, and many, many more.

Arkham House was a labor of love. In 1970, Derleth noted, “…the fact is that in no single year since its founding have the earnings of Arkham House met the expenses, so that it has been necessary for my personal earnings to shore up Arkham House finances.” Derleth died in 1971; the publishing house still exists, but has gone through a number of hands since his death and really is a shadow of its former self.

Arkham house books are known for the quality of their printing and binding, and the dust jackets for their books have a certain look to them that plays an important part of the over-all appeal that these books have to their collectors (myself included—I am the proud owner of over forty Arkham House titles, going back to Lovecraft’s Something About Cats, published in 1949).

Obviously, Arkham House was working with a limited budget when it came to producing artwork for their books—although you will see the occasional full-color dust jacket, for the most part what you will see is art that is limited to one or two colors. However, the publishers were as discerning in their selection of artists as they were in their selection of writers. These designers and illustrators, working within the confines dictated by budgetary concerns, routinely produced work of a very high quality. Arkham House worked with a number of artists over the years. Some are fairly well know to this day; others less so.

I will be presenting a series of posts featuring this wonderful artwork, starting with 1939 through the decade of the1940s. Stay tuned for more!

Ronald Clyne, 1945

Ronald Clyne, 1945

Hannes Bok, 1946

Ronald Clyne, 1946

Hannes Bok, 1946

Ronald Clyne, 1949

Chladni Patterns, Cymatics, Mandalas, etc.

2008-06-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

The image that I presented on June 7 and 10 is a series of pictures of Chladni patterns. These patterns are produced by different frequencies of sound. (To see this in action, take a look at the above video.)

Chladni was an 18th century musician and physicist who was instrumental in the development of acoustics, which is the science of sound. Sound is made of physical vibration. (Perhaps you have heard the windows of your house rattle as a result of a car with a very loud sound system with subwoofers going down your street. Thunder will produce a similar effect.) Chladni found a very interesting way to demonstrate the physical qualities of sound—by drawing a violin bow across a plate sprinkled with sand, he produced patterns and shapes that are now known as Chladni patterns (or figures).

The science of the visualization of waves, particularly sound waves, has come to be known as cymatics, a term coined by Swiss scientist Hans Jenny (1904-1972). Jenny conducted a wide range of experiments with the way that sound affects different substances, and was able to produce Chladni patterns by using oscillators and even the human voice. Here is a photograph of a human voice pronouncing the vowel “A” (as seen in the previous post on this blog, where you will also see Chadni patterns in a drop of water and a coffee cup).

Oftentimes these Chladni patterns form mandalas or similar patterns. The word mandala comes from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit, and loosely translated, means circle. Mandalas have been produced in many forms throughout human history all around the world, from the classic Buddhist mandalas (again, see previous post), to Navaho sand paintings, the Aztec Sun Stone (a.k.a. Aztec calendar stone), and even the swastika, which is thousands of years old, and again, is seen in various forms in cultures all over the world.

Aztec Sun Stone, 1479

Mandalas are also seen in the natural world, from things like tree rings and flowers, all the way to the shape of galaxies. The natural world also provides us with that which is known as the “golden ratio”, which can be seen in things like the Nautilus shell, leaves, crystalline structure, etc. The golden ratio has also been used in art and architecture for hundreds and even thousands of years.

Nautilus shell, cross-section

Notre Dame de Paris, 1163-1345

Notre Dame de Paris

The circle itself is one of humankind’s earliest symbols, and is a mandala in its simplest form. The swastika developed from a circle overlaid with a cross. These symbols go back tens and even perhaps hundreds of thousands of years.

The circle, the cross, and the mandala in nature and in art are inextricably intertwined. These forms in many variations also exist in the vibrations of sound, as seen so clearly in Chladni patterns. The interconnectedness of the natural world is truly amazing. Although mathematics, science, and modern technology give us a deeper understanding of these phenomena, they have been part of human culture since the dawn of time.

Clues to June 7th post

2008-06-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

The other day, I posted this picture, and asked if anyone could identify what it was.

I had one response-- they guessed that it was a quilt. Wrong. Not even close.

So what is this very intriguing series images?

Here are some visual clues:

I would enjoy hearing from some more of my readers-- take a guess!

End of the School Year

2008-06-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

I teach 2D Art at Arts Academy in the Woods. We had our graduation ceremony recently, and it's always gratifying to see the students that survived my class (often for all four years) all lined up in a group on stage after receiving their diplomas. This has been my seventh year teaching, and I still really enjoy my job. I was blessed with a great bunch of kids this year, in all of my classes.

Extra special props go out to the kids in my humanities class-- they were an amazing group of kids, mostly in ninth grade. They were attentive, inquisitive, insightful, and an all-around joy to be with every day. Thank you!

If you would like to see some art from the 2D Art graduating seniors, click here. To see additional student art, click here, and for even more, click here.

Can you identify these images?

2008-06-07T21:30:00.001-07:00

This is something that I came across recently that I find to be thoroughly fascinating. I was wondering if any of my readers know what this is. If not, take a guess! I'll be back shortly to explain what this is about.

Political Posters

2008-05-20T20:05:00.001-07:00

Shepard Fairey is a graphic designer who has produced a series of posters for Barack Obama. Fairey holds a BA in Illustration from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), which he received in 1992. Fairey comes out of the skateboarding scene, and initially became known for his André the Giant Has a Posse sticker campaign. Fairey markets his work through his online company Obey Giant, where he sells posters, stickers, clothing, and other assorted goodies.

Fairey's Obama posters have been particularly hot items as of late. Of course, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and these posters have been widely imitated; or, to be more accurate, widely satirized, as we will soon see below.

Fairey's graphic style is heavily influenced by Russian and other communist propaganda posters of the early to mid-twentieth century. Of course, the fact that the Obama posters resemble popular images of Vladimir Lenin and Che Guevara is of no concern to most folks on the left-- for many, these guys are their heroes! That being said, these posters make a strong visual statement, then and now.

Another groovy poster, by the artist known as The Mac.

This image of Hillary Clinton leans more towards the Chinese poster influence. Some of the Obama posters are picking up on this look as well.

With a heavy dose of irony, Bill Gates is even portrayed in this manner.

Of course, there are those on the right that can't resist having some fun with all of this. Talk about being thrown a softball!

I looked for some McCain posters-- I couldn't even find any. I think that the Republicans have gone into hibernation. One would assume that once the campaign gets into high gear, we will be seeing some McCain posters, although I would be willing to bet that they will not look like the posters we have been looking at-- look for an American flag motif, etc. Then again, to those on the far right, McCain might just as well be running as a Democrat, so who knows!

In case you have been wondering who I am supporting for president, I'm voting for Clinton. No, not Hillary, George Clinton!

(image created by yours truly)

So, come this fall, don't forget to vote. Or not.

Work in progress

2008-05-15T18:33:00.001-07:00

This is a piece that I have been working on lately. It started as a drawing in my sketchbook. As I have mentioned previously, I have been trying to make a point to work in a more spontaneous and intuitive manner lately. Twenty years of commercial illustration has not been that easy to shake off, but I have been working at it.

So anyway, this sketch was done back in late March, and I decided to use it as the basis for a painting. My art teacher gig keeps me really busy, and I do not have a lot of time and/or energy outside of work. Regardless, I do try to keep something going, so I have been slowly picking away at this painting. Steps taken so far: I sketched in the composition with a dark green colored pencil (a more or less arbitrary color); went over the drawing with black paint; painted over the whole canvas with red; re-established the drawing, again with black paint; and did a quick rough-in of the background.

So, now all I have to do is find some time to move this thing forward. Looks like another busy weekend; plus, the school year is almost over so things have been kind of crazy lately. I'm really looking forward to working on this painting, though. When I make some progress, I'll probably post some more pictures of it-- stay tuned....

The Thoth Tarot

2008-05-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I was wandering around at a Barnes & Noble bookstore, and found myself in the metaphysical section. Something caught my eye—it was a number of different tarot decks on display. I picked up a few decks and took a look at the enigmatic pictures on the box covers. Two of the decks I looked at were the Rider-Waite deck, and the Thoth Tarot. From an artistic perspective, I was particularly drawn to the art on the cover of the Thoth deck. Although fascinated, I did not make a purchase.

(From the Rider-Waite deck)

Some weeks passed, and I found my thoughts coming back to these strange cards. I did some research on the Internet. I discovered that the two decks I had looked at were, in fact, two of the most notable tarot decks. The Rider-Waite deck (created in 1910 by mystic Arthur Edward Waite) is arguably the most influential of any tarot deck; it has been the inspiration for a great many other decks, and has really become, in large part, the standard in terms of meaning and interpretation.

The Thoth Tarot is a tarot deck designed by the notorious and colorful British occultist, Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), and was illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris. The Thoth deck is very different from the Rider-Waite, and is significantly more complex, both visually and in terms of its esoteric meaning. The creation of this deck took five years, from 1938 to 1943. Unfortunately, neither Crowley nor Harris lived to see the deck in print—it was not published until 1969.

Becoming increasingly intrigued, I purchased a Rider-Waite and a Thoth deck. Initially interested mainly in the cards for their artwork, I soon found the tarot to be thoroughly fascinating. My intent here is not to give a detailed explanation of what tarot is about (there is a ton of stuff all over the Internet). I am simply, in keeping with the eclectic content of my blog, presenting another intriguing facet of the world of art.

The art of the Thoth Tarot features a combination of psychological archetypes, occult symbology, and a generally modernist style (note the cubist-like appearance of The Hermit and The Tower). Here are a few examples of some of the more visually stunning cards (I have left off the borders of the cards, to focus strictly on the art):

(click on images for a larger view)

The Fool

The Hanged Man

The Hermit

The Hierophant

The Magus

The Magus (alternate)

The Magus (alternate)

The Tower

The Transfigurative and Esoteric Art of A. Andrew Gonzalez

2008-04-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Oracle of the Pearl

Myspace gets a lot of bad press, but actually, there's a lot going on there with art and music. I was first exposed to myspace three years ago through my then seventeen-year-old son. His band had a myspace music page with over 40,000 "hits". They booked and went on an east coast tour of almost two weeks, as a result of connections made through myspace. I said to myself, "hey, there is something going on here." I created a couple of myspace music pages for myself; one for my blues guitar music, and one for some more recent largely electronic ambient music. Through surfing myspace, I have found a TON of great music that I would never have become aware of otherwise, and I have also discovered a lot of great artists as well. One of the artists I discovered on myspace is A. Andrew Gonzales.

From the artists' statement: Feeling the need to contribute transformative images of beauty to the collective imagination, my imagery would develop an implicit antithesis to H. R. Giger's artwork. I felt driven to show in my work the liberation of the body and soul out of the dark depths of decay and perverse eroticism. By sublimating the erotic towards an angelic sensuality and by using ascension and rebirth symbolism, a sacred eros would emerge as the predominant theme of my work.

Gonzales' paintings are created with airbrushed acrylics on panel or canvas. Forms, values and highlighting are created by lifting pigment with an abrasive eraser, followed by the application of transparent layers of pigment.

(Click on images for a larger view)

Crescendo of the Heart

Magia of the Heart

Unio Mystica

Yemanja (The Awakening of the Heart)

Paul Laffoley

2008-04-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

Paul Laffoley has been described as a "visionary painter, designer, futurist, and hyperspace cartographer." Laffoley attended Brown University, graduating in 1962 with honors in Classics, Philosophy, and Art History.

During a CAT scan of his head in 1992, a cylindrical piece of metal 3/8 of an inch long was discovered symmetrically lodged in Paul's brain. It is in the exact middle of his head, in the occipital lobe of his brain, near the pineal gland. The CAT scan was advised by his dentist, after noticing something unusual in a routine x-ray before a root-canal. The dental technician asked Laffoley "Uh ... Sir, have you ever been shot in the head?" Local Mutual UFO Network investigators declared it to be "an alien nanotechnological laboratory." Laffoley has come to believe that the "implant" is extraterrestrial in origin and is the main motivation behind his ideas and theories. (quote from www.laffoleyarchive.com)

Visionary genius or obsessed weirdo-- decide for yourself. Actually, the majority of great artists could be described as obsessed weirdos, come to think of it.

What I know is this: I find his work and his life story to be thoroughly fascinating.

You can read more about Laffoley by clicking here. There is also a ton of information on Laffoley's website: www.laffoley.com.

Note: the images below were found on a number of different websites; many of them did not have dates. This work was created between the mid-1960s and the present time. As far as I have been able to ascertain, Laffoley works mainly in oil paint, and sometimes in acrylic, and at a fairly large size-- typically around five or six feet square.

(As usual, you can see larger versions of each image by clicking on them.)

Vision of a Just World

The Solitron

The Solitron - zoom of double Mobeius strip with sigils & Tesla tech

The center of the Solitron

The Telenomic Process of the Universe

Cosmolux - redesigning the universe as a singularity

World Soul of Plotinus

The Kyklos of Hermocrates

The Geochronmechane

Geochronmechane - main orbital system

The Orgone Motor

Fractal Cube from The Orgone Motor

Dimensionality: The Manifestation of Fate
(click on this image for a really LARGE view)

Man Ray

2008-04-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

A major figure in Dada and Surrealism, Man Ray is not as well known to the general public as Salvador Dali or even René Magritte. Best known for his avant-garde photography, Man Ray was also a painter and a creator of what he referred to as "objects" (assemblage sculpture, typically using "found" objects).

I love this statement from Man Ray:

I say anybody who does creative art is a sacred person. I do not care what he does. Whether he paints academic pictures or he is modern or different from anything else.

I like that.

Gift, 1921

Untitled rayograph, 1922

Untitled rayograph, 1922

Observatory Time, the Lovers, 1934

Record Album Art: Sun Ra

2008-03-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

My good friend Todd M. enjoyed the Sun Ra reference on my last post, so I thought that it would be fun to take a closer look at the great Sun Ra. (Todd is a veteran advertising art director in Detroit, a musician, and a general connoisseur of cultural coolness.)

Sun Ra (also known as Sonny Blount): In many respects, the strange and enigmatic Sun Ra operated outside of the main stream of jazz—yet, he is a major figure in the history of jazz and can not be overlooked.

Sun Ra was an innovative jazz composer, band leader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet who came to be known as much for his “cosmic philosophy” as for his musical compositions and performances. Ra claimed that he was a member of the “Angel Race” and not from Earth, but from the planet Saturn. The “cosmic” orientation of his philosophy, poetry, and often-bizarre music, along with costumes that combined elements of ancient Egypt and outer space, caused many people to regard his as a crank, or “nut”. Still, he has been widely recognized for his immense musical talents.

Sun Ra was a prolific recording artist and frequent live performer. His music ranged from keyboard solos to big bands of more than thirty musicians, singers, and dancers, all in costume. His music touched on virtually the entire history of jazz, from ragtime to swing music, from bebop to free jazz. He was also a pioneer of electronic music and “free” improvisation, and was one of the first musicians to use electronic keyboards.

As a synthesizer and electric keyboard player, Sun Ra ranks among one of the earliest and most radical pioneers. His live albums from the late '60s and early '70s feature some of the noisiest, most bizarre keyboard work ever recorded.

Although Sun Ra operated on the outer limits of jazz, he has been extremely influential on a great many musicians for his pioneering spirit, and willingness to take the music as far as it could go.

Ra recorded over 200 albums; some were on major or semi-major record labels such as A&M, Inpulse, and Rounder. Most of his releases, however, were on more obscure labels, and many were released by Saturn Records, his own label.

Here is a sampling of Sun Ra album cover art. I find the illustrated covers in particular to be very appealing. Stylistically, many of them could be described as being somewhere between surrealism and something related to folk or outsider art, and often have sort of a "home-made" appearance. Unfortunately, I do not have information on any of the artists. If anyone has any information about this, it would be nice to know.

I had the good fortune to see Sun Ra perform at least a half-dozen times. The first time, I was fifteen years old, and just kind of stumbled upon a performance at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, where I grew up. I had never seen or heard anything like this before in my life, and musically, it was a life-changing event that I will never forget.

SPACE IS THE PLACE!

De Kooning Jumps the Shark; Elvis Has Left the Building

2008-03-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

It’s after the end of the world; don’t you know that yet?—Sun Ra , 1970

As regular readers of this blog may have surmised, one of my favorite pastimes is ruminating on the state of things in the art world today. During my twenty years working as an illustrator, questions such as “what is art?”, “is there such a thing as good and bad art?”, “who gets to determine what is art and what is not?”, were far from my mind. Drawing and painting pictures for clients, I never had to worry about things like “what is the meaning of this piece—what am I trying to say?”. I was given an assignment, I did it, and I got paid (hopefully!). Pretty much end of story.

When I decided to become a high school art teacher, I realized that I would have to start thinking about some of these things. I was hired to teach drawing and painting, not commercial art or illustration per se. I went to Borders and bought a copy of Art in America, and sent in for a subscription… So what did I find in the pages of this august publication? A very heavy dose of “installation art”, conceptual and minimalist art, etc. Really, as I remarked in my Art Trends class at Wayne State University (a class taken for my master’s degree in art education), I had seen a lot of this kind of thing back in the early 1970s when I was attending the University of Michigan College of Art. To me, I said, installation art was nothing new—let’s move on already.

Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907

Consider this: what we commonly refer to as “modern art” has been around for over a hundred years. The modernist movements of Fauvism and Cubism are from the early years of the 20th century. Same for the Dada movement-- Marcel Duchamp’s found object sculpture titled “Fountain” (a urinal) is from 1917. By mid-century, painting had come to the point of total abstraction, as typified by the work of Jackson Pollack, a.k.a. “Jack the Dripper”. Painting (“important” painting, that is) was no longer about representation; it had become purely about “paint on canvas”. Gone was any need or desire to represent three-dimensional space; to the contrary, it had become all about “the picture plane”, or “flatness”.

Pollock, No. 32, 1950

Clement Greenberg was, to many people, the most important art critic of the mid-twentieth century. Arguably, it was Greenberg who had the most influence on the way “people in the know” have thought about art for the last fifty years or more. Paint on canvas, picture plane, etc—all from Greenberg. To Greenberg, it was essential that for art to be ART, it had to be always moving forward, always something new and different. Here is an illustration of that point: Greenberg, initially a supporter of abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning, abandoned de Kooning when he came out with his series of Woman paintings in the early 1950s. Greenberg argued that by deserting pure abstraction and returning to figurative painting, de Kooning was demonstrating “a failure of responsibility and, ultimately, of character.” De Kooning was, according to Greenberg, “making a major mistake by trying to reinstate the figure.” (Quotes are from the de Kooning bio by Stevens and Swan, pgs. 342, 350.) In other words, Greenberg declared that de Kooning had ”jumped the shark”. Keep in mind, the average person today would likely look at one of de Kooning’s Woman paintings as representing all that is bad about “modern art”, having no idea that this work had been rejected over fifty years ago as being essentially old-fashioned! The premise that art must always break new ground in order to be ART has persisted in the inner circle of the art world to this day.

So, given all of this, where have we come to? After passing through the Pop Art movement of the 1960s (Warhol, etc.), Post-painterly abstraction (term coined by Greenberg) and minimalism, we have gotten to the point where to some in the art world, we are now beyond any use for “the art object” altogether. In the 1980s, philosopher Arthur Danto declared “the end of art”, citing Warhol’s Brillo Box (1964) as the point in time where art became indiscernable from anything else. Since then, the history of art can no longer be seen as linear; the art of the last few decades has been dominated by a broad pluralism in which in which just about anything goes. The history of art, traditionally viewed in a linear manner, has come to a grinding halt.

Donald Judd, Untitled, 1980

The art world today, in what is often referred to as the Postmodern Era, is not, and has not been for some time, defined by any dominant school or movement. Rather it is defined (if that is the right word) by a complete and total lack of consensus as to the question of “what is art”. Much of the “important” art of today exists largely to deliver a political, social, or ideological point of view and frequently has little or nothing to do with aesthetic value. Much of this work is, to the public at large, unrecognizable as art and in fact, is not even on their radar screen.

Tracey Emin, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995, 1995

Norm Magunsson, The I-75 Project, (ongoing)

Happily, however, there does seem to be, within the pluralistic art world of today, somewhat of a resurgence of figurative painting, and of realistic painting in general. Some of this work appears largely traditional (cardinal sin!), but some of it could be described as postmodern, typically by virtue of subject matter that is anything but traditional. Art critic/philosopher Donald Kuspit has referred to some of this work as “New Old Masterism”. Artists such as Odd Nerdrum, Steven Assael, Vincent Desiderio and others are painting with the technique of the “old masters”, but the imagery is “new”-- typically strange, often bizarre. Other postmodern realist-leaning painting (realist in terms of realistic rendering, not necessarily in thematic content or subject matter) would include the art that is often referred to as “Low-brow” (this term being a satirical stab at “high brow” art), also known as Contemporary Pop, and the related “Pop Surrealism”. This work is generally inspired by pop culture, and many of these typically very skillful artists come from an illustration background.

Steven Assael, Bride, 1993

Todd Schorr, The Spectre of Cartoon Appeal, 2000

Really, much of the art of today defies labels or easy description. People are working in so many different ways, it’s hard to keep track of. Much of what is being produced these days can be hard to swallow as art. Still, there is a heck of a lot of really great work that is being produced.

David Salle, Angels in the Rain, 1998

Aleksander Balos, See No Evil, 2000

Dana Schutz, Death Comes to us All, 2003

Is art dead? Hardly. Nobody seems to be able to define it, but people still keep making it, whatever it is.

Art as a linear progression? Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.

"Hidden Agendas"

2008-03-21T19:56:00.001-07:00

Jacobi, Hidden Agendas, acrylic, 24"x30", 2008 (click on image for larger view)

This is my latest painting. I am not 100% sure that it is finished, but I think that it may be. After spending so many years doing carefully planned and executed paintings for my illustration jobs, I now like the idea of working in a more spontaneous, intuitive manner. Kelly's Ghost (see previous post, Feb. 19) was painted that way, and this one was as well. In fact, when I started this piece, I didn't have a thought in my mind--not consciously, at least. It just unfolded on its own, in terms of the subject matter, composition, and manner of brush strokes. The color palette is something that I have used on a number of other pieces--that part was a conscious decision.

I like the idea of working "in the moment". As such, although part of me wants to go in and tweak this painting a bit, my inclination is to leave it as it is, as an expression of the moments that it was painted in. I have been sitting on this one for a few weeks, trying to decide. I think it's done-- enough so as to post it here on my blog, at any rate.

1995: My Brief Foray into the World of 3D Computer Graphics

2008-03-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

As usual, life is very busy. I have an essay that I have been picking away at, but it is not ready yet. In the meantime, I thought that I had better post something so that my readers don't totally lose interest...

Back in 1995, I started dabbling around with doing some 3D CG. I thought that there might be a possibility for me to head in that direction career-wise. As things happened, through a series of events not interesting enough to bother with here, this was not to be. It occurred to me that perhaps some of you might be interested to see some of this stuff.

These pieces were created with Strata Studio Pro, on a Macintosh Quadra 660 AV, which featured a whopping 350 MG hard drive, and as I recall, 24 MB of RAM. Hard to imagine doing much of anything on that equipment, much less 3D work. These things took hours for the computer to render. Actually, Adobe Illustrator ran just fine on that machine, and the file sizes were pretty small. The fifteen-inch montior I was using at the time was kind of a drag, however.

This would be challenging to paint, but it was really easy to create as a 3D model.

Was I playing Myst at the time? You bet!

Influenced by Myst and Memphis furniture.

(click on image for larger view)

Bridge (click on image for larger view)

Lizard-man test

Lizard-man under the bridge

Head test for a bird-like dino-creature. No further work on this one.

Working in 3D was really fun, but again, my life just went down a different path so I never pursued it beyond what you see here.

Detroit: City of Dreams

2008-03-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos I have taken while roaming around the D.

(Click on images to zoom in and see Detroit in all its glory.)

Fall

Spring

A Sunny Day in Detroit

Artifact

Front Porch

Monument

King of the Hill

Kill Them All

Castle

Hope Springs Eternal in the Morning Sun

Have a nice day.

Sculpture- Then and Now

2008-03-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

Riace Warrior, unknown Greek sculptor, c.450 b.c.

David, Michelangelo, 1501-1504 (click on image to zoom in)

Fulcrum, Richard Serra, 1987

Need I say more?

Kelly's Ghost

2008-02-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

Jacobi, Kelly's Ghost, acrylic, 16" x 20", 2008.

This is a painting that I just finished. The title refers to a girl named Kelly who left our school earlier this year. (This was her third year in my 2D Art class.) We were working on a self-portrait painting project at the time. Kelly spent only a day or two on this project; basically, her portrait was just sketched in, using light gray and a brush (I make them establish their drawing with a brush-- no pencils!).

Kelly, who was often absent from class, just sort of faded away. I don't know why she left. She was gone for several weeks before she officially withdrew from the school. Anyway, a piece of canvas paper with her barely begun painting was left behind. I had saved it hoping she would come back. After she withdrew, I went to throw her piece in the trash. I looked at it, and said hey-- I could paint on top of it. I paused to consider if that would be cheesy or weird in any way, but ultimately, I figured what the heck and used it. This final product bears little resemblance to what she had started with (other than the basic composition), and does not resemble her in the least.

Kelly had a cheerful disposition; she was one of those kids that makes teaching fun. The class she was in is somehow diminished without her, yet she remains in our memories. I would like to dedicate this painting to Kelly, wherever she is. We miss you, Kelly!

Who is reading this blog?

2008-02-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

Hi-- I'm just curious to know who my readers are. I have over 3,000 hits on this page so I know that somebody is reading it, but I have not been getting very many comments. Are you a working artist, illustrator, art teacher, just interested in art in general, or what?

If you have read more than a couple of my posts, you have probably picked up on the fact that my interests in art are pretty eclectic. When I post stuff, it's usually because it is just what has been on my mind lately, but if I could get a sense of who some of you are and what you are interested in, that might give me incentive to add some emphasis to certain topics.

So... I would really like to hear from you. If you have an interesting blog, I would be interested in swapping links to each other's page.

If you are not a regular blogger and don't know how to leave a comment, it's easy; just scroll to the bottom of the post you would like to comment on, and you will see something like this:

Posted by RJ at 8:00 PM 2 comments (or 3, or 0, or whatever)

Simply click on the word comments, and you will be taken to another page where you may leave your comment.

Again, it would be really great to hear from some of you!

Thanks--

Rick

Is it Art? (part 3)

2008-02-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

I claim this crack in the floor as my latest work of art. Oh, wait-- it belongs to someone else. I suppose I could just "appropriate" it..... or not.

Is it Art? (part 2)

2008-02-08T18:24:00.001-08:00

Jacobi, Masters of the Universe, digital photograph, 2008

A casual snapshot, or fine art? I declare it to be art.

Is it Art? (part 1)

2008-02-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

Jacobi, Thin Kerf Rip, 2008

This red saw blade is my latest piece. It is art. Because I say so.

Where Does Creativity Come From?

2008-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

In addition to the 2D Art classes that I teach (grades 9-12), I also teach a humanities class for 9th graders. My humanities students make daily journal entries, based on a topic or question for the day. The other day, I asked, Where Does Creativity Come From? I received an interesting reply from one of my students: "Creativity comes from the right side of the brain, from the creative gland, scientifically speaking."

If I recall correctly, the "creative gland" is located near the pineal gland. (If you have seen the film From Beyond [based on a story by H. P. Lovecraft], you will be familiar with the pineal gland. You will also be familiar with Barbara Crampton, but that's another story.)

I was talking with one of my colleagues (one of our music teachers) about this journal entry regarding the creative gland. He asked, "So where does creativity come from?" My reply went something like this:

In general, "creativity" and where it comes from is in large part mysterious, but it seems to me that there a couple of main things that we can look at. One major factor would be comprised of the totality of everything that we have experienced throughout or lives-- everything that we have perceived with our senses, all of the emotions we have felt, our dreams (where do they come from?), various random thoughts, etc. The other big thing is something that is more difficult to pin down. A religious person might refer to "a gift from God." A more generically spiritual person might refer to "being in tune with the universe/cosmos." Freud, the subconscious. Jung, the collective unconscious. Some will try to find creativity through altering their consciousness, through drugs, meditation or other means. That's it in a nutshell.

Ultimately, creativity, what it is, and exactly where it comes from remains a mystery. I think that many creatively-minded people look to the arts (consciously or not) as a means of exploring the mysteries of existence, to find ways to make sense out of life.

Opinions are, of course, welcome.

Photoshopping

2008-02-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

I ran across this image recently, just going through some stuff on my Mac. Digital self-portrait, 2002, Photoshop manipulation.