I have been thinking of black and white abstract expressionist paintings I have seen at shows in NY lately. The jumbled patterns create an infinite number of possible narrative forms that become a kind of “screen”, a “purdah” of sorts. This is the first of a series I’d like to explore, using more or less small bits of color to break up the wider field of black, white and grays.
Tom Bennett
Purdah, oil on canvas, 60″ x 48″
A huge number of artists and craftspeople worldwide market their handmade creations on the online site Etsy. A lot of it, most of it, like most man-made stuff in general, is crap. Regretsy is my new favorite blog. Some of this is art. Well maybe very little of it is. The rat is kinda tasty.
Tom Bennett
Or more specifically, the subway. This week I am actually working on another stick project, otherwise known as the “I Really Hate My Neighbors” piece, but it wasn’t finished, so it’s back to the tombs for some abstract billboards.
This is a birthday Present for a friend. It’s probably 3 months late by now, but that’s how I role.
It’s pieced together out of fragments of Ulysses by James Joyce, Death In Venice by Thomas Mann, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Hamlet by William Faulkner and In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.
Basically, it’s a pun about the literary methods of the artists of the early twentieth centur. But if you don’t see that, it’s not necessary.
-JD
I thought I posted this already but I guess not.
A year ago I made a piece out of a lot of circles. No surprise there, but it left me with a lot of sheets of paint covered masking tape with large holes in the center. I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away, so finally made this thing. It is about an inch thick of crooked, unwieldy glory. Enjoy!
-JD
Okay, I’ve posted other pieces made of these nested squares before. Each times I made those, I’d end up with extra bits trimmed off the side. Here, I have joined those into this. Is this good enough to call it it’s own art piece? Probably not. I apologize.
-JD
I’m doing another day posting more smaller pieces instead of one big piece.
This one came about because I’m stupid. I had been cutting up little pinwheel pieces for an early Pazzles piece but accidentally cut this piece with the pinwheels facing the wrong direction. So there wasn’t much to do but use these pieces with themselves.
Voila! Art is born.
More later,
-JD
Not much to say about this. Its a collage. There’s a goat in it. It has a lot of horizontal and vertical edges. I pry shoulda put in some naked people or sumthin’.
Imagining the Distance of the Ocean, paper collage, 11 1/2″ x 5 1/2″, 2009
This is definitely one of my more bizarre preoccupations, and difficult to rationalize aesthetically, but from the moment that I first picked up an SLR, I’ve found myself stopping on the street, or pausing in a car, to photograph something that I see reflected in a pane of glass. It’s actually, I guess, more of a mixture of colors, lines and planes with an intended subject; a deciphering of what the window intends to promote and what you can actually see in it. I know, I’m crazy. Anyway, totally missed my Friday post, so here it goes, on Sunday…
All DSLR’s with a variety of lenses.
Despite New England’s determination to force me back into an early hibernation with this sudden unseasonable onset of COLD, I’m still playing outside. This week, my only drawing companions were Taysha and her little sister–Ashley–from a few houses down. Taysha is a seriously talented artist. The other day, she showed me her notebook full of fantastic drawings which she works on when “school gets boring”. Impressive stuff. Next time she brings it over I’ll try to remember to get some photos.
by stephg
and it’s kind of a face the other way round, too. see…
This next one is for Toni. Read more »
Japanese brilliance!
acrylic and graphite on panel
21 x 7.5 inches
DETAIL after the jump!
I’ve never shown you that one, have I? Nope. Then it’s new! Well, new to you anyway, old to me. It’s long-gone now. Has a new home. Sold!
So what else is new, really new–not just pretend new? Um well, I’m finally admitting (though it’s been painfully obvious to anyone who’s been paying the least bit of attention) I’m stuck, blocked, creatively constipated and fighting off a really intense fear that I will never really make art again… never make art that feels solid and personally significant and OK. Yeah, I’m sure it’s just a phase and what I really need to do is take a break, knock off the mental self-flagellation and just look around, breathe easily and wind myself back up to a point where art making is less intimidating to my brittle psyche.
And that’s pretty much what I am (and have been) doing. For the next however long it takes, I’m going to continue to fill my days with yoga, breathing, bike rides, hiking, sidewalk doodles, children, apple-picking, organic veggies, searching through bins at the hardware store, baking, photographing reference-ish material and the like. I’ll also continue to step into the studio for a little painting during the day, but at this point, the pressure is Officially Off.
Maybe sometime soon I’ll post some of the photos I’ve Read more »
I dunno. Maybe not OK for watching at work–it’s got the F*ck word innit and stuff.
If you are a fan of d’Arte Board, or even if you only visit us as a desperate last resort to kill time at work, you are probably also aware of the work of Terry Border.
He is an old member of the Myspace group where all of us met, The World Artist Network. On that site, we all watched Terry grow into his current style, launch his blog and slowly begin his campaign for world domination.
As it happens, the next step of that plan will be launched into action shortly, in the form of his new book:
The book will be in stores within 4 days and if your family is like mine, this is a perfect gift to give to your zany uncle on Christmas so the family can spend the rest of the day passing it around laughing until their bloody maries come out their noses.
We highly recommend this book and wish Terry the best of luck and several sequels.
-JD
I will be touring local galleries and posting my pithy opinions on my twitter feed.
Join along!
-JD
The monotype truly has become my main medium lately for its immediacy and its capacity for fluid manipulation that removes any stultifying preciousness. Its a true marriage of intuitive study and finished work. Here are some more from a series of abstracted ‘cave’ images.
Dripping Cave, 2009, monotype, 18″ x 12″
Somnambulist Cave, 2009, monotype, 18″ x 12″
Agora Gallery - the proud sponsor of the Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, which offers contemporary artists the opportunity to show their original art at one the most acclaimed juried art shows in Chelsea, New York’s art galleries district.
darteboard
jdhastings
ssstephg
Tom Bennett
Toni Tiller
Jason Gray
probrucer
laelia e. mitchell
