Wednesday, March 31, 2010
April Gornik Talks About Working From Photographs
So, there have been some of you who have asked me if we won't be breaking some cardinal rule by making drawings based on photographs rather than on direct observation. Well, there are plenty of artist out there that draw and/or paint with photographs as source material. Listen to April Gornik as she talks about her exhibition "Out Of Africa." When she describes her reasons for utilizing photographic source material, see what you think.
Reminder About Class Next Week
This is meant as a reminder to those who were in class today--and to inform the MANY OF YOU who were not here today (seriously, what is up with you guys this semester?)--of a few things you need for next week:
Here are the materials you need to have with you:
22"x30" Stonehenge fawn paper
Charcoal pencil
Black & white conte
Chamois
Hard Eraser
If it is nice outside, we will go to Veteran's Memorial to work. If it is nasty outside, we will go into the main building where we can use the hallways as subject matter.
READ THE ARTICLE I GAVE YOU!!!
Today, we only had seven people in class, and of those only two had read the material. Next week, we will discuss the reading at the very beginning of class. If you have not read the material, I will ASK YOU TO LEAVE THE CLASS and come back after lunch. I will COUNT IT AS AN EXTREME TARDY. Coming into class extremely late is something I do note in my grade book and it does affect your final grade in this class. Don't force me to have to be that kind of asshole, please. "Just Looking" is a short read and it is not overly dense. James Elkins (love him or hate him) is really good at taking complex concepts and expressing them in simple, understandable, down-to-earth language. Come to class Thursday having read the material and ready to discuss it. HAVE OPINIONS.
If you have misplaced the reading I gave you, click HERE for the full text of The Object Stares Back online. Scroll up to page 17 and read only the chapter entitled "Just Looking."
An Archive Artist: Brian Belott
Brian Belott is an artist who collects and archives anything he can get his hands on. While looking at the photos you all brought to class today I was reminded of him. The first video below is a studio visit with him. Below that is an odd collaborative performance piece of his called "The Wordless Chorus."
Artists Working On Toned Paper
Here are a few examples of established artists who use mark-making on toned paper similarly to the way you are using it in this class. Notice that not all of these artists are using warm toned paper and not all of them use exclusively black and white conte. Still they are good examples to observe and from which to learn.
Edgar Degas
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
John Currin
Thursday, March 4, 2010
For Gino: Raymond Pettibon
This is an episode of Art:21 featuring an artist I mentioned to Gino: Raymond Pettibon. You can certainly feel free to watch the entire show (it is interesting) but you can also jump ahead to about the 15:00 mark for Pettibon's interview. You should dig his stuff, Gino.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
An Experiment To See Who Is Actually Reading The Blog
Below are listing to three really good art shows opening Friday night. Go see all three, post photos of yourself at each show to your blog (with evidence in the photo that you are actually there), and write a synopsis of what you thought of each exhibition. Do this BEFORE MONDAY and I will average your highest homework grade twice for Midterm.
THIS IS A ONE-TIME, NEVER TO BE REPEATED OFFER!!!
If you have read this, keep it to yourself. OR, if you just absolutely MUST tell a classmate, just tell him or her that there is something on the blog that he or she should take a look at. I want to get a feel for who is actually utilizing the blog.
The Opening is Friday March 5th 6-8PM in the upper gallery at MCA.
AltiplanoNew Works by
Keiko Gonzalez
Lisa Kurts Gallery
766 South White Station Road
Memphis, TN 38117
901.683.6200
Opening Reception: Friday, March 5, 6-8 PM
Exhibition on view March 5-April 30.
Susan Maakestad: "Traffic Land"
Friday, March 5, 2010
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location:
Material
2553 Broad Avenue
Memphis, TN
Material is excited to announce its fifty-sixth exhibition: Susan Maakestad: "Traffic Land."
Susan Maakestad: "Traffic Land" will run from March 5 through 27.
The reception will be on Friday, March 5, 2010 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
Susan Maakestad earned her M.F.A. in painting from The University of Iowa in 1987 and a B.A. and M.A. from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. She is Associate Professor of Art at Memphis College of Art, where she has taught since 1997. She was awarded a regional National Endowment for the Arts fellowship from Arts Midwest in 1988. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She has been included in the national publication "New American Paintings" and The Painting Center in New York's online "Art File." Her work has been exhibited nationally. She is represented by The Rymer Gallery in Nashville, Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis and Perry Nicole Fine Art in Memphis. She is also the long time radio host of "House Bayou" on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis.
About the show the artist writes:
“I am attracted to the spaces between things, the unnoticed marginal spaces in the urban landscape. Likewise, as a painter I like painting in the unsettling place between abstraction and naturalism. I find inspiration in ordinary and overlooked urban areas, spaces filled with concrete and asphalt. Merely imitating the natural world does not interest me. I am moved by the internal logic of paintings themselves, a world where things make sense somehow. Or almost don’t. Where everything lives and breathes in tension held together by beauty and paint.”
In January 2008 Maakestad began monitoring Milwaukee traffic cameras from her computer. She would watch as blizzards emptied the freeways of commuters and softened the geometry, blurring the edges of nature and culture. Empty spaces were filled first with snow and sleet and then with private distractions. Traffic Land is a series of drawings based on those webcam images. It is a construction, a vision of the urban landscape mediated by the practical role of traffic cameras and the poetic inclinations of a solitary viewer.
jpg info: maakestad_pr.jpg is "Mile Marker #3," 12 x 14", oil on canvas, 2009. Additional images of the artist’s work can be found at www.susanmaakestad.com.
Material is located at 2553 Broad Avenue. Parking is available on both the north and south sides of Broad Avenue.
About Material: Founded by Hamlett Dobbins and Julie Meiman in late 2004, Material is a 19’ x 16’ exhibition space set in the storefront on Broad Avenue in the Binghamton neighborhood of Memphis. Taking the name from Montessori learning tools, Material was built to provide emerging and established artists with an intimate, clean space in which to share their work with Memphis’ growing arts community. The programming consists of monthly shows as well as artists’ lectures in connection with local colleges and universities. Material has served as a space for young artists to have their first shows, as well as a place for established local and regional artists to test new ideas in a public forum. In addition to serving local artists, Material has hosted artists from Birmingham to Tokyo. Come visit.
Contact:
Hamlett Dobbins, 901.219.1943, hamlettdobbins@hotmail.com
Susan Maakestad, 901.272.5187, susan@susanmaakestad.com
Susan Maakestad: "Traffic Land" will run from March 5 through 27.
The reception will be on Friday, March 5, 2010 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
Susan Maakestad earned her M.F.A. in painting from The University of Iowa in 1987 and a B.A. and M.A. from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. She is Associate Professor of Art at Memphis College of Art, where she has taught since 1997. She was awarded a regional National Endowment for the Arts fellowship from Arts Midwest in 1988. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She has been included in the national publication "New American Paintings" and The Painting Center in New York's online "Art File." Her work has been exhibited nationally. She is represented by The Rymer Gallery in Nashville, Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis and Perry Nicole Fine Art in Memphis. She is also the long time radio host of "House Bayou" on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis.
About the show the artist writes:
“I am attracted to the spaces between things, the unnoticed marginal spaces in the urban landscape. Likewise, as a painter I like painting in the unsettling place between abstraction and naturalism. I find inspiration in ordinary and overlooked urban areas, spaces filled with concrete and asphalt. Merely imitating the natural world does not interest me. I am moved by the internal logic of paintings themselves, a world where things make sense somehow. Or almost don’t. Where everything lives and breathes in tension held together by beauty and paint.”
In January 2008 Maakestad began monitoring Milwaukee traffic cameras from her computer. She would watch as blizzards emptied the freeways of commuters and softened the geometry, blurring the edges of nature and culture. Empty spaces were filled first with snow and sleet and then with private distractions. Traffic Land is a series of drawings based on those webcam images. It is a construction, a vision of the urban landscape mediated by the practical role of traffic cameras and the poetic inclinations of a solitary viewer.
jpg info: maakestad_pr.jpg is "Mile Marker #3," 12 x 14", oil on canvas, 2009. Additional images of the artist’s work can be found at www.susanmaakestad.com.
Material is located at 2553 Broad Avenue. Parking is available on both the north and south sides of Broad Avenue.
About Material: Founded by Hamlett Dobbins and Julie Meiman in late 2004, Material is a 19’ x 16’ exhibition space set in the storefront on Broad Avenue in the Binghamton neighborhood of Memphis. Taking the name from Montessori learning tools, Material was built to provide emerging and established artists with an intimate, clean space in which to share their work with Memphis’ growing arts community. The programming consists of monthly shows as well as artists’ lectures in connection with local colleges and universities. Material has served as a space for young artists to have their first shows, as well as a place for established local and regional artists to test new ideas in a public forum. In addition to serving local artists, Material has hosted artists from Birmingham to Tokyo. Come visit.
Contact:
Hamlett Dobbins, 901.219.1943, hamlettdobbins@hotmail.com
Susan Maakestad, 901.272.5187, susan@susanmaakestad.com
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Hello People: Blog Much?
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to direct your attention to the lack of attention you have been giving your blogs. Now, I know that I, myself, wasn't the best example for the first half of February, but that's hardly an excuse: as I said, I would have expected you guys to call me on it. Some of you have only the blog assignments given in-class, some of you have only personal notes. Remember that you need BOTH. And then there are some of you who either haven't done anything at all or you stopped altogether after one or two posts. AND, there are still those among you who have NOT given me your url. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE get these blogs up-to-date.
Midterm is, quite literally, right around the corner. Imagine if I were to base your midterm grade on the way things stand right now. Just allow your brain to ruminate on that one for a moment... Do you think you would like the outcome? Well, if not, then FIX IT!
Purchasing the Correct Paper For Tommorrow
There were SO MANY of you who were gone last week when I explained that the type of paper that the syllabus says you need for class tomorrow is incorrect, that I thought I'd mention it here:
For tomorrow (and for the homework assignment you'll receive tomorrow), you should not try to find 22"x30" middle-grey paper. Apparently neither the supply store nor the Art Center on Union Ave. carry that size. Instead, purchase the Strathmore 19"x25 1/2" charcoal paper in "smoke grey." I am sorry for the mix up. I merely copied and pasted these particular materials from the sample syllabus that the school gave me. From here on out, whenever there is a specialty paper needed for class I will check on availability first before announcing it in class.
Art Events This Friday, Feb. 26
Some great stuff happening this weekend:
"Bottled-Up Blues" and "Southern Landmarks"
Art by Debra Edge and John Sadowski. Live music by Don, Kim, and Shelby Baldock.
Time: 6 - 9pm
South Main Art Trolley Tour
South Main Historic Arts District
The ring of the trolley sounds as the shops, restaurants and GALLERIES in the area open their doors to the throngs of Memphians and visitors who make Trolley Night on Main an event not to be missed.
Time: 6 - 9pmCost: Free
Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College is excited to announce its fourth show of the season: Peter Williams: Recent Works.
Peter Williams: Recent Works will run from February 26 through March 24. (Please note: the gallery will be closed from March 13 through 22 for spring break.)
Peter Williams will give a free lecture on his work on Thursday, February 25th at 7 pm in Blount Auditorium in Buckman Hall on the Rhodes College campus.
The opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Friday, February 26th from 6-8 pm.
Peter Williams’ is a painter’s painter. His lush paintings draw from a mix of influences that include, but are certainly not limited to: art history, current world history, as well as the artist’s personal iconography. These paintings are a way for the artist, who identifies himself as a storyteller, to address autobiographic issues particular to his position in the world as, in his words: “a large, black man who is handicapped.” Through painting he is able to build upon rich traditions that are rooted in portraiture, narrative, and allegory. During his nearly twenty years living in Detroit he made work that dealt directly with what the artist saw as a kind of institutional racism particular to that post-industrial, Michigan city. In 2004 he left his position at Wayne State University to teach at the University of Delaware in Newark. His work since then has dealt with the complex issues of being a person who feels like a Detroitian and is not yet a Delawarean. The artist’s work shows him dealing with the feelings and emotions of growing older in the post 9/11 America.
Peter Williams did his undergraduate studies at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and received his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Mr. Williams has won a number of awards including fellowships from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Ford Foundation as swell as the McKnight Foundation. His work is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, The Detroit Institute of the Arts in Detroit as well as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In 2002 he was included in the prestigious Whitney Museum of American Art’s Biennial exhibition. His work has been shown at the Yerba Buena Art Center, Detroit’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the Cranbrook Art Museum, and the Center for Contemporary Art in New Orleans. His work has also been in New Art Examiner and Art in America.
Clough-Hanson Gallery is located inside Clough Hall on the Rhode College campus. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The gallery is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Please note: the gallery will be closed from March 13 through 22 for spring break. Admission to the gallery is always free.
Art by Debra Edge and John Sadowski. Live music by Don, Kim, and Shelby Baldock.
Time: 6 - 9pm
D'Edge Art and Unique Treasures
550 S Main
Memphis, TN.
Ph: (901) 521-0054
Memphis, TN.
Ph: (901) 521-0054
South Main Art Trolley Tour
South Main Historic Arts District
The ring of the trolley sounds as the shops, restaurants and GALLERIES in the area open their doors to the throngs of Memphians and visitors who make Trolley Night on Main an event not to be missed.
Time: 6 - 9pmCost: Free
Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College is excited to announce its fourth show of the season: Peter Williams: Recent Works.
Peter Williams: Recent Works will run from February 26 through March 24. (Please note: the gallery will be closed from March 13 through 22 for spring break.)
Peter Williams will give a free lecture on his work on Thursday, February 25th at 7 pm in Blount Auditorium in Buckman Hall on the Rhodes College campus.
The opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Friday, February 26th from 6-8 pm.
Peter Williams’ is a painter’s painter. His lush paintings draw from a mix of influences that include, but are certainly not limited to: art history, current world history, as well as the artist’s personal iconography. These paintings are a way for the artist, who identifies himself as a storyteller, to address autobiographic issues particular to his position in the world as, in his words: “a large, black man who is handicapped.” Through painting he is able to build upon rich traditions that are rooted in portraiture, narrative, and allegory. During his nearly twenty years living in Detroit he made work that dealt directly with what the artist saw as a kind of institutional racism particular to that post-industrial, Michigan city. In 2004 he left his position at Wayne State University to teach at the University of Delaware in Newark. His work since then has dealt with the complex issues of being a person who feels like a Detroitian and is not yet a Delawarean. The artist’s work shows him dealing with the feelings and emotions of growing older in the post 9/11 America.
Peter Williams did his undergraduate studies at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and received his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Mr. Williams has won a number of awards including fellowships from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Ford Foundation as swell as the McKnight Foundation. His work is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, The Detroit Institute of the Arts in Detroit as well as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In 2002 he was included in the prestigious Whitney Museum of American Art’s Biennial exhibition. His work has been shown at the Yerba Buena Art Center, Detroit’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the Cranbrook Art Museum, and the Center for Contemporary Art in New Orleans. His work has also been in New Art Examiner and Art in America.
Clough-Hanson Gallery is located inside Clough Hall on the Rhode College campus. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The gallery is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Please note: the gallery will be closed from March 13 through 22 for spring break. Admission to the gallery is always free.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
How To Embed Video Onto Your Blog
I know I promised to get you this information quite some time ago. Again, I don't know how February snuck up on me like this.
Click HERE for instructions on how to embed a video you find on Youtube or some other video website into your blog.
Wow! Have I Really Been This Much Of A Slacker???
So, I log on to post some updates to the blog and I discover that I haven't touched this thing since January. I can't believe you guys have let me get away with that! My apologies. Let me make up for it tonight with a whole bunch of relevant posts.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Some Good Products To Clean Up The Charcoal
There have been a lot of people mentioning how difficult it is to clean the charcoal off of your hands and face after using so much of it. I've also heard a lot of complaints about getting fingerprints all over every surface. Well let me share a little learned-from-experience wisdom here. Go purchase two fairly inexpensive products that will help you beyond belief:
Lava Soap...
...or in bars like this.
And Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.
Magic Erasers are a bit newer, having only been developed in the past decade, but DAMN do they work! They are the perfect thing to take dirty charcoal fingerprints off of walls, desks, chairs, 3D design work, etc. without damaging the surface of whatever you are cleaning.
Neither of these will make for a huge investment on your part. A few bucks spent now and you avoid a lot of problems down the road.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A Reminder About What We'll Be Doing Wednesday, February 3
Erasure Out of Charcoal Ground: Planes
o Still Life—Planes
o Materials:
• Vine and compressed charcoal, black conte, chamois, hard eraser, good-quality white paper (22”x30”)
o Still Life—Planes
o Materials:
• Vine and compressed charcoal, black conte, chamois, hard eraser, good-quality white paper (22”x30”)
Monday, January 25, 2010
The 27th Annual Juried Student Exhibition
Art Museum of the University of Memphis
January 29-February 27, 2010
The 27th Annual Juried Student Exhibition opens at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis on January 29. Judges for the 2010 exhibition, which features work in all media from University of Memphis art students, are Robert J. Sanchez and Emiko Ren, Lewis-Sanchez ("Rob Y Ko Sanchez"), a collaborative team also known as Corner Liquor Store. Caseworks New Work from Nashville Lain York, Alicia Henry, Patrick DeGuira, Ron Lambert and Derek Cote Opening reception for both exhibitions: Friday, January 29 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Awards will be announced at 6:30 p.m.
January 29-February 27, 2010
The 27th Annual Juried Student Exhibition opens at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis on January 29. Judges for the 2010 exhibition, which features work in all media from University of Memphis art students, are Robert J. Sanchez and Emiko Ren, Lewis-Sanchez ("Rob Y Ko Sanchez"), a collaborative team also known as Corner Liquor Store. Caseworks New Work from Nashville Lain York, Alicia Henry, Patrick DeGuira, Ron Lambert and Derek Cote Opening reception for both exhibitions: Friday, January 29 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Awards will be announced at 6:30 p.m.
The British Television Advertising Awards - A Very Cool Event To Attend (If You Have $7)
Location: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Dorothy K. Hohenberg Auditorium
Contact: Elisabeth Callihan elisabeth.callihan@brooksmuseum.org 901.544.6208
Thursday, January 28 | 7 pm
Friday, January 29 | 7 pm
Sunday, January 31 | 2 pm
British Television Advertising Awards
Brimming with creativity, this year’s program of sly, sexy, hilarious, and thought-provoking British spots includes dancing marionettes, monkeys, and nudists as well as American celebrities Snoop Dogg, Rob Lowe, and Anjelica Huston. Among the standouts this year is a spectacular skydiving stunt for Honda that was broadcast live. Buy your tickets early, as these screenings are sure to sell out!
Tickets: $5 for members; $7 for non-members; Free with VIP Film Pass.
TICKETS
BTAA & the Brushmark
Tickets: $5 for members; $7 for non-members; Free with VIP Film Pass.
TICKETS
BTAA & the Brushmark
Enjoy British-inspired drink specials and menu items in the Brushmark Restaurant before or after the show. Bring your BTAA ticket in and receive $1-off any item! Dinner is available in the Brushmark Thursday and Friday from 5 – 9 pm. Brunch & Lunch are available from 11 am – 2:30 pm on Sunday.
Click here to make reservations and to see menu selections or call 901.544.6225.
Click here to make reservations and to see menu selections or call 901.544.6225.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art | 1934 Poplar Avenue. Memphis, TN 38104 | 901.544.6200
Sanford Biggers
This video has very little to do with drawing, but Biggers is an extremely interesting guy, nonetheless. This is a studio visit with him:
A Reminder Of What We'll Be Doing And What You Will Need To Bring To Class Wednesday, 1-27-10
Composition: Positive-Negative or Figure-Ground relationships
o Importance of edge of picture plane
o Use of viewfinder
o Erasure from caharcoal ground
o Materials
• Vine and compressed charcoal, white conte, kneaded and hard erasers, spray fixative, chamois, 3 sheets of white bond paper (18”x24”)
o Importance of edge of picture plane
o Use of viewfinder
o Erasure from caharcoal ground
o Materials
• Vine and compressed charcoal, white conte, kneaded and hard erasers, spray fixative, chamois, 3 sheets of white bond paper (18”x24”)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Welcome
Alright folks, this is where we begin. If you are reading this, then I trust you have followed the directions I gave you and have established your own class blog. Please DO NOT forget to e-mail me the url address of your blog. I will be placing links to everyone's blogs in the "Student Blogs" section to the right. This will allow everyone to more easily locate your information and provide a central hub from which all of the blogs can be accessed. It would be best if I had your url BEFORE WEDNESDAY so that I can actually see everyone's blogs before class Wednesday morning.
Your class blog is an important part of the workload in this class. I personally feel that technology is such an integral and all-encompassing aspect of our lives, careers, and even social interactions, that to deny its influence--even when studying an institution as old and traditional as drawing--is ridiculous. Therefore, this blog counts as a percentage of your grade in this class. A small percentage, to be sure, but enough to push a plus or minus behind a letter grade. So, a good blog could be that one deciding factor that pushes your final course grade from, for example, a C+ to a B. So, please don't neglect it.
Good example blogs from students in last semester's Drawing 1 class:
http://clarefreeman.blogspot.com/
http://www.kaylasdrawing1blog.blogspot.com/
Don't forget to enter your first post. Make sure to blog a little bit about what you have come to MCA for. What is your major? What attracted you to MCA? What do you want to do in the future once you have received your degree? Etc.
Also, don't forget to attach a pocket in the back of your sketchbook like the one in the following example:
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