ANDREW GUENTHER: ‘Talking to a Fish and Paraphernalia’
opening: SEPT 15, 2011 / 6-8 PM
the show runs SEPT 15, 2011 – OCT 22, 2011
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 W. 24th St – CHELSEA
(above) the show’s card – augured well. a striking sort of primitive graphic – just this side of awkward to be very deliberate . . . and . . . attention-getting.
from the left: ANDREW GUENTHER with NICK LAWRENCE of FREIGHT+VOLUME . . .
ANDREW GUENTHER, with his wife . . . artist TIFFANY POLLOCK.
I’ve known Andrew, and watched his work play its course out on the scene – since 2000/2001. he was always, a very very original guy. an edgy visual thinker and strange world plasti-cist . . . there are always a few (formal) threads, going on at the same time.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Negative Window’, 2010. acrylic on unprimed canvas. 78 x 60 in.
the newest wave of young ‘turks’ . . .
from left: DAN FLANAGAN, TRAVIS PRATT and CHRIS BIDDY.
. . but wait a second, we got a little bit ahead of ourselves . . . lets go back & start at the beginning . . . NICK LAWRENCE stands at the doorway to his year-old re-claimed space . . . a nice sized gallery – with room for several rooms . . .
gallery artist MICHAEL SCOGGINS, also hangs out – at the starting point.
in the entry project room niche – Andrew’s animated, talking fish aquarium – with 2 tiny little fish. one was even white and one was black, swimming by . . .
the most interesting part of the loop – apart from the images, of course – was the narrator’s voice – a certain type of gentle female voice – speaking in almost nursery rhyme cadence: as you grow you will . . . with a kind of hippie European new age accent . . .
hello. Andrew and Tiffany have a sweet young new toddler, named Easter Lily – so here’s talking to ya ?
trust me – this comes from a new age dad’s: love. and intelligence.
hey, this is what happens when you spring from the head of a death metal diehard.
sexual biology – the key to human nature.
not to mention: human digestion of liquid protein. and waste elimination . . . being a big part of the human condition.
here’s to: life.
just barley related in theme – in the next room are a series of ‘unconnected’ paintings.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Sick Whale’, 2011. acrylic on unprimed canvas. 120 x 78 in.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Vase’, 2010. acrylic on unprimed canvas, 120 x 78 in.
new wave – Matisse.
a smaller m/m mutli-media piece – and one of my personal favs.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Bread’, 2011. oil, wood, and papier-mache on linen. 28 x 20 x 5 in.
yeah, it’s looking to be a papier-mache: loaf of bread. bread, fish. you know, the whole deal.
painter’s easel, flower. so, does that spell: shaman ?
detail, ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Bread’.
yep, holds a nice place – on the wall. super ironic, too.
the middle room – is the paper pie plate face room . . . grinning femmes, only.
there’s that large one, and these two middle-sized ones.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Wheat’ 2011, and ‘Corn’, 2011.
acrylic, colored pencil, cardboard and papier-mache. 18 x 36 in. ea.
and then two tinier ones . . . looking all the world like: Cave of Forgotten Prehistoric Man meets 21st century . . . painter.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Plate Face’, (Yellow and Black), 2011. papier-mache, cardboard, and watercolor on paper. 8 x 6 in.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Plate Face’, (Beach), 2011. papier-mache, cardboard, and watercolor on paper. 8 x 6 in.
‘Plate Face’, (Beach) from the side . . .
a kind of Gumby – for the new age ? hello . . . rainbow.
turn the corner, and the last room – is a black and white photo room.
a feather . . . in the sand.
some dramatic cactii . . .
and. what the saturn . . . even some wild, as in ‘found’, urban ‘weedy’.
Andrew told me later, this photo was taken on his recent trip to Berlin, and this uncultivated spontaneous weed was sprouting – so innocently in the front steps of – a pre-school. talk about – survival of the fittest.
ok, one last photo. love the hi-contrast compositions – among the organics, dude.
BILL BRADY in the photo section. he says he is moving ATM to Kansas City.
look out.
and the last piece – a bean bag game. you put your own head – around that. minimal but – loaded, gesture.
full circle – we caught up to Andrew outside with MICHAEL MAXWELL. Michael Maxwell helped Andrew print the black and white photos – from the original 35mm negatives.
nice job. nice show. one of the best, and most thoughtful, (art) plastic-minded shows in town.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~ANDREW GUENTHER/TALKING TO A FISH/OPENING PIX |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 22nd, 2011, 2:49pm
PETER SUTHERLAND – ‘VICTORY OVER DARKNESS – CURATED BY FABIOLA ALONDRA
OPENING: SEPT 20, 2011 / 6-8 PM
the show runs SEPT 20 – OCT 15, 2011
HALF GALLERY – 208 FORSYTHE – LOWER EAST SIDE, NEW YORK CITY
the crowded scene on the street – outside the gallery . . .
PETER SUTHERLAND, on the right.
with him – from left: LEANN, HELENE, and LOUIS EISNER.
Peter’s brother, ANDREW SUTHERLAND on the left. with him, DOMINIC NEITZ, on the right.
ANDREW SUTHERLAND is also an artist – but leans towards the 3-D – as opposed to photography. this rather ‘weedy’ basketball is his – it adorns the entryway to the gallery . .
PETER SUTHERLAND can also veer to non-photographic works: such as assemblages, found objects, and custom-made projects, such as rugs. this is the first time I’ve seen his ‘sand’ painting.
PETER SUTHERLAND, ‘sand’ painting. . .
I really liked them . . . they reminded me of the early, non-objective, ironic as hell, one color, concrete-colored – painted canvases of Joe Bradley !!
PETER SUTHERLAND, looks to be some kind of found and re-claimed arcade game . . . yes. that’s the Half Gallery’s BILL POWERS – in the neon yellow shirt.
from left: movers and groovers JAKE and HESH . . make the scene – stopping in front of the arcade game console – natch !!
JAKE, HESH and GILLIAN.
looking at the photos . . .
a photo assemblage . . .
PETER SUTHERLAND, detail – above photo assemblage.
that must be . . . “the people going under the fence are trying to get into a free reggae concert in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.”
PETER SUTHERLAND, and the show’s curator: FABIOLA ALONDRA – nice job.
way way nice. very understated and focused, diverse and even radiant – all at the same time.
on the right, photographer PORTS BISHOP – with his new web venture partner – YUMIKO SAKUMA.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~PETER SUTHERLAND/OPENING PIX . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 21st, 2011, 6:21pm
OK !! . . . here – where we at:
PETER SUTHERLAND – HALF GALLERY – OPENING PIX: GOING LIVE LATER TO-DAY: WED SEPT 21 !!
ANDREW GUENTHER – FREIGHT+VOLUME – TONS OF GREAT !! OPENING PIX !! – GOING LIVE TOMORROW: THURS – SEPT 22 !! – around late afternoon.
AND YO. SHOUT OUT TO: HESH & JAKE – DUDES: GOT GREAT PIX of the you-know-what !!
will post pix – shortly – over weekend – or – first thing next week – !! – YOU ROCK !!
(or is that: roll !! ha.)
final note:
. . . about that zen-like LUKELAB banner above: Radiation Art, Two Randoms . . . if you click on it – you can make a pinpoint impact – from your end !!
much thanks to the REV LUKE MURPHY aka LUKELAB – for supporting the site – with his profound tech skills !!
much obliged.
~OK !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 21st, 2011, 10:48am
PETER SUTHERLAND – ‘VICTORY OVER DARKNESS’ – OPENING TUES SEPT 20, 2011 / 6-8 PM
the show runs SEPT 20 – OCT 15, 2011
HRS: MON-FRIDAY, 10-6 PM
HALF GALLERY – 208 FORSYTH – LOWER EAST SIDE
~PETER SUTHERLAND/VICTORY OVER DARKNESS/OPENING/TUES . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 19th, 2011, 6:46pm
from left: photographer SERGEJ VUTUC, with 2 pals: photographer LARS GREIWE, originally from Germany, now Barcelona-based. and DAVID COULIAU, a French documentary photographer currently working on a project in NYC.
SERGEJ VUTUC was born in Bosnia, lived in Croatia, the area we know as the Balkans, and currently resides in Germany.
LELE (LEON ZUODAR). LELE hails from Slovenia. also part of the Balkans.
also from SLOVENIA: MIHA – LELE’S longtime – painting partner.
at first me and Lars and David – tried to score fish tacos – at the ROCKAWAY FISH TACO joint – but it was too late – but there was still some action . . .
on the ad hoc – skate ‘park’ !!
we finally settled on burgers – on the Rockaway boardwalk steps – looking out towards the ocean !!
DAVID COULIAU and LARS GREIWE – were fun . . . small world I actually meet them on the way over. can you believe – sitting directly opposite to me – on that damn A train. what are the odds on that. I had them pegged for the event, Lars had a skateboard and looked pro. I was determined to remain NYC cool – but when they started talking to each other in heavy accents, (sorry dudes. it’s true, but it was total charming) – I did actually say: are you on the way to ELK ? and, Lordy, the answer was: yes.
so I got to hear so much about their scene . . . LARS had just completed a month long skateboard jaunt across the USA – while David is a cameraman/photog with wonderful tales of Paris, told with the flourish – only a documentary photographer could sketch out. He is currently up in Harlem – working with his brother on a documentary about street basketball culture – in NYC.
David had seen Ondi Timoner’s first Sundance winner – DIG! – while Lars had heard tell of WE LIVE In PUBLIC.
yeah, the venue was the real deal. raw raw and more raw.
JOCKO WEYLAND. writer, curator, zine publisher. and the founder of ELK GALLERY – which started off as a zine-based project. and . . . the driving force behind the Rockaway show.
rock, rock, Rockaway . . .
classic, SERGEJ VUTUC . . .
SERGEJ VUTUC . . .
photos by SERGEJ VUTUC – words not necessary.
though this one seemed really ironic – reason why: don’t know. it just rocks.
SERGEJ VUTUC.
LELE’S corner . . .
LELE . . .
LELE . . .
LELE . . .
LELE . . .
ok, one more. LELE . . .
checking out the show . . .
waiting for the band . . .
which turned out to be the hard driving . . . DIRTY FENCES.
the DIRTY FENCES . . . Ramones inspired.
DIRTY FENCES, frontman JOHN JACKSON DAVES, center with mike . . with Max. Max and Max.
DIRTY FENCES . . .
Max – their drummer and also a singer. DIRTY FENCES.
it was a big guy thing – and, yeah. they got down and rowdy to the music.
up a short flight of stairs – there was a zine wall – of SERGEJ VUTUC publications – to be sampled.
on the left: that’s photographer/zine maker PHIL JACKSON, out of Philly in the cape – who I heard is pretty good. with friend Lee.
see: PHIL JACKSON PHOTOGRAPHY
SERGEJ VUTUC on the right . . nothing like having the author/photog on hand. or what.
skateboard focused zine – by SERGEJ VUTUC.
beautiful. SERGEJ VUTUC . . .
left: NAOMI. on the right: ELANA LANGER.
I saw Elana’s work back in 2005 or so – she did that great great set-up. . . ‘animated’ desk accessories.
at that ‘art at work’ show.
DAVID SELIG of Rockaway Tacos – and one of the reasons why the Rockaways – rock.
AMANDA McDONALD CROWLEY, executive director of Soho’s Eyebeam Gallery & Project space . . .
STEFANI BARDIN, currently an artist-in-residence at Eyebeam . . .
on the long way back. LARS GREIWE . . . on the shuttle bus.
miles and miles of new construction look-alike suburbs all around – really, unbelievable.
we were all wondering: what the hell was there, before ?
I guess Lars hit New Orleans on his month-long U.S.A. skate jaunt . . .
we’ll give him . . . the last word:
LIFE ITSELF IS STILL BEAUTIFUL.
amen.
all in all – a real nice night.
even the traveling – was fun . . . so fun to be a tourist – in your own hometown !!
ALL PHOTOS BY – AND COPYRIGHT OF: NANCY SMITH.
~SERGEJ VUTUC & LELE LIVE FROM USA/OPENING PIX !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 18th, 2011, 6:15pm
SERGEJ VUTUC and LELE Live from USA
opening reception: Sat Sept 18, 2011 // 7-10 PM
the show runs Sept 17 – 25, 2011 (so, don’t blink !!)
Hours: 2-9 PM – SEPT 18, 22-25.
ELK GALLERY – 97-01 SHORE FRONT PARKWAY at 97th Street – enter on Parkway side underneath the concessions
Rockaway, Queens, NY
Up on the roof, out on the street , down in the playground the hot concrete. In a bunker maze under the boardwalk permeated by a worn-out post-Soviet Bloc ambience SERGEJ VUTUC and LELE will inaugurate a journey through distant locales, via Vutuc’s black and white photographs of inactivated structures, nighttime blur, and blemishes on bodies of both aged and young, and conversely colorful, raw, and scabrous Slovenian-bred Art Brutesque paintings and drawings by LELE.
Floutas, cukes, cake, and liquor will be upstairs, and the Atlantic Ocean is just fifty yards away.
The subterranean architecture perfectly suits Vutuc’s paradoxically celebratory documentation of somewhere still feeling the repercussions of the fall of communism, with the not-meant-to-be-used seen through a cloudy scrim of abused film. A rounded corner with an inexplicable negative space in the middle, and discarded pieces of wood transformed into jerry-rigged functional sculptural contraptions. From south (and north, west and east) of the Danube these brooding, powerful, mysterious, and sometimes really funny photographs evince an innately strong individual outlook and poignant mood that translates no matter if you skateboard or not or what language you speak.
Displayed in a warren of dank concrete storage rooms, the images exude honesty mixing tattered beauty and morose reality in the service of muddied, distressed, and truthful glory. Counterbalanced by his friend and frequent collaborator (on Art of Asfalt, The Hat cr3w, and Plemplem) Leon Zuodar’s (aka LELE) humorous, rough, and unbridled mixings of text and image dripping with saturated colors, these sons of Doboj and Postojna will harmonize with each other on a very specific beachfront Balkan frequency.
A subtle silver nitrate chiaroscuro take on what’s out there – forlorn trees, vistas, roads, shadows in the shadows – will intermingle with its brotherly antithesis.
With this installation and some actual ad hoc skate structures built on the spot the viewer can chew out a rhythm on their bubble gum, attack a jacked 1/4 pipe, look at the pictures, fall down, get up, dance, and ride the wall.
The sun is out . . . so come get some, at Rockaway Beach.
Performances by the WOES and the Dirty Fences will also happen, as will the serendipitously concurrent celebration of the first full year of legal bee keeping in New York – the Honey Fest !!
~from the ELK press release
see: ELK ZINE GALLERY
see: SERGEJ VUTUC . . . yo dude – don’t miss this link !!
see: Dirty Fences
see: the WOES
see: New York City Honey Fest – buzz, buzz, bees !!
and, yes – it will be sunny !! today’s weather report c/o THE NEW YORK POST:
Today: Partly sunny and pleasant !! High 64 to 70. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 51 to 57.
TRAIN:
note: the A train is messed up on the weekends in question – but its not really a problem – if they would only provide some simple instructions – down there. here they are:
WEEKENDS: take the A train – direction Queens – there are 2 A trains, make sure you get on the one that says: FAR ROCKAWAY – as opposed to Lefferts. Ride that straight through till Howard Beach/JFK. get off – its the last stop anyways – & – follow the locals – making sure to get that green free pass/ticket for the shuttle bus – which an MTA agent hands out at the door of that immediate exit. Take the shuttle bus – you want the shuttle that goes to SHOREFRONT PARKWAY – and get off at 98 Street – which is the 2nd stop. sniff the air for the ocean – and walk down. you’ll see the concession building – you can’t miss it – its the only building on the beach !! have fun . . .
From Manhattan:
A train to Far Rockaway. Transfer at Broad Channel to the S (shuttle) train. Stops at 90th, 98th, 105th, and 116th. Get off the train (at 98th for the gallery) and walk 2 blocks up to the boardwalk.
L train to Broadway Junction. Transfer to the A to Far Rockaway. see above.
From Brooklyn:
J or Z train to Broadway Junction. Transfer to the A to Far Rockaway. see above.
CAR:
find yourself on the BQE towards Staten Island/Verrazano Bridge. Follow signs to the Belt Parkway West (veering left). Take exit 11S for Flatbush Ave S towards Rockaways. Merge onto Flatbush and continue onto Marine Pkwy Bridge. Toll to and from is $3.25. Continue straight onto Beach Channel Dr. Continue onto Rockaway Freeway. Take a right at 108th to Shorefront Pkwy.
PHOTO BY SERGEJ VUTUC – COURTESY of ELK GALLERY
PAINTING by LELE – IMAGE COURTESY of ELK GALLERY
NYC HONEY FEST LOGO & IMAGE COURTESY: New York City Honey Festival: get the buzz . . about “everybody’s favorite pollinator” !!
~SERGEJ VUTUC & LELE LIVE FROM USA .. opens to-nite |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 17th, 2011, 7:47am
ANDREW GUENTHER – “TALKING TO A FISH AND PARAPHERNALIA”
opens to-nite THURS SEPT 15, 2011 / 6-8 PM
the show runs: SEPT 15 – OCT 22, 2011
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 W 24th ST – NEW YORK
“like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination – indeed, everything and anything except me.” – RALPH ELLISON (Invisible Man).
~from the F+V press release
note: PIX – FROM THE OPENING – POSTING EARLY NEXT – WEEK – !!
~F+V: ANDREW GUENTHER/Talking to a fish .. opens to-nite |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 15th, 2011, 9:50am
HR GIGER – ‘Biomechanoid’, 1969
OPENING To-NITE / THURS SEPT 15, 2011 / 6-9 PM
the show runs SEPT 15 – OCT 16, 2011
HARD HAT – 39, rue des Bains, Geneve, Switzerland
Hard Hat is proud to present two historical series by HR GIGER.
Biomechanoid, eight plates from 1969, brings into focus for the first time many of the themes and formal tropes that will define the Swiss artist’s works in the following decades: a fusion between flesh and machine brewing in the concrete entrails of a future necropolis. Infused with a chilling eroticism each plate repeats, permutes and transforms a series of motifs, accounting for the successive states of the gestation of some incredible creature.
Passagen, four photographic silkscreens form 1971, repeat a single motif, printed each time in a different two-color scheme. This nightmarish image – a detail of a garbage truck – stands halfway between a vaginal orifice and the entrance of a forbidding mechanical world.
Made at a time when HR Giger’s work was predominantly shown with in the mainstream field of contemporary art, these neo-Symbolist works display an acute Pop sensibility. Both series were published by BRUNO BISHOPBERGER . . .
~from the HARD HAT press release
~HARD HAT/HR GIGER/opens to-nite |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 15th, 2011, 9:27am
FILE UNDER: why so serious ?
I’ve been dying to ask this – all summer ?
LEA MICHELE of GLEE / PHOTO: BEN KING/startraksphoto.com/the possessionista.com
so, did the crew behind Lea Michele’s summer 2011 photo shoot, that’s a vintage jacket apparently, bye the way . . . see Abe Lincoln Jr’s – ”your momma” ?????
I bet, yes !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH / PANTHEON WINDOW EXHIBIT, NYC – ‘A HISTORY OF ART FROM THE STREETS OF NYC’, APRIL 2 – 17, 2011.
ABE LINCOLN Jr. – ‘your moms went to chelsea and all you got was a shitty abstract’ !!!
see: Pantheon: art from the streets of nyc/artloversnewyork/archive
~YUK YUK ABE LINCOLN Jr/TAKE III |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 15th, 2011, 9:10am
TODD JORDAN JUST SENT THIS ON:
“Souvenir” for C. Chauchat . . .
WATCH: TODD JORDAN, ‘C. CHAUCHAT – FOR THAT ACCESSORY KNOWN AS MAN’/vimeo
DIRECTED BY TODD JORDAN for the tie makers C. Chauchat
VIDEO PRODUCED BY STEVE HALO – CREATIVE DIRECTION & STRATEGY BY DAN MORALES.
EDITING & POST PRODUCTION BY JEREMY JORDAN.
oh, yeah . . . and,
see: TODD JORDAN/Photographs
see: NOW I REMEMBER
see: The Heavy Mental
~TODD JORDAN/FOR THAT ACCESSORY KNOWN AS MAN |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | September 13th, 2011, 3:17pm
