Easier to Control, What You Missed & You Like This - in the When Titles Fail show @ NOWhere Limited

NOWhere Limited is hosting a quite spectacular (if I do say so myself) 10-artist group show, on view through July 26, 2009! When Titles Fail: the group show that can't be labeled features paintings and mixed media works by:

Heather Dalton, Chris Huang, Max Kauffman, Craig Koch, Scott Lickstein, Ian Millard, Angela Oaks, Maggie Ross, Greg Willson and me.

I have 3 new paintings in the show, pictured and commented on below. Scroll down to see pictures of them in progress.

Links to photos of the show are here; Links to browse/buy works from the show are here

Unlike my other recent work, these 3 new pieces are not part of any series or planned "art experiments." I had absolutely no idea what the outcome would be for any of them: their imagery was pulled out of the ether, the materials I used to make them, and/or my subconscious. I had an immense amount of fun making messes work for these!

Pictured Above: Easier to Control, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, fake flowers and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.

For Easier to Control I collaged some relics from my days in Baltimore that I've been dying to use since 1995... mainly a mis-printed piece of paper from a kite kit I used to sell when I worked at the Kite Loft and a flowery bit of old mattress. I also threw in a bunch of de-flowered silk flowers. The figures in this painting were "divined" from People and a few "womens'" magazines, except for Magnum PI (I dunno where he came from. His pseudo-serious macho image has been burned into my brain for a while, though, and it inspired the tone of this piece more than the materials I used for collaging.)


Pictured Above: Easier to Control, detail, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, fake flowers and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.


Pictured Above: What You Missed, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, found fabric and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.

What You Missed is loosely about the futility of fashion, wall flowers, travel and the luck of the draw. Again, I used a scrap I've been saving for years. This time it's a piece from an old, fancy, silky 80's-ish blouse. I also took advantage of another mental image I couldn't seem to exorcise: cherries from a pre-packaged cherry pie circa 1998. Very mustache-y, dontcha think?


Pictured Above: What You Missed, detail, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, found fabric and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.


Pictured Above: What You Missed, detail, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, found fabric and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.


Pictured Above: You Like This, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, found fabric and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.

Ah, yes... fun with Facebook and People Magazine too. This one was the most difficult of these 3 pieces to figure out the future of... I did think of the name of this one before even starting to work on it. It might've had something to do with the difficulties. Also, the wildly colored pillowcase, see below, drove me crazy but I got it to work after it was muddied up a bit and buried under layers of stuff and now this might even be my new favorite out of the 3 for When Titles Fail.


Pictured Above: You Like This, detail, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, found fabric and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.


Pictured Above: You Like This, detail, Elisha Sarti, Acrylic, pen, pencil, found fabric and other collage on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2009.


Pictured Above: The first stages of Easier to Control (left) & What You Missed (right.)


Pictured Above: The first stage of You Like This - how could anyone actually get any sleep while resting their head on that neon forest of a pillowcase?


Pictured Above: The final stage of What You Missed - I'm adding some gloss to one cherry. I left the other one matte.

Definitely check out the other artworks in this show too! There's 50 pieces to browse through: http://www.nowherelimited.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=109_249

The Visual Art of Mark Mothersbaugh: RUGS! RUGS! RUGS! @ NOWhere Limited

Saturday, May 30th was such a great day in Ned! (That's Nederland, Colorado, near Boulder.) NOWhere Limited Gallery hosted a really fun opening party for the current show: "The Visual Art of Mark Mothersbaugh: RUGS! RUGS! RUGS!" Mark Mothersbaugh, well-known as a founding member of the innovative band DEVO, has been creating artwork in many forms for more than 3 decades. His love of visual art began in childhood, just after it was discovered that he was extremely nearsighted and legally blind. His first correctional glasses offered the young Mothersbaugh a new view of the world, fueling a lifelong infatuation with imagery and illustrations... READ MORE

Saturday also happened to be the day Tony Hawk was in town to dedicate Ned's new volunteer-built Nathan Lazarus Skatepark! Here's some pictures from both events...

Above: Elisha and Alanna presenting Alanna's favorite of Mark's rugs: "Hatching a Plot," game show hostess-style! See / buy this rug, and all those from the show: here

Above: Various revelers at the opening party. Note H-Bomb and Greg each "getting awesome" in their own way!

Above: An installation view of the show. Note the "rug tags" hand-written by Mark Mothersbaugh, a nice touch!

Above: Alanna, Elisha, Scott and H-Bomb pose in front of the show's title and Mark's rug "Shoes," which is fast becoming one of my favorite images from this show...

Above: Mark was away working on a soundtrack for an upcoming film, but attended the opening via live video! It was so fantastic to chat with him... he talked about the projects he's working on (including a DEVO album, the first in more than a decade!) and showed us his lovely hotel room and mini-bar... He was so down-to-earth and charming!

Above: Here's Tony Hawk! It was raining and raining up until the point in this picture, but Tony hung in there a gave Ned a thrilling performance!


Above: More Tony! Most of my pictures are like this, through some strangers legs or from way up high, since it was so crowded! Alanna and I tried to start the chant "Toe Knee! Toe Knee!" a la the Pixies song, but alas, it didn't catch on... (but, you know, that song's about a superhero bike rider not a superhero skater, anyways...)

Above: There was a fun festival surrounding the skatepark event.. Here's me at NOWhere Limited's booth!


Thanks again to all those who helped us out that big Saturday: Alanna, Greg and Maggie, Paul and Cheri, Angie and of course, Michael Pilmer - Mark Mothersbaugh's rep. It was great!

Here's the link to "The Visual Art of Mark Mothersbaugh: RUGS! RUGS! RUGS!" at NOWhere Limited:
http://nowherelimited.com/mark_mothersbaugh

It's on view at the gallery until June 28th, so if you're nearby, do c'mon in and check it out! It's dazzling!

Here's a link to Look Into My Owl's coverage of the show: http://lookintomyowl.com/mark-mothersbaugh-nowhere-limited-exhibition-photos.html

Influence Ward Shelley's drawings in his sleep

Ward Shelley's Who Invented the Avant Garde – and other half truths is on view at Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn through May 17, 2009. The exhibit features intense painted drawings diagramming complicated relationships and timelines between people, places and events linked by an idea... like The Beats, which maps the "the lives, loves, and artistic output of the primary Beat Poets and their muses, using highway-like lines to trace their travels and travails.*" These drawings look fascinating and I hope to sometime get absorbed in them in person, but what really captured my attention about this show is the performance installation component of it: The Sleeper Experiment. *From the gallery's press release:

"From April 16 to April 30, during regular business hours, Mr. Shelley will be sleeping in the gallery inside a cabinet made for the purpose, and working during the night on drawings based on information provided by visitors.

The visitors, virtual or actual, are invited to contribute random input (in the form of words, short phrases, or images) that will become the basis for concept maps. This input will be read into the artist's mind by a speaking computer program during his sleeping hours. In the evening he will rise and begin drawing, leaving the results on view for the following day."

To contribute your sleep suggestion virtually (like me) email a word or short phrase to:
sleeperexperiment@gmail.com

Read more about The Sleeper Experiment here: http://www.wardshelley.com/sleeper/intro.asp

And check out more of Ward Shelley's work on the artist's web site: http://www.wardshelley.com

Art I saw on a quick trip to NYC

I was in NYC for only a few hours the other day, but my sister Alanna and I managed to see quite a few great shows! Here they are:

James Paterson: Harvest
bitforms gallery 529 West 20th Street, 2nd Floor (between 10th and 11th)
On view through April 25, 2009, Open Tues - Sat 11am - 6pm

The Rotten Fruit Tardis 27/03/2009 from Presstube on Vimeo.

Try The Rotten Fruit Tardis yourself on the artist's site! It's great... we couldn't stop playing it while we were at the gallery.

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Gordon Cheung: The Promised Land
Jack Shainman Gallery 520 W. 20th
On view through April 18, 2009, Open Tues - Sat 10am - 6pm

Pictured Above: Installation View of 'Promised Land' by Gordon Cheung @ Jack Shainman Gallery

Pictured Above (Click the image to see it larger.)
'The Pale Horse,' Gordon Cheung, stock listings, ink, acrylic gel and spray on sail cloth, 63.5 x 89 inches, 2009.

The Promised Land is stunning in "real life." Definitely worth checking out the larger pictures of Gordon Cheung's work on his web site: here It's a little more like being there in person than looking at the small pics above - you can see some of the stock listings and other details more clearly. Love the insane color palette, too. Looks like oil spills.

Also showing...
Jane Alexander: Survey
Jack Shainman Gallery 520 W. 20th
On view through April 18, 2009, Open Tues - Sat 10am - 6pm

Pictured Above: Jane Alexander, 'Frontier with Ghost,' Archival Pigment Print, 24 x 29 inches, 2007.

Pictured Above: Jane Alexander, 'Post Conversion Syndrome (Captivity),' Archival Pigment Print, 24 x 32.25 inches, 2003.

These creepy and beautiful prints are montages of the artist's sculptures collaged with photographs she took of scenes in South Africa - where she lives and works.

Some pictures of Jane Alexander's sculptures/installations can be seen: here

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Andreas Gefeller: selections from his ongoing series "Supervisions"
Hasted Hunt 529 West 20th Street, 3rd Floor
On view through May 16, 2009, Open Tues - Sat 11am - 6pm

Pictured Above: Andreas Gefeller, large scale photographs from the 'Supervisions' series @ Hasted Hunt - Installation View.

Gorgeous, dizzying and hypnotic! We were in there for a long time, mesmerized. The coverage of this show by Look Into My Owl (LiMO) made us really want to see these photos in person...

The artist's web site has some larger pictures of the Supervisions series and other works.

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Group Show: Better History
Presented by 7Eleven Gallery, The American Standard Gallery and O.H.W.O.W.
Located at 169 10th Ave (@ W. 20th St.)
On view through April 11th, 2009, Open Wed - Sat 10am - 7pm

Pictured Above:
Various Artists, 'Better History,' group show presented by 7Eleven Gallery, The American Standard Gallery and O.H.W.O.W. - Installation View.

From the press release:

"Better History is a New York based, cross-generational group exhibition. Works by some of the most promising emerging artists are presented alongside examples from long established figures, unfolding landscapes of influence."

So yeah, this show features so many amazing artists! I listed them all below, with links to their web sites (if available) for your browsing pleasure...

DONALD BAECHLER • TIM BARBER • SEBASTIAN BEAR-MCCLARD • SEBASTIAN BLACK • MAX BODE • SCOTT CAMPBELL • ENEAS CAPALBO • SARAH CHARLESWORTH • FRANCESCO CLEMENTE • BILLY COPLEY • PATRICIA CRONIN • LANCE DE LOS REYES • INDIA DONALDSON • LENA DUNHAM • JUDITH HUDSON • MEL KENDRICK • FAB 5 FREDDY • FRANCESCO GALETTO • ALEX KALMAN • MAIRA KALMAN • TIBOR KALMAN • VICTOR KERLOW • BARNEY KULOK • EVA LEWITT • JUDITH LINHARES • TROY LUMPKIN • ALEX MASSOURAS • MICHAEL MCCLARD • THOMAS MCDONELL • HARRY MCNALLY • CASEY NEISTAT • VAN NEISTAT • DENIZ OZUYGUR • PETER PASSUNTINO • GREAR PATTERSON • PAOLO PELOSINI • NICK POE • NICOPONCE DE LEON DIOS • PAULA POONS • STEVE POWERS • ALEX RICKARD • ALEXIS ROCKMAN • THEO ROSENBLUM • ED RUSCHA • TOM SACHS • BENNY SAFDIE • JOSH SAFDIE • KENNY SCHARF • LAURIE SIMMONS • GORDON STEVENSON • JONATHAN WAITE • ROBERT WALTZER

See some pictures: here

A few of my many favorites in this show: Josh Safdie's bike, Thomas McDonnel's pieces and the Self High-Five Machine by Deniz Ozuygur

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Zoned out on artists' books etc. at Printed Matter for a while, too.

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Also, spent some time in Jersey City. So much fun!

Got to see the Ron English, Bigfoot, Jason Maloney mural in person. It's on Hudson County Art Supply's exterior wall @ the corner of First & Coles. There's some pictures Alanna took on LiMO... here

LITM had some nice"Battered Bunnies" paintings by: Megan Gülick

And, we went on a little family trip to the Liberty Science Center. Lotsa interactive exhibits with so many buttons - the kids (my other sister, And's, age 4 and 8) loved it!

Show extended!! Thawed Out: Visions of the Future - Group Show @ NOWhere Limited til 3/29/09

Good news: the current exhibit at NOWhere Limited Gallery in Nederland, Colorado has been extended! Scott and I kept hearing from visitors to the gallery that they wanted to come in and see this show again and/or let their friends know too... so, due to "popular demand" (and a fortunate flexibility in our show schedule) we'll be keeping Thawed Out: Visions of the Future on view through March 29th!

Installation Photos from Thawed Out: Click each thumbnail above for a larger image.

The show features work by:
Bob Conge / PlaSeeBo, Fleck, Ian Gamache, William D. Hood, Chris Huang, Max Kauffman, Killingstar, Scott Lickstein, Scott Listfield, Ian Millard, Alanna Sarti, Mike Slobot and myself.

About the theme:
NOWhere Limited Gallery invited artists from around Colorado, as well across North America, to share their unique visions of the future for this fun group show, titled Thawed Out: Visions of the Future. Exhibited pieces include paintings, collage, drawings and sculpture. The town of Nederland, Colorado celebrates a festival called Frozen Dead Guy Days every March in honor of Bredo Morstøl, a "resident" who has been (rather haphazardly) cryogenically preserved. Experts in the cryonics field say Grandpa Bredo, affectionately known as the "Frozen Dead Guy," could conceivably be revived as soon as next century. The focus of this group exhibit is not the Frozen Guy, but rather the future... What will the world be like when the technology exists to "wake up" Grandpa Bredo and other "frozen" folks? A Jetsons-esque Utopia? Taken over by aliens? Or something even weirder?

We hosted a celebration at the gallery with some of the artists and live music by deadbubbles on March 7th, 2009. Here are some pictures from the deadbubbles performance, as well as a few from the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival: http://nowherelimited.com/thawed_out/party_pics



Thanks for the photos, Cheri and Maggie!