Cleveland Dean in the Prudential Building

In direct opposition to what I wrote last post (about posting updates to my novel-in-progress), I'm going to write about an artist I've been encountering just about every day for the last few months. Cleveland Dean's work is hanging in the Prudential Building here in Chicago, and it's really great stuff

I had a chance to talk to Dean while the installation was going up. I asked him to give me his five-minute schpeel - it's terrible, but that's what you have to do when you get a chance to talk to someone about your art... I know it as well as anyone... Okay maybe not anyone...

He told me that his work was related to ink-blot tests. I think that's pretty clearly reflected in his work. Being that he is of African descent, the black on black images take on an additional meaning which I'm not sure I like. But that's a factor which is beyond his control, so I'm not sure if we're allowed to put that observation on him.

The image above has a certain frenetic energy which is kind of ironic in its medium, being this thick tar. I like the many different textures Dean gets here from the layering of this tar substance in the central application, and the thinness we see as the tar radiates outwards, especially in the implied circle in the upper left hand corner of the canvas, is really nicely balanced.

The problem with photographing these is that I'm only able to capture a single perspective (a problem I have with my own work). The play of textures and the almost disorienting experience of perceiving black on black are lost to an extent in the photograph. In person, the imagery of the canvas itself is not so obvious and requires more interaction with the painting. Which can make you look a little silly, but hey, we're artists, everyone thinks we're silly. It's an effective and interesting tactic to engage the viewer beyond a surface glance.

There is a single red painting in the series. I'm not sure if it was meant to stand out amongst the other black on black paintings or if it is left from another series, but I don't find the red on red as interesting visually. The mysteriousness and depth the glossy black background takes on with a similar finish is flattened by the saturated red. We're also getting into this kind of oh-gross-blood-dripping horror kind of space, which, while I don't think was Dean's intent, was certainly something which came to mind while viewing. It's not an unsuccessful painting, but I do find the darker paintings more interesting.

It's a great display, and there are a few wonderful paper and graphite installations (I haven't caught the artist's name). Highly recommend a stop by if you're around Michigan and Randolph

New writing project, I shall call it: A novel(la?)

So it's been a while since I've posted on here, but I'm planning to start recording updates for a project I've been working on for the past couple years. I'm working on my first novel(la?). I'm sure that it suffers from all of the cliche descriptors I can attach to it, but I have some confidence in the writing itself. I think the most obvious correlations will be Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and (I know, I know, cliche as hell) Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

When people ask me what it's about, I don't have an easy time answering. As I continue to write, I find that the story, the plot, is happening kind of organically (god I hate that word... it fits though), and my focus in writing it is more of capturing perspective as I've encountered it. Which isn't to say that this is an autobiography - a lot if it is fiction. It's the experience of perspective which I'm trying to be most honest about.

In terms of progress, I have what I'm considering the majority of the content written - at this point it's a little over 59,000 words. I'm in kind of a revision mode right now, but I'm finding that I come across some inspiration as I have words to which to react, so I'm continuing to add and edit as I read.

If people are interested, I'll dig through my more polished pages and put up an excerpt. I'm not expecting a whole lot of demand for writing from my demographic though. I'm sure there's plenty of it going around hahh.

So in the words of Charlie Sheen,
Go

-joe

Minimalism and Earthiness

The only word I can find to capture Susan Rothenberg is "earthiness". When looking at her paintings - or even her sketches (which are just as interesting in my opinion) - you can almost see her physical interaction with the canvas.

There is so much layering going on, the end product is really only a surface. The strength of these pieces for me rests in the layers below the surface which build to form an image.

I also really respond to the space she creates. The sketch of arms works just on the level of shapes and negative space - the fact that the image references arms is almost irrelevant. I also love the division of the canvas with this horse piece, perhaps partially because that is a technique I employ in my own work.

Naturalism... gross

Just found another older painting. I was really out of my comfort zone for this painting. It's a lot more color than I'm used to, and I'm not usually interested in naturalistic painting.

I do like this one in particular, though. I think knots are beautiful, something interesting about cloth and wrapping. I tried to display it almost as a slab of meat hanging, but I'm not sure I got the heaviness I was looking for.

As I'm looking at it now, I think there is something sexual within the cloth. The fullness of the center bulb, which is pulled taut, contrasts against the loose vulnerability of the drapery below.

My subconscious is responsible for any meaning in these piece - you can't hold me accountable.

Early Work

I just got some photographs of some of my older skeletal work. I was interested in the body, and I found that I enjoyed the aesthetic of simple ink drawings to abstract the skeleton. These were done in india ink, watered down in lighter places to imply distance.

Within this series, I spent a large amount of time on the pelvis, which appealed to me both because I appreciate its shape and because I think there is an interesting play between the "inappropriateness" the bone structure describes anatomically and the sterility which comes with stripping away the skin.






I also became interested in the space between ribs and spine. My early drawings struggled with coding the ribs as being separate from spine with a flat black ink, but I found that as I watered down ink to describe one or the other, an interesting, exaggerated cavity was created.

This was among my favorites. I did a few which were a monochromatic blue, but I don't think they were as successful as this pure black and white abstraction.

Greg Gummersall

Still working on getting a digital camera to document my own work, so here's a favorite artist of mine. Greg Gummersall, inspired by Twombly, Rauschenberg, and Rothko (or so I assume). I really enjoy the contrast of the intimacy of his warm palette and paintings reminiscent of notes against the large scale canvases, which are almost reminiscent of advertisements.

I went to see a recent show of Gummersall's work (actually, his wife's work was there too. Some really nice photography of horses - and I'm partial to horses after having fallen in love with Susan Rothenberg... but that's another story). He has a few pieces from series one and two (http://www.gummersall.com/om/) displayed in the Albano gallery in downtown Chicago. Definitely worth seeing while it's around.