Deep thanks and gratitude out to Marla Bane of Dallas Arts Salon for her piece on my work!
Dallas Arts Salon Review
July 11th, 2010Portraiture by Alice Neel
July 9th, 2010Just discovered the work of Alice Neel today and found out that I missed her retrospective at MFAH. 
I’ll have to keep my eye out for her work. It’s totally nutso incredible! Her portraits are confrontations of humanity but make you wonder what is going on behind the eyes of her subjects. When I look at the pieces that were in the show “Painted Truths” I see the human figure as a boundary and subordinate to what is going on in the subject’s mind. They are thinking about something, perhaps about some idea or ideas. That would truly be a painted truth.
Drama and Journalism
June 30th, 2010Having studied the use of art as propaganda in my college years I have often wondered about the use of drama in journalism. When I watch major cable news they seem more like a theatre production where the facts take a back-seat and the ‘story’ is priority. This sounds fine until the drama and emotion overshadow or blot out the facts of the story. Then the story can be used to influence people to act one way or another based on some ideology or agenda.
So when I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR the other day, Lawrence Wright from the New Yorker was being interviewed by Terry Gross about his work in Gaza during the time of the Israeli invasion. Toward the end of the interview they talked about a performance piece called “The Human Scale”. While discussing it, they touched briefly on the idea of theatre and journalism. It’s not quite about ‘drama’ and journalism but it was close and made me very curious to see. If anyone has seen it, please email me or make a comment on this post. Here is a link to a quick plug in Playbill: http://bit.ly/cwUv0r.
As time has passed since those ever distant college years, I have noticed that more and more people have come to accept or even expect drama in their news. I think if this continues then we will see a lot more conflict in the world if for nothing else then to support people’s appetite for drama. On the other hand, theatre may become the new medium for real and substantive dialogue among people.
faces
May 30th, 2010Faces are the ultimate abstract narrative!
Seen here at the Museum of Modern Art “Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present
Modern Ruin on NPR’s Marketplace
February 22nd, 2010NPR’s Marketplace piece on Modern Ruin in Dallas on Sunday 2/21/2010. I participated by using the space as a stage and making some performance-scape photographs. I also had my cast bronze coins with bite-marks as a check of authenticity…
Sheep, Sharks, and Nightlights exhibition photos.
February 20th, 2010Here are the images for the Sheep, Sharks, and Nightlights. show at 500x Feb 2010.
Click on image for enlarged view.
Modern Ruin
February 11th, 2010MODERN RUIN
February 20-21, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 20, 8-11pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Thursday, September 25, 2008 the U.S. Government took over Washington Mutual, selling most of it to JPMorgan Chase.
Roughly a year earlier, at the height of a frenzied economic bubble, Washington Mutual began building a new 1 million dollar branch at 5030 Greenville Avenue, just south of Lovers Lane. Just after its completion, the government seized WaMu, and JPMorgan Chase decided not to occupy the building.
The new building was never opened, never used, and has sat as an empty shell for more than a year.
On February 20, 2010, Modern Ruin-a two-day exhibition organized by Christina Rees and Thomas Feulmer-will open. The two-day exhibition will be the only use for the million-dollar building before the demolition process begins the following week. The bank building is a truly modern ruin – a building that never met its purpose, and only existed as potential activity, potential economy, and hoped-for growth.
Seeking to take advantage of the space-its social and cultural connotations, its materials, and its presence as direct and immediate evidence of the current economic condition-15 artists will create work inspired by and in dialogue with the building. Some artists will alter the building’s materials and corporate interior, while others will stage actions and interventions within, and still others will use the background of the space as context for their work.
Artists in the exhibition :
Frances Bagley
Tim Best
Michael Corris
Thomas Feulmer
Annette Lawrence
M
Margaret Meehan
Tom Orr
Richard Patterson
Cam Schoepp
Noah Simblist
Christoph Trendel
Terri Thornton
Kevin Todora
Jeff Zilm
Please join us for the opening reception/intervention with the artists the night of Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010, 8-11pm. The exhibition will be open to the public on February 20th and 21st, 12-5pm, though in the case of some artists the work left behind will be documentation of the actions that took place the night before.
New Work
January 22nd, 2010Click on image to see full size.
Finished images are 34″ x 34″ inches up to 48″ x 48″, mounted on diebond with an aluminum cleat. Five images will be on display at 500x gallery from February 6th to February 28th. Opening reception will be February 6th from 7-10pm.
More from the zeitgeist.
January 16th, 2010Again, what I like about this is the isolation of the figure. The focus is on the figure, the figure’s gestures, voice, clothes, that all carry meaning and support the dialogue.
Todd Heisler/The New York Times - A scene from Richard Maxwells Ads at Performance Space 122.