Temporary Occupants - Revisited

Eastfield College Department of Visual Arts

Second Installment of "Temporary Occupants"

April 8 - May 6, 2011

(Temporary Occupants - PR Image. Photo credit: Iris Bechtol )

The PR for this event announced:

"Artists have been invited to create temporary site referential responses to various spaces in and around the campus.  These individual projects encourage viewers to reconsider the notion of artistic "space" and how works are to be presented and viewed.  Temporary Occupants presents art objects as situations to be discovered rather than viewed in any formal or expected way.  Artists include

Courtney Brown, Mickey Bruce, Matt Clark,

Kristen Cochran, C.J. Davis, Lanie Delay,

Eric Eley, Lance Jones, Justin Shull,

Sunny Sliger and Marianne Newsom,

Sour Grapes,

Jenny Vogel, Lizzy Wetzel and Kathy Windrow."

I attended the reception on Saturday, April 9 starting at 6p.  It was one of those absolutely beautiful Spring evenings in Dallas.  Not hot and humid, not chilly, just perfect.  They served the most delicious and huge tacos from Good 2 Go Taco.  DJ Jeff Ross spun records as we ate and mingled before we each headed out to roam the campus to locate all of the work.

I'm posting some pictures I took that lovely evening.  Unfortunately, I never found the pond on the out skirts of the campus to see Eric Eley's installation. Too bad for me, because I have loved his sculptures that I've seen at Richland College and Platform Gallery of Seattle. (They represent a number of artists that I admire, but have not yet collected - hmmmmm)

First, pictures of the curators Iris Bechtol and David Willburn

Iris is on the left, C.J. Davis is on the right.  Two other roaming spectators are in the middle.

catching David in motion

I caught these two of three performers working at C.J. Davis' performance piece.  Three men - Black, Latino, and White - raking gravel. Wish I had captured a video.

Lizzy Wetzel laid out a multi-colored line of sand in the window insets the line the walkway between buildings H and L.  C.J.'s raking guys were in the gravel beds adjacent to Lizzy's installation.  Lizzy's work is still laying in place, though somewhat faded these two months later.  Yet still intriguing.

In the main quad with the tacos and music, I next encountered  Justin Shull's work.  A large trailer covered in artificial Christmas tree branches that had a birdsong audio track playing softly.  Cozy miniature library inside.

Also in the quad was this interactive installation by Mickey Bruce.  There were a couple more of these installations inside buildings on campus, but I only located this one.  Mickey made these little fingerprint clay sculptures and placed them on the wooden shelves that he also made.  The idea was to pick up one of the clay sculptures and replace with an item of your own choosing.  Temporary Occupants indeed!  I am still enjoying the little piece of the experience that I brought home to the studio.

Beyond the quad to the other side of building C, I encountered this installation by Sunny Sliger and Marianne Newsom.  These colorful streamers were fluttering gently in the balmy breezes.  I felt transported to a tropical island hula dance in the wind.

This large sculpture by Dallas street artists collective Sour Grapes is located above the fireplace in the Campus Center.  It remains to this day overseeing the students as they study and dine.

Matt Clark covered this picnic table in brown fake fur.

Kristen Cochran's interactive "high-five" installation sat in the middle of this busy sky walk.  It was friendly in a non-human sort of way.

Just beyond Kristen's installation I found this video by Jenny Vogel in front of the campus art gallery, Gallery 219.  It is an eerie apparition staged in the Eastfield College Music Practice Room then screened on a tv in another location of the same building.  "The viewer is left to wonder if, when and how the event took place.  Located somewhere between beauty and terror the project uses technological processes not to explain, but to establish the uncanny."  It reminded me of scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Kathy Windrow's installation consisted of rain gutter, pink tape and flags, sawhorses and stryofoam.  I wonder if this references equipment used on her archeological digs.

lanie Delay's 'Hot Freak (Party Elevator)' lived up to its name, even if it was a one floor ride.  What a ride!  Blaring disco music, metalic streamers, two party girls showing every rider a good time.  I wanted to be glittered, but they painted one of my thumbnails bright whore red instead - poorly.  This wasn't a nail salon after all!  I laughed all night and used Goo-Gone the next morning to get it off.

Lance Jones installed this vinyl print of a chandelier in a narrow hallway behind the stage in the Performance Hall.  The wall is about 30 feet high.  Lance said he was very nervous installing this piece.  It was dizzying to view, but worth the extra effort to find the space and quietly view while a performance was in progress.

I realize, now, that I missed several of the works around campus including that of Courtney Brown.  Lizzy states on her website that she created three installations around campus, but I only found the one.  All in all, it was a great evening of an adventure in art.  I have works by David Wilburn, Lance Jones and Matt Clark in my collection, so it was exciting to see what they each curated or created for this evening.  As the sun set behind building G, I headed home.  Perfectly beautiful evening of art.

Holly Johnson Gallery and Marty Walker Gallery

This past Friday, I stopped by several galleries around Dallas.  

I enjoyed the work at Holly Johnson Gallery, Marty Walker Gallery, and Conduit Gallery 

so I've posted a few pictures below.

Nymphaeum: New Paintings by Kim Squaglia 

at Holly Johnson Gallery

These luscious paintings are layers of paint and resin, one layer on top of another that achieve a 3D effect.  The resin is sanded on some of the paintings which creates a sense of dreaminess.  These were difficult to photograph because of their reflective surfaces.

Ted Kincaid: Every Doubt That Holds You Here

at Marty Walker Gallery

I'm only posting a couple of pictures.  I really couldn't capture these beautiful prints properly due to the reflection in the glass.  Kincaid's prints appear to be photos, but they are actually composites of his own creation to create the illusion of specific objects in seascapes, landscapes and moonscapes.  The moons craters have actually been created using images Kincaid captures in his environ such as the concrete floor of his studio.  The more I looked at each of these the more detail and imagery revealed itself.  Magical.

Marcelyn McNeil: Recent Paintings

and

M in the Project Room

at Conduit Gallery

This is Marcelyn's first exhibition in Dallas.  She earned an M.F.A. from the Universtiy of Illinois, Chicago and B.F.A. from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.  She lives and works in Houston, Texas.  Marcelyn's paintings were represented in the 2011 Texas Biennial, curated by Virginia Rutledge.

M has an installation in the Project Room at Conduit.  A small drawing on the wall of a child vomiting little specks with a child's electronic keyboard on the floor with little specks of paper all around.  Lines are drawn at angles from the child up the steep wall, and then the lines bounce down adjacent walls interacting with this framed drawing at the end of the room.  I really enjoy M's drawings.

The exhibitions at Holly Johnson and Conduit are up through July 2, 2011.  Ted Kincaid at Marty Walker Gallery ends this coming Saturday, June 11, 2011.  Go see it yourself before it's too late.

Kirk Hopper Fine Art

I stopped by Kirk Hopper Fine Art this weekend to see the new exhibition.
Just Between Us: new work by Alejandro Diaz Ayala

and 

American Beast: a collaborative sculpture by Michael Christopher Matson and Kevin Obregon

a painting exhibition in the gallery and a gigantic sculpture in the courtyard.

Let the summer gallery shows begin.  Alejandro is a young artist, around 27 I think I remember from the bio at the gallery.  A blend of technical drawing and painting with splashes of abstract paint with touches of pop iconography drawn in and placed unexpectedly on or around the figures.  There is also one sculpture that has the same abstract 'splashes' on the head as the paintings do.  I enjoyed that bit of continuity between the works.  It will be interesting to see what this young artist shows us in the future.

In the courtyard gallery, Michael Matson has collaborated with Kevin Obregon to create this monumental sculpture that resembles a giant shark dorsal fin.  This huge overpowering sculpture represents American ideals and bravado.  It is lit from the inside.  I was at the gallery long before the Texas sun was ready to set, but pictures on the gallery's website show a beautiful night time shot of this beast.

 

Matthew Ritchie Revisited

99 degrees fahrenheit in Dallas this afternoon. It's not quite officially summer yet, but the heat doesn't wait here in Texas.

It has me thinking back to a cooler time, London in the fall 2005.  Frieze Art Fair.  Matthew Ritchie was there with his exhibit and his young son.  Andrea Rosen Gallery's booth.

Oan Kim at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary

Oan Kim: Fanfares

May 21 - June 11

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Oan and his wife Albane the day before his opening at The MAC.  We were joined at the table by Oan's art dealers from L.A. and Seoul as well as one of Oan's collectors.  This was Oan and Albane's first trip to Dallas. Oan wanted to try a dish that would reflect Texas cuisine, so we suggested he have the chicken fried venison steak.  Oan seemed to enjoy it although the Texas sized portion did surprise his Parisian sensibilities!  Oan told us stories of their life in Paris, his photography and his music.  He co-founded M.Y.O.P. , a group for independent photographers.  Oan is also the front man for his rock/jazz band Film Noir.  He brings these talents together for his current exhibition "Fanfares" at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary.

I stopped back by The MAC today to take a few more photos.  A soundtrack of Kim's jazz infused indie rock was playing in the gallery along with his video compilation.  It took me back to the opening reception in which Oan performed a 30 minute set alone with the video projected on him.

The relaxed easy energy of Kim's music plays nicely with his photos lining the walls of the gallery. The video accompanying the performance and the soundtrack that continues throughout the exhibition consists of stills from Fanfares as well as old black & white movie clips. 

The press release for this exhibition tells us the series of photographs titled Fanfares take the viewer into a world of music with imagery that will immediately bring to mind night life and New Orleans Jazz culture. Kim is able to capture the energy of the night club in a beautifully candid way. He works loosely, much as the musicians do, improvising as he goes to give himself freedom from predictability and contrived compositions. Over the years he has developed an approach of the medium that is not strictly documentary, nor purely conceptual, narrative or pictorialist, but it is informed by all of the above, re-questioning the balance of these elements at every new series of work.

  

Jeannie R. Lee had this to say about Kim's photo titled "Fanfare" in her recommendation on ArtScene. "...a man's head is improbably horizontal to a marble tabletop.  Nearly touching him is the mouth piece of a well-worn trumpet jutting out between somebody's legs -- while somebody else's hand is pulling a cigarette from out of the unidentified trumpet player's front jeans pocket.  The number of hands reaching for smokes, clasping knees, and touching strangers -- all in this single cramped shot -- sums up the story of the collapsed sense of personal space that we have all experienced late at night."  Here is a shot of "Fanfare"

I look forward to future art encounters with this amazingly multi-talented artist. I close with this final photo of Oan Kim and Albane at The MAC on the night of his opening reception.