Just a sneak peek of two of the paintings I am making for The Layman Group’s new office in downtown auburn. Ive transitioned somewhat away from the pure portraiture of the past few months, to something a little more graphic heavy. The show is tomorrow, and I have tons to do!
Zachari Logan’s work is amazing. He creates life sized portraits of himself exclusively. Check him out. http://www.zacharilogan.com/
Been a whirlwind week, 3 paintings in 1 week!? The two above are 1 and 2 (left and right) that are part of a new series of works I am calling “Cultural Commodities” Recently finished paintings on display in The Layman Group office/gallery in Auburn, AL. They will be added to the artwork section once I get good enough images.
nic-rad: Man Bartlett filling up the entire gallery with inflatable balloons. Read about it here. (photo via An Xiao) I have been watching this all day. This is rife with symbolism to the point of him questioning what it means mid-performance. Nevertheless he is pushing on. It feels like a metaphor for contemporary art practice. We all are still churning away, making art, without the slightest clue as to what goal we are collectively moving towards. Art used to be a tall glass of water, being filled higher and higher with each decade. Now, we have filled it and everything the current landscape contributes seems to spill over the edge and runs outward in an ever expanding flat puddle. More and more of us are adding water, but none of it works towards actually filling the glass. He will eventually pop all of these balloons, and all that will be remembered is the tremendous effort towards “something”. Thats what he is doing. Thats what we are doing. Of course, this piece could easily be about some childhood fear of circus clowns. Even if it was, it would be just as valid as any other “point” being made today. You can watch him live, here while it lasts.
This excessively hyped “Telephone” video didn’t turn out to be nearly what It had been pegged to be. Despite thousands currently gushing over how “epic” this is, it really turned out to be a hammy, disjointed vanity project. There was conspicuous product placement, constant staring at the camera, and  a completely nonexistent narrative. What topped off the disappointment was that the partnership with Beyonce manages to diminish both artists. This joining of forces worked to neither of their strengths, and only helped expose weaknesses.  There will be several a fan say otherwise, but I think this was a miss. Sure, its meant to be campy; but camp at its best lets the viewer know that the creators are in on the joke. With this short, It’s not clear if she is or not. In my background of visual art, if intent isn’t clear, then its a failure of the artist, not the public.