Okada Sculpture Facility and new video

The Bemis Center for Contemporary Art has just finished renovation of a property across the street from the main building, the Okada Sculpture Facility, that was originally a freight train depot.  It’s a big beautiful space that will be used  for the fabrication of large scale projects as well as being for the project-specific use of the artists in residence at the Bemis Center.  The residents who are here this fall, including myself, are the the first artists who get to use the newly renovated space–very cool.  From the moment I toured the place I had an affinity for this inner room, pictured below, which has yet to be converted into a spray booth room.  Its high cinder block walls and small square footage make it feel like it could be some prison room or s&m chamber.  I developed a video and installation piece that grew out of those feelings.

work in progress view

Just arrived for Residency at Bemis Center

This place is SOO awesome.
I’ll follow up in more detail after I get some new work don in studio. I did however just finish putting this video together that I shot over the summer. “MUSIC AND POETRY IN KANSAS BUSH”. It will be featured in “here” at PAFA opening Oct 22.
If you click the HD icon you can watch the video in standard def if it’s loading slowly.

WIZARD PORCH installation at Lawrence Arts Center

In the project space at LAC, I’m going to install a deck-like structure that I’ve been building in my studio, complete with treated lumber, chip board and steps.  It will feature a video projection screen built into it, that will be visible at night through the front windows.  I think I’ll call it “Wizard Porch and garden.”  I’ll hang big black and white xeroxes of photos taken in the studio–of wizard people on the wizard porch.  There will be plants, cinderblocks, and probably a bubbling fountain.   The walls will be decorated with a new painting and some framed works on paper.  “Zing–Zing”

Lawrence Kansas Art Scene Final Friday Coolness

I’m Proud of this Lil’ groovy town on the Prairie.  For about a year now there have been synchronized art events on the final friday of every month.  Most of the action happens in the downtown area along Massachusetts street.  Venues include The Lawrence Arts Center, Wonderfair Gallery, The Invisible Hand Gallery, and various “flash spaces” in which art shows are installed in vacant commercial spaces.  Several blocks to the west of the historic downtown area along Mass. street, is the Spencer Museum of Art on the campus of KU.  They have some great programming these days and usually do something special for the final friday event as well.

Alicia Kelly, above, curated a flash space for the final friday fun the night of April 29.  The show was called Blame it on the Moon, and featured 10 exciting young artists and one older artist doing a variety of things.  The work all meshed together well.. unfortunately I didn’t take a lot of photos.  In the picture above she’s standing in front of the piece that I did for the show, a sort of “Wizard Entertainment Center” featuring 2 videos, an HSS speaker, a fog machine, incenses, and a fan blowing on the Kansas flag.

Detail of Lawrence artist Christa Dalien's window installation for "Blame it on the Moon", curated by Alicia Kelly.

Artist Ray Sohn (middle), and Kelly Clark (left) and Eric Dobbins (right) of Wonderfair Gallery.

Brooklyn/Kansas City artist Ray Sohn (above) came to Lawrence and created an ambitious solo show at Wonderfair gallery he called “Pyramid Lake”, which will run through June 19th.  Gallerists (as well as being artist themselves) Kelly Clark and Eric Dobbins served as artist assistants to get help Sohn get the show in order.  It was a nice achievement, the show looked really great.

wizard artist on vimeo now so you can mess w/ my videos

rich kraft

Vera Mercer Still Life dinner at Bemis Center

We were there, my girlfriend and I, the night of March 16 at Bemis Center For Contemporary Art in Omaha, NE.  At 100 bucks a head, I was pumped to check this one out:  A 7 course meal, drinks included.  Several large tables formed a cross in the middle of the room.  Mz. Mercer’s large format still life photos hung ominously on midnight blue painted walls.  I enjoy the photographic work itself, and it was weird/cool to be amidst 3d still lifes that occupied portions of the tables.. and to dine among them.  These featured all sorts of dead animals and fish, flowers, candles, etc.  It was a bit twisted.  Lots of beautiful dead birds and fish.. not to be eaten, only there for our aesthetic pleasure for 100 bucks.  Lots of wealthy people at the dining table that night.  The creatures had not been disemboweled and had been sitting around all day in the room.  I was hoping someone (the artist) would address the crowd and speak to the presence of these pitiful slain animals among us and pointedly say that — YES — their recent deaths serve us as art only.  I didn’t mind the difficult morality of an artist doing a project like this. But I wished someone would get up and scream out some poem or words of some kind to address the death.  That the lives of those animals were left unsung seemed wrongheaded to me.  The food was bloody and strange, it was prepared by some top chefs..  Overall we had a pretty good time.

Jolie Laide Gallery, James Hyde Sculptures

I walked into this young Philadelphia gallery, Jolie Laide, right as they were about to close, they were very friendly and showed me around anyway.  This work by James Hyde was pretty killer. His paintings were hanging in the main space and these sculptures were in the project room.  The paintings bore digital prints taken from images of Stuart Davis word paintings.  Hyde then applied thick white letters over them.  I thought that was cool but these sculptures were really messing with me.  Letters?  I love the material use.  Wicked.

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art

PAFA curator Julien Robson is putting together a group show  for Oct ’11 entitled “We’re Still Here”, featuring the work of 24 artists from around the country.  The show will advocate a kind of alter-regionalism– the perspectives of artists working apart from the Chelsea/Brooklyn/Miami circuit.  I’ll be part of it.  I’m pretty excited about it.  I’ll post more info when I get it.

I visited Philly in early March to meet with Julien and see the space.   I spent the rest of the day walking around the city, visiting art galleries and checking out architecture. Chinatown bus to and from NYC was 2 hours each way and cost 20 bucks total.

The older building on the left is the original PAFA school/museum and the building to its right also belongs to PAFA.  The group show will take place on the ground floor galleries of the newer building.

Masonic Hall, Philadelphia

It was for my first initiation that I was there, NO, It was because I snuck in, NO, It was because I took a tour/?  It was kind of awesome.  Some stuff went down when I was in there.  I got scared and I wanted to run out, but NO, I liked the architecture and all the spooky symbols, NO, I mean..

George Washington was a fine figure of a man– and that’s a fact.  It was his determination and military leadership that won this country. period.  The Man stepped down from power.  BIG DEAL.  Here is a picture of his bust at the Mason hall..  Looking a little more severe than he’s usually depicted.

Washington’s ACTUAL masonic ritual apron in a glass case.

GOOD N’ EVIL BLACK AND WHITE TILES: THEY WERE EVERYWHERE IN THERE.

I COULD FEEL THE POWER AND THE MYSTERY.
THE GEOMETRY STARTED F*KING W/ ME.  I WAS THERE.

Philadelphia city hall, Mansard roof and other

Down the street from the PAFA building was this big, insane, city hall building.  This old piece of s* blew my socks off literally.  I couldn’t believe the size of this phallus-tower, stone- craziness. 1871-1901, “the second empire style”.   The statue on top is of Willliam Penn, is blackened Bronze, is 37 feet tall, weighs 27 tons(what?), and looks like some kind of a BAD MAN.  There are black eagles and other figures– also big and heavy looking– that decorate the top of the tower as well.  The stone is white and the almost vertical Mansard roof tiles are black.  ”Fuck.. what could this all mean?”, I thought to myself as I walked around the perimeter of this city-block-size behemoth.  I was thinking to myself ..”SATAN”.  My mind was literally (figuratively) exploding.  So COMPLEX a structure!  I could barely keep up with its range of variation, (you’d have to see it to know what I mean), inside and out, so rich, so many different shapes and competing angles; yet so stylistically concise.  It just kept going on and on.  I loved it.  I had to break myself away from it after a while… damn.

these pitchers just doesn’t do it justise at all.

NOW WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? (above picture)  Geometry fun house in Philly.  I LOVE THIS.

Review in Kansas City Star

Dana Self wrote this thoughtful review of  ”Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire — New works by Aaron Storck and Lee Piechocki” at The Paragraph Gallery through March 6th, for the Kansas City Star.  The link to the Newspaper’s website is down but here is a scan of the article, click it to enlarge:

installation view of my piece in the room with big painting in the background and lights on the side.

“Mirror for Comparison of Greenhouse Beauties”

1776 Series of 12 or so prints by Kitao Shigemasa and Katsukawa Shunsho.  ”Greenhouse Beauties”

I wanted to see some Edo interiors so I called up the print room at the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence Kansas.  The obliged me by bringing out a bunch of prints for me to look at.

These particular works lit my mind up Big Time.  The whole concept of some cloistered “beauties” feels weird– but my pleasure with these works has to do with the geometrical compositions, the unpredictability and movement, the architectural forms, the harmony between the human and the natural, and the delightful balance of simplicity and complexity.

I sought these out because I’m beginning a composition for a large painting that will be installed in a group show at PAFA, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia this fall, curated by Julien Robson.  I’m considering a sort of architectural, indoor wizard scene.

I love this 3/4 view: this isometric perspective.  I’m curious about it.  Maybe I’ll allow myself to be influenced by these works as I develop this new large-scale piece.

Love these prints– they are subtle and beautiful in person– click to enlarge.

 

detail– is this wild or what?

 

detail

detail (fashion, architecture, the natural– the fabric is like water– or acid trip imagery.  It flows like a graffiti burner.  Under the porch you can see some dirt and leaf bits.)

 

Sarah Sze at Tanya Bonakdar 2010

I came to NY for a quick trip this weekend to visit some friends and see some art– I was curious to see this show in particular.  Incredible in its abounding structures and vast number of interrelationships between forms, the amount of work that went into this multiple-room installation is amazing.  Architectural/chaotic/organic.  Here’s a very cool essay that I found on her work by Douglas Rushkoff called “Playing With Fractals”– READ IT DUDES.

Her work reminded me of how I felt when I was a kid when I would build extensive freestyle LEGO castles and spaceships– Being absorbed into those created worlds– refining the details and relationships between forms.

It’s good to see an artist try her ass off– a really ambitious show.

Art Party at Aaron Storck’s House