Critical Exchange

Capture Flash 9/16/09 Walker Sculpture Garden

2009-09-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

Capture Flash Picasa Web Album

Anybody game for doing it again?

Critical Exchange Peers

2009-04-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

2009-01-31T17:41:00.000-08:00

harold and the purple crayon.

meat dress

2009-01-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

p.s. it is Jana Sterbak that I was thinking of today:

visitor feedback

2009-01-28T20:20:00.000-08:00

It was great to check out your crit group today- glad to see you guys are connecting. I thought that the suggestions Jason brought up were particularly important- that it is essential to find what it is you want to communicate and good to give yourself the time and believe in yourself enough to spend time on this. I worry that art school takes the fun out of art-making! It really is a concern, and when I go on trips as a visiting artist I often see the wreckage of over-analysis. I think this is why a lot of young artists have formed collectives- as a way to enjoy together the community of a shared vision and collective action, to push eachother to open up and take risks. I also see people worrying too much about the M.F.A. show and I would suggest turning the whole thing on its head if you ever feel that way. (I was particularly sick of academia at the end of my M.F.A. program and had my show in a Motel 6 and made all new work for it and had powdered donuts and jim beam at the opening and....damn, it was fun!)

Ben's Crit-Expansion & Contraction

2008-12-16T11:24:00.000-08:00

Ben's Crit-Event Compression, Coal Casts

2008-12-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the insightful critique!

Those road signs and "the Gift"

2008-11-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I was wondering if someone could get a hold of that student who joined our group last week and told us about the street sign vandals in her neighborhood. She said she'd be able to get pictures of that stuff to our site, could someone kindly request those photos? I really wanna see them.

Also, I was just reading the NY Times this morning, and came across an article that reminded me a little about Bart's discussion of the commoditization and fetishistic aspects of his work. The article is an overview of Lewis Hyde's work. Particularly his book "The Gift," in which he tries to explain the possibility of reconciling the value of creativity with an economic market (or something like that).
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/magazine/16hyde-t.html?pagewanted=1

Sorry I didn't make it out to the Soap Factory opening, I hope it was fun.

Any word on who the visiting artist will be next week?

Juana's Great Critique

2008-11-09T20:49:00.001-08:00

2008-10-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm Holding on for that Teenage Feeling

October 30 - November 22, 2008
College of Visual Arts Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Curated by Tim Peterson, Director, Franklin Art Works

Opening Reception
Thursday, October 30, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Roundtable with Artists
Thursday, November 6, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Scott Stulen
My First through Fourth Grade Teachers
2007
acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 inches

I'm Holding on for that Teenage Feeling features new and recent works by six Twin Cities' artists that address the murkier, experimental aspects of adolescence. The works, including installation, sculpture, painting, photography, and video, focus on exploratory forays into sexuality, violence, and obsession with the attendant grab bag of lingering psychological effects.

"These artists examine that brief period when we are suspended between polar opposites—innocence and knowledge, inexperience and ability, awkwardness and finesse—resulting in works that are highly charged with sexual tension, raw energy and nostalgia." —Tim Peterson, exhibition curator

The exhibition is curated by Tim Peterson, Director and Curator of Franklin Art Works, a nationally recognized alternative space located in Minneapolis. Over the past eight years, Peterson has curated major solo exhibitions at FAW by leading international artists including Uta Barth, Adam Cvijanovic, Chris Larson, Ghada Amer, Zak Smith, Wangechi Mutu, Aïda Ruilova, and Kehinde Wiley, among many others.

Participating Artists:
Alexa Horochowski
Justin Newhall
David Rathman
Scott Stulen
tectonic industries (Lars Jerlach and Helen Stringfellow)

The CVA Gallery is located at 173 Western Ave, at the corner of Western and Selby avenues in Saint Paul. All gallery events are free and open to the public. Click here for directions.

Gallery hours are:
Wednesdays and Fridays 12 - 6 p.m.
Thursdays 12 - 8 p.m.
Saturdays 12 - 4 p.m.

Snapshots.

2008-10-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hi.

Ben asked me to post a few snapshots, I think? Here I go.

Also, this is something I took in my studio TODAY!. It's my current project. I like having this configuration, though I'm still working on the lower piece so it's kind of high.

Thanks for last week, guys, it was super helpful.

after thought

2008-10-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

hello everyone,

Thanks for a wonderful critique, I was pleased with all the comments and suggestions. Art is a catalyst, a place where i can take myself and the viewer (if they choose) for a spin. By spin i'm referring to a place of liberation. A place where logic and and everything we know become a game of push and pull-a jumble. My hope is that through confusion questions arise. For it may be that through these questions other questions arise. These other questions may abandon the work, however it is through a past relationship that these other questions arose.

The work i showed tonight could not have existed they way it did without a performance. Maybe i'm seeking those other questions, maybe i'm looking at performance as a catalyst into another world, maybe i'm seeking another level of liberation. Not so sure, and who knows if i ever will be, the search is what inspires.

thanks
jason

Steven Jesse Bernstein 1950-1991

2008-10-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

This is maybe a little too early, since we haven't yet had the crit, but this is for Jason and everyone else...
After watching the first video with the cramps song, and the bit of poetry before the "audience participation" portion of the performance, I thought of this guys work. Particularly because of his "cool," charm with speaking over/with music, his (vocal) acting without acting style- a natural persona. I'm thinking that that could be a useful development to Jason's work. It's something I see hinted at, but not coming through all-too-clearly just yet. We'll talk about this kind of stuff more during the crit, I'm sure.
Peace. AT.

Lyz's work

2008-10-09T12:07:00.001-07:00

Thanks for all of your great feedback last night! I'll post some images of what you looked at and if you have anything else to say about them, please comment.

Thanks,

Lyz

SCOTT STULEN: Why are you making me sad?

2008-10-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

Please come over tomorrow night and see my new work at the 9th Street Entry Gallery. I will be on hand and there will be food from Sawatdee. Hope to see you there.

Scott Stulen
Why are you making me sad
through October 25

Art Crawl Reception with the artist,
Friday October 10, 2009 6pm -10 pm

9th Street Entry Gallery

500 N Robert Street (entrance on 9th Street)

Rossmor Building, St. Paul MN

"I clearly remember wearing a white Miami Vice outfit the Easter of 1986, complete with matching sock-less boat shoes and hot pink t-shirt. Recently, upon examining the actual photo of the actual event, I was shocked to find myself clad in a tan suit with matching blue striped tie," says Stulen. "My intense desire and disappointment related to this childhood event altered my recollection over the last twenty years. In my memory I had become Don Johnson."

Stulen's work is an examination of how disappointment and failure shape personal and collective identity. His paintings, sculpture, and installations address a sense of loss resulting from the process of reconstructing childhood memories. Within Stulen's work, pop culture references merge with personal narratives, photographs, and tactile materials drawn from children's television and the "cabin culture" aesthetic of the Midwest. The defeat in Stulen's work is softened by his self-deprecating humor, wry titles, and seductive material sensibilities. The resulting objects and images are imbued with deep personal, and surprisingly resonate collective significance, creating a collage of fictitious recollections substituted for actual experience.

The exhibition will continue through October 25, 2008
Gallery Hours: Wed - Fri: 3 - 6pm, Sat: noon - 5pm

www.bethel.edu/galleries for more information

Additional Art Crawl Hours for the gallery this weekend
Saturday, October 11, 2 - 10pm
Sunday, October 12, noon - 5pm

the day before the deer went south

2008-10-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

images from wednesday performance

Mason/Patricia

2008-10-03T13:56:00.001-07:00

Thank you all so much for all of your feedback on my work. For me, a lot of new and exciting ideas were presented and the discussion was lively. It was actually extremely helpful to talk about the two big black and white paintings, even though they are unfinished. The discussion, especially around the ideas of formalism/design, has made me rethink where they are going/how I am approaching them...

here is a blip from a website I found talking about a show of artists who are practicing within the realm of this idea of the "unform":
" The multi media works in UNFORM explore the energetic character of 21st century travel with its mingling of transitory impressions, mental maps and streams of consciousness leading to feelings of freedom. All the artists in UNFORM derive their images from wide ranging travels in and out of the urban space and landscape. The works reflect the sensory response to the notion of the journey. Each artist reproduces the spaces they visit in the form of topographical recollections in response to an abstract experience. "

-from a show at the Red Gallery in Melbourne, Australia.

Baudrillard called unform "the unconscious disorder"

another essay said "unform; the Finite the Infinite, the Individual the Whole. ..."

and another...

And the idea of deformity (or, in Kant’s terms, “Unform”) and incompleteness lies at the very centre of the sublime...

AND
just off wikipedia:

Deterritorialization is a concept created by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in Anti-Oedipus (1972)
Deterritorialization may mean to take the control and order away from a land or place (territory) that is already established. It is to undo what has been done. For example, when the Spanish conquered the Aztecs, the Spanish eliminated many symbols of Aztec beliefs and rituals. Reterritorialization usually follows, as in the example when the Spanish replaced the traditional structures with their own beliefs and rituals. Another example of deterritorialization and subsequent reterritorialization can be seen in Hitler’s propaganda campaign that lead to World War II. He had books banned and burned which contradicted his values and then replaced them with his own.
When referring to culture, anthropologists use the term deterritorialized to refer to a weakening of ties between culture and place. This means the removal of cultural subjects and objects from a certain location in space and time. It implies that certain cultural aspects tend to transcend specific territorial boundaries in a world that consists of things fundamentally in motion.

ONE LAST THING.
I'm on a committee to host a North American Graduate art survey in the Nash gallery at UMN, to be juried by Chris Atkins. If you are interested in applying, the postmark deadline was today, but has been changed to October 8th.

There will be three awards given, juror's choice being $500.

For details/links/prospectus go to www.art.umn.edu and look for NAGAS (North American Graduate Art Survey)

1st crit

2008-10-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

thanks for an interesting evening, in response to mason's work, i enjoyed all the comments. I'm looking forward to viewing more work, the diversity of comments left me very curious. Mason i hope you too enjoyed the conversation.

jason

Patricia Briggs / Mason Eubanks

2008-10-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for the great crit! If you think of anything else that would be beneficial for Mason please feel free to post.

Ben Garthus – Past Work

2008-10-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Emission Control, 2007. Exhaust on Canvas 49 4"x4"

(Canvas was attached to muffler and stained during my commute to work)

A Commemoration of Convenience, 2007. Plastic Casts on Plastic Sheeting 10'x15'

Shopping The Void, 2007. Mylar Bags Filled With Shredded Packaging Design Prints 6'x6'

John Bell-- Past Work

2008-10-01T07:23:00.001-07:00

Iwo Jima, 2007. Oil and Tempera on canvas. 50"x60"

Untitled, 2007. Oil and tempera on canvas. 48"x60".

Post Partum, 2008. Graphite and tempera on yupo paper. 18"x24".

Turkeys, 2008. Graphite and tempera on yupo paper. 20"x 20".

2008-09-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Yep, I have her confirmed!

Any Luck?

2008-09-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Anyone know if Patricia Briggs is confirmed for the first crit.
Please reply here.
Or... I guess I'll just send an email to Ben?

the deer that went south part 2

2008-09-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

Aron Taylor - Mixed Media

2008-09-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hey guys.
Here are a few photos of my past work.
And links to other work:
The Late Train
Personal Site
Process Journal
Comics
That's right. I have two websites, at least two blogs, and I'm in grad school.
I am a total geek.

Picture People and the Perilous Plastic Pose

How Can I Help Failure to Succeed?

The Gestalt... No, Seriously. (left), I Guess You Could Call it That (right).

Untitled.

Untitled, Untitled.

Untitled.

Untitled.

Untitled, Untitled.

my blog

2008-09-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

hi guys, sorry I missed meeting everyone last night. I'm still trying to get better:(

here's a link to my blog if you're interested

http://lyzpreus.blogspot.com

Exhibition Opening: Chris Larson - Deep North

2008-09-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

Chris Larson: Deep North

Rochester Art Center
September 27, 2008 - January 17, 2009

Chris Larson’s sculpture and films examine the relationship between humans and machines – sometimes shown through a moment of impact, sometimes through great toil and effort. This exhibition features all new sculpture, drawing, photography, and film. An exhibition catalog is available.

A new sculpture by Larson will be on view through September 2009 as part of our Wells Fargo Atrium Series, supported by Wells Fargo.

Support for Chris Larson: Deep North provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and Think Community Foundation.

Also opening:

Southeast Minnesota Artist Exhibition Series
Karl Unnasch: One Inch Punch
September 27, 2008 - January 17, 2009

Third Floor Emerging Artist Series
Beth Jeffries Barnes: Sweet Sixteen
September 27, 2008 - November 23, 2008

Opening reception:
Saturday, September 27
Member Preview Tour: 7 pm
Public Reception: 8 pm

Tickets:
Advance: $8 member / $10 non-member
At-the-door: $10 member / $12 non-member
For tickets email events@rochesterartcenter.org or call 507.282.8629

Exhibition-related Programs:

Free Family Days: Installation Station: Saturday, October 4, 1 – 4pm
Learn about contemporary installation art and create your own installation plan with guest artist Karl Unnasch. Free admission all day.

Panel Discussion: Thursday, November 6, 7 pm

Featuring Chris Larson, Karl Unnasch and Beth Jeffries Barnes; moderated by chief curator Kris Douglas. Free and open to the public.

Closing Reception: Rich Barlow

2008-09-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Rich Barlow: Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
an exhibition of recent landscape based works in oil, watercolor and silver leaf

September 2nd to September 27th.

Closing reception, Friday September 26th, 5:30-7pm.

Regular gallery hours: M-F 8am-5pm.

Harry M. Drake Gallery
St. Paul Academy

1712 Randolph Ave

St Paul

Welcome

2008-09-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

It was good to meet all of you and put faces to the names. Feel free to use this blog in what ever way you see fit. Post you work, upcoming shows, artists that you find interesting and anything else that you think would be beneficial for the rest of us.

The first four artist are:
Oct 1st: Mason Eubanks/(hopefully Patricia Briggs)
Oct 8th: Lyz Preuz/?
Oct 15th: Jason Gaspar/?
Oct 22nd: Aron Taylor/?