Shows

I’m proud to announce I’ll be participating in the second “Suggestivism” group show at Bold Hype Gallery curated by the excellent Nathan Spoor:

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Bold Hype gallery presents the summer group exhibition, Suggestivism NYC. This exhibit, curated by Nathan Spoor, features 43 of the new contemporary art scene’s most talented and intriguing artists. The concept of Suggestivism, says Spoor, does not center around claiming a title for giving any movement a name, but for introducing a common creative thread amongst several disparate and unique voices within the modern art world.

Spoor first engaged the concept and usage of the term, “Suggestivism”, during his graduate school days to conceptualize his vibrant and engaging style of work. Once the internet gained popularity and more thorough searches could be made of scanned books, Spoor made the discovery that art historian Sadakichi Hartmann has actually used the term ‘suggestivism’ in his critical texts to certify the modern ideal of “an art that is possibly more than it seems, or possibly an art that is not what it seems (as stated in by Jane Calhoun Weaver in the introduction to Hartmann’s influential Critical Modernist: Collected Art Writings). In these writings Hartmann stated that he saw the works of some influential artists and writers from the late 1800′s and early 1900′s such as Edgar Allen Poe or Georges Seurat as being suggestivist. As California State University Fullerton’s acting director Mike McGee says in the forward to the book, Suggestivism: “Indeed, there are a number of similarities between Hartmann’s suggestivists and the artists Spoor claims under his contemporary suggestivist umbrella. one of the most notable parallels is the relationship of these two groups of artists to the prevailing aesthetic tides of their respective times.”
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Overdrive
Pen/ink and digital, output on paper, mounted to wood panel, with gold leaf and resin finish. Framed.
Original print: 20″ x 24″ Framed to 31.5″ x 27.5″

Here with gold leaf, resin and frame. Unfortunately, the resined surface is always hard to photograph, but you get the idea:

I took a new approach to this show, engaging in a bit of experimentation that has been tickling my brain for quite some time. First off, the final piece is a digital output, which I almost never do. The original started as an ink drawing, which was scanned in and color worked in Photoshop. The final image was then output as a high quality giclée print which I then varnished and mounted to a hand made cradled wood panel and applied more varnish. I next applied gold leaf, which is always a painstaking process, but something I’m getting a little more comfortable with. The final “painting” was then varnished yet again and coated with resin. I then framed the whole mess into something I’m pretty proud of. Here’s my rambling statement about the piece:

“Overdrive was created with a recent intense interest in the mind, cognition, anxiety, and how it all ties together to structure our perceived world. New stresses as a parent, analysis of my own mental narrative, in addition to a severe bit of introspection into my own addled mind have caused this interpretation of thinking about thinking. With the recent discovery of my own ADHD, I delved into heavy research about how the brain and mind work together. I’ve been focusing on meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy as well as experimentation with the various pharmaceutical options that are available for someone whose brain may be running just a little too fast, and a little too nonstop. Overdrive is the first of a new series of work exploring how all of it is interconnected: how the brain and mind shape each other, and how one’s experience is shaped by these interactions, whether or not that reality is the same for everyone else, which of course it can never be.”

Here’s a couple of progress shots taken from my Tumblr:

And the transition into color…

And again, the final digital:

Here’s a couple detail shots:

And then the goldleafing, pardon the bad lighting on the photo:

Here’s the full details for the show. I won’t be able to make it out to NYC for this one, sadly. I’d love to see the show in person as well as some of my old stomping grounds in Manhattan. Direct all purchases inquiries to Bold Hype Gallery.

*NCW*

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