An artistic interpretation of the Alpha Omega’s death march curated by Michael Abelman & Jennifer Remenchik, which took place at Pump Project on Easter weekend.
While Joe Public prepared to celebrate the whacking and subsequent reanimation of the King of the Juice with the pagan ritual of hunting of the fertile droppings of magical chocolate rabbits, Michael Abelman, who is neither a Christian nor a Pagan, but raised within the Hebraic Persuasion, had other plans. Those plans were to shuck the commerciality of the Spring holiday and go right for the meat of the Messiah’s murder, for which the holiday is actually for. Along with the help of Jennifer Remenchik, Abelman assembled a cast of artists to help in interpreting the 14 stations along the path to Golgotha, the little hill outside of Jerusalem, where Jesus’ journey to crucifixion ended.
Participating Artists:
Marieken Cochius, Jesus Benavente, Teruko Nimura, Jennifer Remenchik, Andrea Condara, Brenda Joy Llano, Heather Tolleson, Jamie Panzer, Tony Sonnenberg, Michael Abelman, Cherie Weaver, John Cobb, & Hank Waddel.
Christa Palazzolo paints super dope hyper-realistic portraits of people to “…confront formal aspects of painting with a contemporary voice…”. Boom. Mission accomplished.
My first encounter with Palazzolo’s work was the Ali Fitz’-curated fArt Palace show, Summer Fling, where she had two larger than life sized portraits with one of the subjects wearing a pink almost red but not quite magenta jacket with a sheen that upon seeing it my heart weep and my nose bleed at its subtle yet awesome execution. I’ve been a fan ever since.
So back in January, when we arrived at the Monarch Event Center to take in the sultry sounds of the Silver Pines I was crushed to found out they had already played but elated to find out that one of the Artists showing was indeed Palazzolo, and that she had done some pencil portraits of the band that went along well with soft and richly painted portraits of people we didn’t know, the colorful strangers.
Alongside Jeffrey Swanson, Ryan Davis, and David Lujan, Palazzolo will be showing her work again tonight (June 25th) at the Grand Opening of the Gallery Black Lagoon, which is located in the old video store at 4301 A. Guadalupe St. (ATX, 78751) from 7-10pm.
Our mission at Circus Gold is to show, rather than tell, what happened and let the viewer decide what they think for themselves. A key part of this is atmosphere, and while photos are great encapsulations of individual moments, they don’t always give full representation of said atmosphere and while currently crude, we feel that video gives a better idea of what a happening is like, without actually being present. So, without further ado, Circus Gold would like to give you a taste of Lady Monsters, by Katy Horan, at Domy Books, Austin TX., March 2010. Enjoy.
(Note: this our first attempt at filming a show and we have learned a lot from it.)
Sugar Bricks with the Hot Licks, coming at you like Doc in a Delorean:
88 miles per hour and from Hot July of the ‘Ot Nueva’, but don’t worry McFly, you won’t have to make out with your Mama, so sit back, open your ears bacon grease, and hug the your leopard Snuggie fleece, because Sugar got something sweet for that seat:
The (Ms.) Lora Reynolds Gallery in the uppity downtown Austin had a Show back in July about and entitled ‘Mark Making, Dots, Lines, and Curves’ (so drawing, writing, spitting, & shitting?) which is basically all art except performance. Here is an excerpt from the explanation:
“…This exhibition brings together works that are concerned with the act of mark-making, including drawing, sculpture, video, cut paper, and painted wood. The show considers the primacy of how the pen or pencil hit the page, how the artists have controlled and exploited the possibilities of their mark, and how a line or curve canoccupy a space….”
These pieces that Abelman is admiring were quite enjoyable, as records, not as Art, they are too attached to my heart to be anything but.
Sidebar: Why do Musicians call themselves Artists? They don’t make Art, they make Music. Frank Didn’t. Dylan Did.
Graphed Pencil Portrait of my favorite Kobe Lebron of the Artworld: Francis Bacon, which still has same problem as the records and nude paintings of women, I already like them before I see them reconstructed as Art in a show, so has a crime been committed here? No. Simply pandering, but less specific than Johnny Cash’s ‘I got Stripes’.
If you are like Ol’ Sugar Brickonia, you are probably asking yourself if they aren’t talking about your studio or the bathroom at Lovejoy’s but no, they are seriously describing the art show as the act of mark making. I would have enjoyed seeing a faux lambskin contract with ‘X’ on the signature line delicately showcased on purple velvet behind glass, but instead that honor went to Ed Ruscha’s piece, which you can only guess at the title…
(G.....H….O…S…T…)
Ed Ruscha is a special breed of Sign Painter, or Fine Art Typographer I should say, because what he does is magically considered to be fine art therefore relevant in the modern world of ‘fonts’ and Vinyl lettering on demand. The mental accessibility of his ‘Words’ leads him to be both approachable by the masses (Juxtapoz Magazine for one) and the fine art world through power already instilled in the words and phrases he chooses.
Don’t misunderstand me, I like Ruscha’s stuff, and by stuff I mean well crafted letters (graff!), but that is simply because instead of paying to learn how to hold a Paintbrush in Art School, I set out, alone, and got paid to paint signs as an Amateur all while developing a strong hatred on all letters vinyl which, in the eyes of a sign painter only keep soup out your bowl and your belly bread free, but $350,000 for one word? A Brand new Bentley cost that much.
Diddy told me over bubbly.
The decline of the hand painted sign, however, cannot be blamed on Ruscha, but easy access to mundane technology, the same sting is currently being felt by talented freelance graphic designers all over the world.
Here is a sign I painted around the same time as this show for considerably less than $350,000.
Here is a clip of a film about an Argentinean Sign Painter who cracks up because his craft is increasingly becoming obsolete by kids with art degrees, who in between grants, work as graphic designers in vinyl sign shops.
Nathan Green’s April Art Palace Austin appearance proved to be his best yet, in this author’s opinion. Following the über child like heart of his expressions, the show was named after what is presumably to be his favorite children’s book classic, ‘Happy Birthday, Moon’, by Frank Asch. This excited me to no end seeing how I own Asch’s other epic, ‘Popcorn Party’, but I digress (back to the show).
After the success of the two man show with Eric Gibbons, Lasers in the Jungle, Green decided to take it up a notch and include sculptures and Mural installation, the latter of which he constructed a wall for which to paint on (photos of which include some sculptures and local dignitaries).
In the past here on Circus Gold, we’ve talked about the importance of Friendship (Friends, buncha bastards) and how beneficial it can be to one’s on well being.
Well, Tim Kerr, concurs. In fact, he orchestrated an Art Show around this belief, and even named it….
The Show included Friend Artists Rich Jacobs, Bill Daniel, Michael Sieben, Cynthia Connolly, and Kerr himself. The show took place at Domy Books, in East Austin. Yeah, that’s right, ‘took place’, so there is no way in hell you can see it now, except for here, on Circus Gold, and various other web outposts whom we will not mention.
“This exhibition was conceptualized by Tim Kerr, one of the five exhibiting artists. Simply put, we have been friends for years and our friendship was struck by the admiration of the other by the artwork they had done and the vision we each have.”
whacking and subsequent reanimation of the King of the Juice with the pagan ritual of hunting of the fertile droppings of magical chocolate rabbits, Michael Abelman, who is neither a Christian nor a Pagan, but raised within the Hebraic Persuasion, had other plans. Those plans were to shuck the commerciality of the Spring holiday and go right for the meat of the Messiah’s murder, for which the holiday is actually for. Along with the help of Jennifer Remenchik, Abelman assembled a cast of artists to help in interpreting the 14 stations along the path to Golgotha, the little hill outside of Jerusalem, where Jesus’ journey to crucifixion ended.
like Doc in a Delorean:
