Dan Lacey, Painter of Pancakes

Hillary Clinton With a Pancake on Her Head

Just think of a political figure. Now think of him or her with a pancake on their head. Doesn't the world feel like a safer place?


Muppet Barack Obama



Dan Lacey, Painter of Pancakes [Link]

Gone Fishin' again

I've been in the Bay area since Wednesday, but will try to check in later today or tomorrow. Here I am grimacing, for some reason, while I photograph my reflection in front of Timothy Horn's "Diadem", a 300 lb. sugar-encrusted chandelier. It's part of the exhibit Bitter Suite, at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Breast Cancer Comics

The New York Times recently reviewed the graphic novel "The Bottomless Belly Button," by Dash Shaw. An astonishing 720 pages, the story follows an extended family as they react to the news that the grandparents are getting a divorce. There's a lot of buzz around "The Bottomless Belly Button;" New York magazine called it the "graphic novel of the year." And, there's just as much interest in the author and artist, 25 year-old Dash Shaw. For such youth, he's prolific, having already inked critically acclaimed "The Mother's Mouth," and several shorter works.

When I Googled him, I was surprised to see his name attached to a search result for "Breast Cancer Comics," from the web site MyBreastCancerNetwork.com. Readers submit their stories, and Shaw (who looks about fourteen in his profile photo) interprets them in graphic form. Perhaps it was a good gig for a starving artist. I somehow have the feeling he's about to become too famous for this kind of work.

"A Week at the Beach, With a Divorce Imminent" Book of the Times. [Link]

Breast Cancer Comics [Link]

Dash Shaw's website [Link]

Balloon Dogs and Astronauts

Show a lot of art with mirrored surfaces, and you're just asking for people to photograph their own reflections. I was scolded for taking this one of me and my friend Linda becoming one with Jeff Koon's "Easyfun...Sheep." The show, "Everything's Here: Jeff Koons and his experience of Chicago" runs through October. It's smallish, but augmented on the fourth floor by an exhibit of Chicago artists who have influenced Koons. I left feeling a little giddy, which is exactly how a 10 foot-high stainless steel balloon dog should make you feel. Huge photos of Koons and his ex-wife, porn star Ilona Staller (or, perhaps more accurately, their body parts), are installed in a concealed area in one of the main rooms. If you have any qualms about viewing a billboard-sized pornographic image, avoid this section.

A recent New Yorker had a good article about the show, and Koon's controversial life and career:
Funhouse: A Jeff Koon's Retrospective. [Link]


The MCA gift store is my personal crackhouse; I rarely get out of there without dropping at least $50 on a book and/or some arty thingamabob. This time, it was a tiny stuffed kitten toy by Marie Maison de Mieux [Link], and a book of Japanese pictograms/icons. I haven't done graphic design in years, but I still appreciate a good icon or symbol. I loved the disco ball and the astronaut, combined below.



Some of the icons depict typical Japanese situations or anxieties. The tiny, perspiring man was in a section titled "Trouble." He hangs his head in abject shame as he's being berated, probably by his boss, something you'll not see in western clip art. And then there's the subway groper. In Chicago, we would need an additional pictogram of him getting a beatdown.



Then, there's the "huh?" pictograms. This one was in a section called "Bussiness"(sic). To me, it looks like someone tossing a baby out of a building. At least I think that's an arm, although other interpretations are understandable. I'll post more in the future.

Art School Daze 2

Fire River Walter King

I hardly ever saw Walt during the time we attended CCAD. That's probably because, in addition to a demanding course load, he had a job, a wife and a baby boy. He's now faculty at CCAD, and is a talented and prolific painter. He's also an engaging writer and speaker on all things Art. During our reunion reception, he described to me the history of different color systems, and did so in a way that made me want to know more. If only I had felt the same when I was glueing Munsell chips into my workbook, back in the day.




Conference III Roger Bisbing

During our CCAD years, most of Roger's work, at least what I saw, was in wood and on a largeish scale. Among those I remember was articulated body armor, and a tank with moveable parts and treads, all made out of wood. That's why I find this recent piece especially interesting, since it looks nothing like his old stuff. It depicts one of a series of meetings, or more accurately, meetings indicated by arrays of tiny, empty metal folding chairs. A critic in the Washington Post wrote that the pieces have "an eerie power that belies their cutesiness." The photo can't really convey the meticulous detail, right down to the polished gym floor. It's very cool, and yes, eerie.



Bad Dog Marley! illustrated by Richard Cowdrey

Rick was a tall, thin dude with a mass of wild, red curls. Now, he's a tall, thin dude with still-red, wavy hair. He also looks too young to be a grandfather four times over, but he is. Bad Dog Marley! is an adaption for children of John Grogan's best-selling Marley & Me. It's become a best-seller in its own right, and Rick has illustrated a sequel, A Very Marley Christmas, which will appear in bookstores this September.


Walter King, Portfolio Link

Washington Post article "Thinking Small Has Diminishing Returns" Link

Illustration by Richard Cowdrey Link

Art School Daze

Last week, the 1981 graduating class of Columbus College of Art and Design met for a somewhat impromptu reunion. It was inspired by the passing of my former classmate Cindy Baun, who succumbed to cancer last year. When you've been on the planet for only 21 or 22 years, the axiom "life is short" is just a tired cliché. Last week, it seemed like graduation happened oh, maybe ten years ago, but the evidence didn't support this fantasy. Once-girlish faces are now lined, and shaggy, long-haired boys have gone either bald or gray. Life is short, and youth is the briefest part of the whole.

I was a transfer student when I started at CCAD, and had the option of living either in the dorms or in my own apartment. During the admission process, Mom and I went to visit the dorms, and both of us agreed that they were horrid. The girls' dorms were roach-infested, squalid little apartments, in the middle of a dangerous neighborhood. But in those rooms many warm and life-long friendships were forged. The pictures posted on the reunion blog document a lot of fun...and I missed much of it.

Since I can't do those years over, I lived it up to the hilt for three sleep-deprived days. Thanks, former classmates, for being so generous and affectionate to the (former) girl who thought she was too good to live in the dorms. Much love to you all.

I graduated with a number of incredibly talented people, and want to showcase some of their work. I have no rights to the images I've reproduced, so if you wish to have your work removed from this blog, please let me know. Links to artists' websites or reviews are at the end of this post.


Vase, by William Shearrow

If I wanted to illustrate the concept of "Joy," I'd probably use a picture of Bill Shearrow. Bill was a fine arts ceramics major, a breed of artist whom most of the rest of us hardly ever saw. But Bill was too interested in, oh...life and people and fun to ever hole himself up in the mudroom for good. Voted "Most likely to start dancing spontaneously." I just made that up. Bill, upon hearing music he likes, just starts dancing. It's a beautiful thing, perhaps as beautiful as this reverse-Raku vase.


Hot Dog, neon sculpture by Michael Flechtner

Mike, who was a few years older than the rest of us, was the RA in the boys' dorm. "Best RA ever" is a quote from a classmate who lived in those dorms in the fall of 1977. Perhaps that's because Mike led all the boys over to the girls' dorm to serenade them in the first week of classes. Apparently, it was a hell of an ice-breaker. Mike was memorable in many ways: he rode a scooter (an anomaly in mid-70's Columbus), owned the first Walkman I had ever seen, and created little "pocket sculptures" from lucite and LED lights, one of which I purchased as an Xmas present for my brother.

After grad school, Mike concentrated his artistic efforts on the once plebeian craft of bending glass neon tubes. His work is an homage to vintage neon signage, as well as the ethnic and cultural gumbo that makes up his now-home city, Los Angeles.


Father's Day Card by Salli Swindell

I remember Salli as being the prettiest girl in our class, which I admit does sound a little condescending. She has a lot more going on than fabulous cheekbones (and she does have fabulous cheekbones), judging from her greeting card designs. I've always favored Great Arrow cards when I had a choice, and Salli's design accumen has probably helped influence many of my purchases. All of Great Arrow's cards are silk-screened as well, which gives them a richness in color and texture not found in more mainstream cards. If you live in Chicago and want to see more of their designs, visit Paper Boy, on Belmont just east of Southport.

There's more art and classmates, which I'll post either tomorrow or on Saturday.

William Shearrow Pottery Link

Michael R. Flechtner Neon Art Link

Salli Swindell Cards at Great Arrow Link

Paperboy and Uncle Fun Link

NEXT at Artropolis

A quick look at my search logs showed an enormous increase in traffic yesterday. It was clear that most of you were looking for some substantial reporting and/or images from the NEXT art fair or (the regrettably named) Artropolis, in general. I'm not an art world insider, so sorry: no gossip about that guy with three names who had to resign from Village Voice. I've included links to some of the photo sets and commentary I've stumbled on below.

Images from NEXT:

Fair White Frogman. Next Art Fair Parts 1 & 3.

[Link]

[Link]

Flickr Sets

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Critiques, interviews and more images:

Bad at sports: episode 138 & 139 NEXT art fair. Artropolis
[Link]
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Art or Idiocy: Artropolis and Version-towne
[Link]

ArtLetter
[Link]

photo: Lone Motel. Tracey Snelling

NEXT Art Fair

Update: For links to photo sets and commentary on Artropolis and NEXT, go HERE

If you live in Chicago and have Sunday or Monday free, I highly recommend visiting the Merchandise Mart to see the NEXT Invitational Exhibition of Emerging Art. [Link]. It's an opportunity to view some of the most exciting new visual art in the world, and to do so up close and personal. The photo is of Paul Villinski's Lumen, one of his series of exquisite, fragile sculptures of butterflies. A similar work is at NEXT, and I was able to get within inches of it to see how it was made, and how the artist affixed the tiny sculptures to the wall. Amazingly, they are made from discarded beer cans. Paul Villinski's website: [Link]

NEXT shares the Mart with some other exhibitions, including Art Chicago, the International Antiques Fair, and Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art. Intuit is small, but I enjoyed it as well. Art Chicago was disappointing, with overstuffed floor space, and a shopping mall feel about the merchandise...er art. There were a few really nice pre-war Chicago paintings here and there, but if it's a decade before I see another Ed Paschke, it will be too soon. Oh, and the cafes and bars at NEXT are better than at Art Chicago, too. My favorite was the Old Country Bar, which appears to be the actual interior of a real country-western honky tonk. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, but will post photos if I find them out there on the internets.

Have a great weekend!

Reading Gestures

from the Site Unseen exhibit of time-based arts, Chicago Cultural Center, November 13, 2007