Above are some photos from the install/opening reception of
The Century Plant, all taken within the last week or so. For the show I built my own 9.5 foot version of
The Century Plant, complete with watering can in the top to dispense my "Honey Water" Tequila mixture. For readers that might be unaware,
The Century Plant is an agave plant common to the South West United States and Mexico that can grow up to 30 feet high. At the top of the plant is a large flower bud which produces a nectar that is rich in vitamins and nutrients, this nectar is also one of the main ingredients in Mezcal (a kind of Mexican tequila). My reasoning behind basing the installation on this plant was two-fold: 1) The Century Plant takes as much time for its flower to bloom, as it took me to grow up into the person that I am today, and create this body of work (25 years). 2) The most interesting aspect of the space at Gallery is the 10.5 foot ceilings, so I figured I would build something tall to utilize that.
Pictures from top to bottom:
1 - the final east wall of the gallery
2 - the final west wall of the gallery
3 - the trusty watering can, suspended within the plant structure
4 - the century plant on the first day of installation
5 - my friends kate and andrew helping me paint underneath the plant (thanks guys! and also thanks to my friend Brian for painting as well)
6 - the gutters just after they were mounted
7 - the painting on the west wall begins
8 - east wall painting in progress
9 - some friends checking out the work at the beginning of the opening
** also, there are two more receptions that will feature a new set of hand-painted cups available for purchase as well as live music, and a raffle. those dates are:
Friday October 8th 5-10 pm
and
Friday October 22nd 5-10 pm
I recently designed a limited edition sticker for my friends over at Phrequency.com for their second year anniversary. The stickers will be given out at their 2 year birthday bash at the Vincent Michael Gallery on December 9th. The top image is of the sticker that I made for them, and the bottom image is a poster that my main man Matt Gribben designed for the event.
I recently donated one of my favorite pieces from "The Century Plant" to the Space 1026 Art Auction. For those that don't know, the art auction is a live event that occurs every year at Space, in which all the money goes to benefit this Philadelphia institution. I am extremely proud to donate "The Eagle King" to this year's auction, and look forward to the preview tomorrow night December 3rd from 7 pm - 10 pm. The auction will take place on December 10th doors open at 6, and the auction also begins at 7. Bidding starts at just $5!!
Whoa! It has been a pretty crazy month. Above is more new work, this time in the form of two collaborative pieces with my friend Dietrich Meyer. The pieces are for a group show called "Public School: a lesson in collaboration" at the Mast Head Print Studio in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. This is how the collaboration went: I hand-built both wood boxes, and coated/sealed them with an initial coat of paint. Then Dietrich came in and added some meticulously painted areas with acrylic paint, and I finished off the pieces with more paint and cut paper sections with layered media on it. I had alot of fun, and enjoyed the creative challenge of producing artwork with two distinct voices, definitely look out for more collaborations in the near future ...
I am proud to contribute to "Small Jawns" a group show hosted by Part Time Studios to celebrate their one year anniversary this First Friday December 3rd. The show also has a few sponsors once of which is of course Mcjawn.com. The crew over at Part Time are all awesome people and great artists, so I jumped at the chance to contribute some new work and be a part of the show. Below is the information for both pieces:
wanted to share a new piece I made for The Century Plant:
I am pleased to finally announce my next solo-show/installation at Philadelphia's own Paradigm Gallery located on 2020 South Street. This will be my second solo show, and my first installation effort in a gallery space. The opening reception is on Saturday September 25th, 2010. Please check back here for more news/info/pics of the install as it happens. Thanks!
I spent the beginning of this month in the beautiful state of Montana with my family visiting both Glacier National and Yellowstone National Parks respectively. My Dad asked me to make a shirt for the family, and of course I complied (when he says jump ...) above is the drawing that I did for the shirt, as well as some pictures of the shirt and our trip. I worked on this shirt ahead of time with my Dad, the goal was to make something that everyone liked from the kids to the adults, and also include some of the sights that we would be seeing along the way. Some of these that I put into the drawing are: the Roosevelt Arch, Going to the Sun Road, Granite Peak Mtn. of Glacier National, and also some geysers.
