Baldessari Singing Le Witt: I'm Lovin it.

Hilarious and well put.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6eSfKeJ_VM

On the weekend opening note be sure not to miss:

Headlands Open Studios, Sunday Oct 17, 2010 at noon

Kate

pink crawer crane/new work

I just uploaded this to my tumblr blog amberjeanyoung.tumblr.com but I thought I would upload it here too, as this is specifically for art. Here is the little blurb I put on tumblr. You can go to that page if you want, but honestly there is more interesting stuff on this blog.

Here is a crappy photo of a new piece I just made. It is a crawler crane made out of hand sewn pink felt and stuffing. I like it. I made this because I have been thinking about the way people fix broken things. In my city we use big construction and demolition vehicles to fix our buildings, streets, what have you. The notion of fixing broken things is interesting to me because it connects to personal coping methods, and how people fix their own broken things.

Anywho, I have a meeting with the girls tonight to finalize the business plan. Hopefully after tonight we can all say DONE-ZO on the proposal, and drink some tea and relax for a second.

On the relaxing note, if you have not gone to a restorative yoga class lately, you need to. I went to a wonderful one on Monday. Highly recommend.

Play Me, I'm Yours

Recently someone on facebook posted a link to this public art project that has been going on for a few years in differnent cities around the country. British Artist Luke Jerram was inspired by the way people see each other every day in their communities, yet never make a meaningful connection, or even learn their neighbor's names. This project was an experiment attempting to bring community members together.

Here is a little blurb from the website:

"Touring internationally since 2008, ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ is an artwork by artist Luke Jerram

Street pianos are appearing in cities across the world. Located in parks, squares, bus shelters and train stations, outside galleries, markets and on bridges and ferries, the pianos are for any member of the public to enjoy and claim ownership of. Reaching an audience of over 1,000,000 people worldwide, Jerram has installed over 300 pianos in 16 different cities so far.

Who plays them and how long they remain is up to each community. Each piano acts as sculptural, musical, blank canvas that becomes a reflection of the communities it is embedded into. Many pianos are personalised and decorated.

Questioning the ownership and rules of public space ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ is a provocation, inviting the public to engage with, activate and take ownership of their urban environment.

To get an overview of the arts project check out the Highlights from London2009, see NYC2010 or go to Jerram’s website. All content has been created and uploaded by the public.

Each city has a website (see left column) made for the public to upload and share their films, photos and stories of their interaction with the pianos. The websites act as one of the legacies for the project whilst connecting the pianos and communities across each city. After each presentation of the arts project, the pianos are donated to schools and community groups in the area.

Conceived, promoted and managed by British artist Luke Jerram, please respect the authorship of his artwork."

Here is a video link. Enjoy! I sure did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6LeEKX1mLE

Ohhhh Noooooo!

Hi there world,
Recently I have been fussing around with a new blog on tumblr and finding that the whole personal blog thing really gives me the willies. I don't know if I would want people following my blog. What if creeps read it? Anyway, I think I am going to revert back to Tetrad's blog here at blogspot and stop freaking myself out. Why would I want my own personal blog when I can happily ramble on this one? Plus Tetrad's blog is all art oriented anyway and that is the only stuff I would be talking about on the other blog anyway.

Onward!

I am really going to try to post some images of the stuff I have been working on soon. I have to start snapping my "in process" photos so that I have stuff to show.

In other, more relevant news, Tetrad Gallery is putting it's last touches on the business plan so we can submit the proposal. Woohoo. We are inching closer, everyone!

Winston Smith @ E6 Gallery

Hello there world!
I meant to do a little write up about this show about a week ago, and it just kept slipping. Anyway, as we speak there is a lovely and awe inspiring Winston Smith retrospective by the name of "Deep Dimension" at E6 Gallery on Market St. As I'm sure all of you have seen on the ol' facebook page, I have been encouraging people to come check it out. Winston is a collage/montage artist (montage as in most source material in the work is to scale, light is consistent, creating a believable composition, NOT 1980's movie-esq montage).

Some of my favorites from the show posted here.

Cowgirlettes in Space, 2002

Another Day at the Office, 1986

Come check out "Deep Dimension". E6 is open 12-7 Thursday-Sunday.

Love,

Amber Jean

Hi All!

Quiet on the gallery openings this week (for me anyway...E6, the gallery that currently is lucky enough to have Amber on their staff did have an opening for Winston Smith last night which I regretfully could not attend!) because of very many important business things and getting studio time in! So let's talk youtube video of the week instead. Our peer, Colby Claycomb, shared this awesome home video the other day, "Life is a Roller Coaster." It's preeeetty perfect (yes, it warrants the 3 extra e's in perfect) so check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XQzQYFYfy8&feature=player_embedded

For more on Colby's work check out:

http://colbyclaycomb.com/

Get cozy, enjoy the foggy coldfront and send us your youtube video this week!

Kate

Hoooray Lisa!!!!!

Hi there world,

Even though Kate has provided a wonderful summery of our Thursday night, I thought I would throw my in my own little shout out! Lisa's Schmaltz (as usual) had beautiful work for all of us to behold. I especially enjoyed the new piece incorporating blue paper, as well as the new work with sparkly paper. Last I heard from Ms. Lisa she was off to a pow wow with a collector so lets everyone wish her luck on that front! The show is beautiful and she deserves it! If you want to see pictures of Lisa's work, go to her website which is listed on Kate's post.

On to Boy Town. It is true that Ever Gold was transformed into a Slayer infused mini monster truck rally, the likes of which I have never seen. Lots of yelling, and high fiving! Woohooo! It was a super fun vibe, and the smell of dirt made it all the more appropriate to be rowdy. In all seriousness, however, the blue collar Samurai in the back room was incredible. This piece is one that must be seen in person! My Ever Gold high was definitely inspecting the the chain mail armor made of hardware. Beautiful!

Speaking of galleries, I would love to make Thursday nights my gallery night, so if there is anything awesome going on, please please please let me know!

Love Love

Amber Jean

An Unexpected Battle of the Sexes Got Smelly

On Thursday Amber and I went to the Jenkins-Johnson Gallery for, "Stories Today," the opening of our good friend Lisa Schmaltz's work. Later in the eve we walked a couple blocks down to the Evergold Gallery for the work of Josh Short and Jeremiah Jenkins. With Schmaltz's decidedly feminine work that heavily references the domestic, Short's testosterone driven performance referencing football stadiums and monster truck rallies and Jenkins' Samurai armor made out of industrial materials, the night turned into an unanticipated rivalry of the sexes between the two galleries. 


Interestingly enough, scents were integral to both of these shows and furthered the dialogue of the feminine/masculine. Schmaltz's work (pictured above) is made by staining and fragrancing paper and fabric with coffee and spices, while Short's toy size monster truck rally, delightfully set to the soundtrack of Slayer I might add, reeked of the fertilized dirt that lined the piece (pictured below). It's the interior/exterior nature of these smells that adds to the sexual polarization of the shows, the interior scent of coffee and spices associated with the feminine, the exterior scent of fertilizer associated with the masculine.

It's pretty cool to see both these shows occurring during the same month. Connecting the dots is real fun and it's too bad this kind of thing doesn't happen more often between galleries. 


One more thing: not to be missed is Jenkins' installation, "Blue Collar Bushido," (pictured below) which also amps up the masculine by talking about the coincidences between the lives of the ancient samurai and the contemporary manual laborer, two profession traditionally associated with males.


Here are some links to check out if you are interested in more information (and better pictures of the work, these were all taken with my point and shoot at the openings) on the artists:


www.schmaltzart.com
http://www.joshuashort.com
www.evergoldgallery.com
www.jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

Some more images from the shows: 

Schmaltz's, "In The Remnants"

Detail of Jenkins', "Blue Collar Bushido"

Short's, "Touch Down Jesus"

I wish you all a day off this Labor Day!


Cheers,


Kate

Polaridad Complimentaria

"Lenguage," Adonis Flores

Yesterday I managed to get out to the Sonoma County Art Museum before the close of "Polaridad Complimentaria: Recent Works from Cuba." I highly recommend the show to anyone who is able to make it out before it closes this Sunday, August 29, 2010. It's the first show I've seen in a long time that has sincerely moved me. In the future I'll try to get to these shows sooner so y'all will have more time to go check 'em out!

The show seeks to discuss the cultural exchange between Cuba and the United States which, is politically charged, bringing up questions of globalization, capitalism, communism and the compromise of the individual in these institutions. The role of the U.S. dollar (which was declared legal currency in 1994 and supports the Cuban economy both on and off the black market) underlies the curation of the show. The work is edgier than expected from a dictatorship and engages in the international discourse thus bringing much needed revenue into Cuba as these artists have chosen to stay because they are able to voice their ideas, from what we know.

The most visibly politically charged work, though he claims it is not a critique of the Cuban government but stems from his experience fighting in Angola for the Cuban military, is Adonis Flores' work, see, "Lenguage," pictured above. Below, "Oratoria," another work from the show:

Close to Flores' work was the work of Fernando Rodriguez and his fictional alter ego, Francisco de la Cal, a blind artist who can only imagine art objects which, "critically examin(es) both reality and fiction: the individual and society, collectivism and individualism, freedom and censorship," (Cristina Vives, 2008). The work, "Ball Bearing," uses repetition of the same bullet-like 'factory made' character (according to the video created that coincides with this work) to create a circular forms connoting no beginning or end, pictured below.

Across from Rodriguez's work was Rene Pen(y)a who puts a different spin on the discussion of the individual and collective by saying he is not interested in politics but rather a man who as an entity is political, yet of course still subject to participate in society and its institutions. Watch this interview to hear more about his thoughts on man as entity: http://www.havana-cultura.com/INT/EN/cultura.html#/1821. Below is, "Untitled," one of his stunning photographs featured in the show:

Another highlight was the work of Aimee Garcia Marrero, whose work that was in the show I was unable to find an image of but who is represented by the Fraser Gallery of Washington, DC and Bethesda, MD. Here is the link to their webpage:

http://www.thefrasergallery.com/artists/Aimee_Garcia_Marrero.html

The work is quiet, compelling, contemplative and intense. Something you gravitate to when you walk into the gallery.

Finally, I'd like to talk about the work of Rene Francisco Rodriguez Fernandez whose social action (the artist considers himself 50% artist, 50% social worker) impressed and moved me by directly affecting on a grassroots level the economic hardship that Cuba is faced with today. He can also be found on the Havana-Cultural website as I was unable to find any images of his work. Rodriguez Hernandez had two videos on display that were part of a trilogy, "El Patio de Nin," and "La Casa de Rosa." For these pieces Hernandez's work took on the role of a project by taking the grant money he was given from a residency in Berlin and using it to enhance the houses of two residents of the some of the poorest neighborhoods in Havana. In, "El Patio de Nin," Rodriguez Hernandez turned the shambled backyard of a shanty into a garden for Nin, the elderly physically disabled woman who inhabited the house alone. In, "La Casa de Rosa," Rodriguez Hernandez documents his process of finding out who in Buena Vista, the dodgiest area of Havana, is the most deserving of his grant money. Finding that many members of the community said Rosa, he used his grant money to do whatever she wanted to her house, which was to re-do the kitchen and bathroom so that she could have running water.

All in all I'm really excited that this show was talking about a real connection, between individuals, institutions and in doing so crosses political boundaries. To speak generally, there was a 'soul' to the show that I hope to see more of in the near future. Juan Carlos Alom, another featured artist in the show, exemplifies this as he speaks of the artists' need for detachment not as disconnection but as a way of finding belonging. Alom says,

You did not go out into the countryside just to take a look nor to slyly steal the intimacies of its treasures. You went to express your wish of belonging. It does not matter if it only lasted a moment. These days when the artist boasts of detachment, your gesture is a comforting declaration in favor of a sense of belonging to a place. You enjoyed being recognized. You went there to look closer to see with your own eyes what you had already heard, perhaps what someone had written in his diary a few moments before his death. That is your reward. You have listened to the great teaching and now you can repeat it: “in the countryside. I am the countryside.

Abrazos,

Kate

We have a Mission Statement!

Hi Everyone,

So we've been having a big, bad meeting today about the very many important things that go into starting a gallery. Among those things we've gotten a Mission Statement written for Tetrad Gallery, which we are happy to share with you for the first time today. Here it is:: Ba ba bada baaaa ba ba ba ba baaa!!!::


tetrad gallery is committed to providing opportunities for emerging and established artists whose works participate in the continuum of creative inquiry. our exhibitions present a select group of exceptional makers and thinkers in order to expand upon the collective understanding of contemporary art.


Our next exciting step: Find a space in San Francisco!

Hope you're enjoying the summer weather! I'm lovin it.

Salud, Amor y Pesetas,

Kate

ACTION SHOT!

Brynda is a part of the big bad opening of Gallery Hijinks (http://galleryhijinks.com) so she's been hard at work for her upcoming installation. While you get a sneak preview of the artist in action here, be sure to check out the final outcome while it's on display August 21 - September 10, 2010, 2309 Bryant St. Opening reception August 21, 6 - 10 pm.

If you think these ceramics look good on this blog just wait until you see them in person!

Hipahipa,

Kate

THE SEARCH FOR PINK FELT CONTINUES...DUN DUN DUN!

I have started a project using a fabulous bright pink felt leftover from another project. See photo of the felt flower if you wish to see how fabulous this pink is with your own eyes. Anywho, I just ran out of my beloved pink felt and have found it much more difficult than originally anticipated to find it again. Apparently, Fabric Outlet is no longer carrying it, and niether is Discount Fabrics. Go to the internet, you say! Well, I will, and I have, but it is very difficult to tell exactly what color felt they are trying to sell me because a lot of these websites have crappy photos. . Arg.
I don't even know the name of the color I am trying to buy.
wish me luck.


Amber

Crackerjacks Sits the Bench

Coming out of your MFA leaves you with a few symptoms of postpartum. Namely because the overdrive you've been in for two years abruptly ends. You suddenly gain back thirteen usable hours in each day? STOP IT. In the midst of the ever-daunting job search, this crackerjack sits the bench and talks art in hopes to remain savvy post grad school.

Let's start with a little Jeremy Gilbert Rolfe who visited SFAI this year and left behind a whole lot of painters with a new found art crush. His inspiring lecture led me to read, Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime, which I am still making my way through and recommend to others. The prose is unpretentious with golden nuggets of definition that help to make finite that which is infinite, which is the relationship I was thinking about today as I began to delve into Chapter III.

This came up because of my somewhat limited background in philosophy, so whenever I'm reading this theory I'm also normally googling whoever it is that I don't quite have all the cards to, to make a full deck. Let me also say that because of this whatever I say in regards to the text or philosopher is speculation and not criticism or fact. Nonetheless, it is valuable for my practice in order to help me define what it is that I am doing and perhaps may trigger some interesting thoughts for others. Today's google was Hegel, the German philosopher who follows in the footsteps of Kant.

What I got from my small research endeavor is that Hegel saw the relationship of the finite and the infinite not as a dualistic or binary but as something more total, they exist within each other. The infinite becomes finite because being conceptual it needs the confines of language in order to exist. Infinite only exists in the word infinite, which makes it finite. Therefore, they exist not opposing each other but within each other.

This (and Rolfe's statement, "The principal of an art is put to work by what it is not. That application of (eighteenth-century formulations of) art, which was also an assault upon it (and them), fueled and was a fundamental of the desire of much of modernism to bring art closer to life, including the invisible life of the unconscious," the unconscious = infinite and abstract in my stream of thought) makes me think of the relationship between abstraction and representation (which as an 'abstract' painter is a frequent matter of contemplation) which also exists within and not opposed to each other. The idea that abstract work is the most representational and vice versa. The abstract takes the role of the infinite, the representational that of the finite, which can be transversed. The abstract mark in its generality is actually too specific to be anything other than what it is referencing while the explicit representational can be endlessly deconstructed.

Can binary relationships then only exist in physical characteristics? Because concepts will always have some of the opposing concept within itself? Are principals as absolute as Rolfe claims, "The principal of art is put to work by what it is not,"?

Drop us a response if you please!

For giggles here are some other good reads (because I have a book for every mood...one with coffee, one with wine, one with freezing cold beach even though its summer because I live in San Francisco):

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Oscar Wilde
The Savage Detectives: Roberto Bolano
Born to Run: Chris McDougall

Cheers,

Kate

Jen Susman at Silverman Gallery

So tonight I saw my friend Jen's totally awesome ice cream sculpture at Silverman Gallery's Food For Thought group how. By "ice cream sculpture" I mean the piece is made mostly of mint chip ice cream, and melts before your eyes! The piece, as expected, is totally awesome, beautiful, nostalgic, and sad. I recommend that you go check it out ASAP. Here are some photos, but they really don't do it justice.

One Love,

Amber

Kate has a show up!

Woohooo Kate! I don't think this bloggeroni has any followers yet, but if it did I would tell them to get their ass down to Mini Bar on Divis and check out Kate's paintings. So that's about it. Check out Kates work.
In other news, Brynda has a show coming up to. Hopefully for the next opening one of us knuckleheads will remember a camera.

Meeting Tonight!

So tonight we are having a meeting to make up a business plan. In my extremely limited experience working in a gallery and doing anything other than archiving or taking peoples bags, I have learned that gallery takes half, you must have an invoice sheet, never forget sales tax, credit card machines are a plus, being a salesman is harder than it looks. Wish us luck!

Today Amber, Kate and I went to check out the space for our co-op. We had a good time getting sucked into the portal of 1600 W El Camino Real...(just a warning: the portal dumps you out on the side of a road in front of a Best Western in San Carlos CA.)

Natural light hiding behind a drop-ceiling is a wonderful find!

to be continued...

Oh yeah, I like puppies

But who doesn't like puppies? Here is a picture of my totally awesome doggy as a puppy.

New to blogging shmlogging

Hi all,
This little blog is meant to be a "rough sketch" of our lives as artists. "Our" = Brynda, Margaux, Kate, and Amber (me), who share a studio and are forming a co-op. Hopefully this endevour will be mind blowingly freakin' awesome!

One Love,

Amber Jean