I Make Picture

Herbie & Dorothy

2011-02-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, subjects of the recent documentary Herb and Dorothy, have managed to comprise one of the greatest American art collections with the modest income of a librarian and a United States Postal Service clerk. What may be even more impressive is that until 1992, the married couple stored the nearly 5,000 works of art in their tiny, one-bedroom apartment in New York City. At that time Washington D.C.'s National Gallery absorbed the collection and even more recently, in 2008, Herb and Dorothy began a program which split up more than half of the mass of work among 50 art institutions across the nation.

Their collection boasted primarily conceptual and minimalist works from the mid-twentieth century and includes artists like Sol leWitt, Dan Graham, and Will Barnet. The two gathered the collection slowly stemming from a sincere and earnest appreciation for modern art and budgeted to buy works which could both accommodate their meager finances, but also be reasonable to physically transport. The hobby quickly became an obsession as Herb and Dorothy hungered more and more to add to their collection.

Most endearing to me about Herb and Dorothy Vogel's contribution to the art world is the fact that they built close relationships with the artists (even negotiating an exchange with Christo and Jeanne-Claude that won them a work of art for cat-sitting!), who acknowledge and appreciate not only the couple's true passion for art, but their impressive understanding and intuition about the work itself. It was truly their genuine love of art that drove the collection, not an expectation of using it as an investment.

Below is a trailer of Herb and Dorothy, along with a few images of pieces from their impressive collection and some photos of the couple themselves.

* images appear courtesy of the following (in order): vogel5050.org, cs.nga.gov.au, 123nonstop.com/biography, www.demeterclarc.com. All works of art are from vogel5050.org and are titled as follows: "Untitled" (1995) by David Salle, "Noiseless Blackboard Eraser" (1974) by Joseph Beuys, and "Turkey Shopping Bag" (1964) by Roy Lichtenstein

Iconography of Melancholia: Eva Hesse & Mark Manders @ UCLA Hammer Museum

2010-10-02T23:50:00.001-07:00

Spectres 1960, an exhibition featuring works by the late Eva Hesse at UCLA's Hammer Museum, marks the first time a collection of the German Postminimalist sculptress' early, somewhat representational paintings have been presented as a recognized series. Hesse's best-known works, her "anti-form" assemblages pioneering the use of fiberglass, latex, and plastic, are markedly different in form and technique than those within Spectres, but this exhibition makes viewers aware of the evolution her body of work takes throughout her young life (she died at only 34). One thing that doesn't seem to change much as her media moves from 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional and from figurative to non-representational is a sense of sobriety and melancholy.

Hesse had many struggles beginning with her family's emigration from Nazi Germany when she was a young child, to the death of both her parents, to her failed marriage. While her later work reflects her internal struggles in more symbolic ways, we can see a physical manifestation of these emotions in the paintings of Spectres. The colors are somber: rusty red, icy grey, ocher, and black. In addition, the works are painted with a ferocity that deservedly draws comparisons to Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning whose aggressive works almost exclusively depicted women as the subject. Hesse, however, is creating images more self-reflective in this series. They are both haunting self-portraits and representations of person demons and reoccurring nightmares.

On display in conjunction with Eva Hesse's Spectres 1960 exhibition is Parallel Occurrences/Documented Assignments, a collection by the contemporary Dutch artist Mark Manders. While the two exhibitions share a somewhat restricted, melancholic palette and the artists themselves have ties as masters of assemblage, they aim to represent their makers' dreams and imaginations is very separate ways. Manders is clearly enamored of the Dada and Surrealist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. Like the Dadaists, Manders favors a sense of organic and innate organization of forms and imagery. His aesthetic is a product of his unfiltered subconscious with a tendency omit overt signs of his personal emotional state. Instead what he presents are odd, fascinatingly original works that at once appear both meaningless and decidedly referential of art history.

Though some of the objects within the mixed media sculptures of Parallel Occurrences were pre existing, Manders painstakingly created many. For example, the newspapers that frequent his works are made using the dictionary to create his own text within which not a single word is repeated. His use of found objects like chairs, tables, and books is balanced with his smooth, "unfired clay" figurative sculptures like Art Nouveau faces and alienesque dogs. As a result of this mix of forms, it becomes nearly impossible at times to differentiate between what is "real" and what is "fake."

Manders' offers his own commentary on each work via quotes on their title cards. His voice provides a welcome sense of humor as Manders' refuses to over intellectualize his art, instead offering less-than-cerebral, candid accounts of the reality of his processes and materials. Either the artist prefers to keep any personal meanings private and mysterious, or he wishes for his work to not be over analyzed or seem unapproachable. In the world of contemporary art, this is a road less traveled.

*images appear courtesy of http://hammer.ucla.edu and www.markmanders.org

Art History 101: Leonora Carrington

2010-08-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

My older, much cooler sister Jessica has long been singing the praises of British-born, now Mexico-based Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. Perhaps this is why on a recent trip to the local bookstore a short novel by the 93 year old particularly caught my interest. I knew Carrington created curious and fascinating paintings full of fantasy, but literature was well? I was sold.

The Hearing Trumpet, originally published in 1974 and written during the 1960s, is a work as imaginative and whimsical as any of her visual art. Carrington's protagonist in the text is Marian Leatherby, who at the age of 92 has been shipped off to a decidedly eccentric home for the elderly by her son and his unsympathetic family. Written in Leatherby's perspective, the equally hilarious and heartbreaking story is as fantastical and entertaining as a children's book, cleverly blurring the line of how she imagines herself to be (still as vibrant as ever) and the reality of her state of being. Did I mention it also has illustrations? The book is both brilliant and relevant.

Much of the artists' work seems strongly influenced by the events of her tragic life. Carrington's lover and fellow Surrealist Max Ernst was forced out of their home in France after being arrested by Nazis and fled to America for safety. Carrigton was so heartbroken at the loss of her love and artistic collaborator that she suffered from anxiety and delusions to the point of being institutionalized. She eventually emmigrated to Mexico where she entered into a marriage of convenience (to secure her residency) never completely healing from the loss of her former life.

Carrington is not only inspiring for being one of so few historically recognized women artists from pre-WWII era, but also because she so successfully translated imagery from deep within her psyche, sharing the things that haunted her and consumed her. I hope you find her work as engrossing and striking as I do. Enjoy the betwitching Ms. Carrington!

Eye Candy: Portrait of a Lady

2010-07-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Women have been inspiring art since the prehistoric times. Just look at the iconic Venus of Willendorf, a fertility symbol carved out of limestone which marks one of history's earliest examples of art. From Manet's Olympia, inspired by his mistress/muse Victorine Meurnet, to Willem de Kooning's action paintings of abstracted women, to Warhol's iconic portraits of Marilyn Monroe, ladies have proven themselves to be the quintessential muse for art as well as fashion and music, and the trend won't seem to die. Here are some of the renowned women whose style, talent, beauty, and energy inspires me, and one more you should get to know. :) As always, enjoy!

Charlotte Gainsbourg

(source)

(source)

Miranda July

(source)

Anna Karina

(source)

(source )

Barbra Streisand

(source)

Marlo Thomas

(source)

Jenny Lewis

(source)

Now meet Jade; admirably stylish and adorable L.A. lady, stylist, and founder of Fauna Vintage.
Her lovely little blog boasts all the fashionable tidbits and tips that I Make Picture could only dream of (if we covered that kind of thing). We'll stick to visual art, and leave the fashion part to the experts...like Jade. :) I was lucky enough to photograph her recently as we plotted future collaborations. Look for my guest blog spot soon!

Robert & Patti: Mutual Muses

2010-06-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Having just completed Patti Smith's Just Kids, a memoir specifically highlighting her friendship, romance, and working relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, what was most compelling to learn was not only the talent of these two as artists during a pivotal time in history (New York City in the 1960s and 1970s) but their significant influence on each other's work.

During New York's era of beat poets and punk music, Smith and Mapplethorpe lived and worked in the historic, bohemian art hub, the Chelsea Hotel. According to Smith's memoirs, her poetry, music, performance art, and drawing was heavily influenced by her photographer friend and his his fearlessness and provocativeness. In turn, Mapplethorpe regularly used Smith as his subject du jour. Miss Smith even continued to let her friend and former lover capture her image for her album covers until his 1989 death from AIDS complications. The two were such a force together that they were given a joint gallery show at Robert Miller Gallery (where Smith is still represented) in 1978.

Of course I love the intimacy both artists exhibit in their work (albeit with very different aesthetics) and the striking imagery of Patti Smith as captured by Robert is inspiring enough, but the reason I want to share these images with you all is to show you what the Just Kids most taught me: that these are two great artists whose lives and work were inextricably entagled with one another's, and was all the better because they were. I also threw in a few snapshots of the two together in their heyday, both to provide a visual of the time of the heighth of their relationship...and also because these photos are completely awesome. Enjoy :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

2010-06-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine is working on a project that has got me thinking. Like many of us, everyday elements of her life (ie: a little thing called parenthood) had temporarily distracted her from more creative pursuits. Thus, she made it a goal to focus on reading more books, seeing more films, and otherwise exposing herself to potentially inspirational material. This lead her to an ongoing list, which has now led to her upcoming project, The Magpie List (website address and other info coming soon!), where she asks friends, peers, and loved ones to contribute a list of their own 10 thing (movies, songs, artists, films, etc) that have significantly moved them. I'm honored to be asked for my list, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to share it with you all as well. If nothing else, I happy to expose anyone who might be unfamiliar with a few of my favorite things. :)

1) "Nocturne in Black and Gold--The Falling Rocket" painting by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, circa 1875

2) Synecdoche, New York film by Charlie Kaufman, 2008

3) everything Miranda July touches, but start with No one belongs here more than you

4) Loose Woman, book of poetry by Sandra Cisneros

5) "Possibly Maybe" by Bjork

6) Arrested Development

7) oh yeah, and My So-Called Life

8) Untitled Film Stills, series of photographs by Cindy Sherman

9) This short from Paris, J'taime by Alexander Payne

10) Among My Swan, Mazzy Star

Featured Artist: Robin Rhode

2010-05-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

My entire life I've been enamored of art. Throughout my four years in college I studied it intently, religiously until I received a piece of paper which, if nothing else, says I've looked at a whole lot of art. Since graduating I've continued to invest time examining the world of art, not only in terms of its history, but its maturation, its evolution, its adaptation to ever present changes in other facets of the world. In a time when contemporary art is so all-encompassing, you'd think I'd be jaded to it all by now but every so often I encounter a new artist who reminds me of the joy and true beauty work can possess in the most literal sense. Robin Rhode is such an artist and upon seeing his current mini-exhibition as part of LACMA's Contemporary Exhibition series, I experienced a renewed excitement about the state of art.

Rhode is a thirtysomething South African-born artist who now lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Like some genius mix of Charlie Chaplin (for his performances), Banksy (for his "street" forum), and Jackson Pollock (for his action-drawing), the artist illustrates (usually by way of chalk, paint, or oil crayons) a prop or environment and then interacts with it accordingly. Often, video and photography becomes involved in the final product. Inspired by stop-action animation, his pieces are charming, whimsical, sad, joyful, and thoughtprovoking--sometimes all at once. A truly impressive trait of Rhodes' work is his mastery of each element from drawing skill to performance.

I hope you enjoy this samping of his work as much as I enjoyed did in encountering it. Stay tuned for the return of I Make Picture's assigned art projects, as I am currently working on one related to Rhode's work! Xo

Star Gazing

2010-05-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

I am continuously inspired by the sights and sounds of Los Angeles. The people-watching can hardly be beat and major public venues like Pasadena's monthly Rose Bowl Flea Market and the recent Culver City Cruisin' Back Car Show make it easy for me to capture the energy and essence of the city. Here are come recent photographs I have taken in the wonderful place I call home. I hope you like. :)

Eye Candy: In the Mood for Wong Kar Wai

2010-05-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

If you don't know who Wong Kar Wai is, run--don't walk--to the nearest video store and rent his classic film, In the Mood for Love (2000). The contemporary Chinese director, whose hallmark is breathtakingly stylized cinematography laden with moodiness and romance, has long been heralded for his definitive style. The film, though made during the last decade, takes place in Hong Kong in the early 1960's and Wong Kar Wai's dedication to creating a specific place and time resonates persistently through each frame. The attention to detail in terms of costuming, dramatic lighting, and warm sensual coloring paints the perfect setting for this subtle love story of an affair between two otherwise conservative people whose connection builds after they learn that their spouses have been engaged in an adulterous realtionship with one another. The minimal dialogue in the movie is secondary to the stunning cintematography, which speaks louder than the characters during the course of the film.

I've recently been combing though stills of this movie for inspiration and to get me...er...in the mood for creating work that is equally inspired, lyrical, and emotive. Thought I would pass along some of the loveliness....

Field Tripping: Jurassic Museum of Technology

2010-04-08T19:36:00.001-07:00

Los Angeles' Westside neighborhood Culver City boasts some of the best venues for art in the city. It's Washington and La Cienega Boulevards are speckled with galleries showcasing both fresh urban art well as ultra-conceptual conteporary work and pretty much every sort in between. While that spectrum provides plenty of room for surprise and enchantment, one of the most inspiring spots for viewing art in Culver City is slightly off that particular beaten path. The Museum of Jurassic Technology, a self-described "educational institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and the public appreciation of the Lower Jurassic," is essentially a quirky house of oddities whose name is just as puzzling as the mysterious wonders you find inside. While the museum isn't quite the space you'd imagine finding visual art in the traditional sense, the curiously beautiful and eccentric items it holds have turned it into a cult destination for artist folk and the everyday man alike.

I recently made a visit to the museum and found it an incredible source of inspiration. Between the carved fruit stones, tiny "European mole" skeleton, dioramas, cyptically written framed letters, and eery videos, there's a lot to take in. Don't try to make too much sense of it as the beauty of ths place is best seen when you are able to just appreciate its eccentricities. As a testiment, I leave you with these equally mysterious (and purposely without caption) images I took on my recent exploration. For me visting was like joining a secret club. I'll choose not to tell and show you everything I saw. If you're as curious as I was, you'll just check it out yourselves. Besides, I'm not sure I could describe it if I wanted to. :)

Sirens & Songbirds

2010-03-06T18:44:00.000-08:00

One of the most amazing parts of living in Los Angeles is being able to discover so much emerging talent before anyone else. Bonus points when the one harboring such talent is a friend or loved one. It is both exciting and inspirational to be surrounded by people who, too, have creative passions and dreams to share them with the world.

That said I am beyond happy to use my creative energies to support their craft. Recently I had the pleasure of photographing two different friends, Emily O'Halloran and Jessica Woodward aka Raelux, both of whom are local songstresses. Fingers crossed, you'll see some of these photos lining jewel cases at your local record shop or in Rolling Stone some not-far-off day (A girl can dream, ok?). I could go on and on about my love for these talented women but instead I'll just tell you to click on their names for music and info and save the space for more pictures. And how could I possibly forget to mention the artistry of Jennifer Morgan and Erin Dudley who worked (respectively) their brilliant makeup magic on these shoots? Oh, the talent pool that is my group of friends!

The following images are a combination of 35mm, medium format (Holga), and Polaroid (via my SX-70 camera). If you or anyone you know has interest in working with me on a future photography project, please feel free to comment or email. Insert shameless plug here. :)

Raelux

Emily O'Halloran

Art History 101: Saul Leiter

2010-03-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

When I first discovered the photography of American artist Saul Leiter my first thought was, "What took me so long?" The fact that Leiter is considerably lesser-known that his contemporaries (think Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko) is what makes him a perfect candidate for our latest I Make Picture series, Art History 101. As someone who studied the subject in college, I fervently explore the history of visual art and am frequently distressed about the general lack of exposure the public has to so many talented artists. Too often the ones who get the most recognition are those who had the most salacious and temultuous personal lives (and sometimes rightfully so, as insanity and brilliance are often divided by a fine line) and work itself gets overshadowed in favor of personae in pop culture. As my gift to you, Art History 101 will give an introduction to artists you might otherwise be unfamiliar with by was of a brief biography, highlights, and of course, lots of pictures. At the very least it could give you something much cooler to discuss at parties than politics. :)

Saul Leiter's major contribution to the world of art was his role as a pioneer of color photography. In New York City during the mid-20th century, the art world was dominated by Abstract Expressionist painting. With his innovative eye, the Pittsburgh-born artist translated similar abstractions onto film, creating photos of city life with breathtakingly modern and deceptively stylized compositions.

What is so admirable about Leiter's work is that, just as the Abstract Expressionists pushed the boundaries and limitations of the physicality of paint on a canvas, he toyed with the idea of photography as a medium which was used most traditionally as a means to capture reality. Instead, Leiter manipulated (long before the invention of computer-aided manipulation tools) images to relay mood over pure naturalism. While his work with color was most notable, even his black and white works feature a brilliant eye for abstraction in creating photographs often considered quite painterly.

The Look of Love

2010-02-13T18:16:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day! This holiday tends to polarize more than any other since it has come to symbolize material things over emotional, but I thought we could try to bring it back to its humble intent: to honor our loved ones. Describing love is as abstract an idea as defining art. You know how they say a picture is worth 1,000 words? Well, I like to think I'm pretty handy with words but what I really know is pictures and while I still haven't figured out how to write about love, I can at least show you what it might look like. Enjoy.

kisses,
Ashley

Marc Chagall

Nan Goldin

Frida Kahlo

Paul Klee

Toulouse Lautrec

Diane Arbus

Eye Candy: Raelux

2010-02-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you know this, but "I Make Picture" is not just some clever title. I (Ashley) actually MAKE picture(s). This weekend I am photographing Raelux, songstress and badass chick extraordinaire. While I cannot divulge the details of our upcoming shoot (we'll share the pictures with you at a later date!), I have decided that this would be the perfect subject of the blog's newest segment: Eye Candy. Eye Candy will feature my latest visual inspirations whether they be in terms of work I'm doing, personal style, or just good old fashioned...well, eye candy.

Right now I'm getting really inspired by these stills from and old video "Comic Strip" from Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg. Brigitte is disguised as a dark, mysterious, sexy action figure amid a pop art backdrop. What more inspiration do you need? Oh, and plus her eye liner and hairdo's are a constant source of envy ;) Oh, the swingin' 1960's!

Other inspiration for the shoot comes from the whimsical, magical style of Bat for Lashes frontwoman Natasha Khan and the fierceness and hard-edged glamour of the one-and-only Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Wish us luck (and no rain!) for this weekend, and please check out all things Raelux at www.raeluxmusic.com for updates and more! Enjoy the occular pleasures. :)

What's New (Pussycat)

2010-02-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

Hello my loyal I Make Picture-ers! I want to take a minute to let you know about some upcoming changes to our blog. Though the core of this blog is the interactive element of assigning and posting art projects, I've noticed that a lull in incoming projects (ahem, this means you lazy bones!) makes for a subsequent lull in my ability to post due to the strict format I created (review, interview, review, interview, etc.). While I still want the assignments to be an integral part of I Make Picture, I also don't want to alienate anyone who may not for whatever reason be able or willing to complete these projects. Thus I have decided to expand the content of the blog to more things "art" in general. Specifically, this will include previews of upcoming exhibitions or visual projects that excite me, inspirations, and short art history lessons on artists and figures whose work may not be as broadly known. As always if you have things you'd like to see I Make Picture cover, please send an email to IMakePicture@gmail.com and let us know your thoughts! This change will enable me to post more frequently and hence give you, the reader, more thoughts, words, and oh yes, pictures to absorb and be inspired by!

Love and Pictures.

Assignment #9: Through the Looking Glass

2009-12-03T15:38:00.000-08:00

Because our latest featured artist, Susan Silton, is also among the group of artists in our most recently featured exhibition, "I Feel Different" at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, we at I Make Picture thought we'd kill two birds with one stone to create an assignment that relates to both trademarks of Susan's work as well as the broad theme of the LACE show.

As you likely read in the earlier post, "I Feel Different" centers on the concept of feeling removed from society in some way. Appropriately, included artist Silton creates work focused on overwhelming concerns of modern society and frequently does so by playing with the public's perception. Merging the ideas of isolation and perception, Susan and I decided on a fitting assignment.

Assignment #9: Through the Looking Glass

Focusing on a personal trait (internal or external, physical or emotional) that makes you feel "different," create a unique self-portrait using any medium.

Since she has done a similar self-portrait project using digital manipulation (all circa 1995), Susan lent us these images as an example of an answer to this assignment.

I, too, tried my hand at the assignment. Using this amazing self-timer with my Polaroid SX-70 camera, I aimed to focus on physical characteristics that have caused me much insecurity and feelings of isolation, particularly by other women. My body (specifically its more childlike than womanly nature) has won equal negative attention and curiosity and has at times been a source of guilt and anger. Only recently have I come to accept the things I once viewed as flaws, but these images were taken to capture a voyeristic view of the image I have projected to others before this time of acceptance.

As always, you all are encouraged to try this assignment with individual interpretation. That is, you can't do it "wrong." The goal of I Make Picture is to provide a loose framework or guideline within which you can explore themes you might not otherwise have considered. Use video, use crayons, draw on a napkin, take a picture, it really doesn't matter. The important thing is to offer others inspiration and new ideas. I can't wait to see you all make picture. :)

Featured Artist: Susan Silton

2009-12-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

Upon meeting Los Angeles' Susan Silton, I was unaware of her life as a well-praised contemporary artist. When it inevitably came up, I asked her, "What medium do you work in?" If only I had known what an impossible question this was for the multifaceted artist to answer (though she did, diplomatically). Over the course of her impressive career, which includes solo exhibitions at SolwayJones (where she is represented), Angles Gallery and the National History Museum in Los Angeles, and Feigen Contemporary in New York, as well as inclusion in group shows at San Francisco's MOMA and the California Museum of Photography, Silton's body of work has merged and tangled media to fully explore the breadth of art's physical boundaries yet always stayed true to a general central theme: our current sociopolitical climate.

The recipient of a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA, Silton presents culturally relevant issues using various methods of trickery. A motto of her work could be that "things aren't always as they appear." The artist taunts our sensory perceptions, making us question our instincts and inclinations. For example, her 2006/2007 series "The Day, The Earth" was comprised of giant compositions which at first glance were more reminiscent of Op-Art paintings by Bridget Riley or Minimalist works by Frank Stella, but were actually re-photographed stills of apocalypse-themed movies from the 1960s in which each vertical strip has been individually tinted to abstract the overall images into boldly colorful, stripey surfaces. In these photographs, the figures are discovered secondarily, becoming almost hauntingly inconspicuous. The series speaks to our current fear of world-ending disaster that looms below the surface of everyday life.

Under the same umbrella, Silton created a companion exihibition at the Pasadena Museum of Contemporary Art in which she covered the building in brightly-colored striped tarps, inspired by fumigation tents. Inside she coated the interior of the project room with manufactured items that used a similar pattern. The would-be happy, joyful palette and pattern was in marked contrast to the darker issues they represented. Susan also used photography and video in her "Twister" series, some of which is displayed in the current "I Feel Different" exhibition at LACE (see feature in previous post). In this series she explored themes of oppressed sexuality and the subsequent confusion and curiosity about the subject.

Silton is also currently working on an interactive project via the social networking site, Facebook. Commenting on the scripted nature she sees in such a forum, she created speaking avatars (Michael Richards, Trent Lott, Chris Brown) each apologizing for their various public mistakes. Learn more about the ongoing project, "BY THE CROWD THEY HAVE BEEN BROKEN; BY THE CROWD THEY SHALL BE HEALED" here.

Below are Susan's devilishly clever and brilliant responses to our "12 Questions" series. See if you can decipher the common thread to her answers. Thanks to Susan for her involvement in I Make Picture, and for once again discovering a new way to look at old things.

12 Questions with Susan Silton

Q: At what moment did you first feel like an artist?
A: I led a red nude by a day bed under a deli

Q: What has been your biggest art faux pas?
A: Tell a man I gave damn unatoned art as a trade, not an unmade vagina mallet

Q: Whose style do you most admire?
A: Bar crab

Q: If your work had a soundtrack, what would it be?
A: Crass orgasm regret: fast, sullen, it nests in an onanist sentinel, lusts

Q: What is your trademark?
A: Never odd or even

Q: Name your dream collaborative team.
A: Senile felines

Q: How does where you live affect the art you make?
A: L.A., Ed, is ideal

Q: If you could travel back to any era for its art and lifestyle, what time would you visit?
A: Are we not drawn onward to new era?

Q: Sum up your aesthetic in 3 adjectives.
A: Warming is a sign I'm raw

Q: What is your must-have when you're at work in your studio?
A: A nut for a jar of tuna

Q: If money was no object, what major project might you take on?
A: I roam as a Maori

Q: What work of art that you've personally seen has most moved you?
A: Do geese see God?

*Images appear courtesy of SolwayJones Gallery and X-TRA Magazine.

Separate but Equal: "I Feel Different" @ Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions

2009-11-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

So much significant art has been born from its creators' inherent feelings of separation. This disconnect could be physical as in racial (Betye Saar, Kara Walker) or sexual/gender separation (Catherine Opie, Robert Gober) or more emotional as in the isolation of loneliness or mental disorders (Edward Hopper, Vincent Van Gogh). All things considered, the true nature of an artist is someone who finds ways to visually relate messages and emotions that may not have been previously explored. At their very core all artists could arguably be considered "different."

That said it seems only natural to center a group show around a theme of these feelings of awkwardness, self doubt, of not fitting in, being misunderstood or removed from society in some way, which is exactly what author-turned-curator Jennifer Doyle has done with the current group exhibition at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), "I Feel Different." Doyle has expertly chosen a selection of provocative artists, all of whom fuel their work with individual translations of what it means to be "different." And Doyle should know. Her text, Sex Objects: Art and the Dialects of Desire (2006) tackles the topic of sex in art specifically in terms of its perceptions and tendency to cause misunderstanding.

"I Feel Different" is located in the back gallery space of LACE, mainly confined to one area with additional work in an adjacent hallway and "microlounge." The place is alive with media including several videos, projections, sculptural installations, collage, and photography. The collection features work from Susan Silton, Lezley Saar, James Luna, Monica Duncan and Lara Odell, Nao Bustamante, David Wojnarowicz, Nina Yhared, and Ben Neill.

Beginnning clockwise from the entrance to the gallery, Los Angeles-based Silton introduces the exhibition with her trio of Piezo pigment prints and accompanying single-channel video. Upon examining the photos as entities apart from the video, the soft, grainy (much like silverpoint), abstracted images may subtly suggest sexuality, with their furry black clouds and sensual, organic and corporal shapes.

Titled respectively Twister 1, Twister 4, and Twister 6 (all 2003), these images are in fact digital manipulations of photos taken by storm chasers, as Silton aims to liken the juxtaposing characteristics of fluid sensuality and wild, unbridled force that exists in both sex and nature.

Whereas the artist gracefully eludes to sex in these photos, she awkwardly and humorously shocks with sexualized imagery in the video, twisted. The video depicts a succession of people, cropped to their facial expressions only, in their attempts to create a man made tornado by shaking a jar filled with various ingredients. Viewers do not get to see the source of the people's aggressive motion, just the body-thursting and face-contorting as Silton bluntly focuses on the actions' similarities to sexual expressions. Altogether the photographs/video are both a poignant and cheeky exploration of the tendencies of our perceptions, as well as our internal dialogues about such a taboo subject.

While Silton's work addresses the exhibition's central theme of difference in terms of general feelings of discomfort and misunderstanding about the topic of sex, Lezley Saar instead creates an homage to specific victims of isolation with each of her sentimental, assemblage works. Following in the footsteps of her mother, the aforementioned Betye, Saar combines mixed media in her altarpiece-like works in which the subjects are often sufferers of social alienation. Her glorious Dorothy Champ: Broadway Star and Bahai Activist (2002) is a massive hanging banner amid Saar's exquisitely crowded installation of acrylic and mixed media works within "I Feel Different."

Champ left her successful career as a stage actress in the early 1900s in pursuit of teaching her beloved faith. Teardrop-shaped crystals beautifully indicate the internal pain of the subject's difficult choice, one likely to have not been understood by many. The salon-style arrangement of Saar's works further shows the artists' penchant for respectfully, elegantly highlighting these otherwise isolated individuals.

With impossible-to-ignore inspiration from Edward Hopper, an artist whose paintings burned with themes of loneliness, Lara Odell and Monica Duncan's collaborative video, Living Pictures (2003) similarly creates portraits of isolated figures whose stillness and far-off gazes emanate sadness and solitude. Whereas Hopper's subjects are frozen in time, Odell and Duncan's work utilizes their medium to address the passing of time as the subjects motionlessly exist in each of the four, ten-minute-long videos. Projected on a wall in large scale, one by one the videos feature a lonesome figure (in a laundromat, at a picnic table) void of any signs of life, though we are reminded of life going on by external forces such as the sound of cars driving by or the graduation of natural light. Though the figures themselves make no noise, their silence deafens the movements that surround them.

Other highlights of the collection include a "radical craft" and mixed media sculptural installation by Nao Bustamante, whose playful Neapolitan (2003, 2008, 2009) is a dramatically decorated (neon macrame-covered headphones, Kleenex boxes) set wherein viewers see and hear video of the artist crying in a personal response to a film she related to culturally, and another installation/performance from Native artist James Luna. Luna's History of the Luiseno People: La Jolla Reservation, Christmas (1990) tackles stereotypes of Native people by including them in this piece in which an armchair sits across from a television screen amid cigarette butts and crumpled beer cans while the audio plays conversations in which the inhabitant of the scene (present only during performances) excuses himself from the holiday activities to which he has been invited.

"I Feel Different" will remain on view through January 24, 2010 @
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions
6522 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
www.welcometolace.org

Photos appear courtesy of LACE's website, as well as some images from fette's the-flog.com

Big Things Poppin'...

2009-11-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hello IMP friends! And friends of friends, etc! I noticed I haven't posted in a while...maybe you noticed too....err...Sorry! Please don't think the lack of posts in any way indicated the slowing down of things at I Make Picture. We've actually got several pots boiling at the moment, so to speak, and we thought we'd take time to let our readers know what's in store!

#1: Twitter. It's frightening, I know. Nevertheless, we've started our very own Twitter @IMakePicture so you can see links to shows, art events, and anything cool and creative you might enjoy. I'll try to keep the tangents to a minimum. To sum up, follow us!

#2: New feature/interview: Today I have the great pleasure of checking out the current exhibit at LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), "I Feel Different," a group show that includes the amazing Lezley Saar (daughter of one of my personal favorite artists, Betye Saar), Jame s Luna, and Susan Silton. Susan has also been gracious enough to accept of our offer of being the next Featured Artist, so we'll have some cohesion for the next posts/project! Please keep checking, the review should be up this next week.

#3: Keep making pictures! That is to say, just because we posted assignment from other readers, doesn't mean I'm not in need of more projects. We really like to show different perspectives and alternate direction each assignment can go. I Make Picture isn't about encouraging people to make many versions of one particular thing, but rather to plant a seed in your creative mind to get you to try something you might not otherwise think of. We want you to be using muscles you haven't flexed before! And on that note, please pass the word onto friends, co-workers, peers, family, neighbors, etc...anyone who might be interested in a creative outlet. We need you to help this idea succeed!

Let's end with some pictures, shall we? One of the things I (Ashley) have been working on in this little hiatus is perfecting my skills with my old 35mm Minolta and many old-school lenses. Here are some photos I shot of our partner in crime Lydia Hyslop (www.ladygunn.com). Get inspired!

Assignment #8: I Make Monster

2009-09-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Remember that childhood game in which you (along with a small group of people) create a strange, fantastical figure by drawing a succession of body parts from top to bottom, each created by the person before who folds the drawing, segment by segment, so your creature remains a mystery to all until the end? In this game, known as Exquisite Corpse, your blind collaboration leads to endless creative possibilities. A two-headed baby with a snowman's torso and reptilian feet and tail? Sure! It's all up to your imagination.

Exquisite Corpse actually dates back to the Dada and Surrealist periods of art, and has been played by the likes of Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miro, and Man Ray.

In thinking of an appropriate project to coincide with our recent feature on Portland artist Andy Kehoe, a painter notorious for the equally nightmarish and smile-inducing creatures which inhabit his compositions, Exquisite Corpse seemed perfectly fitting. The game not only inevitably results in kooky, subhuman figures, but also brings in the crucial Kehoe element of tapping into childhood imagination.

Assignment #8: I Make Monster
Create your own Exquisite Corpse with a small group of people (at least 3 is best).

Simple, right? If you're confused on how the game works, click here for a description. Work in whatever scale, medium, and materials you see fit. When it's complete, scan your creation or take a digital photo of it and send to imakepicture@gmail.com. I'll post the projects that catch my fancy.

For my own interpretation of the project I gathered a group of creative friends and with the help of a variety of materials that included vintage children's books, crayons, markers, magazines, and construction paper...and of course a little beer. :) I don't think any of us were prepared for the success and all-out hilarity of our resulting creations. Our host, Savita, supplied the lovely images. Enjoy!

Artists: Ashley, Karla, Dan, Savita
Assignment: I Make Monster
Materials: vintage children's books, Sharpies, crayons, magazines, ink & stamp, construction paper, Negro Modelo, Stella Artois

Featured Artist: Andy Kehoe

2009-09-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

"Juxtapose" is my lucky word. Back in my A.P. Literature class we joked that you'd always get a high score on the frequent impromptu essays if you simply added the word somewhere amid the text. Maybe it was a fluke, but it certainly improved my grade in the course and I've used it as a lucky charm in writing ever since. Thankfully "juxtapose" is a word which lends itself to art criticism and art writing quite nicely. It seems particularly applicable to the work of our latest featured artist, Andy Kehoe.

Now based in Portland, OR, the former Pittsburgher (Pittsburghian?) walks the seemingly hypocritical line between childlike and sinister. His excruciatingly detailed, stylized compositions feature a cast of animal/human/monster hybrid creatures that wouldn't be out of place in a Little Golden Book authored by Tim Burton. Kehoe places his figures in desolate landscapes colored with somber hues. The artist's works are successful because of their dichotomy: a sincere, childlike sense of imagination and an ability to relay dark, complex human emotions.

Kehoe's blend of humor, darkness, and elegant beauty has earned him considerable success as an artist. The Parson's School of Design grad exhibits regularly with Thinkspace Gallery and Black Maria Gallery in Los Angeles and Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York and frequently participates in group shows such as the recent Blab! show at L.A.'s Copro Nason Gallery. Andy also sells prints of his work at etsy.com. Please do visit his website for the latest exhibition information.

12 Questions with Andy Kehoe

Q: At what moment did you first feel like an artist?
A: I'm not too sure. I've always drawn since I was a kid and even when I was drawing tons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I felt somewhat like an artist. What's an artist really entail anyways except making cool shit that excites you and being able to express yourself... even with Ninja Turtles. Now that I'm older, people always want to know what I do for a living. It's pretty gratifying to say that I make art for a living. So in adult, grown-up world, I can tell people I'm an artist and be legit.

Q: What has been your biggest art faux pas?
A: Honestly, I think people should create whatever they feel like. I certainly have my likes and dislikes, but I usually keep it to myself. Who am I to say what's proper in art? I had one guy leave a comment about one of my pieces that said, "I don't know why anyone would hang this on their walls." Haha. So to each their own.

Q: Whose style do you most admire?
A: There are many artists that I really admire these days. My brother Ben, Evan B. Harris, Kathleen Lolley, Femke Hiemstra, Dan May, Jason Limon, Lola, Travis Lampe, Nathan Spoor, Travis Louie to name a few. I gravitate towards artists with grand imaginations that have strange stories to tell. I also appreciate work where you can feel the amount of care put into the smallest details.

Q: If your work had a soundtrack, what would it be?
A: Probably a mix of Neil Young, The Soundtrack to The New World, Animal Collective, a banjo and two mandolins all put through reverb and delay effects with the sound of shotguns and children crying in the background.

Q: What is your trademark?
A: I guess people most recognize my work by my assortment of beasts, trees, leaves and isolated environments. On the street, my trademark is the called the "Crying Judas Elbow" and many men have fallen to it's power.

Q: Name your dream collaborative team.
A: Me and Professor Dumbledore.

Q: How does where you live affect the art you make?
A: Portland is a very beautiful city surrounded by tons of nature and beautiful trees. It's hard not to be inspired by just walking around. And like Pittsburgh, the Autumn here is an amazing feast for the eyes.

Q: If you could travel back to any era for its art and lifestyle, what time would you visit?
A: I really like the present for it's art and lifestyle because it means I can actually have a life with my art. I couldn't do what I'm doing right now even a decade back. Although, the 70's were a pretty awesome time of unrestrained, creative mayhem... that would've been fun.

Q: Sum up your aesthetic in 3 adjectives.
A: Sad, Happy, Happy/Sad

Q: What is your must-have when you're at work in your studio?
A: The stereo is a must. Besides playing music, I listen to a lot of audio books while I work. There have been many times where I kept working just to hear what happens next in the story. It's perfect for those long stretches where I know I have a bunch of late nighters ahead. I thought audio books would interfere with my thought process, but I think it keeps my brain creatively stimulated instead of being free to wander off all day.

Q: If money was no object, what major project might you take on?
A: I would love to make an animated movie one day, but there's just so much to organize and put together. Plus it costs so much just to get something like that started. I also have some great ideas for video games. I thought about proposing them to a video game company, but I heard they'll just throw you under a bus and take your ideas.

Q: What work of art that you've personally seen has most moved you?
A: If I can use cinema as a work of art, I'd say Wong Kar Wai's "In The Mood For Love" has moved me most over the years.

All images courtesy of Mr. Kehoe himself. Please enjoy more of all things Andy at www.andykehoe.net

Art Imitating Life Imitating Art

2009-08-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Heather Cantrell's latest portrait photography exhibition may have closed August 15th, but her concept lives on. Miss Cantrell informed us that she hopes to take her portrait studio to the streets, possibly even in an upcoming exhibition in London this fall! We only hope she'll keep IMP updated on all her future endeavors. :)

Before we move on to our next feature and project (which we are VERY excited about!), we have one last shout out to Heather's wildly fun exhibition at Kinkead Contemporary. The photographer invited yours truly and a friend for a private portrait session and things got a little...scandalous. I can't say much, but a stuffed baboon, the Union Jack, and tequila were involved. We swiftly moved from more traditional-with-a-twist portraits, to daring, avant-garde shots. Check out the photos that were PG-13 enough to post below! Thanks to Heather and to Whitney for scanning and sending us the pictures! xo

Moore and More Portraits

2009-08-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

Matt Moore is not only a friend of I Make Picture but a witty blogger in his own right! The Los Angeles-based comedian, writer, all around humorist (MM makes appearances at IO West and Upright Citizen's Brigade) created the weekly-updated Morning Light News, in which he takes oft-devastating real news stories and sarcastically looks for their "silver lining" in the spirit of The Onion or "The Daily Show" but with a decidedly original spin. Make sure to visit his blog often for a good laugh.

IMP was lucky enough to have Matt create another of our assignments (he also created an unforgettable UFO for #3: Out of This World). Below is his take on Assignment #7: Dress Me Up (see previous post for project information), a project designed after Heather Cantrell's recent collection of portrait photography at Kinkead Contemporary. Matt set up a table full of props near his Franklin Village apartment and invited passersby to pose with their choice(s). You have to give him props for that, no pun intended. Okay, pun VERY intended.

I've also included another adorable project from my old bestie, Anna Poston. Always gifted with art, Anna now uses her skills mainly as a wedding dress designer in Chicago, Illinois. She looked for inspiration at work when choosing a prop for the portraits she took her newly introduced beach volleyball teammates. Asking several young gentleman to pose with a tiara proved an interesting experiment in obvserving a little gender role playing. Come on, guys...you loved wearing it! It shows! Thanks again Matt and Anna!

Artist: Matt Moore
Assignment: Dress Me Up
Materials: clock, Union soldier's hat, christmas vest, 'Turbo' sunglasses, box camera, glove, home-made Simon and Garfunkel reel-to-reel

Artist: Anna Poston
Assignment: Dress Me Up
Materials: willing gentleman, camera, tiara

Assignment #7: Dress Me Up

2009-07-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Among my circle of friends, I'm notorious for using props in any photo taken of me. Case in point? See below. Sometimes it might simply be my drink. Other times I might make a prop out of a nearby stranger. If there's anything around (really, anything) I will put it on my head, hold it in front of my face, position it inappropriately, do nearly anything for a laugh or an interesting picture. I know I'm not alone in this and if you really consider it, we prop-users are likely pretty insecure in front of the camera. We use them because quite frankly, we're not 100% comfortable just being our regular-old (and might I add fabulous?) selves.

Cue the transition to discussing Heather Cantrell's new exhibition, A Study in Portraiture: Act 1, the subject of I Make Picture's most recent art feature. Click here to jump to our coverage of Heather's show. It is certainly interesting to note the transformation of Ms. Cantrell's subjects in front of her lens as they cling to the various props and costumes provided by the photographer as a means of appearing more dynamic in some way than they would appear without them. This sort-of social experiment inspired I Make Picture's latest assignment, one of our most fun and daring projects yet:

Assignment #7:
Using at least one prop, create a portrait of a person you hardly know.

Sound scary? Don't think of it that way! Look, Lydia Hyslop and I (of LadyGunn fame) tried it first to make sure you folks at home could handle it. Using a digital camera and various props including, but not limited to a fake mustache (LA cliche, I know), a wig, a flower, and a silver bowl and whisk. We used the breakfast spot where Lydia and I work as a location, and set up a make-shift studio in front of which we asked customers to pose with their choice of prop. Who knew so many people were dying to don a twirly brown mustache? Anyway, the project was a great excuse to step outside your comfort zone, to capture a feeling of a person whose personality you haven't yet discovered, and a fascinating exploration of other peoples' public insecurities or considerable lackthereof. So grab your camera and try it out. Send your results to imakepicture@gmail.com. Can't wait to see the pictures you make!

Here are the highlights of Lydia and my photo shoot. Thanks again for all my willing models, it was great to meet you!

Phoebe

Dave

Adam

Shannon Leigh & Steve

Jimmy

Artists: Ashley & Lydia
Assignment: Dress Me up
Materials: digital camera (and some Photoshop), funnel, apron, mustache, wig, whisk, bowl, carnation, helmet/goggles

Pictures of You: Heather Cantrell at Kinkead Contemporary

2009-07-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

As the art director of a popular reality television show, Heather Cantrell knows the camera's power to transform personalities. In front of the lens, otherwise normal people morph into cable-ready, cardboard-cutout stereotypes, not only through clever editing, but through their own desire to be a more dynamic "character." Perhaps this idea was an influential force (subconscious or otherwise) to Cantrell in the latest venture of her other life as a Los Angeles-based contemporary photographer, A Study in Portraiture: Act 1 at Culver City's Kinkead Contemporary.

No stranger to the art of portraiture, Cantrell's most recent collection narrows its focus by centering around the idea of identity, thwarting reality by offering her subjects the illusion of fantasy. In a nod to her design background, the photographer achieves this by disguising her subjects with props, costumes, and backdrops as she both humorously and ironically captures them not as the character they are trying to portray, but as real people with desires to be someone more funny, more sexy, more interesting to look at.

Looking to photographers like Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe, Cantrell similarly plays with the traditionalism of portrait photography as she documents members of her own subculture: L.A.'s art community. Some of the subjects of her photos include the show's curator Caryn Coleman (formerly of sixspace gallery), art collector Barry Belkin, and gallerist Beau Basse (of neighboring LeBasse Projects) among many other artfolk.

About a year ago she began shooting these friends and peers in her own studio, manipulating them with various paraphernalia. This developed into mobile portrait studios where attendees were invited to pose amid Cantrell's sets and keep their original 4"x5" print for a reasonable fee. The interactive nature of this project didn't stop there. A Study in Portraiture includes Heather's makeshift studio, complete with various painted backdrops, furniture, and props that range from the regular to the ridiculous (ie: books to shrunken heads). During the course of its run, Cantrell and the gallery have held periodic shoots, only adding to the collection of dynamic portraits which the exhibition at Kinkead already boasts.

The small back gallery space holds a handful of 15"x12.5" silver rag archival ink jet prints and the wall opposite Kinkead's front desk displays some of the 4"x5" Polaroids taken during the course of the exhibition. Cantell's models pose with animal masks and Peter Pan costumes in front of painterly, faux-naturalistic backdrops and crudely theatrical set decorations. Contrastingly, some actually lose items of clothing once in front of Cantrell's lens. While some of the silliness makes for entertaining shots, the best of Cantrell's work is that which is most subtle; no hijinks, no contest to see how many off-the-wall objects a sitter can use. Heather's edited shots are the most brilliant, ignoring the concept of masquerade in favor true human emotion. She makes it a point to include elements that remind viewers of the falseness of the created scenario, such as the ground line strewn with excess props, the hands of her assistant, lighting equiptment, etc. Cantrell's figures seem all the more human in their pursuit of other identities, and this idea is what makes the collection so charming.

A Study in Portraiture: Act I will be on display through August 15th, with additional portrait sessions July 29th from 6pm to 9pm and August 1st from 4pm to 8pm. Participation is $30 for artists and $50 for the rest of the public, and includes an original, signed Polaroid. Contact the gallery for details.

* all images courtesy of Whitney Carter at Kinkead Contemporary

Beauty in the Breakdown

2009-05-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Artist: Calethia DeConto
Assignment: Public Poetry
Materials: dry wall, ink, frustration

My favorite collaborator (and fellow S.S. fan) Calethia DeConto snapped this image of a piece of dry wall she rescued, then stashed in her car for months before finally finding the spark of inspiration to scrawl upon it thoughts of frustration. Miss DeConto, a noted photographer currently based in LA, is notorious for finding beauty in things otherwise overlooked and with the aid of her magic lens her subjects' worth is transposed.

Speaking of all things Calethia, our lady has recently completed installing her very own dark room with which she introduces The Beauty Seeker Dark Room, available for custom black and white printing. See the image below for info on the dark room and how you can donate funds to help its existence! Support local dark rooms! Trust me, this girl is totally gifted. If you don't believe me go look here and here.

Pictures & Promises

2009-05-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Artist: Lydia Hyslop
Assignment: Public Poetry
Materials: holga pictures, a digital image, photoshop, the human heart, and summer '07

As if being a talented actress, singer/songwriter, and magazine start-upper, LadyGunn's Lydia Hyslop shows she has a knack for creating beautiful objects as well in this project for our Assignment #6: Public Poetry. My girl Lydzzz uses simple but powerful language along with her own photographic images to associate memories. The result is sincere and a little bit heartbreaking. I think we call can relate. Thanks Lady! :)

Post it.

2009-05-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Artist: Savita Ostendorf
Assignment: Public Poetry
Materials: red Sharpie, brown paper, puppet design studio

I always knew Savita would be the perfect I Make Picture-maker. The Los Angeles-based designer is equipped with both A) an amazing camera, and B) an eye for seeing and creating beautiful things. To learn more about Savita, check out her blog or click on her website to view some sample work.

...from a magnetic heart.

2009-05-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Another reason Nick McPhail rules? His answer to Assignment #6: Public Poetry. Nick's project is great because he used materials that were laying around and still captured exactly what this assignment was all about: turning your own words into a piece of public art. Not to mention...working within the limited vocabulary of refrigerator magnet? Not an easy task.

For more things McPhail, check out Nick's website, and mark your calendars for his solo show at San Francisco's Mina Dresden Gallery this August. Thanks again, Nick!

Artist: Nick McPhail
Assignment: Public Poetry
Materials: fridge, magnetic poetry, imagination

Assignment #6: Public Poetry

2009-04-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

Stephen Knight, a notorious art history/drawing professor of mine was very vocal of his discontent for using text in art. In his opinion, including text was a way to make up for a lack of strength in your visual imagery. While this was not a terrible lesson to learn, I have since learned what an important place language can have in art. Zach Houston, our latest featured artist, knows this lesson quite well.

From Houston, we can glean not only the beauty of arranging words in an off-the-cuff fashion, but the power in publicly sharing those words. The artist does so in a way that almost releases them from his ownership, letting them belong to someone else, anyone else. This idea inspired our next assignment.

Assignment #6: Public Poetry

Write a short (around 5 lines), impromptu poem or verse on a random topic. Then, create a vehicle with which to share your words publicly and capture and image of what you create.

Sound confusing? Let me explain. What we're looking for is an image of the words you write (therefore, don't worry about making them super-personal or involved...although they can be!) once you have written or posted them somewhere for others to see. Maybe you write them in Sharpie in a bathroom stall and snap a photo (but I cannot recommend that). Maybe you make a message in a bottle and toss it into the Pacific (though I don't condone littering). Maybe you write it with your finger in a foggy mirror. Get the idea? Also, your poem can be anything from a little ditty about your favorite snack to a sentimental verse for a loved one. Doesn't matter. The point of this project is sharing your thoughts, releasing them into the world. Below is the project I created for this assignment. When looking for inspiration for my poem (which I wrote in about 3 minutes on the back of an envelope), I looked no further than my desk where an old pair of reading glasses lay. Then I scrawled my words crudely onto a balloon and let 'er rip. It's not my fault it got stuck in a tree. :(

Also, please notice the new format for submissions. Make sure to write your name, assignment, and materials. I can't wait to see your creations! Xxxxx.

Picture maker: Ashley
Assignment: #6 Public Poetry
Materials: Brain, sharpie, balloon, ribbon

Featured Artist: Zach Houston

2009-04-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

Oakland-based artist/poet Zach Houston refuses to be another starving artist. His ongoing project "Poem Store" is hardly ironically titled: Houston sets up camp (handmade sign, manual typewriter and all) at any number of public places to write impromptu poetry for donating patrons. For Houston, no given topic is too too precious or too banal, and he writes his cogent, free-verse poems with genuine sincerity and touches of humor, the resulting white sheet of minimal type equally charming in its own right. Suffice it to say, customers rarely ask for their money back.

This former Sonoma State University student is hardly your run-of-the-mill street performing eccentric. In addition to "Poem Store," Houston has been involved in exhibitions at Johansson Projects in Oakland, New York's White Columns Gallery, and the current inaugural exhibition in Berlin's new Golden Parachutes, the majority of his work dealing with "language and trope" as well as reacting to an economy with little sympathy for artists and writers. Thanks to the help of our dear friends Paul and Jesi of Golden Parachutes, Zach agreed to answer our "12 Questions," enlightening us to a bit of his style and inspiration. Learn more about Zach Houston at http://zachhouston.com.

12 Questions with Zach Houston

Q: At what moment did you first feel like an artist?

A: birth

Q: What has been your biggest art faux pas?

A: birth

Q: Whose style do you most admire?

A: universe

Q: If your work had a soundtrack, what would it be?

A: sound

Q: What is your trademark?

A: money

Q: Name your dream collaborative team.

A: every living and dead

Q: How does where you live affect the art you make?

A: very well thank you I live in California

Q: If you could travel back to any era for its art and lifestyle, what

time would you visit?

A: utopian future

Q: Sum up your aesthetic in 3 adjectives.

A: person place and everything (adsictives)

Q: What is your must-have when you're at work in your studio?
A: "if you want everyone to have work you are part of problem" Di Prima

Q: If money was no object, what major project might you take on?

A: end war starvation poverty money

Q: What work of art that you've personally seen has most moved you?

A: psychedelics

*All images courtesy of Golden Parachutes except for heading photo of Zach, which comes from Johansson Projects' Flickr album. Other images include a photo of Zach's "Poem Store" by Casey Bisson, the drawing "Advertising Rienhart Descending a Staircase to Another Woman" (Johansson Projects), and the ink on paper drawing "It's Not a Choice, it's a) moral quantity b) the war" (2007).

Dream Boys and Dream Girls

2009-03-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

In response to our latest Assignment #5: Venus and Mars (which was in conjunction with the recently -reviewed She show at Los Angeles' Michael Kohn Gallery), some art-lovers from zip codes all over have been inspired to create projects which depict fantasy/archetypal images of the opposite sex (or in Karin's case, the same sex through the opposite sex's eyes. It's ok, Karin. We'll still post it.). Below are projects from Karin Balke, Nick McPhail, and our newest friend Marzette Hendersen. Thanks everyone!

This is McPhail's study of a work by the artist Eric Fischl, whose work frequently deals with themes of voyeurism and sexuality.

Henderson explains of his contribution:

I was browsing through a men's magazine and came across an underwear ad with a semi-nude male wearing nothing but underwear. I thought to myself, if you want to sell men's underwear then why not put them on a woman (unless your target is a gay man). Sex sells after all.

Assignment #5: Venus and Mars

2009-03-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

Gee, I really hope you checked out our review of the tremendous show at LA's Michael Kohn Gallery, "She" featuring Wallace Berman and Richard Prince. If not, here it is (or you can always scroll down one post):
http://imakepicture.blogspot.com/2009/03/femme-mystique-she-at-michael-kohn.html

Walking away from this collection of two artists whose interpretations and fantasies about the fairer sex made for commonality in subject matter, one truly feels the sense of stereotypes and archetypes the opposite sexes have for one another. This brings me to the coveted fifth assignment.

Assignment #5: Venus and Mars
Create an image that looks to the opposite sex as a figure of fantasy.

Below is an image I created with this idea in mind. It's pretty self-explanatory.

I'd love to see all your interpretations of this theme. What are the common stereotypes about men/women? "Sugar and spice and everything nice" versus "snips and snails and puppy dog tails"? Playboy bunnies and He-Men? Okay, I'm not giving you any more ideas. See the sidebar for submission info. I can't wait to see your projects, so get working on them!

The Femme Mystique: "She" at Michael Kohn Gallery

2009-03-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

In the Spring/Summer of 2007, the Geffen Contemporary at MoCA Los Angeles presented “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution,” an incredibly extensive collection of woman-centric art created by a veritable laundry list of female artists (including, but not limited to the likes of Judy Chicago, Alice Neel, Ana Mendieta, Yoko Ono, Audrey Flack, Faith Ringgold, and Cindy Sherman). As the birth of the Feminist movement in art occurred during the 1970s, it was often related and reactionary to the booming pornography industry and its depiction of women. The much-discussed collection examined, played with, and re-imagined such sexualized stereotypes of women under the scope of an impressively diverse group of artists.

Perhaps as an unintentional answer to “WACK!” and the work of many of its included ladies, noted art critic-cum-curator Kristine McKenna organized the recent exhibition “She” at Los Angeles’ Michael Kohn Gallery which compares and contrasts the work of Wallace Berman and Richard Prince, who worked between the 1960s and present day with particular regard to the sexualized female form as subject. Of course, none of these artists pioneered the use of such a subject. The pre-historic Venus of Willendorf, DaVinci’s Mona Lisa, Manet’s Olympia, Edvard Munch’s Puberty, and nearly the entire body of work by Willem de Kooning all serve as examples of how time-spanning and genre-crossing the subject matter truly is. That said, Berman, who worked in the Beat period of mid-century and Prince, who began to flourish in the late 1970s and early 1980s, each opted to draw from “the archetypes and fantasies” of women, so explains McKenna who selected these artists because of their mutual and contrasting depictions of the subject. Both artists achieved considerable notoriety, Berman for his involvement with the Beat movement, and Prince for his mischievous antics within contemporary art.

“She” is essentially a man’s view of women, in all the stereotyping, humor, glorification, and misinterpretation that implies. What draws these two artists together in similarity is their sexualizing of their subject. In fact, misogyny is an oft-used term when discussing Prince’s highly controversial art. For this exhibition, McKenna has included works from the artist’s well-known Nurse and Girlfriend series. The selected works certainly show Prince’s penchant for using pornography as a means to create images that are both provocative and purposely exploitative. There may be no better example of this within the collection than No New Next (2008), an actual 1986 El Camino which Prince has covered in vinyl images of topless, erotically-posed women out of old biker magazines. This piece, from his most recent Car series, is the ultimate object of machismo. However, the best moments of Prince’s work here happen in his Nurse collages, in which he splices graphic pornographic images into otherwise tame book covers from nurse-themed pulp novels. Prince uses the idea of male fantasy to transform the commonplace scenes of nurses (a frequent object of fantasy) into explicit ones.

Though Richard Prince was a notorious fan and collector of works by Wallace Berman, an artist working about a generation prior, in this context their work feels vastly different. Though Berman, too, used erotic images of women in his found object assemblages, it manages to come across with a sensibility more of intimate way than an explicit. Berman, who was best known for his art publication Semina, was a major figure in the assemblage art movement and popularized verifax images. While both such works are included in “She,” McKenna makes sure to include previously unseen portraits of women as well, and selects a body of work of Berman’s that exemplifies a more sensual, less aggressive depiction of women (albeit just as stereotypical at times) than Prince’s. Berman’s collages feel lovely and personal in their obvious hand-craftedness. In contrast, he seems to sincerely adore women for their femininity and subsequent soft sexuality. Though some of his images may have been seen as more erotic in the context of the 1960s, the overall sense is that of a private dialogue with an intimate lover, and less so of a shockingly explicit centerfold.

Prince’s misogyny may be sarcastic and calculated, and Berman’s pretty portraits more sexist than they at first appear, but at the end of the day, both of these artists are drawn to the female and her powers of sexuality. At times celebrated and at other times exploited, this characteristic of women is a theme artists continue to tackle and regardless of ever-evolving mores, that seems unlikely to change.

*"She" closed March 7, 2009. Michael Kohn Gallery is located at 8071 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. All images are courtesy of the gallery.

Boys Boys Boys...

2009-02-18T13:24:00.001-08:00

Some of our favorite ones have been digging into the ol' memory banks to create playlists for Assignment #4: My Mixed Tape. Since I've got a new review coming up just around the bend, I thought I'd do a combo post with the mixed tapes of Nick McPhail (L.A.), Daniel Jakoubek (a San Francisco treat), and underwear model extraordinaire Eric Carlson (L.A.). All these dudes take music VERY seriously so read on and enjoy their picks. Thanks, boys.
(photo by the ever-amazing Daniel J.)

Nick McPhail

10. "Brand New Start," Little Joy

9. "Your Little Hoodrat Friend," The Hold Steady
8. "Apostaolic," Loose Fur

7. "Louisiana," The Walkmen

6. "No One Called You a Failure," The Kamikaze Hearts

5. "Passenger Side," Wilco

4. "It Beats 4 U," My Morning Jacket

3. "Everything Hits At Once," Spoon

2. "Like I Needed," Rogue Wave

1. "Postcards from Italy," Beirut

Daniel Jakoubek

Five Albums That Have Informed My Thesis Project

1. Jesu - Silver
2. Sunn O))) & Boris - Altar
3. Jesu - Conqueror
4. These Arms Are Snakes - Tail Swallower and Dove
5. Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites

Eric Carlson

Superdrag - Sucked Out (history class)
Violent Femmes - American Music
Against Me! - Baby, I'm an Anarchist (punk house)
Pixies - Debaser (split tape with nirvana, 1997)
Metallica - Battery
Bad Brains - Pay to Cum
The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
The Dead Milkmen - Tiny Town
Dick Dale - Let's Go Trippin' (beach)
The Hold Steady - Party Pit (jobs...)
Islands - Rough Gem (bikes!)
Minor Threat - Minor Threat ("play it faster")
Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now (dancing with babes)

...still playlistin'!

2009-02-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

We're loving the influx of projects for Assignment #4: My Mixed Tape! Thanks to everyone who traveled down memory lane for the occasion. Kind of a nice trip, didn't you think? If you still want to add your playlist, send it over a.s.a.p. since I'm going to be posting a new assignment/review VERY soon!

In the meantime, here's Jessica Shires' (Somerville, MA) song selections that reference everything from the tunes she belted out with her sisters while making Barbie villages in garages and creating music videos, to a brief hip-hop moment in early teenage years, to the song she (recently) walked down the aisle to as she married the man of her dreams :). Now, I can't tell you which is which! We have to leave at least some things to mystery! Thanks, Jessie!!!

1. Crowded House, "Don't Dream It's Over"
2. Shakespeare's Sister, "Stay"
3. R.E.M., "Begin the Begin"
4. Eric B. & Rakim, "Paid In Full"
5. This Mortal Coil, "Another Day"
6. Coil, "Teenage Lightning"
7. Wire, "Ex Lion Tamer"
8. Laika, "Uneasy"
9. The Fall, "I Feel Voxish"
10. Low, "Over the Ocean"
11. Stereo Total, "In/Out"
12. Francoise Hardy, "Comment te dire adieu"
13. Piero Umiliani, "Essere Donna"
14. Dusty Springfield, "The Look of Love"

Sweet Lullabies

2009-02-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Karin Balke (Missoula, MT), one of the best people I know AND mother of my "niece," Ella, sent us her meaningful, nostalgic song list for her answer to Assignment #4: My Mixed Tape. Karin created her playlist by revisiting memories of her own childhood, adolescence, awkward romantic encounters, true love, and finally her new experience of motherhood. So sweet. Love you, Mama!

1. "Brahms' Lullaby" By Johannes Brahms Birth

2. "C is for Cookie" By Cookie Monster Growing Up

3. "Step by Step" By NKOTB This was the first Cd I had ever owned, got it for my b-day... I asked my mother if she got me the tape, she said no. :)

4. "Deep, Deep, Trouble" By The Simpsons I used to listen to this quietly in my room because it said, "Well you're damned if you do and you're damed if you don't" and I did not want to get in trouble.

5. "Forever in Blue Jeans" By Neil Diamond and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" By John Denver These two songs sum up road trippin with my parents...

6. "Unbelievable" By EMF The first boy who I kissed kissed gave me a tape of this song... It was a HORRIBLE kiss.

7. "Enter Sandman" By Metalica Welcome to 6th Grade...

8. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" By Nirvana Welcome to 7th/8th Grade...

9. "Dancing Nancies" By Dave Matthews Band One song cannot really show my love for DMB, but my 30 or so ticket stubs might...

10. "Jessica" By The Allman Brothers Ahhh sweet beginning of college...

11. "Me and Bobby Mcgee" By Janis Joplin Middle of college...

12. "For Once In My Life" By Stevie Wonder Middle to End of college...

13. "Better Together" By Jack Johnson My wedding song...

14. "Annie's Song" By John Denver This song sums up how I feel about my husband Kyle...

15. "Hold You In My Arms" By Ray Lamontange The Birth of my baby girl Ella... first song played in the hospital...

16. "Brahms' Lullaby" By Johannes Brahms And here we are back again... Ella hears this about once a day...

Songs for Ana

2009-02-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

M'lady Ana Oritz (of Notebooks & Gluesticks) gave us her playlist (Assignment #4: My Mixed Tape) to enjoy. Mil gracias, mi querida!

1. Soda Stereo: Persiana Americana

2. Cocteau Twins: Crushed

3. Dandy Warhols: Last High

4. Interpol: Leif Erickson
I'll bring you when my lifeboat sails through the night
That is supposing you don't sleep tonight

5. Belle and Sebastian: Like Dylan In The Movies
Lisa's kissing men like a long walk home.

6. The Sugarcubes: Birthday
She's got one friend he lives next door,
They listen to the weather,
He knows how many freckles she's got,
She scratches his beard.

7. Bjork: Bachelorette
I'm a tree that grows hearts
One for each that you take

8. Pixies: Hey

9. Simple Minds: Glittering Prize

10. Grace Jones: Private Life

11. Serge Gainsbourg: Bonnie & Clyde

Assignment #4: My Mixed Tape

2009-02-03T22:32:00.000-08:00

If you read our feature on D'Nell Larson, then you're aware of the impact music can have on a body of work. Even though this technically is I Make Picture, we've decided to highlight the aural aspect of D'Nell's sentimental works as we assign our anticipated next project.

Assignment #4: Create a playlist for your life's soundtrack.

Threaded through D'Nell's latest collection are the songs that signified special moments within her life. We all have memories tied to music whether it was playing at a pinnacle point, or you simply wore a hole into your CD playing a song that held considerable significance. We're asking you to share a sort-of mixed tape of the songs that most represent the story of your life as it is. You can simply email a list of your memorable music to IMakePicture@gmail.com. If you'd like to elaborate, add links, videos, photos, whatever, GREAT. If not, we're just happy you shared some new tunes with us. :) Can't wait to hear all your playlists.

Here's mine:

1. "5 on a joyride" Cody Chesnutt
a time I felt undisputedly loved
2. "I Know" Fiona Apple
3. "I've Been Let Down" Mazzy Star
"make me feel I belong to you, make me feel it even if it ain't true"
4. "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" Counting Crows
all I needed to hear that night.
5. "As Cool As I Am" Dar Williams
thank you for sharing your secret with me
6. "Don't Use My Broken Heart" Leona Naess
"Halloween, it was you who kissed me. That's where it began and all ended for me."
7. "Fast Car" Tracy Chapman
the only song you'd let me play in the car
8. "Possibly Maybe" Bjork
9. "Northern Lad" Tori Amos
"I feel the West in you but I feel it falling apart, too."
10. "Parting Gift" Fiona Apple
" ...the sign said stop but we went on whole-hearted it ended bad, but I love what we started"
11. "Friday I'm in Love" The Cure
so happy.
12. "Sandalwood" Lisa Loeb
13. "Out of Habit" Ani DiFranco
when I learned how to use 4-letter-word effectively
14. "California" Joni Mitchell
15. "Dangling Conversations" Simon & Garfunkel

More UFO's...

2009-01-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

Here is our great friend Michael Plona's (Los Angeles) digitally-created UFO (his response to our Assignment #3: Out of This World). Mike squeezed in a little time during his ultra-busy work schedule to bang out this little beauty using Photoshop. I'm not telling you to slack off at work per se, but a little healthy distraction is always good. :) We heart Mike.

D'Nell Larson @ Queen's Nails Projects: A review by Mackenzie Jakoubek

2009-01-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

Listening to “Next Exit,” a song by the band Interpol, always takes me back to a concert I attended with my husband during an earlier time of our courtship while living in the Midwest. This incredibly romantic night marked the first time we dared to even utter the word “married.” That night I heard the same concert as 3,000 other people, but I had felt the music was created just for me, just for that particular moment in time.

But alas, I cannot claim ownership. Hundreds of thousands of people have woven that pop song into their lives, including D’Nell Larson, whose current solo exhibition, Under the Milky Way, is showing at Queen’s Nails Projects (in conjunction with the 2008 California Biennial) in San Francisco, California. Larson, a Los Angeles-based artist, laces her latest collection with songs by Interpol, Nirvana, Mazzy Star, and Joy Division, which act as her own personal playlist in an exploration of how we appropriate pop music within our memories.

Larson’s exhibition is comprised of three pieces—one sculpture and two video works—the heart of which is the projected video entitled, Close Your Eyes and Think of Me. It features D’Nell’s professional musician parents (the term “lounge singers” might describe their sound more clearly) performing important songs from her life. In the video, Dennis and Arline Larson have been captured in their home practice space, the only identifiable objects in the background being a Marilyn Monroe poster and an unmoving disco ball. An installation of the same instrument set-up being used by the Larson’s in the video is featured in the center of the gallery.

The middle-America mom and dad of the video strongly contrasts with the contemporary music they play. Listening to a lounge-y rendition of a Nirvana classic may induce giggles at first, but the connection between the Larsons and D’Nell’s song choices makes her thesis strong. D’Nell’s piece exemplifies the way music shapes our memories just as much as people or experiences.

During Under the Milky Way’s celebratory opening on January 16th, my friend and I (among others in attendance) were treated to a live performance by the elder Larsons. It was particularly interesting to watch the crowd react to the “wedding singer” versions of familiar songs. Many of them watched as if they were witnessing a Gilbert and George performance, as though the Larsons were living statues (though ironically they were performing on the recreated installation). Some chucked, some simply enjoyed the music. To offer a visible reaction felt almost inappropriate as this was truly an intimate self-portrait of the artist within which she revealed to us her personal memories disguised as keyboards and sequins.

Larson's other included video, Untitled (birds), also plays with the idea of how the familiar evokes emotion. The video is comprised of a looped image of birds flying over the sea. The waves have a hypnotizing effect, and the anonymity of the image makes it a ubiquitous one. Accompanying this visual is the song, “The Killing Moon,” originally written and performed by The Echo and the Bunnymen, but in this instance sung by D’Nell herself. The artist’s voice is shallow and raw, like someone singing along to the radio. Similar to the other video work, this piece manages to link broad-based familiarity and intense personal intimacy.

Under the Milky Way does not answer any questions about why we respond so strongly to certain songs, but rather reminds us of how important music is to our individual history. Would our memories be the same without the music that accompanied them in the first place? I know my husband and I think not.

D’Nell Larson’s solo show is a part of the California Biennial and will be showing at Queen’s Nails Projects until February 14. For more info visit one of the following:

http://laxart.org/contemporary/2009/01/17/cb08-dnell-larson-at-queens-nails-projects/

http://www.queensnailsprojects.com/

Side note: The gallery is small, but it’s worth your time to visit (even if you aren’t an Interpol fan). If you don’t live in the Mission, make a day of it and visit Galeria de la Raza as well, and then get yourself a mean burrito.

M.Moore's (UFO) Experience.

2009-01-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

Leave it to the great Matt Moore Experience Band to totally blow your mind with an impromptu art project. My favorite cat-loving, Mexican friend Matt Moore (Los Angeles) doesn't disappoint with his UFO design for our Assignment #3: Out of This World. Matt created a 3-D design using an aerial photo of Chicago on black foam core. He explains the work as such:

This ship belongs to the Troids. It is ingeniously camouflaged utilizing aerial image mimickery which makes it almost impossible to detect...from above. Upon landing on earth, however, the ship becomes impossible to miss as it is a standing object painted with aerial photography. Unfortunately the Troids didn't account for a 3rd dimension.

I would expect nothing less. I love you Matt Moore. Ew.

I Jump for Art.

2009-01-25T03:28:00.001-08:00

Hello Friends! I Make Picture's good friend Nick McPhail recently introduced us to his friend Allison Reimus who has a fabulous art blog called Jumping in Art Museums, which she runs from her home in Washington D.C. The blog chronicles art happenings by featuring images taken by willing attendees who literally JUMP (I'm talking suspended in the air) for joy amid the surrounding work. The playful, interactive site not only shows people around the world what is happening in the art community, but also teaches the public that galleries/exhibits/museums don't have to be the dull, stuffy, intimidating environments for which they're too often mistaken.

Nick and I, along with our friend Greg, were sure to "jump" for Allison's blog when we visited Esther's show (see her Featured Artist post below for more information) at Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City, California. The Amazing Allison was kind enough to feature our jumps...plus a little plug for I Make Picture...on Jumping for Art Museums HERE. Thanks, lady! Keep up the great work! Guys, make sure to visit this super-sweet blog!

I love it THIS much:

Assignment #3: Out of This World

2009-01-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

After consulting with our recently featured artist Esther Pearl Watson, we have created a project that is both inspired by the painter's whimsical work AND super fun. You all have no excuses not to do this one :)

Assignment #3: Design a UFO.

That's it. There are no limitations to the project, but try you use your imagination to create your own original interpretation of the ideal spacecraft. To Esther, that meant a sparkly, pink flying saucer with hair dryer-esque appendages. For me, it's the silly doodle above. To you, it's probably totally different (perhaps slightly more sci-fi...whatever). Let me see. Send an image of your UFO design (sculptures, sketches on napkins, dioramas, anything) to imakepicture@gmail.com and I'll share it with the world.

Featured Artist: Esther Pearl Watson

2009-01-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

“Faux-naïve” and “faux-Outsider” are a few of the terms most frequently tossed around when it comes to describing the style of Los Angeles-based artist Esther Pearl Watson’s charming, folksy paintings. But since viewing the magical, sparkling (literally. With glitter.) acrylic-on-panel works in her current show at Billy Shire Gallery, “Visions of the Future,” I happen to believe that such labels rob Watson of the characteristic I found most emanating: sincerity. That her painting style is implicitly derivative of Outsider/Naïve art seems less likely than that it is merely indicative of the childhood from which her illustrated memories have been plucked.

Through humorous and empathy-inducing narratives, Watson presents tales of growing up all over rural Texas with an eccentric father who had a penchant for—if not a fixation with—building flying saucers from scrap metal. The glorified stick figure inhabitants, stylized lollipop trees, constellation-packed night skies, and glittering pink spaceships are all appropriate fixtures in a collection that details an imaginative young girl’s interpretation of events.

Watson, who has also published a Fantagraphics graphic novel Unlovable and is married to fellow artist Mark Todd, has hit her stride in this endearing, enchanting series. “Visions of the Future” is on display through February 7th and you can learn more about Esther via her website www.estherwatson.com.

Luckily for us, the artist was kind enough to participate in our second installment of “12 Questions.” I’ve also included some images and details from her current exhibition at Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City, California.

12 Questions: Esther Pearl Watson

Q: At what moment did you first feel like an artist?
A: I've felt like an artist since I was 8 years old.

Q: What has been your biggest art faux pas?
A: Being over-confident especially when I first graduated college. I did a lot of work for magazines and children's books. Experience has made me more humble and I have tried to remember the lessons I have learned the hard way. Which are many...

Q: Whose style do you most admire?
A: Children and outsider artists. I try not to get caught up in any one artist’s style. I simply like the purity and passion of someone compelled to make art and not concerned about anyone else's rules.

Q: If your work had a soundtrack, what would it be?
A: There would be a lot of Willie Nelson and 80's Italian Disco.

Q: What is your trademark?
A: Narratives that are funny and sad at the same time.

Q: Name your dream collaborative team.
A: Anyone from Yosemite Studios.

Q: How does where you live affect the art you make?
A: Being in Los Angeles, there are some great thrift stores and yard sales. I love work by people who don't even realize that what they are making could be considered "art," like people who decorate their yards for Christmas, or first grade classroom reports about cafeteria food, or finding cassette tapes as spoken letters intended to be mailed to distant family members. I know so many ’zinesters out here. I love people who go through all the trouble to self-publish ’zines and mini-comics when they could easily blog.

Q: If you could travel back to any era for its art and lifestyle, what time would you visit?
A: 1980. As a female artist, I wouldn't go too far back in time or my lifestyle and artistic freedom would suffer dramatically.

Q: Sum up your aesthetic in 3 adjectives.
A: Blobby, funny and sincere

Q: What is your must-have when you're at work in the studio?
A: Crappy instant coffee and headphones

Q: If money was no object, what major project might you take on?
A: A ton of projects...I would travel and make painting of the stories involving various people and places. Or start a publishing company.

Q: What work of art that you've personally seen has most moved you?
A: The Murphy Brothers, two artistic scavengers out in Waxahachie, Texas showed me their house, their pin-laden clothes, home-made jewelry, collection of Chihuahua's and cart. They occasionally sell work at the Webb Gallery in Waxahachie. The Webbs have an amazing collection of outsider art and stories to go along with them.

Friday! Friday! Friday!

2009-01-12T21:32:00.001-08:00

Be there, or be...a rectangle...or...something...

To learn more about Nick and his work, check out our "Featured Artist" post on him from last month. It's everything you needed to know and more. Then make sure to be in attendance for the reception this Friday. :)

Miss DeConto's Homework

2009-01-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

The embarrassingly talented Calethia DeConto sent me these images as her response to Assignment #2 "In Your Projects." Calethia focused on the specific images of her daily life that have grown into familiarity. Her idea of "home" in these images is not about what signifies it as a recognizable geographic landmark. These moments captured transcend their time and place, yet still have a specific, personal relationship to their artist.

Don't worry, you don't have to be a "pro" like Calethia ;) . I really would love to see different representations of this assignment, regardless of your skills or lackthereof. I just wanna see your pictures.

15 Years Young

2008-12-31T17:44:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 24th, one of Los Angeles' foremost urban art galleries, New Image Art, celebrates its 15th year in the business. Featuring the talents of artists like the Date Farmers, Bast, Shepard Fairey, Ed Templeton,Megan Whitmarsh, Kelsey Brookes, and MANY more, the West Hollywood gallery has been a pioneer of contemporary, street-inspired art. All the great forces will be represented in the anniversary show, which opens with a bang from 7pm-11pm. Let's party like it's 1994, shall we? Check out the details below.

New Image Art
7910 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

Thanks, Patrick!

2008-12-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

So...Patrick Romero from Los Angeles was fabulous enough to shoot several great images of his beloved (er....) city as his answer to Assignment #2 (posted in previous blog). Bless you, Patrick! :) Take a peek at the way he captures the place he calls home:

Assignment #2: In Your "Projects"

2008-12-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

...that was a rap reference. You think I don't know rap? Anyway, I truly hope you took the time to read our profile of LA painter Nick Phail (see previous post). Since Nick looks to his surroundings as a source of inspiration, he and I thought it only made sense for the next I Make Picture assignment to be one in which you did the same. So here it is:

Assignment #2
Create an image that is symbolic of your neighborhood

Lookie here, I took a few Holgas of surrounding parts of Los Angeles as my answer to the new assignment. Holgas are my new pet passion, but you don't have to take photographs for the project (though that certainly might be an easy way to tackle this one). All mediums are welcome, and we at I Make Picture are anxiously awaiting your responses. Remember, email jpeg's of whatever you create to imakepicture@gmail.com.

Featured Artist: Nick McPhail

2008-12-26T10:06:00.000-08:00

There's plenty of eye candy in Los Angeles when you're a boy from Laingsburg, Michigan (as a girl from Wisconsin, I should know). The seedy shops of Hollywood Boulevard, the seemingly endless parade of strangers, the homeless, and the hookers are notorious fixtures within this city of angels, but 26-year-old McPhail, a painting/ceramics graduate from Michigan State University, ignored such staples of good ol' LA in his juxtaposingly desolate urban landscapes of the place he now calls home. The eroding hillsides dotted with candy-colored, ranch-style homes, murals of graffiti, and wildly overgrown brush are just some of the things you could expect to see among the young artist's large, oil-on-wood works.

Taking a cue from action painters like Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Jackson Pol l ock, Mc Phail's painterly scenes of Los Angeles' eastside (his home and studio are located in its Silver Lake neighborhood) explore the properties and possibilities of his medium du jour: oil paint. Decidedly more representational than his mentor Richard Diebenkorn, yet often more expressionist than David Hockney, McPhail's work fits snuggly into the category of California painters, yet the artist aims for his canvases to transcend the locale. In his own words, he describes his compositions as "both intimate and barren; places that are out of the way or might lie in-between what is noteworthy...I am interested in conveying a sense of place an time, not only my neighborhood...but a reflection of America; vast and unpopulated."

For the very first installment of I Make Picture's artist Q&A, McPhail answered our soon-to-be-imfamous "12 Questions" to give a little more insight to his life and work.

12 Questions: Nick McPhail

Q: At what moment did you first feel like an artist?

A: I guess it was probably when I stopped being embarrassed and stopped making excuses about my work. I think when someone is ready own it, and not worry about other people's reaction to the work, they really become an artist. This was only a couple years ago for me. I started getting very serious about my art and my paintings just got a lot more interesting. I didn't really care if people liked it or not... to a certain degree. Franz KIine had a quote where he said "You know what creating really is? To have the capacity to be embarrassed." That's what being an artist is to me.

Q: What has been your biggest art faux pas?

A: I think I had quite a few social blunders in college. In the foundation classes the professors would only critique a few people's work in front of the class, so I would always make these insane projects just to try and get noticed (and for no other reason). One project that stands out is when I made an American Flag out of cigarette butts. That's embarrassing. So I guess I would say my first couple years of college was a faux pas for me.

Q: Whose style do you most admire?

A: I'm really jealous of the freedom in Peter Doig's work. Any artist that can use a whole range of subject matter, references, and styles... and make it all seem like one body of work, has got my respect. That's where I would like to get to someday. He also really pushes color interaction and different ways paint can be applied. It always seems fresh.

Q: If your work had a soundtrack, what might it be?

A: Probably Regina Spektor. I listen to her constantly in the studio.

Q: What is your trademark?

A: People always comment on my palm trees and my "drips." I guess it's become a trademark by default.

Q: Name your dream collaborative team.

A: Phillip Guston, Charles Bukowski, and John Cage. I just want to hang out with them.

Q: How does where you live affect the art you make?
A: As a landscape painter it's a pretty direct relationship. I really try to respond to my environment so it's important for me to live in an area that I'm interested in. When I lived in Michigan my work was very rural and open. Now it's a lot more clustered, dirty, and urban. Where I live also affects me because there is so much art being created around here. It's really great to have the chance to see so many shows and meet so many creative people. I see a lot of artwork by local artists that makes me rethink my own work.

Q: If you could travel back to any era for its art and lifestyle, what time would you visit?

A: I'm really into Beat culture. 40's and 50's in America I think would be my era of choice. I think we are living in a pretty interesting era right now though. I think America is kind of being forced to reinvent itself, and nobody really knows what's going to happen over the next few years. There's a lot of potential. Also, there is a lot of amazing art and music right now. I like living in Los Angeles because I feel like it's just as important as New York, London, Paris, etc.

Q: Sum up your aesthetic in 3 adjectives.

A: Architectural, gestural, sad

Q: What's your must-have when you're at work in the studio?

A: Caffeine and music.

Q: If money was no object, what major project might you take on?

A: I really want to get into doing murals in public spaces... like inside of parking garages. I don't think it would be that expensive but I just don't really know where to start. I've also been dying to get back into ceramics, but it's insanely expensive and not feasible for me right now. If I was really dreaming big I would start a residency/gallery project. A space downtown to bring creative people together, and give them a place to work and show their work.

Q: What work of art that you've personally seen has most moved you?
A: This is a tough one. The Robert Rauschenberg retrospective at MOCA and the David Hockney retrospective at LACMA were both really moving experiences. As far as one single work of art... maybe "Measuring Your Own Grave" by Marlene Dumas. It's just one of those paintings that I couldn't stop looking at. Maybe when I get unlimited funding for my residency/gallery space downtown, I'll buy it.

Nick McPhail's work will be included in the upcoming exhibition at LACMA's Art Rental and Sales Gallery, which opens January 16th with a reception from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. View more of Nick's work on his website www.nickmcphail.com

More images:

...and another

2008-12-25T12:57:00.000-08:00

This one was created by the lovely and talented Mackenzie Jakoubek of San Francisco, California. Thanks, Kenzie! More anyone?

Response #1

2008-12-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

This is Andy Kehoe's (Portland, OR) wonderful response to my Assignment #1, a print entitled "hello mystery." You can see more of Andy's work on his website, www.andykehoe.com.

Thanks, Andy! Now let's have some more from the rest of you! :)

Assignment #1: Your Inner Child

2008-12-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

Okay folks...here goes nothing. Hopefully you read my Louise Bourgeois review below, and were able to glean some of the hallmark elements of her work. Taking a note from Bourgeois, our first project will similarly teach you to look to memory as inspiration.

Assignment #1:

Taking the perspective of your youth, create a work that revisits a childhood memory.

As stated in the submission info below, there are no limitations to the assignment in terms of style, material, or content. After creating the work, send an image to:
IMakePicture@gmail.com

Just so you have an idea of what things this project could include, I've done an example myself.

For my project, I've used two nostalgic symbols: Barbie and the Polaroid (which...I always use). Here, Barbie is viewed as a real person, with use of lighting and movement to show young girl's (including my own) idealization of her as the epitome of beauty and perfection. My project also intends to show Barbie as a girl's first source of information on anatomy and sexuality. Certainly a child's curiosity about such subjects is often imagined through this plaything.

Now GET TO IT!!

kizzzzzz,
Ashley

Louise Bourgeois at MoCA

2008-12-06T17:29:00.000-08:00

Like many 10-year olds, I was enamored of all things Impressionist. Specifically the artist Pierre Auguste Renoir became a major source of inspiration. It wasn’t just his romanticized dappled lighting and loose, feathery brushs trokes that beckoned me but mostly the fact that this man was so devoted to his craft that into his late 70’s, crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, he continued painting by strapping brushes to his hands. To Renoir, creating art was his purpose in life and everything else was supplementary. I was similarly moved by the comprehensive retrospective of American artist Louise Bourgeois at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Grand Avenue, Los Angeles). At age 96, Bourgeois, an influential figure of modern art, is still creating new works of art each day. The current exhibition at MoCA (organized by the museum with assistance from the Tate Modern in London and Paris’ Centre Pompidou) is a well-deserved homage to the prolific, Paris-born artist whose work spans from Surrealist/Futurist drawings and paintings of the late 1940s, to mid-century modern, abstracted sculpture, to pre-Feminist, sexually charged works, to massive spider sculptures and emotionally involved “cells” (installations) from the last two decades.

While Bourgeois may be assigned with many art periods throughout the twentieth (and into the twenty-first) century, she has managed to maintain an individual fingerprint that graces her entire body of work. The artist has executed this impressive feat by merging elements of both modern abstraction from the early to mid century (think Picasso, Matisse, or Brancusi) with more traditional methods and materials. MoCA’s Louise Bourgeois presents all aforementioned periods from the artist’s magnificent breadth of work without ever overwhelming the viewer or losing consistency. Perhaps this is because Bourgeois’ work always clings to the same major themes: a murky childhood, sexuality and sexual confusion, and the female psyche.

It would be impossible not to assume that the major Feminist artists of the late 1970s and 1980s (Judy Chicago, Faith Wilding, Betye Saar) took a footnote from Bourgeois. In the 1960s, she began to move from more geometric, wooden sculptures to latex, plaster, and marble works that took on decidedly more organic, sexualized forms. Her well-known Cumul I (1969) features smooth, egg-like shapes cradled in soft folds of white marble made to look like fabric or skin. The Janus sculptures (1968) are even more blatantly sexual with bronze shapes that blend elements of both male and female sex organs.

Fascinatingly, Bourgeois’ abstracted imagery often seems more overtly sexual than objects and ideas she is representing themselves. Surely considered offensive by some, the artist manages to overcome any real pornographic association with the fact that they sincerely symbolize softer ideas like peace, protection, motherhood, growth, and mortality.

Bourgeois has a truly profound way of making the otherwise explicit remain somewhat innocent. She does this by assuming a sort-of naïve perspective of a child, undoubtedly stemming from her less-than-ideal one that included an adulterous, aggressive father, and a mother who turned a blind eye. The dark experiences of Bourgeois’ childhood are threaded through the entirety of her work. In Destruction of the Father (1974) she uses wood, soft sculpture, and red light to create an abstracted installation that imagines a cannibalistic revenge against a “tyrant” father over the family dinner table.

In her contemporary work, Bourgeois continues to utilize her early memories as a driving force. In the early 1990s, the artist began creating “cells,” involved, large-scale installations that simultaneously represent domestic rooms and transcendent, spiritual havens. Her Red Rooms (1994) consist of one smaller, child’s space, and a larger, parents’ room, distinguished by iconographic objects to make the latter seem decidedly more intimate and curiously erotic than the other. These beautifully assembled, somewhat haunting spaces signal Bourgeois’ feeling of isolation from her parents.

In Spider (1997) she creates a giant bronze version of the insect straddling a cage that houses a lonesome chair. The spider, now a trademark icon of the artist’s work, is representative of her mother, who worked as a tapestry repairwoman. Echoing this idea is Bourgeois smattering of textile scraps over the outside of the cage.

Bourgeois’ most recent work continues to use fabric as a representation of her parents. The soft, plush figurative sculptures speak on issues like sex and birth in a manner juxtaposingly innocent to its subject matter. A particularly memorable work, Couple IV shows two stuffed-fabric, bulky bodies pushed together horizontally. The sculpture re-imagines a time Bourgeois’ caught her parents in the act of sex. The vagueness of what these sloppy figures may be doing perfectly exemplifies the confusion and curiosity a child might have in happening upon such a scene.

In looking at the body of work represented by MoCA’s Louise Bourgeois, one realizes that age has never slowed down this extraordinary woman. If anything, her maturation in life has enabled the artist to continually find new creative outlets from the pain she experienced as a child. As she has tried on different methods and styles throughout the years, the artist has never lost her ability to relay emotion and show the power of memory.

Cumus I

Red Room

Couple IV

Submission Info

2008-12-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

My little darlings...as my first review/assignment is rapidly approaching, I felt it only fair to fill you all in on exactly how the submission process will work.

After each review/feature I post, I will assign a project for you, your friends, the crazy dude who lives above you, whoever! The project will be loosely tied to the subject of the reviews/features and offers you a chance to have a hobby and utilize that underused right side of the brain.

Assignments will purposely be left somewhat vague and open for interpretation (that's the beauty of the thing). Unless specified, you are not limited to any type of medium, size, style, or subject matter. However, for submission for inclusion on this page, you'll need to send me jpegs of whatever you create. For each assigment, we will post one example to give you an idea of things you can create.

The projects do NOT have to be super involved or technically perfect (but hey, kudos if you want it that way!) and you definitely do NOT need to be artistically inclined to contribute. Also, (unless specified) explainations of your project are appreciated but totally uneccessary. The projects are basically just a way for you to look at things more abstractly and creatively than you might otherwise and a means for sharing ideas and images with others.

To submit, email us at:

IMakePicture@gmail.com

Not every submission will be posted, but don't let that stop you from creating. It's all about what you're learning from these projects. :)

That said, stay tuned for my review of Louise Bourgeois at MoCA Grand here in LA along with the accomplanying (FIRST!) assignment. There's certainly a lot to learn from this amazing, prolific artist. She's 96 and still making art every single day! Oh, and please check out our friends' links on the side bar. We have such amazingly talented friends, we just had to share with all of you! :)

Smooooooch.
-Ashley

2008-11-28T12:39:00.001-08:00

Hello new friends! I would say "and old friends" but you're all new friends because this is a new page! So, welcome! I'll use this first post as an explanation. I Make Picture is a visual art-centric, informative, educational, project-based site where you'll (eventually) be able to read and learn about up-and-coming artists and outstanding exhibitions and shows as well as complete superfun assignments based on those artists and works.

Let's do an example so you're not totally lost. Maybe you'll read a review/feature on the artist Cindy Sherman (if you don't know her, by God do a Google search!) whose entire body of work consists of self-portraits where the photographer takes on a completely new identity with the help of lighting, props, makeup, and costume. Here at I Make Picture we might then create an assignment for you to do your own self-portrait where you become a character you've created. Basically a very watered-down version of what that artist makes, just keeping the major principles of the work.

The goal is to not only learn about other artists, but to spark your own creativity. So many of us get into the 9 to 5 (or whatever time) rut and lose sight of the creative endeavors we once made time to pursue. Hopefully, I Make Picture gives you a reason to get those juices flowing again. It doesn't matter whether or not you're artistically inclined...what matters is that you're exercising that beautiful brain of yours and learning something new. Perhaps even about yourself :)

And who are we to tell you? Hi, I'm Ashley. I enjoy donuts, sappy, girly music, and getting all kinds of nerdy about art. So much so that I even got myself a degree in art history and I work doing freelance reviews and articles on the subject here in Los Angeles. Oh yeah. I'm in Los Angeles where its always 85 degree and every dude with a spray can thinks they're Basquiat. My cohorts (in New York and San Fransisco) are equally dorky about art, and will hopefully introduce themselves very soon.

I'm pretty much spent. Hope you give us a chance. :)

Loves,
Ashley