Another First Friday - May 2010

 This First Friday was pretty big for the University of Montana.  The National Western Cast Iron Art Conference was brought to UM with the aid of sculpture professor Brad Allen.  A number of Missoula galleries also hosted cast iron artworks in correlation with the conference, including the Missoula Art Museum.  Right out of the BFA exhibition, The UM undergrad art students threw down with a showing at a temporary space dubbed "Gallery 48" denoting the 48 hrs of its existence.  It really excites me when I see students working hard and making art happen.  This town certainly lacks adequate exhibition space for younger artists, so mad props to the BFA'ers for fearlessly making it happen.  Not to mention, a hand full of UM ceramic students displayed their work in the alley next to New West...damn it is good to see energized and prolific young artists making strong & engaging work.  I think students are often thought of as simply "students" but from my experience they make some of the most engaging artwork.  Also the newly founded and fabulous Brink Gallery hosted artworks by, adjunct UM art professor, Edgar Smith.  His works are bold, simple, yet conceptually complex with a natural elegance.  As usual there was a lot of other great art, like the fifth annual installment of "On Deck" at the Badlander.  And for the most creative & ephemeral gallery space I vote for the guy who pulled up in a Budget moving van out front of the Dana Gallery.  Great work Missoula, and now for less chatter and more pictures.

National Iron Exhibit at the Missoula Art Museum

More from the National Iron exhibit at the MAM

2007 UM MFA Sculpture Graduate Kendall Mingey, graced us with her artwork and presence over the weekend.

BOAT LOAD OF MORE PICS AFTER THE JUMP

Art and Fashion

First Friday. Heave a cynical sigh if you want, but each month there are redeeming gems in the mixture of delusional crap/pretentiousness/marketing ploys. If you didn't go, I implore you to make it to the following places this month while the shows are still up: The Catalyst to see Patricia Thornton and Sheilah Healow's work. A&E Architects ( Next to Butterfly) and look at Dirk E Lee's prints through the window. And, the Embroidery shop next to the Bridge, now called Contraption. (You NEED to ask about the "Poverty" hats.) And please run to the MAM to see the giant cardboard heads before they're gone. These things are worth your time. This month, we will try to interview some of these artists. So go see it up close, why dont you.

Last night I was at the end of my wandering, and headed to the Badlander. My timing was so lucky. I had no idea there was a performance coming. Then the music came on and these people I in fact know in other contexts, made another world of our seedy Badlander.

It was the smoke machine plus the music plus the herky-jerky slow motion movements of the models blowing bubbles staring with vacuous dream-like trance faces ,



and Alison pirouetting , sometimes faltering in the most real and greatest way, and gut wrenching music, --- that made the best surprise of the evening.

Josh Wagner's crew was filming it, presumably as part of their impromptu First Friday Mystery movie. The cameraman( sorry I don't know his name) and I looked at each other agape after it was over, and he said, as stunned as I was, " That was mesmerizing." It's true! We never wanted it to end! But when I ran up to the models and profusely blathered to them about how exciting and inspiring it was, they seemed to interpret my barely intelligible rantings as compliments on the outfits they had made from recycled materials-- the outfits were amazing.. hooray for recycling...but while I was watching, I didn't really care to know they were just paper bags and aluminum shiny stuff, and bits of clothing. No, these were fairy-beings from another land, their clothes were made of poetry!


Yes, I suspended reality in favor of mystical dolls trancending our broken futuristic future madness artless world. Not a disco ball, not a Badlander.. Not a Missoula.. Not 50 people that know all these weird gossipy things about each other... just the suspension of all that crap: Art Fairies, GIVE US A FUCKING VACATION. But I gush. Look at the pictures, if you click on them they get bigger, they're from my phone so they arent the best. Hopefully we will get some video of this soon. But you really had to be there to get the impact of the experience. Next time make sure you are.