Semantic Ascent!

"Oh shit"….phew, for a moment I thought it was a dark, dreary post election November. I am speaking about Jack Metcalf's and Brett Hargeshmeir's collaborative show at the MAM's April Artini event. The show transforms Newt Gingrinch into a dancing Grinch dressed in a leotard and speaking in semantic-colorful-meaningless-soundbites. Albeit, there was not any connection between Dr. Seuss' Grinch and this show, but it's what comes to mind when I think of Newt Gingrich…to me he sucks everything good and pretty out of life.  However, in this imaginative reformation of this political icon, Metcalf & Hargeshmeir convey to me the meaninglessness and absurdity of the whole political situation.

"Semantic Ascent" features many woodcuts of a grotesque, multi-limbed Newt donning leotards and funny hats. Each Newt has an emotionally charged facial expression, and through repetition appears to be dancing around the space like a deformed-mud-puddle-stained ballerina.  Incorporated into this somatic display are brightly colored, geometrically painted speech bubbles by Brett Hargesheimer.   I enjoy how these appear like nonsensical blurted statements, although their appearance is too pretty compared to the general vomit, I mean, speech that we normally hear from our pal Newt. But I suppose that is part of the "semantic" portion of the show’s title.  

"Wait? Semantic?"  I ask myself. "What does "Semantic" actually mean, anyway, and how does it relate to this show?"  Wiki tells me Semantics is the study of meaning with a focus on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols. Ok, I am getting somewhere in understanding the function of the speech-bubble-paintings, but this still wasn't enough. So I ask Jack Metcalf. He tells me about this 20th century analytical philosopher with a long name who defined the term semantic ascent as "a shift from talking about the world to talking about words." Hmmmm…ok???  Metcalf continued to describe situations from graduate school to the bar where most of the miscommunication he witnessed came from linguistics, i.e. the words, rather then the actual, understood world around us.  So there is a disconnection between the words that we use and the reality they are used to describe.  At first glance it's like "duh," but I am not so sure we are completely aware of the subtlety and pervasiveness of this event and how it plays out in our lives. Jack continues, "This disconnection is frustrating in the way it advances the way we use language into a meaningless realm."

Well this is all fascinating, Jack, but why Newt?” Beyond some personal connections, Metcalf tells me he chose Newt because, "I considered Newt to be a ridiculous, meaningless, contradicting individual, and it is these very qualities I wanted to borrow from him."  Aha! The light shines in and illuminates the darkness. To  recap, Ballerina Von Newt points to Newt’s ridiculous and contradicting qualities. While, the flawlessly painted speech bubbles represent the highly polished sound bites we hear from Newt.  These blurbs in regards to semantics and due to this communication-disconnect can sound true but can still be meaningless, empty, and ultimately false.

The Newts weren't the only ones dancing at this collaborative mega event. The Bare Bait Dance crew improvised movement that nicely complement the dancing Newts and they wore clothing that were similar to the color of the speech bubbles.  I would have liked to see the dancers engage with the audience and artworks more, however I didn’t see all of the dance performance so maybe I missed what I was looking for.  The Best Westerns done sang some fine soundin' country music, while some BFA printmaking students printed woodcuts onto shirts for the show’s attendees.  Burke Jam played some videos and Kris moon spun records providing a nice soundtrack for both the real dancers and the Newts.

The ephemeral nature of this one night event contributed to Semantic Ascent’s powerful playfulness, and certainly offered some contrast from the previous show in the MAM's main gallery the never-ending Ansel Adams exhibit!  At the end of the night, and again unlike the Ansel Adams show, Metcalf invited the audience to take home whatever portion(s) of Newt you wanted…how cool is that?  The ladders were highly sought after.

Overall, the artworks were highly engaging on the visual and spatial sense, and I really enjoyed the grotesque, humorous and satirical nature of this show.  It was a good fun experience, while also carrying a strong sense of content that invited me to think and look deeper for my own semantic ascent.

Calling you....artmelt is a BOOK

artmelt is really excited to announce that we are making a custom, hand-bound, book of awesomeness, and we want you to be in it! See the call to artists at the end of the post.

When notions of artmelt first emerged 3 years ago or so, the idea was for it to be a print gallery. So every First Friday there would be this gallery that existed in print.  However, due to procrastination and lack of time and money we figured a blog would be the most tangible way to begin the melting of art.

But alas, the times have changed, and procrastination doesn't stand a chance.  artmelt will be releasing a custom made, hand-bound book, with multiple types of printing and original artworks scattered throughout. Yet, we need your help to fill it with great art, writing, information, rants...you name it we want it.

So here we are, doing the typical...we are posting a call to artists, and we might even be able to pay you...maybe. Click on the link below to read the full call to artists.

Link to full call to artists

Deadline is July 30th, 2011 for submissions and you can email your proposals and works to artmelt@gmail.com.  If you have originals to put in the book then we can arrange a drop off.

I want me some "renaissance"

I hate this word as much as "juxtapose" but I believe Missoula is going through a little "Renaissance" period. So many people are creating art on soooo many levels. You have a food server who paints in the studio (gallery gig in two months), participates and sews for local fashion shows, makes dolls and earrings for the markets, designs graphics for nonprofits, paints a mural, stenciling inside and outside of their apartments no matter how bad the fumes, shows up to band practice twice a week, plus practice with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, organizing a dance collective, directing the performance art piece that is due next month, curate another gallery space, and then DJ at your favorite local bar (sigh). I haven't mentioned all of it either. There's plenty of more crackheads to go around.

Missoula artists are now taking on the same role the rest of the art world has taken. You don't strive to be the one and only "original" modernist, mastering one medium, throwing yourself in your room, telling your significant other that she's fat......or he's stupid. Focusing on one art theory is like ordering a cosmo because you saw it on Sex And The City. Fundamentalism in any form is uber cliche. Not kitschy, but cliche. I like kitschy. Discussion and different points of view is a good thing. It's all communication and collaboration now. It's learning the new crafts you need to make the aesthetic and concept sing. Learn to be ballsy enough to try and humble enough to fail. That's what my mother always said. Oh, and don't mix your drugs.

This is why I love Tsunami Toys. When it comes to visual art, this is a great store to hit. This little toy store on Higgins sells edition prints from local artist Courtney Blazon and Bay Area artist Sam Flores among many others. Courtney makes a name for herself in this town with all of her local advertising, city commission projects, greeting cards, along with solo group gallery shows. Sam Flores juggles clothing/skateboard designs, solo and collaborative murals, tours the live art circuit, and does studio work for international solo and group shows. Another Bay Area artist, Alex Pardee can work in just as many mediums. A humble yet hot skateboard, pink with warts, signed by Alex Pardee, sits up on the wall. Everything in this store has an artist stepping behind it with creative and skillful play. Josh Quick (local batty) designed the Tsunami illustration. Vinyl toys done by Artist David Choe sits along with N8 Van Dyke's ape figures. And with that, keep your senses open for the "Dirty Hands", a documentary focusing on David Choe himself. I'm crossing my fingers that it will be part of artist series at the Wilma this summer. The credentials on this one can drop an egg white.

Tsunami among other great local stores lets Missoula know that they are on a good track. Enjoy yet focus on making art. Whatever your hands are on, do something with it. A tortured masterpiece is not always needed. What percentage of a population can buy a masterpiece anyways? Just "The Man", that's who. "The Man" nowadays doesn't even know what good art is anymore. Art market used to be seen as part economic organism, part critically acclaimed art. Collectors in the past at least liked what they bought (even in the 80's), now the economic aspect is the majority of collecting. It's true, you can go to a museum to "see" masterpieces. But why can't a kid, big and little, have both. A lot of the reasons why these artists do so many different forms of merchandising, is so the middle and lower class kids can also enjoy and possess a piece of art. They can "possess" something that they can relate to culturally, not because of the market value down the road. That's motivation for them to be creative. This crackhead generation busts the brains so they can mentor and learn from the little crackheads.

P.S.

Dear Oprah,

Thank you for the exploitive movie "Precious". Please keep producing formulaic, badly montaged, taking a crack at neo-realism movies. I didn't know how middle-aged conservative gospel music associated with the 1987 Harlem coming-of-age setting, but thank god you showed me the way. Your like a corporate hero in Indy disguise. It's beautiful. We should go have a cosmo later. Keep up the good work. My popcorn was really good.

Yours truly,

Mad Stinker

Kensuke Yamada @ the GVA

Well folks it is the holiday season, friends are in town, snowboarding to be done, and lots of art to be made for my upcoming show at the Ceretana in March/April. So all this means that this post is a bit late and the show is over and you cannot see it ever again, except for on artmelt.net, so HA!

Kensuke Yamada was or is a UM Grad Student with a emphasis in ceramics. All the work of his I have seen are very large, hand-built figures, including the MFA show at the UC Gallery. His recent MFA Thesis exhibition at the GVA, titled Empathetic, is no exception. The show contains about 7 large ceramic sculptures, most of which are glazed with an elegant yet simplistic patterning of stripes, polka dots, and pastel colors.  The alienated forms, patterning and color scheme reminds me of Picasso's early paintings of circus folk, such as the painting Family of Saltimbanques. His artist statement is simple and to sum it up he is interested in creating an emotional relationship between art and viewer.  I beleive that through the scale, isolation and emotive expressions of his figures this task is accomplished.

The sparse nature of the gallery layout with a few dark corners also reenforces the emotional landscape, however the question is "is the minimal amount of work part of the design or just a desire to move on from school?"  One of the most intriguing pieces was a sculpture containing an 8 foot figure with a 4 inch figure.  The contrast in scale certainly evokes an emotional response.  In addition, the large figure was actually wet to the touch...now is this some kind of way to ad to the emotive content by referencing the wet, the damp, the dank, the slimy? or was it simply not finished?  I think the sculpture is a succesful piece of art and I am all about an unfinished aestetic, but I also feel that this piece being the only one with out a glazed surface seems a little out of place with the rest of the exhibit.  Either way I was impressed by the show and rather enjoy Yamada's style.

Ultimately, as a 2005 UM alumni I certainly understand the desire for exodus from the education system.  Being in school from before we can remember us crazy artists get a little antsy and are ready to get out and emerse ourselves in the real world - where we get to find out what it really means to be a creative individual.  So good luck I say to Kensuke Yamada! He is off to reside at the Archie Bray so I am sure us Montanans will have the honor to see more work from this great ceramic artist.

More pics after the jump....

Rebecca Weed - an "Experience" at the ZACC

It is always a pleasure to see & experience Rebecca Weeds drawings.  "Experience ? I thought you just looked at art?"  Well, lo and behold, art can produce a fuller, integrated experience that goes beyond the passive and dualistic viewer/ artwork separation. 

Weed's drawings accomplish this feat in a few ways. Most obviously, is the drawings are made of multiple layers of tracing paper, fastened only at the top. Therefore they move when someone walks by or the air moves. When viewing smaller artworks it is easy to feel like an outside onlooker; but the movement and large scale of these drawings creates a presence and becomes more of the viewers' immediate spatial experience.  Time is another important factor as it is implied by the content and the physical movement of the drawings.  The images and the implied time gives the viewer a  conceptual departure point to create meaning, in turn engaging them even deeper.

There are two drawings that address "time" through sequential imagery. One titled " I Hate Pink" is of a young girl frantically ripping off a pink dress and then stomping on it. Another "Shower Scene" depicts a woman showering.  The content of "Shower Scene" lacks in the humor of the first, but is an elegantly drawn and intimate view into an experience many take for granted.

Adding to the experience, Weed's use of layered tracing paper allows for the discovery of new images.  For example,  when the piece "Archer" moves, an image of an archer comes in and out of focus, and on the back layer a wolf is revealed.  Another piece reveals an image of swimmer fit with goggles and a swim cap.  These revelations so to speak provide the viewer with constantly changing imagery adding yet another level to the experience.

In conclusion, Weed's use of of material and stylistic drawing technique makes for a great art show that will engage you in more ways than one. I encourage you all to go to the ZACC and check it out!

More pics after the jump

Andy Cline "Scenic Overview 1/4 mile" at the Dana Gallery

In my eyes, Andy Cline's paintings bring some fresh air and ironic commentary into a Gallery that doesn't always grab me.  To my excitement, it would appear that Mr. Dudley Dana is gathering into his arsenal some younger, upcoming artists, including Artmelt favorite, Courtney Blazon.

Cline's paintings are about as photo realistic as you get, however I still wouldn't say he is any Richard Estes.  I find the images, although technically masterful, to be a bit dry in appearance.  The compositions are pretty calm and frontal with hardly a diagonal to be found. "A Pack of Resting Semis" is barely the exception as the shadow from a large sign enters from behind the viewer and takes you into the scene.  Generally, most of the compositions are sweeping vistas with the interstate laid out in front of you.  Perhaps there is a truck on the road, or in "Cruise Control" the view is completely empty minus the road and the sky.  While Estes' crowded scenes reflect the fast pace of the city, Kline's spacious paintings capture the feeling of being on the interstate in the Big Sky.  Ahh the open road...certainly one of the reasons I love driving in Montana.

The titles do add a touch of humor to the otherwise dry, empty, meditative, spacious images.  Names like "Oh Deer" beget images of dead deer on the side of the road. "At Least We'll Have a Ski Resort In Our Backyard" ironically describes an image of a run down trailer, with beat up vehicles framing in the decrepit "homestead", and the controversial  Bitterroot Resort looming in the background.   As mentioned before, "A Pack of Resting Semis" compares the big rigs of the road to the wildlife that inhabit the surrounding landscape.

To me this is the best part of the show.  The elk, bears, and fish that generally fill the gallery are now being replaced by the real Montana  - semis, cars,  and open roads instead of open meadows.  I say real Montana, because we often get this romantic portrait of elk calm, un-startled-by-your-presence grazing in a meadow, yet every hunter knows that this not the way you generally find these majestic creatures (if you can find them at all).

Ironic the titles may be, but even better is that in a gallery surrounded by romantic images of nature we find an artists saying "that is not Montana", here is a semi to replace your elk, here is a junk pile instead of a forest,  a beat up car instead of a horse, a dead dear, a logging trailer, the road...

More pics after the jump

2009 UM Juried Student Art Show by the Madstinker

The greatest thing about walking into this jury show was the quantity of work, mad technical skill, and the well-executed concepts in one show. Every emphasis in the Art department should be proud of their students. With that said, I'm a 2D exhibitionist, so I'm giving a review based mostly in that field. Sorry 3D, I'm going to group counseling and working very hard to improve myself. Soon I hope to give you the mad props you deserve.

Four pieces stuck out to me the most in this show. The work was simple and sweet all the way down to the title. Titles were important in this show, either it was really bad, or it assisted the work like a wench's assistant. Sadly, I think there was a lot of pieces falling into the first category. The work I admired had titles that kept the viewer engaged.

"America" done by Adam Lynn had friction. The rhythm in this work was down right dysfunctional. And I like it. His painting is dirty and nasty. Adam engages the viewer and himself in a conversation with questions and no direct answers. Literally, this guy used dialogue bubbles in pre-elementary handwriting. The color field was off. His spatial plane and figure drawing had no aesthetic anchors. His application of paint along with the canvas itself was so raw and outsider that it imitated the works by Ed Templeton among other Sk8/Punk/DIY kids from the 90's. And why do I find this to be all wonderful? With the title "America", this painting could have easily been preachy, egotistical and just plain annoying. He could have patronized his viewer with a technical high art application. But he didn't do that. Instead he humbled himself as the protagonist, and with that he humbled the viewer.

The next piece that made me want to run into the bathroom with a box of Kleenex would have to be Kathryn Snugg. "B for Best?" with the pop icon of deer had me going. Her canvas was made by recycled bed sheets, quilted together to create it's own modern composition. Vertical stitching broke the space well by being graphically imperfect. She threw in the pop image of John Deere acknowledging the fact that she's trekking worn territory. Deer head drawings were empathetic, but also connoted taxidermy. This was a really smart move on her part. This piece is not just a feminine piece referring to past lady crafts, but speaks to a wider audience. She was throwing all of the images of "Deer" into one big pot, accompanied by a meticulous drawing hand, stitching and embroidery. And like Adam, her materials looked accessible to anyone that has the need to communicate.

The next piece that I loved was an aesthetic bad boy. The character in his story was caught with his pants down, exhibiting greedy consumption with crude imperfection. Richard Evan Holmstrom's "2-1-2-3" is on such a large wood canvas that you are exposed to hairy legs and tighty-whiteys from across the gallery. This character is humorous, misogynistic, and demanding. At the same time, he's a mere simpleton. The great thing that Holmstrom illustrates in this piece is also a sense of vulnerability. The use of color pink is seen more as Freudian reference then aesthetic. He's mixing comic book with Modernism. It's hot! The character and his many egos and desires are all isolated from each other while the background is a generalized abstraction. The painting is ironic conceptually and visually. When I look at this big guy I can't help but think that Richard is thumbing his nose at someone or something. His technical skills is exceptional and up to par in an academic world. Hell, he even made a nice canvas (that was also an obvious fault in this show: badly made canvases). Maybe it's the man getting him down, who knows.

And last but not least we have Sheilah Healow. So many students and artist around this town has tried to tackle the chaos/order subject and has failed miserably. Sheilah makes it look easy. A quaint little drawing "Transition" showed complexity, movement and engineered lines bottled up like an atom bomb in the middle of a raw piece of paper. The multi-media piece reminded me of the work of Julie Mehretu. Color and line patterns along with topography creates a organism made of unlikely elements. But unlike Julie's work who focuses more on engineering and networking as a global technological organism, we see Sheilah making hers more micro than macro. She keeps her organism in a round-up, dead center of the paper as if it's a petri dish observation. She makes it more humanistic with drawings of anatomical imagery like intestines and feet. I've seen Sheilah's work before, and what I like about her is that she is not afraid to try new mash-ups but at the same time she will always have her signature moves.

As you can see there was plenty of more great pieces in the show. So many were reminiscent of styles and movements that are going on this day and age. These four artists just happened to turn me on in that certain way. It takes all types. Congrats to all the ones that submitted their work. Congrats to all that got in. The show is only up until the 20th, so get on over there.

A bunch more photos from the show after the jump.

UM Graduate Student Art Show @ The UC Gallery

Whether the UM Art Department - cough cough - I mean the UM School of Art (recent name change) has been developing their grad program or if they just got lucky this year with some really great students , I dont know, but regardless this group really nailed it. This show has a great selection of wonderful and well-done works across many mediums.

Lisa Jarret

Walking though the door, one is presented with two abstract doll figures hung on the wall, made from fabric, cheese cloth and clothing tags. These two dolls made by the excellent artist, Lisa Jarrett, are both rich in physical appearance and in content making for a strong welcome.

Eva Champagne

Kensuke Yamada

My vision was then filled by two large hand built ceramic pieces by Eva Champagne and Kensuke Yamada. A bulbous flower in lime green and red topped with glitter by Champagne. While, Yamada's eight foot tall armless figure towers over the space watching with a steady gaze. The simple use of pattern and repetition interacts gracefully with the scale of this work.

Cathryn Snugg

On the wall next to Yamada's figure, is a lovely painting or is it? In closer inspection one will find the surface is stitched together on a stretcher using pieces of wedding gown material, and fabric (some with imagery and some without). Created by Cathryn Snugg and titled "After Expectation" this Mixed Media work includes images of a bride, a few bear scenes, a deer's rump, and a drawn progression of two deer copulating (my favorite part).

Two other pieces that demand attention are two figurative paintings. First off, is Emily Brown's piece titled "Siblings" it is a diptych with a figure on each panel. The mark making and layering effects are subtle, emotive and gorgeous. Textures made by carving and hammering into the wood surface top off the subtle color scheme and expressive handling of the figures.

Emily Brown

Emily Brown Detail

Last but not least is Rebecca Weed's oil painting, "Border Sleep" it is composed in one of my favorite layouts - a dense corner with the rest being empty space. This is the first fully painted piece I have seen of Weed's. Generally her pieces are drawn on to a translucent, tan colored wax paper fastened to the wall with the bottom edge unattached which allows the drawing to move and have an eerie spacial/atmospheric quality. In her drawings the characters seem to be more of a memory of the figure. In her drawings the edges of her figures are flowing and filled with movement. In this oil painting it appears she attempts to turn her figurative drawing style into a painting, however I believe it is not as successful as her drawings. The eerie spacial quality is replaced by a flat layer of paint and the figures seem a bit more solid and static. Nonetheless it is still a great painting.

Rebecca Weed