Thursday, July 31, 2008

Travis Joseph Meinolf, Action Weaver!

The first of hopefully many installments
of the interviewing artists from around the country, asking them about their grad school, trying to get some information about where they are, whats going on and whats out there for us.

Travis Joseph Meinolf, Action Weaver!, San Francisco Public Textile Artist and Teacher, is an artist that I have come across in my small obsession with the bay area, weaving and California College of Art, formerly California College of Arts and Crafts. He has all of these things in common. He is a recent grad of the CCA grad program, weaves (his loom is on wheels and he takes it out in the city and weaves blankets and things), tie-dyes with the public at local museums and lives in San Francisco. I asked him similar questions to that of local grad programs, if I could ask him more, I would also ask him where and when he learned to weave, but his answers were great for the questions I did ask.

What is your program like?
Seminar classes on theory mainly, very little studio unless you take undergrad courses (like people who expect to gain new art-making
skills here have to work it out themselves, but if you come with a good making background and want to know what the hell you are doing --my situation-- it helps a lot) Studio visits with professors/artists of note, discussing anything you want: pragmatic stuff about art careers, dopey philosophy, relationships...


Where is your school?

Grad Campus is in Potrero Hill, SF. Most workshops (printmaking, ceramics, photo, textiles) are on the Oakland Campus so you have to take the shuttle or BART to do some stuff, but it's okay if you have a practice you can confine to your 10 by 20 foot studio space in SF it's great.

How many grads do you have?
100? check cca.edu

What are the majors?
regular fine art stuff, plus Social Practice and then there's Visual Criticism (Art Theory) and Writing and stuff. Media Art support is weak, apparently.

How are the studios set up (centrally located, by major, spread out over campus)?
Grad Complex across the street from main SF building, three big metal barns with like 30 studios each, bathrooms, showers, Ping-Pong (popular), grad-dedicated computer lab, back
porch. Integrated all majors except social practice who have their own office space in the administrative building across the street.

Do you feel like there are trends your program/region?
This Socially engaged thing is pretty hot, it seems. Lots of local galleries are
doing mini-marketplace things this summer, and the craft/DIY will be gaining momentum for some time I think, before it all develops into the new rave post-apocalyptic lifestyle.

What are you up to? /shows/current events that are awesome?
I will be giving weaving lessons this thurs-sunday at Triple Base Gallery (basebasebase.com) Then a cardboard loom workshop at 18 Reasons gallery (18 reasons.org) next weekend and at the curiosity shop the following weekend.

Actionweaver.com

Travis is also involved in workshops and demos, he linked me to a flag tie-dye workshop/party at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sarah Muehlbauer - Introduction

Sarah is the other incoming fibers grad, we went from being the smallest major at 4 grads to still being the smallest major at 3. Eeek! But next year everything will be evened out with two incoming rather than one. Anyways, she is an experimental fibers artist and I am very excited to have her coming into the program. She sent me a video too, but for some reason google wont let me upload it. So you'll have to check out her flickr page.

Your name:
Sarah Muehlbauer

Major at Tyler: Fibers

Where did you get your undergrad?
I got my BFA at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. The Art department there is very separate from the Textiles dept., and the majority of my training is in painting and video. Fibers has been with me since childhood, however, and I’m happy to be coming full circle to focus on it. I’m working to combine video with my textile work by creating wearables that I can perform with/make videos out of.

Do you believe the rumors you have heard about Tyler? No, not really.

What are several things you cant live without in the studio?
My sketchbook, needle and thread, a variety of strange found objects, music, and good reading material.

Any extra thoughts, what are you eating, obsessed with, or explanation of your pictures?
Eating lots of watermelon.
Obsessed with yoga.
These are a few recent works. The wax paper dress was for a performance/video piece that I made this spring. The others haven’t been used in performance (yet…)
You can see part of it on my flickr page.


Tuesday, July 29, 2008

First Friday @ InFusion Coffee & Tea Gallery

Erin M Riley is having a solo exhibition, Car Crashes and Other Sad Stories, at the Mt. Airy coffee shop InFusion Coffee & Tea. They are awesome enough to host a Mt. Airy First Friday Opening for me in their new space Peace Allley!

Opening Reception: August 1, 2008 from 7-9 pm

The address is:
7133 Germantown Avenue
Mt. Airy, Philly, PA 19119
Phone: 215.248.1718

I have been working on a lot of new stuff this summer and last semester and I will finally be able to show it all together and on beautiful brick walls nonetheless!! Please come by, hope to see you there! They have really good iced coffee!

Monday, July 28, 2008

New Website

Just a plug mentioning that incoming glass grad Samantha Hookway (I keep wanting to spell this hook-a-way) updated her website using Other People's Pixels.com.

I also use them and many other grads do too. Sign up and put one of us as your reference! We will get a free month!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Other Art in the Round Contest – Call to Fine Craft Artists

Deadline August 15, 2008 :

The 2008 Art in the Round Contest is a publicly juried, online competition featuring 3-dimensional, creative interpretations of the vessel form, including bowls, platters, vases, teapots, urns, etc. Media categories include glass, ceramics, wood, metal, gourds, basketry, and mixed/other media. Eligibility: Professional, emerging, and student artists are eligible to participate. Selection: The general public will be invited to visit the web site and sign up for the jury pool. Jury members will vote on their favorite works of art and will determine 1st Place winners in each media category. Best of Show will be determined, in part, by the public jury and final decision will be made by a separate panel of jurors (to be announced). $6,500 total cash awards will be presented. Entry fee $25 for images of up to 3 works; each entry fee will be donated to the community art center, guild, or art association of the artist's choice. For complete details, visit www.artintheroundcontest.com

Friday, July 25, 2008

MFA program at PAFA

I have been wanting to get to know some of the artists in Philadelphia and what a better way than interviewing the graduate programs around Philadelphia. Tyler is an established art school with a pretty awesome reputation and this move is going to effect more than just the undergrads. We have almost no involvement with other MFA programs and we will all be existing in a small city together, no longer all alone in Elkins Park. I did some googling and came across the PAFA 2007 MFA Alum myspace group and asked Gretchen Diehl if I could ask them some questions for the Tyler Blog. I also am working on asking UArts, UPenn, Drexel and have started asking CCA and Cranbrook grads some of the same questions to see whats happening regionally. If you have any other schools you want to know info about or friends who can get the info please let me know!

So Gretchen is the only one who responded, it is summer and like Tyler Grads, I am sure PAFA grads are also busy. She gave a really informative and in depth response and I thank her a real lot for all the information. I hope other PAFA grads can add in comments or other posts later on.

MFA Program at PAFA:

What’s the address/website?
118 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
www.pafa.org or www.pafa.org/alumni.jsp

the alumni group on MySpace is http://groups.myspace.com/pafaalum07

What is your program like, how old is it?
The MFA program is very new, and it is expanding quickly. Pafa has been a fine art painting school for years, simply giving out a certificate rather than a degree. Pafa teamed up with UPenn and for the past 70 or so years has been offering a BFA where students take studio classes at Pafa and gen ed's at UPenn. This year, Pafa got accredited and can now offer a BFA without the aid of a sister school, but the option is still available to take the gen eds at UPenn. Pafa also offers a Post-Bacc program for students between their bachelors and masters. The Masters program has only been offered there for the past 10-15 years or so. The program is good and bad, of course. Having been a student there I have my complaints, but I had my fair share of fantastic teachers there as well. One problem/ advantage that the school has is its extreme polarization of faculty as well as students; about half the students and half the faculty are traditionalist, representational oil painters, while the other half are more contemporary and conceptual. The "painters" don’t always know how to talk about the work that the "conceptual" students are working on and vice versa, but you find your cohorts and get what you want out of it.

How many grads do you have?
In the MFA program, there were 32 in my graduating class, which goes up by at least 5 every year.

What are the majors?
The MFA program is not separated into majors necessarily... but the printmakers tend to have studios on the floor where the printmaking lab is and the direct artists have studios on the floor above that. Students tend to segregate themselves in terms of media and practice.

How are the studios set up (centrally located, by major, spread out over campus)?
Centrally located- all of the studios are in one building (they had been in 2 separate buildings, but consolidated to one when the convention center started expanding and knocked down the building on 13th and cherry.

Do you feel like there are trends in your program?
I think that the representational oil painting trend is the most longstanding trend the school has, but it is being given a formidable foe in the more conceptual and experimental artists

Can you tell a Tyler grad from a Pafa grad?
I think so, in my mind, Tyler grads are slicker and more marketable. I feel like there is more emphasis at Tyler on how an artist can be successful in the real world- whereas I think that Pafa might be stuck in some type of weird time warp. The education is invaluable, but I would have liked some preparation for today's art market.

What are some upcoming shows featuring Pafa MFA students, nationally or locally?
Faye Kendall has a solo exhibition at Freeman's Auction house (I consider her the star of our graduating class)

Piety Choi has experienced a boom in interest in her work and has stuff up now at:
Da Vinci Art Alliance: 704 Catharine St. Philadelphia, PA 19147,
Highwire Gallery: 2040 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125,
Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts: 22 North High Street, Millville, NJ 08332
Art Association of Harrisburg: 21 N. Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101

Do you have personal websites? Pictures you would like to share?
Mine is www.gretchendiehl.com (I will see if I can round up some others)

Image: Ashleigh, by Gretchen Diehl

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Jonathan Dickstein - Sketchplay / Boxplay

Jonathan Dickstein, an incoming grad student in the ceramics department is having an opening the last Friday of this month at RED HOOK COFFEE & TEA.

So, if you're in the city, you should go, especially for the opening event, four legged friends are permitted. He mentions, "whatever you have planned, i guarantee that this will be at least partially as fun."


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SKETCHPLAY / BOXPLAY
work on paper and clay by jonathan dickstein

RED HOOK COFFEE & TEA
765 s. 4th st. (btw. fitzwater & catherine), Philadelphia, PA

OPENING!! friday, july 25th, 6 - 8pm

Friday, July 18, 2008

designequalslove


Go visit recent Graphic Design MFA grad Melissa Laine Scotton's Etsy account, designequalslove.etsy.com! She is selling all sorts of very cute things, at reasonable prices.

She, like most of us, needs money for moving!

Help a girl in need by buying things for yourself or a friend!!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

FluxTask

Many of us attended the Oliver Herring show at the FLUXSpace last December 15, 2007.

Well it looks like they want to do something like it again September 6, 2008. For the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, they set up an entirely new website for fluxtask with all of the information about whats happening. They need lots of money and help. While I don't think any of us can help with the money part there are quite a few volunteer positions, photographers, videographers, press, face painters, etc. And they have a poster competition! Just go to the website!!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Broadway Gallery in NYC Seeks Artists for Group Exhibitions, NYC

Broadway Gallery, an alternative artist space in New York, is reviewing work by artists to take part in group exhibitions. Interested artists should send four images (jpegs only please) of their works and their c.v. to via e-mail. The gallery is also accepting proposals for group shows of 15-20 artists; to apply, send your proposal as well as two works and c.v. from each artist to be included via e-mail. All submissions should be sent to: info@broadwaygallerynyc.com.

Fourth Annual Alternative Processes Competition, Soho Photo Gallery

Deadline August 01, 2008 : The Soho Photo Gallery in NYC has announced a call to artists for the Fourth Annual Alternative Processes Competition, to be held November 6 - 29, 2008. Open to all residents of the United States over 18 years of age. Juror: Dan Estabrook. Awards: $150, $100, $50 for juror's 1st, 2nd & 3rd choices. Entry fee $40 for up to five submissions. To download an application visit http://www.sohophoto.com or send a SASE to: Alternative Processes, Soho Photo Gallery, 15 White Street, NYC, NY 10013.

Ceramics Biennial 2008, New Hampshire Institute of Art

Deadline August 01, 2008 : The New Hampshire Institute of Art invites entries for its Ceramics Biennial 2008, taking place October 8 - November 7, 2008 in Manchester, NH. Entries must be made predominantly of clay. Entries must be original and must have been executed within the last 3 years solely by the person in whose name they are submitted. All wall pieces must be no larger than 60" in any direction and may not exceed 100 pounds. Juror: Lucy Breslin. $2,000 in awards will be presented. Maximum of two entries per artist; preliminary judging will be done from digital images. Entry fee $25. For complete guidelines, visit www.nhia.edu or send a SASE to Ceramics Biennial c/o Alison Williams, Gallery Director, New Hampshire Institute of Art, 148 Concord Street, Manchester, NH 03104.

CFEVA Eighth Annual Visiting Curator Exhibition

Deadline August 01, 2008 : The Center for Emerging Visual Artists' Felicity R. "Bebe" Benoliel Gallery is currently accepting proposals from emerging curators for its Eighth Annual Visiting Curator Exhibition, scheduled to take place in Spring 2009. Once chosen, the curator will be solely responsible for selecting the artists and artworks for an exhibition. Each exhibition must consist of at least 4 artists. The applicant may include all media in the proposal; however preference will be given to proposals that include artwork that can be accommodated in the gallery. Curators must live within 100 miles of Philadelphia. For more information visit, www.cfeva.org/announcements.aspx (please scroll down to view opportunity).

Monday, July 14, 2008

Stoöp III

Stoöp III 6pm July 14th!

Bring food, to the Tuttleman building on Main Campus!

Main Line Art Center

Deadline July 28, 2008 : The Main Line Art Center in Haverford, PA is accepting entries to the 5th annual juried exhibition in memory of teacher and artist Betsy Meyer. This exhibition promotes the ideals of experimentations and of pushing boundaries and expectations, both personal and artistic.

Open to artists living in PA, NY, DE, NJ, MD, and DC working in all media. Images submitted should be indicative of a coherent, original body of work that is professionally presented and that has been completed within the last three years. Work previously shown at Main Line Art Center is ineligible.

Juror: William Pym, curator, writer, and former director of Fleisher/Ollman Gallery. Entry fee $25 for six images; $15 for Main Line Art Center members. To download the prospectus, visit www.mainlineart.org

They also have a prospectus up for a fine art sale, due October 27.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Boston Young Contemporaries

Boston Young Contemporaries, also known as the BYC, not to be confused with PYT (I always think this when hearing about the BYC), is a show of post-bacc and MFA students at New England area schools.

Including and limited to:
-School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
-University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
-Boston University
-The Art Institute of Boston
-Massachusetts College of Art and Design
-University of Massachusetts, Amherst
-Johnson State College
-University of New Hampshire
-Union Institute and University, New Hampshire
-Rhode Island School of Design
-Maine College of Art
-Yale University

This was started by students at Boston University to "provide an arena for New England MFA candidates to display their work and promote themselves within the Boston community as well as the greater artist community." I have a few friends who are in this show, Owen Rundquist, being one of them (check out his work!).

If you are in the area, you should stop by and check this show out, there is a lot of work, almost 100 artists, in this HUGE gallery. It is up July 18th to August 22nd at
808 Commonwealth Gallery at Boston University. The opening reception is July 18th from 6-9pm.

We should start a PYC, and it will be even closer to PYT! Anyone interested? We just need to find a gallery big enough.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Matthew Damian Ritchie at in Between Gallery


Artwork by Matthew D. Ritchie in Maine!

July 16 - August 13, 2008

Opening Party, Wednesday, July 16 from 4 - 8 p.m.


In Between Gallery is located at 328 Main Street in Rockland, Maine.
In between Rock City Coffee & Book shop and Black Parrot.

{www.inbetweengallery.com} {207.594.5580}


You will notice some work by Sheryl Oppenheim on the site as well, I think that means she has a show there in the future!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Studio Visit: Heather L. Veneziano

While Heather L. Veneziano is not a grad student, she is a very crucial part of the fibers department, she is the tech and basically keeps everything running, and she keeps us grads company in the dungeon. I had to make a presentation of my art and the research I did all last semester and Heather did one as well to introduce herself to the department, after a whole semester of working. Her art is pretty interesting, we both make art rooted in family and history.

She studied in Edinburgh (pronounced "Edinboro"), Scotland for graduate school and went to UArts for undergrad, both in fiber departments. I asked her some questions and she provided me with pictures of her new studio in South Philly. Its also her birthday today, her age, well thats a mystery, but it is her birthday.

the studio

What are you working on?
Right now I have a few things going at once. The main project that I am working on is embroidering a mattress with hair. But because of the tediousness of that project I am also trying to work on some drawings and a couple of things that might be considered sculptures that I have been planning on making for awhile now. It is strange how the first major project that I started since getting my job here in the Fiber Area is so fiber related when most of my previous work hasn’t been. I plan on it being an ongoing project though because it is extremely labor intensive and I have to break it up a bit with projects that require me to make a mess to keep me happy.

the mattresses and hair to sew

What are you excited about right now?
The possibility of change.

Also, getting my studio completed. The working space is finished for the most part but the communal spaces still need some work. We are planning on participating in the P.O.S.T. (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours) in the fall so you should all check it out.

What are your favorite restaurants to eat-

Breakfast: This is by far the easiest one to answer, The Morning Glory Diner on 10th and Fitzwater. They make their own O.J. and ketchup and serve coffee out of metal cups. It is kind of difficult to get a table now though, too many people have found out about it.

Lunch/Dinner: Lunch and Dinner are more difficult choices. Erin chose to ask me these questions because I have lived in Philly so long that she hoped I would be able to provide some insight into some of the culinary gems of the city. Sadly, I must confess I am a pretty picky eater and this has probably limited the amount of places that I have tried. Nevertheless instead of choosing just one place I will list a few that I would recommend because aside from being a picky eater I am quite indecisive and can not choose a favorite. So, here they are, places that I have been and would recommend.

South Philadelphia Tap Room (which is first and foremost a bar but they serve great food and play for the most part great tunes)

The White Dog Café

Beau Monde

This Ethiopian Restaurant in West Philly that I went to once with a friend of mine it was upstairs in some building, the food was great. I should do some research into what the name of it was.

The Golden Empress (They have a ton of vegetarian options)

Marra’s (In my opinion South Philly’s best brick oven pizza)

Little Pete’s (One of the best real Diner’s in the city)

Also, what is your favorite coffee shop?
I would not call myself a coffee drinker. I do drink it and enjoy it but I don’t need it and only have it on occasion. This has led me to feel quite out of place in coffee shops especially those that have sprung up throughout the city where there is a regular crowd and people sit all day and talk about things to which I am unaware. So, because of this I would have to list diner’s as my favorite place to get a cup of coffee. It doesn’t taste great but there is something quite lovely in the knowledge that you have unlimited refills and that the waitress calls you “hun” and means it even through her sullen demeanor.

found record player

the desk shot (crucial to any studio visit post)

found, found, found, Heather is always acquiring stuff. She is really good at finding the good things too.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Stoöp III

Stoöp III: Und Another Conversation About Art, Theory, and Politics.

This Stoop's topic: "On Commitment"

Monday, July, 14; 6pm-9pm
Tuttleman 309, Temple Main Campus

Please join us for STOOP Nummer Drei to discuss the role of the artist and academic in contemporary culture. Inspired by Theodor Adorno's essay, "On Commitment," wherein the German philosopher aims to articulate a politically active form of cultural production somewhere in between the traditionally opposing poles of disinterested passivity and agitprop, this third installment of Tyler's critical gathering coincides with the anniversary of the French Revolution and will focus on the "contracts" (or lack thereof) between makers and takers, thinkers and shakers, producers and consumers.

Below please find a link to a short essay discussing Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys who arguably took extreme positions with regard to the artist's social, cultural, and ideological role. As we assume that Warhol's work is familiar to all but Beuys' maybe less so, further links lead to some general information and a few examples of the latter's sculptures, drawings, and installations.

Please bring drink and food, if you're so inclined.


Beuys of Warhol? by Donald Kuspit

Joseph Beuys Sculpture and Drawing, February - March, 2007, Zwirner & Wirth Gallery

Telegraph Picture Gallery JOSEPH BEUYS

WAC Joseph Beuys Actions

The Fifth Annual Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibtion

The Fifth Annual Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibtion

July 3 - July 27, 2008
Special Reception Thursday, July 10, 6-8pm

One of our recent Ceramics grads Dylan J. Beck is in this show.

All the following text is taken from the Clay Studio website: There are many difficult times that one faces in life and in the life of an artist, being in Graduate School or transitioning from Graduate School to the life of a studio artist are two of those times. One is continuously questioning their own abilities, the content of their work, the quality, its value (not monetary), and their own personal aesthetic sensibility. It is a time of uncertainty, where the realities of making a life for oneself finally start to become real. It is a time when support and affirmation are critical.

mbk08 Image Gallery

The Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibition is meant to provide this kind of support and affirmation. This annual exhibition, highlights the best work of artists from Graduate Schools across the United States. The exhibition will help to identify artists whose work is deserving of attention, provide a forum for the sale and exhibition of their work and introduce the ceramics community to this next generation of talented individuals. It also affords one an opportunity to purchase the work of incredibly gifted artists early in their careers. This exhibition is closely aligned with our mission of providing opportunities and support for young artists.

Participating artists include Dylan J. Beck, Rebecca Chappell, Michael Fujita, Meredith Host, Darien Johnson, Minkyu Lee, Linda Lopez, Lauren Mayer, Shawn Murrey, Joseph Page, Beau Raymond, Derek Reeverts, Alyssa Welch, and Ben Wilton.

The Clay Studio is deeply indebted to Marge and Phil Kalodner for their generous support of this exhibition. Their passion and love for the ceramic arts is mirrored by their investment in the future of the lives of the artists whose work is currently on display. Their friendship and support of The Clay Studio is truly invaluable and is so greatly appreciated.

(Image: Dylan J. Beck, WAL*ART#2, 2007, 17"H x 17"W x 5"D, Colored Porcelain, Found Plywood, Paint, $400.00)

Monday, July 7, 2008

Samantha Hookway - Introduction

Your name: Samantha Hookway

Major at Tyler: Incoming Glass Grad

Where did you get your undergrad? Are you coming straight from undergrad? If not, where have you been during your break from school?
The Ohio State University BFA 2005

Most of the time spent between Columbus Ohio and Philly has been in Stockholm Sweden. There, I spent 2 years at Kungliga Konsthögskolan (The Royal University College of Fine Arts)... in the "Free Art Department," but my professor was a sculptor and so I could probably replace "free art" with "sculpture." This school in Sweden was incredibly free, too free maybe. I made what I wanted, they gave me most of the supplies but we had no Crits and well that meant that there was not much talking between even the students. Crit was like a bad word. I am looking forward to Tyler for the opposite effect!

Stockholm was a beautiful city to spend two years though, I made some great friends, collaborated with some artists... attempted to learn Swedish. I miss it!

Do you believe the rumors you have heard about Tyler?
I have not heard any rumors...or at least what I would call rumors............maybe that the craft crits are harsh.

Have you been given any advice as you leave your home, move to Philly/come to graduate school?
Consider the next two years as an entity to your Research and Art. (often wonder if he meant entirety instead of entity but the switch of the word makes it a bit more interesting).
Grad school is for ass kicking.
Take a seminar class with Philip Glahn but beware it is a lot of work.

What is one thing you cant live without in the studio?
I am thinking my iPod is pretty important for the studio (same reasons... I listen to podcasts and audio books frequently too... it keeps you working... music sometimes makes me switch my tune every 3 to minutes). Oh but I also cannot live without a butter knife in the hot shop... and there is one particular wax tool (dental tool) that if I lost it... I would be lost.

Any extra thoughts, what are you eating, obsessed with?
Currently, I am obsessed with working out... mostly because I cant really do much for 2 more weeks and I am stuck out in the country at my parents home! I am suffering from a stress fracture in one of my feet. I was put over the edge at the Chicago O'Hare where I was sent from gate to gate to gate while carrying as much as I possible could carry (acting like it was light but it was about 30 or more pounds of glass). Turns out, that made a little tear on one of the bones of my feet!!!! So I have had to stay off it and try not to re-injure it.


Middle Magnification

My Half of a Collaboration with Fredrik Nielsen Ophelia (Before Fredrik)

My Half of a Collaboration with Fredrik Nielsen Fredhead 2/3 (Before Fredrik, pink and green) and Shaping an Ego (A Fredrik Remelt, black)

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Summer Update: Bassem Yousri Mostafa

Bassem Yousri Mostafa is a second year painter MFA. I have been at school all of the time this summer taking classes and I see him almost everyday. I was wondering what he was up to. He has a show coming up in a local gallery in Old City at the Knapp Gallery. I asked him a few questions and he sent me some pictures..

What are you up to?
I had a very busy May and June; I have a solo show in September in Old City at the Knapp Gallery. I finished all the pieces for the show by the end of June (the show will have about 27 paintings) and now I am in Cairo for the rest of the summer and that is what I am excited about now. It's very important for me to spend a long time home, not only emotionally but also to rethink about a lot of things concerning home, the United States, where I want to be and what I want to do in the near and far future.

What are you excited about? (read above)

Any good advice you have heard lately?
A good advice that I remember right now has been said to me by the owner of a fashion store where I worked for nine months before going to Tyler: " You'd be so lucky to be a student for the rest of your life".

The following pictures are a taste of the paintings that will be in the show, there will be a post about the opening details closer to the show.



Saturday, July 5, 2008

Between Two States - Trenton Duerksen & Ryan McCartney (Tyler Alum)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Trenton Duerksen
Ryan McCartney
Between Two States

July 10 - August 22, 2008
Opening Reception Thursday, July 10, 6-9 pm

PHILDADELPHIA, PA - Jenny Jaskey Gallery is pleased to announce the two-person exhibition Between Two States with Trenton Duerksen and Ryan McCartney from July 10 - August 22, 2008. The artists, who live literally in two different states - Pennsylvania and New York - produce works that inhabit the spaces between interpretive binaries. In Trenton Duerksen's sculptures, functional objects are interpreted for their abstract qualities; they vaciliate between permanence and imperpanence, the symbolic and the everyday. Ryan McCartney's paintings also rest within a continuum of values; their intentions as "analogs" place them between image and physical document, abstract and concrete. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held of Thursday, July 10 from 6-9 pm.

Ryan McCartney lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He holds a BFA from The Cooper Union and an MFA from Tyler School of Art. His work has been exhibited in group exhibitions at Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia, and Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia.

Trenton Duerksen lives and works in New York City. He holds a BFA from The Cooper Union. His work has been exhibited in solo shows at Galerie Parisa Kind, Frankfurt and Guild & Greyshkul, New York. He has been in group exhibitions with Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, Jacob Karpio Galeria, Costa Rica, and Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery, Brooklyn. He was included in the 2005 Greater New York exhibition at PS1 MOMA.

Jenny Jaskey Gallery is located at 969 N. Second Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123. The gallery will be closed July 4-8. We will reopen with summer hours Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 6 pm. For more information, please contact the gallery at 215.543.6029 or visit www.jennyjaskey.com.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Fourth of July

I hope you see some fireworks. If not, I found this photograph on the Fecal Face website and I found it pretty incredible. It is by the Chinese artist RongRong and his Japanese wife inri.

In the same post, there are images of a photographer, Chris McCaw, who built a camera that exposes for so long it burns the paper wherever the sun travels on it. Fecal Face is a great website, lots of miscellaneous photos of openings and bands, but lots of art. Thats where I got the idea to do studio visits from. Overflowing with art, regional to the Bay Area, but also features a nyc blog and openings in nyc.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Kari K Scott - Introduction

So I figured it would be reasonable to introduce the incoming grad students at Tyler School of Art, to the world via the Tyler Grad Blog. I sent them all the same questions and Kari K. Scott responded first! She is a fibers major, like me, that means she is on the ball or something. There are pictures at the end of the post if you don't feel like reading!

Major at Tyler:
Fibers (Crafts)

Where did you get your undergrad? Are you coming straight from undergrad? If not, where have you been during your break from school?
I went to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) part time and graduated in May 2007. This was the second time I was in school, and the 6th college I attended. I started at VCU with almost 100 credits, but it took me 5 years going part time to finish. They made me take the entire freshman foundation year over, even though I'd had enough art credits so I skipped most of the sophomore and junior years. SO I was a freshman and a senior.

I worked at VCU full time the entire time I went there. I started as the secretary for the Vice Provost for Technology, but I was bored and started doing manuals to teach people how to use the technology, since the geeks in the department just assumed everyone could do it, but people couldn't figure out what to do. Eventually, she saw a need for someone to market our services to the university community, so she created a marketing job around my skills. So for the last 3 years I've been a graphic designer and (non)technical writer for the technology group at VCU, and I create ads, postcards, web sites, tip sheets, how-to guides, and marketing materials for the VCU community about technical stuff.

Do you believe the rumors you have heard about Tyler?
Oh, I wish I heard them. Are they juicy? Do tell!

What is one thing you cant live without in the studio?
My iPod. But I listen to podcasts more than music. I can't figure out why. I also listen to a lot of audio books. Most of the manual creating work I do is really boring and repetitious, so it helps.

Have you been given any advice as you leave your home, move to Philly/come to graduate school?
Throw out crap. I'm a pack rat, so getting rid of stuff is really hard. I've lived in the same cramped apartment for 7 years, so I've collected a lot of stuff. Since I'm older, I've accumulated more--real furniture and appliances. I don't need my kitchen stuff where I'm moving, so figuring out what to sell and what to keep is hard.

I hate Richmond, and I've hated it the whole time I've been here. I'm really looking forward to living in a real city again. I'm from the bay area of California, and lived in Seattle for 12 years before moving to Richmond to go to VCU.

Any extra thoughts, what are you eating, obsessed with?
Right now I'm probably obsessed with food. I joined WeightWatchers about 8 months ago, and have lost a lot of weight. My current work is related to this--it's about body image as I come to grips with my body and my weight and losing the weight and eating better. I've been reading around this, as well--I recently finished The Omnivore's Dilemma and I want to work at more intentional food choices. But Chocolate is a hard thing to work around, and I have a real sweet tooth. Sugar is my next big thing to work on.

You Too, Can Be Fat Like Me
hand and machine knitted sweater (self portrait).

Tattoos for Wimps
I've been facinated by the tats my fellow students have, but I cannot bring myself to get one. I think this is a generational problem.

So Ya Wanna Look Like Robin Williams?
No idea where this came from. Just think it's so funny that he's so hairy.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

ACTION.STOP.ACTION

Mike Treffehn, second year MFA sculpture grad, got a video into Vox Populi's Action.Stop.Action exhibition!! in their Video Lounge, juried by Joshua Mosley, Associate Professor of Fine Arts in the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.

July 3rd-27th, 2008
Opening Reception: July 5th, 6-11pm


Vox Populi
319 A N. 11th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Image: a google image search for the term "action"

Newspace Center for Photography - 4th Annual Juried Exhibition

Tamsen Wojtanowski is in the Newspace Center for Photography's 4th Annual Juried Exhibition curated by TJ Norris in Portland, Oregon. So if you happen to be in Portland looking for some art stop by this place and feast your eyes upon the photographs of a recent graduate of Tyler's MFA program!!

July 3rd - 27th, 2008
First Friday Opening Reception: July 4th, 7-10 pm.

Newspace Center for Photography
1632 SE 10th Avenue
Portland, OR 97214
503.963.1935


Image: Vaseline, color photograph by Tamsen Wojtanowski, 2008

Free ICA starting Today!!



The Philadelphia, ICA is free starting July first! One of our grads is in the ICA currently, Trenton Doyle Hancock, and loves hating on vegans. His show, Wow That's Mean and Other Vegan Cuisine is up until August 3rd, 2008.


118 S. 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104