New work for sale on SaatchiArt

Just got some new works on my Saatchi Art page. My new "Testers" have been getting some good attention and I'm looking forward to growing these much more in the future.

Please visit and take a look at what's going on. Please share it with friends you think might be interested. 

Thanks. 

Jeffrey

Braided Paintings #4

I have shared each of the braided paintings I made in the early part of 2017. I plan on making MANY more of these tremendous works of art. So many things to do with them that it keeps my mind moving from one to another at the speed of thought. 

This forth one was clearly a very different one. Instead of leaving the rope it's natural color, I grabbed a nice can of Montana spray paint and proceeded to coat it in this wonderful violet color. I took it out to the patio and found a place in a corner to hang it from the top of the fence, and got to painting. Now part of the fence is violet in color and everytime I see it I am reminded of painting it. It was actually a pretty warm day in January when I painted it, if it hadn't been, the rope probably would have been painted in the studio where I can't use aerosol paint, so it would have ended up black...maybe.

"01-24-2017"

42" X 4.5" X 1.5"

Acrylic on Braided Poly Rope

And the details are as follows...top down.

Middle

to the bottom...

My only regrets are I cannot find a way yet to make larger versions, I am in need of more space in order to work. I know I will find my way and things will work out. I'm just glad to be able to share these with you. 

Thanks for viewing.

Braided Paintings #3

I noticed I had yet to finish writing about the new rope paintings, or as I've been referring to them, as Braided Paintings. I began by sharing 1 and 2 and just kinda got caught up in others things instead of sharing 3 and 4. It's not like these are all i'm going to make, it's simply all I could make at the time. There is so much creativity in the days, and I need to write and document it all before it decides to leave me. I've been hot with ideas as of the last year and I would love to be able to exhibit these, but that's for other people to get in with first.

This is #3 in the Braided Paintings I was working on around early 2017. I actually even had them on my website before the website was taken down. I sometimes wonder if that was a bad deal or a good one, time will tell. But it IS really nice to be able to share these works with YOU, and at the same time, be able to share my thoughts at the same time.

One other thing nice about this blog as opposed to the website is now I can show not only the "gallery" type image, but I can also share all the detailed images, which those of you who know me, you know I LOVE doing that. I do it to give you the computer viewer a little bit more extrapolation as to what the work will look like in person. I had a wonderful short conversation with a fellow artist in brooklyn while I was there, he mentioned how different and cooler they looked in person, even with all the details I attempt to share online. So I'm trying, but the work still definitely NEEDS to be seen in person. I hope that will be happening a LOT more in 2018.

01-14-2017

48" X 5.25" X 1.5"

Acrylic on Braided Poly Rope

One thing that I don't believe has been mentioned is all the prep work that goes into the making of these. After the braiding was complete, the work was anchored so the tension would continue, and then I proceeded to coat the entirety of the surface in acrylic medium, so the whole of the work has been sealed from the elements. Once the sealing and anchoring were complete, the texture paint was applied and voila. The work is made to look as if it were painted directly on the wall. It hangs from a hanger embedded into the rear so all it needs is one small screw to hang from. These are not very heavy at all. Less than 5 pounds.

Now we begin the details...

Top

Middle

Bottom

#4 is on it's way.

Thanks for viewing.

Jeffrey

@ David & Schweitzer Contemporary NYC

For the last few weeks, at Bushwick's own David & Schweitzer Contemporary, during the big show of Daniel John Gadd and Elizabeth Murray, a single work of mine has been hanging out along with their work. Thanks to Michael David and Keith Schweitzer there has been some wonderful feedback about the painting coming my way. Looking forward to what the future brings.

05-20-2017

9.5 X 6 X 2"

Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis

THANKS!

Tester #3

Tester #3

"07-16-2017"
Acrylic and Coal Dust on Acrylic Yarn on Acrylic Painted Wood Chassis
9.5" X 6"

I began these out of a dream of a very small work of portable art that could be easily transported and easily viewed. A freestanding set of paintings all wrapped up into one work. I originally imagined they would be much smaller, but the day after the vision, I began making them larger, why, because I can. Also because I was wondering if I could, as I was stepping out on new ground for myself with these. I only made four, so far, but there is much more to come. I love the idea of a painting that can sit with you all the time and not just be a piece on a wall. Originally the vision was to see them sitting on a desk and being enjoyed from all 5 sides, since you have the 6th side for placement. None are signed, but they all come with a certificate of authenticity that includes photos of the front and back, which ever is which.

This particular one is a forest green wood chassis, yellow acrylic yarn, and black acrylic texture with coal dust mixed in. When the light hits the coal just right it glistens.

One of the things that gets me most about these works is the amount of visual data they give to the mind. It's peaks and valleys, it's ins and outs, it's interior and exterior all vying for attention of the sensitive observer at once.

Christopher Wilmarth @ Betty Cunningham/Tibor De Nagy Rivington Street, NYC

Sunday I went around to galleries around the lower east side. I made my way over to Betty Cunningham Gallery which I guess is now also called Tibor De Nagy.

Photos taken with my iphone4, if you wish for better pics. Please donate.

Open through October 29th, there is a tremendous Christopher Wilmarth exhibition of his sculptures and works on paper.

Walking in you are surrounded by tremendous work by the sculptor that apparently was getting ready to enjoy a lot of success when he took his own life. Can't gloss over that since it is a part of his legacy. But what really matters is the amazing work he left behind.

If you enjoy these reviews, please do help by donating to the cause to help me get more of these. It doesn't need to be much. All help is appreciated.

Three sculptures, steel and glass lie on the ground, one is on the wall and the rest of the show is work on paper. Spending time with the work on paper, since I hadn't seen very much of it, you slowly gain the sense of how they connect to the sculpture. I always find it interesting to see just HOW the work was created, and thankfully Wilmarth left lots of clues in his drawings. From the pencil lines to the razor blade cuts, you gain the presence of the hand, and all it's mannerisms.

It's obviously the sculptures that he got known for. His uses of glass as a sculptural medium with steel was definitely what sat him apart from his peers. Some called him the Rothko of sculpture, since the glass being covered in parts, almost always frosted in one way or another. The work is full of visual interest for the viewer, you don't need to read about these, just looking you can see so much of his creations. I've a few colleagues that adore and knew Wilmarth. One of the videos I have made with Forrest Myers AKA Frosty has him talking about Wilmart in his studio.

I feel like I should say more, but in all honesty I don't wish to. His works need to be seen and enjoyed in person. only so much can be said before you get tired of reading about it. One of the reasons I like showing my own photos with these personal reviews.

I believe this piece in particular was my favorite. I really dug the placement of the glass and the balance of it, while heavy with steel, it's also light with the glass.

You've still got a bunch of time to get down there yourself. Spend some time, give each work a few minutes to really get down and work on your visual sense, I think you'll be happy you did.

Alex Gardner @ The Hole - Bowery - NYC

Sunday: 1:30 PM Temp 73 and humid.

Manhattan, NYC, The Hole Gallery 312 Bowery.

Building: Whitest building around for at least a block or two.

Photos: Taken by me with my iphone 4. If you want better photos, hit that donate button here...

Interior: Even more white, probably the brightest gallery in town. Alas...Wonderful place to view paintings.

Alex Gardner is having his first show at The Hole, Run by Kathy Grayson. It's become the go to place to see new artists around the NYC area. She is a big fan of painting and shows more of it than most galleries do.

The exhibition runs only through today, which is why it's a bit sad to write this so late in the timing of the exhibition.

It's a strange hallucinogenic world these pictures inhabit. The quality of the brush, the shading of the clothes and the non-world in which these creatures live, it's only the beginning for these people. The figures themselves are reminding me of the non faces of Mark Kostabi, these people without faces, really without just about any features which would let you know anything about them. They all inhabit some strange fantasy world where it would seem that personalities haven't been given, or maybe it's long after the humanity we know today, to where people no longer have their own personalities, their own thoughts, stuck in a world they can't leave. It seems as if each person in this world pretty much looks the same, one type of man and one type of woman. Really disheartening to think about such things. A world where life revolves solely around shapes and shadows, nothing left to do, except BE.

In the structure beneath the darkness, you see details of the hands and feet, there isn't much to the non-faces, as that is the way it's supposed to be in this non-world. One part of the humanoids that is very detailed is the hair. He obviously spent a lot of time working on each strand of hair in the picture. Giving the work an even stronger ability to talk to you.

Most of what you see from the artist are what I feel could be details of a larger world that Gardner has created. I can't help but wonder why there were no large scaled pictures that give more insight into what this pre-post-world looks like, outside of all these portraits.

My advice...keep your eyes on the details after that first viewing. Upon repeated viewings they reveal more of their layering. The color choices were quite exquisite along with the execution of the working, and the reworking of the picture continues to give more for the sensitive observer to enjoy.

I look forward to seeing where Gardner takes these paintings in the future, he's a great draftsman and I look forward to seeing his development of this world and the beings that inhabit it.

Check out the elegance and beauty with which the hand is rendered.

I only wish I could have seen this show a few weeks ago, and wrote, that way maybe someone reading this might just head down there and dig into these the way I was.

Thanks for reading.

Tester #2 07-08-2017

07-28-2017
9.5" X 6"
Acrylic and Coal Dust on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis

Cerith Wyn Evans at Century Pictures

"Cerith Wyn Evans artistic practice focuses on how ideas can be communicated through form."

The beginning of an artist statement that isn't complete bullshit.

This past weekend, I was doing the Brooklyn Artist Studio's roundup, stopped by some galleries in the Bushwick section, found the new Koenig & Clinton space, stopped in, and in the project space Leo Koenig calls Century Pictures, there was the first work by Cerith that I have been able to catch in person. 

Having not known any of his work in person, and only seeing reproductions, my first thought after thinking and pondering the exhibition was, this fellas work should not be allowed to be reproduced on websites. It only does a quarter of the justice that viewing in person can give you. This particular work that Koenig installed, is a beautiful chandelier, which immediately drew my attention based...I believe...is roughly the same kind a friend of mine has installed in his home. Funny how things like that can happen. And I was able to see this chandelier just a couple weeks back for the first time. So in a way, this is my way of telling my friend that some famous artist is using the same chandelier he has as an artwork. Oh the funny things the universe does for those paying attention.

After the initial viewing was done, it was time to really get into the meat and potatoes of this piece. First off, if you have problems with strobing lights, this might not be the exhibition for you. But that depends on how much you can handle. As Evans has it in his practice that he likes to utilize Morse Code in some of his works, which give the work it's flashiness. Granted my brain didn't immediately go to Morse Code without it being revealed under the press release. But once I knew that, it made some pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and my interest grew.

One problem I've had with conceptual art over the years, is that so much of it is based on the idea, and past viewings have proven this to me, that the idea outweighs the actual artwork. This time it was definitely one and the same, the idea of morse code in a chandelier is brilliance. Especially one as beautiful as this work is.

I'm going to stop here and just put up some pics I took with my iphone4. I used to have a better LG G4 cameraphone, but like all G4 users, last april the phone died on all of us and now there is a big lawsuit against LG for this crap. So unfortunately the photos aren't as good as I could get, but you'll get enough with this to help you make up your mind to witness this exhibition for yourself. There is another show in the front of some wonderfully manipulated photographs from "Miljohn Ruperto & Ulrik Heltoft’s ongoing series, Voynich Botanical Studies. Carefully rendered by Ruperto and then manually printed by Heltoft, the otherworldly images of twenty unique ‘specimens’ have been inspired by the original Voynich Manuscript. This exhibition brings together the largest gathering of ‘specimens’ ever on view since the project commenced in 2013." (as quoted from the press release). Being that I am a fan of this manuscript, I was definitely intrigued by the exhibition. But Cerith's exhibition was the one that really grabbed me.

The exhibition is up till October 22nd. 1329 Willoughby AvenueBrooklyn, NY, 11237
(212) 334-7866

If you enjoy these reviews, please do help by donating to the cause to help me get more of these. It doesn't need to be much. All help is appreciated.