2018 Testers

In 2017 I had the vision of what became the TESTERS. The original vision had a small piece on a wooden table in someone's office with nice views of the NYC skyline outside. I have yet to make one that small, but maybe I need to, just to see how small I can go with these and what it would do. I'm beginning this series of posts by showing the first one of the new year.

TESTER #5
9.5" X 6" X 2" Freestanding
Acrylic Paint on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis

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.

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.

Braided Paintings #2

In thinking about these new Braided Paintings, I have begun working on a second set with a different material. Going back to the original yarn that I used on all the yarn paintings. Granted this type of yarn is a thicker yarn which you can see only on the 2016 paintings. This second painting desired a color change from the first one. I never like to work through a series of the same color choices. To me that is more like decoration of the multiple. One day I will create multiples of work like this, but that day is long into the future. Depending on the circumstances of the time, we'll see just how long that takes to get here. As I look back on the four of these I have made. I am consistently dreaming of new things to do with this series. I cannot stop being creative, the ideas flow through me like water. It is my duty to complete as many of these as I can while I can. When I had the dream of the cube. I knew I had to figure out a way to get that cube made...or more to the point, how to make it myself. I don't desire to have work fabricated for me. I know that is the way a number of Artists do, but that's not for me. Only when I truly can't accomplish it on my own will I search for those to fabricate work for me. I revel in the opportunity to fully learn how to do everything myself. I have already been thinking of how to cast these in hard materials, but not bronze as so many have already talked with me about. I personally prefer aluminum. I like it's sheen and it's weight. To see these, shiny, prickly, almost weapon-like, is to me a wonderful matter that will happen. It's just a matter of time, and matter.

Image from the top of the painting.

Image from the middle.

And from the bottom.

I appreciate your viewing. Thanks for your time.

Jeffrey Collins

TENSION: A Single Painting Exhibition

Thanks to Jeffrey Cortland Jones for curating this exhibition in his space CORRIDOR in Dayton Ohio.

The opening was on Friday. I drove out with a good friend and we had a wonderful time talking with people and seeing the rest of the art that was going on in the building.

As always. The documentarian that I am, I had to film the painting in the exhibition.

I chose one painting for this exhibition, mostly because of space considerations. I know I could have put 4 or more in there, but I wanted to give the viewer one representation of my work to focus on. I know artists when they get exhibitions they tend to want to cram in all their newest work. I made sure with this exhibition to do neither of those. This painting is...

"01-03-2015"
30.5" X 67"
Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis and Incorporated Aluminum Frame

Viewed from the twin lenses of the video camera. Show in Dayton Ohio. #dayton #ohiopainters #ohiononobjective #ohio #painting #color #artoninstagram #artwork #jeffreycortlandjones #jeffreycollins #badasspainting #yarn #void #texture #divisible #artgallery

A video posted by Jeffrey Collins (@jeffreymcollins) on Oct 10, 2016 at 10:11am PDT

The exhibition will be up in Dayton at Corridor/Divisible until the end of October. If you would like any other information about it. Please feel free to ask. You can also find out more here if you are on Facebook.

More pics.....

Kissed by the Sun

I came back from visiting some galleries today to find this happening on my painting. So naturally I grabbed my cameraphone and got some pics. Thankfully this new cameraphone is so much better than my i-4 which stunk for taking pics of dominantly red paintings. This LGG4 is much better at it. Click on the images to open them larger. I hope one day you too will be able to have this experience with your and with my work.

Cheers to all.

Painting is:
05-16-2016
36X48 Inches
91.44X121.92CM
Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis.

Pink Time!

Toward the end of 2015 I had a desire to bring PINK into my work. It began with 01-14-2016 and continued with these two paintings below. The pink idea came from a Jonathan Lasker show at Cheim & Read Gallery in NYC, I saw this one painting by him and it gave me an urge to go pink for a while. When I think about these three paintings, actually two when it comes to actual pink paint, I burnt myself out on pink. Guess it was a culmination of a number of factors, but I won't bother you with that.

02-21-2016
22 X 16IN
Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis

02-27-2016
22 X 16IN

Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis

This is one of the few paintings I have made with 2 colors of yarn over the chassis. I don't do that much but I always seem to like it's flavor.

As always, click on the images to open them larger.

09-24-2015

09-24-2015 is the title of the newest painting of mine. The second using Fluorescent paint for the chassis. This painting measuring 66 X 41.5 Inches is what has become one of my favorite sizes of paintings. It's right between Institutional size and residential size. Just easy enough to move around on my own but also being just bigger than a regular human. Giving one the sense of calling it "Human Sized" and being correct. Fluorescent Red chassis really makes the whole painting vibrate, playing off the white of the yarn and the play of white over yellow acrylic paint. So much to look at visually, the variations of play upon the eye are almost literally endless. There are so many viewpoints to take into account when viewing a painting like this. I even lay on the floor and look from as far down as I can get, compounded with Dirk Serries Microphonics music, the sensation is just one of visual bliss to me. This is the first painting I have completed since June and I must say Thank You to all that helped keep me going in this time. Here's to looking forward to the future. All my best to you!

And for a little bit of Dirks music...