November 1, 2016July 4, 2017 by Michael Janairo

For those in need of inspiration: LeWitt, Hesse and Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch reads Sol LeWitt’s 1965 letter to Eva Hesse.

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Eva,

It will be almost a month since you wrote to me and you have possibly forgotten your state of mind (I doubt it though). You seem the same as always, and being you, hate every minute of it. Don’t! Learn to say “Fuck You” to the world once in a while. You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping, confusing, itchin, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, numbling, rumbling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, piss-trickling, nose sticking, ass-gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil-eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding, grinding, grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just DO!

From your description, and from what I know of your previous work and you [sic] ability; the work you are doing sounds very good “Drawing-clean-clear but crazy like machines, larger and bolder… real nonsense.” That sounds fine, wonderful – real nonsense. Do more. More nonsensical, more crazy, more machines, more breasts, penises, cunts, whatever – make them abound with nonsense. Try and tickle something inside you, your “weird humor.” You belong in the most secret part of you. Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you – draw & paint your fear and anxiety. And stop worrying about big, deep things such as “to decide on a purpose and way of life, a consistant [sic] approach to even some impossible end or even an imagined end” You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO!

I have much confidence in you and even though you are tormenting yourself, the work you do is very good. Try to do some BAD work – the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell – you are not responsible for the world – you are only responsible for your work – so DO IT. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be. But if life would be easier for you if you stopped working – then stop. Don’t punish yourself. However, I think that it is so deeply engrained in you that it would be easier to DO!

It seems I do understand your attitude somewhat, anyway, because I go through a similar process every so often. I have an “Agonizing Reappraisal” of my work and change everything as much as possible = and hate everything I’ve done, and try to do something entirely different and better. Maybe that kind of process is necessary to me, pushing me on and on. The feeling that I can do better than that shit I just did. Maybe you need your agony to accomplish what you do. And maybe it goads you on to do better. But it is very painful I know. It would be better if you had the confidence just to do the stuff and not even think about it. Can’t you leave the “world” and “ART” alone and also quit fondling your ego. I know that you (or anyone) can only work so much and the rest of the time you are left with your thoughts. But when you work or before your work you have to empty you [sic] mind and concentrate on what you are doing. After you do something it is done and that’s that. After a while you can see some are better than others but also you can see what direction you are going. I’m sure you know all that. You also must know that you don’t have to justify your work – not even to yourself. Well, you know I admire your work greatly and can’t understand why you are so bothered by it. But you can see the next ones and I can’t. You also must believe in your ability. I think you do. So try the most outrageous things you can – shock yourself. You have at your power the ability to do anything.

I would like to see your work and will have to be content to wait until Aug or Sept. I have seen photos of some of Tom’s new things at Lucy’s. They are impressive – especially the ones with the more rigorous form: the simpler ones. I guess he’ll send some more later on. Let me know how the shows are going and that kind of stuff.

My work had changed since you left and it is much better. I will be having a show May 4 -9 at the Daniels Gallery 17 E 64yh St (where Emmerich was), I wish you could be there. Much love to you both.

Sol

October 19, 2016October 19, 2016 by Michael Janairo

A vision of America: Witnessing divisiveness together

Debate Watch Party (Photo by Andrzej Pilaczyk)

How are college kids approaching this election? Where I work, we’ve had debate watching parties open to the public. The communal experience of watching the debates have been eye-opening for students, who say that they value the ability to share the moment with hundreds of others, to see in real life and in real time how others — fellow students and members of the community — respond to the words of the two major party political candidates.

The togetherness, the shared experience, are a vivid contradiction to the divisiveness of the campaigns. They are a moment of hope. More photos are here.

The next Debate Watch Party is at 9 pm Wednesday, October 19, 2016. More info here.

March 22, 2016July 4, 2017 by Michael Janairo

Highlights from Art on Paper, a NYC art fair

For the past few years, the New York City art fairs have become part of my day job. This year, for the first time, I visited Art on Paper.

Here are some highlights:

Eric Tillinghast, Aegle, 2014, was exhibited among other similar work at the Richard Levy Gallery’s booth. Tillinghast’s work features postcards of swimming pools and other bodies of water in which most of the context has been painted out. Here, for example, a figure that could’ve been reclining poolside now appears to float in a surreal white space, detached from anything familiar.

In a somewhat familiar vein is this piece by Beverly Semmes, shown at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery booth. Here, the decontextualization through paint over a found image is a covering up of a female body that had been in a pornographic magazine. I’m familiar with her work from the Tang Teaching Museum exhibition that included similar painted-over pornographic images. This work is part of a group of work Semmes calls the Feminist Responsibility Project, as if it is her responsibility to cover up these nude women. Though some younger women, Skidmore students, wondered how did Semmes know if these women weren’t being responsible and in control of how their images are being taken and how they are being compensated for them?

John Grillo’s Untitled Mosaic 5, from 1952, was on view at the David Findlay Jr Gallery booth. This work looked like something from the 1950s, but the mosaic pattern reminded me of the work of Alma Thomas (though her oils feel weightier and more satisfying). I enjoyed the exuberance of it, though that is offset by the watercolor’s delicacy.

Speaking of exuberance, I really enjoyed this display of Joanne Freeman’s recent work, goache on handmade paper on view at the Kathryn Markel Fine Arts booth. There’s something playful in the geometric shapes, how some crowd the edges of the work, and others open to the paper behind it, as if defining a new kind of alphabet, or a new kind of geometric language.

And then I came to this, by the multitalented author-artist-publisher Dave Eggers, at the Electric Works booth. This work — being exhibited for the first time — was fun and unexpected, playful, silly, and poignant. Plenty more examples of his work can be found here. Dave Eggers being Dave Eggers, the proceeds from the sale of his works were all to go to ScholarMatch, a nonprofit he founded that connects donors with students who need help paying for college.

Having attended other art fairs before, I really enjoyed Art on Paper — it was smaller than others, so it felt easier to get around and less crowded. Plus the work itself felt smaller, sometimes more intimate, and therefore more accessible.

Though one of the most memorable shows of work on paper was something that I didn’t see at Art on Paper; rather, it was the work by Casey Ruble on view at the Foley Gallery in the Lower East Side. The work features cut paper that is layered to produce landscapes, cityscapes and interiors.

Here is “They said they’d rather die here than in Vietnam.”, 2015, which is only 6.5 x 8 inches. This reproduced image of the paper collage doesn’t do justice to the cuts and layering, which are visible upon close inspection of the real thing. That’s one of the things that makes seeing the object in real life so much more rewarding, and the work so much more powerful.

August 4, 2015July 4, 2017 by Michael Janairo

Pittsburgh, La Hutte Royal, and The Mattress Factory

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Art, La Hutte Royal, Mattress Factory, museums, pittsburgh, Tessaro's
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An art day in Pittsburgh.

First stop, La Hutte Royal, an art installation inside a house in the Troy Hill Neighborhood in Pittsburgh. The installation is by the German artist Thorsten Brinkmann, and the home is owned by the art collector Evan Mirapaul, who commissioned the installation.

The living room of La Hutte Royal (with my brother pointing out an album cover).

A narrow passageway on the mysterious second floor of La Hutte Royal.

One of the few spaces on the second floor where you can stand, after crawling around, with my spouse and brother.

Lunch

Everything is pretty close in Pittsburgh, but getting from Troy Hill to Bloomfield for lunch meant driving down Rialto Street, which my brother said was like a roller coaster. Our destination wasn’t far, though.

Pittsburgh lunch at Tessaro’s in the Bloomfield neighborhood (the place is known for hamburgers cooked over a wood-fired grill).

The Mattress Factory

The Mattress Factory is a museum, artist-in-residence, and educational complex in multiple buildings in the historic Mexican War Streets area of the North Side of Pittsburgh.