Ahhh, the super weird and wonderful work of LA based artist Debra Broz. I’ve written about her before and – fun fact – that duck-dog up there is a result of Debra being on my podcast five years ago! Yep, after we recorded, I sent her that dog head from a thrift shop in my town, and she turned it into art! Some of her mix-mashed critters are part of an upcoming group show, titled “Salvage” at Paradigm Gallery + Studio {Philadelphia}, curated by Christopher Jobson, the editor of the fabulous arts & culture site Colossal. Here’s the statement for “Salvage”:

“In a culture awash in disposable objects and materiality, it is seemingly impossible to determine what has finally outlived its usefulness or nostalgic pull only to be relegated to storage, the thrift store, or finally, the landfill. This faded sentiment is just the beginning of the journey for this group of four artists who use their abilities to miraculously salvage fragments of tradition and culture that were destined to be lost, relegated to the periphery, or buried forever.”

There’s a virtual opening and live Curator and artist Q&A on Friday, January 22, 2021 • 5:30pm EST Tickets available, RIGHT HERE.

Oil. Paintings. Would you like a moment to catch your breath? This some of the most recent exquisite, meticulous, jaw-dropping work of Madrid based painter Antonio Santin. I had to include the closeups, and the extra extra closeups so all of the insane details could be seen. I can’t even imagine how long you’d have to stand in front of one of these beauties to take it all in. Color, texture, details (look at those little green birds!). Stunning. Here’s some insight into his practice:

Deeply rooted in the tradition of Spanish Tenebrism as well as his own training as a sculptor, Santin juxtaposes flattened planes with tangible forms carved by light and shadow to create a continuous perceptual dialogue in each work. The rug series evolved from his ongoing interest in the opacity of fabric as a device to obscure with abstract patterns and textures.

Antonio has a solo show opening this week, January 14th – March 5th at Galerie Isa in Mumbai, India.

Ahhh, this is the dreamy work of Kansas City based artist Rachel Gregor. I couldn’t decide if I loved her figurative work {two of the above are self portraits}, or her still life fruits & florals {all of which are odes to artists from the past}… so you’re getting both on this fine Monday morning! Some of these gorgeous paintings are oil on canvas, others are gouache on paper… can you tell which are which?!  ps. A few of Rachel’s paintings are part of an upcoming show, titled “Lush” at Hashimoto Contemporary in NYC. January 16th – February 6th.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Janna Watson (@jannawww)

Pure joy! Literally… this is Joy. She’s the niece of one of my favorite painters, Toronto based artist Janna Watson {jpgs do NOT do these large-scale beauties justice}. I posted this video of Joy in action before the holidays because, HELLO, we all need this kind of pure unbridled happiness in our lives, right? Janna completely agrees, so much so that her newest show, that opens at Bau-Xi in Vancouver this Saturday January 9th, is titled “Finding Joy”. Here’s the description:

This series is dedicated to and inspired by Joy, the artist’s three-year-old niece, and in it Watson collapses pictorial and physical space to tell visual anecdotes of the time they spent together. An escape from the bouts of seriousness and isolation that punctuate adult life, this new and different headspace is reflected in Watson’s most-recent work, which is playful, spontaneous, and imbued with delight.

“In a time where it’s hard to know what’s right and everything is so complex, I was drawn to the simplicity around Joy … Sometimes life happens and we forget what it feels like to be free.” ~ Janna Watson

Ahhh, so true! ps. the red painting above is titled “Fly Horsie!”… for obvious reasons! The show runs until Jan 23rd.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Galerie du Passage P. Passebon (@galeriedupassage)

Paper. No, seriously … allllll of it is paper. Even the chair, table, etc. I know, it’s a little bit too much for my brain to handle on a Monday morning, but alas, it’s true. This is the installation work of Massachusetts based artist Elizabeth Alexander. Here’s her artist statement to help explain these wonders:

“Cast paper, [she casts paper!?] sculptural collage, and altered objects are my methods for deconstructing domestic vignettes of traditional success and beauty. Long hours of unmaking and rebuilding found materials provide space to record memories and observations as I reexamine supposed truths within the domestic sphere. Repetitive processes become internal centering elements as I work to carefully break down these concepts. 

The ubiquitous notion of the American home as a symbol for status, power, values, and security has led me to examine my own relationship with home and consider its untidy qualities.  Living with and loving others who battle mental illness and chronic pain has complicated my experience with private space. I aim to unearth the human presence within our material surroundings and explore home as a place that is shaped by our stories and bears witness to our secret lives.” 

Beautiful. ps. Elizabeth’s work was recently selected for “Paper Routes – Women to Watch 2020” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC… of course it was! The show runs until the end of January 2021.

Gasp… cowgirls, gold leaf, and tassels!? Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes! These beauties are the most recent work by Pittsburg based artist Crystal Latimer, and as we speak they’re being installed at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia. Here’s a description from the gallery’s site:

“In her practice, Latimer reinterprets Western historical art to create a connection between the past and the present. The mixed-media paintings in KEEPSAKES are colorful and bold, as the artist uses acrylics, gold leaf, and cotton fiber tassels. The works look like tapestries, an art form that was long ago favored for its accessible and portable storytelling abilities and through the use of contemporary iconography, Latimer tells stories of inner strength, positivity and triumph. In her previous work, the artist painted masculine imagery like battle scenes of conquest and male historical figures, but for KEEPSAKES, the imagery and color story is re-interpreted as feminine. Power comes from within and Latimer’s works act as an evocative visual reminder of that inner strength.”

Amen to inner strength! “KEEPSAKES” opens TOMORROW, Friday December 4th at Paradigm. Find more info on their live online event right here. A link to the live event will be emailed to all ticket holders prior to the opening.

“Wall and Floor”. She’s not kidding, and that work in progress studio shot above is cold hard proof! Yep, Rhode Island based artist Kirstin Lamb has been painting the bits and pieces that serve as inspiration around her studio… both on her wall, and on her floor. From pages ripped out of old books to found cross-stitch works {gah – gorgeous!}, Kirstin considers each one – even the blue tape anchoring them in place – as visual treasures. Here are a couple of snippets from Kirstin’s artist statement about this latest work:

“In my studio I hang a range of objects on the wall and arrange things on the floor. Documenting the changing arrangement of objects and ephemera in my studio is a portrait of a moment in time for my creativity. The pictures function as images of a studio, but also a kind of curation of my wall of inspiration, love, compulsion, collections  … I feel a need to lionize the project of all artists, especially at a moment of great precarity and conflict. My love of studio as a refuge, bunker, or some might say dubious ivory tower, is equally tempered by what I feel is an interest in the concrete way studios suggest individual and collective wishes and dreams. Why make now? It is a quiet stubborn optimism that keeps a maker making, and I wish to depict that, to share and spur my peers on as much as image my own creative endeavor.”

Beautiful. “Wall and Floor” can be seen at Periphery Space @ Paper Nautilus, both in person {Wayland Square, Providence, RI} or online, from now until January 3rd, 2021. Happy Friday!

I’ve been dying to share this episode with you! My podcast guest today is Bisa Butler, a New Jersey based artist who, “paints with fabric”. Looooove! I wrote about her jaw dropping, life-size portraits, made entirely from bits of beautiful colorful patterned fabric, a few months ago {posted below} … and then immediately reached out to invite her onto the podcast. We cover everything from being a child of the rainbow {that will make sense in a minute} and flirting with Tupac, to how she found her way to quilting and eventually to where she is now… which is an incredibly exciting place to be. As we speak, she has just arrived in Chicago for the opening of her exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago! WHAT!? Anyway, we’ll get into all of that and more. You can listen right up there underneath Bisa and “Dahomey Amazon,”, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts / Spotify.

First, the pieces I wrote about a few months ago. Again, THIS IS ALL FABRIC:

Allllllll fabric!? Stunning. And her subjects? They tell the African American side of the story about American life, because as Bisa’s artist statement says:

“History is the story of men and women, but the narrative is controlled by those who hold the pen. My community has been marginalized for hundreds of years. While we have been right beside our white counterparts experiencing and creating history, our contributions and perspectives have been ignored, unrecorded, and lost.”

I love that she has chosen to tell these stories in bits of vintage fabric. Here is the first story she ever told that way, during her Masters program in 2001:

The second piece is the rework from a year later. Look how much she’d honed her skills! This is a portrait of “Grandpa Zakani”.

Next, “A New Dawn, 2020”, which features the young boy Bisa talked about:

So beautiful in so many ways… his repaired overalls, bare feet covered in a pair of Converse, the WWII airplanes on his pants, all of it. Oh, and I had to throw in a sample of  “Devaluation” so you could see what Bisa was referring to. She hasn’t used this fabric in any of her pieces yet, but it’s ready and waiting.

Ummmm, how did we not talk about either of these huge career milestones? :

The cover of TIME Magazine, and a feature in the New York Times! Clearly I’ll have to have her back on so we can discuss this properly. That fabulous shot of Bisa from the Times article was taken by @gioncarlovalentine.

Up next… oh you know, just a giant show at The Art Institute of Chicago that happens to include an absolutely huge piece {144″ x 108″}, titled “The Warmth of Other Sons”. Bisa spent seven months making this. Take a peek:

Gah! She just posted this jumping-for-joy photo to Instagram! Oh my word, can you even imagine seeing your work like that? I would sob. I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU, BISA! She also included this caption with a sneak peek of the exhibit and I just have to share:

“I am beyond grateful for this opportunity to share my work at such a beautiful institution. I was told today that not only am I the first African American woman to exhibit in the 2nd floor European Painting galleries, but I am the first living artist in the museums 141 year history. I walk in the path left by the African American artists who have come before me, and I hope to leave a path for others to follow.”

I’m not crying, you’re crying. Oof. Okay, deep breath. Back to that insane work… I mean, seriously, the amount of detail in that one piece alone is staggering. And where does this magic happen? In her dining room, of course:

Yep, that’s Bisa’s crazy sewing machine… I kinda wanna take it for a spin around the block, don’t you?

And finally, let’s wrap things up with these two stylish graduates:

Ha! I had to, because Grad 91 RULES! Thank you to Bisa for hanging out with me for so long, sharing all of her stories, and for emailing me her graduation photo!

Isn’t it kind of wonderful that a little girl who started school at “Children of the Rainbow” is now creating artwork filled with colorful, rainbow-hued people? I think that’s exactly how this was meant to play out. Bisa, if you happen to be reading this from Chicago, have an amazing time! What an incredible, well-deserved moment for you. And of course, huge thanks to all of you for listening. There will be more ART FOR YOUR EAR next weekend. ~ Danielle

Other links:

1. Bisa on Instagram
2. Claire Oliver Gallery, Harlem
3. Howard University
4. AfriCOBRA / Jeff Donaldson
5. A Big Important Art Book – Now With Women 
6. Simone Leigh, Venice 2022
7. Montclair State University
8. Dutch wax fabric
9. Natalie Baxter {textile guns}
10. Art 1-54 Fair
11. Art Institute of Chicago: “Bisa Butler – Portraits” Nov 16, 2020 ~ April 19, 2021

Gasp! … and another one for good measure… GASP! Canadian sculptor Susannah Montague just turned the tables on this virus, and transformed it into the most gorgeous piece of art! I give you, “Saint Corona” {ceramic, glaze, 22k gold lustre, vintage decals}. I am always in absolute awe of the detail Susannah puts into each and every piece she creates, and this is no exception. Look at all that stuff … tattoos, a virus covered crown, and that golden phone? LOVE. {ps. I have to share this little tidbit… when this piece was in progress, Susannah posted a shot on her Instagram feed and said, “The golden phone is an homage to @thejealouscurator, who can truly flex a gold, glitter iPhone.” HA! Yep, I do have a gold glitter phone and I’m beyond honored that it made it into this latest masterpiece!} “Saint Corona” is currently in San Francisco as part of a group show at Modern Eden Gallery until November 13, 2020. Here’s their description:

Modern Eden Gallery proudly presents ‘Midnight Garden’, our fourth major group exhibition curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. Over 90 artists from across the globe… working with the themes of nighttime, growth, darkness, and lush flora.

Yep, Susannah nailed it… again. Happy Monday. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.