"Twenty-six Gasoline Stations" Turns 50

 Ed Ruscha, Twenty-six Gasoline Stations, Drawing of the artist's book, 1964

Rejection letter from the Library of Congress.

Ed Ruscha, Twenty-six Gasoline Stations, 1963

Ed Ruscha, Twenty-six Gasoline Stations, 1963 

Ed Ruscha, Twenty-six Gasoline Stations, 1963

Check out Carolina Miranda's interview "In Ed Ruscha's Work, A City Sits for Its Portrait" on NPR. Hear Ed Ruscha rev the engine of his 1933 Ford pick-up and how he has influenced architects as well as artists. From the website:

"The son of an insurance auditor, Ruscha was raised in Oklahoma City, but moved to L.A. in 1956. The gas stations he photographed all sat on Route 66, the highway he rode on his regular visits home. 'I just had a personal connection to that span of mileage between Oklahoma and California,' Ruscha explains. "It just, it kind of spoke to me.' So did the stark black-and-white cinematography of John Ford's 1940 film adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, which told the story of Oklahoma migrants fleeing the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. They traveled Route 66, too."

The Swimming Pool as Anti-Paradise Part II

Alas, summer is gone. Time for an update of a post from two years ago featuring swimming pools that do not evoke feelings of escapism and desire.

Ali Richards 

Emily Shur, From Wild, Wild Life

Guy Tillim, Grand Hotel, Beira, Mozambique, 2008

Len Jenshel, Whitcolm Pass, Route 2, Massachusetts, c. 1970s

Loretta Ayeroff, From California Ruins and Historical Sites, Perris Valley, 1974

Larry Sultan, From Pictures from Home, 1991

Zack Hyman, Phalodi, Jodhpur, India, 2011

Martin Parr, From The Last Resort, c. 1983-85

"Perceptive Stills" in Fort Wayne

Come check out Amelia's photos in Fort Wayne if you are in the area! I love her new image from the series An Honest Assessment so much that I am posting it twice.

Amelia Morris, You Know How He Feels About Power Couples, 2013

From her website:

"An Honest Assessment is a series of public declarations and private confessions. Staged self-portraits address feelings of anxiety and inadequacy. Colorful banners disarm by conveying negative thoughts in a cheerful display. Home-made whimsy through temporary tattoos, an illogical breeze, and coordinated outfits create humorous artificial scenarios. This is a light-hearted portrayal of serious concerns."

Reacquaintance with a Very Special Box

It held fishing tackle until it was cleaned in 1993 when the interior was spray painted red. Ever since then, it contained my art supplies. About twice a year, I rifle through searching for drawing pencils. I wish I had time to use the contents more. Today, I rummaged to the bottom and dug out my father's ART 111 Drawing slides from Boise State University. Several of these I used to learn anatomy. Once a very long time ago.

A Bad Day Printing

My attempt at printing four images from the series Clear Water Samples was foiled. New computers + new printers + updated to CS6 = massive headache in color correction.

At least a small portion of the print featuring the Bubbles fits into my sketchbook.

Tacita Dean, Robert Smithson & Postcards

Tacita Dean, Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1997/1999


Sheila tweeted this link to a Tate interview of Tacita Dean discussing JG Ballard, Robert Smithson and Spiral Jetty last week. Dean discusses how different times are from 1997 when she first searched for Smithson's earthwork in the Great Salt Lake. In addition, she elaborates on her interest in the connection between the author and the artist and their relationship with Spiral Jetty. Also of note is her discussion of overpainted postcards.


  

Tacita Dean, c/o Jolyan, 2012-2013
100 found postcards of pre-war Kassel, hand-painted with gouache

Wunderkammer (again and again)

After reading Umberto Eco's Infinity of Lists, thoughts of the wunderkammer reappeared (as they often do) in addition to the presentation of collections based on old curiosity cabinets. Here are some images that I have pondered over the past couple weeks featured in Eco's book.

Johann Georg Hainz, Collector's Cabinet, 1666, Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle

From Eco (page 203): "Most of what remains of the Wunderkammern are pictorial representations or etchings in their catalogs. Sometimes they were made up of hundreds of tiny shelves holding stones, shells, the skeletons of curious animals and sometimes masterpieces of the taxidermist's art capable of producing non existing animals. Other times they are cupboards, like miniature museums, full of compartments containing items that, removed from their original context, seem to tell senseless or incongruous stories."

Reliquary Urn with pebbles from the Holy Land, 17th century, Paris, Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée


 A place that I must visit someday: the Museo del Tempo Ozzano Taro.

The three images above come from this source.

Part of me wants to spend years toiling away on a site-specific wunderkammer that no one is aware of much like Marcel Duchamp's Etant Donné.

Five New (to me) Earthworks & Part II to an Old Favorite

From Ends of the Earth: Art of the Land to 1974 (in conjunction with the traveling exhibition at MOCA and Haus der Kunst, Munich 2012-2013)

Robert Kinmont, 8 Natural Handstands, 1969/2009

Each handstand is a sculptural act emulating an upside-down view of Atlas holding up the world. See the rest here.

Avital Geva, Covering of Sidewalks and Roads with Silage, 1971

Milenko Natanovic (Oho Group), Wheat and Rope, 1969

Richard Long, A Line the Same Length as a Straight Walk from the Bottom to the Top of Silbury Hill, 1970/2012

Here is an excellent link showing it's recreation last year.

Cildo Meireles, Physical Art Cords / 30 KM Extended Line, 1969 (image via)

John Baldessari, California Map Project Part II: State Capital, 1969

Baldessari inserted a red star indicating "capital" on a map in front of the physical capitol building in Sacramento.

Cynthia Daignault's "I Love you more than one more day"

Cynthia Daignault, I love you more than one more day, 2013 (356 paintings of the sky for each day of the year)

Now on view at Lisa Cooley Gallery through 20th October 2013.

"Back and Forth: The Art of the Postcard Exchange"

I was fortunate that two friends visited Back and Forth: The Art of Postcard Exchange at the Florence Quarter Gallery at the Southwest University of Visual Art in Tucson, Arizona yesterday. Here are some installation photographs by Cass Fey.

The exhibition is curated by Camden Hardy with works by James Luckett, Cat Lynch, Amelia Morris, Anh-Thuy Nguyen, Jacinda Russell and Kathleen Ryan.

 Anh-Thuy in front of my giant photograph of the Thunderbird Hotel swimming pool in Marfa, Texas.

Detail with water sample.

Anh-Thuy and Cass with the water sample.

Camden's entire Postcard Collective collection spanning four years.

Detail of the collection.




Thank you, Cass, for sending this video and thank you, Nielson (a student at SUVA) for the poetic interpretation.

Tanya Gadbaw: "A Collection of Sweets and Memories"

This week during a pause in the installation of the Echo of the Object in Knoxville, Jennifer introduced me to the paintings of Tanya Gadbaw.  I am drawn to both the subject matter (objects instilled with memories) and the use of a recognizable, yet abstract material as background.

Tanya Gadbaw, Disappearing Generation 8, 2013 (oil on canvas and found object)

Tanya Gadbaw, Leaving Grandma's, 2012 (oil on canvas)

Tanya Gadbaw, Mom, 2011

From Tanya's artist statement:

"A family member once described our family as the “kids from the woods”. This statement reflects my choices aesthetically and conceptually within my work. My family, headed by my grandmother, grew up with many values, different cultures, and a strong work ethic. I have Blackfoot Indian heritage, an African American father, a Mennonite religious grandmother, and surroundings of the Amish and other cultures.

I focus in on my multi- cultural background to produce beautiful paintings and drawings that reflect objects, home cooking, canning, sewing, quilting, patchwork, patterns, and sensational colors. I take traditions, memories, and elements that might be considered as ‘folk’ or ‘old fashioned’ and incorporate them into my work."

 All artwork courtesy of Tanya's website.

"Echo of the Object" Installation Photographs from the Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, TN

Poster courtesy of Hannah Barnes.