The Book About Death

Matthew Rose


I liked the idea of this project by Matthew Rose but I couldn't get myself in the right frame of mind to do it. Here is his call for the Book About Death, including his own entries and a few other artist's contributions (some I know and some I don't). I plan to go to the opening so it will be interesting to see them all up close.


An Open Call from Matthew Rose

A BOOK ABOUT DEATH : 1000 ARTISTS CONTRIBUTE 500 POST CARDS EACH TO CREATE AN UNBOUND BOOK ABOUT DEATH. EXHIBITION AT THE EMILY HARVEY FOUNDATION GALLERY IN NEW YORK CITY. OPENING: THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2009. EXHIBITION: 10 - 22 SEPTEMBER 2009.

Matthew says

"A Book About Death is a project borne from a work by the late artist Ray Johnson, who died in 1995. Ray, who drowned in Sag Harbor, was an enormous influence on me personally, but he has influenced artists all over the world, particularly through his invention of "mail art" but also through his collage works which are seminal. Emily Harvey, in whose gallery this exhibition is taking place, was also a significant contributor to the art scene, especially where Fluxus was concerned. She was a light among artists and her Foundation, in NYC and Venice is a well-lit path for many artists, writers, filmmakers towards the places they want to go. Emily died in 2004 from pancreatic cancer. For me, the exhibition synthesizes many ideas at once and not only sets in motion a large and unbound book on the subject of death, but also empowers artists the world over, I believe with their inclusion here. There is no jury, all works – or "pages" – are accepted and deeply appreciated in this "book." The story of this project inevitably resides in the worlds created by the individual artists...and they are all worth investigating further."

Emily Harvey link: http://www.emilyharveyfoundation.org/emily.html


Here is one more of Matthew's

Matthew Rose


And some others............



Ria Vanden Eynde





Death Book Silence
gwendolynplunkett ancientvessel.blogspot.com


Nancy Natale


Pam Farrell





Yoko Ono




Linda Dubin Garfield.


Emily Parsons


David Benoit

West of Chelsea: Lisa Pressman

Recently, artist and writer Nancy Tobin visited my studio for a chat and a tour:

"During a recent tour of her studio, Ms. Pressman, who is from West Orange, showed me work from as far back as high school. It’s a privilege to get this kind of glimpse into the inner sanctum of an artist: the sketches, the stacks of paintings lining the walls — a living journal of an artist’s life."

- Nancy Tobin

You can read the rest here:

West of Chelsea: Lisa Pressman featured in the New York Times Local

what happens when "I am not painting"

Notes 12 x12 encaustic Lpressman @2009

This past June, after creating work for a solo show, having other pieces out at other places, and sales coming to a slow crawl, I decided to stop painting for a while.


Yes 10 x10 encaustic LPressman @2009

Balance 12 x 12 encaustic LPressman 2009

But, I have two shows coming up in September and October.
So, the juggling act begins....works from Texas and Atlanta are coming home.
Now, I get to see all the work that flew out of the studio on deadlines back for a respite, a re-look , and a re-evaluation. Then, they are out again.

Meanwhile, while I "wasn't painting for the past two months", I happen to have 15 pieces done. How did that happen? I think it was the simple act of not doing, of playing, experimenting and no pressure. Three of these were finished after resting and waiting for months for some attention,

The Rooms of Anais Nin 38 x 26 encaustic Lpressman 2009

Thinking Space 26 x 38 encaustic Lpressman 2009

Pink Tie 26 x 38 encaustic LPressman @2009

and the others just happened.

Counting 1 12 x 12 encaustic Lpressman@2009

Counting 2 12 x 12 encaustic Lpressman 2009

Ghosts 12 x12 encaustic Lpressman 2009



What is interesting for me is to look at the three "resting" paintings and the new work together. I know in my mind where I want the work to go........it is the getting there that is the challenge.


Whisper 12 x 12 encaustic Lpressman 2009
And, I didn't even mention that I have two 48 x48 oil paintings going.............that is another post.

Daniel Sroka, Art Influences

Daniel Sroka is a photographer living in NJ. This May, he was named a nominee in the Abstract category of the 3rd Annual Photography Masters Cup for his photograph Mask ( fallen leaf) His work is represented by Artful Home, one of the preeminent online art galleries.
His blog offers the male perspective of trying to raise kids at home and make art at the same time.

I like what he says about his blog :"Watch behind the scenes as fine art nature photographer Daniel Sroka tries to make a living from his art. "



Glass Slipper (abstract of melting ice. 20x25)

"I am inspired by the quiet voices of nature. Every season, I walk through my neighborhood and collect the leaves, sticks, flowers, and seeds that I find along the path. These fallen leaves and seeds are like fossils, preserving a record of the passing seasons.

Every stick and flower is uniquely formed by the life it experienced, and as they dry and fade, they tell stories about their lives. Stories about the intensity of the summer light, the periods of rain and drought, and the attacks of insects they endured. I try to tell these stories through the abstract, dream-like portraits I create of these small and usually unregarded parts of nature."

Influences:

Alexander Calder I love the story of how Calder showed up for a solo exhibit at Harvard with no art. When the students who came to pick him up asked where his art was, Calder pulled out of his pocket a spool of wire and pliers. He then proceeded to create the entire exhibit of wire sculptures from scratch.

Marcel Duchamp The guy knew how to poke fun and have fun. Art can be so pretentious, and his work never fails to make me laugh and remember the sensory pleasure that art should always be.

Charles Shulz (cartoonist): He may be "just a cartoonist", but more than any fine artist, his work has has a deep and personal impact on my life. I love Schulz’s ability to express a gut-felt emotion through a simple image and a focused story. I also find myself inspired by uncompromising work ethic, and his ability to find balance between his work and his family.


Haruki Murakami (novelist): Murakami is one of my favorite writers. The worlds he creates are deceptively simple, elegant creations, with massive geologic flaws running straight through them. In his stories, very normal people encounter very odd situations, but it all seems real and natural.

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison (photographers): I was simply blown away when I first saw their work at the Eastman House. They showed me what a photograph could achieve in the telling of a story or capturing of a mood.

Ted Orland (photographer): I had the pleasure of being in the same galley as Ted for a short time. I love the simple expression of mood and place he expresses in his work. And his books on life as an artist (such as "Art and Fear") are clear, honest, and inspirational.

John Chervinsky (photographer): A witty combination of science and art.


Dragon (abstract of fallen leaf. 17x25)






Unravel (abstract of a fallen leaf. 25x17)

Between the Lines

Between the Lines 4 encaustic on paper 17 x17 LPressman

Over the years I have collected vintage postcards and old books that collect dust and take up space around the studio and house. Recently, while working, I grabbed two books and began tearing pages from them: Crime and Punishment and Love's Labor's Lost.

Between the Lines 9 encaustic on paper 17 x17 LPressman

Now it would be terrific if I could come up with some brilliant connection and intellectual conversation of the reason why I am using these two texts-but I haven't figured it out-yet. Perhaps when I get around to reading them that will enlighten me.

Between the Lines, Moment, encaustic on paper 17 x17 LPressman

All I know is that I am going page by page in each book. Most of my work in the past year or so has at least a page of one or the other. I love the feel, texture and color of the old pages and the hidden text that peeks through the images.

Between the Lines 10 encaustic on paper 17 x17 LPressman

Between the Lines 11 encaustic on paper 17 x17 LPressman

Tim McFarlane's influences

I first saw Tim McFarlane's work two years ago at Bridgette Mayer's booth at the Red Dot Fair . I remember looking around and seeing his work leaning against the floor. His work speaks to me, has a freshness and an authenticity that is exciting.By the way there is a great new interview with him at Brenthallards Blog.



Gravity's Architecture, 2009, acrylic on panel, 16" x 16"



Tim 's work will be in the Touch Faith Group show curated by Jeffrey Cortland Jones in November 09 at Semantics in Cincinnati, OH. He will also be included in an Untitled group show in Baltimore, MD at Area 405 . He is represented by Bridgette Mayer Gallery at 709 Walnut Street, 1st Floor Philadelphia, PA, 1910




LIttle Speaker Groove, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 36"


Another Place, 2009, acrylic on panel, 36" x 36"

About my work: Abstraction that references man-made and natural environments is my primary interest. The loose, grid-like forms employed in my works reflect the known world, but are not direct interpretations of it. Instead, the architecture of man and nature provide a starting point for my investigations. The paintings and works on paper are built up in layers, with each successive layer being influenced by the previous ones. Color and composition are the main aesthetic organizational concerns of my works. Loosely painted linear and grid-like forms have dominated my work for several years and continue to do so in various manners. My surroundings provide the templates with which my paintings and works on paper are built. Filtered through experience, observation, and memory, the works become the means for a dialogue that reflects personal experience but are hopefully open-ended enough to allow for possible multiple readings.

Pour, 2008, acrylic on panel, 16" x 16"

Tim says:
Influences: This is tough because I'm all over the place in terms of influences.

1. Cezanne
2. Matisse
3. Monet
4. Chardin
5. Philip Glass
6. Richard Serra
7. Franz Kline
8. Wilem de Kooning
9. Susan Rothenberg
10. Degas
11. Brice Marden
12. Sean Scully
13. Photography
14. Graphic design
15.Music: experimental, glitchy electronic music, house, minimal techno, jazz, rock, underground hip-hop and anything else that perks up my ears and helps things along in the studio.




TThis Moment (view from vault room door), 2009, acrylic on walls, dimeffnsions variable

Who are your art influences? Kirsty Hall

Kirsty Hall is an artist and freelance curator based in Bristol, England. She writes a blog, Up All Night and also worked on a year long project called The Diary Project.

"Capturing the traces left behind by events and finding ways to embody memory within objects are central concerns in my art. My work involves the accretion of large numbers of small objects – pins in fabric, knots in string or hundreds of envelopes – to make sculptures or performances that deal with fragility, decay, loss, repetition, obsession and time. My work is never fabricated by teams: when I burn 3,533 matches, tie thousands of knots in string or repetitively pin a length of material, it is my time and work that is being measured."

Drawing Statement: A few of the tiny drawings I've been doing lately. I'm restricting myself to pencil and gesso on pads of A6. I like working on this small size with such a restricted palette. It frees me up to work fast and loose in an uninhibited fashion, which is what I need right now.

3 Score & 10 String 2003 - 2005


3 Score & 10 is part of an ongoing series of work exploring the meaning and measurement of time. The knots represent the number of days (including leap days) that you would experience if you lived to your biblically allotted 70 years. It contains 25,568 knots and took just under two years to complete.

"Wow, my art influences - hmmm, that's a tough one because there's so many.I've gone for a mix of background stuff that's been a general influence and artists who've either had a long lasting affect or who were incredibly pivotal at specific moments in my artistic development."

In no particular order, apart from the first one:

1. Eva Hesse - absolutely top of my list and it definitely shows in my work

2. Paul Cezanne - it probably doesn't show in my work now but when I was just starting out, he taught me how to see.

3. Folk Art and Outsider Art

4. Giorgio Morandi - I find the quietness and paleness of his still lives very compelling.

5. Ben Nicholson - for his use of white and the way he isn't afraid of emptiness. He's someone I come back to time and again.

6. Petah Coyne - I strongly relate to her use of accretion and obsession.

7. Helen Chadwick - the first contemporary artist I fell in love with, all the way back in the 80's. When I saw her work, I realised for the first time that art could be more than realism.

8. Ann Hamilton - for her poetic narratives and also because she's one of those artist who regularly makes me think, "damn, I wish I'd made that!"

9. Tom Friedman - I love the way he sets up projects with very defined rules and sees them through to their ultimate conclusions. The way he combines humor with intellectual rigor is very inspiring to me.

10. Ernst Haeckel - a very big influence on my drawing. I love those crazy Victorians!

11. Museums and Cabinets Of Curiosities

12. The Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi

13. My granny on my Mum's side - she was my first model for what a creative woman looked like.

Scatter Statement: February 2006 Pins, fabric, wood

At what point does a labor of love become a futile obsession?

Scatter took 31 hours 24 minutes to make, spread over a period of 8 weeks. Altogether I pinned 280 rows and each row contained either 46 or 47 pins, which means that I put at least 12, 880 pins into this piece of fabric. However, because of the inherent fragility of the work very few of those pins now remain in the piece. With each row that I pinned more of the previous pins would fall out: in effect, the making of the piece also proved to be its unmaking. So my many hours of work have become almost invisible. Indeed, you only have my word that I did the work at all, although the tiny snags and pinholes in the material also bear witness to the thousands of missing pins.