I'm ashamed to say, despite living in the Mid-South neighborhood (Fairmount, to be exact), I've not fully immersed myself in the twice-yearly Arts Goggle. Oh, I always manage to hit one or two places, but that's about it.
I hereby pledge to more fully support this noble and egalitarian endeavor.
Part of the problem is that Arts Goggle always coincides with Gallery Night weekend and I don't usually have the energy to do both. This year's Gallery Night I only managed to hit 3 places out of the 3 or so dozen that had activities. Next Spring, I plan to take off half a day on that Friday so as to have the time to get into the swing of things. Some habits are good things.
One interesting outcome of this year's Gallery Night was that I tentatively agreed to do an exhibition for next Fall's Goggle. This means some serious time spent in the studio. Of course a lot can happen between then and now, but at the very least, this will encourage me to spend (more) time in the studio.
More to come as I start the process of putting together a body of new work.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Fall Gallery Night 2008
Dorothy and I hit Arts Google and Gallery Night this weekend and as usual I had a great time catching up with old friends, though the evening tends to remind me that my art career is currently in remission.
Impressions:
Bill Campbell's gallery continues to the most consistently classy place in town - we started our journey from there on Saturday. Crowded as all get out as always (Bill's place is always hopping). Robert McAn's Identity Theory is the current downstairs show. McAn's pieces are made of shredded bits of his personal life: old mail, bills, and the like. Despite the obvious commentary on the push and pull of privacy issues and the proliferation of our personal information in the information age, the pieces have an intriguingly physical aspect to them: they are interesting and attractive objects.
The Fort Worth Community Art Center may well be the best thing to happen to the Fort Worth art scene. It is a street bazaar: there are always at least half a dozen exhibitions going on at once. You may hate one and find the one in the next room absolutely captivating. My personal faves: Ann Ekstrom's tight hyper-real compositions (to call them 'still-lifes' doesn't do them justice), Nancy Lamb's glossy post-photographic depictions of people enjoying night life, and Ron Tomlinson's always astonishingly virtuoso paintings of (there's no other way to say this) random shit.
Artspace111, just east of downtown, has turned into one of the best spaces for contemporary art in Fort Worth. The industrial vibe suits it, and now that it is a commercial venture (rather than an artist's coop), they've cleaned up some of the rough edges. The sculpture garden and outside patio is a small bit of perfection in this downtown spot. Featured artist Ed Blackburn's current work continues and extends his neo-pop approach with an overtly political subtext.
Final thought: Arts Google, a Southside arts event, gets bigger every year. I only managed to get to 2 places Friday, but next year I'm going commit to fully explore this new phenomena.
Impressions:
Bill Campbell's gallery continues to the most consistently classy place in town - we started our journey from there on Saturday. Crowded as all get out as always (Bill's place is always hopping). Robert McAn's Identity Theory is the current downstairs show. McAn's pieces are made of shredded bits of his personal life: old mail, bills, and the like. Despite the obvious commentary on the push and pull of privacy issues and the proliferation of our personal information in the information age, the pieces have an intriguingly physical aspect to them: they are interesting and attractive objects.
The Fort Worth Community Art Center may well be the best thing to happen to the Fort Worth art scene. It is a street bazaar: there are always at least half a dozen exhibitions going on at once. You may hate one and find the one in the next room absolutely captivating. My personal faves: Ann Ekstrom's tight hyper-real compositions (to call them 'still-lifes' doesn't do them justice), Nancy Lamb's glossy post-photographic depictions of people enjoying night life, and Ron Tomlinson's always astonishingly virtuoso paintings of (there's no other way to say this) random shit.
Artspace111, just east of downtown, has turned into one of the best spaces for contemporary art in Fort Worth. The industrial vibe suits it, and now that it is a commercial venture (rather than an artist's coop), they've cleaned up some of the rough edges. The sculpture garden and outside patio is a small bit of perfection in this downtown spot. Featured artist Ed Blackburn's current work continues and extends his neo-pop approach with an overtly political subtext.
Final thought: Arts Google, a Southside arts event, gets bigger every year. I only managed to get to 2 places Friday, but next year I'm going commit to fully explore this new phenomena.
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