Cool Night In The Hot Town

I'm not going to lie to you, this show looks fantastic! David Johnson's Books and Prints make a great addition to the (brand spanking newly painted) Bakery Gallery walls.

The artist made it to the Opening where he provided not only a sugary whit, but also 12 extra books for viewers to peruse. Make no mistake folks, these books be made for touching. (respectfully of course) We transformed the space into an Artist's Book mecca for a brief two hours.

Don't fret. While a few of the books high-tailed back to Indiana after the opening (particularly the STUNNING big books), we still have a hefty selection available through the beginning of August. Come check them out. They're engaging and cheap. Perfect for your burgeoning Artist's Book collection.

The identifier wall (along with Sarah)

The Dude himself (left) along with painter extraordinaire Robert Flory (visiting from Indiana)

stealing from the tip jar.

You may be thinking "Joseph, Anna & Heather, It seems like there were not a lot of viewers this go around. Is that possible?"

The truth is no, it is not possible. The 11th happened to be a scorching break between rainfalls. The Bakery Gallery, while equipped with three fans does not have air conditioning. You may also recall that it also acts as a functional bakery. With ovens. HOT ovens. So the temperature inside was in the upper 90's (no BS)

I sweated through two shirts. I'm not afraid to admit it.

Anyway, many of us spent a significant amount of time "cooling off" outside.

an intense discussion about the new "Twilight" film

Oh man, the gloves are coming on!

The BIG BOOK (24" x 30" (i think)) If you missed it...don't you feel bad?

and here I was worried the gloves would be too small.

What do you think of those new shelves? I think they look pretty alright.

So come on over! Please spread the news of our existence to anyone you can think of be it friend or press.

Until next time.

Louise Bourgeois (1911 - May 31st, 2010)

98 years due to a heart attack

Sigmar Polke (1941 - June 10, 2010)

69 years due to cancer

Uh Oh, Here Comes Trouble

This Friday come on over to the ol' Gallery and see what the new show is all about.

The Who and the What: David Johnson's exhibition "Books and Prints"

The When: 6:00 - 8:00

The Where: The Bakery Gallery - 1330 E. 12th Street in D'port

The How: Lots of driving, mounting shelves and sweating...an unusual amount of sweating

The Why: Come on, really?

David will be there to answer all of your questions. Maybe there will even be a baby or two for you to poke. (don't poke the babies please)

Or come on out to see the newly spackled and painted walls (did I mention the sweating...that's what caused it)

Lets end this pre-show with Johnson's Artist Statement for the Exhibition. It'll get you revved up in all the right places.

I make woodcuts, linocuts and etchings; otherwise known as Relief and Intaglio prints. I make Relief prints because they are the most primitive and therefore easiest: I can make them at home with a gouge and print them with a roller and a wooden spoon. A Relief print or woodcut transforms my drawing into something unforeseen with increased impact from the cut marks and resulting shapes. I discovered Intaglio prints or etchings at college in the mid 70’s when Iowa was the Printmaking capital of the world with an emphasis on Intaglio. When I think of Intaglio I recall what Mrs. Olsen used to say about Folger’s Coffee, “It’s the richest kind”.

I am very interested in Drawing and how when we draw we unconsciously select and emphasize aspects or elements of nature. The world is an immensely interesting and fascinating place at its best. To draw from nature or life is a way of studying and appreciating nature and life.

Prints are a way for me to select the most successful drawings from my sketchbooks and extend them. They seem to increase in richness and impact when I develop them as prints. When I combine things from different drawings into one composition the associations create additional implications; what do these two people have to do with each other? Why is this fellow jaywalking? Is this the student ghetto? Is this a dodgy part of town? When images are combined in books there are immense possibilities for association. And with books there are innumerable elements of consideration; drawing, printing, writing, type, binding, and paper just to name a few. I have come somewhat late to books; I have only made them for about fifteen years. I feel like a kindergartener in the realm of books, that is I am still a primitive; I have only begun to scratch the surface of the possibilities.

See you on Friday. Bring your friends

OK, SO NOW WHAT?

The Bakery Gallery (and Eastside Bakery) on an early March morn.

So I finally managed to get the pictures up from the Matthew Hoffman Show at the Bakery Gallery. I appreciate the intense patience that you all have as I am fairly certain that you have been chomping at the bit to see these.

ahem...

Anyway, let's get started. So it all begins with

As you may recall the idea behind the gallery is to provide a space in the Quad Cities that showcases Artists who specialize in printmaking, works on paper, textual art and book arts.

Well Matthew has partaken in all of the above. While he doesn't do what one would traditionally call "print works" he does provide art as multiple (one of the leading purposes of printmaking) through his "It's OK" limited edition of one million.

The Bling Variation of the "Its Ok" Series

While the link below is a couple of years old, I thought it would be good to show you the level of determination (insanity) Matthew has regarding this endeavor.

http://itsok24hrs.blogspot.com/

This is also the site where you can purchase them for your own positive self-confirmation.

http://store.multipolarprojects.com/

Another piece that is currently at the Gallery is his edition of 2000 "Over and Over" sheets.

It's sitting there in the middle. The white pillar thing... yep you got it.

There was much hootin' and hollerin' about this piece as a) it was free to take and b) it seemed to spark the idea of stencil work throughout the city. I haven't seen any yet, so as of now it is just chatter, but who knows... one day soon you may see an Over and Over on your brisk walk along the Muddy Miss.

Despite what Anna believes this is NOT a shorter, more muscular clone of myself.

The evening was beautiful and all of the trees were in bloom. Unfortunately, as you may attest, it can be difficult to make it to a place inside when the outside is so beautiful.

The Opening was lighter than we had in the past, but it was great to see many repeat viewers and just as exciting to see at least a dozen or so new faces. (and even some from across that ol' River)

Notice how he's on one side and EVERYONE else is on the other? It was in his contract.

By far the most talked about piece of the evening was large installation of cut text placed onto gravestones hanging on the west wall. These phrases provided many a laugh, a few guffaws and some introspection from nearly every person who took the time to decipher the font.

The show "Ok, So Now What" stays open until the end of the month. I highly encourage you (although I suppose that is my calling) to make it over and see this exhibit. It looks good in the space and is a type of show I don't think we see here, in the Quad Cities, all that often.

and to end it,

Ahhhhh! Look at all of those folded arms.

I know, I know!!!

It's been, like, 3 months Joseph... you can't make a single updated post in three months? It's been really busy here okay.

Don't judge me.

Matthew Hoffman pictures are coming, I swear.

Then comes David Johnson!

In the meantime, here's a goat.

It's not my goat, I took it from online. It's a placeholder

Done Did That

It happened! It opened on Friday! Do 'Yo Thing, the exhibition of Liz Wolfs work managed to have a GREAT turnout despite multiple other events occurring. The crowd was inquisitive and the art well-received.

We have some images of that night, the 2nd official opening at the Bakery Gallery.

Liz and her intrepid partner, Will, playing cut the string with your vibratingfinger saw. Always a classic.

The boots she rode in on.

Intense reaction of Liz's "Holographic Universe" theory.

Just a quick looky-loo.

A crowd scene. We had around 65-70 people stop by during the two-hour opening. The middle hour looked like this. (although with a cycling of different people)

Will demanded to be in as many pictures as possible. The faint cry of "I'm the work of art dammit" could be heard all evening.

Prints on handmade paper. Still on sale. One for $20.00 or two for $30.00. Go check it out! It's a deal and a steal. (literally a deal, figuratively a steal... please don't TAKE take them)

The "Curious Endeavor" prints in their groupy glory. Like them all? Why not buy the book.

I've always been told to end on a mustache.

Do 'Yo Thing is open until the beginning of April. If you missed the Opening night, please feel free to come by Tuesday through Saturday during any reasonable hour. (No midnight viewings)

We'll have pictures of the art work for you in short due time.

Thanks for all who came out, We hope you return.

Thanks to Nikki and her sons for preparing the food and helping us keep a handle on it. If you are looking for great baked goods or pizza please consider supporting your Local Small Business. In this case The Eastside Bakery.

You Better Do 'Yo Thing

Mermaids.

Mustaches.

Antlers.

Bird Planes.

If it wasn't so perfectly Dada one may suspect that I am trying to connect a grouping of disparate words/images. Well, guess what? Suspicions confirmed.

The connection is The Bakery's next artist - Liz Wolf.

Liz is a Chicago-based artist who creates fragmented narratives of peculiar people/things using text and image. She incorporates printmaking, painting, and drawing into her works that are often on handmade paper that she makes. Sometimes, oh sometimes she even dips bits of beeswax on them. I hear it's straight from the bee's behind. (confirmation pending)

Here is her website for a little peek of things to come.

www.elizwolf.com

Here's a short interview with her about her work at a different gallery that I love and that regrettably has recently shuttered its doors.

http://www.artslant.com/global/articles/show/6539

The opening is this Friday, February 5th from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at the Bakery Gallery. We're located at 1330 E. 12th Street in Davenport, Iowa. Liz will be there. She wants to answer your questions!

It'll be fun.

See you then.