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.

The First Show ------ Brett Colley "INCOMING"

Brett is one of those guys who you kind of fall for no matter what. He's a thoughtful artist, an engaging speaker and an extraordinary professor. He was gracious enough to be the first fella to be hosted by the Bakery.

Before we get into that I want to get into a couple of other things. That's how I am... tangental. If you continue to follow this site I think you'll get used to it. If you don't continue to follow the site then you may have gotten weary of it. Oh yeah, I also ramble.

Anyway,

Step One: The Fella

Brett Colley is a professor at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has some pretty strong ties to the ol' I.O.W.A. as he went to the University of Iowa many a year ago. (Not MANY... that makes him sound ancient which he's not, lets just say he went there.) I met him several years ago at the Oxbow residency where I was a'learnin and he was a'teaching. Skip forward to now I invited him to come to St. Ambrose as a Visiting Artist and to be in this show. Brett is a seasoned artist with many shows and visits under his belt and even though we are just a start up space he happily agreed. I'm not just pumping him up to make the Gallery look good, I'm pumping him up because he is good.

Step Two: The Words

I'm putting in Brett's Artist Statement because he can explain the work he has hanging more eloquently and succinctly then I.

I most commonly refer to this series of prints as the Apocalyptic Apparitions.

The compositions were designed to read from a short distance as twisting, skeletal figures, each a crooked

“genie” freed from its respective vessel – an oil drum, a test tube, the stump of a fresh-cut tree.

Upon closer examination, their swirling forms are comprised of dozens of smaller, intersecting images: broken dolls, buffalo, lawnmowers, laboratory mice.

A single Apparition is composed of more than a hundred smaller images, each carved separately from linoleum or wood and printed one by one, using a wooden spoon to apply pressure to the inked block from the reverse side of the print paper. The paper itself, Kozo, is manufactured in Japan from mulberry fibers. The sheets are lightweight but very strong.

The imagery is inspired by topical stories, news and events that have resonated with me after reading the paper, listening to the radio, or watching television. There are passages within the Apparitions that refer to the effects of media violence on children, our dependence on oil, the genetic modification of crops, cloning, clear-cutting, etc.

A small number of the Apparition figures contain imagery all relating to a single, central theme – environmental destruction or bioengineering – but most are composites.

I produced these images in order to ask myself questions, to allow myself the time to consider the complexities of my subjects. In short, I learn through this work, by examining each issue more closely, more critically.

Ideally, viewers of these prints will be incited to consider the meaning of the imagery, the role that art continues to play in our culture, and to reflect upon the source and depth of their own understanding of the world.

Step Three: The Results

Brett's visit was a success. The students that met and interacted came out of it with a stronger sense of art and "making". The gallery opened with 75 plus visitors. He felt that the people of Davenport were more inquisitive and engaging about this body of work then any other group of people that had seen it previously. (See we can do it)

Step Four: Oh Yeah

Did I mention the stamping? (I know I didn't... I guess it's kind of a jerky question to ask) Brett has created a series of rubber stamps with either imagery (tree stumps, slabs of meat, bulldozers) or text ("Demand Things of Quality", "We Vote With Our Money" ) that he happily and repeatedly stamped onto viewer's own cash. I think he ran the gamut from Singles to the ol' Benjamin. It's a great way to make art (and a statement) available to an entire group of people who may not see or hear it otherwise.

The show ran from December 1st until January 30th.

The Bakery is Open for Business

Alright, it's been open well before Anna, Heather or I ever stepped foot in it. It's possible I'm talking about the blog site though. Which I am. Okay, both actually.

Let's start off with a little backstory.

Nikki Schutter started the Eastside Bakery in 2006 on the corner of 12th and Esplanade in the (wait for it) East Village area of Davenport, Iowa. She is a fantastic Baker who makes pastries and pizzas that make your mouth literally water and your wallet figuratively cheer. Dedicated to high quality, handmade goods Nikki and her kids have been running a hellava place for the past few years. If you don't want to see the art, go for the TASTINESS!

Anna and I moved to Davenport this summer as I accepted a position at St. Ambrose as the new Printmaking and Book Arts Professor. We immediately made a connection with Nikki and her space. Noticing a fairly small gallery scene in the city and one completely absent in our neighborhood we set out to do something about it. Aided by Heather Lovewell (the Gallery Director of St. Ambroses Catich Gallery) we discussed our plans of having an "alternative" gallery space housed in the front of her bakery. To our excitement she was enthusiastic.

So began the conversion. Anna and Heather made some minor (but wonderful) cosmetic changes to the space. The front half of the Eastside Bakery was converted into The Bakery Gallery which was christened with an opening on December 4th 2009.

If you are unsure of Nikki's versatility in the kitchen you should come to the openings. She provides bite-sized samples of most of her goods.

The plan is to have bimonthly shows that showcase emerging and mid-career artists who produce work based in the printmaking, paper, text, and book worlds. We play it loose and fast, but very serious. Our hope is to provide a space with innovative, thought-provoking and distinct work from across the nation. We also hope to encourage a generation of young artists in the Quad Cities into creating their own space for the art they love and want to see.

Currently it is an invitation-based gallery, but if you feel like you have the chops please let us know.

Here's too a long healthy life of Art, Conversation and sweet, sweet Sweets.