The Architect of Rock N Roll

RIP Little Richard

A Return to Drawing in Homage

During this time in doors it has become very much evident once again that drawing is the foundation for every side of my artistic voice to date. It started with drawing, it all comes from a mind and heart that intuitively channeled experience and vision through marking making since my time as a wee baby. Drawing is sort of my alpha and omega and I have had an opportunity again in quarantine to fully realize this again. The simple act of sharpening a pencil and letting my hand describe life both physical/tangible and more elusive and emotional is tied to the very core of how I process existence, and it is still the thing that quiets me deep inside and lets me wander around in that limitless space of creative meditation that is where real art making (for me) is found.

Kelly Wong, MD, Brown Emergency Medical Center, Providence, RI

Catherine Chung, RN, UC SD Health Hillcrest, San Diego, CA

Purpose has come into a new view as well. I sometimes go back and forth with my work from a sense of deep purpose to a sort of questioning, wandering feeling of purposelessness amidst the backdrop of arts place in evolving society. I sometimes fin myself lost in a moment of “who is it actually for?” or “what is this doing for people beyond myself beyond markets and galleries and the small percent of the population that cares about them?”, and boom, I am almost always immediately reminded that it isn’t up to me to know much of the time, and that the simple act of creating to honor life itself is purpose. That being said, once in a while a glaring sense of purpose comes in the window and kickstarts the creative engine. I was fortunate enough early on in the Shelter in Place to find the notion arise that drawing portraits of Frontline Health Care Workers was in fact one of the most powerful acts I can put out there right now, an act of support and solidarity, an act of gratitude and homage.

Giancarlo Barrale, Respiratory Technician, Palisades Medical Center, N. Bergen, NJ

From the inception of the this series I have found myself in touch with amazing people that are literally risking their lives to fight Covid 19 while people like myself do our best to stay at home, wash our hands, socially distance, wear masks, respect others space, and do what we can to really support one another in this new normal, and show our support in every way possible for these frontliners. The intent from the beginning was to draw these portraits with PPE to raise awareness for the need of PPE in the pandemic using the tag #getmeppe that I found through Kelly Wong MD. While my drawings have been of health care workers thus far, I also want to remind whoever is reading this that grocery store staff, cooks, servers, drug store workers, food deliverers, so many people are essential and also on the frontlines and we need to really show them as much compassion, support and love as possible.

Ruth Padron, RN, UC SD Health Hillcrest, San Diego, CA

Frontline Health Care Workers for sure have made a huge impact on me in this time. Seeing images of them showing up with no PPE, wear trash bags, covered in Covid fill air, working around the clock to help everyone that they can amidst this absolutely intense moment in history. The Health Care professionals I have had the opportunity to connect with and draw thus far span from Rhode Island to San Diego to Vermont to Brooklyn, NY. Respiratory technicians, MDs, RNs, all working tirelessly so that we might all stay as healthy as possible.

Nicole Gatjens, RN, UC SD Health Hillcrest, San Diego, CA

The question that is America right now is sickening on so many levels to me. As these workers fight for lives and are so up front and vocal about what they need from us so as to stem the tide of this ongoing issue, the arrogance of so many in their response to a simple plea for calm is painful to watch. These people, often underpaid and underprotected are heroes, warriors, centuries of health and community. In response I will continue to do this work to show these people that we do care about their effort and that they are honored.

Alesia Flamen, RN, King’s County Hospital, Brooklyn, NY

I have been working with am Organization called Get Us PPE that is going to be sharing my portraits with their community to raise awareness for the need for PPE in this pandemic and in the future. I also have been able to help the New York based group Feed Da Heroes with a couple portraits to help their food program get meals delivered to health care workers in NYC. We have to balance the ignorance we see so selfishly occurring around us with acts of solidarity, honesty, and support.

Whitney Smith, RN, Vermont

This series has given me peace on so many quiet afternoons and evenings that might have otherwise been filled with the anxieties of the unknown moment we are in. I found that with every mark and ever line, with ever experience of seeing these people come to life on the page, and then the comments and exchanges that have come from posting them and speaking with the Health Care Workers themselves a sort of calm and exuberance of positivity has arisen. These have open my mind back up to the possibility of drawing and the ability I find in it to explore every aspect of the life, past future and present. I have found a new relationship with my ability and also open minded sense of possibility as an artists. The box I had begun to wear that was becoming tighter and tighter in certain ways as the melee of consumerism and society pulled at me on a daily basis has given way to the realization again that community is vital, that we are all here together, and that following joy is often where the best work and direction are found. Not to say that everything in life should be joyful, as I feel that that is naive and just unrealistic, but finding things that bring us that calm sense of joy even as we feel anxiety and fear and sometimes sadness or anger is a guide that should never be overlooked. And thus I have been reminded that drawing for me is a lifeline, a certain joyful act that has never steered me into a direction that I didn’t find awakening and the forward motion of life in, and sometimes that leads me to find a sense of absolute peace as the world screams by.

Joe Pelliteri, Respiratory Therapist, Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, NY

Old Ghosts, City Spirits, and Fun in The Rain.

I had the opportunity to show new work at Black Serum in San Francisco’s Mission District recently as curated by a long time colleague and friend. The above painting was one of the pieces I had on display with the show. The last month and half has also seen the creation of a new mural at Littlefield NYC, a trip to North Carolina for personal familial reasons, work on a continuing commissioned installation in Oakland’s Jack London Square, and some headway on future endeavors for the next year to come. Of all of this, the most pressing and demanding has definitely been being back in North Carolina helping with some issues back home. While there is no need to illustrate the realities of age and time in words here, there is a need to step forward in life to make sure that I am present and always ready to put my self aside to be there for those I love. I have nothing but faith that within this action of compassion and purpose all of those things I seek to achieve and create will come to fruition in ways better than I could have imagined. And should they not end up becoming a reality, well then the elements of life that arise from their exit will no doubt be an even more fitting part of the path, as they have proved to be time and time again in the past.

Littlefield Mural 2019

Always Beautiful in the North Carolina Sun

AQ and I in Tokyo

Waffle House in Durham, NC

Books and Stain

Goma Fire Ceremony

Ceremonies, fire, ritual, collective growth, anxiety, love, passion, thought, manifestation of ideas, and life as it comes to us are all aspects of being that channel their way into my work of late. Time has also been something I have tried to embrace as it is lately. The moments I can invest in the nail biting energy of hard work are not the only passings of time. The steady inner adjustment to the march of time and my abilities and limitations there in have also been in the forefront, seeking to be grateful and helpful despite sometimes feeling powerless and dark. Everything is everything.

North Carolina Posters are Pretty Aweseome after all

Currently Installation Commission in Progress

One piece at a time.

Signs of Life, Durham, NC

Coby Kennedy Killing It

Enfield, NC

Colors

2019 Moving Forward

I have been in the studio when possible, working on a large interior project, planning out future endeavors, and seeking within and in new books and sources of information to continue to learn and grow The new year has arrived, a continuing moment in the narrative of every breath. I am stoked to have a few studio shots and share some more travel images with you. I have been discovering more about myself and my painting and am looking forward to embarking on some new drawings soon as well. Things are shifting, changing, and directions forming and beckoning. Pretty happy to have closed the door on a successful 2018 and be able to look back at one of the best years of my life.

I Magnin Historic Painting Commission Part 1 : Production

This summer I was asked to create a commissioned work for the lobby of the historic IMagnin Building in downtown Oakland. The building was erected in 1931 and designed by architecture firm Weeks and Day. It housed an upscale department store until it closed in 1995. It is an amazingly beautiful green marble art deco building and an official historic Oakland structure. It was recently renovated and as per the renovation I was asked to create a piece for its lobby. Having been a part of the Bay Area and specifically Oakland off and on for the last 12 years I was honored to be asked to do this. The only request was that the piece reflect a vision of Oakland by way of an intimate relationship with this city. I chose to explore this task with a style of found wood assemblage that at one point of my career I was very much known for. A style which I have been slowly re-immersing myself in, thus this was absolutely perfect timing. In this series of blog posts I will go more in depth and explain the project further, my process, my feelings on it, how it came together, the narrative behind, and its installation.

In this first post, it is important to note that as the city of Oakland is developed at an extremely fast pace, as people are displaced and old dwellings torn down in the name of progress, I find it vital to work to save aspect of this physical come metaphysical history from being destroyed and forgotten or lost in the attention deficit short term memory of our accelerated culture. The beginning of this project was a practice in communicating, in listening to the street and letting the city guide me in the collection and discovery of cast away pieces of wood from many different areas. Thus creating a real time based narrative tapestry of tangible objects packed with stories, spirit, energy, and a vibrant history that will continue to transmit its truth from the lobby of the IMagnin building well into the future for Oaklanders new and old to reflect on and investigate. The act of gratitude and humility in turning to this living breathing place steeped in history accepting it’s direction and guidance is one of the most felt experience I get to have as an artist. It is a true conversation with time and my surroundings. To be set on a path to explore and give thanks for those things left behind that are there waiting to be repurposed and given a new place to continue to inspire us is really an honor and something that I do take as a gift. This city has so much to say and this process allows me to hear so much of it and honor that language.

In the next post I will speak more on the construction of the panels and the dialogue felt with the materials as well as how the studio came to be utilized and more of the intuitive and intellectual process of creating the work one step at a time… stay tuned and thank you for reading.

Untitled October 4th 2018

There is a lot to be done on this evolving website. A lot of new changes to be made and projects to be reshot and new visions to be posted. A lot is on the horizon including a show in Durham, North Carolina in two weeks titled Anime Mixtape at Runaway. Here is some artwork that is in the show… we’ll catch up soon you and I. -Felix

That Old New Shit.

I am working on my site a bit currently. I have been digging through some old images from my portfolio archives in search for a series of shots from a show I did in 2014 titled Pilgrimage.  I have really also needed them to set up a series for some applications for residencies and funding I am in the process of working to attain good favor into. Along my quest for this powerful goal, I ran into some high res images of some work that I thought I had unfortunately lost all of in a drive crash ages ago. Much to my happiness and surprise, after trying to reformat some god awful images that were extremely low res (from before websites like Squarespace resized your images in the programming and you had to save depending on screen size and at a viewable 72 dpi), I stumbled upon two images I had long forgotten that I myself had shot (not thinking I was a good enough shot at the time) and was able to color correct them and relive some of the energy and power that came with that time in my life. 

They are both from the Findings series from 2014. Relics of the World of Unstoppable Tomorrow, from that distant future past where the humans reconcile their survival after the reset of civilization due to our inability to control creations of war that we ourselves created under the guise of control. Classic storyline, but pertinent in my mind to my personal view of how our obsession as a race with speeding up our technological advances without thinking of the outcomes, or realizing we repeat the same mistakes of control over and over. Needless to say, these pieces are some of my favorites. One of them was shown at Fecal Face Dot Gallery for a show that Rachel Ralph curated right before an epic road trip I went on as part of my Superchief Gallery NYC solo show "The Scourge". Good times. 

As I write this we are hurtling faster and faster to the brink of nuclear war and I feel that this work, no coincidence, is more pertinent than ever in my life. Even more relevant that in the 1980s when I though Regan and Bush were going to take us to the Promise Land Eating Cheeseburgers and Dying As Our Skin Melted Off. Uplifting times. Here is to the New Year... My Big New Years Update is coming soon. Hold onto your hats already!

These works are both from the Findings series... Both around 26"x28 or 30". I love the cuts and shaping. They are Acrylic Lacquer, Spray Paint, and Graphite on Found Wood Assemblage Panels, 2014. Both sold immediately upon their releases. 

Findings-Jungle Sky, 2014

Findings- All In Together Now, 2014

Finding- The Harbinger, 2014