I am on my way back to Oakland form yet another awesome trip to New York City. The amazing people at Littlefield showing me love once more that they contracted me to fly out there and paint a massive 13'x12' three panel commissioned piece in there venue. We had been discussing this for sometime, and then boom, it happened. So excited to be in NYC more often this year... and before I get into the real news and the stories and photos and philosophical wanderings and such, I will leave you with this photo of the piece and yours truly as I get ready to board the last leg of my trip back to the Bay Area on this Virgin American Party Plane. 57, Peace to Ben Robey all day. Be back soon Brooklyn.
Narrative Art
The Last Week of "Pilgrimage" at Shooting Gallery SF! Closes June 7th, 2014.
Hello hello! First off : "Pilgrimage" is up for ONE MORE WEEK! Until this Saturday June 7th! So if you haven't seen it go check it out. I have been so wrapped up in life since the show opened that I haven't had a chance to sit down and be in touch with you all, my apologies. I went to LA this past weekend to begin connecting and to see some old NYC friends that I work with and have known for some time, that are doing great things. The future is shaping up nicely! I am grateful for this life of mine for sure, and LA and I have some things to look forward to.
So about three weeks ago we saw the opening of my solo show "Pilgrimage" at San Francisco's famous Shooting Gallery on Geary street. The opening was a success, and we have been fortunate enough to get some amazing press from it all! Press including my friend and awesome writer Goldmine Sachs over at Impose Magazine did a really fun interview with me, as did one of my favorite people Tracy Jones at the Microscopic Giant, the awesome and uber talented Lale' Shafaghi at Juxtapoz Magazine gave a great preview piece, Zach Tutor and his widely loved Supersonic Electronic blog gave us some support a Fecal Face round table interview will be coming out this week, and lastly Kimberly Chun from 96 Hours did a really awesome interview with me that came out in print as well as online in 96 Hours.
The response has been unbelievable, the opening was awesome, and I have been getting tons of inquiries and new conversations have blossomed out of it. Really proud of this one! I still have some photos to process and get from Shooting Gallery of some of the work but the majority of it is viewable in the PILGRIMAGE Section of the Portfolio on this site, as well as on the Shooting Gallery SF site (Where you can also find information on sales and purchasing).
So amidst all of the things that life brings, amidst the non stop flow of energy and thoughts and experiences, I am very very happy that this show was realized with Shooting Gallery. The space was simply perfect for it, the people there were a pleasure to work with, and this exhibition truly did embody a "Pilgrimage" for myself. The events that took place in its initial conceptualization, the journey I went through with life, love, pain, joy, progress, and time during its execution, and the final result have all brought me to a new place within myself and my relationship with all things around me.
A true sense of balance, fulfillment, acceptance and the yearning to continue seeking, to strive on and continue moving forward, has really overcome me. I am having really beautiful visions in my meditations, I happened upon a Koyasan temple at random in LA (Buddhist Twilight Zone Sounds haha), and my eyes are very open as is my being. I am excited to embark on everything from here on out. The past four years of making art in the Bay Area have really helped to shape my path and to bring me to center with an open mind and a watchful eye to see where my next guide may be. Fecal Face Gallery solo is in the Fall, and then who knows, who knows where I will go. Maybe LA, maybe back to NC, maybe NYC for a reunion with my home. But the one thing I can take away from this experience is this, I am doing exactly what I was put on this earth and in this universe in this form to do, and I am overwhelmingly grateful for the path I am on. John Felix Arnold III 06/02/2014
Saturday, May 10th, Pilgrimage @ Shooting Gallery SF
I am beside my self. It has been about a years worth of a journey. Hot off of the heels of the "Excorrigia : The Scourge" Solo show at Superchief in NYC I just had with Superchief, I present to you the other side. The opposite side of existence and the journey forward. I present "Pilgrimage" at the uber famous San Francisco staple, Shooting Gallery! I have partnered with Paxton Gate on this amazing show.
They have supplied me with bones, skulls, and really awesome news, they have officially procured a taxidermy warthog that will be part of the central sculptural installation piece of the show! We are already getting all sorts of press for the show, including an awesome interview piece from Sjimon Gompers at Impose Magazine, Tracy Jones at The Microscopic Giant, and the show is in print as part of the hot picks of the week in the SFWeekly as well as on their website.
The opening is going to be killer, there are other openings in the White Walls/Shooting Gallery complex the same night that are all going to be incredible. Here are some images of work to look forward to seeing in person in the show. I am in the home stretch and tomorrow will see the final realization of a lot of hard work and love for what I do.
Pilgrimage, May 10, 2014
It is Officially On! Thursday, April 3rd, The Scourge hits Superchief NYC
Yes the moment has come and the time is nigh. Come lose your mind with us at the opening of my newest solo exhibition... "Excorrigia / The Scourge" premiering at Superchief Gallery (@Culturefix, 9 Clinton Street at Houston, in New York City's Lower East Side). The opening, hosted by myself, Carolyn LeBourgeois (who made the cross country trek with me) the whole crew from Sueprchief, Ed Zipco, Billy, and Tricky Yooth aka Patrick, as well as the owners of Culturefix and their rad gallery manager Josh Allen, will commence at 6pm and go until 10pm, Thursday, April 3rd 2014. 
The work is hung and I am so proud of this one. The works themselves are ready to be experienced as a full on visual narrative following The Scourge in the world of Unstoppable Tomorrow, individually to be felt and walked around inside of with the eyes and minds of the audience, and they are very ready to find homes here in NYC and beyond. 
Also Joel St. Julien, one of my family from the Bay Area, has helped me co produce a sound piece of intensely demonic and frightening soundscapes and textures that will no doubt bring the whole thing together, finished by a (human) sacrificial altar piece installation in the 2nd floor street window of the gallery space. Needless to say, I feel really good about this one and cannot wait to see what kind of response we get! See you there! 
Look Back to BRIC "Art Into Music"
So I just realized as I am getting ready for the show at Superchief show that I never put up the final images from the BRIC Arts Media House show I created an Installation for in February... there is some great press coverage on it from Fecal Face and Juxtapoz from the show and the opening. Many thanks to the trio at BRIC of Jenny Gerow, Elizabeth Ferrer, and Eric Araujo for making it all happen, and Space Meow for performing live inside the piece at the opening. The Juggs Band with Kareem Bunton will be performing at the close on April 27th. Here are pics of the final product and the opening.
The Journey of The Scourge...
So Carolyn Lebourgeois and I packed up the car a week ago and hit the road. Destination NYC... We drove a straight haul from California to El Paso, through Arizona and New Mexico in 20 or so hours and then crashed. Ate steak, then crashed again... then it was onward to Austin for BBQ with Terry Addison at Rudy's, to Houston to hang out with Bob MaCready and go to the Screwed Up Records store, to New Orleans to hang with amazing Chef Nathanial Zimet who started Boucherie for the most amazing meal of all time, through East Texas, to Mississippi for slammin fried chicken, through Alabama, through Northern Florida, through Georgia, to South Carolina and South of the Border, through my home state of North Carolina for Bullocks BBQ, up through Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and finally to NYC from where I type this for you!!! Here are a few images. There will be more in depth images and stories in the weeks to come but the show is dropping this coming Thursday so all roads lead to Excorrigia I The Scourge!!!
And like that... He's Gone...
We are embarking on our journey today! Carolyn and I are getting ready to pack up the car, get the supplies, get the stickers, get the zines, and head to the FFDG "Salt the Skies" group show that I am in, and then we are offffffffff to the great unknown and wide open that is the reverse frontier. Well its known, but it is definitely wide open!
So first off we will be going as far as possible toward Arizona before we pass out. Then we will be gunning it to Austin, Texas to see Terry Addison from Old Crow, one of my bestest homies and favorite people I have ever worked with. We apparently going to hit WhattaBurger and eat some ribs at Salt Lick... or maybe not... we will have to see. Anyway, its time to pack it up... New York City here we come!
Click on the link below to see the video trailer for Excorrigia I The Scourge @ Superchief.
TONIGHT! Feb 19th "Art Into Music" @ BRIC in Brooklyn, New York City
So tonight I am in a group show at an AMAZZZZIINNGGGG art institution called BRIC Arts Media House on Fulton Street in Brooklyn's Fort Greene (my favorite place in the world) neighborhood. I am so honored and feel so blessed to be a part of this show and to be given the opportunity to come back to NYC to give back to the city that raised me after a long journey of transformation and change. The piece I created is in fact called "Gratitude and Transformation(s)", fittingly enough as I have been hoping and praying for an opportunity to give back to this place, especially this area of Brooklyn where I spent so many important years, for a long time. Many thanks to Elizabeth Ferrer and Jenny Gerow at BRIC, and huge thanks to Eric Araujo, whom I have known through this art life struggle since 2006, for getting the ball rolling and getting me into this historic event at BRIC. I am one lucky cat and I went Hard. As they say in the Bay Area, I WENT HELLA HARD! Hahahahha. The piece took about a week to create. It is made with mostly reclaimed and repurposed materials from Brooklyn and Queens and truly is a living act of gratitude to this place.
Also a special performance by my friends Space Meow will occur on the stage built into the installation. I have been looking forward to working with Space Meow for some time now and it is going to be EPIC! They go on at 9pm. At the end of the show my good friend Kareem Bunton's awesome blues rock band The Juggs will also perform and they always throw down!
The Opening is tonight, Wednesday Feb. 19th, from 7-9:30 pm. BRIC is at 647 Fulton Street and will be awesome. We will be heading to Frank's Lounge afterward for an intimate after party with the artists and friends and such! Gonna be awesome so swing by. The show will run through April 27th so make sure to check it out if you are in the area. Here are some photos of the production of my site specific installation, I can't wait to drop the images with the Space Meow set up on the stage...also the press release is attached at the end of this blog post.
Also I got the chance to hang out with Ken South Rock's Ken Minami and Adam Amram last week as well as Matt Reilly from Japanther. Here are some photos of their forest cave in Bushwick with treehouses, mini ramp, silk screen set up, and all...It's been an amazing trip. I'll be back in a few days with a NYC wrap up!
BRIC ART INTO MUSIC PR 021414_FINAL
Thanks for tuning in!- JFAIII