Gotta Make the Donuts.

With two solo shows in back to back months, April and May, between NYC and SF I have my work cut out for me right now.  And I happily accept the challenge.  The show in New York in April at Superchief will investigate and concern itself more with the actual Astroknots that wreaked havoc amongst our society around the year 2120 and the subsequent show in May at Shooting Gallery, Pilgrimage, will illustrate and engage the tribe in the post reset world I have been following with each show as they move onto to "greener pastures" and forward as survivors in this new chaotic world.  I am psyched to say the least.                               All Around and Inside Out : 4'x2' : Mixed Media on Wood Panel

These two shows mark a massive milestone for me as one of them bookends the beginning of the saga and personifies and explores the actual creatures of destruction and their tumultuos effect on the people, places and things that were in their path as they rolled and throttled their ways across the landscape of earth.  These creatures very much mimic much of what I see as the environmental and economic implications of what humanity has done to the world and its effect on the fragile society that has been erected to this point.

                     To See is to Believe : 4'x2' : Mixed Media on Wood Panel                      With No Name : 25"x16" : Mixed Media on Wood Panel

And then Pilgrimage suddenly takes the ongoing story of the same group of survivors I have been utilizing since Unstoppable Tomorrow Vol. 1 at Old Crow in 2010, to a new and massively developmental phase of their existence.  This can be seen through a lot of new experimentation with my pieces, new color palettes, a lot of simplification in placement and effect, and the rebirth of found object pieces that are meant to feel like actual archaeological remnants from this tribe that will lead into the central interactive prayer installation.  The narrative "graphic Novel" element that the audience will be surrounded by will be a mixture of new colors, new ways of signifying different entities, emotions, happenings, and growth.  There will be very literal story telling narrative portraiture, found object relics, very abstract and non representational pieces that give off far more feeling and emotion than literal, figurative works can, and more... and a whole new abstract sound epic inside of the installation (which will this time be housed inside of a structure as of now, this may change).  Oh, there will also be some "Triangle Magic" within the exhibition...

                            Untitled : 4'x3' : Mixed Media on Wood Panel

                                    Windside Out : 4'x3' : Mixed Media on Wood Panel

                          Strike Down Upon Thee : 4'x3' Mixed Media on Wood Panel

                      Reclamation : 30"x14" : Mixed Media on Fabricated Wood Panel

                         Sketch for the New Birth drawing/mixed media series

                             Sketch For New Birth Drawing/Mixed Media series

Oh and New York was awesome you guys.  Stay Tuned.

Onward!

Man, life comes at you fast.  I feel like yesterday I had just gotten back from Japan and I was trying to get back in the swing.  In what feels like no time I have grown a lot as a person and an artist, I have walked through a lot of things with my head still attached and my feet still on the ground (loosely lol), and am still completely charged and stoked about the future and my present being on this planet with all of ya'll.  I am getting really amped up about the SFMOMA project coming up, largely because I received a studio visit and real deal critique from Renee DeCosio (program director for the SFMOMA Artist Gallery) who came through with the awesome Alfonso Cosio recently.  Man it was the best, most honest, intriguing, to the point, helpful, and explorative, no kid gloves critique I have had in a longgg time (since Pratt actually).  It gave me some new juice to make an incredibly in depth new series for the first installment of the SFMOMA windows in June (also part of the Yerba Buena Alliance art walk) where I am really exploring some foundations, the origin and the architecture of the Astroknots, and by doing so really revisiting and dealing with a lot of things that were going on when I first moved to California in 2006.  I have really dove deeply back into process and am exploring some of my core basics and letting things happen without a presumed outcome again.  I am quite honestly the happiest I have been making art in a long time in creating these new pieces and the series that I see coming from it.

With amazing art work generally comes a lot more under the surface.  Of course this comes at a time when things in my personal life are pretty intense, yet I do feel my feet are still planted firmly on the earth.  It is amazing to feel such a sense of presence and compassion for things happening that I am involved with that the old me would have reacted to out of serious personal fears and insecurities, but rather now see how I can help and how I can maintain my balance in the face of some heavy stuff.  To everyone in my life right now I say with huge words, I love you all and you are all very dear to me, thank you all for being you and exploring life here with me and not being afraid to get real with those you care about.  And to finish this one off, I am going to Japan for my residency in less than two months.  I will be doing a six day meditation pilgrimage before I get to work in Tokyo for three weeks!  It's going to be, as Kenichi Minami from Ken South Rock says, a Huge Volcano!

SF Weekly Article and New Updates.

So first and foremost I would like to thank Kate Conger at SF Weekly for doing an awesome article and interview on yours truly and the world of "Unstoppable Tomorrow".  It feels really good to open up about some of the finer and darker points of my life that has sculpted my art making to what it is today!  She is a great writer, really made me dig deep and I do thank her for the opportunity to do this piece.  It feels good to spill your guts sometimes in print.  Here is a link, click on the image below...

Lastly, I have amazing news.  I will be doing a residency at Spes-Lab in Tokyo in April of 2013, and then when I come back it is time to do my first installation of a year long program of the SFMOMA windows in downtown San Francisco.  More on this to come!!! Things are looking good!

"The Love of All Above" @ Queens Nails feat. Daylight Curfew made it to Impose Magazine's Week in Pop Piece!!!!

Sjimon Gompers at Impose Magazine is the man.  He is apparently super into what I am doing with my series of installation art shows as a vehicle for performance from music and artists together under the UNstoppable Tomorrow umbrella, and gave us a heads up in Impose Magazine's "Week in Pop" write up of awesome shit going on!  I am very proud of this, check it out. Click on the image to go to the Impose Magazine link.

Daylight Curfew Video Promo for the "Love of All Above". Saturday Feb. 4th @ Queens Nails Projects : SF : CA

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p11NuKU6tHc&w=560&h=315] My collaborators, friends, and fellow creative cats over at Daylight Curfew who are coming up to San Francisco from LA on Feb 4th to rock "The Love of All" above at Queens Nails Projects in the Mission, put together this amazing video trailer promo for the show!  Check it out, it is going to be amazing and the video piece is incredibly well put done.  They continue to amaze me with everything they put make and the speed with which they do so.  Looking forward to killing this show.  Almost all of the painting is done,now its time to put the installation together with Kool Kid Kreyola and its on.