Photography

In These Times/ Links to Get Involved

As I collect my thoughts, and continue to take action to continue to stand up against white supremacy, and in solidarity with Black and POC communities, I am taking this moment to share information with you to help continue to aid and support in the forward momentum. Below is a link to a master doc on google docs that was compiled by @botanicaldyke, a City University of New York Law Student, Essayist, and Abolitionist. This connection came to via James Jean’s Instagram, one of the best Artists in history to be honest, so big thank you to James for connected those of us who may never have had the good fortune of learning about Botanicaldyke. The doc contains everything from Nationwide charities that you can donate to, free legal help for a those being arrested and incarcerated (and for those who are working to help those arrested or incarcerated) per state, mutual aid funds, safety protocols and tips for those going to protest on the front lines or who get caught up in situations with the police when they are in riot cop mode, and more.

The link is… https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CjZMORRVuv-I-qo4B0YfmOTqIOa3GUS207t5iuLZmyA/mobilebasic

And then I have a few photos I shot at the protest march in Oakland down Broadway two days ago. The photos themselves are also links to this other bail out funds, POC activist groups, and support groups.



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.

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Photos

Just met up with a local SF Artist and rad dude named Matthew Badja at Flywheel in the Haight. Much of his practice consists of Photography and some really cool social practice, street installation work. Anywho, I feel inspired myself to post some photos for you gals guys and gender benders. I hope you enjoy. Please contact me if you would like to have prints of any of these.

Portrait of Musician Julie Moon in the MIlls College Bathroom

Portrait of Musician Julie Moon in the MIlls College Bathroom

American Tobacco, Durham NC

American Tobacco, Durham NC

Photoshoot with Mackenzie James in Tenderloin Neighborhood Building Basement, SF

Photoshoot with Mackenzie James in Tenderloin Neighborhood Building Basement, SF

Camping in the Sierras, California

Camping in the Sierras, California

Camping in the Sierras, California

Camping in the Sierras, California

Mutsumasa Hakozaki, Artists Studio in Kyoto, Japan

Mutsumasa Hakozaki, Artists Studio in Kyoto, Japan

Photos from Journey's

Once in a while I find myself going through some old folders in my computer looking for images of art work to send to collectors, press folks, curators, friends, countrymen and women, you know, all the peoples. When i find myself doing that I usually discover some old photos I had long since forgotten, or find myself immersed in an experience I had not thought of in some time as the lens opens up a whole world of time and place.  Here are some images I happened upon while searching for pictures for an upcoming Bloody Gums Portrait show.

Osaka, 2012

Osaka, 2012

Brooklyn 2009

Brooklyn 2009

San Francisco, 2013

San Francisco, 2013

Pomona, 2016

Pomona, 2016

San Francisco, 2016

San Francisco, 2016

Oakland, 2012

Oakland, 2012

Thailand : Beyond Definition : Heat, Spice, Spirits, and Energy.

I am writing this while in a bungalo at my new friend Kemistry's house about an hour and a half outside of Bangkok in Thailand. I arrived in country two days ago after a bizarre and exhaustingly surreal layover in the outskirts of Beijing, China. I finally arrived to Bangkok and as we descended into the dark thick cloud cover and were engulfed in the dark pulsing green landscape of rice patties and grass I immediately took a deep breath as the power and intense of energy of this place became apparent to me. My first steps in Bangkok were full of more sensory input than I could have ever imagined. This place is a living breathing organism of chaos and total beauty in every way. Rather than go on and on about it I will show a picture a narrative of some of the aspects so far. I just edited a few images thus far so this in no way encapsulates even a fraction of the last couple days, but will definitely immerse you in the journey.

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Gotta Make the Donuts.

2013-10-07 12.55.31 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                             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 Beleive                     To See is to Believe : 4'x2' : Mixed Media on Wood Panel NoName                     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                            Untitled : 4'x3' : Mixed Media on Wood Panel

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

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

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

2013-09-21 13.06.11                         Sketch for the New Birth drawing/mixed media series

2013-09-19 23.41.10                             Sketch For New Birth Drawing/Mixed Media series

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

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ArtNow NY Video Short Series Filmed and Produced by John Felix Arnold III

We have been working our tails off on the new ArtNowNY gallery opening at 548 West 28th Street in New York City's Chelsea Arts District this coming Thursday June 7th.  Working around the clock on a list of tasks and deadlines and things that would make any persons head spin.  Being in this new role as Creative Director of the gallery and the Co-curatorial Chair of our programming has been an honor, a pleasure, and one of the most amazing learning experiences of my life.  Not to mention I get to bring people I love and respect into the New York City art scene, in Chelsea no doubt, and work with people that I have admired and looked up to for a very long time.  Shit , I reconnected with Swoon today at the Bushwick Open Studios in Brooklyn, and just that simple interaction alone really made me see that I truly am in the channel of a higher power and living a life that I never dreamed of.  Anyway, all the spiritual mushiness aside, I have really been working just as hard as creative director as I do on my own work, and the balance is creating some amazing programming and collaborative presence in New York.  It feels good to be home.  I created a video series that we will continue throughout the life of ArtNowNY that captures sections of New York life, culture and people.  I filmed Unstoppable Death Machines in Bushwick at a raging show where my homie Ben Robey wild out harder than I have seen in ages (dude fell through the drum set off the bar and kept singing and screaming on the mic!!!!).

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ix4wJwJAQk]

I filmed the amazing Alyssa Kazew in the Village dancing at New York's famous Grays Papaya.  I captured Jose Santiago giving a cool patron a straight razor shave design in her hair at Well Connected in the Lower East Side, and I even was shot via Coby Kennedy at Fort Tilden doing what I do best, walking through the middle of nowhere collecting debris and wood to make art with.  I am very, very happy with the videos, and I am truly blessed to be in a position to be able to create them right now and be paid for my work.  Also I connected with old friend and amazing director Lenny Tso who edited the pieces, and I even got to put my own music as the soundtrack to three of the pieces under my music alias Tekkamaki.  Boom, for real!!! Here they are, check them out, more to come, holla.  ArtNowNY launches June 7th in Chelsea.  The its back to Oakland to get ready for OLD CROW YOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_XJMpkXJt4]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vb7GM4rhy0]