Sigh. I love everything she does, every time she does it. These are a few of the most recent oil paintings by Toronto based artist Jen Mann… and you can see them at Gallery Jones in Vancouver starting TONIGHT! Her new show, titled METONYMY, opens tonight, Thursday November 7th, at 5pm. Here is the gallery’s description of this must-see show:

“Jen’s first solo exhibition at Gallery Jones, is diving deep into the culture of celebrity, social media and constructed personas. Through a variety of media (film, sculpture and primarily painting), Mann employs the masking tools available in this hyper-selfconscious age to question perception and ideas of identity. With herself as the subject, obfuscated by luminescent layers of distraction such as glossy wigs, theatrical make-up and the text of magazine covers, in METONYMY Mann challenges our definition of real as it relates to the self.” November 7, 2019 ~ December 4, 2019

Jen will be there, and you should be too. GO! 

ps. Ooooh, last minute addition to the post, because these photos just arrived in my inbox … a sneak peek of the install:

Oh. My. Word. Those magazine paintings have spines on the side! And that GIGANTIC diptych? I have no words, just these … ♥ ♥ ♥

Gasp! These oil paintings {on panel} are the work of British-born, Toronto based painter Mark Liam Smith. Inspired by 17th and 18th century Flemish floral paintings, Mark’s goal is to “reinvigorate interest in the role of beauty and fragility in the mundane.” Um, mission accomplished! Oh, and ps. Mark is color blind…

“Because I am colour-blind, I long had to rely on my knowledge of colour-mixing formulas to recreate skin tones and other local colours. Later in my practice, I realized that local colours served only to restrict my expression. By viewing my colour-blindness as a strength rather than as a weakness, I began embracing the use of non-local colours to develop my work. I use non-local colours to exaggerate the idea of subjectivity.”

Ah, so fantastic! Speaking of fantastic, his newest series, titled In Bloom, will be showing in Montreal at Galerie Youn later this month. The opening reception is on Thursday November 21st at 6pm, and the show runs until January 19th, 2020.

Ah, there is something so comforting about these everyday subjects… I want to sit at that kitchen table and eat donuts all afternoon. This is the work of New Zealand born, US based painter Rachel Campbell and, if you happen to be in Seattle right now, you can see most of paintings in her latest show! What Are You Looking For, opens this Thursday, Nov 7 {5-8pm} at Zinc Contemporary. Here are Rachel’s words on why she does what she does:

“I think of my work as similar to that of a poet who writes about the everyday, but instead of words, I express myself in paint. I engage in narratives. I’m reflecting on stories I have been told or experiences I have had. Humor is often prevalent in the work—often with a sense of playfulness around things that are common and ordinary. In my most recent work I am commenting on the importance of joy and celebration in life and how this is critical to our well-being. My paintings are landscapes, so whether they are traditional landscape or they depict food, or portraits of objects, these are all a form of landscape to me. I paint about the relationships between elements and our relationship to those narrative elements.” – Rachel Campbell

The show runs until December 14th, 2019.

Uh oh – you better go to this show because you don’t wanna upset that lil lady, do you?

Last year, Jen Tough of Jen Tough Gallery asked me to jury a show that she had titled, The Ladies Room. I said, YES!!! The Ladies Room is happening in San Francisco’s Dogpatch {1599 Tennessee St} THIS WEEKEND, and features the work of 18 female artists from around the world. The above work is just a teeny, tiny snippet of what you’ll see there, AND almost all {if not all?} of the artists will be on site wo-manning their booths so you can actually talk to them about their work, process, hopes and dreams, etc. The opening reception is on Friday, Oct 25 from 6-9pm, or stop by on Saturday, Oct 26 {11am-8pm} and Sunday, Oct 27 {11am-6pm}.

Go. Buy LOTS of art. Give the artists a high five from me. {Artists shown above in this order: Amy Stewart, Jill Stoll, Sasinun Kladpetch, Adriana Villagran, Margharita Paoletti, Monique Martin, Mary Souza, and Laura Johnston.}

Sigh. The work of German artist Tina Berning gets me every single time. So dreamy, and ridiculously beautiful. If you happen to be in Toronto, I have some good news for you. Alison Milne Gallery will be presenting Tina’s work at Art Toronto 2019 this coming weekend (Thursday October 24th – Sunday October 27th). But wait, there’s more. Not only will her gorgeous work be there, but so will Tina… all the way from Berlin! Find her in Solo Booth #S11.

ps. Tina was on my podcast a few years ago, and it’s still one of my favorite episodes! Look/listen here.

Ah, a find blend of chaos and control… terrifying for some, but thrilling for California based artist Heather Day. Her latest works, complete with Heather’s vibrant washes of color and confidently drawn lines, are about to be hung in a new show, titled The Hysterics, at Stephanie Chefas Projects in Portland. The show opens this Saturday, October 19th from 5-8pm. Here is part of the statement from the show:

As the title suggests, The Hysterics is a reference to Day’s process of mark-making. Her process demands motion, requiring her entire body as she pours and pushes paint across the canvas. The canvases are subsequently drenched with water, enabling an element of vulnerability that remains essential to her work. Acting quickly, Day adds marks to the canvas and thereby allows each gesture to inform the next. An eternal dance between control and chaos ensues, climaxing with a unique and vivid creation.

“It’s moving, it’s rapid, and you can’t always predict what’s going to happen. I’m pouring the paint, I’m manipulating it, and there’s a level of understanding of what might happen as I control the fluidity of the paint or the opacity. Then there’s also the unexpected when I pour a bucket of water and it splashes everywhere.”

“The Hysterics” runs until November 23, 2019.

ps. I looooove Heather’s studio / WIP shots. Always very inspiring… see:

Sigh.

She never ceases to amaze. American artist Kara Walker‘s latest piece, a 13-meter tall working fountain titled Fons Americanus, is currently installed at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall {until April 5, 2020}. This text is a snippet of the description from the Tate:

“Fons Americanus is inspired by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, London. The memorial was designed in 1901 and unveiled in 1911 to honour the achievements of Queen Victoria who was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837–1901), as well as the Empress of India. Rather than a celebration of the British Empire, Walker’s fountain inverts the usual function of a memorial and questions narratives of power. Walker explores the interconnected histories of Africa, America and Europe. She uses water as a key theme, referring to the transatlantic slave trade and the ambitions, fates and tragedies of people from these three continents. Bringing together fact, fantasy and fiction, Fons Americanus stands as a representation of this narrative in the form of an allegory or fable.”

So powerful. And that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the meaning and importance of this work. Read the entire article on the Tate’s site RIGHT HERE. 

*All photos from tate.org.uk, Matt Greenwood

Paper … that IS NOT PAPER! I’ve written about his NOT paper sculptures before, but today it’s all about “Einmal ist Keinmal”, the most recent solo show by Italian artist Daniele Sigalot. Huge balls of crumpled up failures, towering stacks that are “attempts at greatness”, and my favorite (clearly), those post-it notes! And yes, as the lilac beauty at the top of the post points out, it’s metal but looks like paper… just like all of Daniele’s fabulous sculptures. The exhibition is at Anna Laudel Gallery in their newly opened space in Dusseldorf. Here is part of the curatorial statement:

“Sigalot is aware that one cannot be successful without failures. Any creative person goes through a struggling process in order to come up with good ideas. According to him, in order to find a successful idea, at least hundreds of ideas might go to trash. Sigalot transforms this process of producing “bad” ideas into sculptures that balls and towers of wrinkled up papers in a large scale of art works … [Sigalot] appropriates his advertising background in order to create sharp and short sentences, which are critique to art market, perception of life and expectation from future. Enlarged post-it notes are part of the production of ideas but they are indeed satirical, which capture the audience with their humor.”

“…one cannot be successful without failures.” Amen! The show runs until December 14, 2019. Happy Friday.

Ahhhhh, I absolutely love the work of Oakland based artist Anna Valdez. Clearly, it’s gorgeous online, but in person? Oh my word… ridiculously vibrant, detailed, and filled with stories. If you happen to be in New York, Anna’s latest show, titled NATURAL CURIOSITY, will be opening this Saturday October 5th at Hashimoto Contemporary Here’s a part of the gallery’s description:

“The works function both as still life and self portrait, offering vantage into Valdez’s daily practice and the objects which inform it. Venus Painting, oversized and brilliantly pink, features two of the artist’s plants against a wall covered in a swirling floral design. Framed by the houseplants is a smaller, more serene still life painting, depicting a bust of Venus in cool blue tones. This self-referential painting-within-a-painting nods at the time honored tradition of oil painters breaking the fourth wall while subtly hinting at a more modern practice of image-viewing and media consumption.

The careful consideration of each detail––each hand-mixed oil paint, every carefully composed vignette––invites the viewer into the artist’s studio and practice of close observation, begging the question: when do we allow ourselves to follow our own curiosity?”

Anna will be at the gallery for a book signing of her upcoming monograph {also titled “Natural Curiosity”}, and an artist talk in conversation with curators Chad Alligood and Nina Mdivani from 5-6pm, followed by the opening reception from 6-8pm. The show runs from October 5th through October 26th, 2019.

Oooh! This is “Packed”, a cardboard wonderland by American artist Nicki Crock… and look, I think a few of the neighbors are home! Here is Nicki’s description of this beautiful pile of suburbia:

“‘Packed’ is a topsy-turvy investigation into the architecture, accumulation, and curious atmosphere of suburbia. An expansive landscape of tumbled track housing made from utilitarian cardboard, piqued by pockets of fantasy. Conveying the duality of a curious, beautiful, engineered neighborhood.

In order to complete my investigation of this cardboard community, I turned my own talented community of artists to help me create several of the fantasy interiors. Packed includes artistic contributions from Alexis Zabor, Mark Eberhardt, Nick Stull, Liz Morrison, Miriam Chon, Laurie Ihlenfield and Alex Conrad.

Three of Nicki’s projects – “Packed”, “Paper Interventions”, and her stunning “Dream House” installation {which I’ve written about before} are debuting this Saturday, October 5th, at the Springfield Museum of Art in Springfield, Ohio. Go!