K Chatterson NYC/LA

Good bye from Kris Chatterson

2008-09-06T11:55:00.010-04:00

I began this blog as a journal to chronicle my experiences as I traversed the NYC art world. It has now become something else completely. I realized that the blog was becoming a resource for others to see what is going on in NYC that may not be getting much press, but is vital nontheless. Then I thought, why not expand that idea to LA and ask my good friend Cole Case to contribute? In doing so, I could no longer have a blog that is just mine.

The new vision is embodied in KCLOG, which will feature artists and writers posting from across the US and around the world.

For now KCLOG is:
Kris Chatterson, an artist living and working in NYC
Cole Case, an artist living and working in Los Angeles
Amelia Ishmael, an artist and writer working in Kansas City, MO
Seann Brackin, an artist working in Madrid Spain

If you're on Facebook, please add KCLOG to your blog network.

K Chatterson NYC LA will remain online as an archive for KCLOG, covering NYC Fall, Winter 2007 and Spring, Summer 2008.

I will leave with a picture of one of my favorate tagged doors. Enjoy and see you on KCLOG!

Kirchner and the Berlin Street @ MoMA

2008-08-23T19:48:00.008-04:00

Mid-August in the New York art world is like a desert. Everyone is out of town, either in the Hamptons or Hudson Valley, and most galleries are closed or on shorter schedules. Kirchner and the Berlin Street at MoMA is a much needed oasis with plenty to go around. I was excited for months when I learned this show was coming.

The show does not disappoint. The paintings sparkle off the wall – each one inviting you to come closer. I was surprised to notice how fresh these paintings seemed and how many now famous German artists owe much to Kirchner.

The paintings are great, but the real treat is the pastels. They hit me in the face most unexpectedly. They are bold, direct and seem as fresh as the day they were made.

I have to give MoMA props for the generous online exhibition made for this show. It's very exciting and here is why: It's totally interactive and shows most of the work in the show. Here is the best and I think most generous part: be sure to click on sketchbooks, because the Museum actually scanned some of his sketchbooks, and you can virtually flip through the books.

Kris

Photos taken from MoMA website as there is not photography allowed.

Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling @ MoMA

2008-08-23T18:50:00.007-04:00

The Pre-Fab house idea is getting due attention at MoMA with Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling. The show brings the homes out from the pages of magazines and out of architect's websites, into the world for us to see and experience. As a Pre-Fab enthusiast, I was elated to see this show.
I firmly believe this is the way more homes will be built in the future. Most are designed to be modular and customizable. These homes are also designed to use the least amout of waist often from recycled materials and to be affordable.

If you like modern design and architecture don't miss this show.

Check out the on line component!

Kris

East Coast Colors Hand Made Paint

2008-08-17T09:53:00.006-04:00

As a blogger I often brows other blogs and last weekend found a post on Art Fag City for East Coast Colors. I was instantly curious about this paint. I made an appointment with Jacob Ouillette the paint maker and master mind behind East Coast Colors the very next day. Jacob makes the paint in small batches and sells it directly out of his studio. Cash and personal checks only at this point. When you come in there is only the tubed paint laying on a table, a color board, palette with paint on it and some of Jacob's paintings against the wall. Jacob took me through his line of colors. Then led me over to the palette so I can see first hand how some of the paint behaves by letting me spread some around with a palette knife.

Colors you should check out are, Lemon Ochre, Italian Orange Earth, Bohemian Green Earth, Cad Maroon, Cad Red Purple, Cadmium Brown, Titanium Yellow, Emerald Green, Ultramarine Violet, Ultramarine Pink, Iron-Oxide Black bluish and Transparent yellow oxide just to name a few.

After painting with these paints I am more than satisfied with my purchases. The lemon Ochre is everything I ever wanted in an Ochre but could not find. The Italian Orange Earth adds a fiery, smoldering warmth to oranges and reds.

East Coast Colors is a very new company. More colors are on the way. Jacob will be more than happy to talk with you about things to come. Who ever heard of a Blue Ochre? The great thing about Jacob is that he understands the needs of younger painters.

All photographs were taken from the East Coast Colors website.

Sculpture Part II Opening at Western Project by Cole

2008-08-10T18:28:00.005-04:00

Western Project closed out summer 2008 with the second of two sculpture shows, Sculpture Part II August 9. Nagasaki, anybody? It was a beautiful evening outside at the bar kicking it with WP's Keven, a little warm inside though so WP's Erin was doing a lot of plein air photography. Western Project rock star painter and fellow Otis instructor Carole Caroompas was there along with Tanya Batura (getting ready to kick off the gallery's fall schedule next month), lots of painters (Roland Reiss, Lester Monzon) and those double-threat-I-can-paint-AND-sculpt maestros Michael Reafsnyder and Wayne White. It was also great to see Artillery Magazine's Ezhra Jean Black out again making the rounds. I liked Mike Dee's crazy big spider guys and Michael's wacky monsters, some were straight out of Star Trek Original Series or Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas. Wayne's carved wood sculptures were a personal favorite, especially the smallest one, "Dreaming". August (die she must) is upon us and it's vacation/travel season, gallery owner Cliff is off to visit India for the first time, should be quite an adventure! WP's Kirsten introduced me the guy who designed the groovy downloadable WP mandala (get it here, it will bring you good luck!), he was totally cool and is also a big Arcade Fire fan so how can you go wrong? Kris and I are trying to come up with a sexier name for this blog, if you have any ideas run 'em up the proverbial flagpole! SOOTYCK, xo Cole

Marlene Dumas at MOCA by Cole

2008-08-09T16:03:00.003-04:00

Hi guys, I checked out the Marlene Dumas show at MOCA Thursday and really enjoyed it. I went in with like zero expectations, not especially high, not especially low. What I really loved in this show were her works on paper, especially huge grids of serial portraits like "Models" and "Jesus Serene." Being an Oily Boy, I never give much thought to working in ink and/or acrylic and/or watercolor on paper, but this show inspired me for sure to try it out with a vengeance! The portraits look waaayyy fresh and immediate, and Dumas really has her control of these very volatile and unpredictable mediums, like, SO down. Speaking of which, when did the plural of"medium" become "mediums" and not "media"? Hmmmmmm The MOCA camera nazis were on patrol so no guerrilla shots with this post, only what I could download from the MOCA website. The dead "Marilyn" is her most recent painting, from this year, and it may be petite but it's a killer. "Painter" and her oil portraits of babies were awesome too. Her porn stuff didn't light my fire as much as those baby portraits, what does THAT say? Yikes! NYC/LA connection with this show: Connie Butler, ex-MOCA now-MOMA curated the show. We miss her out here! You lucky New Yorkers! Tonight Western Project has their second group sculpture show to close out the summer, I'll take some pix to post in the next few day or so. Stay out of trouble you crazy kids! xo Cole

NY Times Ken Johnson Reviews “Kirchner and the Berlin Street” @ MoMA

2008-08-05T19:39:00.007-04:00

Check out the review Ken Johnson writes for the NY Times.
Be sure to look through the slide show!
I'll be heading over to see the show soon!
Stay tuned.

Thanks Kris!

2008-08-04T15:18:00.003-04:00

Nice to be on board, amigo! I'm so jealous of Kris, that bastard being able to move from LA to NYC -- which is my favorite city on the planet. The blog makes it seem (almost) like I'm there, thanks man.

Anyway, when I get the chance I'll keep both coasts current with what's going on in LA. Like Kris suggested, I'm an opening whore so I see my role as announcing what of note is opening where and who was there. As an artist, I will not assume a critical role but be more of a low-rent version of Scene and Herd. Think of me as a very polite Left Coast Page Six. I promise to NOT post images of my drunken - or sober - friends in compromising positions. In fact, my first images have little to do with the visual arts....

I attended the Johnny Ramone Tribute at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery Friday night and it was a total blast. I got to meet lone surviving OR Tommy and CJ. As a former punk band bass player myself, it was a real honor to meet both of them. The Ramones were -- and are --a HUGE influence on me, both musically and artistically. Marky was there too, standing by Johnny's grave and politely posing for pictures with anyone. I caught a glimpse of Linda Ramone in a shocking lime green dress but didn't get to talk to her.

Saturday night featured openings at Bergamot Station: Sigmar Polke at Patrick Painter and the Otis Faculty group show "Omage" at Track 16 (disclaimer: I am Otis faculty so this is a bit of shameless self-promotion). We then went to Culver City to check out Kyle Kilty's abstract paintings at Kinkead Contemporary. After that we went for dinner to Natalee Thai in Culver City.

If you live in LA and go to Culver City openings with any frequency, you should totally check out Natalee post-opening for dinner. They have awesome food, reasonable prices, full bar and have a patio where you can smoke while you eat ( I know, New Yorkers -- there ARE actually some Angelenos who smoke! Who knew?). The crew included Fette (who also has an LA art blog at the-flog.com), gallerist John Kinkead and wife Amy, painters yours truly, Jel Markovic, Lester Monzon and Sharon Ben-Tal as well as visiting New Yorker Alex Yang).

Of course there is NO better post-opening place in LA than El Coyote, but we'll talk about that another day ;-) The image Kris posted in his intro for me is a painting I did of the El Coyote patio. I Looooooove that place you'd better believe I spell it L-U-V! Been going there for almost 30 years now.

Anyway, I'll post more later this week after I see the Marlena Dumas (NOT pronounced dumbass) show at MOCA...

Stay out of trouble you crazy kids!

K Chatterson NYC/LA Welcomes Cole Case

2008-08-03T20:59:00.004-04:00

I first started this Blog as a journal to document my experiences coming from LA and landing in NYC. My posts were for my friends in LA, so they could see what I was up to and the shows and events I was attending. The Lower East Side really piqued my interest because of the young and new energy that is going on.

At any rate, LA in the blog is virtually non-existent. I thought I would have more to say, but it's hard when I'm no longer there.

I am extremely happy to announce that fellow Western Project artist Cole Case will be posting on all things LA and beyond. No matter what opening I would attend I could always count on Cole to be there. He is embedded and on the scene.

As it turns out the blog is popular in NYC so I could think of no one better to post on LA. New Yorkers get ready to change your mind on what you think about art and the art scene in LA.

Welcome Cole Case!

Robert Doak and Associates Paint

2008-08-02T14:08:00.004-04:00

As I have mentioned in a previous post I am exploring the out of the way places painters may want to know about. After a while, running to the art supply store becomes a little limiting. So this last Friday I took a little trip to BUMBO Brooklyn to visit Robert Doak and Associates at Specialized Art Materials. Just take the F to Yrok St, one stop into Brooklyn. My over all experience was overwhelming because there is so much to take in. It's unlike any place you are likely to encounter.

The experience was as follows.

First ring bell and wait for someone to let you in.
Next you are led into the shop where you wait for Rober Doak himself to come and help you. I was truly not expecting this one on one encounter.
After talking with Doak about his paint and how his shop works I started to pick out some paint.
Unlike most paint shops where tubs of paint are displayed in neat rows, at Doak there is only a wall with hand painted color swatches. I found this a most valuable asset. While standing there with Doak I could pick the colors I was interested in trying. The great part was I caould talk with Doak about the working qualities of the pigment. Doak is very enthouseastic about his product. When asked what makes his different he said "Mine are the best, I use the best pigment and the best oil, everyone else is just trying to save money".
Along with paints I also picked up some Mica and a couple more other secret mediums made by Doak himself using old world recipes. One is simply called goop.

If you are an oil painter and want to do more with your paint and just pick up pre-made mediums and are interested in the Alchemy of oil paint than do yourself a favor and get to know Robert Doak and his paints. To my knowledge there is nowhere in the city to talk with a master paint maker that can give you just what you need.

At the moment it seems the website is under construction, but you can still order from there. If your from out of town try calling.

I will report back in a few once I have used the paint a while longer. For now it's all thumbs up.

Accident Blackspot group show @ Freight + Volume

2008-07-27T10:23:00.005-04:00

Summer group shows are usually a snooze fest. Most are a dump of gallery artists or a show with no real theme or idea with a host of name brand artists. Though they may bring in the crowds, there is not much beyond that. "Accident Blackspot" a group show at Freight + Volume is a remedy to the summer group show blues. Challanging the mainstream aesthetics is the underpinning of the show. Risk is another. The artists and curator risk total failure in the project, which I find exciting. If there were only more shows like this one!

Artists in the show include:
Ivin Ballen
Rob Erickson
Keltie Ferris
Chris Hanson and Hendrika Sonnenberg
Joseph Hart
Himi Jen Dricks
Fawn Krieger
Ree Morton
Ian Pedigo
Daniel Seiple
Ali Smith
Wendy White
Tamara Zahaykevich

Painting Now and Forever, Part 2 @ Matthew Marks and Greene Naftali

2008-07-27T09:45:00.005-04:00

Contemporary painting is celebrated in "Painting Now and Forever" at Matthew Marks and Greene Naftali. As survey shows go this one does a pretty good job. It's a tour de force of painters we all know mixed in with up and comers to the international scene. If your looking for a grand group show of contemporary painting, this is one for you.

Artist's in the show include: Kai Althoff, Cosima von Bonin, Merlin Carpenter, Mathew Cerletty, Wojciech Fangor, Katharina Fritsch, Gelitin, Isa Genzken, Poul Gernes, Daan van Golden, Jack Goldstein, Rodney Graham, Wade Guyton, Richard Hawkins, Mary Heilmann, Sophie von Hellermann, Charline von Heyl, Ull Hohn, Sergej Jensen, Mike Kelley, Ellsworth Kelly, Karen Kilimnik, Martin Kippenberger, Michael Krebber, William Leavitt, Michel Majerus, Bjarne Melgaard, Laura Owens, Blinky Palermo, Stephen Prina, R.H. Quaytman, Ugo Rondinone, Paul Sharits, Josh Smith, Reena Spaulings, Lily van der Stokker, Atsuko Tanaka, Paul Thek, Anne Truitt, Kelley Walker, Christopher Wool, and Katharina Wulff.

note: the images in this post are lifted from the Matthew Marks and Greene Naftali websites. My camera ran out of juice just as I showed up.

Wendy White @ Leo Koenig

2008-07-27T09:21:00.003-04:00

Action abstraction, graffiti, instillation and architecture all combine in Wendy White's show at Leo Koenig. The combined panels and assemblage nature of the work seems to be less about a "picture" and more about the action on the surface. There is no romanticism here. White lifts textured moments from the streets of urban metropolises and rearranges them in paint. For more info and images please check out the artist's and gallery website.

note: the images in the post are lifted from the Leo Koenig website. The batteries for my camera died :(

What the Midnight can Show Us group show @ Museum 52

2008-07-19T10:23:00.010-04:00

What the Midnight can Show Us at Museum 52 is a group show of artist all working with abstraction in one degree or another. The opening was packed so I could not get many images. The artists in the show include Rachel Foulion, Julia Goldman, Van Hanos, Yadir Quintana and Ryan Sullivan. For more information and images please check out the gallery website.

Love is a Cannibal/Summer Salon Part 1 @ Sloan Fine Art

2008-07-19T10:14:00.004-04:00

Love is a Cannibal/Summer group show at Sloan Fine Art is curated by Becky Smith, owner of Bellwether New York. The Artists include Tyler Coburn, Jesse Finely Reed and David Benjamin Sherry (featured in this post). The three artist all work with photography and the sense of gay male longing. For further information and images check out the gallery website.

de Kooning An American Master

2008-07-13T20:42:00.008-04:00

This book is one-of-a-kind on many levels. The authors go above and beyond creating a book where the pages turn themselves. This is not your typical dry bio written by academics. This is a real work of literature of the highest caliber. Whether you care for de Kooning or not, this books tells the tale of a man coming from meager means and decades of personal and financial struggle to worldwide success – success that comes with professional obligations and expectations. It is the American tale as good as it gets.

This book also traces the beginnings of an American art world and market. As the pages turn, we witness the construction of an American intelligencia made up of immigrants who turn their back on Paris and pull New York and America up from a provincial back water into a world class art capital.

For the most part the book is an honest read. We get to see de Kooning as a human – flaws and all. The book generally does not pull punches, where I believe most bios do.
In the end, de Kooning is not a hero, but a man filled with personal flaws, who at the expense of everything created new art and artists.

Louise Bourgeois @ the Guggenheim Museum

2008-07-13T19:59:00.010-04:00

Louise Bourgeois at the Guggenheim is a wonderful show, presenting a full breath in which the artist works. I highly recommend starting at the top of the spiral and working down. I always find Bourgeois's work charged with universal human vitality. She transforms her own life experiences into poetic moments that haunt the furthest reaches of the mind. If you are unable to attend, the Museum has selected works on the website.

Painter Michelle Dennis launches new website

2008-07-13T19:53:00.004-04:00

Recent Boston University grad Michelle Dennis lands in New York City and launches a new website.

Stories: Portraits, group show @ Eleven Rivington.

2008-07-12T10:59:00.005-04:00

Summer is here and that means loads of group shows! Stories: Portraits @ Eleven Rivington is a great start.
Artists in the show are:

TM Davy
Jeronimo Elespe
Kay Harwood
Raffi Kalenderian
Ylva Ogland
Adria Sartore
Aya Uekawa

As the titles suggests, the show exhibits each artist's interpretation for the Portrait in painting. Some paint in the classical tradition and use contemporary clues in the work, while others employ more contemporary means to construct a portrait.

Sharon Engelstein "Blow Job" @ Sunday

2008-07-12T10:14:00.006-04:00

Sharon Engelstein's show titled "Blow Job" at Sunday gallery in the L.E.S. exhibits sculpture produced by cutting-edge technology. The big yellow piece titled "Slow Head" in the middle of the main gallery is made of nylon and is blown up by a fan (hence the title of the show). The pieces in the back gallery are rapid prototype made by using a 3-D printer used in the industrial design industry. Although the work is produced by new technologies the work possesses a soft sensuality usually lacking in work produced by these means. For Engelstein the computer is a tool like any other, a means to an end not the end to the means. Definitely stop in to see this show!

J.M.W. Turner @ the Met

2008-07-06T16:01:00.004-04:00

The great godfather of gestural painting J.M.W. Turner at the Met is a show to be reckoned with. Noone ever before or since can paint water and atmosphere with moments of such force and quiet stillness. Its the kind of stillness that is never still, but gently guides the eye through a quite space only to be throne into moments of chaotic turbulence. It's a ride I never want to get off. His sense of light and dramatic shadow act like a siren, beckoning your gaze ever closer.

Omar Chacon @ Bronx River Art Center

2008-07-06T09:47:00.008-04:00

Omar Chacon at Bronx River Art Center is a refreshing blast of color in a city that is usually quite gray. Over the years Chacon has patiently and intently mined the possibilities of poured and dripped paint. Chacon has developed his dots, drips and drips that are cut to form mosaic like tiles into a personal lexicon to create works that grapple with world politics and art history as subjects.

Chacon will have his International debut with Magrorocca in Milan, Italy in September 2008 and his New York City solo debut with Green Contemporary in January 2009.

Chacon is also represented by Lincart in San Fransisco.

Louise Bourgeois The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine

2008-07-06T08:53:00.007-04:00

If you can find this film screening in a town near you go see it!
The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine is a honest and touching portrait of one of the most prolific and important artists of the 20th and 21st Centuries. It is astonishing to trace her work back to the Surrealists of Paris, through the Ab Exers of New York, through the Po Mo Eighties and all the while remaining a vital and relevant artist working today. Louise is a force of nature who's work bypasses time and place because the work operates on a very fundamental and moving level that gets to the heart of the human experience. I believe that is why her work can be and has been read in so many ways and on so many levels.

This Film is well worth seeking out.
Here is the trailer on YouTube.

I feel fortunate to have viewed this film before I go see her show at the Guggenheim next weekend. Say tuned for my post on that!

Hilary Harnischfger @ Never Work

2008-06-22T22:46:00.003-04:00

Nestled in a small storefront in the L.E.S., Hilary Harnischfger's paper made objects dazzle the eye at Never Work Gallery. Do not miss this gem of a show!

Elizabeth Cooper @ Thrust Projects

2008-06-22T22:22:00.005-04:00

Elizabeth Cooper's new work brightens the walls at Thrust Projects. Known for her splash-ish abstractions Cooper produces slick and surprisingly rough paintings.