The Exceptional Ordinary

The Exceptional Ordinary

I am in a two person show at Robert Bills Contemporary, July 8th through August 5th.

sign painting blog

Over at Campsite, there is a great series of posts on signage.

Check it out:

http://campsite-studio.com/category/signage/

Olafur Eliasson's new giant walk-in rainbow

This is Olafur Eliasson's new giant walk-in/ walk-through rainbow in Denmark.

More pictures here: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/14812/olafur-eliasson-your-rainbow-panorama-now-complete.html

Painters I like: Kim Cogan

http://www.kimcogan.com/

Painters I like: Megan Euker

I saw her work at Linda Warren Gallery. Beautiful colors, beautiful handling of paint. Her paintings are really about pleasure.

www.meganeuker.com/

Painters I Like: Sarah Sohn

I've been seeing her work at the SAIC open studios for a while now and I'm always impressed

You can see more at:

http://www.sarahsohn.com/

Things I like:

I really enjoyed this wonderful article about the disappearing face of New York:


http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/05/the-disappearing-face-of-new-york/

Washington Mutual

I just finished my double billboard painting and my Washington Mutual painting in time for final critiques. I also discovered that the real Washington Mutual sign on Division and Ashland was just taken down. You can still see it on google maps though:

<http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=ashland+and+division+maps&fb=1&gl=us&hq=ashland+and+division&hnear=Chicago,+IL&cid=0,0,573944076369036218&ll=41.903507,-87.66871&spn=0.009614,0.02032&z=16&layer=c&cbll=41.90337,-87.667402&panoid=TByA7Y19coGjNtb2C0UxGw&cbp=12,149.13,,0,0>

Painters I like: Devin Leonardi

This guy is a year older than me, but he's making work that looks timeless.

The stores, they are a'changin'

The stores, they are a'changin': "

Great series of photos of a Harlem store front, taken every 2-5 years from 1977 to 2004. (via ★vuokko)

Update: These photos were taken by Camilo Jose Vergara; there are many more like them at his web site. (thx, andrew)

Tags: NYC   photography"

an interesting piece in ArtFagCity

http://www.artfagcity.com/2011/04/08/forget-in-ten-parts-part-9-an-old-fashioned-post-on-painting-and-advancement-in-art-with-pictures/

Finalist

I'm a finalist for the 2011 Union League Civic & Arts Foundation Visual Arts Competition.

Painting Progress: Washington Mutual Sign

I need to finish these by May.

Painters I like: George Nick

I ran into the paintings of George Nick and I remembered that I had wanted to paint more snow and winter light. Oh well, next winter.



























I really like the books in this painting. I had a dream about painting books like this.

What are you working on right now?

I've finished stretching, sanding, and gesso-ing my newest paintings.











Yesterday I sketched out what I plan to paint. Total, the three paintings are 24 feet in length (life size).












They are paintings of the covered up Washington Mutual sign on Ashland and Division.

Artists I like: Dan McCleary

I'm really enjoying the epic-mundane paintings of Dan McCleary right now.
(Security, 2011 and Panel Discussion, 2011 above)

Tasty Spoonful Interview

Look at me! I was interviewed by AJ Aronstein for Tasty Spoonful:

http://tastyspoonful.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/covert-urban-chicago-artist-gwendolyn-zabicki/

New Work- midterms

This is the work I'll be showing for mid-terms. I'm also showing a drawing for the paintings I'll be doing in the spring. I had to write an artist statement too. I tired hard not to make mine too pretentious, but here it is:

My work examines ubiquitous objects that fill the urban environment and attempts to subvert the expectation that the ordinary should be synonymous with the mundane. Through experiments with size, editing, and technique, I aim to enliven the everyday and expose tensions and contradictions embedded in scenes of city life.

I am influenced by the themes and style of the Ashcan School (1908-1920), especially the painters John Sloan and George Luks. As precursors to Warhol, Lichtenstein and others, these artists were fascinated by advertising signage and the way it competes for our attention. Their work is marked by a subtle politics and an economy of mark-making.

Like the Ashcan painters, I am interested in the contradictions that images help us see. My most recent work of the backs of billboards and covered signs explores (un)spoken, (un)intentional, and (un)available meanings in the urban environment. The focal point of my work is in the dark places and areas of absence where there is a duality between covering and revealing.

Painters I like: Monica Tap

Monica's paintings are based on images from Quicktime videos taken during car rides.

Check out more of her beautiful work on her website: http://www.monicatap.com/

Painters I like: Ian Whitmore

Efficiency Study (after Gilbreth) by Ian Whitmore.