Arthur Koch at Conduit Gallery

Arthur Koch
Works from the 70's & 80's
November 23, 2013 - January 4, 2014

Conduit Gallery presented six mixed media sculptures from Dallas based artist Arthur Koch. Koch, a long time Southern Methodist University professor is most well known for his elegant sculptures carved from native woods.  This focused exhibition will include several of his delicate, translucent boxes with semi-obscured constructions that range in date from 1971 to 1981.

Conduit Gallery - Project Space

Untitled, 1981.  wood, paint, glass & hardware, 48.75 x 14.75 inches 

Untitled, c1975. wood, paint, glass & hardware, 18 x 20.5 inches

Gold Fish Pond, 1982.  wood, paint, glass & hardware 48.75 x 14.75 inches

Born in 1934 in Connecticut, Koch earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1957 and an MFA from the University of Washington in 1961. He taught sculpture at the Meadows School at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas from 1970 until 2006.

Jason Villegas | Cosmic Series

A few years ago Jason Villegas was obsessed with the PlayStation 2 video game “Katamari Damacy” which is where I believe the following works on paper find their origin.  I was introduced to Jason’s work about 18 months ago and had a somewhat passive interest.  However, after seeing the works in person and visiting with him about a year ago I became a fan.  Jason a young Houston artist has an extensive exhibition history including a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston.  This series is somewhat new to me. I appreciate Jason taking the time to send a bunch of photos over the weekend.  The cosmic series are usually wall installations and video works.   Find time to look up this important artist and hopefully you will become a fan like I did.

For my friends in the Dallas area Jason is included in a group exhibition at Liliana Bloch Gallery that opens this Saturday, November 23rd.

 

The works below range in size from 8x8 inches up to 25x35 inches.

 

Here are some of those wall installations

 

Artist Statement from Jason's website.

My work expresses human desire through naïve representations of man, animal, machine, microbiology, cosmology and merchandise. I subvert fashion logos, animals, nudes, and weaponry to create humorous and absurd engagements, which mirror societal conditioning. This primordial sea of frenetic mutation and unrelenting consumption, pits the images and icons of high and low consumer cultures in the same ring. My drawings, painting, sculpture, video and installation simultaneously explore the grand social schema as well as sub-cultural sexual and artistic realms. Reconstructed clothing, cardboard, found objects, and fragments from our throw away society, meld to create site-specific configurations. These environments formulate an unpolished and coarsely made tribute to global capitalism and progress. 

Pedro Vélez

I first became aware of Pedro Vélez’s work just days after his visit to Dallas in 2011.  After spending a significant amount of time visiting Pedro Veléz’s blog site I contacted Pedro and became friends. I will find a time to visit Pedro in person sometime in the next year or two.

 

This past week Pedro was selected to participate in the 2014 Whitney Biennial.  I am extremely happy and excited for him.  
   

Pedro’s works from my collection include photographs that were taken sometime between 2003 and 2004 in Condado, Puerto Rico.   The series was made in response to a personal matter that impacted Pedro just prior to his collaboration with artist Gean Moreno and their exhibition at Galeria Comercial in 2004.

My Widow, 2004. Acrylic, book page, ink, photograph

Pay to Play, 2009.  Acrylic, book pages, poster, photograph

 

Girlfriend Glare, 2003-04, series of 25 photographs

 

 

Links:

 

Pedro Vélez Blog Site

 

Whitney Biennial 

Michael Bise

Wabi-Sabi

 

Sculptures and Paintings by John-Phillip Philippe at

Barry Whistler Gallery

 

Riff 1, 2013. Emulsified gouache on linen mounted on panel, 14x14

Tall Perch 1 and 2, 2013. Patina-ed steel

Riff 3, 2013. 24 x 18 inches

Riff 2, 2013. 20 1/2 x 16 inches

Celia Eberle | Sadie Hawkins

It was nice to see a selection of older work by Celia Eberle included in the Sadie Hawkins exhibition at Centraltrak.  I don't believe I had seen any of these pieces in person so this was a real treat.

Nocturne I & II, 2003, plaster, paper-mache, gesso, acrylic.

Radioactivity I & II, 2003, plaster, paper-mache, gesso, acrylic.

Little Trip, 2001, styrofoam, paper-mache, gesso, acrylic. 

Harmony, 2003, foam core, paper-mache, gesso, acrylic. 

The Milkmaid, 2003, plaster, paper-mache, gesso, acrylic.

Rose Pattern, 2003, foam core, paper-mache, gesso, acrylic.

We Spoke Mirage

Went to Talley Dunn Gallery to see Robyn O'Neil opening and talk about her newest work.   Wonderful exhibition with not so subtle but really nice change in her work.

Heaven, 2013.  Collage, oil pastel, and graphite on paper, 24.5x29.5 inches

Mist, 2013 and The Pressue Chorus, 2013

 

 

Robyn O'Neil

We Spoke Mirage

November 2 - December 14, 2013

 

Talley Dunn Gallery

Joe Andoe: Paintings

4 very nice paintings made up, Oklahoma artist, Joe Andoe's first exhibition at Barry Whistler Gallery.

By far my favorite: Untitled, 2013.  Oil on canvas, 50x60

 

Big Red, 2013.  Oil on canvas, 77x83

Young Horse, 2013. Oil on canvas, 70x84

Young Horse 2, 2013. Oil on canvas, 48x60

Barry Whistler Gallery
2909-B Canton St.
Dallas, TX 75226

Sadie Hawkins

Stopped by Centraltrak to see the group exhibition "Sadie Hawkins".  I definitely need to stop by again, take more time and more pictures.  I didn't get a chance to really read and view Nina Schwanse's work. 

Sadie Hawkins
October 26- December 16, 2013

First popularized by the Li'l Abner comic strip in 1937, Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event that celebrates role-reversal and female empowerment.  Celebrations of this decades-old tradition continue to this day at high schools and college campuses around the country, where women choose their date to the annual dance of the same name.  In honor of this kitschy and dated tradition, Leigh A. Arnold has curated Sadie Hawkins, a group show consisting of women artists whose work focuses on challenging traditional gender expectations, role-reversal, and Feminist/post-Feminist sensibilities.  Participating artists include: The Bridge Club, Celia Eberle, Linda Finnell, Susan kae Grant, Margaret Meehan, Nina Schwanse, and Faith Wilding.

Margaret Meehan, Jab and Rose Harland

Nina Schwanse, selections from Hold it Against Me: The Veronica Compton Archive, 2013

Celia Eberle, Fruit Pile, Radioactivity I & II, Little Trip

 

 

CentralTrak

800 Exposition Ave. Dallas, TX
75226

Lance Letscher at Conduit Gallery

 

LL