7 posts tagged “parties”
Looks like I'll be showing in a lot of places around N. America the next two months. I'm glad I got it together enough to do some pieces specifically for the themed shows -- I've been lazy since October. So here, mark your calendars if you are in any of these cities...
Friday, March 7th
“All Girl Show” @ Anxiety
Gallery in Madison WI. I'll have two mixed media pieces in this one, wish I could go.
Saturday,
March 8th
The 2nd Annual 'Ladies
First' art event in Vancouver, BC. As part of the Indie
Music Video Festival
This show will also be traveling to Chicago, IL in May and Portland,
OR in July and possibly more.
Many hot artist chicks involved in this one. Here's some work you'll find And I'll probably be attending the Chicago event.
Saturday,
April 5th - 26th
"Isn't It Romantic" group show @ Mahan
Gallery, Columbus OH. I'll be attending this with my posse -- watch out!
Saturday,
April 12th
"World Space Party" group show. Space themed art in honor
of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
@ Art Whino Gallery, Alexandria
VA. I'll have a painting I made just for this on display. Wish I could go to this.
Apirl
14th - 20th
"Attack of the B Movie Show" @ Space
Gallery 1141 Polk St (at Sutter) San Francisco. CA.
Curated by The Creep Machine. Opening Reception Friday, April 18th,
8pm - whenever. My "Switchblade Sue" series will be on display. A lot of awesome people involved in this show too, damn I wish I could attend.
You can also find my stuff at Boxheart Gallery in Pittsburgh, Gina's Gallery in Cleveland and well as on display at Velvet Tango Room in Cleveland.
Notes on last night:
My original costume fell through, as did our group plan, so I had to scramble and go to a real costume store in time for a party. It is almost impossible to find a non-stripper looking outfit for women at those Halloween stores. The fact that Rainbow Brite is now a slutty fantasy costume for guys is amazing. I finally found something decent (see the photo section for that), but realized my Egyptian mummy getup was a tad racy when husband grabbed my lady parts saying, "oh mummy mummy! MUMMY" I fixed some problems with it, like the sheer fabric that revealed a bit much, but yeah I still was not comfortable. At least I wasn't a stripper lady bug, Rainbow Brite or stewardess with my ass hanging out. But I actually won the party costume contest! I never win stuff. I didn’t even know there was a contest, but I got some neat prizes such as cash, shots glasses, a Zippo and cocktail book. I’d like to thank those who voted for me, though I get the feeling more than one person rigged the votes on my behalf. I would have voted for the girl in the Wendy’s costume or the guy who came as “Sloth” Fratelli from The Goonies.
One thing about large costume parties; I've come to the conclusion that they are a good excuse for assholes
to be even bigger assholes. Being that since they are “in character” it exhumes
them of any responsibility for being douchebags to women. Doing things like being grabby, thinking its okay to kiss chicks for no reason,
asking chicks to show their tits, and so forth. It was a battle just to get
back and forth to the ladies room without something freaky or inappropriate happening. The highlight
and only weird turn of the evening was the huge chicken. While getting a drink at the bar, guy in the big chicken costume says to
my husband,
“You better be the Crow!”
“of course he is” I say.
“Ooooh look at you, wow so original, you’re soooo 1996 dude. Wow why don’t you go dance at The Chamber and listen to Bauhaus or something, you’re sooo goth”
Okay, guy in a big chicken costume, making fun of guy dressed as the Crow at a friggin' Halloween party. It was so weird and out of nowhere. The Crow responded by telling the guy he is Colonel Sanders' bitch and gets it up the you-know-where from him every night. The chicken totally pussed out and walked away. We were hoping for a throw down at some point later, it would have mirrored a scene from Family Guy indeed....
Guess what tonight is? My showy-poo!
After almost two years, an impaled right hand (that I stupidly kept painting with), a herniated disk in my back and tons of costume and peerage research -- this thing is done baby. Over 30 works on display, and it looks pretty cool I think. I'll continue this series for sure, but I'm just glad to have this particular bulk out of the way.
I'm still cracking up about the president of the Portrait Society of America calling to tell me I will probably get sued by the National Portrait Gallery in DC for my show title because of copyright infringement. I asked how on earth they could hold the copyright for all National Portrait Galleries in the world? She kept saying they didn't, so therefore, I told her I can't be sued. I don't think she was understanding anything I said about it, or understood the question in the first place. Being that mine is a fake country anyways it wouldn't matter. Besides, first thing I think of is the National Portrait Gallery in London, not the one in DC. So I called them up, and a lawyer, they both assured me as long as my show title didn't have "Smithsonian" in it, I'm clear. How nice the PSA did their research before calling and stressing me out. I don't think I'll be renewing my membership to be honest. They seem to hate mannerism and never bothered publishing the exhibit in the newsletter, for fear of being sued too I'm sure. But I thought it would be really cool if they did sue me over a stupid art show title.
So if you are in the Cleveland area, you can come and drink and look and buy and all that stuff. It'll be a good party if anything else...
I have a confession to make. I have become one of those
people...that will give their cat a birthday party.
Although technically Mr. Hubby is the one that initiated this tradition, and out of everyone's birthday he actually remembers that cat's day of birth and thinks about what gifts to get him a month ahead of time...okay I think about gifts to get him too. This all started because our pals also own the brother of your little boy. Milkshake and Spike, Spike and Milkshake you get the gist. Look here's baby Spike spreading Xmas cheer...
Anyways, what we really are celebrating is the fact that both our cats didn't DIE as babies and that they are spoiled healthy macho big boys now. Without going into the whole story of how I happened upon these little babies, let me put it to you this way:
crack apartment complex where even the janitor got murdered
screaming coming from boiler room
locker
metal box inside locker
2 week old kittens trapped inside with no air, or milk for God knows how long!
And seriously, they were tiny, my vet thought Milkshake was a hampster at first. They didn't think they would live because some sicko decided to take them from their mother and suffocate them in a hot basement. What did the cops say? "Well, what are we supposed to do?" Gee, I don't know. Find what tenant did this because it is prospective serial killer behavior! This was Milkshake about 4 days after the rescue...
So yes, tomorrow is our celebration of the non-death of our little boys. See he's all healthy and beat the odds even with a severe lung infection early on. Healthy enough that he bullies the crap out my husband and I...
They will be three years-old tomorrow. And really, cat birthday parties are just like kid's birthday parties; adults sit around getting completely hammered and eating sweets while the little ones run around like idiots all afternoon yelling and playing hide and go seek. And yes, last year we did wear party hats. What of it!? I luvs my kitteh.
Someone told me Cleveland was a good place for an artist to hide. Well, must be true because only recently have I discovered many that were being hermits, or just showing in galleries outside of Cleveland. I should have figured there were more than I thought initially; Cleveland is where American Greetings is based, many illustrators and painters work there getting their soul destroyed before heading home to work on their "real" projects. And we do have the Cleveland Institute of Art -- Dana Schutz did her undergrad work there, a fact they like to pimp.
Sure I have my issues with this city, but honestly, no more than I did with Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Boston or Ann Arbor. The difference is that in Cleveland my wallet isn't being raped and my credit cards aren't racking up debt just trying to pay for car insurance. I also don't have to deal with people who are on a mission to be a "star" constantly or out to see how I might be useful to them. As I wrote before, Cleveland is trying more to cater to the young and creative class, so you can get a sweet loft or just a cheap apartment for little money. And if you want to step it up a bit, you can get a luxury condo for less than the price of a shack in the Bay Area. See, it isn't all American Splendor here, although that side of Cleveland is well and alive.
And yes, Cleveland does have galleries and a small art scene. I think the problem of why more hasn't been written about it is just the fact the galleries don't try hard enough to be known on a national level. Heck, some don't even have websites, or if they do, they are not updated or functional with proper meta tags etc. This can be said for many artists too. Here's a great read on that subject alone.
Where to start? The area of Tremont you'll find everything from underground contemporary stuff to the "does this match my couch?" and Thomas Kinkade-esque fare. It's also where many bars and restaurants are located. This is the "hip" area I guess, as I'd compare it a bit to the Silverlake neighborhood of L.A. except with nicer restaurants. But don't worry, you're just as likely to get your car stolen and torched here as you are in Echo Park if you are one of those people who like to "keep it real" in your urban experiences. I think my two favorite galleries in Tremont are Brandt Gallery and Asterisk Gallery. But there are many I haven't been to yet like Raw & Co.
There's also a new space that just opened in the Tower Press Building called the Wooltex Gallery. I don't have a shot of the inside, but it is really nice believe me. Another newer one in downtown that the space is really nice is William Busta's Gallery. He has no website it seems though, so I can't show it to you. The work of Timothy Callaghan was the opening show in the new space.
I like his stuff.Front Room Gallery is another that is doing some interesting things in both 2D and installation shows; the space is on the 3rd floor of a warehouse, but once inside it is quite nice with great lighting. Level Three is another new gallery that features painting as well as ceramics; another very cool space with fun parties. Zygote Press is where you wanna get you print fix on and has a loyal following it seems. Shaheen Fine Art has been a mainstay, they feature contemporary works as well as a few blue chip artists in their inventory. A newer gallery that just opened with a focus on Street Art, it is called Artchitecture Gallery
On to the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, a neighborhood in "transition" so I'd avoid going there late at night. My husband refuses outright to set foot there, but I try to make the best of it as there are some nice shops and things sprouting up. The Cleveland Public Theater is the anchor of the area, and very fun theater and pretty too. There is the Parish Hall right next door, they have an art gallery as well as a tiny chapel where bands play. The inside is pretty sweet with chandeliers and icons everywhere. Though I'm now told it will cease having bands in October, I'm hoping whoever takes it over ( I think it might be Cleveland Public Theater) will do something fun with the two buildings.
M% Gallery just moved to this area too. I still mourn the closing of 1300 Gallery, but I know a new gallery has taken over in its place, Tregoning and Co. , it shows blue chip established artists and has a frame shop too.
And if crafts and DIY is your thing, there's plenty of that here too; we have a wonderful chapter of Stitch N Bitch, and in fact check out the newly opened www.StitchCleveland.com
Of course we have a Museum of Contemporary Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, various non-profit spaces and the like. There's just too many for me to list and frankly some of them I'm not too crazy about anyways. So, I thought I'd leave you with a list of some Cleveland based artists to sift through:
www.timothycallaghan.com
www.amycaseypainting.com
Chris Ryniak
Melissa Forman
www.thomasfrontini.com
Bridget Ginley
Scott Radke
Jorge Lacera
Julie Langsam
Thu Tran
Joe Ayala
Susan Danko
Derek Hess
Boy you wouldn't believe how many others I wanted to list that don't have a website or even have a web presence at all. Eh, oh well. And, if you want to learn more about the food and drink aspects of my adopted city, check out this coming season of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel. Look, here Anthony meets Harvey Pekar!
While working on a piece to possibly be in a book, I came up with this little thing yesterday:
But then I realized there's another type of woman that I can't stand -- even more so than these -- so you will have to wait and see. These are called "Woo Girls" obviously, because when they do a jello shot they all yell, "Woooo!" They also have a tendency to knock their drinks over repeatedly and fail to notice when some chump is rubbing their ass. Yet I'm still fascinated by it all; a sort of anthropological fascination in that I like studying them, you know? When these faces came about, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe I even knew or seen these girls somewhere. The one on the right after I drew her looked awful familiar. But, as the case with most of my portraits, I end up meeting the people I draw later in life -- freaky eh?
Yesterday was the first time we ever really threw a party since moving to Cleveland. We had a small cocktail party once, but that didn't really count I decided. Last night was very fun, and I was happy so many people came from out of the way that we hadn't seen in a long time. However, I might need to have another party just to get rid of the rest of these:
