Michael McConnell at Braunstein/Quay

The work in Michael McConnell's recent show at Braunstein/Quay Gallery seems to continue his exploration of childhood innocence, even while treading on typically grown-up ground. Walking through the show, I thought about his non-traditional use of taxidermy forms, the plastic structures over which animal skins are stretched. These forms were not used to celebrate a violent conquest of a life taken in sport, but felt playful. This is an even stranger effect given that all the animals were bound in some way -- tied to trees, branches or stakes in the ground -- which provided the theme and title of the show, "Tethered." While not completely free from thoughts about mankind's transgressions against the wilderness and its animal inhabitants, this work somehow also made me think about animals in my childhood stories, animals of myth and folly that were more like us than any real wild animal. 

You can see more of Michael McConnell's work on his website.

 

blake, w

The Primeval Giants Sunk in the Soil

Quiet

Diary-style post here...

Just thinking about late night walks I regularly took in the old neighborhood in Taylors, SC. I loved that quiet time. Listening to the train pass by in the distance while laying in bed. Earlier still, my absorption into my drawings occurred in a very relaxed state, that is, until I became aware of other people's judgment. Then it changed for me, and eventually I stopped drawing. I felt too much pressure to impress other people.

Over 30 years later, it seems, this pressure is still around. I yearn for the quiet again, and I find that I can still have quiet. One of the ways I'm finding quietude is through my work (again? but different). All the pressures to be a certain way or respond to current trends, etc. are just too much. I'm not concerned about where this will take me or how people will receive the work. I've determined that the commercial art world is too fickle and silly for me to care so much about it. I am concerned with surviving right now, as both my girlfriend and I don't have full-time jobs and are basically struggling to break even from several different sources of income. So when I do make art, it's usually to get away from the splintered nature of making a living right now, to get to some quiet state. This is very different from the performance work I did in grad school (although, strangely, I'm finding some points of intersection between my performance work and my current drawings).

I'll be posting some new images soon. I'd like to use the internet and various social networking vehicles somehow in my work (It's important for me to be a part of the world and quiet, not removed from the world and quiet. There's a big difference).

Anyway, more soon...

New Work on Etsy

Please stop by my Etsy shop, where I've listed some new giclee prints of original pen and ink drawings. I plan to be making more in the future. OUTER CRUST by Blake Gibson

I'm an artist...pay me goddammit!--or--how not to sell out TOO much

Find answers to all these compelling issues and more by clicking here (courtesy of Art Practical).

Kristine Moran at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, nyc

Here's some images from a painter I just discovered courtesy of Steven Zevitas of New American Paintings, now a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. These paintings by Kristine Moran are pretty great. She currently has a show at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in NYC. I'm intrigued by the coming together of fleshy sensuality, harsh angles and suggestion of 3-D space in these paintings. Very odd and evocative.

 

 

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