If a picture is worth a thousand words then this series of photos from artist and independent curator, Angela Ferrara of Brazil is priceless. This is a quick look at the installation of the Troyart exhibition which opened on January 11th in Sao Paulo. My Dharma Girl robot is on display until January 30th. Looks like she is in good company.
My piece for this show is based on the original toy provided by Troyart and then customized with collage elements from mandalas, gold leaf and original art.
Building "Dharma Girl" a project for the Troyart International Exhibition at Museu Brasileiro daEscultura (MuBE) of Brasil. They will be exhibited early in 2011.
First look at the toy robot received from Museu Brasileiro daEscultura (MuBE) of Brasil. Robots have been sent to artists for assembly and a personal touch. They will be exhibited early in 2011.
This video is a Seeking Kali artist book collaboration. Ria Vanden Eynde, Susan Shulman and myself worked via Skype, Facebook and email in the preparation of the Kali Ray Flip book for exhibition at Omaggio Ray Johnson, Trevsio, Italy during April of 2011. The Italian Un Libro Sulla Morte is curated by Virginia Milici.
Flipping through the book
This is one of several projects in the works for this collaboration. Ria, Susan and myself are in the final stages of our personal portfolios of Kali related art and our Seeking Kali artist call has been a great success with 89 (and counting) great submissions to the site. We have extended the deadline until January 15th for inclusion in the book and the DVD documentation. Information concering the artist call can be found HERE.
Analogue Narratives - Collaborative blog launch - On-going accounts of the attempt to create an ending for the unfinished René Daumal novel Mount Analogue
NOVEMBER
Kali Yuga, a Shadow Production by William Evertson for Seeking Kali premiered at the opening of the Ray Johnson/A Book About Death exhibition on Nov. 3rd, 2010. Hosted by the SAL Gallery, CW Post campus of Long Island University. Music by Larry Cohen.
DECEMBER
Mr. Wicket quilt square at the Maine Discovery Museum, Bangor, Maine
These are the highlights from my studio this past year. It was a wonderful year filled with love, support and encouragement from many people. Thank you...all who are following and reading.
"I wanted to let you know that your artwork is currently on display at the
Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor, Maine."
Email from Jennifer Marsh, the organizer of the Dream Rocket Project. (12/05/10) Yea!! I made this fabric piece almost a year ago to be part of an international project to cover a Saturn V Rocket with quilt squares. Jennifer has been at work for a couple years now; accumulating art from groups and individuals in the quest to assemble the 30, 467 square feet needed to cover the 38 story rocket that is on display outside the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama.
Select panels are on tour through-out the US at fourteen venues.
The Maine Discovery Museum is the largest children's museum in Maine. The Dream Rocket panels are on display through January.
An international exhibition of robots is coming to Brazil in January. The Troyart International Exhibition will feature works gathered from artists around the world. The robots are the work of the Brazilian Company, Troyart which makes the easy to assemble toys that were sent out by the museum this fall.
Artists have been asked to paint, modify and generally remake the robots in their own style. The exhibit is slowly being assembled online at the Troyart blog in preparation for the exhibit at the Museu Brasileiro daEscultura (MuBE) in Sao Paulo, Brazil beginning in January.
I have made two videos; both featured in the video section of the museum blog that chronicle my work on Dharma Girl; Exhibit #97. My first video is called Beginning Robotics.
Beginning Robotics - Meeting My Robot
The second video shows my work on the robot as I make her. Yes, it is a she robot and she's called Dharma Girl.
Intermediate Robotics - Building Dharma Girl
Next Step: Pack her for the long trip back to MuBE.
Many thanks to Angela Ferrara who curates and maintains the exhibition blog, Renata Azevedo of MuBE for direction and Roberto Stelzer of Troyart.
_Backstage at Ray Johnson/ABAD Exhibition with Seeking Kali_
1000 pieces of mail art and an extravagant evening of lecture, readings and performance! Curators Joan L. Harrison, LuAnn Palazzo and Constance Sloggatt Wolf added a wonderful chapter to the continuing global explosion of A Book About Death exhibits. Long Island University's SAL Gallery at the CW Post campus hosted an opening reception Nov. 3rd that featured all of the above.
The Seeking Kali group of projects that I helped launch with my fellow collaborators Ria Vanden Eynde of Belgium and Canadian Susan Shulman was well represented at Ray Johnson/A Book About Death. Artists currently in our on-going artist call were represented via a video presentation of their work as well as a loop on a monitor that played throughout the evenings opening activities. Many of these artists found their way to Seeking Kali as a result of their past association with ABAD exhibits.
One of my highlights was presenting the Shadow Theater that I developed around the subject of Kali.
I've put together a video that compresses some of these highlights into a six minute tour of the opening. This is just a bit of the festival atmosphere that the evening presented.
There are more exhibition highlights as well as a complete archive of the work submitted on the Ray Johnson/ABAD blog.
There is more information about past and future A Book About Death opportunities on the the ABAD archive site.
Matthew Rose, creator of the A Book About Death that premiered at Emily Harvey Gallery in NYC mentioned "Several new shows are being planned; for Italy, London, Paris, Germany, Arizona and China (a real possibility) and I hope a major museum in Tokyo."
The Italy exhibit is being planned by Virginia Milici, a long time follower of this blog.
The premier of the Kali Shadow Theater was Nov.3rd at the SAL Gallery, CW Post campus of Long Island University. The opening reception of the Ray Johnson/ A Book About Death exhibition featured a variety of readings, performance and video.
Coming into the final stretch for the Shadow Theater. With the performance opening on Nov. 3rd. rehearsals will have to wind down. Yet, strange things keep creeping in to this shadow puppet play. The moon will unexpectedly fall from the sky, a mountain range does not want to move into place, Kali does not want to bend her arm. And so it goes, each rehearsal unveiling some mischief that I blame on the demon cut-outs that torment Kali in the final scene. They obviously want more stage time.
Many worlds of thanks to all the wonderful people who have aided me in being able to present this performance art piece. First is the creator of the music, Larry Cohen. It is his original composition that sets the entire mood of the work. Joan Harrison and fellow curators LuAnn Palazzo for allowing me the opportunity to exhibit. Susan Shulman and Ria Vanden Eynde, my fellow Kali artists who critiqued and offered suggestions. Last but not least my wife Karen, for agreeing to act the part of Kali.
We are dedicating this performance to Karen's mom, Gary, who passed away during the development of this project. We miss you Gary, our true multi-talented Kali goddess.
Editing the Seeking Kali blog submissions
All this takes place at the SAL Gallery on the CW Post campus of Long Island University on Nov. 3rd. The performances and videos are scheduled during the reception which runs from 5pm to 11.
I have also been working on a video of the submissions to the Seeking Kali artist call. The six minute video that will be shown features the 45 musicians, poets and visual artists who have contributed to date. The Seeking Kali artist call runs through the end of December for those interested in making a submission.
The opening of the Ray Johnson/A Book About Death exhibit on Nov. 3rd on the Long Island University CW Post campus SAL Gallery features a night of performance and video. Seeking Kali is a project I've collaborated on with fellow artists Ria Vanden Eynde and Susan Shulman for almost a year now. We've been involved in book arts, running an online exhibition and now we present a performance piece based on our look into the myth and paradox of the Hindu goddess Kali.
Several of the silhouettes used in the performance
The theater has been my pet project for about six weeks now. The concept has been in my head and sketchbooks for almost a decade since first watching a Nang shadow theater in Thailand where I was once a visiting artist. I was very impressed with the simple tales yet elaborate cut out silhouettes the puppeteers used in their humble performances. The ones I saw were performed using only a sheet with a lantern for illumination.
original Ink drawing on acetate
In my version, I use a combination of live actors, puppets and hand painted scenery. I am also very fortunate to have the help of a musical collaborator on this project. Canadian composer Larry Cohen agreed to develop a sound environment for the action to occur in. Larry's work on the musical score adds immeasurably to the atmosphere of the performance. He certainly has put in as many hours on this as I have on the puppets and scenery paintings. An example of Larry's personal work in video and sound can be found at this link. The following video shows about a minute of segments from a recent rehearsal. You can hear Larry's musical work although not as well as it will be presented in the live version of the production.
This promises to be one of the largest exhibitions based on the original ABAD conceived and executed by Matthew Rose (and 485 friends) last fall in NYC. The CW Post exhibit includes the entire original exhibit as well as an almost equal number of new contributions. The evening of the opening is packed with performance art and video. Our Seeking Kali collaborative group will also be exhibiting an original video that contains all submissions to our artist call received to date. Please consider joining our Seeking Kali Facebook group for news and exhibition announcements.
skyscraper bird men (after Leger) ink on acetate set element
Congratulations in advance to curators Joan Harrison and LuAnn Palazzo for their hard work and determination in mounting this exhibition.
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