
Artist Talk at CUNY Staten Island

From February 27th to March 2nd, artist-in-residence Tonja Torgerson transformed the 806 Collective Space at the Charles Adams Studio Project into Dissolution, a dystopic Garden of Eden filled with images of flora, insects, and decomposing figures. Wheat-pasting screen-printed collages of both symbolic and local plants, the artist provided an intimate pause for the audience to contemplate the uncomfortable nature of mortality, impermanence, and the frailty of the body in a lush but bleak environment.
This project was created with the help of students from Texas Tech School of Art and the Lubbock community. The results of the project were on view to the public in Studio C at CASP during the March 3rd First Friday Art Trail. This project was presented by the printmaking area of the TTU School of Art with support from the John T. & Ryla F. Lott Endowment for Excellence in the Visual Arts, and in collaboration with the 806 Collective and the Charles Adams Studio Project.
Works by Tonja Torgerson & Margaret Craig
To celebrate Print Austin, grayDUCK gallery presents two artists with an atypical approach to printmaking. Out of the Ruined Place finds beauty in unlikely settings. Tonja Torgerson explores human impermanence, decaying/being consumed by nature, with serigraphs, wheat paste graffiti and photography. Margaret Craig uses an invented printing process on discarded plastic to create a luminous Trash Reef installation.
grayDUCK Gallery
2213 E. Cesar Chavez
Austin, TX 78702
January 15 – February 14, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, January 15th 7-10pm
I am headed to Austin for the opening, so if you are in the area, come and say hello!
A new illustration made for Racial Justice! Class Equity! Earth Power! : A Dossier on the Social Landscape of Abuse Culture and its Possible Remediation, a publication & happening occurring in conjunction with the Hippie Modernism exhibition at the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis.
Racial Justice! Class Equity! Earth Power! : Tools for Remediation within a Culture of Abuse
Using the era focused on within the exhibition Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia the experimental publication platform Red76 will invite visitors to the Walker Art Center to create their own hand-compiled dossiers of their continuing conversation in print and public space, Racial Justice! Class Equity! Earth Power! : A Dossier on the Social Landscape of Abuse Culture and its Possible Remediation
Comprised of dozens of individuals pages which look at histories, forms, ideas, and concerns from across time and specific struggles and issues, Racial Justice! Class Equity! Earth Power! in full sets about to question how we can make room for what could be considered different political issues / struggles and see them, not simply in alliance with one another, but as the same thing, all part of the same culture of abuse which can be engaged through an understanding of how we occupy space with one another and how our actions, within that space, form the landscape we collectively inhabit.
Tools for Remediation
Thursday, November 12th, 5 – 9pm
Walker Art Center
Cargill Lounge
1750 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
ARTCRANK NYC is tomorrow! Can’t wait? Here is a sneak peek of my poster for the show:
Yes, that is shiny silver ink on dark blue paper.
ARTCRANK has posted glimpses of all the NYC posters on their website.
ARTCRANK NYC
Thursday, August 9: 5:00pm – 11:00pm
Bicycle Habitat
244 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012
I will be participating in the first ARTCRANK NYC! I was able to be a part of ARTCRANK in Minneapolis before moving to New York, and its a really great event that I am excited to be a part of again. Here is a great promo video made by ARTCRANK.
ARTCRANK NYC
Bicycle Habitat
NYC
August 9th, 2012
Don’t know Andy? Well you should: Andy McInnis is an arts educator and screen printing expert who is currently teaching screen printing workshops and printing on-site. He is quickly spreading the word about Screen Printing: On the Cheap, a DIY book project about printing out of your apartment.
So drop by Shuga Records during Art-A-Whirl/Hoolie Fest (May 14th, 15th, and 16th) and pick up some local art to support a great project. Or come to enjoy the educational stylings of Andy McInnis and print your very own t-shirt! Either way, its bound to be a blast.
For more information check out
www.screenprintingonthecheap.
Print Sale to Support
Screen Printing: On the Cheap
Shuga Records
165 13th Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN
May 14th, 15th, and 16th
Motivated by my resolution to fight winter hibernation, I took advantage of the relatively warm weather and went to experience the Art Shanties on Medicine Lake. I say ‘relatively warm’ because the last week the temperature did not get above zero! Today was 20 and snowy, which seemed like lovely weather to see the Shanties.For me, the Art Shanty Project is utterly Minnesotan. About as Minnesotan as it was for me to spend the first paragraph of this post taking about the weather. It takes a certain test of character to spend months building a structure made to withstand this harsh climate and then spending a month on a frozen lake occupying said structure. Its mostly just on weekends, but it is still a tremendous amount of time and energy. Impressive.
Like a lot of large group projects, the Art Shanties can be hit or miss. Many shanties seem well thought out in their construction, but are difficult to approach or interact with. Technical problems with heat and electricity also caused several shanties to be closed, which was a real shame. It is fascinating to watch the project evolve every year, and slowly more popular.
This year saw the return of some of the best of years past, including the Snap Shot Shanty and the Art Post Shanty. But there were many new shanties as well! One of my favorites was the Ice Boat.It’s 30+ foot blue sail was amazing! While it did not do much soaring across the ice when I was there, we certainly had fun trying to get it up to speed.
The Sweat & Drink Inc Shanty was another wonderful addition to be found this year. The best projects address the surrounding environment in a way that is interesting and inviting.
That is why I must say the S.U.R.V.I.V.A.L shanty of last year remains one of my all time favorites. While its not to be found on Medicine Lake this year, you can find it’s remains online.