Blogging with Blocks

Dear K,

Ok, so I'm so officially obsessed with blogging right now that I want to post everyday. Its all I think about! Regardless, my students in 3-D design just had yet another critique - we were clearly studying Louise Nevelson and the idea of assemblage. This photo is from one of my students - I think she did such a fantastic job that I want to keep this piece permanently. I love the decorative elements to this while still remaining a clean design. "A +"!

Speaking of school.. I'm officially on Spring Break as of tomorrow and am getting really excited about my swampy camping, canoeing and hiking adventure.

Hope you are great!
Love, K.

Codex and Cantos; mixed with a little chalk

Dear K,

I had a great art weekend myself. The gallery I work at, Red Dot Contemporary, had a great opening of artist, Rick McKee Hock. His polaroid transferred images were mysterious, eerie and read like a visual document of the 1970s to 1980s. Images of Andy Warhol, medical illustrations, and historic photographs were mixed with pop culture images of those pesky Garbage Pail Kids and comic bookesque drawings. His work filled the small space beautifully, mixing a delicate process with smart context. I happen to love polaroid transfers.. they allow space for the idea of a "painterly photograph" - which seems to be something that I crave, aesthetically.

I also went to the Lake Worth Annual Sidewalk Chalk Festival and saw my local streets (in addition to sweaty bodies) covered in colored hues. Anytime you mix community art, jazz and $5.00 jumbo, freshly sqeezed lemonade (I opted not to partake in the gyros) you can count on a good time!

Love, K.

Enter Into Circulation : An Alternative Library

Dear K,
I went to a great show last Saturday. Strange collections, handmade books, letterpress texture, sweet stories, eccentric illustrations, and sculptural pages--thought of you completely! This was the Finch Gallery's first opening at their new location on Armitage. Neighboring a boarded up brick building with a vintage sign (although unintentionally) for Angelo's barber shop and the new condos of "South Logan Square," the space is perfectly out of place. Clean white walls inside old frosted glass windows, where fringe meets frill. The show was just as artistically measured--the kind of work that plays out quietly with sometimes curious, dark readings. Seemed very East Coast, if you know what I mean. Aesthetically serious, yet playfully wry in content. Somewhat the nature of the book (and the small space), the show was very intimate. I wanted to steal away to study some pieces in private. A few works, though, seemed to fit the public setting. One, in fact, invited participation. The Library of Petty Thoughts (below) called viewers to sit on a velvety bench and write in one of the hundreds of tiny "P" books. The installation was mockingly "ivy league" in brand identity. Of course, I wrote something very petty at the time, but cannot recall now.
Other memorable works included a felt bearded blue superman (who could not love a superhero with a book for a heart?), a row of mixed-media houses which looked like a personalized game of life (below), an archive of personal effects using nostalgic package design to relay an ambiguous message about the fictional ("she") collector, and beautifully intricate paper diorama sets (at top). Wish you were here!

The show was presented by "Pulp, Ink & Thread" a division of The Book and Paper Center of Columbia College
Curated by Lauren DuBeau
@ The Finch Gallery, 2747 W. Armitage, Chicago, IL
www.finchgallery.com for more