James Kalm's report on the 2008 Whitney Biennial, and a sketch of Robert Bechtle

Here's something that was brought to my attention recently, a link to James Kalm's 'undercover' report on the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Like artbusiness.com, which covers the San Francisco Bay Area gallery events, Kalm and his video camera brings us the happenings around NYC.

James Kalm's 'undercover report on the 2008 Whitney Biennal
(When he walks down to the third floor, is it just me... at first I thought the baby carriage was part of the show?)

As you might notice, Robert Bechtle's work is in the exhibition. As an undergrad I admired his painting, '60 T-bird, which hung at the UC Berkeley Art Museum. I took my first painting class from him in 1992. If you get a chance to check out his work, do so. His retrospective at the SFMOMA was one of the best shows I've seen there. His paintings capture an abstract quality and a level of depth that is very impressive. It is especially prevalent in his more recent paintings.

Coincidentally, a couple weeks ago I was going through some old sketchbooks and came across the sketch below.



Artbusiness.com
http://artbusiness.com/

James Kalm video reports
http://www.youtube.com/user/jameskalm

Back from Monster Draw!

I just came back from the Monster Draw! The place is boiling hot and packed to the walls. I've never seen so many people for an art event. As a friend of mine commented, it is sort of antithetical conditions for an artist, like having a large crowd of people watching you sing in the shower. But after about 20 minutes one settles in and ignores the flash bulbs and noise. I'm happy to report I was able to finish two drawings... a couple of my 'little dudes' that I draw for kicks. (The photos are a bit out of focus because the table was constantly being bumped) Monet had his little character drawings, I have mine...

Southern Exposure’s 9th Annual Monster Drawing Rally

Hey, is that me from last year?... yep, that's my RBK hoodie and Coffee Bar coffee.

This is an annual live drawing event with more than 120 artists creating drawings... live! And you can purchase a drawing for just $60! All proceeds support Southern Exposure's Exhibitions and Artists in Education Programs. Southern Exposure has been a big part of the arts community and the Mission district, I hope you can make it to this great event.

Time: Friday, February 27, 2009, 
6:00 - 11:00 PM (I'll be drawing from 9 to 10 pm)

Donation: $5 & UP

Event Location: Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa Street (between Hampshire and Potrero Streets)

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS include:
 Brett Amory, Lauren Anderson, Kathy Aoki, Chris Applegren, Seth Armstrong, Johnna Arnold, Mara Baldwin, David Becker, Pete Belkin, Bert Bergen, Elisheva Biernoff, Evan Bissel, Michelle Blade, James Bradley, Val Britton, Charlie Callahan, Michele Carlson, Deric Carner, John Casey, Constance Castillo, Alexander Cheves, Youmna Chlala, Serena Cole, Randy Colosky, Lisa Congdon, Jaime Cortez, Lauren Davies, Christian Davies, Veronica De Jesus, Tina Dillman, Nina Elder, Marcela Florez, Amy Franceschini, Adam Friedman, Matt Furie, Narangkar Glover, Pete Glover, Ariel Goldberg, Michael Hall, Liz Harvey, Chelsea Heikes, Eric Heiman, Queena Hernandez, Terry Hoff, Misa Inaoka, Ian Johnson, Kelly Lynn Jones, Kara Joslyn, Josh Keyes, David King, Tashana Kjelland, Sarah Klein, Chris Leib, Justin Limoges, Ken Lo, Ivan Lopez, Marina Luz, Nathan Lynch, Paul Madonna, Minette Mangahas, Michelle Mansour, Kari Marboe, Vanessa Marsh, Corinne Matesich, Christina Mazza, Mike McConnell, G! aelan McKeown, Jeff Meadows, Jody Medich, David Muller, Carson Murdach, Claire Nereim, Jessica Niello, Andy Nizinskyj, Sandra Ono, Jennie Ottinger, Matthew Palladino, Lana Parcello, Erik Parra, Kamau Patton, Hilary Pecis, Stephanie Peek, Chris Pew, George Pfau, Ferris Plock, Mel Prest, Kyle Ranson, Lisa Ricci, Ricardo Richie, Favianna Rodriguez, Lordy Rodriguez, John Rogers, Veronica Rojas, Thorina Rose, Nat Russell, Zachary Rossman, Sham Saenz, Colleen Sanders, Zachary Royer Scholz, Andrew Schoultz, Emily Sevier, Ryan Shaffer, Deth P. Sun, Jiharri Terry, Tracy Timmins, Trevor Tubelle, Jessica Tully, Kelly Tunstall, Gina Tuzzi, Aiyana Udesen, Paul Urich, Adrian Van Allen, Jamie Vasta, Ben Venom, Marci Washington, Amanda Williams, Jenifer Wofford, Michael Louis Young.

MUSIC. FOOD. DRINKS.
 Music will be delivered all night long by Bo Derelict.
 (great name...)

Last years event was great fun... hope to see you there!

Giant Leap for Mankind... Josh Ellingson's Art goes Orbital

Fellow artist at Bryant Street Studios, Josh Ellingson, received confirmation today that his artwork was part of the first art exhibition... in... SPACE! In October space entrepreneur, Richard Garriott, held the first ever art exhibition in Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. Known also as 'Lord British', Garriott was an early pioneer of computer gaming back the 1980s and is the son of former NASA astronaut, Dr. Owen Garriott. Ellingson's piece: "Dirty Martini and the Birth of the Space Program" was selected along with several works by other Earth artists, including: Steve Jenson, Drue Kataoka, Greg Mort, John Matthew Riva, Melinda Fager, and another SF local, Stanley Goldstein.

In a post-event web interview, I asked Mr. Ellingson if he had any words of advice for the young people out there?

"I would like to tell the young people of Earth, that they should try things even if they sound impossible. And I guess I've learned even when things seem like they've completely fallen apart, there's still hope," says Ellingson.

You can view Josh Ellingson's artwork at:  www.joshuaellingson.com.

(It's the woman with the rocket in the background, you can't miss it.)

A Few Updates...

A portrait I did some years back of the artist Jenny Laden will be shown in an upcoming show of faculty picks at the City College of San Francisco gallery.

Also...

I'm looking forward to taking part in Southern Exposure's Monster Draw Rally again this year. Last year's event was a great time and there was a huge turn out. Over a hundred artists draw in one hour shifts, their work then goes up on the wall for purchase. All the work is $60! and proceeds go directly to fund SOEX's community programs. So if you want a chance to help a great art organization and pick up some nice artwork at great prices, this is your place-to-be! Here are the details:

Friday, February 27th from 6-10:30pm (my shift will be from 9 to 10pm).

At the Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa Street (btw Potrero and Hampshire and 17th and 18th Streets).

Little Landscapes

Drainage Ditch, San Francisco, 6 x 8"

Mt Tam, 5 x 7"

Salinas Valley, 5 x 7"

Explanatory Note to the Artist

This is a collaborative piece I worked on with Tiffany Sevilla, a composer based in Chicago. I did the animation to go with her music.

It will be performed Saturday at Columbia College, Chicago.

The piece is based on a freelance job I had some years back, in which I was sent a document titled "Explanatory Note to the Artist." She was impressed with the document's art direction and put it to music.

Last

Last, Oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches.

Please visit the Garden Gallery in Half Moon Bay to view this painting. It's a pretty drive to a nice gallery...

Drawing Post

Drawings for Facelift. Graphite on clayboard panels, 8 x 8 inches each.

Eric Joyner at McCaig Welles Gallery, Brooklyn

I wanted to alert those of you in NY that artist Eric Joyner will be showing his continuing saga of the robot donut wars at McCaig Welles Gallery, Brooklyn. While Obama may be the new President of this country, Joyner has been the president of the galactic donut council for nearly a decade now. His work will make you chuckle and cry. There is a real touching quality about his robots. Check it out!

ERIC JOYNER, My Other Robot is a Donut
On View: November 13 - December 8, 2008
McCaig Welles Gallery is located at 129 Roebling Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211.


Eric Joyner. 'Too Many Choices,' 2008. Oil on panel. 31" x 30".

An artist book signing event will take place during the opening reception with books available for sale. Robots and Donuts: The Art of Eric Joyner.

Visual Aids BIG DEAL

"The sale of the year...an event not to miss..., attended by groups of art lovers - make that fanatics..."
- SF Chronicle

It's time for BIG DEAL! Visual Aid's annual art auction and sale. Proceeds benefit artists with AIDS, Breast Cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. This is a great organization that has a history of serving the community and the arts. This year I have painting in the live auction, so check it out.

Here are the details:

Visual Aid
Saturday, November 8, 4-9pm
Somarts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St. at 8th, San Francisco

AUCTION WITH ARTWORK BY
Rex Ray, Shepard Fairey, Jennifer Bain, William Wiley, Paul Gibson, Aondrea Maynard, Mike Kimball, J. John Priola, Chris Leib, Sylvia Poloto, Binh Danh, Elena Zolotnitsky, Mark Paron, Ivy Jacobson, Isabel Samaras, John Wood, David King, Michael Rauner, Kara Maria, Igor Josifov, James Aarons, Richard and Judith Lang, David Ivan Clark, Elliot Anderson, Martine Jardel, Kirk Maxson, Saundra McPherson, Enrique Chagoya, Eileen Starr Moderbacher, Joel Hoyer, Gregg Renfrow, Donald Bradford, David Gilhooly, Matt Gonzalez, Inez Storer, Richard Bolingbroke, Aaron Petersen, Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens, Tim Buckwalter, Christo and more.

Berlin Verge 08 - Bridge Art Fair Berlin, October 30th to November 2nd

Facelift, oil on canvas, 9 x 12 inches

Cain Schulte Gallery will be taking my work to the Bridge Art Fair in Berlin, Oct. 30 to Nov. 2.

http://www.cainschulte.com/

Here's a little bit about Bridge Art Fair Berlin:

Bridge Berlin produces a fresh show of contemporary art that will include the newest, most innovative galleries from around the globe. Conceived as a boutique edition, Bridge Berlin will present a maximum of 30 galleries in this unique art-viewing setting. Understood as a place to develop the work of new artists by placing them in notable museum collections and cultivating critical reception, Bridge Berlin will play an ancillary role to the key art market efforts of our Miami, London, and New York editions.

Cities on the Verge. Artists on the Verge.
Bridge: Verge.

Verge editions of the Bridge Art Fair offer a cutting-edge approach to the ever-changing market and cultures of the global art world. Today's art world is no longer defined by a single city universally recognized as the center of it, but by numerous cities and multiple centers. Verge editions of the Bridge Art Fair are more experimental, often taking place in unconventional locations. They are also smaller-scale productions, including a lesser total number of exhibitors and programmatic elements. By definition a younger, more intimate fair, we have chosen Berlin as the launching pad for the first verge edition of the Bridge Art Fair, in recognition of its status as a city on the verge.

http://bridgeartfair.com/berlinindex.html

Relative Connections at the DeYoung Museum

This September Laura Parker and I presented Relative Connections at the DeYoung Museum's Kimball Gallery. This was an interactive project aimed at cataloging our oral histories - both real and imagined.

Interrogation II

This was based on a painting I did in 2000, Interrogation. That painting is featured in an documentary short by director Steve Patapof, also filmed in 2000. Music by Tiffany Sevilla.

Mystery and Metaphor from Chris Leib

Another Drawing

This is the preliminary drawing I did for Guest. You can view Guest on my website at ChrisLeib.com

Website

My website is back online!

It may be getting a make-over, but until then there are a few new jpegs for your perusal. Enjoy! ChrisLeib.com

Mission Open Studios

Participants of the Mission Open Studios from 1890 Bryant Street. Photo by Jeremy Sutton. Can you spot me? Hint: look for the horns.

I will be participating in the Mission Open Studios this weekend.

When: April 26th and 27th, 11am to 6pm. There will also be a Friday night reception, April 25th from 6 to 9pm.

Location: 1890 Bryant Street #212 @ Mariposa. Many art studios in the area will be open for the event.

Also during the Mission Open Studios I will be showing a number of drawings from my sketchbooks at A.Mus Gallery, at 614 Alabama Street. They are a bit on the dark and whimsical side. Please stop by and take a look.

See site below for further details:
http://1890bryant.com/

Hope you can make it!

Red Dot NYC, MM Galleries

Cain Schulte Gallery (formerly MMGalleries) took my work to the Red Dot Art Fair in New York City, March 27 - 30.
Please visit Cain Schulte Gallery's website or the Red Dot website for details.

Cain Schulte Gallery (formerly MMGalleries)
Red Dot NYC


Follow Up: The folks at Fecalface.com kindly reviewed Red Dot. For those who didn't make it to the event, there are some nice pictures of the various works here... and a cute rabbit. Hey, I think I see one of mine... about half way down.
Review of Red Dot by FecalFace.com

Southern Exposure's Monster Draw covered by Artbusiness.com

Artbusiness.com got some nice photos of the event, they really captured the madness. There is a good explanation of how the event is structured also. Go to Artbusiness.com and scroll down until you get to the event, Southern Exposure's Monster Draw at the Verdi Club.
Turns out my little weird guys were rather popular.

Southern Exposure’s 8th Annual Monster Drawing Rally

It looked kind of fun last year, so I signed up!

Monster Draw is Friday, February 22nd from 6:00 – 11:00 pm at the Verdi Club (2424 Mariposa @ Potrero).
I am scheduled to draw from 7:00 - 8:00 pm.

I will be drawing several pieces for sale at the event. All proceeds support Southern Exposure's Exhibitions and Artists in Education Program.
Hope you can stop by.

ADDENDUM:
It was a bit nerve racking drawing with such a large crowd around. But I was able to finish 2 pen and inks of some odd looking characters. One with balloons and another flanked by some crazy animated dogs. Sorry, no time for pics.