Soo Visual Arts Center

All About You...Kayla Plosz

2012-02-17T12:24:00.003-08:00

Here is a little insight into the talented Kayla Plosz...now exhibiting at SooVAC until March 25th...

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
I remember the smell of finger paints. I also remember sneaking into my older brother’s room to use his special Crayola markers that were in a collector’s tin. They were juicy and pristine and he never used them. I never took care of my art supplies as a kid.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
Other painters—the Ab-Exers, Amy Sillman, Jacqueline Humphries, Katharina Grosse—too many to name.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
A mix of things really loud: The Black Keys, The National, Otis Redding, and others. I like to listen to music that makes me feel like dancing.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
I don’t know if I have anything unexpected in my studio. A lot of garbage I suppose. I don’t clean up very often…

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
Anything by Jeff Koons or Andy Warhol.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
Collages, paintings, and prints from other artist friends. When you’re a poor artist, you do a lot of trading.

7. What are you working on now?
2, 7 ft. square paintings for my thesis exhibition in May. And a bunch of 1 ft. square paintings.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Oh wow, I have no idea. I had trouble with a title for this show!

More Information on Kayla's Exhibition HERE.
More Information on Kayla and her work HERE.

First Installment of Bacon Bits

2011-12-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

As newly appointed President of the Wayne Bacon International Fan Club, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Wayne’s beginnings with Shackway Corporation in Australia.

Television was first introduced in Australia in September of 1956, just in time for the Melbourne Olympics. Within a few short years it became the nation’s most popular form of entertainment. Shackway initially became involved in Australian television as a sponsor of a daytime drama. When the production company folded, Shackway became the producer.

In 1959, Shackway premiered the evening drama, Firecar, starring Wayne Bacon. He also had a role on the short-lived Shackway produced show, Vampire Hunter. The rest, as we all know, is history.

Wayne was not the only Bacon to get the acting bug. His cousin, Liam Bacon, was a popular television commercial actor who appeared in over 81 commercials between 1956 and 1964. The above commercial features Liam and appeared often during Melbourne Tonight, Australia’s much-loved variety program.

I’m so honored and excited to get to know more Wayne Bacon fans from around the world. Please send me your Wayne Bacon stories HERE.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Payne

President

Wayne Bacon International Fan Club

If you want to learn more about Wayne Bacon or Shackway Corporation visit SooVAC until January 7th and explore Everybody Wins!

Give the Gift of Art

2011-11-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

Here is a collection of tiny limited edition prints available now at SooVAC $25 or online here:

Listed in order of appearance: all prints 5"x6" Edition of 30

Ass by Andrea Carlson

Landscape Debris by Caleb Coppock

Another Live Birth by Marie Gardeski

Hidden Are Her Curses by Bethany Kalk

Wood by Liseli Polivka

Vista by Cherith Lundin

S.I. by Ryan Macintyre

Nature Study by Erika Olson Gross

Swinger by Bruce Tapola

All About You...Simon Huelsbeck

2011-11-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

Get to know one of our exhibiting artists Simon Huelsbeck whose work in now on display at SooVAC. Hope none of his astounding work was lost in the flooding!

1.What is your first art related childhood memory?

First Grade, first day of art class. This kid had what I thought was a beautiful cigar box filled with art supplies neatly stacked and organized. He takes out a marker and proceeds to draw all over the box with a thick black line. I was slightly shocked and horrified but bizarrely excited. The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?

The violations of Osvaldo Romberg. The lushly painted, perversely historical work of Vincent Desiderio and Julie Heffernan. I’m slightly infatuated with Mathew Barney’s frames. The quiet understated poetry of colleague, friend and artist Joseph Hu. The now old sight -sized graphite drawings of colleague and friend Gabriel Augustus Boyce. The surfaces and white rooms of Felix Gonzalez Torres. The sublime of Casper David Friedrich.

3.What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?

The same artists over and over:

Sigur Ros

Spaghetti Western String Quartet

Mumford and Sons

Bon Iver
Andrew Bird

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
Life Size Styrofoam Easel and Cello
300 Pounds of Plaster
And at the moment, unfortunately, not me. My studio was flooded last week and its horrible.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?

Stumped on this one. Not much of a hater.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?

Lisa Murch bugs
David Bowen Print

Almae Larson photos

Steve Firkins drawings

James Denoyer drawings

Keiko Yagashita Dog Silkscreen

Beautiful Mic Stowel Ceramic/Painting

Joseph Hu Self Portrait as a comrade of sorts

A lot of my own work and a few more words to make stairs

7. What are you working on now?

I’m casting my kids smallest toys. Making a little ladder of twigs. Trying to figure out how to get my kid to sit still long enough to cast his feet. Sculpting little painting surfaces. Excited for two upcoming exhibitions that will give me opportunities to experiment: James Wegner Gallery in March 2012 and UCR Art Gallery in Septemeber 2012.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Liminal Being

Thanks Simon and good luck with the studio!

Point of Roughness: Work by Simon Huelsbeck will be up through December 3rd HERE.

For more of Simon's work visit HERE.

All About...Books

2011-10-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Now that SooVAC is host to three little free libraries I thought is would be a good time to highlight this project and the essential nature of books in the arts.

Founders of Little Free Library Todd Bol and Rick Brooks came up with the simple yet brilliant idea of creating elegantly simple housing structures of reclaimed wood and other found materials, in order to bring literacy awareness to one neighborhood at a time. For More on this amazing project you can visit their website HERE and the recent Star Tribune article HERE. These image are of the libraries that now call the exterior of SooVAC home. Bring by books to exchange (follow the take a book leave a book motto)...artist created books are especially welcome. As the project grows we are hoping to commission local artists to create their own Little Free Libraries. The Amish Built Little Free Libraries are available for sale at SooVAC, you can contact us at info@soovac.org or 612-871-2263.

Books can be an essential companion to artists work...recontextualizing and expanding an initial concept or creating a completely different view. It is a more intimate look at an artist's work...not only in its ability to expand a conversation but as an object that marks an experience one can easily take away with them for later exploration.

On Saturday October 22nd, 6-9pm, during the closing of hot 3-way action and Jet-setter Hideaways: The Utopian Propaganda, there is also going to be a book release of a Location Volume exploring the process involved in creating hot 3-way action. Location Volumes is the brain child of local artists Scott Nedrelow and Ruben Nusz, a publishing experiment created to give artists an unmediated platform to define their own work. Visit HERE to see previous volumes of Location books.

And one last note...well more like a recommendation for one of my favorite artist created books, an old one but a good one:

David Bryne's Your Action World: Winners Are Losers with a New Attitude

All About You...Katharine Hawthrone

2011-09-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

This week we are going to take a look back at one of the choreographer/performance artists that participated in the August 13th performance evening at SooVAC:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
Creative movement classes at the local community center – my parents say I took dancing much more seriously than other children. I also used to dance in my driveway a lot, to the great amusement of our neighbors.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
My biggest influence/inspiration is the body in motion and physical concepts from the natural world. I use my background and training in physics to explore and conceptualize the world around me, which I enact through motion.

3. What did you listen to while creating this piece?
Christopher Jette (the composer) and I listened to a lot of Roy Orbison while making SoundLines, the piece we presented at SooVAC. The piece itself uses a wide range of sounds, from drones to granular synthesis. I often choreograph material in silence and later adapt it to the sound score.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
Radio & radio transmitter, headlamp, a bag of fresh fruit

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
I’ve never really enjoyed Mozart – I’ve always felt like I was missing something with respect to his compositions, it sounds like elevator music to me.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
I love maps, strange things with stories, and Americana. In my apartment we currently have a STOP sign repurposed as a coffee table, antlers, car license plates, and topographical maps.

7. What are you working on now?
In early 2011 I created a piece called Lumen, in which the performers wear and control a small light source. Right now I am working on creating a partner work to Lumen, called Lux, to further explore light as a spatial and movement element. Both works are part of my larger investigation with how to integrate technology into performance. I’m fascinated by how to take a technical element that is normally external to movement performance (light) and deeply embed it into the performer’s interactions.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at BAM be?
Techné (the ancient root word of technology)

Thanks Katharine!

For more about Hawthorne's performance at SooVAC visit HERE.
For more about her work visit HERE.

All About You...Melissa Loop

2011-09-23T10:59:00.001-07:00

Read all about Melissa Loop now showing at SooVAC:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?

I remember having to decorate these cardboard doll figures in the first grade. I made a ballerina and I was deeply concerned that people might think she was bald on the back of her head unless I could indicate otherwise. In the end, I made a ponytail on the top of her head (hey it was the 80's) out of fringed construction paper and then bent the paper so it went behind her head. My teachers thought it was great and put it in all kinds of those little art shows, but they all kept straightening her hair so that her ponytail stuck way up on the top of her head like she was an idiot and I found it infuriating that it was never displayed correctly.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?

David Hockney has slowly taken over as my biggest influence. I love how he still embraces all of these new technologies in his art.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?

Lots of audio books. I had no idea that historical novels were so captivating. Plus I now know a boat load about the English Monarchy.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.

I have a bunch of moss, model train figures, and these glittered plastic fern pieces from Michaels.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?

The Mona Lisa

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?

Lots of random stuff. Pictures of ships and birds from old books I have a shelf with a kinds of vintage and Japanese toys. Not much else though cause we moved last April and I can't ever decide where to hang anything.

7. What are you working on now?

I have another exhibition opening in Portland OR in just a few weeks so I am finishing up a large group of paintings that are a continuation of the Utopia Jet-Setter series. I am really excited to start a group of much larger paintings this winter. They will be abound 5x8 ft...maybe larger.

8.What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be

Wait...I have a retrospective at the MOMA? Fantasy Island: The World's Greatest Hits.

Come by SooVAC to see Melissa Loop's work in person, up until

October 23rd. And there will be a closing reception Oct. 22nd 6-9pm

More of Loop's work HERE.

Thanks Melissa!

All About You...Kristin Van Loon

2011-09-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

We couldn't let the amazing Choreographers/dancers that performed at Soo in August go with out getting them to answer the all about you questionnaire. First we get some insight into Kristin Van Loon.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
Lying in a crib and hearing my dad practice with his barbershop quartet.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
Duchamp for the seed that influenced…John Cage, Steve Paxton, etc. etc. etc.
I always have a pet artist. Right now it's John Baldessari.

3. What did you listen to while creating this piece?
These three songs over and over and over and over and over:

George Harrison: "My Sweet Lord"
Simon & Garfunkel: "Keep the Customer Satisfied"
Chicago: "Make Me Smile"

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
-a giant Thomas Hirschhorn 1999 wall calendar
-a ping pong table
-a ten-foot pole
(all figured prominently in this piece)

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
-the cow public sculptures

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
My walls are craptastic. From where I sit, I see: Sean Smuda photos (real deal), Bill Starr photos (real deal), xerox art by Louise Odes Neaderland (real deal), Elliott Durko Lynch mail art (real deal), plus cheep reproductions by Gehard Richter and David Salle and Damien Hirst.

7. What are you working on now?
"Show Me Sun Blindness and I'll Show You a Strong Bank" (with Arwen Wilder as HIJACK): a sextet for Zenon's Dance Zone

and a new, as yet untitled HIJACK duet for the Walker's Choreographers' Evening in November

8. What will the title of your retrospective at BAM be?
Twenty Five Hundred Dollars

Thanks Kristin!
To see more of Kristin Van Loon's work visit HERE.

All About You...Jehra Patrick

2011-08-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here is some q & a action from Jehra Patrick, the last but definitely not least of the Untitled 8 artists.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
My Mom has a crayon drawing I made labeled at 3 months old, but my earliest memories are of my parents helping me and my sister draw mermaids. Then we’d cut them out and use them as paper dolls.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence? My influences are constantly changing and evolving. Lately I’ve been looking at lots of German painters: Eberhard Havekost, Matthias Weischer and other New Leipzig painters and Oehlen Albert. I’ve been conceptually interested in Louise Lawler, Michael Asher and New Institutionalism. I love the work of Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, and Sigmar Polke, for the various ways in which these artists have pushed limits of painting, picture theory, and authorship.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
Big Boi, Burnt by the Sun, Red Vendetta, Atmosphere, Devil’s Night Radio (a mainstay in my studio), Beach House, Beck, Sonic Youth, Wu Tang Clan, Sleigh Bells, and lots of reggae.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio. An antique vanity, a gun range target and a guitar and amp

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art? I was never a big Tino Sehgal fan… but, what can I say, I like objects.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
Local artists Doug Forbes, Margi Grill, Abigail Woods Anderson and Indiana artist Quinton Fletcher; vintage prints by Goya, Toulouse Lautrec, and a few anonymous works; rock art posters by Kozik and lots of Aesthetic Apparatus pieces; found paintings and objects; and some of my own older works. I would love nothing more than to expand my art collection – especially of MN artists – I have so many on my wish list!

7. What are you working on now?
I am continuing to work in both painting and photography using the museum and its visual archives as my subject. To share my process: I’m big into reading and research, which are just as integral to my practice as production. At present, I’ve been delving in to the Walker Art Center’s visual archives from the 1940’s to 1960’s, reading Words Without Pictures (various contributors) and have been grazing on On the Museum’s Ruins (Douglas Crimp, photographs by Louise Lawler) for the last 6 months… while looking to German painters for formal strategies. Oh, and browsing the New Museum’s visual archives – especially from the 1980s. I could keep gabbing on my interests, but the short answer is that a few larger paintings as well as some mid-sized works are on the way!

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be? Ah, man… I have no idea… I’m sure the title would be the last thing I’d think about.

Thank Jehra! To see more of Jehra's work visit HERE.

All About You...Erin Hernsberger

2011-08-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Now for some Q & A from Untitled 8 artist Erin Hernsberger...nothing like a little grotesque beauty.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory? Sitting on the carpet of my grandparents house, watching my grandfather draw. I was about four years old.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
Ava Medieta, Jenny Saville, Eva Hesse are the artists that come to mind. And Anish Kapoor and Ernesto Neto. And National Geographic’s “Inside the Living Body.”

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
Gillian Welch and CocoRosie

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
A cactus, a framed circular goose print from a garage sale that reminds me of my childhood home, and a stack of vacuum sealed animal parts (maybe that one is expected)

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art? Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe. 6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
An Indian quilt made of textiles from wedding gowns, yarn drawings from Goodwill, a photo by Areca Roe, a photo by Amy Stevens, and two framed black and white photos from past students.

7. What are you working on now?
I am currently building and photographing still-lifes dealing with various medical/surgical approaches to the interior body/exterior body.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Abject Realities

To see more of Erin's work visit HERE.

All About You...Emily Bennett Beck

2011-07-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Now for some q & a goodness from Emily Bennett Beck, Untitled 8 artist:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
I had the fortune to attend an after school art club in the 5th grade. My art teacher, Ms. Schmidt, had all these wonderful art posters for us to leaf through and I found this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkie_(Lawrence_painting), stared at it, put it away, and began a painting of it back at my desk. When I was done with my painting, went back to the stack of art posters and when I flipped to the real ‘Pinkie,’ I felt as though I could literally feel the wind blowing and the ocean roaring at me. I was SO ashamed of my own work. My work felt dead in comparison.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
All the fabulous contemporary figurative painters of course; John Currin, Elizabeth Peyton, Lisa Yuskavage and Dawn Mellors, to name a few. The pre-raphelites continue to amaze me, and Sargent and Whistler. I am influenced by so many artists- it’s hard to name them all.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
I rely on Pandora quite a lot… I’ve been listening to a lot of George Micheal and 80s romantic pop ballads this year. I’ve been trying to channel lots of teen angst.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio. I have lots of old ‘How to Paint’ magazines and books from the 1960s. They’re very instructive.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
I can’t come up with an answer for this one…. I’m stumped.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
Lots of paintings by my late grandmother in-law Phyllis Beck, and lots of work from fellow artist friends.

7. What are you working on now?
Several series at once. Gouache paintings, digital paintings. Some of my new work deals with the desperations of youth, and some with the desperations of middle age.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Probably something campy like, “Painted Ladies.”

Thanks Emily!

To see more of Emily's work visit HERE.
Untitled 8 is up through August 21st.

All About You...Erika Lynne Hanson

2011-07-31T08:06:00.000-07:00

Now for a little q & a with Erika Lynne Hanson now exhibiting in Untitled 8.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
Learning how to use a bead loom

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
Nietzsche, Bruce Nauman, and Thomas Cole

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show? Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (first 4 books)

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
Buckets of water (from collecting ice melt run off), A Huge Loom, a dollar bill on the floor.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
I find Lichtenstein paintings pretty annoying

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
Exclusively landscape prints and paintings that have been collected from thrift and antique stores.

7. What are you working on now?
new weavings, sculptures and videos for my upcoming exhibition The Icebergs, in Kansas City this fall

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Sabotage: transitory objects, microscopic cataclysms.

Thanks Erika!

To see more of Erika Lynne Hanson's work visit HERE. Untitled 8 will be on view through August 21st.

All About You...Donna Dralle

2011-07-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

This week the blog is back to featuring artists from Untitled 8...this time Donna Dralle.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
Drawing on used office paper my father brought home after discovering that I started drawing on the end papers of hardback books. I was 3.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
Cy Twombly

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
Shostakovich, Bartok, Britten, Monteverdi, Bryars, Cage, Schnittke, Ives, Paert, Crumb, and many others.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
A baseball (baseball is art), an image of Rilke, carved wooden birds.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
Monet- all of it- I don’t like Monet. A lot.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
A photo I modeled for; a drawing by Susan McDonald; images of birds (I like birds); a ceramic life mask of Beethoven; a ceramic life mask of me made by my best friend John Poulos in High School.

7. What are you working on now?
Naked composer Series: Monteverdi; after that, another self-portrait- I’ve been working on a sketch.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be? A Life on Paper: Sculpture in 2D (Incidentally- this is why I don’t like to mat my drawings- I really think of them as 3 dimentional objects- hence why they are framed in shadowbox frames.)

Thanks Donna!

For More of Donna Dralle's Work Visit HERE.
Untitled 8 will be up through August 21st.

All About You...Jake Freeman

2011-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

This time I am mixing it up with one of our SooFUZE Artists, Jake Freeman (he is sixteen). This one is definitely one to watch.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory? My first art related memory would have to be coloring in characters like Aladin, Ariel, and Tarzan with my Mom.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence? I would say my biggest influences are the photographic duo known as Mert & Marcus or the photographer Terry Richardson. I love how Mert & Marcus use color and light and I love how Terry is twistedly sexual with his work.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show? A lot of Lissie, Local Natives, Crystal Castles, etc. Basically a lot of Indie tunes.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio. The most unexpected thing in my studio would have to be a military knife from World War II.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art? My least favorite piece of famous art would have to be the potato eaters by Vincent Van Gogh. Actually, I don’t really like any of Van Gogh’s work.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls? I don’t really have much art on my walls these days. At one time I had a giant photo of New York City hanging on my wall, along with some other photos of the city, but now I only have a deer skull and some personal photos.

7. What are you working on now? Currently, I am in the process of scheduling/planning a beauty shoot that explores the idea of being two faced through color blocked makeup, emotional expressions, and fake body parts.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be? I can’t really say at the moment. I am still so young and have a lot of figuring out to do when it comes to my work. You will just have to wait and see.

Thanks Jake!

More of Jake Freeman's work HERE
SooFUZE will be up until August 21st...visit HERE for more info.

All About You...Laura Hallen

2011-07-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
My grandpa was a kooky inventor and artist himself, and let me have a corner
in his studio where I kept crayons and paper, and my own personal vacuum. I think he liked that I cleaned up after him…

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
It’s pretty hard to narrow it down to one, since there is an abundance of talent right here in Minneapolis, but I’d have to say Ray Kruskopf, my grandpa. And Eva Hesse.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
Let England Shake by PJ Harvey.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
Bottle rockets, a feather boa and a vintage mink coat

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
this may not count as famous, but anything by Thomas Kincaid

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
I have art by Greg Euclide, Jaron Childs, Eleanor McGough, Cody Kiser, Eddie Hamilton, Casey Opstad, Jeff Baker, Gene Pittman, Jennifer Davis, DC Ice and of course, my beloved framed family collage wall.

7. What are you working on now?
I’m experiencing a dance between the internal and external landscape of the plexibox and entering a phase where I want the internal landscape of my plexiboxes to be oozing out of the box, down the wall, onto the floor. Or, better yet, an empty plexibox on the wall with a messy pile of stuff on the floor across the room. Even better, a video of me filling the plexibox with bottle rockets, and BOOM!

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Bottle Rockets, Feather Boas and a Mink Coat

Thanks Laura!

More of Laura Hallen's work HERE.
Untitled 8 will be up through August 21st at SooVAC.

All About You...Steven Lang

2011-07-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

For the next couple of months we will be highlighting artists from Untitled 8 and SooFUZE. First up is Steven Lang (exhibiting work in Untitled 8):

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
When I was four years old, my father left me alone “only for a minute” with an open can of deck paint and a brush. I painted myself red.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence? a.) Artists who are funny, e.g. Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Martin Parr, Bruce Nauman b.) Artists who repeat, e.g. Bernd and Hilla Becher, Jenny Holzer, Ed Rusha. c.) Artists who appropriate, e.g. Richard Prince, Sherry Levine, Robert Heinecken

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
My intuition.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
A stove, a refrigerator, and a sink. I work in the kitchen.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
“American Gothic.” I look exactly like that guy!

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
Allen Brewer, Eric Ruby, Samuel Bjorgum, Alec Soth, soon to be Jim Denomie. My own stuff is up, if only to keep it off the floor.

7. What are you working on now?
Paying off my credit card.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
“I came, I saw, I concurred.”

Thanks Steven!

More of Steven Lang's work HERE.
Untitled 8 will be up through August 21st at SooVAC.

All About You...Mary Johnson

2011-07-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here is our last highlighted artist from Sideshow Soo...Mary Johnson. I wonder what she is doing with 3000lbs of cement...I hope it has something to do with the inflatable bunnies. Images below our of Mary Johnson and Amy Toscani's contribution to Sideshow Soo.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory? Sewing a rabbit for my grandma.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence? Mike Kelley, Liz Craft, Liza Lou, Jeff Koons

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show? Amy Toscani, my collaborator.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio. Lithographic printing plates from 1950’s cheesecake calendars, 3000 lbs cement, 20 inflatable vintage rabbits

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art? That depends, do you consider the Mary Tyler Moore statue famous ?.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls? Erik Ullanderson, Lynn Gray, a taxidermy bat, some things by my kids

7. What are you working on now? Working on the wall, latest in the series of shrine-like assemblages. 8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be? It’s All Good

Thanks Mary!

For More of work by Mary Johnson visit HERE.

All About You...Jaime Carrera

2011-06-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here is Jaime Carrera's answers to the All About You Soo Questionnaire, Jaime was Zoraya, Lady of Mysticism at Sideshow Soo delivering a spectacular performance:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
I used to draw a lot as a kid (according to my mother, as early as 2.) I was obsessed. Since we were very poor when I was growing up, I'd draw on the back of old calendars, packaging, and things like that. One day I decided it would be a good idea to draw on the walls... until my mom showed me otherwise. I remember not getting into too much trouble for it because she always encouraged anything creative I did.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
Everyone, really. I'm inspired by everything that happens around me. Obviously, there are the artists I grew up admiring, like Frida Kahlo, Joel-Peter Witkin, Cindy Sherman and many, many more. But I'm also inspired by the people I know, the people that ride the bus with me and even the people I hate.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
Stevie Nicks. Lots of it.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
1- Traces of technology. 2- A Bible. 3- A studio.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
That Robert Rauschenberg thing with the tire with a goat through it.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
A large, gorgeous painting of Joan Crawford with an axe that Stefane from the band Taboo gave me (gave me!) when I was on tour with Faggot 2 years ago. A recently acquired a Joe Sinness print called "Apocalyptic Dolly" that I've had my eye on for, like, forever. A Yuri Arajs limited-edition screen print that I got for designing the logo of the Victoria Fine Art Festival. Other stuff.

7. What are you working on now?
I'm curating my first show at Patrick's Cabaret. It's called Peligro and it features queer, avant garde work from Tim Carroll, Ben Egerman, Kats D. Fukasawa, Benjamin Fredrickson, Tyler Jensen, and Dustin Maxwell. The shows are July 22nd & 23rd (Friday & Saturday) at 8PM. It's going to be a mixture of performance, film & installation. It's not for the squeamish and it's going to blow people's minds.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Jaime Carrera - OUTSIDER.

FOR MORE OF JAIME CARRERA'S WORK VISIT HERE.

All About You...Aaron Dysart

2011-06-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

Now that Sideshow Soo has had its successful run, we wanted to highlight the talented artists that made it possible. First up Aaron Dysart with his answers to the All About You Soo Questionnaire:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?

Making mounds of grass in the outfield during a tee-ball game, apparently I was out there for a few innings not knowing about the whole changing sides aspect of the game. I think I was 4 or 5.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?

Who? I have no idea. I try to stay away from direct influence, as it tends to seem contrived. I read everything, and keep my eyes open and hope something settles in. There are of course artists and authors I adore and would be honored to list them as an influence, I guess I am just not sure of the chain of causality.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?

Girltalk, Al Green, New Pornographers, NAS, The Breeders, Mastodon, Beck, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Nina Simone, oh and Bikini Kill. There was a bit of sanding…

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.

Plastic lawn Gnome with a real sombrero, truck tire with no rim, cutest dog in the whole world.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?

Never really got into Gauguin, esp. the Tahiti stuff. As for singular work, I am not a huge fan of the spoon bridge and cherry. It is OK but I love their other stuff much more.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?

Sadly, my own. Anybody want to trade?

7. What are you working on now?

I am making some artificial limbs for trees, stalagmites and tites made out of wood glue, and a rowboat made out of soap.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?

Sticks and Stones.

You Can See More of Aaron Dysart's work HERE.

Sideshow Soo...Celebrating 10 years.

2011-05-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

On June 4th Soo Visual Arts Center will be celebrating our 10th birthday with a carnival inspired party, which will run until June 19th. Why Sideshow Soo you may ask? And I decided to cull through our archives of exhibitions to give you an answer.

In our 10 years of operation SooVAC has exemplified the most positive aspect of the sideshow, a place where the unique and unusual can find a voice. Here is a collection of art that we have exhibited over the years that appears to encapsulate those qualities and a sense of the carnival. I couldn't include everything that fit the bill so this is just a small sampling that starts at the beginning in 2001 and concludes with an image of one of the artist created booths that will be on display at Sideshow Soo. The included image is created by Amelia Biewald, other participating artists in Sideshow Soo are: Aaron Dysart, Jaime Carrera, Will Grant, Mary Johnson, Levi Murphy, Mark O’Brien, Chris Pennington, Liseli Polivka, Amy Toscani and Eric Veldey.

Pop Culture Perversions in Robert McCann's Paintings

2011-05-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

We decided to research a couple of the most enigmatic characters in Robert McCann's paintings. The first appears to be a mash up of part comic book character and bathing beauty. The other is an alien bent on world domination and last but not least is a character from Mad Max, aren't apocalyptic visions grand.

First up is the Galactus mashup...created by the always awesome Stan Lee in collaboration with Jack Kirby...pure silver age goodness. Not only does Galactus appear in over four decades of Marvel, making its first appearance in in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), but the character is ranked #5 in IGN.com's list of "Top 100 Comic Book Villains".

Galactus is a devourer of worlds that needs their energy to survive, his visage transposed on the bikini clad female figure could imply any number of fascinating metaphors...

Next up is my personal favorite, R0-Man from the 1953 SciFi movie "Robot Monster" and I admire the obscurity of this reference. This one is a bit verbose but I just couldn't leave out the bit about the dinosaurs.

The evil alien Ro-Man Extension XJ-9 (who is simply called "Ro-Man" by the humans) has destroyed all but eight humans on Earth with his death ray. The survivors consist of a family of five, a scientist, and two unseen assistants to the scientist in a spacecraft bound for an orbiting space platform carrying an also-unseen garrison of human soldiers. All eight have developed an immunity to the death ray as a side effect of an antibiotic serum developed by the scientist.

Ro-Man must destroy the earthbound survivors, albeit by physical means, before his subjugation of Earth is complete. After fruitless negotiations he destroys the rocket ship headed for the garrison in orbit, and later strangles the youngest daughter off-screen and tosses the younger scientist off a cliff. He is waylaid in his mission, however, after developing an illogical attraction towards Alice, the eldest daughter of the family. He refuses to eliminate her, forcing "The Great Guidance", leader of the aliens, to personally finish the task of genocide by killing Ro-Man (who has just killed the young boy) and unleashing prehistoric dinosaurs upon the Earth, by which time only the elder scientist and his wife of twenty years are the only humans on the planet.

This last featured character is from Mad Max: The Road Warrior
which seems appropriate to finish this odd ode to villainous figures:

The Humungus, the violent, yet charismatic and articulate leader of the wasteland dwellers. The Humungus' face is never seen, as he wears a hockey goalie's mask, possibly to hide radiation exposure; as far as clothing, he has a bare torso adorned only with leather biker paraphernalia. In a brief cutaway, as The Humungus pulls his revolver from a case and loads a single bullet to shoot out the radiator of the Mack truck, we see a black and white photograph of a family with a military officer in the father's position, though it is unclear whether this would be The Humungus's former family.

Thanks wiki for doing the research for me and perhaps accurately. None of this has been confirmed or denied by the artist so take these conclusions with the fun they are intended.

Some us have a touch of animal in us...and other curious things

2011-05-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

So as some of you are working furiously on your Untitled application I decided to take a slightly less art centric approach to this week's blog entry. Though I did take inspiration from Jessica Teckemeyer's exhibition title, We Are Animal.

First off this season of NOVA Science Now has been really great and this is one of the best episodes, How Smart Are Animals. It is especially brilliant for those of you out there that find octopuses amazing...the extent of their intelligence is really stunning. I am sure most of you have heard about the exploits of Paul the Octopus and his powers of prediction, this episode is even better than that.
During my daily consumption of MPR Science Friday I heard a fascinating segment on a new book:
Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution

One interesting little tidbit from this discussion was the popularity of transfusing animal blood for humans, this happened mostly in the early 1600s by the way, some were even successful including the first transfusion performed on a young boy with sheep's blood curing him of terrible fevers.
So this last one isn't really about animals and humans as much as it is about insects and robots, close enough right? Apparently caterpillars are a new source of inspiration for cutting edge robotics. Apparently the interest stems from caterpillars ability to make a speedy exit by rolling up into a circle. You can read more about it HERE and HERE.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day...who knew

2011-04-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

So I just heard a fascinating tidbit of information on MPR on Friday, it would seem today is International Pinhole Camera Day. In fact they have an official website and gallery of photographs to celebrate the day each year. The pinhole camera gallery website started in April 2001 making its' 10 year anniversary very near SooVAC's, who is turning 10 years old on June 4th. Armed with a little bit of new technology to honor the old we used, yes you guessed it a cell phone app...a pinhole camera app. We took a bunch of images of the current show's Robert McCann's You Had Me At Goodbye and Jessica Teckemeyer's We Are Animal, now wallpapering this post.

So everyone reading this should go make a pinhole camera take a picture and submit it HERE.

All About You...Jessica Teckemeyer

2011-04-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?

Making a vase from a skinny glass jar by covering it with torn pieces of masking tape and then staining it with shoe polish. I remember being amazed at how the stain transformed the drab tape to appear to be worn leather. Next, I made flowers using tissue paper and pipe cleaners. Quite a nice gift from a second grader to her mom!

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?

I have had amazing mentors along the way. This seems like the moment to thank: Martin Meersman, Chris Walla, Andrea Stanislav, Chris Larson, Jan Estep, Chris Bauemler, and Siah Armajani. Each person has had a significant impact on my development as an artist.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?

The Ting Tings, Adele, Rilo Kiley, Regina Spektor, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and The Current (89.3)

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.

a claw foot bathtub

karaoke machine

a prosthetic limb device which gives me an additional four arms

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?

This is a tough question. But, I have always disliked Kiki Smith’s “Tale” from 1992. The piece is a nude female figure on hands and knees with (approximately) a 100-inch tail of excrement coming from the anus. Until I saw her show “Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005” at the Walker, I had pretty much written her off as an artist I would never relate too. Seeing the works firsthand versus in the pages of books was an eye opening experience. In fact, I purchased the exhibition book. My favorite piece by Kiki is “Lilith” from 1994. It is a bronze female figure crouching upside-down on a wall confronting the viewer with piercing glass eyes. This piece has had a lasting impression on me and inspired using human glass eyes in my animal sculptures.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?

Interestingly enough, most our artwork is sculpture made by friends who are emerging artists! Wall works include: miniature room shadowboxes made by Sarah Baker, soft sculptures by Rebekah Champ, a glass blown bunny with light blue pigment kiss prints by David Fox, and a few paintings by Bart Vargas. Our living room also has an iceberg sculpture by Laura Primozic, two Jasmine Wallace ceramic sculptures, a bronze bird made by Fawzia Khan, and female bust by my husband Derek Gunderson. All, but Fox and Gunderson, attended the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

7. What are you working on now?

I am applying to galleries for the 2012 exhibition season. Applications have been submitted to spaces in Chicago, IL; Richmond, VA; Cincinnati, OH; South Bend, IN; and Cazenovia, NY.

I am also writing a proposal for a group show at the MAEP gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Several emerging artists in Minneapolis are using animal imagery, so I contacted a strong diverse group. If selected, the show will feature photography, ceramics, drawing, and sculpture.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?

Hmm, what a wonderful thought! Titles take me weeks to figure out, so I will have to refrain for the sake of finishing this interview.

Thanks Jessica!

Be sure to stop by SooVAC to see Jessica's work in person, We Are Animal, up through May 22nd.

To learn more about Jessica Teckemeyer visit HERE.

In Case You Missed It...

2011-04-10T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a little picture collection from last night's opening. In the Main Gallery is paintings by Robert McCann, You Had Me At Goodbye and in Soo Local is new work by Jessica Teckemeyer, We Are Animal. Two extremely impressive exhibitions:

A look back to SooFUZE 2010 for inspiration.

2011-03-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

SooVAC is now accepting applications for SooFUZE 2011 a juried exhibition for Minnesota artists between the ages of 14 to 18. You can apply now thru April 30th HERE!

One of the participating artists will receive a $500 award in acknowledgment of outstanding artistic achievement. For a little inspiration below is last years exhibition, and follow this LINK to hear a review of last year's show on MPR's Art Hounds.

Last year's participating artists were Lydia Bickal, Jane Gardner, Sarah Purgett, Anna Renken, Violeta Rotstein, Jack Schneider, Katherina Vang and Madison Van Holmes. All amazing artists, apply now to be counted among the artists in SooFUZE 2011!

All About You...Casey Opstad!

2011-03-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Here is an insightful look into the mind of Casey Opstad, one of the participating artists in Masters of the Universe on exhibit through March 27th. He really is a sweetheart when you get to know him.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?

Every year for Christmas I got a set of #2 pencils and drawing pad. It was my favorite present. I would usually draw log cabins and design my dream homes. Looking back I realize that this was normal and common experience for children and I am in no way special.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?

David Byrne

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?

The Walkmen & Animal Collective

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.

Switchblade/five thousand dollars in cash/the head of Alfredo Gonzalez

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?

Tracey Emin's "My Bed"

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?

I personal like to keep my walls blank. If I put anything up its mainly porno.

7. What are you working on now?

Poppin’ off, getting sprung and getting paid.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?

The Biggest Knife

Follow this link for more work by Casey Opstad.

Follow this link for more information on Masters of the Universe.

A Trip Down Recent Memory Lane...Get Lucky 2011

2011-02-15T15:32:00.001-08:00

Here is a collection of images from Get Lucky 2011...A special thanks to the photographers that sent us these great images:

Photos Courtesy of Claire Molepske

Photos Courtesy of Beth Heemeyer:

Photos Courtesy of Christian Erickson, one of our Zeus Jones Neighbors (who generously donated part of their space):

All About You…Karl Unnasch

2011-01-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

Get to know Karl Unnasch, who is currently working on Suspension of This Belief, an installation and performance which will take place during Get Lucky 2011! There is still a chance to bring in an object to have it transformed into art! Visit HERE for more information on how. Our last blog entry shows some of the objects already brought in for transformation.

1. What is your first art related childhood memory? Mom sitting on the couch in the living room whittling hillbilly caricature figures with an Exacto hobby knife whilst pregnant with my twin sisters.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence? Obsessives and Compulsives: Those whose passions are their transgressions. I am fascinated by those compelled to make and do without reason. Their endeavors are more honest than any artist.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show? I keep the dial moving...my sound system is a mix of MPR, blues, and podcasts.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio. Y'know.everything here is necessary and deliberate. All my stuff is important to my work. A lack of bourbon would come as a shock to some, but I am usually on top of that.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art? At least 70% of most contemporary "famous" work is vacuous and pretentious if not just plain lazily executed. I need to see more work that puts the artist back into her/his/their work with some honest sacrifices and efforts.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls? I collect work from those artists whom I know and respect.

7. What are you working on now? Way too much, really. My biggest challenge is turning my house into a living installation.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be? Duck and Cover: The Natural Wrath of the Aesthetic.

Thanks Karl!!!
For more information on Suspension of This Belief visit HERE.
For more work by Karl Unnasch visit HERE.

Objects waiting for transformation!

2010-12-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a sneak peek of some of the objects for Suspension of This Belief before Karl Unnasch re-engineers them into a new art object. There is still time to get an object of your own transformed! Follow the link HERE!

Behind The Scenes Footage

2010-12-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

This video clip shows some behind the scenes footage of David Bowen setting up for Soft Chaos. Including a shot of him programing the blimps! This was before we loaded in the flies.

Interesting Tidbits about Flies!

2010-12-12T08:49:00.000-08:00

To celebrate our little fly friends who are currently piloting the blimps in David Bowen's Soft Chaos we decided to share some interesting facts about them:

The average house fly lives on average 30 days.

A flies wings beat 200 times per second.

Flies don't grow. They are born full size.

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Flies have 4000 lenses in each eye.
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Flies jump up and backwards when taking off.

Average speed of a fly in flight is 4.5 m.p.h.

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Flies smell with their antennae.
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So now you know a little more about flies...they will be with SooVAC till January 2nd.

Sarah Nakano talks about her work!!!

2010-12-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

PRX » Piece » Sarah Nakano

SUSPENSION OF THIS BELIEF: A Guild-of-One installation

2010-11-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

SooVAC is excited to announce that as part of Get Lucky 2011, our annual fundraising gala, we are collaborating on a installation/performance by local artist Karl Unnasch, SUSPENSION OF THIS BELIEF: A Guild-of-One installation! Part installation and part interactive event...this will have a little something for everyone. In fact for the first lucky 40 art enthusiasts that click HERE and then follow the purchase link can select an object of their choice to be re-engineered by The Guild (Karl Unnasch) and returned to them at the end of the performance.

The performance will be its own reward...during Get Lucky The Guild will physically suspend a living Hobbyist installation from the ceiling. Unnasch will start altering the personal artifacts before the event but finish several of the pieces while in a suspended workshop complete with workbench and display shelves. This will only be the 2nd incarnation of this project and the first time a suspended workshop is in the mix!

Here is a flicker feed of some of his previous reengineerings: A Guild-of-One
Here is a link to other works by Karl Unnasch.

Images From November Opening

2010-11-21T15:32:00.001-08:00

Here are a few shots from the opening reception of soft chaos and Half Awake! Coming soon some behind the scenes footage of David installing soft chaos..

All About You...Sarah Nakano answers our questions!

2010-11-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?

i remember drawing on the bottom of my lisa frank shoes when I was around four. me and a couple kids would sit around in this gym drawing on our shoes listening to smash mouth's 'all star' waiting for our moms to finish their aerobics class upstairs. good times, man. (i still draw on my shoes too...)

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?

people like lewis chaplin, sandy kim, olivia bolles, and juergen teller are some of my favorite photographers. but hmm overall i think my biggest influences over the past year have been ryan mcginley's moonmilk series and basquiats paintings.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?

the black keys, sonic youth, snoop dogg, and loads of tv shows.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.

lasers, a stone cauldron i bought for a dollar, 30+ types of tea

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?

i wouldn't say its my least favorite but i have a hard time understanding how the mona lisa is worth over $700000000. (but then again i have a hard time understanding how ANYTHING is worth over $700000000.)

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?

pictures of california, album covers, music posters, to-do lists, etc etc

7. What are you working on now?

surviving high school

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?

i'm not sure but it would involve colored smoke machines, huge hollow glass sculptures, mini trampolines, lots of photos, and some type of collaboration piece with snoop dogg and/or oprah. also it would be in a zero-gravity room. i hope it happens someday.

THANKS SARAH!!!

For more information on Sarah's exhibition visit HERE!

For more of Nakano's work vist HERE!

Work In Progress!

2010-11-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

David Bowen's blimps are resting up for their big night and awaiting the piloting flies to arrive next week! While Sarah Nakano is hard at work installing her show. Here is a sneak peak of the work in progress...

Please join us on Saturday, November 13th for the opening reception, 6-9PM!

Sarah Nakano recently talked to Dylan Thomas of the Southwest Journal about her first solo exhibition. Read the full article HERE!

For more information on soft chaos, David Bowen visit HERE.
For more information on Half Awake, Sarah Nakano visit HERE.

UP NEXT!

2010-10-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

We are starting to take down the truly amazing exhibitions “Systematics” and “Alternative Futures”. But very soon two new exhibitions will be opening Saturday, November 13…and they are both must-sees!!!

David Bowen will be creating an interactive installation, “soft chaos”, fly-piloted blimps will roam the gallery. And then our first teen artist in residence, Sarah Nakano, will exhibit her work in a solo exhibition, “Half Awake”, in the front gallery, Soo Local. This exhibition will include a variety of different work...including film and installation. More updates to come as they begin to install the show. For now here are a couple images of what will be waiting for you from each of the artists...

David Bowen's soft chaos:

Sarah Nakano's Half Awake:

One More Week!

2010-10-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is the last week I will be sharing the gallery with two amazing shows, "Alternative Futures" and "Systematics". Be sure not to miss seeing them in person and to help entice you I put together a few photos.

But remember nothing is better than the real thing! Thanks so much to Allen Brewer, Liz Miller, R. Justin Stewart and Pamela Valfer for putting together such thought provoking and beautiful work for the exhibitions.

Guest Blogger Vanesa Windschitl

2010-10-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Fall is finally upon us and while the trees are shedding their leaves, something has grown in our garden over night. Working alongside Vertigo Press and All Along Press, artist and printmaker Lisa Bulawsky has planted part of her most recent work in front of SooVac.

“We Belong To This Band” is a public print project honoring famed past and present artists and printmakers by means of tare-off portraits submitted by artists participating in the project. Bulawsky is currently one of the featured artists for the Mid America Print Council’s 2010 Biennial Conference taking place in Minneapolis/St.Paul this weekend.

Stop by SooVac and pick up a portrait of your favorite artist and, if you haven’t yet, check out our current shows "Systematics", featuring work by Liz Miller and J. Justin Stewart, and "Alternative Futures" by Allen Brewer and Pamela Valfer before they come down on October 31st.

All About You...next up Liz Miller!

2010-10-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Liz Miller:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?

My first art-related childhood memory is of sitting at the kitchen table drawing on big sheets of computer paper. Both my parents are computer programmers, and in those days computers took up entire rooms...and relied on big sheets of paper! My mom would bring home all of the scrap paper and my sisters and I would use it to make art. There was never a set goal, just the freedom to create. I would draw for hours and hours. And, because the paper was all connected together, we could create huge panoramic drawings.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?

My biggest influences are people who have pushed the boundaries between painting and sculpture. As a young student, I was particularly impressed by Jessica Stockholder and Polly Apfelbaum. They were using the language of painting in a sculptural and materially innovative way. And I've been really influenced by my husband, David Hamlow, who is also an artist. We share a studio. His work is very different from mine, but watching his process has made me question my own process and see things in new ways.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?

Everything from Loretta Lynn to The National to Jay-Z to Car Talk.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.

1) Wrist braces (to keep me in fine cutting form) 2) A winter jacket (our studio gets really cold...even in the summer) 3) Teeny tiny drawings (my work is not always large-scale!)

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?

Dali's The Persistence of Memory

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?

Our house is 100 years old and we love antiquing. We have lots of great antique/vintage florals and images of courtship. Their simplicity....and sometimes awkwardness...is appealing to me, and they fit the house. We also have quite a few treasured works by our talented friends.

7. What are you working on now?

I'm working on several large projects that continue to integrate motifs from pattern, ornament, and decoration and splice them with weapon-related imagery. I'm also trying to keep up the momentum with my works on paper--I've really enjoyed devoting additional time to that part of my practice.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?

Rock, Felt, Scissors

Thanks Liz!
For more on Systematics, now exhibiting Liz's work visit HERE
For more on Liz Miller visit HERE

All About You...Soo Artist Questionnaire Part 3

2010-10-03T12:11:00.001-07:00

Pamela Valfer:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
2 memories
1) My parent's coffee table book of Norman Rockwell's work - I would seriously stare at it for hours.
2) My mom bringing me to the MIA when we moved to Minnesota when I was 7 and sitting me down in front of Rembrant's Lucretia painting and telling me the story behind it. Intense.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
They are many and varied and always changing.
Mike Kelley
Tom Friedman
Joseph Beuys
Maurizio Cattelan

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
It varies - everything from classical to Radio K to my CD collection, which I have about worn out.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio.
1. A picture of a baby monkey clinging to a fake mother monkey made of wire with a milk bottle attached to it
2. Corn cob holders
3. Slides of the moon

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
Anything from Matthew Barney

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
Not my art - mostly taxidermy - and vintage paintings of landscapes and portraits purchased at estate sales

7. What are you working on now?
I am currently experimenting with putting Hummel sculptures in clay.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
Posthumous

Thanks Pamela!
For more on Alternative Futures, now exhibiting Pamela's work visit HERE
For more on Pamela Valfer visit HERE

All About You...Soo Artist Questionnaire Part 2

2010-10-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

Allen Brewer:
1. What is your first art related childhood memory? seeing the Gustave Courbet exhibit at the MIA with my dad and asking him (confused) what the painting "the Origin of the World" was. He blushed. Commercially speaking, my first art sale was to the mailman. It was a portrait of Garfield.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence? the purity and truth of Naive/Folk Art, and my own doubt.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show? My Bloody Valentine, Bonny "Prince" Billy, Low, Sun Kil Moon, Beat Happening, Neil Young.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio. (1)an 1869 Swedish Bible, (2)a Richard Simmons workout book, (3)all my childhood sketchbooks/yearbooks.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
the Mona Lisa....I've seen it, its overrated.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
Old hunting lodge paintings, annon. turn of the century portraits, good friend's mini collections.

7. What are you working on now?
drawing and painting with my eyes closed.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
The Future Doesn't Exist.

Thanks Allen!
For more on Alternative Futures, now exhibiting Allen's work visit HERE
For more on Allen Brewer visit HERE

Get To Know Soo's Exhibiting Artists

2010-09-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the Proust Questionnaire...we decided to ask our own questions of current exhibiting artists to get to know them better and maybe why they do what they do. Soo Blog Questionnaire #1- All About You (R. Justin Stewart)

First up is R. Justin Stewart ...here is what he had to say:

1. What is your first art related childhood memory?
 I remember taking an art class when I was in 1st grade. We had to draw geometric shapes and fill them in with a different pattern in each shape.

2. As an artist, who is your biggest influence?
The two artists that most excite my are Sarah Sze and Robert Irwin, but I draw most of my influence from the books that I read. Reading allows me to bring new ideas into my brain. It is not as if I read a book and then go make a piece about it, but more that each books offers hundreds of new ideas and a couple of them will stick around. Then as I keep making my work, trying to push myself forward, I see things that I’ve read start to manifest in it. Sometimes they’re ideas from books that I read two or three years ago. Other times, a book that I’ve recently read provides a new lens in order to view past work in a new way which will help advance my current process. Each book seems to either nudge me in a new direction or allow me to understand my past work in a new light.

3. What did you listen to in the studio while creating this show?
The kind of work I am doing really drives what I listen to. When I am doing work that does not really take much thinking (e.g. drilling holes into thousands of half-inch wooden spheres) I tend to listen to NPR. When I am doing work that takes thinking (e.g. trying to figure out how to construct a 3 Dimensional form using zip ties and plastic o-rings) I tend to listen to music. Currently the bands played most are Fun., The Hold Steady, and Band Of Horses.

4. Name three unexpected items one would find in your studio?
 Electric carving knife, 3 lbs of Japanese Sencha Green Tea, a Green Bay Packers 2010-2011 Schedule.

5. What is your least favorite famous work of art?
 The Mona Lisa.

6. What art do you have hanging on your walls?
In my home, I have work by a lot of different people, but one of my current favorites is a piece by Seth Koen. ( http://sethkoen.com/ )

7. What are you working on now?
 My current project is a large map-based installation depicting the
transformation of the idea of the Messiah and how it has shifted over time.

8. What will the title of your retrospective at MOMA be?
The things I thought about.

Thanks Justin!
For more on Systematics, now exhibiting Justin's work visit HERE
For more on R. Justin Stewart visit HERE

September 18th Opening

2010-09-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who stopped by Soo last weekend for the opening receptions of Alternative Futures and Systematics. The exhibitions will be open till October 31st.