http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog Illiterate Magazine Daily Blog Feed en http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/531 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/531 Sat, 11 Feb 12 04:45:51 -0800
So obviously out of the loop, but just hearing about the disintegration and wanted to offer my humble apologies?/congratulations. I expect that the three of you are constructively progressing and I wish you all the best. But mostly I want to thank you all for being inspirations to me and I'm sure countless other artists who you've worked with. I thank you also for having me be a part of your blogging krew, it really did mean a lot to contribute to the gallery. Anyways, I hope to see you all again sometime, but until then, be well and take care! Keiren   ]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/530 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/530 Wed, 08 Feb 12 12:01:38 -0800
As Illiterate winds down, we want to give everyone who has submitted to the website an opportunity to pull any content you might have on the site that you would like to save. We will be leaving the website up for now, but there will be no administration of content and access will become more limited. If there are any submissions you have uploaded or added to your favorites, please save images or copy and paste text onto your personal computer to be sure that they are not lost.]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/527 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/527 Wed, 01 Feb 12 14:55:32 -0800
  Holly Andres, highlighted by the Robert Mann Gallery of NYC, is an up and coming Portland based photographer whose hyper-stylized images work to convey a narrative while stimulating a viewers pleasure sensors associated with rich, vibrant tonality. Andres style is very similar to that of Crewdson, while hers tends to lean toward the brighter, and distinctively more feminine side of life, as do her narratives. Andres last few works have concerned themselves with adolescence loss of innocence, and seemingly without any male adult cameos. In her seductive Sparrow Lane series, Andres reveals the curious activities of three young girls in manicured environments. The thre]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/526 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/526 Mon, 23 Jan 12 10:45:35 -0800
Liz Miller, who recently visited Denver and filled David B. Smith Gallery with a lively installation, agreed to do an interview with me about her process. Here is what we discovered. Becky Jewell: Your installation at David B. Smith was conducted with Clyfford Still in mind. Have you done other installations like this? Do your installations often take inspiration from artists or sites? Liz Miller: The work of other artists is certainly inspiring to me, but is not usually a direct source of inspiration for my installations. I am much more likely to find inspiration in non-art sources. I’ve recently been fascinated with weapons, and many of my proj]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/525 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/525 Wed, 18 Jan 12 15:30:20 -0800
It’s been a long time since I’ve added a new member to my favorite photographer’s list, but Andrew Bush has succeeded in making his way, not only on the list, but in my top ten, with his Vector Portraits. I hope that I have translated my enthusiasm well. The series contains a simple objective, to photograph motorists travelling at 50 to 70 mph. The images were taken in the years between 1989 to 1997, in the Southwestern parts of the U.S. and the L.A. area, a most fresh recipe for some fly images.While observing each image, I think of perhaps a psychology, or sociology behind the wheel. What do these cars say about their drivers. My initial hypothosis is that this must be ]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/524 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/524 Tue, 17 Jan 12 15:08:51 -0800
Great current and upcoming art happenings   Current: Right now, you can check out Terminal Kings as it visits Denver. Watch street artists from LA as they do live art every day.     Plus Gallery’s Frank T Martinez show is almost over, be sure to see it this week.   This week and onwards:   Be sure to check out this Friday’s opening at David B. Smith Gallery, featuring the work of Liz Miller.   A sample of Liz Miller's installation work    The Invented World, by Sandy Skoglund opens this Friday at Rule Gallery.   You might know Sandy Skoglund by Fox Games, famously installed at the DAM. All the more reason not to]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/523 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/523 Tue, 10 Jan 12 12:23:57 -0800
    For those that don’t know, when I’m not at art shows, I work at a comic book factory. I read about 8 comic books a day. Rusty math skills reveal that this means I’ve read about 2000 comic books last year. Maybe that makes me an expert, or a total nerd, or both. But I’ve seen a lot of comics, good and bad, awesome and terrible.   In my time at the comic book factory, I’ve read a few comics that are really pretty great, which you should check out. These books are not necessarily new, or super-cutting edge, they are just great: these comics are doing it right.       Awesome Comic #1: Infinite Vacation     In ]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/522 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/522 Thu, 05 Jan 12 11:39:12 -0800
  Matthew Brandt, an L.A. based photographer, works in an interesting process. Using a combination of both the image and the physical relationship that that image, as an object, has within our realm of physicality; the photograph as document, catalogues an existence, where as an object (or the object documented) is subject to time and decay. uh, so, for example...In his work, Taste Tests, Brandt uses the iconic image of Half Dome in Yosemite, and silk screens it using condiments such as Cheez Whiz, and Mint Jelly. In Brandt’s series Lakes and Reserviors, he photographs the landscape of various bodies of water, and then submerges the images in a wash of that water until the chemic]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/521 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/521 Mon, 02 Jan 12 15:18:12 -0800
    Pixiv is the deviantArt of Japan. Except, it is better. Well, sort of.   The cool thing about Pixiv is that its top-ranked illustrators eventually get to throw their own themed art shows, or they get to participate in an attractive, user-generated limelight. Online art communities that swiftly and obsessively encourage brick-and-mortar efforts are uncommon: it’s a business model that should, in effect, work wonders. But it is tough to pull off.     Hoping to become more internationally-minded, I joined Pixiv last year to see how the community worked.  Immediately I can admit that not everything on the site is clearly navicable for an American, ]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/520 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/520 Mon, 26 Dec 11 18:04:28 -0800
    It’s almost 2012, and 2011 was an incredible year for art in Colorado. Here’s the list of the best art events of the year.   1. Clyfford Still Museum Opening   This museum was a long time in the making. Like the Rothko Chapel in Houston or the Georgia O’Keefe museum in Santa Fe, this Museum will make Denver into an artist’s new home.   2. Huma Bhabha at the Aspen Art Museum   This exhibition has barely happened, opening on Dec 22, but it ranks high for 2011.  Usually Bhabha does sculpture, but her works on paper hold a mysterious quality.  The works seem classically modernist, and they involve a lot more than you w]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/519 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/519 Thu, 22 Dec 11 21:35:43 -0800
Probably the best sense of what this show is all about is the cover image on Ricky Allman’s website, which identifies just how big these paintings are.       David B. Smith gallery never disappoints. I feel that geometries are overdone in art currently, but I do not gather the “This has been done before” feeling from Ricky Allman’s work. This transcending of trend occurs in the scale of Allman’s work, the controlled palette, and the maximal style. There is much to be learned and explored in these canvasses: Allman shows us that he can not only paint expertly, but that he can create worlds, feelings, and fine orchestrations of shine and shado]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/518 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/518 Mon, 12 Dec 11 21:13:47 -0800
In the spirit of winter, I bring you Nicolai Howalt who, in collaboration with David Stjernholm, brings us, Rusland, or Russia in English. This series, exhibited in 2010, is a photographic documentation of the 260 hectares (which is just over 642 acres) of protected moorland in Denmark. It struck me, at first glance, a snow or frost covered forest void of any signs of life. The forest is actually a unique growth. The frost like dusting is actually sand, which was placed there after the “drifting sands” settled in the 1700’s. The habitat found a way to grow among the harsh debris of the historic sand storm of Holocene period. The overgrown forest appears in a timid grays]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/517 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/517 Sun, 20 Nov 11 16:06:06 -0800
  Clyfford Still was born in North Dakota, on November 30th of 1904. Like another great American abstract expressionist, Jackson Pollack, he emerged from a remote corner of America, where the sky was as big as it could get. You can see his rural American heritage at work in his art:  Clyfford Still’s spaces are huge, spare, and earth-colored with sudden touches of vibrancy. The museum itself is a work of art. The concrete walls are carefully raked into variegated, light-and-shadow-gathering surfaces. On the second floor, an incredible lacework of concrete lets just enough light through to the paintings. On a semi-bright, November day, the effect is marvelous. Even on a su]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/516 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/516 Mon, 14 Nov 11 18:29:21 -0800
  Gold has always been fascinating, and it is especially fascinating in a recession that touts the rare element as recession-proof. Money is so tight right now, or so we hear. Fittingly, in this money-themed show, not much seemed too extravagant. I wouldn't characterize any single piece as a splurge, but rather as calculated, spare, and elegant work. On opening night, the show had a gold and beige color, overall. Nothing stood out color-wise, and perhaps for this reason, each piece demands its own singular, committed attention.   The premise for the show is simple: Each Redline artist was granted a 2.5 bar of gold to use for this exhibition. Whether the artists sold the gold t]]> http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/515 http://beta2.illiteratemagazine.com/blog/view/515 Mon, 07 Nov 11 19:12:03 -0800
  Despite the humor in most of his work, Amundson’s drawings develop integral questions about American commercial lifestyles, and, well, all of America itself. Often when looking at his work I think about what it means to be an American, and I don’t see much glamour or intelligence, just monolithic icons of consumerism. In Amundson’s work, members of the consumer class get burned the hardest, and in his work these folks seem even more mindless than usual. Commercial giants who suffer at the expense of Bill's jokes seem to be deserving subjects: Dollar stores, Wal-Mart, and cookie-cutter houses out of suburbia serve as the locus of a minimal absurdism, where there is n]]>