“Seeping Beauty” 80×36 inches

Paul Catalanotto
“The Physical Properties of Color”
August 6 - Sept 17, 2008
curated by Delah McKay 914-260-0097

Opening Reception
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
7-9 pm

Artsee Eyewear
863 Washington Street
NY NY 10014
212-414-0900
www.artseeeyewear.com

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Artist’s Statement

Skool: a Comic

Skool began as a personal project, started in college to remind myself of lessons learned outside the classroom. Now, like a graduate program, it is what employs my time in replacement of having a full-time job or a savings account. I draw it by hand, with a pen that I dip in ink.

All of the stories are culled from actual experience (quoted as faithfully as a panel’s small space will allow), my dream world, and my fantasy life. Invaluable to this are my excellent friends and family, the crowds of people with whom I regularly interact, strangers, children, and the creative personalities who drive my experiences. Also the unearthly beauty of the Vermont Republic and the soundtrack constantly rolling through my headphones, my speakers, and my memory.

I currently live in the last cheap shithole apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I may be contacted for illustration work and would be happy to provide those interested with printed versions of my art. More information about me is available by reading my comics, viewing my blog, and/or sending me an e-mail.

Artist Website and Contact
www.nortonanalog.blogspot.com
nortonanalog@gmail.com

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“Lifeforms” by John Azelvandre on Exhibit at Dizzy’s

A show of John Azelvandre’s artwork, titled “Lifeforms,” is currently on exhibit at Dizzy’s Restaurant, on the corner of 8th Avenue and 9th Street, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

“Lifeforms” is inspired by the following thoughts: The time is long past due
for us to begin treating fossil hydrocarbons and their derivatives as precious
materials, easily on par with gold and diamonds, amber and pearls. This
photosynthetic labour of countless living beings — stellar energies stored up
into the very marrow of these living bodies — is all too commonly burnt up or
refashioned into cheap, tawdry, “disposable” items.

To read more about the show, please visit John’s website blog at:
http://apps.azelvandre.net/Blog/.

The show will be up until mid-August. Dizzy’s is conveniently located at the
front (east) end of the 7th Avenue stop on the F-train.

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Matthew Trygve Tung, “The Bronx, Post Divestment”, ink on cotton-rag paper, 40 x 25″, 2008

Matthew Trygve Tung, “Untitled”, ink on cotton-rag paper, 14 x 20″, 2006

Matthew Trygve Tung, “American West III”, ink on paper, 21 x 15″, 2007

Name
Matthew Trygve Tung

Background
Born 1982, San Francisco, CA.

Education
BFA San Francisco Art Institute, 2006.

Website/Contact
http://mtung.info

Neighborhood
Greenpoint, Brooklyn (11222)

Media/Materials/Tools
Of late I primarily work with ink and graphite on paper. I tend to use rapidograph pens and heavyweight, cotton-rag printmaking or watercolor papers, and any variety of graphite pencils. My computer and the internet are also an essential tool, as I spend much of my time searching for an accumulating images of a vast variety, ranging from historical archives to flickr.

Describe your process:
Most of my pieces either start with an idea in my head or after seeing a rather striking image. Like I said above, I am constantly combing the internet for images of interest, even when I am not looking for new source material. Every once and awhile I’ll actually set foot in a library or historical society, but for the most part I am indebted to the endless resource of images that is the internet. After collecting images I tend to do small thumbnail sketches in a notebook or on scraps, just to get an idea of how I want the image to work within the space of the page and to get a feel for the image with my hand.

Once I have exhausted small sketches I move on to the actual piece of paper and begin mapping things out. This is really the most tedious part of the process for me, and the most anxiety-wrought. I tend to be overly precise when mapping out a drawing, carefully measuring everything out on the page in light pencil as I see fit in my mind.

After everything is mapped out I get around to what I find to be the most enjoyable work, which is the slow build up of the drawing itself. I work the pieces very slowly, especially when using rapidograph pens, usually working with the finest of line other than some filling work and methodically drawing away until it all resembles something I actually had in mind.

Is there a common theme or subject matter in your work?
Almost all of my recent work deals with what are essentially ruined landscapes, places of abandon and disregard. I tend to shift back and forth between urban and rural settings, but almost all of my pieces deal with man’s movement through the landscape, how we use, inhabit, and disuse our environments. A large part of my explorations deal with the idea of emptiness and vastness in the American Landscape, and how that allows a different mentality toward both our manmade and natural environments.

How do you work with your materials, do you use any unique applications?
I am very slow and methodical in all of my processes, always working in my own ordered steps, though beyond that there is nothing especially unique about how I work with my materials. Ultimately it I am just drawing, which, no matter how complicated I make it with all of my steps and processes, is the most direct and simple form of art making, and I think that is why it can be so satisfying.

Describe your studio or ideal working conditions, when are you most creative?
My current studio is a shared space on the Greenpoint/Williamsburg border that I have been lucky enough to mostly have to myself. Prior to that I was in a tiny (70sqft!) studio in Williamsburg that rained mysterious metallic black dust all the time. At the end of the month I’ll be moving into a new apartment with a decent sized room that will be dedicated to my studio and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m a quite a control freak and like to have a very ordered and private work space. I also tend to work late at night and often in short bursts, so not having to travel to my studio, no matter how close, will be great for my productivity. I’ll be curious to see how my working habits change once I am in my new space, and I’m sure I’ll find things I miss once I am there.

What factors make you consider a work finished or successful?
One of the things I miss most about printmaking (which is what I spent my undergrad years doing) is the sense of completion I always got when I pulled a print. Even if the plate was to be further reworked, once that actual print was pulled there was a finished piece. With drawing it’s not as easy, and there are often times that I’ll come back and add this or that. In general though, there comes a point in any of my drawings where I basically feel like adding anything more will ruin it, and starting out with such clear ideas in my head of what I want the drawing to be, I tend to have a good sense of when that has been achieved. So far as success is considered, I’m still figuring that one out. I always hang my work once I feel it is done and seeing it on the wall will tell me pretty fast whether or not it really is. The main thing missing from my current practice is a greater audience for the work to interact with. I think it is essential to have eyes other than one’s own (or people similarly too close to you and your work), and finding that in New York has been one of my biggest challenges so far.

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Elizabeth Jordan, “I’ll Fly Away”

Elizabeth Jordan, “Leisurama”

Elizabeth Jordan, “Lives of Birds”

Elizabeth Jordan, “Mantle World”

Name
Elizabeth Jordan

Medium
Sculpture

Neighborhood
Gowanus, Brooklyn

Artist Statement
My work incorporates found materials, recycled wood, wire, paper mache and claystone, and illustrates objects both familiar and symbolic. Together they represent the development of a vocabulary of pieces that can interact together to create a narrative, or they can exist as separate, iconic works. This vocabulary consists of (among other things) ladders, crosses, bird’s nests and wings, bones, hearts, guitars, towers and artifacts. They are objects which illustrate the two main concerns in my work: my love of the natural world and an interest in religion and the questions it poses. In addition, I am intrigued by the mysterious meanings of objects, whether they are ordinary items, like tools, extraordinary items like weapons, or artifacts of nature, like nests and driftwood.

Contact address
ditrose@aol.com

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