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Gowanus Open Studios: A personal retrospective

Gowanus Open Studios is mere days away (you’re coming, right? – Saturday, Oct. 16 and Sunday, Oct. 17, 12-6pm — details here)! Looking back, I’m amazed to see that this year’s tour will be the NINTH that I have participated in.  Yes, that’s a “9”!

So, in celebration of this big number 9, I thought I’d offer to you a little photo-retrospective of my past nine years in Gowanus.

It all started in in 2007, when I begin renting studio space in a cool place then known as “Brooklyn Artists Gym“.

Lifeform (polyptych), acrylic on canvas, 2003-2007.
Lifeform (polyptych), acrylic on canvas, 2003-2007.

That year I was bound and determined to complete an ambitious polyptych I had conceived and started way back in 2003.

In 2008, I continued the general theme with a new polyptych:

Me with new work at AGAST 2008.
Me with new work at AGAST 2008.  Damn, I look young in this photo!

By the way, back then, the studio tour was known as A.G.A.S.T., which means … what the hell did it mean?  Anyway, fun times and boy do I look young in this photograph!

2009 began a shift in my work toward single-canvas pieces, and the beginnings of an evolution in style:

AGAST in 2009. Individual canvases and lots of small work.
AGAST in 2009. Individual canvases and lots of small work.

During 2007-2009, I worked and displayed in BAG’s communal space.

Starting in 2010, I began working in the semi-private studio space you’ll find me in this year:

The studio tour set-up in 2010 -- my very own permanent (semi-private) space!
The studio tour set-up in 2010 — my very own permanent (semi-private) space!

At some point along the way, Brooklyn Artists Gym became Brooklyn Art Space, and A.G.A.S.T. became Gowanus Open Studios.  Exactly when, I’m not remembering — the years are starting to run together.  Here’s 2011:

Gowanus Open Studios in 2011. That year saw the start of the "Manomayakaya" series.
Gowanus Open Studios in 2011. That year saw the start of the “Manomayakaya” series.

2012

Open studios in 2012: Reach triptych, Manomayakaya #2 and Lifeworlds 1-4.
Open studios in 2012: Reach triptych, Manomayakaya #2, Lifeworlds 1-4 and lots of other good stuff.

2013

Open Studios in 2013.
Open Studios in 2013.

2014

Lifeworlds and Paysage planétaire (Colden) on display during GOS 2014.
Lifeworlds and Paysage planétaire (Colden) on display during GOS 2014.
Le Poulpe (the Octopus) escaped from the Gowanus Swim Society exhibition on Governor's Island and resurfaced during GOS 2014.
Le Poulpe (the Octopus) escaped from the Gowanus Swim Society exhibition on Governor’s Island and resurfaced during GOS 2014.

So there you have it!  I hope you’ll come out for this year’s Gowanus Open Studios!  This weekend, October 17-18, in Gowanus, Brooklyn!

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Breaking News: De-Natured, at the Old Stone House

Sorry for the last-minute announcement, but this all came together very quickly: I’m pleased to let you know that I will have work included in a show at the Old Stone House in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  The show opens TONIGHT (October 15), 6-8pm.

About the show:

Nature is often bent to man’s needs and wants. The Gowanus Canal was once a marshland and now has been channeled and distorted into the managed and controlled canal that it is today. Once messy and natural, it is now contained.

Similarly, the paintings, collages, and photographs in this exhibit all begin with nature-based subject matter. Through the art-making process, that subject or motif is interpreted, distorted, and adapted to become something else entirely. In some, the original image is completely hidden, sometimes it is still clear.

All of these artworks grapple with the role of nature in our man-made world.

Curated by Abby Subak, Director of Arts Gowanus.

The Old Stone House is at 336 3rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

Lifeworld 21, oil on canvas, 20x20", 2014.
Lifeworld 21, oil on canvas, 20×20″, 2014, by John Azelvandre
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Gowanus Open Studios is almost here!

Happy October everyone!  Gowanus Open Studios takes over Brooklyn in less than 2 weeks (October 16-18) and I’m involved in several exciting events during that weekend.

The Studio Tour weekend starts Friday October 16 with Beat Nite Gowanus, a Norte Maar production.  I’m pleased that Gowanus Swim Society – the neighborhood artists collective I’m a part of – has been included in the Beat Nite Gowanus Gallery walk.  The event runs from 6-10 pm Friday night.  Come by Halyards Bar to get a preview of Gowanus Swim’s show Telestrations!  See all the details on the Beat Nite Gowanus website!

Gowanus Open Studios starts in earnest on Saturday, October 17.  Studios throughout the neighborhood will be open from 12 noon to 6pm on both Saturday and Sunday, October 18.  Find me in my studio at Brooklyn Art Space, at 168 7th Street, 3rd floor (that’s between 2nd and 3rd avenues, Brooklyn).

"Lifeworld 33", oil on canvas, 20x20in., 2015.
“Lifeworld 33”, oil on canvas, 20x20in., 2015.

On Saturday night Gowanus Swim Society hosts Telestrations, the official Gowanus Open Studios Saturday night party!  See more of my art along with work by all of the Swim Society plus specially curated video and performance and live bands!  The party runs from 6pm to 4am.  The party is at Halyards, 3rd Avenue and 6th Street (Brooklyn, of course).  All the details are on the Facebook event page.

"Transatlantic train to nowhere", mixed media, 20x20", 2015. Included in Gowanus Swim's show "Telestrations" at Halyards
“Transatlantic train to nowhere”, mixed media, 20×20″, 2015. Included in Gowanus Swim’s show “Telestrations” at Halyards

Whew! It will be a busy weekend!  I hope to see all of you somewhere along the way!

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Upcoming: Gowanus Open Studios and a Call for Submissions!

Lifeworld 28 - detail

Wow, it’s already mid-September and Gowanus Open Studios is just around the corner, happening on October 16-18!  What makes this year’s Open Studios even more fabulous is an exhibition of art, video and performance at Halyards Bar on the weekend of the tour.  Our neighborhood artists’ collective, Gowanus Swim Society has put out a call for submissions.

Here are the details:

Emerging and mid-career video and performance artists are invited to submit their work for consideration in our October 17th exhibition and showcase, Telestrations, presented in partnership with Arts Gowanus and Gowanus Open Studios. We are looking for work that broadly addresses the themes of translation, communication and play. What does it mean to be misinterpreted? Misconstrued? Can it ever be a good or funny thing? All submissions will be considered by our Guest Curator Alex Sloane of MoMA PS1.

About Gowanus Swim Society: Established in January 2014, Gowanus Swim Society is a collective, guild, skillshare, crit group and social club. Comprised of a ten Gowanus based artists who meet regularly and provide a forum for sharing information and artist resources we have exhibited together throughout New York City. For the first time ever, we are presenting the general public with an opportunity to join us.

About Gowanus Open Studios: Now in its 19th year, Gowanus Open Studios is an annual open studio event in which over 300 artists open their studios to the general public for the third weekend in October. Artist studios and other sites will be open from noon-6pm both Saturday and Sunday. Evening events are scheduled Friday through Sunday. Gowanus Open Studios 2015: October 17-18th About the Curator: Alex Sloane is a Curatorial Assistant at MoMA PS1, NY where she focuses on the Sunday Sessions performance series, a weekly presentation of performance, moving images, dance, music, and discursive programs that embrace live arts as an integral aspect of contemporary practice. In addition to Sunday Sessions she assisted most recently in the organization of the exhibitions like Anne Imhof: Deal (2015) Retrospective by Xavier Le Roy (2014) among others. Prior to joining PS1 in 2011, she was co-founder of the Lower East Side artist-run project space 1:1. She received her BFA from Parsons The New School for Design in 2011.

If you are an artist working performance and/or video, please check out our Call for Art!

Lifeworld 28 - detail
Lifeworld 28, oil on canvas, 20×20″, 2014 (detail)
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Announcing ArtWorks, a benefit for Arts Gowanus

Final Arts Gowanus: artworks
As many of you are aware, my studio is located in the Brooklyn Industrial neighborhood Gowanus, named after the infamous creek/canal called Gowanus (once upon a time it was a salt marsh estuary/creek, but it has been a rather filthy industrial canal for at least the past 150 years).  We have a vibrant community of artists in Gowanus, with many arts events happening each year, including the annual Gowanus Open Studios studio tour, in which I have participated every year since 2007.

Arts Gowanus is our local arts advocacy organization that puts together the studio tour.   Their mission is to support artists and the arts in the Gowanus neighborhood and to create a sustainable artistic community here. In addition to the neighborhood-wide Gowanus Open Studios, Arts Gowanus offers workshops to support artists, and they have built an incredible community of artists through their networking events.

In order to make all this happen, Arts Gowanus needs our support! Hence the benefit event, Artworks, happening Thursday, May 28 7 to 10 pm.  Here’s what’s going to happen, in brief:

The event: 50 pieces of art are offered for 50 ticket holders.  Each ticket holder will walk away with a piece of art.  You can buy a ticket (only $200.00) here: ArtWorks Eventbrite page

If you are unable to make the event, but would like to support Arts Gowanus anyhow, you can also make a donation here: (same eventbrite page for buying tickets: but notice 3rd option to make a donation.)

I am donating my piece “View from beneath the surface 2” (pictured below).  It can be yours for the $200.00 ticket price!  You may remember that this piece was in the Gowanus Swim Society installation on Governor’s Island last fall.

View from beneath the surface 2, oil on canvas, 12" diameter
View from beneath the surface 2, oil on canvas, 12″ diameter

To read more about the event, visit the Arts Gowanus website.  There is also a Facebook event!

I will be there Thursday, May 28 (7-10) and I hope to see you then!

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New Etsy listings are up tonight!

I’ve added several pieces to my “Figureworks” collection in my Etsy store: works featuring the human form.

First up is an interesting painting I created mid-2010 (it seems like yesterday) titled “Lovesick Android.” Lovesick Android was composed with acrylic paint on wood panel.  The gold and silver acrylic paints really stand out in an interesting way from the deep purple ground.  This unusual metallic look inspired the Android part of the title; as for “lovesick,” it just seemed to fit his overall demeanor.

"Lovesick Android", acrylic on panel, 10Hx8W", 2010.
“Lovesick Android”, acrylic on panel, 10Hx8W”, 2010.

 

“Red” is a watercolor I created a few years ago.  I’ve been meaning to get this into the Etsy store for quite some time.

 

"Red", Watercolor on paper, 6x6", 2011.
“Red”, Watercolor on paper, 6×6″, 2011.

“Dirty Little Drawing number 1” was created especially for the Dirty Little Drawings show at Leslie-Loman that I wrote about last month.  I’m in the process of putting up all of the remaining Dirty Little Drawings up on my Etsy store.  Stay tuned for future announcements!

JADLD1-a

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This week’s featured painting: Skandha 1 (Torso 1)

In keeping with the theme of the week,  I’ve chosen “Skandha 1 (Torso 1)”, a part of my figurative series, as this week’s feature. You’ll recall that I featured Skandha 3 a few weeks ago.

Skandha 1 (Torso 1), oil on canvas, 24x24in. (60cm2), 2013.
Skandha 1 (Torso 1), oil on canvas, 24x24in. (60cm2), 2013.

Skandha 1 was created in 2013. Oil on canvas, it measures 24 inches (60cm) square.  It is now available through my square store.  If you’d like to see this magnificent painting in person, don’t hesitate to contact me!

Here’s a handy contact form:

Skandha 1 (to the right) and Skandha 3 (left), during the 2013 Gowanus Open Studios. Skandha 1 is also available.
Skandha 1 (to the right) and Skandha 3 (left), during the 2013 Gowanus Open Studios.
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Upcoming: Dirty Little Drawings at Leslie-Lohman, NYC

I’m participating in an exhibition and sale of erotic works on paper at the Leslie-Lohman Museum’s Prince Street Project Space March 27-29.  In the words of the organizers:

The Dirty Little Drawings exhibit and sale offers viewers the opportunity to become instant art collectors, with a dizzying array of original erotic art works by over fifty artists of the Leslie-Lohman Erotic Drawing Studio.

I’ll have fifteen pieces in the show, all watercolors, depicting the beauty of the male form.  Each will be on sale for just $60!

Here’s a (small) sampling of what I’m contributing:

JADLD-2

JADLD-9

The show takes place Friday, March 27 through Sunday, March 29 at  127-B Prince Street in Soho, New York City.  The best way to find out more about the event is to visit the Facebook Event page.  You can learn more about the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art by visiting their website.

JADLD6-a

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The newly redesigned website is now live!

I’ve been very busy over the last couple of weeks with a complete redesign of my website.  I decided to get back to basics and code the site myself.  Admittedly this was a chore, but I think the results were worth the effort.

My principal concern with this iteration of the website was to make it fully responsive.  Responsive Design is the current buzzword in web design, and with HTML5 it’s never been easier.  “Responsive” means that the site adapts to whatever technology the viewer is using: smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop.  So check the site out on your phone!  And it looks really great on an iPad!

smartphone display.
smartphone display.

Websites are always a work in progress.  This one’s no different.  I’ll probably keep tinkering with it. (But not without a little break so I can actually get some painting done!).  The new site is pretty simple, straightforward and without bells and whistles. Future iterations may include more javascript features or other tweaks to facilitate the display of the artwork.

Tablet display
Tablet display

I’ve put fewer pieces of work on the site while referring the viewer to this blog, my flickr account and other venues where my work appears.

The full-size desktop/laptop display features two columns
The full-size desktop/laptop display features two columns

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to check out the website and let me know what you think!

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New items for sale through Etsy

I’ve been busy over the past month preparing items for sale in my Etsy store.  If you haven’t checked out the “ZephyrusArts” store yet, now’s a good time to do it.  I typically offer smaller, more affordable works on paper on Etsy.  Many of my smaller figurative (male nudes, almost invariably) pieces appear here, and are consistently popular.  I’ve added several pieces in recent weeks, including:

"Buff guy" copperplate etching available through Etsy
“Buff guy” copperplate etching available through Etsy

 

"Seated Man" whiteline block print, available through Etsy
“Seated Man” whiteline block print, available through Etsy

 

ACEO two-pack available through Etsy
ACEO two-pack available through Etsy

 

I’m also listing more abstract watercolor landscapes from the same series as the piece recently sold at the VisualAIDS “Postcards from the Edge” benefit.

abstract landscape for sale on Etsy
abstract landscape for sale on Etsy

I also just listed a lovely watercolor rendering of a Phalaenopsis orchid I did way back in 2009.

orchid watercolor, 2009.
orchid watercolor, 2009.

 

So please do check out the store!  And as a big thank you for reading my blog, I’m offering a coupon for 10% off anything in the store, valid until March 31.  Just  enter ARTISTSEYE0331 at checkout.