Tag: announcements

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Gowanus Open Studios! and New Work

Lifeworld 48, 2022.

Hello everyone, wow I can’t believe it’s already October! And October means it’s time for this year’s Gowanus Open Studios, October 15-16.

I did my first Gowanus Open Studios in 2007, and each time I’ve done it I’ve enjoyed showing my work, seeing the work of my neighbors and meeting all of the interesting art-lovers who come out to support art in our neighborhood.

Hosted by Arts Gowanus, Gowanus Open Studios is Brooklyn’s largest celebration of local art and artists. More than 300 artists, businesses, and venues in Gowanus will open their doors, giving the public a rare glimpse inside the former factories, warehouses, and studio buildings of this vibrant neighborhood. Artists will be on hand to discuss their work, share their processes, and showcase their latest projects; this event also offers visitors the unique opportunity to purchase work directly from local artists.

Lifeworld 47, oil on canvas, 20×20″, 2022

New Work

This year I will be showing new work created since last year’s open studios (I may have a few older pieces on hand as well). It’s been a productive year. I’ve completed four new Lifeworld paintings, another Dharmadhatu piece and several small studies.

Lifeworld Study, oil on canvas, 10×10″, 2022

And, if you’ve been following me on Instagram (and I hope you are!) you know that over these past few weeks I’ve been completing some new landscapes which I will be debuting during open studios.

So I hope that if you are in New York City the weekend of October 15-16, you’ll stop by!

Lifeworld 48, oil on canvas, 20×20″, 2022

The Logistics

Gowanus Open Studios is happening October 15 and 16 (Saturday and Sunday) from 12 to 6pm. I will be opening my studio at Trestle Art Space – Greenwood, at 62 18th Street, off 3rd Avenue. You can find a map, details about various exhibitions, installations and events at artsgowanus.org

Lifeworld study, oil on canvas, 10×10″, 2022
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An Exhibition, and Other Spring News

Good afternoon friends, Spring is popping here in Brooklyn and there’s lots going on!

“Dharmadhatu 3″ oil on panel, 18” diameter, 2021.

Opening this weekend! Brooklyn Utopias: Along the Canal

I’m pleased to be included in this multi-site exhibition organized by ArtsGowanus and the Old Stone House & Washington Park (OSH). Opening April 9th and 10th, the exhibition features over 200 artists considering what a “Utopia” (or ideal place) would look like for the communities of the neighborhoods bordering the Gowanus Canal. 

Brooklyn Utopias: Along the Canal consists of an indoor exhibition at The Old Stone House (OSH) and two public outdoor art exhibitions of artwork printed on banners hung on the fences surrounding J.J. Byrne Playground and Coffey Park featuring a diverse group of local artists.  Opening events on April 9, 12-5pm at Coffey Park and April 10, 12-5pm at J.J. Byrne Playground/Old Stone House will include outdoor bazaars with art and performances by local artists, with a gallery opening at the Old Stone House from 4-6pm on April 10. All exhibitions will be on view from April 10-June 26.

My piece “Dharmadhatu 3” (pictured above) will be among those reproduced on banners adorning J.J. Byrne Playground in Park Slope at 3rd Street between 5th and 4th Avenues. Dharmadhatu is a Sanskrit word that means “realm of absolute reality.” My utopian dream is that the absolute reality of Gowanus is as a place where sky, earth, water and all living things can co-exist in harmonious balance, like this sphere dancing on the horizon.

“Dharmadhatu 3” is also for sale on Artsy.

Other news

Lately I’ve been doing to retooling of my social media presence. This has resulted in some broken links, which I think should be all fixed now. My twitter page, formerly ZephyrusNYC, is now JohnAzelvandre, and similarly my Instagram has also been re-christened johnazelvandre. I’ve been leaning heavily into the Instagram of late, and right now it is the best way to stay current on my artistic endeavors.

These current endeavors consist primarily in settling in at Trestle Art Space on 18th Street in Brooklyn, where I am preparing several canvases for upcoming works in oil and also doing a deep-dive into learning techniques of Japanese moku hanga – woodblock printmaking.

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Common Grave Complete, and Gowanus Open Studios!

Happy Friday everyone! Well, the big weekend is nearly here! If you’ve been following along on these pages, you know that Gowanus Open Studios is happening tomorrow (Saturday, October 16) and Sunday (October 17). It’s been a busy, busy couple of weeks getting ready.

I’ve moved into my new studio, unpacked, hung art on the walls, and most significantly —

I have completed the Common Grave painting project! In previous posts (here and here), I detailed this project. I have also created an Adobe Spark presentation that gives the whole story. (I do think the Spark presentation came out rather nicely – take a look!)

I completed the final panel (what I’m calling panel VI) last week, and by now the paint should be (mostly) dry to touch.

“Common Grave” panel VI; oil on canvas, 16x20in., 2021

The full polyptych is now installed for viewing for the first time (and — who knows? — perhaps the ONLY time) in my studio! It is not to be missed!

So come on down tomorrow or Sunday. I’m at 62 18th Street, Trestle Art Space, 1st floor. I’ll be there 12 to 6pm on both days.

Visit arts.gowanus.org for details on the event and a map of all of the open studios. It’s going to be a fantastic weekend!

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Lifeworlds Update, and Gowanus Open Studios this Weekend!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks settling into my new studio space on 18th Street in Brooklyn and getting ready for this weekend’s Open Studio tour. I’ll have several recent works on view during the studio tour, among them several recent Lifeworld paintings.

So, I’ve been looking at my writing about this long-term project, and massaged it all into a nifty Adobe Spark presentation. It’s all based on a pretty nerdy essay I’ve been working on for a while (I have to try to put the philosophy PhD to good use somehow, right?).

Lifeworlds flourishing in the studio

I’ve pared it back some for the Spark presentation, but the gist is about how I have been informed and inspired by Edmund Husserl‘s writings on phenomenology. Nerdy but fun! I really didn’t know much (well, nothing) about Husserl until I chanced upon the term ‘life-world’ (“Lebenswelt“) a few years back. But it’s been a happy encounter — this is a rich vein to mine! Perhaps I will publish more of this writing here in the future.

So, please do check out the Spark presentation (Lifeworlds: Painting as Phenomenological Investigation) and please do visit me this weekend during Gowanus Open Studios!

You’ll find me at Trestle Art Space, 62 18th Street, Brooklyn.

You can visit artsgowanus.org for a map and list of all of the participating artists. It’s going to be a great weekend!

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Autumn News, a Preview

Hello art friends! A lot is happening with me this autumn and I want to give you at least preview and highlights of what to look forward to:

First and most importantly, I will be participating in this year’s Gowanus Open Studios!

Just 3 weeks from this weekend!

Further details about the event, including safety protocols and so on, will be coming soon.

And, in order to make this happen, I’m very pleased to announce that I will be taking studio space with Trestle Art Space on 18th Street in Brooklyn! More news coming about that very soon as well!

For those of you in New York area, enjoy this beautiful fall weather we are having today!

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Upcoming event! Join me at the Circle Show!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be participating in a group show in Brooklyn which opens November 9th.  “The Circle Show” will feature work that is entirely circular!

I created some circular pieces back in 2014 for a group endeavor I participated in on Governor’s Island, and I was just thinking earlier this year how interesting it would be to create some more paintings on circular supports.  Coincidentally (are there really any coincidences in the universe?), shortly thereafter, my friend Jonathan Blum approached me about his idea for a Circle Show.

“Dharmadhatu 1″, mixed media on canvas, 20” diameter, 2018

So it is happening! It will be at Shapeshifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Place, Brooklyn, New York.  The show opens this Friday, November 9, 6:30pmto 12 midnightand the artwork will be up through January 11.

I hope to see you there!  You can read more about the pieces I will have in the show on my Patreon page.  And, by the way, my Patreon experiment is just a little over one year old now. Have you visited?  Stop by, say hi, and earn how you can support living artists on Patreon!

Curated by Jonathan Blum.

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Invitation: Support me on Patreon and win this painting!

Back at the beginning of November 2017, I launched my Patreon page:

Introducing my New Patreon Page!

It’s off to a very good start, and for some time now, I’ve entertained the idea of raffling off some of my paintings to patrons.  But in order for that to be really fun and interesting and worthwhile, I need more patrons.  So, I’m making an offer: I will raffle off this painting to patrons if and when I get at least 10 active patrons on my Patreon page.  Your patronage can be at any level, so for just one dollar per month, you could have a chance to win this painting:

A quick sketch to check out the new painting setup, January 2016

Note that I already have, at this moment,  4  5 patrons, so we are almost half way there! Check out the video I have made promoting this raffle!

I envision doing more raffles in the future, perhaps on a quarterly basis.  So this is just to get the ball rolling.  There are, of course, many other rewards for patronage on Patreon, so check out my page to learn all about it!

Thanks and now I will get down to making more art.

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December is coming …

… and that means Patreon patron rewards!

Earlier this month, I announced the launch of my Patreon Artist page. If you haven’t visited it yet, please stop by!

At the beginning of each month, I mail out patron rewards to all patrons pledging $5.00 or more.  For December, I will be choosing rewards from among the pencil and and ink artist trading card (ATC) sized work pictured below.

Abstract landscapes in pencil and ink.

If you are considering pledging your support, now is a good time to do it! If you pledge $5 or more before December 1, you will receive one or more small works on paper each month!  There are other rewards as well!  See the rewards descriptions for all of the details.  Visit my Patreon page to find out more!

You can also pledge just $1 per month! For just $1 you get access to all of my patron-only content, plus I’m cooking up some new ideas for 2018, including possibly doing artwork raffles for all patrons, regardless of pledge amount.

So if you, or someone you know, loves art and you want to support individual working artists, I hope you will consider pledging today.

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Introducing my New Patreon Page!

Thank you to everyone who came out to see my work at the recent Gowanus Open Studios.

Since then, I’ve been extremely busy setting up and testing my new page on Patreon.com.  I’m now ready to officially invite you to come check it out, and help me keep making art!

What is Patreon?  Patreon is a relatively new platform that enables artists and creators of all sorts to obtain support from individual fans and patrons.  I first heard about Patreon from a creator of French language learning videos and podcasts (check him out! he’s great!), and was immediately intrigued.  Then, in March 2017 the New York Times published an interesting article focusing on the site: “How the Internet is Saving Culture, Not Killing It.”  I was then definitely interested!

Artists have always had patrons.  Making art in New York City is extremely expensive.  As many of you are aware, I had to give my studio at the end of 2015 for budgetary reasons.  Artist studio rents continue to go up, and many studios have left my immediate neighborhood.  What to do?

With all of this in mind, I have launched my Patreon page and I am asking for your support.  For as little as $1.00 per month, you can help me afford quality materials, eventually rent studio space outside of my home, and make more and better art!

Patreon is also a really nice, clean platform for sharing my process and new works with you.  And you can easily share with me your ideas and feedback!

Detail from “Lifeworld 43” in progress. You can observe the process and be among the first to see the finished work on my Patreon page.

Finally, there are rewards to patronage!  First of all, by pledging even just $1.00, you will have exclusive access to new online content — new works, detailed discussions (hopefully some videos) of my art-making process and some new content ideas that I haven’t even dreamed up yet!  And, I hope to institute raffles of my art to patrons in the new year.  If you pledge $5 or more, you will receive free art from me, as well as discounts on my works for sale.

If you have read this far (and even if you haven’t), I sincerely appreciate your interest in my work.  I hope you will check out my Patreon page and consider offering your support.  Thank you!

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Something very last minute — My art during Gowanus Open Studios

Hello everyone!  I had not planned to show any work during this year’s Gowanus Open Studios (happening this weekend, October 20-22), but a last minute opportunity presented itself.

Abby Subak, Director of Arts Gowanus, reached out to artists who formerly had studios in Gowanus, and asked us to participate as “Gowanus Emeritus Artists” in the “Silent Auction & Garden Party: One Piece Per Artist GOS 2017” show at 313 Butler Gallery.

So — my piece, “View from beneath the surface #1” will be included in the show.   The event, a silent auction, happens Saturday night, October 21 from 5-9 at 313 Butler Gallery, at 313 Butler Street in Brooklyn, New York.  The art remains up through November 13.

“View from beneath the surface 1,” oil on canvas, 12″ diameter, 2014.

The full event description can be found on Facebook, here.

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