Good bye from Kris Chatterson

I began this blog as a journal to chronicle my experiences as I traversed the NYC art world. It has now become something else completely. I realized that the blog was becoming a resource for others to see what is going on in NYC that may not be getting much press, but is vital nonetheless.

The new vision is embodied in KCLOG.

Kirchner and the Berlin Street @ MoMA

Mid-August in the New York art world is like a desert. Everyone is out of town, either in the Hamptons or Hudson Valley, and most galleries are closed or on shorter schedules. Kirchner and the Berlin Street at MoMA is a much needed oasis with plenty to go around. I was excited for months when I learned this show was coming.

The show does not disappoint. The paintings sparkle off the wall – each one inviting you to come closer. I was surprised to notice how fresh these paintings seemed and how many now famous German artists owe much to Kirchner.

The paintings are great, but the real treat is the pastels. They hit me in the face most unexpectedly. They are bold, direct and seem as fresh as the day they were made.

I have to give MoMA props for the generous online exhibition made for this show. It's very exciting and here is why: It's totally interactive and shows most of the work in the show. Here is the best and I think most generous part: be sure to click on sketchbooks, because the Museum actually scanned some of his sketchbooks, and you can virtually flip through the books. 

Kris

Photos taken from MoMA website as there is not photography allowed.

East Coast Colors Hand Made Paint

As a blogger I often brows other blogs and last weekend found a post on Art Fag City for East Coast Colors. I was instantly curious about this paint. I made an appointment with Jacob Ouillette the paint maker and master mind behind East Coast Colors the very next day. Jacob makes the paint in small batches and sells it directly out of his studio. Cash and personal checks only at this point. When you come in there is only the tubed paint laying on a table, a color board, palette with paint on it and some of Jacob's paintings against the wall. Jacob took me through his line of colors. Then led me over to the palette so I can see first hand how some of the paint behaves by letting me spread some around with a palette knife.

Colors you should check out are, Lemon Ochre, Italian Orange Earth, Bohemian Green Earth, Cad Maroon, Cad Red Purple, Cadmium Brown, Titanium Yellow, Emerald Green, Ultramarine Violet, Ultramarine Pink, Iron-Oxide Black bluish and Transparent yellow oxide just to name a few.

After painting with these paints I am more than satisfied with my purchases. The lemon Ochre is everything I ever wanted in an Ochre but could not find. The Italian Orange Earth adds a fiery, smoldering warmth to oranges and reds.

East Coast Colors is a very new company. More colors are on the way. Jacob will be more than happy to talk with you about things to come. Who ever heard of a Blue Ochre? The great thing about Jacob is that he understands the needs of younger painters.

All photographs were taken from the East Coast Colors website.

Sculpture Part II Opening at Western Project by Cole

Western Project closed out summer 2008 with the second of two sculpture shows, Sculpture Part II August 9. Nagasaki, anybody? It was a beautiful evening outside at the bar kicking it with WP's Keven, a little warm inside though so WP's Erin was doing a lot of plein air photography. Western Project rock star painter and fellow Otis instructor Carole Caroompas was there along with Tanya Batura (getting ready to kick off the gallery's fall schedule next month), lots of painters (Roland Reiss, Lester Monzon) and those double-threat-I-can-paint-AND-sculpt maestros Michael Reafsnyder and Wayne White. It was also great to see Artillery Magazine's Ezhra Jean Black out again making the rounds. I liked Mike Dee's crazy big spider guys and Michael's wacky monsters, some were straight out of Star Trek Original Series or Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas. Wayne's carved wood sculptures were a personal favorite, especially the smallest one, "Dreaming". August (die she must) is upon us and it's vacation/travel season, gallery owner Cliff is off to visit India for the first time, should be quite an adventure! WP's Kirsten introduced me the guy who designed the groovy downloadable WP mandala (get it here, it will bring you good luck!), he was totally cool and is also a big Arcade Fire fan so how can you go wrong? Kris and I are trying to come up with a sexier name for this blog, if you have any ideas run 'em up the proverbial flagpole! SOOTYCK, xo Cole

Marlene Dumas at MOCA by Cole

Hi guys, I checked out the Marlene Dumas show at MOCA Thursday and really enjoyed it. I went in with like zero expectations, not especially high, not especially low. What I really loved in this show were her works on paper, especially huge grids of serial portraits like "Models" and "Jesus Serene." Being an Oily Boy, I never give much thought to working in ink and/or acrylic and/or watercolor on paper, but this show inspired me for sure to try it out with a vengeance! The portraits look waaayyy fresh and immediate, and Dumas really has her control of these very volatile and unpredictable mediums, like, SO down. Speaking of which, when did the plural of"medium" become "mediums" and not "media"? Hmmmmmm The MOCA camera nazis were on patrol so no guerrilla shots with this post, only what I could download from the MOCA website. The dead "Marilyn" is her most recent painting, from this year, and it may be petite but it's a killer. "Painter" and her oil portraits of babies were awesome too. Her porn stuff didn't light my fire as much as those baby portraits, what does THAT say? Yikes! NYC/LA connection with this show: Connie Butler, ex-MOCA now-MOMA curated the show. We miss her out here! You lucky New Yorkers! Tonight Western Project has their second group sculpture show to close out the summer, I'll take some pix to post in the next few day or so. Stay out of trouble you crazy kids! xo Cole

Thanks Kris!

Nice to be on board, amigo! I'm so jealous of Kris, that bastard being able to move from LA to NYC -- which is my favorite city on the planet. The blog makes it seem (almost) like I'm there, thanks man.

Anyway, when I get the chance I'll keep both coasts current with what's going on in LA. Like Kris suggested, I'm an opening whore so I see my role as announcing what of note is opening where and who was there. As an artist, I will not assume a critical role but be more of a low-rent version of Scene and Herd. Think of me as a very polite Left Coast Page Six. I promise to NOT post images of my drunken - or sober - friends in compromising positions. In fact, my first images have little to do with the visual arts....

I attended the Johnny Ramone Tribute at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery Friday night and it was a total blast. I got to meet lone surviving OR Tommy and CJ. As a former punk band bass player myself, it was a real honor to meet both of them. The Ramones were -- and are --a HUGE influence on me, both musically and artistically. Marky was there too, standing by Johnny's grave and politely posing for pictures with anyone. I caught a glimpse of Linda Ramone in a shocking lime green dress but didn't get to talk to her.

Saturday night featured openings at Bergamot Station: Sigmar Polke at Patrick Painter and the Otis Faculty group show "Omage" at Track 16 (disclaimer: I am Otis faculty so this is a bit of shameless self-promotion). We then went to Culver City to check out Kyle Kilty's abstract paintings at Kinkead Contemporary. After that we went for dinner to Natalee Thai in Culver City.

If you live in LA and go to Culver City openings with any frequency, you should totally check out Natalee post-opening for dinner. They have awesome food, reasonable prices, full bar and have a patio where you can smoke while you eat ( I know, New Yorkers -- there ARE actually some Angelenos who smoke! Who knew?). The crew included Fette (who also has an LA art blog at the-flog.com), gallerist John Kinkead and wife Amy, painters yours truly, Jel Markovic, Lester Monzon and Sharon Ben-Tal as well as visiting New Yorker Alex Yang).

Of course there is NO better post-opening place in LA than El Coyote, but we'll talk about that another day ;-) The image Kris posted in his intro for me is a painting I did of the El Coyote patio. I Looooooove that place you'd better believe I spell it L-U-V! Been going there for almost 30 years now.

Anyway, I'll post more later this week after I see the Marlena Dumas (NOT pronounced dumbass) show at MOCA...

Stay out of trouble you crazy kids!

K Chatterson NYC/LA Welcomes Cole Case

I first started this Blog as a journal to document my experiences coming from LA and landing in NYC. My posts were for my friends in LA, so they could see what I was up to and the shows and events I was attending. The Lower East Side really peeked my interest because of the young and new energy that is going on.

I am extremely happy to announce that fellow Western Project artist Cole Case will be posting on all things LA and beyond. No matter what opening I would attend I could always count on Cole to be there. He is embedded and on the scene.

Welcome Cole Case!

Accident Blackspot group show @ Freight + Volume

Summer group shows are usually a snooze fest. Most are a dump of gallery artists or a show with no real theme or idea with a host of name brand artists. Though they may bring in the crowds, there is not much beyond that. "Accident Blackspot" a group show at Freight + Volume is a remedy to the summer group show blues. Challanging the mainstream aesthetics is the underpinning of the show. Risk is another. The artists and curator risk total failure in the project, which I find exciting. If there were only more shows like this one!

Artists in the show include:
Ivin Ballen
Rob Erickson
Keltie Ferris
Chris Hanson and Hendrika Sonnenberg
Joseph Hart
Himi Jen Dricks
Fawn Krieger
Ree Morton
Ian Pedigo
Daniel Seiple
Ali Smith
Wendy White
Tamara Zahaykevich

Wendy White @ Leo Koenig

Action abstraction, graffiti, instillation and architecture all combine in Wendy White's show at Leo Koenig. The combined panels and assemblage nature of the work seems to be less about a "picture" and more about the action on the surface. There is no romanticism here. White lifts textured moments from the streets of urban metropolises and rearranges them in paint. For more info and images please check out the artist's and gallery website.

note: the images in the post are lifted from the Leo Koenig website. The batteries for my camera died :(

What the Midnight can Show Us group show @ Museum 52

What the Midnight can Show Us at Museum 52 is a group show of artist all working with abstraction in one degree or another. The opening was packed so I could not get many images. The artists in the show include Rachel Foulion, Julia Goldman, Van Hanos, Yadir Quintana and Ryan Sullivan. For more information and images please check out the gallery website.

Sharon Engelstein "Blow Job" @ Sunday

Sharon Engelstein's show titled "Blow Job" at Sunday gallery in the L.E.S. exhibits sculpture produced by cutting-edge technology. The big yellow piece titled "Slow Head" in the middle of the main gallery is made of nylon and is blown up by a fan (hence the title of the show). The pieces in the back gallery are rapid prototype made by using a 3-D printer used in the industrial design industry. Although the work is produced by new technologies the work possesses a soft sensuality usually lacking in work produced by these means. For Engelstein the computer is a tool like any other, a means to an end not the end to the means. Definitely stop in to see this show!

Omar Chacon @ Bronx River Art Center

Omar Chacon at Bronx River Art Center is a refreshing blast of color in a city that is usually quite gray. Over the years Chacon has patiently and intently mined the possibilities of poured and dripped paint. Chacon has developed his dots, drips and drips that are cut to form mosaic like tiles into a personal lexicon to create works that grapple with world politics and art history as subjects.

Chacon will have his International debut with Magrorocca in Milan, Italy in September 2008 and his New York City solo debut with Green Contemporary in January 2009.

Chacon is also represented by Lincart in San Fransisco.

Hilary Harnischfger @ Never Work

Nestled in a small storefront in the L.E.S., Hilary Harnischfger's paper made objects dazzle the eye at Never Work Gallery. Do not miss this gem of a show!

Elizabeth Cooper @ Thrust Projects

Elizabeth Cooper's new work brightens the walls at Thrust Projects. Known for her splash-ish abstractions Cooper produces slick and surprisingly rough paintings.

Jonathan Hartshorn and Joyce Kim @ Thierry Goldberg Projects

Jonathan Hartshorn and Joyce Kim bring down the house at Thierry Goldberg.
Jonathan's paintings become a sculptural installation as the paintings pile up on the floor and become smashed to bits. What painter does not what to do this from time to time? Joyce explores space and the physicality of a painting's surface in her haunting abstract pictures.