I was delighted to be at the First Friday opening at Gallery Kayafas tonight, and not just because I have some prints hanging in the back nook (exciting!)— there are three amazing shows up all at once: fellow Critical Mass Top 50 winner Rania Matar’s Ordinary Lives, Jules Aarons’ V’natanu, and August Sander’s People of the 20th Century (!!!!!!!!).  It’s definitely been a while since I saw work that gave me goosebumps, that made my brain simultaneously spin and stop all at once, but seeing Sander’s prints did it for me.

I was so pleased to see that Secretary at a Radio Station was included in the exhibition because I’ve been kind of obsessed with it for the past few weeks. Doesn’t this just get to you in all the right ways?

And then this one— her arm and her hand and her expression and the gesture are all just so f-ing perfect, you know?

And just… this, too:

If you want to be inspired, you have to make it over to see the many many gorgeous prints in all three exhibitions.  You won’t be disappointed.

When poking around for Sander pictures to include in this post I found this quote that I wanted to share as well:

“[w]e know that people are formed by the light and air, by their inherited traits, and their actions. We can tell from appearance the work someone does or does not do; we can read in his face whether he is happy or troubled.”  –August Sander

Yes.

Kevin J. Miyazaki emailed me about this this morning.  A very cool idea:

Introducing collect.give, a new place to purchase great photographs online – for the benefit of great causes.

The launch of collect.give features work by photographers Allison V. Smith, Dalton Rooney, Emily Shur, John Loomis, Kevin J. Miyazaki, and Susana Raab. 100% of the profits from prints sales on collect.give will be donated to organizations specifically chosen by the individual photographers.

More photographs, by photographers supporting great causes, will be added to the site in coming months.

To learn more, please visit collectdotgive.org

My work is featured in the December issue of 100eyes, along with the work of fellow Bostonian Rania Matar.  The theme is “The American Dream.”  Check it out!

Also, today is my birthday!  (I’m not 40— why does everyone ask me that?)

Yesterday I photographed a really awesome woman who told me that I look like a kewpie doll.  This is not the first time I have heard this.  I started thinking about all the people/things that others say I look like or remind them of, and I find it really fascinating that they are all fictional characters of one kind or another.  I wonder why that is.

These are some of the characters people have said I look like, some more similar to me than others.  What do you think?

I could spend hours on The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.  While poking around for interesting Thanksgiving images I found a handful of images marked “Thanksgiving Maskers.”  Were these from Halloween or Thanksgiving?  I set out to investigate.

I found an old NY Times article that answered my questions:

“…Dressed in all sorts of ragged and ill-fitting garments, or gay with fantastic costumes that savor of the circus ring, every child masked, they make grotesque and (to themselves) delightful processions in the streets. They march in groups and singly, tooting their horns, shouting, and racing, and then go from door to door, begging for dainties to put in their baskets. In spite of the handfuls of nuts and cakes, and now and then a poor orange or withered apple, which crusty elders generally bestow on them, the children have a merry time and plenty of fun with one another, and come in flushed and bright-eyed for the dinner that awaits them.

This is really a relic of an old New-England custom, forgotten there, but living still in its queer travesty in the city streets. In an old book descriptive of New England characters and customs one reads that on Thanksgiving Eve it was the custom for the poorer people, servants, and dependents to go to the houses of the rich and ask for substantials to help celebrate the coming feast day. And the richer people felt it incumbent on their dignity and hospitality not to allow any one to go away from their doors empty handed.”

NY Times, November 26, 1893

Really interesting, right?

Friday night I took off of work to attend the Artists Panel and reception for the Intersexions show.  

I got to Stonehill College just in time— a car on fire on 93 had traffic at a crawl— and was met with a big crowd waiting to hear us speak (a lot more people filtered in after I snapped this shot).

The panel was certainly interesting.  Of course, the dialogue had just begun to get started when we had to wrap up— 45 minutes or so is not long enough to really discuss anything with 5 artists on the panel.  One thing I did make a note of was that on a panel where the topic is gender and also gender inequality that the persons who felt entitled to speak longest, interrupt, or sometimes speak on behalf of women were (presumably) male-born and male-socialized men.  It wasn’t surprising, but I did find it interesting.  That, and the fact that someone asked a question that had buried in it the assumption that some of the artists’ work (including mine) dealt primarily with gender and that some of the other artist’s work dealt primarily with race— as if work by white artists does not deal with race and as if work by artists of color must first or most prominently deal with race.  It’s at the heart of privilege that only queer people have a sexuality or that only people of color have a race or women and transpeople a gender, or at the very least that those words (sexuality, race, and gender) usually bring to mind those who are not in positions of power, because the power is in being unmarked.  No matter whether you liked the panel or like the work in the show, I would venture a guess that it was impossible not to have some sort of reaction or opinion on what was said and seen.

Then came the food and the mingling and wonderful chats with the students, their parents, the faculty, and other artists.  A really welcoming and friendly environment.

Some of the show (not all of it— you still have time to go see!):

Stonehill student Noah Curtis near Michele L’Heureux’s mixed media collages.

(foreground right) Robert Ladislas Derr’s Formalism and beneath it the amazing catalogs that the students put together. 

John O’Reilly’s Wresters (left) and Steven Locke’s what is between you and me (right).

Lauren Cross’ work about beauty, skin tone, and media representation… very cool.

Some of Gray Lyons’ many photographs.

My images facing a new configuration of Michelle L’Heureux’s Toy With It.

James Montford’s Mammy.

Wall statement.

Best comments. Ha.

I’m super excited that tonight Roger Ballen will be lecturing as a part of the PRC’s Lecture Series— 7pm, BU Photonics Center (PHO206), 8 St. Mary’s St, Boston, MA. Where else would you rather be on a Wednesday night?  His work kind of blows my mind.

I feel bad that I missed this opening but I had an important studio visit and then had to work, however I do plan to make it to the show before it closes, for sure.  I’m excited about getting to see so much of his work in one place.

© John O’Reilly

John O’Reilly: Art from Four Decades
with works on paper by Rembrandt van Rijn, Joseph Cornell and others
Trevor Fairbrother: curator

November 13 – January 5, 2010

Opening Reception:
Friday November 13, 6 – 8 pm

Howard Yezerski Gallery is pleased to announce this exhibition of work by John O’Reilly and other celebrated artists. Pulling from four decades of John O’Reilly collages, including some like Self Portrait, 1965 which was one of O’Reilly’s first photographic collages, curator Trevor Fairbrother creates a lively exciting journey through the creative world of John O’Reilly. By mixing in work on paper by other artists among the selections of O’Reillys’ collages, Fairbrother sheds new light on O’Reilly’s sophisticated, subtle achievements and inspires viewers to ponder his love of art history, all the while paying a personal tribute to John O’Reilly’s untamed imagination, sly humor, and keen intelligence.

I love this couple!

And check out this ’stache— he reminds me of Clark Gable.

This is my favorite picture of the moment:

© Nelson Chan

Go check out his website here.

I didn’t really mention this before but I have some work in a cool group show at the Cushing-Martin Gallery at Stonehill College and it opens today!  It includes work from such fantastic artists as John O’Reilly and Lalla Essaydi, as well as some other really interesting artists.

Read the statement about the show by clicking on the postcard below:

Installation for the show was this past weekend.

Here is my little nook and the awesome student who helped me install— note my oh-so-classy blankets that I used to help wrap my work.

Here is my nook all finished (there’s the main gallery as well as two outside nooks that include sculpture, video, photographs, paintings and more):

Here is what the outside of the building looks like, for your reference, for when you come to see the show and/or come to the Artists Panel on November 20th!

Announcing my solo show at the Griffin Museum’s Aberjona River Gallery in Winchester, MA. The most exciting part for me is that I’m going to do a “Senior Sunday” artist talk on Sunday, December 6, at 3 PM. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk in depth about my work, especially because this particular series feels so personal to me and I have a lot to say about it. If you can make it to that, you’ll get an update on the family I photographed (people always ask me about Ana and Julio and how they’re doing) and I may show some images that haven’t been seen before.

Click the image for more information.

Kevin Van Aelst’s work makes me so happy.  I am filled with nerdy glee when looking at it and I want to share that nerdy glee with you, assuming you aren’t filled with it already from being previously familiar with his work.

© Kevin Van Aelst

© Kevin Van Aelst

© Kevin Van Aelst

© Kevin Van Aelst

Even his commissioned work makes me happy:

© Kevin Van Aelst

© Kevin Van Aelst

© Kevin Van Aelst

There is soooooo much more on his website, so make sure you take a look over there.