Art Opening: Mono
December 15, 2023
It made me so happy to finally have this show. After several years of creating works on paper, making lots of mistakes, and learning how to translate what I see in my head into printed form, it felt good to hang 27 new works on the wall that I really loved. Two of the works were larger collaborative pieces (with my friends Berger & Fohr) that came together at the 11th hour.
Of course, the making of the work, the framing, the planning, and the installation came down to the final few hours. With the event scheduled to start at 5pm, and everything pretty much done, I found myself with about 45 minutes to chill and reflect before things got going.
I thought about how much work goes into pulling together an art opening, and how the artwork is not just an object on the wall that was made in an afternoon. Each piece is the product of so many other factors, and is the completion of a long, meandering journey of looking, learning, and making.
In a way, one piece of art hanging on the wall contains the entire life of the artist, as well as the lives of other artists that influenced the work. All of the pieces I made for this show were inspired or affected by the hundreds of thousands of works I’ve made or absorbed prior: the photos I’ve shot, drawings I’ve done, books I’ve read, museums and galleries I’ve visited, conversations I’ve had, going all the way back to some of the earliest art I was exposed to as a young kid.
I remember a Picasso drawing that we had in our bathroom when I was growing up. I was always interested in how a few lines could contain so much information. Looking back, this funny little drawing influenced me immeasurably, and has made me understand the value of doing more with less. The work I’m making decades later contains a tiny piece of this sketch — a concept that also makes me consider the importance of the art that our kids are seeing in their home.
The evening began with an artist talk moderated by our friend Andy Millner, who graciously flew in from St. Louis for the event. Andy and I are close friends, and when Todd, Lucian and I were discussing who would be best to moderate a talk, we realized that Andy was a great fit. Besides being a really successful working artist, he is familiar with our work, our personal and professional lives, and is a genuinely thoughtful and curious soul.
We didn’t do much to plan the talk, but instead had Andy start a conversation around topics in which he was interested. From there, things evolved pretty naturally and the time flew by.
Talking about art is difficult. Mostly because words and talking and writing don’t always do a great job of communicating the feeling I get from making art, or the energy that art in its physical form can radiate. Talking about art always seems to come up short, which is why there are very few artists that write about their own work, leaving the heavy lifting to talented critics whose art is their words. And a great tradition of artists that just don’t talk about their work. Ultimately this shortcoming is what makes art so special — it captures something that can’t be put into words. It transcends.
So for an artist talk like this, all I try to do is be really direct and honest about my inner experience. Which is easy to do, as long as I accept that there will always be something lost in translation, and that ultimately the art is what needs to do the talking.
When we purchase art, we are buying a piece of the artist’s inner experience. A piece of art is a window into their thoughts feelings, and emotions, expressed in physical form that defies and transcends words and language. It’s a pretty unique transaction.
It was a perfect evening. I got to put my work on the wall and share it with my friends and family. I got to finish this chapter in order to start working on the next. It feels good to take another step, to keep moving.
To view and/or purchase work from this show: