Artists I Love: Matt Borruso

I don't know a whole lot about Matt Borruso, but he is a graduate studio advisor at CCA and my friend, Courtney, just loves him and showed me his work. I like how his attention to detail and skills as a draftsman are obvious, yet the humor of each piece overrides how well they are painted.

He has a show up right now called "Summer Camp" with a whole lotta awesome artists like Assume Vivid Astro Focus and Nina Bovasso at Exile in Berlin until August 14th and another more local show up called "Now and When" at the San Francisco Arts Commission until September 4th. He also has work available through Steven Wolf Fine Arts.

Purple Suede Lederhosen

Orange
Magenta

Artists I Love: Polly Morgan

Polly Morgan by Anna Schori


Blue Fever
Si (detail)
Atrial Flutter

Art Observed posted an article about Polly Morgan's current show at Haunch of Venison recently. It's a cool article and I suggest checking it out. Morgan's London show will be up until September 25th and looks like a great reason to cross the pond, if only I had the funds. I have loved her taxidermy artwork ever since I saw it in Vogue a few years ago. She shows up in my fashion magazines on occasion because her work is beautiful and dark and she appears beautiful and, while blond, semi-dark, too. Ah, the fashion world loves to dress up a young artist. (Me next!)

It can be difficult to find images to borrow of Morgan's work. These are all from Art Observed and Google.

It's Official but TBA

I will be having a show at the Alice + Olivia boutique in Southampton, NY, (in association with Triple Base Gallery), sometime in August. It's officially happening because I saw it on the new Triple Base website! (www.basebasebase.com)

Gallery artist Serena Cole will exhibit a new of body of small-scale detailed drawings at the Southampton location of Alice + Olivia, a contemporary women’s clothing brand designed by founder Stacey Bendet. Cole’s collection of new works on display will depict the motif of the fashion model in various extremes from godly to demonic, pointing to the transformative properties of fashion.

See you at the clam bake in a caftan and straw hat, dahling.

COLOR NERD ALERT

I often walk by all the gardens in my neighborhood, admiring the different color combinations the plants form. When I was working on an extremely large painting last summer, I would spend my time staring at the colors in these gardens for clues on how to combine different palettes in the same piece. I know that a garden is usually a chosen, organized combination of plants but I like to revel in the colors that nature has also managed to combine on its own. These are not the greatest photos but simply studies on color that I hope to stick in my files and paint later for a better grasp on color complexities.

Andes: The Dragon's Back - Nature

I just happened upon this special on my PBS station, and it was so amazing! The episode has really funny animal footage of flamingo dances, weird little rabbits, and all kinds of other species living in the Andes. So beautiful- all of a sudden I really want to visit South America! I know it's a random post but it's really worth it to sometimes learn about things you weren't really looking for. The world is a pretty spectacular place.

Watch the full episode here:
Andes: The Dragon's Back - Introduction | Nature

And if you don't have that much time, watch these funny flamingos as they flaunt around:

Flamingo dance

Art I Love: Mystery Images "Espouses Mystiques"

I found these images somewhere long ago and put them in my files. I have no idea who made them, where, or when. If I try to google the title, I just get info in another language, so they truly are mysterious. I love how these portraits (of people? royalty? saints?) have all this stuff they are holding and covered with. What do those little dolls mean? I'm way into their large circular portrait jewelry. It reminds me of those photos from Sweden of the European 60's rockabillies... they're famous and I can't remember the photographer, either. Can anyone help me out?

Work in Progress: Headdresses

I've been making these in my studio. I'm having a lot of fun making things out of cardboard that aren't quite functional or frame-able either. I'm totally inspired by tribal photos from Papa New Guinea. (And still sulking about the awards).

L IS FOR, WELL, YOU KNOW...

LOSER

I just found out I didn't win either of the big scholarships I applied for this year. I'm just having a little pity party, don't mind me. I know, you can't win them all. :(

(I stole this image from google)

Evolution of a Drawing

I'm doing a test to see what is the best form for my drawing. I was thinking about it as I remembered my professor wanting me to leave them only lightly drawn in. I don't know, but it's weird to see it in its many stages, don't you think?

This is what she meant...
Then it gets more filled in.
This is the fun part- all the drippy pools of pigments.

The background is new- I like the suggestion of the square of the page inside the square of the piece.
(A smaller scale than I usually do).

This will be part of a body of work of models in states of ecstasy; part of a larger series I am working on about the suggested transformative powers of fashion.

INTERVIEW: SERENA COLE

May 19th, 2010

I was recently interviewed by a Vancouver fashion magazine called The Block. (I actually forgot all about it until today when it popped up as I was shamelessly searching for my Artists and Astronauts blog to see if I finally have enough google cred to come up in a search- I do!).

If you just can't get enough of me in this blog, please check out my interview at The Block.

"Libby Black: Work Out" at the San Jose ICA

I managed to get to Libby Black's show at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art the day before it came down. I also managed to bring my dad, who lives in the area, as a belated Father's day sort of hang out. The cool thing about my dad is that even though he is not really into art, he has become fairly open-minded about it and says yes to whatever I invite him to.

I had never been to downtown San Jose, and my dad didn't even know about a lot of the stuff down there despite living in San Jose. I felt it was a successful attempt to do something new and engage San Jose's revamping efforts, passing by new restaurants and theaters. (Photo below from their website).

The ICA is a little brick building with lots of light and a few rooms to wander through. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that admission is always free! How classy! I also read later on their website that they have a print room open to the public as well as to artists finishing specific projects, and they have a cool little lounge open to anyone to come and read art publications and books they have on hand!

One of the exhibitions was still being prepped for an opening the next evening, so we really just checked out Libby Black's small weight room installation. Libby's work varies from paintings to paper sculptures that recreate original or made-up versions of high end fashion merchandise. She has made everything from Gucci canoes to an entire Kate Spade store, and for this exhibition she created an entire work out room with handcrafted paper weights, a bench press, a boombox, boxing gloves, etc.

I love how Libby's work is obviously patiently crafted out of paper and hot glue but maintains a playful, sort of wonky style through her hand-lettering and patterns. It suggests how important and unimportant a label really is to me.

Libby was the Studio Monitor at CCA when I was a Senior in undergrad. I was spoiled and had a bigger, better studio than everyone else which was situated right next to her office. I had the opportunity to watch her make her sculptures during her off times, and was always so infatuated with her process of making things that looked like so much fun. I try to remember that when I am hunched over a drawing, trying to get a detail right; you have to keep the fun in there, too.