At Long Last, Show Time!

My  exhibition, “ALLUSIONS: Things Not as They Seem" is finally opening  tonight, from 7-9pm at Berlin Bar. Still dealing with details—labels, price lists, guest book, flowers, etc. But the show is hung—with lots of help from Pascual Hijuelos and Carlos Ordoñez. It really looks good. I’m excited, and a bit jittery.

I’ve been working on this series for about six months (I had to choose from hundreds of images), and have spent the last two months preparing for the show. David Mackenzie’s short video of me talking about this work will be showing on the screen opposite the bar, and there will be wine and botanas. Hope you can stop by. The show will continue through January 13^th.

Carlos Ordoñez, Berlin Bar’s 'restauranteur extraordinaire'

As you must know by now, having badgered you with updates, I’m having a show of my work, “Allusions: Things not as they seem,” opening at Berlin Bar & Restaurant on November 7.  It’s been great working with Carlos Ordoñez, to pull this show together.

Carlos took over Berlin about a year and a half ago, and it keeps getting better. New food, renovations, a convivial atmosphere, and Carlos as your charming, helpful, charismatic host. It doesn’t get much better than that. We are hanging the show today, with the help of Pascual Hijuelos. 

Hail, Forager!

One of the challenges of the new series I’m showing at Berlin Bar (show opens Thurs, Nov 7, 7-9) is getting fresh flowers and leaves in the colors I need for the current work. I forage the streets for fallen blossoms, and there are a few kindly flower-sellers in town that let me pick through their leftover petals and the random broken stem, and who are patient with my buying just one or two flowers.

I confess to the occasional vandalism:  Sometimes if I come across just the color I need (sometimes it is a very particular shade or shape), I furtively grab a blossom in passing.  One of the best sources is my friends’ gardens (thank you Sheridan, Maggie, Anado and Richard, Leigh), not only because they so amiably accept my pillaging, but sometimes they feed me and offer tequila.

Schmutz Bunnies: Can’t help myself

When I have taken photos of a finished piece in my new series, I wipe off the flowers, scrape off the paint and wash the glass. I love the fact that the piece no longer exists, except as a photograph. But the little piles of paint scraps and flower detritus call to me, and I scrape the leftovers—the schmutz—together and use the paint scraper to turn them into animals and birds and snakes. As you can see, I am easily amused. But I am also easily embarrassed, so I haven’t decided whether to include a couple of them in my show opening at Berlin on November 7.

Click here to see some more of the new work.

Click here to watch me talk about this new series in the five-minute movie made by the amazing David Mackenzie.  

A Toast to David Mackenzie, and Susan Perkins and Tom Pink

I met David Mackenzie the day he took this ‘official’ 70^th birthday photo. Imagine being new in town, and having someone with a painted face and a headdress of flowers and vegetables show up at your door. Well, it was great fun. Mezcal was involved. His partner, Susan Perkins, and Tom Pink, who introduced us (and, by the way, generously printed all the small work in my upcoming show), acted as stylists.

The reason I bring up this story now is that when I returned home to my studio, my whole glass-topped work table was strewn with leftover leaves and flowers, wax beans and tangerines. So I started distributing this detritus artfully on a half-finished “Palettable” series painting  I was doing directly on the glass. One thing led to another, and soon I was madly engrossed in “Allusions: Things not as they seem,’ which I am showing at Berlin Bar, opening November 7.  And just to close the circle, the amazingly talented David Mackenzie made the five-minute video that is part of the show.

The Frame Puzzle

I’ve been preparing for a new exhibition that will open on Berlin Bar on November, checking off the many details involved. In an effort to cut expenses, I bought an odd lot of large frames from Karen Clement as she was closing La Fortuna Framing, and a bunch of small frames from Lavinia’s overstock, at generous prices.   Almost every frame is a different size and style. The puzzle was to first figure out which frames looked good together in which rooms, and which images I wanted to show in what size, and then have the images I want to show printed to fit each frame, and to number the images to match the frames. Now I’m waiting with fingers crossed, brain fried, and a glass of tequila by my side—fervently hoping that it all works out.

Here’s a link to some of the new work.

The amazing David Mackenzie made a five minute movie of me talking about this new series. You can see it here. 

Opening All Too Soon-- 

ALLUSIONS: Things Not as They Seem

My exhibition at Berlin Bar opens Thursday, November 7, less than three weeks from today, and (what else is new?) I think I still have five weeks of work to do. Does the word ‘procrastination’ come to mind? “ALLUSIONS: Things Not as They Seem” is a series that, like its predecessors, is hard to decipher at first. You seem to be looking at a flower-strewn fountain or terrace, but something is off.

This time around I am playing a direct role in creating the illusion, rather than just finding and photographing it. I start with photos, shot from above, of ponds and cobblestones and fountains. Then I build up layers of glass, with spacers in between, adding flowers and leaves and other detritus that relate to the original photograph, as well as painting with glass paints, markers and oil pastels to enhance the sense of depth and movement in the original picture. I photograph this layered assemblage at night, lit from the side so that whatever is on the glass layers casts shadows. My intent is ‘point to’ the motion and reflection of what our eye really sees in that fleeting moment.

Once the photographs are taken, I brush the flowers off the glass and scrape off the paint or markers, wash the glass and start on a new piece. The ephemeral nature of this disappearing act delights me.

Here’s a link to some of the new work.

The amazing David Mackenzie made a five minute movie of me talking about this new series. You can see it here.

The Breakdown of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.

When are they gonna do something about these gun laws? The guy was just dancing.
This is what happens when you have a gun in the house,

or on the spaceship

N0W ON THE BIG SCREEN

AT BERLIN BAR + BISTRO

 

"QUINTESSENTIAL SAN MIGUEL"

(Old Themes, New Photos) 

 

Well, as usual i've taken a long, lazy lapse from posting on my blog, which as usual I solemnly promise to correct. (Does the word 'unreliable' spring to mind?)

Berlin Bar + Bistro is showing a 6-minute looping video of recent photos I've taken, using old themes still dear to me:  battered cars, open market tarpaulins, dashboard reflections and rear-view mirror shots of taxi drivers.

The show will be up through September at Umaran 19. Happy hour is 5-7.

In November, I'll be showing a new series, "ALLUSIONS," throughout the Berlin spaces. A 5-minute movie, made by David Mackenzie, photographer/cinematographer extradinaire, of me talking about this work, will be showing on the big screen. Details to follow....

You can watch the "Quintessential San Miguel" video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA32UBAvWBw