The Show with No Name

Saddle Up!

This is an upcoming show at the Catalyst Art Space (where we had the "Prehistoric Show"previously), this time themed around Spaghetti Westerns. In case you didn't see the Community episode "A Fistful of Paintballs", westerns in a contemporary setting still rockin' something fierce!

To get several of the artists acclimated to tone of Westerns steeped in Spaghetti, I put together a DVD that we showed during early planning meetings. They featured clips, trailers, and posters from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly," "A Bullet for the General," "Once Upon a Time in the West," and "Navajo Joe" and others. The Italian directors of the time really established a unique and recognizable aesthetic that we hope to showcase in the show.

Something's strange is afoot. 

Just as a teaser, we will have our resident makeup artist (who did the cavegirl makeup in the last show) apply her magic to make a select group of us all rugged (and possibly shot ;).

There will also be a olde-time photo-op space for folks with some Western themed ephemera to get a fancy photo-graph taken too!

Stay tuned through the invite on Facebook EVENT PAGE here and be ready for a fine roundup, July 9th at 7:00!

[edit: WANTED POSTERS of the Artists!]

"Captured"-- as in art form... get it~?  :le sigh:

I hope Dog the Bounty Hunter (or Boba Fett) don't take these posters too seriously~

The Lawmen will get their metal.

[I'll post up previews of the piece I'll be contributing as updates in this post. It'll feature a mix of Tuco from "Good, Bad, Ugly" and the classic 8-bit game "Wild Gunman"]

[a Preview of artworks on display:]

by Christina Rincon

by Christina Rincon

My old "Old Man and the Mountain"

Chris Houghton's "Reed Gunther"!

[Our increasing collection of Western accouterments:]

[Construction of our hitching post. Oversize pony riders please inform us beforehand ;]

And if you got the kind of pony tends to get lost easy, find the the gallery here:

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The Art of Artifiction

A Brief Prehistory of Time

These are some photos from an art show I was in at Catalyst art space: "Prehistoric Artifictionn" 

Ideally these pics would have been posted much earlier, but I was doing some up-to-the-minute hand building for the construction of a fullsize cave installation in the show.

The cave was constructed inside an adjacent room to the gallery made out of cardboard supported by easels, make-it-stone spray, expanding insulation foam, and live ferns.
The audio aspect of the installation, with help from Abel Stearns, featured a collection of "prehistoric" sounds (drips, echo, growls) provided by a hidden amp in the room. The lighting was partially recessed and angled to cast long shadows and illuminate higher areas of the cave and stalagmites.
Many thanks goes out to Jeremy Parsons and Jackson Root for helping me construct this crazy thing.

The postcard from the past at top was also something I digitally painted for the show. Something time travelers might appreciate~

Pre-set up photos:

Testing the Make-it-Stone Spray

Jeremy takes some process pics 

The small room being prepped for "cave in" 

The show also included live actors dressed as prehistoric people and music:

Make-up artist Tammie Rupe apply prosthetics to our Cavegirl.

 A view after patrons contributed their cave paintings.

 Prehistoric Picasso Tim leaves his mark

This dino's right on the money

 The contemprary Venus of Willendorf is a bit more conservative

 "Sssssimbaaaaa!"

A view facing out from the Cave

Josh Kemble adds a great piece where Deleks wipe out the Dinosaurs

Curator Corazones Christina's Caveman!

I saved this Universal Studios' Jurassic Park ID badge
from when i was 9, just for this purpose.

If you enjoy this type of interactive show, the next theme is going to "Spaghetti Western", so keep your eyes peeled pilgrims!

An All-American Astro Ape

Chimps in the Mist

Now it's time to turn out attention to the good ole' US Space Program after the Soviet inspired stuff. I found an image online of this chimpanzee in the modern orange NASA Launch Entry Suit and wished there was a poster. I couldn't find one after many a Google search so decided to just paint it. It was started a couple years ago and forgotten until I recently dusted it off, gave it a coat of paint, threw it outside, and took a picture.

Seeing the similarities to the previous "Soviet Space Monkey," this just might be the start of another series. Whatever the name, it will likely need to end with

"... in SPACE !"

[A rare image of the Space Monkey in his more natural habitat...]

"American Astro Ape" 2010

22" x 28"Acrylic on Canvas in the Bushes

This will be on display along with many fine works in the theme of Portraits by the talented staff of Art Supply Warehouse this Sunday (9/12) . Their new counterpart creative space CATALYST, recently opened doors and is located in the same plaza. Find more about it and directions here.

I'll post up pics with less foliage from the show. If you're local to town, come check it out! The painting itself will feature a bonus little addendum piece at the gallery... You'll just have to come to see! (or... y'know, just wait for the pics :/).

Some other cool space monkeys:

- Apelad [A. Koford]! (his Twitter feed is more frequent and funnier than most comedians)

- "Space Chimp" video for World Wildlife Fund! (I still think of wrestling if I spell WWF)

- SpaceMonkey.NO ! ("No" for "No.rway"..! Art and Story contributor Kim Holm's chose-your-own-adventure comic strip)

- This old article on BoingBoing features the image which sparked my initial interest in space simians (appearing ever briefly in the Special Features section on the Borat DVD)