INSIGHT Art Talk Series with Rick Mitchell and Susan Grace

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INSIGHT Art Talk Series with Rick Mitchell and Susan Grace
Lawrence Arts Center (940 New Hampshire Street in Lawrence, KS)
Thursday, January 20, 7-9pm

From the organizers:
Join painter Susan Grace and photographer Rick Mitchell for a live interview conducted by art historian David Cateforis. Free and open to the public.

Watch: Jon Stewart vs. Tony Blair

In part one of this unedited interview with Jon Stewart, Tony Blair explains why he’s worried about Iran with a nuclear weapon but not so worried about China, Pakistan or Israel. In part two Blair explains why the fight against extremism isn’t a battle between the West and Islam, even though every nation under attack from the West happens to be mostly Muslim.

You know American journalism is in a sad state when a comedian does a better job of holding world leaders accountable than nearly all of the mainstream media outlets.

Part One

Part Two

Artist Shout Out: SWOON

Video courtesy of Gestalten.tv

“SWOON’s worlds are often populated by realistically rendered– and evocatively cut-out– street people, often her friends and family. Riding bikes, talking on a stoop, going grocery shopping– these people traverse a cityscape of her own unique invention. Bridges, fire escapes, water towers and street signs create crisscrossing shadows and spaces through which her figures move. Inspired by both art historical and folk sources, ranging from German Expressionist wood block prints to Indonesian shadow puppets, SWOON is a master of using cut paper to play with positive and negative space in a conceptually driven exploration of the experience of the streets” (Deitch Projects).

SWOON is also a founding member of The Miss Rockaway Armada art collective, a group who built large rafts out of salvaged materials and floated them down the Mississippi River in 2006 and 2007. In the summer of 2008, SWOON presented a two-part exhibition with Deitch Projects called Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea, which included a large installation inside the gallery space as well as the journey of seven handmade sculptural wooden rafts from Troy, NY down the Hudson River and up the East River into New York City.

See more work by SWOON here

posted by: Brent Carter

Neckface’s Solo Show Devil’s Disciple x Video Interview

Neckface’s artwork, both in the street and the studio, is drawn with a distinctively shaky hand, often depicting the bloody, violent and frenzied activities of witches, demons and other assorted hairy monsters. So it’s fitting that Neckface’s solo exhibition at O.H.W.O.W. in Miami entitled Devil’s Disciple will take place on Halloween night. They say the devil is in the details, which I never understood, but given the details for this show it finally makes some sense.

Details of Devil’s Disciple (via O.H.W.O.W.):
“Neckface will turn Miami inside out for his premiere solo exhibition in the Magic City. This Halloween night, Neckface will deconstruct all 10,000 square feet of O.H.W.O.W. and build a world like no other. Featuring a large-scale haunted house installation, complete with Neckface’s iconic imagery, the Devil’s Disciple exhibition is designed to frighten viewers as they enter the space.

“The crux of the exhibition though will surely be Neckface’s new work. A deviation from the norm, it is chock-full of his signature imagery interweaved with a personal dimension that is much more palpable in the paintings. After so many years of crafting a persona and building up walls around himself and his moniker, the reclusive Neckface has finally cracked open the door ever so slightly and let us into his world.

“With the introduction of historical and pop culture references into the visual storytelling, the paintings have grown more complex and more intricate. This newer imagery is balanced by considered application of wit throughout the work in the signature Neckface hand style. In addition to the paintings, a series of metal mask sculptures will be on display. Reminiscent of African Woyo masks, Neckface reworks the sculptures with sharp edges and creates an object that is distinctly contemporary and unmistakably his.”

As a teaser to Devil’s Disciple, the NYC based artist has set up a dead dummy in the window of the gallery, drawing attention from both the public and mainstream media outlets like ABC News.

We’ve also included this entertaining interview with Neckface from 2007 so you can get to know this slightly demented artist a little better.

See more of Neckface’s work here

Walrus TV Artist Feature: D*Face

D*Face is a UK based artist who like Banksy has made the difficult transition of working in the streets to working in the gallery. In this recent interview with Walrus TV D*Face explains how it all got started. Catch D*Face’s next solo show this September at Johnathan LeVine Gallery.

See more of D*Face’s work here.

posted by: Harold Johns III