All in a day’s #trash (Taken with Instagram at Princeton)

Channeling my inner Uta Barth (Taken with Instagram at Lambertville)

Installation shots from my exhibition, you took this out of context, at Vox Populi in Philadelphia.

(via Conceptual mashup at Vox | Knight Arts)

“Standing in the space inside Baldwin’s mounts, facing their fastidiously fabricated backs (on which he also positions his assemblages), I felt as if I were in a gallery turned inside-out - or like Jonah in the whale - and, in fact, I sort of was.” —Edith Newhall

Installation shots from the December 2011 exhibition at Vox Populi featuring Todd Baldwin, Michael May, Michael Van Winkle, and Dan Levenson.

(via Haroshi: Artworks)

This shoe sculpture, from the artist’s exhibition “Dunk, 2010,” was built from the actual used skateboards from NIKE’s pro riders, like Lance Mountain, Eric Koston, and Elissa Steamer.

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.”

-Chuck Close

I came across the artist B. Wurtz on one of my routine run-throughs of Chelsea galleries a few years back. He was showing at Feature and the sculpture made quite an impression on me. One particularly memorable work was composed of a piece of wood, placed horizontally on the floor, that had a metal rod rising from it. A plastic bag was gently hanging from the rod. The bag was turned upside down and subtly moved as I walked by.

When a work of art forces me to pause — like this work did — I tend to make a note of it. So, I jotted down Wurtz’s name on a scrap of paper that I had been carrying around that day, and then moved on to the next big gallery to see the next big thing.

Years later, I realized that this work had made a lasting impression on me. In that sculpture, Wurtz had taken something so common and everyday and seemingly mundane, and presented it to me in a way that actually made me think about it. It was just a plastic bag! Making this realization was great, except for one problem: I couldn’t remember the artist’s name let alone find that damn scrap of paper with my notes.

Fast forward to my graduate studies at Vermont College. One of the joys of its low residency visual arts program was that I could work with any artist of my choosing as a studio mentor. During my last semester in the program, a faculty member offered me a suggestion of who to work with. I looked up the artist and was floored – it was none other than B. Wurtz, the artist I couldn’t “locate” whose work I had admired years earlier.

B. and I ended up working together my last semester, and I couldn’t have had a better experience. Besides being a great guy, he was always readily accessible, thoughtful, and thorough in his critique of my work. He was also open to sharing his own personal experiences – through which I gained so much insight into the important acts of embracing and reflecting on moments as part of the art making practice. As a direct result of his guidance, I knew the work I produced was the best it could possibly be.

Which brings us to 2011 and the fact that B. is finally having a (long overdue) major show. The exhibit, appropriately titled “Works 1970-2011” is a collaboration between B., Matthew Higgs of White Columns, Metro Pictures, and Feature. I will be at the opening reception on Wednesday, June 22 from 6 to 8 pm. Otherwise, the show runs through August 5. Learn more about the exhibit at Metro Pictures and more about B. at Feature, his gallery of representation. 

Shown above: Untitled, 2002 Lock, wood 8.5 x 22 x 5.75 inches

I love going to Dia: Beacon for so many reasons. The architecture doesn’t fight the artwork and the space that work is given is something that you typically don’t find in most museums. I also love the entrance way; guests to the museum squeeze through this little narrow passage and on the other side awaits 240,000 square feet of exhibition space illuminated by natural light. It’s just beautiful.

The museum houses works created by a focused group of significant and typically well- known artists, like Dan Flavin, Sol Lewitt, and Richard Serra. I make a point to revisit the Dia collection yearly - if not more - and am fortunate to say that I’ve grown comfortable with these works. While I might take away a new understanding or appreciation after a visit, it’s rare that I’ll leave with a new, profound, career-shaking discovery.

That is, until the special exhibition I witnessed this past Memorial Day weekend. I came across an artist and series of work that I had never heard about! I was completely awestruck and inspired! The artist is Franz Erhard Walther, and his exhibition is called “Work as Action.”

This presentation of works features a selection of Handlungsstücke (Action Pieces) from the early 1960s, including the complete presentation of 1. Werksatz (First Work Set), 1963–69. 1. Werksatz comprises fifty-eight fabric elements, or “instruments,” meant to be activated by visitors to the museum, drawing attention to the body as material form.

There are many different ways to experience Walther’s work. You can be the person activating the work, or you can watch the process. Although I didn’t get the chance to activate any of the sculptures, I saw a young man activate the vest shown in the picture above. It was amazing! He put it on and began galloping around the perimeter of the exhibition space. For whatever reason, it brought me so much happiness, and the action created a freeing, uplifting moment.

I am excited to learn more about this artist and see how his use of material influences my own art making practice.

Photo: Franz Erhard Walther, installation view of Franz Erhard Walther: Work as Action, Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York. October 2, 2010–February 13, 2012. Photo: David Allison.