Group Show - RICHARD HELLER GALLERY - June 25th

SUMMER 2011:
Featuring: Sookyung Bae, Andre Goeritz, Mike Gong, Rebecca Morgan, and David O’Brien
June 25 - July 23, 2011
RICHARD HELLER GALLERY
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave. B-5A
Santa Monica, CA 90404
T 310.453.9191 F 310.453.2791
www.richardhellergallery.com

Opening Reception June 25th - 4pm to 6pm

Richard Heller Gallery is pleased to present, Summer 2011 a group exhibition of artists who have not shown with the gallery before. The group is not tied together with a specific theme, however, they are all young talents that deserve further consideration.

Photographer, Sookyung Bae a recent MFA from Claremont College makes large scale photographs in a grid format with repeating images of friends, relatives and people who have influenced his practice. David O’Brien similarly deals with repetitive images of human subjects clustering them into galactic-like constellations. Andre Goeritz, another recent Claremont graduate, makes modernist influenced conceptual sculptures that blur the boundaries between art and furniture and design. Portland Oregon based, Mike Gong creates some of the most amazing wonders you will ever see inside a glass sphere. For this show Mike will push the envelope into the largest and most complex glass sculptures he has ever made. Rebecca Morgan hails from a Pennsylvania farm town, and resides in Brooklyn, NY. Her sumptuous large-scale graphite drawings and paintings on paper depict the culture clash created by that migration.

New Work

VSC

They say the more residencies you get into, the more you get into, you know? Well I finally got into one of these things. The entire month of July I will be here. Will I return a granola eating socks-and-sandals wearing earth sculpture making hippie? You'll have to wait and see...

The Human Entropy Project

For better or worse, I've dedicated the past year to this project. It has to do with the concept of entropy and how it affects identity. It is a synthetic swarm, where people are multiplied many times over. They are flung into the air, repositioned, and scrambled into these massive collages. I took several thousands of photographs and spent countless hours manipulating and arranging them. Most of these images are printable at 60" x 48" at 400 dpi.... incredibly high res (i think so anyway) for their size. Here are some of the latest images:


(detail image from the one above)







I can't say that I knew much about photography before I started this project, and I'm not sure that I know very much more now. What I don't know I hope I make up for in tenacity and plain stupid hard work. I bought my first DSLR just to do this. It's been quite and odyssey and I have to thank all the friends who modeled for me. Each of the images you see above (and below) are not some thing that was spit out by a computer algorithm and I do NOT use Processing (although I probably should.) Each was painstakingly arranged over hours and days and weeks.

We Are Everything

Braid

more images from the photo collage project

space, multiplicity, reflection, distance.

ecstasy of st. theresa vs. multiple erin

some connections

I'm not sure I've ever posted anything that's not my own work. That is surely not a good thing. At any rate, better late then never and you gotta start somewhere. Here are a couple of worthwhile connections to my own personal investigations:
number one:

Philippe Halsman - jumpology
Probably any first year photo student knows his work, but I came to it only recently. The parallels between what he was doing and what I am discovering are spot-on. When he asked people to jump for the camera, (or, in my case, pretend to float), "the mask falls", and much is revealed about the true nature of the one involved. Their body language tells so much. The excitement for me comes in collaging everyone together and discovering hidden relationships within the context of a swarm.

number two:
the swarm......

birds...

number three:
crowds...
...why the many are smarter than the few...

progress on photo project

I'm currently working on a little photo project. perhaps you are in it. here's a few samples of where I am so far... stay tuned... scroll down.... these are big images and may load slow. (ps. if you want to be a part of it, I want you to be a part of it. get in touch...!)

lately

hello again - - sorry for the lack of new work past few months. I have been deeply involved in a massive photography project which I hope to post examples of here soon. See below for a tiny bit of info about this. I have been taking and processing literally thousands of photographs... stay tuned...

What I've been up to lately

hello to the handful of you who may see this....
there haven't been many new drawings, paintings or shows lately because I have been wrapped up in a large photo project. I began with myself, and now I am photographing everyone I know. the concept is a giant swarming mass of people floating in space, all connected on a personal level... like a massive diagram of my own social network.

I've been spending months on this and there are months more to go...

D O B at Pierogi 2000

Eight of my drawings are now available in the flat files at Pierogi 2000 in Brooklyn.
I am beyond psyched since this is one of my favorite galleries in the world.

INTERVIEW and ARTICLE in REDEFINE Magazine

Interview and Article in Redefine Magazine ****LINK HERE****
This is a FANTASTIC article. Huge thanks to Vivian at ReDefine Magazine. Please, if you wanna learn about what I do check it out. You can also buy a hard copy of the magazine here. (one of my drawings is on the cover.)

Manifest Equality - preview night

Went to the preview night last night. Its definitely more of a big box party kind of atmosphere than serious art show. Very fun place to be and lots of art to check out. Expect there to be music and lots going on. Big closing party is this saturday, don't miss it!

Manifest Equality - Group Art Show This Week

I have a painting in this show <<><>< I know it sounds crazy but I entered a contest to be in it, and out of over a thousand entries I won! I'm one of 5 contest winners showing work along side a huge number of other amazing artists. I definitely have to thank Freddi Cerasoli who is in the show and told me about the contest. Come next week, either to the opening wednesday night or the big party saturday. It is all of course for a really good cause. see you there!

(ps...click the logo for a link to all the info)

Blowin' up in Japan <<< Plus 81 Magazine

I just got published in a Japanese art magazine called PLUS 81, (or +81) for their Spring Issue on Pattern Graphics.

http://www.plus81.com/publishment/magazine/index.html

Watch the little animation and midway thru you'll see some of my art go flashing by on the pages.

This is a really, really high quality magazine, and they were super nice, and I still can't believe I got in it.
2010_02_26 update: This magazine is tough to find in the U.S., BUT>>>> apparently you can find it in New York here, maybe here and hopefully soon in Los Angeles at Kinokuniya in Little Tokyo. We went there today and they had many copies of the magazine.

Art of Elysium - Heaven Gala 2010

I got published in a book! This is a first for me and I'm really excited. It is the catalog for the Art of Elysium Benefit Auction to be held in conjunction with Christie's at Palihouse Holloway this spring, March 4th. I donated a painting to the charity and here it is. Below are photos from their big fundraising event this past weekend.



So I went last weekend to the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala 2010. Shephard Fairey hosted it and did all the graphics, they had a fashion show at dinner, and Billy Idol performed. Yeah, he's pretty old now. But that was all just side-show to the huge number of famous actors everywhere. (Google it if you wanna see who was there.) Here's some pictures of the event, my nerdy self on the red carpet, and the catalog book that they published for the upcoming auction of donated artwork at Christie's in Beverly Hills.

Website / 2010

Hello Everyone - -
sadly, the Cerasoli Gallery, which represented my work for the past 2 years has recently closed. For any inquiries and updates about my work please go to my website here.

2010 looks to be an interesting year. I'm applying to schools and residencies, there WILL be some shows, I will also be in a magazine and a book next year. stay tuned....

2009, Meiosis, Oil on canvas, 54" x 48"