If you stop what you are doing and look as far away as you can, even if it is just in the other room, or if you are lucky enough to be outside, look as far away as you can. There are so many things/stuff/objects in your way of seeing far into the distance. Those distractions, objects, patterns and the smallest opening that lets you see even further are what my paintings are about. They are about the things in the way of seeing as far as you can. Sometimes these objects in my paintings are from memories, memories of the color of a room or shape of a hill. The combination of the struggle to see in the distance and flashes of memories make up the stories within my paintings. Out of these thoughts comes work that looks almost abstract, but in my eyes the combination of shapes and colors have stories.

All images via her website. Ky also has a blog detailing her art collection, which I really enjoyed viewing as well.

Also, the lush, full color and full bleed illustrations are lush and extremely satisfying to view.

All images via Flickr. Check out his blog as well.

Since I will miss the reception tomorrow, I took the liberty of viewing Search Engine: Lou Joseph 1998–2012 at the North Ave. Market on my own. I was blown away by amount of work on the walls, also enjoyed navigating through the space with the Search Engine Field Guide (available as a pamphlet upon entering the gallery).

A retrospective of work over the past 14 years, the exhibition (put on by the Institute of Contemporary Art Baltimore) explores the varied work that Lou has produced. Personal history reveals that he has lived many places (Tuscon, Venice, and Philadelphia to name a few) before coming to Baltimore in 2008. The exhibition highlights this fact by layering every available piece made by Lou since 1998.

What was most successful about this exhibition was its sheer volume. Every piece hung on the wall (or on the floor) was apart of Lou’s history, good or bad. Individually, some pieces work better than others, but seeing them all together creates interesting juxtapositions that help to elevate what might be weaker.

In the Search Engine Field Guide, it highlights the themes present in Lou’s work:

Battles and conflicts predominate. Some pieces are cartoonish and bizarre visually — as fights waged between reproductive organs or tentacled breasts– while other allude to situations that are equally bizarre but increasingly common sights culled from the news, like drones, cars on fire and tent cities. There is a steady preoccupation with repitition, not just of line and pattern, but as a way of understanding futility and failure.

The reception for this show will be tomorrow, Friday the 20th, from 6PM-9M at the North Ave. Market. It is located at 16 W. North Avenue in the Station North Arts District. If you are artistically inclined, you wil also walk around the show imagining what all of your work would look like displayed in this way. I know I did.

For more information on Lou Joseph, check out his website. Also take a look at his Tumblr, too.

Beth Hoeckel’s studio lies in beautiful, tree-lined neighborhood in Baltimore. Light and airy, the space is home to Beth’s collage and mixed media work. As someone who works in collage, I was impressed by Beth’s way of working and organization. Seeing this space and hearing her speak really informed the work for me, which is comprised of photographs from old magazines and sometimes paired with painting.

Three images via Beth’s website.

Beth works through feeling and intuition. Pairing parts of collages and paintings, she works until something feels done. She listens to her inner voice, and allows for things to develop organically.

Beth describes her collages, which use vintage imagery and a meticulous hand, as looking like regular photographs, but surreal. Her attention to craft is what helps to make her compositions look so believable. They feel extremely cohesive, but at the same time they could not exist anywhere — part of the beauty of using photographs in collage.

Working in collage (and seeing other collage-centric studios), I was extremely impressed with how Beth has set up her space. Things are labeled! They are separated and tacked up on on a wall! She’s organized cut outs by subjects, color, and ready-made pieces to stick.

Colored plastic folders hold already-cut backgrounds, ready for collage.

The cut outs tacked on her wall gave a good indication of colors, shapes, and imagery that Beth is interested in at the moment. Over the years, she said, these things tend to change, with some reoccurring themes. It’s not surprising, these changes, because they complement the way that Beth likes to work. There is a sense of growth and experimentation present in her space, and she’s willing to take risks if it feels right.

Right now, Beth is working on five album covers, and participates in zines (such as Mild Vilnc) and interviews. Despite her analog way of working, she’s also very active on the internet — something we talked about at length. She’s tapped into using sites like Tumblr and Flickr, which has helped to shape her career and what people are responding to in her body of work.

Thanks, Beth!

All images via Flickr. Ken also has an Etsy store that you can check out.

Jeremy also is good at likenesses, with much of his work a play on popular culture.

All images via his Flickr. Check out his website, too.

(For the 10th anniversary Wet Hot American Summer! I love. If you have not seen that movie, you should. I think it is on Instant Netflix.)

After Helen Frankenthaler died last week, I started reading more about the Color Field painters and became intrigued by Morris Louis and his enormous canvases of rich color. Originally from Baltimore, he lived and worked in Washington D.C. during most of his painting career. As the story goes, Clement Greenberg, a famous art critic, brought Louis and Kenneth Noland, a friend and also a painter, to Frankenthaler’s studio in 1953. She was staining canvases with thinned out paint and Louis was so impressed by her technique that he immediately went back to Washington and adopted it for his own work.

Louis is known for his “Veils” and “Unfurleds,” massive paintings that play with the possibilities of the canvas using color and space. He experimented with pigment application and poured colors down canvases, guiding the streams or just letting the paint flow across the canvas naturally. But no one was ever allowed to see how he created his paintings and he actually destroyed much of what he made. Most of the canvases he worked on were larger than his studio, leaving art historians guessing as to how they were actually created.

He died in 1962 at age 50 from lung cancer, which was caused by inhaling the fumes from the paints he worked so closely with. Although his fame is mainly posthumous (he never even saw his paintings hung in a gallery or museum), he was a defining contributor to the Color Field school, part of Abstract Expressionism, and is considered one of the precursors to Minimalism.

Images via contemporary smart, secret little gem, & the met.

All images via Flickr.

All images via her website.

All images via Flickr. Check out Ryan’s website as well!