DAY 30: I Have Answers. None Of Them Are Right.

I Have Answers.  None Of Them Are Right.

Dear Friend,

This piece is pretty straight up.  Surely someone out there is feel’n me sometimes.  If not, and you got all the right answers, can I look at yours? 

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  Pen

DAY 29: Which One Does Not Belong?

Which One Does Not Belong?

Dear Friend,

Sometimes you just gotta go back to the beginning when you were in elementary school and innocence was still a part of who you are.

Two more days till 2011.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  crayon, acrylic, screenprint, collage

DAY 28: 1,000 Rabbits For Sale - $2.99

1,000 Rabbits For Sale - $2.99

Dear Friend,

This is another piece that has to do with mass production and advertise bombardment.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  silk screen, collage, pen, acrylic

DAY 27: Untitled Tragedy

Untitled Tragedy

Dear Friend,

Sorry I haven’t had much to say about my last few posts.  I think my brain is on break  …

Sincerely,

Angeles

DAY 26: Untitled Abyss

Untitled Abyss

Dear Friend,

It’s been a super busy weekend.  Hope everyone had a great Christmas…only four days left of this year. wow!!

Sincerely,

Angeles

DAY 25: Automated Response

Automated Response

Dear Friend,

Hope you had an amazing Christmas!!!  Only 6  more days till 2011!!  Whoa!!

Sincerely,
Angeles

medium:  crayon, latex, gel medium transfer, oil pastel

DAY 24: Happenstance

Dear Friend,

A poem for you.  Happy Christmas Eve.

Sincerely,
Angeles

Happenstance
dollhouses and paper dreams
epileptic treasures of a symbolic metaphor
hyperlinking exasperations and
technological situations of solitude
and perpetually sinking the overcast
sanctity of everything human and
nothing immoral.
chest held high in serenity and
devotion of tragic catastrophies and
geometric obstacles
with tribulations and typhoons
     - created at your own risk
        and sanity
i wish i knew you before we met
maybe then it wouldn't be so sterile
in an exploited environment.
correct me if i'm wrong sargeant.

Medium:  words

DAY 23: Trick Me, Lie To Me, and Call Me Dumb

Trick Me, Lie To Me, and Call Me Dumb

Dear Friend,

There is a lot in this piece.  Sometimes when we are close to a thing our vision becomes blurred and we can’t see straight.  Other times we just don’t want to see and walk blindly.  We would rather be in denial.  This piece also has a lot to do with advertising and mass productions and using sex to sale, free of charge, it only costs you your soul.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  collage and acrylic

Day 22: Hiding Behind Geometry

Hiding Behind Geometry

Dear Friend,

I love appropriating...taking things away and adding other things and seeing the outcome from beginning to end.  Sometimes breaking things down into simple shapes is more powerful and has a stronger voice to me than putting intricate details into every aspect.  I used to be super detailed and very realistic in my drawings so it's wild to look back at where I came from, where I am now and where I want to be.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  Collage and acrylic

DAY 21: Where Are My Lectins

Where Are My Lectins?

Dear Friend, 

Have you seen my lectins?  If so, please call 1-800-MY-LECTN

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  collage, acrylic, sharpie

DAY 20: "Excellent! I cried. "Elementary," said he.

"Excellent! I cried. "Elementary," said he.

Dear Friend,

Wow.  Only 4 more days till Christmas and it still doesn’t seem like Christmas.

Hope everyone has a great, non-stressful week.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  screenprint, collage, sharpie, acrylic

DAY 19: Out of the Catacombs

Out of the Catacombs

Medium:  screenprint, acrylic, oil pastel, correction fluid

DAY 18: Mono Po Liz E Me

Mono Po Liz E Me

Dear Friend,

It’s been a super long day so I’m gonna leave you with this image.  Can’t believe Christmas is here next week.  What The Heck???!?!?

Have a great weekend!!

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  screenprint, oil stick, pencil, latex house paint and probably some dust.

Day 17: Child's Play

Dear Friend,

I built this piece off of the sketch I did yesterday.  I think it's pretty screwed up when we solicit kids to sell adults clothes, perfume, games, electronics, music, pretty much whatever.  And we wonder why there are so many messed up weird child stalkers out there.  Maybe our media and marketing need to get more creative in sending subliminal messages to all of us on what we need and can't live without.

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!!

Sincerely,

Angeles

DAY 16: It's Doodle Time

Don't Feed The Dinosaurs

Dear Friend, 

I put my ideas down,  do small works of art, etc in my sketchbook but I really need and want to get back to page one...the basics...get back to sketching and drawing traditionally to exercise my drawing skills so I was messing around with sketching tonight while watching some tv.  Remember, don't feed the dinosaurs...especially when they're stuffed.

Sincerely,

Angeles

medium: pencil

DAY 15: Barry McGee: TWIST

Dear Friend,

For today's post, I decided to share a paper I did this semester on an amazing current artist, Barry McGee.  Hope you enjoy.  

Sincerely,
Angeles

Barry McGee: Twist

Coming out of the mod scene in the 1980's and growing up in San Francisco, Barry McKee, known also as Twist on the streets, began bombing the streets with his graffiti in 1985 during the Reagan/Bush era, at the age of 18.¹ He came from the underground youth arena of West Cost surfers, skaters, indie music and graffiti artists and began creating art that reflected this.² McGee views graffiti as a vital method of communication and feels it keeps him in touch with a larger, more diverse audience than can be reached in traditional spaces of galleries and museums.³ He continues his graffiti even now that he is internationally known and shows his work in mainstream and alternative galleries and museums.

His large popularity has been seen to help legitimize the street art genre, paving a way for names such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey (the controversial artist who painting the street portrait of Obama).⁴

In 2001, his work was featured in the Venice Biennial. Since then, his work often sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars.⁵ Since 2001, his art made it's way to Ebay, alternative exhibition spaces, skate shops, art fairs and auction houses and most recently museums and galleries. In the past, McGee's works have been stolen, traded, destroyed and faked.⁶ At a solo show which took place at Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum in 2004, “there was a major heist there –thirty-nine bottles were stolen over a period. But no one figured it out until the end of the show”.⁷ These bottles that were stolen are ones he is known for that he paints his droopy eyed, depressed looking characters inspired by homeless people and transients he has come across on the streets.

Fig. 1

McGee's influences come from artists such as Mexican Muralists, and graffiti artists from the 70's and 80's such as Jean Michele Basquiat and Keith Haring. You can see these influences come out in his work. The color palette he uses, particularly in his geometric pattern paintings are reminiscent to the colors found in Mexican Murals (fig. 1). The text, paint drips, things marked out, graffiti and raw drawings are all characteristics you will find in Jean Michele Basquiat's work, as well as social issues being addressed (fig. 2). And his characters in particular remind me of Keith Haring's work, the way they are so recognizable, stylistic and social (fig. 3).

His work has been described as “...a strong immediately recognizable visual signature of the best graffiti art, but is also enormously poetic and evocative. It communicates the artist's strong empathy with people who have been left behind by contemporary society”.⁸

Fig. 2

Graduating from San Francisco Art Institute in 1991 he is seen as a part of the Mission School of Art Movement, which emerged around a core group of artists that attended the San Francisco Art Institute.⁹

Fig. 3

One element that is particular to the Mission artists is the 'cluster' method (fig.4). There is not an artist that is a part of The Mission that does not use this method within his or her work. The artist will bring together several artworks, usually small in size and mount them on a wall in a cluster, very close together or sometimes even overlapping as McGee often did. Another characteristic that is unique to The Mission is a real concern with social issues. Living in The Mission District, one is constantly bombarded with homeless people as well as drug addicts living on the streets, seeing a lot of

suffering.¹⁰

Fig. 4

McGee is a multidisciplinary artist, as you can tell from looking at his work. In the exhibit, “One More Thing”, which I will discuss in greater detail later, you will find that he has sculpture, paintings, installations, and video art within his shows. He also paints on the walls, as you would find a graffiti artist doing on the streets, paints on canvas, found objects such as sheet metal, glass bottles, car parts, vehicles, and trash bins to name a few of the endless ways he chooses to express himself.

Fig. 5

Along McGee's career, there have been times of controversy. In 2006, McGee was involved in providing artwork to Adidas for their Y1 HUF shoe. A protest campaign was started by Asian Americans who believed that the picture on the shoe's tongue depicted a racist stereotype, showing an Asian type character with slanted eyes and buck teeth (fig. 5). The image was a Ray Fong image, another street name McGee used at times before he became known as Twist. In Barry's defense, this image was a self portrait of himself at a young age. McGee is half Chinese.¹¹

Fig. 6

A couple of years before, a controversy that came about is one that took place in the San Francisco City Hall when San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez let McGee spray paint his office walls with a message: “SMASH THE STATE” (fig. 6). This is one of the last exhibitions of many that Gonzalez hosted before another election was held, one that he was not running for. His work in the City Hall exhibition did not only have this controversial text, it also included his characters as well as small installation pieces.¹²

Fig. 7

One final controversy that I want to mention is a mural piece McGee was commissioned to do by The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego (fig. 7). This mural was located right across from City Hall. One resident of San Diego complained, “I think it's awful, it's an ugly eyesore”. A cop asked, “What's graffiti and what's not?” which totally brings up the debate of 'what is considered art and what is graffiti.¹³

"One More Thing"
Deitch Projects 2005

"One More Thing"
Deitch Projects 2005

"One More Thing"
Deitch Projects 2005

One of my favorite exhibits that I found on McGee was a show that he did in 2005 for Deitch Projects in New York titled, “One More Thing”. Deitch Projects is known for producing ambitious projects by contemporary artists as well as books. Some artists that have been a part of shows at Deitch Projects are Jean Michele Basquiat, Keith Haring, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel.¹⁴ McGee's exhibit, “One More Thing” is a great representation of all aspects of McGee's work as an artist on the streets and in the gallery. Here, you will find graffiti style paintings on the walls as well as 'writings' in the main room and the restrooms. There are sections that have his 'cluster' paintings, all framed in cheap dime store looking brass and wood frames, however the presentation and art is by far not cheapened by use of these frames. As you enter the exhibit, you will find a picture of Ray Fong, the character used on the controversial Adidas shoe and will be welcomed by overturned cars almost piled up to the roof doused with graffiti. McGee brings his own world into the space.¹⁵ You will find dumpsters spilling out artwork, geometric color panels popping out of the walls, characters on bottles, stacks of television sets inside the back of an open van, cords coming out of the ceiling connected to electronics with art, paintings on sheet metal, and other fragments from the streets. The televisions stacked in the van as well as other places have animated drawings flickering from them. All of this is bringing the streets to the museum guest. As much chaos that is happening, his use of space is exceptional while your mind can be at times overstimulated. A very important aspect and presence of the show, to McGee, is the part that his community of friends plays. You will see this through photographs, sculptures, mannequins, and drawings as well as their participation in the installation of the exhibit. “The ills of contemporary urban life, with its burden of homelessness, addiction and social inequalities can be felt in McGee's installations.”¹⁶

This installation shows the rough side of urban life such as homelessness, addictions, rejection and social inequalities. He also shows a personal response to mass produced advertising, corporate logos and billboards that constantly are in our face every day.¹⁷ This part of McGee's work reminds me of Warhol's 1980's pieces that were centered around mass production and commercialization, each of the artists reacting to this issue in different ways with different responses.

To sum up McGee's work, the is a central theme we continually see throughout his gallery pieces. Social issues are represented in each piece and have followed him since the beginning of his first marks he laid down on the streets, billboards, buildings, trains and stickers. His work, as well as the way he presents everything, is thought provoking, somewhat sad when looking at the characters, especially when you know what they depict, visually stunning, and inspiring. His use of line, color, shape, values and texture, along with his understanding of how to mix different medias without them becoming separate parts are genius. I look forward to following his career for the next several years and decades.

1Bucket, Charlie, “Barry McGee (Twist) Interview,” in Entertaining Things, Dreamhost, 12 Sept. 2009, <http://www.entertainingthings.com/2009/09/12/barry-mcgee-twist-interview/> 19 Nov. 2010

2Anderson, Lauri, “Barry McGee,” in Art 21, PBS, 2001, <http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mcgee/clip1.html> 20 Oct. 2010

3Anderson

4Wright, Andrew Jeffrey, “Barry McGee; Twist,” in SWINDLE Magazine, Media Temple, 2007, <http://swindlemagazine.com/issue14/barry-mcgee/> 20 Oct. 2010

5Wright

6Kuo, Michelle, “Barry McGee.” Artforum International 46.8 (2008): 338+. Academic Onefile. Web. 19 Nov. 2010

7Kuo

8Deitch, Jeffrey, “Barry McGee,” Deitch Projects, NS0.com, 2005, <http://www.deitch.com/artists/sub.php?artistId=1> 19 Nov 2010

9Wright

10Rose, Aaron and Strike, Christian, Beautiful Losers, San Francisco, CA, 2004, 42

11Wright

12Hoggard, Barry, “Barry McGee: Smash The State,” in Bloggy, Webfaction.com, 2004, <http://bloggy.com/2004/12/barry_mcgee_sma.html>, 23 Nov. 2010

13Unknown, “San Diego Is Not Feeling New Barry McGee Mural,” in Juxtapoz, Domaincontrol.com, 22 Nov. 2010

14Deitch, <http://www.deitch.com/gallery/about.html>

15DiRosa, Joe, “Barry McGee: One More Thing @ Deitch Projects,” in New York Art Series, Artistseries.com, 2005, <http://www.newyorkartistseries.com/mambo/content/view/190/60/> 22 Nov. 2010

16DiRosa

17DiRosa

**I am not the owner of the photographs.  I cited all work to the best of my ability, intending no harm to anyone but to spread the art of Barry McGee.

DAY 14: Hiding Behind Entertainment

Hiding Behind  Entertainment

Dear Friend,

As I did this piece, I was thinking about mass production, advertising bombardment to purchase what you can't afford and will be paying off for the next year...or five...and this time of year when people want so much stuff and if they don't get the latest and greatest they aren't happy.  Actually, most aren't happy either way.  Or they might be happy the first few days after they get what they want then are hit with reality that there is probably something already greater that they are missing out on.  I bet around the block....down the street...over the river....on the other side of town...across the ocean there are people that would be happy just to get some bread or live another day.

Cheers to another day of capitalism

...or changing priorities.  You choose.

Sincerely, 

Angeles

Medium:  latex house paint, newpaper

DAY 13: Ended Mind Trap Affair

Ended Mind Trap Affair

DAY 12: Green Talking Horses and Pretty Little Valentines

Green Talking Horses and Pretty Little Valentines

Dear Friend, 

passionate moments

brilliant green talking horses

river breezes by the valley

halfway through her second sandwich

sprawling into blackness

he spoke up.

she called out.

reading those letters isn't good.

perhaps 

his expression

shielded her.

she fell back onto the pillow.

Sincerely,

Angeles

medium:  phrases from thrift store book cut out.

DAY 11: Doodlage - Electric Pandemonium Solitude

Electric Pandemonium Solitude

Dear Friend, 

I am watching Lost again on Netflix.  It's amazing the stuff I'm picking up and figuring out now that I know how it ends...even though I still have a bazillion and one questions.  So...I've been chilling out after a long day of writing a research paper, of which I am still not done with but that's another story, and decided to do a 'doodlage' for today's piece.  Throughout the life of my art, I have gone through phases where I play around with catwalk models and high fashion models in general..appropriating pictures, using them within pieces...whatever deems necessary at the moment.  And here I am...playing around with them again.  When I look at this piece it looks as if I'm playing with paper dolls or something, but hey...it's fun.

Sincerely,

Angeles

DAY 10: I Don't Know What To Do With Myself...Sometimes.

I Don't Know What To Do With Myself...Sometimes

Dear Friend,

One thing this blog is and will always be about is keep'n it real so the title and label maker says it all.  I was blank with what to do today completely.  The screenprint is a scrap from something I did a while ago and when I was thinking about what to do I just started clicking those words together and I thought...Ok...that works for me.  

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  screenprint, newspring, label maker.

Day 9: TO BE DETERMINED

Title To Be Determined

Dear Friend, 

Marionettes have always fascinated me in my art.  I have used them in the past a few times and have a few things in the works to use them again.  I love the theatrical aspect of them for one.  But the big thing that originally drew me to them was when I was doing a conceptual art project about 4 years ago for a class.  I turned myself into a marionette because at that time I was in a place where I felt trapped and felt like I had lost myself and was being controlled as if I was a puppet with someone pulling the strings of every move I made.  It was a horrible place to be...and when you are there, it's feels impossible to break away.  I know that there are a lot of people out there that can relate to me in some way.  There are so many things that can gain control of us if we let them.  Peers, school, family, society, jobs, addictions, chocolate, unicorns or chocolate unicorns.  Be who you truly are cause that's the best you ever and don't let anyone try to make you into something you are not.

Cheers to the weekend and finals week almost being over!  This semester has ended on a great note which is an awesome feeling!  

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  screenprint.

DAY 8: UNTITLED

UNTITLED

Dear Friend, 

When I was working on this piece, a title never came to me and I can't just throw out a title so here it is...'untitled'.

I am really excited because I made a couple of new screens today for printing and burnt a lot of images that I have been wanting to use.  I only use images that have a strong significance or meaning to me.  Sometimes I don't even know what that meaning is to start with, there is just something that draws me to certain things, but the more I use it and the more I work with it, it begins speaking to me.  That's the way this image is right now.  To me it shows femininity in it's shape and yet has a rawness to it because it is wire.  As I have mentioned before, opposites, or contrasts are very appealing to me.  I love fashion.  Fashion designers fascinate me.  People who sew fascinate me.  I wish I knew how to sew.  On top of the image I drew out a pattern to a dress that could be put on the mannequin when it is finished.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Mixed Media:  screenprint, sharpie, oil pastel

Day 7: "MAYBE"

MAYBE

I went into this piece knowing two things.  

1.  I wanted to take a minimal approach.

2.  And I wanted to use text.

Text art or art that incorporates text is very 

powerful to me.  I think
about how powerful the written word is.  There are so 

many things I have read out there that have told 

me this before but like anything else, each time you 

experience it for yourself is when it becomes more alive.

When choosing the word 

MAYBE,

I was thinking about our society being a non-commital society.  

We want to leave ourselves open to the possibility of 

something better coming our way...whatever that 

'something' 

might be, unique to each of us, 

depending on our situation, environment, 

relationships, finances, health and social status 

to name a few.  Even though 

MAYBE 

is not much of a strong word, because of it's 

non commitment status, it has so much depth and 

strength within what it is.  When I want to make a 

word even stronger I always use a period 

after the word, as I did here.  To me, a period 

is ironic in this 'statement' but is needed.  

A period signifies 'the end', or 'end of discussion'. 

The irony 

comes in the fact that the period is a 'matter of fact', 

'a decision has been made' symbol 

and yet the word, MAYBE, lives in the land of 'possibly' 

only. 

 MAYBE is MAYBE, it is not a yes or no.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  vinyl letters

Day 6: Big Flies Are Not Pretty Little Unicorns

Big Flies Are Not Pretty Little Dinosaurs

Dear Friend, 

Another screenprint for today.  Something fun.  I plan on using both of these images in some upcoming art pieces... 

Sincerely,

Angeles

P.S. Big flies are scary.

Medium:  screenprint

Day 5: Shadow Allogation

Shadow Allegation

Dear Friend, 

I've been screen printing tonight and decided to print in my sketchbook.

I LOVE screenprinting.  This is just a simple print of part of an urban skyscrape I am going to incorporate into another piece.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Angeles

Medium:  screenprint

Day 4: Simplistatic

Simplistatic

Dear Friend, 

Sometimes it's good to go back to page 1.  I love the simple things and would like to live and breathe there more often.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Mixed Media:  found art, pen and some glue.

DAY 3: "Hostelity"

"Hostelity"

Dear Friend,

Man the last couple of days have been super crazy.  I'm living on just a few hours of sleep in a few days working fast to get all my projects done for finals next week and so far I'm actually doing good.  (on lack of sleep, still trying to figure out projects) :)

I just finished this piece in my sketchbook.  I took a part of yet another piece that I am working on for a final project.  I took this picture when I was in Venice Beach this past summer, one of my fave places to hang.  As I was working on this I wrote beside it:

full of hopskotch

jugglers and free-

will episodes across

an avalanche

of purposeful

transients and

transcenders

against what

is known in

amsterdam as 

tragic delight.

Sincerely,

Angeles

Mixed Media:  photo litho, pencil, oil pastel, gouache, masking tape