Holiday Nostalgia

Brian Faucette

Brian Faucette April 6 - May 18

essay by Jacques Vidal

In the paintings and philosophy of Brian Faucette, what is most evident is his retractable hustle. His is an inexhaustible creative force in finding ways to evade history, seriousness, and permanence. I immediately think of this Tom and Jerry cartoon from when I was a kid: Tom is shooting at Jerry, and his gun never runs out of ammo, but Jerry is suddenly like a god, he stretches himself out and uses his new tall thin flexibility to dodge every bullet, eventually he (as always) emerges the victor. Brian happily embodies this dodgy derelict attitude both verbally and physically, in this I've always thought that he really takes one for the team (the team in this case is responsibility).



Faucette's newest paintings have taken on the black monolith of Modernism from a similar angle as before, but now he at once embraces geometric abstraction's self-aggrandizing science fiction myth making, and prophesizing while questioning its supposed timelessness or intellectual rigor. This new "Skynet" series makes use of Kool-Aid, Ketamine, Paints mixed with salt, and Plumber's grade plaster, materials chosen for the speed and aggression of there own decomposition. Brian wants to see the fruits of his labor bloom quickly. He offers us the opportunity to see a myth proposed and then corrupted, like so many trends and ethical positions. Proof if anything that for Brian (and maybe for all of us) you can have your cake and eat it too. Thank you Brian, you're a real trooper.

Daniel Heidkamp

February 24 - March 30

The Nature of Careful and Nice:
An Email Conversation Between Daniel Heidkamp and Dana Frankfort

Dear Dana,

Here are photos of my crusty palette scraping paintings on paper.
No one's seen these pictures before, and its lucky and apropos that
you would be the first.


Dan,
LOVE LOVE LOVE be careful.


BE NICE is fucked up because as I see it, painting is never nice.


Do you think these relate at all to your representational paintings?
Or just as residue?


No drips,
Dana


Hey Dana,

so my friend Andrew Guenther (do you know him? a cool artist, who just had a show at Derek Eller) invited me to be this month’s exhibit at his makeshift gallery in greenpoint called Arts Tropical. Essentially he has a storefront studio on Meserole, and features artists in his window. I'm thinking this would a cool opportunity to do something different, and I'd like to show the 'be careful', and 'be nice' paintings. Andrew, who's coming over this afternoon, asked me to get someone to write about the work we'll pick out. I think it would be SO amazing and elevate the project if you (the modern queen of funky word paintings) would write a paragraph about those paintings. It can be short and informal (150-200 words) off the cuff impressions, insights about the work, how it relates to my other stuff, or painting in general. what do you think?
here're the specs on the two paintings (attached below)
-enamel and oil (scraped from used palettes) on paper, with screws, painting tube caps, matches and other studio detritus, apprx 28x32in
Dan

p.s. this can be in lieu of the grad school recommendation which I'll never need written..ha


Dan,

would it be cool to just post the email I sent you the first time I saw your word paintings?


Dearest Dana,

Um, I don't know if that's enough. If it helps, Andrew came to the studio today, and we decided to juxtapose the two word paintings with the two paintings posted below. These can be paired through color, surface, and theme (taxi and 'careful', brownie and 'nice').
Heidkamp


The email thing was just an idea.
but I don't know about those other two paintings. it changes the whole concept of your txt paintings if you hang them with that figurative stuff. When you 'juxtapose' and 'pair' things together, they're supposed to comment on each other, right? So that's why it changes everything. I liked them and thought they were stronger when they were on their own, not trying to 'comment' on the other paintings around them.
It sorta seems like there's a comic book 'conversation bubble' dynamic between the two different types of paintings - based on the way you've 'juxtaposed' them. And I don't find that interesting. DANA




I didn’t think about it that way, but you make a great point. I think I like the ‘word’ paintings by themselves too. Still, Andrew is really focused on keeping Art Tropical a pro-community endeavor and finds the neighbors in Greenpoint become disturbed by non-representational art. Everyone knows I’m determined to give the people what they want. Anyways, I'm most interested in your comments on the word paintings alone, and not just *my* word paintings, but the concept of painting words in general. In other words, you can stick to the original idea...


Dan,

the context - the meaning -- my understanding!!! of your text paintings changes if they hang with those other paintings. I can't write the same type of thing that I would if they are shown alone. d




Dana,

I think I'm going to use this email correspondence as the essay for the show.


alright. But one more thing, i don't have any comments about the concept of word paintings in general.
DF

Johnny Castillo

January 11th - February 16th 2008

Bridging Two Worlds

Born in La Romana, on the island of the Dominican Republic, I spent my childhood playing baseball and exploring the tropical jungles, always admiring the patterns and colors of my surroundings. When I was 16 years old I moved to the island of Manhattan. Surrounded by the towering structures and fierce rivers of this modern metropolis, I found myself captivated by the ever-changing colors and shapes the city encompassed. After years of baseball and injuries I have dedicated my life to the exploration of color and, the challenge of capturing life. I never pictured myself living anywhere else, but I still yearn for my boyhood paradise. In these works I have focused on the integration of my two worlds. By allowing myself to travel between both islands, I bridge the gap within my personal history. I will always be torn between my worlds. No matter how infatuated I am with the island of Manhattan, it will always be alien to my soul. I find my expression within this dilemma.

-Johnny Castillo