Dr. Oliver Bronson House & Art Exhibit

Today I got to visit the Dr. Oliver Bronson in the city of Hudson. Seldom do they open the doors for the public, so I feel very lucky to have experienced it this weekend. Adding to the treat, the city invited 3 known artists to show within the house’s walls. The artist chose not to be tagged and titled as any other gallery, making each piece blend exquisitely with the historic home.

Valerie Hammond’s pop of color and delicate work felt like a door into a dark and fascinating (sometimes terrifying) world. It really enhanced the surrealness of the environment surrounding it.

Kiki Smith’s drawings where really fragile yet depicted some interesting and complex characters. They where a perfect fit with its harsh yet beautiful home.

Seton Smith’s photographs displayed the hazy beauty of this grand structure. A great compliment to the exhibit.

I was incredibly please and enjoyed every minute of this gem. Thank you Hudson for organizing such a great group of artist, they were made for this historic property.

Built in 1812, the Dr. Oliver Bronson’s was declared a national historical landmark in 2003 and has been going through renovations since. If you want to help and become part of this incredible piece of history’s facelift, you can make a donation to Historic Hudson, Inc. 

Fun Fact: The Oliver-Bronson house was in the 2012 Bourne Legacy film as Shearing’s (Rachel Weisz) home.

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Featured Artist: Thomas Witte

A few nights ago I went to visit Thomas Witte‘s studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We had a nice hour long chat about his life as an artist, showing me the progression of his technique as well as his inspirations. Although his work is very 2 dimensional, there is a world of depth in each piece. I didn’t want this to be a proper interview of specific questions, but more of a conversation about how he got to where he is today and his ideas for the future. Hope you enjoy.

Studio Visit with Thomas Witte

Thomas’s style started brewing during a visit to Argentina 7 years ago. As a sculptor and painter, argentinian street art really inspired him to try something new and completely different. Witte fell in love with the rawness and the impact of a stencil, yet he had the urge to treat it more like fine art. Interestingly, his painting technique at the time was trying to achieve this specific look, but while exploring the streets of Buenos Aires, Thomas had the urge to try and create this process himself. Although he had no knowledge of the actual technique of creating stencils back then, Thomas tried to figure it out and make it his own by using a Dremel tool to draw with. As you can see below, his first piece does show a rough and speedy look-n-feel most associated with the streets. Its nice seeing how his first attempts are closest to his inspiration.

Coincidentally, Witte found his grandfather’s collection of slides about 7 years ago in his parent’s attic. Which he mainly has been using as the ‘subject matter’ of his work. This collection of photographs is quite impressive. Once Thomas opened the closet in his studio to show me, I gasped. There must be thousands of slides. These photos all come from his grandfather’s travels in his retirement. What makes them different than your regular photo, is how his grandfather would rather photograph people taking pictures of the landmarks, rather than the landmarks themselves. This gave Thomas a great perspective of that specific moment and it gives the viewer a chance to create their own story of this snapshot.


Above Thomas are his grandfather’s slides… part of them.

As well as his g-pa’s photos, he uses his own, his father’s, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard collection. Witte had a chat with the Navy Yard’s archivist, which led to his discovery of an existing 5k+ scanned high-res images from the history of the navy yards (all public domain). Thomas decided to use this specific imagery on wired-glass pieces he had collected from the dilapidated Navy Yard buildings, which is probably one of my favorites.



Style

Thomas hand draws his compositions and does not use computers. He believes drawing the lines is more natural and an extension of himself, which gives it a more organic feel as well as a more personal experience. Stenciling gives him the chance to have a huge array of canvases, which makes it enjoyable for him to explore and expand his ideas.

His color stencils range from 6 to 10 layers and are spray painted mainly on glass, but has been experimenting with old wooden table tops, tin cuts and fabric. His B&W stencils generally have about 5 layers. Thomas’s stencils will only go through a few prints (up to 3), but he rather keep them to a single pass, making each piece one of a kind.

His studio is filled with all shapes and sizes of glass, doors, windows, metal and anything else you can imagine. The glass and most of his materials come from the navy yards and the streets in neighborhood. While exploring his studio, you see big broken pieces, which give the artwork a rough-n-tough personality. But then you also see clean-cut glass with a equally perfect stencil.



I did ask Thomas is he missed the act of painting and brushwork and his reply was, no. After his ‘mexico’ painting series 7 years ago, Thomas doesn’t feel he has it in him anymore. For him, the act of drawing the stencil, projecting and cutting (which takes him about 40 hours), is his process of creating his ‘paint brush’. When making decisions on how to interpret the layers, he is creating the ‘brushwork’.

When asked if he had thought about doing shadowboxes or more 3-dimensional, sculptural pieces, Thomas responded with some thoughts and ideas about light-play, which seem like a natural progression due to his nature of working with glass. But right now he is focused on a new idea. It includes collages, new materials, and collaborating with his sister. Recently, Witte learned that the building which houses his studio use to be the flag-making factory in the early 1900’s. This new found knowledge of the buildings’ history, combined with imagery from that era, plus the street art element of stenciling will definitely bring some very original and interesting work into the collaboration. Thomas went in depth about his plan and is extremely excited about it, but I don’t want to give too much away. I can’t wait to see the outcome.


Now & Tomorrow

Early this year, Witte found a 1950’s table top which will be used alongside his new body of work. At his upcoming exhibit in New jersey (details below), he will be showcasing a new series made with an opaque glass found on the streets where you can see his new experimentation with stenciling both the front AND back of the glass to create more depth.

In between this latest exhibit and the collaboration project with his sister, Thomas is making probably one of the coolest dollhouses for is 2 year old daughter’s birthday. Taking inspiration from Calder’s dollhouses (which actually has electricity and pulleys!), the house will be a miniature model of their current home with the same streets, cars, trees, and other neighborhood landmarks.

Personal Touch

Thomas is committed to being a full-time artist for life and is ready for the challenges ahead. Luckily, he seems to have a solid family who shares a passion for the arts, an equally talented brother and sister, plus a huge support from his parents and in-laws.

Witte is also part of a really talented group called Gut Box. Gut Box has given him the opportunity to meet amazing people in the art scene. By collaborating with equally talented artists, he has learned how to approach a panel in different ways and finds inspiration from the 9 member group.

Where to find Thomas Witte

Thomas is looking for galleries to open their doors to show his (super awesome ;)) work.

His website with contact info: thomaswitte.com

Friday, May 20 2011 – Exhibiting “At Home and Abroad” at the B Beamesderfer Gallery in Highland Park, NJ.

June 2011 – Hibbleton Gallery in Los Angeles, Ca. More info here.

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Thanks to Thomas Witte for letting me pick his brain and welcoming me with open arms to his studio in the Navy Yards.

for the ladiesss

hello chicas! If you live in NYC or have a girlfriend or two who would be interested in a 4 night event of free booze, goodie bags and shopping, please come to this!!

I will have my own booth at this fun ‘Girl Night Out’ party in NYC starting March 8th. (through March 11th from 5-10pm).

I will be selling my photography!!!

Little more info after clicking this banner. 🙂

Alexa Meade

Wow wow wow! I love this.

I was skimming through NYLON mag this morning and ran into an article on artist Alexa Meade. take a close look…. these are real people. amazing. This reminds me of Laguna Beach’s Pageant of the Masters.

Also check out her flickr page for more work. I’m Impressed!

© Alexa Meade, Portrait of Self-Portrait.
© Alexa Meade, Concealed 2
© Alexa Meade, Blueprint
© Alexa Meade, Transit

success!

thanks to everyone who attended and showed their support at my photography show for the past 3 weeks. The closing party was a big success and I sold MOST of my prints!! pretty amazing. I will be updating my website with the new work, but in the meantime, you can visit Mighty Tanaka’s online store and order prints from there.

Thank you again. The support is what keeps us artists going.

Sneak Peek!

I have a show this coming July at Mighty Tanaka Studio with 2 talented Photographers (stay tuned for more details!!). I will be showing my latest collection of in-camera multiple exposures shot with 35mm film. I used both my grandfather’s olympus OM-1 and re-shot most of it with my trusty Lomo LC-A. I never use photoshop, what you see is how they look straight from the negative scans. I’m not hating on photoshop, in fact, I use it everyday for work, but with my photography I much rather go as traditional as I can. Its a lot more fun this way.

Below is one of the latest multiple exposures. This particular photo was shot at downtown Barcelona late one night. On this trip I experimented with the Olympus, the Lomo and my ’78 Hasselblad. I’m very much looking forward showing everyone my latest work.

bicing2ex_ddpilot© marikeeler.com

Here are some non-2x exposed shots from my trip.

absinthebar2_ddpilot

barca_narrowdark_ddpilot

pots_food_ddpilot©all photos by marikeeler

Photographer Clayton Cubitt


‘Forth From the Folds of a Cloud, and One Star Follow Her Footsteps’, Decay Series, pigment print, soil, black mold, water stains. 24×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt

Some might see the subject matter for his personal work as too vulgar, raw and uncomfortable. But I find them beautifully executed and skillfully produced. Siege has a way of capturing people and their emotions, whether its a very raw and personal experience or their intimate anatomy, he knows how to make them beautiful moments. His sexual confidence always bleeds through a lot of his work as well, which is great to observe.

Siege has recently been experimenting with ink and decay in his work. His latest, “Decay and Fugue State” series is gorgeous. I love his subtle and fragile use of color, its beautiful, stark and surreal subjects, contrasted with the decaying elements of the print itself or a sudden spat of angry ink.


(left) ‘Fixed His Eyes Upon Her, as the Saint of His Deepest Devotion’, Decay Series, pigment print, soil, black mold, water stains, whitewashed antique baroque frame. 32×44 inches, 2008. (right) ‘And Somewhere There’s Someone Who Cares, With a Heart of Gold To Have and to Hold’, Fugue State, pigment print and India Ink triptych, 72×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt


‘And Somewhere There’s Someone Who Cares, With a Heart of Gold To Have and to Hold’, Fugue State, pigment print and India Ink triptych, 72×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt

Fugue State Triptych, pigment prints and India Ink, 72×36 inches, 2008 © Clayton Cubitt

You can find Siege all over the interweb, I personally enjoy reading his blog CONSTANT SIEGE.

Here are a few links to the latest reviews and interviews:

Eyemazing’s “Operation Eden: A personal chronicle of what hurricane Katrina has done to my poor proud people.”

Interview Magazine’s Deeper Underground: Clayton Cubitt.

Whitehot’s Clayton Cubitt Interview.

And most recently, featured on Tokion magazine, now in newstands.

His website/portfolio.

Mighty Tanaka presents Mike Schreiber

Photography of Mike Schreiber

Last night was the opening for photographer Mike Schreiber. A retrospective of his last 12 years documenting hip hop culture as well as his travel experiences. He has set-up and captured incredible moments. I wondered how he found himself in certain situations, as they were an exciting and raw view of ones perspective. So many stories to tell in just one shot. My friend Alex of Mighty Tanaka curated this event, which included good beats, spoken word and free beer. mmhm, that’s right! I had the pleasure of meeting Mike, who was very engaging and attentive to everyone. And Alex, of course, was extremely helpful by filling us in with the stories behind some of his favorite shots.

Click here to read more about the show from Mighty Tanaka.

Photography of Mike Schreiber© all images by Mike Schreiber.

I documented the opening. Check the photos out.