The Other Painting Competition & The Painting Shaman

I was asked to participate in a painting competition being organized by Paul Butler as his first project as Artist in Residence at the AGO in Toronto. Although I do not identify myself as a painter, I liked the idea that the competition would be in front of a live audience for Nuit Blanche. In effect, the live competition would be forcing the painters to become performers and for me the opposite would be true – a performance artist turned painter. With this in mind, I created a character so that I could focus on the performance aspect of the competition with more intensity.

The Painting Shaman - energy focusing mandala in process - duration 3.5 hours

The Painting Shaman implores a non-traditional hybrid of ecstatic techniques of shamanic journeying and other aspects of contemporary psychological, religious and spirituality. Rather than attempting to continue a pre-existing tradition, the Painting Shaman focuses on utilizing the ancient techniques of the shaman in ways appropriate to a modern audience. During the Other Painting Competition the Shaman will be focusing on painters of the past and contacting them directly through the spiritus mundi, calling on them to paint through her.

Meet the Artists and visit the Treasure Nest

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 This is a great video produced for the Detroit News by Donna Terek.

1st collector for Fly by Night Artists decide to stay in Detroit
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Detroit Loves us and it will Love you too

Detroit is the kind of city that you really need to sink your teeth into. You can’t just figure it out in a drive by or weekend get-away you need some time to get to know the local haunts and the best scavenge piles. Me and my peeps have got a bunch of press lately… we made the cover of the Detroit Metro Times with a huge story by Michael Jackman and Donna Terek has featured us in her column Donna’s Detroit for the Detroit News.

Juxtapose magazine also did a little follow-up about the “Treasure Nest” on the blog which you can check out here and all of the photos were taken by Faythe Levine: gallerist, blogger, filmmaker, photographer, author of Hand Made Nation, and expert on all things DIY. Also check out Fecal Face Dot COM To see more of Faythe’s photos and Monica Canilao’s solo show at the SkyHigh gallery in Milwaukee and our Detroit Treasure Nest!!

So like I have said before if you are interested in visiting and or helping out on this big project please send me a comment – Detroit will love you too

Detroit circle of life

Where there is death there must be life….. maybe a rebirth.

Artist open Call – Move to Detroit

I had heard a lot of talk recently about the dirt cheep properties located in and around Detroit and started seriously entertaining the idea of what life would be like living there. When I found out that friends Monica Canilao, Harrison, Ben Wolf, and Swoon  had been invited to do a project with Power House Productions and Juxtapose magazine, it was the perfect opportunity to get down there and check it out for myself. $100 House ABC News

The photos of the remnants of abandoned buildings of Detroit city remind me of the desolate scapes of Chernobyl, beautiful decay and silence. Detroit seen here through the eyes of french photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre who will be publishing this and other images in their upcoming book entitled “The Ruins of Detroit” (December 2010)

Pictured above is the blue house which has now been named “The Treasure Nest” in a certain stage of progress. So free and magical, an almost utopic idea come to fruition, creating a living breathing artwork, social sculpture. I’m so excited to be a part of building this project, this house, this neighborhood, this city….. when I saw it my mind started racing and hasn’t stopped. Above photo taken by Todd Seelie. I’m sure you will be hearing more about this project as it develops and if you are interested in visiting Detroit and or joining this project please leave a comment!

Leave Your Yesterday Behind

I can’t believe this song was first recorded by The Monkeys! I guess Taj just oozes blues…. I love him and thought this was an appropriate song for a blog called “yesterday is already gone”

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RYAN DOYLE rocks my art world!

photo by Dennis Ha

Faster, stronger, laster, longer! When I took my ride on the Regurgitator I went crazy fast but not long enough to vomit.
If you missed seeing my ride in Miami click here to view.

Doyle’s style of sculpture/performance/interactive art is something that has to be experienced and felt in person. His art gives off a very powerful energy that does not translate very well through print or even video formats. Doyle uses materials that have already lived an entire life previous to becoming part of his artwork which gives the pieces an eerie lingering soul that almost attaches to you during an interaction.

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Recently Ryan Doyle was part of a group show that I curated in Vancouver, BC. Slivers, Shivers, & Snake Skin his first Canadian art world showing.
Want more of Doyle? click here

New release from DJ Mayonnaise Hands – America’s Next Top Street Artist!

Some how Shepard Fairey also known as OBEY has made it into the hearts and hands of fine art collectors worldwide. I spotted him installed at the Venice Biennial 2009 and at Art Basel Miami 2009 and his clothing line can be found on plenty of douchbags around the globe. Can a “street artist” get anymore main stream?

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Check out more great vids from New York based – dj mayonnaise hands
AND here for more hot topics from media celeb Julia Allison

Andrea Wan – this fine lady is a force!

Andrea Wan is a friend of mine from way back in our ECIAD beginings and I have always been drawn to her creations. She has this amazing ability to reveal beauty in sadness while at the same time maintaining a sense of humor – not a task many people are up for! Andrea is an artist that y’all need to get to know – so I asked her some questions and she kindly answered them…

ZA – You majored in film and animation in art school – how has this influenced/affected your illustration style?

AW – I have always enjoyed listening and telling stories. As a kid I enjoyed improvising and recording my own stories onto  cassette tapes, and I guess that lead to choosing film as a medium in art school. My taste in film is very diverse but doesn’t necessarily have a direct influence in my illustration style. However, having a background in film sure gives me the option of incorporating the element of time in my work.

ZA – Vancouver is a grey and rainy place and it seems to show in your illustrations. Is this a conscious choice or does your environment filter into your work?

AW – I’m interested in conveying different emotions through imaginary landscapes in my illustrations. The Vancouver weather might have filtered through subconsciously since I’m always influenced by the environments I’m in. I have been told that my illustrations seem to have a layer of haze over it – that’s because I usually like to work with neutral colors, but lately I’ve been trying to introduce more bright colors to my palette.

ZA – So, I guess I’m really interested in your influences since I think that tells so much about where you’ve been and where you are right now in terms of your style. What music are you listening to right now and what are your favorite websites???

AW – The music i’m into right now is Atlas Sound and The Big Pink. My favorite websites are A journey Round My Skull and Book by Its Cover

Andrea Wan is a Hong Kong born, Canadian raised artist and illustrator that creates whimsical, dark, and mysterious images. She received a degree in Film, Video, and Integrated Media from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver , Canada and went on to study illustration and design at Designskolen Kolding, Denmark. She now works as a freelance illustrator based out of Vancouver, Canada.

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www.andreawan.com

Dietch moves to LA!

Jeffery Dietch closes up shop in New York in preparation for his new career choice as Director of LA MOCA. Apparently, Dietch must close down his projects and desist his own private funding of artists projects. Such a move from the private to the public art sector has not been made by such a powerhouse mogul. What will happen to the artists he has been faithfully supporting? Will they be collected by the MOCA? Is that a conflict of interest for the institution? – well, only if Dietch would be making money off of the purchase and the MOCA has made it clear that this is unacceptable practice for the Director of a public institution. Time will only tell how this public/private relationship will turn out – this is for sure a fire that needs to be fanned and watched closely.

some opinions on the subject:

Los Angeles TIMES
Lee Rosenbaum’s Culture Grrl Blog
Vandalog – a street art and graff blog with lots of great photos of some of Dietch’s artists projects in motion.