Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Hannah Rogak - Installation-Sculpture


Hannah Rogak
Bio~

I am the Chicago-raised product of a quiet, yet emotionally strong, Chicago School of the Art Institute alumnus and a determined, entrepreneurial former firearms manufacturer. After years of feeling defeated by art-on-paper, I took three classes from now good friend Josh Almond (http://www.joshalmond.com/), who single-handedly revived my interest in creating art and enabled my 3-dimensional abilities to explode. About 60% of what I create is because of his guidance and pants-kicking those years ago (and inspiration from all his works since).

In 2009, I moved to Minneapolis by way of Orlando, FL (terrible place; don’t ask). I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in social psychology. In June, 2010, the Northern Warehouse Artists Cooperative, in their divine wisdom, accepted me into their venerable ranks. Last month I participated in the Saint Paul Art Crawl with my NWAC brethren. That about gets you caught up thus far.
~


I saw your exhibit, “Keepsakes: An Exhibition in Loneliness” at the 2010 Fall St. Paul Art Crawl. Art crawls can be an overwhelming experience with the dozens and dozens of artists showing in a small area. But when walking into your studio/living space, a wave of sadness came over me immediately upon entering your space. It was actually quite remarkable. Tell me about this project.

Physically, the show was an installation with soft music, low lighting, song quotes, prose, and poetry on the walls, and plaster partial body casts around the apartment. A pair of legs lounged in my hammock, hands washed dishes at my sink, a torso floated above the floor, changing a light bulb in the ceiling. All headless, colorless, and dissolving away into puddles of white. -

It began as a falling out with a very dear friend of mine in the spring. I had already been playing with a visual of anonymous body parts, perhaps turning my studio into a solid stream of the Underworld, with body parts reaching out from the floor. That started to strike me as too campy and less eerie, and I quickly imaged a normal apartment, not set up as a gallery, littered with bodies attempting to carry on even as they are dissolving.


As my head was full of sadness and regret at the loss of a friend, and the confusion of not knowing quite how or when it happened (how I let it happen), I couldn’t help but see those forms in my house as anything but shadows from my past. Reminding me of beautiful moments, tumultuous debates, desperate pleadings, and content early morning coexistences forever lost. ..

The lettering on the wall is actually a direct result of my particular process. Instead of sketching (I have never felt truly comfortable in 2 dimensions), I write my thought processes. Everything on the wall came out of my notebook, and most of it is more or less unedited from what came out as I tried to get a handle on the concept of my exhibit (I became more comfortable with the term exhibit instead of “show” or “gallery” because it seemed more fitting to a display of true-to-life forms and ideas than a presentation of art. It was more like a history museum than an art gallery, to me).


A visitor to the exhibit early on recommended I compile the writings into a booklet with pictures of the exhibit. That’s currently in the works and will be offered through my website, and most likely at the Spring 2011 Art Crawl.


How does this work differ from some of the other work you have done?

Though it is one of my favorite media, I’ve not had the opportunity to do installation art in full before. That requires not only a lot of space to show your work, but a lot of access and control over the space well before the opening. Fortunately, the live-work spaces in my building allow for that. Working on such a large scale and having that level of control over presentation was immensely freeing and inspiring; I found much of the exhibit came together in the last month as I was planning the layout and not in the first several months of constructing the actual pieces.

The integration of anatomy, language, and psychology into this work is, however, a common thread through many of my previous pieces.



What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

Josh is famous for saying “Keep working on it” whenever his students bring him new concepts for a project. He would never say yes to your initial idea, because he knew no matter how good it was, no matter how much of an inspiration of genius you thought you had, you could make it better- more thoughtful, more powerful, better crafted. Growing up, my mother did the same, tempered lifting praise with constructive pushing. There is nothing more necessary for a growing artist.

So best advice I’ve ever been given? Never settle on your first (or second or third…) idea.


Tell me about your working space and your creative process?

I am extremely fortunate to have a roughly 1500 sq ft cement-floored studio at the Northern Warehouse building. There I can use my power tools, make a mess with plaster, and move around large pieces of furniture and materials, all without damaging the floors!

As I mentioned before, I have to start any serious project by writing. I start with the concept and work from there. Whatever particular emotion or idea inspired me, the materials, scale, color, etc. that I choose stem from that original seed, and all of that is explored on paper, through the written word (I usually do not type in the early stages). I may sketch outlines, but more to get a sense of construction dimensions than to plan the actual look and texture of any piece. That will have been determined already.

Sometimes I will just start a piece in a material I like and see where it goes, without any plan, but that is more just to keep myself producing and thinking, and less a finished product. Some of the media I am particularly fond of exploring creatively are wood-carving, metal fabrication, found objects, fabric (I sew and crochet), and, of course, plaster Sometimes I will use these to decorate my house/body, to give to friends and family, or just to toss or reuse.

Actually, a lot of my artwork, serious or not, ends up in the trash. I know I probably shouldn’t say that. But it has nothing to do with how much I value my work. It’s a mix of a few factors, including not wanting to see the piece destroyed slowly and accidentally over time (intention is so much prettier in destruction), enjoying the emotional freedom of not being obsessed with my objects, all the way to just not having room for it all (a problem particularly thorny for 3D artists)."


Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?

I’m actually really new to the visual art scene in Minnesota, since I’m a recent transplant here, so I will plead a bit of ignorance. However, I really have to give affection to fellow NWAC members Rhea Pappas, Matthew Rucker , Kara Hendershot, and Jessie McNally).

Musically, I would have to say local band Dark Dark Dark, and rap artists Atmosphere and P.O.S.. The Current saved my life when I moved here from Chicago.

If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

It depends on what you’d want to see. If you want to see where I go to get inspiration, I would take you to the Walker, hiking in a state park, to Ground Zero’s Bondage-a-Go-Go, The Bad Waitress, or just walking through both downtowns. After that it would be Home Depot (the art store for sculptors) and Rockler.



Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

I have been a part of and have loved DeviantArt.com for almost a decade. They have international and local artists, everything from internationally-renowned to your 13-year-old cousin’s Manga tracings. They also have prints available for purchase of all calibers and contests, both of which directly benefit the artists on the site.

Aside from that, I rely on the Citypages.com and vita.mn, because they list smaller galleries and shows in unexpected venues, as well as neighborhood organizations like St Paul Art Crawl and NEMAA .

Hannah Rogak




Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Jennifer Davis - Painter

Jennifer Davis ~

You are currently exhibiting as part of the Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This seems like quite and honor and opportunity. Tell me about the work you are showing there.

Yes. I am so excited and honored to be included in this exhibition. For this show I have made a new series of large (relative to my past works anyway, 30x24”) paintings on panel. As is usual for my work, they contain a lot of silly characters and invented symbolism but I have spent more time fussing over patterns and surface. These are some of my largest works to date and they presented a whole new world of puzzles for me.


What process did you go through to exhibit with the MAEP program?

I owe everything to Terrence Payne as he helped so much with the proposal process. We put together a written proposal for a show (via the guidelines on their website) and the MAEP panel selected us to be paired with Joe (Sinness) and Erika (Olson Gross) who had also submitted a proposal together. When I found out we got the show I was pretty dumbstruck. When it comes to art proposals/grant applications, etc. rejections are so common that I had completely put the whole thing out of my mind. Once our proposal was accepted we followed a detailed timeline to organize and plan the exhibition. I locked myself in my studio and painted like a crazy women.



Many artists find art to be a solitary experience, where creating community can be difficult. I wonder if you have a similar or different experience. How would you describe the Twin Cities art community and your place in it?

For me, creating art is a truly solitary experience. Even if I am collaborating or working with others, time in my own head is a huge part of my creative process. I love working alone and can do so for days at a time but it is not a lonely process. There is a huge community of other artists doing the same thing. Whenever I emerge from my cave it is easy to find them. It would be hard to describe the art community because it is always changing (galleries, artists always coming and going) and every person’s experience with it is unique. Some find it welcoming and open, others not so much. It is what you make of it. I have met so many amazing and inspiring people at art galleries. What’s not to love?




You have exhibited in Boston, Ontario, Los Angeles, and Atlanta (that I am aware of). Have you ever considered leaving Minnesota for a bigger art market?

Yes. I do get the itch to move on sometimes. However, my situation right now is ideal for me. I am able to support myself making my art with out a job, my BF and I each have a studio in our house and I really like it here. Artists have so much control of their own work now that it is easy to live in the Midwest and still show all over the world. I don’t rule out a move. Someday…



What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

Have thick skin. Stay true to my own vision and allow disappointments to roll off quickly.

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?
Many of the same artists that have already been listed on this site! Instead I’ll list some shows I want to see that are happening right NOW:

What was the last local exhibit you saw and what were your impressions?

“Trust is the New Money” by BrokenCrow (John Grider and Mike Fitzsimmons) at XYandZ Gallery. I have loved their work since the first time I saw it but this show really blew my face off. The entire gallery was one big giant painting. It was beautiful, scary, cute, hopeful, hilarious…I loved it. (It closes this weekend so giddy up if you want to see it!)


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

Daily Serving http://dailyserving.com/
Beautiful Decay http://beautifuldecay.com/
Hi-Fructose http://www.hifructose.com/
Juxtapoz http://www.juxtapoz.com/
My Love For You Is A Stampede of Horses http://www.myloveforyou.typepad.com/
Art Hound http://arthound.net/
Fecal Face http://www.fecalface.com/SF/
• etc, etc, etc.



How do you incorporate your blog, Facebook, and other social media/internet resources into your life as an artist?

Like many, I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I enjoy making my blog and I know that all of these tools are so useful for sharing art outside of my little bubble. Now there are so many tools that it has become overwhelming. To update my flickr, blog, website, etsy, twitter…YIKES! My time is better spent making paintings.

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

This winter/spring I’ll be showing my work in NY, NH, Canada- and a couple of places in Mpls, MN. I took a tiny break after finishing my work for the MAEP but now I am back to work.





Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Laura Brown - Printmaker / Book Artist



Laura Brown


SpotArt Gallery Featured Interview
~Laura Brown is exhibiting at SpotArt from 11/19/10 - 12/15/10~



Laura Brown
laurabrownart@gmail.com

Bio~
Laura Brown is a printmaker and book artist in Northeast Minneapolis. Interested in the relationships between space, place, and the people in them, she has created a visual language of landscape and architecture to address her questions of place, culture and environment.

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
I just finished a residency at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, where I made my first artist’s book. It was much more intense than making prints, and it sort of took over my life for several months. Since then, I’ve had some more ideas that I have wanted to get out a little more quickly, so my newest little set of prints are some monoprints printed from woodblocks. They are a lot more simple than most of my work, but I wanted to get back to the things I like about making prints: the ink, the grain of the wood, the colors, the forms. It has been good to experiment with that a little more, and to put out ideas that might not be complete or perfect, but are out in the world.



Why did you become an artist?
I have never wanted to do anything else, really. Art was always my favorite subject in school, and when I went to college, my mom strongly encouraged me to pursue it. I have never regretted it.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
In one of my first days of drawing classes at college, my professor, Ken Steinbach said, “everything I’ve gotten in my art career, I’ve gotten from working hard.” Of course, as a little, very nervous college freshman, this was the best news. I was probably doubting my talent at that moment, but I knew I could work hard, so I thought, “that’s what I’ll do then.” It’s been true.

Recently (or not so recently? Maybe last winter?), someone on twitter was referring to criticism with the reaction of “put your head down, get back to work.” That phrase has been really helpful to me as I have been applying to all kinds of opportunities in the last year. I think if you are going to succeed as an artist, you have to have a really thick skin, and you can’t let rejection get to you—because you will get rejected a LOT. But eventually, you’ll start getting accepted for things and build momentum. So, that wasn’t particularly advice, maybe just a phrase I co-opted to apply to my situation. But it helps!


Tell me about your working space and your creative process?
I share a studio with two other artists, Devon Driscoll , who is a jeweler, and Mel Benkert, a sculptor. We share a space in what is probably the smallest and least assuming building in Northeast. It’s a pretty raw space, but it is big and has a lot of light, which make me happy.

My process is pretty internal, I would say. I don’t plan or sketch a lot, although I feel like I am supposed to. I let things simmer in my mind for a long time, and I take a lot of photos with my little digital camera when I see something inspiring, and then when I have a pretty good idea of what I want to make, I just go for it with the printmaking materials. To get my compositions and forms down, I will cut shapes out of newsprint or brown paper, trace them onto my wood blocks or metal plates, and then let the process take over. Printmaking is a long process and each printmaker exerts a varying amount of control over the medium. I like to let the process surprise me a lot, and my prints often turn out different than I think they will, but it’s usually a really good thing—they are usually better or more interesting than I could have planned.


Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?
Josie Lewis and
Caroline Kent are two friends whose work I really admire.
I love Nadine Grosspolaroids and
Laura Hallen’s plexiboxes

If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
We would probably hit the usual spots—the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, if we go tomorrow, we would go see the Alec Soth show at the Walker Art Center, we might stop in at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, I might take you to see Bridget and Amanda at Cave Paper. I always like a good trip to the Franconia Sculpture Park. We might also just ride the light rail, or maybe the North Star train to see some interesting industrial parts of town or some fields and farms. Getting out of my rut and routine doesn’t happen very often, but it’s always good to see something new.


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?
I have been hiding from the internet lately, working toward some deadlines, and I feel like arty Facebook events are always popping up in my inbox. www.mplsart.com has a great calendar of events, I usually find something good on there. I like to keep an eye on what’s going on at Umber Studios, and I Like You.

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future? (November 2010)
My work will be on display at SpotArt for the next month, and the book I made this summer was just purchased by the Hennepin County Library’s Special Collections, which is pretty exciting. I hesitate to verbalize my plans for applying to grad school, but that’s my main focus right now. Once those deadlines are past, I’m working on getting some non-printmakers to collaborate with me for some projects, and I’m thinking about how to get more young artists connected to people who are interested in collecting work and supporting local artists.



Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Joe Sinness - Drawing


Joe Sinness~


You are currently exhibiting as part of the Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This seems like quite and honor and opportunity. Tell me about the work you are showing there.

I have eight colored pencil drawings in the exhibit. The drawings are still lives comprised of items from around my home and garden, some objects purchased at antique stores or ebay, and many of the still lives contain encapsulated still shots from iconic films, eccentric personas or art history references. I wanted each still life to have a visual richness or lushness to highlight and celebrate the figures or kitsch objects presented (and I use the term ‘kitsch’ with the utmost seriousness).

I’m ‘queering’ each still life through incongruous juxtapositions of objects and identities, and by capturing, containing and making a commodity of portraits, nature, memory and behavior. I’m a portrait artist and symbolist, so the genre of still life seemed like a natural fit for this exhibit at the MIA, an institute that celebrates ‘objectness’. Coding and concealment are an important part of queer history; the slowness of the conceal and reveal in the drawings is intentional and necessary. Dolly Parton is visually present in one of the drawings, and I also appropriate her song titles as titles for each of the works.


What process did you go through to exhibit with the MAEP program?

I like to think of it more as a process of courting and persuading Erika Olson Gross into applying with me! We had previously exhibited together in a show called ‘Garden Variety’ in Milwaukee, and so we decided to create a proposal for the MAEP and submitted to the committee. When we learned that we were paired with Jennifer Davis and Terrence Payne we were delighted, as we were both very familiar with their work. We have all since become a hyperactive little family.



Many artists find art to be a solitary experience, where creating community can be difficult. I wonder if you have a similar or different experience. How would you describe the Twin Cities art community and your place in it.

I would describe the art community as very welcoming, energetic, encouraging, and generous. I always know that if I decide to escape from my studio to go to an art opening or event that I’m going to see some great work, run into friends and make some new ones. Local galleries are incredibly supportive of local arts and I’m always inspired by local artists’ generosity - donating time, artwork, labor, or cash to local arts organizations. It’s a fun place to live and work.



What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

Many of my past art instructors and mentors have stressed taking the role of artist very seriously, and so I make sure that everything I make is done with sincerity, that I’m honest with myself as well as others. Drawing still lives, there’s an interest in allegory and concealment, but I’m also dedicated to making those lies add up to a truth.


Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?

So many – too many to mention. Of course, Erika Olson Gross, Terrence Payne and Jennifer Davis.
Andrea Carlson is my idol forever, and her new exhibit, “VORE” at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo is incredible.
I love photographer Erika Ritzel’s “SOLD” Series.
Other favorites include
Sonja Peterson . . . .


If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

I’ve been working on sculpture for an upcoming exhibit with Allen Brewer at St Cloud State University, so lately I’ve been hoarding collecting materials. Lots of trips to Michael’s, JoAnn Fabrics, SR Harris, and other crafty-type places.Hunt and Gather Antiques has seen too much of me lately. I like to stop in and visit the lovely ladies of Soo Visual Arts Center when I’m in the area, or check out other local galleries during the day.

What was the last local exhibit you saw and what were your impressions?

Andrea Carlson’s exhibit, “VORE,” at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND (that’s local, right?). The amount of work and thought that Andrea has put into this show is awe-inspiring, and I was lucky to be able to hear her artist talk on cannibal movies and museum collections.


Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

As I mentioned before, I have an upcoming exhibit, “Drawn and Quartered” with Allen Brewer in the Kiehle Gallery at St. Cloud State University. I will be exhibiting mostly sculptural work, comprised of fabric, fur and silk flowers. These sculptures are what I would call memorial or ceremonial wreaths and magic objects. Allen has been working on some really exciting “blind” portraits and sculptures – I’m really looking forward to this show.

I currently have a six-drawing series in the show “Vertical Currency: Five Years of Emerging Artists at the Rochester Art Center,” and a solo exhibition at the College of St Benedict, “Here you come again.”

This winter I’ll be cozying up in my studio and plotting some new work– there will definitely be more colored pencil drawings and still lives in the future.




Wednesday, November 3, 2010

2010 Art Attack Featured Artist - Berry Holz

Art Attack Special Featured Interview
This weekend, November 5-7, 2010 is the annual Fall open studio extravaganza in NE Mpls. Hundreds of artists will be opening their studio doors to the public with what is, essentially, their own one-person or group exhibits. It is really amazing to see so much quality art in one section in town. The event was started in the Northrup King Building but has spread throughout NE Mpls. Exhibiting as a guest artist in Karin Jacobson's studio (NKB #288) is this week's featured artist, Berry Holz.



Berry Holz
berry.holz@gmail.com
http://www.berryholz.com/
http://berryholz.blogspot.com/
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=90422

Bio:
Berry Holz grew up in Norseland, outside of St. Peter, Minnesota. She studied art history & design at the University of Minnesota and has worked as an interior designer at Twin Cities architecture firms (and for IKEA for a spell) on and off ever since. Self-taught as an artist, her outside-of-architecture-interest turned to acrylic and collage a few years ago. That way of working lead to the process she really likes, & works in now - a low-tech reverse stencil method done with spray paint and layered positive-image stencils.

~~~

What are you currently working? How is this different from past projects?
I’m working on a children’s product for Magnetic Poetry – Sets consisting of fold-out background scenes on which repositionable stickers can be moved around in a playful manner. The first sets will be On the Farm, In the City, On the Moon and At the Beach. This has been really, really fun to work on. It’s different for me to get to think about all the things on a farm & make them, then get coached (by Jay Orff at Magnetic Poetry & my sister, Lorie) as to things I might not have thought of.

Having the background done, then just make these other little, more ‘everyday’ things has really made me feel like continuing to think about (and by that I mean painting) those everyday things. Working on an illustration project and getting to see the way art is turned into a mass marketed commodity, manipulated to hit a price-point is eye-opening, too.

Some commissioned pieces for a birthing center in St. Paul are also in the works. At this time last year, I didn’t feel able to do commissions; for some reason I felt really constricted & unable to produce what someone wanted right then and there. Something has shifted, and I hope no one hates me because I now can do it, but then I couldn’t.

You have described your work as a low-tech reverse stencil method of painting. Can you tell me more about what that means?

People have told me it’s more easily explained when likened to batiking or Ukranian egg making – Masks, vs stencils. First, I draw it out on the paper backing of a sticky-back material, then cut the image out. I then spray the color of the thing I want foremost in the foreground and let it dry. Next thing is the shape of the thing(s) closest to you, positioned & stuck down on the board. Paint another color; add the next closest layer of shapes. Keep on going with color/masks until the end, when all masks are peeled off. It’s confusing to talk about, but sort of simple in execution. It gets a little crazy when working on intricate things, like a human person. You have to get the eyes down first, THEN the face, if you want the face to have any eyes.

How did you develop your process of working?

Doing a collage about 5 years ago, a paper goose that I’d glued down peeled off due to way-too-wet-of-paint slopped all over it. I started bringing home scrap vinyl to cut up & peel off from my (then) job in the Communications and Interior Design department at IKEA, and spray paint was the answer to ‘how can I stop making this whole thing all wet with paint?’ Spray paint: I love what can be done with it.


What is the usual size of your work? Any murals in your past or future?

Traditionally I’ve done small-to-medium sized things, on plywood or hardboard (because the plywood we’re seeing these days sure is warpy). I’m trying some bigger things right now & if it weren’t for space constraints (I spray paint outside, so 3X7 door openings always bar doing anything truly big) I would be doing it more. Doing something way over one side, different than something way over on another side; I like it. From that you can guess that I think a mural would be cool to work on, but I feel like I’d have to move in to get it done right.


What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

These questions are hard. Instead of answering, I will relate to you a tale of something that ‘happened’ to me lately:

At SpotArt http://www.spotart.org/ for a show, Ethan Arnold http://www.foureverwest.com/ started talking to me about what paint I use, etc, etc, which led to a session starting with a field trip to Fifth Element to buy All Kinds of spray tips, none of whose existence I even knew about before then. [This is significant not only because of the fact that it happened, but also because spray tips Always Clog Up, and I was down to a very few per paint brand] Then we went & experimented around with all of them in the back (garage) of Intermedia Arts, where he’s working on (exterior & interior) murals.

It was intimidating – I’m a pretty tight worker who likes a certain amount of control over what I’m doing, and now I’m suddenly emptying out a paint can with the fattest-spraying tip you could imagine, without the aid of my pre-planned, sketched-up and cut with-a-fine-edge masks, in front of a painter whose work I really like and who I’d met only once before? That’s not really me, but I can tell you that I felt like a billion dollars after it happened. And even if my paintings aren’t showing it yet in the form of looking very different from how they usually look, it’s easier to get what I want out of the materials I love working with, and that’s really something. And someday they might look different.


After writing that down, here’s an answer: Yuri Arajs told me to go to shows all the time, every weekend, even if you don’t want to. This kind of thing can’t happen otherwise. It’s so easy to hide out, but if you hide out, you don’t get to see great things. Most of us are prone to hiding out.


What role does your education and training in your art?
I’m an interior designer by trade. I was an Art History minor, but never finished. I got very into the history of the design of decorative arts when I was at the U of M. Good design of useful things is beautiful. The only post-secondary art class I’ve finished was intro to art. I suppose the technique I’ve latched onto came about because I couldn’t make other methods work the way I wanted them to?

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?



I like the spray painters of course, & also of course.



Tia Keobounpheng, http://silvercocoon.com/


My brothers & sister - in particular my brother Nick Pyper-Holz (http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=276502), whose ability to draw anything he wants to has always made me jealous.
Nick Pyper-Holz's robot

Who doesn’t feel like a heel for forgetting about the millions of those they’re missing when answering this question? It’s pretty incredible, the amount of stuff that’s made around here that we’re lucky to get to see.



If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

We’re riding our bikes: The Birchwood for breakfast, West River road between Franklin and Lake, The Swedish Institute, the period rooms at the Institute (MIA), Magers & Quinn art book section, Suite 435 (Jewelry) at Northrup King, Robot Love, Danish Teak Classics, columbarium at Westminster Presbyterian, concrete wall at the parking garage at the Walker, Jenny Holzer’s benches at the sculpture garden, particularly this one:

Quote:

"THERE'S NO REASON TO SLEEP CURLED UP AND BENT. IT'S NOT COMFORTABLE, IT'S NOT GOOD FOR YOU, AND IT DOESN'T PROTECT YOU FROM DANGER. IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT AN ATTACK YOU SHOULD STAY AWAKE OR SLEEP LIGHTLY WITH LIMBS UNFURLED FOR ACTION."


What was the last local exhibit you saw and what were your impressions?

Spotober at SpotArt – Scotty & Carissa are so great at putting shows together, & are so good at giving local artists a leg up.



two of my favorites – I went back & deleted them from two questions up to mention them here – are part of that show; it’s up until mid-November.


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

Giant Robot, Souther Salazaar, Design Sponge, the Sartorialist, Design Rookie, Supermarket Sarah, Kinokuniya Boy, I don’t even know – you wind up linking & linking through all kinds of things.


How do you incorporate your blog, Facebook, and other social media/internet resources into your life as an artist?

Apparently by never updating anything, or paying attention to anything that goes on on the internet at all. Not the greatest in the world at social networking. I get queasy at the thought of posting anything, but I try to muscle through & keep my blog updated & post shows & the like on facebook, even though I feel like I’m bothering everyone with it. The online world of networking feels all mixed up: Personal/social/business all in one big messy mess.

My brother Nick designed my website; I really like it and don’t feel like messing with that.


Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

After Art Attack, where Karin Jacobson is having me as a guest artist in her studio (Northrup King #288) , I’m working on more things for my first solo show ever, which will be in my hometown at the Arts Center of St. Peter. (http://www.artscentersp.org/) I’ve been working on things for it for a while now, but am excited to concentrate. That, and some holiday things for I Like You ( http://www.ilikeyouonline.com/) – Fun, fun, fun!


Contact LAI to become a sponsor
( localartistinfo@gmail.com )