Open Studios 2015

I hope that you  will be able to make time in your Busy Schedules to visit me on the occasion of this year’s San Francisco Open Studios at which, in addition to exhibiting with four other accomplished printmakers (see below), I will be premiering The Coming of the Cocklicranes or His Kingdom Restored, a limited edition artist book featuring four etchings by the same name (now taking pre-publication orders!). Of course, as you have come to know and expect, a vast sampling of those pieces of paper smashed into polished copper plates which have been defaced with scratches and rudimentary chemistry will also be on display. Refreshments will be served.
WHERE–Gruenwald Press, 1663 Mission Street, San Francisco (entrance on Plum Street), identified with a prominent festively colored yellow sign reading “Gruenwald Press”. See map link for the secret entrance on “Plum Street“. http://mapq.st/1LAdN7Q
WHEN–October 31 to November 1, 11 AM to 6 PM
Reception (party!) October 30, 5:30 to 8:30 PM
WHO--Kathy Aoki, David Avery, Jonathan Barcan, Susan Belau, John Gruenwald
Please Note: there is regrettably a flight of stairs which has to be negotiated in order to reach the studio, HOWEVER, if needed, the freight elevator is easily accessible and can be utilized by calling 415-734-0376 and waiting patiently…

I hope to see you the weekend of the 31st.
detail: The Coming of the Cocklicranes No. 4

The Book

Opened to Title Page

OBELISCOLYCHNY —an appellation that intoxicates the viewer with the potentials of unknown narratives, filled with mysterious possibilities leading to…what exactly? Obelisk-shaped lighthouses? Spit-lanterns wearing high-crown’d hats? A windmill inhabited by a cuckoo clock? Imagine these things and more, with the publication of the artist’s book, Obeliscolychny, featuring two etchings by David Avery and excerpts from Rabelais and Jarry connected with the abovementioned term.

Front
Inside flaps
Open

OBELISCOLYCHNY

OBELISCOLYCHNY

Oxford English Dictionary: 

Obeliscolychny, n.

Etymology: <Middle French obeliscolychnie (Rabelais, 1548-52) <ancient Greek ??????????????? a spit used (by soldiers) as a lamp-holder < ????????? OBELISK n. + ??????? lamp-stand (see LYCHNIDIATE adj.)

Obs. rare. 

A lighthouse: a lamp-bearer.

 

detail, Obeliscolychny

The final state my etching Obeliscolychny is now completed and can be seen on my website. It will ultimately become the visual component of a limited edition artist’s book that will attempt to bring together the image with the texts from which the ideas that inspired it were derived.

“Obeliscolychny?” you may be tempted to ask.

And with good reason. Arguably one of the most obscure and rarely used terms to be found in literature (or anywhere else), but with, perhaps, undue influence relative to its obscurity, obeliscolychny was invented/appropriated by Francois Rabelais (@1483-1553) and used in books IV and V of his sprawling tales of Gargantua and Pantagruel. Possibly derived from Aristotle’s Politics, which used it to describe a kind of spit used by soldiers to hang lamps on as a metaphor for…well, something or other, it acquired the meaning somewhere along the way of a lighthouse in the form of an obelisk.

Centuries later, Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), poet, playwright, critic, puppeteer, and subverter of objective reality, discovered the word while reading Rabelais and became enamored with it, using it (pataphysically, of course) in several of his novels. That these works tend to be as convoluted and recondite as the origins of obeliscolychny itself is part of what provides grist for the mill of this project.

We are expecting the book to be completed soon, and are aiming for an opening event in mid July, so please stay tuned. Below are listed my most recent exhibitions.

Purchase Award, Ink, Press, Repeat 2013; 1/21 to 2/15/2013, Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ (Jacob Lewis—Pace Prints Chelsea).

Lindquist  Purchase Award, 2013 Delta National Small Prints Exhibition; 1/17 to 2/20/2013, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR.     (Anne Coffin-IPCNY).

Man, Machine and Nature; 1/17 to 3/1/2013, LA Print Space, Los Angeles, CA.

New Prints 2012; 2/1 to 3/9/2013, Visual arts Center, University of Texas at Austin, TX.

34th Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition; 3/9/13 to 4/20/13, Bradley University Galleries, Peoria, Il. (Stephen Goddard—Senior Curator, University of Kansas Kress Foundation).

24th National Drawing and Print Competitive Exhibition; 4/2 to 2/26/13, Gormley Gallery, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, MD. (Amy Cavanaogh Royce).

26th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition; 3/21 to 5/9/2013,  Ambercrombie Gallery, Lake Charles, LA. (Claudia  Schmuckli).

The New York Society of Etchers 3rd National Exhibition of Intaglio Prints; 5/20 to  6/7/2013, The National Arts Club, NY, NY. (Dr. Leonard Moss and Dr. Muriel Moss).

Obeliscolychny, too

SMevite

Yes, this is becoming my own Tower of Babel, but, as promised, I will be showing an impression of the second state (about two thirds!) of my ongoing project, Obeliscolychny, with the Bay Printmakers during the first weekend of San Francisco Open Studios at Ft. Mason (see details above). Also featured will be Tempestuous Muse, first place winner in last year’s Open Studios exhibit. And, in a further example of shameless self-promotion, don’t miss the blurbette on me in the 2012 Open Studios guide (heavily edited to protect the public). In addition to the usual display of the perennial favorites in glorious black and white, at least some of the texts which caused my current project to come into being will be available for examination, and for those who must insist I will, of course, be on hand to attempt some sort of rationalization as to what connection there could possibly be between these recondite excerpts and the images that supposedly resulted from their discovery. Looking forward to seeing you there.

“…Ho, ho, I see land! I can see harbor! I can see a great crowd on the pier. I can see fire on the obeliscolychny. “

Detail, Obeliscolychny

In addition to Open Studios, here is a list of current and upcoming shows in which my work will be included.

2012 Harnett Biennial of American Prints; 10/23 to12/9/2012, Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, Richmond, VA.

New Prints 2012/Autumn; International Print Center New York, New York

Culture: Man, Machine and Nature; 10/3 to 11/16/2012, Sisson Gallery, Dearborn, MI.

Inclusions, Art from within Bernal Heights; 9/22 to 10/21, Inclusions Gallery, San      Francisco, CA.

Obeliscolychny and upcoming shows

Hopefully, if you have gotten this far, you have visited my updated website. Almost all of the work I have produced to date is now available for your perusal in glorious black and white, including my most recent etching, Abstracting the Quintessence. Don’t forget my dealers, Annex galleries, Jane Haslem Gallery and Warnock Fine Arts, whose sites can be found on my links page.

 This summer I am becoming involved in a new book project, entitled Obeliscolychny. It will involve an etching 28 inches by 5 inches which will be utilized as a vertical accordion foldout in the book, as well as being editioned as a separate stand alone print.

 “Obeliscolychny?” you may ask.

Ostensibly, “a lighthouse in the shape of an obelisk”.  —Perhaps.  An ancient Greek word favored by Rabelais and Alfred Jarry and used in their work. Twice. For both of them. Possibly originated with Aristotle, to describe a kind of spit to hang lamps on. Described in the Oxford English Dictionary as “rare, obsolete”.  Hmm. Well, I’m running with the obelisk-light house thing, with letterpress text by the above-mentioned writers. And since it is to be a lighthouse in the shape of an obelisk, it must also be a windmill. You can see the kind of direction this thing could be going in…

 I will post images of the sections I am working on as they develop (28 inches is a lot for me), so please check back occasionally if you are curious as to what could possibly be going on.

  Current and upcoming shows include:

Printhouston: NEXT; June 2 to 26, 2012, Special Events Gallery, Houston, TX. www.printmattershouston.org.

Inked Surfaces; August 27 to Sept. 28, 2012, Diablo Valley College Art Gallery, Pleasent Hill, CA.

Global Matrix III (traveling show); August 9 to October 5, 2012, Clara M. Eagle Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky. www.cla.purdue.edu/galleries.

The Ticker, and upcoming exhibitions

My most recent etching, The Ticker, now available;

Image size: 5 1/2″ x 1 1/2″, printed on Zerkall Cover Laid Lt. Green (12 1/2″ x 8″)

Edtion size: 30, Price: $160.00

The quote from Ovid was found in John M. Cohen’s translation of  Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantegruel (book 3, chapter 41) and has been appropriated in an attempt to distill the essence of the social contract, among other things.

Upcoming Exhibitions around the World:

Miniprint Finland, Lahti, Finland, Nov. 26,2010

 2010 Harnett Biennial of American Prints, Richmond, VA, Oct 21, 2010

2010 Pacific States Biennial National Print Exhibition, Hilo, HI,Oct. 15, 2010 

Delta National Small Prints Exhibition, Arkansas State University, AK, Jan. 20,2011

Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA, Jan. 14, 2011