Tag: new work

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Washington Post Article

Here is a copy of the Washington Post Article by Mark Jenkins containing a review of my solo exhibit at the Washington Printmakers Gallery this last July. Stay tuned for more information on this year’s Open studio.

Here’s a review by Mark Jenkins

in the July 21st Washington Post:

David Avery’s “Tempestuous Muse,” on view at Washington Printmakers Gallery. (David Avery/Washington Printmakers Gallery)

“As a maker of hand-etched prints, David Avery is something of an antiquarian. He also inserts text – sometimes in Latin – into his exquisitely detailed work. So, of course, the San Francisco artist centered his display at Washington Printmakers Gallery on a print titled “Obeliscolychny.” It’s a word he allows is “obscure and rarely used,” in an essay accompanying the show, “Pursuing Invisible Reflections.”
The term refers to a lighthouse, which in Avery’s depiction is a spindly stack of many kinds of buildings, including monument, windmill and tumbledown shack. Here as in the other prints, the look and some of the content is closer to Albrecht Durer than any contemporary artist.
Yet the classic imagery is wittily updated. Avery interjects Renaissance-style intimations of mortality and damnation into everyday scenes: A skeleton rides a stick horse whose head is a equine skull, or a woman jogs with a stroller and a dog, accompanied by Death (riding a bicycle) and a demon. Such mash-ups would be only mildly amusing if the artist didn’t so successfully emulate centuries-old motifs and methods. Indeed, Avery is so adept that viewers in bygone eras might have surmised that he’d sold his soul to the devil.

Pursuing Invisible Reflections: The Etchings of David Avery On view through July 30 at Washington Printmakers Gallery, 1641 Wisconsin Ave. NW. 202-669-1497. washingtonprintmakers.com.
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Year of the Rooster

Recently I was interviewed by Cy Musiker for the KQED Arts section on their web page as part of his review of a show at the Juan Fuentes Gallery  titled “Creation & Resistance: Printmaking in Dark Times”. The piece in question, “Year of the Rooster” was not reproduced in the article (!), so here it is. The Latin on the scroll reads: “The World Wishes to be Deceived” (Thank you, James Branch Cabell), which is really what the piece is about, more than just Trump per se. You can see the article here: https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2017/03/21/political-prints-pull-no-punches-at-juan-r-fuentes-gallery/ .

You can also visit the exhibit at the gallery at Accion Latina at 2958 24th Street (between Harrison and Alabama), Tues through Sat, 11 AM to 5PM through April 7th.

Year of the Rooster (2?x 2?) etching with watercolor
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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
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New Work 2015

The harbingers of Autumn include the publication of five new prints; a series of four etchings entitled The Coming of the Cocklicranes (view here), as well as the just recently completed Runner (Mom, Death and Devil), based on the (you guessed it) famous Durer engraving of a similar name.  In addition, there is the upcoming publication of a new artist book based on the aforementioned series of four etchings, which is anticipated to be ready for my 2015 Open Studio exhibition. This year I will be showing at the John Gruenwald Studio the weekend of Oct. 31st, along with four other accomplished and varied printmakers. More information will be forthcoming as the date approaches.

This year has seen a solo exhibit at the New Grounds Gallery in New Mexico, a three person show at the Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco, as well as prints included in an exhibit at the Venice Biennale, the Child’s Gallery in Boston, and several competitions with six awards and honorable mentions.

Runner (Mom, Death and Devil)
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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
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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).

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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.

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January 2012

Trying to catch up…a busy second half of 2011, with the purchase of “A Post-traumatic History Lesson” by the Library of Congress, a purchase award at the 33rd Bradley International, as well as the First Place Award at the 2011 San Francisco Open Studios Exhibition, and many shows. I am also now being represented by the Jane Haslem Gallery in Washington, DC.

As you may have noticed, we are in the process of revamping the website to make it more complete and easier to get around. In addition to the four categories, there is also a complete listing by chronology. You may notice that as you scroll though the titles, some images do not come up. These images are not available yet, but will be added as they become so. The unintended consequence of this inefficiency is that you will be motivated to return to the site again and again to see if the next image has been put up. In the meantime, the following is a listing of shows I will be involved in which all happen to open in January:

From Dublin to LA and Back; 1/9 to 1/28 2012, Monster Truck Gallery, Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland.

Global Matrix III; 1/9 to 2/29 2012, Purdue University Galleries, West Lafayette, IN. Traveling thereafter through 2013.

2012 Delta National Small Prints Exhibition; 1/19 to 2/17/2012, Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR.

Traces, Marks and Fragments; 1/20 to 2/26/2012, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA.

The Sixth Annual Invitational Exhibition; 1/17 to 3/4/2012, Gratton Gallery, Gratton, CA.

Off the Press, Contemporary Printmaking from the San Francisco Bay Area; 1/12 to 3/16/2012, The Halden Art Gallery, South Lake Tahoe, CA.

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May 21st, Judgment Day, “In Extremis: Prints Monumental, Intimate, and Encompassing”

Well, it seems that Saturday, May 21st is Judgment Day, so please come and judge for yourself , the work of 30 printmakers exploring the extremes of size, intimacy and environment at a reception from 6:00 to 9:00 at the Meridian Gallery on 535 Powell Street. I will be showing several recent etchings, including a just finished piece, “A Ticket to Ride”, that is loosely based on Albrecht Durer’s “The Knight, Death  and Devil”. In addition, I will be creating an intimate environment in which to present the work that will involve not only some of the very smallest pieces in the show, but also the largest, in the form of a single piece of silkscreened wallpaper (108 sq. ft.!) created and printed with the help of Art Hazelwood.

Avery wallpaper

 

For more information, including the press release listing all the participating artists, please go to www.meridiangallery.org

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A Purchase Award, an Auction, and Upcoming Shows

First of all, the etching, A Post-traumatic History Lesson has been awarded the Lakeview Museum Purchase Award at the 33rd Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition. (See Art for Aids post)

Feeling a bit Lightheaded will be available to bid on at Kala-fornia: State of the Art, an exhibition and auction to benefit the Kala Art Institute. The auction will be held Saturday, April 30th from 6:30 to 9:00, and will feature the works of over one hundred well known Bay Area artists. the silent auction opens on April 20th with a preview party from 6:00 to 8:00, (this part is free!). For more information www.kala.org/auction.

The Ticker

 

If you are in New York City on May 5th, there will be a one day only benefit for the Red Cross to help victims of the earthquake in Japan at the Sacred Gallery, 424 Broadway, 2nd floor. Again, over one hundred artists from around the world, with no artwork priced over $200.00! I will be showing The Ticker. For more info: www.sacredgallerynyc.com.

Current and upcoming shows:

Ink and Clay 37: W. Kieth and Janet Kellogg University Gallery,CPSU, Pomona, 3801 West Temple Avenue Pomona, CA, Juried by Allegra Pesenti, Curator at the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer Museum, through April 29.

Light/Dark: Juried by Enrique Chagoya from the membership of the California Society of Printmakers, showing at the Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut Street, Berkeley, from April 2nd to May 22nd.

In Extremis: Prints Monumental, Intimate and Encompassing, at the Meridian Gallery, 535 Powell Street, May 21st to July 30th. In this upcoming show, featuring 30 printmakers at the extremesof their medium, I will be creating a special environment to show several of my most recent (detailed in the extreme) etchings, including a new print inspired by Durer’s Knight Death and Devil. More on this soon! For more info: www.meridiangallery.org