Underwater with John Ancheta, or notes on an opening (TONIGHT!)
I’ve known John Ancheta for far too long. I’ve seen his hair grow, and then get cut, and then grow again. Like one of those Barbie head-dolls that everyone wanted as a kid. But that Barbie toy never grew up to become one of the most interesting and challenging contemporary painters in the Canadian/International art scene. John, on the other hand, did.
He’s been one of my absolute favourite painters, nay artists, for years. His dedication to his craft, understanding of place within a vast historical context, and unwillingness to settle for a certain set or style of aesthetics never ceases to astound me. The fact that I always, always want to take my clothes off and get it on with his canvases is just a bonus.
Tonight, from 6-8pm, he’ll unveil his new, distinctively different body of work, Aquacades, completed this past year at Battat Contemporary (7245 Rue Alexandra, Suite #101) It runs until April the 10th.
It’s a compelling, less accessible body of work than some of his previous stuff, and extremely rewarding - if you spend the time with it that it asks of you. Imagine someone you meet at a party who you’re not necessarily lusty after within the first 10 seconds, but who slowly grows on you until you can’t imagine your intimate landscape without their presence.
And landscape is a good word to use when talking about John’s work, as he infuses his pieces with a type of organic sensibility that defies or perhaps works in dissonant harmony with his meticulous execution and process. We’ve been talking about that process and the elements that inform it for some time now, so I present here one of our many conversations, this one concerning specifically the 2 shows he has up now.
If you’re blessed enough to find yourself in Montreal tonight, then go and see what I’m talking about. Well worth the movement towards, guaranteed.
You have 2 shows up in Montreal currently – one at the GAO and one at Battat. What’s it like to simultaneously present work in the same city?
The two shows are difficult to compare, really. The exhibition at the GAO is a retrospect of an older body of work while the pieces at the Battat Contemporary are from a completely new series.
My art practice has changed considerably over the past year. Installing the show at the GAO was really interesting. Seeing the old work again gave me a new perspective on that time. But ultimately, my thoughts are on my new direction.
I know that this body of work is quite a departure from your last series. Could you talk a bit about this transition and your new direction?
I see it as a departure, in several ways. What strikes me now about my older work is the focus I had at that time on a dynamic and painterly poetic. I think I was really concerned with proving to myself that I could really paint. The GAO show speaks to my roots as a painter - my education here in Montreal, my love for the painterly tradition…
However, that direction started to unravel towards the end of 2008. I think you can see it in a particular painting at GAO titled Camouflage. I included it in the exhibition purposefully as to me it signaled an end. I had worked that painting over and over trying to take it somewhere. To make it work, I had to retreat back to what I knew, what I had developed. It couldn’t go any further.
I quite like that painting, though it raised more than a few eyebrows at the show. It’s the most difficult piece in the exhibition. What came afterwards was a fairly clean break. I went to London, and came back knowing more or less what I wanted to do. I messed around for a few months and then put down my large bristle brushes, let go of thick painterly surfaces and started over again. I wanted to see what would happen if I took away all my tricks, what was left.
One of the things that struck me in your show at GAO was imagery (however abstracted) and I’d love you to talk about the process of how you go about defining or creating your visual landscape.
My painting process at that time was really intuitive and spontaneous. I was working very fast, finishing the paintings before they dried in order to build fluid image. Primarily I worked from found photographs, mainly of farmers working in fields, anything that put me back into the space of my early years growing up in rural Canada.
Once the motif was loosely developed I would abandon the photo and let the painting unfold. The narratives that emerged are largely based on formative experiences. As an American growing up in what I guess you could call a ‘subversive’ ex-pat community, I was isolated from the surrounding rural inhabitants. My relationship to the land was different as it was filtered through the eyes of my specific community that had this utopic dream of going back-to-the-land. The work speaks to my alien surroundings, to the sense of being in-between something indefinable. They’re cold war paintings as seen through the eyes of a child. The work is descriptive as much as it is dreamed and imagined.
Your latest series seems to have less definite imagery involved. Was the visual research process different?
In a sense, for me, the psychic space of my new work has not changed all that much. What has changed, (quite dramatically I suppose), is how I approach that space. In the older work I was after a sort of heightened yet suspended drama. My new work over the past year has been a process of emptying out all that felt comfortable, as I have said - my hand writing, my typical narratives and figures.
Formally speaking, what remains has become in some ways more clearly articulated through the use of stencils and flat color. At the same time, what can be sensed is admittedly more obscure. The new work is more a relationship between cartography and landscape.
Colour is such an integral part of your work. How does your relationship to colour function?
The sensation of colour is critical to my artistic practice. It’s similar to the sense of smell or taste. It’s immediate, visceral. I dwell less on an inherent attraction to certain colours and more on the relationship between colors.
Who are some of the artists you’re most moved by? Do you think their influences can be seen in your work at all?
Mmm. I always find that a really difficult question to answer. I recently saw a performance by Moheb Soliman that completely blew me away: http://www.habibalbi.blogspot.com/.
I would say music has the strongest and certainly the longest affect on me. Being moved always seems to be about a passing moment, so its difficult to talk about. I am not sure one could sense the painters I love in my newer work. Maybe Goya.
Recently I have been looking at the work of Julie Mehretu - it’s brilliant, what can I say? Who else? Jules De Balincourt. Cai Guo Chiang - I was able to see Head On being installed at the Guggenheim. I missed the show but got to watch the install, wolves being taken out of crates and shaped into flight up the winding staircase, it was unbelievable. I actually hung the show at Battat today and I could clearly see Joy Division’s album Unknown Pleasures. I have no idea what comes across at this point, I guess I’ll see it more in hindsight.
What are some of the joys of painting for you? What are some of the parts that you painfully push through?
The isolation is sometimes difficult. My current process right now entails a lot of uncertainty until the very last stage, which I love. The feeling of peeling stencils to see what comes together is always amazing. I think that painting is a lot like any practice: you have to keep on going and not ask yourself the tough questions when you are feeling low. Enjoy it when it’s working, reflect upon it when reflection comes, and never forget to listen. I recently had an accident in the studio that destroyed a painting scheduled to be shipped to an upcoming show. Things like that are painful for sure.
All in all I love making images, it gives so much back to me.
There seems to be a highly evolved sensuality in your work. Is this something that you hope people pick up on?
Sensuality….mmm…..
I guess I often feel that the studio is the only place that I can really be decadent in my exaggerations, where I can embellish. I can relish in what I love and I hope to share that with a lot of people.
I find that the process of creation itself is so different to a finished work. A little death occurs when a work is done…
I think I used to agonize over the impact of each painting. Now I tend to focus more on a body of work, which makes each ‘death’ a little easier. Each piece becomes more of a single gesture towards a larger articulation. In this way, the peaks and valleys get smaller and easier to traverse. It’s a longer process, but challenging in an exciting way.
What you got coming up after these shows?
I have a show in Milan at the end of March. I just finished my website, and I am going to Madrid to see the Goya collection at the Prado. Things are good.
Filed under art shows, artists, interviews, local, painting | Tags: Battat Gallery, john ancheta, painting | Comment (0)June 18th: Thoday is Thrazy Thursday
Brace yourselves, there are (at least) three art openings to go to today (Thursday the 18th). They all start at 7pm, and I hope you can find a way to see everything without missing Corpusse’s performance at Zoobizarre later tonight. Details below:
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1. Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo at Galerie Push (7-9pm)
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of his intense and riveting creatures (see Kit’s post below). His Bestiairies show is staying at PUSH (5264 St. Laurent) until the 26th of July.
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2. The Emporium State of Mind (7-11pm)
The product of a collaboration between The Emporium Gallery (3035 St. Antoine Ouest #74) and Montreal State of Mind: a “media spanning group exhibition that will exemplify Montreal State of Mind’s mission- to promote the inherent creativity of those who live in Montreal done through the Emporium Gallery’s curation”. The exhibition features the work of Fangs, Amber Albrecht, Sean Orena, Alexi Hobbs, 123Klan, RAGE5, Robb Jamieson, Kit Malo (!), Julien de Repentigny, Astro, Dave Arnold, Ben Pobjoy and Danielle Levy. They are 13 Montreal-based visual artists, who will each be exhibiting one artwork priced at a maximum of $200CAD
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3. A Red Bird Studios Group Show at General 54, 7pm
General 54 (54 St-Viateur O) is hosting a group show put up by the artist-run arts space Red Bird. The exhibition showcases the work of its diverse group of painters, sculptors, graphic designers and silk screeners, each one exploring their individual practice and methodology within the material constraints of a 10″x10″ canvas board. There will also be cake supplied by Cocoa Locale (best cupcakes in town, and I know what I’m talking about) and 10% off everything in the store!
Artists include: Sarah Courtemanche, Dan Buller, Kit Malo (!), Oksana, Rebecca Rosen, Jayce Yam, Mark Dixon, Julien Ceccaldi (!), Katie Earle, John Player, Andrea Kastner, Colin Lyons, Corrie Peterson, Kim Kielhofner, Naomi Cook, Lisa Wilson, Daniel Nessler, Rachel Berger, Becky Emlaw, Shannon Kelly, Konan Cook, and others…
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4. Where you must be after all the art and cake (Zoobizarre, 9pm)
Starting at 9pm, Suoni per il popolo presents Corpusse (TO), The Unireverse (Mtl) and Knurl (TO). There will be everything you could need by then (besides art and cake), i.e. synth action, confrontational performance and raw noise.
I’m especially looking forward to seeing Corpusse do his thing: it will be primitive hardcore punk with a synthesizer, and it will involve glitter and nice make-up. Here’s a video of his last performance at Zoobizarre (6388 St-Hubert) in October 2006.
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Filed under artists, events, gallery, illustration, local, painting, performance, photography, printmaking, vernissage, websites | Tags: 123Klan, Alexi Hobbs, Amber Albrecht, Andrea Kastner, Astro, Becky Emlaw, Ben Pobjoy, Colin Lyons, Corpusse, Corrie Peterson, Dan Buller, Daniel Nessler, Danielle Levy, Dave Arnold, Emporium Gallery, Fangs, Galerie Push, General 54, Jayce Yam, John Player, Julien Ceccaldi, Julien de Repentigny, Katie Earle, Kim Kielhofner, Kit Malo, Knurl, Konan Cook, Lisa Wilson, Mark Dixon, Naomi Cook, Oksana, Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo, Rachel Berger, RAGE5, Rebecca Rosen, Red Bird, Robb Jamieson, Sarah Courtemanche, Sean Orena, Shannon Kelly, Suoni per il popolo, The Unireverse, Zoobizarre | Comment (0)Amy Lockhart @ La Centrale
I’m as late as late can be on the Amy Lockhart promo-bandwagon, and the vernissage and artist talk were both happening over a week ago. But trivialities aside, you should still try to catch her show over at La Centrale (4296 St. Laurent) before it ends on June 21st.
Amy’s style is weird, grotesque and recognizable, with a je-ne-sais-quoi that sets her appart from the ever-expanding crowd of underground independant DIY-ers. Two thumbs up fto her or having a discernable and unique vibe without ever limiting herself to a specific format/medium/character.
Her exhibition features art that range sfrom papier-maché sculptures and installations, to drawings, paintings, zines and superbly fluid animation of Marc Bell doodles. She works with a ton of different mediums and styles while remaining ‘edgy’ and ‘relevant.’
You can find more of her work in the Nog-A-Dod anthology, edited by Marc Bell and published by Conundrum Press (available at the Drawn & Quarterly bookstore, 211 Bernard O). The bookstore also has a copy of the Ganzfeld 5: Japanada! anthology in stock, in which her work is also featured, among pages and pages of equally impressive artists.
Filed under animation, art shows, artists, illustration, installation, local, painting, publications, review | Tags: Amy Lockhart, Drawn & Quarterly, La Centrale, Marc Bell | Comment (1)Vernissage Tonight at Galerie Push
I waked by Galerie Push (5264 St Laurent) yesterday as they were setting up for their new show, and what I saw of it was very pleasing. The paintings of Suzanne Déry & Justin Stephens caught my eyes and got me real excited with their nonchalant and humorous edge.
The couple will be sharing the space with Pierre-luc Brouillette and, momentarily tonight, with Dominique Sirois, a personal fave of mine who will be performing in the gallery at 6pm. The vernissage starts then, and it ends at 9pm. The show itself is up until the end of the month.
Filed under events, local, painting, performance, vernissage | Tags: Dominique Sirois, Galerie Push, Justin Stephens, Pierre-luc Brouillette, Suzanne Déry | Comment (0)Jack Goldstein
The Montreal-born, LA/New York-based artist with a solid body of work is especially known for his powerful and energetic paintings. Inspired by natural and technological phenomena, they speak loudly for and of a generation of explosivity and saturation. Goldstein’s scientific eye serves his dramatic aspirations in paintings that combine abstract purity and boiling violence.
MAYDAY MAYDAY!
Man, May just keeps getting better and better. Such a juicy month, it’s like I ordered a visual-arts thick cut-steak and it’s in the process of getting cooked up for me. Oh yeah. That actually sounds absolutely perverse, but it’s Friday, so I think that’s an acceptable tone all things considered.
So the REASON why May is getting better and better is that I forgot that it is the Montreal Biennale again, from May 1st until the end of the month. Oh yeah. One of the things I love about the Biennale is how they focus not only on local amazingness in the form of talented artists, but on the creative links between curators and their selected peoples, and the collaborations that arise from the whole darn process.
In fact, the festival website talks about the open culture model that the Biennale is shaping this year’s vision with, a stance that allows for a deeper exploration of the relationship between the artistic process and creativity, of communal sharing and cooperation.
I’ll be doing a little guide for folks interested in exploring the nooks and crannies of what this Biennale has to offer, but as a little tantalizing tidbit (before the main STEAK COURSE) I’d like to mention that the fest has programmed Rick Leong (whose painting you see here) in collaboration with a musician, as well as ROADSWORTH, my favourite graffiti artist of all time.
I am very much looking forward to perusing the program in a more indepth way this weekend to offer you, dear reader, an intimate guide to all the other bits and snacks the Biennale has in store for you.
Now I am going to go eat lunch, because frank(furter)ly, these food metaphors are starting to irritate me.
Filed under artists, events, local, painting, performance | Tags: free hot dogs, May Madness, Montreal Biennale, Rick Leong, Roadsworth, thick-cut steak | Comment (1)
Speaking of May…..
Of my mind being blown with no bile in my mouth.
It is Sunday, and possibly lazy, for some. In the spirit of said around-the-house-offerings, I propose you look at this very interesting blog about contemporary still life art.
My friend Lenny Piroth-Robert, himself a ridiculously talented contemporary artist and music-maker, (literally, he runs Daddy Mojo studio, creating beautiful guitars out of cigar boxes and the like) pointed this site out to me and I was pretty blown away. As the title of this little paragraph suggests.
Jeff Hayes is the man behind this pretty thorough resource, and the image I have added here is from his latest interview with artist Pierre Raby, whose work is responsible for the images in this post. Pretty unbelievable stuff. Ok, maybe there IS a bit of bile in my mouth. Or is it salivia? Am I salivating over this stuff like a dog does a turkey dinner? Perhaps, perhaps……
Filed under artists, local, painting, profiles | Tags: Bile, Jeff Hayes, Lenny Piroth-Robert, Pierre Raby, still life | Comment (0)
