Deep Ellum basically sucks. It has waxed and waned in and out of dopeness over the years, but decided to settle into sort of a dark and creepy landscape that begs for night crawlers and tweakers to eerily stare at you as you walk to your car that probably has a boot on it.

But here is what I love about Dallas. Dallas artists and musicians keep this city alive, and clubs like The Lounge on Elm St. are pulling our hip hop scene back together and our visual artists are gearing up for another great installment of the Mural Project! We are responsible for our own city and our own experiences while living here, so shouldn’t we make the best of it?!

Phase I of the 2009 Mural Project will be the Good Latimer Corridor Murals. This phase will introduce murals along the Good Latimer/DART rail line in the very area that the Good Latimer Tunnel Murals have been buried. Dart line passengers will exit the Deep Ellum rails and be welcomed with murals from the following Phase I artists: Luke Harnden, Cathey Miller, Sergio Garcia, Mark Nelson, Brian Crawford, Amber Campagna, Issac Brown, Issac Davies, Tyson Summers, Judith Lea Perkins and Frank Campagna.

For more information and to stay up to date about not only the 2009 Mural Project, but other happenings in Deep Ellum geared at pulling it out of desolate obscurity…visit the Save Deep Ellum website daily.

savedeepellum.org via DECA Deep Ellum Mural Project | savedeepellum.org.

Rex Ray, Alecetoria, 2009, oil, acrylic & mixed media collge on linen, 76x65"

Heyd Fontenot, Wendy & Manny, Dave & Ellen, with Three Others, 2009, oil on panel, 48x48"

Alejandro Diaz, Happiness, 2008, neon, size variable, editon 5

Conduit Gallery

http://www.conduitgallery.com

(214) 939-0064

1626 C Hi Line

Dallas, TX 7520

I’ve had the pleasure of viewing Anette Lawrence’s work a few times, most recently at both Dunn & Brown, as well as the CADD Art Lab.  Honestly, she produces the type of art work that I just really like! I have no explanation as to why, and very little insight into her creative process or educational background. I have almost nothing to go on besides the fact that I think her stuff is cool!

Her “Free Paper” exhibit is pictured to the left, and more of her work can be viewed on her web portfolio.

ART SOCIAL

Conversations in the gallery with artists featured in the current exhibition.

Annette Lawrence and Brian Fridge

Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m.

CADD Art Lab :: 1608-C Main Street, Dallas

The focus at the gallery is ever evolving while continuing with the goal to show kick ass stuff that they simply love. I applaud this gallery for staying true to it’s passion and providing a warm and comfortable atmosphere to casually enjoy very cool artwork by self-taught artists.

Enter 94 Faces of Gordon Carver.

Carver recently passed away at the age of 92, and 94 drawings of hairy faces of every expression were found covering his walls. As eery as it may seem, I just had to go see them for myself! Needless to say, viewing the collection and being able to purchase a book of all of the faces with accompanying stories was definitely worth the trip down to Waxahachie.

Currently on Exhibit through August 9:

When In Texas – Act Like a Texan!
ft. Esther Pearl Watson, Mark Todd, Martha Rich, Silke Thoss, Bob Tooke, Scott Ogden

Open Saturdays and Sundays 1 – 5pm. and by appointment.

http://www.webbartgallery.com/
(972) 938-8085
209-211 W Franklin

Please excuse the blurry camera phone pic, but the flyer reads:

Woman: “My throat is killing me! I could go for something hot and alcoholic”

Man: “How is dating a musician going to help your throat?“

Ha! Her Twitter was listed in the contact info section, and I followed her immediately!

Aside from being a loyal Twitter follower, I checked out her art and became a fan all over again. She’s down to earth. She creates art that is relateable and not pretentious in any way. She laughs at herself, and her art has a sense of humor. Jen is one of few artists that gives her audience a glimpse into her everyday life (both business and personal) via Twitter and her website, which helps me to better understand her work. OK, so she’s cool and I like her art, but that’s not what won her a feature on Artamental! 

The creative process. It has to be the single most misunderstood psychological phenomenon. Where does inspiration come from? How do very intangible (and typically very random) thoughts interact with one another and grow themselves into art? Those are questions that I’m not sure any of us could fully answer without summoning up mystical and religious beliefs, but one thing we are able to do very easily is observe the process and watch ideas come to life and just enjoy the ride. Now that’s what I call a good time! 

Jennifer Mathis provides a platform for her fans to do just that. She lets us take a sneak peak into her creative process, which so many artists and musicians alike refuse to do. For most creatives, it almost carries a stigma that’s the equivalent of seeing a bride-to-be in her wedding dress before the big day; before her hair is perfect, make-up flawless, and she’s shed those last 10lbs.

Artists also often find themselves nestled comfortably very deep inside themselves as they explore who they are, to ultimately be reflected in the work. The result? Well Erykah Badu said it best: “Now remember I’m an artist, and I’m sensitive about my sh!t!” Criticism can be an artists worst nightmare, especially as it relates to an unfinished piece.

Jen, on the other hand, throws caution to the wind and invites us all in to watch her stumble around her mistakes and successes. Take a look at “The Vinyl Doll Project”. Good stuff.

  

"Inspiration"

"Zombification=Not so good. Trying something else now."

Zombification Stage I #BlowUpHouston

"If the object of the game is 'give the doll a purple crotch,' I win."

She wore a... "Three guesses what song was in hy head the whole time I worked on the hat…"

Artist: Jennifer Mathis

Website: http://www.jenxer.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jenxer

North Park by Inki Min

Using diluted inks and paints, INKI MIN creates Pollock-esque oblong paintings of swirling abstraction.  The mist from which our galaxy emerged.  In some, bears dressed in outfits from J. Crew appear out of the swirls.  In others, tree branches float to the surface like primordial dreams. INKI received her MFA from Boston’s Museum School.  Before that she studied art in Seoul, South Korea, where she was born and grew up. Her work has been shown at the Dallas Contemporary, at various venues in Boston (including the Rubin Frankel Gallery, Tufts University and the Museum School) and in South Korea.  

WILL JOHNSON, resident of an ancient granary in Kaufman, Texas and former preparator of the Meadows Museum of Art, transfigures found wood objects into brilliant and elusive Green sculptures.  His work is quirky and archetypal, and invariably includes a political message. WILL holds a BFA from the Meadows School of the Arts.  His work has appeared at Brookhaven College, Mountain View College (both of Dallas), the Dallas Contemporary and the Sally Sprout Gallery in Houston.  His sculpture “The Distance” was in the 2005 Art in the Metroplex juried show.

Shoot by Will Johnson

When:
May 22 -July 4th, 2009. 

Where:
The Dahlia Woods Gallery is located at 600 Cantegral Street, Dallas, TX 75204, just off Live Oak behind the Latino Cultural Center and cattycorner to The Dallas Center for Contemporary Art. 

Hours:
The hours for the Dahlia Woods Gallery are:  Thursday/Friday/Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday/Wednesday by appointment. 

For more information please visit the Dahlia Woods Gallery website 

So far this year, there has been one particular album cover to hold my attention, and it’s ironic because I’m not a fan of the music in the least. The album cover is the truly the best part of the entire project. I find myself thinking about it frequently, wondering how the cover is related to the album, who created it, and if there were any more works available by this artist. So I found out.

I researched this article like I have never researched before. I googled for at least an hour gathering bits and pieces of information, and I’m even attempting to listen to the mixtape as I type this (which isn’t going very well I might add) to try to find some sort of connection between a great album cover and mediocre music . In a nutshell, I do not like Drake. But the album cover definitely deserves some attention.

Said album cover:

And here’s Drake’s explanation of the album cover concept as reported by HipHopDX:

“It’s this kid in pursuit of love and money…sometimes you just get so far gone, you get wrapped up in this shit.” Drake added, “The title has a lot of meanings—as the way we carry ourselves, the way we dress, the way people view us, not to sound cocky, it’s just that feeling that we’re just distanced in a good way.”

So articulate. *cough*

My original interpretation was very similar, and was further justified once I dug a little deeper into the origin of the art work. This particular piece was done by Darkie, and is an adaptation of a classic cover from the “The Economist” magazine pictured below. This cover was just one piece of an award winning print campaign developed by AMV BBDO in September 2007.

What’s the worst thing to lose as we get older? Our teeth? Our curiosity?

100,000 of your brain cells die every day. Make sure it’s not from boredom.

You can’t know everything about everything. But you can give it a good go.

Dissection. Good if you’re a story. Bad if you’re a frog.

Looking for the herd? It went thataway.

A brilliant advertising campaign indeed, and a very interesting choice for Drake’s album cover. It demonstrates an awareness and depth of knowledge that simply isn’t reflected on the record.  A sample well flipped…maybe a little too well considering.

Credits

The Economist Black campaign was developed at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, by creative director Paul Brazier, creatives Mark Fairbanks and Paul Cohen,typographers/designers/illustrators Non-Format, Geoff McFetridge, Mick Marston, Matthew Green, Seymour Chwast, Fine ‘N’ Dandy.

Jamie Pink creates glittering abstract images of glass mosaic, pierced by light and color. Born and raised in Texas, Jamie holds a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin. She has studied under renowned painter Bill Komodore and world-class mosaicists Sonia King, Emma Biggs, Ilana Shafir, Matteo Randi and others. Her work appeared in the 2008 New Texas Talent show at Craighead Green Gallery and most recently in a juried show at the Bathhouse Cultural Center.

Andrew Wick uses egg tempera to create haunting, moody multi-faceted figurative paintings of the American scene. His copperplate etchings vividly capture the Texas landscape. Andrew holds a BFA from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and an MA from the University of North Texas. His work has been shown at various galleries in the Metroplex. When not painting Andrew teaches art both in Texas Public Schools and in SMU’s Community Education program.

Visit Wick’s Blog Here
Opening Reception:

Friday, April 17 6-8:30PM

AND

Saturday, April 18 11A-8PM

Location:

600 Cantegral Street, Dallas, TX 75204

Just off Live Oak behind the Latino Cultural Center and cattycorner to The Dallas Center for Contemporary Art.

No paint. No defacing. Moose makes his art by cleaning; removing the ills of dirt and pollution by de-defacing- wiping away dirt into large type and shapes, leaving nothing behind but a beautiful work of “green art.”

For the past ten years, Moose has been working to perfect his craft. More recently, his skill and notoriety have led to the creation of commissioned pieces as well.

Moose enjoys creating ‘legal graffiti’ although at times has been in the press for being a vandal. But no one has ever been able to make a case against him because as he says, “No one owns the dirt.”

-Reverse Graffiti Project Website

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