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The Irresistible Flow of Time – Galerie 10

Today Dennis Konstantin, Karl Perrson and I drove all the way from Berlin to Vienna. Dennis and I are exhibiting with a selection of 11 artists from the Fantastic Art movement, this September in Austria at Galerie 10.

It is already half a century ago that Galerie 10 began to represent the art of the Viennese School of Fantastic Realism, including also its extensions into the following “new waves”.

The current exhibition of 11 artists, who consider themselves to be part of the worldwide movement of a new wave of Visionary Art, proves that the flow of visionary energy through the Viennese Masters Minds, continues to express itself on a global scale with overwhelming vitality.

Exhibiting artists: De Es Schwertberger (A), Amanda Sage (USA), Dennis Konstantin (D), Leo Plaw (D), David Heskin (USA), Adam Scott Miller (USA), Gregory Pettit (USA), Autumn Sky Morrison (USA), Daniel Mirante (GB), Gasia Wiacek (GB)

Galerie 10

3rd Floor
Getreidemarkt 10
1010 Wien, Austria
www.galerie10.at

Opening: 9th September 2010, 7pm
Closing: 11th October 2010
Opening hours: Mon +Fri, 10 – 6pm

Last week I made my way to Hamburg to have a number of my paintings scanned and spend some time with friend and colleague in artistic crimes, Dennis Konstantin. Dennis uses a company called Scan Discounter to have his paintings scanned at full size in 300 DPI. The same company also does excellent paper and canvas prints from these scans.

Earlier that week I managed to persuade Norman Dziegel, the proud owner of my Gelbe Spiral painting to loan it to me, so I could take it to Hamburg for scanning. I packaged it up for the journey along with two other paintings. Meeting up with Dennis we drove out to Scan Discounter. Hidden on the ground floor of a house in the suburbs is the largest scanner I’ve ever seen. They tell me that they can scan up to 2 and half meters in length at 300 DPI. That makes for very large files, and you’d better have enough RAM on your computer to open and modify them. (drooling while dreaming…)

With the scans done in no time, we were off to Dennis’ apartment in the Caroline Quarter of Hamburg, the not so famous sister of the Schanzen Quater. Both are like a mini versions of Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg and Neukölln in Berlin. But it wasn’t the distractions of Hamburg street life that interested us. There was painting to be done!

Dennis and I have on a number of occasions have had joint painting sessions, over the internet. While it is interesting to have a bit of virtual company, to share the same space is far more productive. I am always curious to look over other’s shoulders and to see how they work. Its a great chance to trade tips on technique and talk paint.

Along with my paintings that I’d brought to Hamburg to scan, were two small collaboration pieces that we had started on, last January when Dennis was in Berlin for our Fantastic Visions exhibition. We set about finishing the two off. However, Dennis is much quicker than I and finished his, while I have not yet. I’ve included some photos below.

A tale of two spirals

Gelbe Spiral on loan from Norman Dziegel alongside the blue. I had both scanned so I can make high quality prints.

Dennis' studio wall

Dennis' studio wall

Dennis busy painting

Putting on the final touches

The finished work

Dennis' painting

My twin painting

I'm a bit slower than Dennis, and so it's not finished yet.

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Myself, Héctor Pineda and Micha Colory.Krebs

Stay still long enough and the world will come to you, or network like crazy on the internet. And so it was when Mexican digital artist Héctor Pineda came to Berlin. We first came into contact through some groups on Deviant Art. Héctor organised and edit the book, “Imagine The Imagination – New Visions of Surrealism“, selecting artists from the Deviant Art groups. I was fortunate to be one of the artists included. The “Imagine the Imagination” book project was organised with the Polish publishing house, nEgoist.

nEgoist supports Abnormals Gallery which is based in Berlin and now with a much larger gallery space in Poznan, Poland. Abnormals Gallery recently caused an outcry in Poland over a large banner bearing a swastika and naked Mickey Mouse model, adorning their new premises. If any thing, the gallery is now known before it even opens for it’s first show.

Héctor was in Berlin to meet with the directors of Abnormals Gallery to discuss a possible future exhibition that would would exhibit the artists featured in “Image the Imagination”. But while he was here in Berlin he also made time to meet up with other artists. So it came to pass when I met him on Friday night with his wife and another artist, I convinced him to come with me to pay a visit to Micha Colory Kreb’s colourful and fascinating studio. His apartment is literally a work of art in itself.

Sinneswandeln - black light mini-golf

On a very hot Friday evening I made my way over to the Görlitzer Park in Kreuzberg. There in the only remaining buildings from the former railway station was the new cafe Isa Mitz opening. In the basement for the past three months a collection of UV artists from the Sinneswandeln project have been busy building a black light mini-golf course.

Ellen Harting headed up the project to organise painters and sculptors create 5 unique themed rooms. Ellen herself also provide a number of sculptures and installations, some also being internally lit with changing colours. One of the artists she brought in to the project was my friend Micha Colory Krebs.

I was called in on the opening night to make a photo documentation of their hard work. I had visited the worksite a number of times before, but on the opening night with all of the tools and materials cleared away and the UV lights turned on it looked very impressive. It looks like they might already have another project waiting for them.

After departing with Anja Brinkmann and stopping off for a cooling icecream, we paid a visit to Strychnin Gallery’s latest exhibition opening “FutureScapes” featuring the artists, Michael Page, Sri Whipple, Jason Wheatley and Damon Soule. After a run of shows that didn’t interest me, Strychnin finally had some great paintings to satisfy my eye with great technique and attention to detail. Of most interest to me were the organic like collaboration pieces. While there Yasha Young had a chat to me about the many things she and the gallery are involved in. I don’t know if she ever takes a rest.

We also caught up with Wolfgang Reimers at “FutureScapes” and then later rediscovered we all our favourite vegi-burger shop in Berlin to round the evening out.

But that wasn’t to be the end of my evening, I then went on to meet up with digital artist Héctor Pineda from Mexico. But I’ll tell you more about him in my next article.

8th Oberbaumbrücke Open Air Gallery

This Sunday, the fourth of July is the 8th Oberbaumbrücke Open Air Gallery in Berlin and for myself the third time I’ve participated with my artwork. My friend and colleague Micha Colory Krebs will also be at the festival also.

The faux medieval bridge over the River Spree that runs through the heart of Berlin, is closed off on Sunday to accommodate 100 artists and their artwork. The event always pulls large crowds usually totally about 20,000 for the day. With such large public attendance its reputation has been spreading far and wide.

I will heading down to the bridge early on Sunday to set up a stand. It takes a little while as everything has to be secured against the wind. I will be taking a couple of my studio easels so I can display more of my paintings.

I will be bringing my latest artworks, as well as a few older ones that are still to be found hanging on my studio walls and are in need of new homes.

The weather bureau is predicting hot and sunny weather, so it should make a great day out for visitors.

The event opens to the public at 10am and finishes at 10pm. So there’s ample time for you come by and visit me on the bridge.

www.openairgallery.de

Zademack - Taube

Next week I will be travelling to Viechtach again as the town plays host to the iPaX 2010 International Fantastic Art Exhibition. I was previously in Viechtach for the Dante exhibition last year and I’m very much looking forward to returning to this charming part of Germany again.

I am naturally desiring to visit the exhibition out of professional artistic interest, but I am also in attendance to document the event for my Fantastic Visions project as I did with the recent Dreamscapes Exhibition in Amsterdam. I will be photographing, videoing and later writing about the event for Fantastic Visons.

The town of Viechtach is the European host of the IPax 2010 peace campaign. On the initiative of Dali expert Roger M. Erasmy, the artists group “Dalis Erben” (Dalí’s Heirs) along with guest artists will be exhibited at the Viechtach Old Town Hall.

Erasmy has been quoted as saying, “The art world is aware of the serious geopolitical situation and wants to participate actively in the efforts for making peace. Expressive images seem more determined than endless political speeches”.

Exhibiting at the exhibition will be:

Angerer the Elder, Alain Bazard, Dragan Ilic, Tues VOGO, Peter Gric, Christian Klepsch, Micha Lobi, Michael Maschka, Fabrizio Riccardi, Viktor Safonkin, Reinhard Schmid,  Siegfried Zademack.

There will also be a slide lecture on the life of the great surrealist Salvador Dali and the smallest Surrealist art collection in the world. The original Dali wagon, the rail car that was the original model for the painting “The Station of Perpignan” will be on display in the town square.

On the Saturday there will be an artists breakfast at Cafe Isis,where there is a permanent display of Reinhard Schmidt’s glass artworks. It will be a wonderful opportunity for everybody to catch up in a more relaxed environment. I could almost say that I’m coming to see some of these artists regularly. It is quite an effort since everybody is dispersed so far and wide about the world.

Details for the event are:

iPaX2010: International Peace Art exhibition – Dali’s Heirs and Friends

Opening of the Exhibition: Friday 18 June, 7pm
Duration to 22 August
Opening times: Mon – Fri 8-5pm, Sa 10-1pm, Sun 10-12pm / 3-5pm

Roger M. Erasmy lecture on Salvador Dali: Friday, 9 July, 19 Clock, Old Town Hall Viechtach
Then open the original Dali wagon on the square Viechtach

Altes Rathaus Viechtach
1 Town Square
Viechtach, Germany

Tel. +49 9942 1661
www.viechtach.de

I once again travelled to Amsterdam for the Dreamscapes Exhibition. This time however, I made things easy on myself and took the train. What a difference it made. I think I’m hooked on train travel.

Early Friday afternoon I arrived at the exhibition hall. The hanging of the artwork was nearing its end and Ella Buzo and Marcel Salome, the organisers were very busy. The exhibition was being installed in the same large hall they had used last time. Its size being very necessary owing to the large volume of artwork. Their exhibitions are some of the largest and best organised Fantastic Art shows I’ve attended. Although, in the Netherlands, “Imaginary Realism” is the favoured term for this sort of art. This year they broadened the scope and included a some artwork bordering on the fringes.

It proved to be a very long day as some of the artists were arriving  only that evening with their artwork. I helped out where I could with the set up.

I occupied myself through out the day photographing and shooting video of the event. Part of my aim in attending was to document the exhibition for my Fantastic Visions project. I’ve begun sorting through the footage and will post a video to YouTube and my website in the near future.

The exhibition was once again in the same large exhibition hall in Amsterdam. It is a truly impressive site to see such a large space filled with high quality artwork. Ella and Marcel put a lot of time and energy into this project to make it what it is. This year they went even further and had large posters of Viktor Safonkin’s artwork advertising the exhibition placed all over town.

Their efforts were well rewarded on the opening day. While it is impressive to see the hall filled with artwork, it is even more impressive to see the same hall filled with people looking at the artwork. Approximately 1000 visitors attended the opening with numerous sales being made. Prominent articles about the exhibition appeared in two major newspapers, the Telegraaf and the Volkskrant.

While not all exhibiting artists did attend, a sizable proportion did. Viktor Safonkin was there with his vice like handshake as well as the very congenial Olivier Zappelli who we kidnapped later that evening on a mystery tour of Amsterdam. I chatted with Siegfried Zademack. We had last met at the Art Imaginär exhibition in Mußbach, Gemany the previous year. Slowly I’m coming to know more of them as I travel about to various exhibitions, but there were still new faces to meet.

At the opening ceremony, Marcel presented the very handsome new edition of the Dreamscapes book. Marcel changed the format and design this year and also adding many more pages to the book. Everybody was thrilled with it. With the larger size, extra pages and of course weight, it feels very substantial and its content is certainly enthralling. It is now one of my favourites in my art book collection.

There were smiles all round as the hall buzzed with activity. Artists were queried about their artwork, photos were taken and autographs given. The exhibition was still busy at closing time and reluctantly, visitors had to be ushered away as there was the long expected dinner to be had. Finally people could rest and relax. It was a time of exchanging email addresses and catalogues.

Come the next day it was work again for Ella and Marcel as they opened the hall again. Where as I boarded the train for a casual return journey to Berlin.

Following is a slide show of photos I shot at the exhibition.

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Dreamscapes 2010 - the book

The book which was released at the exhibition.

Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk and Patrick Woodroffe

Pepijn meets his childhood art hero, Patrick.

All the World is a Stage

Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk and Patrick Woodroffe

Viktor Safonkin

Viktor tries on some wacky 3D glasses to look at the artwork.

Patrick Woodroffe

Patrick with one of his artworks.

Olivier Zappelli

Olivier looks happy to be in the exhibition with his artworks.

Lukas Kandal

Lukas Kandal being greeted by Gerrit Luidinga at the opening ceremony.

Olivier Zeppelli and Frank C. Hauser

This photo cracks me up.

Team Safonkin

Viktor and his agent Ilja.

Siegfried Zademack

It's all a Blur

Olivier and I trying to coach Ella with photography.

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At the beginning of this year, I edited and published a catalogue of artwork which included Dennis Konstantin, Micha Colory Krebs and myself. So naturally when I went to Vienna in March for Ernst Fuch’s 80th birthday celebrations, I took our catalogue with. I visited De Es Schwertberger in his studio and showed him the catalogue.

He was very impressed with the quality of the printing and binding. Thus he decided that he’d use the same printing service for a book of his own, that had been published almost thirty years before, but now out of print, “Bilderbuch für Planetarier” (Picture Book for Panetarians).  Almost all of the paintings from the Stone Period 1972 – 1979 are reproduced, including the Philosopher’s Stone pictures and the Stone-Images from the book “Heavy Light”.

The Book is 148 pages printed on premium paper with a matte finish and bound with a hard cover. The initial version is in German, but if he receives enough interest he will have it translated in to English.

Bilderbuch für Planetarier is available from Blurb.com.

Here is an interactive preview of the book.

CoSM Journal 6

I just received my copy of the latest CoSM Journal today, courtesy of Delvin Solkinson.  I’ve known Delvin for some time now, initially from the Tribe 13 project to his ongoing Galactic Trading Card (GTC) set. Through the course of building his GTC project, he’s come to know and meet many artists the world over. One such artist of note is Alex Grey.

Alex and his wife Allyson, have for many years now put much time and effort into their Chapel of Sacred Mirrors project which was initially based in inner city New York. As of last year CoSM relocated to the countryside just outside of New York. Now that things are finally taking shape on the new property, there is the time and energy to turn back other things that have lain fallow for the interim.

And so with new vigour they have released volume 6 of the CoSM journal. Part of that new energy comes from Delvin, who now works as the managing editor of the journal.

The CoSM journal is a gorgeous A5 sized full colour publication, illustrating the planetary culture of visionary art and showing how this reflects the human relationship to nature, the new Journal includes artists from all five continents of our world including Mark Ryden, Pablo Amaringo, Alex Grey, Allyson Grey, Brigid Marlin, Isabela Maria Hartz, Steven Kenny, Andy Thomas, Akiko Endo, Mitsuru Nagashima, and Anne Mwiti. It also features some major visionary arts organizations including Beinat.org.

Creative Director and Designer: Marisa Scirocco
Managing Editor: Delvin Solkinson
Chief Editors:  Alex Grey and Allyson Grey

You can go to www.cosm.org for more details.

Dennis hanging his artwork

and making the final adjustments

Dennis' artwork

My artwork alongside Dennis'

Quite a nice linear progression with the images.

My artwork

One small artwork yet to add to the wall.

Micha's artwork

With one painting left to hang

Opening night

Micha and Natalia

Darry and Dennis

Darryl flew in from Stockholm especially to see our exhibition.

Dennis' book

Dennis shows off an early version of a book he is designing for his artwork.

After party party!

Anja, myself, Darryl

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Here is a selection of images from our recent Fantastic Visions exhibition opening. It was wonderful to see people make the journey out in such frigid weather, in what was Europe’s coldest Winter in 60 years. We even had a couple of guests from out of the country come to Berlin for the opening. It was also a chance to show off the catalogue of artwork, which we plan to use in assisting us land further exhibitions. When the opening was over, a core of hardy souls braved the subzero temperatures to find a cosy bar, have a few drinks and continue the conversations.

As a footnote, for our efforts with the we received good responses from various people and there are some very interesting opportunities that have opened up for us. There will be more to tell about these when they come to fruition.