New series — Earth Red Field — at Linda Durham Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, opening November 21

My latest multipanel series–Earth Red Field–will be exhibited in a group show at Linda Durham Contemporary Art is Santa Fe beginning next week. The exhibit, called “The Wonder Salon,” opens on Saturday, November 21, 2009, with an all-day reception with the artists from 10 am to 5 pm, and runs through January 4, 2010.

"Earth Red Field" (2009), 6 panels of 12 total, oil on board, each panel: 14x11x1 in.

Red Earth Field, which consists of 12 pieces, is the latest of my large multipanel series in which every panel is just a little different in composition and color from every other panel. I don’t think Donald Judd would like my paintings, but his installation of 100 milled aluminum boxes in Marfa, Texas, provided the jumping-off point for these works.

In addition to my new work, “The Wonder Salon” features the creations of a diverse group of Santa Fe women artists: Lynda F. Braun, Marina Brownlow, Rachel Darnell, Anne Farrell, Shaun Gilmore, Sondra Goodwin, Barbara Ingram, Jennifer Joseph, Joanne Lefrak, and Patricia Pierce.

If you can’t make the reception, regular gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm. The gallery is at 1807 Second St. #107, Santa Fe, NM; 505.466.6600; www.lindadurham.com

I hope you can come by and see my work in Linda’s beautiful new space!

New multipanel series underway — Earth Red Field

I’m now working on my third multipanel series, which I call Earth Red Field. Like Blue Gate and Orange Arc, it’s oil on 14×11 in. panels, and right now I’m planning on 20 panels total. As in the two earlier series, each panel will be a little different in composition and color from every other panel.

It took me quite a while to settle on the right composition and colors. I did around 20 small studies in gouache on Claybord or heavy watercolor paper before I finally developed a design that I love. (If I don’t love it, there’s no way I’ll be able to paint it over and over again!) Some of the studies, which are 8×10 in., may end up in future paintings. But I needed something that would continue the feeling of the first two series, and persistence paid off–I finally found it.

Along the way, I rediscovered how much I like working in gouache (opaque watercolor). For me, gouache is the medium closest to oil–you can paint light over dark, unlike watercolor, and it dries matte, unlike acrylic. I used to do a lot of work in gouache but haven’t for years.

For artists: I’ll put in a plug here for M. Graham gouache: it has a luscious feel, stays wet on the palette for quite a while, even in dry New Mexico climate, and rewets well. The manufacturer says it contains honey rather than sweeteners like corn syrup that are in other brands of gouache, and I’ll believe it (though I don’t intend to taste test). The line is oriented to artists rather than designers, so it uses lightfast pigments and omits the beautiful but fugitive colors of many other brands of gouache. M. Graham is a small artists’ paint manufacturer in West Linn, Oregon; their paints are pretty widely available both in stores and online.

As soon as some panels are dry enough to photograph, I’ll post them on this blog.

Installation photos from Salon Mar Graff

The Salon Mar Graff show is closing this week–I’m sad to think that my 39 panels are going back into their boxes–but the show went really well. I loved the installation of my paintings and very much enjoyed the work of the other artists in the show. Lots of people came, and I got excellent feedback about my work.

I was also able to get really nice installation photos, some of which are posted on this blog. Click on Orange Arc and Blue Gate galleries in the PAGES section in the column to the left. On the About Orange Arc and Blue Gate page, you’ll find my writings about these multi-panel series: where they came from, where they’re going. (Polyrhythms, Donald Judd, ways to mix taupe, African drumming, handmade minimalism…). Check it out.

(Photos: Dave Robinson)

Linda Durham gallery’s essay contest: my essay won!

Great news–my essay won Linda Durham gallery’s essay contest. My essay is titled, “We do art to be human,” and you can read it on the gallery’s site (Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM). Check it out:

www.lindadurham.com/importanceofartessaycontestwinner/tabid/419/Default.aspx

The topic for the contest was, “The importance of art in this challenging political and economic world.” My essay is built around ideas I’ve been thinking about for a long time–the topic couldn’t have been better chosen for me.

The gallery got several hundred submissions from around the U.S. as well as New Mexico. The essays were judged by a professional panel of judges: Timothy Rodgers, Chief Curator at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe; Jon Carver, a Santa Fe art-writer and art educator; and Aline Brandauer Sloan, art-writer and curator.

And there was actually a $500 prize that I didn’t know about until I was told I’d won the contest; the contest notice I saw didn’t say anything about a monetary prize. As it happened, I’d ordered a big new easel, with a winch, a couple of days before I learned I’d won the prize, so the money comes in very handy.

The last time I won a prize for my writing was in college, for a paper on the economics of cable TV regulation. This piece was a lot more fun to write!

Salon Mar Graff in Santa Fe will show my newest work — opening April 23 & April 24, 2009

Salon Mar Graff, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be showing some of my new, multi-panel oil paintings in an exhibit that begins Thursday, April 23, 2009. I’m very excited about this show because it will be the first time my latest work will be exhibited anywhere.

The openings are on Thursday, April 23, and Friday, April 24, from 5-8 p.m. The Salon is also having a gourmet supper (amidst the art) on Saturday, April 25, at 7 p.m.; the price for the supper is $30 and RSVP is required. After the first weekend, the show is open by appointment. For more details: www.salonmargraff.com  

The show is called “Terra-Hedron,” and the other artists in this show are Matthew Chase-Daniel, Samayra Sinclaire, Diane Tintor, and Jim Klukkert.  

My new works are multi-panel series consisting of not quite identical repeats of the same strongly-colored geometric compositions. I was inspired by an encounter with minimalist artist Donald Judd’s 100 nearly identical aluminum boxes, which I saw on a trip to Marfa, Texas, last spring. (I haven’t reached 100 yet, though the Orange Arc series has 25 panels and the Blue Gate series has 14 panels, each 14 x 11 in.)

But my work is far too colorful and inexact to be orthodox minimalism: I sometimes think of it as “handmade minimalism,” or “lyrical minimalism,” or even “minimalist expressionism.” Please come to the Salon Mar Graff show and tell me what you think!

(The header image for this blog shows part of the Orange Arc series. An installation view of part of both series is shown below.) Info on Salon Mar Graff:  25 Big Tesuque Canyon, Santa Fe, NM; 505.955.0471 (John MarGraff). Directions: From Paseo de Peralta, take Bishop’s Lodge Road. One mile past the Bishop’s Lodge Resort, make a right onto Big Tesuque Canyon. At #25, turn left up the long dirt driveway to the Salon.

Demonstration of monotype-making without a press — Saturday, April 18, noon to 4 p.m.

When people think of fine art printmaking, they usually think of a printing press. But monotypes are prints that don’t require a press–all my monotypes that you have seen in gallery shows were done using just my hands, rollers, and other hand tools to transfer images to paper.

This Saturday, April 18, I am giving a demonstration in making monotypes without a press at the Community Gallery in the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, on Marcy St. at the corner of Sheridan. The demonstration will be from noon to 4 p.m. There is no charge for attending.

I will be showing techniques that both artists and non-artists can use to create small prints, in the studio or at home. Depending on the number of people who attend, you might even be able to try out some techniques yourself.

The Community Gallery is currently showing large monotypes drawn from the archives of the Monothon, an event that was held for years at the College of Santa Fe, where many fine artists got together to made monotypes. Unfortunately, the Monothon is no longer being held, but you can see excellent examples of the work done by Santa Fe area artists over many years. Sales from this exhibit benefit both the College of Santa Fe (which certainly needs any money they can get) and the Community Gallery, which is run by the city’s Arts Commission.

So come on by!