#drawing – Page 2

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020

Maria de Los Angeles in Domestic Brutes at Pelham Art Center

In Dialogue with Maria de Los Angeles

Artist in her Studio. Photo by Ryan Bonilla 2019 . Photo by Ryan Bonilla 2019

Maria de Los Angeles says she feels very blessed to be included in the Domestic Brutes exhibition at the Pelham Art Center. A DACA recipient, she grew up undocumented and currently she is working on getting her citizenship, looking forward to contributing by voting for the first time. “Since I arrived to this country 20 years ago, I have looked forward to Voting. I love this county and consider it my home and can’t wait to do my part by helping elect new people. I truly believe we can build a better future together,” she says.

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020

Jac Lahav – on RGB

Artist Jac Lahav in dialogue with NAVA Contemporary about working for over a decade painting portraits of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Jac Lahav, Red Hope, from 48 Jews, oil on canvas, 24×24 in, 2017

The recent death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shocked us all. Artist Jac Lahav has painted portraits of RBG for over a decade. In this interview with NAVA Contemporary he discusses his thoughts on RBG, iconography, and a way forward during these challenging times.

June 22, 2020December 19, 2020

Jeannine Bardo – Penchant for Storytelling

Detail: Lifelines, 2019, house paint, silver ink 8’7” x 12’9”. Photo courtesy of John Ros

In her drawings and installations Jeannine Bardo explores a wide array of narratives and information she encounters daily, ranging from stories in the news to patterns in nature. Jeannine Bardo describes for Art Spiel what brought her to art making, her process and projects, her role as co-director of BioBAT Art Space, as well as her role as the founder of Stand4 Gallery and Community Arts Center in Bay Ridge. Since our interview process took place a while before the on going pandemic and the current seismic events in our society, the artist was given the opportunity to share her reflections on these recent events as a prelude to discussing her work.

June 8, 2020July 10, 2020

David Rios Ferreira – Catalytic Lines

(detail) *Don’t you see I got everythin’ you need*, 2019. Photo: Jason Wyche

David Rios Ferreira‘s energetic drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations flirt with cacophony yet manage to stay on the verge, creating an idiosyncratic sense of order out of chaotic turmoils. Through turbulent lines and vibrant colors, his imagery projects a rigorous visual universe where Geo-political and mythical narratives fuse organically. David Rios Ferreira shares with Art Spiel the main ideas behind his work, elaborates on some specific projects, and sheds some light on his prolific curatorial practice. Although our interview process started a few months before the Corona pandemic and the recent global protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement, David Rios Ferreira added his response to the current events, implemented at the beginning of this interview.

May 23, 2020May 6, 2020

Artists on Coping: Katrina Bello

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

*In the studio, with large drawing titled Terra Magnoliaceae, April 2020*

Born in the Philippines, Katrina Bello is an artist who lives and works in New Jersey. Her work is devoted to drawing, and her subjects are migration, ecology and our complex relationship with the natural world. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and the Philippines, and has been awarded residencies in the United States. She recently received a studio fellowship from the Sustainable Arts Foundation though Gallery Aferro in Newark, New Jersey. Katrina is the founder of North Willow, an informal artist-run attic exhibition space in northern New Jersey.

May 3, 2020May 1, 2020

Artists on Coping: Tom Sarver

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

*Tom Sarver with paintings from his 2019 series. Opening of Pretty Ugly at James Gallery, Pittsburgh.*

Tom Sarver uses an array of approaches, including puppetry, events and site-specific installation to explore social issues and social interactions. His work is often inspired by life in Pittsburgh, where he lives and works. He has been featured in several projects at the Mattress Factory, including an installation in a row house that he occupied for two years. His work in puppetry was featured in Paulina Olowska’s installation at the 2013 Carnegie International. His Art Olympics event series featured live-action art making and community interaction at venues throughout Pittsburgh. He is currently working on a drawing series documenting Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods.

February 10, 2020November 15, 2020

Kit Warren – Moments of Recognition

*Altered States (untitled),* 2019, Acrylic, flashe on birch panel, 36 x 36 inches, photo courtesy the artist

Kit Warren‘s works on paper present complex and elaborate visual cryptography – patterns of lines, dots, and bold colorful shapes. They evoke layered associations ranging from microcosmic to cosmic. Kit Warren shares with Art Spiel some of her ideas and work process.

May 28, 2019November 15, 2020

Tansy Xiao – The Echo of Journeying

Domestic Language, multimedia installation, 2017

Tansy Xiao is a curator, artist, writer, translator, and an overtly out of the box thinker. She shares with Art Spiel some insights on her upcoming curatorial project at Radiator, her art-making, as well as translation and writing processes.

AS: Tell me a bit about yourself and what brought you to art – writing, translation, curation and making.

Tansy Xiao: I wasn’t properly schooled, neither did I consider myself an artist when I was travelling around and painting abstract murals in exchange for food and accommodation. Now you might call it an unprompted residency. During my long trips and brief sojourns, I would write book length letters to my friends, with a mutual understanding that they were not obligated to reply. I joined and formed communities, then left them, until I have relatively settled in New York, a city with such transience that the fear of being trapped in a constricted niche no longer haunts me. That’s when I began my practice as a curator and translator. If I were to describe my status quo now, I’d quote D. H. Lawrence’s last paragraph in Rainbow:

November 1, 2018June 4, 2020

Austin Thomas – Lots of little things at LABspace

All images: Austin Thomas collages, photographed by the author

Austin Thomas’s drawings, Lots of little things, currently on view at LABspace, a small gallery in a tiny town, are diminutive in size but vast in scope. Arranged in three irregular rows on one wall, these forty-odd drawings offer the viewer enough to look at for several hours. I have been to the show three times and was sorry to leave each time. They seem to display almost everything drawing can be.
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October 25, 2018June 4, 2020

Jeanne Heifetz – Ordered Chance

Jeanne Heifetz‘s art has evolved from weaving and fiber early on to drawing and painting later on. While her previous body of work has typically derived from a process of material exploration, the impetus for her more recent work has been prompted by concept. As Heifetz puts it, “in spite of herself,” after the election it can also be seen as politicized. She was recently awarded a LABA fellowship for 2018-2019 at the 14^th Street Y, where she will study ancient Jewish texts on a given theme with other artists of different disciplines. In this interview for Art Spiel Jeanne Heifetz talks about her art, ideas, and projects.

Jeanne Heifetz, Pre-Occupied 18, 2016, silver graphite on flax paper tinted with iron oxide, 21″ x 29″ Photo: Paul Takeuchi

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