July 2007
Sleeping Men

Stephanie Dean
Sleeping Men

“When a man is asleep, he has in a circle round him the chain of the hours, the sequence of the years, the order of the heavenly host. Instinctively, when he awakes, he looks to these, and in an instant reads off his own position on the earth’s surface and the amount of time that has elapsed during his slumbers; but this ordered procession is apt to grow confused, and to break its ranks” — Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past

I envy the abandon with which they do it. In the shade, on leather seats, on cold stone wrapped in a sunny day—vertical, cramped on a plane, in classic pose and practice, deftly avoiding drool on the train, in the corner at a party, in their own bed in work uniform at the end of the day— all the varied positions of male repose. Sleep comes easily to them. I love watching men sleep, especially in public. I envy them. They need not worry about strangers doing even stranger things to their relaxed bodies.

The somnolent citizen is subject to the same photographic rights as a waking citizen. Thus, I may photograph any and all men that I find sleeping in public. I have a collection of them. It consists of all different types of man; all sharing one thing: their shameless, worry-free public slumbers.

To contact this artist:
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www.stephaniedean.com/

June 2007

The Garden of Eden

I have used steel, fabrics, foam, cast rubber, clay and plaster, food
and castings of real plants to create the Garden of Eden, an installation
that transports the viewer to a seductive, unknown and contradictory fantasy
world that is beautiful and dangerous. The installation investigates the
primal idea of the Garden of Eden, paradise or a utopia, our perennial
longing to return or escape to such a place.

The piece is made of synthetic products that reflect hours of human
labor (including the artists in the hundreds of cast and string-wrapped
individual pieces) but as a whole references natural formations. It combines
human-made elements of the urban landscape with the forms of nature, becoming
an oasis or imaginary world within a busy city street/neighborhood while also
turning familiar objects into a strange alien world where the viewer might
escape the ordinary and mundane.

May 2007

Artist: Philip Hartigan

“Coal Curtain”

I was born and raised in a mining town in the north-east of England. My father died when I was five, after which my mother, brother and I lived with my grandparents. My grandfather was still a working miner. My grandmother liked to cook a lot, in the small kitchen that had the only running water in the house. There was no door to the kitchen, but only a bead-curtain. This piece is an homage to that life, and to the shadows cast by memory.

To contact this artist:

www.philiphartigan.com

April 2007

Thomas Plum
Hold (center window)

Medicine plays a prominent and pervasive role in our culture. From the recommended ‘check-ups’ many people dread to the potential discovery of an illness they never knew they had. For the sick, the ubiquitous orange pill bottle might signal relief, restoration, or relaxation through pills, tablets and capsules. Darker readings may include dependence, a high-risk lifestyle, or fragility. My recent sculpture ‘Hold’ is a six-foot tower made of pill bottles. To hold-out, hold-up or hold-in?

To contact this artist: {encode=”tplum@speakeasy.net” title=”tplum@speakeasy.net”}

Christopher Dureno
Copper Grove (right window) Fruit (left window)

This is how I learned to solder. I can’t guarantee that these joints hold water but I think they make nifty shapes. I’ve walked up and down the plumbing aisle at home depot for years wondering how I could put these tubes into a piece. Then I found the pressure plug. And I guess I’ve always marveled at the beauty of the log while stacking firewood. Copper and wood, fascinating in a raw sense. I see it as a cross between chipotle wall hangings and sprinkler art. It is midwest style, simply done in a basement on a sunday afternoon. Enjoy.

To contact this artist: {encode=”cjd70@tmail.com” title=”cjd70@tmail.com”}

March 2007

I get the ideas to my paintings from everyday life; I react to things around me. Most of them originate from a strong feeling I had about something, like domestic violence, racism, polluting the environment, poverty, or being a foreigner in another country.

The viewer usually experiences my paintings as strong – or even violent – but the main subject the viewer sees might be very different from mine. I like to leave a freedom to feel and to interpret. I am not trying to make everyone experience what my experience was.

My paintings are between abstract and representative. I use faces and especially the eyes as a way to communicate my idea to the viewer. I think my paintings can be experienced both as abstract and representational. I use stenciled text as a structural element as well as another way to represent my idea.

I love to paint on large canvases and build up layers with mixed media, collage and combining painting and drawing. I want to paint what is at the same time aesthetically and intellectually appealing to me.

www.suvikonttinen.com
{encode=”artist@suvikonttinen.com” title=”artist@suvikonttinen.com”}
(312) 643-0759