Bill Guy

Veggie Man

2012-01-21T08:57:00.000-08:00

Living Room

2012-01-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

New Year's Day

2012-01-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

Bed Room

2012-01-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

Paul

2011-12-12T19:34:00.001-08:00

Target

2011-12-12T19:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays

2011-12-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

Shopping Day

2011-12-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

Take Me To Print Sale

2011-11-16T13:12:00.001-08:00

"People on Bus," from the Take Me To series, 2009, 9" x 6," Gelatin Silver Print, ed. of 5, $25

In the spring of 2010 I bought a box of Ilford Fiber based paper and made a ton of darkroom prints for my Take Me To series. Unfortunately I haven't found a good home for most of them. So I am having a print sale. For $25 dollars you can own a 6"x9" gelatin silver print from the project. And if you buy two, then I'll give you a third one for free. In the past I've sold these images for $500. They look great in a simple mat and frame, and it's your chance to own some original artwork for an affordable price. Just visit my web site: www.billguyphotographs.com, and shoot me an e-mail to let me know which prints you like: bill@billguyphotographs.com. We'll figure out the delivery and pay logistics via e-mail.

"Looking West Towards Michigan Ave," from the Take Me To series, 2010, 6" x 9," Gelatin Silver Print, ed. of 5, $25.

"Store on Michigan Avenue II," from the Take Me To series, 2009, 9" x 6," Gelatin Silver Print, ed. of 5, $25.

I spent three years working hard on the project and I'm tired of the images sitting in a box. It would make me happy to know that they are out in the world being enjoyed.

BG

Indian Lakes Resort Race

2011-11-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

My buddy PJ (guy in the immediate foreground) killin' it at last weekend's Chicago Cross Cup race:

Dude is F.A.S.T!

BG

Of Michael Jackson and Werewolves in the Dressing Room

2011-10-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Lincoln Square II

2011-09-26T12:43:00.001-07:00

Mirrors and Windows

2011-09-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lincoln Square

2011-09-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

Steppin' Ahead!/Tickets Tickets

2011-09-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Late Summer

2011-09-08T11:20:00.001-07:00

Livin' the "high life."

BG

Labor Day Triptych

2011-09-06T10:50:00.001-07:00

Realignment

2011-08-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

A quick Google search of the word "realigning" brought me to these cool works by artist Matt Miley. I particularly like this one:

The Realigning Self

It's part of a larger series entitled The Realignment.

This Is Paul Halupka Installation Shots

2011-08-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

This Is Paul Halupka was here today and gone tomorrow. The opening, reception, and closing talk were a great success. The experience of getting to know Paul, making the images, the show itself, and the continued awesomeness makes me unmeasurably happy. Here are some installation shots if you didn't get a chance to see the show:

John R. Boehm Photography

John R. Boehm Photography

John R. Boehm Photography

And in the words of an awesome band, "thank you for coming, and thanks for the love" if you did make it out.

BG

"A Little Fable"

2011-08-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

"Alas," said the mouse, "the world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when at last I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into," "You only need to change your direction," said the cat, and ate it up.

- F.K. -

2011-08-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

This is a cool little animation for a book that I need to get my hands on:

BG

2011-07-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

A song for you:

Blessing #2 (Under The Blue Line)

2011-07-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

I got the film back from photographing the second shrine:

Blessing #2 (Under the Blue Line), 23 1/4" x 15 1/2," Archival Inkjet Print, 2011.

Somehow I got that little red cardinal on top of the shrine to stay put long enough for me to make the picture. These things are not easy to photograph!

BG

2011-07-06T09:01:00.001-07:00

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Are words my Mother gave me
When I was little.

But as I laid in bed last night,
I realized that one day I will pray
And the next morning
I won't wake up.

2011-07-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Got the film back this week for the first Bloomingdale Trail shrine. Here's the image for the bike shrine:

Blessing #1 (Near Milwaukee Avenue), 23 1/4" x 15 1/2," Archival Inkjet Print, 2011.

The next shrine is going to be about dog walking.

BG

2011-07-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

July 5 – August 5, 2011

Presented by Contemporary Arts Council
Curated by Jessica Cochran

C33 Gallery | Columbia College Chicago
33 E Congress Parkway | Chicago, IL 60605
Gallery Hours: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday
Free and open to the public

Exhibiting Artists
Alberto Aguilar, Pamela Bannos, Viv Corringham, Adam Farcus, Regan Golden, Bill Guy, Kirsten Leenaars, Daniel Mellis, Ryan B. Richey, Michael X. Ryan, Fred Sasaki, Allison Yasukawa, Mary Lou Zelazny

Events:
Opening Reception: Wednesday, July 6, 5-7pm
Gallery Panel Discussion: Thursday, August 4, 6pm

About the Exhibition
In today’s content-starved society of the ’24 hour news cycle,” it is not unusual to see reality shows and headlines hyper-focused on “unexceptional” people—but what about an art exhibition? Re-creating this model within the context of the art world, This is Paul Halupka is an exhibition of artworks about one person—a young man named Paul Halupka, a near stranger from the curator’s past. Though not legitimized by media or celebrity culture, Paul’s identity has been ushered into a spotlight and granted symbolic value in the form of an art exhibition.

Jessica Cochran, the curator, asked 13 emerging and mid-career artists to get to know Paul Halupka in order to create a portrait. Embracing a less directly representational type of portraiture, artists’ projects reflect poetic and discursive approaches to the depiction of Paul’s identity through painting, sculpture, video, photography and mixed media installation.

The resulting exhibition reveals the ways that artists mediate or translate subjectivity in complex ways—ways that reveal perception of the other as both felt and learned. In doing this, it poses questions about the mechanisms by which we comprehend the life experience of another person, no matter what the narrative format or model for storytelling. In the spirit of gaps (aspects of Paul’s life left unaddressed) and ambiguities, the artworks make way for a speculative experience that leaves the viewers affected, with a more complex consideration of not only Paul, but of the individual’s role in society.

A full catalog has been published on the occasion of the exhibition, featuring texts by Jessica Cochran (exhibition curator), Karsten Lund (independent curator and critic) and Fred Sasaki (Associate Editor, Poetry). An extension of the show itself, the catalog, designed by Ryan Swanson, features graphic marginalia based on statistics culled from Paul Halupka’s virtual presence on Facebook, tumblr and Google searches.

About the Contemporary Arts Council
The Contemporary Arts Council (CAC) is an independent not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 by a group of art enthusiasts devoted to supporting Chicago-area contemporary art and artists, and expanding members’ appreciation of the diversity of Chicago’s arts scene. The CAC’s mission is to support, learn about and enjoy the Chicago-area art scene with an interesting group of like-minded art enthusiasts including artists, collectors and business and professional people of all types. CAC funds a professionally-curated annual exhibition and catalog, featuring contemporary and emerging Chicago-area artists.

Bowling

2011-06-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

2011-06-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

2011-06-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

Found this on the sidewalk while walking home from work:

It's Not Fair

2011-06-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

My first sleepover at a friend's house was during preschool, I think. The details of how I made my childhood friend are hazy, though I remember being afraid of him in the beginning.

My preschool was in a church that sat atop a hill. My Mom took me there in an old rusted out car that we referred to as "The brown bomber." Or did she have the silver Pontiac by then? I remember the teachers being kind. We played "duck, duck, goose," "hot potato," and "connect four," along with many games that I do not remember. One of the major rules at preschool was that the teachers wouldn't "wipe us" after going to the bathroom. I made sure to go #2 only at home.

I was at the preschool when the Challenger space shuttle exploded. We watched the video footage on a small color television that was suspended from one of the classroom walls.

I don't remember how it was arranged, but the sleepover was set, probably for a Friday. My Mom drove me over in the brown bomber (or the silver Pontiac). We had a great time running around the house being children. One of my favorite games was sliding down his carpet covered steps on our rear ends, racing each other to the bottom and squealing with delight the entire way. We also made shadow puppets while laying in bed later. His Mom came in to the room, not to scold us for our noise, but to join in our puppetry.

I was happy to see my own Mom in the morning when she came to pick me up. I showed her how we slid down the stairs and said how I wanted my friend to stay at our house next time. Our parents spoke, the date was set, and we eagerly awaited the chance to recreate the fun of our night together.

When he came to stay at my house, my Mom took us and my cousin to see "An American Tail." It was my first movie. We probably had pizza for dinner. Writing this helps me to understand how much my Mom did for me, how she protected me, and always made sure that I enjoyed my childhood.

After we returned home, however, and the night moved along, my friend became increasingly unsettled. No matter what we did, he wasn't having any fun. We tried going outside to play. He cried, screamed about missing his Mom, and tried to runaway. I was panicked and frustrated. Why wasn't he having fun? I didn't cry and want to leave while staying at his house.

My Mom called his Mom and explained the situation. A short time later she came to pick him up. At this point my step-father had returned home from work, smelling of paint and cigarettes, and watched with me as their car pulled away and drove in the same direction that my friend ran towards when he tried to leave on his own.

"It's not fair! I stayed the whole night at his house!" I stammered through a flood of tears.

"He wasn't ready" my step-father said and placed his big hand on my shoulder.

Uta Barth At the Art Institute's Modern Wing

2011-06-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Went to see the Uta Barth show at the Art Institute's Modern Wing. Though some of the work is much too decorative and resembles something I might find at Ikea or Target, her 2011 piece ...and to draw a bright white line with light is very nice. The work is an installation comprised of many individual panels that surround the viewer in the gallery, giving it a wonderful sense of presence and form that is somewhat difficult for photography to achieve, as well as containing her patent sense of minimalism and attention to one of photography's chief fundamentals: light.

... and to draw a bright white line with light, 2011.

The panels are on all four walls of one of the Modern Wing's galleries. So unlike the dark and drab galleries on the other side of the museum, this one is airy and full of light. It's perfectly appropriate to the subject and adds to the experience. The experience is what I appreciate about Barth's installation. If I just want to look at pictures, then the web or a photo book is fine. I'm interested in the ways that art photographer's can use the gallery setting as a way to create an experience, rather than just as a place to hang pretty art objects. Barth has certainly done so here. (though the piece still is pretty, and an object)

The majority of the photographic panels are simple, comprised mostly of abstract shapes and lines created by the way that light plays off of the surfaces of her home. At times, a hand shows up and provides some relief to all of that abstraction. It's also a way of reminding us that these types of visual displays occur in the real world, much as the way that Alfred Stieglitz would include a tree branch at the edge of his gestural cloud studies to remind the viewer that his Equivalents played out in the sky above our heads:

Equivalent, 1930.

Seeing the hand also makes me think of an orchestra conductor who is directing a symphony of light.

2011-05-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

"If I screamed it would unleash existence--'the existence of what?' the existence of the world. For myself, I reverently feared the existence of the world." The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector

Paul Likes Oranges (And So Do I)

2011-05-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

Unbroken Orange Peel, 2011.

2011-04-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

"If I'm brave, I'll let myself stay lost. But I'm afraid of new things and I'm afraid to experience what I don't understand--I always want the guarantee of at least thinking that I understand, I don't know how to just give myself over to disorientation...Can I, as an adult, have the childlike courage to lose myself? to lose oneself is to go looking with no sense of what to do with what you might find." The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector

2011-04-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to the opening for the All-City Arts Exhibition:

Scary.

BG

Home Away from Home

2011-04-03T17:42:00.001-07:00

Where I like to spend my time:

BG

Paul Halupka VI (Halo Night)

2011-03-29T19:10:00.001-07:00

Paul and his friends get together once a week to play Halo. Here is an image from last week:

I like the use of motion in the photograph, as it provides a counter-point to the way gamers are usually visualized (motionless, bleary-eyed, mindless, etc). I also like that the cat sat still long enough for me to make the picture.

BG

2011-03-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

In a dream last night I stood on a balcony surrounded by puppies. They were varying shades of gray and moved around my legs. One by one I picked them up, their hearts beating beneath tiny ribs and thick fur, and hurled them to the ground below. They twisted and flailed their legs as they flew through the air, but landed uninjured. I looked down to see all of the puppies safe and happy, their pink tongues lolling about their open mouths and looking bright against the dark, green grass.

I felt something brush against my leg; one puppy remained. I chose not to toss it down to the others and it became my friend.

Paul Halupka V or The Skywalker Family

2011-03-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

A new picture for the Paul Halupka show:

Going to photograph Halo night this evening :)

BG

Paul Halupka IV

2011-03-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

A new image for the This Is Paul Halupka project:

I think it does a good job of visualizing the way that people will create his or her own space while co-inhabiting a larger one.

BG

Paul Halupka III

2011-02-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

2011-02-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

Today I had lunch with Thoreau.

As we talked, I started to complain about my jobs. "I'm so stressed out!" I said and went to take a bite out of my Subway sandwich. As I did so, Thoreau reached over the table and slapped it out of my mouth, sending bits of lettuce and cheese flying through the air.

"Simplify, simplify!" he yelled.

BG

Paul Halupka II

2011-02-05T12:17:00.000-08:00

It is fun to think back to early Decemeber before I had met Paul Halupka. At that time, Paul Halupka was an abstract concept. He was just someone who I was supposed to get to know and photograph for a collaborative project. But that is no longer the case. So far we've met for lunch and had one photo shoot in a park near his place. Paul is a friendly and open person, so it's not taking me long to get to know him.

During our time walking and making pictures at Winnemac Park, I learned that Paul is an avid Halo player, and so am I. One of our first points of agreement revolved around frustrations with stereo-types placed on gamers. To see an excellent visualization of these stereo-types, check out the series Gamers by Todd Deutsch. The "boys" in Deutsch's photographs are vacant and mindless, which is the general sentiment of those not involved in gaming. Though I think Deutsch is a fine photographer, which is evident in his family photographs, I HATE the Gamers series. The idea is shallow and juvenile, and does not reflect an attempt to have one's ideas challenged. Paul and I are both educated, hardworking people, so we both resent the ideas in Deutsch's photographs. The people I play Xbox with are lively and animated, laughing and talking the whole time over the mics. Paul is no exception.

In recent days Paul and I have met on Xbox Live to play Halo together. In started with me sending him a "friend request." He accepted and is now my official Xbox Live friend:

Some of my Xbox Live friends. Paul is at the top.

I have to admit, Paul is a much better Halo player than me.

BG

SB

2011-02-04T21:02:00.001-08:00

Went to the Art Institute this afternoon with my good friend Sarah Baranski for their final free day. I made this picture of Sarah while hanging out in the cafe:

My brain has been a bit of a mess this week and she helped to set it straight.

Sarah has some work up at ARC Gallery in their current show titled Intimacy. I went to the opening with Sarah, our friend Lily, and Lily's husband. A good time was had by all.

BG

Winter Storm

2011-02-03T12:55:00.001-08:00

Light from the Winter Storm on Amanda's Ceiling

View From My Car Tuesday Night

BG

Evening Coffee

2011-01-30T22:36:00.000-08:00

"'Oh, sleep!' said the student. 'I'll get some sleep when I'm finished with my studies. I keep myself going on black coffee.' And he turned round, drew a big bottle from under the table, poured black coffee from it into a little cup and tossed it down his throat as if it were medicine which he wanted to get quickly over to avoid the taste."
F.K.

2011-01-19T11:28:00.001-08:00

View of Lake Michigan from the Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserves. Photograph by me.

"Imagine the clouds dripping. Dig a hole in your garden to put them in."

- Yoko Ono -

Winter Break Pt. II

2011-01-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

The second group of new Preserved images:

That's all for now. My next step is to figure out the few that I like, scan and archive those, and update my portfolio site.

BG

2011-01-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

Went for a walk today with A. and her dog Chewy:

We explored one of my favorite parks and narrowly avoided sliding into the Chicago river once or twice. Chewy got to me some other dogs and I told A. all of my stories from photographing in that spot. It felt good to hold hands and talk about pretty much everything.

BG

Winter Break Pt. I

2011-01-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

Spent some time in the woods over winter break making pictures for the Preserved series. I feel like the project turned a small corner. From the beginning I knew that I wanted the series to be more about the landscape of the forest preserves as opposed to how people used the landscape in the Finding Walden project. I made very few photographs with people in the image. This challenged me to find some other type of nuance to animate the photograph.

The film is processed and I started printing this week. Here's the first bunch:

I'll have another group up next week.

BG

The Metamorphosis

2011-01-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

Made this photogram the other day:

BG

Post-Holiday Meltdown

2011-01-03T20:00:00.001-08:00

Remember THIS?

Well, the poor snowman and snowdog are now this:

Photograph by A.B.

It comes and goes...

A William Blake poem called Soft Snow to go along:

I walked abroad in a snowy day,
I ask'd the soft snow with me to play;
She play'd & she melted in all her prime,
And the winter call'd it a dreadful crime.

BG

Personal Narrative #2

2010-12-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

Growing-up I had a friend named T, whose name I'm shortening in order to protect his identity. He was the first person I knew to do a lot of things. He was the first to have an earring, to drink beer, to have sex, to do drugs, and to beat up another kid that all of us hated.

I remember when I first met him in middle school. He had shaggy red hair, a earring, and was most likely wearing a Led Zepplin or other rock band t-shirt. He seemed different, maybe even a little older than the rest of us even though on paper he was our age.

I think that I thought he was gay, most likely referencing the earring as the reason. This later changed when I found out he was having sex with a girl we knew. I was 14 and spent the past summer sitting in my room playing Nintendo or riding around town on my bike, so I was completely amazed. However, sometimes boys that age will make fun of a girl that their friends are seeing because they are jealous or feel uncomfortable.

"How could you like THAT girl," I said.

"I don't. I just like her sex," T. replied.

I couldn't believe it. I was still some ways off from kissing a girl for the first time, and sex seemed like a complete impossibility.

Later that year T. beat-up another kid named B. We were sitting around the cafeteria before school and he had this crazed look in his eye. He kept looking over at B. and saying how much he hated him. We all nodded. Before we knew it, T. was on the other side of the room punching B. The kid getting beat on flailed his arms about and scratched T. with his pen. T. spent the rest of the afternoon with a big blue line on his neck and we teased him about it. I carried around a small sense of victory the rest of the school year for my group of friends.

I lost contact with T. during the second-half of high school. I spent my Junior and Senior years in a vocational program and didn't talk to a lot of my old friends. Nor did I see T. during college. But I happened to run in to him the summer before I left for Chicago to attend graduate school. I was out riding my bike; T. was walking home from a bar. He was taller now and sported a buzzed haircut. We stopped to talk in this parking lot:

We laughed and joked, getting caught up on the past few years. He was happy that I still rode my bike. He remembered how much I got made fun of for riding bicycles and thought that it was cool I stuck with it. He went on to tell me that he had just come from the bar:

"Dude!" T. says. "So I'm leaving the bar over at Oakwood and this fucking drunk guy comes out after me. He's staggering back and forth and falls straight on his face! He gets up, staggers some more, and then falls back on his fucking head! It was hilarious!"

We laughed about the incident and talked some more. Then things turned slightly serious when I said I was leaving for Chicago in a few days to work on my master's degree. I don't remember what T. said he was up to. I'm pretty sure that he studied auto-body repair when we were in high school.

Things wrapped up and we said our goodbyes. T. smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and turned to walk down this road:

As he walked away he told me to "have a good life." I told him the same and rode away on my bike.

BG

Vacation

2010-12-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

Photograph by A.B.

Photograph by B.G.

Happy Holidays.

Meet Paul Halupka

2010-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

I've been invited to contribute some work for the 2011 Contemporary Arts Council exhibition here in Chicago. The show is being organized by my friend Jessica Cochran, who's talents have contributed to Dominican University, Art Chicago, and recently as curator of exhibitions at the Columbia College Chicago Book and Paper Center.

During her time with Art Chicago, Jessica was responsible for finding a willing participant to sit nude inside of an installation for the duration of the fair. She was able to find such a participant in one Paul Halupka. She didn't have any more contact with Paul once the fair was over.

When approached by the Contemporary Arts Council to organize their 2011 show, Jessica got the idea to make art about Paul. Here she explains the concept in her own words:

"This exhibition is a group show of works created in dialogue with the identity of a near stranger from my past, a young man named Paul Halupka. I am looking to include both 'traditional' portraits and project-driven sculpture, writing and installation. It is an unusual premise for an exhibition, but I am curatorially fascinated with playing with the group show format and I'm excited to see what an entire show about one 'random' person might look and feel like. The idea of engaging with a stranger in such an extensive way is in the spirit of works by artists like Alexandra Mir, Sophie Calle, and Barbara DeGenevieve."

I can't say that I immediately jumped at the idea when Jessica asked me to contribute. I do photograph strangers. However, I never talk to them. Jessica is asking me to hang out with Paul, get to know him, and then make some photographs. But I also realized that I had to take on the project. I've been wanting to stretch out and change as an artist. This could be just the catalyst I need.

Paul and I had lunch about two weeks ago. Today we made our first round of photographs. He's an interesting guy and we have a lot in common. He enjoys running and cycling, and generally staying in shape. He lives in my area across the street from Winnemac park and goes there often to run. This was a natural starting place for us. Not only does he like that park, but I never photographed it once while working on my Finding Walden series.

We walked around and Paul pointed out some of the specific spots where he runs. This was a pretty new experience for me. As I mentioned, I rarely talk to people while out photographing. I still found myself looking for good light, but now I could direct and talk to the person that I was photographing. I learned that we were both in scouting as youths (he made it all the way to be an Eagle scout, I dropped out when I was 13). And we both have an affection for playing Halo.

Here are my favorites from our first shoot together:

I hung out with Paul for a little while at his place to photograph and warm-up. He offered me some green tea and we listened to the Beatles. While I was photographing, he mentioned that his Father died of a heart-attack when he was younger. I immediately asked if this had any influence on his interest in staying physically fit. Paul didn't think so. But then again couldn't deny that there wasn't some underlying psychological influence.

At this point I have no idea how my contribution will come together. Paul is a really cool guy and I'm content with getting to know him and photographing.

BG

2010-12-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

Participating in another Foster Collective event:

The show is called Art/Life and is "A Visual Response to the Apartment of Artist, Panda Bless."

My friend Angela has a great mind for coming up with ideas for shows, and she's the one putting this thing together. For me, this show is about the idea of living with and in your art, instead of it being something on the outside or separate. It echoes the sentiment of the surrealists that being an artist is a way of life and seeing the world.

I'm including some images and text from the My Apartment project.

Stop by on Saturday night. It's sure to be a fun-filled, holiday art party.

BG

Ten Years Worth of Negatives Fit on One Shelf

2010-12-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Hope that none of my teachers from school see this picture. They'd probably tell me that I haven't worked hard enough.

Personal Narrative #1

2010-11-26T14:36:00.000-08:00

I walked to and from school everyday when I was a freshman in high school. Like many kids, high school was a pretty tough time for me. I'll spare you the usual cliches about not fitting in and getting picked on. However, my freshman year was a little unusual in that I actually feared for my life each day when the final bell would ring.

It was early in the year and I was just setting out on my short journey home. As I waited for the traffic to clear so that I could cross the street, I heard some yelling and a car honking behind me. Now you have to understand that I just spent the previous summer riding my bike everywhere. And like many rural areas, Canton is not very bike friendly. I endured shouts and honking from an innumerable amount of people. I have heard stories of bottles being tossed at cyclists and even attempts at running them off of the road. So needless to say, I was not happy about getting honked at. I shouted back and gave a middle-finger without even turning around.

It was almost involuntary; it was my first mistake.

I heard a car door open and slam shut. I turned around to see a much bigger kid running straight towards me. Behind him was a red Dodge Charger packed full of kids. They were cheering for him to "fuck me up."

This kid was pissed and pushed me hard.

"What the fucks yo' problem?" he shouted.

"Uhhh...I'm really sorry," I replied. Completely terrified, of course. He was decked out in a "Fila" outfit and had little lines shaved into his eyebrows. He continued to yell and I continued to apologize. I guess he hit me because the next thing I knew I woke up in this exact spot:

Everyone was gone and my head hurt like hell. I walked home a little unsure of what happened. I had been picked on since I was in the 4th grade, though never beaten up. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. Those of you who know me know that I'm a pretty small person. Well, when I was 14 I was even smaller. I had a real complex about it. 14 year-old boys try to be as tough as possible. Maybe that's why I liked Pantera so much during those days? I was terrified that someone would find out.

Someone did. An entire bus-load of kids witnessed the entire thing.

The next day one of those kids told me that the person who beat me up hung with a pretty rough crowd. Apparently his friend accidentally killed another friend while playing with a gun. He told me that I should be scared. I was most certainly scared.

A few weeks went by without incident other than the usual freshman year problems. Then one day I was in the bathroom and ran into the friend who had accidentally killed another friend. He started teasing me about getting "knocked out" in front of some of my other friends. I was embarrassed and tried to shake it off. I might of said something like "it's not a big deal." I cannot completely remember.

That was mistake number two.

I was walking home the next day and saw the red Dodge Charger roll up. "Oh God!" I thought and started to run. The kid with the "Fila" outfit jumps out of the car and yells for me to stop. He runs up, pushes me, and says "my boy just told me you said I hit like a pussy?!"

"No! I'm sorry! I didn't say that!"

"You calling my boy a liar?"

"No! I swear I didn't say that!"

"I'm gonna fuck you up again. You want it in the chest or the face? And if you try to run, then my boy is gonna fuck you up." As he said this another guy got out of the car. He was huge and had a bald head. I'm pretty sure that he didn't go to my school.

I don't remember what my choice was. I think I said chest. He told me not to block it and then hit me in the chest, hard. He hit me again, and again, and again. The next thing I knew I woke up in this spot:

The red Dodge Charger was gone and I walked home.

BG

Look At Me

2010-11-26T07:12:00.000-08:00

I am slowly realizing that I have a love for art that is about looking. The longer I'm involved with photography in both making photographs and teaching the subject, the more I realize that looking is fundamental to this particular art form. I immediately liked this painting by Luc Tymans when I stumbled across it on the Art Agenda blog:

Luc Tymans, Panels, Oil on canvas, 67 3/8 x 91 x 1 1/2 inches.

Paddy Johnson, author of the AFC blog, says this of the painting: "Tymans depicts an audience of dimly defined viewers watching four people on stage. The painting evokes the popes Francis Bacon so deftly portrayed, each similarly in a state of immateriality and anguish. But even if Tymans wishes to draw comparisons between the abuse of power within the Church and those of corporations, his painting has more to say about the mythology of looking. In the case of Panel, the audience members are so blinded they no longer even know what they are watching."

So this morning I'm filtering through my own images and trying to find evidence of my interest. And though all photography is about looking to some degree, I'm trying to find pictures that specifically reference it. Here's a few:

"Store on Michigan Avenue," from the Take Me To series, 2009, 9" x 6," Gelatin Silver Print.

"Near Belmont and Lakeshore Drive II," from the Finding Walden series, 2006, 36" x 24," Archival Inkjet Print.

And this picture that I just recently posted on my My Apartment blog:

The viewer is looking through my T.V. antenna out on to my street. I like the way that the antenna resembles a looking glass. A reference to all of the Paul Auster books I read? Not sure about that one, but the picture isn't done yet. I need a figure to stand between the two cars and animate the space some. The viewer is invited to look out at the street. However, there's nothing worth looking at. Perhaps that's the point?

BG

My Apartment

2010-11-18T12:50:00.001-08:00

This Fall saw a lot of things change in my life. I'm also teaching more digital photography and working with a DSLR. So in order to ride the wave of change, as well as take advantage of being surrounded with so much digital, I decided to start a new project. This is also the first time that I don't have the time or energy to wander and make photographs. So here I am making photographs in my apartment. In fact, I'm titling it My Apartment and created a blog just for the project.

The afternoon off from school provided the opportunity to proof the pictures that I've made so far. Printing is such a vital step to editing and figuring out what you are up to. I printed these five:

I've figured out that I am drawn to the less documentary images. It's a nice contrast to my usual way of thinking about photography. I also want to give them a Christian Boltanski vibe.

....what to do next.

BG

2010-11-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

`Tis the season for applying to full-time faculty openings across the country. I am going to open my personal portfolio with this image:

Think they'll get it?

BG

2010-10-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

Working on a collage:

I'll scan it once it's done. Not sure what else to do to it...

BG

I Do My Own Framing and So Should You

2010-10-23T14:13:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I got my piece ready for the Counter-Rejection show at Northeastern Illinois University. Here is the before and after:

I need some suggestions for the title. About a month ago, I went around my apartment photographing some of the things that my ex-girlfriend left behind after she dumped me. I'm interested in how those physical things can act as psychological detritus that lingers on and haunts me. I'm thinking "What She Left Behind," "All That Is Left of Four Years," or "Ghosts." Ideas?

I believe that the show opens Halloween weekend. I'm looking forward to the conversations I'll have with the other show participants. I imagine that the exhibition will be cathartic for a lot of folks. Putting our rejections on display and then discussing them will hopefully lead to a purging of any negative feelings.

BG

A Walk

2010-10-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

I went for a long, beautiful walk in my neighborhood this afternoon. I crossed the river twice, walked through two different parks, and looked down streets that are completely overrun with ghosts. At the top of a large hill I photographed this tree:

So much of my experience of a place is tied to memory. I was standing in this spot during the month of December in 2007 when my Mom called to say that my Grandfather was dead:

When I turned to head home, I photographed a statue of Jesus:

How can one take delight in the world unless one flees to it for refuge? Kafka.

2010-10-16T18:27:00.001-07:00

2010-10-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

When I made this picture:

"White Tree," from the Preserved Series, 2010.

I was thinking about this video:

Possibly even singing out loud as I adjusted the tripod.

2010-10-11T20:56:00.001-07:00

In The Name of Progress

2010-10-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

A preview of the current edit and sequence for the Preserved project.

I finally have an afternoon off on Monday, so I'll be scanning and updating my site in the near future. It'll be nice to get this stuff organized and get back to working on Take Me To.

BG

Tonight I was promoted to Warrant Officer while playing Halo: Reach

2010-10-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

The Cask of Amontillado

2010-09-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

2010-09-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

New Preserved images:

BG

2010-09-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

Ghosts

2010-09-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

2010-09-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

Some new images for the Preserved project:

(This one is similar to the Finding Walden stuff, though there is an important difference...)

BG

2010-09-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Onward!

2010-09-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

The school year is back and with it lots of events. I'm involved with two openings this week.

The first is a group show called Fantastic Landscapes and the reception is this Thursday, September 9th from 5-8pm at the 310 conTEMPORARY Gallery. You can find the space at 310 S. Michigan Ave. Come and see this piece from my Finding Walden series:

"Near Wilson and Lakeshore Drive," from the Finding Walden series, 2007, 36" x 24," Archival Inkjet Print, ed. of 10.

As well as works from these Columbia College and Hyde Park Art Center Artists: Isak Applin, Garrett Baumer, Alison Carey, Paul D'Amato , Jane Fulton Alt, Lenny Gilmore, Karen Glaser, Lisa Majer, Juan Manuel Fernandez, Judy Natal, Jennifer Ray,
Mike Reinders, Renee Robins, Alison Ruttan, Casey Wasniewski, Josh Winegar.

Also be sure to give each name a quick Google search to find their respective portfolio sites.

Unfortunately I teach at SXU on Thursday evenings so I will not be able to attend.

An exhibition of works done by students at the Chicago Photography Center is set to open this Friday from 7-10pm. You can find the Center at 3301 N. Lincoln Avenue. I acted as one of the jurors and I was impressed with the caliber of work and interest among the entrants. Among the group of exhibitors is Anna Maria Carvallo, who I had the opportunity to work with this summer. Stop by the opening and see works like this one:

Anna Maria Carvallo

Also opening on Friday is Paul D'Amato's We Shall at Stephen Daiter Gallery.

Paul D'Amato, from the We Shall series.

Paul was one of my advisers in graduate school and it will be interesting to see this work up on the wall. Stephen Daiter Gallery is found at 230 W. Superior, Fourth Floor in the River North Gallery District. I didn't see any hours for the opening so I assume anytime between 5-8pm would be good to stop by.

BG

2010-08-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

This picture makes a lot of sense these days:

Garry Winogrand, from the Women Are Beautiful series.

Family

2010-08-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Made a trip home to Ohio last weekend to see my family and to celebrate Summer time. I made some pictures and I like these four:

I love them very much.

BG

2010-08-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to the Cleveland Museum of Art with my brother. We both liked this Monet painting:

The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet, c. 1868-1870. Oil on canvas; 99 x 79.8 cm.

There is so much sadness in the way that the woman looks in at the viewer as she passes by. When viewing the painting in person, one notices how the face is barely legible. As if Monet was dissatisfied with his rendering and half brushed the face away. But this also likens it to an old, fuzzy memory.

This painting makes me think of photography in its ability to freeze a passing moment. In the next instant this woman will pass from the window and out of the viewers sight.

And with the passing of time her face will dissolve into faint recollection. What was once so familiar will become nothing.

BG

2010-08-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

Advice from F.K.

"Don't despair, not even over the fact that you don't despair. Just when everything seems over with, new forces come marching up, and precisely that means that you are alive. And if they don't then everything is over with here, once and for all."

2010-08-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Went downtown on Monday night with my CPC group to make pictures. It's always nice to get out of the classroom and put theory into practice.

I made these images:

BG

On Sensibility

2010-08-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

Photographer Joel Sternfeld says Mike Smiths' You're Not From Around Here is a "rare meeting of a particular artistic sensibility and a particular landscape." As a photographer interested in landscape, you have to identify a landscape to photograph. But I feel that way too many photographers stop there, relying on the subject matter in front of them to carry the creative load. They plop the view camera down, wait for the sun to get low, and then snap! Even worse, some approach their task like an academic, spending their time in libraries gathering stuffy facts. Of all things! This leaves them equipped to write a nice paper, but nothing else. So it's not just about what's in front of the camera, it's also about what's behind the camera. How a photographer chooses to photograph a particular landscape and what they bring to it is at least 50% of the content.

So an artist has to make it a goal to cultivate a sensibility, or a way of feeling and translating the world. A sensibility is born through trial and error, along with engaging with works by other artists. It's rooted in how one uses color (or b/w), space, scale, light, sequence, vantage point, and other fundamentals. Sensibility is very subjective because we use it to view and interpret the world, like a lens. For some, a unique sensibility seems to come natural. Others, like myself, have to dig around for it.

In Life on a Wisconsin Lake by Margie Petersen White, we read about a less than pristine body of water called Lake Winnebago:

"By early August, Lake Winnebago manages another unique feat: it grows a world-class batch of algae. It's not like other normal lakes, which might show some green spotty growth around the edges, near the cattails or the lily pads. This stuff is thick and soupy green, whipped into a frothy, pond scummy sort of blended, fetid decaf frappuccino. Sometimes it gets so thick sea gulls can actually stand on it. Its smells like a combination of dirty socks and sour milk left out in the sun for a month."

This description conjures up images of lakes from my youth. Images of crusty waters, and the fear of entering those waters. But Margie Petersen White goes on to say how important Lake Winnebago is to her family, and how many memories are wrapped around that landscape. She offers a very subjective experience of the lake. It's subjective because many would take one whiff of these smelly waters and run. The author, on the other hand, spent many youthful days water skiing and speaks affectionately of washing the algae out of her bathing suit.

I can remember one particularly dreary morning during graduate school. The cold, damp air had everyone in a poor mood. Except for our teacher who happened to also be a Chicago native. She took one look out the window, smiled, and said "isn't this morning wonderful? It's like being in a French film!" I looked out of the window and now noticed how the fog was diffusing the light from the street lamps. How the city goers were small shadows, moving amidst the skeletal Winter trees of Grant Park. It was still dreary, but now it was also beautiful. We looked at the same landscape, but she saw something that I did not see.

That one comment changed by sensibility for ever. So while I will continue to gather those "stuffy facts" about the places that I photograph, I will also continue to cultivate the lens that I use to view the world. People will always recognize the world in front of the camera, but I hope to show them something new behind it.

BG

On Remaining a Bachelor

2010-08-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

"The unhappiness of the bachelor, whether seeming or actual, is so easily guessed at by the world around him that he will curse his decision, at least if he has remained a bachelor because of the delight he takes in secrecy. He walks around with his coat buttoned, his hands in the upper pockets of his jacket, his arms akimbo, his hat pulled down over his eyes, a false smile that has become natural to him is supposed to shield his mouth as his glasses do his eyes, his trousers are tighter than seem proper for his thin legs. But everyone knows his condition, can detail his sufferings. A cold breeze breathes upon him from within and he gazes inward with the even sadder half of his double face. He moves incessantly, but with predictable regularity, from one apartment to another. The farther he moves away from the living, for whom he must still - and this is the worst mockery - work like a conscious slave who dare not express his consciousness, so much the smaller a space is considered sufficient for him. While it is death that must still strike down others, though they may have spent their lives in a sick-bed - for even though they would have gone down by themselves long ago from their own weakness, they nevertheless hold fast to their loving, very healthy relatives by blood and marriage - he, this bachelor, still in the midst of life, apparently of his own free will resigns himself to an even smaller space, and when he dies the coffin is exactly right for him." from Kafka's Diaries.

If I Only Had The Time and/or Money...

2010-08-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

"The bitterness I felt yesterday evening when Max read my little motor-car story at Baum's. I was isolated from everyone in the face of the story I kept my chin pressed against my breast, as it were. The disordered sentences of this story with holes into which one could stick both hands; one sentence sounds high, one sentence sounds low, as the case may be, one sentence rubs against another like the tongue against a hollow or false tooth; one sentence comes marching up with so rough a start that the entire story falls into sulky amazement; a sleepy imitation of Max (reproaches muffled - stirred up) seesaws in, sometimes it looks like a dancing course during its first quarter-hour. I explain it to myself by saying that I have too little time and quiet to draw out of me all the possibilities of my talent. For that reason it is only disconnected starts that always make an appearance, disconnected starts, for instants, all through the motor-car story. If I were ever able to write something large and whole, well shaped from beginning to end, then in the end the story would never be able to detach itself from me and it would be possible for me calmly and with open eyes, as a blood relation of a healthy story, to hear it read, but as it is every little piece of the story runs around homeless and drives me away from it in the opposite direction. - At the same time I can still be happy if this explanation is correct." from Kafka's Diaries.

If Kafka didn't work full-time at an insurance agency during the day, then he might be able to write something "large and whole, well shaped from beginning to end" like he always wanted. But then Kafka wouldn't be Kafka. I love his stories because they are fragments - because they start and stop. They contain a beautiful and haunting disconnect.

Make the best of your particular situation. Instead of feeling limited by it, realize that it will actually contribute to your art. Be creative about being creative.

BG

Day at the Field Museum

2010-07-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

My brother and sister-in-law were in town last weekend. During their visit we made a trip to the Field Museum. I always enjoy when family comes to visit because it gives me a chance to do and see new things. In my six years and counting in Chicago, I have never got to roam the halls of the Field Museum. That place is fantastic! So much to learn and its all under one roof. I made some pictures while I was there:

My brother liked it, too:

BG

2010-07-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

Proofed some new Preserved images today:

BG

Afternoon on the Prairie Path

2010-07-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

New Pictures New Thoughts

2010-07-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

The first new forest preserves pics of the summer:

A central element to my Finding Walden series is how people use the space of the city parks for contemplation. I am finding that people do not use the forest preserves in the same way, for the most part. Why is that? My hypothesis is that many of the people who use the forest preserves live in close proximity to the woods. Those who use the city parks live in heavily constructed and built areas. This simple, but important distinction, is at the heart of romanticism. We romanticize what is gone. People in a state of contemplation is prevalent in the parks, because that experience is so rare for city dwellers. I never thought of myself as a nature person until I moved to the city. Now I find myself dreaming of the wilderness.

People in the forest preserves do not romanticize or contemplate the woods because they are literally in their backyard, even though the woods are a huge selling point for neighborhoods and new development. So the challenge is to respond to this particular place. Not simply make Finding Walden shots at the preserves. How do people in this area relate to the wilderness, especially with it being so close?

Part of my intent is to document and describe the landscape. It's far more fascinating than the city parks. For me, the city parks were more of a stage to play out an idea. That's not the case with the forest preserves. But while I have a huge interest to document and describe, I also want to share how I feel about the preserves. Because even if the residents don't feel romantic about this landscape, I sure do.

BG

I Involuntarily Closed My Eyes in Horror...

2010-07-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

...says the narrator of Poe's "Descent into the Maelstrom" as he is confronted with a gigantic whirlpool off the shores of Norway. Nature isn't always a pleasant sight or experience. Even in its awesome beauty and power there is horror. Imagine being out on the sea, descending into the whirlpool, and seeing this:

Never shall I forget the sensation of awe, horror, and admiration with which I gazed about me...as the rays of the full moon, from that circular rift amid the clouds which I have already described, streamed in a flood of golden glory along the black walls, and far away down into the inmost recesses of the abyss.

This painting by J.M.W. Turner is fantastic and immediately made me think of Poe's story:

J.M.W. Turner Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth, 1842.

The way that the paint spirals towards the middle of the canvas creates the feeling of being tossed about at sea.

The story and the painting are an important reminder of the sublime and even savage parts of nature. Our urbanized world breeds a romantic viewpoint of nature since most of us spend our day in mostly man-made surroundings. We dream of the wilderness, open space, and the sea. Much of our contemporary art reflects this sentiment or is nostalgic for a past landscape.

It's another reason why I still like the Blaire Witch Project. It's an attempt to say dark, evil things can still happen out there. And, in fact, that there still is an out there.

It's important that we maintain a balanced view of nature. That we maintain a sense of awe, horror, and admiration.

And then down we came with a sweep, a slide, and a plunge that made me feel sick and dizzy, as if I was falling from some lofty mountain-top in a dream.

BG

2010-07-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

Did this 35+ mile loop today:

And going to see THIS tonight.

All in all, it's a pretty decent day.

BG

2010-06-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

I took my Chicago Photography Center group on a field trip to downtown on Monday night. I'm borrowing a DSLR from SXU so I made the best of the time and made some pictures. I have to say that it was fun to photograph the area in color. I'm also enjoying previewing and organizing the work in Adobe Lightroom. Here's one of the pictures that I made:

BG

2010-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Been putting in a lot of hours making finished prints for Take Me To:

I am struggling to be consistent with density and contrast. That is, consistent with my vision for the series, but also consistency between and among the prints. I want them to be a touch dark, but at times they might be a little too dark.

I'm pleased with the small size. At this point I have printed 20 of the 25 images in the portfolio. It's good to have a cache of prints for the series in case any exhibition opportunities pop up.

In a previous post, I suggested that they will be finished with 8-ply white mats and black metal frames. The problem, however, is that the white mat will disrupt the shadowy palette. I realize most of the images contain figures walled in by architecture and shadow, alluding to the cavernous felling I mention in the artist statement. I want the presentation to echo this feeling, but not disrupt the palette. The images are too small to frame edge-to-edge, which is what I do with my large color work. I am beginning to lean towards black 8-ply mats. It will help to give some presence to the smaller works, while still encasing them in darkness. I know that white is the contemporary museum standard. But it just doesn't look right.

The Men's Room

2010-06-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

"B.I. #42" from David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews With Hideous Men reminds me of this Robert Frank photograph:

In Wallace's story, the man being interviewed tells us about his father's job as an attendant in an upscale men's bathroom. What I like is how sound and smell are made concrete and how they contribute to understanding the space and experience of the room. Wallace writes:

"The inguinal rumbles. The hellacious ripping explosions of gas and the sound of stuff hitting the water. Half-atomized by pressures brought to bear. Solid, liquid, gas. Odor as environment. All day. Nine hours a day."

What both the photograph and the story suggest is that the attendant exists simply to serve men with their most basic functions. Wallace writes:

"Imagine not existing until a man needs you. Being there and yet not there. A willed translucence."

In the Frank photograph, the man covers his face while his shoes are shined. Why? Tired from the day? Photography's ability to freeze and monumentalize the passing detail? For me, it seems like Frank is saying that the man cannot even look at the other as he shines his shoes. He is both literally and figuratively beneath him.

What the Frank photograph and the Wallace story have in common is the suggestion that the attendant is, was, and will always be there. Even when he leaves, the men's room stays with him. Wallace writes:

"Because he brought his work home. The face he wore in the men's room. He couldn't take it off. His skull conformed to fit it. This expression or rather lack of expression. Attendant and no more. Alert but absent. His face. Beyond reserved. As if forever conserving himself for some ordeal to come."

BG

We Are On Our Own

2010-06-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

Moving away from my hometown of twenty-three years stirred an interest in artists that deal with feelings of displacement. I believe that much of my own work explores this as a theme. And though I think that my feelings are genuine, I'm sure they can't compare to the feelings of those displaced by war and violence.

I picked up We Are On Our Own by Miriam Katin from a bookstore in Bloomington, IN. A story that deals with that very theme:

This graphic novel shares the story of a young Katin and her mother trying to escape from the Nazis in the 1940s.

The content and the construction of the book are beautiful. The front and back covers have parts of exposed book board, which gives it a rough texture when holding. The pages themselves are a little rough and delicate.

The story is moving, brutal, and honest. You get a sense of what it felt like to be displaced during war, to be torn from your home and loved ones. And in this instance, to even be torn from your faith. Most of the pages tell of events that unfolded during the 1940s. The drawing style is loose and chaotic, which fits the content of the story:

A few pages are in color, which are used to denote more present day events. In these pages, Katin is grown and has a child of her own. There is an optimism in the way that life goes on, and people can once again learn to be happy. However, Katin herself continues to carry the burden, anxiety, and sadness of war:

It's a beautiful book and I highly recommend it.

BG

This dark light that falls from the stars...

2010-06-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

Construction in the labs this morning has me spending time in the library. I spotted a Anselm Kiefer book in a shop window the other day. So I am passing the morning with a book of his works.

Kiefer is an important German painter, sculptor, and installation artist. Much of his work evokes and considers German history and culture. And because much of that history and culture is violent, his work can have a similar feel:

Eis und Blut (Ice and Blood), 1971.

Though other works suggest metamorphisis and reincarnation. The pieces feel somber, as the figures appear to be dead:

Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun), 1995.

Liegender Mann mit Zweig (Reclining Man with Bough), 1971.

Die beruhmten Orden der Nacht (The Renowned Orders of the Night), 1997.

But in like much German art, there is hope in the melancholy (i.e. Kafka). Kiefer says that metamorphosis "creates a state where hope is possible. If there is no metamorphosis, we have no hope for after death. Spiritual understanding of the idea of metamorphosis makes it easier to die. That is what the figure is thinking about in some of my paintings. Sometimes you see the firmament all around him, sometimes flowers--for example, the sunflowers growing near him, or even his belly. There is this primitive idea of incarnation in the ground leading to transformation. The other aspect is the transformation of humus, a transformation analogous to that of flowering plants. This is the most triumphant but also the saddest moment: after that they die and the flower becomes an urn for the seeds."

BG

Early Summer

2010-06-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

Early summer is here and I'm staying busy. Last weekend saw me in Bloomington, IN for the opening of chicago land and Finding Walden at Pictura Gallery. The gallery is a top-notch space run by top-notch people. I want to thank everyone involved. Here are some event and installation shots from the opening last Friday:

I had a great time in Bloomington. I especially enjoyed walking around town, checking out the college, and catching up with friend Matt Nighswander.

A photograph from Finding Walden was recently included in Chicago Life magazine. The magazine is packaged with the Sunday edition of the New York Times here in the Chicagoland area. Here's a snap of the spread:

I have finally decided how to print the Take Me To series. All images will be printed small at 6"x9" on an 8"x10" sheet. Most of them will be gelatin silver prints. Some will be archival inkjet prints due to necessity, which mostly consists of a need for image retouching and perspective controls. All images are small editions of 5. Pictures that have already been purchased for collections will remain as inkjet prints. If it is a different size from 8"x10," it will simply come out of the edition of 5.

I am working hard in the darkroom these days to make the gelatin silver prints. Something about the simple and straight-forward process just makes sense for the project. Here's a sampling:

All prints will be finished with 8-ply mats and black metal frames. Classical, I know. But I am thinking about the big picture. I would love to show all of my projects together sometime. I feel that the small prints will be a nice counter-point to the larger color work. I plan on hanging the Take Me To work in small clusters. In an effort to get the pictures to talk to each other, give more of a presence on the wall, and to somewhat off-set the classical presentation.

BG

Lynn Whitney - Cleveland Lakefront

2010-06-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the 2009 Gund Foundation Annual Report. This time around is a nice set of photographs of the Cleveland Lakefront by Lynn Whitney:

Cleveland was notorious for using Lake Erie as a tool for commerce in the early days, which lead to pollution beyond belief. Whitney's portfolio of photographs shows us that while it is still an important piece for business, there is an elegance and beauty to this body of water; its not just functional.

My one quibble is that there are simply too many photographs. Some of the photographs do not have the same level of aesthetic sophistication as the others. Most of it has to do with how Whitney arranges things within the frame. Most of the time it seems clear and purposeful. While others seem a little awkward.

See the full set HERE.

Frank Black - When They Come to Murder Me

2010-05-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

Can't explain how much I love this song:

This one too:

Gallery 37 AAEP Spring Open House

2010-05-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

Please join us in celebrating the
eleventh annual Chicago Public Schools

Gallery 37 Advanced Arts Education Program
SPRING OPEN HOUSE!

VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITION & CULINARY SHOWCASE
Featuring visual and media artwork and culinary delights
Opening reception Friday, May 28th - 2010, 3:00-7:00 PM
5th floor CenterSpace. Gallery exhibition runs from
05/24/10-06/08/10

all events are located at:
Gallery 37 Center for the Arts
66 E. Randolph St.
Chicago IL. 60601

Harry Callahan

2010-05-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

It's cool to think that Harry Callahan walked the same streets I do. And with a similar visual interest, too. I like this photograph from the 1950s:

Harry Callahan, "State Street, Chicago," 1959.