Jenna Goldberg's "Wallflower" at Gallery NAGA

With the Furniture Society's annual conference being in Boston June 17-19, I made a special trip to the big city in order to see the furniture displays that were part of the conference as well as those in venues coordinated with the event. I'm going to be busy writing blog posts over the next few weeks about what I saw.

This first one is on Jenna Goldberg's show of new studio furniture, Wallflower, at Gallery NAGA. Though the show was planned long before the conference, the overlap was fortunate and the gallery was kind enough to hold a reception on Thursday night so attendees could check it out. Three years in the making, the show is a stunning combination of Japanese influences. The furniture forms are subtle backdrops to the dynamic surface work but also clearly derivative (note: this is a non-pejorative use of the word) of Asian design while the intricately painted and carved surfaces that are inspired by kimono and obi (i.e., a kimono sash) patterns.

On entering the gallery I was surprised to find a couple of stand alone wall pieces. As it turns out, they can have a functional purpose, being sized as headboards for queen size beds, however Jenna also told me that these are an initial attempt to test the waters for creating non-functional wall art. As a big fan of non-functionality, they are my favorite pieces. I also like the use of gold and silver leaf in this first piece. It gives it a shimmer that really is reminiscent of the Japanese textiles that inspired the work.

Red Dahlia Headboard
36" x 66" x 2"

Arabesque Headboard
48" x 68" x 2"

The title of the show is likely intended as a pun. The work is obviously full of flower motifs and much of the work hangs on the wall, however, Jenna also describes herself in the catalog as shy and reserved, a bit of a wallflower herself. There is also a large amount of irony in the sense of the term "wallflower" contrasting with the exuberance and intensity of the show.

Jenna used basswood as a canvas for her paintings because of its ease in carving and the light, consistent color. It allowed her to add texture and contrast to the paint that is real unique. Though I've seen painters carve into their paintings to add texture and reveal underlying color, I don't think I've seen anyone use their canvas as part of the painting in this way.

Bush Clover Cabinet
38" x 22" x 14"

Here are a couple of close-ups.

Bush Clover Cabinet close-up

Winter Harvest Cabinet close-up

The cabinets are also intricately painted on the inside as well, though not carved, creating a surprise when they are opened.

Chrysanthemum Cabinet
38" x 22" x 14"

The work is uncompromising in its ambition and execution; from design, to construction, to painting, then carving -- Jenna hasn't skimped or looked for an easy way to completion. Each step has been laborious but the result is both spectacular and daring. Being that the last step is carving the elaborate designs, I imagine there might have been a bit of trepidation in taking her gouge (a chisel designed for scooping) to a finished painting, however, her cuts are confident and clean.

Autumn Lotus Cabinet
38" x 22" x 14"

It is really intense work. The number of carved lines and the level of concentration and patience it takes to realize are exhausting to think about, let alone accomplish.

Dahlia Cabinet
76" x 33" x 19"

Asterisk Cabinet
75" x 49" x 17"

The show also include a few small tables.

Mountain Flower Tables
20" x 26" x 20"

Kabloom Tables

21" x 26" x 20"

Sneak Peek

Here is the first of my two saw horse horses that I am making for this year's Exposed! held in Stowe, VT and organized by the Helen Day Art Center.
I need two of them because I don't believe that anyone, in the history of humankind, has ever made just one saw horse. It's big, 8'6" x 10' x 5', constructed with northern white cedar so it should easily last over twenty years without any treatment. I'm a little surprise that I couldn't find any examples of anyone else making a saw horse horse though a Google search. It seems like a pretty obvious subject. With the second one I'm planning on having the head point upward. I think they will be inspirational, as in, making people ask, "What can I make with two really big saw horses?" My own question right now is whether it looks horse-like enough. It has 4" nails along its neck for mane but is the head too big or should the neck be longer? I need to find a six year old and get some feedback.

Some Unsolicited Advice for the General Art Buying Public

While at the Paradise City - Philadelphia show a couple of weeks ago I came to the conclusion that the general public is in need of some unsolicited advice about buying art. I have noticed that on occasion, people will get hung up on the colors in a work of art and they become concerned about how art will "go" with the colors in the room they envision it -- the rug, the curtains, the couch, etc. I realize that my advice will sound self-serving but, in being as objective as I can be, please believe me when I say:

DON'T WORRY ABOUT MATCHING COLORS OF A WORK OF ART WITH THE "DECOR" OF A ROOM!

Art does not have to "go" with your carpet, curtains, etc, unless you really aren't interested in looking at the art. If you want it to "match" you are creating a situation in which the work of art will just blend into the background and not be seen.

At the show, I, perhaps undiplomatically, mentioned to a neighboring artist, Jorge Caligiuri (an excellent contemporary fresco artist whose work you should check-out) my theory that interior designers sometimes impart these kind of ideas in order to confuse clients and make them dependent on their services, to which he told me that he was an interior designer and that he would never do that, but that he agreed with me on both points. In fact he said it was "crazy" to try and "match" your art with your room's decor. So there you have it, a certifiable interior designer also agrees, if you have any doubts please contact Jorge for his advice and services.

The bottom line is that people just confuse themselves in trying to envision what colors are in a room and whether they "go" with the art they are looking at and make their art buying decisions much harder than they need to be, and lord knows selling art is already hard enough without having to deal with misinformation and confused customers.

In reality, when you look at art, you aren't looking at the rest of the decor in a room. And further, if you are looking at a room as a whole from a distance, a work of art that doesn't match the rest of a room will stand out and be seen. Do you really want to buy art that you will never see or appreciate?

So when buying art, buy what you like, not what matches your decor. Just thought I needed to clarify this point. Hope it helps. Please let me know your thoughts and experiences on the subject.

A Call for the End of Punditry!!!

This is not a political blog, and my work isn't political, however, there is occasional overlap and this morning I noticed the Washington Post had recently asked twelve people what the world should get rid of as part of Spring cleaning. Much to my surprise and delight, Donna Brazile suggested an end to punditry! As she says:

Get rid of the left-vs.-right commentators who are just out scoring points for their team. This sort of opinion-mongering is not only boring and predictable, it is destructive of the truth. If your only credentials are "GOP shill" or "Democratic hack," you've no business cluttering up the airwaves or the op-ed pages.

Coincidentally, this is precisely the purpose of my State of the Union flag proposal! Yes, let us all stand back, take a deep breath, and look at art instead.

Thank you, Donna, for stating one of the very few sensible things I have ever read in an editorial page!

ArtPrize Proposal

This is my ArtPrize proposal. I submitted it last week but might not know until July if a venue is willing to display it. If you click on it you can see a larger version to make reading the text easier. I call it the State of the Union flag because I plan to propose that it be used as the backdrop behind the President during the State of the Union address, in the hopes that commentators will talk about the art behind the President rather than their interpretations of what was said.
I went to the lumber mill/yard last week to select the wood. Although the proposal says bird's-eye maple for the blue/navy/purple stripes, they didn't have any that would work. Instead, they had some blistered maple, which I decided would actually be better because it would be more visible from a distance. I also selected two large boards of curly maple for the white stripes but, unfortunately, because of the way one of the boards was warped, the white stripes would have only been about 3 inches wide instead of the 4 that I'm planning. So I need to go back sometime and look again. For the red stripes I found some yellow curly maple that is more figured, and more fabric-like, than what I had previously selected. Although the other lumber was good, I couldn't honestly say that it was $250,000 good. One way I could tell that the new curly yellow birch was better than what I had previously selected was that in rough cutting and milling it, it was binding around the bandsaw and tearing out terribly while flattening it with the jointer. The earlier lumber didn't give me any of those problems.

Because of the success of ArtPrize last year, all indications are that it will be a much larger event this year. The competition just to get in is going to be huge, let alone into one of the prime venues and having a chance of winning. Regardless of whether the work is selected, I'm still committed to building it. One of the best things about the event is the inspiration to make something that has a chance to win, which alone could be enough to launch an art career.