Night Lights No.5
oil
38.1 x 55.9 cm (15" x 22") ■
This is the last painting in the Night Lights series. It's a view of Winnipeg, looking down the Red River in winter. The river was covered with snow, and the night overcast.

The painting was done from memory.

• James Fenwick Lansdowne died last Saturday in Victoria. He was an outstanding painter and naturalist. He will be missed. (CBC News)
• Tyler Green of Modern Art Notes notes that the Orange County Museum in Newport Beach, California, has scheduled an exhibition of Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park series. Like Green I'm an admirer of Diebenkorn. Here's hoping that the exhibition makes it to somewhere near you.
• Apparently everyone involved in the dispute at The National Gallery of Canada has kissed and made up. (CBC News)
• Now that we've confessed to what books we haven't read (see yesterday's video post), shouldn't we confess to what books we have read. It can be equally embarrassing to have to reveal some of the trivia which has occupied our time, like The Joy of Making Money or How to Decorate Your Closet, not to mention that collection of Happy Homemaker magazines in the corner.

What books haven't you read?

Some British authors confess their secret in this video from the recent Way With Words festival at Dartington Hall, Devon.

Bent Leg
charcoal and pastel
22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12")

I had to rush like mad to get this drawing down.

The pose was five minutes long, not enough time to think, only enough to draw.

Night Lights No.4
oil
55.9 x 55.9 cm (22" x 22")

This is the fourth in the Night Lights series.

It's not based on a specific memory, but rather on a collection of memories of night drives.

Nota Bene XIX
oil stick, oil, and graphite on paper
13.8 x 14.3 cm (5.4" x 5.6")

Louise Jonasson. 1992-2004.

This painting from the 1992-2004 series, Nota Bene, by Winnipeg born artist, Louise Jonasson, is from our own collection. Louise is a favourite artist of mine; aside from producing some beautiful images, she makes you think. Nota Bene.

• The Globe and Mail reported Saturday on the dispute at the National Gallery of Canada between director, Pierre Théberge, and deputy director, David Franklin. The legal affidavits resulting from Franklin's request for a judicial review of his dismissal were made public on Friday. (The Globe and Mail has more on the National Gallery dispute today.)
• The Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, opened The Big Gift on Saturday, July 26. The exhibition features 200 new donations to the Glenbow. It is spread over three different venues: the Glenbow, The Illingworth Kerr Gallery at the Alberta College of Art, and The Nickle Arts Museum at the University of Calgary.
• If you like weird commercials, check this out.

Helen Gardiner, co-founder of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, died Tuesday at her home in Caledon, Ontario. (CBC News)

Red Blanket
ink and pastel
45.7 x 30.5 cm (18" x 12")

This drawing had possibilities. In the end I wasn't that happy with it. It wasn't quite as good a likeness of the model as I would have liked.

The drawing took about two hours. The colour in the body and blanket was added in the last half hour.

The model, who is a great reader, highly recommends Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Night Lights No.3
oil
55.9 x 55.9 cm (22" x 22") ■

This is the third painting based on memories of a night drive in Ontario.

The rectangular bluish light in the distance was most likely from a gas station or small mall.

• Only patrons need apply. Seattle artist seeks funding. (via C-Monster)

Caroline Dukes: Concealed Memories opens Thursday evening, July 25th, at 7:30 pm in the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The exhibition is an overview of the career of Winnipeg artist, Caroline Dukes, who died of cancer in 2003.
































Landscape #42 (Apple Pickers or Apples of Sodom Series)
acrylic on canvas

Caroline Dukes. 1987.

Frida No.4
ink and watercolour
41.9 x 30.5 cm (16.5" x 12")

Anonymous. 2008.

Winnipeg's anonymous Frida Kahlo artist strikes again with another watercolour of Frida and her pet lion, Diego. Frida sits, rather impassively, waiting for her courtiers in this painting; and she may have just given the thumbs down to one of them.

• We can hardly wait for this. (via C-Monster)

J.C.C.
ink, charcoal, and pastel
22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12")

J.C.C., the model for this drawing, is an advocate of Tai Chi, as well as meditation.

The drawing was initially intended to be an ink drawing only; but because there was time left in the pose after the ink drawing was finished, it became in succession, an ink and charcoal drawing, and then an ink, charcoal, and pastel drawing.

Small Plant
oil
20.3 x 18.7 cm (8" x 7.375")

This is an older painting. It's really just a sketch, something which I didn't take too seriously at the time.

• The government of Quebec will be providing a studio space in London, England, for artists and writers.(CBC News)
• Damien Hirst tries a new approach to art marketing. (The Art Newspaper [1] and The Art Newspaper [2])

Paint Rag
oil
18 x 26 cm (7" x 10")

I was tempted to call this painting, Working Class Rag, since the part of the name of the CD visible in the painting is Working Class. The complete title of the CD is Working Class Heroes, and it's by the The Winnipeg Labour Choir.

Asleep Sitting
ink and pastel
30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")

The model, who is a young student, wasn't actually sleeping. At least she said she wasn't actually sleeping.

This was a thirty minute drawing. Just enough time not to fuss over the drawing.

• Why am I spending $12 million for a stuffed shark? The New York Sun answers the question in a review of a new book, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art. (Andrea Carson at View on Canadian Art has more on the book.)

• Art auctions on cruise ships? Buyer beware. (The New York Times)

• Filmmaker Mark Lewis will represent Canada at the 2009 Venice Biennale. (CBC News) (Lewis was also this year's winner of the $25,000 Gershon Iskowitz Prize.) (CBC News)

• Bansky as a middle class rebel? Graffiti in suburbia? Will it work? Ask Martin Gayford at Bloomberg. (via C-Monster)

• Bansky unmasked. Is nothing sacred? (The Mail on Sunday)
(Bansky's official website here.)

Night Lights No.2
oil
55.9 x 55.9 cm (22" x 22")

This is the second of several nights paintings based on memories and sketches from a night drive in Ontario.

Some of what little colour there is in this painting was lost in photographing it. The reflected light on the road is an orange of sorts in the original painting.

Red Man
ink, charcoal, and pastel
25.4 x 20.3 cm (10" x 8")

A bit of a strange drawing. The colour seems to have little effect on how the drawing reads. The focus is on the head, the expression, and the body. The colour is an element in the drawing, but not an integral element; almost as if it were a separate part of the drawing, and not connected to the figure.

• Nicolai Ouroussoff of The New York Times worries over new architecture in Bejing.

• Mia Fineman, also of The New York Times, discusses the appropriation of artist's images by advertisers, and what not to do about it.

Seated Nude
charcoal and pastel
30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")

This is not a terribly attractive drawing. It was probably better as a line drawing, before the colour was added.

The model is an art student.

The Art of Failure - Chuck Connelly Not For Sale

HBO's documentary, The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not For Sale, premieres this Monday. Chuck Connelly is described in the HBO synopsis as a major talent from the 1980's, similar to Julian Schnabel or Jean-Michel Basquiat; a brilliant yet enigmatic painter, who ended up alienating every collector and gallery owner he worked with, and who now sees his career fading. The film chronicles his rise and fall.

Two questions come to mind: Is he a failure? And was he ever destined to be another art star, like Schnabel, Basquiat, or Francesco Clemente? Aside from his problematical personality, his work seems to lack the requisite nouveauté and sophistication to be an art star. Not such a bad thing. In the end, Chuck Connelly will be another Chuck Connelly, for better or worse.

I wasn't able to post any of the YouTube video clips from the film directly to the blog. The film's official site, The Art of Failure, has a number of interesting videos.

Dolls
ink and watercolour
8.9 x 14.0 cm (3.5" x 5.5")

Do these dolls look a little stunned? As if they've just been caught doing something that they shouldn't have been doing.

Hands on Hips
ink and charcoal
25.4 x 20.3 cm (10" x 8")


Despite the multiple lines, the incomplete hand, and the oddly shaped breast, this drawing appeals to me. It looks like a drawing. You can see someone working to express something.

Off Center, the Walker Art Center's art blog, has the arts policy of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, with that of Republican candidate, John McCain, to follow.

• In the not exactly art news department, Citroën, who has been combining art and automobiles for awhile (ok, an art name and automobiles) , is set to unveil in October the Picasso C3, the latest car in its' Picasso series.

• It's nice to know that Ed Winkleman takes his job seriously:

"Winkleman Gallery is very pleased to present The Shallow Curator, a summer group exhibition with neither urgency nor depth. The exhibition skims the surface of art-making, buoyed by such concerns as an artist’s sense of style."

Red Faced Man
ink, charcoal, and pastel
30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")

This drawing was done last night. It took about thirty minutes, which was just enough time to add some colour.

Night Lights No.1
oil
55.9 x 55.9 cm (22" x 22")

This is one of a series of night paintings that I'll be posting over the next couple of weeks. The paintings are based on memories and sketches of a night drive in Ontario. The sketches were made in the dark of the car as we made our way toward Ottawa from Montreal.

• Geoffrey Clarfield writes on the appeasement of art and antiquities thieves. (Globe and Mail)

• David Franklin, chief curator at the National Gallery of Canada, has apparently left the gallery. First a strike, then this departure. Qu'est-ce qui se passe at the National Gallery? (The Ottawa Citizen)

• Create your own Picasso portraits. Play Mr. Picasso Head.

Brian Sewell - The Last of the Medici

This man should be a rapper. Brian Sewell, of course: art critic for London's Evening Standard.

• PaceWildenstein and James Cohan Gallery, both of New York, are set to open galleries in China this summer. (The Art Newspaper)

• It's not good trying to sell stolen art to the FBI; ask Bernard Jean Temus. (CBC News)

• For Kafka fans, some Kafka revisionism from Louis Begley and The New York Review of Books.

Shy Doll
ink
13.7 x 8.6 cm (5.4" x 3.4")

This doll was an excellent, if somewhat shy, model. She was dressed for a night on the town, albeit a night in 1870, with a hat, scarf, and purse.

If you are an artist, an interesting marketing or advertising option might be to publish your own monogram, catalogue, or book, either for prospective dealers or collectors, or to sell directly to the public. Blurb will print and bind high quality books or catalogues at very reasonable rates (starting at $12.95 US). Their publishing software is free. There is no minimum order, and the final results are terrific.

Île d'Orléans
ink, oil, and pastel
8.9 x 8.9 cm (3.5" x 3.5")

This very small painting was done this Tuesday, across from a roadside casse-croute on the west shore of Île d'Orleans, just outside of Quebec City. (The St. Lawrence is considerably wider at Île d'Orléans than indicated in the painting.)

I added colour to the original ink drawing yesterday. It completely changed the character of the drawing, which was stronger in ink alone.

Guy Maddin is Winnipeg's answer to Guy Maddin. His latest film is My Winnipeg. Follow the link to the movie's trailer.

Woman with Pole
ink, charcoal, and pastel
30. 5 x 20.3 cm (12" x 8")

The model looks slightly uncomfortable in this drawing. She was holding an extension pole used for painting ceilings.