Poetic Responses by S. David

My friend a fellow Red Hooker S. David sent me these poems responding to some of my recent paintings.

 

Labyrinth of Consciousness

 [by S. David]  

Everything so neat

 So patterned

 You’re in a rut

 A world of

 Repetition

 Comfortable

 So you thought

 So you think

 Ease down

 Meditate

 Life

 Circle game

 But wait

 Mind tricks

 Mind games

 Your thoughts

 Turn about

 Turn again

 Again

 The path

 You follow

 Turns again

 Choices choices

 Life becomes

 A maze

 A labyrinth

 Look at it

 As from above

 So many turnings

 Dead ends but

 There is a boundary

 And your thinking

 Leads to dead ends

 End dead

 And you die

 And you will

 Mold all that is

 Left is bone

 

Rip and Render

 [by S. David] 

Failure

 Do it

 Again he pictured

 The pattern

 So perfectly

 In his mind

 A perfect

 Celebration

 With mystical

 Meanings and

 Properties too

 He had drawn

 It so precisely

 Meant it to be

 An act of

 Homage

 And yet and yet

 Something wrong

 Something missing

 Four times before

 Weeks of labor

 Each just

 Lacking something

 He ripped it up

 Like the others

 Said a brief

 Prayer and

 Incantation

 Started over

 Again

 To render

 The patterned

 Portal for

 Certain minds

 To enter

 To leave

 Behind

 

Erythraean Sibyl

 [by S. David] 
 

And she reads

 From the Book

 Of Fate

 Predictions

 That will

 Come true

 Your life

 Society

 All writ down

 All predictable

 Is there no ease

 No rescue

 No choices

 Hah laugh

 In the face

 Of what will

 Be change

 ‘Will’ for ‘may’

 There Are

 Choices so

 If Fate is

 A bitch

 Fuck her

 Anyway

More of S. David's work can be found at  http://theskaldicsoul.com/

The Reclamation: Process

 The Reclamation, 68 x 96 inches, oil on canvas.  The following photos show the process from start to finish.

Lyric Group Show in Detroit

My contribution to the Lyric Show at 323 East Gallery in Royal Oak, MI curated by Glenn Barr.

All Stripped Down, 12x12 inches, oil on wood

 

 

323East and Glenn Barr Studios Presents: Lyric 2012 Curated by Glenn Barr
Artists Reception from 6-11p on Saturday April 21st 2012 @ 323East in Royal Oak, MI.
Exhibition on View from April 21st - May 16th 2012  - This event is free and open to the public.

On the heels of the last March’s inaugural Lyric exhibition at 323East Gallery, Glenn Barr is back to curate the second incarnation of his pervasive musically themed group exhibition Lyric 2012.  With an expanded roster of local and international artists ranging from lowbrow, pop surrealism, graffiti and illustration, this show is set to be the largest group exhibition to date at the Metro Detroit gallery named Best of Place to Buy Art (for the 3rd Year in A Row!) by Real Detroit Weekly.

For this exhibition Glenn had one simple request for each artist: Each piece of art must be 12 x 12 inches, paying homage to the timeless beauty that can fit on the cover of a vinyl record. Each artist has been given free reign to draw inspiration from their favorite artist, album, song or lyric and put their personal interpretation to canvas.   

"Music and its lyrics can always stimulate our emotions as well as leave us contemplating a visual narrative. Artists have always been known to use lyrics as inspiration and with this have created some of the greatest works in the world. This exhibition will illuminate the artist’s personal transcription from a song lyric to canvas." - Glenn Barr


Archaic Ornaments Opening Night

Archaic Ornaments Solo Exhibition Opening Thursday April 12th

April 12th 2012 to May 5th 2012

Opening: April 12th 2012, 6-9pm

 

Bold Hype Gallery is proud to present Archaic Ornaments, Beau Stanton’s New York solo debut exhibition. This collection of paintings references ancient myth and mysticism, the relationship between creation and destruction, and vestiges of our collective unconscious. Please join us for the opening reception on April 12th, 2012 from 6-9pm.

Unearthing ancient narratives from the detritus of industrial decline, where Sirens grapple with sinking ships and Sibyls predict cataclysmic events, Beau Stanton gilds his apocryphal myth with the graphical elements of creation, destruction and rebirth, inviting the viewer inside our collective unconscious ornamented by layers of chipped artifice and the rusted machinations of time.

The work combines classical oil painting with intricate silk-screened patterns inspired by pre-modern architecture, letterpress printing designs, and decayed infrastructure. To create the unifying foundation for the body of work, Stanton began exploring abandoned 19th century sites around the greater New York City area, collecting photo references, cogs and gears from Staten Island's Rossville Boat Yard, and metal and glass from Brooklyn's Dead Horse Bay. The initial studies of these artifacts were distilled into highly ornate silk-screened compositions. Finally, the pieces are fully rendered with oil paint, manipulating focus, light, and perspective.

Stanton hails from California and was influenced heavily by the Aesthetic Movement as well as Realist painters Andrew Wyeth and Alphonse Mucha. He relocated to New York after graduation in 2008, and has since been mentored by New York Pop Surrealist Ron English. He has exhibited work with Ad Hoc Art, Gallery Hijinks, Opera New York, and Last Rites Galleries.

Archaic Ornaments opens April 12th and runs through May 5th, 2012 and is open to the public. For more information on the exhibition or Beau Stanton please visit boldhype.net or email us at eric@boldhype.com. 

Video Promo for Archaic Ornaments Solo Exhibition

Archaic Ornaments by Beau Stanton from Street Culture Mash on Vimeo.

Alchemic Bloom print edition with 1xRun

Take a look at my new print edition available as of today through 1xRun.

Alchemic Bloom
 15x19 - Giclée + Silk Screen + Hand Painted Finish on 330gsm Archival Paper

This 15x19 inch archival pigment ink with screen print with hand embellishment this series is available in three color ways with the hand screened tree element in blue/black, orange/black, green/black. Each multiple is complete with acrylic hand finishing.

"I made this piece while in Detroit in January as part of the t Woodward Windows. project downtown. It was a really good time even though the vacant storefront I was working in didn't have heat or proper lighting. I felt like I was making something in a post apocalyptic future. I wanted to make the mural very specific to Detroit so I incorporated design elements I found on my previous trip to the city including the ceiling pattern from the Guardian building. Ideas of growth, rebirth, creation, and progress all contributed to the imagery I choose to combine into the end result."

Screen printing the tree element in my studio with three color ways: transitions of blue/black, orange/black, and green/black.

Adding the hand finishing with transparent acrylic.

Collaboration with Sean Desmond at 323 East Gallery

While in Detroit I also had a chance to work on a wall piece with SF based photographer Sean Desmond.  Sean first wheat pasted a large photo from his series The Tenderloin Project, then I proceeded to improvise some patterns and blends.

Woodward Windows Detroit: Process

I spent last week in Detroit working on a few new projects, mainly my addition to the Woodward Windows project put on by Street Culture Mash in conjunction with 323 East Gallery.  The finished panels will be installed into a storefront window along Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit.

Detroit Masonic Temple

Today I met with a Thirty Third degree Master Mason who took me on a detailed tour of the Detroit Masonic Temple, the largest in the world.

The main lobby entrance.

To enter the building you must pass through truth (veritas) and strength (virtus)

This giant seal is on the floor of the entrance designed by Corrado Parducci.