The Bart Book of the Dead

Robert Boyd

The catalog says it best: "Sketch Klubb is a group of friends who get together every other Saturday morning to draw." It was 12 guys, but one of them, Michael Harwell, recently died. 1,000 Crappy Barts for Michael Harwell plus Klay Klubb is a tribute to their lost compadre.



When you walk into the big back gallery of Box 13, there is a vitrine with an open sketchbook. This is Harwell's sketchbook, and the page we see has 16 drawings of Bart Simpson's head. There are a minimal number of lines in the Matt Groening-designed head of Bart, and Harwell deliberately takes them apart.

Starting from this page, the surviving members of Sketch Klubb--Seth Alverson, Rene Cruz, Russell Etchen, Sebastian Forray, Lane Hagood, Cody Ledvina, Nick Meriwether, Eric Pearce, Patrick Phipps, J. Michael Stovall and David Wang--drew 1000 versions of Bart Simpson, which are on the three walls surrounding the vitrine.







They aren't very memorable drawings. The goal was quantity over quality. This may reflect the ethos of Sketch Klubb. They've put together a few zines and a book before, but I suspect the idea is to get together and draw without having an endgame in mind. Doesn't matter if it's "good."



Not that there weren't a few drawings that were clever. Like this Creature from the Black Lagoon Bart.



Or this Bart who looks a little like Hank Hill crossed with Walter White.



How about an airbrushed Bart with 13 eyes?



Or a sweaty Bart with a beard and boobs for eyes. (There were a lot of mutant Barts in the show.)



The work was hung in a off-hand, unprofessional way--pages curled up in the humidity. But that seemed right. After all, they weren't creating something for the ages--this was a temporary tribute to Harwell that no doubt recalled their casual Saturday morning get-togethers.

Slightly more finished work was on display in the front gallery of Box 13. These were ceramic objects made by Sketch Klubb. None of the work was labeled, so for the purpose of this review, just assume a collective authorship for these bizarre ceramic knick-knacks.





(Thank God the "MAN MILK" jug was empty.)










Some of them are pretty funny, and they seem like a natural extension of the artistic ethos of Sketch Klubb.

The individual artists in Sketch Klubb do a wide variety of work on their own, but as diverse as their styles are, I'd say that what they have in common is an element of humor. The question I have is that was it their sense of humor that drew them together in 2005, or is their sense of humor as artists partly a result of their time together in Sketch Klubb?

I saw this exhibit on opening night. The crowd was boisterous and good humored. I wonder what it would be like to see when the galleries are quiet and unpopulated.

Making art to make a difference at Brasil

Dean Liscum

Sunday's are generally art free days. Of course, the museums are open and the hoi polloi pour in. But the local galleries and the local artists generally give themselves the day off after a Thursday to Saturday series of openings and parties.



On July 21st, however, several artists associated with ArtBridge Houston, gathered at Brasil on Dunlavy to make some paper sculptures and raise money for the Southside Community Center. Southside provides educational and cultural enrichment programs to kids. Recently, it's been the victim of multiple burglaries in which thieves stole everything of value: 14 computers, 4 digital cameras, 4 TVs and supplies.

Artists Cody Ledvina and Diana Sanchez work as art facilitators (I think that means teacher) and Nick Meriwether is the co-executive director for ArtBridge, which works with Southside.  They figured, how hard would it be to teach adults, most of them artists or at least arts aficionados, to create some orgami sculptures for a donation to help Southside get back on it's technological feet?

They got schooled. The point obviously wasn't the art, but they earnest in their endeavors. After a half-hour and the onset of a migraine headache, I managed an origami box, and Diana Sanchez started a tab at the bar. Other donors proved just as challenging for the facilitators, so we spent most of our time learning about some of the cool things they do at Southside and gossiping about art and artists.

It was a nice way to spend a Sunday evening and a good use of expendable income. If you missed it, it's never too late to donate directly to ArtBridge Houston or contact ArtBridge to see how you can helpout Southside Community Center.  

Last Day to See Dis, Dat, Deez, Doz at the Joanna

by Robert Boyd

I wrote about one piece in the Joanna's current show--the Exurb four projector piece. But there is so much more. Unfortunately, the show come down tonight at 8 pm, according to Joanna co-director Cody Ledvina. So if you haven't seen it, try to see it today! Here's a little of what you will see, if you go--this represents only a small percentage of all the pieces in the show.



piece by Emily Link




I don't know who did this stalactite, but I like it.


 
painting by Jordan Johnson

Jordan Johnson sure likes four-letter words.



detourned comics page by Harry Dearing III

Peter Parker has a conversation with himself, but disappears for part of it.



painting by Mark Flood



painting by Lane Hagood



wall painting by Lane Hagood



painting with hanging cloth by "Isabelle"



Vinyl painting by Sebastian Forray

This Sebastian Forray painting was just outside the front door to The Joanna, demonstrating their keen commercial acumen.



watercolor drawing by Daniel Heimbinder



watercolor drawing by Daniel Heimbinder



computer, Fleshlight and vibrator by Nick Beradino

Mark Flood pointed this one out as a piece he really liked. When I asked "What is it?," he looked at me incredulously and said, "Like you don't know what that is!" Then it clicked. At first, I thought it was a bong because of the way it was put together. But it's actually a futuristic self-fucking machine. I predict ever American will own one by the end of the decade.



Nick Beradino's sculpture in action. The future of sex, right here.



collage by Chris Cascio

When I saw this, I thought the shoes were part of it. They look like they are, don't they? But I saw Cascio a few days later and he said he has no idea how the shoes got there, but they aren't part of his work.



bread and mayonnaise by Nick Merriweather

I think I accidentally stepped on this homage to Carl Andre by Nick Merriweather



carved plywood by Jack Ericksson



painting by ?????

I think this anonymous giant period is a good way to end the post.

The Joannex

Here's another tardy review. I saw this show about a month ago and meant to write about it then. I wanted to mention it now, though, because they have a new 1-night-only show on Saturday called "Are You There God? It's Me, Birdie." Anyway, the last show was a big group show. The Joanna's previous shows were in a small house, but this time they had a large house to show their stuff. They packed it with a pretty incoherent collection of work. Here are some of my favorite things from the show.

When you walked up to the house, you saw this.


Nick Meriweather, Dali's Mustache, mixed media, 2010

Here's a little video I took so you can see the mustache in action.



The mustache was powered by a leaf blower.



This was similar to those spastic attention getting dudes you see in front of stores. I've heard them referred to with the surprisingly poetic term of "air dancers." They're cheesy, and this piece was a witty play on their cheesiness by associating Dali (a master of cheese) with them. It also was an excellent attention getter for the Joannex. I don't really know anything about Mr. Meriwether, but he has a Flickr page here.


Dennis Harper, Howdy Pilgrim, mixed media installation, 2010

When you walked in, this piece dominated the room. There are two ideas at work here--the religious putt-putt game, and the giant face made by the eyes and fireplace mouth. I'm not sure how these two ideas are related. The face was funny like an old black-and-white cartoon. The putt-putt combined an icon with a game of skill. The golf-balls were painted gold, which enhances the Byzantine feel of the piece. And luckily for our salvation, it was pretty easy to get the ball into the hole.

The artist is a guy name Dennis Harper, who I wasn't familiar with. I'm not sure if this is the same artist, but if this is his website, and these two articles are about the same Dennis Harper, then he has an interesting history--doing underground comix in the 1970s, but going back to school in the 2000s to get a BFA and MFA--wow. Definitely an artist I'd like to know more about.


Francis Giampietro, not sure what this is called, wood and protein powder, 2010


Francis Giampietro was back with more wood and protein powder. Like he did in Contrapposto, he used protein powder (which guys use to bulk up with) as one of the elements. He likes playing around with heavy wood structures. Was he making a comment on masculinity... and carpentry? Who knows--I just know I liked it. Maybe it unconsciously appealed to the bro in me.


Jeremy Deprez, another on I don't know the title of, torn stretched canvas

Here's another artist I know nothing about. He has a blog, though. This piece seems pretty dissimilar to the pieces on the blog. An homage to Lucio Fontana, I assume?


Sketch Klubb, this lack of titles is getting old, silkscreen

This appealed to me because a naked tattooed Betty turns me on. Don't ask to understand the mysteries of men's minds. The tattoos are apparently by individual members of Sketch Klubb.