ART OPENING.
FRIDAY JUNE 27th!
7-10 PM:
WORKS BY SWAMPDONKEY (SAN DIEGO/SANTA CRUZ)
at sweet hickory!
(317 east 3rd in bloomington)
drawings and mixed media work by california based graffiti artist “swampdonkey”
for more information call 812 369 5284
March 22nd @ Sweet Hickory
Crab Jackson’s “Creature Preacher” opening reception
a new series of paintings and drawings
8-11pm.
Link to past work by Crab Jackson.
 From the SOFA Gallery website:
Fusion Culture: Transportable Living and the Landscape will explore ideas about environmental change related to global warming and inventions created by visual artists in response to these changes. With increased access to the Internet and media though a variety of outlets, people often lack a sense of ownership or belonging to a specific place, landscape or environment. This has diminished traditional connections to the land, creating a new relationship to our sense of place. Because we are no longer connected to our immediate environment, we have lost our ability to measure our effect on the world and the ways that we affect the global environment.
Sarah FitzSimons is an artist whose work combines sculpture, outdoor installation, photography and video. She collaborates with oceans, deserts, rivers, and mountain ranges, exploring collisions of the physical and metaphoric.
The show runs from February 19-March 7.
Sarah Fitzsimons is giving a lecture at 6pm on Friday, February 22 followed by an opening reception for the show.
One of the yard sign designs that Chiara and I submitted for the Your Campaign Here project, titled Keep Out All That I Fear was selected for production and distribution.
Update: The IDS did a very, very short story on the Your Campaign Here project and Chiara was interviewed:
The first winning sign was a collaboration of two artists, Chiara Galimberti and Geoffrey Hing. Galimberti, an Italian native, said since she is not a U.S. citizen and therefore ineligible to vote, the contest was a chance for her to participate in the campaign.
“Just seeing all the debate, I thought it was a strong avenue for politics without being a part of it,†Galimberti said. “I’m an outsider, but I still have strong political ideas.â€
Link to IDS article.Update: I saw this minimalist campaign sign on Boing Boing:
Link to Boing Boing post about the sign.
Friday, December 14th 2007
at sweet hickory
(317 east 3rd st in bloomington)
an opening of paintings by
Herbert J. Rieth III
8-11pm
show will run until January 24th 2-8pm daily (normal gallery hours)
Artist Statement and Bio
As an artist Herb Rieth has explored many different media and conceptual territories. His works range from discrete and succinct mixed media wall pieces to traditional oil painting in addition to open ended installations that incorporate viewer interaction and play.
One of his main areas of focus is the use of cloth as a signifier as well as a formal element within his work. This has taken the form of pillows used by the audience to construct their own meanings as well as in a two dimensional format to seat images in time and to contextualize them in terms of social class and function.
Recent topics of exploration have included the use of cartoon imagery as filtered through the Chicago Imagist movement, exploring disjuncture through quilted cloth and use of camouflage as a form of landscape.
He has exhibited nationally in the United States in juried competitions (winning top honors in the 2006 Northern National Juried Exhibition), invitational exhibitions (recently at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN) and various national and regional group shows.
Mr. Rieth has also begun to lecture on his work extensively, at various venues from Community Colleges to large state Universities.
As a long time resident of Bloomington, Herb played in various local bands including The Doo Dads, The Squash Blossom String Pullers Orchestra and The Ballroom Roustabouts.
Currently living in Starkville, Mississippi, Herb teaches Drawing and Design at Mississippi State University after stints teaching at Ohio Northern University and University of Cincinnati.
Edible Secrets is a guided museum installation by Bloomington resident Michael Hoerger of previously classified US government documents interconnected through the theme of food. The exibit runs through October 14, 2007. For more information about the show, contact michaelismichael@gmail.com.
Update 2010-10-17: It seems like a lot of people come to this post looking for a blank map of the United States. I updated the link at the bottom of the page to point to a much better version from Wikimedia Commons. Download a SVG/PNG blank map of the United States.
This map has been on my mind all week. It’s from a NYTimes article titled Census Reports Arizona County Still Has Biggest Growth (though the article isn’t just about AZ). It’s a map of relative population increases/decreases around the country. Looking at the map, I want to think in terms of cities or communities as winners or losers or to think about how different or disconnected cities across the country are from each other. But what if this initial perception continues to shape my attitudes, or my actions? What happens when this mentality moves from the individual to the cultural or plays out at a policy level? It seems pretty unimaginative or limiting. This made me think, is there a way of looking at the USA, taking into account factors other than population growth, or incomes, or all the usual metrics of cities and communities? Is there a way of thinking that would show New Orleans as a big green dot and Atlanta as a big red dot? Is there a representation of qualities of cities that would make both New Orleans and Atlanta have the same type of dot? Is the red/green dot dichotomy too limiting to begin with? Let’s make our own maps that maybe show the relative nature of the places we live, or know, or read about, or hear about from a different perspective, with different values or metrics, or with more imagination.
Here’s how:
From the events MySpace page:
we are a collective of female artists who organize a yearly benefit for the rise and middle way house in bloomington, indiana. the first event was in 2004 and was organized largely by margaret belton who has since moved on to san francisco. this year the event will be held at the art hospital (1021 S Walnut St) on friday january 26th from 7-11pm. we will have musicians/spoken word artists performing throughout the evening as well as beverages. the space will be open for walk throughs on saturday january 27th from 12-5pm in case you are unable to make the opening. also, check out our blog that features examples of the artists’ work and biographies.
 
Jeremy Hogan is a local photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker whose documentary work often appears in the Herald Times but has appeared in other publications nationwide. Â For years he has existed at the periphery of youth culture and counter culture and many of his photos document these movements, scenes, and communities.
The show at Sweet Hickory will feature photographs of protests and photos depicting life in Bloomington. The show opens December 17, 2006 with an event from 6-10pm. The show will run daily until January 19th. Sweet Hickory is located at 317 E 3rd St. in downtown Bloomington. For more info, contact Ryan at 812.369.5284.
