Posts Tagged ‘solo shows’
My American Summer Officially Over
With Jon back under the “grey skies” of England, his American summer is officially at an end. But his stories can still be your souvenirs. I made a few montages (hit the jump for the full dozen), but you should check out the individual imagery (and pricelist) as Jon takes the time to title each piece (a detail that the writer in me always appreciates). All artwork photographed at Giant Robot New York by Lawrence Epps, Mark Gilson and Mike DeNicola. A few final Hipsters pics up next!
My American Summer Slideshows and Pricing
I think Jon’s American summer really did suit him. This body of work tells a story. Overall, it’s a less-abstract, more narrative direction (while still being stylistically doodles). The art is like a visual journal of the last few months starting in New York and ending in Los Angeles. A lot of great pieces are available, and Giant Robot just put up nice, individual photos of each one. The entire pricelist is here and many pieces are in the $99-$200 range. There’s more than a few I’d like to acquire, but perhaps down the road… Only in a position to window shop? Check out these slideshows from Saki and GR.
My American Summer
Tomorrow night, Jon will present work inspired by his summer in New York and Los Angeles at Giant Robot. Join Jon to chat about the hipsters and heat beginning at 6:30PM. Jon talks a bit about how My American Summer came about in this Juxtapoz interview. (Hint: it involves a “cat emergency” and to a lesser extent, Matt Groening.) The show runs through September 16th. Here’s the blurb from GRNY and a couple exclusive sneak previews.
My American Summer will feature works that have been made during Burgerman’s nearly three-month visit to America (in Los Angeles and, mainly, New York City). Most are drawings on paper, while others are unique, three-dimensional versions of his observations on his Brooklyn Hipsters, hand-made by plush expert, The Felt Mistress. The work plays with notions of being a tourist, cliched outsider observations, and how some cultural differences are now homogenized in most major cities.
Anxiety Wall Drawings
If you could get rich off anxiety, let’s just say I’d be a wealthy man. Unfortunately, anxiety is no fast track to early retiring, but perhaps, at least, a catalyst to creativity. As part of Jon’s Because I Can’t Sit Still, he created the Anxiety Wall–a sprawling installation of ink drawings wallpapering the entire back of the gallery. When the show ended, Jon dismantled the wall and availed each individual piece of artistic neuroses to his fans via his webshop. The original drawings, signed and chosen by Jon went for £10 ($15 USD) each plus postage and are currently sold out. I got a great doodle on green paper.
I’m Sorry If I Smell
When this happened, it was so unfair. I’ve been wanting to visit Japan for going on a decade now, but the moon and the stars didn’t align in time for me to make it to Tokyo in time to see Jon Burgerman put on his first solo show there. The “I’m Sorry If I Smell” mini exhibit opened at FewMany and ran through December 14th, 2008. Between Flickering food photos, Jon sent me some great snaps of the gallery installation. I’m digging all the tiny canvases with Japanese captions. I like how Jon has integrated elements of Japanese culture into his work, even by just using paper and envelopes from the various locations. I’d kill for the doodled airplane sickbag (to match my other one). Heroes of Burgertown figures and Burgermenos Egg Qees were also available at the show. I’m finally going to get to Tokyo, but I’ll have missed the show by about a year.
Because I Can’t Sit Still
Because I Can’t Sit Still was Jon’s second solo show in London and it continues the work of the August Anserine Apparitions show in Hamburg. The work featured included Anxiety Wall: a sprawling installation of ink drawings wallpapering the entire back of the gallery space (later sold off to fans), sculptural pieces, new large scale fabric prints and the showcase of his monograph Pens Are My Friends book published by IdN. This show ran from October 20th to November 1st 2008 at Coningsby Gallery.
Anserine Apparitions
Entitled Anserine Apparitions, Jon’s exhibition in Hamburg, Germany “offer[ed] viewers the chance to devise and enjoy their own modern day pareidolia and non-religious apparitions.” Pareidolia (says Wikipedia) describes a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon and hidden messages on records played in reverse. Anserine (says the Dictionary) is an adjective indicating stupidity or a marked lack of intellectual activity. Finally, Apparitions are things that appear, often suddenly and unusually, sometimes linked to ghosts or specters. Anserine apparitions have become a part of popular culture. In fact, anserine Internet casino Golden Palace kicked off a firestorm of pareidolia when they purchased a $28,000 grilled cheese sandwich on which there was an apparition of The Virgin Mary. In a bizarre yet intriguing PR move, Golden Palace has continued to grow their collection. Read about that here. Now that you have a bit of context for the vocabulary, back to Burgerman! Here’s how he described the show:
The psychological phenomenon of pareidolia and related apophenia is the experience of seeing patterns and connections in seemingly meaningless data or forms. Apparitions are a form of this, people often seeing religious forms in their tea-leaves or statues crying. The show will feature drawings, paintings and mini-idols, in the hope that visitors may have their own invented experiences. The audience are also invited to contribute an object to a shrine of anserine apparitions:
Resin Sculptures for Anserine Apparitions
I already wrote up the awesome Anserine Apparitions show, but with all that’s going on with resin these days, Jon’s resin figures deserve a spotlight post of their own. Seen here are six figures from Jon’s August 30th, 2008 show at heliumcowboy artspace in Hamburg. In fact, you can see the entire collection (and a pricelist on remaining work) here. Each 25×33 cm. (9.8 x 13 inches) expanded polystyrene, resin, emulsion paint and acrylic paint figure is 380 Euros (~$508 USD). Individually, they are:
- The Bulb (Not Energy Saving)
- The Cat (Lucky Landing)
- The Mouse (Taker of Cheese)
- The Goblet (Half Empty)
- The Flip (aka The Nipple)
- The Peas (From Different Pods)
Congrats to whoever owns these beauties.
Beijing Exhibition
From July 12th through August 12th 2008, Jon showed new paintings and and sculptures at Litou Space in the Chaoyang District of Beijing.
Pop Idle Prints
Pop Idle was Jon’s solo show that ran in April of 2008 at London’s Concrete Hermit Gallery that had, among other choice objects d’art, several large sculptural pieces, prints, reclaimed cardboard art and a zine. The work featured offered visitors “a chance to worship and share private prayers with the idle Idols. Redemption, salvation and salivation are all promised.” Here are the prints (which are no longer available).
Overworld Sweep / Underworld Sooty
Limited edition of 50 produced for the exhibition ‘Pop Idle’ at Concrete Hermit. High quality ‘Giclee’ print on 255gsm paper. Paper Size: A1. Each print signed and numbered. Originally sold at £80.
Custom