Tuesday, March 2, 2010

#class



I've totally neglected my blog this month, since I started working on #class with Jennifer Dalton at Winkleman Gallery.  The experiment has been all-consuming turning my Monday and Tuesday evenings into my 'weekend'.  Actually, that's not even true.  Until Sunday afternoon, Jade Townsend and I have been spending every free hour finishing our collaboration, ABMB Hooverville, which will be exhibited at Pulse New York with Charlie James Gallery.  We started the 44" x 66" drawing back in October (I think) and finally finished our 'proposal' for a public art project in Miami.  I'm looking forward to seeing the drawing framed outside of my studio, which has sunk to new lows of disrepair.

I'd be thrilled if things were going to lighten up in the coming month, but I'm still working on my Lower East Side Printshop publishing residency, desperately trying to complete my Brooklyn Rail drawings (not happening this month unfortunately), and have been asked to contribute work to a portrait show, Mirror, Mirror at Postmasters Gallery for April.  If it sounds like I'm bitching about having too much to do, it's not because I am ungrateful.  I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of work in front of me.  Between work and art, I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to fulfill obligations and take on new opportunities.  Tough shit, right?  Right.

Tomorrow, my drawing "Why You Should Buy Art" is being released by 20x200 and will be part of Jen Bekman's unique approach to art fair week in New York.  The amount of social obligations this week is starting to terrify me.  As it all piles up around me, @zipthwung recently reminded me to prepare for a mini-tsunami of "Powhida" backlash as the I've probably reached a saturation point that becomes annoying.  I hope not, because #class has been a fantastic experience so far, and I've been able to leverage some of the attention I've been getting to facilitate discussion, connections, exposure, and opportunities for artists, collectors, curators, dealers, art enthusiasts, and the public.  The project just picked up an Artforum.com critic's pick and has received a great deal of curious and sometimes enthusiastic press coverage.  @Zacharycohen recently compiled all the press on his blog.

 I'm excited for the events coming up this week including elcelso's art shred Wednesday at 2pm and an impromptu "T-Bill Gaming" event where Tom Sanford and I will take action of the Phillips de Pury auction Saturday at noon.  It promises to be a fun afternoon even if my drawing can't (possibly) beat it's ridiculous high estimate.

Hopefully, I can spend some time this week during the #class to reflect on everything that's been going on there.

1 comment:

TOMPAC said...

WOW Bill - the drawing is extremely impressive - i think your craft can now truly be on par with your conceptual rigor - master on both counts! between craft/concept and consumption you are a triple threat man!

btw - gambling sites are starting to follow me on twitter. i hope the vice squad doesn't show up at the gallery tomorrow!