I’d never heard of Haris Purnomo until I received the email newsletter from CoCA a few days ago. In it, I saw a disturbing photo of an installation work I just had to go see; an installation which will be here in Seattle for scheduled viewings through August 26th, 2011, and then will be shipped off to the Saatchi Gallery in London. “Visitation” is comprised of 100 identical swaddled babies hanging vertically from fishing line, bayonets protruding perilously from beneath their swaddling. Each child’s face is identically marked with some sort of man-made pattern – a tattoo perhaps. The overall effect is equal parts ghostly, menacing, hard and yet innocent. As the subject swayed ever so slightly, lit from a couple spotlights on the ground, I swore I saw one of their eyes open. The subject matter demands to be grappled with.

Jan and I trucked over to Plume21 last night to catch the public opening of the showing and it definitely made my evening. From here on out, special arrangements have to be made to view the work but if any of you are interested in checking it out, I’d be happy to go view it again and make the booking. Drop me a message in the comments below or on my Facebook page and I’ll reach out to you so we can get something set up. I’d love to see your response to the piece.

Christopher Martin Hoff. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

At the downtown Seattle Art Walk this month, I was blown away by the urban landscapes of Christopher Hoff on display at the Linda Hodges Gallery. Thankfully, Christopher is as gracious as he is talented and I was able to pull him away from his art just long enough to meet up, grab some photos, and talk a bit about what he’s up to.

Christopher is a plein air painter so if you make it out and around Seattle, you may run into him on top of one of downtown’s buildings or hanging out painting in your local alleyway. He works with oil on linen, paints in multiple locations each day (for several hours at each location) and his most recent works contain inspiration from Moby Dick worked throughout. I highly recommend checking out the show this month if you get a chance. While you’re there, pick up the copy of Moby Dick on the counter with all the inspirational quotes for the paintings flagged.

The show is at Linda Hodges Gallery through May 29th, 2010 so get in there as soon as you can.

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So why don’t you start by telling us how you got started in plein air painting?

For some reason, perhaps the weather, some of the best plein air painters in the country just happened to be teaching at SCAD (The Savannah College of Art and Design) while I was getting my BFA from 94-98. I guess there was something about the scale, form, and ever-changing flux that got me hooked working outside.

How important is Seattle as a setting for your paintings? If you had to pick another city to live in and paint, which one would it be and why?

I’d say it’s quite important. The mild climate here suits me. Summers here are some of the best anywhere and I can always count on the consistent gray light of winter to bring to my attention even the most humble objects. As for other cities, I think I’d like to work in Berlin. It’s a city that puts a high value on good design, craftsmanship, and public transportation.

The Blanket, 2010. Christopher Martin Hoff. By permission of the artist. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

How do you feel your work has changed in the last 14 years that you’ve been painting?

I think I’m becoming somewhat more confident in my process. There was a great quote, I think by Rodin, saying that in dedication to one’s craft – the 10,000 hours of work idea – one is set free. I’m sure I obliterated his words but the idea of creative meditation through a rigid painting schedule seems to get pretty close to the core of making something that matters. On some level though, in order to deal with the struggle of making work every day (without “knowing” the outcome), you have to convince yourself that what you are doing is important, even though, in a pragmatic sense, it’s fairly absurd.

What’s the wildest experience you’ve had while out working on a painting?

The time the guy walked up to my painting and started to work right in front of me is probably the strangest but other than that…. I’ve been attacked by a family of seagulls on the rooftop of 19 story building in Seattle (their nest was in another corner of the building) and I’ve had a drug addict punch (nearly put his fist through) a very expensive piece of stretched linen that I had been working on for about 2 months when I ignored his “constructive criticism”.

The Chase, In His Wake, 2010. Christopher Martin Hoff. By permission of the artist. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

With this current set of paintings you’re showing, what themes are you exploring and how did you find it to work “Moby Dick” into your urban scenes?

My paintings have always explored the idea of opposites. For example: the idea of making a group of dumpsters, a construction site, or even a concrete plant beautiful, as if it were some kind of sculpture. I think this is at the heart of Melville’s use of language. It was a place for him to find beauty in unexpected places.

Detail of The Chase, In His Wake, 2010. Christopher Martin Hoff. By permission of the artist. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

Are you seeing the signs of “Ahab” everywhere you turn?

Absolutely! I think part my connection with Ahab was a kind of personal and inexplicable drive to work, knowing full well that the reason there aren’t many plein air painters is because it is nearly an impossible way to make a living. Seeing “the writing on the wall” and continuing, for better or worse, is quite like Ahab.

Detail of Ahab, 2010. Christopher Martin Hoff. By permission of the artist.

How is the new series being received? What are people who know your previous work saying about it?

Most people enjoy looking at the work but I think they usually don’t dive into the content. I thought it was really nice to see how people experienced the work differently once they had heard me talking to someone else about a painting. Good work, for me, pulls you in long enough to want to spend some time there and then invites you to keep digging. So far, the people who have been digging usually feel rewarded once they put the work in context. The people who know my work tend to expect something behind it. They seem to appreciate these subtleties and usually keep their eyes open for them.

The Lee Shore, 2010. Christopher Martin Hoff. By permission of the artist. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

What local artists inspire you?

Living local artists: Whiting Tennis, Dan Webb, Margie Livingston are always inspiring.

Dead NW painter: Vanessa Helder (1904-1968) did an amazing series of watercolors documenting the building of Grand Coulee Dam – truly amazing!

Within a painting that you’re working on, what determines whether or not you depict something figuratively or “realistically”? Do the figurative clues work themselves in over time or do you tend to see the right away when you scout the scene?

It’s usually an ‘organic process’. I’ll usually get an idea only after I’ve spent 40 or 50 hours at a site. Sometimes even much later than that.

Can you tell us a bit about the Ground Zero Project?

Sure. Back in 2003 I received an Elizabeth Greenshields Grant to create a series of 11 paintings which document the numerous construction projects at the WTC site between 2003 and 2013. So far, I’ve completed 3 of these paintings at the site and I’m headed back next month to do paintings 4 and 5. It’s an incredibly difficult logistical problem to get materials to NYC, to stay there for 10-14 days working 10 hour days, and gaining access to the site. Fortunately the Port Authority (they own the property) has been very generous to my project. I was also awarded a grant from Artist Trust (Seattle) in 2006 and another Elizabeth Greenshields Grant this year.

So how do you paint a site that’s in constant flux when the paintings take months to complete?

It really is a challenge. There are sites that I’ve chosen not to paint because they change too quickly. The most unique challenges to paint are typically constructions sites. Here I rely on my experience as a construction worker to anticipate the site’s building schedule. If it’s a site I’m really interested I’ll usually speak directly to the general contractor or an architect at the site about when and how the it will change. Flux is a healthy. It makes you realize what’s really important and what you need to let go of.

Christopher Martin Hoff in front of The Doubloon, 2010. By permission of the artist. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

What’s next? Where is all this painting going? Do you have a gigantic whale, metaphorically speaking, you’re readying yourself to pursue?

I think it’s too early to tell. Every person who struggles and truly commits to their creative work is chasing a “whale”. History tells us it usually ends very badly, even for the greatest of painters (Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Caravaggio etc.) and writers (Moby Dick sank Melville’s career). I can’t say I’m very hopeful on the matter but Ismael didn’t know what he was signing on to when he joined the crew of the Pequod either.

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me about your work.

Thanks for the good questions.

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Not to be left completely in the dust behind by Portland’s great street car line, Seattle is adding a second street car to the Seattle Streetcar Network. The Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs is searching for an artist to help them add art to the line. If you apply and get the job, you’ll get to work with a budget of $600,000 and a chance to leave your mark on Seattle transportation. I hope you uber-creatives go for this one. It seems like a great opportunity.

Seattle painter Virginia Howlett in her studio. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

Virginia Howlett is a Seattle-based painter of “Universal Landscapes” – landscapes which are generated from a very specific place and time but which have broad and comprehensive relevance to anyone that explores them. She’s been looking up at the sky, painting it, and building narratives out of it, for years. She graciously invited us into her studio to talk to her about her work and grab some photos, just after it got dark outside, naturally.
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Hi Virginia, thanks for taking the time to talk to me about your work. You’re known primarily as a landscape painter but you generally paint a very specific type of landscape. Can you tell The Puget News readers about what you paint and why?

I paint skies and abstracted landscapes – both individual paintings and large installation pieces made up of multiple panels. My work is meditative and peaceful because I’m trying to convey that universal quiet feeling we get looking at the sky, and landscape. Skies are like huge beautiful color fields that are constantly changing – I like to try to capture that gentle feeling of time passing, clouds moving.

Floating World, by Virginia Howlett. Photo courtesy of Virginia Howlett. All rights reserved.

How do you go about capturing subject matter that’s so fleeting and transitory?

Photo by Mark Albonizio.

Then I take the big paintings and use them as raw materials for my large installations or collaged landscapes – I cut them up, and re-arrange them. I spend a long time on that – before I glue them down and seal them.

Virginia Howlett. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

Now that I’ve seen a good deal of the work hanging in your studio, it strikes me that have developed your own entire language of expression through these visual landscapes. How has the in-depth study of your subject matter changed your interactions with the world?

I look at the sky a lot! I also look very keenly at the light, the colors and shapes in the world around me, everyday, all the time. The outside visual environment is a rich source of study for me. But it’s also being tuned to the feelings that come from different kinds of light, different skies, different places. We all know we feel differently under a solid gray sky — the way it makes the light dull, and colors muted, than we do when the sun shines brightly and all the colors around us seem to pop out brilliantly. I like to think about how to translate those feelings into paintings.

I try to capture a universal sense of place, because I’ve found that realist paintings of one place, in one moment, are limited. They don’t have the layers of meaning — I want the viewer to go back and back to the painting and see new things. New shapes, new colors, new feelings.

I guess what I was trying to get at in that last question is whether or not your development of this “landscape language” has impacted the way you personally engage with the world, your friends and family. When you wake up and the sky’s grey, do you feel the day is out to get you? Do you ever have conversations with people about what you’re seeing and have them look at you like they have no idea what you’re talking about?

Well I can tell you one thing that happens over and over again: people who get to know my work tell me something like this: “Last night I saw a really amazing sky and I thought of you – I knew you’d really love that sky.” It’s fun for me — it’s like my work opens something up for people. We all admire a beautiful sunset, but after talking to me about my work, people remember me, and my engagement with skies, and I think they enjoy the moment even more – it becomes a shared experience with me, in a way.

Virginia Howlett. Photo by Mark Albonizio.

Which of your works has proven to be the most influential on your own development as a painter?

The first painting I did in the “Windows” series – these were the pre-cursor to my big grid installations. It’s called Michael’s Eyes – it took me months and months to do, and I sold it even before it was finished. It started that whole series of work that I’ve been involved with for about 10 years.

Cascade Mountains, by Virginia Howlett. Photo courtesy of Virginia Howlett. All rights reserved.

These paintings are all made of rectangles of skies – some that go together, some that don’t – that recall window panes, and yet, are something else again. They take me a very long time – to construct the composition. My largest is Ninety-five Windows – it’s 23 feet long, made of 95 panels.

Ninety-Five Windows installed in Virginia's Studio. Photo courtesy of Virginia Howlett. All rights reserved.

Ninety-five Windows by Virginia Howlett. Photo courtesy of Virginia Howlett. All rights reserved.

What’s it like to compose the multi-panel pieces? Did you know that you were going to get in 95 panels deep on your largest or was it just something you kept working on until it made the right statement?

Composing the multi-panel pieces is just hard – it takes a very long time, trying out ideas, adjusting, making new pieces for certain spots, moving things around. I do start with an idea, and it flows from there. Ninety-five Windows developed organically – I wanted to fill the wall, and I picked a height, then it evolved left to right, with adjustments along the way. I knew I wanted it to have a narrative, I wanted it to change horizontally, like time passing as you move along it. Seeing Through (which is about 1/3 the size of Ninety-five Windows) was one idea from the start – a sort of looking through to deeper space, with other panels bringing you back to the surface. For me it’s also about water, and the way water reflects the sky.

Seeing Through, by Virginia Howlett. Photo provided by Virginia Howlett. All rights reserved.

Who are the local artists that inspire you and what kind of work do they do?

I’m very inspired by several of the artists in my building, Building C Studios — AJ Power, with his ineffable African scenes and animals; also Andree Carter, whose totally abstract works made of color and texture are so strong and vibrant, and Mary Iverson, who does powerful paintings with abstractions of cargo containers and amazing landscapes.

Do you have any shows coming up that you’d like people to know about?

My building — Building C Studios in Ballard — is having a huge Holiday Show and sale on Saturday, December 12th from noon- 9 PM. We’ll have 22 artists with their working studios open to the public, and holiday treats – even a jazz duo in the evening. It’s going to be a lot of fun! And, I’ll be showing my big piece: Ninety-five Windows, as well as lots of smaller work.

Whorls, by Virginia Howlett. Photo provided by Virginia Howlett. All rights reserved.

Thanks again for meeting with me and allowing access to your studio. It’s been really fun and I appreciate it.

Hey, Eric, it was so great to meet you and have you visit my studio! Thanks so much for coming and asking all these good questions!
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Hi readers. If you like what you read on The Puget News, please subscribe via email or RSS, leave a comment below, or share it with your friends. I look forward to seeing you all out and about town!

The Marathon begins Friday at 9 a.m. with an Auction on Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Fremont Abbey is going to be abuzz with energy! It’s not that big of a place and it’s gonna be fun. Support the artists by bringing them food and non-alcoholic beverages. Once the wee hours of the night come around, they’ll be thankful that you left them some goodies.

Take a bus or carpool since parking will be tough.

Send your event photos to mark [at] thepugetnews [dot] com. Of course, you are welcome to leave a post-event comment here at The Puget News.

Tracy Boyd is a Seattle-based painter and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Her most recent paintings showcase a real breakthrough in her progression as a painter. She’s gone bigger, bolder, and more aggressively abstract. I think that it’s working out for her (as you’ll be able to see by the photos below). Tracy agreed to be interviewed by The Puget News and that has made me very happy indeed.

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Hey Tracy, thank you so much for taking the time to be interviewed by “The Puget News.” I’m super pleased to have this opportunity and I’m a big fan of your work.

Thanks Eric for spreading the word about all the great art going on in the Northwest.

People reading this won’t know it but I was at your studio last month while you were still working on the painting you call “EVEN.” Looking at the final product, that’s now officially my favorite. The highlights you added since the last time I saw it really make it pop and add contrast to the color composition. Well done.

Thanks for checking it out this past First Thursday Art Walk. I really think this is a groundbreaking painting for me. The scale – 6ft x 6ft – is becoming my favorite size to work in, and I’m really beginning to paint more epic paintings that you can almost step into. I was really trying to create a strong sense of movement.

“EVEN” Description (from Tracy Boyd): This large painting with shocking imagery with sporadic bright splotches of bloody paint almost spurting out the the human form create a disturbing scene with many unanswered questions.

How do you describe your painting style?

I would describe it by saying that I’m a large-scale expressive figurative painter that is primarily focused on representing men, and sometimes animals, creating a strong impact on the viewer through the scale and in-your-face poses that stare right at you.

Through my strong strokes it is my desire to show movement, anger, and a real reaction to our world. I create my work by painting, and scraping away, and reapplying the paint, creating a complex surface. I often focus on one subject in a painting which has never been conscious. I have tried adding other subjects but it never feels right or true to my vision.

When you say, “never been conscious” are you referring to the fact that you’re exploring a subject you didn’t know was there until you saw it in the abstract developing surface of your painting – or are you saying something else?

Yes, I am referring to a painting developing as I work on it. I think that is what I love about painting is how difficult it is and how sometimes I have to let go and let it evolve without feeling like I have to control every brush stroke. One thing that is consistent in my work is I usually limit my subject to one, which I believe comes from wanting to be a purist and really allow the complexity to come through in the way it is painted and through strong visuals. I think filling the canvas with multiple elements might create unnecessary confusion and art that is scattered and made with little thought.

You generally paint pretty large format. What’s the reason for that?

My artwork has evolved in the past 5 years to this larger scale between 6ft – 7ft. and I have a couple canvases 8ft waiting to be painted on. I do sometimes paint smaller (around 2ft to 4ft) but I’m most comfortable painting larger because I can really use my entire body to create my vision. The scale just feels right to me to convey the strong impression I hoped to will impact on the viewer.

I’ve noticed that your paintings seem to be trending more and more abstract. On your website, you can really sense that progression. Can you describe that exploration and transition a bit?

I’m really trying to evolve and find my voice right now to really express how I’m feeling about the world. It’s my belief as that artists we are given a gift to convey what cannot be said in words and to really make people think. I could just rest on my past style but I see myself as the type of artist that really wants to leave a mark.

Some of my influences are Francis Bacon and, more recently, Jenny Saville; a large scale figurative artist that focuses on very large women in an angle that often fills the canvas. Like both of these artists I am looking to paint my authentic work and not just fall into the path some artists do, which is to create a style that they know will sell and that people are comfortable with. I currently belong to The Seattle Group; a group of primarily painters that really are discussing who we are right now as Seattle artists and where we’re going.

Do you have any favorite local artists you’d like to point out before they get big and famous? Who are they and what are they doing?

I have some local favorites including Mark Tracy because of his original painting style and his passion. Some of my other favorites are the Modern Chinese Artists like; Zhang Xiaogang, Zhang Dali, and (especially) Yang Shaobin who is one of China’s most famous Contemporary Oil Painters. He is a leading figure in the movement known as Cynical Realism in which he takes figurative painting to another level depicting violent scenes of men entwined in red masses. It is his political and cultural statements through his work that grabs me the most.

What are you working on now?

I’ve just finished some smaller paintings. I’m now considering kind of some studies where I’m trying new painting techniques and a more limited palette.

Any shows coming up that we should know about?

Not right now, but there are a couple things in the works. I have an email list people can sign up for. [Note: Here it is. I usually send out an email a month to let them subscribers know of new artwork, shows, and events I will be participating in - like this interview!

Please check out my blog for the other up-to-the-minute happenings with my art.

If people are interested in looking at your work for purchase, what's the best way to do so?

All you need to do is email or calling me to set up a studio visit at The 1020 Building, right next to Qwest Field, and I can show you any number of paintings and even discuss commissions which I have recently been doing. I know people have specific spaces and interests. I think anytime a potential buyer gets to see the space the work is created it's just another step in creating a long-lasting relationship.

I've sold paintings online by people just emailing me about availability and costs and I've also done the transaction without ever meeting them in person.

Thanks again for taking the time, Tracy.

No problem.

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More Tracy Boyd Links:

• Subscribe to Tracy’s Mailing List
• Tracy Boyd’s website
• Tracy Boyd’s blog

Wow. Right here in Seattle. Whodathunkit?

Local artist/security guard, Amanda Mae, has been fired from her security gig at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) for participating, perhaps a little too deeply, with Yoko Ono’s participatory piece called “Painting to Hammer a Nail.” Ono’s work is a small panel with a hammer hanging next to it, and a printed wall label encouraging viewers to “pound a nail into this painting.”

At SAM, someone had the idea — whether it was a museum official or a member of the public is disputed — of using the license granted by Ono’s work to nail a piece of paper to the museum wall next to it. In short order, the piece was surrounded by a dense ring of announcements, receipts, business cards and other detritus that visitors had posted, all under the museum’s approving gaze. Informed about the paper-hanging, Ono stipulated that it was acceptable as long as the scraps were preserved as part of the work, and returned with it.

On Aug. 20, Mae — who in addition to working at SAM, also makes performance-based photo art, and is about to start a graduate program in museum studies at the University of Washington, according to Stranger art critic Jen Graves — decided to take things a step further. She set up in front of the work and began to remove all of the pieces of paper, categorizing them in neat piles for archiving. Mae dubbed her own performance Yoko Ono Excavation Survey, or Y.E.S. After a half hour, SAM curator Michael Darling arrived, and ordered Mae to halt. The next day, she was fired.

While specifics are a bit lacking, I certainly understand Mae being fired if she spent a half hour of her security shift working on her Yoko Ono Excavation Study. It’s not clear to me whether or not she was on shift though. Regardless, it does seem quite a slippery slope to enforce an arbitrary limitation on the participation with the piece. Where do you draw the line?

You can see pictures of the work before it became a bulletin board and after over on “Another Bouncing Ball.” Sadly, I haven’t turned up any photos of Y.E.S. in-flight.

[via Artnet News and Artforum]

Jan and I have “Thursday Preview” Season Tickets to the Bathhouse Theatre in Seattle. For those of you who don’t know about the Bathhouse, it’s a very small community theatre on the ever-popular Green Lake. This is our second year having season tickets for the Thursday Previews and I’d highly recommend them to anyone – they’re cheaper than standard tickets, it’s pretty easy to get good seats, and you still gain access to high-quality local theatre.

A representative will tell you up-front that Thursday Previews are a practice run before opening night and that the director may choose to stop the action at any time but it hasn’t happened on anything we’ve seen. Tonight is the preview showing of Bryony Lavery’s ” A Wedding Story.” While I’m sure there will be more hoopla for the Opening Night tomorrow, tonight you’ll get the benefit of a seeing the show with a bunch of budget conscious theater fans, along with the family and friends of the actors. This is a really enjoyable way to get your local theatre and a nice reminder of just how accessible it can be. Here is The Guardian’s quote on Lavery’s “A Wedding Story”:

“A moving story about marriage and the nature of love…with its mix of comedy, tragedy, movie culture and popular song…Lavery is riding the crest of a wave.”