Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
New Blog
This new blog focuses just on my spherism/vibrational body of work. It's nice to see a concise thread in my work emerge over 6 years. I know the longer I'm working, the more it will all make sense to everyone else.
http://spherism.tumblr.com/
http://spherism.tumblr.com/
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The tantra of imagination in the public sphere
I'm a philosophy buff as well as being an artist. A favorite past time of mine is to take conceptual views of reality for test drives. After India certainly things made more/less sense when returning to America. Nonetheless, Public art/intervention remains a fluid form. Reality is the canvas, your body becomes the brush, and your intention becomes the paint (so to speak). When I say tantra, I point pack to its original and non-sexual definition, which is a "weaving" of the fabrics of reality, where all becomes holy and divine, and the launching pad for transcendence. As an artist, life becomes the ultimate creative act/action/experiment. As a lineage holder of the surrealist and atomic mysticism art movements I like to inject irrationality into the public sphere as an action, not only as a static image charged with symbolic potential knowledge. To weave play into the reflection becomes the intention.
My latest public action was a collaboration, mostly with my partner Djamilla, and some dear artist friends. I created for her a catalog of planets that she could fill in descriptions about. It was like a tourism brochure: "Don't like your planet? Visit one of ours!" Once it was filled out, she sold tours to people, and I used my body script to paint the boarding passes directly on the bodies of our customers (usually their right fore-arm). This was all done with a very straight face, as I asked them how long of a journey they would like to take (whether they wanted to travel one-way or round trip), and then I would send them down the line to my associates Frank Callozzo who was signing them up for Liability Insurance, and Shrine was making sure they had Collision Coverage. Anahata even showed up for some time to serve as the Galactic Linguistic Liaison. We called ourselves the Perpetual Epiphany Galactic Travel Agency, and probably sent 100 people on journeys.
The art in this piece for me is more in the intention of connecting people with imagination and play, where-as the results is the body adorned with different temporary paint indicating travel itinerary and types of insurance coverage. Our nomadic galactic office was temporarily set up at the Black Rock City art festival in Nevada.
Here are some pix of the crew in action. More detailed pix of my codes can be seen on my body art site: http://bodyglyph.tumblr.com/
My latest public action was a collaboration, mostly with my partner Djamilla, and some dear artist friends. I created for her a catalog of planets that she could fill in descriptions about. It was like a tourism brochure: "Don't like your planet? Visit one of ours!" Once it was filled out, she sold tours to people, and I used my body script to paint the boarding passes directly on the bodies of our customers (usually their right fore-arm). This was all done with a very straight face, as I asked them how long of a journey they would like to take (whether they wanted to travel one-way or round trip), and then I would send them down the line to my associates Frank Callozzo who was signing them up for Liability Insurance, and Shrine was making sure they had Collision Coverage. Anahata even showed up for some time to serve as the Galactic Linguistic Liaison. We called ourselves the Perpetual Epiphany Galactic Travel Agency, and probably sent 100 people on journeys.
The art in this piece for me is more in the intention of connecting people with imagination and play, where-as the results is the body adorned with different temporary paint indicating travel itinerary and types of insurance coverage. Our nomadic galactic office was temporarily set up at the Black Rock City art festival in Nevada.
Here are some pix of the crew in action. More detailed pix of my codes can be seen on my body art site: http://bodyglyph.tumblr.com/
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sphereism makes a come-back!
The art techniques and vocabulary I develop often reach a certain stage of growth, and then put on hold till another time, while I explore a new modality. Like a room full of musical instruments, they remain in waiting till I choose to take them out again and play. Sphereism was a conceptual vocabulary I developed a few years back. Similar to how cubism was a way to re-see space, Sphereism is a way to see through space (conceptually), it intends to show how everything isn't actually solid, but rather made up of over lapping vibrations. At first I was doing highly esoteric symbols as vessels to contain knowledge about the nature of the universe, but after some time I figured perhaps this was over the head of the audience, so I decided to go supermarket low-brow. Cereal boxes, and trashy magazines became my new vessels to reveal the vibrational nature of "reality". When I saw this recent cover of STAR Magazine with "Plastic Surgery Confessions," I couldn't pass up the opportunity to alchemize this American trash, and elevate it to something perhaps higher...
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Pix from the SpinCycle show opening
Show is up till the 27th of Aug.
Hope you get a chance to see it in person, as these pix are pretty low res..
(me and David Aron, good friend and other artist in the show)
(me and mom, my first art teacher)
(opening)
(25 foot calligraphy scroll from the J.B. Blunk residency. Ink on paper)
(1 framed piece from a series of 7. Ink on paper)
(2 nine foot batik pieces. Dye on silk)
(Series of 10 energetic Kabbalah totems. Gouache on Eucaliptus paper)
(Kaballah diagram)
Hope you get a chance to see it in person, as these pix are pretty low res..
(me and David Aron, good friend and other artist in the show)
(me and mom, my first art teacher)
(opening)
(25 foot calligraphy scroll from the J.B. Blunk residency. Ink on paper)
(1 framed piece from a series of 7. Ink on paper)
(2 nine foot batik pieces. Dye on silk)
(Series of 10 energetic Kabbalah totems. Gouache on Eucaliptus paper)
(Kaballah diagram)
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
NYC exhibition coming up...
Been BUSY! Wow.... heres the info on what's happening shortly....
Spin Cycle - a show by Oliver Halsman Rosenberg & David Aron
hpgrp Gallery
529 West 20th Street #2W
New York, NY 10011
212-727-2491
hpgrpgallery.com
July 29th to August 27th, 2011
Opening reception Friday, July 29th, 2011 from 6 to 8pm
Artists Oliver Halsman Rosenberg and David Aron present a show that explores spirituality, energy, the mind, and body in their show Spin Cycle. Both artists are influenced by Eastern culture and practices and channel that through their work.
Rosenberg has been traveling for the past three years to India and Indonesia where he has been studying traditional folk art. Much of his work in the show uses a channeled, calligraphic script evocative of Asian or Arabic font forms. This script is used to create larger forms and work as atoms, cells, or even organs, energy wisps and blips. He uses them like building blocks within beings, places, or to create time and space on the page. Some of the pieces use a batik technique he learned in Bali. The fabric evokes fluidity through material and the bright colors express immense amounts of light and spirit. In addition to these Eastern ideas and techniques, Rosenberg mixes in Jewish culture as well as Jewish mysticism in his large scroll paintings that hearken back to sacred texts and in his totem series based on the Sephirot of the Kabbalah.
Aron has been meditating through Vipassana, an ancient Buddhist technique from Burma, for many years. In contrast to Rosenberg’s vast use of color, Aron uses a decidedly monotone palette for this show with the idea that the simple and unburdened is of clear thought and something he wishes to attain. His main pieces are white painted, wood sculptures evoking a sense of togetherness or community or oneness, and peaceful protest with a happy ending. He uses universal, simple shapes to convey a quiet optimism.
As the title of the show implies, the exhibition incorporates circles and natural cycles but also is about cleansing; like the finishing off stage in a washing machine spin cycle. Although both artists come at this idea of cleansing from different angles, both have strong individual interpretations about the human condition and how one might start on the path of attaining a higher state of mind and being. Together they show us what our eyes may not see but what may exist right now under our breath.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oliver Halsman Rosenberg was a recent recipient of the J.B. Blunk residency in northern California. He edited the book “The Unknown Halsman”, a collection of the more unusual photographs from his grandfather Philipe Halsman’s archive, which Oliver also illustrated and designed. His work is in the Dakis Joannou and Berkeley Art Museum collections.
David Aron was one of the founding artists shown at the legendary Alleged Gallery. In the past few years he has traded urban skateboarding for making art and experimental music in the quiet country. His band Koi Pond will be releasing a new record in the near future.
This show is curated by Hanna Fushihara Aron. As the former Director of Little Cakes, she and her gallery graced the pages of everything from The New York Times, Paper Magazine, Tokion, to The Journal. She now lives in the Hudson Valley.
Spin Cycle - a show by Oliver Halsman Rosenberg & David Aron
hpgrp Gallery
529 West 20th Street #2W
New York, NY 10011
212-727-2491
hpgrpgallery.com
July 29th to August 27th, 2011
Opening reception Friday, July 29th, 2011 from 6 to 8pm
Artists Oliver Halsman Rosenberg and David Aron present a show that explores spirituality, energy, the mind, and body in their show Spin Cycle. Both artists are influenced by Eastern culture and practices and channel that through their work.
Rosenberg has been traveling for the past three years to India and Indonesia where he has been studying traditional folk art. Much of his work in the show uses a channeled, calligraphic script evocative of Asian or Arabic font forms. This script is used to create larger forms and work as atoms, cells, or even organs, energy wisps and blips. He uses them like building blocks within beings, places, or to create time and space on the page. Some of the pieces use a batik technique he learned in Bali. The fabric evokes fluidity through material and the bright colors express immense amounts of light and spirit. In addition to these Eastern ideas and techniques, Rosenberg mixes in Jewish culture as well as Jewish mysticism in his large scroll paintings that hearken back to sacred texts and in his totem series based on the Sephirot of the Kabbalah.
Aron has been meditating through Vipassana, an ancient Buddhist technique from Burma, for many years. In contrast to Rosenberg’s vast use of color, Aron uses a decidedly monotone palette for this show with the idea that the simple and unburdened is of clear thought and something he wishes to attain. His main pieces are white painted, wood sculptures evoking a sense of togetherness or community or oneness, and peaceful protest with a happy ending. He uses universal, simple shapes to convey a quiet optimism.
As the title of the show implies, the exhibition incorporates circles and natural cycles but also is about cleansing; like the finishing off stage in a washing machine spin cycle. Although both artists come at this idea of cleansing from different angles, both have strong individual interpretations about the human condition and how one might start on the path of attaining a higher state of mind and being. Together they show us what our eyes may not see but what may exist right now under our breath.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oliver Halsman Rosenberg was a recent recipient of the J.B. Blunk residency in northern California. He edited the book “The Unknown Halsman”, a collection of the more unusual photographs from his grandfather Philipe Halsman’s archive, which Oliver also illustrated and designed. His work is in the Dakis Joannou and Berkeley Art Museum collections.
David Aron was one of the founding artists shown at the legendary Alleged Gallery. In the past few years he has traded urban skateboarding for making art and experimental music in the quiet country. His band Koi Pond will be releasing a new record in the near future.
This show is curated by Hanna Fushihara Aron. As the former Director of Little Cakes, she and her gallery graced the pages of everything from The New York Times, Paper Magazine, Tokion, to The Journal. She now lives in the Hudson Valley.
Friday, June 10, 2011
New text in Book
Now that I'm back in NYC I have access to a bunch of projects I've been involved with that I never saw the fruit of. For instance here is the catalog of a Dali/Halsman exhibition up now in Pubol, Spain. I was asked to contribute text and wrote an essay about the alchemical influence on these two artists' collaborative work.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Statement of the day
Existentialism was my modus operandi before I knew the word existed…the search for meaning has led me to destinations alluded to on philosophical system’s maps. …meandering through the forest of life, again and again passing over the same places, weaving, interlacing, memorizing the moss on stones, and watching as it grows each time I pass. My art is my map…my understanding of a certain path….my travel guide through different modalities of consciousness, which we can all wear as masks through the tragedy/comedy of life. The work is diverse, because it emanates from this place of open mind and experimentation, but each piece can lead back to specific philosophical seeds. I create work in series/suites…sudden bursts of expression after a process of understanding, where often times the process of creation mirrors the philosophical concepts visually. Different symbols/vocabularies/tropes emerge and then dissolve, and can be re-born years later in a new series, where they integrate, the way two schools of thought would come together to form a new way to explain what is “What Is.”
The past 3 years I have lived like a nomadic art history and art technique researcher, learning different traditions from different folk artists from cow dung painting in India to silk batik painting in Indonesia. Exchanging ideas at roots level. ..Injected with inspiration fuel from ancient caves and lineages of ancestral artists… I also come from a long artistic lineage. Past generation’s fresh Surreal juice has become fermented over the years, and as its caretaker, I sneak sips of this wine with my inner DaDa. My creative output finds the appropriate clothing for the idea it is intending to express. Categories I would check off, but not limit myself to include: Drawing, Painting, Site-specific Instillation, Photography, Video/New Media, Community Based Projects, Writing, Curating, Conceptual/Visionary Ideas.
The past 3 years I have lived like a nomadic art history and art technique researcher, learning different traditions from different folk artists from cow dung painting in India to silk batik painting in Indonesia. Exchanging ideas at roots level. ..Injected with inspiration fuel from ancient caves and lineages of ancestral artists… I also come from a long artistic lineage. Past generation’s fresh Surreal juice has become fermented over the years, and as its caretaker, I sneak sips of this wine with my inner DaDa. My creative output finds the appropriate clothing for the idea it is intending to express. Categories I would check off, but not limit myself to include: Drawing, Painting, Site-specific Instillation, Photography, Video/New Media, Community Based Projects, Writing, Curating, Conceptual/Visionary Ideas.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Bali Batik
Here in Bali, pushing my script into new mediums to see what the results will look like...
...found a Batik factory who transferred my ink drawings into wax on silk, and let me dye the fabric as I like...
fun/love/play
...my 2 silks gets boiled this weekend to melt off wax and reveal white space beneath...
...pix to follow....
...found a Batik factory who transferred my ink drawings into wax on silk, and let me dye the fabric as I like...
fun/love/play
...my 2 silks gets boiled this weekend to melt off wax and reveal white space beneath...
...pix to follow....
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Bali Songs
More and more creative spirit is wanting to be expressed in the most effortless and joy filled way...too long I have tried to deny it, and now I just let the flood gates open...the force of the stream is carrying me into uncharted territories as it stops being about "art" and the "art world" and begins to be about something fresher and lighter...breaking free into the unknown...just happy to ride the dragon...as the dragon rides me...
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Good Bye Blunk Residency....
The last few days here have been sunny and H-O-T (just like the first few days were when I arrived in Feb.), forming a cold/storm sandwich, which kept me inside creating, but now its spring I can hang out in isolation, painting naked in a garden surrounded by humming birds...not bad for my last day...snuck inside for one last shot with the Blunk sculptures I have been living with every day...It's been so great up here...I worked on slowing time down by being as consciously aware as possible, so to all those people who told me it would go by real fast, all I can say is: I didn't even get here yet!
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