Boy shows you his... Uncategorized: Adolf Wolfli Albert Aloise Corbaz Amelie Ravalec Aradne Art & Mind beth elliot Bethlem Gallery Bring Your Own Art Cathy Ward Centre d'Art Contemporain Geneve Cindy Sherman Collection de l'Art Brut Daniel Goncalves David O Flynn diary drawings Fortnum and Mason Frieze Frieze magazine gwyneth rowlands Henri Michaux Hieronymus Bosch How TO Be An Artist Instagram Jennifer Lauren Gallery Jerry Saltz Joe Coleman John Maizels judith mcnicol Julia Sisi Laure Pigeon Luigi Serafini Madge Gill Mehrdad Rashidi Melvin Way Michel Thevoz Monochromatic Minds mr.imagination Nick Blinko Nnena Kalu Outside In Outsider Art Raw Vision Raw Vision Magazine robert latchman Scrivere Disegnando skira publishing Sky Arts Sky Arts Channel Studio Voltaire The Disadvantages of Time tony thorne Van Gogh vivienne roberts Writing by Drawing X-Initiative zinnia nishikawa
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2020 Vision
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2020
Just in case you forgot what year we’re in. That’s how I felt, walking along Piccadilly in the rain, lo and behold, ‘2020’ is written vertically and spanning the entire height of the Fortnum and Mason’s building. Why do I need to see a giant ‘2020’? Do they put the giant year we’re in up every November? I hadn’t noticed. The next level of absurdity is that I don’t think it is meant as a joke. How is it meant? All that can be gleaned from the rest of the display, which is as extravagant as any other year, is.. that it’s not a joke. But what is it? Yes, I am walking along, but my sense is not so many will be seeing this display this year. You’d think they might opt for a more modest version. The monolithic ‘2020’ was just baffling though. I should have taken a photograph. (Here is one I just found online). Anyhow, here we are. I have written and completely re-written the intro to this blog entry almost a handful of times over the last few months, but keep coming back and starting again. Why does it even need an intro? I will refrain from further deviation and just skip ahead to not all the tumultuous things (well, I’ll try), but the resulting art:
Monochromatic Minds – Jennifer Lauren Gallery – Live Artist Talks Videos
Jennifer Lauren Gallery continue to achieve innovator status with their various approaches to engaging with artists, dealers and collectors, which it looks like others are catching on to and building from also. Hats off. On this occasion, I want to flag a series of talks initiated through the use of video communications program Zoom that many who use computers have become familiar with during Covid 19 lockdown, if not before. For three consecutive weeks, Jennifer spoke with several artists in realtime, showing a few of their images, and taking questions from others that had signed up to take part in the video calls. There were also prerecorded talks with artists who were more comfortable with that format, or couldn’t make the live sessions. All the artists in the talks had work featured in the groundbreaking Monochromatic Minds exhibition Jennifer Lauren Gallery put on in London earlier in the year. I’ve written and posted images and videos relating to that in previous blog entries. You can view the hour or so long talks with me, Daniel Goncalves (Portugal) and Robert Latchman (USA) in part 1 here (Alternatively, a transcript is available here) and I recommend checking all the parts out for insightful words from artists Mehrdad Rashidi, Julia Sisi, Cathy Ward, Aradne, Judith McNicol, Zinnia Nishikawa and curator/archivist Vivienne Roberts speaks on the art of Madge Gill. Below is an image of my set up for the artist talk. I admit, I like to have a certain degree of control over what I say in terms of not forgetting anything that might be relevant, but also about how precisely I can convey what I mean, which in theory is best done by using considered and recorded wording. I ridiculously entertained the idea of actually reading a lot of information out, but in the end directly referenced just three or four sentences out of all my typing there! However, the act of typing reinforces the memory also, so I like to think it helped in a different way.
Drawing Dec 1999- Aug 2020
On August 19th, 2020, I completed the seventeenth instalment of my diary drawings, and the eleventh on A4 format, out of twelve. I won’t tread the path of associated pedantic details as to why here, other marginally more significant meanderings entail. This drawing clocks in at 27,659 words. In 2015, the then diary on A4 contained 11,273 words, which was the most in relation to its size, by that point. In November of 2019 I completed an A5 (half the size of an A4) diary comprising of 12,627 words. That half size diary contained more words than any of the ten A4 diaries preceding it. The current A4 diary is double that in paper size and words, with an additional almost 3,000 words. It surprises me every time this sort of thing occurs. The feeling of completing this diary is indescribable, really. The level of euphoria reached, and the value of that euphoria lingering and resonating with aftershocks, it prompts a lot of questions which I won’t go into here, but anyhow, here are the recent ongoings:
Raw Vision Weekly #169 – Art In Quarantine
On June 19th, 2020, Raw Vision published their weekly newsletter featuring myself in the ‘Art In Quarantine’ series. You could do worse than to subscribe to their weekly newsletter. It is insightful, inspiring and if nothing else without fail can add colour to grey days. Read through or scroll down in this edition and you’ll find me below Mr.Imagination. I answer some questions they asked me in the newsletter, and they published a few images. Here is one of them..
Raw Vision issue 106 / Summer 2020
It was an honour to be asked for a contribution to the reviews section of Raw Vision magazine earlier this year, and when summer came I found my name attached to the only exhibition review included in the Summer/Autumn issue, for Scrivere Disegnando (“Writing By Drawing”) at the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland in collaboration with the Collection de L’Art Brut (Lausanne, Switzerland). I must admit, though my name is at the bottom, I do not myself read it as my own writing. It is well written, more academic than the way I write, and includes at least one or two words that I would not choose to use and didn’t include in my submission. I am still pondering whether adding words is normal practice for magazine editors? Or to not consult the writer at least. I feel uncomfortable taking the credit for this piece, feeling it should have been credited as co-written by myself and the editor, who made considerable changes. For example, there is a part in my review where I speak on the poetry of moving through the space, referring to the curation. The editor took the word ‘poetry’ and contextualised it differently, saying that many of the works and their content have a poetry to them. A different application of the word entirely. In the end, the spirit of my review is gone, which is a shame. So anyhow, I felt I needed to clarify this and put it somewhere in the universe. I can now channel that energy elsewhere.
Bittersweetness aside, it is a great issue otherwise. The Joe Coleman feature is great, honing in on a specific painting and its story, with beautifully reproduced foldout images. I’d learned about this painting in a Lydia Lunch podcast interview with Joe Coleman not long before the Raw Vision came out, which can be heard here. The David O’Flynn cover story on artist Gwyneth Rowlands is beautifully put together, and the Tony Thorne article on Albert is potent too. I love Beth Elliot‘s photograph of Albert working. I remember first meeting him in around 2011 when I visited Bethlem (before refurbishment and relocations) to help him and others write their artist profiles and to photograph their work for the Outside In website. His work was incredibly affecting then and I’ve loved seeing it whenever and wherever I do ever since.
Scrivere Disegnando Book
Apart from the somewhat sensationalised text and muddied facts about me and the diary drawings, I was both surprised and alarmed to discover an image of one of my diary drawings was blown up to take up the entire page beside the title page a few pages into the book. Of course part of me is honoured to be chosen for such a position, and I’m sure my folks are into it, however, I have learned a valuable lesson. In future, I will make sure to forbid enlarging my diary images beyond actual size, without my consent and signing off. I have only had myself to blame for such results, but no longer. I can understand why and how it may be an interesting thing to do, as a publisher or curator, but being a living artist making work of this nature, somewhere in me I expected more sensitivity I suppose. In any case, this little video below gives you some idea of what the book looks like..
Frieze Magazine, no.211, May/June 2020
I was late to the party on this one, but there is a review of the exhibition in Geneva included in this issue of Frieze magazine, and they’ve used a really nicely reproduced image of one of my diary drawings to accompany the review. Of course I am surprised to find myself in there. I am in good company, with a review of Nnena Kalu‘s exhibition at Studio Voltaire in London included. Incidentally, Kalu was making these works just a few doors down from me along the hallway in the building we both work from in South London. Elsewhere in the magazine, there is an article on art critic Jerry Saltz‘s book ‘How To Be An Artist’. Jerry Saltz has crossed over into my world on two occasions that I am aware of. Firstly, at an exhibition in New York called Bring Your Own Art, at X-Initiative in 2010. He critiqued my drawing with a negative view. He made an analogy in the form of a question, to paraphrase ‘Is this the work of a drunk, or a stoner?’, and then moved on. A few years later, of course, he pops up on Instagram here:
Lastly, I found it interesting, and disappointing to discover though Cindy Sherman is on the cover of the magazine, there is no article about her in the magazine! This is the issue though:
Art & Mind film on Sky Arts channel
Amélie Ravalec’s film, narrated by John Maizels (Raw Vision magazine), is a fascinating attempt at exploring 500 or so years of art in the context of madness, the mind, perceptions and how they evolve over time. I’ve written about this before, around April 2019. What I loved most was experiencing the flow of the 350 or so carefully selected images sequenced on the big screen, as well as some insightful or interesting commentary by interviewees. Here is the blurb from Sky Arts, ah yes, so, you can now see the film on the Sky Arts channel: ‘An exploration of visionary artists and the creative impulse, from the Flemish Masters of the Renaissance to the avant-garde movement of Surrealism. Featuring Bosch, Van Gogh and more.’ Note: I am included in the ‘and more’. Meaning, an image of my work is used in the sequence of images.
Currently Drawing…
I am currently drawing the twelfth and last A4 sized diary drawing and simultaneously on the fourteenth text based drawing in the The Disadvantages of Time series. I’ve just scrolled through my phone and realised there is no evidence of this, but it gives me something to show you next time I embark on one of these blog post frenzies I get myself into.
Be well,
Carlo
Boy shows you his... Uncategorized: Agatha Wojciechowsky Albert Candid Arts Centre Cathy Ward Chris Neate chronomancer Dan Miller deviation street diary drawings Evelyne Postic gerard sendrey Harald Stoffers Jan Arden Jean Dubuffet Jennifer Lauren Gallery judith mcnicol Kate Bradbury leslie thompson Lines of Revelation Liz Parkinson Margot Mehrdad Rashidi Monochromatic Minds neuve invention Nick Blinko Outsider Art Rashidi Ted Gordon Terence Wilde Valerie Potter
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Channeling the chronomancer
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Greetings. As we try to channel our inner chronomancer, the significance of these devices and means of communication acutely rings true. In the midst of everything, I’m just getting on with my diary writing/drawing, seemingly obsolete but also perhaps an important time to be recording thoughts and observations. Fathoming the unravelling repercussions and predicaments triggers a knee-jerk reaction into the foetal position, and the over-load of analytical elements and angles factored in diffuse any potential succinct message, but broadly amount to The Mess Age. It is not unique of course, and like other times and places, transformations will result and continue. As I’ve not posthumously written here about the wonderful Monochromatic Minds: Line of Revelation exhibition that took place not long before everything changed, I’ll include some reflections in this instalment. I will also touch on other bits and bobs. Onwards..
Monochromatic Minds – Jennifer Lauren Gallery – Candid Arts Centre, London, UK. 25th Feb – 4th March, 2020
As anticipated, this celebration of black and white art works within the field of Outsider/Self Taught/Neuve Invention/Visionary art did not disappoint. The majority of artists’ names who’s work was included, alone, made for a very exciting cumulative concoction. The actual works aligned well to that aura. The space was also very well suited. The majority of works in the show could easily command your attention for an indefinite amount of time individually. Imagine a room full of that. The show was on for a mere week or so but felt alive while it was on the entire time with a variety of events taking place within the programme. There were art workshops and artist talks delivered by artists from around the globe. Below are some photos that should help contextualise things if you couldn’t be there and care to absorb an attempt at documenting my experience.

Vibrant (even in black and white) works by Liz Parkinson, myself alongside, being observed carefully (I think).

A wall of Ted Gordon, Liz Parkinson, myself, Harald Stoffers, and Dan Miller work among others..

Nick Blinko‘s corner

Chris Neate on the left, a mesmerising piece by Cathy Ward centrepiece, two fascinating works by Evelyne Postic above and below a commanding work by Margot.

Beautiful works by Rashidi on the left, and Gerard Sendrey top right.

A haunting Agatha Wojciechowsky piece cut off at the left side, and a magnificent Judith McNicol.

Poignant works by Albert.

I spotted the octopus in the room, in this joyful Leslie Thompson piece (detail).

Jennifer Lauren Gallery commissioned several artists in the show to draw/paint on chairs acquired from second hand shops, which also function as actual chairs that people could sit in during the exhibition if they need a rest. Though I don’t think I saw anyone sit in any. This one is by Kate Bradbury.

People at the opening watching the short documentary film. The film highlights 5 of the 61 artists in the show, including myself (on screen), Cathy Ward, Terence Wilde, Valerie Potter, and Jan Arden.

Liz Parkinson was in town speaking on the bush fires in Australia, her drawings, authoritarian neighbours, and having her works purchased by Jean Dubuffet.. from the series of artist talks.

A somewhat absurd image capturing me doing my artist talk whilst I’m also on screen in the documentary playing on a loop behind, facing the same direction. My drawings are documentation, the documentary documents me documenting, the photo documents the documenting of the documenting, and so on. Could it get more meta? Photo by Andrew Hood.
If you’d like to check out the short documentary I mentioned above, you can do so here.
Diary drawing and Deviations…
I’m working on the first A4 size diary drawing since 2016. There are several reasons why the format changed and I haven’t returned to A4, though was intending to. Anyhow, the time arrived. After I’d finished drawing in it a few days ago, I realised that I could see that day in the drawing. The reason being, I changed both the nib on the pen and its ink at the same time before starting that day. Usually these occurrences don’t coincide. The result being a distinction that is visible on the page. I took a photo so as to see what a day of drawing looks like when it’s not at the very beginning (as that is the other time/place where it is easily discernible, on day one). There are other contrasts on the page where the text takes on different shades and textures, for other reasons, but this one highlights a single day of drawing at this stage. Of course, after working on it again the following day, it won’t be visible anymore. Hence the significance of photographing it when I did. You might assume the lockdown is driving me to such pedantic measures. I’ll let you assume!
Last month, I had an email exchange with the the good people over at Deviation Street and they included some of that in their lockdown series of posts. You can find that post here.
I feel like there was something else I wanted to include, but if it was significant I’ll get it in next time. I’ve incrementally been returning to this post for weeks now, so who knows anymore. Stay smart, and until the next time…
Carlo.
Boy shows you his... Uncategorized: AACM Adamson Collection Trust Adolf Wolfli African Skies Aloise Corbaz Amelie Ravalec Art & Mind Artistic Heritage Ensemble Augustin Lesage David O Flynn Derk Reklaw diary drawings Earth Wind and Fire Edmund Monsiel Edvard Munch Francisco Goya frankiphone Hieronymus Bosch ICA John Maizels Josefe Marie Verna Kelan Phil Cohran and Legacy Mad Pride Mad Pride All-dayer Madge Gill Nick Blinko NTS Radio Outsider Art Fair Outsider Art Fair Paris 2019 Phil Cohran Raw Vision Magazine Sun Ra Arkestra Timmy Miller Has a Heavy Head William Blake
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End of summer updates (exhibitions, film screenings, art fairs, radio shows…)
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It has been half a year or so since my last blog post.. Some updates as we transition into the climax of an unknown winter…
Manchester Mad Pride All-Dayer, Sunday September 8th
This subversive celebration is coming up very soon, at the end of this very week in fact. I was invited to partake and have contributed a couple of prints to the visual art exhibition, as well as my film Timmy Miller Has a Heavy Head which will be screened in a programme of short films throughout the day. It is a rare showing of the film and no other showings are currently planned to take place. The event will showcase various artists spanning a vast spectrum of dynamic media for all your senses to glean. These are the co-ordinates:
Niamos, Chichester Road, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5EU
You can find further info here (where if you scroll down to a post from August 3rd, you can read my answers to a few questions that were put to me) or here.
Outsider Art Fair Paris 2019, Thursday 17th – Sunday 20th October
I’m proud to announce that some of my work will be on show again with the Galerie du Marche (Lausanne, Switzerland) at the seventh edition of the annual Outsider Art Fair in Paris this October. It has been surreal to be included among highly potent artists such as Aloise Corbaz, Edmund Monsiel, Adolf Wolfli and Madge Gill on what I have always considered to be one of, if not the, strongest stands at the fair.
The most recently completed diary drawing is on an A5 format (21 x 14.8cm). In some sort of unexplainable phenomena, it has resulted in several thousand more words than the previous diary of the same size, and contains more words than eight out of the ten A4 diary pages that exist, at almost 11,000 words in ‘bubble text’. Usually the word difference, especially in such close succession (months, not years), can be a few hundred more or less. This diary page will be on show at the fair. See here for further details.
Art & Mind film
I should mention the manifestation of this truly ambitious documentary film, Art & Mind, which attempts to chart evolving opinions, views and research regarding the convergence of mental health and visual art whilst considering a period of give or take 500 years. I was present at the premiere which took place at the ICA in April (where it will be shown as part of a double bill on Sunday September 8th again). There are dozens of further screenings scheduled globally, which you can find here along with the trailer and further information. The film is narrated by the unparalleled John Maizels, editor of Raw Vision Magazine, who was on the Q & A panel at the premiere alongside chair of the Adamson Collection Trust, David O Flynn and director of the film itself, Amelie Ravalec. From having viewed the film once, I recall my immediate response was a feeling of inundation. There were 350 or so images shown in the film (including one of mine), in a sort of suspended montage sequence. The film was divided into an array of sub-chapters, giving a short time to highlight each. It would not go amiss to re-edit this film and the extensive omitted footage, into a series of episodes, allowing more time for the information to flow. The sequence of images is beautiful and to see it on a big screen was fantastic. With such an amount to be tackled within the time frame of a feature film, and to summarise the centuries explored, naturally there is a lot left unsaid and, for example, failing to include non-Western art and non-Western interpretations of mental health assessment and behaviour, is significantly detrimental. I found the relentlessness of the on-going music under the interviewees words contributed to a somewhat suffocating viewing process, but paradoxically find the alignment of that to the subject, an interesting choice of formatting and that perhaps it in some way can work to the film’s advantage. Needless to say, I can’t wait to re-watch this film, probably several times. To see works by Bosch, Goya, Blake, and Munch contextualised with Lesage, Wolfli, Blinko, and an endless list of incredible artists, and practitioners active in various aspects of the field pondering on these works and how they were viewed in their time and since, is incredibly fascinating.
See’s To Exist Show, edition 179 – The Sphereology of Phil Cohran
I recently put a pre-recorded radio show together focussing on the extraordinary music of self-proclaimed ‘sphereologist’, Phil Cohran. A difficult task to fit what I can into two hours, especially after a very rich hour and twenty minute conversation recorded between myself and harpist Josefe Marie Verna (who’s majestic opening notes on White Nile, from the African Skies LP recorded in 1993 were my introduction to Phil Cohran’s music) , which I edited parts of into the show, as well as fragments of a phone conversation I had with Derf Reklaw who was involved in Phil Cohran’s Artistic Heritage Ensemble in the late 1960s. Cohran played in Sun Ra’s Arkestra for a couple of years as the 1950s turned into the 1960s, and is known for being co-founder of the legendary AACM. He invented the Frankiphone, a sort of electrified thumb piano, which was popularised by disciples of his who went on to form Earth, Wind and Fire. I get into details about all of that and much more. Most importantly, you can hear some of this great music in the show here.
My show is monthly and you can hear the next show in its usual format of me playing some of my records live and talking about them on September 22nd, 3-5pm (UK time) over at NTS Radio.
That’s All Folks!
I have some exciting news simmering and hope to report back soon. Meanwhile, back to your lives.
Take care,
Carlo.
Boy talks Boy travels Uncategorized: Achilles G. Rizolli Adolf Wolfli Albert Aloise Corbaz American Folk Art Museum Aradne Cloisonne de theatre James Edward Deeds Jr. James Lake Jarvis Cocker Jennifer Lauren Gallery Jerry Gretzinger Joe Coleman Kate Bradbury Manuel Bonifacio Marc Steene Nick Blinko Outside In Outside In: Journeys Paul Laffoley Phil Baird Sotheby's Susan T King The Alternative Guide to the Universe Valerie Rousseau Vestiges and Verse: Notes from the Newfangled Epic
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This was January 2018
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Outside In: Journeys at Sotheby’s, New Bond Street (London, UK)…
I’ve just returned from New York and will use this space to recall some of what happened. Firstly, prior to embarking on that odyssey, I was excited to see the Outside In exhibition at Sotheby’s, a bit closer to home in London. The opening night was quite extravagant and as busy as could be. Perhaps someone knew there would be bottomless champagne glasses handed out? I’d like to think all these new faces were there to marvel at some of the wondrous works on show. The works were nicely lit, with a strange blueish hue hovering around them (or was that just me seeing it?). In some ways it was the perfect setting to celebrate Outside In’s certified charity status, and they did well in accumulating art works from throughout their journey, from 2006 to the present. In my case, Picture Worth a Thousand Words was on show. This was the painting I submitted for their competition/exhibition in 2009. I was one of the six ‘winners’ and they offered me my first solo exhibition as a result. At that point in time, the painting was a decade old already. Seeing it hung in Sotheby’s a few weeks ago, I realised it had doubled in age since then. It returns every ten years to fuel and strengthen my belief in the power and propelling of cycles. And to think, this painting blew off the roof of a car twice on the motorway from London to Chichester when we were initially delivering it in 2009. It suffered wounds. Thankfully that was all! Anyhow, it was certainly touching to see it again and whilst waiting for my coat in the cloakroom on my way out, I had a sudden urge to go and see it once more and to touch it. In that moment, a strange sense of time and movement ran through me, much more effective than my words could reflect. Something I have never felt before. I did return a few days later to show my family. There were a healthy amount of people around, but it was much easier to speak and move around. I must give a mention to some of the other great work on show, courtesy of artists Phil Baird, Kate Bradbury, Nick Blinko, Aradne, Albert, Manuel Bonifacio and James Lake among others. Normally I would have taken some photos of the works in situ but am whirl-winding through life at the moment, so I hope the links contained within the aforementioned names typed will suffice. I did get a snapshot of Jarvis Cocker making a speech at the opening though (if you haven’t seen his two part documentary on ‘Outsider environments’ for Channel 4 which screened in the late ’90s of the previous millennium, check the internets). Also, a shot of me with Nemo (a few weeks prior to his first birthday) a few days later in front of my work (also from the late ’90s). Big shout out to Marc Steene, founder and Director of Outside In and all round renaissance man for being unquestionably transcendental.
Vestiges and Verse: Notes from the Newfangled Epic at the American Folk Art Museum, Lincoln Square (NYC, USA)…
I’ve just returned from New York and will use this space to recall some of what happened. In terms of the exhibition, a very impressive and ambitious conceptual manifestation. It is an honour to be among the (mostly dead and few living) artists chosen to be featured. Five of my diary drawings are shown, spanning the years 2010 – 2016. Interestingly, that is the most of them that I have seen alongside each other at one time. Most probably I have never had that many in my possession at any one time, either. It was somewhat challenging negotiating time with little Nemo, considering the five hour time difference to back home but we took him along to the opening as planned. He fell asleep in a sea of noise and wonderment. It was a bizarre cocktail of adrenaline and tiredness. A surreal experience for sure. My works were hung in a space opposite a master work by Aloïse Corbaz and works by James Edward Deeds Jr. Some magnificent Adolf Wölfli works were displayed in the same area. It was a trip to be shown in an exhibition with so many works by Achilles Rizzoli, which in this case heavily focussed on compositions comprised mainly of text rather than the phenomenal architectural imaginings he penned. I highly recommend this book. It was interesting to see some Paul Laffoley works again. His weighing out of systems is very intriguing to me. His work first caught my eye at the highly poignant The Alternative Guide to the Universe exhibition at the Hayward, in London in 2013. He was still alive then. Vestiges and Verse: Notes from the Newfangled Epic in some ways reminded me of that great show at the Hayward. So many interesting artists collected and put into a captivating context to provide a lens through which you observe the similarities, and sometimes somehow the similarities through the differences, based on how far in a direction they will each take you.
My work was in view upon first glance beyond the entry point into the exhibition. Approaching it, it didn’t take a nanosecond to realise one of the drawings was hung upside down. This has since been rectified. I thought not to mention it here, but human error occurs (and we should be thankful for that!). This incident raised the question for me, ‘Am I so far down this road that only I can see how obvious it is that this drawing is upside down?’. Among attendees at the opening were, aside from myself, two other living artists being shown in the exhibition. Susan T King and Jerry Gretzinger. The former, I have admired and written a bit about in recent years. Jerry, on the other hand, I was not aware of. It was a great pleasure to meet him and speak at some length with him specifically/personally, but also as someone else included in the show, sharing stories about our paths and how we end up where we end up. I’m completely in awe of his map project which began in the 1960s and is on-going. Mesmerising. Find yourself ten minutes, get yourself a hot drink and watch this. An artist I was not expecting to meet that night was Joe Coleman, which was a more than pleasant surprise. It began with a “look who’s behind you, Carlo”, and there he was beside my work. Thanks to Jennie we got talking a bit, about Henry Darger (who has some incredible work in the show), The curator Valérie Rousseau, and other artists in the show. He left me with the words “Welcome to the family”. The family? The family?? Thanks Joe. Below are some photos from the opening. The exhibition runs for a duration of three months or so. Check it out if you can!

Joe Coleman, Carlo Keshishian, Jennifer Gilbert. Vestiges and Verse: Notes from the Newfangled Epic exhibition opening at the American Folk Art Museum in New York, NY on January 20, 2018. (Photo by Stephen Smith/Art Zealous)

Part of Jerry’s map visible in bottom left corner. Photographed during Valerie Rousseau speaking at opening.
I feel like there was more I wanted to write but it escapes me now. I need to stop writing here and continue writing in the current diary drawing, so will let this be for now. I hope to update the blog more frequently, yadda yadda.. let’s see..
Bright moments, Carlo.
Boy shows you his... Uncategorized: Andrea Joyce Heimer Castlefield Gallery Darren Brian Adcock David MacLagan Jenna Kayleigh Wilkinson Joel Lorand Marlene Steyn Mehrdad Rashidi Mit Senoj Nick Blinko Peter Darach Richard Nie Rudimentary Peni
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Inside Out at Castlefield Gallery in Manchester, UK
‘Inside Out’ at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (UK) / 4th March – 24th April, 2016
As promised in the previous blog entry, I am expanding on the topic of a current exhibition which features some of my work. At the time of writing this, it has been open to the public for just under two weeks and will remain open for just over a further month. I highly recommend a visit after having attended the preview night. The space is impressive, and the combination of artists and works make for a rich experience which should have something to absorb you into and intrigue you. I think it is fair to say that there is enough potency in this show to captivate beyond the much too often case in my experience of entering gallery, perusing ’empty’ feeling ideas/art for a matter of a handful of minutes at most, and sometimes even forcing further attention in case time might do anything in me understanding/appreciating the work, but more often than not failing to accept there is any substance of real value. I am so tired of that, that I wanted to write that sloppy sentence as quickly as possible and move on.
I have to send a big shout out to co-curator of the show show, David Maclagan, for his support over the last few years and for bringing me into this show. The work on display was co-curated with the Castlefield Gallery and I saw some interesting work that I was unfamiliar with until that point. Darren Brian Adcock‘s interactive pieces had a wondrous and original way of engaging with me. I had the honour or being in this group show with an artist I have admired for over half my lifetime thus far, Nick Blinko. This strangely put some sort of perspective on things, for me. In fact, and I hadn’t thought of this until now, but Nick Blinko’s original drawing used for the insert of his band Rudimentary Peni‘s first album ‘Death Church‘ from the early 1980s, being exhibited in this exhibition, is a result of some cosmic vibrations if ever there were any. A friend of mine in school made a compilation cassette for me, containing hardcore punk recordings from his record collection. It took him months to finally get round to finishing it and giving it to me. A song from ‘Death Church’ was on this tape, and I went to seek out the album after that. Purchasing it was my first exposure to Nick Blinko’s art, and right now you can see the original art for that album on show in an exhibition along with some of my work. I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but something happened there!
I was going to write more, but I think I’ll leave it at that! I hope you can make it along to see some interesting work that doesn’t often get an outing. Vibrations courtesy of: Darren Brian Adcock, Nick Blinko, Peter Darach, Andrea Joyce Heimer, Carlo Keshishian, Joel Lorand, David Maclagan, Richard Nie, Mehrdad Rashidi, Mit Senoj, Marlene Steyn, Jenna Kayleigh Wilkinson.
Below are some photos from the opening.
Diary Drawing, Sept. 2015 – March 2016
Another diary drawing has reached its natural ending point. On this occasion, without filling the entire page. I’ve covered most of it though. There are a handful of reasons that I am aware of relating to why, one of which is how difficult I found using the pen that I chose. It was not very fluid and did not flow so well. This, in part, delayed the process by months. Anyhow, that’s the way it goes. It was not the sole reason, in any case.. Unfortunately, my scanner is not scanning the page straight, regardless of how straight the page is placed into the scanner, so I hope this temporary scan should do for now.. I guess you won’t notice too much either way though..
Lastly, I must mention I have been on some inspiring adventures lately. In contrast to the behemoths I normally post as blogs, and rather sparsely, I hope to submit somewhat more frequent and digestible posts, in which I’d like to focus on these adventures, for example. Until then,
Peace
Carlo
Boy shows you his... Boy talks: Ahmed Abdullah Amina Claudine Myers Carlo Keshishian Castlefield Gallery David Wertman David Wertman & The Sun Ensemble diary drawings Ed Blackwell Eternod/Mermod Collection Galerie Du Marche Joel Lorand John Sprague La Maison Rouge louis soutter Madge Gill Marion Brown Mehrdad Rashidi Nick Blinko Outside In Outsider Art Outsider Art Fair Outsider Art Fair Paris Stephen McCraven Sun Ra Sweet Earth Records The Sun Ensemble theo
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Outsider Art Fair Paris, Castlefield Gallery, Sweet Earth Records and a Happy New Year..
Outsider Art Fair Paris 2015…
Greetings friends, family, fans, followers and spies. I thought I’d write one of these posts to update everyone on some of my activities before the year is out. Firstly, as I mentioned in the previous post in September, I had two drawings shown at the Outsider Art Fair Paris thanks to Galerie du Marché and the Eternod/Mermod Collection from Lausanne, Switzerland. I must reiterate how much of an honour it is to have my drawings in their incredible collection and to be shown at their consistently strong booth, having attended the fair for several years and been absorbed by the potency and selection. This was the first time that my works have been exhibited at the fair, and I was in good company on the wall with a Louis Soutter above me and a Theo below me, with a Madge Gill below that. As I said in my entry of reflections on the Outsider Art Fair Paris for Outside In‘s blog which can be read here: “In a weird way, I quite like being in the company of dead people who manage to speak from beyond the grave (and particularly in this way).” Quoting myself from other blogs, into my own. The future has arrived. Anyhow, for my perspective on the fair, click on the aforementioned link. The two diary drawings of mine that were shown were bought by the La Maison Rouge collection and a private collector.
Diary Drawing…
I am currently drawing the 9th in my series of diary drawings, with the intention to stop at the 12th, as I’d like to continue a painting that I began in 2011 and hopefully build a series around it. Below, you can see an image capturing a moment in the process of my current diary in progress..
Castlefield Gallery… Inside Out
I am pleased to announce that some of my work will be shown in Inside Out, an exhibition with a very interesting roster of artists, at the Castlefield Gallery in Manchester, UK. The show will be on from 4th March until 24th of April. For (a lot of) additional info, check out the first link in this paragraph. I’ll go into some more detail about this exhibition in my next blog post, but for now I will say I am very excited to discover I’ll have works shown alongside Nick Blinko, Joel Lorand and Mehrdad Rashidi.
Sweet Earth Records
I undertook a most pleasurable adventure in recent months, in an attempt to shed light on a somewhat obscure, short-lived record company that was active between 1977-1979. My curiosity resulted from a variety of ‘coincidences’ in regards to the records that were released on the label, most of which are rare and all out of print with the exception of Sun Ra‘s The Other Side Of The Sun which saw a reissue through another label in recent years. In my attempt to demystify the story of Sweet Earth Records, I managed to speak with John Sprague who kindly elaborates on his memories of performing and recording with David Wertman and The Sun Ensemble, as well as his involvement with the label and their releases. I also speak with the legendary Amina Claudine Myers about her album Poems For Piano ‘The Piano Music of Marion Brown’, I chat with the charismatic Stephen McCraven who kindly invited me in his home to speak on his classic Wooley The Newt LP, and lastly I interview the great Ahmed Abdullah about a Sweet Earth Records non-release and what would have been Ed Blackwell‘s first album as leader. As far as I know, there isn’t really even a synopsis of what Sweet Earth Records were about, online, let alone an exploratory show containing interviews with someone associated with each release to come out on the label, which is what I’ve managed to piece together. I hope you enjoy it. With that, I’ll stop typing and leave you with those two hours of audio Sweet Earth Records special / See’s To Exist show. Happy New Year!
Bright moments,
Carlo
Boy talks: Alfred Tarazi Daniel Johnston Don Van Vliet Hans Feibusch Nick Blinko Palais de Tokyo Pat Douthwaite Rasha Kahil Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space Saatchi Online Slick Art Fair Step Up vagina Wesley Willis
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Eggsciting Occurrences
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Eggsciting Occurrences
Several eggs have hatched as of late.
Firstly, I have been running a few workshops for both Hans Feibusch Club and Step Up, both having taken place at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. It’s been great fun and I hope to do more workshops soon. The Feibusch workshops were based on my own design and we looked at the work of Nick Blinko, Wesley Willis, Daniel Johnston, and Don Van Vliet, exploring the relationship between visual art and music when existing within a single person, and the way subconsciously, or consciously, often similar processes are used through the different mediums, due to the characteristics in one’s personality. In the Step Up workshop, we looked at the work of Pat Douthwaite and spent the morning drawing and painting with our ‘alternate hands’ in order to free up and execute the work from a different place. It can be quite enjoyable. Try it if you wish..
The image below of Wesley Willis’s lyrics mirrors the structures of his songs, and the way his lyrics are written also reflect his systematic drawing style. An example of how process is similarly applied throughout his output.
In other news, I seem to have found myself absorbed into a form of popularity contest. I first entered the Saatchi Online Showdown competition back in 2007 and realized that unless I was going to fully campaign to get all sorts of people to vote for me, there was no chance of ‘winning’. I think what happened this time was the competition is solely based on drawings and upon seeing this, for whatever reason I felt like entering a drawing in a momentarily passive state of activity. I didn’t look back at it until it came to my attention via email again a couple of weeks later, and I was made aware that I was in 364th place of 1200. Also, I discovered the top 300 make it to the next phase of voting, the jury vote. So I had a sort of incentive to apply further effort, having achieved this placement without telling a single soul about it, getting only votes from random people on the site thus far. The result of my asking for votes, and actually enjoyably connecting with people I may not correspond with often and having this little reason to underlying, was my floating between 128-270, which has been fluctuating quite dramatically, but remaining in the top 300. This public voting phase ends tomorrow sometime, so if anyone is reading this and hasn’t voted and would care to, please click here It’s my little over-loaded man again.
Lastly, but certainly not least, some of my work will be shown with the Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space at stand G3 alongside works by Rasha Kahil, Hiba Kalache and Alfred Tarazi from October 20 -23rd at the Slick 11 art fair taking place at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. I wonder how much has changed since I was last there as a pre-pubescent. I will find out and try to work through my more than ambitious list of places to go in the little time I have there. Private view is tomorrow (18th Oct) and I guess the 19th might be open to some people too somehow.
That’s all for now.. I will leave you with this little vagina I painted a month or so ago, come in if you wish. haw haw haw.