Monday, March 31, 2014

reporting for duty

posting the latest work...circles everywhere!



"weaving time" acrylic on canvas 16x14 2014 jgasowski

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Sam Francis @ the Crocker Museum, Sacramento

Spent another afternoon looking at the artwork of Sam Francis, this time with my friend artist Elizabeth Smith, It was wonderful to hear her excited exclamations as we rounded the corner to see his paintings and then stood in front of each piece, " how exciting!" how beautiful!"... I got a chance to look closer again and enjoy the paint, the color,the process, to notice which paintings were done on large scale then edited down to stretcher size, which were painted flat on the ground "as-is",I loved the dirt and floor crust in his paint. I got to re-read in amazement how ill he was at the beginning (and end) of his career, attending his first museum exhibition in full body cast because of spinal tuberculosis, being wheeled around on a gurney to see the show, and later so sick with cancer unable to use but one arm to paint with (great thick puddles of color here). the show covered 50 years of art-making! (making me realize how short my time has been ).

here are a few images I (secretly ) took  (feel like James Kalm)-






Saturday, March 15, 2014

a continuum

                                                                         "space/time"
                                                                     acrylic on canvas
                                                                              24x20   
                                                                       2014 jgasowski

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Peddeling Artwalk

I was about to succumb to another sittin-in-front-of-the-computer watching-tv kinda night,when I remembered it was 2nd Saturday+ ARTWALK... so I got on my trusty 2 wheeler and headed out to downtown and my usual round of galleries. First off was 2110 K st  (21Ten Art Complex)., where I had my show a few months back... I enjoyed a few of the works from artist  DIANE RUHKALA BELL and the guitar playing of Michael Sean Miller....
 

 
 and found this underpainting in one of the studios, which i liked, and this wonderful surreal piece by De gonzalez :


 
 
 from there I cruised a bit and headed to coffee @ Pete's and a sandwich @ Mr. Pickles
(I still havent found that knockout Deli yet,, you know the one Im talking about)
 where i enjoyed some young street musicians who, for my dollar contribution,
played a punk waltz for me...


 
 while eating, I ran into artist friend Evan Thomas , and talked about his imminent relocation to the the bay area , I then headed over to RED DOT Gallery (2231 J st.) which functions as a hair salon on normal days and opens up for artshows on Artwalk, (the art stays up of course all month). This was my favorite art of the night.  Monoprints and painting by Tina Pressler (www.tinapressler.com)

 
 and this small painting:
 
 
 
 ( My sincere apology to those artists, whose names I didnt write down)....
 
and Im happy to report its that time again:  The crow migration!!
 



 
 
if your in the area, please look up and enjoy these galleries and the many more in sacramento!!
 
 
 
 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Klee's campout

                                                               
                                                                " Klee's Campout'
                                                              20x12  acrylic/collage
                                                (tissue,masking tape,paint skin on canvas)

jgasowski 2014
 

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

wonderful paint

                                                
                                       http://cueartfoundation.org/alfredo-gisholt

                    

Indian Space painters: David Finley Jr Gallery

http://www.davidfindlayjr.com/artist-page--howard-daum.html


I have always had an affinity with the paintings of these northwest artists, there is something structurally resonant in it for me , something I actually picked up in Kandinsky much earlier reading 'Point and Line to Plane": the 'touch' of the shape /form in relationship to another gives off a powerful emotive vibration. I can also point out the Sistine Chapel- the space between God's finger and Adam's:That minute space contains all the potential of life.
In this artwork the shallow (flat) space is(for me) about relationships, how one thing moves about without overlapping, and the succinct shapes are concrete presences of being.


 
Howard Daum
Red, White, Black
c. 1960
oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches
 

one two three

one new:                                               "somewhere unknown'
                                                              12x10" acrylic on canvas
                                                               2014 jgasowski

 
two revisited:
 
"redmask" 12x10
acrylic on canvas
 
 
 
"pinklady hashtag"
acrylic/collage on canvas
24x20

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Being here....

Its feels very serendipitous to have wound up in Sacramento, never having been in my mind as a place Id want to be. My brother at one time lived in Marysville, or thereabouts, in fact he died in this area in a car accident on his way back from a casino late at night.
 I know I visited him several times when I went to stay with my sister in Pacifica. He and his family were living on the edge of an orchard  right off  the highway.  I even travelled north from New Mexico through Nevada over mountains to come see him. At the time it was a was a temporary destination, now it feels like destiny. 
Strangeness: I took one of those Facebook quizzes (that now are too repetitious in design - what animal, what tv show ,what werewolf are you.etc) about language and speech (is it crayfish or crawdad?  kitty-corner or catty corner?) and the results said the characteristics of my speech came from Modesto/Stockton/and another Northern rural area??!  I was thinking that it came from my parents places of origin: Brooklyn and Texas!  Even though I grew up on the coast southwest of here, that seemed far from "farmland".
 My own choices of living spots have always been urban /city : San Francisco-Los Angeles-New York-..of course much of that has to do with being gay and an artist. Even Santa Fe was "city" in the mountains,  and living in Truth or Consequences was as rural as I had ever been.
 The point is now, being here in Sacramento, it feels so right. It feels a right balance between the two:
 Large enough, urban enough without feeling city claustrophobic, and small enough to feel the connection to the land and its history. Another aspect of  the City I enjoyed, there were remnants everywhere of history in architecture. Here I see everyday 'Time" as its was constructed- from Victorian, Craftsman,Modern,Contemporary. 
- and of course Nature! I LOVE TREES! I had no idea that Sac is called the "City of a million Trees"
Its so green here all year round, citrus everywhere along the streets, magnificent Redwoods in yards, constant flowering of plants...Riding my bike through neighborhoods is such a treat...
 Another plus is Sacramento's closeness to the coast, San Francisco, Napa, the mountains, Reno, Tahoe, and of course the 3 rivers that run here.
 And then there's culture enough to feed my soul.. an art scene (not particularly"cutting edge"stuff but good), theater (several small good companies), music..I haven't discovered yet..I know its more rock club than classical..but that's still to be heard, and food- again enough variation to satisfy this fatboy's cravings from Vietnamese to Mexican to burgers.
  The people here are (from my experience so far) friendly, culturally diverse, and unpretentious. There are plenty of  the unemployed and poor, plenty of  Grand old homes ($$$) , Its a town/city financially dependant on  Government /medical/agriculture service jobs.(it took me 10 months to find work)
  For me, life in Sacramento is comfortable . Perhaps that has to do with my age,my finances, and the fact I'm no longer "chasing the carrot".. I still get to paint and show my art (Ive had 6 exhibitions so far in places as varied as coffee houses and government buildings, even managed to sell a few...and have 2 more shows coming up)
 All this just to say simply I enjoy being here.
 




Monday, March 3, 2014

welcome friends!

This is an updated blog, virtually the same as the Art-n-TorC blog but since, well, Im NOT there , I thought Id bring it up to place: Sacramento.
 Im going to try to continue posting new paintings/ writings as I create them , while exploring my new city for other arts and events...Ill try to keep posting on the ArtWalk 2nd Saturdays, other cultural events that I can get to, along with photos. please join me and "Follow' that way I know im reaching an audience..hope you enjoy the changes...James


 
 
fountain at Coffee Garden, my favorite cafe:
http://thecoffeegarden.com/