gordon fraser

As of 090108

2008-09-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

081808

081908

082208

082598

082608

082708

work in progress 08.17.08

2008-08-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

After taking a break for most of the summer, I began painting again this weekend. A couple of weeks ago I pulled out a canvas that I began back in June 07 that I had turned to the wall and hadn't looked at for a while. I've been looking at it now on a daily basis and finally on Saturday I started to work on it again, drawing back into it and reestablishing the forms and divisions of space. This morning I mixed up some egg tempera and...

08.16.08

08.17.08

The Great American Service Program for the 21st Century - A Message to Barak Obama

2008-06-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Senator Obama,
About a month ago in the NY Times there were two articles next to each other. The first discussed a shortage of workers for the apple and fruit orchards in upstate New York, brought on by the anti-immigrant movement. The second article related the difficulties that college students and recent graduates are having finding summer work. It occurred to me that a very common sense approach to both of these issues would be to develop a program for college students to work at these small family farms picking fruits and vegetables. They would be paid and also receive some form of college credit for their service. With parental permission, this program could also be extended to high school age students by setting up camp like situations that would involve supervision, education programs (including science, business, economics, and history), work picking fruit (as opposed to the usual sports activities of most camps that many young people are not interested in to begin with).

I think such a program offers a number of positive benefits. First and foremost, vital needs for labor and employment will be met. Second, rather than simply work, the students and young people will learn vital lessons about where our food comes from. This helps foster a deeper sense of shared community, service and interdependence. The will begin to appreciate farming as a vital, rewarding, and fulfilling livelihood and greater form of service to their communities and nation. The will learn teamwork and group building skills. They will learn and begin to appreciate the values and history of the American family farm in an era multinational agribusinesses, that will soon see global food shortages. The will learn vital lessons in science and biology, business and economics.

I believe the benefits of such a program cannot be overstated and could be clearly and easily articulated to the public. It is a non-partisan issue that appeals to people across the whole political spectrum. It is a national issue that avoids the narrow pitfalls of local "pork-barrel" spending. All it needs is a leader like yourself to stand-up and advocate for such a program and probably a very modest initial federal investment/tax incentives to help get it off the ground and running, as it would ultimately be self-sustaining given that there is a product to be sold. It is my hope that you will consider this issue and lead it to become the first great American service program of the 21st century.

Work in progress (portraits) -4/8

2008-04-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

These are two versions I have been working on, playing with color and value. See the preliminary graphite studies below.

show and tell

2008-03-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

after cecille / prismacolor / 5" x 6"
© 2007 gordon fraser. all rights reserved. www.gordonfraserfinearts.com

I posted the above drawing to a drawing forum on artreview.com and received a number of replies from the impassioned defense, to the legitimate questioning, to the ridiculous dismissal/panning by the court jester. I then posted the following reply. [see the whole conversation here...]

Byron, Alaleh and Jonathan all raise some interesting questions, establishment vs. anti-establishment, abstraction vs. realism, illustration, decoration, basically the stuff we as artists (an the non-artists critics) have been tangling with for the last 150 years! I started to jot down some notes and realized I have a lot to say about all of them. At this point I will have to sidebar those discussions to a different forum so as not to take away from the art being shown here. That being said, given that this is "Show and Tell" I will offer a few comments. For the purpose of the discussion I will try to separate formal questions from questions of content, but in reality in the process of drawing, the concerns interpenetrate and cannot be separate. First, in terms of content, this painting is about desire, pretty straight forward establishment content going back hundreds/thousands of years, so to byron's point I do not view this piece as anti-establishment. It is a question/conversation/meditation I have been engaged with for about six months and it offers one viewpoint among many. The brief history is that this project began as 5 minute poses in the studio with a clothed model, who happens to be a dancer, over a two week period back in october. The initial studio sketches were executed in watercolour and I have carried on this work in oil, watercolour, collage, and prismacolor pencils, using both the sketches and memory of some poses as inspiration. This is one example.

Now to the more formal issues:
1) Mark making - I have used gestural marks and scribbles to convey the energy and excitement of desire, which often can feel uncontrollable and overwhelming when it is being experience.

2) colour - the dominant colour of the piece is red, chosen first off because the model has red hair and there was red fabric hanging on the wall behind where the model was posing. I then pushed and changed the hue, layering different reds (which unfortunately can't be seen so well on the computer screen) in order to develop a sense of the warmth, heat, and excitement of desire. The red moves very quickly toward the viewer and allows me to pull the background right to the surface, compressing the space of whole composition. Secondarily, the two blue planes sandwich and squeeze the red plane, creating a dynamic tension and opening up the space of the composition.

3) composition - the compositional structure is very simple, built on a tilted plane, stolen from the italian masters such as Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, etc., to provide a dynamic structure to both house and convey energy and excitement. It helps create the movement and space in the drawing.

work in progress - 3/21

2008-03-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some crappy cell phone pictures of some collages I've been playing around with in the studio.

introversions closing get down!!!

2008-03-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

Join us next Friday March 21st for some great music and of course my paintings!!!
For location and directions see map

Work in Progress

2008-03-06T07:05:00.000-08:00

Working on something a bit different...these are graphite studies for a large watercolour portrait.

Saatchi Showdown - Latest Head to Head | the blind swimmer

2008-03-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

Check out the latest Saatchi Showdown head to head, but be forewarned...Mores Rabenstern's paper collage "Searching for New Ways" certainly looks like a search and an unfruitful one at that, as he seems to have stumbled upon creating a fashion ad circa a few years ago and if there is a concept in there i'm at a loss...and Erik Weiser's piece looks like a sorry excuse for a Dubuffet. Sorry guys, no offense to the artists who no doubt work hard, but this is bad student work. Hopefully these two artists are students with a drive to grow and develop further as artists. But at this point I have to ask, where is the craft and where is the concept? From a visual analysis, both compositions are built on circles situated dead center on the surface and bisect with strong verticals. This creates static compositions that lock the eyes in place in the center. Despite the busy surface design in both pieces, neither one creates a sense of movement or tension, thus failing to create any visual interest. In terms of color, both artists are working with gray palettes that fail to capture the mystery, emotional subtlety, and nuance of gray. Instead the grays used here hit the viewer as dead on arrival, which, if its any consolation is the same effect as the use of gray by art market hero Jasper Johns, as currently seen at the Met.

Unfortunately, I have to imagine that these two artists made it here to the head to head, because they have the biggest email lists. And of course, in this forum that is how it works. (In the nature of full disclosure...I have participated in three Saatchi Showdowns and have gotten creamed, the first one I sent out to my list and had a large response, but still scored below a 6 out of 10, the other two I didn't send to my list and did not see that many people view and voting for my pieces and average was below 5.) I don't expect the best artwork to emerge from this kind of forum, but I have to imagine that there are a lot of emerging artists producing serious painting, sculpture, installation, etc., that show both strong craft skills and conceptual frameworks, that have their work posted on Saatchi. One would hope that those voting could be a little more discriminating.[...more]

View Saatchi Showdown

Read more at the blindswimmer.com

JC Fridays - March 7, 2008

2008-03-03T08:40:00.001-08:00

Art House Productions presents

HUDSON COUNTY ART SLAM!!

A powerful exhibition of over 20 contemporary artists with
live music, visual inspiration & interactive creativity.

FRIDAY, MARCH 7TH, 2008 * 7:30PM-12AM * FREE!
A JC Fridays Event

Art House Productions
at Hamilton Square
1 McWilliams Place, Roof
Jersey City, NJ
(SE Corner of Hamilton Park near Erie/8th)
Barrier-free

Additional viewing hours:
Saturday, March 8th * 2-6pm

Join us for a SLAM! of astronomic proportions
Hosted by Roland Ramos

MUSIC BY:
Terrence McManus (8:00- 9:00)
Dave Calamoneri (9:15 - 9:45)
Sailors in Rags (10:00 - 10:45)
Lloyd United (11:00 - 11:30)
Bioluminessence (11:30 - 12:00)

VISUAL ARTISTS: Gordon Fraser, Sauman Choy, NuKeM, Christine Goodman,
Felix Gosse, John Ruddy, Chris Kappmier, Ali Brief, David Ribyat, Robert
David, hyphen-One, Roxana Marroquin, Wase, Leo Genese, Gene Wisniewski, David
Calamoneri, Amy Bauer, Ramon Arcadio, Camilo Godoy, Henry
"quester" Hechavarria, "Saint" Marcelo Dos Santos, K. Shelton, Vanessa
Corranza, Laura Stagnaro Martinez, Rodolfo Diaz, Scet, Cristina Villaflor,

Support provided by LaOla.org

***ALL ARTWORK FOR SALE***
***Cutting edge artwork at unoppressive prices***

We now accept all major credit cards

For more information, please contact
info@arthouseproductions.org or call (201) 915-9911

www.arthouseproductions.org

for more information visit www.jcfridays.com

The Terrible Toll of Art Anxiety

2008-02-28T07:44:00.001-08:00

In today's New York Times there is an interesting article entitled, The Terrible Toll of Art Anxiety. It specifically discusses the experience of collector looking for art to purchase but who are overwhelmed by not understanding the content of the work they see in galleries. There has been a growing gap between artists and those who collect and appreciate art. It is the same gap that exists between specialists and lay people in any discipline. This of course is not a new idea and people have been arguing about it for over a hundred years now. Fifty years ago it was the anxiety of the artist that was the major concern and their was much discussion of the anxiety of art or to use the critic Harold Rosenberg’s term in referring to art objects, “The Anxious Object.”

While this is a multifaceted issue with no one cause or solution, there are two issues I think would be good places for beginning a discussion. First, has to do with the artists, I specifically have in mind painters but this may apply to other disciplines as well, the problem here is when the theory comes first and the visual second. The other issue is the need to recognize that painting requires time. It is not like advertising that needs to reveal its message in 5 or 10 seconds. I think both of this issues open up great topics for discussion. [...more]

The Blind Swimmer – A new blog for painting and abstraction

2008-02-27T11:44:00.001-08:00

I've recently started a new blog devoted to painting and abstraction that I will be updating on a daily basis, so please join in the conversation there as well!!!

theblindswimmer.com

Notes on Drawing

2008-02-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

Drawing for a visual artist is like practicing scales or arpeggios for a musician. It's how I grow as an artist. Where I develop ideas, resolve compositional problems. It helps me clear my mind and focus before I start painting. It's a playground. I can use graphite, I can use charcoal, scissors, ink, brush, a twig.

In my drawing play is an important element and having lots of inexpensive sketchbooks and paper around allows me to feel free to do lots of them and not worry about wasting materials or cost. When I am at work and away from the studio I swipe post-it note pads and fill them up with tiny little doodles. Often times I can resolve compositional problems between typesetting or while I'm on the phone that I am struggling with in the studio. Or begin the nascent process of developing new compositions. [...more]

theblindswimmer.com

Despite Gentrification and Recession, Arts Continue To Thrive in Downtown Jersey City

2008-02-13T19:48:00.001-08:00

Jersey City, NJ – It’s been three years now since artists were driven from the Downtown Powerhouse Arts District, following a long and bitter dispute with billionaire developer Lloyd Goldman, leading many artists to abandon Jersey City in search of affordable housing and studio space elsewhere. Those that have stayed have witnessed an extended campaign of harassment and intimidation. 58 Gallery, one of the few remaining exhibition and performance spaces has felt the full force of this campaign, leading founder Orlando Reyes to significantly scale back the gallery’s schedule of exhibitions and performances. In addition, the recent settlement between Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy’s Administration and Goldman paves the way for the demolition of the iconic 111 First St. building with its artist studios, galleries and exhibition spaces, to be replaced with two non-descript luxury high-rise apartment and condominium buildings. All these developments seem to portend an abandonment of the arts in downtown Jersey City. But don’t tell that to the hundred plus people who made their way to the Grassroots Arts Facility this past Saturday for the opening of Introversions, an exhibition of paintings by local Jersey City artist Gordon Fraser.

Introversions, an exhibition of 10 major new egg tempera and oil paintings and 20 watercolors is representative of Fraser’s recent work, and explores the fusion of eastern and western “old master” techniques with his post-Expressionist vision. For the last several years, Gordon has been experimenting with different recipes and formulas to develop a painting medium that captures and conveys a glowing sense of luminosity. Judging from the response of those in attendance at the opening, Gordon has hit the mark. The colors and the paintings glow on the wall, from the large canvases to the small watercolors, and collectors were keen to support this exciting and sublime work.

Introversions runs through Friday March 21, 2008 at the Grassroots Arts Facility, 143 Christopher Columbus Drive, in downtown Jersey City, one block west of the Grove Street Path Station. The gallery is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays from 3pm – 8pm. Established in 2007, the Grassroots Arts Facility seeks to be the “new cultural hub in Jersey City.” Incorporating approximately 10,000 square feet on four floors, the Grassroots Arts Facility is home to the Lex Leonard Gallery, Toy Eaters Studio and the Grassroots Boutique and Gallery. For more information on the Grassroots Arts Facility, contact Colin Comstock, 610 209-5059, learsenalav@gmail.com or Gordon Fraser, gordon@gordonfraserfinearts.com.

Grassroots Arts Facility
143 Christopher Columbus Drive
Jersey City, NJ 07302
(corner of Christopher Columbus and Barrow)

Opening reception: Saturday, February 9, 2008, 7-10 pm
Gallery hours: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 3-8 pm

Thank You for the great night @ Grassroots Arts Facility!

2008-02-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

Thank all you very much for coming to the opening on Saturday night. For those not in Jersey City, I greatly appreciate your making the trek over to Jersey City it helped make for a wonderful evening. I know for some, the trip under the river the is a bit daunting, as you need your passport, birth certificate, three other forms of identification, and some green to pass through the NJ Customs. However, we a had a great turnout and all the support was very rewarding and such a pleasure. And an extra special thanks for everyone who made the evening a resounding success!

If you were unable to make it to the opening this past Saturday, the show will be up until March 21st. The gallery is open Th, F, Sat 3 - 8pm, I'll probably be there on Saturdays. We plan to have an event on March 7th as part of the Jersey City Fridays. For those who may not know JC Fridays is the first Friday of each month and many of the venues schedule special events and performances. I will have additional work in two group shows with openings that night. I'll have a few pieces at Skinner's Loft, a great new restaurant a block from where my show is now, and the other other will be at the Art House Productions space. So, you can make an evening of art and good food in Jersey City on March 7th and not only enjoy my show at Grassroots Arts Facility, but lot's of other artists work as well!

introversions - installation

2008-02-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

introversions: an exhibition of paintings by gordon fraser from LE ARSENAL AV on Vimeo.

introversions - a solo exhibition opening february 9, 2008

2008-01-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

introversions
an exhibition of paintings
by gordon fraser

9 february – 21 march 2008
opening reception
saturday 9 february 7 – 10 pm

grassroots arts facility
143 christopher columbus, third floor
gallery hours 3 – 8 pm th, f, s
www.gordonfraserfinearts.com

about the show:

Internal observations. Initial interpretations. Looking to memories, emotions, and imaginings as inspiration, the paintings are introspections. Arising and emerging simply and unpredictably – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly – with clumsiness and grace, tentatively and with force. Observing the inner relationships – the interrelationships of shape, form, color, structure, gesture, and the resulting perceptions of space. Beginning with a question: What would that look like? What if?

A presence, an evocation, an inspiration. Will you stand and look? Introspect? Paintings ask us to be present and observe. Present with them and with ourselves, if only for a moment, in the way that we are present with our partners, a mountain vista, or our own thoughts and our own breath. They are the beginnings of creating and exploring some of the limitless possibilities of inspiration. They are introversions.

View Larger Map

The Life of a Painting

2008-01-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

The new year is here and I have been thinking for a long time to post more frequently and to begin to both articulate my own thoughts on painting and art and to open up a forum for discussion.

As always I am almost constantly reading and recently picked up The Writings of Robert Motherwell (The Writings of Rober Motherwell @ amazon.com) off of my bookshelf. I've tried several times to read selections from it but have never been drawn in. This time however it seems that almost every piece I read I get a couple of awesome nuggets.

The following is from an essay titled "Preliminary Notice to Apollinaire's The Cubist Painters."

"Some speak as if all cubism had been a mode of showing an object from four sides. Apollinaire saw more deeply: 'The canvas should present that essential unity which alone can elicit ecstacy.' He understood that the unity of a work depends on its internal relations, and consequently why the cubists were led to deny the claims of representation in favor of structure."

What painting in the 20th century has shown us is that the life of a painting is in its surface and its structure not its content, be that representational or non-representational. If the surface-structure of a painting is weak the painting feels dead to the viewer. In other words, the relationship with the viewer culminates in disappointment or worse indifference.

Gordon Fraser
14 January 2007

©2008 Gordon Fraser.
All Rights Reserved.
www.gordonfraserfinearts.com

Exploring states 'between dreaming and reality'

2007-10-12T07:38:00.001-07:00

Exploring states 'between dreaming and reality'
Friday, October 12, 2007
By JANET PURCELL
Special to the Times

Excerpted from the Trenton Times at www.nj.com

Sauman Choy began her artistic career sketching and practicing Chinese calligraphy with her father. She was just 5 years old at the time and living in Hong Kong, where she was born.

Now she's 28, living in the United States, and continuing her emergence on the art scene with a unique body of work that recently has been on exhibit at Hopewell Frame Shop's Gallery.

Choy earned a bachelor's de gree in printmaking at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and is studying oil painting and mixed media at The Art Students League in New York City. She was awarded the Certificate of Excellence for Academic Achievement, The President's Award and an International Scholarship from Pratt, as well as a Work Study Scholarship from The Art Student's League.

All this is mentioned at the be ginning of this review to make it clear that although she is an emerging artist, she is one with considerable talent.

On her Web site (www.saumanchoy.com), Choy writes about the magic that occurs for her just as she begins to drift off to sleep. "As the day's events come to a close, and our thinking winds down, something seemingly springs for ward from within us," she says. "These paintings are the attempt to capture those fleeting mo ments."

Her work is pure abstraction and is created using an oil-glazing and gold-leaf technique.

"Dreamland," for example, is a 12-inch-square oil on canvas to which she added bits of gold leaf to a violet and soft purple painting that seems to call to mind an antique floral bouquet. It's soft and delicate.

"Fallen Angel," however, is a 30-by-40-inch painting that can best be described as dramatic. A black background warmed by aliza rin crimson supports gold-leaf frag ments, some of which are reddened and some left bright gold. Gold-leaf confetti pieces appear to be bursting through the darkness of night.

"I'm In The Mood For Love" suggests another state of mind that occurs before sleep creeps in. This is another large painting -- 40 by 30 inches. The palette is a feminine one in pinks and purple on subtle gray. The viewer's eye travels through splatters of purple and black as it goes to a centered white space.

On her Myspace blog (www.myspace.com/saumanchoy), Choy says, "We all experience the mystical states between dreaming and reality, a spontaneous fuzzy visionary sparkling in our mind. My work is about the visualization of these 'afterimages' as a process of self- awareness."

Although her paintings are layers of glazed colors, there is noth ing "fuzzy" about them. But they do sparkle. The top layer of glazing catches the light and when you look through it you see drips and spatters, smears and splashes.

"Fallen Embers," a 24-inch-square painting is like that. A layered white background has many colors showing through to the surface while red, blue and gold leaf are seen in a crevicelike area.

"Splash," another modest-size work, makes a big energetic statement with vivid blues, white, yellow and red -- and even a suggestion of orange at the bottom. "Universal Traveler" is done in earth tones and a crackly burst of silver leaf. And "Oasis," the largest piece in the show, measuring 60 by 40 inches, has a surface covered with greens and blues and patches of gold leaf laid on thick in some areas and thin in others.

Abby Frantz, founding owner of the gallery, says Choy's father-in- law, a longtime customer, suggested she interview Choy for a possible exhibit. "They came down from Jersey City (where Choy lives with her husband) and when she brought the work in I was completely knocked out. I was stunned," she says. "I got no suggestion from the Web site of the vi brancy of the color and the depth and layers. At the opening, (reception) people were overwhelmed with her."

"Using oil and glazing and gold- leaf technique, I intend to create a luminous and reflective light effect in my works," Choy says. "The choice of colors is a vital element for capturing the characteristic aura directly related to my emotional life. ... The saturated imagery allows us to revisit the world between dreaming and reality. This journey evokes the co-existence between the afterimages and our myriad emotions."

Choy's work has been exhibited at Columbia University's Center for Women's Reproductive Care, the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour '06, The Art Student League of New York, and several galleries at the Pratt Institute.

http://www.nj.com/living/times/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1192162337156980.xml&coll=5

Jersey City Artists Studio Tour (Official Press Release)

2007-09-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Jersey City Artists Studio Tour Enters 17th Year
Fastest Growing Arts Scene Features Hundreds of Artists
Dozens of Free Exhibitions, Galleries, Museums, and Live Entertainment

JERSEY CITY -- Experience the East Coast's fastest growing arts scene
at the 17th Annual Jersey City Artists Studio Tour on Oct. 6 and 7th,
2007 from noon to 6 p.m. This free event is accessible by public
transportation via the PATH, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, and NJ
Transit bus or train.

This year's tour will feature hundreds of artists, dozens of
exhibitions, galleries, museums, live music and performances, food,
drink and parties – all located just five minutes from Manhattan.

Sponsored by Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, the City of Jersey City
Division of Cultural Affairs and Pro Arts, the Jersey City Artists
Studio Tour includes group exhibitions throughout the city and at some
of the city's premier galleries.

Come explore Jersey City's arts market, where there is truly something
for everyone.

Public transportation from NYC, take the MTA subway or bus to the
PATH. Take the Journal Square PATH train to Grove Street station.
Studio Tour maps and shuttle buses will be available at that location.

For more information on the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour, contact
the Division of Cultural Affairs at 201-547-4333./////

Jersey City Artist Studio Tour 10/6 & 10/7

2007-09-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

Jersey City Artists Studio Tour
Oct. 6th & 7th
Downtown Jersey City
12-5pm
See you there!!!

Google Map to the studio!!!

Notes On Being a Painter (Response to Dave Hahn’s On Being a Musician)

2007-08-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

I recently read my friend Dave Hahn's thoughts On Being a Musician (www.myspace.com/dubwisdom). It was a great piece and has been kicking around in my head the last few days. I'll quote the part that really struck me and got me started thinking, "It's sad that people would still judge the success of their art based on whether or not its providing them with a paycheck. It's understandable that in this world that we would tend to identify ourselves with whatever it is we do to make money."

Without delving too far into the historic or psychological roots of this phenomenon I would simply and generally state that our sense of self and identity is formed in large part by what it is we spend the most time doing in our lives (for better or for worse). It's not "I think therefore, I am" it has become "I do, therefore I am." I work in law, I am a lawyer. I work in medicine, I am a doctor. I make music, I am a musician. I paint pictures, I am a painter. As you can see it's hardwired into our language and thus into the way we think and experience ourselves and our world.

Now consider the fact that as humans, we crave acknowledgement and approval of our activities. In the "democratic" and "capitalist" society we live in, money has become the primary source of approval and is seen as the most legitimate gauge of success. Money thus legitimates what we do and therefore who we are. "I make money therefore, I am." Take this a step further, flip it around, twirl it in the air, and you have the mantra of our day – "I consume, therefore I am." Since, in our society we spend the majority of our time working to make money to pay for the necessities of survival and for the comforts of consumption, "What I do to make money," becomes "Who I am." And of course none of this guarantees happiness or mental health or fulfillment or joy or wholeness.

OK, these are deep ideas and well beyond the scope of a little blog entry. How do they connect to being a painter? A musician? An artist?First, as humans we all crave recognition and acknowledgement – which is nothing more than to say we need some form of direct human contact or communication – intimacy. As artists and musicians our creative processes and creative endeavors are nothing more than complex ways of opening ourselves up to and engaging the people and the world around us. It is exciting and fulfilling when people take time to engage us by listening to our music, looking at our paintings, etc. It is a special and unique form of human intimacy. And as with any form of intimacy it can be joyful, painful, playful, scary, etc. – the whole rich variety of emotional experience. While intimacy is rewarding and reason enough for engaging in the creative process, making money with our art also provides a powerful feeling of social approval and a legitimization of our activities.

A few last thoughts, from a psychological or philosophical perspective our sense of self or identity is a complex process – one in which we as humans have come to have a more active and conscious role. The recognition that we play an active role as authors or creators of our own identity and sense of self has been a very powerful and important development over the last 100-200 years. It is now widely recognized that "self-narration" and "self-creation" is a fundamental characteristic of human nature and that maintaining the ability to self-narrate is a fundamental human right – a wonderful and positive development. It has also led to the popularized notion that we are all "creative" that we are all "artists." However, the idea that there are 7 billion "artists" in the world is a bit of an overwhelming thought for an artist – threatening meaninglessness. The problem is – if we are all artists, then the word "artist" is potentially meaningless, and my self-created identity as an artist is potentially meaningless. This is obviously a big complex issue for artists, particularly visual artists, and I will only remark briefly here. For many artists, the ability to say that one makes money or lives by their artwork becomes an even stronger anchor to which to tether one's sense of self in the face of a raging hurricane of meaninglessness.
Peace,
Gordon Fraser
www.gordonfraserfinearts.com
www.myspace.com/gordon_fraser

The Writing on the Walls – Of Love & Riots @ 58 Coles – Jersey City, NJ

2007-08-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

There's a lot one could say about the current show at 58 Coles (www.myspace.com/58coles – Of Love & Riots put on by the Trust Your Struggle Collective www.trustyourstruggle.com. There's the art – a blend of mural painting, relief, found object, and graffiti – installed with the haste of an illicit tag by the artists this past week and accented with candles and a live dj for the opening. Then there are the political and social messages – oppression and the struggle for social justice. And of course there are the artists themselves – Borish, Cece, Erin "Charm" Yoshioka, Miguel "Bounce" Perez, Robert Trujillo, Shaun Turner, Scott La Rockwell, DJ Jonny Paycheck, DJ King Tres – and their collective movement – Trust Your Struggle – based out of the San Fransisco Bay area and New York City.

It's safe to say we all know what love is – deep human empathy and connection. While a riot is usually understood to be a violent public disturbance, violent disorder or confusion, riot also refers to a brilliant display, as in "a riot of colors;" to grow wild in abundance; and, something very funny. The Trust Your Struggle collective puts together a floor to ceiling display of love and the struggle for dignity, reminding us of our shared human connections.

Entering the gallery you are pushed back by a phalanx of wooden soldiers, helmets, shields, and guns bulging out of the wall – a present day vision of Uccello's Battle of San Romano. The effect is to transform you from a mere spectator to an active participant in an ongoing human struggle. To remind you that both inside and outside the gallery walls you are always already under assault and part of a real and vital war for dignity and justice. Moving through the space, we come upon two altars commemorating both death and the anonymous masked revolutionaries among us who resist the ongoing assault on our dignity and that of our family and friends. We are asked both to recognize them and meditate upon what this means to us, as we bow are heads to watch the flickering candles on the floor. An oversize portrait of an adolescent gangster watches over the whole scene, proudly displaying his camaraderie while his eyes betray fear and a sense of resignation. While the mood of the front room communicates feelings of anger, frustration, indignation, and fear, the work in the back room back room bears witness to the personal sadness and pain. We see the victims and are asked to recognize of family and friends, to feel compassion and empathy, to connect with their humanity.

On Friday night of the opening, friends chatted with friends, strangers chatted with strangers. A vibe of love was in the air, coursing through our bodies with the beats of the music spun by the two djs. An impromptu dance circle formed with beautiful bodies moving and shaking and sweating together. And I hope everyone like me had a riot.
-Gordon Fraser
www.gordonfraserfinearts.com
www.myspace.com/gordon_fraser