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Big day

Post #1222 • August 22, 2008, 3:23 PM • 23 Comments

Today's the opening at Common Sense. Come one, come all.

On display are a variety of works of recent vintage and a fair sampling of original art from The Moon Fell On Me. Also, I did a painting on the glass divider at the entrance, pictured badly below. I'll take some more installation shots this evening.

Franklin Einspruch: The Large Glass, 2008, acrylic, 48 x 218 inches

PS - See also three newly-posted works from July and five done on the road.

Comment

1.

Jack

August 22, 2008, 3:13 PM

Um, I don't know, but I kind of expected Edmonton to look more, well, exotic or something. Sleds and dogs and wild characters and stuff. Those cars in the parking lot look so...prosaic. Nice title for the window art, though.

2.

Jack

August 22, 2008, 8:58 PM

Well, maybe Ahab could start a brawl during the opening, so the Royal Mounted Police would have to come and break it up, or the prostitutes from the local saloon could crash the party, or there could be a bear attack...you know, local color...I sure hope it's not like a typical opening in Miami, at any rate.

3.

Chris Rywalt

August 23, 2008, 9:42 AM

Personally, I'm hoping for mooses.

I like the idea of painting on the windows. Very cool.

4.

MC

August 23, 2008, 9:52 AM

I am happy to report that the caribou were lowing an the fermented maple syrup was flowing: a good time was had by all. Well, except for the bear attack victims, of course, but otherwise... I hear the artist even sold a few works, eh.

5.

Franklin

August 23, 2008, 11:28 AM

MC hears correctly. Today's plan, to sleep until noon, has been duly accomplished, with Supergirl outdoing herself as always and still snoozing.

6.

MC

August 23, 2008, 11:47 AM

(Little do the lazy heads know, outside the Flair, there's a stack of freshly-made blueberry pancakes over at MC's house ripe for the munching...)

7.

Chris Rywalt

August 23, 2008, 2:18 PM

Caribou! Pancakes! Loggers! Plaid! It's CANADA!

8.

ahab

August 23, 2008, 8:37 PM

It's not my fault, but I'm of prosaically passivist stock, Jack.

"TIOWWCA" was a fairly well-attended event, marred not in the least by the scads of Brewhouse.

9.

ahab

August 23, 2008, 8:54 PM

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night. I work all day.

I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.

I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.

I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Papa

10.

Chris Rywalt

August 23, 2008, 9:14 PM

I haven't heard that song in a coon's age! Lucky for me I have the entire series of Monty Python right here.

11.

ahab

August 23, 2008, 10:05 PM

The best piece in the show: A Bath and a Magazine.

The best piece not in the show: 9th image from TMFoM: I-15

It was very very informative to see these works in their material reality after my familiarity with their online digital reproduction. Many pieces that I didn't initially like on the web were surprisingly deep in person; and, also somewhat unexpectedly, some few pieces I did like turned out upon handling to be less than spectacular. One reason for the dissonance may be testable - the watercolours painted on smooth stock scanned beautifully, while by way of the same scanner those on toothy paper generally traded veritable exquisiteness for filtered (false) texture. Other reasons, such as the fickleness of my taste, are less testable.

Something I also found peculiar was the tenacity of the poetry that accompanied TMFoM images. Looking at the set of images comprising I-79 Suite: OH, I could not avoid thinking "chinese landscape into sherbet served on orange plates". Likewise with the iconic little trucks accompanying "asphalt asthenosphere". Some of the little pictures need the text to animate them, others stand alone just fine thankyou.

This maybe doesn't need to be said, but the actual painted colours aren't very accurately represented on the glass screen of my computer. They're much better-mixed and better-applied than the digimage reproductions let one see.

Considering them for the little painted treatments that they are, these small watercolours and gouaches are very good.

12.

Jack

August 24, 2008, 7:23 AM

Well, Ahab, I think if people are going to live in Canada, especially in Alberta, they should have the decency to fit the proper stereotype. I mean, it's so much simpler if they do. I trust that the bear attack victims are recovering nicely and that there were no arrests because of the saloon prostitutes.

13.

MC

August 24, 2008, 9:06 AM

Actually Jack, a couple of them had some pretty nasty gashes...

14.

ahab

August 24, 2008, 9:39 AM

Oooh... ouch.

15.

1

August 24, 2008, 10:08 AM

not sure what you had in the show, but based on the watercolor images and some other stuff from late 2007 - 2008 on your web page, here is my opinion.

i like seated nude ochre best of the model pics (good line color and comp). seated nude red and nude w/ blanket (drawing) were also nice. from the still life pics i really liked the yellow pot and the begonia part from "soap and begonia". the larger of the african violet pics was also good, but the pot could have used a little more bold accents, everything else very nice in this pic.

the 1-79 suite:ohio was nice and the rectangle pie format provides you with a great tool to experiment with color while yielding some very nice results. pretty much liked them all. minor quibble, on 5, wish the sun in the upper left corner had a little more defintiion or stronger outline like the green landscape just below on the edge. the last image is probably the weakest.

16.

Jack

August 24, 2008, 12:11 PM

Re 14, Ahab, were you mauled by a bear, or did the prostitutes, uh, force their attentions on you?

17.

Chris Rywalt

August 24, 2008, 1:37 PM

Look for his upcoming memoir, Raped by Bears: The Untold Story of Edmonton.

18.

FYI

August 24, 2008, 6:15 PM

John Russell, Former Times Art Critic, Dies at 89

19.

ahab

August 24, 2008, 9:51 PM

I told you. I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay.

20.

Milé Murtanovski

August 25, 2008, 10:37 AM

I love "Seated Nude (Ochre)". You've captured the hip/thigh area very nicely. Also of great niceness is the area above her right hand and that wonderful spot at the top left where the blue pooled giving that unmistakable watercoloury texture I love so much.

21.

wwc

August 26, 2008, 6:38 AM

Congrats Franklin, and those glass drawings on the windows are great.

22.

MC

August 26, 2008, 8:23 AM

Another 'Action/Abstraction' review... FYI.

23.

opie

August 26, 2008, 9:37 AM

Your comment on the article is articulate, well taken and right, MC

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