SABATO, EL ONCE DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
a stunning Louis Eilshemius painting, 'The Rejected Suitor', 1915, in the Phillips Collection, Washington DC. I'm hoping to see this painting when I head over to DC in February for the Philip Guston 'Roma' exhibition. I've never seen an Eilshemius painting in the flesh, so I'm looking forward to studying it.
My friend Peter showed me the amazing Abrams - published book of his work in the late 90's and along with Von Stuck, Kublin, De Chirico and Bocklin, he's an artist I return to when I want to see potent artworks that are heavy with symbolism and duende.

VIERNES, EL NUEVE DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Tonight is the opening of JK Russ' exhibition 'American Dream' at Thermostat Art Gallery in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Although there's a time delay between New Zealand and where we are in the USA, we'll be available to Skype the gallery during the exhibition opening to say hi to those that make it to the show.
The work will be viewable on Russ' website from tomorrow at this link here.

JUEVES, EL NUEVE DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
The link below features photographs from last night's opening of 'Away From Dios' at Galeria CMTV in Barcelona, Spain.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=157908817585333&set=a.121498517893030.8103.100000986481678#!/album.php?aid=2070161&id=1562634693
It's a Facebook link, so you might have 'friend' them first to see the photos.

MIERCOLES, EL OCHO DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Tomorrow is the opening of 'AWAY FROM DIOS' at Galería CMTV in Barcelona, Spain. Below are links to a few of the press releases for the exhibition:
http://www.lamonodigital.net/blog/?p=32733
http://blog.taxiartmagazine.com/2010/12/cmtv-abre-away-from-dios-los-7-1-pecados-capitales/
http://www.comomevesteveras.com/awayfromdios/matthew_couper.htm
http://www.comomevesteveras.com/awayfromdios//
In the last link above, you can see the other work in the exhibition

Bethany Marchman - PEREZA (Sloth) 90 x 90 cm, Óleo sobre tela

MARTES, EL SIETE DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
a copy of Sassetta's 'St Anthony the Hermit being tormented by Devils', the original painting being in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, Italy. I made this copy to emphasise the graffiti on the base of the original, which I adapted into in a large painting from 2006 called 'The Birth of Death (Under Black Light)', but also to try to dodge copyright, which to then,after finishing the drawing, realised that the then 583 year old painting would probably be out of copyright.
You can view the painting 'The Birth of Death...' here:
http://moiv.mattcouper.com/ascendant1.html

LUNES, EL SEIS DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Sassetta's 'St Anthony the Hermit being tormented by Devils', 1423, Panel, 24 x 39 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, Italy. I got this image off the internet, specifically from one of those websites that advertise "quality oil reproductions" of an artwork. They've actually cleaned up this image by removing the incised graffiti that appears along the base of the image.

DOMINGO, EL CINCO DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
I'm just getting ready to start a new painting. At this point, it feels like I've never painted before and I have no idea what I'm doing. I love that feeling. I have no fear of the starting of a painting though, the most painful aspect is the '3/4th finished' dilemma for me, because I expect the painting to be mostly finished, but then the anxiety sets in because I'm getting closer to completion, and often I struggle to assess whether it's finished or not. That's when I tend to find the original primer colour, remix it and scrape it over the painting with a spatula. It sort of bundles the whole painting up, then i can see a bit more clearly to what needs to be done and clarified to complete the work.
At present, I have Sassetta flying around in my head, so I'll be tapping back into his influence that I strongly felt while painting some of the big works in 2006/7

SABATO, EL CUATRO DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
I received this book in the mail today, along with a rare Guston catalogue from a Skidmore College exhibition from the mid 80's titled 'Early And Late Works"
The book I'm holding in the photo is excellent and I'm really enjoying it as it shows Guston's dedication to the process, act and execution of painting. It features many writings, lectures and artist interviews - some I've read previously and some I haven't but it's great to have them in a collected volume. I believe it to be essential reading for any painter, wither to further your knowledge or to just get warm fuzzies from the mulitude of clever analogies and quotes used by Guston to illustrate what it is to paint.

VIERNES, EL TRES DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Last night I went out to an opening at Brett Wesley Gallery in Las Vegas, a three-person show titled 'Wild at Heart'. I particularly like the work of Sri Whipple because of it's smart art-historical referencing and knowledge and freedom of subject matter. Unfortunately, the better paintings, which had a plethora of penis and vagina-type forms, were squirreled out the back of the gallery, obviously in a fashion to NOT offend the regular buyers to the gallery ( the painting is also NOT featured on the gallery website). I got to talk to Sri and we talked non-stop for a good 20 mins (it could have been longer, but it was his opening and I thought it best not to take up his time).
Anyway, in thinking of his work, I can up with this idea, which I recently posted on Facebook:
"an exhibition I'd really like to see, preferably curated by Robert Storr, possibly titled 'F**k Paintings', showing the work of Barry Reigate (UK), Robert McLeod (NZ) and Sri Whipple (USA)"
The responses were excellent, with other folk suggesting who else could be in the exhibition and where I could possible get hold of Robert Storr.
To this I answered:
"My idea here is it look at pattern recognition in trends of painting that have a core notion but their work pushes out from that point. Also by grouping three geographically disparate artists, it shows a social conscienceness towards paint and the body, you know -pickin up on that de Kooning statement of how oil paint was invented to depict flesh."

JUEVES, EL DOS DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
I've got a few artworks on show in Wellington at Mark Hutchins Gallery, as part of his Maquette exhibition. Here's a link to the works in the show.

MIERCOLES, EL UNO DE DICIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Three portraits of the Bonham Family, 1825 by William Bonnell (1804-65) Oil on panel. Coll. of Chicago Institute. Possibly a reference point for the enlarged heads of American Pop Surrealism? Recently, I've been talking to Wellington artist Liam Barr. I guess his work could be put into the Pop Surrealism category, with Martk Ryden as the most well-known proponent of the movement. These works popped into my head for their head to body scale as a possible influence on Ryden. This photo was taken during our trip to Chicago in 2008.

MARTES, EL TRIENTE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
A new retablo started today. I've been struggling a bit in the studio lately, so I needed to vent out a bit. A Facebook conversation with Pauline from 'Art And My Life' blog ( see links to the right) made a statement about neurosis and venting and I thought that was a great starting point. There's still more to go to finish it, but subtle little additions so as to not distract from the initial impact that it's a sacred spleen rather than a sacred heart.
I picked up the old frame from a Savers store here in Las Vegas, I've been having good fortune scoring lovely antique frames around the city.

LUNES, EL VEINTINUEVE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
An interesting comparison I found as I was thinking about the Magritte painting in the right. The work on the left is a reverse glass painting in our collection. While watching a very good DVD on Magritte that started off by tracing his de Chirico's impression on him, there were animations of some of his paintings. The one on the right had candles melting in the holders, which instatly reminded me of the work on the left. Also the mantlepiece, the train as a mortality symbol (do you think?) and the mirror as the skull, which was always designed as a way for the viewer to confront their mortality.

DOMINGO, EL VEINTIOCHO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Andre Derain's 'The Black Feather Boa',1935, at the Met, NYC. One of my favourite paintings there, besides De Chirico's 'Oedipus and the Sphinx'...

SABATO, EL VEINTISIETE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ

We headed up to Red Rock Canyon to take the Ice Box hike with Mike and Terri. Was definitely a great idea to get out and stretch our legs and enjoy good company since the art at present is dragging it's feet. We're also planning a trip to LA soon to catch up with some folk and head out to a few fav's, The Getty Museum, Historia Antiques in Santa Monica, LACMA, and the dealer galleries at Bergamot Station and Culver City. Photo by JK Russ.

VIERNES, EL VEINTISEIS DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Thanksgiving last night with the Quaranto's. Fantastic food, laughs and company. Photo by JK Russ

JUEVES, EL VEINTICINCO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I've found that yesterday's Magritte painting, The Bungler was painted for the International Bulletin of Surrealism (Belgium edition), also I was watching a DVD on Magritte and this film footage of an oil painting appeared. I've never seen the painting before, So I'm going to try and hunt it out.

MIERCOLES, EL VEINTICUATRO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Rene Magritte, La Gâcheuse (The Bungler), 1935, collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.
It's only a small work, about A4 size if I remember rightly. I saw in in 2003 in the Nat Gallery in Edinburgh in the Roland Penrose collection and it reached out and rang the gong in the head. I had a the postcard of it hanging on my studio for years and it influenced many paintings, including some of the large works I did in Scotland during my 2003 Royal Overseas League Residency.

MARTES, EL VEINTITRES DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Late November and December sees in the last of the exhibition openings for the year.
Below are listed the upcoming exhibition openings that feature my work:

~Away From Dios: The Seven Deadly Sins, CMTV Galería, Carrer de Sant Pere Mes Alt 36 Barcelona, Spain, 9 December 2010 - January 2011. I have a single oil painting in this exhibition, along with six other international artists, that deal with contemporary updates on the Seven Deadly Sins. You can read the press release here.

~Goonies Never Say Die! Group exhibition, Blackbird Studios, 1551 Commerce St (Commerce & Wyoming), Las Vegas, USA, 3 - 22 December 2010. I have a small, framed drawing, titled 'Superchunk', of the 'dismembered' statue of Michelangelo's David, featured in the film. (drawing is below)

~Reconstructed. Group exhibition, Mahara Gallery, Mahara Pl, Waikanae, New Zealand, 28 November 2010 - 23 January 2011. I have a diorama from 2003 and three small crucifixes.

~Maquette. Group Exhibition, Mark Hutchins Gallery, 216a Willis St, Wellington, New Zealand, December 2010 - January 2011

Continuing Exhibitions:
~Credo and Quest–a selective survey of Religion and Spirituality in New Zealand Art, Whangarei Art Museum, Water Street, Whangarei, New Zealand, 15 Nov 2010 – 7 Jan 2011. I have a wooden devotional box from 2009 and a large crucifixion painting from 2006, courtesy of the Wallace Collection, Auckland.

*Links to the gallery websites and the images in the exhibitions can be found on my website homepage
For a any more information, don't hesitate to contact me.
I hope everyone has a safe holiday season!

hasta pronto
Matthew

LUNES, EL VEINTIDOS DE NOVIEMBRE, VENITE-DIEZ
BEN CAUCHI-The Doppler Effect
December 4 2010 – January 28 2011
190 Wicksteed Street Whanganui 4500 NEW ZEALAND
www.mcnamara.co.nz

DOMINGO, EL VEINTIUNO DE NOVIEMBRE, VENITE-DIEZ
A beautiful carved Head of John The Baptist, lot 79, a Sth German, 17th C. head of St John the Baptist...6,000 - 8,000 quid estimate. http://www.sothebys.com/

SABATO, EL VEINTE DE NOVIEMBRE, VENITE-DIEZ
Time for a spring clean-up on the laptop.

VIERNES, EL DIECINUEVE DE NOVIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Another exhibition invitation to another group exhibition I'm in, this time in Barcelona, Spain:

CMTV Gallery invites you to the exhibition:

AWAY FROM DIOS
The Seven Deadly Sins
Opening: 7:30pm, 9th December, 2010

10th of December 2010 - 29th January 2011

The Seven Deadly Sins are a classification of the human vices found in Christianity and Catholicism. As mentioned in the first lessons, they have been part of Western tradition for centuries. Artists have addressed these vices and have made interpretations that serve as a cultural and moral witness to specific eras of our history.

CMTV Gallery, with the aim of updating this topic, commissioned eight international artists to create an artwork of predetermined format (90 x 90 cm). based on one of the cardinal sins. The objectives of this exhibition are to reflect on these ever-current vices, while promoting artistic dialogue between continents and countries.

Each artist has their own unique style, yet there are common elements running throughout the exhibition including irony, metaphor; the desire for beauty, the combination of religion and popular culture; the influence of surrealism and the return of the human form - aspects that reflect contemporary art practice in this time.

List of guest artists: Spain: Gonzalo Rueda (Pride), José Luis Serzo (Greed), Dani Torrent (Gluttony), Rubenimichi (Lust); USA: Tim Hooper (Envy), Bethany Marchman (Sloth); New Zealand/USA: Matthew Couper (Wrath).
Sergio Mora (gallery manager) curator of the exhibition.

Artist Website links:
Matthew Couper www.mattcouper.com
Tim Hooper www.mrhooperart.com
Dani Torrent www.danitorrent.carbonmade.com
José Luis Serzo www.joseluisserzo.com
Rubenimichi www.rubenimichi.com
Bethany Marchman www.bethanymarchman.com
Gonzalo Rueda www.gonzalorueda.com
Sergio Mora www.sergiomora.com

More information:
www.comomevesteveras.com/awayfromdios
www.comomevesteveras.com/galeriacmtv
www.comomevesteveras.com/blog

Tel: + 34 93 319 0819
Sant Pere Mes Alt 36
08003 Barcelona
España

JUEVES, EL DIECIOCHO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
An invitation to a group exhibition I'm part of at Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, Wellington, New Zealand. I'm not exactly sure which work of mine is in the exhibition, but I'll update you as soon as I hear.

LUNES, EL QUINCE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Today, my painting 'Half and Half' (which is on display at present at the New Dowse, New Zealand, as part of the 2010 Wallace Art Awards) is featured in John Seed's Huffington Post Blog, 'Five Paintings, Five Palettes: F. Scott Hess, Peter Zokosky, Sarah McKenzie, Nathan Oliveira, Matt Couper'.
The main idea of the blog is to compare and contrast artist's palettes. So far, mine is the skankiest, with paper plates sitting on the ground with a mess of brushes.

DOMINGO, EL CARTORCE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
A fantastic '84 J-M Basquait acrylic and silkscreen painting titled 'Logo' up for sale in the latest Sotheby's Contemporary Art auction in Paris. If you've got a spare 800,000 EURO lying around, better check if your mum can pick up the hammer-down commission if you win the bid.

MIERCOLES, EL CIEZ DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
It feels very satisfactory to squeeze out a tube of paint and have your brush stand up in it. A photo taken in preparation for priming the 3 new canvases (see previous posts)

MARTES, EL NUEVE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Have been distracted - starting some new large pantings, which are taking up all my time, hence the gap in blogging. Here's a pic of my studio from Sunday. I've finished a new version of 'Half and Half' from earlier this year. It's slightly different and was definitely as fun to paint as the previous one. This one is called 'Syncretism Of The Halves'.
I'm intending on making a triptych painting out of the three new primed canvases hanging on the wall.

SABATO, EL SEIS DE NOVIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Last night was First Friday, had a great time and saw some great work, including Todd Mitchell's molotov cocktail with 'urban renewal' written on the label. Both Jo and I had work in the Dia De Los Muertos exhibition at Blackbird Studios on Commerce St.

VIERNES, EL CINCO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
A new ex-voto about the recent mid-term elections here in the States.

JUEVES, EL CUATRO DE NOVEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Friday night is Ben Pearce's exhibition opening at PAULNACHE in Gisborne. Here's what the email says:

'Pearce explores the personality of memory. Acknowledging its amazing range and various abilities, Pearce’s art explores memory and reconciles it with a recent and common ‘ancestor’ to us all: childhood. He strives to make visible the quirks and tragedies of our mind’s recording machinations, to materialize the emotional states that can cripple our bodies and which often distort the way we record time and memory. The nature of this internal landscape is of interest to Pearce; his sculptures may exist within his internal world but they also seek to co-exist as time-travellers in our own.

Within Pearce’s work, internal spaces are visited sculpturally. Here memory is visualized, scrutinized and retold. Spirits and stories of past lives or of family history are bought forth from the dark inner recesses they once occupied to our current time and place. Several recent works, The Red Trike and Deadline have explored the metamorphic phenomenon as a metaphor for the shape shifting self that occupies the mind.

Pearce creates sanctuaries in which memories can shelter from harm, loss and anonymity. Adapted, weathered and polished, these places seem more like manifestations of emotion rather than representations of the actual objects themselves. Dislocated, they allude to both survival and demise, creation and destruction. It is these notions of creation and destruction that interest Pearce sculpturally and this is reflected in the way he re-constructs his works after inflicting wilful damage upon them. He longs to bring sculpture closer to the practice of drawing; immediate, expressive and correctable. The idea in his work is that of dualism between the functions of mind and body. He feels that the body can retain the overflow of memory, storing unprocessed emotions in various areas, relieving the mind to gather its more receptive stimuli.

Replacing organs such as ears and a brain with a plethora of rocks suggests these may have been magically turned to stone by a spell or curse or, alternatively, that they could be suggestive of a particular state of mind. In the work Cavern No.1 (2009), a corridor-like portal emerges from (or retracts into) the corner of a room engulfing the messy and recently vacated space within its walls; at once seemingly inviting, it is also oddly aggressive. Where rocks feature in Curse (2009) and Cavern No.1, they are stacked precariously as if a totem for worship or occupation, an occupation where they can only be tenant to themselves and their consciousness.

Pearce’s works seem scarred or defunct of use, purpose and sometimes beauty, existing in an undefined space that is both grotesque and eloquent. Pearce’s works are nearly always parasitical in some way, inasmuch as they are forms which deem it necessary to clasp on to found objects: from trikes or chairs to re-made everyday objects and sometimes even the spaces they find themselves resting in, anything, it seems, is fair game.

Born in 1982, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Pearce completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2003, majoring in sculpture at Wanganui Quay School of Fine Arts.Exhibiting regularly in New Zealand, Pearce has work held in the public collection of the Sargeant Gallery, Wanganui and in private collections throughout New Zealand, England and the USA. Pearce’s work is also held in the James Wallace art collection after becoming a finalist in the Wallace award in 2008, and in the 2009 awards Pearce's work Cavern No.1 won people's choice. Pearce has also recently been included in Warwick Brown's new book ‘Seen this Century’, which features 100 artists, and his work 'Great Grandfather Clock' (which will feature as part of his November exhibition) won him the 2009 Waikato youth award.'

(Words and images courtesy of the artist)

MIERCOLES, EL TRES DE NOVEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
In keeping with the Guston theme, I also bought these two (out of a series of three) catalogues of Guston's lithographs, produced my Gemini GEL based in Los Angeles. When opening the first catalogue, this note (on the right) fell out. A touching tribute to Guston just after his death on July the 7th, 1980.
The catalogues are ex libris, originally from the Philadelphia Museum of Art library, a museum we hope to visit in the not too distant future.

MARTES, EL DOS DE NOVEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I recently purchased a second-hand copy of the new Philip Guston 'Roma' catalogue, that's been produced for the current touring exhibition in Rome and Washington DC. It is another stunning Hatje Cantz publication, again, hardback and a little bit bigger than 8" x 10" (following their Guston Works on Paper catalogue from 2007).
I was pleasantly surprised to find, when opening the book, that it was signed by the editor, Peter Benson Miller.
I have yet to delve into the essays, but have read the poetic diary entries of the Guston's trip to Rome by Musa Guston, which are stunning, all the small details that triggered off memories of our Rome trips.
I can't wait to see the show in DC in Feb.

LUNES, EL UNO DE NOVEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I was saddened to hear that Phill England passed away on Saturday. Phill was the amazing director and cameraman of The Gravy (amongst other things) and we met when he was filming the Whanganui episode of the series. I painted this ex-voto for the episode, for Ross Liew to fill in, which features Phill holding an excessively large camera with added ephemera attached it it.
RIP Phill.

EL CRUZ DE LA DIA, DOMINGO, EL TRIENTE Y UNO DE OCTUBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ

Today we visited the huge Swap Meet in North Las Vegas. We'd been there in 2004 and 2008, so this was our first visit back there since moving. I picked up a lovely, almost complete crucifix with wooden inlay. It's had a new halo and skull and bones added.

SABATO, EL TRIENTE DE OCUTBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I posted the image on the left a while back, here on this blog. The image on the right, a reverse-glass painting, is from our collection. I did a copy of this work, in the same technique, for an exhibition at the gallery I exhibit at in Wellington, 2009. I don't think many people looked at it, understood the complexity of the technique, nor the symbolism of the imagery. I've been collecting examples of this particular Momento Mori image since 2006. They're easy to find in reproduction, but hard to find originals. Both works below are dated mid 18th century. The title of the etching on the left is translated as 'An Aspect Of The Story Of The Legend'. The text under the skull is more direct, stating 'The Wages Of Sin Is Death'. I've decided to exhibit the reverse-glass painted work with my work, Reloj de Recesion at Blackbird Studios in Las Vegas for their Dia De Los Muertos exhibition opening on the 4th, as I want to show my influences, not pass off the work I do as 'original', which is such a silly Modernist notion anyway. The devotional work I do always has to have a source to be able to pinpoint the dedication. Good artists and good work just doesn't fall out of the sky. Everything has a lineage.
I also want to write more about the reverse-glass painting technique as it's such an interesting process, mostly of the mind because everything in the process of painting is reversed, which really reinforces Leonardo Da Vinci's statement on how painting is an activity of the mind. I think it would also be good to discuss in regards to New Zealand painting, as an artist who borrows this technique, recently won the Wallace Art Award.

VIERNES, EL VEINTINUEVE DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Today is Nevada Day, so everyone here is on holiday. Quite a nice feeling.
Last night Jo and I got a sneak preview of 'The Radiant Child', at Centerpiece Gallery. It's a new documentary on Jean-Michel Basquiat that is to be released in cinemas soon. It's an interesting documentary in that it has interviews with him, candid as they're taken by close friends of his, while he escaped to LA later in his short career. It's some what eulogized though, only touching briefly on his drug habit and his secondary-market presence. I think what found most interesting was that I thought about the movie in regards to "Manuel Ocampo: God Is My Co-Pilot", a similar kind of documentry, with a lot of the same players: Aninna Nosei, Fred Hoffman et al. and how Basquait, despite his plight, has become a template for 'minority' artists who can be bartered and manipulated for their ethnicity rather than their work.
Here's my drawing of J-M Basquiat as part of the the '27 Club':

JUEVES, EL VIENTIOCHO DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
The ex-voto below, dated Nov 1st - 2nd, 2010, was painted for Dia De Los Muertos and will be exhibited at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, from the 29 Oct - 2 Nov, 2010.
Please click on the image to enlarge it.
This ex-voto is number 201 in the series of ex-votos started in Whanganui, New Zealand, 2006.

MIERCOLES, EL VEINTISIETE DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ

Another invitation to an exhibition, this time it's Sanjay Theodore in Wellington. The exhibition is titled 'M-13, an installation'. I'm not sure if the title is also a play on the film ratings system or not (Sanjay's a big B-grade movie buff), but here's the write-up about the exhibition:

"Like the group of stars in the milky way, from which the exhibition derives its title, the paintings, photographs and objects in the this show, M-13, are installed to be seen and experienced as a cluster – with the whole something more than the individual components. Within a framework Dadasim, the early 20th century art movement which challenged the conventions of what art could be and do, Theodore brings together disparate elements, from east and western traditions, to create an environment which draws attention to the rituals of looking both in the gallery and out.
Sanjay Theodore was born in India and came to New Zealand as a child. He studied art at Canterbury University, the West Texas State University and the New York Studio School. In the mid 1990s, before leaving New Zealand for almost a decade, he was included in several significant public gallery group exhibitions. Theodore is now based in Christchurch and exhibiting in New Zealand and the United Kingdom."

His exhibition opens at Bartley+Co Art, Wellington, on the 2nd of November.

MARTES, EL VEINTISEIS DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Here's an invitation I received via email. It's for a 2-person exhibition, ceramics by Mark Rayner and paintings by Anthony Behrens. Mark co-runs Rayner Bros Gallery in Whanganui, NZ and I believe he's putting images of this work up on the Rayner Bros website as Thermostat Gallery doesn't have an active website.

LUNES, EL VEINTICINCO DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
If you have a spare two million, a good art purchase would be this large Philip Guston painting that has recently come up in the Sothebys Contemporary Art Auction.

DOMINGO, EL VEINTICUATRO DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Kid Meets Cougar's Courtney Carroll vs. TVNZ 3's news presenter, Carolyn Robinson

SABATO, EL VEINTITRES DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Yesterday, JK and I went on a big evening outing, The Erotic Heritage Museum had free entry from 5-7pm, so we checked out that (the photo below is of the Larry Flint section, including his purple velvet wheelchair). After that, we headed to the Barrack Museum at UNLV for two art openings; one on local comic artists and a group exhibition of past and present students. We then met up with M & T at Jimmy Smalls at the Hard Rock Hotel and then onto see Interpol at the Joint. The gig was excellent, especially after not really enjoying Interpol in Wellington. Paul Banks, the lead singer was quite chatty and was very good about the persons running onto the stage and hugging him. It seemed the security were more keen on kicking out smokers at the gig. The band played for over an hour and then did a 3 song encore, finishing with Obstacle 1, probably my favourite song.

VIERNES, EL VEINTIDOS DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I'm heading to Interpol tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. I saw them first in Wellington in 2005 (I think). Here's a link to the new Charlie White video for 'Lights'

JUEVES, EL VEINTIUNO DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Exhibition invitation to Blackbird Studios Day of the Dead art exhibition in Las Vegas, NV, USA.

MIERCOLES, EL VEINTE DE OCTUBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Just got this in the mail, an Invitation to the opening of the 2010 Wallace Art Awards at The New Dowse in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. My painting, Half and Half is in the exhibition. I w0n't be there (obviously) but my agent Mark Hutchins of Mark Hutchins Gallery, Wellington will be heading out to the opening.

MARTES, EL DIECINUEVE DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I'm heading into the Lou Ruvo Brain Center for a presentation on the Cleveland Museum of Art's Renaissance painting collection, then onto Blackbird Studios to drop off my work for their Dia De Los Muertos exhibition. Because it hasn't been shown in the States, I've decided to include my Reloj De la Recesion altarpiece that I constructed and painted in 2009 for The Votive Image exhibition at Mark Hutchins Gallery, Wellington.

(photo: JK Russ)

LUNES, EL DIECIOCHO DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
I've been asked to be part of the exhibition of the Santa Fe Dia De Los Muertos community Celebration, so I've just completed an ex-voto that links together my Scottish and New Zealand lineage, along with now living in the USA. I'll post an image of the ex-voto once it's dry!

(poster by Chico Goler)

DOMINGO, EL DIECISIETE DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
We headed out to the Arts Factory last night to catch some of the performances that's part of the 'Off The Strip' exhibition, there was a lot of stuff on, including the weekly painters on the patio, combined (perhaps dangerously) with a beer-tasting festival and free concert, including Kid Meets Cougar's last gig for a few months. Was really impressed with musicianship and multi-tasking. Probably the best use of visuals I've seen a band use ever.
Then to the Huntridge for beers and chats...
Sorry no pics (I need to get a phone with a camera) so here's a picture of a dog having a champagne breakfast.

SABATO, EL DIECISEIS DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
working.