SWEET & SOUR: A DIY Medal of Honor to the Buswater Gang
Claire Sherwood’s installation on the stairs was one of many outstanding features at December’s Buswater show.
Sour: “Since Sweet got to award an ArtAttack DIY Medal of Honor in the post below, I hereby award another. Let’s hear it for the Buswater gang! The Dec. 1 and 2 Buswater show at a house on Kanawha Boulevard was excellent and everybody in it deserves a DIY award, especially Todd Griffith for pulling it all together — including that great space.
———–
Sweet: “I agree that the Buswater show was outstanding. All of them have been. I think there have been three so far. This one had outstanding work by Kristie Carlisle Duncan (we love her work — see this blog), Betty Gay, Todd Griffith, Jess Hamrick, Dane Klingaman, C. Mason, Jamie Miller, Eric Pardue, Vasilia Scouras, Claire Sherwood, Cigdem Slankard, Mark Slankard, Brent Thomas and Mike Mendez (Mendez, a Shepherd University faculty member, was one of the big winners of the recent W.Va. Juried show — see this post).
Sour: “Some of the many, many outstanding things in the show were Claire Sherwood’s installation on the stairs; the aircraft photos by Todd Griffith; Mark Slankard’s exterior and interior house shots (are we detecting a new interest in interior space since a baby recently entered their lives?); Jess Hamrick’s great large paintings; and Brent Thomas’s hermetic obsessions with labeling cut up space (you can spend literally hours trying to figure them out and the “narratives” are great).
———-
Sweet: “And has Eric Pardue ever presented something that wasn’t a complete A+ in technique and design? His work in Buswater is more conceptual. It really works. It’s nice to see him explore. I got enlightened on Mike Mendez’s technique. Wow — interesting and unusual. I see why he won a big award at the Juried Show. Even the few things in the Buswater show that didn’t quite work seemed to me “brilliant failures.” Thanks, Buswater, we look forward to your next show! Do more!
Sour: ” ‘Brilliant failure’ — that’s what my university profs said about me back in the day. I think I’ve made a career out of it.”
Sweet: “Well, you said it, I didn’t! Everyone, feel free to blog in with your best and worst 2007 arts-related sightings and things.”
January 20th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Kewl, medals of honor.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
[…] Sour: “Given Sweet’s post below, let’s focus on some more positive things going on in the arts world, before you slit your wrists. I’m calling it — with a nod to Charles Dickens — “A Tale of Two Openings.” There were two big openings of note this past weekend, both of them a sign of the times. The Art Store Opening (under new management) and the “Beating Art” group show at a longime arts/party center at Joe Mullins’s arts colony complex on Hansford Street. This was quite the “other side of the tracks” from the tony Art Store opening in exclusive South Hills. The “Beating Art” show is the opposite of exclusive and that’s a great thing. Sweet: “This weekend marked a changing of the guard. Lisa Fischer Casto is taking over from legendary local art divas Sherry Lovett and Ellie Schaul at the Arts Store as the most powerful gallery director in town (since Callen McJunkin hasn’t gotten her new space together yet).” ——————————— Sour: “The ‘Beating Art’ show is unabashedly proud of being the newest breaking art scene in town. Sweet: “You couldn’t have had two more different openings this weekend. The old guard changing hands at the Art Store and the chaotic, nascent sign of what will be the new guard on Hansford Street. Two very different sides of the coin in terms of the area arts world.” ——————————— Sour: And we thought the Buswater Gang on the Boulevard was a breath of fresh air — which it still is. But this “Beating Art” show is wildly exciting as a new arts space. (Although I’m not sure the new air here is fresh! More like semi-toxic– but that’s a good thing and representative of the actual air in Charleston). You think we should give Dane Klingaman and “Beating Arts” gang another DIY (Do It Yourself) award?” Sweet: “Absolutely, give them a DIY! And give Joe Mullins a lifetime achievement for enabling great arts things to happen at his Hansford Street arts complex over the years. Joe, thanks for all you have done to help practicing artists have a space and place to live, whether they can pay or not! This “Beating Art” show makes the Buswater gang seem staid. (Not dissing the Buswater gang in any way, we love their shows). Just saying, this “Beating Art” show is wonderfully wild. The freshness and borderline chaotic vitality of the show reminds me of the vibe of the old punk rock shows at Boll Furniture and various Industrial spaces back in the ’80s.” […]