Carte Blanche Exhibition and coming home...

Hey All,

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be chosen by the Magenta Foundation to be included in their new book on contemporary Canadian painting entitled Carte Blanche Vol. 2. This Saturday Nov. 15th will be the book launch and an accompanying exhibition featuring a bunch of artists from the book... It will take place Saturday, November 15, from 8-10pm @ MOCCA [Queen/Shaw]...

The font changed. Why did the font change? Anyway, unfortunately I won't be able to attend, as I'm still living in Brooklyn. However, I won't be here for much longer...

Awhile ago I posted about having my wisdom teeth removed... One tooth was actually left in, its a long story why and I don't want to type it all out here. Basically another dentist in the past tried to remove it without taking proper x-rays, couldn't, so he just cut it in half and sewed me back up.... Well, a few weeks ago that side of my mouth started to kill... then the top of my mouth started to kill, then my tongue, then I couldn't really use my mouth anymore, and then I developed a fever and was dizzy all the time... I went to an emergency dentist one night at 11 pm, got x-rays, and that tooth is now sitting right on the nerve in my mouth, and it was severely infected. Its not infected anymore, but it still feels like a non-stop kick to the face, and dealing with it for a month has made me a little crazy... On the 23rd, I'm coming back to Toronto to have the little bastard removed...

People who read my blog regularly might think I have wicked teeth or something because I have brought them up like 3 or 4 times, they actually look really normal and are clean and shit... Its just that my wisdom teeth are evil and after 2 surgeries to try to have them removed they still manage to fuck up my life in incredible ways... A lesson to the youngens: when you are a teenager and your dentist tells you that your wisdom teeth need to come out, listen to him! He's probably not making it up... I was a paranoid kid and I thought my dentist was just trying to get money out of me, and now look what happened.

Anyway, I am looking forward to coming home though, I miss Toronto a lot. As much as I love New York and it is such an amazing place to make art in, I think I prefer to live and work in Toronto... more on that later though, I will post some thoughts on my move once I am back home...

To anyone that I wanted to see and didn't get to while in the city, my apologies, I did not realize that I would be leaving so suddenly, and I'm not in much of a state to be going out right now...

Ok, book launch. Oh! Then on the 30th of November, which is a sunday, there will be a book signing at David Mirvish books that I will be at... I'll post on that closer to the date...

Andrew Wilson Solo Tonight!

I should have posted this earlier. Tonight is the opening reception of Andrew Wilson's first solo show... For those new to the blog, Andrew is my great buddy / assistant. In the beginning he was just my assistant, and over the past 5 or 6 years we have become really close. Anyway, if you are in Toronto today, go to the show! It will be great, I'm a little upset I have to miss it...

Here is the info:

Opening Reception:

Thursday, Nov. 6th, 7-10pm
Artist will be in attendance

Location:

Magic Pony
694 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON, Canada
416.861.1684

Exhibition Dates:

November 6th - 30th, 2008

Event Description:

Magic Pony is pleased to present A World's History, a solo exhibition of new paintings and drawings by emerging Toronto-based artist Andrew Wilson. Exhibition runs November 6th to 30th. Opening reception is Thursday, Nov. 6th from 7-10pm. Artist will be in attendance.

Chronicling the mysterious history of an alternate world, Wilson's fantastical abstracted landscapes suggest the possibility of other worlds occurring simultaneously with our own. Past, present and future coalesce within this imagined topography. Futuristic architecture and geodesic domes crown primordial geological forms, while abstract shapes collide. Elaborate, mixed media resin-coated paintings encapsulate vast mountain ranges, crystalline forms and volcanic interiors. Both gesturally inspired and carefully constructed, Wilson's paintings combine contrasting layers, textures and colours to subtly create depth.

A World's History also features a series of meticulously rendered ink drawings. While Wilson's geometric landscapes and utopian architecture evoke the future tense, his drawings explore an imagined past. Medieval villages and church spires are nestled into mountainsides, while enigmatic faces materialize in organic, Arcimboldo-esque illusion. Quietly beautiful and vaguely haunting, Wilson's imagery resonates with the vision and mystery of the fantasy genre, yet leaves definitive narrative open to personal interpretation.

Press Inquiries:

Please send an e-mail to contact@magic-pony.com.

Burn / Out Come the Scavengers

Here's my new Road of Knives page, its comprised of two separate moves...

I call bullshit

Ah man, I was just at the gallery here in NYC and the director let me know that someone came in and stole one of my pieces this week... I've never had that happen before. I can't believe that people steal art, thats fucked up. Anyway, it was just one of my comic pages, and actually the worst one in the whole show, and there was smaller work worth about 20 times more about 5 feet to the right so I don't really think we are dealing with a genius here, probably just someone off the street that thought he might be able to make a buck by selling it...

Anyway, if anyone happens to see this page anywhere, in someones house or wherever, let me know. I would really love to fuck this person up, but in reality I'll probably just write: "MEAN PERSON" in chalk on the sidewalk outside his or her house and run for my life...

What is really bad is that we were trying to sell the entire comic as one series to a good collection, but now thats impossible. Man, this sucks...

What actually sucks the worst is that this person is forcing me to post this weak drawing on my blog twice! Bastard!

I did a studio tour this morning with a bunch of people from Toronto, I had a good time but I totally forgot to take a photo of them... Anyway, if anyone from that tour is reading this now, I would like them to know that they were great guests to have... It was sort of an ideal talk from my point of view, when people have a ton of questions it makes my part way for fun and simple...

R.I.P

Prints and Postcards Available

It seems like I should have done this a long time ago, back in August. When I had the book launch at Magic Pony, we came together to produce 3 limited edition Giclees, and a postcard book, all of which are available through Magic Pony. If you live in Toronto, you can go on in and see them. If not, they have a great online store set up...

The prints are an edition of 50. You can see them here, here, and here.

The postcards come in packs of 10, and you can see them here. I sent some to my mom, and she liked them so maybe you will too. Ok, only the first half of that is true. I did send them to my mom, but when I asked what she thought of them she awkwardly changed the subject and it hasn't come up again...

oh joy...

SLICK 08

I'm in an art fair this upcoming weekend in Paris, SLICK 08. I'll be represented by the gallery I work with in Marseille, Galerie Dukan et Hourdequin. You can check out the link to the fair here.

Below are the drawings I did for it. I think it will be the last time I display grid drawings on their own, I think they are stronger when displayed alongside my other black and white work...

show flicks

So I took some photos during the setup of the show... As usual, I forgot to take photos during the opening... I just took one on my way out of the door at the end of the night... All that it proves is that yes, there was a room, and yes, there were some people in that room, doing...something...

Zaks show was great, the response to it, and to our Road of Knives installation was encouraging...

My girlfriend Jamiyla came to visit me for a few days during the weekend as well, I hadn't seen her in a month so it was great! I won't see her for another couple months now...sadness. I miss her and the rest of my friends quite a bit...

ok, photos:

Our stacks of Road of Knives drawings.

Zak and the gallery staff looking at...something... I think...

The back of Shawn Cheng. Man, I'm starting to realize that I really suck at taking photos, these are so boring...

Zak and his girlfriend Mandy. Mandy is a fellow Canadian, hailing from Ottawa.

Me and my bud/former studiomate Emily Stoddart. We had a studio together a couple of years ago. Weird coincidence, we now live just down the street from each other in Brooklyn.

Me pointing my camera at the door as I was leaving... Jamiyla and I had to call it an early night, neither of us were feeling very well...

This is Jamiyla! I miss her! She is awesome at drawing, I'll put her drawings on here soon, if she lets me...

Uncle City

Today, October 6th 2008, my sister had twins. That makes her a mother and me an uncle for the first time... I'm really excited and really glad that both the babies and my sister are all ok...

Their names are Jack and Ava... I want to teach them how to draw, but they look a bit young yet... My girlfriend and I have already gone out and bought them little gifts, buying gifts for babies is pretty much the best...

Ok, I introduce Jack and Ava Proacher... look how tiny they are... so excited...

Up in the Nedhamptons

While I was staying in Italy a couple of years ago my girlfriend at the time introduced me to all of her classmates... There were a lot of talented people studying there, but this one girl's art was the most badass. Her name is Amanda Nedham. Since then we've stayed friends, and today she started a blog... This summer she had a show at Le. gallery, the same gallery that I show at in Toronto. It was awesome. Anyway, Amanda's work is amazing and keeps getting better. Today she set up a blog, and you should go there and book mark it, and go back from time to time...

Here it is.

Zak Smith Solo and Road of Knives Group Show

Hey All, I think this is the 3rd post this week... thats crazy.... Thats as many posts as I made the entire summer I think...

Ok, the reason for this post is to promote a show happening this upcoming weekend. It is my friend Zak Smith's solo show. I've mentioned him on here a number of times. We met about 5 years ago when he emailed me and asked me to be in a group show he was curating, I jumped at the chance, and being in that show led to my NYC gallery representation... Incase you do not know Zak's work, some of it looks like this:

Thats a photo of him at the end there... On his leg there is one of my old monster drawings... I think I've mentioned that on here before too, I just think its cool that he has it...

ok, so this friday, which is October 10th, Zak has a solo show at Fredericks and Freiser gallery here in NYC. In the back room of the show, Zak, Shawn, and myself are showing the entire Road of Knives project... I haven't posted my new pages on here in a long time, but the three of us have been working away on it... Zak will also be showing another collaborative project as well, which is sure to rule. Ok, if you are in NYC, come out! Here is the info, I pulled it off of Shawn's site...

They Fought A Running Engagement (Collaborations)

@ Fredericks & FreiserOctober 10 – November 29, 2008
New York City

Come see what Zak Smith has been up to in the City of Angels – his solo show Midnight in the Empire opens October 10. As a bonus, two ongoing collaborative projects will be unveiled:

On the Road of Knives...
The "battle blog" wherein Zak Smith, Shawn Cheng, and Nicholas Di Genova take turns drawing monsters fighting each other.

Six Versions of Blood Meridian
The heretofore "secret project" taking the one-picture-for-each-page treatment to Cormac McCarthy's violent masterpiece. Features Zak Smith, Sean McCarthy, John Mejias, Craig Taylor, Shawn Cheng, and Matt Wiegle.

Opening Reception
Friday, October 10, 6–8pm
See you there!

Ok, and lastly I'll leave you with some of my newer Road of Knives pages...

Brooklyn Studio

Well, here I am in Brooklyn, my studio is more or less set up... Here's some random flicks taken over the last month... I think rent prices in Toronto have spoiled me, I'm used to having much more space... and a shower... But don't get me wrong, I'm very glad to be here.

A balanced diet of milk, muscle milk, soy milk, and cheese.

Right across the street from me is a sheet metal shop. They start pounding on sheets of metal around 7am, and stop around 7 pm... It makes sleeping in pretty difficult...

Fucking can opener....

Laundry day.

The bucket I pee in. Don't worry, I don't think you can catch anything by looking at photos of it on the internet...

Some small drawings I've been working on... I'm trying to blend the grid drawings with the more freestyle-type drawings... What i'm talking about makes more sense in the first one...

My bud Maia. I've mentioned her on here before, we met back in 2002 during my first trip to NYC and I see her everytime I come down. Now that I'm living here I get to see her a lot more... I'm glad she's here, its kinda like having family in the city...

OK, thats it. Back to work for me, but I'll be posting a couple of more times this week to promote an upcoming show...