~ANDREW GUENTHER/TALKING TO A FISH/OPENING PIX
ANDREW GUENTHER: ‘Talking to a Fish and Paraphernalia’
opening: SEPT 15, 2011 / 6-8 PM
the show runs SEPT 15, 2011 – OCT 22, 2011
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 W. 24th St – CHELSEA
(above) the show’s card – augured well. a striking sort of primitive graphic – just this side of awkward to be very deliberate . . . and . . . attention-getting.
from the left: ANDREW GUENTHER with NICK LAWRENCE of FREIGHT+VOLUME . . .
ANDREW GUENTHER, with his wife . . . artist TIFFANY POLLOCK.
I’ve known Andrew, and watched his work play its course out on the scene – since 2000/2001. he was always, a very very original guy. an edgy visual thinker and strange world plasti-cist . . . there are always a few (formal) threads, going on at the same time.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Negative Window’, 2010. acrylic on unprimed canvas. 78 x 60 in.
the newest wave of young ‘turks’ . . .
from left: DAN FLANAGAN, TRAVIS PRATT and CHRIS BIDDY.
. . but wait a second, we got a little bit ahead of ourselves . . . lets go back & start at the beginning . . . NICK LAWRENCE stands at the doorway to his year-old re-claimed space . . . a nice sized gallery – with room for several rooms . . .
gallery artist MICHAEL SCOGGINS, also hangs out – at the starting point.
in the entry project room niche – Andrew’s animated, talking fish aquarium – with 2 tiny little fish. one was even white and one was black, swimming by . . .
the most interesting part of the loop – apart from the images, of course – was the narrator’s voice – a certain type of gentle female voice – speaking in almost nursery rhyme cadence: as you grow you will . . . with a kind of hippie European new age accent . . .
hello. Andrew and Tiffany have a sweet young new toddler, named Easter Lily – so here’s talking to ya ?
trust me – this comes from a new age dad’s: love. and intelligence.
hey, this is what happens when you spring from the head of a death metal diehard.
sexual biology – the key to human nature.
not to mention: human digestion of liquid protein. and waste elimination . . . being a big part of the human condition.
here’s to: life.
just barley related in theme – in the next room are a series of ‘unconnected’ paintings.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Sick Whale’, 2011. acrylic on unprimed canvas. 120 x 78 in.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Vase’, 2010. acrylic on unprimed canvas, 120 x 78 in.
new wave – Matisse.
a smaller m/m mutli-media piece – and one of my personal favs.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Bread’, 2011. oil, wood, and papier-mache on linen. 28 x 20 x 5 in.
yeah, it’s looking to be a papier-mache: loaf of bread. bread, fish. you know, the whole deal.
painter’s easel, flower. so, does that spell: shaman ?
detail, ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Bread’.
yep, holds a nice place – on the wall. super ironic, too.
the middle room – is the paper pie plate face room . . . grinning femmes, only.
there’s that large one, and these two middle-sized ones.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Wheat’ 2011, and ‘Corn’, 2011.
acrylic, colored pencil, cardboard and papier-mache. 18 x 36 in. ea.
and then two tinier ones . . . looking all the world like: Cave of Forgotten Prehistoric Man meets 21st century . . . painter.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Plate Face’, (Yellow and Black), 2011. papier-mache, cardboard, and watercolor on paper. 8 x 6 in.
ANDREW GUENTHER, ‘Plate Face’, (Beach), 2011. papier-mache, cardboard, and watercolor on paper. 8 x 6 in.
‘Plate Face’, (Beach) from the side . . .
a kind of Gumby – for the new age ? hello . . . rainbow.
turn the corner, and the last room – is a black and white photo room.
a feather . . . in the sand.
some dramatic cactii . . .
and. what the saturn . . . even some wild, as in ‘found’, urban ‘weedy’.
Andrew told me later, this photo was taken on his recent trip to Berlin, and this uncultivated spontaneous weed was sprouting – so innocently in the front steps of – a pre-school. talk about – survival of the fittest.
ok, one last photo. love the hi-contrast compositions – among the organics, dude.
BILL BRADY in the photo section. he says he is moving ATM to Kansas City.
look out.
and the last piece – a bean bag game. you put your own head – around that. minimal but – loaded, gesture.
full circle – we caught up to Andrew outside with MICHAEL MAXWELL. Michael Maxwell helped Andrew print the black and white photos – from the original 35mm negatives.
nice job. nice show. one of the best, and most thoughtful, (art) plastic-minded shows in town.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH