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Life drawings from full moon bondage party in Berlin.
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These are life drawings of a model in Japanese Bondage (“Kinbaku”). Rope artist, Arisue Go, holds an occasional life drawing session at the studio of painter, Hideyuki Usuki, in the Kagurazaka neighborhood of Tokyo. I had the good fortune to attend in January 2012 and make these sketches.
This is an experiment in painting directly on backlit media using UV LED lights and blacklight paints. I’ve been calling it “Sumi UV”, however, obviously, it is not “Sumi-e” in style or technique . . . The top image was photographed in the dark. The light is coming from behind the translucent painting. The second image is under incandescent lights, but with UV backlighting, and the third image is under incandescent light only.
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Apr 232012
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“The Illuminations” at BAGL Springtime 2012 in Berlin
I am in Berlin for the “Gallery Weekend” to exhibit, “The Illuminations”, at BAGL Springtime 2012 Arts Festival.
The Illuminations comprise a glowing gallery of images that float as though disembodied, and at odd angles, in the center of a darkened room. The effect is at once ethereal and sculptural.
Exhibition Details:
Curated by: Anja Schneider, Jennifer Spruß
Location:
Spandauer Straße 2, 10178 Berlin-Mitte
April 27th – May 1st, Open daily from 1 PM to 1 AM
Opening:
Friday, April 27th 1:00 PM to 1 AM (or perhaps even later . . . )
Friday, April 27th 1:00 PM to 1 AM (or perhaps even later . . . )
Daily entrance fee is 6,00 € (reduced 4,00 €)
Highlights:
- Evenings of music and performance
- 42 international artists
- Parallel with Berlin Gallery Weekend
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Deutsche:
Ich bin am Gallery Weekend in Berlin und zeige “The Illuminations” auf dem BAGL Springtime 2012 Kunstevent.
Die Illuminations bilden eine leuchtende Galerie, die wie körperlos und in ungewohnten Winkeln in der Mitte eines dunklen Raumes schwebt. Der Effekt ist gleichsam ätherisch und bildhauerisch, sakral und profan.
Die Illuminations untergraben das gewohnte Seherlebnis und führen den Betrachter zu einer direkten und intensiven Beziehung mit der Vision des Künstlers.
Ausstellungsinfo:
BAGL Springtime 2012
Kuratoren: Anja Schneider, Jennifer Spruß
Ort:
Spandauer Straße 2, 10178 Berlin-Mitte
27. April – 1. Mai, geöffnet täglich von 13 bis 1 Uhr
Röffnung:
Freitag, 27. April, 13 Uhr bis 1 Uhr (oder sogar später…)
Der Eintritt beträgt 6 Euro (ermäßigt 4 Euro)
Höhepunkte:
- Abende mit Musik und Performance
- 42 internationale Künstler
- parallel zum Berliner Gallery Weekend
Mar 222012
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“Saṃsāra”, Acrylic on Canvas, 36″ x 48″, 2012
The name derives from the Sanskrit word, “Saṃsāra”, which refers to the flow of life through experiences and incarnations. The woman with one eye is what I would call a “Cyclopean Receptionist”. She was genetically engineered to not have a soul. “Samsara” is often conceived of as a cycle or a wheel of experience, and in this depiction the wheel revolves around the soulless eye of this “Cyclopean Receptionist” as though it were the eye of a storm. It is a storm of life in which their is a calm center of non-being and non-existence, a void, from which all emerges. It is the eye of a goddess through which you are received into death, and yet she has such a disarmingly winsome personality that if you met her in the waiting room of a doctor, an opthalmologist even, you would perhaps notice nothing out of the ordinary about her.
Below are details from the painting:
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This painting is based on a video montage I made in 2009, “Bedtime”. Music by Sabitu.
A short, voluptuous model who was tied up by Rain de Gray and stimulated to (apparent) orgasm with a Hitachi wand before a live audience. This image shows her in an early stage of being tied. |
This girl, Katharine Cane, got into a very small acrylic box. There was a sort of drinking game held on the box and another girl sat on top of it and had liquor poured on her body. What impressed me most was how exceedingly happy Katharine seemed to be trapped naked in a tiny clear plastic box. It's not really Kinbaku at all, but it was happening so I drew it. |
This is Katharine Cane again – the same girl that was in the plastic box earlier in the evening. She had ivory skin and jet black hair. Her eyes were very darkly made up. In this scene a large vibrator has been tied to her crotch in an effort to force her to orgasm, however she seemed completely unphased by the stimulation. Around her thighs she is wearing electric dog collars, but the shocks to her inner thighs seemed not to bother her in the slightest. |
Here is a drawing of "Black Xmas" host Mike West binding a young lady. Actually I think he may have been asphyxiating her, but I was late on the scene and captured this sketch rapidly without having a clear sense of what was really taking place. |
This young man is in the process of having the ropes removed. Earlier he was in full suspension wearing red pajamas, and being beaten on the ass with a wooden spoon for stealing cookies. |
I sketched these at a bondage performance party called “Black Xmas”, and they are the first drawings in a new series entitled, “Rope Impressions,” that is comprised of life drawings of scenes of Japanese Style Rope Bondage (known as “Kinbaku” or “Shibari” in Japanese). The title alludes not only to the distinct rope marks that are left on the skin of the bound body, but also to the Impressionist movement. This is my virgin foray into Impressionism. Drawings such as these are not so much accurate renderings of art models as they are “impressions” of life, albeit a strange slice of life. The models for these drawings, though bound, were in constant movement, and I captured my impressions with great speed, and later refined them at my leisure. I feel that subject matter such as this returns to the original subversive spirit of Impressionism, before it somehow became the great sentimental hurrah of banal and bourgeois taste. Moreover it hearkens back to “Japonisme”, which was a strong current in Impressionism and other Fin de Siecle art movements. Importantly, it is an erotic indulgence in the beauty of bound women.
More drawings in this series will be forthcoming soon . . .
April Lelia’s, “Caterpillar”, looming over the fence at my home/studio in Stinson Beach, CA
My studio, located in Stinson Beach, California, will be part of the ” 2011 Stinson Beach/Bolinas Open Studios”. This is an annual open studios event comprising nearly two dozen studios in the small coastal Northern California towns of Bolinas and Stinson Beach.
Many of my original works may be viewed, as well as Illuminations, and also work in progress. My wife, April Lelia, will be displaying her outdoor sculptures. Additionally, San Francisco sculptor, Dana Albany, will be our guest displaying her recent mosaics. All participating studios are open from 11 am to 5 pm on Thanksgiving weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun). My studio is at:
9 Calle Del Embarcadero
Stinson Beach, CA 94970
For further info:
http://www.coastalmarinartists.com/
Please come on out and visit if you can!
Here is my latest deployment of the “Illuminations”. They were hung under a corrugated awning in the backyard of Sancho Gallery in Echo Park, Los Angeles for the “Dark Echo Park” show. The space was approximately 10′ x 15′ and seven of the Illuminations were hung by fishing line so that they appeared to float in space.
This show also included seven of my original paintings that were displayed thusly:
