hands up high

UP THERE, an absolutely beautiful documentary about practitioners of hand-painted outdoor signage, from “Jon” on Vimeo. More about the project at uptherefilm.com. Thanks to Post Family for the heads-up (pun, although convenient, not intended).

Reminds me how much I enjoyed James Rosenquist’s memoir “Painting Below Zero” — dig that too if you enjoy the movie above and like to read. Dwight Garner (New York Times) says “it’s a ruddy and humble book, lighted from within by the author’s plainspoken, blue-collar charm.” Here’s his full review, and you can read an excerpt of the book here on the publisher’s site.

Mucca Pazza Posters complete!


Limited series of 56, 1-color silkscreen with unique handmarking on each, 18x24”. Silkscreen printing by Sonnenzimmer.
Available at Mucca Pazza’s 3/25 show at Chicago’s Mayne Stage or from them directly: mucca-pazza.org













*See previous posts about this process on 2/18 and 2/22.

Big ups to Sonnenzimmer for ace printing of the blue!

Posters for Mucca Pazza, Pt.2

(part 1 of this post is here, and here are pics of finished work!).

finished lettering yesterday, gave electronic file to print aces Sonnenzimmer for the blue silkscreen part. word this afternoon that it’s done and being trimmed to 18x24” tomorrow — friday i’ll render the final paint marker stroke on each one, and then they’re off!






UPDATE: See here for the finished work, available at Mucca Pazza’s 3/25 show or from them directly: mucca-pazza.org

posters for Mucca Pazza

Mentioned earlier with marker comps “something in the works” — making a small run of posters for the band Mucca Pazza’s upcoming show at Mayne Stage in Chicago. We’re making a very limited number of 1-color silkscreen prints with a bit of hand-embellishment, and here’s how thoughts have progressed with it. Click any of these to see the pics a little bigger.



See, Mucca Pazza is “… a sort of punkish/rock marching band, playing sophisticated original scores and classics with a signature, high-intensity twist. The troupe’s comprised of something like 30(?) seasoned musicians that flexibly coalesce in venues and public spectacles to bring the noise, infectious joy and a sheer love of music.”









So I’ve honed-in on something like this directly above as a graphic for 18” x 24” posters, with the blue being printed and the black being a hand-drawn flourish afterward, each piece being somewhat unique. Next step: dedicating some careful attention to all the hand-lettering. Among these black curliques below are the ones I’ll use for the print template:

Printing next week, will share another update when I’m marking final strokes on ‘em.

UPDATE: See here for the finished work, available at Mucca Pazza’s 3/25 show or from them directly: mucca-pazza.org

DePaul Mural WITHOUT the Goose & Plane!

Recently received the below pics of my August 2010 mural for DePaul University Art Museum, composed in concert with a massive installation by Dayton Castleman hanging in front of it. These pics, taken when Dayton’s work was removed at the close of the exhibit, show what the mural looked like by itself underneath it all. See my blog post from 8/9/10 for more about the project. (Click photos to enlarge)


Important to understand that this was all a sensitive response to Dayton’s precedent in the space — see my earlier post for working notes and in-progress photos with my team.
Thanks again to Stockyard Institute and the curators of Nomadic Studio for inclusion in this this wonderful project.

Art at New Wave Coffee

Got paintings up at New Wave Coffee in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood through the second week of February, along with my good pal Jeff Forsythe. A list of all the work with specs & prices is posted here, and below are photos and notes — click on images for larger versions.

   Art at New Wave Coffee
   January 9 – February 11, 2011
   Weekdays 7am–11pm, Weekends 8am–11pm

Funderburk, Quadrant Logos, 2011
These above are something new and somewhat exciting. I’ve been tinkering with logos, deconstructing them and compositing little studies, studying the effects, and here are first attempts at scale. This is a niche compositional mode I’d like to proceed with alongside other projects, and it could go a number of different ways from here, but for initial pokes I wanted to keep it simple and just test the basic formal strategy. See my 1/11 post for some photos of these in progress.

These pieces are 4’x4’, and I got a diptych from Jeff comprised of two 4’x4’ panels to hang directly across from them (pic at bottom); then I brought in several older works that are also 4’ tall (directly below) to create a strong lateral movement through the space. Besides great hanging scenarios for individual pieces, I think the continuity helps interests migrate from one piece to the next — not unlike comics panels — and correlations are easier to form. And whether guests are giving direct attention to what’s on the walls or not, I think the overall effect is a calm, holistic peripheral environment.

The yellow one on the left below is a precedent for the composite logos, something I did as part of a series in 2006 — below is the source (a poster I made for the Ranch Theater Co.) and compositional studies. Others in the series stuck strictly to the red/blue/brown color palette of the source material, but this yellow one was a pleasant departure.
Funderburk, Yellow “Rime Nightly,” 2000, and Blue Bubble series, c2004-5
Funderburk, Yellow “Rime Nightly,” 2000
The narrow blues ones are from 2004 or maybe ‘05 and have been living with family. I spruced them up this month with vivid high-grade ultramarine and afforded opportunity to improve some details; one thing led to another, of course, and I also amended the greens, reinforced the white areas, and tried to re-articulate the noodley tan-colored shapes in the bottom thirds a little better too, add some dimension… I’ll say I think they work better than they did anyway, heh. Ultimately, tried to adhere to what was there and not make a whole new adventure out of these. There’s five of them in all, but these four I think are best. 
Funderburk, Blue Bubble series, c2004-5
In this little alcove are hung four framed studies on paper with acrylic, enamel and aluminum paint from the first week of December 2010.
Funderburk, left: Quadrant Logos, 2011;
right: Study Series 101201, 2010
Funderburk, Study 101201.D7, 2010
Below is one of a series from around 2004 based on sketches from the Nelson Algren Fountain in Chicago, in what’s known as the Polonia Triangle where Milwaukee Avenue, Ashland and Division Street cross. Around the base of the fountain is a quote in bronze from Algren: “For the masses who do the city’s labor also keep the city’s heart.” In this painting, the upside-down “S” and “W” with an arrow in the top-right corner indicate where to sit on the fountain rim in relation to the inscription for this view.
Funderburk, View from Algren Fountain S|W, c2004
Jeff Forsythe and I worked together to coordinate pieces from our inventories that’d make sense together in a visual dialogue as well as physical sense in the venue. The work we brought from his studio reflects his agenda around 2005–2006, including appropriated graphics and re-construed themes from Japanese art history. These look great in this space, and evidence a lineage into his more recent work — see jeffreyforsythe.com for examples of what Jeff’s been up to since these.   
Forsythe, left: The Masters, 2005; center: Untitled, 2005;
right: Lessons are Expensive, 2006, and Steadily Going Nowhere, 2006
Everything will be up through February 11, so please stop in for a look-see if you’re in the area. All the work is for sale, and you can download specs & pricelist here.

Hey comics fans: help me sleuth sources?

A few months ago I took a comic book I’d got inside a “mystery bag” and sampled some imagery for use in a silkscreen mash-up experiment along with some other more-or-less random imagery at hand, including doodles, text… I’m not sure what all’s in there. Recently I exhumed these results and poked around on ‘em with paint, applied some additional freehand imagery. Whatever I wind up doing with these, I’ve completely forgotten the source for some of the imagery that’s evident, particularly the characters immediately below… Any comic book enthusiasts out there who might recognize these characters or suggest how I find out?


A Drying Rack!

Stunned to find this beaut over at our neighborhood antique store, and moreso to find I could afford it! Granted it’s gloriously “vintage” and will require some repairs to be fully-functional, but I can get current work-in-progress up off the floor and clear some lateral surfaces for other things to set down most immediately. 
Had to disassemble it to fit it up the stairs, which was a real chore once my wife and I dragged it home across snowy sidewalks, but right now putting it back together is a pleasure — and I think listening to Kazoomzoom’s collection of Ragtime-era faves is a big help, so… Here’s free download of that, for anyone interested: http://www.archive.org/details/kzz003. 

PS: My wife is awesome for (among many other things) helping me drag this sucker home across the snow and getting it inside & upstairs.  

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