1xRUN Thru Interview
Carpe Diem Curated by Eddie Colla
1xRun: Tell us a bit about your piece created at Carpe Diem and a bit about your experience.
Brett Amory: The painting I made for Carpe Diem was from a random snap shot of an anonymous “Waiter” photographed on Polk street in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. Carpe Diem was a lot of fun. I very much enjoy the social aspect of the show. Getting together for a 24 hour period with fellow comrades and making art is always a good time.. It was definitely a nice departure from my normal day to day spent alone in my studio. Most of the artist in the show have been living or around the bay area for awhile so its a great excuse to come out and enjoy everyone’s company. However, I tend to talk and hang out more than work.
Hueman: I “seized the day” by going into the art process without a plan and seeing where the day took me. Every moment, every brush stroke and line placement is free-styled. Lately I’ve been inspired by space, dimension, and the cosmos so I used a palette that reminded me of the aurora borealis to create something out of this world.
Jessica Hess: Allow me to introduce my “Cocky Girls”. I have been painting them since 2006 but mostly people know me for my landscape paintings. If you look closely you will see them creep into my landscapes here and there. I used to paint them out in the city when I lived in Boston back when I first started to get to know some street artists. The “Cocky Girls” play on the masculine word cocky meaning arrogant. I started painting them as a reaction to being stuck in a male-dominated art world. I had to represent the ladies in a loud way that could not be ignored with a bold in-your-face-sexuality that wasn’t “flirty or girly” but rather “sexy and confident”. They are about standing up, being aggressive, and getting shit done. This particular piece was painted as a reaction to a very bad experience I had with a former gallery. “Nobody Listens Until Someone Gets Hurt” is painted in the background and has become my mantra for the whole ordeal. Overall the bad experience has made me stronger and reinforced ties to my fellow artists in my community.
Max Kauffman: My piece ‘The House That Owl Built’ was a nice battle with my pysche over the course of 15 hours. I usually have at least a 50% idea of where the work will go when working, and my general work is very small (18×24 in is a large piece for me). With this piece, I had no particular direction and a piece of wood 4×8 ft as my canvas. When I first started making my own work 10 years ago or so, I worked full improvisation like this – Id lay down color fields and texture and pull little things out of them, like when you look at clouds and see figures/et al. Over time I learned full improv can get you stuck in a corner, so to speak. My practices since then involve portions of improv with portions of realized imagery. I think of it a lot like jazz…Anyways with this piece I decided to rummage through my head for things on the fly – it took a loooong time, but it was a great day to work and hang with friends old and new.
1xRun: Tell us a bit about Carpe Diem, this show has become an annual event at your gallery correct?
Eddie Colla: Most of what gallery visitors see is the final curated finished pieces in a clean well lit room. This show gives visitors the opportunity to view the entire process from blank canvas to completion. The idea behind Carpe Diem is that the exhibition is created at the gallery by the artists in 24 hours. The gallery chose a date and each artist was given a 4ft x 8ft panel and a 24 hour window in which to make their pieces. For example this year it started at 8am March 29th and finished at 8am on March 30th. The gallery was open to the public the entire time. There was a lot of interaction, not only between the artists, but also between the public and the artists. Yes, this is the second year lOAKal has done this show and we plan on continuing and growing it.
1xRun: Tell us a bit about the show, who participated this year? What other artists have participated in the past?
Eddie Colla: We did the original show in Dec of 2012 at lOAKal. This year we had 19 artists. Brett Amory, Zoltron, Jessica Hess, John Casey, Marcos LaFarga, Jet Martinez, Cannon Dill, Lauren YS, Max Kauffman, John Wentz, Eddie Colla, Ian Ross, Hueman, Nite Owl, Lisa Pisa, Chris Granillo, Reggie Warlock, Daryll Peirce and Cameron Thompson. Last year D Young V, Helen Bayly and Hugh Leeman. Many of this years artists participated in last year’s show as well which was a smaller 10 artists line up.
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about for these pieces?
Eddie Colla: Last year when we did the 1st Carpe Diem it was born out of necessity. It was the first show I had curated at lOAkal and we had very little lead time to put the show together. So we created a show in which the artists didn’t need to have any work finished or even prepared and only had to make a 1 day commitment to participate. That allowed us to get everyone we wanted on board. The experience that followed was one of the most fun shows I’ve ever been a part of and the gallery visitors had such a good time that we decided to do it every year.
1xRun: How did you choose the artists who participated this year?
Eddie Colla: There were several factors. I worked with Nastia Voynovskaya on putting together the final list. First off, we needed artists who can work with the time frame. A lot of artist’s processes simply don’t make it possible to create a finished piece in 24 hours. Additionally we wanted to represent the diversity that exists in the Bay Area art community and bring together artists who may not normally cross paths. Aside from the final exhibit a big part of this show bringing both artists and the public together and exposing people as many different creative processes as possible.
1xRun: Any big shows or events coming up that you’d like to share?
Eddie Colla: lOAkal is currently working on a neighborhood mural project in The Jack London Square neighborhood of Oakland for the fall. As a part of the project we will be doing a group exhibition of the participating artist. This summer we will be exhibiting Scott Greenwalt, Smith-Allen, Chris Blackstock, and Nite Owl.
1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Eddie Colla: lOAKal Website – Facebook @lOAKal – Twitter @ebxloakal – Instagram @loakal
Original artwork from the show is available at: www.lOAKal.com
Brett Amory: Website – Facebook @BrettAmory – Instagram @BrettAmory
Hueman: Website – Facebook @huemanart – Instagram @hueman
Max Kauffman: Facebook @wittybanterism – Tumblr @wittybanterism – Instagram @wittybanterism
Jessica Hess: Website – Facebook @Jessica Hess – Instagram @jessicahessart
-1xRUN