For most, this weekend winter oasis of all things art, culture, and collaboration is the opportunity to escape the onset of cabin fever and embrace Minnesota weather and artists at their finest. As I created my own postcard to send from The Art Post, the only post office I know of located in the middle of a lake, an impromptu four-piece band started playing outside. It was obvious the shanty visitors were not falling victim to the winter blues. Whether you fancy a dance party, a cup of tea, a live performance, or a tipi sauna this event will likely render an experience worth your time.

Needless to say, if you didn’t get a chance to revel in the glory known as the Art Shanty Projects this winter, put it on the top of your to-do list for next year. And, if you happen to be feeling really ambitious, keep an eye on the website, www.artshantyprojects.org, for 2011 submission calls.

Photo and article courtesy of Erin Kirby

The Soap Factory is hosting Haunted Basement 2009, the third annual artist-designed performance project held in the bowels of its 100-year-old+ historic warehouse building. And you thought the galleries were raw.

“Shifting from last year’s theme of disorientation, The Haunted Basement 2009 takes a turn towards the disturbing. In additional to the total absence of natural light, the bone chilling dank, and the subterranean maze of lurid apparatuses, the Haunted Basement crew has added a few new things to the mix.

“Visitors can look forward to an entirely new underworld, with environments by guest artists, and revolting and assaulting odors manufactured specially for the Haunted Basement by a local scent company. Thanks to EVP recordings taken during the Twin Cities Paranormal Society’s investigation, the HB 2009 also features a chilling soundtrack supplied by The Soap Factory’s very own spirits.”

Open 6pm-12am nightly // October 16-November 1, 2009
Tickets:
Mon-Thur, $15
Fri – Sun, $20
Must be 18+, and sign waiver.

mnartists.org is hosting its first ever Field Day at the Walker Art Center today, Thursday, August 27. Events will take place from 11 a.m.- 10 p.m. You can mix and mingle with local artists and arts organizations and participate in lawn sports, including a kickball tournament, create your own screenprinted T-shirt with Calpurnia Peach, and enjoy a kid-friendly  scavenger hunt courtesy of Arty Pants, and a puppet show hosted by Open Eye Figure Theater. And, don’t miss a performance by uber-cool local group Solid Gold and their tricked-out video projections. Check out their video Bible Thumper below. Oh, it’s free.

Bible Thumper

Food and Drink are available at Wolfgang Puck Garden grill from 11a.m. – 8p.m. and The Gorilla Garden Bar from 6p.m.–10p.m.

In keeping with collector/hotel owner Ralph Burnet’s tradition of collecting edgy work by young, emerging artists (controversial work the Young British Artist movement is on display throughout the hotel), Chambers Gallery has a new initiative designed to support new and emerging contemporary artists. The current show Get StARTed showcases works by 11 different MFA students currently enrolled at MCAD. All work is available for sale with all proceeds to benefit the artists. Now through September 12, 2009.

Location: The hotel gallery is 4 blocks away at 9th and Hennepin—the perfect distance for a midday break.

The end of summer marks the start of the unofficial local arts non-profit fundraising event season. While art auctions had been the norm, organizers have gotten more creative in recent years, and we’re all luckier for it. Here are a couple you won’t want to miss:

On sale now
SOO Visual Arts Center (SOOVAC) is hosting its annual August Fire Sale Fundraiser, and according to Executive Director, Suzy Greenberg, she’s practically giving away 20 years of art treasures. Stop in before month’s end or you’ll miss out.

SOAP FACTORY $99 SALE – September 11 and 12, 2009
The Soap Factory invites you to use your aesthetic chops to pick out pieces by the latest artworld darlings and the soon to be celebrated. With all the art signed only on the back, you’ll have to rely on your keen eye to discern the local luminaries. At the low price of $99 for original art, you’ll definitely find gems you can’t live without.

Artists from around the country have donated their works, and all proceeds support The Soap Factory, the region’s premier laboratory for emerging contemporary art. From Alec Soth to Howard Cruse to Tom Rose, there will be much to choose from and the elbowing at the door will be intense. (Last year people waited to get in and yes, rushed in when the doors opened!) Check out the website for further details and to see some sample works: www.soap99.com

Pre-purchase your tickets for $35 at the website and be among the first through the door on September 11 for the pre-sale and fabulous party. All remaining works will be sold on September 12, 9:00-noon, and admission that day is free.

The show runs through August 15.

CorAzoN
1026 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis

Click here for a map and directions.

CorAzoN specializes in art, gifts and fabulous smallish home goods.

Residence #1 (2006) by David Lefkowitz

Watercolor on cardboard. Particle-board contact paper meticulously laid down on a concrete floor. “Chips” cops and H.R. Puff-n-Stuff. All are part of the latest exhibition at Fallon—Resurfacing—in which nine local artists repurpose discarded cardboard, use humble materials like contact paper to alter our perception of space, or mine old icons among other things to change how we view the ordinary. 

Because most artists are fairly used to challenging economic times, they often see possibility in unexpected places and are resourceful by necessity to make great art within their means. Although advertising budgets are typically quite robust compared to that of most artists’, the current reality of shrinking budgets demands us to be smarter and more resourceful than ever. Yet another reason to look to art for inspiration.

Artists include:
Betsy Byers
Jennifer Danos
Bill Ferenc and Lyndsey Lesh
Bethany Kalk
David Lefkowitz
Drew Peterson
Margaret Pezalla
Emily Smith
Scott Stulen

Meet the artists at a reception on Thursday, July 16, from 3:30-5PM. Wine and cheese will be served.

Fallon’s art exhibition program mission is to challenge, inspire, and energize the agency. Exhibitions rotate every three to four months.

Au Courant celebrates Rauschenberg’s life and work.  It  illuminates the role the Twin Cities history played in the works on view in the gallery and by extension the flowering of the new American art that emerged in the 1960s and 70s.

The following was published in the Telegraph on May 13, 2008.

Robert Rauschenberg, who died on Monday aged 82, was the American artist whose long career and vast oeuvre anticipated almost every contemporary art movement from the mid-1950s to the new millennium. Arguably the most influential painter since Jackson Pollock, Rauschenberg tried to create work: “that relates to both art and life. Neither can be made. I act in the gap between the two.”

In autumn 1969, artist Robert Rauschenberg met with renowned curator John Stoller at Dayton’s Gallery 12 in Minneapolis. There they planned a major exhibition featuring a large scale print made from collages of New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis newspaper clippings. The show, Currents, opened at the Minneapolis gallery the folllowing spring. From government corruption and war to drugs and gay rights to astronomical events and the weather, the headlines in the prints give us a glimpse into our national past and a frame for how we might see the country’s situation today. This exhibition, by one of the most important American artists of the 20th century, highlights the role the Twin Cities played in its conception and dissemination.

The following was taken from an interview with John Stoller, former director of Dayton’s Gallery 12.  Over its more than 10-year history, Gallery 12 developed a reputation for showing cutting-edge contemporary art. The Minneapolis Tribune called it “a major international art gallery.”

After Gallery 12 closed, Stoller opened a private gallery, John C. Stoller and Company, in downtown Minneapolis. He retired in 1994 and now lives in England with his wife.

The Weisman recently spoke with Stoller about Rauschenberg, Currents, and the Minneapolis art scene in the 1960s and 70s.

WAM: Do you think the work has a renewed or particular resonance today?
J.S.: Enormously. Look at those images! Think of things going on today–the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The conditions for certain people aren’t that different than they were in 1970-the huge gap that’s developed between the rich and the poor. When you think of the importance of the media today, the flash of images, and then you look at Currents–it’s almost like what you see on TV now. [Rauschenberg] was so ahead of his time. The work is still extremely relevant.

You will be in awe of the 54-foot long piece on loan from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  The gallery space had to be modified to accommodate the large piece. And of course required the assistance of many to install.

Check it out. You may just find yourself inspired and excited to create your own collage.

Au Courant: Currents is on exhibit now through October 4.

http://weisman.umn.edu/exhibits/Rauschenberg/home.html