Announcing williamgay.net

I'm very excited to announce the website dedicated to Southern author William Gay and the William Gay Archive. With contributions from the Archive members, I have put together a website that celebrates the writings and paintings of a great American writer.

We will be updating the site with news and information on upcoming posthumous releases from Anomolaic Press and the other publishers handling the material. There are galleries of William throughout his life and his oil paintings. We have talked about putting up an unreleased short story or two down the road. The site will continue to grow, and our hope is that William's prose will continue to touch readers as it has touched us.

I will still continue this blog of my involvement with editing and doing photography and design for the Archive, as this continues to be a very exciting part of my life.

www.williamgay.net

If You Only Knew Exhibition

I will have four sculptures as part of the If You Only Knew group exhibition opening January 20, 2018 at the Old Courthouse Arts Center in Woodstock, IL.

From the gallery's website:
"Each piece in the show will have a letter that tells something surprising or private. Letters will be given out on opening night to visitors, who can share the stories they receive with one another as they look at the exhibition, but can also choose to keep the contents of the letter secret, if they wish. 

For example one artist shares a story of a family machete, family fights and secret night burials, another realized after 20 years that her father wasn't a cowboy after all, despite the evidence on the mantle. One artist believes his drawing to be cursed, while another discovers that her painting was a premonition of impending catastrophe. One artist reveals his painting is about a childhood mystery of a broken Virgin Mary statue that remains unsolved to this day.

Visitors to opening night will receive secrets and stories that reveals more than they could guess about the artwork (& the artist) before them. Whether they share the knowledge rests with them."

I will be attending the opening reception on Saturday, January 20, 2018 from 6-9 pm and will be available to discuss the symbolism, historical and personal, within my sculptures. Thank you to Kathleen Isacson for inviting me to the show.

For more information on the show and to see the artists exhibiting please follow THIS LINK.

The exhibition will be open from January 20-February 24, 2018.
Gallery hours are Thursday-Saturday: 11 am-5 pm, Sunday: 1-5 pm.
The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Old Courthouse Arts Center
101 North Johnson Street
Woodstock, IL  60098
815.338-4525
www.oldcourthouseartscenter.org

POSTSCRIPT: Thank you to Jurors Cathleen and Joe Isacson for awarding me the Best of Show Award for my sculpture The Ephemeral Knot.

10 Point Profile with Ladder and Key

Many thanks to Christopher J. Piccinich and Ladder and Key for featuring me for their weekly 10 Point Profile. Please read the interview below, or check out the online interview here.

Shroud I and the RESPONSE group show in Brooklyn, NY

My stone lithography paper doll, Shroud I, will be exhibited in the Vox Populi Print Collective's inaugural show, RESPONSE, at ArtHelix Gallery in Brooklyn, NY from November 10-26, 2017.

RESPONSE gathers over 60 printmakers and their reaction to the new global political, sociological, and environmental realities of our time. There will be a catalogue of all the works available for purchase at the show.

In beginning this piece, I began referencing current conflict zones and human casualties of war. I was both moved and inspired by the frequent images of children before burial, their bodies wrapped in shrouds of white. The child in my drawing is of my own design, as I didn't want to reference one specific victim.

Drawing on the stone.

Shroud I
Edition of Two. 2017. 15" x 15"
Stone lithography, Acrylic, Bristol paper.

Special thanks to Elizabeth Jean Younce for graining the litho stone for me, and Barry Roal Carlsen for doing the printing.

Vox Populi Print Collective

Recently I joined Vox Populi Print Collective, a printmaking guild co-founded by Barry Roal Carlsen and Peter Hopkins. The group seeks to elevate, celebrate, and promote fine art printmaking in the US and abroad.

I'm looking forward to creating more stone lithography prints and showing along side of other printmakers. I'm told the group is already over 100 strong and growing.

Exquisite group show at Abel Contemporary Gallery

I will be exhibiting five sculptures at Abel Contemporary Gallery, in Belleville, WI, as part of their Exquisite show, running from July 28-September 10, 2017. The sculptures are all pieces I have not exhibited at the gallery before. The show will also be the debut of my paper doll piece, The Anatomy Lesson.

The works I will be exhibiting are: The Anatomy Lesson, Ossis Fateor Memoria, Beneath the Remnant Veil, The Ephemeral Knot, and To Stand Against in Witness.

From the Abel Contemporary Gallery announcement:
"Unabashedly beautiful, the objects in this exhibit showcase the work of artists who have refined their craft to a degree that can only be described as exquisite."
Other participating artists : Wilde, Schulte, Schoonover, Czechowski, Calderwood, S. Byers, Apgar, Abel.

I will be attending the opening reception on Friday, July 28th, 5-9 pm, and hope to see you there.

Jacket Design for William Gay's Stoneburner

It's hard for me to express what a strange honor it is for me to be working on the writings and jacket design for William's second posthumous release, Stoneburner. Long before I became involved with the archive project, I was a fan. I would read William's books and imagine what I would do for the covers. His writing spoke to some of my imagery and I felt a commonality. And so the years pass and an unlikely fate intervenes.

My original proposal for the Stoneburner cover was to do it entirely of my own design. JM White, William's friend, publisher, and director of the archive pushed for inclusion of one of William's paintings. He explained that William always wanted his paintings on the covers of his books, and it bothered William when the larger publishers didn't use them. During his lifetime, only two books had his paintings on the covers, Wittgenstein's Lolita and Time Done Been Won't Be No More, both published by JM White and Wild Dog Press.

I looked over many of William's paintings and selected a snowy farm house scene. There is a location in the novel where this is fitting, and I liked the painting's somber tone. The symmetrical composition of the painting naturally lent itself to both front and back covers. I made an effort not to manipulate any of the image, and to cover as little of it as possible and still have it work in a larger design.

The front cover for the novel Stoneburner. Typography and design by Paul Nitsche. Painting by William Gay.

The back and front covers for the novel Stoneburner. Typography and design by Paul Nitsche. Painting by William Gay.

In adding the ink brushstrokes and drips, I was thinking about the growing unraveling for the characters in the novel, the sense that things are falling apart and becoming uncontrolled. At some point during the design of this book, I began to realize the cover was an unexpected collaboration with one of my favorite authors. I can only hope William approves.

The full jacket design for the novel Stoneburner. Typography and design by Paul Nitsche. Painting by William Gay.

The full winter farm painting by William Gay.

Anomolaic Press to Publish Stoneburner

The inception of Anomolaic Press began in early 2014, when I was helping a group of William Gay's friends and admirers prepare what was to be the first manuscript of posthumous writings, This Ride's Not Over Yet. Our original intention was that we would publish the book ourselves under the imprint Anomolaic Press. During this time I created the two-headed whippoorwill image and Anomolaic Press logo. The manuscript was shelved when Dzanc Books voiced interest in purchasing the rights to Little Sister Death and The Lost Country.

The manuscript of Stoneburner has been completed for some time, but it was necessary to explore all the publishing options with different presses. In the end, we decided to release the book ourselves, and resurrect Anomolaic Press. In doing so, it will ensure several points: we have absolute editorial control, the book looks and is printed they way we think William would want, and most importantly, control over all profits so that they may go to William Gay's family.

The word anomolaic was a favorite of William's, and appears in several of his writings. We thought it an appropriate name for our press, as well as a tribute to the man himself.

"The Four Humors" Automaton Video

A short video of the operation and making of my lithographic automaton, The Four Humors. Information and photographs of this piece are available HERE.

Studio Visit Video

A short video about my studio and artworks produced for the Fabrication show at the Freeport Art Museum, May 12-July 8, 2017.

"Fabrication" opening May 12, 2017

May 12 - July 8, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, May 12th   5-7 pm

I'm very excited to be included in Fabrication at the Freeport Art Museum, opening May 12, 2017. I will be one of 3 artists participating in this large exhibit. The museum has chosen to show 19 of my sculptural works, ranging from 1997 to 2017- a twenty year representation of my sculptures. This will be the largest exhibition of my sculpture work to date, ranging from the early paper doll shadowbox pieces of the late 1990's to my most recent bronze, Beneath the Remnant Veil.

At the show, some of the labels next to my work will have QR codes that will link the viewer to short audio files of me talking about a specific piece. If you don't have one already, please download a QR code reader app on your phone, then scan away, and have a listen.

I have also produced a short video for the show about my studio and the works created out of it. Please take a look at the FAM show page to find videos of all the artists involved.

From the FAM website:
The artists whose work is featured in Fabrication each use an array of objects to assemble and fabricate imagined and unexpected scenes. Initially, the combination of elements might appear contradictory or even illogical, which challenges the viewer to make sense of the unfamiliar by placing themselves within the scenes. The results are surreal-like compositions that pull at the viewers unconscious.

Sweet n Low: An International Exhibition of Cute

I'm excited to announce that two of my automata have been chosen for Bedford Gallery's Sweet n Low: An International Juried Show of Cute. Many thanks to Jurors Evan Pricco, editor of Juxtapoz Magazine, and artists Susannah Kelly & Neil Perry of Antler Gallery, Portland OR, for selecting me.

The two pieces selected are A Wounded Child and The Four Humors.

This will be the very first time I will have shown my sculptural work outside of the Midwest, and I am thrilled. I will be present at the opening reception to demonstrate my automata and look forward to meeting the other artists and attendees.

From the Bedford Gallery Website: The artists selected for Sweet n Low will extend the genre of cute from cuddly and precious to creepy and ironic. From kitsch and Margaret Keane’s Big Eyes, to Japanese anime and the contemporary Pop Art work of Takashi Murakami, we’re looking to unleash the roly-poly, goofily-gamboling, saccharine-honeyed creatures on this earth and beyond!

The opening reception is June 22, 2017 from 6-8 pm.
The show will run from June 22 to September 3, 2017.

Bedford Gallery
Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925/295-1417
galleryinfo@bedfordgallery.org
http://www.bedfordgallery.org

The Anatomy Lesson

Figure Twenty One.- The Anatomy Lesson.
2001-2017. 11”h x 33.25”w x 2.75”d.
Lithography, Acrylic, Mahogany, Bronze, Fabric, Glass.

Drafted in 2001, this sequence of paper dolls were drawn on a lithography stone at the University of Wisconsin and printed with the help of Lithography Professor and printmaking master, Jack Damer. Some may recognize the dolls from my design of Oneiroid Psychosis' 2001 release, DREAMS (with pollutions when virile).

Figure Twenty One.- The Anatomy Lesson.
2001-2017. 11”h x 33.25”w x 2.75”d.
Lithography, Acrylic, Mahogany, Bronze, Fabric, Glass.

Figure Twenty One.- The Anatomy Lesson, detail.
2001-2017. 11”h x 33.25”w x 2.75”d.
Lithography, Acrylic, Mahogany, Bronze, Fabric, Glass.

Figure Twenty One.- The Anatomy Lesson, detail.
2001-2017. 11”h x 33.25”w x 2.75”d.
Lithography, Acrylic, Mahogany, Bronze, Fabric, Glass.

Figure Twenty One.- The Anatomy Lesson, detail.
2001-2017. 11”h x 33.25”w x 2.75”d.
Lithography, Acrylic, Mahogany, Bronze, Fabric, Glass.

Title bronze plate detail.

Name and date bronze plate detail.

The Four Humors

The Four Humors.
2016-2017. 8.75”h x 7.5”w x 4”d.
Lithography, Acrylic, Mahogany, Brass, Bronze, Linen, Self-fabricated mechanisms, Hardware.

My third automata, The Four Humors, is now finished. As the brass crank is rotated at the bottom of the shadowbox, a self-fabricated Geneva drive is engaged, rotating the paper doll's dresses with intermittent motion.

The four humors is an ancient medical theory in which all diseases, disabilities, emotions and behaviors are due to an excess or lack of bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. The fluids also have organs that relate to the fluids: blood=liver, phlegm=brain and lungs, black bile=gallbladder, and yellow bile=spleen.

The Four Humors.
2016-2017. 8.75”h x 7.5”w x 4”d.
Lithography, Acrylic, Mahogany, Brass, Bronze, Linen, Self-fabricated mechanisms, Hardware.

The Four Humors, Detail.
 

The Four Humors, Brass Crank Detail.

The Four Humors, Bronze Plate Detail.

The Four Humors, Gallbladder Dress Detail.
 

The Four Humors, Detail of Spleen Dress.

The Four Humors, Detail of Liver Dress.

The Four Humors, Detail of Lungs/Brain Dress.

Featured in Hi-Fructose x Ello Emerging Artists

I have been an admirer of Hi-Fructose for some time, and it is a great honor to be chosen by the magazine's editors to be featured in their Emerging Artist Showcase special insert for the Volume 42 edition. Hi-Fructose partnered with Ello to give artists such as myself this amazing opportunity. Showing on Ello's site has been fun and I have discovered many fine artists there.

Please look into purchasing an edition of Hi-Fructose Vol. 42 as it features the exquisite cover artist Tara McPherson, with Philip Jackson, Andrew Schoultz, Moon Chanpil, Monica Piloni, Matthew Grabelsky, Christian Rex Van Minnen, Mike Leavitt, and Alex Pardee. It is available at bookstores like Barnes and Noble, as well as online.

Many thanks to Ello, Attaboy, and Annie Owens.

"Crow Head", Dazzling Killmen T-Shirt Design

As part of Skin Graft Records UNFIT Apparel, pre-orders are now being taken for the new Dazzling Killmen T-Shirt, Crow Head, shipping January 15th. I designed and illustrated the shirt back in 2013, and am excited to finally see it go to print. The mighty Skin Graft Records logo is on the back. The shirt may be ordered through Skin Graft Records or through the Dark Slide. Thanks to Mark Fischer and Skin Graft Records.

Crow Head. Pen and ink, Scratchboard. 2013.

Crow Head T-shirt mock-up. 2017.

Working drawing for Crow Head. Graphite. 2013.

Exhibiting Nineteen Sculptures at the Freeport Art Museum

I am excited to announce that I will be exhibiting nineteen sculptures at the Freeport Art Museum as part of a large three person show.  Entitled Fabrication, it will also feature photographer Les Allen and assemblagist Rosalie Koldan. The show will run from May 12 to July, 2017, with an opening reception May, 12th from 5-7pm.

This will be the largest exhibition of my sculptural work to date, ranging from the early paper doll shadowbox pieces of the late 1990's to my most recent bronze, Beneath the Remnant Veil. I am truly grateful to the Freeport Art Museum for this opportunity and all the support they have given me.

From FAM's website: "The artists in Fabrication assemble an array of objects fabricating imagined and unexpected scenes. Initially, the works’ combination of elements might appear contradictory or even illogical which challenges the viewer to make sense of the unfamiliar by placing themselves within the scenes. The results are surreal-like compositions that pull at the viewers unconscious."

Very special thanks to Collections and Exhibitions Manager Carrie Baxter, Executive Director Jessica Modica, and Director of Education Barry Treu.

Article on Ossis Fateor Memoria in Whizual

My sculpture from 2015, Ossis Fateor Momoria, is featured in an online article from Whizual Aesthetics Blog. The author of the article, Igor Stankovic, was great to work with and I appreciate his interest. Please read the article HERE.

Beneath the Remnant Veil

Figure Nineteen.- Beneath the Remnant Veil.
2009-2016. 4'h x 32”w x 5.5”d.
Bronze, Wood, Resin, Acrylic, Gold leaf, Silk, Hardware.

Now that it's finished, it's hard to believe this sculpture was started nine years ago. From the onset, this work was to be a blend of reliquary and anatomical display, but it went through many changes over the years. Design elements of the frame were referenced from Gothic sources, with everything sculpted and fabricated in my studio. The central figure is bronze, and is to evoke the wax anatomical models of the past. Where those displays were dissected and clean, the human object here is bulbous and nearly unrecognizable, yet it was my intention to make it elegant still. This figure, and the objects tucked within it, are remnants of something once alive and vital: earth, land, and sea.

Beneath the Remnant Veil.

Beneath the Remnant Veil, detail.

Little Sister Death Now Out in Paperback

Little Sister Death, the first William Gay book to be published posthumously, is now out in paperback from Dzanc Books. This is one of the William Gay manuscripts that I helped edit, and I'm pleased to see it continue to be published and find new readers.

From Amazon:
David Binder is a young, successful writer living in Chicago and suffering from writer’s block. He stares at the blank page, and the blank page stares back — until inspiration strikes in the form of a ghost story that captivated him as a child. With his pregnant wife and young daughter in tow, he sets out to explore the myth of Virginia Beale, Faery Queen of the Haunted Dell. But as his investigation takes him deeper and deeper into the legacy of blood and violence that casts its shadow over the old Beale farm, Binder finds himself obsessed with a force that’s as wicked as it is seductive.

A stirring literary rendition of Tennessee’s famed Curse of the Bell Witch, Little Sister Death skillfully toes the line between Southern Gothic and horror, and further cements William Gay’s legacy as not only one of the South’s finest writers, but among the best that American literature has to offer.