Lance McMahan – More To Come? If We’re Lucky, Perhaps.

Lance McMahan is a person that sees art in most things and makes most things into art.  He is more than a visual artist, guitarist for the music band ‘palit’ , song writer, intricate thinker, purveyor of philosophical theories or some other artsy drivel that starts with ‘p‘: poster art, pop music, pumpkin pie, pimpin’ kicks, plastered-polyurethane figurines, pickled paper and papier-mâché pin-up dolls.  Eventually some art becomes annoying because the result is a little more than a conjecture of ‘what the huh…” and senselessness vomiting out as distorted shallow noise but with Lance, one must ask, “How does he manage to craft ideas and have it make sense?”  It’s more than ‘just cool’ or hip.  I understand hype [insert aforementioned 'p' things] and that’s the point, Lance’s work isn’t a masturbatory expression for attention.  His work is detailed, sincere and thoughtful.  And, as an artist he arouses me.

Lance McMahan

One simple piece ‘Circles’, a digital video of words appearing on a blank screen oddly held my attention and I thought, “Really, how does he do that…”.  A few hours later, I trolled back and watched it again; this time with the included audio and after the third screen shot, I realized I was reading along to a song.  No, this isn’t a grandiose de rigueur to expressionism or art but it is a formulated thought well-manufactured for the senses.  Music.  Words.  The option of having them co-exist.  It’s more than the meaning of words and his medium of choice to express his thought, but it’s the moment when one finds the tactility of the piece that combines the formidable and/or deconstructed ideas that makes his work impressive.   Not only do I appreciate it- I want to hold it, I want to savor it, I want to chew it in tiny morsels and have it rest in my belly because it’s this sort of meaning that keeps me feeling alive or devastated or left wanting – that I want it to lasts.

What makes all of this better than good is the ingenious, perplexingly simple, awkwardly lascivious, perceptive man behind the words, the visuals and the music.  Simply looking at a photograph of Lance, it unveils itself like a peep show.  His work makes me want to touch but I can’t, yet the pictures urge me to look closer; so I look into, look over and look upon and I am left unresolved or completely sinking or beaming like Spring or left doing math in the dark because his art is signaling fires for me to imagine more.

post by corine michel; contributor . contact me [corinemichel@dopemag.com].

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>Pirates by Palit

more cake

Interview with Lance & MP3 ‘pirates piano’ by Palit:

When did you discover painting as a creative outlet? My interest in painting started when I was eighteen years old and discovered Cy Twombly’s work in Houston.  Art became interesting with comic books I found in my mother’s attic.  I love comic books.

Did you paint when you were a child?  Do you remember how any of your art looked like then? I love looking back at my childhood work.  I drew a lot of flowers; I’d describe it as very loose.

What’s the art scene like in Austin, Texas? Music is the ‘scene’ in Austin but places like ‘Okay Mountain, ‘Art Palace’ and ‘The Birdhouse’ support visual art so it’s happening.  But, the advantage of a new emerging scene is flexibility.

Where did you study? I studied at Texas State University but I’m learning everyday.

show me

You are experimental with mediums of art, can you elaborate on the tools you like to use? I’m a carpenter by profession and the materials I have; chop saw, substrate and whatever else is lying around dictate the shape and form of my creative work.

What are your favorite colors, textures or palettes? I like the idea of grabbing tangible objects that are accessible and inexpensive; such as house paint and dumpsters, and making it work [as art].

Do you work in complete silence or listen to music?  If so, what kind of music do you listen to? I like silence; I like to tune into the work.

When you are not painting, what do you do? When I’m not painting, I’m working to sustain my livelihood or being a hermit and making music.

Do you use your art to chart your life, in other words, do most of your pieces have significance to you personally or are they streams of consciousness? I am my art. It’s significant because it imbues my emotional process as I work through life’s challenges. I like art that you feel in the stomach. But once I’m done, it’s for the viewer to decipher its meaning and success.

lingering

Are you inspired by your youth or by your adult life, by the lives of others? All of the above.

Who inspires you? Mainly Cy Twombly but historically, many artists inspire me. Bad art is important too because it’s still a structured language that moves me forward.  But it’s the people in my life and my experiences that inspire me most.

What other art forms do you appreciate? I enjoy all forms of art.  My most recent love is modern dance.  Once I’m introduced to something new that I like, I soak it up.

forever

Have you had any recent shows?  If so, when and where? As I mentioned before, Austin has a relatively new art scene unless you paint apple orchards and mountains. I’ve shown at ‘Okay Mountain’, ‘Camp Fig’, coffee shops and parties.  I’ve illustrated for ‘Texas Observer’, ‘Proper Gander’, ‘The San Antonio Current’ and “The Red River Rank and Review’.  I also co-operated a public art installation space called ‘The L_M_N_L’ for two years.

How many shows have you done? Do they get easier? I don’t recall how many.  Some aspects get easier but it’s always stressful to plaster myself on walls for public viewing.

What are the next events coming up for you that you are excited about? I’m very excited about my next exhibit premiering at the Birdhouse on January 17th 2010.  birdhousegallery.com

Where can someone purchase your work? They can purchase my work either at shows or by contacting me.

What is your fundamental goal of your artwork? My goals are communicating, projecting empathy and when I’m greedy; receiving sympathy.

Terrance Hughes As… A Pusher of Art.

“I just gravitated towards art, I would study my mother’s album cover collections and draw those, i just like the expressions of it, how to translate a mood or emotion into something physical.”

Terrance Hughes is an artist and a graphic designer for a prominent label and lives in New York City. He started painting by watching the “Joy of Painting” and mimicking Bob Ross as a child. He paints and draws on canvas, photography or paper. He classifies his art genre as figurative work. He was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up, his peers placed a stigma on him. Though Terrance Hughes is African American and lived in a predominantly black neighborhood, his black peers labeled him as “not being black enough”.

terrance hughes

As a teenager, Terrance grew up skateboarding. Skateboarding can be a recreational sport, but there also exist a subculture and because of it, his peers failed to grasp his sense of fashion or even some of the music he listened to. Let’s face it; Fagazi, The Cure or Sonic Youth isn’t exactly Black music but is it non-black music? As a result, his teenage experiences, his earlier art work displayed a heavy dose of his philosophy on self-identity that goes beyond race. Terrance started to paint seriously when he was fourteen years-old for the ‘joy of it’ but more importantly, as an odyssey to self-discovery.

lesson plans

hoke

His latest series, ‘BLACK HOLLYWOOD‘ is based on past and present stereotypical images of black people in film and television. In this series, he describes his subjects as “coon characters” with a reverse black-face on which lends a comical yet haunting lure to his work.  Terrance says [on black-face], “the emphasis was always sort of on the lips and the eyes, that’s the only features you pick up; the mouth and the eyes; no ears, no nose, it’s sort of a very generic, very simplistic view of a person.” The portraits represent the characters played by actors being introduced at the start of the film as… “black”.

uncle remus

His current works are less about race and more about dissonance in society, politics, and the ‘chains’ of living that everyone can relate to. And, the pieces aren’t fluffy or sanguine but poignant, intelligent and above all else, discerningly cognizant.  For Terrance, art was about exercising demons from his early teen years by not being black enough.

“I’m more than just a black person and an artist.  I don’t get too autobiographical about my work, I’ve done it in the past, I want to talk about other things in my work and not have it be about me.”

He continues, “My work is not about black and white but more about stigmas that are being placed and in turn [us] trying to live up to those expectations but even now, I’m trying to get more into the interactions of people, I want to branch out and become more minimum and less complicated.”

Terrance is currently working on a new series of figurative art by digitally rendering and overlapping photographs then manipulating it with sketch. Also, he’s hand-drawing sketches on T-shirts which will soon be posted with his other works, such as The Tom & Deebo Show!!! on his website: http://terrancehughes.com.

If Terrance is pushing paint or creativity or his conception through his drawings, he undoubtedly pushes me to take the journey with him by asking myself, “Who am I as… ‘as…’.

by corine michel

Portent: A fashion film that channels the past, promotes the present and predicts the future

Pretentious? Maybe. Relateable? Not really. But innovative? Without a doubt.

Portent is an impeccably-crafted fashion film produced collaboratively by The Corner and SHOWstudio, the brainchild of legendary photographer Nick Knight. It is an ornate and ethereal celebration of the human form enblazoned by exquisite couture, and a dramatic yet blissful period piece at the same time. Oh yeah, and did I mention it’s an ad?

Among the designer labels featured in the short film are Viktor & Rolf, Proenza Schouler, Kris Van Assche, Masion Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, just to name a few. What these brands all have in common, apart from their refined point of view and ungodly price tags, is that they each have their own “mini-store” on the virtual high-end fashion mall that is The Corner. The site stands out by offering visitors an especially creative and interactive shopping experience, dialed up through an array of stunning multimedia projects and campaigns which accentuate the unique DNA and design sensibility of each of its specially-selected brands.

Regardless of where you shop, how you shop, and your level of financial and artistic interest in what you wear, this film, “Portent,” and The Corner it was born on provide provocative insight on the future of retail, advertising and the notion that sex sells.