Archive for November, 2009
The tricks aren’t too crazy and the first part of the video that takes place at the skate park is a wee bit boring, but once they start skating street it gets really beautiful and then you understand why some people work so hard to make art like this-IT’S FUN!
Wizard Smoke from Salazar on Vimeo.
Grumble Toy Show: November 20th, 6-9pm
Grass Hut 811 E Burnside
Everything will be available online too!!!
There will be
handmade plush, little drawings, custom toys, and even a Grass Hut
exclusive Manmorah!
Here’s an Interview with Grumble Toy artists Chris and Ainsley:
How did you and Ainsley meet?
Ainsley:? Chris and I met at the video store that I worked at.? He would come in every Tuesday for the 2 for 1 deal and suspiciously he always ended up at my til. haha
Chris: 
Was there any one thing that steered you in the direction of making monster art?
Ainsley:? I always like to paint animals and little creatures but the monster art is definitely inspired by the toys that Chris and I collect.
Chris:? Most of the art I still do is minimal audio works…? Ainsley is the one with the visual skill.? I’m always thinking about monsters, we get excited about ideas and she is able to bring them to reality.? I feel better about my own drawings than I used to, but I much prefer Ainsley’s.? If we count the custom toys.. well.. toys brought me there.
Is grumble toy a studio, brick and mortar shop,or a web village?
Ainsley:? Grumble toy is more of a web village.? We run the business and do the art making right from the comfort of our home.
You now have two of your very own grumble creations Wormrah and Manmorah. What’s next for grumble toys?
Ainsley: Chris and I are hoping to put out some more toys in the future.? Wormrah and Manmorah were both sculpted by Amapro in Japan.? We feel very lucky to be able to work with Amapro and hope to collaborate more with him.? Chris and I are also planning on producing toys that we have sculpted ourselves.? We also hope to make vinyl toys based on a few of my characters such as Mookie and Ookie and the forest gremlin.
Chris: Yes, I think you can count on some more minis from the same world as Wormrah and Manmorah soon… that and some vintage inspired dinosaur toys.
Your favorite toy maker and why.
Ainsley:I have many favorites! But I guess I will just name two.
One of my favorite doll makers is takiyaje from Russia.? Her dolls are very well crafted and her attention to detail is amazing.? They have a sort of surreal, spooky quality to them that I like.
One of my favorite kaiju toy makers is Elegab.? I love his designs and his sculpting style.? His toys are very textural and have great facial expressions.? I really like that his designs are original.? It seems many of the kaiju toys are tributes to movies, television or vintage toys.
Chris: Akk… I can’t name just one favorite! Amapro for sure, for so many reasons.? Butanohana is great.? I would love to see him do more original figures from his drawings.? Yamomark is so much fun… ahhh… the list would go on and on.? Dream Rocket and Siccaluna-Koubou for amazing paint applications…? If you just look at the Grumble Toy shop.. those are all my favorite.?
Tropical seas or big trees?
Ainsley:? I dream of tropical seas but I am happiest in the prairies where it is hot in the summer and brutally cold in the winter.? I think being cooped up in the winter forces us to be creative and make art.? If the weather was nice all of the time we would probably spend all of our free time outdoors and not get much done. Haha!
Chris: Big Trees!? I’m scared of tropical weather.? We don’t have any seas here, or really big trees for that matter.? I’m with Ainsley on our winter.. so cold, but we get a lot done, and don’t feel bad about staying in and playing video games for hrs on end.
Ok i think that’s it.
Heart: Bwana
This is a good one. Just found it don’t know the dood.
Mark Warren Jacques
Its Out There – In Here
November 6th - 27th, 2009
Opening reception Friday, November 6th, 6-10pm
Grass Hut Gallery presents Its Out There – In Here, an exhibition
featuring new paintings and interactive installations by
Portland-based artist Mark Warren Jacques.
To get on the preview list just send the secret password back to us “I LOVE GRASS HUT”.
We asked Mark some questions about his work, check these words out!
What do you hope your work communicates?
for me personally, the process, methods, and intentions are all connected.
something like: thinking, painting, thinking about painting, thinking about how ridiculous my ideas about art are, and how silly art is, and how i am a monkey that paints triangles, and drinking beer, and talking to my friends that stop by the studio, and getting really excited about how beautiful people are, and how different we are, and how we all see beauty in different ways, and getting super stoked on the way i see beauty, and needing to get that out of me, and trying to make up ideas about how i might best do that, then painting, and thinking, and trying to paint more, but geting distracted by all the other amazing things that life can be, like really tasty food, or watching other people get the beauty out of themselves. i love watching live music.
with this body of work i keep thinking about quantum physics and the idea that in the simple realm of matter/energy at its building block level, i am possibly nature studying itself, making stuff out of other nature about nature and showing it off to nature. so thats funny.
at the end, most of the time i’m just hopeful the work puts love and laughing and thinking and optimism in the air and looks good. and is connected to the way i am. And i just super really love to paint and think. It makes me happy. and and and.
What does the title of your show mean?
well its kind of corny i know, but it refers to the way i think about myself to myself. like “wow im totally out there, in here (my brain)” i love it out there, the beautiful unknown, i want to experience everything, even all the bad shit, but especially the good shit. I also wanted that title because it somehow gives me the freedom or makes it important to myself to get “out there”, to do some new things, think about things differently, experience my visual output in a different way, you know.
Do you know many of your collectors, what are they like?
i know many of them yes. a lot of them are people i am directly connected to, like i see these people and have conversations with them over beers. but some are far away and i have never even seen a picture of them. but even with these far away people i try to stay connected. i imagine that anyone who is connected to an image i put out, must have some connection to me because this stuff is so connected to me. There’s this awesome guy in the U.K., Sven, who I have never met in real life but we email occasonaly about the day to day and staying optimistic and whatnot. anyway i painted a commission for him that’s in the show. It’s a family portrait, and i was so stoked to get to do that for him, to think about his family and turn it over in my visual language. It turned out really good, and pushed me to think about husband and wife and daughter, and family, which i don’t think about much usually.
How is Portland’s art scene different from anything else going on in the world?
i don’t really want to answer this question, how about a poem:
i am riding the wave of destruction,
what a beautiful wave it is,
oh how it dips and swells,
and in the end,
after a wild and wonderful ride,
we all go under,
into the unknown,
i can’t wait,
but this wave is killer for now.
all my love. mwj
But wait, here’s MORE WORDS!!!
For his exhibition Its Out There – In Here, Jacques promises to
truly take the viewer Out There with paintings that protrude from
the gallery walls and floor, and an interactive installation that includes
a “self help painting” and an “In Here” zone where visitors will be invited
literally behind the paintings to investigate the artist’s inspired affection
toward the introspective life, outer-space, inner peace, and wonder.
In addition to installation, a dozen new highly detailed and meticulously
rendered paintings in acrylic and ink will fill the gallery space. Imagery
includes symbols of nature, the human body, interpretations of
vipassana meditation practices, love, and the spiritual universe that
connects us all.
Along with the installation and paintings a printed exhibition supplement
including poem-titles and personal interpretations will also be available,
furthering the viewer’s understanding of the artist’s intention for each work.
Mark Warren Jacques studied art at the Columbus College of Art and
Design in Columbus, OH. He is a member of the Together Gallery
collective in Portland’s Alberta Arts District and has upcoming exhibitions
in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.
