"Push and Pull" at the Leslie Lohman Museum

UPCOMING SHOW! I've been selected to exhibit as part of the Push and Pull show, later this month. The Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art hold a drawing studio every week. I've been attending the group off and on for the last two years. Here's what they have to say about the show:

Push and Pull is a sampling of works on paper created over several years by 40 artists from the weekly Leslie-Lohman Drawing Studio, in such contrasting media as wax, charcoal, collage, pencil, inks, acrylic, and other watercolors. As the battle for same-sex marriage continues and the institution is redefined in many places in the US, artists from the Drawing Studio interpret the fundamental issues of male couples and how they relate to one another. This is the first in a new series of pop-up shows exhibiting and selling work from The Drawing Studio. Works on display will be for sale.

PUSH AND PULL

Curator: Frank Sheehan

Opening Reception: Friday, December 13, 2013, 6:00-8:00PM

Exhibition Dates: December 14-15, 2013, 12:00-6:00PM

Facebook Event

Boys of Summer: Recap

I HOPE YOU ALL WERE ABLE TO STOP BY this past weekend for the Boys of Summer: Artwork from the Pines Nude Drawing Group show at the Leslie Lohman Museum. Opening night we saw around 300 visitors, alone! Saturday night was another big night as we hosted a special cocktail hour for one of our sponsors of the event, Front Runners New York. Throughout the weekend, I was in and out of the gallery and was excited to always find a few people checking out the art. All-in-all, it was a huge success!

Opening Night

Personally, this was an exciting weekend for me. This was my first gallery show in New York, outside of school exhibitions, years ago. I had about a dozen drawings in the show. I was overwhelmed by the support I received from friends and museum faculty. Thank you to everyone who showed up! I even managed to sell a few pieces! 

Special thanks to Carlos Pisco and Shungaboy, for leading a beautiful show!

Boys of Summer: Artwork from the the Pines Nude Drawing Group

THE LESLIE LOHMAN MUSEUM presents 

Boys of Summer: Artwork from the Pines Nude Drawing Group

Opening: April 5th, 6-9 PM

April 6th & 7th, 12-7 PM

Prince Street Project Space

127-B Prince Street, New York, NY 10012

(Between West Broadway and Wooster Streets)

FEATURING WORKS BY: Anthony Gonzales, Carlos Pisco, Dan Evans, Duane Neil, George Towne, Grant Aronld Anderson, Ian Sklarsky, John MacConnell (THAT'S ME!), Kenneth Nadel, Richard Des Jardins, Rob Clarke, Robert de Michiell, Shungaboy, Todd Yeager, William Bil Donovan, W. Douglas Topper, and archival images from the Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation Society.

If you're in New York, please stop by the first weekend in April for this show at the Leslie Lohman Musuem. It is my first since finishing grad school. It is a collection of drawings and sketches that I created over the last two summers on the beaches of Fire Island with the Pines Nude Drawing group. Mine and other work will be for sale. Postcard designed by me!

Drawing William - 02/07/13

AS I MENTIONED LAST WEEK, Mark Beard gets really great models. Exhibit A, above, B, C, D, E, and F, below. William could have been sculpted out of stone. I can't believe the abs on this guy. Even better, he really has fun on the podium with complicated poses. He posed for an entire three minutes BALANCING ON ONE LEG! I'm not kidding. Check the image below, in blue ink. He was still as stone. Unbelievable!

I really took the time to slow down to get shape and volume this week. I really wanted to capture his physique. I think I achieved my goal, but the end result looks a little stiff. I guess that's what you get for drawing a sculpture...

IN OTHER NEWS, it sounds like some of my figure drawings are going to in an upcoming show at the Leslie Lohman Museum in Soho. In talks with them, I know a few pieces will be shown, but I don't know which yet. The show, Boys of Summer, will be in early April. No further details at the moment; stay tuned to find out more!

Alice + Olivia Spring 2010 Fashion Show

It's Fashion Week here in New York! For most people not much changes this week until you find yourself standing next to a 6'2," 110 lbs, blonde girl on the corner near Bryant Park or in the Meat Packing District.

Last night I got to step a little deeper into Fashion Week by attending designer Stacy Bendet’s Alice + Olivia Fashion Show/Party. I got an invitation after being hired to create illustrations for the show. The show consisted of a Parisian theme for their Spring 2010 collection and I was asked to create pen and ink drawings of things quintessentially French: the Eiffel Tower, Pont Neuf, street signs, windows and then some fun accessories for the models to hold: balloons, ice cream cones, and flowers.






The show was a ton of fun to attend with a live performance by the french band the Plasticines, and I was super excited by the way the illustrations turned out. I was worried they might not hold up being blown up in size a couple hundred times, but they held together on the wall just as well as they did on paper.

I'm not very good at the whole celebrity sighting game, but I nearly brushed shoulders with Heather Graham as she strolled through the show. There was one girl everyone was taking pictures of that I had no idea was. Turns out it was Ashley Greene one of the vampire stars of that hit (that I haven't seen) Twilight. Also in attendance were Lindsay Lohan, Mena Suvari, Nikki Hilton, Jared Leto, Kelly Rutherford from Gossip Girl and some stars from the new series of 90210 and Melrose Place. I guess I need to catch up on my pop culture before heading to my next show...

You can check out some pictures of the celebrities (some posing next to my drawings!!) and the rest of the pretty clothes at the following links.
http://shop.lucidnewyork.com
http://www.zimbio.com

There's even a YouTube video!

This project was a ton of fun and I really wouldn't mind doing more like it (hint, hint, nudge to anyone reading).

Tasmanian Print Exchange

I've had the unique opportunity to take part in a print exchange with 9 other American arts and 10 graduate students from the University of Tasmania. The exchange required me to create an edition of 22 prints 5"x7" in dimension, of any media and subject matter Once collected each artist will get a print from each other artist, and the remaining 2 sets will go on display in the US and Tasmania.

I've been super excited about this for several reasons. First, I feel so honored to be asked. Second, it's been a lot of fun to get to back into printing. And third, This is the first time my work will be displayed abroad. I don't have details on when or where the shows will be held because they're still forming, but I'll definitely let you all know.

The piece I've created is a continuation of the running/body series I began in my thesis. It's a reinterpretation of the One Track Mind drawing from earlier in the year. This time I've connected the "shoe brain" directly to the body's nervous system. I really love the way it's turned out!

I can thank Hilary Lorenz for this awesome opportunity. I met Hilary through running and she was a guest lecturer for one of my classes at SVA. She's quite the accomplished printmaker (and runner!). She had an amazing experience in Tasmania, through a residency at the University of Tasmania, and currenly teaches at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York.

Success!

The MFA Thesis exhibition came down this past Monday. I have been waiting to post on this until I had some pictures from the opening, but alas, I forgot my camera, and I've been having some difficulty getting images from friends. :( I couldn't keep you all waiting any longer, though. I had to say THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to the show especially to those who came to the opening. I had such a good time and felt so much love and support!

Posted are some pictures of myself showing my good friend Danny Jones the exhibition. (Pictures courtesy Mike Terry's iPhone).

For those of you that couldn't make it out, you'll notice I got a really great wall for the show. I planned on putting three pieces and a book into the show. Shown to my space in the gallery, I had to run back to my studio to grab another drawing! I had a great huge wall. On display were two pieces you've all seen, two new pieces and a new book that traces my whole thesis project this year.

All the work looked great in the show. I hope you all took the chance to check out the MFA Illustration website, because there was a lot good things happening in the gallery.

The best part of the evening was definitely when I found out I had a fan and got to sign an autograph. :)

Thanks again everyone. I'll keep you posted on any shows that may come in the future!

The Show is OPEN!

MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Thesis Exhibition 2009! (Take II)

It has been forever since I've posted last. I've been so busy preparing for the thesis show, I just haven't had the time! And it doesn't hurt that I've got some stuff that you haven't seen to put in the show now.

As promised, here are details. Hope to see you all there!

MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Thesis Projects

Curated by David Sandlin

Selected Works from the Class of 2009: Rachel Allison, Lisel Ashlock, Josh Bayer, Maria Berrio, You Byun, André da Loba, Matt Cavanaugh, Ray Jones, Yuriko Katori, YJ Lee, Youngsun Liu, John MacConnell, Joanna Neborsky, Anna Raff, Heejin Roh, Nu Ryu, Sybille Schenker, Russ Spitkovsky, Rich Tu, and Edwin Vazquez.

Reception: Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 6 - 8pm

Exhibition Showing May 1 - 16, 2009

Visual Arts Gallery

601 West 26th Street, 15th Floor

New York, NY 10011-3201

212 592 2145

Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10am - 6pm

Find a sneak peak of the work here!

MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Thesis Exhibition 2009!

Mark your calendar folks! The show exhibiting my work from the past year is beginning to take shape and the dates are set for May 5 -15th at the SVA Visual Arts Gallery. Closer to the show I will post dates/times for the show opening. Also look out for a sneak peak into the work you'll see from myself and fellow artist!

Here is the postcard for the show. Each of us has created a portrait of each other. It was pretty fun and I think the results are fantastic. I got to draw my friend Ray Jones (bottom center). Can you find me? These drawings are cropped images that are going to be silkscreened into a limited edition poster. More details later. Stay tuned, true believers!

It Runs in the Family

15: Kristen from Caleb Custer on Vimeo.
I happen to not be the only artist, or athlete (as this seem to border both), in the family. My cousin Kristen Weiser is also an fantastically talented artist. She is dances for Cedar Lake Dance a contemporary ballet studio, here in New York. She was recently featured in a video by project52, a collaboration with Cedar Lake to highlight the dancers' intersections of life and dance.

I am especially proud and excited to introduce my cousin because she is one of the reasons I am an artist today. Her drive and willingness to dream has given me the confidence to pursue my own goals. If she hadn't been willing to take the hard, and certainly painful, road to become a "rockstar" in the dance world, I don't know if I would have been willing to take such a leap into the art world as well.

If you're interested in seeing more of Kristen and Cedar Lake, and I highly recommend it, their next performances are January 8-18th. They are located at 547 West 26th St, New York, NY 10001.

The Bookshow

Opening Reception: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 from 6-8pm, Visual Arts Gallery.

In the Main Gallery, The Book Show is an exhibition of 20 books, curated by Marshall Arisman and Carl Titolo, including mine Living Dying. Living Dying is my final project from my first year in the MFA program of SVA. The narrative follows life from conception to death and shows the glories and defeats a full life brings. Copies of the book will be for sale at the event. Editions are limited so if you want one let me know and I'll reserve you one (two or three!).

Also opening in Project Room 3 is The Call of Cthulhu, curated by Viktor Koen. The show features a selection of narratives based upon the short story by H. P. Lovecraft. The shows are brought to you by the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department of the School of Visuals Arts.

The Visual Arts Gallery is located at 601 West 26 Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001. 212.592.2145. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday 10am - 6 pm.

For more information call the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department at 212.592.2210.