David Hockney uses the Brushes app on his iPhone and sends his drawings to his friends.

read more here
slide show of drawings here

John Baldessari's postcard for the Venice Biennale, 2009. He hoped that visitors would take a photo in front of the buildings facade and email it to their friends.

Brunch at the Renaissance Society

Laura Letinsky, Untitled #85, 2003

On Sunday, November 8, the Wrens and the Renaissance Society are hosting a brunch and gallery tour with curators Hazma Walker and Suzanne Ghez. They aim to bring together art clubs from different Chicago universities into one space, initiating long-term relationships and collaborative projects.

Student Brunch at the Renaissance Society
Time: 12-2pm
Date: Sunday, 11/8
Location: Renaissance Society, 4th floor of Cobb Hall, 5811 S Ellis Avenue
Directions: Take the red line to Garfield/55th, take the 55 bus east to Ellis, walk south to Cobb Hall.
RSVP: Please send an email to wilarseny@gmail.com if you are even remotely considering attending

Future Unlimited

Business Casual, Ashley Townsend
handwoven cotton, 2009

Future Unlimited
New works by Bradley Duncan, Aubrey Walter, and Ashley Townsend.

Opening Reception Friday, October 30th, 2009 7-10pm
October 30 - November 14th
Sullivan Galleries, SAIC
33 S. State 7th Floor Chicago, IL

Future Unlimited is the collaborative effort of three artists/designers. The exhibition seeks to preserve varying historical approaches to craft and design; proving the relevancy of such ideals as they exist today.

tags: tight

My friend Jessica emailed me these photos from a recent trip to London. She explained that BASIC NEEDS are a line of already existing products that simply have the tag BASIC NEEDS attached. They 're beautiful objects by themselves, but I am more into what simple, earnest highlighters they are..

In response to Aylor's post below I thought I should include the Chicago Cub's victory flag. Aylor and I loved the minimal design before we understood what it was.

I can't pretend to care about the Phillies, but I am obsessed with the brilliant design of this tee-shirt.  Classic! 

Work by Aylor and I from a recent show, Speculative Ways of Living, at Eel Space.

Serizawa Keisuke

Nawa Noren (Straw Rope Curtain), 1955

Ehon Don Kihōte (A Don Quixote Picture Book), 1936/1937.

I'd like to see many things in New York.. specifically the textile designs of Serizawa Keisuke at the Japan Society. Also really into his calender-folios.

we grew up on the internet together

Arend and I were chatting about his project growing up on the internet.

Will Simpson

Awesome drawings by Will Simpson, who I've known (mostly) on the internet for like, forever.

home brew

made with love from our friends at foodcrypt.com

Incredible textile woven from the silk threads of the golden orb spider. Spider silk is the divine fiber of the natural world; stronger than steel yet super flexible. Chemists and engineers have been trying to synthesize this silk for years but to no avail.

The above textile was produced over 4 years, with 70 weavers, and over one million wild spiders (that were released back into the wild.) It is now on view at the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
read more here.

Recently visited the Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima Island in Japan; can not believe how amazing Monet's paintings appear in the company of Turrell and Ando!

Eric Lebofsky

One of my favorite teachers, Eric Lebofsky, is having a show this Friday at Western Exhibitions dedicated to his latest project, a series of drawings of "Superfreaks", superheroes "whose powers are derived from character flaws and/or transgressive behaviors, distinguishable from their civilian counterparts only by ornate costumery and/or literal embodiment of their issues" (in the words of the press release). If you're not in Chicago, check out his Superfreak daily drawing blog.
Also at Western Exhibitions on Friday: some good-lookin' paintings by Melissa Oresky.

BLESS is a visionary substitute to make the near future worth living for.
She is an outspoken female - more woman than girl. She’s not a cho-
sen beauty, but doesn’t go unnoticed. Without a definite age she could
be more between her mid twenties and forties. B. hangs around with
a special style of man. She has no nationality and thinks that sport is
quite nice. She’s always attracted by temptations and loves change.
She lives right now and her surroundings are charged by her presence.
She tends to be future orientated.

BLESS is a project that presents ideal and artistic values by
products to the public.

outdoor dining

real normal dog house

Paintings by Dan Ramirez

TL-P 2.151, 1977
TL-P 6.421, 1976
TL-P 2.12, 1979

I actually found out about Dan Ramirez by seeing his work at the McCormick Place Convention Center, which has a surprising amount of good Chicago artwork (there's also a kind of awesome Nick Cave piece there). I couldn't find any of his paintings from McCormick Place online, but these, from a show at the Renaissance Society (yet again...) are also really good.

my documents

Detail from My Documents, an online instantiation of a pair of drawings I made for Real Normal's show at Scott Projects earlier this year.