The international focus of Lex LAK Lou 2011 provides Kentucky-based artists a new opportunity for the cross-cultural sharing of ideas and the chance to participate in a truly international dialog around performance art. Lex LAK Lou 2011 is the inaugural presentation of what the organizers hope will become a regular event that helps Kentucky become an increasingly important part of the international contemporary art discourse.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS: University of Kentucky Department of Art, Kentucky Foundation for Women, Partnership Funds, Lexington Art League, Land of Tomorrow Gallery (LOT), Swanson Contemporary Art Gallery, Lexington Visual Collective and Parlay Social

FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS: Dmitry “Dima” Strakovsky, UK Art Faculty/Land of Tomorrow;  Rae Goodwin, UK Art Faculty; Theo Edmonds, Artist;  Cynthia “Cindy Lou/Ninnie” Norton, Artist; and, Doreen Maloney, UK Art Faculty

Visit our website http://www.lexlaklou.org/ for full information, performer bios, schedules… yadda yadda yadda!

New Style Dandy
Fierce, Peculiar & Fun Paintings and Sculpture by Theo Edmonds

Early this past summer I read an ARTFORUM OpEd piece by New York artist Amy Sillman entitled “AbEx and Disco Balls”… two of my very favorite things!  As I read and re-read this piece, I found a joyous, irreverent and accurate description of my own artistic point of view.  I kept thinking, “This is what I have been trying to say and… Voilà… Amy has found the words to say it for me!”

With a wink and a nod to Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on Camp, I spent the summer engaged in a rollicking exploration of my own “se camper” nature as it relates to artistic practice. New Style Dandy brings these efforts together for my new studio’s inaugaral show.

New Style Dandy weaves together my own glittery subjectivity with historical and vernacular associations, an ever-expanding painting lexicon, and the mythologies and matter of popular culture. The result is an a-stylistic yet deeply personal body of work.

In many of the vibrantly colored, intricate canvases, gesture is deliberate, vacillating between earnestness and irreverence.  While other pieces show off striking, somewhat frantic gestural abstractions concerned with identity and abstract action painting itself which leaves a void of intention that the viewer is free to fill with his or her own projections.

New Style Dandy also gives you a glimpse into where my artistic practice is heading with paintings that present alarming anatomy and otherworldly reference frames, both cartoonish and science-fictional. These paintings are a lens, open to a parallel dimension where the protagonist seems held by a force field, captured in a frozen moment of frustrated communication, the jester from a court of unimaginable strangeness.

The paintings in this show and the studio setting in which they are shown engage in a contemporary narrative of simultaneously denying and applauding modern painting traditions.   But, at the heart of these mischievous works lies an undeniable homage to AbEx painting and an earnest bearing of self… with a little punk and disco music thrown on top to let you dance your way through this fierce, peculiar and fun visual ride.

Read Amy Sillman’s ARTFORUM OpEd piece by clicking here.
Read Susan Sontag’s well known 1964 essay “Notes on Camp” by clicking here.

New Style Dandy
Fierce, Peculiar & Fun Paintings and Sculpture by Theo Edmonds
DATE/TIME: Friday, September 16, 2011 (During Gallery Hop) / 5pm-10pm
LOCATION: Theo Edmonds Studio / 261 Midland Ave (MEDUSA building) Lexington, KY 40508
The Medusa building is halfway between Main and E. Third on Midland. Plenty of parking available in front of studio on Midland (just look for the big MEDUSA sign) or behind the studio on Lewis Street.
EMAIL: theoedmondsky@gmail.com

Thursday, May 19 7:00p to 8:30p at Downtown Arts Center, Lexington, KY

This avant-garde performance work by artist Theo Edmonds explores the concepts of: (1) Nature (DNA) vs Nurture (religion, politics, FB, peer pressure, homophobia, racism, elitism, violence, etc); and, (2) the role of “free will” in determining self-worth and identity.  The audience becomes a participant in an interactive experience which combines elements of: visual art; genetic science; absurdist theatre; and,unflinching, unapologetic poetry.   Read more about this performance by clicking here.

Opening of New Studio

I will be opening a new studio in Lexington beginning in June.  But, everyone is invited on Friday, May 20, 2011 to stop by for a preview of the new space.  Also on view will be several works of art, created in Miami and during my time as visiting artist at University of Kentucky, that have never been shown publicly.  The open studio will take place from 5-8pm at 261 Midland Ave.

Recent Press

I was honored to be Skirt! Magazine’s “man in a skirt” in their May 2011 Issue.  Click here to read full article.

Recent Award

Sleep, Tigers and Happy Boy Days
Mixed-Media Installation
Size:  96” tall x 124 wide x 15” deep
Materials: oil stick on cardboard mattress box, rope, artificial feathers, fabric pieces, ink drawings on paper/plastic, collage, artificial birds, wood blocks, plastic sheep, graphite drawing on wall
Awards: 2011 Round #2 International Showcase Winner / Installation, Artslant.com  / Click here to visit my profile on ArtSlant.com

More about the work above….

Sleep, Tigers and Happy Boy Days mines the relationship between seen and unseen things by exploring the ephemeral, contextual use by humans of inanimate objects.  More fundamentally, the piece examines the role of personal need, life experience and memory of an individual in determining the present value and meaning of an object within one’s possession.   Inanimate items, such as a discarded cardboard mattress box, become transitory objects given new value (i.e., as part of a work of art) and new meaning (i.e., as the boundary of a world in which a narrative operates).

Additionally, because the work consist of a graphite drawing on a back wall which relates to 3-D objects operating within defined space, there is also a certain theatrical tradition of proscenium storytelling that is called into play when one views the piece.  Like an audience member in a theatre of the mind, a master narrative and characters interact with the subjective experience of the human possessor/viewer.   A viewer who will make choices about how he or she relates to the object(s).   A human possessor who, by his or her very nature and like the objects, consciously or subconsciously, understands the experience of a temporary existence.

Art in Bloom featured more than 60 designers, artists and celebrities creating floral interpretations to reflect the essence of paintings hanging in the museum’s galleries.

Marnie Holoubek (who is a direct descendant of KY’s Henry Clay) and I were teamed up to interpret a gorgeous Cy Twombly piece.  Here are a few iPhone photos I snapped of our piece next to the Twombly as we were doing the install.

If your in Miami for Art Basel… this Friday, December 3, at 8pm, join us at the HOT COMMODITIES group show at the Verge Art Fair.  My new performance piece “Hustler’s Paradise” is at 8pm and the group show (co-organized with the NYC Fashion Institute of Technology and Fine Art) opens at 8:30-11pm.   Click here for more information about the show.

HERE’S A LITTLE MORE ABOUT VERGE!

This year, VERGE welcomes back another impressive list of popular regular exhibitors, including ANTIDOTE curatorial collective from Brooklyn, New York, Rush Arts/Corridor Gallery, New York, New York,The Fashion Institute of Technology/Fine Arts Dept., New York, New York, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, the ever-keen eye of Sara Nightingale Gallery, Shelter Island, New York, the always-provocative work of Van Uxem Projects, New York, NY, and a room of whimsy by HD Studios and the fantastic Hollye Davidson of hometown Miami, Florida.RUSSELL/PROJECTS of Richmond, Virginia will present Drawing Show works by art star Peregrine Honig, of Bravo Channel’s famous “Work of Art” artists reality show. Newcomers this year include Miami galleries including Artformz, presenting a special “Small Works” show of works under fifteen inches square, and the robust program of newly opened Art Modern Gallery, presenting not one, but two rooms of new and emerging art, and Hot Commodities, presenting the work of over a dozen local Miami and New York artists. International galleries from around the world are rolling out spectacular exhibitions for VERGE attendees, includingBlack&, an emerging gallery from Cornwall, United Kingdom, presenting a special video project also showing at MANIFESTA 8, the G2 Gallery of Tokyo, Japan, Amsterdam’s Kahmann Gallery, and Fredrik Strømsæther Projects of Paris, France. Rounding out the VERGE showcase this year isTeam Art! of Chicago, Illinois, Olga Papkovitch Projects, New York, New York, Vital at Verge, New York, New York, Pure Luck, Brooklyn, New York, New York, New York’s US+U., and What It Is, hailing from the Oak Park outskirts of the city of Chicago, Illinois, and Suzanne Hill Curatorial Projects from New York’s Lower East Side.

ArtSlant has announced that Theo Edmonds is a Showcase Winner in Round #6 of the 2010 International Showcase competition cycle!  From thousands  of entries worldwide, Edmonds was one of 25 chosen artists in the Mixed Media category. Showcase Winners have been designated as promising artists by ArtSlant’s team of art professionals.  This is the second time in 2010 that Theo’s work has been an international Showcase Winner.

To view Edmonds winning entry along with the other winners in the ArtSlant competition, use this link.  To view Edmonds online ArtSlant profile, use this link.

Art Basel | Miami Beach Events

If your coming to Art Basel|Miami Beach 2010, please try to stop by one of the shows or performances (see info below)  that I am participating in when all the art world directs their attention to Miami Beach, Florida.  (Dec 2-5, 2010)

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the human soul is made up of five parts: the Ka, the Ba, the Akh, the Sheut, and the Ren.  The Ka was the concept of life force, the difference between a living and a dead person, death occurring when the ka left the body. Generally, the Ka is a symbol of the reception of the life powers to each man from the gods and it is the spiritual double that resides with every man.

American artist, Theo Edmonds, explores his own personal Ka through performance, poetry and an installation of his paintings, found object sculpture and drawings during Art Basel 2010.

On December 2, 2010 at 8pm, Theo launches his Art Basel exhibition with a 20 minute preview of a new performance piece entitled Hustler’s Paradise in the lobby of the Whitelaw Hotel.

The following evening, December 3  at The Catalina Hotel, site of the 2010 VERGE ART FAIR,  will be the main performance of Hustler’s Paradise and a group show entitled ”HOT COMMODITIES” which is an official event of the VERGE ART FAIR.

Event Locations, Times and Details

Thursday, December 2, 2010

8pm-8:30pm / Performance of Hustler’s Paradise Paradise (Preview)

WHITELAW HOTEL

808 Collins Avenue Miami Beach, Florida 33139
Tel. 305.398.7000 Fax 305.398.7001
www.whitelawhotel.com

Friday, December 3, 2010 ~ “Hot Commodities” Group Show / Official “VERGE Art Fair” Event

8pm-8:30pm / Performance of Hustler’s Paradise Paradise by Theo Edmonds

Featuring Performance Artists: Lela Lomdardo, Noah Levine, South Florida Circus Arts School and special support from Tony Koehler

8:30pm-till / “Hot Commodities” Group Show ~ Installations, Paintings, Photography, Video and Drawings

Featured Visual Artists:

Theo Edmonds, Show Co-Organizer (Lexington, Kentucky) http://www.theoedmonds.com

Melissa Starke, Show Co-Organizer (NYC) http://www.usunbound.org/melissastarke.html

John Kissee (Miami, Florida) http://www.johnkissee.com

Cynthia Shelley (Miami, Florida)

Fred Love (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)  http://www.fredlove.net

 

Pep Escoda (Miami, Florida) http://www.pepescoda.com

Marcin Wlodarczyk (NYC) http://scorpiou.viewbook.com/

Pansum Cheng (NYC) http://pansumcheng.com/

Participating Organizations:

Fashion Institute of Technology & Fine Art (NYC) http://fitnyc.edu/

South Florida Circus Arts School (Miami, Florida) http://www.sfcas.com/

Verge Art Fair http://www.vergeartfair.com/

Catalina Hotel & Beach Club www.catalinasouthbeach.com

VENUE LOCATION
Maxine’s Bistro & Bar at the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club / 1756 Collins Avenue / South Beach/ 305-674-1160 /   erin@southbeachgroup.com

For private viewing of Theo’s work at anytime during Basel-Miami, please contact Theo directly at theoedmondsky@gmail.com to schedule an appointment.  During Basel private viewings and appointments will be based at The Whitelaw Hotel.

HUSTLER’S PARADISE: SCARS ON THE FORGOTTEN GHETTO / the imagined lives of real people

click on image to enlarge

PART THREE: The Race is On!

A generation of glass eyes and houses and skies

sat down on the grim faces of

insane lovers and green pastures

with regal horses fast running to the slaughterhouse

still wearing their crimson collars and brass shoes

—–

I came running like my horses too

All sweet smelling and sweat drenched

whipped and pampered for the screams

of those dot dot faces and serious cigars

too loud – too loud – always screaming too loud

to notice my screams…

—–

the ones from Tibet,

the ones from Rockland,

the ones from Armenia,

the ones from Stonewall

—–

Mancha! Mancha! ~ Amok! Amok!

—–

Sounds shaken from the branches

of my first Amazon forest days

and from the plastic carnage

of the last Mardi Gras parade

when I still loved you

and you were still there to love

—–

I fell into factory life on a lost journey

to those saving sidewalks that purred

like moist noises in the night

and I saw those beaming headlights

obstructing vision of all that was not

of gossimer persuasion…

—–

Shadowland entrances were hid

under the hearth of roaring fires

and unseemly sewn city street quilts

that orphan boys pulled up close

around their ears near the dark side of dawn

trying to snatch warmth from that cold zone

of ransomed things that push and tug

at the hush..

—–

the huSHHHHHH…

—–

the hush holding the keys

to sleep, to tigers and to happy boy days

in the sun of a picturesque valley

in a far away land where someone’s

sweet mama was singing…

singing…

—–

hush little baby dont you cry

you’ll hustle in the city by and by

—–

But don’t sleep little man

don’t close your eyes to the world

that you chose

back when you were white hot

floating in and out of all that a golden child

could use and abuse

—–

Mancha! Mancha! ~ Amok! Amok!

—–

Things as they are have become

things as they have come to be.

—–

Press your scarred hand up to the glass -

pass through.

—–

Let your brow sweat become your crown.

—–

You are the king of the dirty boulevard

and the big time sky… calls to you.

—–

Run like your brass shoed ponies.

—–

Mancha! Mancha! ~ Amok! Amok!

—–

The race is not finished…

The race has just begun!

—–

Run! Run!

Like your brass shoed ponies… run!

The race is on.

More of my recent work can be found on my website http://www.theoedmonds.com/

ArtSlant has announced that Theo Edmonds is a Showcase Winner in Round #3 of the 2010 International Showcase competition cycle!

From entries worldwide, Edmonds was one of 30 chosen artists in the Mixed Media category. Showcase Winners have been designated as promising artists by ArtSlant’s team of art professionals.

Edmonds is now in the running for the prestigious Gold Frame Award which will be chosen in the coming months by a panel of the world’s leading gallerists, curators and collectors.

Showtime!

Just like the new green leaves and brightly colored flowers, I, too, am beginning a new chapter of life. For the past year I have called France my home. Its people… I now call my friends. A couple of weeks ago, my artist friends here in the city of lights joined me in my farewell performance art installation (video below). What a fun ride that was!

Since then, I have been busy packing up my studio and preparing to spend the next several months working on some exciting new projects and a new series of paintings in the Ft Lauderdale/Miami area.   While it will be nice to be in south Florida, the best part about my new studio location is that I get to be with two of my best friends in the world.

As one gets older, being close in proximity to your true friends is one of life’s greatest pleasures.  And, these two friends are both accomplished professionals in the arts.  So, we will, no doubt, develop a little side project or two during our time together.   (The last time I was on stage with these two was 20 years ago!)

Of course, once Paris becomes part of you, you never really leave. And, I will be back here for a couple weeks in the fall for an art show at EBC Gallery and to serve as artistic director on a performance project called “…and the wall came tumbling down!” – a collaboration with my good friend, choreographer Welela Kindred and Danish composer Neils Lan Doky.

But, for now, I bid a loving adieu to Paris with a heart full of gratitude.  Merci Beaucoup mes amis!

I thought of a boat (somewhere, somewhere). Stepping into the sea, I lifted my untended dreams to my chest whispering (holy, holy). In calm water, voyage began… back to the kingdom of mercy that was my own awakened heart.    – Theo Edmonds, American Artist

Indigo! ~ Here I Go!

a new poem by Theo Edmonds

———————-

She kept the color blue

in her front left pocket.

—-

The diamonds on her right hand

would not be able to find it there.

—-

She thought of the indigo child

and of two-wheeled adventure mobiles.

—-

She thought of those rascals down by the river

who always called her their lady love.

—-

Three pointing priests carved

stone-faced gazes into the nestled horizon.

—-

They sang of ginger, jasmine and joy rides.

—-

Knowing full well that they…

would never know these impermanent pleasures again.

—-

Still they sang…

of ginger, jasmine and joy rides.

—-

That they had known these at all

(in a lifetime disappearing over their left shoulders)

would – for them – be more than enough.

—-

And so… they sang…

of ginger, jasmine and joy rides.

—-

Stone faced priests…

poetic in their presence

accepting things as they are.

—-

Stone faced priests…

with one right-handed finger in hot earth

with the left pointing to cool sky three times.

—-

“How Curious!” she thought…

as she hurried by them

on her way to cultivate future happiness

(deep within the archives of her

busy mind’s motions and notions).

—-

Flash! Sparkle! Shine!

—–

Her diamonds caught a glint of sky

in their reflected prisms of sunlight.

—-

She looked around

to make sure that the color blue

had not escaped from her front left pocket.

—-

(it had not)

—-

What she had seen…

…was the indigo child riding his two-wheeled

adventure mobile toward the old river bridge!

—-

She awakened.

—-

Following close behind him,

she liberated the color blue from her pocket

and threw the diamonds in the dirt behind her.

—-

When she arrived at the river…

99 rascal monkeys began to rejoice.

The last of them had finally come home.

“A surREAL good time from start to start… like an ocean of happiness and well-being pervading everywhere, for all beings, in all directions and all HAPPENING now.” - Bosco Merlin

Click here for complete performance information!