October Open Studio

Catherine Mackey - Open Studio

Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th October

11.00 - 6.00 pm

1890 Bryant Street Studio # 204,

San Francisco, CA 94110

Between my return from New York, where I opened a solo show earlier this month, and my Open Studio this coming weekend I have had less than three weeks to prepare enough work to make my suddenly-empty studio look interesting and busy. But I've done it! 

I have finished two new paintings and have retrieved several recent paintings which were showing elsewhere. But the really fun thing I have done is to delve into my sketchbooks and pull out some of my favorite sketches related to my exploration of the waterfront in San Francisco and Sausalito.  Some are studies for paintings and some are drawings for the sake of drawing. They are framed and for sale at my studio this weekend. Here are a few examples:

Fisherman's Wharf. 8" x 10". Pencil crayon on paper.

Sausalito Houseboat. 10" x 8". Pencil crayon on paper.

Sausalito Houseboat. 10" x 8". Pencil crayon & marker on paper.

Sausalito Houseboat. 10" x 8". Pencil crayon on paper.

Sausalito Houseboat. 10" x 8". Pencil crayon on paper.

Four Days in New York

I've just returned from four days in New York. I went primarily to attend the opening of my solo show "Patterns in the City" at Stricoff Fine Art in Chelsea but I managed to squeeze in some art shows, sightseeing, and lots of walking. 

The show:

 

 

It turns out that I got to New York before the paintings did!

At 11.00 am on the day before the opening the paintings still hadn't arrived. Something had happened during the two weeks transit period and nobody could say what. They arrived later that day and Michel had to work hard to hang the show and arrange the lighting in a short period of time. There were sighs of relief all around!

The opening the next evening was busy and fun, and several of the paintings were sold before the end of the event.

The Whitney:

The Drawings of Edward Hopper.
I've never really been a big fan of Hopper's paintings but seeing these drawing studies
has given me a new respect for his development of composition and contrast.
The drawings are gestural, layered and wonderful.
 

 

In The Air - T. J. Wilcox

An amazing in-the-round video installation telling the artist's story of Manhattan.

This took me by surprise and I ended up being absorbed for at least 30 minutes.  

 

 

Walking around:

 

Sheep Station - Francois-Xavier Lalanne
An installation at an old gas station on West 24th at 10th Avenue

 

Pier 92 - NYC
Walking along the waterside on the West side I discovered that not everything
has been fixed up and re-painted. This pier will definitely inspire some paintings!

 

Visual chaos:
The Brooklyn Bridge approach by the old Fulton fish market.

 



Dia Beacon:

 

The view of the old Nabisco box factory on the walk from the railway station. 

 

 

Michael Heizer's Negative Sculpture

 

 

Spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois
(I wasn't allowed to take a photo so I had to draw it.)
I've recently watched a video of her in her studio and her powerfully knarled
hands feature strongly in her work. When looking at this spider I saw that the
junctions on the legs look a lot like her hands. She is one of my favorite artists.

 

 

Richard Serra
Inside one of the four enormous structures housed in one long gallery.