CASEY BROOKS

It's been a year since Casey Brooks ended her own life. Her father has written a compelling & heartbreaking story of this event & its aftermath on his new blog.

Yet more Bay Bridge construction

More photos from my morning commute via F Transbay bus to my job at SFMOMA.

Foam Thumb Mitt

About two weeks ago Jen slammed her thumb in the door of her Ranchero. Those are heavy doors. Her thumb turned purple & swelled up to the size of a lightbulb. It was very swollen & tender, so I used my museum-preparator skills & made her a foam mitt, sculpted out inside to protect the thumb while she was sleeping. Seemed to work pretty well. It would have been even better if I'd made one with a big fake thumb that had "WE'RE NUMBER 1!" printed on it. Maybe next time.

INAUGURATION DAY

An 8.5" x 8.5" painting on matboard that I made for Strange Hope, coming up at Galeria de la Raza.

"Situation Room" installation at SFMOMA

Photo by James Gouldthorpe, SFMOMA

Photo by Scott MacLeod

Photo by James Gouldthorpe, SFMOMA

Photo by James Gouldthorpe, SFMOMA

SITUATION ROOM - installation at SFMOMA

My new installation "SITUATION ROOM" will be exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from this Thursday, January 15th through next Tuesday, January 20th, during SFMOMA's regular hours of operation.

You'll be able to find it up on the 4th floor as part of "The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now."

I've been slowly working on this piece for almost two years, so this sudden opportunity is a very exciting chance for me to actually put it up & see how it is coming together. Like most of my work, it is both amusing & disturbing. Unlike much of my work, this piece is sort of timely.

Technically, this exhibition opportunity is part of "Public White Cube," a project by Joachim Blank, Gerrit Gohlke and Karl Heinz Jeron that is in turn part of SFMOMA's "The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now" exhibit, and it includes concepts, designs & materials contributed by Ledia Carroll.

There is no opening reception for this show. I can arrange to get 4 people a day in for free, first-come first-served, with at least a day's notice. I also work at SFMOMA, so I can be make myself available to meet you at my installation during my lunch hour only, from 12noon-1pm, with a day's notice.

For more information about this project, please take a look at: http://publicwhitecube.com/pwc/?page_id=12

Once my work has been installed, there will be photos & commentary posted at http://publicwhitecube.com/pwc/

My opening at Room For Painting Room For Paper

Colin, Dave, Miriam, Jon, Caprice & kids.

Gallerist George Lawson.

Caprice, kids & me.

Gallery visitors.

Beca & John taking a close look.

Ann, Caprice & Linda. All photos by Jennifer June.

Social Networks 2

Kit, Mary, Pancho, Ellie May & Victoria at Victoria's house.

It's also a time of year when people make a little more of an effort to get together in person.

Harald & Brad

Andrea

Social Networks

Zdeňek Hůla

They say that people tend to be happier when they are members of strong social networks. As much of a misanthropic loner as I am, I believe that social networks are good things. This is the time of year when it is nice to receive words & images from friends one has been unable to see in person during the year.

Bohuslava Franková

Franta & Milada Stoček & Pavel

I ROCK U DON'T

Last month I went to the excellent David Cunningham Projects to see a two-day show of children's drawings that David had agreed to put up in support of arts education at Marshall Elementary School. The theme was "Peace" and most of the work showed uncannily similar visions of healthy forests & oceans populated by smiling people & scampering critters, but there were also a few good alternative approaches. One kid thought peace was being left alone to listen to music on his headphones and play with his X-Box on a bean-bag chair. For another kid, peace was a battle between giant dinosaurs & transformer-type robots. (& why has no one made that movie yet?)

But the far & away unofficial yet unanimous Best In Show award went to this drawing, for obvious reasons. This photo was actually taken by Alan Bamberger and I stole it from his exceptional & highly recommended - nay: essential Art Opening Reviews website. Hopefully he won't make me remove it from here...

Mes Nous-Nous

Another scan from my postcard collection. This is my favorite & last remaining card from a typographically-enhanced alphabet set put together by Fritz Vogel in Zürich Switzerland. Some of you have received cards from this set from me over the years.

Be Brave In The New Year

Notice how calm the water is.