Untitled Interior Painting 3rd state, December 9, 2009

This is the 3rd state of the painting I am working on at the moment.

Studio Sunday Afternoon - November 22, 2009

This is the 526 W 26 St. studio, Sunday afternoon on November 22, 2009 about 2 p.m.

Press Release: Fund-Raising Benefit & Affordable Art Sale - December 3, 2009

November 21, 2009, New York - New York base artist Scotto Mycklebust is hosting a fund-raising benefit and affordable art sale to help local artists this holiday season. The benefit and art sale is one way a group of local artists are reaching out in this difficult economic time for support and a way to sell their works.

The Art sale features works on paper by a group of seven local artists. The artworks are priced affordable for the holidays and make a prefect gift to collection and add to your home decor.

The party will feature a performance by Murray Weinstock, a New York composer, singer/session musician. He has recorded and toured with Manhattan Transfer, Richie Havens and John Sebastian. (Welcome Back, Kotter) His CD "Tails of the City" has been featured on NPR's All Things Consider. See www.dogtunes.com.

The Fund-Raising Benefit party kicks-off the event December 3, 2009, 6 - 8 P.M. at the West Chelsea Arts Building in Scotto Mycklebust's Studio 511

526 WEST 26TH STREET, NYC, on 26th between 10th & 11th Ave.

ARTISTS Include:

Amy Kool, Amy Banker, Cheryl Gross, Xandra McCagg, Veronique San Leandro, Rodney Durso, Scotto Mycklebust

Special Music performance by Murray Weinstock, December 3, 2009

For more info: scotto@scottomycklebust.com or 917 697-0844

Polo Green Painting 3rd State Study

I am currently working on Polo Green Painting. This is a digital study for adding a large red to the painting. It is the 3rd state.

POLO GREEN PAINTING 2nd State

This is the Polo Green Painting is its 2nd state.

SAVE THE DATE- DEC 3rd- Fund Raising Benefit & Autumn Art Sale Event

Polo Green Painting in Progress

I am working on a new painting entitled "Polo Green Painting". I just finish pasting down the digital images onto the canvas. This is it's first state. The inspiration was the green photo backdrop paper I found. It's the color palette and control of the image.

Givenchy Painting

The Givenchy Painting was also completed this past week. Here is the final state.

Red Hat Nude - Final State Completed

I have finished the Red Hat Nude painting this past week. It's in its final state. I reworked the center area of the painting. I was not satisfied with it. It felt off balance and to heavy. I put a b/w camouflage image over the painted area. It brought the painting together with more of a balance.

High Line Open Studios 09 Open Reception Party

Friendly Reminder -

This Thursday an Open Reception Party at 526 West 26 St, Studio 511, 6 - 8 p.m.

Scotto Mycklebust

Open Reception Party to kick off the High Line Open Studios 09 Chelsea Art Event.

Thursday, October 15, 2009, 6-8 p.m.

526 West 26th St, NYC

Studio 511

My art studio will be open to the public from October 15 - 18, 2009. New paintings will be on view.

Celebrate the New High Line Park in Chelsea Arts District with over 100 artists studios open to the public.

Official High Line Open Studios hours:

Thursday 15th and Friday 16th October 6pm-9 p.m.

Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October noon-6 p.m.

http://www.scottomycklebust.com

For a map and more information visit the High Line Open Studio website at http://www.highlineopenstudios09.org

The Sandler's Visit

James and Gretchen Sandler of San Francisco visited the studio on their NYC trip this week. I gave them a tour of the West Chelsea High Line Park after the studio visit.

Red Hat Nude 3rd State

I worked on the Red Hat Nude painting this afternoon, and took it to its 3rd state.

High Line Open Studios 09 Poster

Here is the wall poster for the HIgh Line Open Studios event. They will be available at my studio during the events, October 15 -18, 2009.

24 Panel Painting Prints Installation

I installed the 24 Panel Painting in the studio today to see if I want to include it the High Line Open Studio 09, which is October 15 -18, 2009.

The "O" Painting, seated woman

This is called the "O" painting. It's a painting of the seated figure from a found advertisement for American Apparel. I went to the Metropolitan Museum one afternoon. Primarily to see the first painting Michael Angelo's made. It was just put on display. I looked at the De Kooning they have hanging. One of his early seated woman paintings. In yellow, pink, orange and green palette. It was still in my mind when I got back to the studio.

Three Smaller Paintings in progress

Red Hat Nude Painting 2nd State

Red Hat Nude painting in its 2nd state.

The "Givenchy Painting" in Progress

The painting is mounted on the wall. I use wood framing fragments to set the painting into a display mode. It gives me an idea what the work would look like if it was framed. It also provides for a sense of a bounder within the picture plane. It's just one of my tools for composition and design. I also like to look at the painting in a mirror when I am working on it. It reverses everything. Shows the short comings, especially with figurative work.

Scotto Mycklebust in front of the Givenchy Painting

The "Givenchy Painting" in the pinup state and mounted on the painting wall. I though I would take a photo portrait of me with the painting.

HD Video Tour of Scotto Mycklebust Art Studio, October 1, 2009

This is a HD video tour of my art studio I shot today. I am working on a very large canvas which you see on the floor and I wanted to capture its early stage. The video is about 3.5 minutes long. The large painting on the wall is called "Red Chair Nude". I just finished it a day before. The canvas on the floor is call "Givenchy Ad Painting", it's inspiration comes from a small magazine perfume ad insert I found on the street walking to the studio. I painted over it with gouache.

Now Painting

This painting is called "NOW". I though black and white was appropriate palette for a painting painted in today's times.

Red Chair Nude Painting

Red Chair Nude painting is a composition base on the classic modernist idea of the seated nude. The painting is made up of several digital prints glued to the canvas. The letters act as compositional tools to add contrast and a counter point to the over all picture layout and composition.

Join Me for the West Chelsea Arts district's High Line Open Studios 09 Art Event

September 29, 2009, New York City - New York based artist Scotto Mycklebust is opening his art studio to the public as part of the Chelsea Arts district fall event High Line Open Studios 09. Over 100 Chelsea artists will open their studios to celebrate the new High Line Park in West Chelsea.

To kick off the event, Scotto Mycklebust will host an opening reception and party on Thursday, October 15, 2009, 6-8 p.m.

Please join the artist for an Open Reception Party on:

Thursday, October 15, 2009, 6-8 p.m.

526 West 26th St, NYC

Studio 511

Official High Line Open Studios hours:

Thursday 15th and Friday 16th October 6 - 9 p.m.

Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October noon - 6 p.m.

For a map and more information visit the High Line Open Studio website at http://www.highlineopenstudios09.org

http://www.scottomycklebust.com

For more information please contact scotto@scottomycklebust.com or call 917 697-0844.

New Painting Entitled "i-D-e Painting" part of a series of paintings currently working on!

This is one of my newest painting, which is part of a series of large square format paintings that I am currently work on. It will be featured in the High Line Open Studios 09 art event October 15-18, 2009 at my studio in West Chelsea Arts Building.

5th Small Scale Painting Completed Today

The fifth in the series of 6 new small scale paintings was completed today. The painting is 48 x 39". 

Detail of the third painting.

This is the third painting in the series completed so fare. There will be six paintings. I showed the four paintings to an artist friend. I asked them to chose the one they liked the best. This was their choice.

Studio Display of Four New Paintings

These are four new paintings which where completed in the past two days.  These paintings are part of group of six small-scale paintings I am currently working. The paintings are 48 x 38".

Newest Untitled Large-Scale Painting

This is the newest painting for the group of large-scale paintings I am currently working on. The painting is 68 x 56".

My Studio Wall with Today's Works

This is the studio painting wall which I use to work on my paintings. The three paintings hanging on the wall are paintings I  have just completed. The center painting is the newest large-scale painting. It is a collage of large digital prints of found images and photos. The small POV painting, is part of the POV series. POV stand for "Point Of View". The other small painting is an untitled portrait.

Newest Large-scale Painting Completed 5/31/09

This painting was completed today. It is part of a group of large scale paintings which I am currently working on. This is the sixth work in the group of ten paintings.

Louvre Sculpture - Standing Figure

This is a new sculpture, which was created in the Chelsea art studio a couple of weeks ago, The work is entitled the "Louvre Sculpture" a standing figure after a clay sculpture in the Louvre Museum, Paris. The sculpture is made of plaster and metallic oil paint, and stands 36" high.

P.O.V. Painting Finally Finished

My P.O.V. painting was completed today. The painting was started in February 2008 and  took a little more than a year to finish.  The title P.O.V. referrers to the orange letters in the painting which is an acronym for "Point Of View". The work was stimulated by the growing political discussions in the media during the 2008 presidential elections. There were severals small POV studies done, which have been published in a POV sketchbook. You can view the sketchbook online at http://www.scottomycklebust.com/POV 

Kippenberger sells for $4,114,500, a record price for the artist at auction at Sotheby's May 2009 Contemporary Art Auction

Artist Albert Oehlen at Luhring Augustine Gallery in Chelsea

I dropped into Luhring Augustine gallery this week to see what was on view. To my surprise, there was a show of work by Albert Oehlen, a German artist who worked and hung out with Martin Kinppenbergerin the early 1980's. They collaborated on several paintings; the current MOMA show features a car which Kippenberger and Oehlen painted together. It was not my favorite pieces in the show, but offered an interesting prospective, and a far-out example of what is accepted as art. 

The Luhring Augustine's show includes a selection of Oehlen's new work; ten large-scale advertisement paintings. I like the work very much. It's somewhat in the same line as the paintings I am currently working on.  I appreciate Oehlen's synthesis of painting and billboard graphics, which gives a context and visual appeal to the work. The juxtaposition of the two media sets up a disassociated abstraction, which plays out on the canvas. The structure and use of white space sets up a visual counterpoint to the constrained area covered by the imagery. I think these paintings reflect contemporary exposure to the bombardment of mass media in all its forms. Art like Oehlen's acts as a reflective catalyst.

Martin Kippenberger painting at Sotheby's: will it go for millions?

I guess it pays to have a retrospective art exhibitions at two major US museums in one year. The German artist Martin Kippenberger is included in Sotheby's May catalogue; in fact, his painting is featured on the cover (it's also featured in Sotheby's Private View: Contemporary Art, which is distributed to private collectors). Sotheby's Director of Contemporary Art Tobias Meyer pitches the Kippenberger painting, a large-scale self portrait, with a very high estimate: $3.5 to $4.0 million. Kippenberger's auction prices in the past have been around $300k to $600k for large paintings. 

The painting on sale at Sotheby's is part of a series based on a photography of Picasso in his underwear, standing on the steps of his mansion, posing as a regal king-artist. All the paintings in this series are good, although I would consider them some of Kippenberger's more conservative work. People can read and understand them easily, compared to some of his other works, which may account for Meyer's substantial estimate.

Studies for "Girl with Straw Hat" Painting

Here are two small studies for my "Girl with Straw Hat" painting.

"24 Panel Painting:" original advertisements

The "24 Panel Painting" original founded advertisement page, painted over with gouache colors.

New Work: a large-scale painting, "Girl with Straw Hat"

Here is the second painting in the series of the large-scale paintings for exhibition. This image was the inspiration for the series. The work is comprised of large-format digital prints, mounted on canvas with oil paint. The original image for "Girl with Straw Hat" is from a small printed advertisement page I found in the street, while walking to the studio one morning.  I brought it to the studio and painted over each ad photo with gouache, blocking out part of the photograph.  

New Work - Large scale painting in process

I started working on a new series of six large scale paintings for exhibition. This is the first painting in the series, which is currently in its third state. I feel it is close to something I like and feels right. The second painting in the series is already completed, and will be the centerpiece of the series. I am planning to include six paintings in the series. The series is part of a larger body of work called the "24 Panel Paintings."

Picasso in West Chelsea

I recently took in a gem of a Pablo Picasso show in Chelsea. The show is hosted by Gagosian Gallery in a large annex space on West 21 Street; it includes his late paintings and prints, works he created when he was in his blessed 80’s and 90's, just before he died in 1973.

Wow, I'll be lucky if I'm painting at that age!  And to create such powerful and expressive work at the age of 90 years old would be a gift in itself.

John Richardson, Picasso's most renowned biographer, put the show together. Mr. Richardson's selections and curatorial layout of the show is collage-like.  It reveals the artist's personality, as well as emphasizing Picasso's central position in 20 Century art right up to his last breath.

The show is packed with paintings rich in colors, lines, and shadows.  They're characters in Picasso's vital, compelling theater of the absurd. They're playful, sexual, and full of life, ready to pop off the canvas. 

Picasso was also a master printmaker, and the show includes several etchings and engravings.  They demonstrate his incredible storytelling skills, displaying myths and fantasy with such richness that it is hard to believe the wonders of lines, shadows and shades can illustrate such beauty in the printed art. Only Dürer and Rembrandt were his equals.

As an artist and painter myself, I noticed the simplicity of his technique, which nonetheless achieves dynamic pictorial effects, especially in these later paintings. They're mostly portraits and wild fantasies of art, love and sensuality, the daydreams of a man growing closer to death. Their vitality and energy is thrilling.

Martin Kippenberger at the MoMA

This past Friday evening I went to the Museum of Modern Art with friends to see the Martin Kippenberger show. The show was billed as a comprehensive retrospective, but it was hardly that. It was more of mixed survey of his work, with a few gems. The MoMA's show is a scaled-down version of an earlier show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angles. 

Kippenberger, for me, is a mentor figure. He always offers something to latch on to as an artist. His work seems to move in and out of the stream of visual art over the last fifty years or so. His style and the haphazard way he went about creating work is what intrigues me. He is dead-on at times, and at other times way off the mark.  But his risk-taking took guts.

In 2003 I went to Karlsruhe Germany to see his retrospective exhibition at the Centre for Arts and Media (ZKM) Kurst (I had come across his work a few years earlier, in 2000). I believe it was the largest ever exhibit of his oeuvre. The only major work missing from the Karlsruhe’s show was his large-scale installation piece "The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s 'Amerika,” a piece made up of many different cast-off furniture pieces: desks, tables and chairs arranged in a large room on green Astroturf.  It was an extremely unconventional piece, and intrigued me, so I was disappointed that it was missing from the Karlsruhe show.  Fortunately, "The Happy End" makes an appearance in the MOMA’s show; it's the centerpiece, displayed prominently at the entrance to the museum's galleries. 

I like Kippenberger's ideas about art. He seems to break the rules, while keeping the rules of art in mind. It may be an illusion, which is what makes his works all the more interesting.  I also like his sense of color and how he used the geometry of the picture plane to structure the senseless space in his pictures. This senseless space is undefined, yet has a natural feeling of ‘grounding’ the picture. I also think his work involves a ‘risk factor,’ the idea that art can be anything the artist feels, thinks, observes, or wants, however obvious or absurd. He had--and he gives to me--a sense of freedom to create, with out the baggage of the history of art.

New West Chelsea Arts studio

I thought I'd start off the Art Blog with photos of my new West Chelsea Arts building studio. I moved into the new studio on April 1st. It's much larger than my previous Tribeca studio. It allows me to work on several paintings and projects at once. New work is flowing already. I started a new series of paintings which I am very excited about. The work is about opening up painting and using large-format digital images of found prints. In the paintings, I rework the original found images. I paint on them with gouache, and paint over the printed images and cover parts in the photos, blocking them out. This process inspired a large work entitled "24 Panel Painting." The new studio paintings are the start of an exploration.

New York artist Scotto Mycklebust launches his Art Blog

I'm launching my Art Blog to preview current paintings, artworks, and works-in-progress. It will host an ongoing discussion about my experiences as an artist living and working in New York City. I also plan to publish comments on contemporary issues and events in art and culture, as well as contemporary life in general.