Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Occulter presents: "Black Beach" at White Box NYC Tonight!


Hi Everybody,
I hope that your Summer is ending on a posi note!

Just a quick note--I have work included in the Occulter exhibition "Black Beach" that opens tonight(!) at White Box in NYC. Both the opening and closing receptions are going to be super-rad dance parties--I hope that you can make it! 

The details and the press release are below:

BEACH BOXWHITE BOX  Summer Series
 August 15 - September 2, 2012

WEEK 1

 BLACK BEACH: An OCCULTER Group Exhibition
 Curated by Derrick R. Cruz 
 August 15 - 22, 2012

 Opening Reception: Wednesday, August 15 | 6-10pm
 DJ Sets by Pendu NYC + Live music

 Closing Reception: Wednesday, August 22 | 6-10pm

WHITE BOX is pleased to kick-off its new Beach Box Series with Black Beach, the first group exhibition by New York City artist collective OCCULTERBlack Beach will run August 15 - 22, 2012 with an opening event on Wednesday, August 15th from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. and a closing event on Wednesday, August 22nd from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. Both events will be hosted by Agency Antares and will feature live musical performances curated by Pendu NYC.   

Five OCCULTER artists will be featured in Black BeachNadav BenjaminJeremy DyerDerrick CruzJonathan Goldstein; and Gabriel J. Shuldiner. Each artist will present large-format works spanning the scope of digital constructions, mixed-media paintings, sculpture and site-specific installations. Smaller works will be presented in a "Consumables Shop" as limited editions at the WHITE BOX CAFÉ UNIVERSAL.   

In Black Beach, OCCULTER members introduce a cohesive installation of tenebrous works as a call to worship at a pantheon of amorphous symbolic traditions they themselves simultaneously construct and explore. Each work displays an attempt at understanding consciousness or the incorporeal, with history (aesthetic, religious, political or otherwise) as a tool, not a guide. The installation as a whole evokes a self-reflective spirituality that reluctantly seeks community while concurrently providing escape.   

Contrasting the contemplative allusions in the artworks, on opening and closing nights, Black Beachwill transition from a space of observation to one of participation, as a set of energetic musical performances curated by Todd Pendu of Pendu NYC fill WHITE BOX. In true Pendu form, the space is bound to become a "community dance party".     

Those wishing to attend the opening and closing events are encouraged to RSVP to rsvp@occulter.org at least two days prior to each event.  

The artists will be present at the opening event on Wednesday, August 15th from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m.Black Beach will be open to the public August 16 - 22 during regular WHITE BOX hours. WHITE BOX hours are Monday to Saturday, 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Sunday, closed.

For more information, contact info@whiteboxny.org.

Monday, July 16, 2012

"Not Kansas" at RayKo Photo Center

This is just a quick note to let you know about a show that I'm in that opens this coming Thursday, July 19th at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco. RayKo is an amazing space and I'm excited to be a part of this show, alonside some incredible photographers.

I will be in town for the opening, so San Francisco peeps--please get in touch!

Here are the details:

Not Kansas: Photographers Explore Their Own Worlds

Featuring work by: Alison Carey, Chris McCaw, Germán Herra, Curtis Wehrfritz, Christopher Colville, Jeremy Dyer, Robin Robinson, Tomiko Jones, Lisa Atjay and Tami Bone.

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 19th, 6-8pm
Exhibition dates: July 19th – August 31st

RayKo Photo Center Gallery
428 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
415-495-3773 (ph)

If you are in town, I hope to see you there!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Haemál at Verve Gallery

I have been selected by Verve Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, New Mexico as their on-line featured artist, with an exhibition currently on view here



I will also have work on view at the gallery during Misha Gordin's exhibition, Shadows of the Dreamwhich opens this Friday.



The opening is from 5-7pm this Friday, June 15th.

The gallery is located at 219 East Marcy Street in Santa Fe, New Mexico.



I hope that those of you in the area can make it!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

In Memoriam: Bill Wooldridge


I got the news earlier this week that Bill Wooldridge had passed away. Anyone who came through the punk scene in Tucson in the late 90s through the 2000s will remember the big scary-looking bear of a man standing at the back of the room at Skrappy's, grinning as he picked up kids who fell down in the pit. Strangely enough, it's his voice that I remember best, soft-spoken and gentle, laughing quietly after making a goofy joke.

Bill and Kathy built a community in Tucson in a more fundamental and important way than I think any of us will ever be able to fully grasp, even before they opened Skrappy's. I have spent so much time in their home--learning photography by shooting bands in their living room and eating at their table (Potlucks! Vegan Thanksgiving!), not to mention the countless hours spent at Skrappy's through its various incarnations. While Kathy is more immediately recognizable as the face of Skrappy's for many people (our punk rock den mother!), Bill was at its heart. For so many of us, they were surrogate parents, opening their home to anyone who needed it and providing a safe place for people with nowhere to go.

I have never met anyone quite like Bill, and I am better for having known him. My thoughts go out to Kathy, Eli, Dusti and Heather.



A memorial is scheduled for today at 2:30 MST at Skrappy's. A Chip-In has been organized here to help Kathy and her family with Bill's final expenses. Please contribute, if you are able.

Friday, February 17, 2012


I have a couple of exhibition announcements for my west coast friends:


In 2011, I was honored to be selected as part of the Critical Mass Top 50 (http://www.photolucida.org/cm_winners.php), and have work included in the traveling Critical Mass exhibition which opens this Saturday at Photo Center Northwest in Seattle, and then travels on to Portland and San Francisco.



Here are the dates and details:



Contents: Love, Anxiety, Happiness, and Everything Else

Critical Mass 2011


February 18--March 23, 2012:

Photo Center NW

900 12th Avenue

Seattle, WA

www.pcnw.org

206.720.7222


Opening Reception:

Saturday, February 18th, 6-8 pm


After, the exhibition travels to Portland, OR:


April 6--29, 2012:

Newspace Center for Photography

1632 SE 10th Ave

Portland, OR

newspacephoto.org

503.963.1935


Opening Reception:

Friday, April 6th, 6-9 pm


and then the exhibition finishes up in San Francisco CA:


May 10--June 15, 2012:

RayKo Photo Center

428 Third Street

San Francisco, CA

raykophoto.com

415.495.3773


Opening Reception:

Thursday, May 10th, 6-8 pm


If you are local to any of these shows, I hope that you can make it!