Another piece from my show with Elizabeth Crawford, up now at @harkawik until April 2nd. The paintings I make tend to be rather small (Usually they are about the size of my torso). Even though the things I paint do not directly refer to “real” objects, I do try to make the objects in the paintings seem as if they are “actual size.” That decision extends from a general trend in my studio practice: I find that I tend to paint from the point of view of a frustrated sculptor. While I draw heavily from various traditions of illusionistic painting, the tricks I use are meant to generate rather than deceive. Also, I don’t think these paintings are entirely comfortable being paintings.
Wingwalker
oil on panel
36” x 30”
2025
It has happened again: I made more paintings.
You can see them (and me) tomorrow @harkawik , 6pm-9pm
I would love to see you there.
The show is composed of works by Elizabeth Crawford and me; she and I approach painting quite differently from each other but I think there are oblique connections to be made; I hope you enjoy puzzling it out
Dink
20”x 24”
oil on panel
2025
If you’re moving through downtown Manhattan on this beautiful day, this would be a prime opportunity to catch my show at @harkawik before it closes next Wednesday April 2nd. I’m really happy with this painting in particular, and I feel like it somehow holds a key for what comes next for me.
I realized this morning that I’ve been making and showing art in New York for 20 years. Tony Soprano said “‘Remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation,” but this is Instagram so I figure it’s fine to share tidbits about my first couple of group shows in New York here.
The very first one was called The Hedonistic Imperative, a group show curated by @grahamdayguerra at a gallery called Jack the Pelican Presents on Driggs street in Williamsburg, with a bunch of artists: I remember @suzannewalters_ , @normparis , @carldalvia (catch his show at @dashwood_projects today before it closes!) @mattborruso , @robert_yarber_artist , @xmichaelrees , @jerrybkearns , @michaeljoaquingrey & @kimkeever.art being in the show. That was in January of 2005, and for the life of me I can’t remember which artworks of mine went in the show. I suspect it was something deeply silly and deeply sincere (a mode I can operate in). I remember a dinner at (Graham’s?) apartment on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn with really good handmade pasta. Thank you for the pasta :)
Folder
24” x 18”
Oil on panel
2025
(More in the comments)
Hi there. I’m happy to report that I made the cover art for the new Matmos album ‘Metallic Life Review,’ (out June 20th on @thrilljockey . This is the third time I’ve made an album cover for @xmatmosx (the other two covers are in this little slideshow). I work with them in a very particular way; I adopt aspects of their music making process to make my images. It goes like this: first, I board a train or a bus to visit Martin and Drew in their lovely Baltimore studio. Then they make some coffee or tea, tell me about the album and introduce me to the things that they used to make the album (in the case,of ‘Metallic Life Review,’ they used many many metal objects). They play me bits of the record while I play around with lights and improvise little setups, which I photograph from every angle I can think of until it’s time for dinner or time to go to sleep. Once it seems like there are enough interesting photos to work with, I say goodbye and climb aboard another bus or train back to Brooklyn, where I squish, collage and cobble pixels together until I’ve made something that feels like an album cover for the music that Drew and Martin have made.
The collage stage of the process usually yields a little family of related images that are all borne from the same photoshoot. In this case, that family is woven throughout the album design - and some of them are available as a set of postcards which you can get through the @thrilljockey website :)
This is the last weekend of my show with Elizabeth Crawford at @harkawik . Looks like lovely weather.
This piece, called “Spirit” was the first painting I made for this show, and it ended up acting as a guide for all of the other paintings I made. It is definitely on the quieter side of what I do, with less of my usual horsing around (special effects, thingamabobs) than my other paintings in the show. The things in it that feel important to me are the spatial and perspectival provocations, the attempt to create a particular quality of light, and the proportions of the central rectangular form.
Spirit
Oil on panel
16” x 12”
2025
There’s one week left to see my show with Elizabeth Crawford at @harkawik ; many thanks to all of you who have stopped in to see our work.
Heel Turn
Oil on panel
18” x 24”
2025
Here is another painting from the two person show currently hanging at @harkawik , featuring work by Elizabeth Crawford and me. The show will be up through April 2nd.
Shutout
Oil on panel
18” x 24”
"Progress"
graphite on paper
12" x 14"
as seen in 'Train Dreams', a two-person show with me and the great @firnonbonorco at the Wege Center for the Arts, which closed on the 22nd. Big thanks to @metrican@sean_m_downey and all of the sweeties at @miuartdept who made it happen :)
This is another drawing from ‘Train Dreams’ - a two person show with me and Fiona Buchanan. It opens tonight at the Wege Center for the Arts in Fairfield, Iowa. Very happy to be showing things alongside the great @firnonbonorco . Extra special thanks to @metrican and @sean_m_downey for putting the thing together and for being a great hang.
At Hand
Watercolor and color pencil on paper
12.25” x 10.25”
A thing I’m happy to share: I’m in a two-person show at the Wege Center for the Arts (in Fairfield, Iowa) with Fiona Buchanan. The show, called Train Dreams, includes eleven of my works on paper from the last few years and seven of Fiona’s wonderful paintings. It feels good to show my work alongside that of an artist whose work has consistently surprised and delighted me. Many thanks to the intrepid Susan Metrican for masterminding the whole thing :)
Image 1:
Ted Mineo
Patient Portal
Graphite on paper
15.5 x 12.5”
2020
Image 2:
Fiona Buchanan
Strange Rainbow
28 x 24”
Oil on canvas
2023
@firnonbonorco@metrican@miu.art.ma.mfa
