paintings + drawings

in progress.

source material, field.

America, still open for business.

Four days ago, the New York Post reported that based on the success of the Jeff Koons silver bunny balloon, Macy’s “wants to display the rabbit in future parades, and is seeking other artists willing to float their ideas in its annual Thanksgiving Day spectacular as part of what it calls the ‘Blue Sky Gallery.'

“We’re interested in bringing a new audience to the parade,” said Robin Hall, the parade’s executive producer.”

A related note.

A million inconsiderate experiments.

Alexander Kauffman’s recent article about urban destruction in art had me reminiscing about SRL.

Here’s a video, from the History Channel, of one of Mark Pauline’s numerous pointlessly destructive projects.

Conservation of the Modernists.

I’m working on a brief article for KQED about how the colors (especially the reds and yellows) in SFMOMA’s Clyfford Stills have changed over the years.

Before I can finish the piece, I have a few other deadlines to fulfill. In the meantime Paula De Cristofaro, in SFMOMA’s conservation department, sent me this link to a Getty Institute video that explains what their lab is doing on this issue (you'll need to click through for the video, there is no embedding).

Fried Chicken.

from James G. Leventhal:

ingredients

1 whole fryer chicken (cut-up’s an option), cut into 8 pieces
2 bottles of white wine or a rosé
2 tbs kosher salt and a gang of black pepper
Flour, for dredging/drudging
2 qts of cholesterol-free corn oil

directions

1. Get a sweet little paring knife out and work your chicken. Soak it in water for twenty minutes or so, and then drain the water and peel of the skin. Soak it again, trim off the remaining fat.  Now cover the bird in salt and pepper and MASSAGE. 
2. Now you got one clean set of bird parts and you can cover them in white wine.  What you cook is going to be succulent.  You will want to dredge the chicken in flour with about an hour or so in the fridge before you set to cooking. I usually dredge the chicken in a deep 9x13 baking pan, and you can lay aluminum foil on the bottom of the pan to save time in cleaning up later.
3. To start the pan for cooking, I usually use a corn oil and set two pans abrewing. Since I don’t have a thermometer, what I do is set the stove to high and wait until the oil looks really hot.  It’ll ripple.  Drop a bit of flour in there and it’ll sizzle. Turn the stove down a bit, not too much; but the thing is that if the oil’s too hot, it’ll just burn the outside of your chicken up and not let you seal and cook through like you wanna do.
4. Place chicken skin side down into the pan. I spread it across two pans and I don’t time it, I feel it. It’s when the chicken reaches a perfect color brown. I usually give it a little more time, I think. I also use a cover every once in a while to help cook the “up” side, and I think in professional cooking that’s frowned upon.  There is absolutely nothing worse than blood at the bone.
5. I line a baking pan in foil, then paper towels and put the cooked chicken into a low preheated oven (usually gas) for about 15 minutes at a keep-warm temperature, like 200 degrees to be sure the chicken is cooked through and gets a chance to drain a bit.

Before I tried to lay down the framework for my recipe for fried chicken, I went to food.com – the foodchannel. So I could edit theirs based on what I do. I also made a point of cookin’ chicken for the family right before I took my first stab at this, in an effort to be authentic.  Actually, I am frying that chicken right now.

btw I usually serve this chicken with creamed potatoes and broccoli vinaigrette. That’s home to me.

Bourbon sweet-potato pureé with buttered pecans.

From Jonathan Knapp:

ingredients

6 pounds sweet potatoes (about 6 large)
3 tbs bourbon
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups pecan halves (about 8 ounces)
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
2 tbs packed dark brown sugar

directions

1.Preheat oven to 425° F
2. Prick sweet potatoes with a fork and in a baking pan bake in the middle of oven until tender, about 1 hour.
3. When just cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and transfer half to a food processor.  Add bourbon and 6 tablespoons butter and pureé 30 seconds.  Transfer pureé to a large bowl.  Pureé remaining potatoes in food processor until completely smooth and transfer to bowl.  Stir pureé until combined well and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer pureé to a 2-quart gratin dish or other shallow baking dish.  Pureé may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.  Bring pureé to room temperature before proceeding.
4. Reduce temperature to 325° F.
5. In a shallow baking pan spread pecans in one layer and bake in middle of oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes.  Toss hot pecans with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and coarse salt.  Pecans may be made 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
6. Arrange pecans on top of pureé and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake pureé in upper third of oven until heated through and pecans slightly browned, about 30 minutes.  Serves

Alright, this one's from my father, who in turn got it from Gourmet Magazine some years back.

Pineapple Sauce Surprise.

from Tim McFarlane:

ingredients

1/2 can crushed pinapple, chilled
1/2 jar unsweetened, chunky applesauce (or regular applesauce, if that’s your preference) chilled
ice cream of your choice
cinnamon

directions

1. Pour crushed pineapple and applesauce into bowl and add desired amount of cinnamon, stir.
2. Add scoop or two of your favorite ice cream and that’s it!
3. Enjoy!!

Gazpacho.

from Dorka Keehn:

ingredients

6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 purple onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper (or green) seeded and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
6 or more drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (omit for vegetarian option)
4 cups tomato juice

directions

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Blend slightly, to desired consistency.
3. Place in non-metal, non-reactive storage container, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, allowing flavors to blend.

This is out of season but it's easy to make and yummy.

Public service announcement (to run thru 01/25/08).

Open your wallet for:

Creative Growth’s Iceland
Annual holiday exhibition and sale from December 7, 2007 – January 25, 2008. Get their early the good stuff goes fast. Opening Reception is Friday, December 7. Reception is free and open to the public. Also open Saturday, December 8 and 15, 11:00am-4pm. More info here.

NIAD’s Art from The Heart
Annual holiday sale featuring work from every single artist at NIAD, Bay Area artists, NIAD’s talented teaching staff, and generous volunteers. Up from now through December 21, 2008. Opening reception is December 8 from 2-5pm. More info here.

Blankspace’s Holidayland
Holiday sale of small works of art and fine crafts from a bazillion local artists – my picks include Kathy Aoki, Sara Blaylock, Michael Hall and Lisa Solomon. Show is on from December 7-Deecmber 17, 2008.  Holiday cheer receptions (translates to free booze and music) are December 7 from 7-10 pm, and December 16 from 12-5pm. More info here.

Public service announcement (to run thru 11/28/07).

Inside the Art World presents lectures by art world professional -- curators, gallery owners, museum administrators, and art critics  -- whose professions directly impact working artists. This fall, Art Primer’s popular lecture series will be hosted by Oakland Art Gallery.

First up is Oakland Museum of California's new Senior Curator Rene de Guzman on Wednesday, November 28th at 7pm. Admission is $15, pre-registration is a must.

I’m not really sure what he is gonna say, so you can sort the press releases mumbo-jumbo out yourself: “In his lecture, de Guzman will examine the roles and functions of museums in the context of local and global art cultures, sharing his observations about the burgeoning Oakland art scene. His discussion will focus on the ways that regional activities and ambitions reflect global trends and ideas, emphasizing strategies to assert local identity while placing Oakland and California in relationship to the international art world.” Emphasizing strategies to assert local identity??

For more info.