“Weird It Up!”

“Weird It Up” is an exhibition featuring work from Titus O’Brien’s Fall 2009 Advanced Research Studio course at SAIC. The class consisted of Priory Degree students working in multiple disciples, painting, photography, sculpture, video, and writing. In one critique, O’Brien borrowed a line from Rob Reiner’s Spinal Tap to help a student make their work more intriguing. He told the student to “turn the weirdness up to eleven.” “Weird it up” quickly became the catch phase that defined the class.

Artists
Rajee Aryal, Douglas Burns, David Cavaliero, Tony Costello, Sina Haghani, Ayla Hibri, Peter Neu, Brenna Quinn, Mary Quinn, Nace Sayles, Dominic Senibaldi, Radek Skalski, Titus O’Brien, Emily Wagenknecht

Opening March 4th: 4:30-8:30pm

Come down to the (Con)Temporary Art Space this Thursday for the inaugural exhibition of Chicago’s newest art space. The show will featuring work by the members of the (Con)Temporary Art Space.

Opening reception
Thursday, February 18, 2010 4:30 to 8:30 pm

Work by:
Douglas Burns, Tom Burtonwood, Emily Clayton, Theodore Darst, Jim Duignan Josh Finck, Marian Frost, Elizabeth Furani, Laurra Hieber, Serena Himmelfarb, Holly Holmes, Henry James Glover, Nate Lee, Sarah Loude, Ed Marszewski, Rachael Marszewski, Tim Mellon, Andrew Rigsby, Chris Roberson, Kevin Stanton, & Kenneth Zawacki

The The (Con)Temporary Art Space is open daily from 11:30 - 5:30pm. (except Mondays)
and located at 208 S Wabash downtown Chicago

Here is an example of one of my new paintings. I’ve updated the Portfolio page with new work from 2009. I’ll be updating the website and adding more work over the holidays.

I received issue #4 of the Czech Republic based punk zine How Can Limo Kid Kill Your Dreams?. A charcoal and pencil drawing of mine from 2000 entitled, “Punk Show” is featured on the cover. The drawing borrows the composition from Caravaggio’s The Martyrdom of St. Matthew (1599-1600). The narrative, however, takes place at a mid-1990’s punk show. If you can read Czech, be sure to pick up this publication. Issue #4 features interviews with Propagandhi, Slobodna Europa, XBananX, and reviews of the latest releases by MCD, Riot Cop, Coldbringer, Austin Lucas, Chuck Ragan and many more. The Revisions album Revised Observations is reviewed. I can’t read Czech, but I’ve been assured that the review is “130% positive.” That’s a slight improvement from MRR’s review of it, hahaha. Above is a photo of the zine. Below is Caravaggio’s painting for those who are interested.

This is a drawing I did that will be used for the cover of the first issue of MONO. MONO is a zine based out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to editor Isadora Fernandes, the issue will focus on the backstage and personal lives of people involved in the DIY music community. An interview with the Red Dons, conducted by Ruivo, will also be featured in the issue. In other Red Dons news, I just completed a Brazilian tour report. It will be published in the Mountza Zine from Greece.

The Chemicals recorded an album last month. I am not sure when it will be released. Look for it to be available this fall. Tuesday night will be my last live show with the group. If you are in Portland, please tune in to 90.7FM on Wednesday night. We are preforming live on KBOO’sLife During Wartime. I am leaving the group to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

BRASIL!!!!!!!!!! Yes, it was awesome. Before I write anything about the Red Dons Brazilian tour, I have to point out what an amazing job Mateus, David, and Gregorio did booking everything. All the shows were fantastically attended and we were dumbfounded by that audiences were so familiar with our music. In the end, we played around twenty Red Dons shows and three as the Revisions. Thank you so much for all the hard work you guys put in to make everything possible.

There is more in depth blogging about the tour on the Red Dons website. Click HERE to read more about the tour. We also have some pictures and video up on the Red Dons myspace page. Click HERE to go to that page.

I know it is probably a bit late to reflect on 2008, but this is the first chance I have had to write because last year was non-stop. Art exhibitions in Portland and San Fransisco, touring with the Revisions and Red Dons, apply to grad schools, and preparing for a Brazilian tour were definitely the highlights of the year. Well, artistically speaking that is. In personal affairs, I enjoyed taking part in both of my sisters’ storybook weddings as well as the time I spent with friends. For those who are interested, I’ll be posting pictures from 2008 on my myspace page soon. Click HERE for a link to that page.

Below is a picture from the art exhibition at San Francisco’s Onsix gallery. It is the last thing I blogged about so I thought I should post follow up about it before moving on. The event was a wonderful joining of music and art. Jesse Michaels and his wife Audrey Marrs were the most amazing hosts and his art stole the show. I was truly honored to share a stage with him and exhibit my paintings alongside his. I’m excited to announce that we will be sharing a stage again soon. His new music project Classics of Love will be preforming with the Red Dons in Portland on March 13th. Check out the EVENTS page for more info about the show.

Here is an excerpt from an article featured in Noise Pop News about the upcoming exhibition in San Francisco with Jesse Michaels and myself. The rest of the article talks specifically about the art and the theme of the show. If you would like to finish reading the article there is a link at the end of the excerpt.

Onsix Gallery, located at Club Six at 60 Sixth Street in San Francisco, will host artists Jesse Michaels and Doug Burns for both an art show and live musical performance on Saturday, October 25. Unique among galleries in San Francisco, Onsix is known for putting on some of the most raucous and well-attended openings in the Bay Area. Though not officially active, Onsix is lending its name and space to this event because of the show’s unique appeal to the Bay Area underground art and music scenes.

Most well known as the lead vocalist for the East Bay punk band Operation Ivy, Jesse Michaels has a long history of making art for local bands including Green Day, Filth, Neurosis, Christ On Parade, Crimpshrine, Operation Ivy, and others. In addition to his graphic work Michaels has carried on a personal art practice since early childhood.

Appearing with Michaels in both visual and musical exhibition will be Douglas Burns from Portland, Oregon. Burns was the lead singer and principal songwriter of the now legendary Portland band, The Observers, and currently plays in The Red Dons. Both bands have been praised by fans and critics for playing a classic style of punk infused with contemporary energy and lyrical content. In addition, Burns is an accomplished visual artist in the disciplines of oil painting, illustration and printmaking. He will show eight new paintings as well as performing with The Red Dons… Click here to continue reading

Here is a write up in the Willamette Week for this month’s show at the Worksound gallery. I hope everyone gets a chance to check it out before it closes!

Worksound In the thought-provoking group show Face Value, Josh Arseneau disarmingly cloaks the faces of his portrait subjects in ski masks. Evoking Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment, Doug Burns paints hellscapes teeming with writhing figures. Anne Greenwood’s quiltlike mixed-media panels critique domesticity, while Vanessa Calvert’s pillow-filled installation weighs in on the vapidity of social networking websites. The collages in Aaron Eliah Terry’s Fear series are witty and well-composed, while Rives Granade’s drawings crackle with erotic charge. 820 SE Alder St., Closes Aug. 24.

Here are five samples of the eighteen works I’ll be showing in August at the Work/Sound Gallery located at SE 8th & Alder. The opening is on Friday, August 1st.