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Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, NY will debut the Anatomy Mosaics, June 12th through July 28, 2019
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Dear <<First Name>>,
The Anatomy Mosaics will make their first public debut in Mortals, Saints, and Myths at Carrie Haddad Gallery, an exhibit that "explores the idolized and idealized figures that preoccupy our realities— both real and imagined."
Artist's Reception: Saturday, June 15, 5-7pm
Show runs June 12, 2019 through July 28, 2019
Featured artists include Mark Beard, Carl Grauer, Juan Garcia-Nunez, Kahn & Selesnick, John T. Unger, and David Sokosh.
The two mosaics at the top of this email will be on display, as well as Vibrachrome prints of three other mosaics. The prints just arrived and they are stunning! The aluminum under the image and the gloss enamel that protects the print combine to enrich the depth of color in a way that almost glows.
Needless to say, I couldn't be more excited about this show— I can't wait to see people's reactions when they see the mosaics in person. I'm curious to see if they spend as much time really looking at the fine details as I hope.
Carrie has been a friend and supporter since my first visit to Hudson before we moved here. She inadvertently inspired me to tackle such a huge project when she remarked "You like to do big things" in reference to my Old Glory project. That comment was the spark that made me realize I really did prefer to focus on much larger projects going forward. I'm not 100% sure I would have made the Anatomy Mosaics if she hadn't made that off-the-cuff remark.
A Visit from Austin Kleon
While on book tour for Keep Going, my friend Austin Kleon had the chance to visit the studio with his family and he wrote a nice article about the visit on his blog here. His two boys are some of my favorite artists in the world. Their drawings and music just slay me.
Austin said one thing during the visit that really made me particularly happy— I can't remember the exact words but it was to the effect that the mosaics really reward deep looking… that you can zoom way in or stand way back and see the work totally differently. That was one of my primary goals with the exhibit— to create an immersive experience as much as individual works of art, so I loved that he picked up on it without any prompting.
He also mentioned the mosaics in a post about how the purpose of art. it begins:
"With all the lofty nonsense that gets spoken about art, it’s so easy to forget its simplest purpose: To change the way we see."
It was really great to see one of my best friends get so jazzed about the work. And it kind of helped me to step back and see with fresh eyes also— when you live with your own work for years, it tends to become part of the landscape.
There's quite a bit more news in the sections below so I'll keep the opening segment short this time.
Thank you,
John T. Unger
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Progress on Anatomy Set in Stone project: 50%
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Anatomy Set in Stone is 50% completed!
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Seven out of fourteen mosaics are now complete! I am at the halfway point.
I finally solved the problems with the ruby eyes by laminating thinner slicers of high quality ruby to marble tile, then shaping the entire eye (whites, iris and pupil) so that the whole eye is rounded and slightly raised above the rest of the mosaic. It worked really well and it makes me much happier to have the entire eye curved instead of just part. with that problem solved, I was able to finish the two most recent mosaics and install them in their frames.
I posted a project update on Kickstarter that describes some of the cool new techniques I developed on these most recent mosaics. There's also a great time lapse video of the machine I built to flip them during installation, and lots of detail images of the hands, feet, faces and torsos. It's totally worth looking at if you want know more about ho these are created.
Here's Table 38.
Here's Table 33.
My friend Tom McGill said something really smart when he was helping me move these off the work tables and onto the wall. He observed that "On the internet, everything is the same size." By and large that's true— All the major platforms, FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram show all photos at a prescribed size. It makes it near impossible to get a sense of just how insanely detailed these pieces really are, even in detail shots.
I've updated the Anatomy Set in Stone project page on my website with quite large images of the two new mosaics. They are at the bottom of the page. It's worth taking a look.
I'll be starting the next mosaic any day now. I'm just waiting on an electrician to install a 11,790 Lumen LED work light on the ceiling and an outlet with a USB charger. The charger will let me keep a GoPro camera above the mosaic so that I can record the progress every day and make a time lapse video of the creation of the mosaic.
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In the Press and Studio News
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May 30th is the anniversary of the Great Bowl O' Fire. 14 years of firebowls!
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Studio News
Fourteen years ago, I cut the very first Great Bowl O’ Fire! Since then, I’ve shipped 2166 Sculptural Firebowls™ to all 50 states and more than 20 countries. The anniversary was May 30th and it's always great to look back and realize just how fortunate I am to have so much of my work out in the world. This year when I posted the anniversary on Facebook, quite a few people replied with photos of their firebowls which was really great!
The Creative Capital grant I applied for did not come through. That's disappointing of course, but as I wrote in the last newsletter, chances are about 1% at best.
This month I put my portfolio in the running for a very exciting public art opportunity. MTA Arts & Design posted a call for images for a mosaic project in Grand Central Terminal, NYC. Interestingly, no details about the budget or scope of the project are available until they winnow the portfolios submitted down to a handful who are then asked to provide proposals. The mosaic will go in the new Long Island Rail Road - East Side Access area of Grand Central.
There is simply no building on this earth that I would more like to make artwork for. Doing a mosaic for the MTA has been a life long goal, but GRAND CENTRAL! Wow! Wish me luck!
New places to see my art
La Siren III, the mosaic commissioned by the American Museum of Natural History as part of the touring show Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids. Catch it at COSI (Center of Science and Industry), Columbus, OH, February 23rd through September 2nd of this year.
I was pleased to participate in Design Hudson this year. Designer Sherry Jo Williams included one of my Big Bowl O' Zen Sculptural Firebowls in her outdoor design space at 105 Warren St. Attendance on the design tour was brisk this year, about double the numbers of the first year of the event.
Sierra, a stunningly beautiful restaurant in Lone Tree, CO recently ordered two 30 inch Big Bowwl O' Zen Sculptural Firebowls for their patio. I'm looking forward to seeing photos because the building itself is just drop dead gorgeous.
Recent Press
Chronogram Magazine has an article about the upcoming show at Carrie Haddad Gallery. I especially like the quote in the piece from Gallery Director Linden Scheff about the mosaics.
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