News

Super Power Inducing Chamber

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:21:00 +0000

My in-progress chamber for collecting and concentrating magnetic
radiation believed to be associated with reacquiring super powers.

What a nut

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:28:00 +0000

After giving Maegan a bath tonight I laid her on the changing table to get her ready for bed. I did not know she would be placing a long distance phone call on her, wait for it, foot. She pulled her foot all the way back to her ear and proceeded to say "hello?, helloooooo." What a great life.

More Work in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:49:00 +0000

Still working on my superheroes project...many more images to come.

CSCC Faculty and Family Picnic

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:20:00 +0000

Cleveland State had a faculty and family picnic today at Bendabout
Farms; a 3800 acre managed hunting and fishing preserve. The weather,
the company and the food were all great.

New Work submitted to Memento Moris

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:15:00 +0000

My interest over the past few years has been the fallibility and exploitable nature of memory. Depending on the nature of the event, we can make bad memories seem good, good memories seem bad, or completely forget them altogether. This project is a set of 10 images of my "trip" to Disney World. Using Google image search and Flickr, I found other family trips and incorporated my young self into these images, forcing myself to have a new memory. They are intentionally left badly Photoshopped; I thought if the images were completely realistic the idea would not come across. They do have my sense of humor, and at least for me, I can't stop laughing.

Art League T-Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:15:00 +0000

Studio Work

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:14:00 +0000

Having a studio right at work has been incredibly productive. I get to
school at 7am and have 2 hours to work before class starts. On Tues/
Thurs and Friday I only have 1 or 2 classes which gives me plenty of
time in the studio. Currently working on the Superheroes project for
the show in March 09.

Wacom Bamboo Tablet and Corel Painter

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:13:00 +0000

I have been wanting one of the new, inexpensive Bamboo drawing tablets for about 2 months now. They finally went on sale, so I headed down to the local Best Buy and got one. I am still getting used to it; it's rather difficult to draw on a tablet while looking at the screen. There is a different brand called Cintiq which allows you to draw directly on the screen, but prices start at a grand. I see a lot of potential here; being able to play with hundreds of different media, saving them as in a sketchbook without getting even the smallest bit of paint on the fingers. Maegan's is the red line drawing.

What the ?

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:57:00 +0000

Hmmm...

Big Timer

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:37:00 +0000

The Spot in Downtown Cleveland

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:44:00 +0000

With a name like "The Spot" you have to imagine the food is going to
hit just that. I have always been one to want to try the non-chain
places, so this was our first forage into the heart of Cleveland. "The
Spot" was started in the late 30's and except for the modest increase
in prices remains virtually the same almost 80 years later. A $2.95
hamburger and an orange crush milkshake lived up to the little diner's
name.

It's been a while

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:53:00 +0000

9 years to be exact since my last time on the wheel. It was a
frustrating 3 hours, but I did manage to get one, albeit small, pot
thrown. Going back to the studio tonight for another round.

Gatlinburg, TN

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:39:00 +0000

Cleaning the Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:49:00 +0000

We are all moved in to beautiful, quiet Cleveland, TN. I have been busy this past week cleaning the studios. Below are pics of the studio, ceramics area, office, and my soon to be studio. 30 years of dust has wreaked havoc on my allergies. But there have been some interesting finds such as a projector that could double as a lighthouse, a record on Michelangelo, old films, and thousands of slides. Oh, and some asbestos panels and 4 black widow spiders.

Officially a Nerd

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:44:00 +0000

All this for a $50 Circuit City gift card. *Update - I was number 105, no gift card.

Hunter Museum of American Art Chattanooga, TN

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:23:00 +0000

I did not know Chattanooga was so large nor did I know it had an incredible art scene. These are images from the Hunter Museum, mostly its architecture and permanent collection. They also have a William Morris exhibition up which was incredible. Link.

Photos from the move to Tennessee

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:46:00 +0000

This is what happens when you try to move a 22' truck up a hill thats a bit too steep. The truck bottomed out and when I tried to back up, I wedged the trailer hitch about 3 inches deep into the pavement. When we finally did make it up the hill, $225 later, we had a beautiful view. The duplex faces the west, so we get an incredible view the afternoon. The last picture is not cropped, it really is that slanted. After we got done unpacking, it felt as though everything were on a permanent tilt.

New Job, New Place

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Audra-Kelly, Maegan and I have had a productive week in the mountains
of Tennessee. A month ago I was offered and accepted a Tenure Track
Art Instructor position at Cleveland State Comunity College in
Cleveland, TN. We came up to find AK a job, an apartment and daycare
and managed to find all three. AK has received two job offers and our
new home is at the very top of a mountain with an incredible view. You
know on the back of the box of pancakes where it has the other recipe
for high altitudes, thats for us. I will be teaching all, yes all of
the art courses, from drawing and design to painting and ceramics as
well as managing the gallery. My plate is officially full.

Maegan loves her corn

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:02:00 +0000

A little over a year old now.

Kimberley Hart at SCGA

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:57:00 +0000

Kimberley Hart's "The Chase". On view now at the Sumter County
Gallery of Art. www.sumtergallery.org

So whatever happend with Accessibility 07?

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:34:00 +0000

Accessibility 2007 was simply incredible. 9 fashion designers and 8 sculptors from all over the United States came to our small town of Sumter, South Carolina to make art and designs from found, recycled, and/or repurposed materials. It received a fair amount of press, but the entire month long event was worth every minute. My involvement included curating in the 8 sculptors and partially helping them find materials. The main credit for getting the ball rolling with materials goes to David Shoemaker, the tech/theatre/lighting guy at the Sumter County Cultural Center aka Patriot Hall. I also designed and maintained the website, which I am pretty proud of. It includes in progress photos and videos as well as artists statements, bios and much more. If you want to see what you missed, visit www.accessibilitysumter.com This year will be the 10th Anniversary and I can't wait to see what happens. The image above is by sculptor Ben Entner.

Busy Busy Busy

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:28:00 +0000

Teach 100 high school students 7:30-4:00, Monday through Friday. I then teach adults art appreciation 5:30-7:45, Monday through Thursday. That's a 60 hour week not including prep time for the courses. I am so looking forward to this summer, my first one off since being out of grad school.

Reviewed in the NY Times

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:25:00 +0000

I did not know there was a review of my show in the Times, not a good one but a review none the less. Read it on the Times site here.

Fattening Goodies in All Their Sugary Glory

By BENJAMIN GENOCCHIO

Published: April 8, 2007

“Sugar Buzz” is a high-calorie, free-wheeling, almost all-female group exhibition inviting us to savor the diversity of contemporary art made of sweets, or inspired by them. Though the 40 assembled works by almost 30 artists are not terribly complicated, or edifying, they are pretty enough to look at, even vaguely nourishing — the ultimate eye candy.

“Great Escape” (2006) by Pamela Hadfield.

Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey

Walking into this exhibition you get an instant jolt — there are crazy colors everywhere, and artwork that looks like delicious cakes, pies, ice cream, biscuits, doughnuts and other diet-busters. But much like a real sugar buzz, the initial rush soon begins to wear off.

Several artists have made works out of actual foodstuff. Mark Mcleod opens the exhibition with silhouetted images of famous museums burnt into tiles made of cast sugar and Splenda. Designed to change over time, the burnt-in, caramelized designs have begun to deepen and discolor. You can’t help but wonder how long they will last.

Nearby is Andy Yoder’s seven-foot pipe made of black licorice Twizzlers, while in another part of the exhibition is Yoshiko Kanai’s process-oriented work consisting of a Japanese table and traditional tea set cast of sugar mixed with egg whites. Every few days the artist pours green tea and Coca-Cola into the bowls, gradually eroding them and the table.

Becca Albee also makes edible art, baking dozens of Frisbee-size cakes, which she has arranged on the gallery floor in the shape of a spiral. The obvious reference is to the minimalist artist Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” (1970), a monumental earthwork on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Remaking it in cakes seems ridiculous, though it takes a swipe at macho earth sculpture.

Besides stuff made from food, there is a lot of artwork here made to look like food. It is hard to miss Amy Williamson Miller’s eight-foot slice of wedding cake, made of mixed media, and glibly titled “I Do” (2006), and Vadis Turner’s eye-fooling collection of confection and cupcakes made of colored cloth and assorted women’s beauty products. Ms. Turner has also made chocolates out of pantyhose and other fabric odds and ends. They are very cleverly done.

Emily Eveleth’s painting of sugar-coated jelly doughnuts, “Repose” (2006), is one of several paintings of pastries and cakes in the show. What can be said of it? Not much, for it is basically a sensual bit of retro Pop art reminiscent (in manner rather than subject) of James Rosenquist’s glossy consumerist paintings from the 1970s, or Claes Oldenburg’s goofy soft sculptures of doughnuts and other junk food.

Several other painters owe something to the work of Mr. Rosenquist, and to Wayne Thiebaud, whose paintings from the 1960s and 70s of cafeteria-type foods — cakes, pies, ice creams — and other fattening goodies set the gold standard in this area. Among them is Sara Sill, who paints delicious photorealist images of tables in French patisseries laden with cakes and pastries. Yum.

The rest of the cake and sweets paintings look better as a group, much like a party with all the goodies set out on a table for guests.

But on their own they are a bit disappointing. Sometimes this is because the painting technique is sloppy, and sometimes because the subject matter or the color scheme doesn’t pique the appetite. I am thinking in particular of Lynda Ray’s dull, murky encaustics that suggest slices of layer cakes.

This is not a gathering of artists who specialize in making food-oriented art. It is actually a collection of artists who mostly do other things and who just happened to make an artwork or two related to sweets. They were found through an open call organized by Susan Hoeltzel, the gallery director, who sifted through hundreds of applications to settle on a final selection.

One artist who does seem to work regularly with foodstuff is Shelley Miller, a Canadian. She applies colored cake frosting to building exteriors in the shape of cornices, columns and tiles, which eventually wash off in the rain and snow.

Photographs of projects in Brazil and Canada are here, one of which shows street children at an installation in Brazil picking at and eating the frosting.

The rest of the show is mildly amusing — more imitation cakes, installations with candy wrappers, and a cabinet stocked with collages of the artist’s favorite candies.

The exhibits inspired an occasional half smile but never really roused my enthusiasm. Or maybe it was that the buzz I had experienced upon entering this colorful display was beginning to wear off.

“Sugar Buzz,” Lehman College Art Gallery, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, the Bronx, through May 15. (718) 960-8731 or at www.lehman.edu/gallery.

Black Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:58:00 +0000

Target 5am. Came out with nothing.

Ronald Gonzalez Opening

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Mcleod) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:53:00 +0000

Sumter County Gallery of Art opened Ronald Gonzalez and David Voros last night. Ronald Gonzalez is a sculptor who uses found objects to make miniature figures; almost tiny time capsules of memories. With over 70 works in the show, ranging in size from 3" to 12", I was worried that they would become a monotonous squadron of forgotten toys. This was not the case. Each one could easily hold its own and was uniquely different from the one before it. I was impressed with Gonzalez's work, but not so much with David Voros. I found the paintings to be rushed and "off". One image of a large nude figure sitting on top of giant turtle was completely out of proportion, her head not fitting her large body. Other works could almost be divided in half; one half looking resolved and aesthetically beautiful, with the other half looking like a "night before" deal. The show is open until December 28th. More information can be found on the gallery's website, www.sumtergallery.org