O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet.
— Saint Augustine

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
— Rita Rudner

Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out... and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel.... And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man" with his mouth.
— Mark Twain

Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.
— Norman Vincent Peale


Beyond/In Western New York 2007

David Clayton of Syracuse shows the blue tarp who's boss while installing at Hallwalls.

I was speaking with someone recently who still seemed unclear about the mechanics and logistics of Beyond/In Western New York—just how it all collapsed into place— which surprised me so I thought I would clarify for any others similarly confused. While all participating curators met regularly and worked together to whittle down the 900+ submissions to a manageable 100 or so, we have not collectively curated the entire project. We have instead employed a combo platter of curatorial collaborations and individual curatorial impulses.


Amanda Besl, exhibiting at the Albright, cracks open the studio vault for our perusal.

On the one hand, we wanted the collaborative aspect, particularly when reviewing the vast amount of submissions received. Invariably, one or more of us could bring additional information forward about an artist we were reviewing, an incredibly useful tool. Case in point: Simone Mantellasi, who is exhibiting at the Albright, was not doing too well in the early going, as his submitted images were poorly prepared and failed to represent his work well. It was B/I Project Director Claire Schneider—who had seen some work in person—who kept Simone in the curatorial loop and strongly suggested he would be worth the studio visit. He was and you will see his work on view at the Albright-Knox. Likewise with other artists.


Claire Schneider, Anna Kaplan, and Tammy McGovern drink in the work of Simone Mantellasi.

The collaborative process was also a key part of the studio visits. Many of us enjoyed that aspect and fed off of each other's perceptions. Admittedly, it can be unsettling for an artist if they open the door and suddenly find six curators walking into their studio, but you have to get over that. We're all pretty affable. No one bites. And you never know what happens. Two artist who made the studio visit cut for Beyond/In but were not included in the final selections, both ended up with solo exhibitions in Buffalo that preceded the realization of B/I—Krista Birnbaum at Buffalo Arts Studio and Alicia Ross at Hallwalls.


Krista Birnbaum or Syracuse would not end up in Beyond/In, but landed a solo exhibition at Buffalo Arts Studio (Feb/Mar 2007).

Following our long process of collaboration reviewing work and visiting studios, we reverted to curatorial subjectivity to make the final selections for our respective venues. I think this remains another key ingredient to what makes B/I a unique biennial. Rather than a jury decision, the final exhibitions reflect individual curatorial processes and points of view rather than a homogenized whole to which everyone has agreed to agree. However, the most salient point about this individual parsing of artists is that among 14 curators, there was—surprisingly—no jockeying for the same artists, no tugs of war, no rock/paper/scissors, no eeny-meeny-miney-moeing. That's an extremely positive indicator of the range of work you're going to get to see, to sample, to ingest. Different curators, like all other mere mortals, respond to different things.

Another important element of the project—particularly as a biennial—is the multi-venue format. Rather than stuffing the entire project under one roof, utilizing all Buffalo non-profit venues enables us to move from solo projects to group scenarios and to be as broad as possible in the range of media exhibited. Many of our participating venues have a regular program that exhibits work from the national and international scene, but B/I guarantees an all-regional aspect to your viewing pleasure. Our position from the get-go has been that the grass is not greener elsewhere—we're sitting in the middle of an art hotbed.


Roberley Bell of Batavia works some faux nature at Hallwalls.



How did the region break down, in the final lowdown? Of the 50 exhibiting artists in Beyond/In Western New York:

29 from Western New York (58%)
11 from my old stomping ground of Toronto (22%)
4 from Ontario, outside Toronto (8%)
4 from Central New York (8%)
2 from Ohio (4%)


Buffalo artist Kara Daving will be exhibiting at Buffalo Arts Studio.

At Hallwalls, I had no preconceived notions about who to show, but as the studio visits continued, it became clear that Roberley Bell, David Clayton, and Adam Weekley could all coexist as adjacent sculptural installation. While they are by no means doing the same thing, there are numerous formal and material points of commonality. Several months ago, I put it this way: "A preference for the imaginative over the real (or a reworking of the real into the imaginative); a sense of whimsy and an expression of sometimes inexpressible longing; a formal language and aspect that is hyper-realized with touches of pop iconography; a tendency to be more earnest than cynical; and a fantastical transformation of landscape are all prevalent and recurring themes in the works of these artists." Still applicable, I think. With their works installed, there is a freakish beauty to the number of subtle connections between their individual installations. It works for me and for the artists, so we're hoping it works for you as well.


Adam Weekley of Buffalo builds a better bear at Hallwalls.

This link to the Beyond/In Western New York Homepage will help you plan your beyond/in life.

Opening TONIGHT Friday, September 14 • 5-11 p.m.
CEPA Gallery (thru Dec 21)
TAMMY RENEE BRACKETT • HANS GINDLESBERGER • WILKA ROIG
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center (thru Oct. 20)
ROBERLEY BELL • DAVID CLAYTON • ADAM WEEKLEY
STEPHANIE ROTHERNBERG (installation in cinema)
Squeaky Wheel (thru Nov. 3)
YVONNE BUCHANAN • JILL jOHNSTON-PRICE • DEIRDRE LOGUE • JULIE PERINI • RM VAUGHN
El Museo Oller y Diego Rivera (thru Oct. 20)
XIAOWEN CHEN

Opening Saturday, September 15 • 4-7pm
Carnegie Art Center (thru Oct. 27)
KATIE SEHR • JACQUELINE WELCH
Castellani Art Museum (thru Feb 24)
JAY CARRIER • AJ FRIES • KURT VON VOETSCH
UB Art Gallery, Center for the Arts, North Campus (thru Nov 10)
DOROTHEA BRAEMER • ALLYSON MITCHELL • SARAH PAUL • RICHARD PRICE • DIANE SCHAEFER • KATE WILSON

Opening Saturday, September 15 • 7-10 pm
Buffalo Arts Studio (thru Nov 3)
SHAYNE DARK • KARA DAVING • LAURA GAROFALO & OMAR KAHN • BRYAN HOPKINS • OSVALDO RAMIREZ CASTILLO
UB Anderson Gallery (thru Nov 11)
BRANDAN FERNANDES • JASON LEE • PAUL WALDE

Opening Saturday, September 15, 9-11 pm
Big Orbit Gallery (thru Nov. 3)
SYLVIE BELANGER • DEIRDRE LOGUE

Opening Sunday, September 16 • 1-3pm
Burchfield-Penney Art Center (thru Dec 2)
CHRIS BARR • JAX DELUCA • JOHN DRUMMER • CARIANNE HENDRICKSON • PAUL NICHOLSON

Opening Sunday, September 16 • 3-5pm
Albright-Knox Art Gallery (thru Oct 28)
LOIS ANDISON • JEREMY BAILEY • CHRIS BARR • AMANDA BESL • LYN CARTER • SHAYNE DARK • ARTEMIS HERBER • ANI HOOVER • KRISTAN HORTON • SIMONE MANTELLASI • NATHAN NAETZKER • KATHRYN RUPERT-DAZAI • MICHAEL SNOW • ALFONSO VOLO

Thursday, October 4 • 8pm
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
STEPHANIE ROTHENBERG screening & performance

Saturday, October 13 • 8pm
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
MICHAEL SNOW screening

Saturday, October 20 • 8pm
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
JEREMY BAILEY screening & performance

Saturday, November 3 • 8pm
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
DOROTHEA BRAEMER screening


Next Week at Hallwalls...

From Between Trio
Mon Sept 17 @ 8:00 pm

$12 general admission, $10 members/students/seniors
& Whitman/Sack Duo (opening)

Gray Hair Reading Series
Wed Sept 19 @ 7:30 pm
Celeste Lawson & Barbara D. Holender • FREE

Hallwalls Performance/Literature

Raw Tactics of the Subversive Body
Thurs Sept 20 @ 8:00 pm

Including work by: John Allen Gibel, Colette Copeland, Andrew Johnson, H. Michel Sanders, Andres Tapia-Urzua, Marco Casado, Terry Mohre, Ian Wallace, Luis Ramirez Guzman, Brenda Moreno Torres, SubRosa, Sarah Minter, Sal Ricalde, Jeff Silva, Mary Magsament & Stephan Hillerbrand, Eva Drangsholt, Caroline Koebel, Federico Peretti, Alberto Roblest and Carolina Loyola-Garcia
Hallwalls Media Arts


Opening Elsewhere
• Craig La Rotonda and Kim Maria at Nichols School opening Fri Sept 14, 7-9pm (thru Nov 1)
• Dominic Gatti and Roberto Pacheco at NCCC opening Thurs Sept 13, 5-7pm (thru Oct 12)
• Second Year MFA Exhibition at UB opening thus Oct 4, 5-7pm (thru Nov 2)
• Rumsey Winner Exhibition at UB opening thurs Nov 8, 5-7pm (thru Dec 7)
• Equal Measure: Portraits of Love at the Arts Council opening Fri Sept 14, 5:30-11:30
• About Face: A National Portrait Exhibition at Impact ARtsts' Gallery opening Sat Sept 15 4-7pm (thru Sept 29)
• Crossing Border: Works by Canadian Artists at the Kenan Center opening Fri Sept 14, 7-9pm (thru Oct 19)
• Jackie Felix at CG Jung Center (408 Franklin) opening Fri Jan 18/09, 7-9 pm


Starlight Studio Benefit for Roswell Park


Continuing Elsewhere
(winding down/see em now)
• Jean-Michel Reed at Studio Hart thru Sept 22
• 16th Annual Regional Artists Exhibition at Art Dialogue thru Oct 5
• Bob Schulman at Globe Market, Chateau Buffalo, Brodo Buffalo Rising
• Andrea Warner at Olean Public Library thru Sept 22
• Devora Primack at Artsphere thru Oct 6
• Peter Stephens at Nina Freudenheim thru Nov 2
• Tim Raymond and Carol Joyce at College Street Gallery thru Sept 29
• Lauren Emmett at College Street Gallery thru Aug 31
• Douglas Bauer at Betty's thru Oct 14
• ABOUT FACE: Portraits from the Gerald Mead Collection at Daemon College thru Sept 28 Buffalo News
• Emma Hollister Colby at Nichols School thru Sept 30
• Rob Lynch at the Castellani Art Museum thru Sept 16 Artvoice
• Diane Baker at The Mansion on Delaware (indefinitely)

Buffalo ReUse Call for Artists
Deadline: Sept 29

BuffaloReUse


Burchfield Penney Outdoor Art Competition • Deadline Nov 2/07

Outdoor Art Competition

Burchfield Penney Art Center First Ever Members Exhibition
The Artists Among Us: The Burchfield-Penney's Members Exhibition
December 14, 2007 - March 2, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, December 14 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m In celebration and thanks to the artists of Western New York for their support of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center and for their contribution to our community, the museum is very pleased that the final exhibition in its Rockwell Hall location will be a Members Exhibition. All artists who are members of the Burchfield-Penney are encouraged to submit work for this very special event. To request an application form, email Scott Propeack at propeasf@buffalostate.edu or call 878-6011.

Buffalo Society of Artists Members' Show Deadline Sept. 28



Jimmy Lee Sudduth 1910—2007

NY Times


Something I listened to this week...
No full albums this week. I've been shuffling among a batch of music I acquired from David Clayton during his installation, including Cold War Kids, Handsome Furs, Bonde Do role, Stars, White Rabbits, The Horrors, The Russian Futurists, The Blow, Rainer Maria, The Kills, The Wrens, Electric Six, Wolf Parade, The Young Knives, and Tapes 'n' Tapes...all good and thrilling and all evidence that our current era—when the music industry is trying to dodge the death throes breathing down its neck—is a bona fide renaissance for contemporary music. If young bands are not filling you with hope for the future of music, check your pulse because you may already be dead. As The Who once sang, the kids are alright.





Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
— Calvin Coolidge