from the bunker

Not so savage “Savage Circumstances” On the occasion of his studio visit, Evan Petersen Schoenly talked about the experiences and places that resulted in his drawing of an iconic skull with colorful goo or some liquid mass pouring from the eye sockets.  And some of what we touched on in the conversations are varied: the celebration of the Latin American El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of The Dead), the colorful pickled sausages sold in ice cream shops in his ethnically heterogeneous Lake Worth hometown, South, the lime green color of his house, his father being a stained glass artist.  While speaking with affection about his influences and his artistic goals, it’s almost impossible to dismiss the buoyancy and playfulness that his choice of color and gesture partake in the otherwise  graphic and violent imagery he’s presented us.“Savage Circumstances” will be up until May 28 at the newark bunker projects room in Solo(s) Project House.  For more details click here. For the Facebook event page, click here.  

Not so savage “Savage Circumstances”


On the occasion of his studio visit, Evan Petersen Schoenly talked about the experiences and places that resulted in his drawing of an iconic skull with colorful goo or some liquid mass pouring from the eye sockets.  And some of what we touched on in the conversations are varied: the celebration of the Latin American El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of The Dead), the colorful pickled sausages sold in ice cream shops in his ethnically heterogeneous Lake Worth hometown, South, the lime green color of his house, his father being a stained glass artist.  While speaking with affection about his influences and his artistic goals, it’s almost impossible to dismiss the buoyancy and playfulness that his choice of color and gesture partake in the otherwise  graphic and violent imagery he’s presented us.

“Savage Circumstances” will be up until May 28 at the newark bunker projects room in Solo(s) Project House.  For more details click here. For the Facebook event page, click here.  

To The Kapitol…and back, wordlessNyugen Smith’s project at Solo(s) Project House truly teaches us that actions and objects can speak to us about history louder –and with more compassion- than words.  Surrounded by an installation of provocative drawings and mixed media constructions, his performance mostly takes place and concludes in a boxing ring that he built in the middle of the gallery.   Sweeping the floor with a suitcase at hand, he then continues onto the ring to enact a series of gestures that are loaded with suggestions of historical, cultural and socio-political references: a colonial past, migrations, religion, drugs, dance and sport.  Through line and form; through color and texture; through sweeping, spilling, gyrating, sucking, pausing and fist banging –through all these, Smith tells us about survival, resilience and persistence in much more evocative form. No words necessary.“To the Kapitol”(Everybody Come) by Nyugen Smith  is Project #9 at Solo(s) Project House, running from May 7-June 24, 2011. For more info, click here. Facebook event site is here.  Photo source: Solo(s) Project House and Linda Chen



To The Kapitol…and back, wordless

Nyugen Smith’s project at Solo(s) Project House truly teaches us that actions and objects can speak to us about history louder –and with more compassion- than words.  Surrounded by an installation of provocative drawings and mixed media constructions, his performance mostly takes place and concludes in a boxing ring that he built in the middle of the gallery.   Sweeping the floor with a suitcase at hand, he then continues onto the ring to enact a series of gestures that are loaded with suggestions of historical, cultural and socio-political references: a colonial past, migrations, religion, drugs, dance and sport.  Through line and form; through color and texture; through sweeping, spilling, gyrating, sucking, pausing and fist banging –through all these, Smith tells us about survival, resilience and persistence in much more evocative form. No words necessary.

“To the Kapitol”(Everybody Come) by Nyugen Smith  is Project #9 at Solo(s) Project House, running from May 7-June 24, 2011. For more info, click here. Facebook event site is here.  

Photo source: Solo(s) Project House and Linda Chen

Nyugen Smith documenting in the midst of his installing his “To The Capitol (everybody come),” which opens tonight. Check it out at Solo(s) Project House where it’s happening!

Nyugen Smith documenting in the midst of his installing his “To The Capitol (everybody come),” which opens tonight. Check it out at Solo(s) Project House where it’s happening!

Dodo strikes again

as always, with voracity and generosity, Dodo writes and posts in his blog, this time on the single People Help the People by Cherry Ghost.  And as always, his writing tends to be more profound and far reaching than his subject. For more about his work, head over here.  

“Savage Circumstances”

Lake Worth/Baltimore artist and MICA undergraduate Evan Petersen Schoenly welcomes you to view his drawing series:

“Savage Circumstances”

 May 6 thru 28

Viewing times: Th-Fri, 12-6pm

Schoenly created the title for this series from a phrase drawn from the fifth State of the City Address that current Newark Mayor Cory Booker delivered on March 1, 2011: “Last year, savage circumstances tried to knock our city to its knees.  But here we are, standing tall, bruised but not broken.” Looking up the phrase reveals that Booker has mentioned it in several statements. It is in the sixth line of his poem Prisoner of Hope: “Battered and bruised our spirits may be; As savage circumstance brings the dark night.” He also sent it to his Twitter newsfeed on October 7, 2009: “Never give up. Savage circumstances and the most caustic critics are 2 be expected.  Essential 2 every great victory is a great endurance.” 

Put in this context, “Savage Circumstances” encapsulates sentiments of light in the midst of engulfing darkness, hope amidst dismay, and growth despite decay.   Schoenly’s drawings embody these in the formal and conceptual parts of his work.  Concerning his medium, there’s a literal take on the definition of “savage” in his rough treatment of the surfaces of the Red Rosin construction paper that he uses, layering them and leaving the edges uneven in several sides. Formally: his tendency towards economy of form carries a potential for a diversity of messages, suggestions and meanings just like Booker’s statement.  And conceptually: just as Booker’s statement always conclude on hopeful notes on human resiliency and endurance, Schoenly’s often violent and graphic imagery resolve in the same spirit through his use of buoyant color, thus loading his imagery with simultaneous messages of hope and despair.   

Originally from Lake Worth, Florida where he lived most of his life,  Schoenly’s current work is made of quick sketchy color drawings of passages and excerpts of the social problems and mundane things and events that defined the “subtropical paradise” where he lived. Very much up to date with current events and history, and having family members who are active participants in local politics and community groups, Schoenly’s often graphic and violent imagery underscores an artist who is deeply aware and concerned with the his community’s past, present and future.  

For more information about the artist, location, etc, check it out here.