This Was FUTURE PRESENCE 4...and this was The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery

This Thursday, from 6-11PM, in an old Northeast Minneapolis building that has come to be known as The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery, an art show called FUTURE PRESENCE 4 is closing.  Unfortunately for myself, and for the many artists, performers and visitors who have supported it, the Gallery itself may also be closing. Just one week after receiving 'BEST NEW GALLERY 2011', we were informed by our landlord that our verbal agreement had ended, and that the space we occupy will be turned into apartments.  This post is not meant to be a call to arms or a complaint, but rather a reflection on the impermanence of art, scenes and time.

First off, I would like to clarify that we are not completely sure that we are closing, at least not yet.  Our landlord has told us several times that he would like to develop the space, and since he has not yet, we have been lucky enough to remain here.  FUTURE PRESENCE was always intended to be a temporary and traveling group show and not a Gallery at all. But as we were allowed to stay, our visions of what the space could become and its impact on the local art scene got bigger. Our policy to improve the space one large project per show slowly drywalled new walls, built bathrooms, fixed toilets, and refinished entire new rooms. By the time we opened our doors for FUTURE PRESENCE 4, we had a well-lit, open white showspace, a grindhouse-style movie screening room and a bonified music and performance basement we called The EON Soundspace (a title taken from a grafitti tag on the front of the building). Now seeing the progress we have made we would like to stay, even though it was never meant to be permanent. I see this as art evolving, out of necessity of course, but by taking an idea to its natural conclusion and also leaving a positive impact to our Northeast neighbors.

Northeast Minneapolis itself is a prime example of this.  One of the oldest areas in the Twin Cities, it was not really on many people's radars in the 90's. The local corner bars, a relic mostly lost in South Minneapolis, had not been invaded by kids from across the river and their Music and Trivia Nights weekends. It wasn't until the industrial loftspaces of Downtown and The Warehouse District began getting snatched up by developers that many artists and musicians began to look North for cheaper, available workspaces.  Just like the Soho and Chelsea neighborhoods of Manhattan in the 80's that were filled with working artists that made them cool, hip and trendy places, the arts transformed Northeast Minneapolis and brought a new life and community to the area. Art changes things, usually for the better. But art often thrives when artists can work without strains of high-rent and living costs, and fails under monetary pressure. Similar Minneapolis project spaces ART OF THIS and TARNISH AND GOLD Gallery (who I absolutely think were two of the most solid and exciting Galleries in their prime years) faced similar fates; after revamping spaces and attracting more retail interest, they could no longer afford to stay in a spaces that they had improved, victims of their own success. Both groups are still in operation though, each with their own style and artists and supporters. The only thing that would really be ending is THE FUTURE PRESENCE GALLERY, which after the work we have put in would be disheartening. But the group of artists the space was able to assemble will surely have been influenced by each other, exchanged ideas, enjoyed their time together, and will show work together again at other venues.  The saddest part would be if the only thing that was holding this group together was a building.

Now to our friend MONOLOG, performing during the event as part of the FREAKONOMIQUE Experimental Music Series.  No one is quite sure who s/he/they are, and as it has become a closely guarded secret, I will not reveal this either.  I do know that I became aware of MONOLOG the way most people find music they love - through friends with similar interests. After hearing her/his/their music, I struck up a conversation and a genuinely collaborative relationship began over a few years. We have created a very FUTURE PRESENCE-style set for the show, and are extremely excited to share a completely unique, experimental musical performance that truly could only happen in a raw,space like ours. It could also only have happened with us working together.  I am not at all certain what our interests and styles are as a group...I would say design has influenced our work, as have works of either limited color-palettes or extremely colorful palettes. Other interests lie in technology, futuristic concepts, reflective and shiny materials and finishes, and less distinctively Outsider Art. We all seem to be very connected to musicians and music (even the way we promote our shows, with distinctive flyers that we painstakingly design seems to mirror the way bands promote themselves), and all of us dabble in several mediums.  I have called this style the Untitled Movement in previous posts, and will continue to use this label for convenience and brevity's sake.  It is very Minneapolis, and I think very unique to THE FUTURE PRESENCE GALLERY and the artists we have found, attracted and begged to be in shows with us. And this Thursday might just be your last chance to see it.

So, we are closing. We are just not sure how soon. We will almost certainly retain the space through our next scheduled show, I'M NEW HERE a group show of artists who have made their way from New York to Minneapolis to take advantage of the art-friendly community we have here - a marked reversal of a trend for local artists to "make it" and move to New York. However, I am not sure closing would be the worst possible outcome. Our biggest concern would be finding a venue to guarantee shows to the talented groups that have submitted proposals and have been working with us, a problem which we are trying to solve as it comes. After that, it would just be regrouping of talented, motivated artists to keep creating work like there was a gallery that wanted to show them, no matter how unique their vision and work was. Personally, I would be extremely sad to see it go, yet happy it ever happened - that all of us met for eight short months and created something distinct and energetic and incredible. That we were the best new gallery and flamed out before we got old and started putting on tired, boring shows. And I am also excited to see what we all create next, either alone or together, though hopefully, together.  


See you then.

THIS IS FUTURE PRESENCE 4

This is FUTURE PRESENCE 4
It happens Thursday, December 15th from 6-11PM as well as Friday, December 16th, 6-11PM
It happens at a Gallery also called FUTURE PRESENCE

There will be artwork (paintings, drawings, collages, photographs, negative, positives, sculpture, happenings, installation, video, visual, sound and aural, assemblage, appropriated, collaborations and it's here now it's gone temporary works) by Nathaniel, Bryant Locher, Austin Swearengin, WUNDR, Jesse Draxler, Justin James Sehorn (as well as their collaboration, Bloodtime) Derek Ernster, Josh Wilichowski, Maria Juranic, Danielle Voight, Gregory J. Rose, David Jensen, Jonathan Delehanty, Rachel Weiher, Dexa Franks, Matt Locher, Shon Troth, Chris Park, Amina Harper, Russ Olson, Anna Pederson, Erin Smith, Scott Anderson, as well as additional work in the EON Soundspace by Bollywood, who performs Friday Night.


In our last blog post we mentioned the interconnected, interdisciplinary work happening in Minneapolis as of late; a small city with a small community of artists, musicians, creators and appreciators who works with each other often and in a variety of mediums. FUTURE PRESENCE 4 is that. It is collaboration. It is a mix of ideas. It is risky. It is us. It is you. It is Minneapolis. It is provacative. It is now. It is lurid. It is taking a small, loose circle of creators and making it smaller. It is dozens of different expressions, all reinforcing what we already know; that Minneapolis has a scene that is ready to blow up. Have you seen this yet? Have you been wanting to? 

This is FUTURE PRESENCE 4 , and at this moment, you should be here with us...

First Monday Movies presents Liquid Sky

Trashy Flashy: 80's NY NoWave scene parallels MPLS Untitled Movement

This month, we at The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery have launched two new programs that open up our creative space to further inspiration and collaboration. The first being our monthly FREAKONOMIQUE Music Series, where musicians are given an installation space and a month to create an immersive world for experimental music. For our second new program, we would like to invite you to our First Movie Monday screening of 80's cult trash film Liquid Sky paired with the premier showing of local director Scott Anderson's Veritas/Truth.

This entry will be less about the movies themselves (as nothing is worse than a spoiler) and more about the moods and connections that the films create. New York during the early 1980's was particularly hard hit by a national recession; a place where downtown was still dangerous and Times Square was not yet a cleaned-up tourist destination. It was also a place where artists, runaways and the ambitious could go to live whatever dream they had, and became the breeding ground for a post-punk melting pot renaissance. Liquid Sky is a portrait of this world, mixing the drugs, sleaze and grime of an urban epicenter with a variety of themes delivered with heavy-handed philosophy of the times and self-aware parody.  At a time when underground cinema was just beginning to see daylight, Liquid Sky was one of the first truly independent movies to be both a cult and a (very) minor mainstream success that paved the way for hundreds of films since. Here in Minneapolis, artist/art director/music video maker Scott Anderson's experiment with found VHS tapes and outdated recording technology is firmly tongue in cheek, blurring the same "Is this intentionally bad?" line that Liquid Sky rides.

Another parallel arises, less from the styles of the films but from the environment and factors that created them. From an art historian perspective, the film offers a unique view of the early 80's downtown scene: where artists, graffiti writers, musicians, fashion and filmmakers collaborated with the party crowd and the rich met the poor to battle over creative dominance. Known to some as the Downtown 500 (whose members included Jean Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring, David Byrne, Madonna, Klaus Nomi...), Fab Five Freddy recalls that the scene was all about cross pollinating, and being interdisciplinary. "You could just like say I'm a filmmaker, and like your first screening, we would be there! and you'd be a filmmaker."

If you are a creative type living in Minneapolis, a small city with little art history of its own, it might be easy to look at an epoch like 80s New York as a world away, and wishing to be there. But if you take a look around you, and replace big city angst with Midwestern work ethic and attention to craft, you will realize that we may have a similar renaissance on our hands...Years ago there was a crop of talented artists who made an impression in Minneapolis, and then booked the first plane-ticket to New York. Less than a decade later, with rent impossibly expensive in Manhattan and Brooklyn, artists are finally deciding to stay here, in boring Minneapolis, where they can afford to work. They are coming from around the country as well, actors from LA and NY can find work here, musicians from Eau Claire, Chicago and Austin collaborate freely in our community, and even those artists that moved to New York are slowly finding their way back. The charm of 80s New York, the cheap rent, cheap bars, a music scene, an art scene, a film scene; that can all be found here! To further my case, I challenge you to think of a single creative in this city that sticks to one medium.  Artists use many mediums, installations and street art. Everyone is in a band, and their friends make their music videos. Advertisers are writers, baristas are poets and Target designers are print shop owners. It seems like everyone I know has an Etsy or Facebook page for their creative passions. Although it may not be as glitzy, and the rich collectors may not have discovered it quite yet, please trust me that the Minneapolis Untitled Movement will soon be making waves. After all, we are asking quite nicely for you to pay attention.

One more thought: As winter grows colder it seems ludicrous to those from warm climates that many of us are excited about it. But we are a strange breed - true Minneapolitans know that this is the time of the year when we get the most work done, painting series are started, films are created and new albums are finished. Because what else are you supposed to do while locked inside for 6 months out of the year?  With that said, stop into The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery once a month for an art opening, once for an experimental music show, and the first Monday of every month to see what your friends and neighbors have been creating.

The Freakonomique Music Series Presents: Jonathan Delehanty's Prisms Opposed to Prudence

We here at The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery have a variety of influences, some obvious (the future, dystopian novels, 90s cyber subculture), some quite specific (holograms, white, the films and scores of John Carpenter), but for us music is one of the most influential and essential of commonalities. There is rarely a time in the gallery that music is not blasting from somewhere, fueling our inspirations as we paint walls and plan shows. For this and other reasons, I have begun a monthly experimental musical curating series called Freakonomique.  Freakonomique will draw on the wide range of noise, cinematic, and concept sounds happening here in Minneapolis, offering aural artists our newly appointed EON Soundspace to convert to whatever feverish dream performance they have.  We are excited to announce our inaugural act, our friend Jonathan Delehanty performing his electronic symphony, 'Prisms Opposed to Prudence' this Friday, November 18th at 8PM.

From the badlands of Wisconsin, Delehanty attracted a considerable buzz amongst independent labels at a young age for his singer-songwriter acoustic work, often posted on the then popular music platform Myspace. Although none of these labels were able to give Delehanty the creative control he needed, he was able to record and distribute 'Songs About the Sun' in 2005 before moving to Minneapolis.

Enrolled at the University of MN, Delehanty began experimenting with electronically composed music, as legend has it, to prove a point while receiving a failing grade in a Philosophy of Music course. After hooking up with Minneapolis record producer Moonglyph (Buffalo Moon, Tender Meat), 'Prisms Opposed to Prudence' was recorded in its' entirety and printed in a limited run of hyper-color cassettes.

This Friday, Delehanty will play his cassette during a special performance with visual accompaniment, anchored by the incredibly talented Jon Kuder of the band Voyager, and Art Business.  We hope to see you there.

Nathaniel

Facebook Invite Page Here
Listen to 'Prisms Opposed to Prudence' here at Last.FM

Sparse, Vague & Infinitely Deep - "Strangers to Ourselves" Opens Tonight at The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery

Friday, October 28th 2011 6-11PM

This calm and chilly late October evening, with Halloween's eeriness thick in the air, is a time when we are all a bit truer to ourselves when in disguise. Perhaps fittingly, it is also the Opening Reception of  The Future Presence Gallery of Austin Swearengin & Derek Ernster's semi-collaborative effort, 'Strangers to Ourselves'.

Although the exhibit is titled after Timothy D. Wilson's book of the same name, there are intentionally very few clues as to any specific meaning or intent behind the exhibition.  On display are some ten pieces, including sculpture, video, photography and painting pieces, each with its own subtle clues as to an overall theme. Ernster and Swearengin, both students at MCAD and from the same hometown of Kansas City, insist there is more than meets the eye.  Swearengin states, "(this show)...explores perception as medium, and unconscious effects of optics and architecture on human awareness...the exhibition questions previous understandings of optics and phenomenology in the artistic sphere."

The Future Presence Gallery as a space will definitely feature strongly in this exhibition, as the pieces themselves are rather quite and subdued, and reflect their surroundings quite intensely.  It is my opinion that many Minneapolis art enthusiasts, perhaps more used to the graffiti and Pop Art-influenced shows that are so prevalent here, might not immediately favor this rather quiet display. However, the more time spent with these pieces, the more they have to whisper to you.  Calling on traditions of Op Art, Assemblage and Appropriation, the pieces begin to connect themselves to each other, and to the space itself.  I am also reminded to the work of Richard Tuttle, who at a time when Abstract Expressionism's bravado and massive scale was the national style, created soft and gentle works to combat this arm's race of peacocking. It is possible that many people will not glean a message from this sparse and challenging exhibition, but perhaps in a fast-paced, Google Image-fueled world, the still waters of this show may prove to run deeper.

The Opening Reception will be tonight from 6-11PM, and will run through the December 6th Closing Reception. Private viewings and Gallery Hours will be by appointment, and during upcoming the following upcoming events.

- The FREAKANOMIQUE Music Series Presents Jonathan Delehanty, performing his electronic symphonies PRISMS OPPOSED TO PRUDENCE. Jon Kuder (of Voyager) and Art Business will open. This event will also be the premier of the EON Soundspace, located within the gallery.
- First Monday Movies, a monthly screening of cult, classic and experimental films, will be showing Liquid Sky, alongside the premier of local film-maker Scott Anderson's 'Veritas/Truth'.

As always, this event is made entirely possible through generous support from Pabst Blue Ribbon and l'etoile Magazine

PHARMACOPEIA Closing Party, & The Weirdest Art Show Review Ever?

Tuesday, October 11th Bryant Locher's PHARMACOPEIA exhibit will be ending its run at The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery. To celebrate, and to give those who have not had the pleasure to view this large collection of Locher's colorful work in one place, there will be a small closing party from 7-9PM.  Refreshments will be available, and Locher will give those gathered on a small tour of his work.

'Black Door'. 72" x 48". Acrylic Paint on Tinted Canvas on Door Frame. 2011.

The show opened September 30th to a stylish group of art-lovers, artists, musicians and vagrants. Art openings can be strange and wonderful events, and for most of the evening the guests remained a normal if not raucuos group, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon cans and discussing the intricate paintings and the light displays by Locher, while cool, steely mixes from DJ SOVIET PANDA and members of SOLID GOLD floated through the gallery. But perhaps the strangest event of the evening was one particular art lover, who after a brief glance around the gallery, went directly to the podium at the entrance of the gallery and began to write in the guest book. After a few minutes, those gathered couldn't help but wonder what, and how much, this man was writing. Some twenty minutes later they could think of nothing else. Finally, the gentlemen exited, leaving only the strangest, or most insightful, personal review of an art show I have ever seen. Here it is, verbatim, minus spelling errors corrected.

‘Those capsulated time-packed pellets are working. Keep exploring the possibility of different “kinds” of time. Hints abound. Study the multiple simultaneous-seeming pulses – regular time, seasonal time, watery time, ecstatic time or a kind of star time. You are onto something true here – keep at the research. A big discovery at the tiny, buzzing hummingbird rewired for harder work, rewarding rendezvous, skull spiritual employment will follow.

‘Copper Wire’ very, very nice. ‘Green Pole’ needs a new name. The barometric essence of this figure suggests a capacity to tackle the problem of density. Solved, you will find something truly remarkable about the power of water to remember everywhere water ever was. You open the possibility of redeeming ‘the mother’- releasing the essence of a genuine conscience of its wild wisdom, which is lightyears beyond science. Science will verify what your conscience drives at weaves with the urgency of water and you keep/continue working to release it from the trip of obedience. Encouraging.

Keep going with this. A good channel for you, Bryant. Keep bending it, reverse it, work on opposites that marry-up. A very good go.’

Jonathon

To see the work reviewed here, stop into The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery Tuesday, October 11^th at 7PM.

Nathaniel

PHARMACOPEIA Opens Tonite, September 30th 2011.

Bryant Locher's solo exhibition PHARMACOPEIA opens tonite at The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery.

Locher (pictured next to work installed last evening) will be presenting fine art and lighting design pieces that will have visitors seeing colors.

Opening ceremonies begin at 6PM and will end at Midnight. PHARMACOPEIA runs through October 11th, with gallery hours opening weekend and by appointment.
Facebook invite and additional info

PHARMACOPEIA - Friday, September 30th 6PM-MIDNIGHT

This Friday, the Future Presence Gallery is proud to present the collected work of a true Minneapolis talent in PHARMACOPEIA: A Solo Exhibit by Bryant Locher.

The title of the show is a reference to the artists past and influences, particularly those coming from his artist mother and doctor father. Bryant's work, although unintentionally and perhaps even indirectly, is a metaphor for contemporary art today. Half fine art, half design influenced where incredibly labor-intensive paintings of bright and unusual color pallete will be shown next to light and installation pieces created for live shows of the musicians that Locher has collaborated with over the years.

This wide-spread use of talents seems quite typical of the new Minneapolis aesthetic. In addition to founding and running the Future Presence Gallery, Locher has worked as a lighting and set designer for numerous plays and music performances, was a featured toy design artist at Tomodachi, designs flyers for nationally touring bands, created video work for MPLS.TV and the Soap Factory, and has exhibited his fine art at several local galleries including Spot Art and Gallery13. With such a broad range of talents and interests, PHARMACOPEIA will surely dazzle and stun the senses, and further blur the already static lines between art and design.

Expect to hear sounds from musical collaborators of Lochers', as well as refreshments from our friends at Pabst Blue Ribbon and Peace Coffee. Hope to see you there.

Nathaniel

'It's Been Awhile' An Explanation and Information on upcoming FUTURE PRESENCE GALLERY events

Hello all.  If you have stopped by The Future Presence Gallery's blogspot here you will have noticed that has not been updated since the day before our exhibition of IMPERMANENT PUBLIC, which was all the way back in July.  Here's why:

- IMPERMANENT PUBLIC - The New & Evolving Street Art exceeded ALL of our expectations. More than 500 people came to our one-night only event, crowding and warming the gallery on one of the warmest of Minneapolis summer nights. The response was incredibly positive, and all the artist's work collected looked amazing. Writers, graf artists, friends, entire families, neighbors, old couples, dogs, cats, press and it seemed like everyone who know everyone stopped in and showed their appreciation for this new form of public expression. As a curator, I was entirely blown away and incredibly moved by the interest, ideas exchanged and the number of people who notice and care about the amazing art happening in this city.

The show was so well attended and drew such a great response that there was an unexpected result: we actually got several warnings from other gallery owners, art organizers and in the know people that we were officially on police radar and needed to keep a lower profile lest we be subject to fire code violations, not having proper crowd permits or liquor busts. To avoid this unwanted attention, our next exhibit, our namesake group  show, FUTURE PRESENCE 3, was a rather quiet affair. The exhibition featured a mix of a dozen Minneapolis-based established and relatively emerging artists, and was a beautiful showing of contemporary work from a rising group of artists.  The fourth installment of the series, FUTURE PRESENCE 4, will reunite the almost 40 artists who have participated in all of the group shows together, making special room for collaborations and installations from artists who met and started working with each other after exhibiting together at Future Presence shows.

- Before that, gallery co-founder Bryant Locher will gather a prodigious and varied body of work for a solo exhibition, PHARMACOPEIA.  Since moving to Minneapolis several years ago, Locher has creates colorful geometric abstract paintings in addition to lightshows and productions for local luminaries ranging from Gayngs, Solid Gold, Lookbook and the Pines. PHARMACOPEIA opens September 30th at 6PM.

IMPERMANENT PUBLIC IS TOMORROW NIGHT, Friday July 29th 5-11

It seems impossible but the day is almost here, IMPERMANENT PUBLIC is tomorrow night at The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery. I am going to give directions one more time (The Future Presence Gallery is located at 1126 2nd Street NE, Minneapolis MN 55413 in the Northeast Arts District) and then get back to work fixing up the place for your arrival.

Look forward to seeing work by locals HOTTEA, Jenny Moxley, Phil Jones, Light The Underground, myself, Andrew Casey and work by not so local Sean Martindale, Gregos, Edina Tokodi & Lee Walton.  There will be music, refreshments and the best mix of installation and documented street art that Minneapolis has seen in far too long.  We hope to see you all there!

Nathaniel


Here is a preview video and some links of what's to come:
Local News Team Stopping by the Gallery
Star Tribune's Vita.mn Recommends You Stop By
MPLS.TV sees some HOTTEA

Momentary Performance by Lee Walton, Tuesday 7PM on 2013 Hennepin Ave

It is my immense joy to reveal the location and time of the first collaboration between The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery and Lee Walton. On Tuesday, July 26th, there will be a Momentary Performance staged at 2013 Hennepin Avenue South, between our friends at Shameless Inc. and Liquor Lyles. This is the first of two performances with Walton, the second of which will be at the opening night of IMPERMANENT PUBLIC, this Friday, July 29th.

Lee Walton once described himself as an Experiential Artist, thus creating the term Experiential Artist. Experientialism is the idea that something must be experienced to be learned, and is then relatable to anyone who has experienced it. Walton’s work often investigates and highlights the brief, everyday aspects of our lives and stages them in a public setting, making the ordinary something more than. His ‘Momentary Performances’ ride a fine line between deep art theory and an appreciation of human nature. Seeing letters promoting FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 6 PM PERSON WEARING A WHITE HAT STOPS TO EAT A PB AND J SANDWICH on a building wall creates a sense of anticipation, even if it would normally be a forgettable event.

“This dissolving of the boundaries between art and life is understandably necessary”, says Walton. The audience becomes part of the performance as they can now see themselves as witnesses and participants, even if they are waiting for a bus or running an errand, “I like when the art bleeds into real life just enough.”

As Experientialism was first described by Linguists George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, “You cannot function within the environment without changing it or being changed.” Through such work, Walton does more than blur the boundaries between art and reality, he makes the rest of our reality art.

Special thanks goes out again to Shameless, Inc Tshirt & Printshop for their support and vision in allowing us to use their walls for this performance. You can view more of Lee Waltons work at his website, http://www.leewalton.com/

Toronto's Sean Martindale in IMPERMANENT PUBLIC

I am not quite sure how to describe how exciting it is to have Sean Martindale involved in IMPERMANENT PUBLIC. A few months ago, when this show was still hatching in my brainpan, I emailed him to express my appreciation for a project he had worked on where he organized a group of artists to creatively fix dilapidated city planters in Toronto. After a brief exchange we decided that his work seemed necessary in the show, as did a collaborative piece designed by Martindale and built by The Future Presence Gallery for Minneapolis. This is almost the art equivalent of Michael Jordan agreeing to be on your pickup basketball team.

For those of you who are not familiar with his work, he has been featured on just about every art/culture/fashion/trend blog ever for his inspired, unique public interventions which often combat advertising and urban grime with greenery. His work blankets not only the internet but also appears on city streets through collaborations with artists worldwide.

Pictured above is one of his more fascinating projects, an example of the Poster Pocket Plants, a collaboration with Eric Cheung . Using wheatpasted and illegal ad posters as material, they cut or extend a rip in the poster, staple it to the side and fill this created pocket with gravel, soil and everything a growing plant needs. It seems so, pardon the expression, natural, to take decomposing matter and make something bloom from it. Practical, beautifying and creative, Sean Martindale is most certainly a key figure in a new international direction for street and public art. 

Nathaniel


IMPERMANENT PUBLIC is Friday, July 29th from 5-11 at the Future Presence Gallery, 1126 2nd St NE, MPLS MN, 55413

IMPERMANENT PUBLIC Artist Profile: Light The Underground

LIGHT THE UNDERGROUND

At only 20 years old, Light The Underground has already created an impressive portfolio of light projects and social experiments. His process includes exploring abandoned buildings, factories, sewers and caves and creating a photograph using slow exposure and lights. “I started out as an urban explorer just taking pictures of the places I went but after a while it was the same old tunnels and same pictures. Then I came across light painting and it started a whole new way to photograph the places I went. I do research and there is a tight knit community of urban explorer who I sometimes go with and find lots of my locations through them.”

He will then frame these pictures and return them to the place where the image was created, thus illuminating this space. Although most of us will never see these works in the habitats they were created, we can imagine the surreal experience of seeing a finely framed print in an abandoned space, almost as a marker of past explorers or a modern cave drawing. It is easy to assume that this illumination is both a literal and figurative one; highlighting economic conditions, unused potential or our throw-away consumerist culture. But when asked of his motivations, Light The Underground responds with youthful charisma, “I like to share my work with others and try to let people see the rare and exotic locations they don't usually get to see, and at the same time getting people to wonder how the photograph got there. I haven't thought much about a larger message”.

Nathaniel

You can of course see more at IMPERMANENT PUBLIC at The Future Presence Gallery July 29th, and at Lighttheunderground.com

HOTTEA's 'WILDLIFE'

Here is a video by Thomas Dunning showing HOTTEA's latest work, well, besides the amazing installation he has upcoming at IMPERMANENT PUBLIC. Check it out, and dont forget to mark your calendars for July 29th, 5PM-11PM

http://vimeo.com/25815512