Circus Posterus

Behind the Scenes of Le Carnaval: From Amsterdam to Paris

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By LadyMadeline

When I heard the CP crew was visiting Europe, I knew I had to visit their show. Paris isn’t too far away from Amsterdam compared to the US, so there I was, standing on Gare du Nord. The first thing I did was buy a Paris Visite card which enabled me to use the metro, RER and bus as many times as I wanted to. There are a lot of metrolines in Paris, but with a route map, it’s quite easy to get around town.

On my first day I visited the Sacré-Cœur, a church located in the neighborhood Montmartre. There were a lot of nice stores in the streets surrounding the church, so I spent my time wandering around. Afterwards, I took the metro to Louvre-Rivoli. It took me a little while to find it, but eventually I saw the Artoyz logo pop up. I spent some time checking out the store and started to chat with one of the Artoyz owners. He told me the CP crew had headed out for a lunch, but they could return any time. I only had to wait for a little while when I saw a group of people entering the store. I recognized the artists as they went downstairs to the exhibition room and then Daniel (sethsabbat) noticed me. After a brief gab, I waited in the store, but was then invited to come downstairs (which was awesome!). I met all the artists who were busy unpacking and installing all the pieces. The art looked beautiful and fortunately, everything made it in one piece. When it was all unpacked and put in place, we went to Daniel’s house; he collected some amazing old books and other wonderful items that could be used as risers at the show. We spent Wednesday night talking and we went to a nice restaurant nearby where we ate pizza with the whole group. I really enjoyed listening to what everyone had to say. Very interesting and kind people.

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Gary Ham’s ‘Tricky’ for Dead Wood @ Stranger Factory, 10.5

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Shhh … be vewwy, vewwy, quiet … You see that over there? That’s Tricky! A satyr so rare that many deemed the breed long extinct, or just a fable told by those floating in the dregs. But there he is, in broad daylight and natural habitat — the last of his kind, I reckon. Tricky’s a prankster type, so step carefully; I bet he’s rigging the place with tripwire before heading out Albuquerque.

A custom-cut and hand painted wooden figure by Gary Ham, Tricky stands 14 inches, much to the credit of two candy stripe horns atop his head. Catch him and his maker next week as part of Dead Wood, opening Oct. 5th at Stranger Factory.

Dead Wood: A Conversation with Gary Ham

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So Halloween is kind of a big deal in these parts and we’re all stoked to bits as fright night creeps ever closer. We have two cracking exhibitions in store for the event: our second annual All Hallow’s group show, Bewitching II, and Dead Wood, a mini exhibit from the great Gary Ham. Our Steve Brown recently caught up with Gary to gab about the show and the surreal spookery he’s bringing to Route 66 Oct. 5th.

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Steve Brown: Let’s talk about your upcoming exhibition, Dead Wood. What’s the story with this new group of work?

Gary Ham: With the show taking place in October along side the Bewitching show, I thought it would be a lot of fun to keep my theme to creatures of the dead and an overall Halloween feel. I love drawing monsters and working in wood, so Dead Wood felt like the perfect title for the show. Usually the monsters might lurk behind the trees, but in this case, the trees became the monsters.

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Behind the Scenes of Le Carnaval: Museum Day

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By Sethsabbat

A good part of the day was spent around the Le Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle and Le Jardin des Plantes, with the impressive Galéries de Paleontologie, built in 1897.  If you like bones, this is the place to be.

A stroll through the gardens to get to the Grand Galerie de l’Evolution, where a strange worm like creature made an appearance.

Then off to another building to see the famous Cabinet de Curiosités de Bonnier de La Mosson.  Stayed on the left bank, a walk around the Latin quarter and a stop at Notre Dame.

Behind the Scenes of Le Carnaval: The Opening

By sethsabbat

After a busy first day setting up, Madelon and I met the CP team at Artoyz around noon on Thursday, where props were put in place, and final touches made in the set up of the show. With a few hours to spare before the show started, we headed over to the Louvre. Travis was on a mission to see a painting he missed on his last trip to Paris, so we roamed the halls in search of it.  Thankfully, Teodoru’s map reading skills were better than mine, and after passing the likes of the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, we soon found it:

Afterwards, we strolled through the Tuileries gardens and stopped for lunch before heading back to Artoyz. With less than an hour before opening, a final check was made. Then bam, the doors opened and that place filled up quick. The Artoyz staff were surprised at how quickly the pieces sold; it was a full house and great success. Madelon and I then left the CP crew to have some late-night dining with Artoyz. We had to be be up early as her train was leaving Paris at 6:25am.

New Works in Progress by Kathie Olivas for ‘Haunted’ @ AFA NYC 10.20

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Kathie Olivas will have a number of fairly large and ambitious sculpts as part of her solo exhibition, Haunted, at AFA NYC next month. With the opening just a few weeks away, these pieces will start to emerge from the shadows as they ready for their journey to the Big Apple. Some are nearly complete, others are still a work in progress. Regardless, hang on to your jaw because we haven’t seen this volume of work or level of complexity from KO alone in one place, ever. (Really.)

Haunted opens Oct. 20th at AFA NYC with a reception from 7pm to 9pm. Kathie will be in attendance, so stop in for some inspiration and a cocktail.

AFA NYC
54 Greene St
New York, NY 10013

 

Calliope Jackalope: An Anatomy, Pt. III

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Previously on Calliope Jackalope, An Anatomy, Pt. II: Our little lady is assessed by Obitsu and it’s determined that the figure would require five molds. The wax master is sculpted, the metal molds are forged and the first Calliope test figure is born. Now: we add a splash of color.

With the test figures pulled and green-lighted by KO, it was time to bust out the Pantones and whip up a paint master for the factory to replicate. For her debut Calliope, Kathie chose a soft robin’s egg blue:

At a glance, Calliope’s paint finish seems relatively simple; buuuut … that definitely is not the case. The spray mask alone had to be applied three times more than that of Stingy Jack’s. The figure has a total of eight masks: propeller, face, broken antlers, whites of the eyes, the pupils, lips/cheeks, belly and zipper. The lips and cheeks were the most tedious as they had to be airbrushed by hand to create a realistic ‘rosiness’.

Up next, we take a look at the completed Calliope Jackalope in all her glory. Stay tuned!

 [via the Tomeno blog]

Behind the Scenes of Le Carnaval: Set-Up Day

By sethsabbat

Following a week of set-up and sight-seeing, of wining and dining, the Circus has packed up and returned back to their respective homes in the US. Fortunately for us, the memories are just beginning as the pictures and stories start to unfold. Since so many of us experienced this exhibition in spirit, fellow CP boadies Daniel (sethsabbat) and Madelon (LadyMadeline) were gracious enough to document the event, from rehearsal to curtain. To kick things off, Daniel gives us a quick recount of set up day, complete with photos of the packing peanut party. Enjoy!

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I met Brandt, Kathie, Travis and Teodoru outside Artoyz Wednesday afternoon after work. I’ll be honest, I felt a bit like a stalker going up to them and saying hello; we hadn’t really set a rendezvous and I wanted to drop some maps off for them. They were killing some time, waiting for some paint to dry in the gallery, so I took them down the rue Saint Honore to check out Colette (a concept store; the dunny series was based on this place), and we then headed back to Artoyz where we found Madelon.

Brandt invited us to hang out as they opened up boxes to inspect the art. Happily, there were no drastic accidents in shipping.  After unpacking, the CP team then began placing the pieces and wiring the wall hangings. I was so amazed to see all the work they did for this show. Kathie and Brandt were looking for some risers, so I suggested they stop by my house to see if there was anything they could use.

Having done all that they could for the day, we headed out, down the rue de Rivoli, with a quick stop at BHV to pick up some epoxy and have a look at the Hotel de Ville. From there, we headed back to my place to pick out props and sample some wine and cheese. Marc had them laughing: he’s a true minimalist (before I moved in), and pretty much begged them to stop producing so much stuff. As we were heading out to eat and decided to bring some of the props, Marc was like, “Please, take more!”

Hit the jump for more photos from Day 1!

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Gris Grimly for Bewitching II @ Stranger Factory 10.5

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Joining the likes of Chet Zar, Seymour and Rhode Montijo for Stranger Factory’s Bewitching II Halloween hoedown is none other than the Mad Creator himself, the perennial badass, Mr. Gris Grimly. Up for grabs from him are a trio of (seriously) gorgeous acrylic on wood pieces titled “Which Witch”, “The Horror Inside” and “Beneath The Sheet”, respectively.

I’ve been a fan of Grimly’s for a while now, particularly of his earlier mixed media collage pieces, and these rank right up there. Each painting is strong enough to stand alone, yet the continuity of characters, theme and palette also begs for them to remain together, triptych style (which is so awesome, yet so evil).

Bewitching II opens Oct. 5th through Nov. 4th with an opening reception from 6pm to 9pm.

Calliope Jackalope: An Anatomy, Pt. II

Previously on Calliope Jackalope, An Anatomy: Calliope is rendered in 3D and from that a prototype is made for the factory to map out the mold process. We head there now for some mold-makin’, waxin’ action!

Like Stingy Jack, the Calliope prototype was taken to Obitsu to determine how many metal molds the figure will require. Given her complexity, she, too, would require five to cover her multiple parts: head, body, legs, hat, ears and tail.

The figure is re-cast in wax and the metal molds are made. From that, we get our first test:

And from there, the header card art is submitted by Brandt and Kathie and voila! Our first packaged Calliope!

[via the Tomeno blog]