2012: Rough around the Edges

Thunder-Sky, Inc.'s 2012 Exhibition Season:  Rough around the Edges

As we embark on our third year of presenting unconventional exhibits of works by unconventional artists, I think we may have stumbled into what we are supposed to be doing.  Of course we have Raymond Thunder-Sky to thank for this accidental and wonderful purpose.  Our space, our purpose, our namesake -- all of it seems to really come to life because we find worth and meaning in allowing the edges to be presented as the center of our world.  The works may be a little rough sometimes (and other times beautifully smooth; "unconventional" often does not mean "raw" or "rough," just completely unique), but what everything we do has in common is the uncommon nature of the artists who make the works.  We're dedicated to a Thunder-Sky, Inc. mission of finding and championing art made by people often not seen as worthy of a lot of attention or interest.  We hope Season 3 brings as many surprises as the other two have. 

Here goes:




Alex Bartenberger

 




Chad Rasmussen



Mike Weber

 

Evan Hildenbrandt



"Infrastructure:  Abstractions by Alex Bartenberger, Evan Hildenbrandt, Chad Rasmussen and Michael Weber."  Opening reception January 6, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.  Closing reception February 11, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.  "Infrastructure" is defined as "the most basic level of organizational structure in a complex body or system that serves as a foundation for the rest."  The four artists in this exhibit foreground basic aesthetic structures and systems and transform them into the actual finished product.  Their spare, color-rich paintings symbolize both obsession and resolution.  Raymond Thunder-Sky's drawings often fetishize the "infrastructures" of buildings, streets, and even social systems.  In a portfolio of prints created exclusively for "Infrastructure," we'll be "abstracting" from some of Thunder-Sky's most elemental drawings, allowing a new way to approach and examine his work not as representations but as preoccupations with what's underneath both reality and the way we perceive it.




Katherine Ziff

 




David Gerbstadt



"Small Potatoes:  Self-made (and Repurposed) Knick-knacks, Tchtokes and other Curiosities."  Opening reception February 24, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.  Closing reception April 14, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.  A group show featuring artists who create small, strange sculptures and paintings, intermingled with a collection of "knick-knacks" and "tchtokes" discovered in thrift-stores and other places.  Each object and image will contribute to an overall  installation reminiscent both of the TV show Hoarders and the vast magical expanses of landfills inside dreams.   



David Rizzo





Katherine Michael

 

"Reverse Psychology:  Katherine Michael and David Rizzo."  Opening reception April 27, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.  Closing reception June 16, 2011, 6 to 10 pm.  Florida-based artist Michael creates funny, funky, folk-arty cut-outs and paintings; they exemplify innocence and verve with high-energy hues and serendipitous subject matter.  Cincinnati artist Rizzo's work has more of a dream-punk flair:  his paintings seem to be created by an odd-ball scientist/hobbyist/artist who collects cultural influences and creepy imagery with a vacuum cleaner and then through a vacuum-cleaner-bag autopsy reinvents and repurposes what has been sucked in.  Their works side by side are a little like having an angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other -- and sometimes you don't know which is which, who is who, what is what.




Raymond Thunder-Sky's art and life in a Polaroid moment

 

"Fly Your Own Freak Flag."  Opening reception June 29, 2011, 6 to 10 pm.  Closing reception August 18, 2012.  A group show of "freak flags" made by artists from across the region and the world. Raymond Thunder-Sky was his own personal freak-flag parade, walking through downtown and other areas of the city in clown/construction costumes that foregrounded his inner-freak and proudly announced to the world that he wasn't to be messed with.  We are asking freaks from an assortment of realms to contribute self-made flags that symbolize the spirit Raymond Thunder-Sky lived.  We'll also be asking a few of the freaks to fly their flags in Northside's Fourth of July parade.



Antonio Adams at work on a central piece for "Unrealized/Unforeseen"



"Unrealized/Unforeseen:  Antonio Adams."  Opening reception August 31, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.  Closing reception October 13, 2012.  This is Thunder-Sky, Inc. Artist-in-Residence Adams first one-person show since 2009.  He has been working on the concept for over a year, creating an epic portfolio of artworks in which famous celebrities (including Lindsay Lohan and David Hasselhoff) get "unrealized" (meaning returned to non-celebrity status), while unfamous folks (people Adams has selected from his everyday life) become major celebrities in his own personal cosmos.  The media include paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, and video.  We will also be publishing a glossy, full-color book documenting both the exhibit and the work and concept behind it.




A Polaroid taken by Raymond Thunder-Sky

 

"Camera Shy:  Photographs."  Opening reception October 26, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.  Closing reception December 15, 2012, 6 to 10 pm.   We will be featuring a group show of photographs from local self-taught photographers, including Polaroids taken by Raymond Thunder-Sky.