Artists with Nothing Left to Break

Welcome to the Art House!

The economy has forced budget cuts across the board, leaving the arts once again in their familiar, neglected territory. Despite this adversity, one organization pushes forward and is providing emerging artists with the means to have their creative visions seen by the public courtesy of the awesome folks at Art House Productions.

Anyone who has ever attended any one of the many diverse events at Art House that range from exhibitions of paintings to photography and even performance art, will tell you that the minds working behind the scenes are just as inspired and as the artists on display. Its not surprising that Art House Founder/Executive Director  Christine Goodman and Artistic Director Jack Halpin are artists themselves. Goodman has been known to spin a mic with precision as a spoken word artist, in addition to acting, producing and painting. And Halpin’s experience with acting, directing and performing technical support has enriched each event at Art House since his involvement. I was able to meet both of these incredible people at the recent Nothing Left to Break exhibition, and have to say that within a few minutes I could tell how much they care and put into this organization. So a HUGE thank you and good will to Christine and Jack, for you are both quite awesome.

Now, let’s meet the amazing artists at the show.

The Jessicas!

The Jessicas Perform at Art House Productions

The Jessicas performed a grueling 3 hour performance piece “Broken Glass” that involved spoken word, tablas, crawling over broken shards, and even slapping. Both gals did not end the night unscathed, and had several visible bruises. Talk about suffering for your art. These gals have got us all beat. It was quite the sight, my friends. Especially intriguing was a segment where the Jessicas repeatedly yell “RESIST! RESIST” while beating on the drums. Very raw, visceral and inspiring. I was so close to starting a riot and yelling “VIVA LA REVOLUCION!” But I opted to just go home and watch Benicio Del Torro play Che.

The remains of the Jessicas performance

The Jessicas, also known as the dynamic duo Jessica Smith and Jessica Nelson, stole more of the show with a varied assortment of art goodies, including sculpture, photography paintings and drawings. Below you shall find some of my particular favorites.

Livin EZ

Stay In Touch with the Jessicas and visit their site HERE!

Man Vs. Machine: Oren Misholy

Oren Misholy

Most of us don’t bother to think about the dozens of tiny pieces in our electronic devices that must play nicely together until the day they break or stop working. It isn’t until our computer crashes, or phones drop a call (I’m looking at you Apple!) that we realize the fragility of our machines, or how dependent we are on them. We also tend to forget that without these little, sometimes annoying inventions, we wouldn’t be able to communicate with others. Our words, thoughts, and philosophies would go silent and simply put, lots of stuff just wouldn’t get done.

Artist Oren Misholy understands this to an almost religious degree. With his deconstructed and reconstructed objects like the one featured behind the artist Text and Discourse, Misholy is attempting to remind us how obsolete machines actually aren’t obsolete at all.  We have just been convinced that we need to replace ours with the new one.  Don’t be confused, Misholy doesn’t worship keyboards, television or cell phones. He worships the idea of communication, of verbal discourse. Everything from dinner table conversation to pop culture to existential philosophy; Oren loves it all. Because he understands that these objects, the plastic, the wires, the steel and glass are just as much a part of our language and lives as the words they help us speak. He’s trying to raise an awareness for a renewed appreciation of these objects. Call it found art, call it conceptual; I call it genius.

Learn More About Oren Misholy Here!

Meet Phil D’ Martino

Phil is a young, soft-spoken fellow who also had a few choice pieces in the show, including a minimalist black, white, and blue piece and watercolor (pictured with the artist above). Being familiar with screen printing, he chose to step out of his comfort zone (like all artists should) and make some different pieces for this exhibit. And we applaud him for that. Take a gander at his work below, including the watercolor painting he SOLD (congrats). And be sure to harass him about getting a website up soon!

To learn more about Art House Productions and see how you can participate in their events, visit their site here. Be sure to come and take a gander at the upcoming show “The Upside” at Cosi Gallery in Jersey City on September 10th! I will see you there.

If you enjoyed this artsy article and want to keep up with everything art-related including exhibitions, contests, and rants by yours truly (Antonio!) than remember to PRESS the puffed SUBSCRIBE button at the end of this post to get FREE updates using any service your lovely heart desires. Until next time, keep creating!