Gumbo – Sour Harvest

Opening Night of Gumbo, Beautanica, and Contenders

Thinkspace hosted a gallery full of art lovers for the opening night of Gumbo, Beautanica, and Contenders. Gumbo is a group exhibition featuring works by Alex Yanes, James Bullough, Matthew Grabelsky, Ryan Hewett, Sergio Garcia, Troy Coulterman and Troy Lovegates. A diverse group of artists that reflect the diversity of our steadily expanding gallery roster. It’s a fantastic exhibition showing various styles, from sculpture to figurative abstract portraiture. Australian artist Bec Winnel exhibited her new work in our project room, featuring ethereal beauties who mesmerized guests. Forcing collectors to stare on, torn between which pieces to purchase. And sold out before doors opened, Brian Mashburn’s new work for ‘Contender’ is a captivating teaser for his upcoming show in July.
You can view all the photos from the opening night on Flickr or Facebook. The exhibitions are on view from April 25 through May 16 during gallery hours.

Above photos and all opening night photography is by photographer Sam Graham.

An Interview with Troy Lovegates for ‘GUMBO’

A short but sweet interview with Troy Lovegates for his upcoming show ‘GUMBO’ at Thinkspace Gallery. ‘GUMBO’ will be featuring new pieces from seven Thinkspace artists who all bring a different style, voice, and flavor to their art. ‘GUMBO’ opens Saturday April 25th from 6-9pm, and will be on view till May 16th.

SH: What artist in the upcoming ‘Gumbo’ show would you want to collaborate with and why?
TL: It would be great if we all could collaborate on some giant mutation of all our works together … Some sort of large scale exquisite corpse

SH: When do you get the most work done; morning, noon, or night?
TL: My schedule could be described as “out of control” … I will wake up at 6 am one day and maybe work until 3 in the morning never leave the house … the next day sleep in go for a giant bike ride to find stuff that will become future works … Maybe not work for a day … Then 8 h the next day … Then start late at night the next … Sometimes I set up for working and end up searching for new music all night and get nothing done … But once I get going I usually can go through morning, noon and night …

SH: In three words, describe your artwork.
TL: Clutter … Found … Diverse

SH: How long does it take you to finish a piece? What is your processes?
TL: It is the stupidest process ever I just keep starting new pieces have so many half-finished pieces laying around and every couple of days I feel this panic to get something done and I go for it … But I always have many things on the go at the same time … About a dozen at once …

SH: Do you remember the first time you showed your work to the public? Where was it?
TL: I scribbled late at night on the exterior of my high school in Canada … It caused quite a stir but ended up staying there for years

SH: Do you have any wise words for a fledgling artist who admires your work?
TL: Have Patience … Go on Adventurers … But also staying at home and work when everyone else is “having fun” …

SH Bonus Question: Speaking of gumbo, have you ever been to New Orleans? If so, tell us a tale! If not, tell us another tale.
TL: I was there last summer for one night … I went for a walk and found a dumpster full of an old toy train town … All the buildings, lampposts, streets, train tracks, people and trees… someone got to all the boxcars, hoppers and engines before I got there (aaaargh) but it was still a fun garbage to dig through … Found some good comics for my train ride out the next morning

An Interview with Sergio Garcia for GUMBO

A short but sweet interview with Sergio Garcia for his upcoming show ‘GUMBO’ at Thinkspace Gallery. ‘GUMBO’ will be featuring new pieces from seven Thinkspace artists who all bring a different style, voice, and flavor to their art. ‘GUMBO’ opens Saturday April 25th from 6-9pm, and will be on view till May 16th.

SH: What artist in the upcoming ‘Gumbo’ show would you want to collaborate with and why?
SG: This Question is crazy! Ha! Not trying to sound to cliché or Miss America style. Everyone is rad and so diverse it would really depend on what we were trying to achieve with the project or collaboration.

SH: When do you get the most work done; morning, noon, or night?
SG: I get the most work done around noon time. Nighttime I do a lot of prep work and research. I’m pretty much 24/7 but around noon is when I’m completely in the zone.

SH: In three words, describe your artwork.
SG: Completely Throwed Off

SH: How long does it take you to finish a piece? What is your processes?
SG: It depends on the piece but generally a week or two. I bounce around a lot and sometimes I assembly line them. So it may take a month to produce a few. I do a few different types of processes. I enjoy welding metal. I’ve recently gotten into glass blowing. Some of my sculptures involve shiny automotive paint and others flat oil based. I think it helps me feel more free when I do different mediums. I’m constantly thinking of what’s next or how is this going to be possible. It’s like being in a band. You’re glad the Album finally came out but you’re working on the next one in your head.

SH: Do you remember the first time you showed your work to the public? Where was it?
SG: Yes for sure. I was completely terrified. I still am to an extent.

SH: Do you have any wise words for a fledgling artist who admires your work?
SG: Be yourself. Don’t try to impress everyone. You’ll know when you found “it” and it’s ok to reinvent yourself. Think of art as communication. It’s great if they admire, but you want them to feel it.

SH Bonus Question: Speaking of gumbo, have you ever been to New Orleans? If so, tell us a tale! If not, tell us another tale.
SG: My wife does Burlesque so I go to New Orleans every once and a while. I remember one time a guy was giving a ghost tour to some tourist. He almost sounded like he was rapping. So I started beat boxing out loud as I was walking by. He immediately went into Beastie Boys Paul Revere. Then a large crowd walking by screamed “We took an empty spot next to him at the bar”. It was pretty classic.

An Interview with Troy Coulterman for GUMBO

A short but sweet interview with Troy Coulterman for his upcoming show ‘GUMBO’ at Thinkspace Gallery. ‘GUMBO’ will be featuring new pieces from seven Thinkspace artists who all bring a different style, voice, and flavor to their art. GUMBO opens Saturday April 25th from 6-9pm, and will be on view till May 16th.

SH: What artist in the upcoming ‘Gumbo’ show would you want to collaborate with and why?
TC: This is difficult because all these artists are spectacular. But I would say Sergio Garcia, not only because he does a lot of sculpture, but because there is humor in his work and he is able to deliver a purposeful message to the viewer. I also appreciate his craftsmanship.

SH: When do you get the most work done; morning, noon, or night?
TC: Morning and night. Mornings I have more energy to get things done and I find the best time to be creative is at night.

SH: In three words, describe your artwork.
TC: absurd everyday anomalies

SH: How long does it take you to finish a piece? What is your processes?
TC: It varies on the size, but most sculptures take anywhere between one to three weeks to create. There are a lot of steps in creating one sculpture. Typically I will start with a concept drawing; and then move into these following steps; armature; clay modeling; mold making; cast; patch; sand; mounting; prime; and paint. It is an involved process, but in the end I have a mold so I can cast editions of a sculpture.

SH: Do you remember the first time you showed your work to the public? Where was it?
TC: I was living in Toronto at the time and I couldn’t find anyone to show my work and some galleries would even charge the artist a fee just to exhibit in their space. So, I rented out a gallery in a community center and invited all my friends. On weekends this center had a great farmers market and that got a lot of people coming through the gallery. I actually sold some pieces and got a lot of good feedback from the public. I learnt a lot from that first show.

SH: Do you have any wise words for a fledgling artist who admires your work?
TC: Show as much as you can, even when there is no one out there that wants to show your work yet. Get together with some friends or just rent out a space for a week. The more you show the more feedback you get and the more you learn about your own practice.

SH Bonus Question: Speaking of gumbo, have you ever been to New Orleans? If so, tell us a tale! If not, tell us another tale.
TC: My wife and I visited a good friend in New Orleans for Mardi Gras in 2010. He took us out one morning to a Cajun community in South Louisiana to participate in Courir de Mardi Gras. We got dressed up in crazy costumes, started drinking at 8am and everyone went house to house in the community asking for ingredients to make gumbo. Most of the time neighbors would just throw a live chicken into the crowd and everyone would roll around in the mud trying to catch it. The night ended with homemade gumbo and dancing to Cajun music.

An Interview with Matthew Grabelsky for GUMBO

A short but sweet interview with Matthew Grabelsky for his upcoming show ‘GUMBO’ at Thinkspace Gallery. ‘GUMBO’ will be featuring new pieces from seven Thinkspace artists who all bring a different style, voice, and flavor to their art. GUMBO opens Saturday April 25th from 6-9pm, and will be on view till May 16th.

SH: What artist in the upcoming ‘Gumbo’ show would you want to collaborate with and why?
MG: Alex Yanes because his speaker piece was amazing.

SH: When do you get the most work done; morning, noon, or night?
MG: Usually between noon and midnight.

SH: In three words, describe your artwork.
MG: Subway, Animals, Surreal.

SH: How long does it take you to finish a piece? What is your processes?
MG: Depends on the size and complexity – generally between 2 weeks and 2 months. I start with a general idea and then have friends come and model to work out the composition. I sketch it out in pencil and then attack it in oil painting in a couple of layers.

SH: Do you remember the first time you showed your work to the public? Where was it?
MG: 6th grade. My art teacher organized a show in the lobby of a big bank in NYC and included this crazy mixed media fantasy animal sculpture I made.

SH: Do you have any wise words for a fledgling artist who admires your work?
MG: Figure out what you want to do, master your craft, create something personal and original.

SH Bonus question: Speaking of gumbo, have you ever been to New Orleans? If so, tell us a tale! If not, tell us another tale.
MG: The last time I was in New Orleans I ate at a restaurant called N’awlins. When I told a local about it she was amazed how well I pronounced the name which confused me. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized N’awlins was how locals pronounce New Orleans.

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