Move on up...

So my exhibition opened wednesday night and it ended up working out pretty good- i thought...I was worried initally about having enough work to fill the space and especially when I had trouble organising framing- thanks to both Philip and Geoff in that department- but in the end the amount of work I had was just right and with alot of going up and down a ladder and some tips from Tom Borgas, i was ready to go...It was great to see everyone there and though i feel like I didn't spend more than three seconds talking to any one person, I appreciate all the love from all concerned... So as promised, for anyone who wants a second look without having to go into the gallery, or a first look if you couldn't make it on the night- here are the paintings, as they were hanging, from the exhibition. Any that have been sold will be marked as such and if you have any questions or enquiries, you can email me at dcmansutti@hotmail.com... Enjoy...

1. Atlas II, 2012, Spray paint/stencil on canvas $750.00

2. Primavera, 2012, Spray paint/stencil on paper, framed $550.00

3. Surrender to the Void, 2011, Spray paint/stencil on paper, framed $550.00

4. Everything in its right place, 2011, Spray paint/stencil on paper, framed $550.00

5. Metropolis, 2011, Spray paint/stencil on paper, framed $550.00

6. Tomorrow Never Knows, 2012, Spray paint/stencil on canvas, 2012 $750.00

7.Force of Nature, 2012, Spray paint/stencil on paper, framed $550.00

8.Deeper Water, 2012, Spray paint/stencil on paper framed SOLD

9. The Thin edge of Nothingness, 2012, Spray paint/stencil on paper, framed SOLD

10. There is a light that never goes out, 2011, Spray paint/stencil on paper, framed SOLD. So the show is on until the second week of February, so if you haven't had the chance, check it out, let me know what you think....

The thin edge of nothingness...

This was a piece of writing I have been putting together for a kinda catalogue for my show, it will be available there but I thought I would put it on here (or at least a version there of) for all you hardcore cats who been down with me since day one….Have a read, see what you think…

In the beginning, this whole stencil thing for me was not much more than a momentary amusement. I had seen the potential of Stencils via the work of Blek Le Rat, Banksy and Shepard Fairey amongst many others. Their work interested me a great deal as an observer but I didn’t consider that I was capable of producing work in the same league . I had considered that maybe I could look at it from another angle but shelved the idea and continued with what I had been working on. As fate would have it, after a project I had done for a class, I had offcuts of stencil paper, some cans of paint and started experimenting with cutting shapes and just generally getting a feeling for what stencils could do. Principally up to that point, I had been painting in oils and was starting to get a handle on painting larger scale abstract paintings. What had drawn me to it in the first place was the boundless possibilities. With Abstraction, there was no restrictions placed on me by reality or the outer world or even my conscious mind; I had the opportunity to make a connection with every person who saw my work. So I decided to combine the two techniques and when I found myself slicing into the stencil paper, I realized that while stencils had been confined to mostly the replication of the real world, Stencils and Abstraction initially seemed mismatched due to the fact that stencils were static and fixed. Jackson Pollock, who for so long has been a polarizing figure in the world of art, once told an interviewer that he had no interest in replicating nature, he wanted to become nature, to be its rival. When I looked at the idea of stencils and abstraction, I realized I too would have to become nature. To release stencils from the confines of their borders, I need to look at the way the stencils were cut and the way they were painted. Following early experimentation, I approached the cutting by just sitting down and without a preconceived plan, just committing to the creation of the stencil. When it was done, I used a similar technique with the application of the paint- no sketches or plans, just applying the paint where it needed to go, working intuitively. This created a result which took me somewhat by surprise. I had expected that I could put together a cohesive image, but what the stencils allowed me to do was create a greater feeling of balance, an elusive element so important in abstraction. With continued experimentation, I started to consistently achieve the results I was looking for and develop the technique. Due to the process described and the way the works are created, each one is marked as an edition, in the print making tradition- 1/1 obviously because the works cannot be replicated- no two are the same. So as the logical conclusion to all of this I have put together a show of a selection of work from 2011 to present, which I think shows the progression of my exploration of this technique. Included is the first work I did- Titled “Everything in it’s right place” and fittingly so because of it’s deliberate, almost cautious positioning and technique and followed by works like “Tomorrow never knows”, which was inspired by techniques I was using in oil painting towards the end of 2012 and “Atlas II” which ended up being a finalist in the Australian Stencil Art Prize in 2012.

I aint gonna work on Maggies Farm no more.

Alright so this is happening- If you find yerself in Adelaide on the 9th of January, come to the Gallery on Waymouth and hang out with me and all my best friends and look at some art what I done! If you facebook, hit me up if we arent friends already and get a piece of the action... These two pictures are of my latest stencil on canvas- I think it measures about 40"x30" and is currently untitled...Many many layers and of course you will be able to see this one up close at the above mentioned exhibition which you definitely should come to...Not the best photos in the world but that is why you need to see it in the for real.

This is just to give an idea of how many layers are on this one...

no beginning, no end...

So now I've actually got around to writing this because school is done for the year...Yes, I will continue to go there until i am barred from the place-I still have plenty of work i can go on with until that time... Obviously the big news is finishing my paintings for Painting 8, they spoke to me the other Monday night and told me that they were done- Nina B. and I who was working late with me sat back and looked at them as you see them in the picture below and certainly I was amazed to see them all together. I presented them to lecturers and students on Wednesday morning and they seemed to be well received- one lecturer who had taught me in first and second year commented that with a lot of abstract painting you can often walk straight past and not be affected, however, she said that with my paintings, they demand your attention and pull you in to look closer. This is of course what I have been wanting to hear in regard to my work forever...

I guess I should also give a little background to these- the official title of them is The Three Jewels and left to right you have Sangha, Dharma and Buddha. Each time I have talked about these i have started with the disclaimer that it wasn't my intention to create religious paintings- more my response to the ideas presented. The Three Jewels is the name given to the three central ideas considered as the foundation of Buddhism. The first, Sangha, is the name for the community that one enters by becoming Buddhist, the second, Dharma is the teaching that one lives their life by when becoming Buddhist and thirdly, the Buddha, which is more about the idea of the Buddha nature or the potential of anyone to reach enlightenment and to become a Buddha. I originally started studying these ideas because in my previous works, i had explored the idea of desire being the root cause of all suffering, therefore if you eliminate desire, you eliminate suffering. This was all well and good but I still had a lot of questions and so, went looking for answers. To a degree, the paintings are my answers and are my responses to these ideas.

I spent alot of time getting caught up in Buddhist ideas- form is emptiness, emptiness is form and also looking at artists like Barnett Newman's Stations of the Cross, Mark Rothko's so called Seagram Murals- as well as Ian Fairweather- particularily The Drunken Buddha paintings, which to be honest, inspired alot of the technique...Brett Whiteley just because his attitude and approach I relate to so very much- There ius a documentary from the late eighties called Difficult Pleasures, which is basically an hour and a bit of Whiteley discussing the majority of his works to camera... I also managed to find time to go to Sydney for the Australian stencil art prize- My painting Atlas II was included in the finalists but unfortunately didn't win- this year...so next year when they have the World Stencil Art Prize, I'll have to bust out some new, next level stuff to get my name on that trophy...

me and my painting at the Chrissie Cotter Gallery in Camperdown, Sydney...

Spray Booth Hi JInks

Alright so I've been sort of making tuesday stencil day, just trying to get as much work done as I can, before we get booted out...I have a show coming up on the 9th of January at The Gallery on Waymouth- Im pretty sure it will start around 6pm but more about that when the invites go out...So i been doing stencil work, especially because my paint supplier just got a couple colours that have been out of stock for a long while- there was a particular green that I really liked using as a kind of starting point for a lot of paintings...so here are some pics of the work i been doing- started mixing up the colours with the circular one- I like the play of blue and orange, it seems to really suit this stencil- I always liked the combination of colours

The way I originally started with colours was just to get several shades of the same colour and go at it...Recently i been cutting some stencils- used on this piece with several different greens...

here i am hard at work

Ok so soon I will have new photos of the big ones, I'm doing for my painting class, which are almost finished...hoping that will be mid week, but probably not with the Grad show on wednesday the seventh of November in the light square gallery in of course light square, downstairs in the AC arts building if you are in Adelaide on that evening...And if you are in Sydney on the 21st of November you should come to the Australian Stencil Art Prize Launch and shindig at Chrissie Cotter Gallery in Camperdown and see my painting Atlas II which is one of the finalists this year...so swing by and say hello....

The danger illustrated...

I gotta say that, actually, there isn't much illustrating going on right now...and there should be...Ive got work due for my drawing for illustration and Im struggling to work it out- but no matter, i'll get it done, just can't say when or how... So...did a bit of work this week, despite the fact that i dont really feel like i spent much time in the studio this week...I painted some stencils, with mixed results so far...

This was just kind of a self portrait kind of thing- this is a picture of how the wall in my painting studio looks...

Then on Friday, I had a good day in the studio

I feel pretty happy with how these are going- Theyre getting close to being finished- some more so than others, but they should all be done on time...but for now i gotta get back to that drawing...

here are some more updated shots of two of my big paintings and the third is a new one i startedjuat because i didnt have enough to do already...