skank family
ART + PHOTO + MUSIC + FOOD
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22 ARTISTS
February 11-13, 2011
THE SKANK FAMILY is an eclectic mix of bands, artists, photographers and producers striving to share their collective vision with the Austin arts community. We are ambitious folk, with hopes to affect our city as it has affected us.
ARTISTS BECK p.4 kyle CARTER p.3 chantell CHAMPLAIN p.4 korey CONLEY p.6 betsy COOPER p.5 alex DIAMOND p.8 dan DREES p.10 baylor ESTES p.9 jono FOLEY p.9 nick GREGG derya KADIPASAOGLU p.7 derek
KALIFA p.8 bobby LONGORIA p.9 francisco MARIN p.8 michelle MERRITT caleb bryant MILLER p.3 christina MOSER p.6 melissa MURRAY p.10 jessica PAINTER jennifer RACHID p.5 clark REED cole WILSON tamir
MUSICIANS FINAL EXAM GRUNDEL IN THE BRONX HELLO WHEELS JON COOK MILEZO SIP SIP SOMA SUBKULTURE PATRIOTS SUPERHOUSE 1
THE ART OF SHARING A year or two ago, a red headed friend once told me that fruit is much sweeter when shared. We ate a cantaloupe in the summer sun as I let that thought sink in. To let a piece of fruit sit on the kitchen counter until it is forgotten is a shame, that's why we offer it to our friends and guests when they come to share smiles and stories. The same is true for the fruits of our labor: as thinkers, doers and artists, it is imperative that we share our works with our friends and loved ones. The humble light of an acquaintance's smile is far more pleasing than the silent strokes of eyes that never see a painting, sculpture, photograph, collage, song or indescribable moment. In giving back to our friends, we give back to our sources of inspiration. The root of any work is hard to find, but it often comes from somewhere we trust and respect: a humble anecdote, a joke generations old, a few seconds of intoxicated merriment. Each finger, hand, and brush is given strength by the support of a community of optimistic comments and discerning eyes. With each fruit plucked and each canvas easily finished, the artist's heart grows more courageous and fanciful in its designs. Art is to be shared, not always because we want it to be, but because art must be shared to become ripe and digested. So we come together this weekend to let our art flourish in front of new and old eyes. The show itself is an experiment in simple cooperation, and its success depends solely on what is given and taken away in this moment in time. We hope you enjoyed being a part of our experiment in the visual arts as much as we enjoyed working with so many friendly, talented and attractive artists! Cheers, Talib Abdullahi · Jono Foley · Tamir Kalifa · Bobby Longoria The Skank Family Artist Collective Eastside · Austin · Texas · United States February 2011
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My work represents the infinite nature of inner and outer space through division and replication. I am heavily influenced by sacred geometry and fractal patterns, especially examples of geometry found in the growth of physical matter and in the symbolism, art, and architecture of ancient civilizations, such as the Mandala art form. Geometry transcends time, space, culture, scale of size, and geography, while at the Kyle CARTER same time linking them all together, which is what makes it so fascinating to me. I believe sacred geometry and the symbols which are associated with it are embedded in the collective subconscious of man, and has a transformative effect on its viewers, directing their attention towards what connects every one and every thing, temporarily allowing our consciousness to tear down the boundaries which we have created to separate ourselves from each other.
Caleb Bryant Miller is a freelance photographer based in Austin, Texas. His work has appeared Caleb Bryant MILLER in The Texas Tribune, the New York Times, CNN, CBS and ABC. He first discovered photojournalism at The Daily Texan, 3 where he served as a photographer and editor for three years.
Chantell has always gravitated toward several different mediums and techniques, depending on where her creativity leads Chantell CHAMPLAIN her. Most of her previous work included multimedia pieces which incorporated elements of ceramic, wood, paint, ink, charcoal and photography to convey her vision. While not all of her current works are multimedia, they do reflect her commitment to allowing her creativity to guide her to select the mediums/techniques that will capture the essence of what she is experiencing, trying to convey and share with others. ¶ Chantell’s current works have been inspired by her Native American culture and her exploration of the healing of Aromatherapy which resulted in her taking steps toward acquiring her Aromatherapist certification. She currently uses elements from these inspirations and incorporates them in her pieces which reflect a continuous quest to achieve mental, emotional and physical balance and her belief that everything in life is connected through the actions of intent, thoughts, words and physical action; all of these things affect an individual’s environment as well as the environment of those they interact with as well as individual/ global balance. From her experience in the arts, Chantell believes the quest to maintain balance and awareness can be greatly achieved through creating art and passed on to others by sharing her artwork with them.
Derek BECK
ghot nothign betyer todoo butt criagslsit with my besfirend jacky danniels wahwahhgot em i fucjkin got you
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Betsy COOPER
Betsy Cooper makes some silly art. Sometimes it gets published in the Daily Texan, But usually she just makes stuff for school, since she is a design major at UT. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.
It’s difficult for me to pinpoint whether my art stems from my own pure aesthetic desire or simply my need Jennifer RACHID to entertain myself. When I began experimenting with the découpage technique, it was simply a way to pass time when I was bed-ridden from surgery. I chose my materials as they were available; old art magazines and some furniture. The magazines had no more obvious use, whereas the chair had a guaranteed continuing use. It was the perfect combination. The images I cut out of the pages called out to me and they needed "... TO LIFT THE DEAD IMAGES FROM THE to be used. Themes did MIRE AND TO GUARANTEE THEIR USE BY not emerge as I collected MAKING MY CANVASES INVOLVED WITH my materials, but rather PEOPLE'S NEEDS IN EVERYDAY LIFE. I AM when I began putting LIKE A MUSHROOM ON THE FOREST FLOOR." them together. As with the chair that my collage is on, I feel that art's use comes from its ability to be used and shared. My goal is to recycle and reuse, to lift the dead images from the mire and to guarantee their use by making my canvases involved with people's needs in everyday life. I am like a mushroom on the forest floor. For me, there is no need to aim towards the canopy in search of unique images when all of these millions 5 lie on the floor around me asking to be re-invented.
Hi, my name is Christina Moser. I grew up in Houston and attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts focusing in visual art. After graduating in 2008, I moved to Austin where I am currently a third year undergraduate at the University of Texas majoring in Design. My work is about framing something simple and, Christina MOSER within that, simplicity creating something beautiful. I create systems, patterns and processes inspired from nature as well as moments in my life. Patterns that intrigue me the most are those of repetition such as the geometry of a geode or the continuation of a fractal. I combine qualities of shape, color and form to please the aesthetic senses, especially sight.
I picked up drawing recently in order to get ideas down on paper and out of my mind in more of an aesthetic way than just writing, which is more of Korey CONLEY my typical venting technique. Although words can be beautiful sometimes, they don’t paint the whole picture as you want it to be seen so I figured, why not show what I really mean by it and pick up drawing? I like the idea of multiple ways of expression in order to get the desired reaction out of the person seeing my work, and leaving the verbal interpretation up to them instead of telling them the complete story is a great way to show an idea. I do not really have a common medium since this is my first large piece but I enjoy charcoal and pencil to be able to include small details in the heads that I would not be able to do well with other tools. I recently read Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, a story of a man who is slowly dying in complete agony and not until before his last few minutes alive realizes that although he wanted his life back, if he got the chance to get well, he would not even know how to begin to change his life for the better. After debating with his self-consciousness, he utters the words, “It is finished”, paralleling 6 the exact idea that I am trying to portray in my work.
My name is Derya Kadipasaoglu; I’m from Houston and moved to Austin in 2008 to start as an undergrad at UT, double-majoring in Linguistics and Philosophy. My academic interests have had a strong influence on my art, particularly as a source of strength for the foundation of my concept that everything in this world is natural and physical. From there, there are two ideas that I try to explore: First, that humans are essentially physical beings, Derya KADIPASAOGLU and that along with physical experiences, all mental states are experienced bodily. I express this idea by depicting figures surrounded by or interacting with textures to make emotional and mental experiences visually tangible, to ground those experiences in the physical world. I also show figures intimately connected with natural objects, to show that people are natural objects themselves and to reject the idea that there is anything supernatural about our existence, and further, to show that our naturalness is a far more exquisite and complex quality than what an alternative, non-natural theory would assert. The second, related idea I work with is how language exists in the brain. This has led me to looking at language decompositionally, until it’s reduced to abstract forms, which I incorporate into my work with text that is no longer recognizable, but that acts as a textural representation of sensory experiences, and that interact with a figure. My goal is to communicate the richness of 7 our world and of our experience of the world.
Tamir Kalifa has a camera. Tamir Kalifa is a photojournalist. Tamir Kalifa is an accordionist. Tamir Kalifa is a home owner. Tamir Kalifa cooks shakshuka. Tamir Kalifa probably should not have let Thu write this.
Tamir KALIFA
Alex Diamond is from New York City and currently resides in Austin, Texas while he studies architecture at UT. He also partakes in a myriad of artistic Alex Diamond endeavors. His art has been described as meticulous, chauvinistic, experiential, silly, and quite possibly life changing. Some of Alex Diamond’s favorite things include good pizza, candles and Cosmo Kramer. A more recent source of excitement for Alex has been his yoga class, which "HIS ART HAS BEEN DESCRIBED he participates in on Tuesdays and AS METICULOUS, CHAUVINISTIC, Thursdays at UT. Afterwards, and EXPERIENTIAL, SILLY, AND QUITE on many other days of the week, he POSSIBLY LIFE CHANGING." has been consistently sited at the Chick-fil-A on campus because he loves Chick-fil-A. Ironically, however, he has never been to a fully functional and equipped Chick-fil-A. His friend Matt suggested to take him to one for his birthday, but Alex respectfully declined because he is nervous about the potential for disappointment. Alex Diamond is also quite passionate about matzo ball soup because he is culturally Jewish and is overjoyed by the news that Katz’s deli in Austin is going out of business.
Francisco Marin
Francisco Marin is a 22-year-old photographer and music journalist from Harlingen, Texas. He moved to Austin in 2006 to earn degrees in English and multimedia journalism at the University of Texas while developing an interest in mediumformat and 35mm film photography, thanks to the continuing support of his colleagues and friends he met while working at The 8 Daily Texan.
Baylor ESTES
I am BaylorSchmaylor! I create psychedelic illustrations to excite the eyes. I wish to force the viewer to feel my subconscious through a variety of characters and colors. Although primarily my art is train of thought mental ejaculate, I often do posters for my pals' bands here in Austin, Texas. These commissioned works force me to alter my style and thought process to produce a wellmeditated, unique product. For this, my first, art show I have included two paintings in an attempt to diversify my often times singular style. For this art show I am trying to dissolve the parameters, which have previously encapsulated my artistic process. It is my hope that at the very least these pieces will cause you to imagine a world in which the possibilities are more vibrant and strange than the ones that are available to us in this every day reality.
Hello bio readers! I make photographs and I make films. I was raised on the mean streets of Houston, TX. I think television is the devil. The first artistic Jono FOLEY photograph I ever took was a polaroid that involved three things I love; pizza, googley eyes and my father. I hope you enjoy or hate my work, either way. My photos are not art. They are not finely crafted paintings. They are only moments I have been drawn Bobby LONGORIA to. In some cases moments I hope to live, and in others, moments that will never stop haunting me. My responsibility is to document so 9 that we can remember. My responsibility will never let me forget.
Melissa Louise Murray started making art the day she was born on July 25, 1990 in Omaha Nebraska. She moved around mulitple times as a kid Melissa MURRAY but ended up growing up in Dallas for 13 years until moving to Austin to go to the University of Texas as a studio art major. She is now a junior and loving Austin, she wouldn’t be anywhere else. Her work is energetic, spiritual, and always on the move. She works in multiple mediums, painting, photography, collage, and sculpture, with sculpture being her favorite. Melissa has a true passion for creating and wants to use her work to communicate ideas, foster a conversation, and bring people together.
Hello ¶ Three hundred words are too many to describe the nothing that I always do. But if a picture’s worth a thousand Dan DREES words then before I started I was two thousand words over. Please look at my two coloring projects on display. I like to color! I like dimethyltryptamine. It’s already in your head, don’t worry about what it I LIKE DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE. IT’S means. ¶ “I wake up every morning at ALREADY IN YOUR HEAD, DON’T 6 a.m. no matter what time it is.” Walk WORRY ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS. my dog, then do what ever I want. I drink beer, play poker, make music, fuck around and sometimes color. I like electricity and spray-paint and cool shit and seemingly not cool shit. I used to make beer but that got boring. I like to play instruments. Sometimes I work at a job. Most times I don’t. ¶ I like to snowboard and do other fun things. Ask me later. Don’t smoke cigarettes. Don’t litter. 10 Stop. Start again. Do something else. ¶ Sincerely, DreesFace
special thanks & much love to Charles Xavier III, Bruce and Rachel Kalifa, John and Michele Foley, Bonnie Brown/Basirah Dean and Sabu Adeyola, Benjamin and Keqin Gregg, Oldschool BBQ, Dan Parrott, Danny Parrott, Clarissa Parrot, Trey Cook, Julio Gonzalez of United We Art, Chantell Champlain, Riley Burgess, Evan Kasper, Ryan Graham, Thu Vo, Maggie Lea, Connie and Arne Pepin, Thax Douglas, Sasquatch Dave, Aaron Miller, Ariel Kalifa, Maryam Adeyola, Caleb Bryant Miller, Erik Reyna, Harrison Smith, Trevor Smith, Scooch and Gusto, Chris Rehm, Sean Hart, Daniel Zafar, Brandon Denton, Nick Hurt, Yun Du, Odile Kane, Claire Puckett, Matt Puckett, Matt Krolick, Isaac Winburne, Maurice Chammah, Luke Stence, Rita Andrade, Laura Andrade, Diana Burgess, Clara Brill, Dusty Rhodes, Gilman Lykken, Austin Harris, Walter Long, Sam Fullilove, Lilly Smith, Chris Gardner, Andrew Stevens, Taft Mashburn, Ryan James McGill, Melissa Leigh Smith, Ian Rogers, Bailey Glover, Stephanie Groudle, Sam Houdek, Little Lo, Taylor Steinburg, The Roosters: (Adrian Audain, Cody WIlson, the Herb, Miles Welbourne, Lil' Mayne), Erik Mikulak, Brandon Mays, Ray Levinson-Fort, Brendan Bond, Jessi Johanna Brattengeier, Julia Cooke, Miles Kelley, Marmalakes, Chase Weinacht, Max Colonna, Joshua Halpern, David and Mrs. Halpern, Paul Simon (sorry, Garfunkle), Peter Shults, Matt Bradshaw, Nick Garza, John Shaw, Todd and Amber Harris, Cory and Michelle Dennis, Aaron and Sonya Hachez, Shadid Askar, Nick from Beat Logic, Eddy, Tristan Love, James Longmire, Zoe Cordes-Selbin, Danielle Miller, Colin Jenkins, Jon Cook, Taylor Kirk, Kendra Bones, Lainey Brown, David Howe, Brittany Campbell, Santiago Dietche, Ricky Valenzuela, Cory Greene, Kevin Forrester, Hector Gonzales, Peter Lee, Stephen WInkler, Harry Dearing III, Anthony Arroyo, Austen Sofhauser, Olivia Hinton, Moxie, Gerald Rich, Micheal Baldon, Frankie Marin, Gary Kattner, Nick Swift, Graham Reynolds, Dan Gentile, Nick Smith, Chris Micklethwait, Bubba (Junious Woods III), Fairy, Sue and the kitties, Andrew the friendly neighbor, Ryan from Thunderbird, Austin, Dorothy, Shane and John from Bennu, Hideous Liquor, Jester King Brewery, Holy Mountain Recording, The Vagabond Collective, and Dale Smith and Hoa Ngyuen for the inspiring home that made all of this possible. DESIGN BY THU VO.