Sunday, September 27, 2015
New exhibition "El Gallo" at Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
Last weekend was the opening reception of "El Gallo" at Whitespace including new drawings, paintings, screen prints, sculpture and video. Here is a
link to a killer review by Felicia Feaster for the AJC. If you want to see all of the new work including the video, click here to go to my website.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
"El Gallo" Exhibition in the Making
This Spring I traveled to Tucson, AZ, to do research for an upcoming exhibition that I will have this September at Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA. I lived in Tucson at one point in my life, for two years, and I chose this location to revisit experiences from my past when I was 18 years old. One of the first drawings I have created for this body of work is titled, El Gallo and I think that I will title the exhibition after this piece. El Gallo was my attempt at drawing my personal boogeyman or demon so to speak. He is an aggressive shape shifter and predator. El Gallo's are everywhere maybe you just don't know it.
My artistic process involves concepting and thumbnailing, but ultimately I use models and photograph them to work from. This is Michael O'Connell, my model for El Gallo.
After I choose the best photo to work from I have to figure out how to alter the model and what imagery I'm going to morph with the model. I work mostly from photographic references but I do have 9 chickens and quite a collection of natural items and props in the studio. 
For this piece I mostly used watercolor and colored pencil. 
I used salt in the watercolor to give the cactus-like skin more texture.
So here he stands, 22"x30" on 300lb hot pressed watercolor paper. He's a cocky dude, in more ways than one.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
New Website!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
How it all began and where it went, "Under the Rainbow"
For the past several years I've been making psychological narrative paintings - fantasy worlds with young girls carrying out their various acts. The last body of work (2010) Softcore War, dealt with the fantasies of would be suicide bombers based on a series of articles that I read. The current work, (2013) Under the Rainbow is different. Under the Rainbow is akin to being under the influence of something, in this case the rainbow, which is a product of light that feeds darkness. The rainbow is a symbol of power that is the antagonist. It is the other partner that the femme fatale figure has a relationship with. 
When I first started creating these paintings Summer of 2012, the Pussy Riot incident was loud and clear in the news. I watched a video of protestors chanting behind a chain link fence in defense of the Pussy Riot members. The protest was peaceful. When a young woman dawned a pink mask and continued her chant, the police immediately went after her. I was amazed that a simple colorful mask that she was under became a symbol of aggression so quickly. The term "Under the Rainbow" had been mulling in my head for some time, and this moment, further solidified my desire to use this term for the title of my new work.
When I think of the femme fatale in this series, I've been inspired by both the characters "Black Widow" in the Avengers and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They both cross the line to get information that they need. The play both the victim and the protagonist. As the work developed the female began to interact with the amorphous rainbow cloud monster, sometimes suggesting that a line had been crossed, perhaps sexually, to get what they needed, as seen in Trophy 1 & 2. Teeth were extracted and hair, either pubic or beard, was removed.
As for the abundance of hair and hidden faces, I've been searching for new ways to obscure identity, that isn't always construed as a religious veil. The work is not religious at all. Veils are traditionally a symbol of faith and devotion, but they can also be used as a bandit or mask to conceal identity when committing a crime. The fabric pieces are anthropomorphized veils that embody the power of the rainbow. It would be dangerous to put one on. It makes me think of mad scientists who drink their potions to become Jekyll and Hyde types of characters.
Throughout the body, there are still some spill overs from the last series of work, namely from the small group of drawings that I created Summer of 2011 called "Lashes for Ankles". The girls are still flaunting gold teeth and exposing themselves in ways that break the law, or push boundaries, depending where you live.
This information might shed some light on the current work, however the driving force will always be deeply personal and psychological. I recently saw a show about Ian Flemming, the author of all of the James Bond books. James Bond was his alter ego and perhaps the girls are mine.
When I first started creating these paintings Summer of 2012, the Pussy Riot incident was loud and clear in the news. I watched a video of protestors chanting behind a chain link fence in defense of the Pussy Riot members. The protest was peaceful. When a young woman dawned a pink mask and continued her chant, the police immediately went after her. I was amazed that a simple colorful mask that she was under became a symbol of aggression so quickly. The term "Under the Rainbow" had been mulling in my head for some time, and this moment, further solidified my desire to use this term for the title of my new work.
When I think of the femme fatale in this series, I've been inspired by both the characters "Black Widow" in the Avengers and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They both cross the line to get information that they need. The play both the victim and the protagonist. As the work developed the female began to interact with the amorphous rainbow cloud monster, sometimes suggesting that a line had been crossed, perhaps sexually, to get what they needed, as seen in Trophy 1 & 2. Teeth were extracted and hair, either pubic or beard, was removed.
As for the abundance of hair and hidden faces, I've been searching for new ways to obscure identity, that isn't always construed as a religious veil. The work is not religious at all. Veils are traditionally a symbol of faith and devotion, but they can also be used as a bandit or mask to conceal identity when committing a crime. The fabric pieces are anthropomorphized veils that embody the power of the rainbow. It would be dangerous to put one on. It makes me think of mad scientists who drink their potions to become Jekyll and Hyde types of characters.
Throughout the body, there are still some spill overs from the last series of work, namely from the small group of drawings that I created Summer of 2011 called "Lashes for Ankles". The girls are still flaunting gold teeth and exposing themselves in ways that break the law, or push boundaries, depending where you live.
This information might shed some light on the current work, however the driving force will always be deeply personal and psychological. I recently saw a show about Ian Flemming, the author of all of the James Bond books. James Bond was his alter ego and perhaps the girls are mine.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
2013 Under the Rainbow paintings available for viewing and purchase
If you'd like to see the collection of my new body of work titled "Under the Rainbow", on exhibit at Whitespace Gallery April 5 - May 11, then copy the link below. Works that are not listed as SOLD are available for purchase through the gallery.
http://whitespace814.com/2013/04/04/preview-under-the-rainbow-new-works-by-ann-marie-manker/
Friday, March 22, 2013
Under the Rainbow
Under the Rainbow, the title of my new body of work, opens at Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA in two weeks! I've been working on this new body since last summer, when I made this self titled piece the first week of June 2012.
This piece was partly inspired by vintage postcards of Niagra falls that I found at an antique shop. For many months I was thinking about using more black in my work and these post card images spoke to me. I also found inspiration in the illustrations of Kay Nielsen and his use of black. 
In the last 10 months I've made 16 new paintings which will exhibit for the first time on April 5th at Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA. Here is a sneak peak of some paintings. The first two are titled "Trophy 1+2" and the second is a detail shot of "Praying Mantis". 
These last few weeks I've been tinkering with wall hangings for the installation and here is an up close detail of one of the anthropomorphized veils that I have been creating. Photographer Karley Sullivan gave me some teeth that she cast and one of the pieces ended up in this sculpture. I've yet to come up with a name for it. I think it looks creepy but edible in a skittles kind of way. 
If you are in Atlanta anytime between April 5 - May 11, stop by the gallery to see the show. Or if you are from out of state and are interested in my work, you can contact me through Facebook or cloudanimal@gmail.com. I'll be posting the entire show online once it is documented mid April.
This piece was partly inspired by vintage postcards of Niagra falls that I found at an antique shop. For many months I was thinking about using more black in my work and these post card images spoke to me. I also found inspiration in the illustrations of Kay Nielsen and his use of black. 
In the last 10 months I've made 16 new paintings which will exhibit for the first time on April 5th at Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA. Here is a sneak peak of some paintings. The first two are titled "Trophy 1+2" and the second is a detail shot of "Praying Mantis". 
These last few weeks I've been tinkering with wall hangings for the installation and here is an up close detail of one of the anthropomorphized veils that I have been creating. Photographer Karley Sullivan gave me some teeth that she cast and one of the pieces ended up in this sculpture. I've yet to come up with a name for it. I think it looks creepy but edible in a skittles kind of way. 
If you are in Atlanta anytime between April 5 - May 11, stop by the gallery to see the show. Or if you are from out of state and are interested in my work, you can contact me through Facebook or cloudanimal@gmail.com. I'll be posting the entire show online once it is documented mid April.
Friday, November 30, 2012
New work is under way!
I've been holing up in the studio over the holidays to continue working on a new body of paintings that will make their debut April 2013 at Whitespace Gallery.
My goal is to complete two paintings a week. Smaller paintings take about 20 hours or 3 days of work and some only take 2 days. We'll see how long the largest one will take...probably a month on and off. For now, I'm calling the new body of work "Under the Rainbow", but that is not official yet. It does pop into my mind every day however, and that is how I have been referring to the work. Posted are images of my process, during and complete.
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