August 21, 2010 | This Is A Momentary Spectacle


TWIN KITTENS presents This Is A Momentary Spectacle, an exhibition of new works by Denton Crawford.

DENTON CRAWFORD / THIS IS A MOMENTARY SPECTACLE
Exhibition Dates: Aug. 21st - Sep. 11th
Opening Reception: Sat. Aug. 21st 7-10pm
Westside Art Walk: Sat. Aug. 21st, 11am-5pm
AGA City Wide Gallery Event: Sat. Aug. 21st, 10am-10pm
Artist Talk: Sat. Sep. 11th at 2pm

Twin Kittens will present a solo exhibition of artist, Denton Crawford, August 21st - September 11th at the gallery in the 1016 Lofts, near the corner of 10th & Howell Mill. This exhibition will be in conjunction with the Westside Art Walk on Sat. Aug. 21st, 11-5 p.m.and the AGA City Wide Gallery event from 10a.m.-10p.m.; a reception in the gallery will follow from 7-10 p.m that evening. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. From Aug. 21st - Sept. 11th works can be viewed Wednesday - Saturday 11a.m. - 5 p.m. and all other viewing is by appointment only.

Denton Crawford’s most recent installation explores the ideas of philosophers and writers such as Blaise Pascal, H.P. Lovecraft and Joseph Campbell. The drawings, paintings, and constructions investigate the middle ground where the disparities of these philosophies can be amalgamated and perhaps reconciled, or at the very least debated. When asked about these explorations Denton shared,

Generally speaking, my work pairs the physical nature of our existence with our speculation of various metaphysical states of being. I utilize themes such as nature, light, spectacle, dimension, and time to investigate and represent the idea of a ubiquitous consciousness – which may or may not simply pass in and out of existence in the vastness of an infinitely seething cosmos.

Or to quote some of these formable influences;

For in fact what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret, he is equally incapable of seeing the Nothing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he is swallowed up. – Blaise Pascal

Tug on anything at all and you’ll find it connected to everything else in the universe. – John Muir

The cosmos is simply a perpetual rearrangement of electrons which is constantly seething as it always has been and always will be. Our tiny globe and puny thoughts are but one momentary incident in its eternal mutation; so that the life, aims, and thoughts of mankind are of the utmost triviality and ridiculousness. – H.P. Lovecraft


Denton Crawford Biography:
Denton Crawford was born in Ft. Leanard Wood, MO. Being an army brat, he spent most of his childhood and adolescence between the southeastern United States, Germany and England. He began drawing around the age of twelve and continued through college, where he soon focused on the figure as a means to explore the complexities and nuances of our existence. He finds inspiration in the awesome power of nature, the human mind, and the mystery of the unexplained.

He currently lives in Athens, GA. with his wife and son.

For more information, e-mail jeffguy@twinkittens.com.

WEB: www.twinkittens.com
TEL: 404 803 4316
ADDRESS: 1016 Howell Mill Rd. NW Unit 3208 Atlanta, GA 30318 (Entrance is located on 10th St.)
HOURS: WED-SAT 11-5pm




Past Exhibits:

July 17, 2010 | PIPLINE


TWIN KITTENS presents Pipeline, an exhibition of new paintings by Daniel Finch.

DANIEL FINCH /PIPELINE
Exhibition Dates: July 17th - August 12th
Westside Art Walk: Sat. Jul. 17th, 11am-5pm
Artist Reception: Sat. Jul. 17th 7-10pm

It has been 4 years since the work of Daniel Finch has appeared in Georgia. His large paintings reconstruct mechanical images distorted and degraded by processes of automation and transmission. Daniel shares what compels the physicality of the painting process as opposed to other methods of rendering these images;

“Through my physical interaction, my greatest hope for both myself and my viewer is a reconnection with the primacy and energy of the initial event portrayed.”

The figures within his pictures are, in great part, a search for the remnants of masculine identity among the media icons of his generation. Daniel continues,

“It is no accident that the majority of my subject matter is taken from modern archetypal characters and events, whether historic or mythical: King Kong, Evel Knievel, Bruce Lee, etc. They were, for better or worse, powerful symbols for a young boy growing up in the wake of the sexual revolution, in the post-Vietnam 70's.”

In the work “Dominguez”, bicyclist Mike Dominguez, is depicted in the midst of a vertical competition in which a rider must accomplish a series of movements in a given amount of time - much like a dancer or gymnast. The rider gains points based on successful negotiation of his or her actions. The painting presents a split second of poised decision-making. The action that follows the image’s depicted moment is left for the viewer to imagine or construct.

Works such as “Dominguez” raise questions surrounding personal challenges, individual achievement and the identity formation.

TWIN KITTENS is open Monday-Thursday 11-5. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. From Jul. 17 - August 12 works can be viewed Monday - Thursday 11a.m. - 5 p.m. and all other viewing is by appointment only.

Image Credit:
Daniel Finch, “Dominguez,” (Detail) 2009.

Daniel Finch Biography:
Daniel M. Finch was born in 1971 in Orlando, FL., the same year that Disneyworld opened its doors. Childhood was spent in various states including Virginia and Maryland before settling in Augusta, GA. His formative years were spent balancing the rigors of Type 1 Diabetes with competitive BMX riding. The son of a sculptor, Finch attended Augusta State University to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and later earned his MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Georgia in Athens. He now lives in Harrisburg, PA, with his wife Carrie, and their two children, Mira and Dominic. His work has been exhibited extensively nationally as well as internationally, most recently in Baltimore, MD., and featured numerous times in the national publication, New American Paintings. Daniel is currently an Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at Messiah College in Grantham, PA.

For more information, e-mail jeffguy@twinkittens.com.

WEB: www.twinkittens.com
TEL: 404 803 4316
ADDRESS: 1016 Howell Mill Rd. NW Unit 3208 Atlanta, GA 30318 (Entrance is located on 10th St.)
HOURS: M-TH 11-5pm & Every Third Sat. 11-5pm






May 15, 2010 | GYPSY ACID QUEEN


CHARLES A. WESTFALL /GYPSY ACID QUEEN
Exhibition dates: May 15, 2010 – June 19th, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 15, 7pm -10pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, May 22, 4pm - 6pm


TWIN KITTENS is pleased to present Gypsy Acid Queen featuring new paintings by artist Charles A. Westfall. The exhibition will be on view from May 15, 2010 through June 19th, 2010. An opening reception will be held Saturday, May 15 from 7-10pm and an Artist Talk/Q&A on Saturday, May 22 from 4pm-6pm.

In his most recent body of work Charles A. Westfall uses painting to engage with notions and archetypes of female aggression, power and violence.

“Violence, like anything else, is gendered and comes in masculine and feminine varieties. The show’s title is adapted from the song ‘Acid Queen’ by The Who, about a father who has arranged a meeting between his son and a prostitute/drug dealer --the self described ‘Acid Queen’-- who has promised to cure the boy of his behavioral problems. As the father of a six-year-old son, this scenario really frightened me. Listening to the song, I was reminded that violence, corruption, malice, all things we generally want to associate with men and the masculine, also have a very real, and equally sinister, feminine side:

If your child ain't all he should be now
This girl will put him right.
I'll show you what he could be now
Just give me one night.
I’m the Gypsy - the acid queen.
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy - I'm guaranteed.
I'll tear his soul apart.

Give us a room, close the door
Leave us for a while.
Your boy won't be a boy no more
Young, but not a child.
I'm the Gypsy - the acid queen.
Pay before we start.
The Gypsy - I'm guaranteed.
To tear your soul apart.

My work is done now look at him
He's never been more alive.
His head it shakes his fingers clutch.
Watch his body writhe!
I'm the Gypsy - the acid queen.
Pay before we start.
I'm the Gypsy - I'm guaranteed.

To break your little heart.


It’s the perversion of a supposed feminine ideal (mother, nurturer, etc.) into something cruel, destructive, predatory and rapacious, which the song presents, that I found particularly unsettling. In these paintings I’m trying to work through and come to terms with that idea or that presentation. I suppose that if you really wanted to simplify it, on a certain level these are paintings of witches.” –Charles A. Westfall

Charles A. Westfall: was born in Albany, New York in 1980 and currently resides with his wife and children in Athens, Georgia. He is a contributing writer for Burnaway.org. This is his first solo-exhibition in Atlanta.

For more information, e-mail jeffguy@twinkittens.com.

WEB: www.twinkittens.com
TEL: 404 803 4316
ADDRESS: 1016 Howell Mill Rd. NW Unit 3208 Atlanta, GA 30318 (Entrance is located on 10th St.)
HOURS: M-TH 11-5pm & Every Third Sat. 11-5pm




April 24, 2010 | The Tear-Imbued Handkerchief of Vic Champignole
Click here to learn more about the fine art books published in conjunction with this exhibit.
Artist website: Bob Butler | www.bobbutlerphotographer.com



April 24, 7-10pm Artist Reception @ Twin Kittens

TWIN KITTENS presents The Tear-Imbued Handkerchief of Vic Champignole, a collaborative effort between visual artist Bob Butler and author Kris Allison. These two artists have held a longstanding friendship which led them to this project. The exhibition will be on view beginning Saturday, July 13th through May 11th. An artist reception will be held Saturday, April 24th from 7-10pm and an artist’s talk and Q&A on Sunday, April 25th at 2pm.

The Tear-Imbued Handkerchief of Vic Champignole was written in 2004 by Kris Allison. The story follows a narrator’s relationship with Vic Champignole's fall from fame, a renowned landscape designer careening into madness. The narrator witnesses his own father, an inventor, struggling to cope with what life has dealt him and what his personal ambitions have been. In many ways, his father and Vic share this common conflict while they investigate it in contrasting ways. We see Vic delve into the chaos that nature seems to possess while the narrator and you, the reader, look in- much like a Greek chorus in ancient tragedies.

When asked what compelled the artist about the story, Bob shared,
“There is a contrast between the father and Vic in their reaction to this chaos overall but as you tune in closer to these characters, you see that they are the same in many ways. They are almost like opposites within the same genre. The objective of the photographs is not to answer or resolve the story, but is to give the reader/viewer various threads to consider and contemplate the themes further in their own ways. Much of the mystery and questions of the story are left untouched with the images, the images are there to provide a visual medium that encourages further thought.“

In the gallery, 9 photographs explore ‘behind the scenes or between the lines’ conceptual moments from the story and serve to further flesh out the narrative, rather than disclose the stories deeper ideas or simply illustrate key moments. The large photographs present Vic Champignole’s strange obsession and study with chaos, foliage, dirt and vegetation. Among the 9 images are stations for reading and following along in the text to see how the two correlate. A 40 page fine art book is being published in conjunction with this exhibition.

To view all the images and to read the full story, go to Bob Butler's personal website here: www.bobbutlerphotographer.com

Be sure to catch a peak before the reception and artist talk on the weekend of the 24th. You can arrange a viewing by contacting Jeff Guy, gallery director at Twin Kittens, or simply pop in during the third Saturday Westside Art Walk on April 17th from 12-5pm.

*Top photo credit:
Bob Butler, “The Height of Renown,” 2010.







March 20, 2010 - April 10, 2010 | ENERGY PLAN FOR THE HOPEFUL MAN


*Photo by Bob Butler

TWIN KITTENS presents “Energy Plan For The Hopeful Man,” an exhibition of new and luminous work by Rusty Wallace.

ATLANTA – Twin Kittens Studio will present a solo exhibition of Athens, GA - based artist, Rusty Wallace, Mar. 20 - Mar. 30 at the gallery in the 1016 Lofts, near the corner of 10th & Howell Mill. This exhibition will be in conjunction with the Westside Art Walk on Sat. Mar. 20, 11-5 p.m.; a reception in the gallery will follow from 7-10 p.m that evening. On Sunday Mar. 21st, at 2pm, there will be an Artist's Talk / Q&A. The exhibition, reception, and talk are free and open to the public. From Mar. 22 - 30 viewing is by appointment only.

“Energy Plan For The Hopeful Man” will feature new sculpture and drawings by the artist.

The work in “Energy Plan For The Hopeful Man” reflects Wallaceʼs long-held interest in ontology, semiotics and meaning, mysticism, and how ideas shift and shape culture and the self. Work in this exhibition is influenced by Kazimir Malevich, Neil Young, Joseph Beuys, Apophatic theology, Paulo Coelho and Gilles Deleuze.

Wallace lays out a few influential ideas present in the work for this exhibition:

“In my work, I employ a highly complex substructure of duality, paradox, conceptual strata and multi-layered references to scaffold the guise of simplicity. In other words, the more you look, the more you see.

A great statement by my favorite artist, Robert Irwin, from his essay The Hidden Structures of Art, is: ʻTo assume that everything can and should reveal itself in terms you are already familiar with is the hallmark of conventional thinking.ʼ

Neil Young in Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) sings: ʻThereʼs more to the picture than meets the eye.ʼ Heʼs addressing several topics in this song, but namely pointing out that the spirit and desire for human beings to craft change and revolution will never die.

Modern art represented a desire to break from convention and embrace hope, embrace change, and see in new ways. In order to do something so radical, artists had to be willing to go into the unknown. Kazimir Malevich did just that, and in so doing, became an influential artist that continues to inspire artists today.

Joseph Beuys exemplified and proclaimed the potential for aesthetics and art to be an incredible means for positive social and spiritual transformation.

In Paulo Coelhoʼs book The Alchemist, the old man says to the main character, Santiago:
Itʼs a force that appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your Personal
Legend. It prepares your spirit and your will, because there is one great truth on this planet:
whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, itʼs because
that desire originated in the soul of the universe. Itʼs your mission on earth.

And finally, Paulo Coelho simply states, ʻDreams are not negotiable.ʼ

These ideas are but a few glimpses into what Iʼm pursuing in my work. Whether itʼs an art historical reference, an idea in writing or music, a particular material configuration, color relationship, or method of presentation, I seek to point to the ineffable, that which is much larger than myself. Ideas which I am humbled to collaborate with - expansive ideas. Ideas which are antagonistic to autonomy and concision.”

The exhibition title references Joseph Beuysʻ month-long performance piece from 1974 called “Energy Plan for the Western Man.” The image for the exhibition announcement, by Wallace, plays on Joseph Beuysʼ silkscreen print entitled “La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi (We are the Revolution)” from 1972.

For more information, e-mail jeffguy@twinkittens.com or visit www.twinkittens.com.

Special thanks to Rafe at Classic City Neon in Athens, GA, for the custom neon incorporated into work featured in this exhibition.


Photo credit:
Rusty Wallace, “Revolution,” 2009. Courtesy Rusty Wallace.
Announcement materials designed by Rusty Wallace.

Rusty Wallace Biography
Rusty Wallace (American, b. 1973), a native of Kentucky, studied art at Georgetown College and The University of Kentucky, focusing on sculpture, drawing, and ceramics. He completed his MFA in studio art at The University of Georgia in 2000. Selected exhibitions include Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards, presented by International Sculpture Center at Grounds for Sculpture, NJ, in 2000, Small Sculpture 2001, at The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Atlanta Biennial 2003, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Ways of Seeing, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, 2008, and AND NOT, work by Rusty Wallace, at UGAʼs Lamar Dodd School of Art, 2008.
Parallel to his own art research, throughout the last decade, Wallace has been a dedicated, conscientious art educator, teaching collegiate art part-time at UGA and full-time at Young Harris College, and was a visiting artist and sculpture professor at Alfred University in 2009. Wallace has lived and worked in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Athens, GA, and North Georgia since 1997. He currently resides in Athens, GA, where he is self-employed and continues to explore semiotics, ontology, art history, philosophy and spirituality in his work. Wallace uses drawing, photography, sculpture, painting and video in his art research.

For more information, visit www.rustywallaceart.com.





November 21, 2009 - NEIGHBOR/ACCOMPLICE



Nov. 21, 2009

TWIN KITTENS presents “Neighbor/Accomplice”
an exhibition of new and interesting work by Jeff Guy


ATLANTA – Twin Kittens Studio will exhibit a solo show of native Georgian artist, Jeff Guy, Nov. 19-Nov. 22 at the gallery in the 1016 Lofts, near the corner of 10th & Howell Mill. This show will be in conjunction with the Westside Art Stroll on Nov. 21, 12-4 p.m.; a reception in the gallery will follow from 7-10 p.m that evening. Both the exhibition and the reception are free and open to the public.

“Neighbor/Accomplice” will feature a site-specific installation of Jeff’s 2009 work “Mother & Son” along with new paintings and sculptural objects.

“Mother & Son” appropriates the artist’s mother’s bowling ball into an object charged with allegorical meaning; the idea of the atom bomb, “Little Boy” and the B-29 bomber used to deploy the bomb, “Enola Gay”.

The exhibition explores the history of his mother’s family and the family’s connection to the creation of the atom bomb. Guy’s grandfather lived in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and worked with 75,000 other U.S. Citizens at the Clinton Engineering Works during the height of the Second World War. The workers were enriching Uranium that would produce atomic weapons. Conspiracy and secrecy were aspects of daily life and are major themes of this exhibition. The family narratives contained within the paintings and objects are an impetus for broader questions of ethics, morality and justice.

The works build connections with historical events such as the bomb drop on Hiroshima with the Trinity Test in New Mexico, atomic physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, with the artist’s grandfather, Apaschal Gus Swanson, the artist and his mother with Enola Gay and Little Boy. These connections attempt to find where personal responsibility is accepted or resigned. The artist asks, “At what point do we stop being neighbors and start becoming accomplices? Are we culturally responsible for things we are ignorant to? Is there a sin of silence? These are some of the questions I want people to ponder as they engage these new works.”

The cast concrete walls and floors of the gallery are the ideal environment for works such as these. “It felt bunker-like to me”, the artist shares. “It was an inspiring space well suited for thinking through some of these stories involving my family.”

For more information, e-mail bob@twinkittens.com or visit www.twinkittens.com.

Photo credit:
Bob Butler, “Mother & Son,” 2008. Courtesy Bob Butler.


Jeff Guy Biography
Jeff Guy (American, b. 1979) studied art in Athens and Rome before spending two years in Phoenix, Arizona. His work explores family narratives and examines the larger concepts of morality and judgment. While he employs different materials, symbols and scale in each work, he continually inspects his personal experience as the source for his creativity. Jeff, who lives in Johns Creek, keeps a studio practice out of his office in Atlanta, and received recognition for his work at the Arizona Biennale (2005).


Mother & Son by Jeff Guy. Hand Engraved Bowling Ball & Customized Bowling Bag. Dimensions Variable. 2009