summer time...

"b-r-e-a-k," 2011

Hello friends,
It's summertime, and as many of you know, that means I'm sweating night and day. Seriously, I'm already wishing for fall because of this. Probably the coldest spring I can ever remember and then a 50-degree jump in a week. It's sweltering, I'm cranky, but I have good news. Shows, publications, and even music. Here's the rundown:

On June 21st I will be showing a few drawings at the Stage 773 Solstice Art Exhibit. It's a fundraiser that's part of a 2-week long event. The art exhibit is one-day only, and I'll also have some merchandise there for sale, too - t-shirts, drawings, postcards, and even magnets. There's a little info about the whole deal here, but not much on the art exhibit as of yet. Stay tuned.

On July 8th I will be having a two-person show with Morgan Sims at the Milk Factory. I believe the opening will be from 6 - 9 p.m. Morgan is an amazing artist, the Milk Factory is a super venue - it's gonna be a great night, so come enjoy it with us.

From July 29th - 31st, I will have some work in an exhibit curated by Emma Stein during the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival. Once I have more information on the location and hours I will post it.

In publication news, I will have a drawing in one of the next two volumes of Studio Visit magazine. I will also have a drawing included in the first issue of Brooklyn Art Project Quarterly. There are no dates set for release yet, but as soon as they are available I will be posting the links.

And, last, but certainly not least, English rock band Lux Lisbon have released their album, "Your heart is a weapon the size of your fist." I've contributed artwork for the album, and I must say, it's a bit of a dream come true seeing my work used for album art. When I was a kid I thought it'd be pretty damn cool to see that happen, and well, there it is. Proceeds of the album go to MIND - a mental health charity, which is a great cause worth supporting. You can "like" the band on their facebook page - give 'em a listen, they're gonna be the next big thing. And buy that album! It's sure to be a collector's item someday.

Oof...okay, I think I'm done with all the news. I've cooled down a bit, and I'm looking to stay that way. Until next time, my friends.
hugs,
-Nathan

Spring time

Hello friends,

It is spring now, and I have a few updates. First off, I will be having some of my work shown at Robert Bills Contemporary's booth at the NEXT Art Fair. Check it out if you can - it's going on April 29th - May 2nd at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, IL.

I was part of a great group show at Robert Bills Contemporary in February, and we got some great reviews. You can read one from ArtSlant and one from the Chicago Tribune.

It looks like I may be showing some work in a couple other art festivals later this summer, as well. I will have more info on those as they come to me.

And last, but not least, I've put up some work that I've made since the new year started. You can find that right here.

Enjoy the weather,
-Nathan

This is a new year.

"Wait until it gets worse," 2010
color pencil, paper, & string on paper; 19"x25"

Hello everyone, and a happy new year to you. I have some good news to start the new year - I will be in some group shows in the next couple months and a solo show in the not-so-distant future.

First off, I will be in a group show at OhNo!Doom Gallery in February. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, February 5th from 6 to 10 p.m. It will be up until February 26th. Do check it out if you can!

Also in February I will be in another group show at Robert Bills Contemporary. There will be an opening reception for that on Saturday, February 12th from 5 to 8 p.m. and it will be up until March 15th. The other artists included are Tiphanie Babinet and Steve Frost - it is going to be a great show, please stop by!

I'm also involved with an artist's book project at the Paper Crane. There will be an opening reception for that exhibit on Saturday, March 12th from 5 to 8 p.m. The Paper Crane is run by two awesome ladies, Dee & Leslie. They blog, they put on shows, and they teach classes and they're going to run this town one day - so watch out! I'm excited to say I will also be having a solo show at their space in September. It's a ways off, but it's going to be here sooner than I think. I'll have more details when it's closer to autumn.

And last, but not least, here is a link to some new work. It is from this past fall & early winter, my first 5 months living in Chicago. Who knows, you may see some of it somewhere soon. Enjoy.

news! press! interviews!

"The point where it breaks," 2010.

Hello friends, I am living in Chicago now. Good things are happening, and I think some great stuff may be just around the corner. A few weeks ago I met Ariel from Fill-in-the-Blank Gallery, and after a conversation, a review, and numerous e-mails back and forth, I have my first interview up on their website. You can see it here.

Also, my work is included in New American Paintings No. 89, which is the Midwest Edition. I was fortunate enough to have my drawing "Timing is everything" used for the cover. Quite appropriate, I think. You can order that here.

I've been drawing away to start off my time in Chicago, and with some good fortune I will be able to show them to you all soon enough. You can always take a peak at what I'm doing, via the galleries, and be sure to check out the front page as well.

spring & summer drawings

hey hey, here are some things i've been working on lately. i've been looking at a lot of francis bacon lately. good stuff. check it out: here.

pyramids

"try."

For images click here.

Here are some drawings from March that take a triangular format. A year or so ago I had made some "pediments" that I constructed drawings into, which I had sort of forgotten about. I had wanted to make a change in the recent work and thought maybe the shape could do something to trigger new ideas. Here is what came out of that.

"start spreading the news"

so i'd posted this before i finished it - i'd forgotten the snow. it looks much better now. i'm hoping to start on a new drawing within the week to continue this "winter madness" series - even though it is feeling incredibly spring-like today.

a new artist statement

"break," 2010

6 x 6 inches, color pencil & paper

hello people,

so i needed to come up with a new statement for the work i've been producing since getting out of graduate school and i thought about posting it here to get some feedback. it's built upon by some part's of my last statement, since there are certainly related elements. here are links to the galleries that this statement is referencing:

http://www.brooklynartproject.com/photo/albums/6x6x6-1

http://www.brooklynartproject.com/photo/albums/winter-madness

http://www.brooklynartproject.com/photo/albums/drifting-1

any help or feedback will be much appreciated.

thanks,

-Nathan

Artist Statement:

The need to communicate is important. As an inhibited person my artwork often ends up expressing my thoughts visually much more than I do verbally. Most recently the work has been referencing my transition out of graduate school and into reality. As someone who tends to procrastinate, trying to find footing for the next step in life has been a challenge. Looking through the work one may notice a sequence arranging a narrative. By animating my body language, inserting carefully composed symbols, and utilizing text I create a visual conversation with myself and the viewer. I suspect the feelings and emotions I depict are universal, but they come from specific, personal experiences.

Blue's and red's create an intense vibrancy in the color, both attracting attention and visually disrupting the viewer. Fragmented cinder blocks along with shallow water refer to instability or insecurity, alluding to ideas that I am adrift and wading through unventured territory in my life. The presentation of my subconscious world has led me to arrange many pieces with a theatrical display. This dominant feature has been a curtain in the midst of being raised or lowered - either elegant and still or uneven and disheveled. With this work I compose scenes from the stage inside my brain.

Nathan Vernau,

March 2010

the beginning of winter madness

"so this is what adulthood is"

25 1/2" x 19 1/2"

color pencil, paper, & googly eye

this is the start of the newest series, entitled 'winter madness.' you can make of that what you will. what i can tell you is it involves me in my longjohns, wearing a rabbit mask, and wielding a chainsaw.

the next one will involve dancing.

stay tuned.

a new one for the "drifting" series

"most of us have to"

i had a good old-fashioned 7-hour drawing session today. no work, no errands, just starting & finishing a drawing without letting days go in between finishing everything. it felt pretty damn good. sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves, and get back to doing things the way you used to.

a wedding gift

"two hearts overlapping"

so i had wanted to post this drawing for a couple months now, but have had to wait for very good reason. when i found out my sister had gotten engaged i wanted to make her & my future brother-in-law a drawing for a wedding gift. i had tinkered on some sketches during downtime at work and came up with this idea. now, the rabbit's are an old icon i used in a lot of drawings a few years back, and i was happy to use them again: endearing, lovable, and cute. i probably anthropomorphize them for varying reasons, and became set on using them as representatives for Heather & Steve. now i've also used heart's in my work quite a bit, too, but in a slightly different way...they were usually upside-down. so it was nice to actually use them "correctly" in this case to emphasize the obvious emotions for this piece, which is all about love.

the heart's overlap and embrace, creating affection - XOX - a hug & a kiss. the symbol beams breaking clouds. it's simple, because that's all there is to it.

as someone who creates some fairly narcissistic work (although i do like to think it's humbly narcissistic) it was a nice break to create something for other reasons outside my own thoughts. i was quite happy with the way it turned out. it'll be interesting to see it now over the years when i visit them.

winter work

"my vision turns to snow"

"just trying to hang on"

hello friends,
the winter is cold, but it is also productive. i've finished two bigger works, a continuation in the series from the previous post. i think i'm going to make one more for the series, which i'm tentatively titling "drifting." i suppose it's a response to the transitional state i'm in at the moment. and you could also say the weather has had an effect on them, as well. lots of snow.

"panic attack whilst treading water"

"panic attack whilst treading water"
19 1/2" x 25 1/2"

a return to figurative work after a month and a half. working on combining new ideas with old ones. it was a long project, but the snow days helped me hammer it out quicker than i thought. this is the first in probably at least a 4-drawing series. the holiday break will interrupt the drawing schedule, but i'll probably have a few more by mid-winter. it should keep me busy for a while, and that's a good thing.

"it's not always like this"

"it's not always like this"
28" x 66"

the second big gold drawing, a companion piece to "the transition is hard to deal with." it acts as a depiction of the aftermath of all the action from the previous piece. the wreckage floats around as the curtain begins to lower on the scene. not quite as intense or packed with imagery, it's a quieter, reflective work.

new drawings

"directions"
8.5" x 11"

"disqualified"
15.75" x 11"

two pieces inspired by the events on the last day of November 2009.

"adrift"

"adrift"
11" x 25.5"
just finished this tonight, it is sort of a test-run for a larger 3-paneled drawing i'm going to do.

"the transition is hard to deal with"

"the transition is hard to deal with," 2009
44"x56"

this is what i've been working on for the past couple of weeks. it was a lot of scissoring and a lot of exacto-ing. i thought it was going to be a purely un-drawn drawing with paper on paper, but once i added the TV, i realized i'd drawn on that a bit. but, for the most part it is glued-on paper.
the piece came from a sketch i'd been making of the symbols that have occupied my drawings for the past couple years. i liked the idea of making something without me in it, and it forced me to take a different route than i usually do. i'd gotten used to making drawings with a certain formula and it was a good exercise to start it in a new way. i'm quite happy with it. i still need to give it an official title, but i suppose it will always be (the big gold drawing).
***finally came up with the official title, Nov 29th.

"it sits on my shoulders"

"you don't know what you're missing"

"press"

"x ooo x"

"i keep holding on to too much too fast"

"i don't know how to juggle"

tv's