"The Moon of Tomorrow"

"2 + 2 = 5:  Collaborations" opens Friday (4/29/2011) at Thunder-Sky.  The centerpiece of the exhibit is a work that hasn't been exhibited in over two years, a collaboration Antonio Adams did with Brian Joiner back in 2008 titled "Those Who Want War Warring Against Those Who Don't." (on loan from Country Club Gallery).  This triptych is an incredible example of how collaboration can push two artists toward newer, fresher ideas and images.  The surface of the large three-panel painting has a luster and bustle to it:  superheroes and angels, the Twin Towers, minarets and missiles all combining into an elaborate dream/nightmare inspired by Picasso and updated by Adams and Joiner. 

Antonio also was given some of the art supplies Brian left behind after his death last year.  Circular slices of woods onto which Brian had glued an odd assortment of shapes were taken by Antonio and transformed into a 3-D cosmology.  The silver piece above Antonio titled "The Moon of Tomorrow," and that seems fitting.  From the sorrow of Brian's death, Antonio has been able to forge a new style inspired by Brian's legacy.  Collaboration indeed.

"2 + 2 = 5" News Release

For Immediate Release

“2 + 2 = 5” Features Collaboration as a Way to Transcend

Cincinnati, OH – March 23, 2011 – "2 + 2 = 5: Collaborations" opens April 29, 2011 with a reception 6 to 10 pm at Thunder-Sky, Inc. Gallery in Northside. The show features variations on the theme of "collaboration," and how getting rid of "one author" can open up new vistas and territories to investigate. “Those Who Want War Warring against Themselves,” a large-scale collaboration done by Antonio Adams and the late Brian Joiner in 2008, is the center-piece of the exhibit. (Photos below.)

Based on Picasso’s "Guernica,” the work is a triptych that re-imagines not only the work of a great Modern Art Master, but also reconfigures and re-conjures that visual feast into a sort of parody and homage simultaneously. Antonio was an “outsider artist” whom Brian met when Antonio was still in high school; Brian was more than a generous mentor to Antonio – he was a classy example of how to make art and to live the life of an artist.

The Antonio Adams/Brian Joiner collaobration as it first appeared at Country Club Gallery in Cincinnati in March 2009, in an exhibit along with Antonio's solo works...

When Brian passed away last year, he left behind not just a beautifully prolific suite of works, but a huge backlog of art supplies. Antonio has taken a small portion of those supplies and created Brian-inspired works.

Elsewhere in the exhibit are other examples of how collaboration in visual art can sometimes help artists transcend circumstance and pedigree.

Large prints were made of some of Raymond Thunder-Sky's unfinished works, and David Mack, Antonio Adams (one of his Thunder-Sky collaborations is pictured below), Cedric Michael Cox, and Aaron Olive Wood have reworked Raymond’s uncompleted drawings into finished collaborations that have lives all their own. Thunder-Sky, Inc. co-founder Bill Ross has several collaborations in the show, including pieces he did with the late Donald Henry. Katie Brenner, as well, has collaborated on works with the late DJ Maes. Thunder-Sky, Inc. is also publishing a catalog that chronicles the exhibit, with an essay by Pamela Rhodes Myricks concerning her collaborative relationship with Joiner. As well, a book of writings based on Dale Jackson’s text-based works will be published. Titled I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This, the book will feature color reproductions of Jackson's text-based works side by side with the writings done by local and national poets and writers.

Contact:
Keith Banner, (513) 823-8914
Thunder-Sky, Inc.
4573 Hamilton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45223
thunderskyinc@gmail.com

Art and Everything After



"Those Who Want War Warring Against Those Who Don't," Antonio Adams and Brian Joiner, 2008

We're pulling together "2 + 2 = 5: Collaborations," the next Thunder-Sky show opening April 29, 2011.  This large triptych is a collab done by Antonio Adams and the late Brian Joiner back in 2008 (and was last exhibited at Country Club two years ago) in response to Picasso's "Guernica," and it's going to be the centerpiece of the show.  The show is shaping up to be not just about collaboration in "real time," but also about spiritual collaborations as well.  Antonio is working on a few homage pieces to Brian, using some of the materials Brian left behind.  Also, David Mack, Cedric Michael Cox, and Antonio are working on "finishing" a few of Raymond's unfinished drawings.  Raymond left behind hundreds of half-completed drawings; we had some of these printed on a large-scale, and the three are adding their touches to the prints.  Bill Ross has several collaborations in the show with the late Donald Henry, and there will also be a piece by Katie Brenner and the late DJ Maes.

Seance with Art Supplies

Antonio Adams working on one of the large-scale "reinventions" of a large print of one of  Raymond Thunder-Sky's unfinished drawings.  Raymond, when walking around the city drawing deconstruction sites, would often not finish some of the drawings -- possibly because of the volume of pieces he did.  There are approximately 400 unfinished drawings in the archive. 

We're pulling together the "2 + 2 = 5: Collaborations" exhibit, opening April 29, 2011 at Thunder-Sky, Inc.  The show will feature variations on the theme of "collaboration," and how getting rid of "one author" can open up new vistas and territories to investigate.  We'll have the "Guernica" pieces Antonio Adams and the late Brian Joiner did together in 2008, a triptych of large golden panels reenacting Picasso's famous grand-guignol masterpiece, re-configuring and re-conjuring that visual feast using superhero and urban imagery.  Amazing work.  As well, Antonio is working on pieces, utilizing remnants donated  from Brian's studio.  Pamela Rhodes Myricks has written a beautiful elegy about Brian, and we'll be publishing it along with a brochure about the Antonio/Brian collaborations.  We've had large prints made of some of Raymond Thunder-Sky's unfinished works (thanks to Dan Leesman from United Electric), and David Mack, Antonio, and a few other artists are working on "finishing" them.  Thunder-Sky, Inc. co-founder Bill Ross has some collabs he did with the late Donald Henry.  The exhibit is shaping up to be about how collaboration is not just about people working on art together, but about how collaboration can be a sort of a continuation of a conversation, a seance with art supplies...

We're also going to publish a book of writings inspired by Dale Jackson's text-driven works.  Titled I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This, the book will feature color reproductions of Dale's works, side by side with the writings done by local poets and writers, including Patricia Murphy, Matt McBride and Micah Freeman.  We'll be sponsoring a reading of these works along with the opening in late April.  Matt Morris and Eric Ruschman are also going to contribute a sculptural piece.

Dale Jackson beside his work in January 2011's "Mechanics of Joy" exhibit at U-Turn Alternative Space in Brighton.

April 2011 is going to be a great month for collabs.  We're doing the "2 + 2 = 5" show, and Visionaries & Voices has a fundraiser called "Double Vision" at Memorial Hall April 22, 2011, featuring collaborative works by "established artists and V&V artists."  Which begs the question:  what is the different between Thunder-Sky, Inc. & V&V?  They were both established because of Raymond and Antonio basically.  Bill and I started supporting both Raymond and Antonio and many other self-taught artists back in 1999, and from that initial support grew V&V, a studio for artists with disabilities.  Bill and I left V&V in 2009 because it was a project we no longer needed to be a part of.  We cofounded Thunder-Sky, Inc. to underline the importance of collaboration and also to problematize/reenvision the notion of "outsider art" and programs for artists with disabilities... 

Can't wait for April!

Donald Henry and Bill Ross, "Dreamhouse," acrylic and marker on canvas, 2009.

Yet to Be Born

This decade has been a strange experience in loss for me. This Friday 10-22-10 marks the 8th anniversary of my mother’s death. I found out she had cancer in June of 2002. That same day I found out Raymond Thunder-Sky had cancer as well. He passed away 10-29-04. The 6th anniversary of his passing will mark the first year anniversary of the opening of Thunder-Sky Inc.

In January of 2008 I lost my father and in Sept 2009 an artist Keith and I championed, Donald Henry, passed away suddenly. The recent passing of Brian Joiner shook me more than I thought it would. I thought knowing this was likely based on his condition would have lessened the effect.

I ran across a piece I wrote about “Vision and Mission” which I shared with all the staff at Visionaries & Voices on 10-22-08. In it, I tried to address how the death of my Mother and loss of Raymond Thunder-Sky shaped the urgency of what we (Keith and I) were trying to accomplish.

Here is a little bit of it:

I consider art as a great equalizer. When artists collaborate, it is one of the best ways I know of to step outside yourself and become a part of a larger conversation and a larger art world. The “Guernica Project” Antonio Adams and Brian Joiner are currently finishing up is a great example of what I am trying to say. Using one of Picasso’s most famous works as a spring board into a new work, Antonio and Brian are creating a work neither of them would be able to accomplish on their own.


As a co-founder of V&V, I appreciate your struggles and am proud of your accomplishments. It is my hope, my dream, my vision to someday see V&V serving the Raymond Thunder-Sky’s, the Antonio Adams and the Brian Joiners yet to be born.

I closed with this:

Today 10-22-08 my Mom would be 76 years old and Raymond would have been 58. Let’s make it a point to live our lives no matter how long or short with a sense of “Vision and Purpose”. Helping artists achieve a greater sense of their worth in this life is mine.

Top:  Donald Henry and Bill Ross
Bottom:  Becky Iker and Bill Ross

Antonio and Brian: Imagination and Skill

Above, Antonio Adams works on a drawing at Thunder-Sky, Inc., about Brian Joiner, who passed away this week at the age of 49.  Brian was an incredible artist and mentor to Antonio.  They worked on several projects together, including a beautiful suite of large paintings that paid homage to Picasso's Guernica back in 2009.   Antonio's drawing is an episodic and fictionalized account of Brian's life through Antonio's magical looking glass.  Antonio pays homage to Brian's imagination and skill with his own imagination and skill.  Brian will be missed.