Secondary Occupants in Frieze Magazine and Vogue

I just found out that my installation was mentioned favorably in Frieze Magazine's review of the Beyond/In Western New York Biennial by Steven Stern. The quote:

"Julian Montague’s droll Secondary Occupants Collected and Observed (2008–9) is a nutty mixture of graphic design and taxonomic brio, a multi-dimensional catalogue of non-human home invaders – rodents, birds and insects – that suggests the work of a deranged but thorough researcher."

The whole review is here, you have to register to view the contents but it's free and worth it, Frieze is one of the best art magazines. Secondary Occupants here.

Also, I finally got a hard copy of the issue of Vogue Italia that uses one of my spider banner photographs, apparently it takes forever for Vogue Italia to find its way to the Barnes & Noble in Buffalo. Between Beyond/In Western NY, the show at the Norton Museum, and my presence at the Pulse Fair in Miami I have had a pretty good few months as far as press goes. In addition to Frieze and Vogue Italia, my work has been mentioned in Art in America, The Miami Herald, Art Daily and The Buffalo News.

Secondary Occupants in Vogue Italia

One of my spider banner photographs appears (heavily cropped) full page in this month's Italian Vogue. It accompanies an article about Non-profit spaces in NYC. I think the writer found her way to my work through visiting my gallery's booth at the Pulse fair in Miami (Black & White Gallery's outdoor space is non-profit). I'm really excited about this, particularly because this series of photographs, part of To Know the Spiders and Secondary Occupants / Collected & Observed, has not received all that much attention. I still have not gotten my hands on the print copy yet, Vogue Italia is not that widely available in Buffalo, New York. Link the Vogue site here.

18th Century Spiders

This post on BibliOdyssey has some great insect and spider illustrations by August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof

"August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof (1705-1759) was a German descendent of Austrian nobility and showed an early aptitude for painting. Following an apprenticeship with his artist-uncle and further study at the Academy of Nuremberg, Rösel obtained an appointment at the royal court in Copenhagen painting portraits and miniatures."

The above makes much more sense when flipped:

Here are a couple of my own spider portraits from my To Know the Spiders project:

"One Every Day" Opens Tomorrow Night – Be There!

I'm in a group show called One Every Day at the Elizabeth Foundation Project space curated by Printeresting.org. The show organized around the theme of printed ephemera. Full curatorial statement here. I think it will be quite good.

The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts
323 West 39th St., 2nd Floor
NY, New York 10018

November 5 - December 19
Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 7 / 6-9 PM

Featured Artists:

Glen Baldridge
Kate Bingaman-Burt
Colby Bird
Lydia Diemer
Geoff Hargadon
M. Ho
Matthew Hopson-Walker
Packard Jennings
Gary Kachadourian
Chad Kouri
Michael Krueger
MegaWords Magazine
Julian Montague
Carlos Motta
Leslie Mutchler
Scott Nobles
Adam Pendleton
Post Typography
Evan Roth
Kim Rugg
Dexter Sinister
Stephanie Syjuco
Temporary Services
Rachel Perry Welty
Liz Zanis

I'll be showing four new 20x20" screen prints that constitute the beginning of To Know the Spiders Part 3. Each one depicts a part of an insect or spider that I extracted from a web.

Kingdom of the Spiders

A little while a ago a friend gave me the DVD of William Shatner's 1977 movie Kingdom of the Spiders (my interest in spiders here.) I finally got around to watching it last night. I can't say it's a great movie, (actually pretty anti-climactic) but it does have a lot of classic Shatner overacting. The original poster for the film is amazing, I think I need to own it.

Daily Book Graphics #19 / How to Know the Spiders

This book was a major inspiration for my To Know the Spiders project (now you can be one of the rare people who get my project title reference). This edition is from 1978. The book provides keys to Families and common genera. It is part of The Pictured Key Nature Series (you can find them on Amazon). I really should make an effort to collect them all, the covers are all brilliant.

I've been Interviewed

There is an interview with me on the website Trap Door Sun. It's mostly about the Stray Shopping Cart Project.

The Sweet Smell of Fresh Ink and Pixels

I finally put together a proper (though imperfect) set of pages for To Know the Spiders at Montagueprojects.com, here.

I've also just produced a double sided folding poster for the Spiders. I used a similar format in 2004 with a poster for the Stray Shopping Cart Project. Hopefully this will be something that people would want to hang on their wall or pass on or whatever. It will be out of my hands and that's the point. If you want one let me know.

Louise Bourgeois and Me

I went to see the Louise Bourgeois retrospective at the Guggenheim when I was in NYC week before last. My favorite Bourgeois work is, of course, her giant bronze spiders. I've previously mentioned on this blog that I thought some clever critic should make some connection between my spider faces and her faceless spiders. I'm tempted to go and hang one of my banners on one of her sculptures, it would be something to leave the Guggenheim in handcuffs. In any case, this is what that might look like:

Updated (but not finished) To Know the Spiders page here.

TKTS on Dailyserving.com

Check it.

Some Installation Shots / Going Home

We arrived back in Buffalo some time after 3 am this morning. We were on the 10:55 out of JFK, but due to thunderstorms in NY and bad weather in other places we were delayed by several hours. We were not happy, by the time we took the train out to the airport we were feeling drained by a full day out in the 90 plus heat. I can't take the New York Summer heat for too long, after a couple of days my skin starts breaking out in strange rashes (for those of you who have never met me, I am very pale). It's a relief to be home and to have my show up, but also a bit weird, I am not sure what to do with myself right now. Who knows, maybe I won't be able to stop killing spiders...

Opening Night / Chelsea Hotel

The opening went well, there was a good turn out (a lot of B-lo expats), and the response to the work seemed pretty positive (of course people lie to your face when you are the artist, so who knows). Colette took the above pictures.

We have been staying at the Chelsea Hotel for the last two days in a small room with a shared bathroom, it's one of the cheapest rooms I could find in Manhattan. Fortunately the incredible history of the hotel turns the rundown condition of the room from minus into a plus. My only internet access has been in the lobby, so I have not had a chance to post as much as I would like. When I get home I have a bunch of things I want to write about the shows I have seen while in the city.

View from our window at the Chelsea Hotel

Peep This

New York Magazine gave me a good chunk of real estate in their art listings section (if you click on the image you should be able to read the text). There is a bit about a "reconstructed kitchen" that is news to me, but other than that I am happy and surprised to get this kind of promotion.

To Know the Spiders Folding Invitation

The folding mailers I designed for the show have gone out. I really like designing this kind of ephemera. If you want one sent to you, email me: julian@montagueprojects.com

Hyping up the Spiders

These are a few of my spider photos from the past year, they're a byproduct of my To Know the Spiders project.