Brilliant 2012: The Road ahead

While not nearly as frenetic as 2009-2010’s “World Tour”, my 2012 schedule is none-the-less picking up pace. Between confirmed and tentative installation gigs, confirmed speaking engagements, pick up art handler/preparator work, confirmed and unconfirmed permanent commissions, the support of the Pollock-Krasner Grant,  and invited residencies my dates available have been trimmed back  to around December 2012-january 2013 as next available. While I don’t like to jinx things by talking about the unconfirmed, I did borrow a page from my own script and made a 2012 poster file that i could add and subtract things from as the year moves forward. I couldn’t resist riffing on one of the most iconic canadian prog rock album covers ever. Thanks is of course do to the many people who continue to spread word-of-mouth about me and my work. Many of these opportunties are coming from people who have directly encountered my work at some point and shared with their friends about it. Although I am still regulalry sending out applications and proposals(and being roundly and consistently rejected, a sure sign of doing something right) the most interesting work seems to come from those who simply ask me directly.

A quick breakdown of what is and isn’t confirmed and what has and hasn’t happened;

January- I started the year off keeping my resolution to weave, stack and stain my way around a room. the results were “Weaving, Stacking and Staining” my installation at Coastal Carolina University, Curated by Jim Arendt http://jonathanbrilliant.com/conway

February- I spent about 6 days on the ground, well mostly in the catwalk and on a ladder, at Columbia College.  I also spent about 2 days fouling up their print studio. The resulting work “Fine Lines, Found Textures and First Impressions” curated by Jackie Adams is viewable here http://jonathanbrilliant.com/cc

March- on the 15th I will be returning to Columbia College to give an afternoon artist talk to the students and any memebers of the public who care to join in. That evening we will break out that famous free food that makes art openings so nourishing mentally, physically and spiritually.

March 29- 30 I will be sitting on a panel, giving a talk, and leading a workshop for NC state educators at the Spring Educator Expo. if you are a NC based educator you can register here for that event

TBA- At some point in the 2012-2013 season I will be in residence at the Kohler arts/industry program. I will be working in the foundry making copious amounts of cast iron work. I am pretty excited about this one too. Kohler is one of those legendary rites of passage for an emerging sculpture/installation artist. Plus did I mention they have molten iron available at an artists beck and call.

April-May I will be renting a workshop solely for the fabrication of a new permanent edition to the city of North Charleston’s outdoor contemporary art collection. This particular piece is being designed and commissioned for the new city Hall’s traffic circle. It should be installed by July of this year. We are currently in the design approval phase but once I beging making something physical I will post some updates.

Also in April I am doing a site visit for a potential project for September 2013. is it too early to say something? Probably. But I am honored just to be invited for the site visit. Plus one of the early ideas being tossed around is erecting a structure for the sole purpose of having me work in it…big top tent anyone.

June- I will be back in the cozy embrace of an empty gallery as I take on one-third of the physical space in the Flanders Gallery Raleigh for the 3 person show “Make Ends Meet”. The other artists are Crocheted Olek, and Mathew Curran. I am really looking forward to this one as I am not only a fellow exhibiting artist but I am also a fan of the assembled talents of Curran and Olek.

July-August.  Following my install at Flanders Gallery, I will be in Residence at Artspace Raleigh . This will give me the unique opportunity to present two installations back to back in the same city. While each subsequent installation I’ve been building over the years has reflected aspects of the previous, this will be the first time they have appeared within 4 blocks of each other.

August- I’ve been invited to create an installation at he Cairns Festival in North Queensland Australia. That should be interesting as I am not sure if the rules of gravity are some how different down there.

September- I will be headed out to California. Fresno to be exact. I will be an artist in residence at California State University Fresno where I will be creating a new site-specific installation, maybe pulling some prints, and maybe even making a little catalog to mark the occasion

October-December currently unconfirmed but who knows, I may just watch TV on the Internet and sleep.