My Website

PaintallicA

Is a collaborative group of artists who make work that is intentionally confrontational
and impulsive. We work through the mail, the Internet and at small gatherings
throughout the U.S. Our work is equal parts drawing, painting, sculpture and
performance. The ideal platform for us is installation, where we incorporate all
aspects into one space.

Paintallica began as a group of artists who made a pact to hurt one another's feelings.
This level of brutality is still employed as part of the process in unapologetically
altering one another's work, criticizing each other's ideas or directing it outward in the
form of belligerent engagement with current events or culture. Conversely, each
member is expected to participate with a certain level of vulnerability and generosity
in subject matter. An equally important part of the process is being receptive to
change and provoking critical response from the other members.

Paintallica is an ever-changing line-up of accomplished artists, but it has a core that is
constant. Core members have exhibited internationally, one is a published graphic
novelist, two are war vets, and one has made headlines by offending the campaign of
the president elect. Members have been reviewed in Sculpture Magazine, Art Forum,
and The New York Times. All our members are professionally skilled, culturally
engaged and have a wide variety of interests.

An on-going creative dialogue between members informs the direction of each show.
This evolution in process maintains an integral flexibility and contextual immediacy,
which are crucial to the purpose of the group. The site, the available materials, as
well as the general energy of the group condition the direction of each installation.
Our typical installation process involves a day of planning and collecting materials.
Then, starting work in a space in the evening and working until morning. Sleeping
during the day, we continue this schedule for two or three nights until we feel the
work is finished. Throughout the installation, actions build into spontaneous
performances, usually with some means for public viewing. This process generally
yields a collection of work, which easily fills any given space and often incorporates
the gallery walls ceiling and floor.

The raw and uncensored nature of Paintallica is integral to the mission of addressing
sensitive, immediate and often taboo issues. We address cultural, psychological and
social issues with blunt and unflinching force. We believe that rowdiness and
debauchery can sometimes be the most direct route to insight.