I am honored to have work in the 2016 B Sides art show in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a second year! The show opens next month just a little south (well a lot south) of Nashville. This year I am excited to be actually headed down for the opening- see your work and speaking with other artists 'in the live' is such a thrill. Especially for my kids (insert eye roll emojis here). Last year I had several piece in the show, which I included at the end of this post.
Lorde Digital Painting by Anjeanette Illustration
See the event page here Poster art by Tony Brock
Visit the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center page for more info!
About the Bowie B Sides Matryoshka Dolls:
Inspired by the theme of B sides, I looked up a list of David Bowie's rarest B Sides. Not surprisingly he had a whole lot of b sides! I picked 5 that were of personal significance or seemed most appropriate for this artist group show.
I then represented the covers of the b sides, or album covers the related to if no specific cover was given. The quarter pictured above is shown for scale.
An extensive list can be found here.
The Dolls are:
1. Bowies greatest hits, 4 1/2", Acrylic (Largest, Multi-coloured with portrait)
2. Alabama Song, 3", (grid pattern on Black, Acrylic (red on black)
3. Man In The Middle, 2 1/4", Acrylic (red on black)
4. Hang On To Yourself as the Arnold Corns, 1 1/2", Acrylic (Orange on Yellow)
5. The Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud, (B-side version) 3/4", Acrylic (Smallest, Blue)
Straight from Wiki: What are BSIDES?
The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78 and 45 rpm phonograph records, whether singles or extended plays (EPs). The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist, record producer, or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that has a history of its own: some artists, notably Elvis Presley, Little Richard, the Beatles, Chuck Berry, and Oasis, released B-sides that were considered as strong as the A-side and became hits in their own right. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits, usually unintentionally, with both the B-sides of their A-side releases. Others took the opposite track: producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side.
Music recordings have moved away from records onto other formats such as CDs and digital downloads, which do not have "sides", but the terms are still used to describe the type of content, with B-side sometimes standing for "bonus" track.[
Artwork included in the 2015 B Sides show
click to see larger
BSIDE 2016
"The B Side” group exhibit will be hosted by The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center during May. The display, composed of works by 18 Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Nashville artists, will open with a reception on May 6 from 5-8 p.m. during First Friday and will conclude on May 27, 2016. The band, Really Really Big Man, will be performing live during the opening reception.
The subject matter in this third annual B Side exhibit will be composed of artists' visual music-themed interpretations, covering all genres from country to rock and jazz. Tony Brock, B Side founder and organizer, asked each artist to produce art of their choice and style, interpreting songs, designing faux album covers, painting portraits of musicians or anything music-related. The title of the exhibit originated with the B Side, or flip side, of vinyl albums and 45s. At times this was an undiscovered gem, with little airplay but a good alternative to the more mainstream. The show provides an art alternative in the visual sense.
Artists whose works will be included in the exhibit are JenX, Tony Brock, Chris Davenport, Tony Bratina, Tony Tavis, Anjeanette Illustration, Shweta Gamble, Bruce D. Andrews, Jeff Bertrand, Tingler, Joe Rossomanno, Charles V. Bennett, Matt Daugherty, Kunkle, Kevin Ledgewood, Sharron Rudowski, Ruth O'Connor and Julie West.
Click names for links to the artists sites!
Tony Brock
Tony Brock is a visual artist who specializes in painting pop-culture themed images with a retro feel and has participated in several art shows and festivals in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas. He was the recipient of a 2015 Druid Arts Award for Visual Artist of the Year. He resides in Tuscaloosa with his wife Tina, and their son, Matthew.
Tony Tavis
Anthony "Tony" Tavis is a self- taught artist who works from his home studio in Helena, AL. He has participated in over 40 festivals and exhibitions throughout the southeast. With his vibrant creations, Tony has declared a ruthless and unforgiving war on all that is monotonous and visually mundane. This artist works hard for his fans and is always cooking up something in his imagination to paint for you.
Kunkle
Kunkle is a self-taught, contemporary folk-pop artist with singular style. A native of Birmingham, Kunkle uses acrylic, paper, aerosol & house paint on salvaged or discarded materials with vibrant colors often dominating his palette transforming trash into unique works of art.
Tingler
Tingler is an artist living and working in Tennessee who is heavily influenced by outsider and kustom kulture art. His high energy art focuses on social discord and cartoon violence. From a young age Tingler had a fascination with cars. When he isn't working on actual cars, he's often making images of them, especially hot rods.
Matt Daugherty
Matt Daugherty received his BFA from The University of Alabama. He teaches drawing and color theory classes at the Tuscaloosa Magnet School. Daugherty resides in Tuscaloosa with his daughter Olivia.
Kevin Ledgewood
A native of Mississippi, Kevin Ledgewood resides in Northport and serves as the Publicist for The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa. With a primary background in music/clarinet, the B-Side enables him to combine two of his favorite things, music and art. His primary media include watercolor and pen & ink.
Anjeanette Illustration
Anjeanette Illustration knew since about 5years old she wanted to be an artist. Primarily a portrait and mildly surreal artist, she has created everything from logos to oil landscapes to commercial illustrations and caricatures. At an amusement park. Sometimes in the rain. Her preferred mediums are charcoal, acrylic paints and digital paintings and photography. When she’s not awkwardly writing about herself in the third person, she is praying, painting, reading, and exploring the world with her husband and children and her trusty National Parks Passport.
Joe Rossomanno
Joe has been trapped in the technical side of graphic design, but once upon a time, he indulged in fits of illustration that went on for months, at one point owning his own small publishing business that produced three issues of the graphic magazine Apocrypha Now in 1995 . . . before having to earn a living. On occasion, he is unable to suppress his illustrative tendencies, and he creates images that hint of the supernatural in whatever medium is close at hand.
Jeff Bertrand
Jeff Bertrand is a nationally showcasing artist from Nashville, TN who is heavily influenced by graffiti and tattoo culture. His super colorful palette and fluid brush strokes create movement and depth and invokes emotions of the good and not so good that we all face in life. Bertrand is widely known for painting on found objects and untraditional canvases and can be found displaying in galleries and private collections all across the country.
Chris Davenport
Chris Davenport A compulsive doodler and art fiend, Chris Davenport is a Los Angeles resident but a southerner at heart. Her sculptures, drawings and paintings celebrate our quirky, mad world.
Shweta Vora Gamble
Shweta Gamble is a graphic designer with a love for paint and color. She enjoys painting the world in the odd and happy way she sees it and has the most fun when she is breaking conventional aesthetic rules.
Tony Bratina
Tony Bratina is an illustrator/graphic designer/fine artist/skateboard enthusiast with a passion for conceptual painting. He enjoys giving his subjects an edge and making the viewer dig deeper to uncover meaning.
Bruce Andrews
Bruce Andrews is currently the Executive Director of the Shelby County Arts Council, a non-profit arts organization in Central Alabama. Mr. Andrews is a singer songwriter and roots music enthusiast with the band 2BLU. As a visual artist, it would be fair to say that his love of music is reflected in his drawings and paintings. As Bruce would say: "I can only hope to capture a bit of the spirit of the music or musician in my work. I do consider my art representational and symbolic; that said, "realism" is not my goal...making art with soul is."
Sharron Rudowski
Sharron Rudowski is the Education Director and Gallery Coordinator at the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa. After retiring from a law enforcement career, she attended the University of Montevallo where she earned her BFA in Painting. Her favorite subjects to draw or paint are people, but she also enjoys pet and home portraits and the occasional composite drawing for law enforcement.
Ruth O’Connor
Ruth is a visual artist and art educator that lives and works in Tuscaloosa. Together with her husband, they run a downtown art studio where she teaches art classes to kids, young adults and adults, brings in visiting artist workshops and organizes special events. When she's not running around with their two children or keeping busy running the business, Ruth tries to get some "creative" time in the studio herself, sometimes to draw (charcoal being her favorite medium) but mostly to create new and exciting art lessons for her students. Personal website: www.ruthjatib.com Studio website: www.oconnorartstudios.com
Julie West
Julie West is an art director and graphic designer currently living in Birmingham, AL with her husband, kids, dogs, cats, fish and bunny. In her spare time Julie searches for reclaimed objects at thrift shop, junk stores and sometimes the side of the road, to assist in the creation of her art. She adds texture, movement and dimension by embracing an impasto style of painting, while also using a palette that includes copious amounts of color to create vibrant exciting pieces of art. Her art is not for the lover of beige.
JenX
A self-taught artist. Loves to paint and draw and make handmade crafts.
Really Really Big Man is a Tuscaloosa-based cover band focusing on mostly 90's rock and alternative music. With many years of performance experience between the individual members, they provide a fun, high-energy show. Upcoming show dates and booking information can be found on facebook.com/reallyreallybigmanal.