Visual Artist Gilbert Hsiao is Busy This Summer

My lifelong friend and music lover, the New York-based visual artist Gilbert Hsiao, is hitting his stride after about 57 years and has a busy exhibition schedule this summer. You can (and should) catch his work in the U.S., Germany, Holland, and Thailand according to the following schedule. This post comes by way of Gilbert's mailing list; you can subscribe by directly accessing his blog. Oops, I think we missed the first one.

UPCOMING SUMMER SHOWS (NEW YORK & VICINITY):

Lumen Festival, Staten Island, June 15, 6 PM-Midnight.

One night only, a quick walk from the Staten Island Ferry. This festival features installations, video and perfomance by over 60 artists, curated by David Terry and Esther Neff. I'll be spinning painted records on turntables under black light in public for the first time. This festival is a great excuse to take the Staten Island Ferry (check the times; the ferry is still free but runs on an hourly schedule). For more info go to the Festival website at http://statenislandarts.org/lumen-2/

Phaedo, Storefront Bushwick, June 28-July 28

16 Wilson Ave, Bushwick near the Morgan Ave Stop on the L (917) 714-3813

My first show in Bushwick. Looking forward to this; however I won't be at the opening because I'll be in Berlin (see below). With Emily Berger, Benjamin Echerverria, Nate Ethier, JJ Garfinkel, Elizabeth Hazan, Osamu Kobayashi, Dominic Mangila, Laruen Portada and Anne Russinof. For more info go to http://storefrontbushwick.com/

Dynamic Invention: Abstract American Artists at 75, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, VT.. June 29-October 30

This is the first exhibition of the 75th Anniversary Edition of the Abstract American Artists Print Portfolio, featuring the work of 48 of its members. Unfortunately, can't make this opening, either. For information on the Art Center, go to http://www.brattleboromuseum.org/. For Abstract American Artists, go to http://www.americanabstractartists.org/. For images of the portfolio, go to http://www.americanabstractartists.org/publishing/editions/2012/aaaprints1.html#adams

Doppler Stop, Parallel Art Space, July 13-August 18

1717 Troutman, Ridgewood Queens near the Jefferson stop on the L

The 2013 version of this show organized by Mel Prest. Last year this show was seen in a number of different venues in Europe. This year, I'm proud to have been asked to do my first wall piece to be seen in a NY gallery. Artists include Steven Baris, Richard Bottwin, Edgar Diehl, Kevin Finklea, Brent Hallard, José Heerkens, Gracia Khouw, Sarah Klein, Stephen Maine, Gay Outlaw, Mel Prest, Debra Ramsay, Albert Roskam, Karen Schifano, Iemke van Dijk, Henriëtte van 't Hoog, Ruth van Veenen, Don Voisine, Nancy White, Guido Winkler, and Patricia Zarate. For more info go to http://www.parallelartspace.com/Parallel_Art_Space/Current.html

FURTHER AFIELD:

Rituals of Exhibition II curated by Light Space Projects, H Gallery, Chiang Mai, Thailand, June 16-August 25

Truly international show featuring artists from four continents. John Aslanidis/Pedro Boese/Merric Brettle /Katja Brinkmann/Nate Ethier/Wolfgang Flad/Ludovica Gioscia/Brent Hallard/Nithiphat Hoisangthong/Jan Holthoff/Franziska Hünig/Mit Jai Inn/Isabel Kerkermeier/Jeremy Kibel/Andrew Leslie/Julie Oppermann/Rob de Oude/Mel Prest/Debra Ramsay/David Rhodes/Giles Ryder/Gunna Schmidt/Andreas Schmid/Alexandra Schlund/Mark Sengbusch/Jessica Snow/Elisabeth Sonneck/Nicola Stäglich/Michael Swingle/Klaus-Martin Treder/Tilman/Anke Völk/Nancy White/Patricia Zarate. For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/events/549256791793429/

Two Person show with Don Voisine, dr julius austellungen \ projeckten, opening June 27

60 Leberstraße, Berlin, Germany

I'm pleased to be returning to Berlin to show work alongside Don Voisine, whose work I have admired for a number of years. I'll be showing a wall painting. To our Berlin friends: Don and I will both be at the opening; hope to see you them. For more info go to: http://www.dr-julius.de/

the great BIG little graphic Art Show, PIT, Eindhoven, Netherlands, October 3-November 1

Curated by Linda Arts of Project Initiative Tilburg, whose work and curative endeavors I've always admired. In this first opportunity to work with her, I will show a piece from a series of prints done in 2005.

Unlikely Iterations of the Abstract, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, opening October 31

Curated by Bill Arning, who gave me my first solo show back in 1986 at White Columns. More spinning records.

Visual Artist Gilbert Hsiao

I got an email a few days ago from Gilbert Hsiao, my childhood best friend since about 4th grade at the Lab School in Terre Haute, announcing a one-man show at Minus Space in Brooklyn running through June 16th. 

Gilbert has been a gifted artist since he was a kid and it is cool to see him gaining worldwide recognition now that he is in his 50s. Better late than never. I know this is supposed to be a music blog and although Gilbert is a painter, he has been a lifelong music head and is the most prolific music collector I have ever known. He really knows the good stuff. We hung out together in college during the loft years in the 70s when he attended Columbia and worked at the fabled WKCR, and have kept in touch ever since. 

Flash I, 42" x 42", acrylic on wood panel, 2008 © Gilbert Hsiao

Gilbert's visual art is heavily influenced by music: in his own words, "Thinking about music has been important in the development of my work. Discussing music in terms of chords, relative dissonance/consonance, rhythms, syncopation, tones, harmony, temp, movement, stillness, and loudness, and so forth, cannot begin to describe the actual experience of listening to a piece. One can describe a piece of music in detail using these characteristics, yet the description cannot take the place of the experience of the piece itself." 

"The interesting part of music is the experience, not the explanation." 

I discovered in his email that Gilbert received the Space Award from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation last month, which will give him a studio residency in Brooklyn starting this fall. A lot like music, the quality of visual art expression is largely a function of how often you get to perform, and this will give Gilbert a place to perform without the economic pressures that artists of all types have to face. Good on him and thanks to the foundation for recognizing him. 

Minus Space has a lot more detail about Gilbert's art on its web site. Click here and here to find out.

My Musical Biography, Part 3

The 1970’s were the height of the New York loft scene; a live show costs just a couple of bucks in those days and most places did not clear the floor between sets. I used to take the train frequently to NYC, where my Lab School best friend Gilbert lived. Gilbert loved music and had the world’s largest record collection but he never had any musical talent himself (his amazing talents lie elsewhere - he is now a world-renowned artist, see http://www.gilberthsiao.blogspot.com/). I guess we have that in common, no innate musical talent. I used to go hear live music all the time – Studio Rivbea and the Tin Palace come to mind. Once I walked across lower Manhattan blowing my alto in the street the whole way; when we walked in front of Ali’s Alley, Rashied Ali himself came out to see what the commotion was – can you imagine doing that in post-Giuliani NYC? Probably get locked up.

Some of the greats I’ve had the fortune to see and hear live: Miles Davis (his pre-retirement electric band with Sonny Fortune and Pete Cosey), Charles Mingus (with George Adams and Danny Rich-man; Mingus cussed me out with some racial epithets when I naively tried to say hello between sets in Montreal), Dexter Gordon (once with Woody Shaw on trumpet; Dexter was a real gentleman), Dizzy Gillespie (who was interested in my wife and not the least bit in me), Sam Rivers (at Rivbea), Sonny Rollins (in Philly where I sat so close I could’ve shined his shoes), Leroy Jenkins (at the recording session for his JCOA album), Clark Terry (I interviewed him for WHRB), Archie Shepp (I interviewed him for WHRB and got to hang out with him and Dave Burrell in their hotel; he certainly never showed any hostility towards white people to me), James Moody (in Terre Haute!), McCoy Tyner (maybe his best band with Junie Booth and Azar Lawrence), Kalaparusha (I had, and still have, a real taste for the AACM), Muhal Richard Abrams, Ornette Coleman with Prime Time, towering Randy Weston, Max Roach (with the fabulous Billy Harper on tenor), Dewey Redman (whose music puts his much more highly touted son to shame), Julius Hemphill (Tim Berne was his manager at the time and sent me some unreleased cassettes of Julius), David Murray (the saxophone prodigy of the day, not much older than me), Jimmy McGriff, Lou Donaldson, Ray Charles, Pepper Adams (in Munich’s famed Domocile), Chicago’s great Fred Anderson, Joe Henderson (whose introverted style I never really understood until I saw him in person), Jackie McLean (one of his last concerts), Cecil Taylor (who plays the piano like he has three hands), Paul Quinichette at the West End, Art Blakey (not one of his best bands unfortunately) and Sun Ra and James Brown multiple times…JB twice with Wilson Pickett on the bill. My favorite is Vonski Von Freeman who instructed me that “Music is not mathematics.”

Someone I didn’t see…Rahsaan…one of the dumbest things I ever did in my life. Big Dave called me to come down to Bloomington and see Rahsaan at the Bluebird and I was too lazy to make the hour drive by myself. Rahsaan died that night after the concert. Big Dave is gone now too.