Spring Opening at the Gear Factory in Syracuse, NY
This past Saturday was the spring opening of the Gear Factory Revolution Group Art Show in Syracuse, NY
Over 150 artists were featured throughout the 15,000+ sq. ft. of space bringing an extremely unique and eclectic visual experience to anyone who was able to be in attendance or in show
If you follow my artwork or were in attendance for the November 2018 edition of the Gear Factory group art show you may have noticed this big ol colorful monster standing over 8 ft. tall. The gameplan for the May 11th 2019 show was to again include the monster within my installation but, deter from making it the focal point this time around. This was done by utilizing the strong structural integrity of the monster and using it as the foundation for what was going to be happening behind it
The owner of the Gear Factory, Rick, (who all of us artist thank for being among the rare few who will put together a show of this magnitude all while collecting zero commission or hanging fees) had a spare slab flake board for me to box off the back of the monster and use the now free wall to create and display 25 cutout faces from an ongoing body of artwork I am creating (essentially 1,001 of these faces). This collage of characters will be the backdrop for the merch table, display walls, and if you notice to the right of the photo below there is a spin wheel to be included within the installation
The idea behind the spin wheel is simple.. On the merch table there are a variety of artworks, stickers, prints, etc for sale. All within the $2 - $150 range. You can either purchase your desired print for the set price or take a chance at spinning the wheel and possibly winning that print for only $5!
Throughout the night over 60 people took the option to spin the wheel! The interactive element added a lot of fun to the night and helped create many smiling faces of all ages ( thank you to O+ Positive Festival for letting me borrow the wheel! )
Final backside presentation of our monster
Before the show starts the team and I took a quick run across the street to check out the mural I had painted back in October 2018. The building was not yet finished when the mural was complete so this is a first look at the mural with all new doors, windows, fresh touch up paint, and ....apparently a giant silver vent over the right end of the mural..
Back to the show! Guests had started to arrive and the Spring 2019 Gear Factory Revolution group art show is under way!
Snapshot of the evening in action from the focal point of the pink monkey (more to come on that monkey momentarily..)
Our good friend, model, Elora was king enough to become a canvas of flesh and blood for artist Forrest Strata and I to paint over duration of a couple hours during the show
Now back to the pink monkey. Some people may have noticed this little furry pet in the top corner of the freight elevator on the second floor, camera in arm. I had her setup to record a quick little timelapse of our evening.
Check it out below!!
The whole day was immense fun, great music, great people, we even painted a person!, at one point my table became a temporary high stakes blackjack table, people laughed, hopefully no one cried, and then by the next afternoon I had taken the entire installation down, packed it up, and back south I went. See you all again for the next edition of the group show in November! Big thanks to my friends for helping out, Sanjeev, Elora, Forest! To Rick, Jake, Brady, Christof, Charlie Sam, Mike, Adam, and everyone else who helps make this great of a show happen!!
PS!!!
The Gear Factory is now renting out artist live-work spaces! Every studio has an amazing view from the 4th or 5th floor of the Gear Factory, 13 ft. high ceilings, private bathrooms and wash rooms, kitchens, balconies to get fresh air and relax, they are truly beautiful spaces to create and be surrounded by other creatives! If you live in Syracuse or are looking to relocate please contact the Gear Factory by clicking here and ask about availability and rates!!