Dudgrick Bevins poetry and photography roundup!

Last year we published the debut full-length collection by Dudgrick Bevins, Route 4, Box 358 as a followup to his 2017 chapbook with luke kurtis, Georgia Dusk. He also released a chapbook titled My Feelings are Imaginary People Who Fight for My Attention (The Poet’s Haven) as well as a few other poems (and photos) in various literary journals. Check them out here!

Be sure to keep an eye out for more from Dudgrick in the future. We expect this is not the last you will hear from him.

bd Artists’ Books: Photography 📷, performance 🎹, painting 🎨, and beyond!

The bd Library is growing! Following our earlier releases by Michael Tice and Michael Harren, the most recent title in our line of Artists’ Books is Just One More by Jonathan David Smyth.

Below is an excerpt from a BBC Radio Ulster interview with Jonathan about Just One More.

Michael Bradley: It’s just a normal phone camera, isn’t it? Or do you use any special filters or equipment or anything?

Jonathan David Smyth: No, it’s just my smartphone. I use the camera within the phone itself. And it’s important that you’re asking if there are any filters because I think sometimes people may think I do use a filter. For me, coming out of this idea of using apps to make things look ”better” was actually an inspiration for me to take these photographs. I wanted to show that you don’t actually have to use filters in order to make a good photograph.

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“toilandtrouble” in Skin to Skin

"toilandtrouble" by luke kurtis in Skin to Skin (Dec 2013)

Back in December 2013, my piece “toilandtrouble” was published in issue no. 4 of Skin to Skin. I posted about it to social media at the time but I didn’t get a chance to share it here. Though written a number of years ago, this was the first time the work had been published. “toilandtrouble” is a hybrid work that functions simultaneously as a text-as-art piece, a poem, and a flash fiction story. It deals with queer sexuality, gender issues, and feminism. It’s a thrill for it to finally reach a wider audience in Skin to Skin.

bad skin in Exposed: The Contemporary Nude

bad skin at 1650 Gallery

Saturday, 24 May marked two important milestones for me as an artist. It was both the exhibition debut of my bad skin series and also my Los Angels debut at large. Exposed: The Contemporary Nude opened at 1650 Gallery. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it out for the opening. But I’m glad to show work in LA. And it seems very appropriate that bad skin–a body of work about looking beyond the perceived imperfections of one’s body–had its exhibition debut in a city known for it’s superficiality.

If you’d like to see the full image, as well as all the other work in the show, you can do so on the gallery’s website. But remember that it is a show of artistic nude photography and therefore may be NSFW! They have included two additional photos of mine in the online annex (also NSFW). The limited edition giclée print in the show is available exclusively from 1650 Gallery. If you are interested in other prints from bad skin, you can contact me directly.

bad skin in Erotica and S/tick

S/tick cover with luke kurtis

Brian Centrone is one of my most frequent collaborators. But most of our collaborations are about the work of other people. We put endless hours in to publishing projects at New Lit Salon Press. When we decided to publish a collection of his collected gay erotic fiction, he asked if I’d like to contribute some art. He had seen some of my bad skin series and immediately asked for a specific image from that body of work. The composition, the tone, the mood–everything about the photo was a perfect match for his story “Boracay.” (I also made an original collage piece for “Mates” and collaborated with Brian on the cover design.)

Around the same time, S/tick published their “Managing” issue. The issue collects work created by men that explore the emotional impact a male-dominated society has on its male members. Sarah-Jean Krahn, the editor, liked my bad skin work and thought it perfectly expressed the emotional experiences of men. “I love the vulnerability–and luke’s courage in displaying that vulnerability–in these photos,” she said. You can find my work both on the cover and inside S/tick‘s “Managing” issue.

Erotica is available from ebook sellers everywhere. S/tick is available as a free download.

Linocut portrait of luke kurtis by Rick Villodas

"The Collaborator" linotype by Rick Villodas in Cyber Blade

Rick Villodas’s linoleum cut based on my self-portrait from the cover of INTERSECTION no. 7. His print won an award at the Richter Association for the Arts member art show. Rick is such a talented print-maker and I love the way he transformed my work into a new medium. Above is a photo I took of his print, titled The Collaborator, as exhibited in the Cyber Blade show (which also contained our Collaboration piece). Below is the cover of my zine his print is based on.

INTERSECTION no. 7

Cyber Blade group show curated by Rick Villodas

luke kurtis with his "muse" prints at Cyber Blade

This past weekend I showed some work from my muse series for the first time since last year. Rick Villodas, who first saw my muse prints in the Just Panic… show, curated the Cyber Blade show. He selected some of the works that were in Just Panic (muse no.’s 7, 11, and 12) along with muse no. 18, which had never been shown before. It was just a weekend pop-up show but I was able to make it up to Danbury that Sunday. It was refreshing to get out of the city for an afternoon (even though it was a bit cold–the venue’s furnace was out that weekend)! Above is a photo of me with my work (photo by Matthew Cales).

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INTERSECTION in ARTWACH, Daily Citizen, and Our View

ARTWACH by Tom Wachunas

Today is the last day of the INTERSECTION exhibition at Massillon Museum. I can’t believe it has come and gone so fast. I’m thankful that it has been written about for posterity, though. Here are some great pieces about the show…

Tom Wachunas of ARTWACH wrote a very thoughtful review of the exhibition. He really took the time to delve into the undertones of what the show is all about. I appreciate it when viewers probe the work and look beyond the surface like Tom did.

Misty Watson of The Daily Citizen wrote a piece about the show as well. Her article is not a review but more of a local interest story that discusses my background in northwest Georgia. Jamie Jones of the same paper had done an article about my Jordan’s Journey project back in 2012 and Misty’s piece is a followup on that.

I also appeared on the podcast Our View with Tim and Jill. We talked about INTERSECTION as well as some other projects I’ve been working on. The episode aired in two parts, so be sure to listen to part 1 and part 2.

Just Panic… exhibition in NYC

luke kurtis in front of his work at the Just Panic... exhibition in NYC

I don’t know how I let this happen but somehow in the hustle and bustle of it all, I never even mentioned here that I had several works in Derek Nicoletto‘s show Just Panic And Get It Over With at 287 Spring gallery in NYC. It was a quick, one-weekend popup show from 12 July to 14 Mar. I was very happy to be part of this amazing group of artists. I showed six works from my muse series. No’s 7-12 marked the New York debut of this ongoing body of work.

One of the highlights of the opening was the chance to meet some of the members of the í¼ber-cool synth punk band ATTACK.WAV. Tree Wave wrote up a great piece on the show over at Plus Heart Star and used a few of my photos of the opening. Tree Wave called my work “rad” and “next-level pop-art-ish.” How cool is that?

Other artists in the show included Christopher Stout, Rob Ordonez, and Paul J. Toussaint. Be sure to check out their sites as they are doing very interesting work. But there was so much talent present. Take a peek at the Just Panic Facebook page to see all the artists and their work. Many of the works are still for sale. As Derek said… want to support the arts? Support an artist!

Thank you to all who came out. And, of course, thank you to Derek Nicoletto for making it all happen.

Field Notes: Landscape and Architecture exhibition in Portland, OR

Anderson's Cemetery, Subligna, Chattooga County, Georgia

Opening yesterday in Portland, Oregon, one of my photos is included in the new exhibition Field Notes: Landscape and Architecture at Black Box Gallery. The opening reception will be on Friday, 7 June 2013 and the show runs until 20 June. If you happen to be in the Portland area be sure to drop by. Otherwise, you can check it out online.

The photo on view in the Field Notes exhibition was taken in Subligna, Georgia. I took this photo last year while doing Jordan’s Journey research. That day I photographed and inventoried Anderson’s Cemetery (you can see that inventory and some of the photos at Find A Grave). This gives you an example of how genealogy and art have coalesced to form Jordan’s Journeys unique take on exploring the past.