Photographs I have taken over the last two years. No particular order.

The Austinist East Interview: Morgan Sorne

Here is a wonderful interview conducted by The Austinist. I will be showing in the EAST Austin Studio Tour this coming weekend.

http://austinist.com/2008/11/17/east_interview_morgan_sorne.php#more

The Emperor of Ice Cream

I am honored and thrilled to have been selected as one of the participating artists.

The information is as follows.


Group Exhibition Artist Announcement + Ice Cream Social

Saturday, September 6, 2008 2-4 PM
Artist Announcement at 2:30 PM

The Mexican American Cultural Center
600 River Street
Austin, Texas 78701
512.478.6222
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/macc/

The 2009 Texas Biennial is delighted to invite the public and press to share our enthusiasm for the final selection of our 2009 Group Exhibition artists. After careful deliberation of over 500 applicants from all over the state, our guest curator, Michael Duncan, has come to the final selection of only 62 artists. These artists will be showcasing their newest work this coming spring at the Mexican American Cultural Center Gallery and at Women and Their Work Gallery, in two complementary exhibits. In keeping with our Texas roots, we will be celebrating this momentous event with an old-fashioned ice cream social to meet and greet a few artists personally and to enjoy the tale end of the Texas summer.

In the past, the Texas Biennial’s participants have been picked by groups of jurors, leaving the selections to majority rule. While the results showcased a wide variety of media and delivered a nice overall cross-section of Texas work, it also left the shows without a unified statement. Chosen from a single curator, the Texas Biennial believes that these newly selected artists will truly harness the spirit of the Biennial and deliver an inspiring and fresh, but most importantly genuine view of the contemporary art climate in Texas.

The Texas Biennial would like to thank HEB and Sweet Leaf Tea for their generous contributions to make this event possible, and the Mexican American Cultural Center and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department for hosting this event and many more in the future.

2009 Texas Biennial
An independent survey of contemporary Texas art
March 6 – April 11, 2009

The 2009 Texas Biennial is the third of its kind since it’s inception in 2005. With each exhibition, the Biennial project has provided a fresh perspective on the scope of Texas contemporary art. The originators of the Texas Biennial have succeeded in culminating an initiative that voices the distinctive diversity of art making in Texas. In the same independent spirit as years past, the 2009 Texas Biennial will encourage conversations amongst artists, curators, writers and art lovers alike. This effort will ultimately spark a dialogue that will echo throughout the run of the 3rd biennial exhibition and beyond. As an independent survey of contemporary art in Texas, the 2009 Biennial is excited to use this opportunity to investigate current art making in Texas and promote the incredible innovation that lies within our great state.


2009 Texas Biennial Curators

Michael Duncan is Corresponding Editor for Art in America and his writings have focused on maverick artists of the twentieth century, West Coast modernism, twentieth century figuration, and contemporary California art. His curatorial projects include surveys and recontextualizations of works by Pavel Tchelitchew, Sister Corita Kent, Kim MacConnel, Lorser Feitelson, Eugene Berman, Richard Pettibone, and Wallace Berman. In addition to his work nationally, Duncan has continued ties with Texas by participating in the 2005 Viewpoint lecture series at the University of Texas at Austin, contributing essays for the UT Press book, Melissa Miller, the catalog for Arthouse at the Jones Center’s 2006 exhibit, The Gospel of Lead: Dario Robleto and Jeremy Blake, and curator of 2007’s Art in the Metroplex at TCU, Fort Worth, TX.

Risa Puleo is the Assistant Curator of American and Contemporary Art at the Blanton Museum of Art. Prior to this position, she worked in various arts organizations across Texas such as Fluent-Collaborative, ArtLies, Texas Art Journal, Blue Star Contemporary Art Space (San Antonio), and The Station (Houston, Texas). She received her Master’s Degree in Curatorial Studies from Bard College, and she serves as Vice-Chair for the Austin Art in Public Places Panel.

July 5

The reception was a wonderful experience.
Drove down during the day and returned home that night.
A beautiful evening.
My family was there.
I feel honored and thankful to have been given this opportunity.
I am producing new works now.
Thanks guys for being there with me.

Stars in Alignment

Moon Kids

The work is ready.

Galleri Urbane

Birthplace of Dallas

Went to Dallas yesterday.
Stopped to see Dealey Plaza.
The arcade smelled like piss.
Overcast sky.
Four guys walk up and down the sidewalk, selling papers containing information about November 22.
A white X marks the first shot. Another X marks the second.
A feeling of sorrow lingers. A few others walk the site, looking and taking their pictures.
I don't know. I just feel sorrow.
I find it interesting that this plaza marks the birthplace of Dallas, Texas.
Didn't know that prior to coming here.
Truly a place of history in the human story.

Marfa

New works and sounds will be on display July 5 at Galleri Urbane. The Gallery is in Marfa, Texas.
I went to Marfa this past January. The experience was quite powerful for me. The land there possessed a quiet, gentle, but powerful and almost savage energy. This land has affected me deeply.
As I headed southwest, descending into the lower parts of what was literally an ancient sea floor, I watched the landscape change dramatically. Unnamed highways stretched on forever across open wilderness. Of course, this land wasn't exactly wilderness being that here and there; you would come across a dirt road with a gate bearing the name of some Texas Rancher.
The whole of the place still did feel like an undiscovered country, though. Day slipped into night. Mountains rose, silhouetted against a sky of stars.
This place was sacred.

Marfa is a small place. A few major motion pictures have been filmed there. Donald Judd established The Chinati Foundation there.

This is a place of energy, I think.

There are places that seem to be places of great energy. Chartres Cathedral sits atop an ancient Druid place of gathering. Tallahassee, the capital of Florida and the place of my birth, is a place where Indian tribes would come together as a place of meeting. I beleive in the energy of place. Understandable, then why Marfa has attracted so many unique souls.

A place of healing.

Sorne – UNNAMED

First Born

Today I am posting the first message on this new blog.
The day has been bright and clean. A good temperature and a steady cool air has continued all afternoon. I have many exciting things in the works at the moment, and will report on these as they further materialize.
Two art shows coming up.
I am producing at a good pace now.
One week ago from Wednesday last, I stepped into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in twenty years.

I loved it there. The mountains fading into a grey horizon, the old Ferris Wheel being replaced, people sitting on benches looking at the sea. Joggers, doggers, bicycles, homeless, homos, families, pianists, surfers.
These images flood me and keep me. I didn't want to leave.