We've Got to Talk!

We’ve gone from Two Artists Not Talking to Two Artists Totally Out of Communcation. This has happened for the best of reasons—we’ve both been busy with shows—but I’d like to see if we can get the converstional ball rolling again. These pictures from Babe Shapiro may do it.

Babe and I showed together last November, with Nancy Manter, at DM Contemporary in Mill Neck, New York, and we’ve been in occasional e-contact since then. Babe has a veteran painter who has journeyed from hard-edge abstraction to a more organic imagery. When he saw images of your work in Luxe Calme et Volupte, he send a few images with this note: "Chris Ashley's inkjet prints remind me of the paintings I showed at the Stable Gallery in the 1960's and on. For the hell of it, I've attached a few jpegs of some of my work from that period. The images…are a hint of a body of work I spent about 15 years on."

I think you'll find them interesting, not only for Babe's imagery but for the connections between your geometry and his--over time, distance and mediums. I've also included a shot of your installation from Luxe, Calme et Volupte. I haven't edited the entire installation yet, but at least you get a peek at your work.

Babe Shapiro: Beg Your Pardon, 1977, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches, above; Abaxial, 1979, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 18 inches, below

Chris Ashley: Installation view of Jukebox 1-28, inkjet on paper, with CD views of 365 days of HTML drawings. Foreground: Julie Gross Two One Punch, oil on canvas (partial view) and a Smurf marble sculpture by Venske & Spanle