RxArt

Andrew Kuo

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:31:00 -0500

Andrew Kuo is a designer and artist living in New York City.

Your charts are like a diary, very personal and honest, and very relatable. when did you start making them?
Hm, at this point I’ve been making them for maybe 6 years? Or 7? I could find out but it might be depressing to know.

What about the chart format appeals to you?It’s a way for me to talk about more than one thing at once, literally plotting one idea against the other within the same eyeshot. I wear glasses so I am inclined to be X, Y and Z axis obsessed. And also, this may sound really weird, but I think about the idea of paint a lot and these charts let me talk about that?

Are there emotions that are too abstract represent in a chart?I don’t think anything is too abstract, it just depends on how much you are willing to talk about something. Some emotions are more interesting than others, but that’s a different (and more uncomfortable) conversation.

Do you ever find it difficult to put your work into the public?Yes. Some of the work gets really personal. I try not to think about it in studio, but I’ll go back to work I’ve shown and not be so sure I should’ve gone there. On the other hand, life’s short! Cap’n Jazz was a great band!

I love your music graphs and charts in the Times. They must be mentally exhausting to create. Can you enjoy an album after analyzing it?Thanks! Some of them are easier to make than others. I can definitely enjoy an album after breaking it down- moreso sometimes. Destroyer put out a great album this year called “Kaputt,” that was so dense with imagery and wordplay. I made a quick little book about the lyrics and sounds hoping it would help me think about it in a different way than listening to it. So I guess I like making things about things so I can enjoy them more (or less).

Along with visuals you do a lot of narrating. Do you write?

Sometimes for days all I do is write, but it’s not like I’m working on “Moby Dick 2.” It’s Twitter, texting, blogging, instant messaging, Post-It notes to myself, etc. Also, I have a few friends I email at length frequently. I’m sure they wish I wouldn’t.

What writers do you like?

Of course I love David Foster Wallace. M.F.K. Fisher writes awesome words about food. So does Sam Sifton. I enjoyed Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball” so much. Who’s mad at Joan Didion? I wish I liked Bill Simmons’ writing more, but his podcasts are where he seems like he’s having the most fun. Kelefa Sanneh, who wrote the intro for my book, is an awesome writer for the New Yorker. Is Chris Ware considered a writer? If he is, he’d be one of my favorites for sure.

What/who are you inspired by for your graphical works

Rothko! Barnett Newman! I literally copy Josef Albers paintings. Frank Stella is cool. Bridget Riley! Peter Halley is awesome. Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Serra, and Gary Hume are also artists that I “borrow” moves from. That was the art school answer to that question. The stoner answer to would be: the Interweb, TV, and New York City.

Have you ever thought about making films or putting your work into motion?

I have! I enjoy thinking about moving images, shapes, colors and sounds all at once at the same time, but who doesn’t?

New Blog

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:00:32 -0400

Hey All!

RxArt is pleased to announce it’s new blog and website! Huge thank you to No Favorite for their hard work and talent! Please check it out here:

http://www.rxart.net

http://www.rxart.net/blog

SNAPS: Tacia Dean

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:53:00 -0400

Who: Betewen the Lines 2 coloring book artist Tacia Dean!
When: Today
Where: Tate Modern in London!

Nick Cave 'For Now' at Mary Boone Gallery

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:12:00 -0400

RxArt paid a visit to For Now at Mary Boone Gallery, part of the Soundsuit exhibition by friend and artist Nick Cave. Part Where the Wild Things Are, part Hayao Miyazaki, the show offers a glimpse into a world of fantastic and surreal characters. The suits, wearable sculptures up to 8 feet tall, are made out of wood, fur, yarn, stuffed animals, and every found object imaginable.

The sculptor and performance artist has two shows running simultaneously – For Now at Mary Boone and Ever-After at Jack Shainman. See both while you still can!

For Now at Mary Boone Gallery, 541 W. 24th St., Opening September 10, through October 22. http://www.maryboonegallery.com

NY Art Book Fair

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:39:00 -0400

RxArt stopped by Printed Matter’s annual Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1. There was a lot to see, we took photos of a few select books. See below!

Exhibition A booth featuring RxArt’s new coloring book - Between The Lines, Vol. III

Ed Templeton’s Teenage Kissers at the Seems booth

Signed Jack Walls zine

Sol LeWitt

Ryan McGinley’s second zine, The Kids Are Alright

Moonmilk

“Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.” -Ryan McGinley.

First edition print, Keith Haring.

Bad Day, Issue 11 featuring Mike Mills and Andrew Kuo.

RxArt Pop Up Shop!

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:04:00 -0400

RxArt is having a Pop-up shop! Come for art, refreshments, and knockout discounts!

Kick off party: Thursday, Nov 3rd 6PM-8PM
Fri + Sat, Nov 4th-5th 10AM-6PM
Sun, Nov 6th 12PM-6PM

HALF GALLERY
208 forsyth st.
New York, NY

RxArt Benefit Gala 2011

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:37:00 -0400

RxArt had it’s annual Benefit Gala at the Highline Stages, sponsored by CHANEL Beauté and hosted by Jen Brill, Poppy Delevingne, Leigh Lezark, Caroline Sieber, and Vanessa Traina. We had an incredible evening which included a cocktail party and an exclusive auction featuring some of the most sought after names in contemporary art. We couldn’t have asked for better friends, artists, and guests. Thank you to all who came! See photos below:

Miranda July

José Parlá

Leo Fitzpatrick

Aurel Schmidt

Ed Templeton

Ryan Foerster

Nate Lowman

Diane Brown

Poppy Delevigne, Jen Brill, Vanessa Traina, Caroline Sieber

Aurel Schmidt

Olivia Kim

Derek Blasberg, Lazaro Hernandez

Chrissie Miller, Cassie Coane, Leo Fitzpatrick

Terry Richardson, Bill Powers

See more photos Here!

Snaps: Mark Borthwick

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 17:55:00 -0400

Who: Mark Borthwick
When: Last night
Where: Nuit Blanche Night Light Art Festival

photo: Allen Ying

Snaps: Andrew Kuo

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 12:36:00 -0400

RxArt and Andrew Kuo getting our technology on at Taxter and Spengemann gallery.

Night Scented Stock a surreal three-story, five-room show...

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:04:00 -0400

Night Scented Stock a surreal three-story, five-room show curated by Todd Levin that featured haunting offerings from 67 artists ranging from Matthew Barney to Hans Bellmer, showed Wednesday at Marianne Boesky gallery.

The title draws it’s name from a nocturnal flower. Once night falls, the Night Scented Stock emits an intoxicating aroma which lures an array of night’s creatures – insects, bats, moths and birds – with its scent.

Among the artists showing were RxArt friends Aurel Schmidt and Diane Al-Hadid. The show presented a wide variety of work but the common thread that tied it all together were themes of the grotesque and fantastic.

Go see it while you still can!

“Night Scented Stock,” curated by Todd Levin, at Marianne Boesky Gallery, 118 East 64 St., Opening September 14, through October 22. marianneboeskygallery.com

The RxArt Team was invited by Brooklyn-based artist Robert...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:30:01 -0400

Robert Lazzarini and Diane Brown

The RxArt Team was invited by Brooklyn-based artist Robert Lazzarini for a studio visit to get an up close and personal look at his visually stunning sculptures and drawings. Robert Lazzarini is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City and has mastered the art of visual manipulation in his artwork. Lazzarini’s sculptures manipulate the visual world by distorting the visual aspect of everything from an everyday telephone to a large bank vault. He combines his artistic talent with his in-depth knowledge of mathematics and physics to create beautiful pieces of art that present to us new perspectives of objects that we find in everyday living. The amazing thing about the construction of his sculptures is that all of his works are fabricated out of the same exact materials that make up the actual product.

Robert Lazzarini’s work has been exhibited all over the world, from solo shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. to group shows in Switzerland and Austria. He has also collaborated with other contemporary artists such as RxArt’s friend, KAWS and master printer Gary Lichtenstein. RxArt is proud to feature Lazzarini’s work in our newest coloring book project, ”Between the Lines, Vol. 3.”

We want to thank Robert Lazzarini and his team for having us at the studio and giving us a tour of his completed works and a preview of his upcoming projects. All we can say is, if you like Harley Davidson motorcycles you are in for an unbelievable visual experience!

Along with being featured in “Between The Lines, Vol. 3” with a more of today’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Robert Lazzarini will be donating an artwork to this year’s RxArt 11th Anniversary Gala. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, just head over to our website for further information. Enjoy a night of wonderful art for a great cause. The event will be one to remember.

The annual RxArt Gala is coming up! Save the date and come in...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:28:35 -0400

The annual RxArt Gala is coming up! Save the date and come in your finest. The evening will include a silent auction featuring artists such as Nate Lowman, Yoko Ono, and David Levinthal. See art and Buy tickets here: http://rxart.net/contribute/party.

More artists to be announced!

Who we are

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:27:38 -0400

Hi readers, followers, and friends! We’ve been sharing information about our activities and artists we work with for quite some time now, and we figured it was about to time to take this relationship to the next level - let’s get personal! We want to take you behind the scenes of our hardworking little operation, and introduce you to some of the amazing people who help RxArt transform the patient experience.

We’re located in a teensy-tiny space on Forsyth Street in New York City’s Lower East Side. The front half of our space is occupied by the aptly named Half Gallery, owned by our board member Bill Powers and Andy Spade and James Frey. Day-to-day, we focus on preparing for our fall gala, sponsored by Chanel Beaute (buy tickets here), mounting upcoming projects in Atlanta, New York, and Houston, and getting the third edition of our coloring book ready for hospital donations and store shelves. We love our little space, and have started lots of fun rituals to bond in such close quarters; the hands-down favorite is “four o’clock,” when, everyday, we sit down for our version of high tea - espresso, cookies, and chocolate!

RxArt is, at its core, Diane Brown, former gallerist and all-around awesome person. She founded RxArt back in 2000 after a scary hospital experience was made peaceful and relaxing by the idea of art. Alongside Diane is Heidi Sanders, our amazing Operations Coordinator, who has worked previously at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller and is mom to precious four-month-old Abigail.

Frank, Liz, and Rachel at the Hester Street Fair

Right now we have three interns, Liz Kuehnen, Rachel Swartz, and Philip Ullman. Liz is a recent graduate of Pratt’s Communications Design MFA program and a whiz kid graphic designer. She’s working on revamping our brand image alongside our web designers, and will be leaving RxArt in September to move to Spain while her husband works on an international business degree - olé! Rachel (that’s me - hey y’all) is about to start her final year at NYU’s graduate program in Visual Arts Administration. She’s been helping get us ready for our fall gala and will be heading to MoMA this fall to intern with Corporate Membership, while also slowly chipping away at her thesis. Philip is visiting from Sweden and is an amazing photographer; he’s helping us build an archive of installation photography. We look forward to welcoming a new crop of rockstar interns in September - you’ll be reading about them soon, too!

Lastly, there’s Frank Aguilar - or, rather, Dr. Frank. He has been a stalwart of RxArt for over a year, helping with everything from coloring book orders to innovative projects to heavy lifting. He’s leaving today to start his residency at Rutgers University Hospital, and while we will miss his positive energy, cool tee shirts, and street cred immensely, we know he will do wonderful things in the world of medicine, continuing the RxArt mission to transform the patient experience.

If you’ve always wanted to know exactly how to be Ryan...

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:30:00 -0400

If you’ve always wanted to know exactly how to be Ryan McGinness, or at least how to create art just like him, then we recommend that you take a look at Studio Manual. McGinness paired up with stellar design studio Base to create a step-by-step manual for employees and proprietors of RMS franchises. The comprehensive manual covers everything from his sketching process to throwing out the trash at the end of the day.

As for all of us at RxArt, this book is going directly to the top of our wish list! It’s a little glimpse into the world of Ryan McGinness Studios, Inc.

Hi everyone! We had a wet and rainy but wonderful Saturday at...

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:31:00 -0400

Getting ready at the office

Liz prepping the table

Cheese!

Our display

Water bottles, brochures, info

Puzzles

Coloring books & signup sheets

Hi everyone! We had a wet and rainy but wonderful Saturday at the Hester Street Fair this past weekend. Some very brave and hungry (for food and shopping!) souls came out and discussed the RxArt cause with us. We sold a bunch of coloring books, pu zzles, and tee shirts and treated the water-logged fairgoers to free notepads and water bottles with our logo. Thanks so much to Suhyun Pak, Suchin Pak, and all of the other organizers - y’all are awesome! We will definitely make another appearance at the Hester in the fall with the third edition of Between the Lines and more merchandise, hope to see you there!

Art: free & outdoors this Memorial Day weekend

Thu, 26 May 2011 12:16:00 -0400

Happy almost-Memorial Day weekend! We have been very busy putting together Between the Lines Volume Three and are looking forward to a much-deserved break this holiday weekend. The forecast is calling for gorgeous weather in New York and we can’t wait to check out some of the free outdoor art installations by RxArt friends and other notable artists. We’ll be heading back to Union Square to see Rob Pruitt’s The Andy Monument for a second time and picking up some veggies from the Greenmarket; then we’ll go further downtown to see the Sol LeWitt outdoor retrospective Structures: 1965-2006, presented by the Public Art Fund at City Hall Park. We’re also eager to see Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads at the Pulitzer Fountain in Central Park’s Grand Army Plaza; while we’re uptown, we may just have to further indulge in some free art-spotting at the Whitney’s Friday “Member for A Day” celebration – the Glenn Ligon show, closing next week, is a must. We’ll return to work on Tuesday refreshed, with our minds and wallets full – hope you’ll be enjoying art too!

“Member for a Day” at The Whitney Museum of American Art: May 26, 2011, 1-9pm

AMERICA, Glenn Ligon, The Whitney Museum of American Art; closing June 5

Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, Ai Weiwei, Grand Army Plaza: closing July 15

Structures: 1965-2006, Sol LeWitt, City Hall Park; ongoing until December 3

The Andy Monument, Rob Pruitt, Union Square: ongoing until October 2

This month we donated 5,000 copies of our limited edition...

Wed, 18 May 2011 12:06:58 -0400

This month we donated 5,000 copies of our limited edition artist’s coloring book, Between the Lines, to patients in hospitals around the country. Next month we’re excited to offer it to residents and visitors of the Lower East Side. We’ll be selling the books at the local Hester Street Fair on Saturday, June 11th from 10am to 6pm, so mark your calendars! Stop by to chat with us about RxArt projects past and present, flip through a copy of the coloring book, and take home a copy for a mere $20. It’s also a great chance to explore the fair, enjoy some tasty treats from local food vendors, and browse the aisles of vintage & handmade goods.

Last week we happily donated over 5,000 Between the Lines...

Mon, 09 May 2011 11:16:08 -0400

Last week we happily donated over 5,000 Between the Lines coloring books to hospitals across the country. We are always excited to hear reports from the hospitals that patients of all ages and gender, and staff too, all love scribbling away in their books! Between the Lines features original artwork by Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha, Lawrence Weiner, and other greats.

You can unleash your inner child too! Coloring books are available for purchase at www.rxart.net/store.

We recently donated over a 100 sets of these awesome Dan Colen...

Wed, 04 May 2011 16:22:00 -0400

We recently donated over a 100 sets of these awesome Dan Colen colored pencils to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dan created these specially for his solo show, PEANUTS, at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Norway this past January. We heard the kids, and the staff, couldn’t wait to start coloring with these in their RxArt Between the Lines coloring books!

Jack Walls “Mona Lisa” Collage Paintings Half...

Wed, 04 May 2011 13:19:56 -0400

Jack Walls

“Mona Lisa” Collage Paintings

Half Gallery

May 5th-May 29, 2011/ Reception: May 5, 6-8 PM

Our friends at Half Gallery, our opening a new show tomorrow night of Jack Walls Collage Paintings. Walls, with the help of Ryan McGinley’s Studio, has also created Zine to accompany the exhibition, which will be on sale at the Half Gallery for $20. What a steal!