When Dave Metzger and John LaFleur contacted us and asked if we wanted to be a part of Elgin’s first Calling All Robots pop-up gallery show to benefit Elgin’s Got Robot team, we jumped at the chance. The show was held on Friday, 4/5/13 at the retail space under the ArtSpace Lofts in downtown and was an amazing success.
We had sizable crowds all night long and were in very good artistic company. Dave Metzger had some wonderful prints of his robot artwork, Jeff Kehoe built a 9 foot tall robot with a TV in it’s chest, Maria at Viking Thrift had a striking robot manequin and we even had an original piece from Eric Joyner.
“Check your ego at the door.” is the driving thought when local artists Bruce Bachelder and Mike Rende set out to create their modestly sized art. The artists each start a painting and then hand it to each other to complete. Sometimes they understand what the original vision for the painting was, but it’s always more interesting when they don’t and something even more unexpected erupts onto the canvas.
Influenced by both high and low brow art, their favorite artists include Herge, Jack Kirby, Gustav Klimt, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Art Spiegelman and Jim Woodring.
The opening reception was at the Martini Room on Wednesday, December 12th and featured roughly 50 pre-framed paintings in a variety of sizes with prices ranging from $20 to $250. Perfect for last minute gift giving if one of them inspired you.
We were also at the Martini Room on Saturday, 12/15/12with paints and some small canvases. We painted all night (in front of the live audience).
