Hooray for Hollywood

Stay tuned for ABC's fall drama pilot "Reckless" which recently completed filming in New Orleans. Its set decorator Brenda Meyers-Ballard ( credits include "Breaking Bad", "L.A. Law", "CSI", "Hawaii Five-O", and "Doogie Howser, M.D.") chose a dozen works by artist friends of Coup for various sets. Look for JAMES TAYLOR BONDS' Dirt Thieves (Stealing Back the Promised Land), ELIOT BROWN's Neighbor and Cleric from his Book of Hats collection, BLAINE CAPONE's earth child and Marine I, VERONIQUE DAY's Flight and Weaver and White Kagu, KEN NAHAN's It's All Good, TONY NOZERO's No Apology panels, and MASON SALTERRELLI's Lucy as a Native, all carefully selected to define the personalities of the characters. 

PLEASE BE QUIET PLEASE

With Jazz Fest in near full swing, art aficionados are scouting out the creative talents of New Orleans, and Coup is on the map! Chris Dennis's intriguing abstractions have been making lots of noise. And Lauren Capone's words accompany his imagery to turn the exhibit into a magnum opus.

Schwimmender Kopf (Swimming Head)


There are ghosts beneath these rocks
I’m turning

Surfaces I never anticipated.
On the body of a sunfish, algae

Blossoms in the place of scales.
Paint patterns pandemonium,

See how much accumulates?
Consider it a map. I label the parts:

Marbled slick, pointed cliffs,
The marsh, low-lying, where silhouettes

Branch gracefully; I note how little
Time it takes to despair.

The swell of pink spilt paint
Swallows me. It looks like this:

I am a jellyfish taken by the sea.
The spilt pink is it.

Hair trailing tentacles. I am
Spent charcoal and rust. I swim through

House paint and resin, navigating
Oil and Water. I

Buckle. I crack. I
Bleed.

Rise, phoenix; you are
The thing I find most precious—

Each of us, alone
What we are longing as one.

Look closely, an aggregate of purple-black
a blackberry makes.

Swim in my gritty sounds dirty.
It looks like this:

The blistered feet of ballerinas
a beautiful ballet make.

Submerged most of life
I am the bone of this song.

Watch, I can move in a sculling motion.
This head alone

Swallows the stuffiness,
Cracks like dry skin.

Lauren Capone

small works and big times at coup

Coup opened it's current exhibits on Saturday, March 2.

In SAMANTHA FOSTER's New Orleans debut "Remembrance" she juxtaposes sensuously mysterious black and white photographs with meticulously constructed architectural supports and frames.

In ELIOT BROWN's "Selections from ‘ The Book of Hats: A Collection of Extremely Short Illustrated Poems ’ " he plays with words and quirky figures to poke fun at human perception.

Since the shows' openings, the gallery has enjoyed a healthy volume of enthusiastic viewers and collectors! The beautiful New Orleans spring days have brought Coup's friends in the film industry out in full force, and our wonderful, culturally diverse neighborhood has become a destination for the high season tourists. It's encouraging to see how word-of-mouth still functions as quite an effective social networking medium.  

Review of James Taylor Bonds' "At Play Amongst The Pines

Exciting to have James' exhibit "At Play Amongst The Pines" reviewed by Adam Falik:
http://artvoicesmagazine.com/2012/12/james-taylor-bonds/

Coup's Beginnings

ArtVoices features an article on Ken Capone's birthing of Coup d'oeil Art Consortium. Interesting how things have evolved since that interview. Presently we are pursuing participation in some of the most progressive international art fairs. Stay tuned.
http://artvoicesmagazine.com/2012/12/ken-capone/

window installation by michele basta

Coup recommends that you check out Michele Basta's mystical window installation at 3214 Burgundy Street, best viewed at night:
http://michelebasta.com/window-installation-5

holiday closure

Coup will be resuming its regular hours on Thursday, November 29 when Souzan Alavi's photographic exhibit "loss" opens, concurrent with PhotoNOLA  (http://photonola.org/). Until then, feel free to call Ken at 504.722.0876 for viewing work. Thanks.

JAMES TAYLOR BONDS

At Play Amongst The Pines, James Taylor Bonds' current exhibit, opened Saturday, October 6. The response of art aficionados during New Orleans' Art for Art's Sake evening was overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

poetry meets the eye

Friends of Coup were treated to a delightful discovery of how the spoken word sits beautifully beside the visual arts. Lauren Capone chose a collection of her poems to share, even reading some poems more than once at the request of relishing patrons. A few fortunate fans picked up one of Lauren's  handmade broadsides.  

CHRIS DENNIS is inspired by poetry

Korero is a collaborative exhibition illustrating a fusion between visual art and poetry. 18 artists from various disciplines, select from 18 carefully chosen poems on the theme of conversation, to use as inspiration for their artwork.

This exhibition at Uxbridge Creative Centre, 35 Uxbridge Rd. Aucklandis in memory of local poet Bernard Gadd. His son, David Gadd  will present an award to what he considers to be the best piece of art.

Join us on opening night, 12 July from 6.30pm for a mulled wine and a vibrant and energetic evening of visual art and poetry readings. 

The show will run from 13 July - 2 August. 

Exhibition featuring artworks by Brendon Sellar, Chris Dennis, Clinton Phlips, Dom Morrison, Emily Pauling, Emma Topping, Ingrid Anderson, Jana Wood, Kate Sellar, Kirsten Pleitner, Kirsty Black, Lisa Benson, Mark Russell, Matt Moriarty, Nicola Wright, Ramon Robertson, Shona Tawhiao, Sue Dick and Wayne Trow.

Vessel. (after Boats by Peter Bland) Chris Dennis 2012

 As is often the case, it was a chance meeting with curator, Melissa Elliott that lead to the invitation to participate in this exhibition. There was some initial disappointment when I found out that the first poem to speak to me had already been claimed. Now, Boats by Peter Blandseems like such an obvious poem for me to respond to. I can't see why it didn't jump out at me immediately. 

Unlike some of the other artists, I have not been in contact with the author of my poem, so it will be interesting to talk to Peter if he attends the show.

Vessel (detail). Chris Dennis 2012.

Vessel (detail). Chris Dennis 2012.

In deference to his copyright, I won't reproduce Peter's poem here (Maybe if he gives his permission, I'll put it up later). In the mean time you can read about him here ( wikipedia ) and find him in libraries and bookstores around the world

WORDS

 Ever wondered how Giacometti liked his coffee?

Or about the thoughts of a Western Black Rhino?

Join Coup as we uncover our Ghosts.

READING 

 Friday, July 13, 7pm.

the courage in art

ghosts of the quarry opened Saturday evening to an engaging group of art aficionados. Blaine's mission to employ found material and memorabilia as a platform for introspection provided fodder for some weighty dialogue.The exhibit runs through July 21 with gallery hours 12-6 wed-sat and 1-6 sun-mon.

MARK GLAVIANO's Modern Ritual ends run

With the closing reception on May 12, all was hung out to dry with Mark Glaviano's exhibit Modern Ritual, his cringingly transparent photographs of the act of suspension. Coup will continue to exhibit several of the works in the coming months.

closing reception, Friday, May 11, 8-11pm

modern ritual, MARK GLAVIANO's collection of intriguing photographs of the act of suspension is ending this Satuday, May 12 after a galvanizing run during the mania of Jazz Fest. Coup is hosting a closing reception Friday, May 11, 2012, 8-11pm with a performance by Pain Tribe. If you missed the exhilaration of the opening reception, then stop in and be transformed.
Check out Eric Bookhardt's review of the exhibit:  http://www.insidenola.org/.