And We're Back!


Good tidings arrived from Edinburgh this week in the form of the long-awaited Map panels! The Map has made quite a journey these last few years, and all signs point to more travels to come. All 2,800 panels are safe and sound here in icy old Michigan, just in time for the upcoming exhibition at the Concord Art Association.

The Map will make a second appearance in the Bay State at the upcoming Personal Terrain exhibition in Concord, Massachusetts this April. For those who were lucky enough to view The Map before, come peer into it again as many panels now feature fresh artwork.

 Personal Terrain:
Contemporary Mapping
Ilana Manolson, Curator
April 16-May 18, 2014
Opening Reception: 
Thursday April 17, 6-8pm

Hope to see you there!

Some fresh numbers


For all you numbers junkies the Map is now composed of 3111 individual panels covering 1728.3 square feet. If it were perfectly square it would be 41.5 feet on a side. The actual maximum dimensions are 46.7 feet in width and 48.3 feet in height. To mount the entire Map with the standard 1" gaps between panels would require a surface 52.5 feet wide and 53.2 feet long. 

 The population of the Map is now 16,364,902. There are 441 separate cities in the 29 parishes. The largest city is still Ukrainia at 2,414,234 followed by Geo with 1,663,163 inhabitants.

Another note on framing


I framed these Map panels recently using those clip frames, and I think the results are great! The pieces are hung a half inch apart but still read as one continuous map.

If you use this method and start with a large enough expanse of wall you can continue to collect sections and add them as they become available.

Palette


Here is my current palette of paints used on the Map. The 35 colors continue to be remixed, one new color a day. You can see the dates on top of the bottles. The remixing process started about ten years ago when I decided that the palette was too bright. It's now very earthy and subdued. Too much so?

Between shows


It's winter in Northern Michigan, and I am hunkered down getting ready for the next show in Concord, Massachusetts opening in mid-April. The snow is inching over the windows here- over 180 inches so far and plenty of time left before Spring to break the old one-season record of 231". It's 10 degrees outside, and I am working away on the Northernmost panels of the Map, ones that will make their debut in Concord. The Edinburgh show closed last Friday. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of those four wine boxes full of Map. The Brattleboro exhibit has another month to run.

In the meantime, anticipating new shows in 2015, I am in the process of making copies of the entire Map. That should take over a year, but it will mean that I will always have a version in the studio so that my work can go on uninterrupted. The originals can be on display while I rework the copies. Wanna help? Go to Ebay and buy yourself a few panels or prints. Thanks!

A framing suggestion

Here's a  helpful suggestion with regard to framing for those followers out there with panels in their collections or those who want to snag a few but don't know how they would display them.  These modern "frame-less" frames are available at most craft stores for about $4 each and look great especially when you are hanging several panels in a set.  The clasp system could not be easier to use!

 

Check out the Map panels currently available for sale in my eBay store.

Today's draw


The card drawn earlier today was the 17 of spades! Yes, seventeen since there is now a card in the deck which instructs me to add ten to a card of each suit. This former seven of spades is now a seventeen and had me move to the N19/W21 panel. I am now moving right to left and top to bottom as I did until about a year ago when I switched to moving North, South, East or West depending on the suit drawn.

The card also instructed me to make a new 1/16 scale page, and I have done that. Then I added seventeen 1-inch square collage pieces emanating from the red-circled crosshairs near the upper right of the panel. The instruction to do a 1" paint band was ignored since the entire sheet has already been painted.

Back at work in my studio


I went to Edinburgh and London over New Year's with my wife, Meg Staley, our two sons, Henry and Lucky, and had a fabulous time! Hogmanay at Summerhall was a big treat thanks to all our new friends there.

I got back to Michigan on Tuesday but was stuck in Detroit overnight because of the winter storm and sub-zero temperatures. We drove back to the farm on Wednesday, and I got re-installed in my studio on Thursday. So, I am now back at work and in total bliss.

I am going to attempt in 2014 to post to this blog more often than in the past, but I am always torn between working on the Map and doing the peripheral things.

We'll see.......

Meantime, Happy New Year! And check out the new Ebay listings!

Progress


We have been told that the Map will be delivered to Summerhall sometime this morning. Teams of installers will be ready! I have estimated that it will take three days to complete the mounting. So, we should be finished by the time of the opening reception from 7 to 9PM on Friday.

Come on down! The show runs from  Dec 7 to Jan 24. I'll post a link to their website. Hope to see you!

Waiting....



I have been in Edinburgh for a week now waiting for the arrival of those four Saran-wrapped wine boxes containing the Map. We haven't been able to figure out exactly where they are right now but have been told by the shipper that they were due to arrive tomorrow, December 1.

In the meantime the gallery, shown above, sits empty. By the opening on Friday it should be covered, walls and floor, with my work. In the photo you can see one of the sheets of Plexiglas which will be on top of that part of the Map which will be mounted on the floor. Visitors will be able to walk from Southport to Jackson!

More on Edinburgh


Paul Robertson, the Curator at Summerhall in Edinburgh, and I, with the help of Holly and David, are madly trying to arrange for the shipping of the 3011 panels which currently constitute the Map. The show is scheduled to open on December 6, but the details of getting the monster over there are proving to be more complicated than anticipated. We'll keep you informed.

In the meantime David and I have copied about 400 panels which will give me something to work on while the originals are on exhibit.

Chris Miller and his brother Nick were here from Nashville and Charleston, WV, respectively. They interviewed me with the idea of writing something about the Map. It remains to be seen what direction their work will take.

The Brattleboro Show!


Rows N1 through S7, complete from West to East,  now adorn four walls of Brattleboro Museum and Art Center's East Gallery and will be open to the public this Friday, November 1. The show will be up until March, 2014, and I hope that many of you will get to see it.

If you come to the opening reception on Friday please be sure to introduce yourself! I look forward to meeting you.

Meanwhile plans are almost complete for a show in Edinburgh in December and January. I'll give you more info early in November.

Stay tuned!

Another request



I need your help once again. I will be traveling in a couple of weeks to help mount the show in Brattleboro, and I am in talks with a European museum to do a show there very soon. While the museums pay me a stipend to help defray my expenses their money only goes part way in meeting the costs.

SO.......I need to raise money by selling more prints and panels on Ebay. Kickstarting without Kickstarter you might say. You send money, and I send you part of my Map. Prices start, at the moment, as low as $3.20 and go as high as $300 plus for an original first generation panel. Click on the link at right and take a look!

Thanks!

Another New Void Incursion!



A new Void has appeared in the city of Fields West this morning (map year 1086).

This largely unprotected city of over 700,000 souls saw the relocation of an estimated 15,700 individuals to the alternative dimensions inside the Void.  This portion of historic old town will be greatly missed by the remaining residents.

ArtPrize 2013


Yesterday I went to Grand Rapids to start the Map installation for ArtPrize 2013. I had reserved three days to complete the work, but I had so much help that we finished the 231-panel mounting in about four hours! Thanks to my helpers: Jim, Bob, Rick, Debbie, and Dylan!

I hope that any of you within reach of Grand Rapids will come to this event. Over 1500 artists are showing in 162 venues. The whole town buzzes with art, artists, art lovers, and art talk. It opens officially on Sept 18 and runs to October 6.

I'll be there opening night and for one visit yet to be determined. I'll be sure to let you know the details. My installation is at the Women's City Club, 254 East Fulton Street. More details at: http://www.artprize.org/jerry-gretzinger/2013/jerrys-map

The reddit AMA


I never like seeing myself in a photo, but I know that reddit needs proof that I am who I am, so......

Thanks to friend, Mark, who is here visiting for taking the picture.

My son, Lucky, will help me do a reddit AMA tonight at 7PM EST. I hope to "see" a lot of you there and be able to clear up some myths about me and this work.

Thanks for tuning in!