Here’s the other fabulous news!… In an effort to get my gART on to the walls of more of my friends and fans, I am going to be selling atleast 90% of this collection of w3rks and they are all going to be priced to sell.  And I mean seriously priced to sell.  It’s just a guesstimate but I’m going to try and keep all prices $100 or less and some of the smaller paintings may be as low as $20!! So for those of you who’ve always wanted a killer piece of gARTw3rk but never thought you could afford it.  THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR LUCKY DAY.. in a 1 – 3 weeks that is.  I doubt that they’ll be a sale of gARTw3rks of this magnitude again anytime soon, if ever.  So just as soon as the entire series of 15 – 25 w3rks are all completed.  They’ll be going up onto a webpage with prices lower than sin.  Keep yer radars on, and I’ll let cha’s know just as soon as tis all ready.  First come first serve, and even though all the paintings prices will be low, it all will be negotiable even.  These paintings want/need to be on all of your walls.

Below are some photo’s to show you’s how things are looking so far, please keep in mind that none of these are 100% finished, but some are close enough to give you all the idea what the w3rk is looking like so far.  Also you can click on this link to view all 20 something images on my flickr account.  Note: All of these photos were taken in this morning’s Sunlight in my studio ala 1/27/2011.  After a very long night drafting, mixing, pontificating, and slinging’ some coloured pigment like skimboarder’s on mushrooms.

Thanks to the Apartment E crew, Taste Art, and especially Nyahzul..
I/Gar BaiLey am gonna be showcasing somewhere between like 15 – 25 of my newest, most spectacular paintings this November. The w3rk will be up for almost a month from November 13th – December 8th, 2009 at TASTE in College Park, FL. -It’s just outside of downtown Orlando. This particular show is entitled: “Creature Of Habit“.

*There will be an opening night party on Nov. 13th from 7 – 9PM. Taste is not only a music venue, an art gallery, & a fully stocked bar, but it’s also a quality Tapas restaurant for those looking to get their grub on.

eYe will definitely be on hand during the opening night festivities to mingle, celebrate, take photos, answer any questions about the w3rk, & I’ll also be DJing some of my favorite music to further enhance the visual impact of my paintings. So if you’re interested in my w3rk at all, and can make it out to see some of my more recent paintings in the “FLESH“, then please don’t miss this opening of my first art show back in Orlando in a quite a few years.

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Opening Night Information:
When: Friday evening | November 13th, 2009
Time: 7 – 9PM
Where: TASTE in Orlando/College Park
Address: 717 West Smith Street, Orlando, Florida 32804
Phone: 407-835-0646
Cost: Free

Be there or be square.

Wanna have a peek for yourself?
-> Gar Bailey in the “Art & Style” section of Allegory Weekly

The 3rd week of May, 2009.

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Gar Lives Exclusive!:
*Click here to read the original interview in it’s entirety.

-and how involved in the business aspect do you like to get?
I’d rather just make the art, because I feel that’s what I’m best at, and what I enjoy doing the most in life. At this point in my career though, it’s really just up to me, my wife, and to a few individuals who are helping to promote my visual artw3rk. Up to this point in time, I have had more assistance selling and promoting my auditory w3rks than my visual exploits. Mostly through Polyvibe Records, as well as through another associates company called Xentek, who’s really helped empower me to sell my own w3rks. Xentek also hosts my 3 main websites, and is helping me set up my own company as we speak. I’m hopin’ to have that up and running this Summer/Fall, and will start officially offering up items for sale very soon. -Everything from paintings, prints, shirts, stickers, pins and anything else that we can print on to. Of course my new record label’s website will be offering CDs, DVDs, MP3s and other musically related merchandise for sale very soon as well. All this is long over due and many years in the making, but when you’re going DIY, it’s key to stay patient yet diligent.

2. Have social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook been instrumental in your marketing? If yes, then how?
It all adds up and helps. -So, yes. I’ve made contact with countless publications, labels, venues, and fans through the aforementioned social networking sites, but have yet to have much of it translate into any solid financial gains.

3. What’s your favorite artistic medium?
Assemblage. Though I’ve made many more paintings over the years, and more recently musical recordings. I’ve always had a real love affair with the act & result of assembling collages and sculptures with societal detritus and meaningful personal items that I collect and manage to accumulate. Using actual objects from my life as ingredients in the w3rk, just seems to add an extra ounce of intrinsic value to the art and ends up making it feel that much more personal to me. However, I do thoroughly enjoy having multiple mediums of self expression to explore and would find it hard to w3rk in just one medium all the time. Even assemblage.

4. What’s the local art and music scene like where you’re from?
Non-existent. Which is probably much of the reason for my anonymity from the majority of the art world. I live in a tiny Central Florida town called NoSteen.. er excuse me – Osteen. It’s a small, rural community about halfway between Daytona and Orlando, so there are a few opportunities in those places, but not as many as one might imagine for cities of their size and location. My wife grew up in Osteen and we moved back here from Orlando about 10 years ago to help her father get along after her Mother passed away, and then we eventually have ended up caring for him full time. -As he’s elderly and has Alzheimer’s disease. There are some upsides to living in the woods, compared to the suburbs down the road. There’s much more space, it’s relatively inexpensive, and it’s mega private. Also my wife and I have become homeowners in the process and will have “some” financial leverage in the future. Should we decide to relocate somewhere with a better art market.

5. I see that you’re not only a visual artist, but you also have your hand in other things like the recording industry. How did Gar, the mogul come about?
There’s quote from Picasso that I’ve always subscribed to, and which can probably answer this question. It goes something like: “I am always doing that which I do not know how to do, in order that I may learn how to do it”. There you have it.

6. Who are other people in your field (or other professions) who have influenced you?
There are so damn many…. I’ll give it a shot though -

Painters: Don Van Vliet, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Roberto Matta, Joan Miro, Matthew Ritchie, Banksy, Jim Dine, Francis Picabia, Franz Kline, Nicolas de Staël, Keith Haring, Chuck Close, Glenn Brown, Kenneth Noland, Cy Twombly, Yves Tanguy, Barnett Newman, Willem de Kooning, Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, Daas, Michael Blair Scott, Brice Stephens, and Brett Hamil

Sculptors, Assemblers, & Conceptualists: Tim Hawkinson, Jean Dubuffet, Ray Johnson, Andy Goldsworthy, Robert Rauschenberg, Kurt Schwitters, Alexander Calder, Paul McCarthy, Bas Jan Ader, Chris Burden, Tristan Tzara, Marcel Duchamp, Martin Kippenberger, Matthew Barney, Tobias Stretch, Damien Hirst, Isamo Noguchi, Cai Guo-Qiang, Richard Serra, Christo, Andy Warhol, & Andy Kaufman

Film Makers & Video Artists: Len Lye, Chris Cunningham, and Stan Brakhage are the 3 biggest in this category for me. Joel and Ethan Cohen, John Waters, Gus Van Sant, David Lynch, Tim Burton, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, David Fincher, Larry Clark, Woody Allen, Wim Wenders, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Guy Ritchie, Clint Eastwood, Ang Lee, among others..

Musicians: (In this category I’m only listing artists that I know personally or have played shows with. For further info: See the link in question #9 below)
A_Scissors, Dr.XnLb, Drone Operator, R_Garcia, Plusses & Ups, Dino Felipe, Machine Drum, Otto Von Shirach, The Rules, Mic Mell, Kalx, Oddknock, Adrian Taylor, Tel Aviv Bats, AttachedHands, Sigh Rodgers, Joel Caldwell, Mr. Whitefolk, Mr. Antonym, and Yip-Yip

7. What’s one thing about your profession that you were surprised to learn about once you began your work?
Well this was something I learned after I’d been working for a few years, but it’s really blown me away how completely close-minded many artists can really be. I suppose that from the outset and as an artist myself, that one wants to believe other artists are people, who by their very nature, should be some of the most open-minded and compassionate beings on planet Earth. Sadly I come to know otherwise over the years. After meeting hundreds, if not thousands of artists from all over Florida to NY to Seattle, WA to Vermont and many places in between. -That artists in general, are some of the most obstinate, narcissistic, close-minded, know-it-all bastards there are. I think this is possibly because art by it’s very nature of constant self-exploration and self-examination leads to.. you guessed it: “Self-absorption”. -Which if used incorrectly can lead to narcissism, smugness, stagnation, and eventually exclusion and divisiveness. Hate to generalize, but just keepin’ it real for my interview and for the readers. On the flipside of that realization, the few artists who manage to stay humble and truly “open” in their lives.. ARE some the most compassionate, beautiful people you will ever meet. -There are a few of’em out there.

8. What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given and who gave it to you?
“Don’t be afraid to make your dark’s DARK and your light’s LIGHT.” Advice from Kaile Adney. A former artist, a gifted student, and one of my high school girlfriends from way back when I was just starting to get real serious about making art. It’s a mini-lesson about the importance of contrast. A theme in my w3rk and life that has served me well and still holds resonance today. I believe many of the most powerful analogies and truisms from art are just as applicable to life and business as they are to art.

9. What kind of music do you listen to, and who are some of your favorite recording artists?
I am Mainly interested the genres and sub-genres of & pertaining to: Rock and Electronic musics. I’m moderately interested in: Pop, Hip-hop, and Jazz. I am NOT interested in: New Country, Classical, or Hippie Jam Bands.

I’ve got many more “favorite” bands than I could list here, but if you’d like to take a more in depth look at some listings of what and whom those artists are, go to: www.garlives.com/about and check out the links to my “alGARhythm” project and to my “Gar BaiLey” myspace pages. There are also links to my LastFM pages, which display my regular listening habits and have actual radio widgets. *Which you can play and physically listen to quite easily. -Quadruple Yay!

10. From where do you find inspiration for the [visual] art you create?
From the universal laws of nature, science, and philosophy. From Irony. Tragedy. Triumph. Defeat. From other human beings who’ve inspired and confounded me. From spirit molecules. From within the intangible places inside my own being which I could not understand or comprehend but through the transmogrifying journeys of self-expression, exploration, and transformation.

11. What does Gar Bailey like to do for fun? To relax?
Listening to music is the bee’s knees. I like to watch films (with my wife especially). I used to skateboard a lot until injuries started taking their toll on the body. Traveling is fun, with the exception of the whole “flying” part. Going to galleries and museums can be a fun. Good sex is relaxing and can be one of thee best natural stress relievers. -So having and creating orgasms. I’m a huge fan of nature by way of hiking, biking, or even driving if there are the right roads.. I love going to the mountains, old growth forests, and going places with water. -Lakes, rivers, ponds, waterfalls, seas, and the ocean. I also like making mix CDs for my friends and family and have probably made about 100 or more in my lifetime. Going all the way back to the days when you had to do it on cassette tapes.

12. What has been the biggest career bummer you’ve faced thus far? Please give details if the answer involves a specific scenario.
Not having a career would probably be the biggest “career bummer” for me. Not being able to make a sustainable living at what I’m great at, what I love to do, and what I should be doing in this life on planet Earth is a major “bummer”. If the world had it’s way with me, I would have giving up making art a long time ago, and would be a full time construction worker right now. I fight every day of my life to keep that from happening.

13. In your own words, describe your music to me.
Take your pick of descriptions:
-> “Found sound audio collage amalgamations w/ performance art connotations. Continual cross pollination of mediums, builds an air of contagious electricity. A bountiful palette of knobz, boxes, switches, & signals are forged into a wall of profound sound. The Dada with drum machines aesthetic.”

-> “Primordial Circuit Machine Button Boxes, tickling Existential Futuristic Arm Tricks.”

-> “Avant-Garde Auditory Exploration for Creatures of Enlightened Habitats.”

-> “Organic Electronic Music made by a Neo-Dada, Maximalist Artist and Assembler of all things Original & Arrangeable. GaR BaiLey is a true Visionary of multiple mediums & his alGARhythm ProjeKt is the Pinnacle of LIVE Post-Punk Electronics. The Ghost of Rock is Now the Ghost in Gar’s Drum Machines.”

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www.allegorymagazine.com

So this is a painting I have been w3rking on for the past 2 weeks. At first I wasn’t so keen on it, but after w3rking it and then rew3rking it for a few sessions.. the painting did eventually begin to grow on me. Tis odd how sometimes the pieces of aRt that start out kinda crummy-looking can end up being some of my better artw3rk in the end. -The ol’ ugly duckling which grows into the swan scenario.

So do ya wanna see a little bit of ol’ Gar B. in action?.. well peep this video here and get a tiny peek into my w3rld of shamanic pigment combustion!

Iin other decent news: I’ve been feeling pretty inspired artistically, w3rking hard almost everyday, & doing some quality painting as of late. So keep yer eyes peeled and I’ll surely try to get some more stuff posted here for everybody to view and absorb.

Much LOve To All – Gar BaiLey

PS – Love and thanks to all the rest of my friends & family for your continued support in me and my w3rk. Without you all, I just don’t think much of life would be worth it.

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So those of you who know me well, may be aware that I haven’t exactly had the best run of luck in the past few months. Try as I may to stay positive and productive, it all sometimes feels like I can’t even win for losing. Well add another kick in the pants to my list of recent anguishes.

It starting to appear as though somebody may have stolen my new Canon Powershot A590is Digital Camera from me this past Saturday/ Feb. 21st.

Here’s what the camera looks like should you somehow come a crossed it:

My wife Dana saved all her extra tips for weeks just to get it for me on my last Birthday in November. This is/was my only camera and I use it for everything from photoing friends, family, and events to photoing my all my aRtw3rk for cataloging and for my websites. So don’t expect to see any photos of new aRtw3rk until the camera is returned (doubtful) or until I can save up enough money to replace it.

One of the worst parts of it was that the camera was taken right under my nose while I was taking my all the aRt down from the recent group show that I curated at Caffe daVinci’s in Deland, FL. (Which made not one sale by the way.)

Basically what happened was that I was using the camera to photo the artw3rk while taking it all down on feb 21st. The Caffe was closed, so there was a very small amount of traffic all afternoon. I really don’t want to think that someone would steal the camera, but last time I remembered it was sitting right by the cash register on the bar. A few other folks remember seeing it there as well. Around 3 – 4 o’clock I noticed it wasn’t there anymore, and myself and some caffe staff then looked everywhere we possible could inside daVinci’s and in the courtyard too.. all to no avail. I even drove back up today for one last look as did some more of the staff. So it’s pretty apparent that the camera didn’t grow legs and just walk off.. somebody must of pocketed it without much concern to whom they could be hurting.

I’ll be honest, it really ticks me off that I’m already giving my blood, sweat, tears, & life to a career that I seldom get paid for, and on top of it all I’ve then have people constantly trying to rob the little bit of things that I do have right out from under me. -And seemingly without much shame. I give my ALL to my friends, my art, my performances, and to Deland especially. So it just freakin’ tears me up to be repeatedly stolen from. This is not the first thing that’s been stolen from me in the past few years.

And guess what else?.. the 2 gig SD memory card in the stolen camera was loaded with hundreds of photos & video from my recent aRt show, and a party for a recent visit from and old friend Brett Hamil.

Though I am too broke right now to re-buy them, the camera and card are eventually replaceable… -However the actual images on the SD card not. I hope the person who stole my camera is reminded of the recorded memories he or she is robbing from me and family when they turn the camera on and/or try to use the memory card with their computer. Cuz there’s some great photography stored in in that digi-cam right now. I hope the image of my face and art are burned into their corrupted souls and thieving stone hearts. Unfortunately most thieves are nihilistic bastards who could care less who they harm with their crimes against their fellow man.

*Note to crooks: Try stealing shit from people who actually have some money.

Apologies for the novel/diatribe but I’m really hurting/reeling from yet another let down in my fellow humankind. I used to think there was more good in the world than evil, but I’m definitely starting to wonder if that is actually the case.

Let’s get to THE REWARD:
-Should someone return the camera to me or to davInci’s in the original condition w/ memory card and photos still inside.. No questions asked – I will happily give you a one-of-a-kind Gar Bailey original painting of at least 2 – 3 feet in width or height minimum. And you can count on that painting being worth some serious dough in the future.

Please Email me with any info at: algarhythm@gmail.com or just comment on this post.

Sincerely – Matthew Gar Bailey

Title: “Wildebeast”
Date: December 2004
Size: 15.5″ x 36″
Medium: Oil On Canvas

*Click on photo’s for a larger view.