art dawg

Suddenly I’m feeling more like a freelance location shooter than a graphic designer. Amazing how one’s major comes back to haunt you.

xenohomo called and asked if I’d pop by his gallery today to snap some photos of their space and some of their high end tchochkis for WHERE Magazine. It’s that magazine you find in Hotel Rooms which invariably winds up being the traveling man’s shitter guide to whichever city you find yourself in.

If it was a higher-end publication, I’d balk at Neel’s request citing that I don’t own the proper lighting packs, soft boxes and other gizmos to pull off an object shoot “proper”. But given the medium and intended audience – a big window on a sunny day and a bounce card will do the trick.

The gallery is smack dab in the urban shi-shi part of St. Louis which through the 60’s to 80’s was the playground of hippies, street roaming punk rockers and homosexuals. The area has since gone Yuppiefied-Chicken.

My favor is being returned by framing the commissioned Fujimoto family portrait Chad and Kevin gave me for my 30th birthday. I covet the drawing but have not gotten around to having it matted and framed for the past two years.

I snapped off the shots… We picked out a frame, matte, and technique for the Fujimoto. I had a conversation with the the gallery owner’s dog. (He hadn’t seen my groove-thang either – but thought I’d ask since dogs have extra senses us naked monkeys don’t).

Does this happen in other cities? It seems if you have an art gallery, you MUST have a dog.. (And consequently let it freely roam the space). It seems to be a requisite here which makes me suspect that people who open galleries don’t actually love art, they just want a job where they can bring their pet.

I suppose if we get a dog, I’d be obliged to lug him/her to the studio.

Hmm… Dog rhymes with Blog… I own neither.