Web Updates Coming!

A detail of Ami Tallman's mural that was located at 7065 Lexington, Los Angeles

A tiny picture of the quite large Hammer Projects book.

Over the coming weeks, my webmaster, Zachry Horn, will be adding text descriptions to the various galleries on this site. You'll be able to read a few sentences about what you're looking at instead of simply wading through 15 years worth of images! Dates will be added to the galleries to provide a sense of when various projects were completed, and in what order different bodies of work were made.

Circus Gallery no longer exists. Even Ami Tallman's beautiful mural, for which she received a Durfee ARC Grant, has been painted over. The Masons have started a gallery called Affinity that operates in the erstwhile Circus building, while Circus' esteemed Director, John Knuth, is now the LA Director of Country Club Projects.

In October, will begin showing with an energetic young gallery that just moved from San Diego to Bergamot Station, Luis De Jesus. (luisdejesus.com)

I'd also like to mention my inclusion in the beautifully published book Hammer Projects 1999-2009. It's an impressive, slip cased, volume that I'm extremely proud to be a part of. If you didn't get a copy of Amy Gerstler's exceptional essay when the show was up, it's reprinted here.

Budget Decadence on 2nd Canons Publications

Finally! Some images from my new book on 2nd Cannons Publications. I've loaded the cover, some of the artwork that divides the chapters in the book and some of the borders that contain the text of the story. There is a chapter of the text in the 'writings' section of the website.

From the publisher (2ndcannons.com):

Budget Decadence Christopher Russell's small-novel, Budget Decadence, uses a non-event-based style of fiction to explore commodity as an aspect of Middle American psychology. The book looks back to the J.K. Huysmans novel, A Rebours, and unfolds the deep psychological malaise of the nuclear family based on the various characters' understanding of, and interaction with, the curated collection of common objects that comprise each character's identity. Russell uses the text from his recent solo exhibition at The Hammer Museum. He mixes his writing and photographs with collages of engravings that comprise a devotional book, an ode to the dark and self destructive fantasies of Middle America. The deluxe edition of Budget Decadence includes an archival inkjet print entitled Decorate Your Room Kit, an 8x10" photograph of an empty room with detachable instructions for defacing/co-authoring the work. Signed/numbered edition of 10.-Deluxe edition soldout

2nd Cannons Publications 021 2009, 1st printing, edition of 500. 8.5 x 5.5" 84 pages $18.00

South by South West Festival

I've been very slow to add updates to my site, but wanted to share this. I'm a part of Shamim Momin's project for the South by South West Festival. I am particularly excited to be showing with some of my favorite artists: Sue de Beer, Matt Greene, Anna Sew Hoy, Sterling Ruby and Adam Putnam of the legendary Into the Abyss 'zine.

Sam Freeman Gallery Images

This one is an installation shot. The wallpaper eventually filled in that wall, and the bright packing materials through the doorway became an elegant installation of Masami Teraoka's work from the 80's. A remarkable exhibition.

Sam Freeman Gallery Show

I have been away from home for almost three months, so I've not been very attentive to blogging. My last show went up entirely without me. The installation was designed by my good friend, the curator and frequent collaborator Darin Klein. Tim Butler did his usual fantastic job installing my wallpaper and Sam Freeman and his assistant Katrina Mohn kept everything rolling along. Sam and Katrina were also kind enough to host the launch of my third book: Budget Decadence. Sam ordered his own stock of the book, so if you're out near Santa Monica and are looking for something to read stop by and pick up a copy. (They will soon be available in the usual 2nd Cannons locations.)

There is a limited edition of the book which includes a print. It's called "Decorate Your Own Room" and is an 8x10 image of an empty domestic interior with detachable suggestions for how one might choose to decorate the room. There are only three remaining as of this writing, and they are available through 2nd Cannons for $75. (this is about 90% less than a comparable edition would cost at, so a good opportunity for art on a budget.)

A Short Documentary About My Work

This video was made by a local documentarian, Steve Coiffi. Steve has worked in Hollywood, most notably on the TV series ALF (which I loved as a boy!) He started making videos of LA performance art in the 90's, and has archived some of the most important moments of that discipline during the time period. Steve is currently creating a series of short documentaries of LA based artists in association with Artillery Magazine. He followed me through three separate shows and interviewed me with my gallerist, John Knuth. My dogs, Edgar and Clara also feature prominently!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThZBfAYkV88

A continuation of the previous post. More images!