So far, for me, 2024 is establishing itself as The Year of Art Opportunities. In this article I'll briefly recap art events that I've been a part of spanning from January 2024 to March 2024.
Art Opportunities So Far...
On January 1st I was selected to be the first "phygital" Artist in Resident for the Tead One AiR program at Fishnet Studios in Dearborn. I was granted temporary ownership of the resident studio for 3 months to create pretty much anything my heart desired. At the time of writing this article I'm entering March, my last month as a resident. So far this opportunity has lead to an exhibition and the creation of new glitch art goodness. I'll go into much more detail about my residency in a separate article.
'Glitch Girl' an AR reactive painting by Craig Blackmoore aka Prsn23
Sharing Spaces Through Art: Dearborn Artist Collectives
After receiving the keys to the Tead One studio I was informed that I would be included in an exhibition highlighting Dearborn Artists at the end of the month. That exhibition is slated to be held at Padzieski Gallery. This was exciting news and the perfect opportunity for me to show he city what I can do in 30 days, so I began working on the AR reactive painting 'Glitch Girl'.
The exhibition turned out nice. There were a lot of talented artists included, a good amount of patrons at the opening, and even a few local government officials showed up for support. Glitch Girl received a lot of great reviews and reactions.
Padzieski Gallery is a great venue located in Dearborn, MI inside the Ford Community & Performance Arts Center. It's a non profit gallery space so every purchase goes directly towards supporting artists and programs for artists.
Recap Footage of Sharing Spaces Through Art exhibition
Dirty Show 24
Every year in Detroit there's one event that I always look forward to. That event is The Dirty Show, a large erotic art exhibition that takes place at the Russel Industrial Center. This show features erotic artworks by artists from all over the globe and live burlesque performances by award winning performers. There's even a theater room that displays erotic art films and various stages to highlight pole dancers, strippers, and drag performers. There's live body painting, shibari demonstrations, and even a place to get your ass spanked. The turnout to this show is mind blowing and almost all of the art sells. I'm not kidding, I've never been to an art show where almost every piece has a 'sold' sticker on the tag. Most of what I have in this show ends up sold. Nude and erotic art seems to be a pretty hot commodity.
This year I had a painting called 'Tied in Blue' featured and sold in the show along with a variety of sticker packs and art prints. Tied in Blue is the mate to a painting that was not featured in the show called Tied in Red. Both are paintings of portraits of girls tied in shibari rope. It's acrylic paint on top of a canvas covered in vintage porn classified ads. The creation process of these pieces was pretty fun. I remember reading the weird classifieds in magazines as a kid so exploring vintage classified was a weirdly nostalgic trip.
Recap Footage of The Dirty Show 24 featuring my art and a few of my favorite works that were on display
Dirty Show After Party at Noir Leather
After the Dirty Show wrapped up it's last night, the freaks came out to Noir Leather to play all night. Noir Leather is a legendary fetish shop located in Royal Oak, MI and ever since the new management took over they've been throwing absolute bangers. So far I've been a featured artist in their Art Walk 2023 event, a live painter at their 40th Anniversary and Christmas Party, and most recently a live painter at their Dirty Show After Party. Every event brings out great people who are familiar with the fet life and those who are curious about how the freaks like to party. You never know what you'll experience at a Noir Leather party. This event had great pole dancers, a bed in the middle of the room that was definitely utilized by partying patrons, free booze, and a deep throat contest featuring a giant black dildo and a platoon of contestants.
A dark recap video of the event at Noir Leather
Spaceship Earth Presents: Cosmic Ceremony
The most recent event took place at Tangent Gallery in Detroit, one of my favorite venues. This event was thrown by musician Spaceship Earth and featured a host of artists, creative vendors, and a unique lineup of musicians and audio therapists. The event began with meditative sound healing and a movement exercise. The stage was illuminated in a magical way and featured a small alter section containing new age artifacts and plants. The crowd was eclectic and contained people from all over the state. I was featured as a live painter and had a small collection of prints, stickers, jewelry, and mini sculptures available. Overall the event was a lot of fun, quite inspiring, and a great way to creatively start the month of March.
A brief recap of the Cosmic Ceremony
And the Beat Goes On...
The first 3 months of the year have, so far, been great and full of creative opportunities. There's much more to come and plenty to be excited about. In April the city of Dearborn will be celebrating Art Month so there will be celebrations, exhibitions, and events happening all over the city every week. I plan on having some visual goodies present at the Arty Party event taking place April 6th at the Ford Community & Performance Arts building. I plan on teaching a few workshops at the Padzieski Gallery too. Follow me on Instagram to stay updated on future events and creative happenings that I'm a part of.