Vikram's Blog - Vikram Madan - Artist & Author

[Bringing joy to the world since 2014]

Kent Centennial Gallery Show

11/19/2017

I am honored to be part of a 2-person show at the City of Kent Centennial Center Gallery, along with my friend and master pastel artist Barbara Noonan. The show runs through end-Dec 2017 and the gallery space is open M-F 8-5 located at 400 W Gowe St, Kent, WA 98032 .

Here is a fabulous video of the exhibition that aired on Kent TV recently (My interview starts around the 3:50 mark):

Art at Centennial - Barbara Noonan & Vikram Madan from Kent TV21 on Vimeo.

I have 16 original pieces in this show:

My 3rd Annual Holiday Show and Studio Open House

11/19/2017

You are invited to my 3rd Annual Holiday Show and Studio Open House, Dec 9 and 10 weekend at my Bellevue Art Studio.
This is a great opportunity to come and see the new original paintings I have created this year - as I do not usually take my originals to informal venues and art festivals, it's a rare chance to see a lot of my original work in one place.
I will also have the usual collection of prints, cards, and art gifts if you want to do some holiday shopping,. And if you come early enough you just might snag a discounted original or print!

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS; If using GOOGLE MAPS DONT USE THE STREET ADDRESS. Instead, search on Google Maps for EAC STUDIO or IRONWORKS GYM in Bellevue. The studios are located in the back of the IronWorks Gym building. Once you are in the vicinity of IronWorks Gym building, get to the Studio entrance by turning up NE 21st Pl and follow the road. See map image below.

Here are some photos from my 2016 Holiday Show so you can get an idea of what to expect. This year's art will be all different, featuring new paintings I created over 2017, including my magnum opus 'Forecast Says Rain'

12th BLAB! Show at Copro Gallery, Santa Monica CA

9/21/2017

I am thrilled to be a part of the 12th Annual BLAB! Show at the Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, CA.

In addition to being the first time I am exhibiting my art outside of Seattle, I am also honored to be part of a show featuring some of the biggest names in the Pop-Surrealist (a.k. Low Brow) Art Movement, including Joe Sorren, Travis Louie, Bill Carman, Glenn Barr, Martin Wittfooth, SHAG, and so many, many more!

Here are some pics from the show:

Many thanks to show curator Monte Beauchamp and Gallery Director Gary Pressman for including me in this prestigious - and all around fantastic - annual show.

Solo Exhibition: Seattle Mayor's Gallery

8/24/2017

I am very honored to have been selected for a solo exhibition at the Seattle Mayor's Gallery in the Seattle Town Hall Building, Third Floor, next to the Mayor's Offices. The show will be up through end of November.

And then, one day, when a new Mayor was sworn in, my art showed up on the local news. That's one way to get your art on TV :)

On a Whim - Summer Art Exhibition at Mercer Island Gallery

7/24/2017

I am delighted to be part of a 3-person exhibition at the City of Mercer Island Gallery, located in the Mercer Island Community Center. This exhibition features over 30 of my original pieces, including the recent large painting 'Forecast Says Rain'. The venue is open 7 days a week with extended hours most days. Hope you can get to see it. Opening reception is on Tuesday Aug 1st from 6:30-8 pm.

Forecast Says Rain

6/7/2017

A large 4' x 5' painting I recently completed - so large, and so detailed, it took me 3 months to paint!

'Forecast Says Rain' - 4' x 5', Acrylic on Canvas, 2017

Click on the individual panels below to see more details

Sorta Timelapse:

Obligatory Selfie

Art for Wine Lovers - Part 2

6/3/2017

Some more recent additions to my 'Wine Series' of paintings for Wine Lovers

"Extra-Chilled Wine" Oil on Panel, 8"x8"

"Emergency Wine Fix" Oil on Panel, 8"x8"

"Keep Calm and Drink (More) Wine" Oil on Panel, 8"x8"

Make a painting in 4 easy steps!

#UrbanSketching - Reykjavik

3/12/2017

I took my sketchbook with me to Reykjavik (Iceland) recently. Here are some 'Urban Sketches':

'An Utterance Ineffable' - Solo Show

1/18/2017

I am honored to have a 3-Month long Solo Art Show at the City of Seattle's Ethnic Heritage Gallery.

For this show I have created an all-new body of work comprising of 15 'intercultural' paintings that stylistically meld contemporary American Pop Surrealism, classical European Tradition and East-Indian Narrative Expressionism, while inviting philosophical contemplation of hope and the human condition.

Location: Ethnic Heritage Gallery, THIRD Floor (Arcade Level), Seattle Municipal Tower, 5th and Columbia, Downtown Seattle.
Show runs Jan 17 - April 10. Gallery is open Monday thru Friday 8-6.

Many thanks to the team of Seattle City Employees who helped make this possible: Marta Idowu, Bradley Wilburn, Deborah Paine, and Blake Haygood, Y'all rock! :)

A few photos:

Here's a video of me talking about the show, courtesy of Seattle's Office of Arts and Culture:
https://www.facebook.com/SeattleArts/videos/10155297851607780/

And here are images of the 15 paintings. They look even better in person:

All paintings are 20"x20", Acrylic on Canvas, 2016 or 2017 and will be available for purchase after the show.
Current price: $795+tax (each). If there is one you want, send me a note and I will put you on the waiting list for that particular painting.

Bonus Trivia:
- I created this new body of work over a period of only 10 weeks. It was a slog, yes!
- The titles of all of these paintings derive from lines of poetry penned by Rabindranath Tagore, the Winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature (and the first non-European to win the Literature Nobel).
- If you know M. F. Hussain's work, can you spot the influence? :)

2nd Annual Holiday Studio Show and Sale

12/7/2016

You are invited to my SECOND Annual Holiday Show (and sale) at my studio in Bellevue, WA on Saturday Dec 10, 2016, open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m - drop in anytime.

As I rarely show my original paintings outside of formal gallery shows, this will be a great opportunity to come see many of my original works, including some all new works never shown publicly before, as well as - if inclined - do some holiday shopping of originals, prints and reproductions. Copies of my four books will also be available, or if you already own a copy - bring it and have it signed!

If you are on FaceBook, you can subscribe to the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1820351744845690/

DIRECTIONS:
My Studio is in the Eastside Artist Collaborative Building at 12650 Northup Way Suite 201 Bellevue WA 98005.

Click here to get Google Maps Directions to the Studio Building. Parking is free. You can park in any open spot at the building or along the street.

VERY IMPORTANT: The Studio is on the back side of the 12650 building and cannot be reached from Northup Way. After getting directions from Google (or your GPS), you need to additionally make your way and turn onto NE 21st PL and then follow the road to the second-last building on the left:

"Moons" - Down on the Corner

10/21/2016

Down by the corner, over by the pool:

And that my friend, is my own creation staring back at me from the corner of Front St. and Grant (near the entrance of the Julius Boehm pool) in Issaquah Washington. It's a Utility Box Wrap, based on my painting "Night of the Mystic Moons", licensed by the City of Issaquah as a temporary public art installation.

Just for reference, here is the original Oil painting;

Art for Wine Lovers - Part 1

9/28/2016

Following upon the success of my Coffee-themed series of paintings, I am commencing on a series of whimsical paintings for Wine Lovers. Here are the first ten:

"Drinking Buddies"

"Extra-Bubbly Wine"

I HEART Wine [Sold!]

Wine Zombies!

The Wine Zombie

The Wine Whisperer

What do you mean there's NO MORE WINE ?!?

A Perfect Pairing

sWINE

Oenophilius Rex (Wine-Loving Dinosaur)

Here's what these paintings look like framed, floating on a black mat in a 15" x 15" black frame that really brings out the colors:

The above paintings are currently priced at $275 framed (less if you want to do your own framing). Also available as 8" x 10" paper prints and as 8" x 8" Limited Edition Metal Prints ($75).

Here's a timelapse video of the painting of Drinking Buddies (see prior blog posts for more time-lapse videos):

Seattle Art Interruptions 2016 - Mini Murals

9/27/2016

Art Interruptions is an annual public-art program, run by the City of Seattle's Office of Arts and Culture, for purposes of vitalizing selected Seattle neighborhoods with temporary Art Installations that create discovery and surprise.

I had the good fortune to be one of 7 artists selected in 2016 to activate the Rainier Valley East-West Neighborhood Greenway, which is a pedestrian path that runs through a neighborhood, connecting parks at each end.

"Art Interruptions, an annual temporary art program created by the Office of Arts & Culture in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation, will offer ephemeral moments of surprise and reflection in the Rainer Valley East-West Neighborhood Greenway. This area includes: New Holly, Othello, Brighton, Lakewood and Seward Park. Beginning September, seven temporary installations on view in the greenway from through January 2, 2017, will inspire and enliven the route with an element of the unexpected. Art Interruptions is funded by Seattle Department of Transportation 1% for Art funds."

My contribution to this project is a series of mini-murals tucked away behind street signs. When approached from one side, these look like ordinary signs, but peek behind them, and here's what you'll find:

Was that fun? Yes it was! :)

How did this project come about?

The City of Seattle maintains (and periodically updates) artist rosters, and when opportunities like these come around, artists can apply to the projects with specific proposals. (In business jargon, it's an 'RFP'). The proposals are reviewed by an panel of jurors comprising of citizens, artists, and city officials, and artists are selected based on the match between the proposal and the site/audience requirements.

My original proposal for this project was to traverse the neighborhood and create surprise/discovery by painting whimsical little vignettes on various surfaces (corners, sidewalks, rocks, poles, utility boxes) etc. The panel loved the idea, and I was selected as a project artist, only to discover that actual painting on public and private surfaces was a no-no (too permanent, invites graffiti, has site permission issues, etc).

Lots of neighborhood visits and hundreds of photos of prospective sites.

After much discussion, we concluded I should create temporary art primarily on Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)-controlled surfaces - in this case neighborhood street signs. (And only particular kinds of signs that would not distract from pedestrian or traffic safety - e.g. no Stop signs, or School Crosswalk signs).

The process involved:
* Identifying the most appropriate signs
* Finding a way to exactly measure the signs
* Creating designs that, as far as possible, took advantage of sign location, shape, or other attributes
* Finding a way to economically create 20+ designs
* Finding a medium on which to render the designs so they could be temporarily attached and eventually removed
* Overseeing the fabrication
* Painstakingly trimming each design to fit it's intended site (ever notice those rounded corners on street signs?)
* Finally, site installation - every one of these signs is 10 feet high!

Here are some process photos:

Sketchbook Page: Various possible signs and their measurements

Visualizing the sites on a Maps (for planning and communication)

Sketchbook Pages showing attempts to find the right design for each site

A peek inside my design spreadsheet. Yes ARTISTS USE SPREADSHEETS TOO!!!

For this project, I realized I would have to design everything digitally. (If I painted with real paints, I would have to scan the paintings before they could be printed on adhesive vinyl. By painting digitally, I could skip the scanning step altogether and save lots of time in the process). The above images show two designs in progress, hand-drawn on a computer. (The one on the left is Escher-inspired - Escher makes it look easy, but, trust me, repeating patterns are HARD!). Even with digital designs (hooray for UNDO), I did twenty designs taking about 4-6 hours each (=80-120 hours), meaning I was sitting in front of a computer for almost 3 full 40-hour work weeks. (Don't let anyone tell you artists don't work hard! :) ).

An in-progress view of my computer folder

The designs, printed out on Removable Adhesive Vinyl.

Finally, many months later, it's INSTALLATION DAY!

But first the City had to issue an Installation and De-installation permit, to make it official.

Giving up the Corporate Ladder to climb the Artist Ladder? PRICELESS!!!

Of all the designs, this one is my favorite (because it's the one most optimized for this off-kilter sign-combination). Hard to imagine what it looked like before.

This one gave me the most trouble! Honestly, you haven't lived, till you're perched 10 feet high on a ladder, holding a large sheet of sticky vinyl, while the WIND IS BLOWING HARD. This was the largest piece and it kept sticking to itself and to the sign in odd ways due to the wind. I had to rip it off and put it back on many, many times. Took almost 2 hours. (Notice all those uneven areas? Now you know why)

Overall, this was an intense, but fun project. The art will be up Sept - end Dec 2016 so go see it anytime. More details on the City Website.

Many thanks to the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and the Seattle Department of Transportation 1% for Art Funds for making this project happen.

Click below to see more details.

If you made it this far, maybe you'd like to get a copy of this special Dragon print based on one of the Mini-Mural designs...?

"Ombrophobia (Fear of Rain)"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/466524174/ombrophobia-fear-of-rain-fun-dragon

Available in 3 different ready-to-frame sizes.

This photo courtesy Mark Woods, reproduced with permission.

Time-lapse Painting Video: "I Heart Wine"

8/19/2016

Here's a time-lapse painting video of an 8"x8" oil painting:

Time-lapse Art Videos

6/23/2016

Some time=lapse videos showing behind-the-scenes art-making:

Anubis-Bot: Ink Drawing on Papyrus Paper

sWine: Oil Painting on Ampersand Gessobord Panel

Elly: Inking outlines on a Watercolor on Paper, using a Pentel Brush Pen

The Imp-Master's Disciple: Acrylic Painting on Canvas

Dino-Riders: Inking on a Watercolor on Paper