Boo! (Singer with Skull)

T. Renner, "Singer with Skull," 1998, photograph, 7" x 5".

Pogo-Copter

T. Renner, "Pogo-Copter," 2007, acrylic and collage on paper, 10" x 8".

All I did was cut some funny images out of an old issue of Popular Mechanics, paste them down on a painted background and throw a frame around 'em.

Still, it makes me smile, and folks who've seen it seem to like it.

I've got a few 6" x 4" postcards of "Pogo-Copter" and I'd be glad to send you one if you'll send your mailing address to tony (dot) renner @ yahoo (dot) com.

Jack Ruby: 'No one’s going anywhere but down again today'

T. Renner, "Jack Ruby: 'No one’s going anywhere but down again today,'" 2010, woodblock print on paper, 9" x 12".

This year Poetry Scores is scoring "Jack Ruby's America" by David Clewell and this print will be my contribution to the upcoming fund-raising auction.

Poetry Scores reports:

Poetry Scores will host an Art Invitational to "Jack Ruby's America" by Missouri poet laureate David Clewell on Friday, Nov. 12 at Mad Art Gallery (2727 So. 12th St. in Soulard). Some 50 visual artists are making work in response to Clewell's poem. All work will be on sale on silent auction and will go home with buyers that night.

The silent art auction will start promptly at 7 p.m., and we will start to close bids at 9 p.m. The cash bar and delicious food catered by John Eiler should occupy us until 10 p.m. All proceeds from art sales will be divided evenly between artist, venue, and Poetry Scores - an arts organization devoted to translating poetry into other media.

The Friday, Nov. 12 Art Invitational also is the occasion for the release of our new poetry score to "Jack Ruby's America," featuring music by Yid Vicious (Madison, WI), Another Umbrella (San Pedro, CA), Kennebunkport Jazz Workshop (Nashville, TN), and Frank Heyer (St. Louis, MO).

The CD costs $10. There is no admission to the event. Opening bids start low at Poetry Scores art invitationals - often $50 or lower - and for work by some of our most beloved local artists. (See list, below.)

Each piece of art that responds to “Jack Ruby's America” will be named by the artist after a verbatim scrap of language from the poem. The work will be displayed and positioned around the gallery space, according to where in the poem the language chosen for the title of the artwork appears. So, in a sense, it is the poem itself that hangs the show.

We expect a mix of types of work you can hang on the wall - paintings, drawings, photographs, mixed media. Every year Eric Woods of Firecracker Press letter-presses bookmarks with a quote from the poem live at the event. Robert van Dillen makes a poem-inspired hat every year.

As a special treat this year, we will display and auction off the sexy outfit Becky Simmons made for Lola van Ella to wear (and take off) in her jazz burlesque of “Jack Ruby's America” performed earlier this year with the poet and the Dave Stone trio. We will auction off the outfit as worn by Lola (and not since laundered), all the way down to the gold star pasties!

For information, email Poetry Scores creative director Chris King at brodog@hotmail.com. Poetry Scores is a 501(c)3 nonprofit Missouri corporation.

Confirmed for the Nov. 12 show:

Gena Brady Allen
Gina Alvarez
Andrea Avery
Jay Babcock
Michael Behle
Kevin Belford
Keith Buchholz
Ron Buechele
Deanna Chafin
Heather Corley
Thom Fletcher
Trent Harris
Paul Hartman
Sue Hartman
Emily Hemeyer
Michael Hoffman
Alexa Hoyer
Claire Medol Hyman
Angela Khan
Alicia La Chance
Robert Longyear
Dianna Lucas
Dawn Majors
Julie Malone
Tim McAvin
John Minkoff
Michael Paradise
Melanie Persch
Hap Phillips
Jeremy Rabus
Tony Renner
Kim Richardson
Martha Rose
Cindy Royal
Stefene Russell
Janiece Senn
Becky Simmons / Lola van Ella
Dana Smith
Robin Street-Morris
Andrew Torch
Nita Turnage
Robert Van Dillen
Amy VanDonsel
Eric Woods / Firecracker Press

Sydney High Rise Variation #15 for Les Murray

T. Renner, "Sydney High Rise Variation #15 for Les Murray," 2009, acrylic on paper, 4" x 6".

Composition for Keith Jarrett

T. Renner, "Composition for Keith Jarrett," 2008, acrylic on masking tape on paper, 8" x 10".

Clouds and Trees

T. Renner, "Clouds and Trees," 2010, digital photograph.

Red Zinnia

T. Renner, "Red Zinnia," 2010, digital photograph.

The Rolling Stones

T. Renner, "The Rolling Stones," 2003, collage on paper, 17" x 11".

Yet another piece from my all too brief time spent volunteering at the Saint Louis Art Museum during Family Sundays several years ago.

I took in some rock & roll magazines to use for collage material and made "The Rolling Stones" for Bill Appleton, assistant director of public programs at SLAM and a fan of the Stones. I borrowed it from him last year so that I could scan it and post it to the blog but I still haven't returned it. Sorry, Bill!

Green, Orange, and Yellow Collage

T. Renner, "Green, Orange, and Yellow Collage," 2003, collage on paper, 4" x 6".

Another piece from my time spent volunteering at the Saint Louis Art Museum during Family Sundays several years ago.

Dizzy Gillespie, Sharpie Sketch

T. Renner, "Dizzy Gillespie, Sharpie Sketch," 2008, marker on paper, 8" x 10".

Steve Futterman of Life writes:

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, who would have celebrated his 96th birthday on October 21, was the very model of the modern American musical genius: a brilliant instrumentalist and stylistic innovator, he was also an extroverted performer with a wicked sense of humor.

One of the primary creators of bebop in the mid-1940s and an unparalleled trumpeter, Dizzy was a populist who wanted his music to be understood, appreciated and enjoyed. Audiences may have associated him with signature visual clues – the beret and goatee he sported in the 1940s, and the trumpet with the upturned bell he began playing in the 1950s – and adored his onstage clowning and dancing, but anyone with ears could tell how seriously he always took the music. An international star until his death on January 6, 1993 (the same day as Rudolph Nureyev), Gillespie was as fervently respected by fellow musicians, as he was beloved by generations of listeners.

A LIFE spread captured Gillespie in 1948, during bebop’s glory days. Conspicuous in his absence is Charlie Parker, the avatar of bebop, and the man whom Dizzy called “the other side of my heartbeat,” but Gillespie’s vivacious personality was far more palatable to the mainstream. To see this magnificent musician in his youth, ready to convince the world that the music he and his not-yet-understood peers were making was the sound of the future, is still a glorious thing to behold.

Happy Birthday Dizzy Gillespie!

T. Renner, "Dizzy Gillespie," 2008, linoleum print on paper, 10" x 10".

I know I just posted this the other day but today would have been Dizzy Gillespie's 93rd birthday.

Red and Blue Collage

T. Renner, "Red and Blue Collage," 2003, collage on paper, 14" x 11".

Several years ago I volunteered at the Saint Louis Art Museum during Family Sundays. Mostly I helped set up and hand out supplies but the fun part was demonstrating that week's project. I'd almost forgotten this one 'til I found it while I was rooting around for something else.

Page from My Sketchbook: Jean Cocteau

T. Renner, "Page from My Sketchbook," 2004, pastel on paper, 6" x 8".

I think this is a copy of a drawing by Jean Cocteau.

Wheel

T. Renner, "Wheel," 2003, collage, 4" x 6"

Abstract

T. Renner, "Abstract," 2008, digital photograph.

Attic #3

T. Renner, "Attic #3," 2008, digital photograph.

Attic #2

T. Renner, "Attic #2," 2008, digital photograph.

Attic #1

T. Renner, "Attic #1," 2008, digital photograph.

Rose of Sharon with Butterfly

T. Renner, "Rose of Sharon with Butterfly," 2008, digital photograph.

Since my camera was stolen yesterday I don't have a new photograph to post today but I did find this nice shot that I haven't posted before.

Dizzy Gillespie

T. Renner, "Dizzy Gillespie," 2008, linoleum print on paper, 10" x 10".

The Science of Dreams

T. Renner, "The Science of Dreams (for Glenn Branca)," 2008, acrylic on paper, 4" x 6".

[originally posted 11-10-2008]

Three Days In June, 2007

June 20, 2007


June 21, 2007


June 22, 2007: T. Renner, "For Joseph Albers #1," acrylic, watercolor on board, 8" x 10".

Portrait of Dave Brubeck

T. Renner, "Portrait of Dave Brubeck," 2008, acrylic on paper, 10.5" x 13.5".

From DownBeat:

Dave Brubeck, pianist, composer and bandleader, died Wednesday morning, Dec. 5, 2012, at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., one day before his 92nd birthday. Brubeck died on his way to “a regular treatment with his cardiologist,” said longtime manager-producer-conductor Russell Gloyd.

Brubeck’s career spanned more than 60 years, comprising nearly the entire existence of American jazz since World War II. He was revered for recordings with his legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet, including “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo à la Turk.” The album on which they appeared, Time Out, became one of the best-selling jazz recordings of all time. He was revered for his daring use of rhythm and unusual time signatures, both of which transcended previous conceptions of swing rhythm.

Brubeck was born on Dec. 6, 1920, in Concord, Calif. His mother was a classically trained pianist who introduced him to the instrument at a young age, and he was performing professionally by the age of 13. Brubeck enrolled as a zoology major at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., but became highly involved in the school’s music department. From 1942–1943, he led the school’s 12-piece big band.

Around the same time, Brubeck began to study classical composition at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., under French composer Darius Milhaud. Brubeck’s studies under Milhaud subsided during World War II, when in 1944 he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He led a service band in Europe, was discharged in 1946 and then resumed his musical training. Brubeck’s studies with Milhaud influenced his experimentation with odd time signatures and classically inspired counterpoint.

A pioneer who did not accept the idea of “pigeonholing,” Brubeck was an integral force in venturing outside of the accepted boundaries of jazz. He was a lifelong advocate of the genre’s racial integration, performing in African American clubs throughout the South in the 1950s.

He was also an important figure who brought jazz to the forefront of academia, and his groups became wildly popular at colleges throughout the 1950s and ’60s. In 1949, Brubeck and a group of fellow students at Mills College formed the Jazz Workshop Ensemble, which would later record as The Dave Brubeck Octet.

Brubeck’s octet often performed standards by other composers, but this was the pianist’s segue as a leader into 5/4, 9/8 and 11/4 time signatures, as opposed to traditional two and four counts. That same year, Brubeck formed his namesake trio alongside percussionist Cal Tjader and bassist Norman Bates. He was joined by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond in 1951, resulting in the creation of the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet. With the newly formed quartet, Brubeck continued his advocacy of jazz on college campuses by recordingJazz At Oberlin in 1953. He also solidified his position as a public figure when he became the first modern jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine on Nov. 8, 1954.

The “classic” Dave Brubeck Quartet would not form until the late 1950s, with the additions of drummer Joe Morello in 1956 and bassist Gene Wright in 1958 alongside Brubeck and Desmond. The quartet’s 1959 album Time Out was the first jazz LP in history to sell a million copies, and many of the tunes on the album have become standards. The album opens with the Mozart-inspired “Blue Rondo à la Turk,” which Brubeck composed in 9/8 time.

The album also features “Take Five,” a tune composed in 5/4 time, which made the Billboard singles chart in 1961 and remains one of the most recognizable jazz recordings of all time. The quartet performed together until 1967, when Brubeck, a self-proclaimed “composer who plays the piano,” left to focus more on composition and arrangement. Brubeck, Morello and Wright would later reunite in 1976 to perform and record in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the classic quartet’s initial formation.

Untitled

T. Renner, "Untitled," 2010, digital photograph.

Untitled

T. Renner, "Untitled," 2010, digital photograph.

Untitled

T. Renner, "Untitled," 2010, digital photograph.

Monkeywrench Sketch #2

T. Renner, "Monkeywrench Sketch #2," 2010, charcoal on paper, 18" x 24".

Monkeywrench Sketch #1

T. Renner, "Monkeywrench Sketch #1," 2010, charcoal on paper, 18" x 24".

Fiber Focus #3

T. Renner, "Fiber Focus #3," 2007, collage, 8" x 10".

Submitted to Art St. Louis' "Fiber Focus 2007." Not accepted.

Chicago Calling Collaboration #2: Buddah 309 & T. Renner

T. Renner, "Sky & Tree, Washington University in St. Louis, Dusk," 2009, digital photograph.

Inspired by "Sky & Tree"

The fading blue
Favorite blanket of youth
Moments of security
In silent sky

And the rock-a-bye baby band plays
Twisted tunes of falling cradles
About the breaking of boughs

Mighty arms reach into
This fading blue
An awkward bend
As mother’s place for child

-- Buddha 309

During the Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival, Chicago-based artists collaborate with artists in other locations—both here in the U.S. and abroad. These collaborations involve a range of art forms—including music, dance, film, literature, and intermedia—and they are prepared or improvised.

This Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival and Chicago Artists Month event happens as part of the Waiting 4 the Bus series will be held Monday, October 4, 7:00 p.m., at Café Ballou, 939 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, IL, (773) 342-2909. All ages event, free and open to the public.

Participants will include:

Matthew Barton (Chicago) and Duane Vorhees (Bangkok)

Postcard from NYC -- Al DeGenova (Chicago), Charlie Rossiter (Chicago), Dan Cox (Albany, NY), and Ralph Murre (Baileys Harbor, WI)

Lisa Hemminger (San Diego) and Jeff Mroz (Chicago) -- poetry and music collaboration

Wayne Allen Jones (Chicago) and Robert Karimi (Minneapolis) -- poetry collaboration

A Mess O Poems: "from now on, we will NOT have died young” -- a poetry collaboration between Elizabeth Marino (Chicago) and Sally Evans (Edinburgh)

Buddha 309 (Chicago) and Tony Renner (St. Louis) -- poetry and visual art collaboration

Chainpoem, with Marie Countryman (Vermont), Yentz Melanov (Munich), Song Zijiang (Macao), Charlie Newman (Chicago), Francoise La Maline (Buenos Aires), Steven Schroeder (Chicago), Murray One (Calgary), Mindaugas Briedis (Vilnius), Ken Hada (Ada, OK), and David Breeden (Minneapolis)

Shelley Nation-Watson (Chicago) and Amanda Purdom (Tulsa, OK) -- poetry collaboration

Sid Yiddish (Chicago) and John Hardwick (Indianapolis) -- musical collaboration

Non-Imaginary and Imaginary Landscapes

T. Renner, "Non-Imaginary Landscape," 2010, digital photograph.


T. Renner, "Imaginary Landscape (for Harry Stooshinoff) #8, 2010, acrylic on paper, 5.4" x 4.10".

Paper

T. Renner, "Paper," 2007, handmade paper, acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10".
Submitted to Art St. Louis' "Fiber Focus 2007." Not accepted.

Chicago Calling Collaboration: Buddah 309 & T. Renner

T. Renner, "Negative Zone (for John Byrne)," 2010, acrylic on paper, 7" x 5".

Inspired by "Negative Zone"

Spending the morning
Curled and coughing
On the restroom floor
Of an office building
Where your interview was meant to be
45 minutes earlier


You don’t remember the time passing
Or how you ended up
With your face on the cold marble
There’s a pain in your gut
And you pull yourself up
Into composure


Cold water to the face
Wipes away the attempted makeover
You dab at the red and black flecks
Caked at the corners of cracked lips
“What happened to those 45 minutes?”
“Who the hell walked on my tongue?”

-- Buddha 309

During the Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival, Chicago-based artists collaborate with artists in other locations—both here in the U.S. and abroad. These collaborations involve a range of art forms—including music, dance, film, literature, and intermedia—and they are prepared or improvised.

This Fifth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival and Chicago Artists Month event happens as part of the Waiting 4 the Bus series will be held Monday, October 4, 7:00 p.m., at Café Ballou, 939 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, IL, (773) 342-2909. All ages event, free and open to the public.

Participants will include:

Matthew Barton (Chicago) and Duane Vorhees (Bangkok)

Postcard from NYC -- Al DeGenova (Chicago), Charlie Rossiter (Chicago), Dan Cox (Albany, NY), and Ralph Murre (Baileys Harbor, WI)

Lisa Hemminger (San Diego) and Jeff Mroz (Chicago) -- poetry and music collaboration

Wayne Allen Jones (Chicago) and Robert Karimi (Minneapolis) -- poetry collaboration

A Mess O Poems: "from now on, we will NOT have died young” -- a poetry collaboration between Elizabeth Marino (Chicago) and Sally Evans (Edinburgh)

Buddha 309 (Chicago) and Tony Renner (St. Louis) -- poetry and visual art collaboration

Chainpoem, with Marie Countryman (Vermont), Yentz Melanov (Munich), Song Zijiang (Macao), Charlie Newman (Chicago), Francoise La Maline (Buenos Aires), Steven Schroeder (Chicago), Murray One (Calgary), Mindaugas Briedis (Vilnius), Ken Hada (Ada, OK), and David Breeden (Minneapolis)

Shelley Nation-Watson (Chicago) and Amanda Purdom (Tulsa, OK) -- poetry collaboration

Sid Yiddish (Chicago) and John Hardwick (Indianapolis) -- musical collaboration

Mask

T. Renner, "Mask," 2007, acrylic on paper mache, 18" x 12" x 6".

Submitted to Art St. Louis' "Fiber Focus 2007." Not accepted.