This week we go hassle San Francisco-based painter/tattooer/graphic designer/all-around-good-guy Henry Lewis.
Henry’s studio is located in scenic downtown San Francisco, just a stone’s throw from the city’s finest amenities: plentiful crack, regular crowbar beatings, and some of the world’s finest lurking. We couldn’t get in right away because of the lady camped out in the doorway, but she eventually obliged and allowed us to pass. On the day we went to hang out, this was taped to Henry’s window:
The studio space is shared but no one else showed up, so we put on some music (lately Henry’s been really, really into My Morning Jacket, which I teased him about a little) and drank coffee and looked over some of Henry’s recent works. He’s got an upcoming show at Corey Helford Gallery in L.A., so we couldn’t shoot a lot of the new stuff but there was still plenty to keep us busy and with which to entertain you.
This is where Henry sits and paints and smokes cigarette after cigarette, ostensibly for hours and hours every single night, after he leaves Everlasting Tattoo, where he works with these twodudes. If I didn’t know Henry so well, I’d swear he never slept. But in fact, that motherfucker sleeps a lot. He just does it in the middle of the day and is ultra productive at night. It’s a fact.
Once we got settled in with our coffee, I asked Henry to show us some of his recent work. This is the face he made:
Then he held up this lovely painting of a skull.
Henry’s been working almost exclusively in oils over the past year or so, and has become incredibly adept with the medium. There’s something about oil paint that you can’t get with any other paint; it has to do with luminosity. The layers all build on each other and when handled with some skill, the canvas fairly glows. It’s also a very subtle medium and difficult to master. Look at Rembrandt or El Greco. But since you’re so artsy you should know all this stuff already, right? If not, you can use your Google box and do some learning. Or better yet, go to a museum or look at a book because the colors on your computer monitor won’t do the paintings any justice. Sorry if I’m being pedantic, I’m told it’s one of my most glaring character flaws (along with the intimacy issues).
But this is about Henry Lewis, right? Here are some more of his fine paintings:
This was my favorite piece he had in the studio. I know it’s wrong to play favorites, but this one just really spoke to me. Perhaps it was the half-boob.
Like most figurative realists, Henry works from life. He doesn’t just make this stuff up, people. But since it’s also incredibly inconvenient to have a young lady just standing around in your studio all day draped in a sheet, he works from photos that he’s arranged. See how this one looks almost exactly like the above oil version? Go figure.
What’s that Henry? More paintings? Well, don’t mind if I do:
By this point I’d finally convinced Henry to turn off My Morning Jacket. I attempted to commandeer his stereo while Mike Short made some more nice portraits, but before I could choose anything Henry yelled for me to put on Sluts of Trust. Curses, foiled again by Henry’s musical predilections!
Then we just all sat around for a while talking about Gerhard Richter.
Here’s a photo of Henry that I feel sums up his character really well:
Henry’s a born storyteller and entertainer. He’s always going, “Wait, wait…did I ever tell you about that one time in Burkina Faso? I hadn’t slept for three days and for some reason this Russian pimp was after me…” Seriously, it’s always something with this dude, which is probably why he’s always the center of attention. Well, it’s either that or his giant afro acts as some sort of homing beacon. But I digress. See how Henry’s gesticulating with his hand? That’s how he tells stories—like an old Italian man. Only usually there’s more bourbon involved.
Another of Henry’s favorite pastimes is imitating old blues guys. He’s always, “When I was a poor black sharecropper we used to sing this old negro spiritual. Like to hear it? Here it goes…ooohh oh oh oh.” That’s what this photo is of.
This is a portrait of Henry’s father.
After a while Henry got sick of me whining about my girl problems. He said, “Man, this is about me okay? Not you. This is my time!” and then he just told Mike and me that we were starting to cramp his style and that we should probably make ourselves scarce so that he could get some work done. As Mike packed up his camera and lights Henry just sat down, ignoring us, and got back to work.
Then he said, “Hey man…” and I thought everything was cool again and we could continue talking shit. I said, “Yeah dude?” with a hopeful smile on my face, but he just told me to make sure to include a link to his website and I was all, “Oh, okay.” To be fair, Henry wasn’t exactly sure what his website was, nor when it would be up. So to be safe, you should probably check both moremocking and moremockingsf in the next couple of weeks.
Every good artist has a huge collection of stuff. It’s true. They keep random shit taped to their walls for inspiration and referencing. I know what you’re thinking, you’re like, “But I’m an artist and I don’t have anything taped to my walls, smart guy!” You know what? That may be the case, but it just means that you’re not a good artist.
Mike and I snapped a few more photos as Henry’s humming grew ever more impatient.
Then he snapped and came at us with a hammer.
Oh yeah, you can contact Henry through Everlasting Tattoo or, more likely, the bar next door.
I love you, Henry. The hammer wounds are healing nicely.
///////// I have an original, loove him. Written by DELI on 2007-03-26 14:31:44
///////// Great work, love the subject matter and the fact that he beats people with hammers makes him even cooler! Written by geoffmac on 2007-03-26 14:52:48
///////// Henry Lewis is one of the strongest artists that fecalface has championed. His work conjures the familarity of past history and cultural remnants, yet doesn't look too much like any one else. I have yet to see bad work from this man. The fecal should cover more folks like this guy. Written by TheEastsider on 2007-03-26 14:52:56
///////// Sweet art! I've never heard of this guy before but thanks for the interview/photos...he's got some good shit. Written by hazelasher on 2007-03-26 15:57:14
///////// Very impressive. Good to see work like this on FF. Written by bunnywax on 2007-03-26 16:14:48
///////// haha love the part about having shit taped and pinned to the walls
you got some really great shots, the one with him humming is real great and that one small painting of the snail is fantaaaaaastic (along with everything else, of course, but wow) Written by JenMussari on 2007-03-26 17:13:26
///////// wholesome goodness. it's great to see a strong realist painter represented on FF. Written by jOEyB on 2007-03-26 19:04:54
///////// Nicework,very dark,a lot of the imagery reminds me of Hieronymus Bosch,but hey that's just me. Written by David Bedford on 2007-03-27 10:47:39
///////// i think im gonna go drown myself since i don't have tape to tape crap up with. thanks a lot.
///////// Very talented dude, I feel honoured that he did the tattoo work on my arms. Written by seaa on 2007-03-27 13:10:18
///////// Outstanding stuff! Each piece got better as I scrolled down. Written by ElNegroMagnifico on 2007-03-27 23:16:27
///////// love your studio space man. Written by DeSpain on 2007-03-28 12:32:23
///////// Quote:
t's great to see a strong realist painter represented on FF.
Well, i will sound like a pedantic dick, but its not really realism. Realism is more like Lucien Freud or that whole school. Silly, but these things sometimes matter. But i agree, awesome work. Very nice brushwork, awesome atmosphere, good hair. Very cool!Thanks for sharing. Written by dunkle on 2007-03-29 06:14:58
///////// Nice Style, cool studio. Written by Ferzop on 2007-04-12 16:57:18
///////// I want to be beaten with a hammer! Written by 47Project on 2007-05-17 11:55:09
///////// Be sure to check out Henry's upcoming show "Sad Songs" in SF on Thursday, Sept 6 2007 at Lower Haters @597 Haight St from 7pm-10pm :D :D
Free Fridayz: POO, The Cat He's all soft, he's all cute, his claws all kill, he likes all chicken dinners from Trader Joes while wearing his turtle neck sweater.
Antistrot & Never a Dull Moment We stopped through White Walls and the Shooting Gallery for a quick preview of these two shows opening Saturday Feb 6th.
David Choe @Fifty24SF Preview We headed up to Fifty24SF to preview his show "Character Assassination" opening Friday, Feb 5th.
2/9 - Jeff Lurker (Portland, OR) submit: potd(at)fecalface.com
Michael Sieben & Cody Hudson Interview This is a great one where we talk art, design, music, film, BBQ, etc whilst enjoying a few suds.Jeremy Fish's Mix This Fecal Pal adds his mix heavy on Hip Hop- Aesop.Paul Urich's Mix Warning: lots of country, but don't worry, it's some southern good stuff.Paul Urich Interview This SF based artist and first artist ever featured on Fecal Face back in 2000 speaks of his art, the Nike he designed, and answers your questions. 12/19/07Rich Jacobs & Tim Kerr Austin Texas artist & music legend Tim Kerr (The Big Boys, Poison 13, Now Time Delegation), and recent SF transplant, curatorial heavy hitter (MOVE), and artist, Rich Jacobs... Andrew Scott interviews including two songs played live by Rich and Tim. Recorded 12/6/07Jay Howell Mix 45 minutes of Jay's favorite music - 11/14/07
///Dana Dart-McLean Interview Our Chicago corespondent Ryan Christian recently discovered her work at Kavi Gupta during the show "The Vaguely Paperly".
///Kevin Taylor Studio Visit We stopped through this SF based artist's Union Square studio and got some video and photos... We also got video of Kevin playing music too.
///Meredith Dittmar Interview This Portland artist does incredible things with clay. She opens a solo show Dec 9th in Mexico City.
///Hiro Kurata Interview 29 yr. old Brooklyn based artist preparing for a February show at Joshua Liner in NYC.
///Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch This SF based artist opens Megarealms at Fecal Face Thurs. Nov 5th in San Francisco.
///Derek Albeck Interview We love the work of this LA based artist and the fact that he plays "cornhole", can hardly hear out his right ear, searches for Chupacabras, and that he gets back forth to work in LA without driving his car.
///Steve Powers: A Love Letter For You Love Letter is literally a love letter painted on the walls facing the Market elevated train in Philadelphia.
///Marc Bell Interview He almost killed a co-worker once, prefers a cheese burger over fish-n-chips... oh, and has a new book, HOT POTATOE, out through Drawn and Quarterly.
///Austin Eddy Interview This 22 years young painting student at The Art Institute of Chicago is humble and shows much promise.
///Hot & Cold: The End is Here This collaborative art zine made by Chris Duncan and Griffin McPartland is releasing it's final issue on September 11th, 2009 w/ a show @Baer Ridgway in SF.
///Mel Kadel Preview A preview of Echo Test opening Thurs Sept 10th @Fecal Face. Mel Kadel answers a few submitted viewer questions as well.
///Allison Schulnik Interview This LA based painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and all around talent prepares for a solo show @Mark Moore Gallery in LA opening Jan 2010.
///Jason Faulkner Interview "I pretended to be a student at the Museum School for nearly a year, taking out expensive camera equipment and trying to weasel into any classes I could."
///Matt Furie Interview An update on this SF artist as he prepares "Monster Family" opening Oct 8th at Beams T Harajuku in Japan.
///Ben Jones Interview Invaluable source of inspiration, genius, and drum solos. Meet Ben Jones.
///Unagi Interview Bay Area hip-hop producer Unagi just wants us all to feel good.
///Eric Yahnker Interview "I personally get a kick out of the cable guy who can appreciate my work on his own terms, while the academic art critic can excavate further and appreciate it on theirs."
///Alexis Mackenzie Studio Visit Her show opens Fri. June 26th at Park Life in San Francisco. We stopped through for a preview.
///AJ Fosik Interview Alex Lukas interviews and visits AJ's Philly studio before his big show There's Aliens in Our Midst which opens Saturday June 13th at White Walls in San Francisco.
///Henry Gunderson Interview This first year student at SFAI is killing at only 18. His first solo show opens @Fecal Face July 23rd.
///Brian Willmont Interview "Wasted youth, totally lost and really angry. I hung out downtown drinking beer, getting high, cheering on bum fights, and going to shows. I was probably one of the worst students in my high school but did great in art school, ha!"
///Damon Soule Interview We catch up with the Portland based artist as he prepares for Same Loud No opening May 7th at Fecal Face Dot Gallery.
///Aaron Johnson Studio Visit "Works that are visceral, beautiful and flamboyantly timely, which is saying a lot" Roberta Smith, The New York Times.
///RIPO Interview Now living in Spain but this street artist was raised in NYC. He's currently showing at No New Enemies in Brussels. Manuel Bello interviews.
///Catching up with Matt and Kim Since our last interview with Brooklyn's Matt and Kim was so much fun, we decided to catch up with them again as they came through San Francisco to promote their new album.
///Shawn Barber Interview He answers your questions and we visit his studio for a video interview.
///Paul Nudd Interview The celebrated Chicago artist creates nasty gurgling vomiting videos and worm/slug/pest drawings.
///Bay Area Graffiti An interview with Steve Rotman who, with Chris Brennan, put out a book on graffiti in the Bay Area published through Mark Batty. Dan Carlson interviews.
///Souther Salazar & Megan Whitmarsh We visit the Eagle Rock studio of Souther Salazar, Megan Whitmarsh, Carlos Ramos, Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson, Seonna Hong, and Martha Rich in LA.
///Interview: Child Abuse New York's Post-millennial mathemagicians Child Abuse do not listen to their own jazz and metal fusion during sex which is good to know.
///Marsea Goldberg of New Image Art On the eve of New Image Art's 15 year anniversary show, Jeff Soto interviews Marsea, the founder and curator, about the gallery's unique past and its future.
///Mike Giant Interview Tattoo/ graffiti/ fix gear/ clothing mogul legend. Mike answers your questions.
///Michael Krueger Interview This art professor from the University of Kansas has recently had solo shows in Paraguay, Florence, Italy and the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Our Chicago man, Ryan Christian, interviews.
///Martha Cooper Interview Photographer Martha Cooper just released Tag Town a book of her photos which document the infant NYC tagging & graffiti scene in the late '70s.
///Interview: Mark Gergis aka Porest Audio revisionist Mark Gergis aka Porest discusses Sublime Frequencies, Tourrorists! and other sonic morsels from a comfortable cruising altitude.
///Carl Baratta Interview Just coming off a show @Western Exhibitions in Chicago, Ryan Christian interviews.
///Studio Visit: Faile Out in Brooklyn, Manuel catches up with FAILE at their studios as they prepare to School London.
///Studio Visit: Anthony Lister The Bello seeks out and finds the infamous Mr. Lister at his new studio in Brooklyn.
///Death Sentence: Panda! San Francisco trio prove that when pushed to the limit, any living
creature will revolt.
///José Parlá Interview Brooklyn based artist José Parlá sits down with Manuel Bello and reflects on the complexities of his journey into the world of 'Segmented Realities' and more.
///The Dodos Interview Our music editor, Chris Rolls, catches this 3 piece band before they head off for more world touring.
///Ryan Wallace Interview Been a fan of this RISD graduate and now NYC resident for some time. He was in SF last week and we got to ask him a couple questions.
///Damon Soule Interview We've known this Portland based artist for years, back when he lived in SF. Well, he's got a show at the NYC based Joshua Liner opening Oct 11th. Manuel Bello interviews.
///Joshua Petker Interview It's not all about the girls. This LA based artist's solo show opens Oct 4th @Corey Helford.
High 5s: Rain Rain Rain Just some things like police, rain, rattle snakes, bowling and your cousins.
Pearl C. Hsiung Studio Visit Michael swings through the studio of this LA based artist as she prepares for the international group show Arte Contemporaneo - ARCO Madrid opening Feb 17th.
Manfred Naescher - Mini Interview Berlin based artist/ illustrator... "film frames provide me with ready-made compositions and figurative constellations that I can work from."
Dumping out the 2009 Junk Drawer The Shopkeep blogs one up sharing Needles & Pens shows Tim Kerr, Russ Pope Mathew Rodriguez, Michael Sieben Nikki McClure, & Sara Thustra.
High 5s: My Holiday Vacation The last week of 2009 spent wishing a magical baby happy birthday in a complete haze.
Interview with Director Erich Weiss The film Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry explores the roots of American tattooing through the life of its most iconoclastic figure, Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins.
Back in Papua New Guinea Artist Tiffany Bozic and her husband, who's the curator of Birds and Mammals at the Cal Academy, take a trip to study some of the rarest birds on Earth.
Michael Dotson - Mini Interview Inspired by Michael Jordan, this DC based 27 year old is a genius with masking tape and has a show coming up Jan 2010 in LA @Lawrence Asher.
Free Fridayz: I Swear to God... Full theme title: I swear to fucking God that if you do that one more God damn time I'm going to rip your fucking head off and feed it to a cute little squirrel named Fecal Face.
Mini Interview: Sam Falls This MFA photography student @ICP-Bard in NYC just released a new book "Color Dying Light" and is preparing for his solo PS1 solo show @Capricious Space in June.
Mini Interview: Matt Relkin Otherworldly landscapes & skyscapes containing dark primordial objects all belonging to a self-made mythology.
London: A Trip to Berlin And assisting Dalek for his show @Elms Lesters Gallery in London plus a lot of Berlin street art.
Free Fridayz: Your Saint This is a great week, but I can't wait to see what people draw for next week's theme.
DUALITY OF MAN Great photos from Carlos de Spinola trying to visualize South Africa's crime problem.
Free Fridayz: Stupid Police Chase This week's prize is a two day pass to the Treasure Island Music Festival running Oct 17th & 18th... Obviously you need to live somewhere near SF to win.
Michael Sieben's Summer Vacation Hopefully this blog gives you some temporary relief from the crushing terror of the impending Swine Flu epidemic.
Up and Down From LA Mel Kadel and Travis Millard came up from LA to SF to install Mel's show Echo Test @FFDG. This is Travis' blog from their trip.
High 5s: Sure, You Can Fly Contest winner, more Mel, marooned at China Camp, KQED, and people you've never met.
If You Build It We Will Burn It North Carolina collective, Team Lump, travels to East London's arty Bethnal Green neighborhood for this group show @Cell Projects.
Free Fridayz: POOR "I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money." -Picasso
Ben Tour takes Manhattan Ben Tour, Bacon, Hotdogs & Heartburn. Manuel brings us a "Ben Tour" Tour of Manhattan and more.
Free Fridayz: Monkey & The Apocalypse The full title: A monkey eating the Eiffel Tower while ice skating off a cliff wearing a mini skirt and hoop earings during the apocalypse... Might be one of the best Free Fridayz to date.
Mini Interview: Adam Sullivan Paper, scissors, blades, UHU Stic, pens and pencils are what's used to create these great collages from this Ohio based artist.
Material published on FECAL FACE DOT COM online service is copyrighted by Fecal Face or its licensors, including the originating wire services. Such material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and treaties. All rights reserved.
Users of the Fecal Face online service may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material found on the web site in any form without the express written consent of the copyright holder.
"wow...nobody like #4... I like it..." //
