Jesse visits the NYC studio of Kathy Grayson (painter & Deitch gallery director) and ex SF photographer, Patrick Griffin.

When I was in New York recently, I stopped by the Lower East Side studio of artists Kathy Grayson and Patrick Griffin. You might remember Patrick from his Patt Fink blog he did for us a while back which now lives on through Kathy's highly addictive blog. Their studio is in a great multi level building near Chinatown which I realized I had been in a bunch of times before. If I remember correctly (which I never do), I think the space houses artist and design studios, practice spaces, and a host of other creative projects. When I got there I found Kathy working on some pieces for an upcoming show, and Patrick getting work together for a project he is currently developing. I didn't have access to any nice cameras since we did this on the fly, so my little digital did the best it could in the harsh fluorescent lighting.

Kathy's work is pretty amazing to look at, but I also like hearing her talk about it. The way she talks about art is most times way over my head, but it's fun to listen to because I can try and grasp at the concepts and she always seems so excited about whatever she is talking about. That's probably also why she is so good at her other job. She bases most of the current pieces on old family photos and then she layers many of the pieces with old video game imagery which make you feel like you're looking at multiple paintings at once. A lot of art I check out is great, but I can only look at it for about 2 minutes. It's refreshing when you can look at a painting and pick it apart for a while. It gets even better when you stand far away and get to see all the colors she detailed close up, merge together and explode on you.

Kathy showed me some of the old family photos she has been basing her work on..

Kathy is also working on a series of work based on old console and computer game graphics, which she showed me examples of. Remember all those text-based games? She's still researching material, but it looks like it's going to be really interesting to check out when it's finished.

Patrick is working on a series of life sized buttons which he then hangs on his faux leather wall (which wasn't in the studio when I was there). Most of them are made of canvas or wood and I think the whole idea is pretty cool, but to be honest I had a hard time concentrating because the buttons were cracking me up. Both Kathy and Patrick have been finding some really awesome buttons on the internet and it makes me want to buy a button maker immediately.

Get it?

Their studio's fire escape faces a side of the New Museum which I also checked out while I was in New York. Ever been inside a building resembling a stack of G4s? Well don't bother, it was pretty terrible so you can save yourself the trip.

Their studio is shared with some other people who they don't know very well. I think one was a set designer and the other made clothing.

Patrick is also working on a new zine that is looking pretty thick. Remember his Frienemies zines? So good.

Patrick and Kathy like to hug a lot..

Back to some of Kathy's work

Kathy has a show called Wet N Wild coming up on April 12th at the Kim Light Gallery in LA. You can also catch more of her work in other shows during the year at V and A in New York and Galleri Loyal in Sweden and Park Life here in SF.

Patrick has a show coming up around May at Poissant Gallery in Houston.

You can see more of Kathy and Patrick's work on Kathy's blog which may be on MySpace, but is still better than most of those other fancy art blogs: www.myspace.com/kathernator

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