Also, Nuvo (The Indianapolis entertainment weekly) reviewed my solo show at the Indianapolis Art Center. I got 4 stars ha, ha!

The IAC show runs through August 1st

Alley 97, NOW, was shot in Los Angeles in 2008 and involved frantic running around, when I ended up having to shoot alone in a rather shitty part of the city. In all my years shooting alleys at night, and recruiting people to watch my back, I have found no equal to the people of LA’s ability to renege on a commitment. Its normal for people to occasionally become unavailable at the last minute, and I accept that. A rough estimate would be that 10-20% of the time, someone backs out at the last minute. In LA, that ratio was cranked up to about 75% of the time! Alley 97 was my rude awakening to this reality, when I had gotten enthusiastic commitments from two unrelated people, only to find they both became unavailable as I was about to go shooting.

Minnesota Monthly interviewed me recently. I can save you a click, here it is!

A Q&A with 2010 Commemorative Print Artist Xavier Nuez

Q.    Congratulations, Xavier, on being selected as the 2010 Commemorative Print Artist for the Uptown Art Fair! That’s quite an impressive accomplishment. Can you give us a little bit of your background so we know how you got started and what you’ve done up to this point?
A.    I used to paint and draw as an adolescent—everything from still lifes, to abstracts, to fantasy. When I was 18, I took a photography class (my one and only) and that pretty much set the direction my life would take. After finishing university, I worked for a year in film as a gaffer and grip, before finding the nerve to go on my own as a photographer. In my early years, I did lots of commercial work (mainly architectural interiors for magazines) to supplement my meager income as an artist. Eventually my body of work was strong enough that I was able to transition to being a full-time artist. In addition to art fairs, I have regular gallery and museum shows across the country.
Q.    Where do you work?
A.    I have a studio in Chicago, but for my Alley series, I can be found in beat up alleys or around abandoned buildings in city centers. Q.    Where do you find inspiration for your artwork?
A.    In all my work, the trigger for my inspiration seems to be a sense of childhood fantasy and adventure, where nothing is quite what it seems, and in everything there is a deep mystery that needs to be explored. I feel I’ve hit the right nerve when a scene before me takes me back to my youth and stirs feelings of awe for the dark and mysterious.
Q.    Describe the creative process you use.
A.    Exploration is essential to my creative process. I have several bodies of work, all of them very different, and yet I believe they all take the viewer (and myself!) to an alternate reality where it becomes necessary to step out of ourselves and view something common with fresh eyes.
Q.    Tell us about the Commemorative Print piece.
A.    [It] is part of my Alley series which I’ve been working on since the early 1990s. I explore some of the country’s grittiest corners late at night, seeking out their elusive beauty, splendor and buried dramas. I love the contrast between what is socially regarded as beautiful vs ugly; worthy vs unworthy. And so I try to elevate these shunned locations to absurd levels of dignity by making monuments of them. To shoot these, I bring lighting equipment and set up my 50-year-old Hasselblad film camera on a tripod for very long exposures (sometimes over one hour). [This particular print] was shot at 1:30 a.m. and is a 40-minute exposure. In fact, star trails are visible in the sky.
Q.    What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
A.    If you want to be a full-time artist, you need to really want it. There were many times in my early years when I struggled to pay the rent. An evil little voice kept trying to push me toward more practical employment, but I didn’t want anything else. In the end it worked out. It’s essential for most young artists to find a way to supplement their paltry art sales with regular work. If at all possible, try to find something in a related field so you learn while you work. Commercial photography gigs were my bread and butter for years, and before that, I worked as an assistant to the pros, all the while creating my art.
Q.    When you’re not creating art, how do you like to spend your time?
A.    I like spending time with friends. Also I’m a guitar hack—I love to play, and I love writing and recording my own music in my studio.

And here I am at the show with two friends from Ann Arbor, MI, Coreena and Vicki. The exhibition, curated by Patrick Flaherty,  runs until August 1 and features 18 of my Alley images.

Although I’ve been chased by street gangs over the years while creating this series, only twice has a gang actually swarmed me, where I had to talk my way out of a beating and having my gear stolen. One of those times was in Compton, CA, a city known for its gangs. The other time was in Indianapolis, a city not famous for its gangs. Nevertheless, a year ago, I had a stressful standoff in the city. You can read the story here.

Alley no. 110, Compactor (2008, Indianapolis, IN, 2am)

Its especially sweet since I grew up playing hockey. Here I am with my friend Neil celebrating the win.

In other news, this Friday is 2nd Friday in the Chicago Arts District. My studio will be open from 6-10pm.

And here is a new image -  shot in Newark, NJ last week.  The light in the top right is the moon; the blue sky is from the moonlight after a long exposure.

Alley no. 133, Road Work (2010, Newark, NJ, 2:15am)

This weekend I was at an art show in the Hamptons, NY (the Montauk Art Festival). Driving back on Sunday night I headed for Harlem to look around for a possible shot. It was another case of being alone, which meant the need to be more careful. Manhattan is a problem for me. It is so densely populated from one end to the other that it is very difficult to be somewhere away from people. I finally gave up after a 2 hour Harlem search. I then headed to nearby Newark, NJ – I pick the finest places – where I think I got a good shot! I get the film back today and am very eager to see it.

Here are the 2 square images I have in the Rochester show: Alley 110, Compactor (Indianapolis, IN, 2am) and Alley 100, Ghost Story  (Kansas City, MO, 1:30am)

My work in the show, Alley 103, was shot in Compton, CA in 2008 in a hair-raising night.

Alley no. 103, Angel Luis  (2008, Compton, CA, 12:30am)

I posted the test polaroid I shot in an earlier blog.

Alley no. 132, Cornucopia (2010, Atlanta, GA, 11pm)