news

The Blog Has Moved!

2009-08-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

This Blog is no longer being maintained on blogger.com, the new address is http://brookhartjonquil.com/news/. Thanks!
-Brook

More Information on Around the Coyote

2009-05-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sugar – Video and New Media Art curated by LiveBox
Around The Coyote Spring Festival

“Sugar” is a multidisciplinary exhibition of art practices devoted to the arenas of computer imaging, digital video, digital sound, interactive media, computer animation, three-dimensional modeling, computer-controlled kinetic sculpture, interactive installations, and computer-aided and algorithmic composition. Participating artists are current students or alumni of the Art and Technology Department of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.The exhibition was curated by Catherine Forster and Patrick Cunningham (MFA Art & Technology) and made possible by support from Claudia Hart (Art & Technology Faculty).
Participating artists: Ben Carney and Cassandra Jackson, Spencer Paul Hutchinson, Brookhart Jonquil, Mik Kastner, Alex M. Lee, Shane Mecklenburger, Surbhi Saraf, Micah Schippa, Sandra Rosas Ridolfi, Wonbin Yang

Friday night performance: Justin Block
Saturday night performance: Matt Griffin, Mark Franz, and Ryan Dunn collaboration

1234 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago - May 29-31
Friday, May 29: Opening Party
VIP preview, 6:30pm
General Public, 7:30pm- 11pm
Saturday, May 30: noon-10pm
Sunday, May 31: noon-6pm

Around The Coyote

2009-05-20T01:31:00.000-07:00

I'll be in a curated section of this year's Around the Coyote art festival in Bucktown, along with a lot of friends. This is going to be a great show! Opening night is Friday, May 29 from 7:30pm until 11. It will continue Saturday and Sunday.
Around the Coyote will take place in a number of locations, this show will be at 1234 Milwaukee Ave, near the Division Blue Line stop.

The Booth at Art Chicago

2009-05-20T01:17:00.001-07:00

here are a few pics from the show

Art Chicago

2009-04-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Art Chicago, represented by SUGs at booth 12-159.
Here's what's said about me in the catalog:

Brookhart Jonquil's work challenges the viewer to understand their own relationship with the physical world. Of particular concern are aspects such as consciousness and observation, which still suffer under a Cartesian exile from our bodies. Using a semi-scientific approach, Jonquil conflates mind and consciousness with the body, and positions the individual as a dynamic organ of the environment. By taking a systemic view of our relationship with reality, his work seeks to transform our fundamental assumptions about objectivity and subjectivity.

Other people to look for at Art Chicago:
Sanya Glisic at Spudnik Press
Alex Lee at Waymaker Gallery
Kentaro Yamada at SUGs
Angel Otero

About traveling

2009-04-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

My notes on the adventure were minimal, check out Sanya's blog if you want to know more of what we did.
I've been back in Chicago since January, makin stuff! Things are comming together, I'll be adding images soon.

Thailand!

2008-12-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

Boy, I sure slipped off the radar didnt I? A lot has happened since Mysore, most importantly Surabhi's wedding in Indore. The wedding was completely spectacular and reeeaally long. It was an awesome experience, as was staying with Surabhi's wonderful family. But now we're in Thailand already! The food here is so fresh and light, such welcome reprieve from two months of Indian food. The entire time I was in India I never got sick, I even started drinking the water in the resturants now and then at the end, and I ate tons of dubious street food. So I guess coming to Thailand, where everything is much cleaner and easier, and more westernized, I got cocky. I drank a glass and a half of water from a street restuarant and I've been reaping the consequenses for about 5 days. It's not sooooo bad, it hasn't kept me from enjoying the beach! Sanya and I are staying at the most peaceful, beautiful little bay in the entire world. Its called Khlong Jak Bay, on Ko Lanta. Much of the coral has been damaged, but there are still some nice fish, the first day out we saw a Lion Fish! It was really exciting. Tomorrow is Christmas eve, and nobody around here really cares at all, the island is 95% Islamic, 4% Buddhist, and the rest is local anamist religion. There are some cheezy out of place Christmas trees for the tourists though. And there's some bizzare snow-land thing, all cotton balls and spraypaint.
Lots of holliday love to everyone!

Kerala and Mysore

2008-11-25T07:59:00.000-08:00

So, we've been hoping all around Kerela and having a really great time, and far more has happened than I'll manage to put down here. But here's a shot.
We spent a couple of days in Kollam, which was a nice town, not that much going on, but good atmosphere and friendly people, very traditional, very few tourists. Sanya got some new eyeglasses with a new prescription and I got a couple lungis, the man-sarong that has been sweeping south-indian fashion for the past five thousand years. after that we went to alleppey where we did the "backwater boat ride", the most typical touristy thing to do in Kerela, but absolutely unmissable. It was 24 hours on our own private houseboat, with an on board chef and two guys to punt it along Venetian gondola style but with 30ft bamboo poles. It was great to see the village life up close, but at the same time was a little uncomfortable, i felt like a colonial having these guys pushing us along in the heat while we reclined with a cup of tea on a cultural safari. but I guess thats been a semi-theme of the trip, coming to terms with being wealthy relative to such a poor country. today I bought a suit for my friend's wedding, I walked into a really nice store on the nice-store-street and there was nothing i couldnt afford. very strange feeling.
but catching back up. after alleppey we spent four nights, i think, in Fort Cochin, a very nice, though quite touristy town. It was so calm and clean, nice seafood, and great walking around. there was one really nice show in a gallery there, Wasiwo X Wasiwo I believe was the artists name, an expat living in india for the past 8 years. Half the show was photography, really nicely done, blending this kind of hand tinted colonial style portraiture with modern indian professions, which have really changed very little since colonial times, so the interest was in the details, the hello kitty on the knife sharpener's bag and such. the other half of the show was miniature paintings in the traditional indian style, self portraits as the white tourist, bound to his lonely planet guide, and a group dealing specifically with his life in India, overcoming cultural differences, and dealing with issues like his homosexuality.
after Cochin we were planning to go to wayanad wildlife sanctuary for a few days, but we got there and just had such a hassle getting information about the park. we went on a jeep safari, which totally is not how we had envisioned seeing the wildlife, but which is the only method allowed by the government it seems. so we left prematurely and headed up to mysore on a whim. Mysore is wonderful, the city is just charismatic. I'll tell you all about it when I'm gone!
namaste

down south

2008-11-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

we're in Kerala! We got here yesterday, its ridiculously hot. seriously. probably the hottest I've ever been, and I've been plenty hot mind you. but its great here! the banana vendors, the jungle-book views everywhere! Just a little note to say I'm doing great, we saw some contemporary Indian art finally, but more on that later. bye bye!

Sikkim

2008-11-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

Hooo, travel days are exhausting! We got up at 5, took 2 jeeps, and are now killing time before we take an auto-rickshaw to our train! Sikkim was so tranquil and sweet, but now we're going back into "real" India. We didn't end up extending our time there, it was just to much hassle, so we had about a week. We took it easy in this sweet little village called Ravangla, and luckily our $4 per night hotel had BBC world news, so we got to watch all the election night (morning for us) excitement, as well as Obama's acceptance speech! We are so excited, and so is the rest of the world! When people ask where we're from, they always tell us how happy they are about Obama winning. In the papers there were articles about how McCain would actually be better for India, being more pro-business, aka outsourcing, but the entire country is behind Obama.
But back to Sikkim. The state is wedged up between Nepal and Bhutan, and has only been a part of India for some 30 years. So the culture there is really unlike that of the rest of India, the people are primarily Buddhist, the architecture and the food is different, closer to Chinese (not tooo close though). There's a lot of politics around the state, China doesn't recognize India's claim to the area, so India absolutely pampers the state to keep it happy and pro-Delhi. The residents live in little farm houses, but they have satellite tv, pay no taxes, have more lax alcohol laws, and an environmentalist agenda that is the polar opposite of the rest of India. So the state is made up of scattered villages connected by footpaths and bumpy roads only jeeps can travel on. The topography is incredible, steeply rolling jungley hills that reminded me of the best parts of Norway and Hawaii, behind which rise the Himalayas. In the area where we were there are red pandas (we didn't see any though) and over 300 species of orchids. Only a few were in blooming season, but there were tons of wild hibiscus, poinsettia, rhododendron! plus bananas, all kinds of ferns, banyans, it was an absolute paradise! We spent a few days in Ravangla, and a few in Yuksom, a yet smaller quainter village, and one in Tasheding, which isn't so interesting except it has a really beautiful, super holy, Buddhist monastery.
So next is Calcutta, which should be... interesting. I let you know!

Darjeeling

2008-11-02T01:18:00.000-07:00

Sanya and I are in Darjeeling, killing time waiting for our Jeep to Gangtok, Sikkim. We Spent three nights here, and it was absolutely wonderful! This area is much more calm than where we've been prior, no one hasseling us, its cleaner, friendlier. Yesterday Sanya and I let ourselves get lost as we wandered in the direction of an old Buddhist monestary, we passed through jungely quiet neighborhoods with incredible views of the himalayas, and eventualy found the monestary. Afterward, we saw someone deepfrying on a beautiful back patio, so we asked if it was a resturant. It wasnt, but they invited us over and gave us fried sweets they were making for Diwali, as well as coffee and potato curry! We stayed for a while and talked, then the 15 year old son walked with us to the Tibetan refugee center, where we said goodbye. The center is a community of orphans and others in need, they make traditional handycrafts and sell them to support their community and the mission of the center, so we bought some nice things and felt happy the money was going to people who needed it.
The day before, we took a long walk through the tea plantations, again with absolutely amazing views in every direction, jungle covered ridges leading up to huge snow cover mountains. We're really excited about Sikkim, and are looking for ways to rearange our trip to have more time there! Two months in India used to sound like a long time, now it doesn't feel long enough for anything!
For those of you biting your nails about the election, don't worry, I managed to submit my early ballot from over here, and I recieved confirmation that it will be counted. So that ought to seal the deal.
Namaste!

In India!

2008-10-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, things are moving much faster than my blog. We've been in India four days now. The first three were in delhi, which was so crazy and fast paced, each day we came back to the guest house exhausted! But it was amazing and beautiful, the only "sights" we did were the red fort and a very old mosque, but for us of course, everything was a spectacle. Just accomplishing everyday tasks requires so much energy, luckily there are in New Delhi a few chains of cafes which sort of emulate starbucks where we could unwind. So there's something I learned about myself, in the states I always figured chains were to be avoided if possible, but I really would rather buy antimalarials at a walgreens than a dirty roadside kiosk. So I guess I'm a bourgeous capitalist and I like western marketing strategies, go figure. I'll check back on that in a three months.
We've been getting around mostly by auto-rickshaw, these little yellow and green sort of three wheeled covered motorcyles, which is really fun. Traffic here is a mess, lines and lanes and speed limits dont mean anything, there really arent any rules whatsoever, yet somehow it manages, its a level of chaos that works as long as everyone agrees to it.
We arrived by train today in Agra, which is a pretty awful place in a lot of ways, but which has some of the most dazzling archetectural gems in the country. Tomorrow we'll go see the Taj Mahal, but today we went to Agra Fort. The fort is now a palace, having been transformed into such by Shah Jahn (Same ruler who built the taj), and is really astounding Mughal archetechture.
After this we'll be in Varanasi for Dewali, India's biggest holiday, there will be lanterns floating in the Ganges and fireworks absolutly everywhere! So this first week is a busy, chaotic one. It's been absolutly amazing, but I'm also looking forward to getting into quieter, smaller cities.
And once again, I reccomend you look at Sanya's blog, because thats where the pictures are!

fixin te mosey

2008-10-20T04:32:00.000-07:00

Scandanavia's been swell, but swellin's gone down. Tomorrow we leave for London, where we'll have a 1-day layover before flying off to India. I expect updates may become harder to make after that point, but I will when I can.
Sanya and I just spent the weekend with her mom visiting Gothenburg, which was a really cute city. We caght one good show at the Hasselblad Center, but both of the Kunsthalles were between shows, damn! We happened to be there for a bunch of openings, but we weren't really impressed much by anything. We still had a good time going though, wine is good! love to all!

Stockholm!

2008-10-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

I've been in Sweden a couple of weeks now, mostly relaxing in Lidköping with Sanya and her family, which has been really nice (a little more like visiting Bosnia than Sweden:) However, Sanya and I made a four day excursion to Stockholm from Fri-Mon, staying with my friend Nadja, who I met when I was studying in Lipzig. We had an absolutly amazing time, Stockholm is now absolutly one of both of our favorite cities. Be sure to look at sanya's blog for our pictures of the trip (and a more lively narrative I have to admit). We caught a concert on friday night, Lasse Lindh, formerly the voice of Tribecca. It was a fun concert, but I guess he's remaking his style, including his voice, since he went solo, and he was better with Tribecca. The one thing I thouht was an improvement was that he sang all in Swedish rather than English. The next night Nadja threw a party and we had an absolutely amazing time with her and her friends, danced all night! Nadja is a raw food vegan, and eating with her was a welcome break from the meat and potatoes we've been subjected to in Lidköping (I like it, but enough is really enough). We also learned so much about nutrition from her, including our doshas (aruvedic body type, helps determine what foods do most good or harm). We spend a lot of time just cruising around the beautiful beautiful city, drinking coffee in cozy, adorable cafes and eating in cozy, delicious restaurants. We went to the Moderne Museet, the main modern+contemporary museum. They were having a big exhibion of Max Ernst, it was interesting to see his whole life in one place, as his work changed so much. My favorites were his collages and his more overtly political paintings (a highlight was 'The Ble

times UP!! more soon!

the hike

2008-10-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

okay, time is moving much faster than this blog so i have to play catch-up. The hike: day one was beautiful weather, very warm, sunny and nice. Day 2 was cooler with some clouds, by day 3 it was cold and windy. Day 4 we climbed some serious elevation, we were up among glaciers and the weather got really bad, hard hard wind, and rain that just pelted us, and sooo cold. There were no rocks to hide behind or anything, so we just plowed forward hoping to get to the cabin at the end. We had been tent camping but there was no way we could have done that, we would have absolutely frozen or blown away or something. But when we finally got there, there was not only a cabin, but people! and a fire! AND HOT COFFEE! (not having a stove this was our first hot food in days) The women, Anne and Linn, turned out to be nurses, as if we werent lucky enough. So we dried off and stayed up talking with them and got to be friends. The next day the weather cleared and we all hiked the last day together to Kinsarvik. From there they gave us a ride to Bergen, where they live and where we were planning to go next. We checked into a hostel and passed out.
The next day we did boring but necesary stuff like laundry and internet, but later met up with A&L for dinner at a really cute, nice place called Pengvin, and then to a wine bar. We had such a great time with them!
The next day we left the Hostel and met up with Tone, a friend of a friend, who was doing her PhD work in Bergen. We stayed with her and her 2 housemates for 2 nights and had a really wonderful time! She was so thoughtful and friendly, thanks Tone!
So that mostly catches up with where I am now in Sweden, but I reccomend you read Sanya's blog, its a much more interesting account than mine. Oh, we saw a few shows in Bergen, at a gallery called Lydgalleriet (i think thats right...) we cought the last day of an exhibition by the owl project, which I had read about before on We Make Money Not Art. It was really a cool show, they made an old fashioned lathe and the wood that is turned on it is also the waveform of the sound that is produced, as well as the rythm from the foot pedal by which it is powered. At the Kunsthalle there was a really good exhibition called "If you destroy the image you destroy the thing itself", Sanya and I both really enjoyed the work of Jan Freuchen, especially the video, which was a really funny kind of bbc looking story about a man who is remade by science and given a new life as an artist. See it if you can!

Norway part 1

2008-09-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Its been about a week since the last news I think, and a whole lot has happened. Sanya and I are in Bergen, Norway. We arrived yesterday after a five day trek through the Hardanger Plateau, beginning in Halne and ending in Kinsarvik. We flew out of Amsterdam and spent the night in the airport, which was also the train station, and in the morning took the train to Haugastol (the closest stop to Halne). We met a really friendly guy on the train, a photographer, and had fun taking pictures with him out the window as we passed by incredible landscapes early in the morning. Haugastol is really just a village (my apologies to any residents reading this) and we weren't able to find propane that fit our stove at the camping store. We hitch-hiked with an awesome guy who managed to cram all our stuff in with all his stuff (this could be elaborated but time is running out), anyway, it was incredibly lucky that we managed to get a ride at all, we really had no backup plan. The first day of hiking was beautiful, the sun was out, but the air was cool, absolutely perfect waether, ..... times up more soon!

Amsterdam, day whatever

2008-09-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

We rented some bikes for the week, and have been cruising all over the city. Sought out some galleries yesterday, one was an old building that used to house the elderly, orphans, and such, and is now a museum to its own past. There were a number of installations, video and audio, some architectural, all with a very contemporary flavor that contrasted really nicely with the old-dutch building they were set in. I finished the chapter in The Botany of Desire on marijuana, and am now working on tulips, both talk a lot about Amsterdam. I've been very impressed with the freedom of information regarding drugs here. Sanya and I went for a nice walk this morning, we found a bunch of galleries that were all closed, but had a good time peering in windows. Oh, we also ate "Bitterbals" per our host recommendation, but still have no idea what it was. Thanksgiving deep fried in a ball?

Amsterdam

2008-09-18T05:07:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Amsterdam a couple of days ago. The first was pretty much lost to jet lag and wandering with huge packs in the wrong direction, took a nap, though I tried hard not to, and the next day we accidentally all slept until 3pm! But today I woke up at 9am, an hour before the alarm, so I guess I'm back on schedule. Kerri brought the Botony of Desire, so I'm trying to quick get though the chapters on tulips and cannabis while in Amsterdam. I brought Deleuze's Bergsonism, but that'll have to wait. Everything in this city is beautiful, the buildings and the canals and the population of tall, well dressed, fit people. We went to one gallery today (others were closed for lunch), and saw a few things I really liked, pretty different flavor than Chicago's scene, reminds me more of Leipzig and Neo Rauch, and a little of my friend Timur's work. I've been taking lots of pictures, lots of touristy touristy pictures! love and peace

The Opening

2008-08-27T23:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to those who stopped by the opening on Tuesday. For those who didn't, you missed out on some delicious popsicles. And though the popsicles are all eaten or melted, the art is still there, and will be until the 12th.

Still Breathing at SUGS Gallery X

2008-08-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Before I leave I'm having a solo show at Gallery X, entitled Still Breathing which will feature a few pieces I finished very recently. The opening reception is on Aug 26th at 4:00.

Gallery X

Columbus Building
280 S. Columbus Dr.
1st Flr. Rm. 113

My mom, Beth Jonquil, is in a show here in Chicago called Outdated, as polaroid is her main medium and the topic of the show, it's definitely worth seeing. It's one night only, Aug. 15th. For more info see the website: polaroidshow.com

k.i.t. b.f.f.

2008-08-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hey friends, family, and everyone. As some of you know, but many of you don't, I'm getting ready to skip town for 4 months, from Sep 15 to Jan 16. Sanya and I are leaving for a big adventure, beginning with Amsterdam, where we're meeting up with my sister on her way to France, then a week of trekking in Norway before we head to Sweden to visit Sanya's Grandpa. Three weeks later we'll be off to India, where we'll be for almost 2 months, culminating in Surabhi and Diwaker's wedding. After that we'll fly to Bangkok and work our way around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Loas.
So this blog will be my primary mode of communication during that time, as long as internet cafes are to be found. If you'd like, you can subscribe to this blog with the Atom link at the bottom. I'll check my email too, so please write!