Shackway

Pictures, ideas and musings by David Sollie

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Spirits of the Red City - Halfway Poem

They performed at a house party in Minneapolis a few days ago: absolutely amazing.

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Birthday cake shaped like an attache case. For my nephew Mikey’s 6th birthday he wanted a spy-themed party, so my hilarious sister put time and care into making him this cake. Everything is edible except the magnifying glass.

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5872 by David Sollie, 2013.   If you are in Minneapolis tomorrow (Saturday, March 1st, 2014) there is going to be a special event at Bockley Gallery.  The current exhibition is a show of my most recent work (inspired by time spent in Armenia and the Southern Caucasus).  The big news is that tomorrow evening from 6:30 until 8:30 pm  an eclectic band from North Dakota called "Yer Lips are Blue" will be playing a few sets of acoustic music at the gallery, so please visit if you have a chance.  Bockley Gallery is located at 2123 W 21st Street, very close to Lake of the Isles and on the same block as Birchbark Books and The Kenwood restaurant.

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Train Bridge.  Archival pigment print with colored pencil.  2013, by David Sollie.  

This image is currently on view at Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis in an exhibition called Hollow Stone: The Life and Disappearance of Narek Grigoryan.  The show runs through March 15th.  More information available at www.bockleygallery.com 

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Armenian landscape.  Archival pigment print with colored pencil on paper, 2013, by David Sollie.

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Exhibition Invitation: David Sollie at Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis, opening Friday, February 7th from 6:00 to 8:00.  If you happen to be in Minneapolis I hope you will visit.  Bockley Gallery is located at 2123 W. 21st street (a few block west of Lake of the Isles, near Franklin, a few doors down from The Kenwood restaurant.  

Regular gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, Noon to 5 pm.  The show runs through March 15, 2014.

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Abandoned greenhouse, Yerevan Botanical Garden.  This building was put up near the end of Soviet times.  It was intended to house rare species from around the world, but after the dissolution of the USSR there was no funding.  It was not possible to heat and maintain this place, so it was never used.  Now some of the windows are broken and the only plants inside are those whose seeds have found their way in through the damaged parts.

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Communist-Era Artist's Studio, Yerevan  This space is in a building near central Yerevan that was built as live-in artist studios near the end of the Soviet era.  Last year my friend Vahag purchased this place and moved his studio here.  It is pretty amazing: northern light and a good sized outdoor space, and the inside is glasnost personified.

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Hoppity Rosebud, by David Sollie.   Mixed media on canvas, 2011-12, and Rosebud herself, after coming back from a run.

I made Hoppity Rosebud in an earnest attempt to capture the joy our dog takes in running.  I think there is so much stuff made that seems to have not much to do with the way people actually live, so sometimes I try to make things that are rooted in what seems to be mundane or commonplace.  Artistically speaking, I'm not sure that a bulky theoretical apparatus is necessary for the enjoyment of ice cream.

If you are curious, Rosebud is a mix of boxer, pug,  Jack Russell and Boston terrier, and she's a smart little sweetie pie.  She can sit, speak, shake, roll over, dance in circles on her hind legs, walk on her hind legs, and she jumps into my arms when I come home.   Good girl, Rosebud!  

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My exhibition opens this Saturday.  Should be a good time!

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#363, 2012.

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#322, 2012.

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#227.   2012, by David Sollie.

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Sweetie Baby by Compass, a group of young Armenian lads.   In interviews they've said they are inspired by the Beatles, which in this performance translates into the bass player doing a priceless McCartney imitation.  

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Small kiosk which once sold school and art supplies.  Gyumri, Armenia.

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I previously posted a picture of of box of Barf laundry detergent that was purchased in Armenia.  Well it turns out that they also came up with this seasonal packaging, which is a kind of celebration of their decades-long association with New Year's Eve and good cheer.  May the new year be full of good things for all of you!

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Sleeping area for employee of a gas station in Nogorno-Karabakh