Painting by Jeremy Crawford. Photo by Brooke Hall.
Under One Roof
Some people can’t help but be memorable. It’s these uncommon individuals that lend their personality to a particular place and time and give it soul.
Jeremy Crawford and Jim Lucio are two such people filling that role in Baltimore.
Upon first meeting Jim and Jeremy I would never have guessed that they were transplants from New York City. They seemed to exemplify the kind of idiosyncratic individuality that defines the Baltimore art scene as we know it. It’s not that I have trouble seeing them thrive in New York, it just seemed to me that they were locals in the best sense of the word. The way I see it, New York’s loss is Baltimore’s win and I’m guessing that most people reading this would agree. Everyone else is probably still waiting for an introduction so allow me, if you will, the pleasure of presenting the first collaborative exhibition by Jim and Jeremy ‘Under One Roof’ at The G-Spot, a venue some people have a hard time locating but we seemed to find right away.
The Big Picture
Egzon & Rufad, Jeremy Crawford, 2009- from the private collection of Elizabeth Bardelli.
This isn’t the VH1 Behind The Music for poor lil’ Wilma Martinez, people. This is What Weekly.
Under One Roof
Design by Jim Lucio.
Jim Lucio’s contribution to ‘Under One Roof’ was a wall to wall installation of oversized newsprint depicting covers of the fictional publication ‘Gordo,’ a fetish magazine focused on chubby men. I personally never imagined that I could be so moved to laugh by an overweight man in whitey tighties but there’s a first for everything.
Jeremy Crawford and Jim Lucio
Jeremy’s recent paintings are a satisfying slap in the face of convention. His style of portraiture is loud, vibrant, beautiful and speaks with a voice entirely his own.
Jim chooses various mediums to express himself including, most recently, newsprint. With a penchant for mischief and the absurd he often makes us smile and ask ourselves “what the….?” simultaneously. Jim’s work is provocative, playful and is sure to cause an emotional response in its audience.
Their work, while distinct, shares complimentary themes which, is the by-product of two artists who’ve spent years living together.
Photo by Brooke Hall, story by Justin Allen.
“Under One Roof is a collaborative show between Jeremy Crawford and Jim Lucio, who for six years, shared an East Village apartment which also served as a painting studio for Crawford and a graphic design studio for Lucio. In 2002, their NYC-based home studio moved to Baltimore, where they continue… to produce their individual works under the same roof. The G-Spot show, Under One Roof marks the first time the two artists have shown their work together publicly.”
The gallery at The G-Spot was standing room only nearly the entire time we were at the opening reception.
Bargain Hunters, 2009. Acrylic, spray paint, wallpaper and vintage supermarket ephemera on wood panels, 48″ x 72″.
Retro-revisionism is the term I’m going to coin for one of the common threads running through Jim and Jeremy’s work. Both artists use elements of the past to re-imagine how things might have been, had they been filtered through their own personal sensibilities.
Elizabeth Bardelli is proof that owning an Jeremy Crawford painting is one path to happiness as she poses with her painting, Egzon and Rufad, 2009.
Matthew Walter, Nina Bluhm and Marishka Bachman at the opening reception of ‘Under One Roof’ at The G-Spot.
Minas Konsolas, Trisha Selko, Brad Selko and Peggy Hoffman.
The gentleman standing to the left in this photo appears to be none other than storied and reclusive artist and international pop star Minas Konsolas who had supposedly been on tour in Burundi when this photo was taken though it seems he may have snuck back into the country just to be at this opening.
Konsolas is known throughout the world for charting several hits and selling multiple platinum albums in countries such as Djibouti and Liechtenstein. Though he’s only sold a handful of albums in the U.S., six or seven to be exact, he’s often unable to travel outside of the country for fear of being mobbed by his adoring fans.
Minas Konsolas and his wife Peggy Hoffman also own a boutique and gallery on the Avenue in Hampden that’s a great place to find unique gifts and affordable art to fulfill all of your holiday shopping needs.
