Jack Leamy

The artist collective Art Monkey was formed to challenge the concept of individual and autonomous creative genius while also exploring the metaphysics of art. Art Monkey is a motley crew comprised of an artist, an entrepreneur, a housewife, and a highschool student. This group has come together by means of employing emergence theory - whose purpose is to reveal and develop higher order consciousness and unified creativity.

The first project presented is a video titled Image Maker. This video explores creativity and the different aspects of its process - inspiration, fear, desire, tools, medium, skill, spiritual search and approval seeking. Myth and myth-making, being seminal attributes of the man/animal creature (Image Maker), is the metaphysical nexus where, using Bigfoot as metaphor for God/Nature, Real/Unreal, True/False, Known/Unknown, is a means to get at identity. Creature, creator, culture, technology... memory, art, artifice, and artifact are all tied into this DaDa-esque revery which questions at the primeval missing link level; what came first, Bigfoot or the gorilla suit?

The second project, To Be or Not To Be, Now? is a performance piece that uses the sublime soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet (thus, the title) as an interrogative tool, whose aim is to take an ontological spade to studio practice and the history of Western painting. As a performance, the action is inspired by childlike humor and innocence and not by derivative irony. In the context of this project, biography is cultural and not personal. Hamlet, as a device, is used to humanize art and elevate the individual towards a more liberated, empathetic, and higher consciousness to understand painting as a primarily spiritual event.

Tunnel Project: This is a short video sketch performed by Jefferson Pinder and myself. The task was to run through the Rodeo Beach tunnel at night. Dodging traffic and the rangers was a secondary difficulty to overcome. We had the idea of collaborating bringing both identity politics and myth together to develop social critique. Thus far the piece has not been developed sufficiently so it is presently... the Mod Squad meets Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

IMAGE MAKER

TO BE OR NOT TO BE, NOW?

BIOS

Jack Leamy - Producer, Performer, Artist

Jack grew up in South Gardner, Massachusetts. He studied art at Mount Wachusett Community College, where he received scholarships enabling him to transfer to Pratt Institute in New York. Mr. Leamy was awarded his BFA in 1985. He traveled to the west coast, settling in San Francisco, where he has a vital studio practice and is a devoted husband and father. Recently, Jack has returned to graduate school and will be awarded his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2010. He has exhibited his work in New York, Massachusetts, and California. His paintings are visual poems dealing with myth, the metaphysics of nature and culture as they collide, and a self-reflexive investigation of the universe.

Mason is a 14 year old high school student at the San Francisco School of the Arts. He is a natural born comedian with a gift for translating comedic nuance onto film and is particularly intrigued by dark comedy and narrative. He is fast becoming an expert in computer editing, and this love is translating into many other forms of computer operations. The oldest of four siblings, his life is always full of material for his comedic cogitation. Between film projects, keeping his grades up, and helping out with his younger brother, he practices Hapkido, hoping to earn his black-belt in June of 2010.

Amelia is an amateur photographer and busy mother of four amazing children. After many years as a professional actor and photography student, she has settled into a more domestic routine. Her creative abilities are continually employed as she juggles part-time work at an elemantary school, weekends working at a hair salon, and ever encouraging her talented children in their various extracurricular endeavors. She has a love for portrait photography, which utilizes her remarkable gift of putting people at ease and bringing out their organic beauty. She has photographed a number of weddings and births, exhibiting not only and eye for composition, but an almost magic ability to capture people in a naturally flattering way.

Rachel Leamy is a business owner and mother. She runs a chain of shoeshine/shoe repair shops located in San Francisco, New York, and Washington D.C. In addition to its local shops, her business also provides mobile special event services that include all forms of entertainment. Rachel's singing, swing dancing, and ukulele playing talents have been featured in several news programs and articles, alongside those of her equally multifaceted staff. Before she became an owner of this thriving shoeshine business, she was a professional improvisational actor and an English major at UC Berkeley. She dreams of one day directing her many brilliant friends in a large scale production musical.

Format and Technical Requirements

These works are on DVD and can be shown on either an LCD television with a DVD player or projected onto a blank wall using a projector. We can provide the projector and an accompanying sound system.

PAINTINGS | RESUME | FILMS

SHORT FILMS BY ART MONKEY

Concept Description

IMAGE MAKER

TO BE OR NOT TO BE, NOW?

BIOS

Format and Technical Requirements

Contact Information

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