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Art Brutes poster


collage in weathered widow frame
by Gaylord Pasternak

Black Babies in Arles, 2006, by Gary Manners
Black Babies in Arles (2006)
poster print (22.75" x 14")
by Gary Manners


Far Afeild (2006)
by Gary Manners

Art Brutes
the butchered elegance of
Gaylord Pasternak
&
Gary Manners

July 7 through July 29 2006
opening reception
First Friday July 7th 5-8pm

As far as I know only two artist have ever leaped off the roof of the gallery at an opening for their show. We are promised to have a relatively tame opening as local Portland, Maine artist Gaylord Pasternak, while not leaping of of the roof this time, will be showing some of his new work along with fellow local character Gary Manners. (As far as I know Manners has not leaped off of any roofs).
The title of the show is a reference to the French art term Art Brut, literally meaning rough art or raw art and was generally used for the rougher styles of outsider artists, and creative work of children and the insane. So when applied to the Pasternak and Manners is is somewhat applicable and somewhat tongue-in-cheek, they are not brutish though their art is rough and akin to the work of so-called outsider artist. ( a term that is getting more and more blurred). Manners' recent works are aggressive mixed media pieces with articulately smashed panes of glass as a central element. Pasternak's deftly abused surfaces and use of junk objects also display an inner psychological tension. Their work achieves both expression of love of aesthetics and anger at the material.

Read the amazing tale of the man called Gaylord Pasternak! (click here)

Art Brutes exhibit at ubu studio art gallery
Art Brutes exhibit at ubu studio

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Gary Manners' notorious fluxus styled piece
Protest is Patriotic Flag Burning Kit
produced in a limited edition of 150 will be given away to the first fifty visitors to the opening reception on July 7th.

Protest is Patriotic Flag Burning Kit by Gary Manners

Gaylord's Double Platinum Record #2 collage
Gaylord Pasternak's Double Platinum Record #2
(12"x12"- collage)
by Gaylord Pasternak
Gaylord's Story

Gaylord Pasternak Was born an illegitimate child to the Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak and an unknowns circus sideshow bearded lady. They met while Pasternak was traveling in America to promote his epic novel, Doctor Zhivago. It is unknown when and at which traveling show they happened to meet, but it is believed to be somewhere between Baltimore and Albany, during the 1970's. The bearded lady named and kept Gaylord in a wicker basket, trying to conceal his existence to her employers. He was often deprived of air and dropped on his head repeatedly, leading to mild mental retardation. Eventually she was forced to give him up, and Gaylord was left on a doorstep in Pensacola, Florida. Here he was taken in by a Baptist minister who tried to teach Gaylord the ways of the Bible and beat him with a nail-studded stick daily. It was then that Gaylord developed his aversion to religion and organization of any kind. He also learned to cut pieces of the pages of the Bible and rearrange the words into his own text. Even at this early age, the spirit of resistance and independence was alive and well within his soiled loins. Gaylord was adopted by a family of cast characters at Walt Disney World, and would soon be the child performer behind the mask and costume of Dopey from Snow White. A tragic incident involving an evil rich girl taunting him with a dirt covered candy apple led Gaylord to flee on foot with his Dopey mask and no pants. He made it. A Midwest train led Gaylord to Kansas where he was recruited as a farm labor hand on an organic spelt plantation. He learned the ways of farming and masturbation. The wild lands and open spaces of the Midwest could not tame Gaylord. He sought the populated centers of his adoptive country and all of the glorious stagnation that they offered. New York City. Gaylord fell in with the roving gangs of homeless teenage children and vagrants. He learned the ways of the streets and performance artists in Greenwich Village. He soon became a member of a murderous gang know as Anti-Friend Hut. Led by the criminally insane mastermind Crank Sturgeon and ruthless enforcer of vigilante laws Clog Wornago, the trio would wreak havoc on deserving and not-so deserving peoples of nefarious and stand-up character. Their twisted interpretation of performance art, mental robberies and public exploits of existence would become the stuff of forgotten legends. The Hut was dissolved by the International Tribunal in The Hague for crimes against humanity, indecent public exposure and also just being all around jerks. Now Gaylord makes collages on his own. If you ask him about any of his work, he will say, "It is what it is. Maybe give me a hotdog now. Mmmmmmrrrrrggggghhh, bye."

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