Newly Completed Paintings!

More images of work coming soon!

Nature Unveiled

Best Albums of 2011

Although it was an amazing year for new music, I spent a large chunk of my time delving into the past and discovering many albums and artist that I have overlooked or have only recently become aware of.
I'm sure that there was a plethora of music that I missed while I was traveling back in time to mine for aural gems, probably many new albums that I just plain glossed over or bands that I felt fell short of the hype surrounding them. However, these 10 albums are ones that struck a particular chord with me in 2011. I've posted standout tracks that I feel represent each records' tone (and forgive me for posting a reissue in a "new" best-of the year list-"Nada!" is just that good!).

Dirty Beaches "Badlands" Zoo Music
standout track(s) "Horses", "Lord Knows Best", "Sweet 17", "True Blue"

Tom Waits "Bad As Me" Anti-
standout track(s) "Face to the Highway", "Raised Right Men", "Talking at the Same Time", "Bad As Me", "Chicago"

Grouper "A I A: Alien Observer/Dream Loss" Yellowelectric
standout track: "Alien Observer"

Death In June "NADA! Plus (30th anniversary reissue)" Pylon
standout track "The Honour of Silence", "The Calling", "C'est Un Reve"
Six Organs Of Admittance "Maria Kapel" Pavilion
standout track "Maryam"

Cult of Youth "S/T" Sacred Bones
standout track "Lace Up Your Boots"

Zola Jesus "Conatus" Sacred Bones
standout track (s) "Hikikomori", "Seekir"
Great Society Mind Destroyers "Spirit Smoke" Slow Knife
standout track "Divinorum"

K Holes "S/T" HoZac
standout track(s) "Swamp Fires", "Werewolf With a Tan"

Mick Harvey "Sketches From the Book of the Dead" Mute
standout track "October Boy"

"Duramen Series" Bonsoir Gallery Paris

Amazingly beautiful hand-carved objects that are truly stunning. More info here. Props to my ma for sending the site my way!

Dead of Winter

Very excited! Just finished up the cover for my friends collection of horror comics set in winter time. Hopefully, the stories will be printed into a traditional paper format some time in the coming months. In addition, they are slated to be released digitally via Graphicly.com. A launch event is in the works for sometime in January at Horrorbles in Berwyn. Cool shit! More news to come in the following weeks! Keep an eye out!

"The Great God Pan" show announcement

My first solo show of new work in some time is finally scheduled! It's called "The Great God Pan" in reference to the theme of my recent series of paintings and drawings.

The show will be hung at Robert Jeffrey Salon in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago and will run from December 30th, 2011-February 24th, 2012. A reception will take place on January 6th, the first Friday for the new year! I will be printing postcards and sending them out, and making frequent Facebook and blog posts as the show draws closer.

More details to come in the next few weeks. Also, please be sure to check out my website for images of new work (although seeing them in the flesh is obviously the recommended way to experience them!).

Memento Mori

This is my interpretation of the classic idea of the Memento Mori, or, a reminder of one's temporal and fleeting existence on this mortal coil. The drawings are meant to invoke feeling representative of each stage of one's earthly experience: the growth and change we assume as we move through Life; the release from the mortal husk of one's body at the point of Death; and the inevitable rotting and decay of one's body, facilitated unremittingly by Time.

Conceived as a triptych, this piece is a way of reconnecting with classical themes and values in art, concepts that I feel aren't touched upon as frequently in contemporary art.

All pieces 22"x28" chalk pastel on black paper

Portfolio Website is operational!

Just wanted to let readers know that I've finished up my website, and it is now live. Still working out a few technical kinks, and I'm hoping to get a real domain name here soon, but for what it's worth, check it out: johnnydeckermiller.zxq.net

Enjoy!

Japan's Archives Mailorder

Whoa! A great site to discover some seriously rare Japanese LP's and 45's from the 60's to the mid 90's. This guy has done a great job compiling all these beauties with small descriptions of each record and many photographs. I've been using it mainly for researching the artists I find interesting, but the cover art alone should be enough to keep you browsin' for a while! Wish there was a place in Chicago that had a hidden little cache of Japanese vinyl that I could stumble upon...

New Work

Presently untitled work. 22"x28" chalk pastel on black paper

In anticipation of my upcoming solo show at Robert Jeffrey Salon, I'll frequently be updating the blog with images of my newest paintings and drawings. More info will follow on the show dates/duration/reception. All the pieces will be for sale at a wide range of prices and sizes (keep those holiday gifts in mind folks!).

Been listenin' to...

Vangelis "Antarctica"

Depeche Mode "Some Great Reward"

Alan Vega "Jukebox Babe"

Grouper "Alien Observer"

The Azuma Kabuki Musicians "Columbia Masterworks Series"

Tangerine Dream "Force Majeure"

Tangerine Dream "Tangram"

Rolan Vega "Documentary"

Jean Michel Jarre "Oxygene"

Phurpa: A new dawn for thee olde Drone

Founded and led by Alexei Tegin, Moscow based Phurpa are a five-man Tibetan monastic choir that takes Tantric rgyud-skad throat singing to the next level: down into the dark world of Russian basso profundo. (Dan Warburton)

Reblogged from: Music For the Masses

Wicked Woman

Got my sleeve worked on for my birthday for the first time in many years. Hoping to complete it in a few more sessions. While I was at the shop, I saw this little beauty of a voodoo woman on the wall. I think it's an original by Ed Hardy? Thought I'd share. Images of the sleeve in process to come soon....

Dante's Pizzeria featured on Urban Daddy

My chalk mural was featured in the image for a review/blurb about the new restaurant on Urban Daddy.
Follow the link for the full article.

Dante's Pizzeria Chicago

Day 3

Day 4

Jen working hard on the signage above the kitchen window "omnes relinquite fames, o vos intrantes" trans. "abandon all hunger, oh you entering"

Day 4: The end of a hard days work

Day 5: Pizza by the Slice board

Day 5

Day 5 Detail

Day 5: Ta Da!

Dante's Pizzeria Chicago will be opening it's door this Monday, September 5th. Make sure to stop by and grab a slice! Aaron and Tim definitely make a killer pie!

3028 W. Armitage Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647

773-342-0002

Gat Damn, That's Some Hot Soul!

Dante's Pizzeria-Coming soon!

I was fortunate enough to be asked to do a chalkboard mural for my friend's brand new Logan Square restaurant, Dante's Pizzeria. The space looks great and the food sounds amazing, can't wait to see how this place is gonna take off! It's being opened by the minds behind Rocking Horse and High Dive, and some buds from a previous job.

I jumped at the opportunity to create something massive and rife with hellish imagery. Since the main focus is the food, I'm leaving plenty of space for the delicious menu items on parchment scrolls and utilizing a cavernous hell design to border the piece. Dante and Virgil look out onto the scene as the head chef, Satan, roasts a hell of a tasty looking pie!

Take a look at the work as it progresses (a high quality pic will be taken by a professional photographer once the piece is completed). Be sure to click on the image for an enlarged view! The size is 6' x 10', chalk pastel on chalkboard wall.


Day 1

Day 1 Detail

Day 2

Day 2 Detail