03 TONY PAYNE

No Title, 2004,
hand stamped with artist’s blood, 22" x 30", ed. 4 of 10

Tony Payne has said, “I somehow feel obliged to take note and make records.” The materials used to relay these messages are most often related to the artist’s own body (blood, coffee enema, semen) in order to stress their importance and potency—to “give them as much humanity that I can possibly produce.” Paying special attention to elements of dreams, song lyrics, and found text, Payne explores the medium of words. Here, a meditative fragment, “the wilderness” is transcribed in the artist’s own blood. Payne received his BFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in Design, has worked as an art director and independent curator of exhibitions nationally, and has produced artist’s editions for Mike Kelley and Raymond Pettibon. Currently, Payne works as an archivist for the Tom of Finland Foundation and has served on LACE’s Board of Directors for 3 years.

courtesy of the artist
value $800–1,000