This last Sunday, 200 people in NYC, 40 in LA, 200 in Berlin, Boston, San Francisco, and small numbers in many other cities brought out chairs, and sat before their Chinese Consulates to protest the secret-police style and arrest of Ai Wei Wei. based on a former performance piece by the artist.
Now Liu Xiaoyuan, one of Ai's lawyers appears to have been also abducted by the secret police. His last text read: "followed by identified people". The situation is growing dimmer by the minute, with the State slinging accusations of polygamy (false), tax evasion, plagiarism, pornography, and anything else they can think of.
Sources: [Link], [Link], [Link]
Monday, April 18, 2011
Exquisite Self @ Collective
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| Several works by Jono Vaughan from "Exquisite Self" |
This show is a fusion of two bodies of Vaughan's work: "The Ornamentation of Friends", and "The Ornamental Self", which have been in progress since 2009. He was born in London, in 1977. His Mother was a hairdresser, which might explain some of the work's focus. He came to the US in 1985, completed his BFA at the School of Visual Arts in NY in 1999. He also attended the School of Visual Arts in Savannah, studying under Anthony Palliser. Then a Master's of Arts Degree in Fine Arts from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2002, followed by an MFA from USF in 2009.
He's been teaching since 2000, currently at the Art Intstitute of Tampa, and as a lithographers' assistant at Graphic Studio/USF.
The work in this show consists of detailed drawings of Jono's and his friends styled hair as seen from behind, or about 1/4 views. The hair in these drawings is masterfully drawn. It does not merely rely on realism, but at times the artist has taken the risks in giving one just enough detail to leave your eye room to fill in the rest as no one else could. On the left, "The Back of My Head, 3/16/08" shows this to perfection. In spite of the apparent lushness of these drawings, there is an astute sensual economy and trust in the viewer's participation in the ideation of these pictures.
There are questions raised by the work. I note that Jono calls the ones of his friends "The Ornamentation of Friends", and those of himself, "The Ornamental Self". The former seems like an adjunct, the latter far more integrated. Like fashion and body ornamentation, this is a projected, conscious, constructed identity. Without seeing Jono's face, we are seeing several variations of himself. Outside of photographs, hairdos are fleeting. Hair grows out, one changes tastes, etc. We are seeing transitional, living selves here from a POV that is invisible to the depicted subject. On the work on the right, note the delicate formal relationship between the tips at the bottom of the hair to the pattern on the barely visible garment.
Some are head-on, and likewise faceless, though the eyebrows are included. On the left is "Bangs and Brows, 6/26/09". The faceless identity theme persists.
A picture of Jono Vaughan with a close-up of one of his works, titled "The Back of My Head, 9/20/10"
This is a conceptually unusual body of work, expertly executed. Congratulations to Jono Vaughan and to Collective for an interesting show.
--- Luis
For more of Jono's work, see here: [Link]
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Art Fair App: Collectium iPhone
Meandering around an Art Fair without a clue? No more. If you go to SCOPE, Pulse, Volta NY, Fountain and Moving Image Art Fairs between March 3 & March 6th, and get the Collectium iPhone app, you'll be able to use your phone to "recognize"artwork exhibited at the fair and:
• instantly receive extensive information on the artist and the piece;
• add the artwork to “My Collection” favorites;
• share with friends via Facebook, Twitter and email;
• contact the gallery about the artwork.
• browse the entire art show catalogue on their iPhone;
• enter images, details and personal notes about works of art not registered in the system;
• view all the programming and scheduling information about the fairs.
“This is a social art management system, part of the next generation of tools for appreciating art,” says Boris Pevzner, the former Silicon Valley entrepreneur who founded Collectrium. “Our app makes the experience of visiting an art fair more interactive for the art lover — enhancing the on-site visit, while also allowing visitors to take the fair home with them.”
“We’ve created a bridge between the physical and virtual art worlds by bringing the power of online technology to that live moment of discovery."
And you'll sound more knowledgeable at the parties, too.
Source: [Link]
Today: Sunday In The Arts @ Las Damas del Arte
Today, Sunday April 17th, Las Damas del Arte, is having its annual exhibit and fundraiser, "Sunday In The Arts". It is from 5-9 PM at Tampa Prep School's "Smith Black Box Theater".GENERAL ADMISSION IS $40 IN ADVANCE; $50 AT THE DOOR, $75 PATRONS, STUDENTS (WITH I.D.) $15 AND SPONSORSHIPS START AT $250 AND ABOVE. (VISA/MC ACCEPTED). 727 Cass Street, Tampa. Everyone is invited.
[Link]
Note of thanks to Sarah of CyberCraft robots for this.
[Link]
Note of thanks to Sarah of CyberCraft robots for this.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Art Taco's Guide to Mainsail
This is AT's totally unofficial Guide to the Mainsail Art Show in Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg, FL. Just got in from walking around, and in no particular order, here's some must-see highlights from the show.
Susan Livingston with her fossil series, incorporating clay with genuine Floridian fossils. The Past and Present run side by side in this work. This award-winning artist is extremely good with the use of textures as metaphor. Elegant stuff. See more at [Link]
On the left are several Raku pots by Orlando ceramicist John Kellum. They are ornate and whimsical,with beautiful colors. More of John's work can be seen here: [Link]
Scott Hartley hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan and paints large, intricate watercolors that take one's breath away. To see more of his work, here: [Link]
Duncan McClelland Glass stands out in any setting, and Mainsail was no different. I've long admired the piece on the right, ""Communication". This work properly lit is dazzling.
This is a picture of Duncan with more of his beautiful work. While I was standing there, two women stood, one of them trying to get Duncan's attention (he was busy at the time) and she said to the other: "I just want to know the meaning, for him to tell me what it means". The other replied: "It will mean something different to you than it does to him or me". [Link]
On the right is Nancy Cervenka and one of her latest pieces. It's one of her abstract, botanical-looking works, simply stunning in person. Nancy's work is in several major collections.
Edson Campos, no stranger to this blog, has been focusing more and more on art historical references in his paintings, still using his sublime skills in rendering the human figure to great advantage. 
Susan Livingston with her fossil series, incorporating clay with genuine Floridian fossils. The Past and Present run side by side in this work. This award-winning artist is extremely good with the use of textures as metaphor. Elegant stuff. See more at [Link]
On the left are several Raku pots by Orlando ceramicist John Kellum. They are ornate and whimsical,with beautiful colors. More of John's work can be seen here: [Link]
Scott Hartley hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan and paints large, intricate watercolors that take one's breath away. To see more of his work, here: [Link]
Duncan McClelland Glass stands out in any setting, and Mainsail was no different. I've long admired the piece on the right, ""Communication". This work properly lit is dazzling.
This is a picture of Duncan with more of his beautiful work. While I was standing there, two women stood, one of them trying to get Duncan's attention (he was busy at the time) and she said to the other: "I just want to know the meaning, for him to tell me what it means". The other replied: "It will mean something different to you than it does to him or me". [Link]
On the right is Nancy Cervenka and one of her latest pieces. It's one of her abstract, botanical-looking works, simply stunning in person. Nancy's work is in several major collections.
 |
| By Nancy Cervenka |
On the left is Michael Nemnich (Looking a lot like The Dude) with his figurative paintings of heads, which are very Buddah-like. See more of his work here: [Link]
Sculptor Charles Parkhill, a graduate of USF and later University of Utah, and a former winner of Mainsail, was recommended (wisely) by Nancy Cervenka. His woodwork is incisively intricate and delightfully contemplative work.
Misao Adachi, below, works out of his studio in Salt Creek Artworks. His luminous renditions of Japanese women in kimonos are intriguing explorations, sometimes with subtle symbology included. [Link]
Edson Campos, no stranger to this blog, has been focusing more and more on art historical references in his paintings, still using his sublime skills in rendering the human figure to great advantage. 
Above, Edson has referenced a stretched-out version of "Las Meninas", a very famous painting from 1656 by Diego Velazquez, who included himself and his easel and canvas on the left. Edson injects himself conceptually into the painting, looking more than a little wistful. For more see here: [Link]
Mainsail is a great show this year. I've only touched on nine excellent artists that I thought were standouts, but there are 240 more, and your opinion will certainly vary from mine, as it should. Put on the sunblock, bring a hat, some cold water, and head out early if you want to find easy parking, be prepared to walk a ways through a beautiful neighborhood, or pay. Congratulations to the organizers of Mainsail for a beautiful outdoors art show in an unbeatable waterfront setting.
Gallery Walk at the 600 Block.
Last Saturday, it was Gallery Walk, and the 600 block was alive with people.
I ran into Josh Sullivan doing some live painting on Central, and next to him, his lifelong friend, Stuart Andrews. They're going to be in a show at the St. Pete Museum of History in Sept.
More of Stu's work here: [Link]
On the left is Bill Correira, whose paintings of marine life and water have landed him on the cover of magazines. His place is Gallery Woo, at 689 Central. More here: [Link]
This is Brad Augsburger's gallery in the Crislip Arcade. He has paintings, sculptures and makes gorgeous custom furniture. See more at [Link]
On the right, the Crislip Arcade. This was taken early in the evening. It filled up a little later.
On the left is the founder of Rex a million posing with the mural he painted on the back wall of his wearable art fashion shop in the Crislip Arcade. See more here: [Link]
On the left is Alexis Winning, Owner of the Royal Brownie Co., who makes exquisite baked goods. Her Bacon brownies are like heaven. The Smores were perhaps the best I've ever had. She can be contacted at 727.238.7226. On the Web [Link] Her shop is at 4 Sixth St. North in St Pete.
These good people are from Rugaz Rescue Inc. They seem to specialize in rescuing Pit Bulls, and had several rescues on hand.
For more [Link]
Blue Lucy had a new show of pop icon pictures by Chad Mize.
Pale Horse and Collective also opened shows that evening, but will be reviewed separately.
--- Luis
I ran into Josh Sullivan doing some live painting on Central, and next to him, his lifelong friend, Stuart Andrews. They're going to be in a show at the St. Pete Museum of History in Sept.
More of Stu's work here: [Link]
On the left is Bill Correira, whose paintings of marine life and water have landed him on the cover of magazines. His place is Gallery Woo, at 689 Central. More here: [Link]
This is Brad Augsburger's gallery in the Crislip Arcade. He has paintings, sculptures and makes gorgeous custom furniture. See more at [Link]
On the right, the Crislip Arcade. This was taken early in the evening. It filled up a little later.
On the left is the founder of Rex a million posing with the mural he painted on the back wall of his wearable art fashion shop in the Crislip Arcade. See more here: [Link]
On the left is Alexis Winning, Owner of the Royal Brownie Co., who makes exquisite baked goods. Her Bacon brownies are like heaven. The Smores were perhaps the best I've ever had. She can be contacted at 727.238.7226. On the Web [Link] Her shop is at 4 Sixth St. North in St Pete. These good people are from Rugaz Rescue Inc. They seem to specialize in rescuing Pit Bulls, and had several rescues on hand.
For more [Link]
Blue Lucy had a new show of pop icon pictures by Chad Mize. Pale Horse and Collective also opened shows that evening, but will be reviewed separately.
--- Luis
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Love The Future: The Case Against Ai Wei Wei?
A government-controlled paper in Hong Kong is now claiming Ai Wei Wei has begun confessing:
"As the investigation has deepened, the public security authorities have accumulated quite solid witness, documentary and circumstantial evidence and Ai Weiwei has had quite a good attitude in co-operating with the investigation and has begun to confess,"
[Immediately I think the unthinkable: Are they torturing him?]
The same article says he is "suspected of bigamy" and "spreading pornography on line". His wife Lu Quing and sister Gao deny these unsubstantiated allegations, and say he is being set up. The artist has been a desaparecido with no word from the government as to his whereabouts t his family since April 3rd, when he was abducted while trying to board a plane. I do not think it a good sign that they are throwing allegations at him with increasing frequency (and absurdity).
The Chinese government said recently: "The Chinese people also feel baffled – why do some people in some countries treat a crime suspect as a hero?"
How can they be so blind? It was they who made him more than a hero -- a symbol of freedom.
Sources: [Link], [Link]
____________________________________
The early Jasmine season is now blooming in China. The tea made from it is known as the Tears of The Dragon.
"From timid jasmine buds, that keep their odour to themselves all day, but when the sunshine dies away, Let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about." --- Thomas Moore ( 1779-1852)
"As the investigation has deepened, the public security authorities have accumulated quite solid witness, documentary and circumstantial evidence and Ai Weiwei has had quite a good attitude in co-operating with the investigation and has begun to confess,"
[Immediately I think the unthinkable: Are they torturing him?]
The same article says he is "suspected of bigamy" and "spreading pornography on line". His wife Lu Quing and sister Gao deny these unsubstantiated allegations, and say he is being set up. The artist has been a desaparecido with no word from the government as to his whereabouts t his family since April 3rd, when he was abducted while trying to board a plane. I do not think it a good sign that they are throwing allegations at him with increasing frequency (and absurdity).
The Chinese government said recently: "The Chinese people also feel baffled – why do some people in some countries treat a crime suspect as a hero?"
How can they be so blind? It was they who made him more than a hero -- a symbol of freedom.
Sources: [Link], [Link]
____________________________________
The early Jasmine season is now blooming in China. The tea made from it is known as the Tears of The Dragon.
"From timid jasmine buds, that keep their odour to themselves all day, but when the sunshine dies away, Let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about." --- Thomas Moore ( 1779-1852)
"Lucid Dreams" @ C.Emerson Fine Arts, Part II
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| Rocky Grimes, "Hurdles" |
An installation of hand-pulled silkscreens on recycled wooden (plywood?) squares. It's a typology of commonly-faced hurdles. Each "tile" of this sells independently. They are great in small spaces, or one can join several, and in different configurations.
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| Sonya McAlister, "Lens" |
On the right is "Lens", by Sonya McAlister, a bit of glass, acrylic and water cast a beautiful shadow that is the real image/work. Very hypnotic piece that questions the relationship between the tangible and intangible.
On the right is "Pomona", by Teiji Hayama, one of three paintings by him in the show. All of them are of Goddess figures. Note the halo, and though they are hard to see, there are faint stars in her crown. Pomona is the Roman Goddess of fruit trees, and here she is shown with a pear (I think). Her garment is sky-blue, as are her eyes. She is holding what appears to be a white tube/wire in her right hand. In his artist's statement Teiji says it is our instinct to rail against the truth, to escape, to dream.
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| Teiji Hayama, "Aquarius" |
On the right is another sacred figure, "Aquarius", note the tattoo on her shoulder. Below is a close-up of it on seaweed... It's the Shell of Shell Oil & its gas station signs, the Shell that guided the pilgrims on the road to Compostela, the same exact shell that once held you spellbound by its beauty as a child on a now-distant shore, and the same that Botticelli's Venus on the Half-Shell is standing on. She protects, guides and humanizes us. Here she looks on adoringly, & a little worried about the viewer. The clasp by her neck is another shell. She is Venus and Yemanja and all her other avatars, rising from the sea...
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| Detail from upper arm. |
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| Teiji Hayama, "Lilaea" |
Above right, we have Lilaea, daughter of the river Kephisos, the Naiad of the Spring in a town in Central Greece. She holds her hands against her upper chest, as if imploring the viewer. Her look instills hope and faith -- and a sense of duty. The band on her shoulder enjoins us. It reads "Acta non Verba", Latin for "Deeds not Words". Do something.
Doreen Horn is a gentle and very intense, focused Artist who goes to extraordinary lengths to actualize her ideas. I had the pleasure of speaking with her at the opening of this show. This piece, which is, in part, about the moment a dream becomes lucid, was conceived by her as "I wanted something like a cloud". She looked for a material that would convey this, and chose marabou feathers, which are from a type of stork, and very light, airy and moved by the slightest air currents. These are like thought bubbles, and the black spot in the large one at the top is like the awakening, or a germ of an idea coming into being. It's about 4x5 feet long in all.At first glance, this looks like a purse with a little needlepoint on it, and to a degree it is that, and a lot more. The purse is open, its hand strap weightlessly floating. Ask yourself, are you awake, or are you dreaming? There's a figure on its side...
 |
| Doreen Horn, "Recurring Dream" |
Here's a close-up of the side of the bag. It looks like Death wearing a gray hula skirt, walking in a flower garden, each perched atop its stem and leaves forming a cross. Death ponders which one to take and looking unsure, perhaps even a little sad over the whole thing. Above his figure is a thought bubble in which he can be seen muttering to himself, "RMN MNR, M". Strong work, at the core of the show's theme.
Congratulations to Lori Johns/CEFA for an innovative, well-thought out show.
Correspondent(s) Needed
Art Taco is looking for one or more volunteer correspondents to attend and review/report on USF area events. Also looking for a Clearwater correspondent. Applicant must already be attending these events on a frequent basis, honestly committed to the Arts, knowledgeable in the field, able to write accessibly about them, live near USF area, preferably a USF student familiar with AT 's style, able to write competently, take excellent pictures to illustrate their own articles, and meet short deadlines.
Your pay is the same as mine: The love of doing it. To apply, send info as a comment (only I will see it), and be sure to include your e-mail. We'll go from there.
--- Luis
Your pay is the same as mine: The love of doing it. To apply, send info as a comment (only I will see it), and be sure to include your e-mail. We'll go from there.
--- Luis
This Taxing Weekend: April 15th - 17th
Live Arts @ 600 Block of Central - Live Art (people painting on site), Music. Third Saturday of every month. Free. Check the shops for special deals during the event. 600 Central Avenue, St Petersburg.10 AM - 6 PM Saturday, April 16th.
_________________________________________
New Talent @ Brad Cooper - Six new artists to the Bay area being exhibited. Paintings, Photographs, and multi-media works. Brad Cooper Gallery, 1714 Seventh Ave, Ybor City, Tampa. Opening is on Saturday, April 16th, 7-9 PM.
__________________________________________
Rockin' The Arts @ Rob Davidson Fine Arts - Music and the visual Arts, including music-themed visual art, in 2 & 3 dimensions. Music will be played at the event. Free. Davidson Fine Arts, 1100 First Ave. North, St Pete. Opening reception from 5-10 Saturday.
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Mainsail Art Show - The 36th time for this very large show. This year with 250 artists and $50k in awards. At Vinoy Park. Free. Saturday 9 AM - 6 PM, Sunday10 AM - 5 PM. No dogs allowed.
____________________________________________
Art For The Earth @ Crafstman House - Recycled and used materials made into art and environmentally themed work. Through May 8th. Craftsman House, 2955 Central Avenue, St Petersburg. While there, enjoy drink and food from the cafe in a beautiful setting.
____________________________________________
Art After Dark @ Tampa Museum - TMA hosts this popular party event at the museum. This year, to honor Tax Day, 1500 lbs. of shredded paper will be part of the exhibit. $10. Friday, April 15th. See the Degas exhibit, Herb Snitzer's Jazz greats pictures, and see the Jobsite actors. 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza, Downtown Tampa.
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Artpool 3rd Anniversary Art Party - Marina Williams stages another of her fabulous parties, complete with body painting, a fashion show, which she promises "will be epic". Patrons are invited to dress up. Saturday, April 16th, 8 PM - Midnight. Tickets $15 @ the door, $10 in advance. 919 First Ave N. St Pete.
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Annual Juried Art Student Exhibition @ University of Tampa - Opening is on Friday, April 15th, 7-9 PM. Regular hrs Tue-Fri 10 AM - 4 PM. Sat 1-4 PM. Bailey Art Studios, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd.
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1939 Day @ Beach Theatre - Saturday, April 16th, Beach Theatre admission will be a '39-ish 25 cents. A dime for popcorn, same for soda. At noon and 3:30 PM The Wizard of Oz screens. At 6:30, Gone With the Wind. From there, BT time-travels to 1975, with the Rocky Horror Picture Show at 11 PM. That will be at '75 prices: $2.00. 315 Corey Avenue, St Pete Beach.
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In the Waiting Room/Book of Enid - The narrative of Enid, who is trying to stop a violent conflict by time-traveling after it's happened. Videos will be shown before and during the reading. At the USF Contemporary Art Museum 3821 Holly Drive, Tampa USF campus. "In The Waiting Room" Free. Friday, April 15th, Noon.
______________________________________________
__________________________________________
Rockin' The Arts @ Rob Davidson Fine Arts - Music and the visual Arts, including music-themed visual art, in 2 & 3 dimensions. Music will be played at the event. Free. Davidson Fine Arts, 1100 First Ave. North, St Pete. Opening reception from 5-10 Saturday.
__________________________________________
Mainsail Art Show - The 36th time for this very large show. This year with 250 artists and $50k in awards. At Vinoy Park. Free. Saturday 9 AM - 6 PM, Sunday10 AM - 5 PM. No dogs allowed.
____________________________________________
Art For The Earth @ Crafstman House - Recycled and used materials made into art and environmentally themed work. Through May 8th. Craftsman House, 2955 Central Avenue, St Petersburg. While there, enjoy drink and food from the cafe in a beautiful setting.
____________________________________________
Art After Dark @ Tampa Museum - TMA hosts this popular party event at the museum. This year, to honor Tax Day, 1500 lbs. of shredded paper will be part of the exhibit. $10. Friday, April 15th. See the Degas exhibit, Herb Snitzer's Jazz greats pictures, and see the Jobsite actors. 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza, Downtown Tampa.
____________________________________________
Artpool 3rd Anniversary Art Party - Marina Williams stages another of her fabulous parties, complete with body painting, a fashion show, which she promises "will be epic". Patrons are invited to dress up. Saturday, April 16th, 8 PM - Midnight. Tickets $15 @ the door, $10 in advance. 919 First Ave N. St Pete.
_____________________________________________
Annual Juried Art Student Exhibition @ University of Tampa - Opening is on Friday, April 15th, 7-9 PM. Regular hrs Tue-Fri 10 AM - 4 PM. Sat 1-4 PM. Bailey Art Studios, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd.
_____________________________________________
1939 Day @ Beach Theatre - Saturday, April 16th, Beach Theatre admission will be a '39-ish 25 cents. A dime for popcorn, same for soda. At noon and 3:30 PM The Wizard of Oz screens. At 6:30, Gone With the Wind. From there, BT time-travels to 1975, with the Rocky Horror Picture Show at 11 PM. That will be at '75 prices: $2.00. 315 Corey Avenue, St Pete Beach.
______________________________________________
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
"Lucid Dreams" @ C.Emerson Fine Arts, Part I
A lucid dream is one in which you become aware that you are dreaming. Multidimensional Surrealism, if you will. As I wrote in another post, one way to train oneself to do this begins with asking yourself the question "Am I awake or dreaming?". That thin line blurs, smoldering into an undulating strand of smoke as one makes their way through this show.
CEFA is showing the works of nine artists: Lucia Fisher, Teiji Hayama, Doreen Horn, Laszlo Horvath, Sonya McAlister, Gary McCauley, Danny Olda, George Retkes and Henry Schreiber.
Henry Schreiber is a North Carolina based painter who has a studio on the family farm, where watching marmots cavort is apparently a form of meditation. The artist is no stranger to art history, using and seamlessly fusing techniques and styles from the Flemish Baroque of the early to mid 1600's [Link], [Link], Romanticism [Link], specifically Delacroix [Link] and Fuseli. All in a period from the 1600's to the mid 1700's.
Note the hybrid/surreal Marmot/chicken and how at first it looks plausible. The artist told me the story behind the pizza the creature is standing on. It has to do with late-night pizza orders during college days, specifically the chicken parmesan variety. The vegetables around the pizza are in the style of the opulent table settings in many still-lives from Flemish painting from the 1600's. Here's one example: [Link].
Laszlo Horvath is a Hungarian-born artist working in photography. He has worked as a PJ and a musician. The photo on the right is titiled "Santa Maria in The Port of Tampa". This image is divided into three sections: The birds (egrets?) on top, the industrial plant in the middle, and a replica of one of Columbus' three ships, the Santa Maria on the water. In dreams, water is often a symbol for the subconscious. Here the past (the ship) floats on it, above, the present -- a hellish-looking industrial tangle of pipes and smoke, and lording above it all, Nature.
I had the pleasure of conversing with the erudite and affable Mr. Horvath at length at the reception. We spoke about UFOs while standing before this picture, titled "The Evidence". The saucers, surreally, are upside-down sand dollars. But we get to see them. The only evidence of man (the viewer) is the foreground shadow, who appears to be about to run away. [Link]
On the right is George Retkes, a Hungarian-born artist, with his work, titled "Seven Years". On the left is a close-up of the top of the sculpture. What looks like a sheaf of wheat are George's dreadlocks of seven years, which he bronzed and made a dark wooden tall base for. He says he had dreams of cutting his hair, and did so when he got through his BA. [Link]
This is one of seven photographs by Lucia Fischer, all "Untitled". There are soft (digitally blurred) dreamy factory interiors, a portrait, and more. This piece is three sequential views of nearly the same thing, but from different points of view. For me, this implied the staccato passage of time in dreams, and the displacements, the multiple levels of awareness in a lucid dream, and the way memory is interwoven with vision. The image looks like a third-eyed version of a stereograph! [Link]
[End, Part I]
CEFA is showing the works of nine artists: Lucia Fisher, Teiji Hayama, Doreen Horn, Laszlo Horvath, Sonya McAlister, Gary McCauley, Danny Olda, George Retkes and Henry Schreiber.
 |
| Henry Schreiber, "Chicken Marmesean" |
Henry Schreiber is a North Carolina based painter who has a studio on the family farm, where watching marmots cavort is apparently a form of meditation. The artist is no stranger to art history, using and seamlessly fusing techniques and styles from the Flemish Baroque of the early to mid 1600's [Link], [Link], Romanticism [Link], specifically Delacroix [Link] and Fuseli. All in a period from the 1600's to the mid 1700's.
Note the hybrid/surreal Marmot/chicken and how at first it looks plausible. The artist told me the story behind the pizza the creature is standing on. It has to do with late-night pizza orders during college days, specifically the chicken parmesan variety. The vegetables around the pizza are in the style of the opulent table settings in many still-lives from Flemish painting from the 1600's. Here's one example: [Link].
 |
| Laszlo Horvath, "The Evidence" |
I had the pleasure of conversing with the erudite and affable Mr. Horvath at length at the reception. We spoke about UFOs while standing before this picture, titled "The Evidence". The saucers, surreally, are upside-down sand dollars. But we get to see them. The only evidence of man (the viewer) is the foreground shadow, who appears to be about to run away. [Link]
 | |
| George Retkes, "Seven years" |
On the right is George Retkes, a Hungarian-born artist, with his work, titled "Seven Years". On the left is a close-up of the top of the sculpture. What looks like a sheaf of wheat are George's dreadlocks of seven years, which he bronzed and made a dark wooden tall base for. He says he had dreams of cutting his hair, and did so when he got through his BA. [Link]
This is one of seven photographs by Lucia Fischer, all "Untitled". There are soft (digitally blurred) dreamy factory interiors, a portrait, and more. This piece is three sequential views of nearly the same thing, but from different points of view. For me, this implied the staccato passage of time in dreams, and the displacements, the multiple levels of awareness in a lucid dream, and the way memory is interwoven with vision. The image looks like a third-eyed version of a stereograph! [Link]
[End, Part I]
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Street Art: Alley Gallery
I was tipped off to one of these images by one of the artists, who is a friend of AT. The rest were unexpected. On the left is a small stencil of a sleepy-looking (manga?) creature looking content. The image is about 7x7 inches.
I suspect the one on the right was done by the same artist. It's about 3 feet from the other one, similar in size, and the color seems to be identical. Does anyone know who the man depicted is?
On the left is a larger, multi-colored piece, beautifully executed. Note the double doors over which it is painted.
Another small stencil next to the larger work above. Note the expression and what the squirrel (?) is holding. This seems to be a self portrait of the artist, holding brush and bucketful of paint, looking purposeful, alert and industrious.
On the right is a painting of a large (world-tree) trunk, like the tree in Avatar, the artist's tag across its roots.
On the left is another painting, a family of sea snakes in their station wagon who have come to Florida for what everyone comes for. Sunny skies, surf, sand, sin, and treasure. Below is a detail from the above painting. I liked the STP and fish symbols on the car, and the crab tagging the car with the word "Gas", which I suspect may be the artist's own tag.
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We talked about the famous alley in San Francisco that is full of graffiti, and how wonderful it would be to do something like that here.
Two elderly couples walking by watched as I finished talking with the first man, then continued to photograph. They walked over as I photographed this:
The man waved at the others, and they all came up, mouths agape, marveling at the art. He was in his seventies, and he said "These guys are really good". I agreed, and he proudly said: "We have great street artists back home". "Where is that?" I asked. "Michigan, Detroit in particular. Some of the best in the world". I agreed and took their picture with their cameras in front of the work with the snakes, then the others. We shook hands and bid each other goodbye, the art having brought five people together in an alley for a few moments on a warm morning.
--- Luis
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